I Promise
Denny/Izzie
AU; 3x17.

Summary: You ask him one last promise.

Notes: This pairing has just been itching me to write them. I haven't bothered to watch the whole episode (seeing as the only way I can see the new episodes is youtube), but I bothered to watch the Denny/Izzie moments. Two of them; the first where Denny tells Meredith he can almost hear Izzie's voice, and the second where Denny and Izzie are in the same place at the same time. So, this is inbetween those two times.

Some things may not be right when it comes to the episode, but, it's Denny/Izzie and it makes me happy (and want to cry at the same time). This is a bit of an added-in bit. Denny has already told Meredith that he only gets moments with the people he loves. It may not fit in with the last Denny/Izzie moment, but this is a long moment between the surgeon and patient. This sort of exploded into a rather long fic, I had planned it to be a drabble, but it's ended up being more of a 'closure' thing. Just some Denny/Izzie that we all know and love, and have missed.

Um. AU, I guess, to 3x17. Basically, Denny, Meredith and Izzie are able to hear each other. Let's just say that the cosmic plane - or whatever - was being nice to our two lovers. ;)

Feedback is love. :)

You could've sworn you felt warmth in the cold and haunted abandoned corridor. The warmth that almost burns your skin into a blister. It sends small bolts of electricity up your arms, causing gooseflesh to take over your skin like a disease overtaking a person's life.

You fold your legs underneath you, and you stare blankly ahead.

You will not cry. You will not cry.

You promised Cristina you would not cry for someone who was not dead, nor who was going to die. Meredith was a fighter; she had survived Derek's betrayal, and seeing him with his wife. She had survived all those years as being 'Dr Ellis Grey's daughter', and she had definitely survived all those possible STDs she could've caught.

Meredith is not doomed to be dead. She may have the colour sucked out of her, and possibly all of her strength as she is as limp as string, but Meredith Grey is a damn fighter.

You feel a draft, a small coldness that seizes your body, and you start to cry. Your shoulders shake violently, and it takes you back to a time where you couldn't look at your prom dress, or even stand to be on the same floor where heart transplant patients were recuperating. But, as quickly as it came, you feel warmth fight off the cold. That same warmth that's so comforting it makes you want to wrap it around you like a blanket and forget what's happening in the real world.

You want to snuggle up with someone who is as warm as the sun, and as alive as the bright red rose that sits in the vase back at home.

It's when the tears seem heavier on your cheeks that you know you're not crying for Meredith. As harsh, horrible and as evil as it sounds, you know your heart is breaking ten times over as pink floods over your eyes and you feel suffocated by the sound of that unkind flat line, beeping away as it signals the end of a life.

For once, you never wanted it to be right. You didn't want it to be right with him. He was simply sleeping, that was it. Except he didn't wake to your touch or the slight dip in the bed. He never got to see you in your prom dress.

Izzie. You hear it as a fading echo, it's as light as a feather, and you're sure you're just thinking about the way his voice made your heart soar and your chest tingle.

Izzie, don't cry. You stop, only to look around you, and you feel the warmth increase, almost, ten times more. It's a cocoon of safety, and you don't feel like your suffocating. At least, not anymore.

You know the voice. It had done things to your insides that haven't really been alive since the day you professed your love for a girl named Hindi. Or Hilda. You don't remember her name, but just his smile, and his laugh, and that mesmerising twinkle that had captivated his eyes. You made cookies because of him, baked muffins and hardly ever looked at anything remotely pink or even white. You could never look at white; it still makes you think of what could have been.

And you don't want to think that, at least, not anymore.

You're sick and tired of the 'What ifs'. It just makes your heart feel even more heavier in your chest than it already is.

Shhh.

Silence surrounds you, and the hairs on your arms are on edge. You start to realise that, when you had walked your way over to this gurney, that you didn't feel that sense of loneliness. Abandonment. You felt company. Something safe, like a wall around a prison keeping all those bad criminals in. Except, it wasn't a reassurance of your safety. It was calm, humid, almost suffocating.

What? Are you okay?

Sometimes, I can hear her voice.

You told me this already.

I can hear her, now. Except it's not her voice.

It's not?

No. Can't you sense her?

Yeah. I guess. Izzie?

Voices. You're hearing their voices. A man who's body is lying in a box in the ground, and a woman who's life is just seconds away from ending. You sniff, and you look around you. It sounds so loud, yet so far away. Are they near? Are they even here? Are you going crazy?

What is going on? Is that Iz?

Can't you feel her?

That warmth?

It's a sense. It's like you're not alone, anymore. I've only experienced it for a couple of seconds. It happens so fast.

You hear a small laugh, I've always told her not to walk too fast.

You can't help but smile. "Meredith?"

Did you hear that?

Hear what?

I heard her voice. Louder. She's here. She's close.

Iz?

You gasp, "Meredith!"

Iz? Oh my god, it's Izzie! Meredith tells the other voice eagerly.

"You there, Mer?" You keep your eyes open as you're scared you may miss her. She may be walking, possibly pacing, and you just don't want to miss her. Not even a single glance. You don't even blink.

I'm always here, Iz.

You smile faintly, and you close your eyes. You keep them closed as you can picture her there, with you. Pacing. Or sitting beside you. She's here, and it brings a sense of protection over your exhausted form. "Don't go. Don't leave. You can't. Stay. Stay with us. We'll go save another dog. We'll buy a kitten. I'll buy you a pair of expensive shoes. Just please, don't leave."

I won't leave, Iz.

"But you're already gone. I can't lose someone else. It's just too hard."

Iz? Everything is going to be okay. Do you remember what I told you on the bathroom floor? Right after prom? You said you were alone. That you couldn't be alone. Iz, you're not alone. You're never alone.

A tear escapes your closed eyes, and you feel something cool your hot face. It disappears, as if it's been wiped, and you're not sure if you moved your hand or if it was that familiar hand of someone you once had. "Mer. Come back to us. Please. Derek's a mess, and George won't talk to me. He won't talk to me, Mer. He won't even look at me. I can't have my best friend not look at me."

It's okay Iz. Everything's going to be okay.

"But it's not."

Everything will be.

"How can you be sure?"

You can almost sense her smile and the sound of her hair moving as she looks at something, or someone. There's a momentary silence that lasts for less than sixty seconds before you hear, proudly, I have a good guide.

You open your eyes. She sounds so loud, as if she is here, talking to you face-to-face about how she's not dark and twisty, or about Derek and his wife. Ex-wife, you correct. "Where are you Mer?"

I'm right next to you. Can you feel that? You feel a small pressure on your left arm, and you turn to look at it. Nothing is there, but you can feel her. Her finger pressing into your arm, the warmth of her skin hasn't gone cold.

"You're not cold."

No, I'm not.

"Are you alone?"

No. I'm never alone. Denny's here.

A faint smile forms on your lips as your eyes flutter shut, "Denny."

He's here. He's always here. He's always around you; forever in your heart. That's what you told me, isn't it? That Denny's always in your heart.

"Yeah." You hear a sniffle, and you can't seem to identify if it was you or Meredith. It felt faint, almost like a whisper. "Are you crying Meredith?"

Yeah. Of course I am.

You smile, and you refuse to open your eyes. You think you can only see black, but you can see her. Meredith. Alive, bright and there. "Is he really here, Mer? Is Denny really here?"

Yeah, Iz. He is. I told you he'd never leave you.

"Where is he? Where is he?"

Right beside you, Iz.

"Denny?"

Hey Iz.

He's right beside you. On your other side. Just like Meredith said. Suddenly, you note the small pressure your arm is feeling, as if a body is leaning ever so gently against it.

You think, Meredith and Denny, and your heart certainly flutters as the two people seem so alive and so real to you now. You can suddenly feel the security each body brings to you, and you want to hug them. Really hard and never let go. The gurney shifts slightly. Almost unnoticeable. You feel something beside you, on the side where his voice came from. You can't help the smile that his presence always demands from you.

Your voice cracks. "I miss you."

I miss you, too.

You smile, baring your teeth and you inhale deeply. You can smell him! His scent hasn't died, or turned cold, but it's breathing. It's almost like the soap Izzie's started to swipe from Meredith's bottle. It's there and real. "I baked you cookies. Muffins and cookies. A lot of them. I also donated your money to the hospital. The Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic. I never knew you were a millionaire."

I was afraid you'd marry me for my money. You can't help but laugh. Thank you for the cookies. And the muffins, Iz. I'm sure they were delicious.

"I bake. I could've baked for you. We could've baked together." You picture a house with a white picket fence, and two and a half kids. A boy and a girl, and a little baby in his arms. You're in the kitchen, and there's a dog at your feet. A good one, almost like the one that Bessie, the girl three trailers down from you, had once owned. He almost resembles Doc, but he's not as energetic as the dog you once loved and you'll always, secretly, miss.

But we do. We always do. We did after prom, remember? You almost spilt orange juice onto the cheque. You can hear the laughter in his voice, and the tears that poison his rough, deep voice that you've longed to hear since prom. You miss seeing his eyes sparkle.

Your eyes flutter open, and you feel like you can't breathe. "You were there?"

I'm always there. Whenever you need me, I'm there.

"Why did you go? Why did you leave me? Weren't you happy?"

You made hospitals bearable, Iz.

You nod, and close your eyes again. The tears continue to soak your cheeks, and they slide off of your chin, hitting your closed hands in your lap. They're cool droplets, of happiness and sadness. "Oh. That's good. Isn't that good?"

It's very good, Iz. Meredith. You smile as she hasn't left you.

"You didn't get to see my prom dress. I changed three times."

You looked beautiful. You always do. It sent my heart into a frenzy.

Your breath catches, and a flurry of images invades your mind as you squeeze your eyes tigher than they are, trying to erase the memories and the panic and just the death of it all. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'm so sorry. Denny, I'm sorry."

For what, Iz? You did nothing wrong. You gave me a choice. And I chose you, Izzie Stevens. I chose you.

You let out a sob, and your throat feels so sore and tight that you're sure it'll close up. "I love you."

I love you, too.

You feel something pressing onto your forehead, and it takes you a couple of seconds to realise that he's kissing you. You may not be able to see each other, but you can sense him there. You lean into his touch, and murmur, "Don't ever leave, okay?"

Okay.

"Promise?"

I promise. With all my heart, I promise you Izzie Stevens. You'll never be alone. You feel his arms wrap around you, and you're looking down at your hands. You can feel his large one covering yours, and you can't help the faint smile. The contact is almost ticklish, almost like a thousand pins and needles tingling your fingers, and you can't help but like this new feel of him.

"Izzie?" You hear footsteps, but you don't raise your head. You keep mumbling, I promise. I promise. I promise. "Izzie, are you okay?"

You don't answer, but you can feel his smile as something light presses against your neck. "I, uh, I bought plastic chairs. A lot of them. Who knew they could be a dollar?" She rambles, and you smile as you look at your friend stanidng awkwardly in front of you, "Iz. Everything's going to be okay."

You feel Denny kiss your shoulder, a soft pressure that would've been missed if you hadn't been paying attention. "You promise?"

"I promise." Cristina holds out her shaking hand, and you place yours in hers. You allow her to pull you up, and as you walk towards the stairs, you manage to turn around and you see him.

You see the man you love, sitting on the gurney. Smiling, tear stricken, and oh so alive.

You mouth, I love you, Denny Duquette.

And his voice, full of reassurance, tears and love, echoes through the corridor. And I love you, Izzie Stevens. Always and forever.

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