Okay, my plan for this story is a series of one-shots; each chapter based on a different character. The one-shots are all based on the aftermath of the Season 6 Finale Lockdown episode.

Aha Jess….candy necklace in the couch :P

I really hope you enjoy.

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Chapter One: Alex Karev

As an intern and a resident, he had seen a lot of terrible things; injuries one would think to be impossible and diseases one would think to be incurable. He'd seen patients with multiple bicycle spokes stabbed into his abdomen; patients with tumors larger than all internal organs put together; patients joined onto another by a giant metal pole through the both of them like a meat skewer. Sometimes he found it tough to be around these patients, though the majority of the time it was easy to look them by, because they were just patients; strangers who turn up in the ER one day and are gone the next. With people you don't know, it's easy to block out emotions and blur out their faces.

Though he didn't like the Mercy West residents much at first; they'd shown up on his turf and made everything unbalanced; but Reed had grown on him. She was irritating and up-herself and sometimes obnoxious. She'd thought she was better than him, better than everyone, and tried her utmost hardest to prove that right. As much as she annoyed the crap out of him, she was a good doctor; and had he had the chance to know her for longer, she could have been a good friend.

So for Reed to be shot dead mere metres from him, impacted on him in more ways than one could imagine. He'd only been given seconds to think before the gun was turned on him.

He'd slept for a total of about an hour in the past week following the lockdown. He couldn't clear his head and whenever he shut his eyes images of Reed with a clear gunshot wound to the head, bleeding out across the storage room floor, flooded his vision. Small sounds made him flinch, and louder ones made him jump; the sound of gunshots echoing inside his sleep-deprived, aching head. He had not been able to ride in an elevator; the claustrophobia and memories of that day and the pain that had wracked his chest had him sweating from fear.

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He woke up to his own ragged breathing, once again, before the sun had even started to rise. He'd thought that once he'd got out of the hospital and back in his own bed, the nightmares would go away and he'd be able to sleep at night. He'd been home after being discharged from hospital for three days now and the nightmares had most definitely not stopped; if anything, they'd gotten worse. He'd relive numerous times a night the helplessness he'd felt as he saw, through the gap between the storage room shelves, Mr Clark raise his gun and shoot Reed right in the head, unable to stop him; as he watched her instantly lifeless body fall limply to the floor. Each snippet he witnessed took an agonizingly long time to pass, like moving in slow motion, though in reality had been over in less than a second.

Untangling himself from the sheets, Alex stumbled from the bed and made his way to the light switch. He knew he wouldn't fall back asleep and proceeded to find clean clothes in amongst all the clutter and dirty washing that had accumulated on his floor over the past week. Fishing through a pile near window, he picked up what he thought was his grey jumper, but was actually a pair of Lexie's track pants that she'd left behind. He stared at the pants, and then at the empty space in his bed she used to occupy, and then back at the pants. Bundling them up, he angrily threw them into the corner and went into the bathroom to shower; remembering the visit earlier that week that lead him to where he was now.

START FLASHBACK

His hospital bed at Seattle Presbyterian was too hard; too flat; too white; too clean. The food was either stale or dodgy in his opinion. He felt sympathy for his patients now, wondering how on earth they got any rest with machines beeping constantly and nurses coming in to check your stats every half hour. Though, being kept awake was probably better than delving into the horror sleep had become.

He'd been sitting up in his bed, staring out into the hall, as Lexie appeared in the doorway, an odd expression upon her face.

"Hey, Alex. How are you today?" Lexie asked, honestly concerned, pulling a chair up next to his bed.

"Same old; sick of the place," Alex admitted, "what's up, Lex?"

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

Lexie sighed and shut her eyes for a moment before saying, "you're still in love with Izzie. Don't deny it."

"Okay…I won't deny it. Yeah, I'm still in love with her. We were married; that's gotta leave its mark," Alex said, pain arising from those memories.

"But what about me?"

"I like you; a lot. I think….that maybe we could go somewhere."

"We can't go anywhere while you still love her," Lexie said, sadness in her eyes as she met his, "that day, with Mr Clark, I told you I loved you. Then you go and call me Izzie, telling 'me' to never leave you again."

"Oh God, Lex. I'm so sorry. I didn't….I didn't know. I….I'm sorry-"

"Don't be sorry. She was your wife, she almost died, and then she left you. You went through so much together; so, I get that you still love her. It'd probably be weird if you didn't," she said, grasping Alex's hand momentarily before releasing it and getting to her feet.

"Lexie…" Alex trailed off.

"Bye, Alex," Lexie said, kissing his softly on the forehead, "it was fun while it lasted. Really."

And with that she'd left.

END FLASHBACK

He'd sat at the kitchen bench for hours after the sun had finally risen, staring at his now freezing coffee, contemplating what to do.

When he'd decided, he went to his phone and hit speed dial; realising he'd never taken her off.

"Hello?" she said bubbly, obviously not having looked at the caller ID.

"Please…it's Alex. Come home."

When all he heard was the buzz of the phone line, he said again, "please, Iz. I want you to come home."

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That's it for the first chapter. I'd really like to hear some feedback on this story, so please review and let me know your thoughts.

Love Em xXxXxxx