Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'm glad that you are enjoying this AU story. But I can't take credit for the idea. It actually came from a friend. I'm just exploring it. :-)

Someone asked what their age difference on the show was and to be honest I don't know exactly because they never mentioned Mark's exact age but I always thought it was about 12 to 14 years. On with the story now. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Wait a sec! Don't tell me Mark Sloan is in there!" Lexie rolled her eyes before she turned around to face her best friend Abigail, tempted to roll her eyes again when she saw the excitement in her eyes. "The Mark Sloan?"

"What is it with all of you?" Lexie asked exasperatedly. "He is only a man. You all act as if he could walk over water."

"He might not be able to walk over water, but have you seen him play?" Abigail replied enthusiastically. "He is all rock hard muscles and one of the cruelest players on the ice. Seriously, when they do a close-up of his face during a game I get chills all over. This gaze."

"Would you stop it?" Lexie said annoyed. "You sound like a fourteen year old girl overwhelmed by her pubertal hormones."

"Lexie, this man is insanely hot."

"Yeah, I've seen uglier men than he." Lexie stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmmm." Abigail replied, eying her best friend suspiciously.

"Don't hmmm me."

"Did you forget that I caught you staring at the Calvin Klein ad of him?" Abigail told her, a smug grin spreading out on her face. "Don't tell me that you were admiring the architecture of the building."

"Okay, his body is insanely hot. Satisfied?" Lexie sighed. "It doesn't change the fact though that he is an arrogant, cocky, self-centered bastard. I'm sure he treats women like shit."

"But he is ..." Abigail began but Lexie raised a finger, stopping her in mid-sentence.

"Hang on a sec. I need to make a phone call." Lexie turned towards the nurse, asking her for the phone and Abigail watched her curiously, wondering what was so urgent that Lexie needed to interrupt her gushing over one of the hottest men in the NHL.

"Carl? Hey, it's Lexie. Guess who I just sent down to you?" Lexie smiled broadly as she listened to the voice on the other side of the line. "Yes, it's an eye candy. Are you watching hockey?" Lexie chuckled upon hearing Carl's response. She knew that he was a big hockey fan. He loved his men all muscular and dangerous. "I'm sure you are going to be delighted. It's Mark Sloan." Lexie laughed out loud when Carl let out an excited shriek even Abigail could hear. "But I need a favor. Can you draw the procedure out as long as you can? You know you owe me. Besides, I need a shoulder and knee MRI. So you can take your time. You know, the longer you take the longer you can stare at him." Lexie listened intently for a few seconds before a chuckle escaped her lips. "Why? Because I can and he is annoying like hell. So deal?" Lexie asked, a grin splitting up her face when Carl apparently agreed. "Great. We should go out on the weekend. It's been forever since the last time. I'll give you a call. And thanks, Carl. You're a gem! I'll buy you an extra large cocktail. See you."

Lexie returned the phone back to the nurse before she turned around to Abigail again, her eyes sparkling with unadulterated triumph and Abigail furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What's going on, Lex? I've never seen you being so mean."

"Believe me! He deserves it." Lexie said without a hint of remorse in her voice. "His ego is bigger than the Space Needle. It's long overdue that somebody reminds him that the world doesn't revolve around him."

~M&L~

Mark couldn't even remember how often he'd already needed to take an MRI. He lost count a long time ago. So he knew that this one was taking a lot longer than it should. He just wasn't sure if the technician was drawing it out because he was apparently enjoying the view or if Dr. Grey had anything to do with it.

Mark wouldn't have a problem if it was the former. He'd never had problems with men liking men. One of his best friends was gay. Mark didn't care if women or men were admiring his body. It didn't hurt him when they were devouring him with their eyes. A lot of people thought that it must be weird to have a teammate who was gay. Mark never shared that opinion. As long as you made clear that you are straight right away, there wasn't even the slightest uneasiness.

So the technician, obviously enjoying his presence, wasn't bothering him at all. But his gut was telling him that the fact that it took forever had something to do with her. She'd admitted that he was getting on her nerves. When he'd arrived the technician had just ended a call and the excited expression on his face had told Mark that he'd already known that he would come. So he'd apparently talked to Dr. Grey. He wouldn't be surprised if she'd told him to draw this whole thing out just to spite him.

She was definitely a handful. But it was just one more reason to pursue her. He liked a good challenge and he wanted her. Plain and simple. He wanted to feel her naked skin against his. He wanted to thread his hands in her hair. He couldn't wait to have her in his bed, to hear her moaning his name. He wanted to hear her begging for more. Until now he always got what he wanted and he was certain that she would fall for him eventually. So far every woman did. It might just take a little longer with her than with all the others.

~M&L~

Mark wasn't a patient man and waiting for Dr. Grey to finally come to the exam room after he'd waited for her over half an hour didn't help to improve his already sour mood. He would be missing out on quite a few games and he didn't like it one bit.

Lexie only nodded briefly in his direction before she took his pictures and looked at them against the light for a few minutes.

Turning around to him Lexie couldn't resist to torture him a little longer and announced innocently. "I would like to take a CT of your knee to get a better look at your outer ligament." She didn't intend to actually send him down to radiology again, but she hadn't expected the reaction she got out of him.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Mark almost shouted, straightening up on the gurney, his eyes blazing with anger. "I just spent two hours down there.

Lexie's mouth went dry and all her blood went south, heat racing straight to her center. Holy crap, Abigail was right. His gaze was brutally intense and she couldn't believe that his anger turned her on, so she snapped back. "Wow, easy there. No need to get so aggressive. I don't need one if you are so against it."

"So what's the verdict." Mark said in a clipped tone, his patience wearing dangerously thin.

"Your knee won't last much longer." Lexie stated. "You are getting too old for professional sport."

"Did you just insult me?" Mark asked incredulously.

"Mr. Sloan, I assume you played hockey almost your whole life and looking at these pictures you busted this knee at least once. Your cartilage is almost non-existent. If you go on like this you'll need an artificial knee joint in a few years." Lexie replied calmly. She was actually telling him the truth. The signs of wear in his knee were bad, but she still couldn't restrain herself from picking at what must be a sore point. "You should consider retiring. Leave the field to the ones who have still a body that can actually handle the stress. You should stop playing before you end up being one of those pathetic old guys who don't know when it's time to step down. Better to go out on a high note."

"Pathetic old guy? I'm only thirty-six." Mark replied extremely affronted and Lexie almost burst out in laughter as he heard the annoyance in his voice, but managed to keep a straight face. It was definitely fun to mess with him. "Just tell me if I need surgery or not."

"As you wish. Your knee just needs rest. No cruciate ligament rupture. Your menisci look normal for a professional athlete and your inner and outer ligaments look okay. It's just a bad case of hyperextension. Should be fine in a few weeks. But I'm sure it's gonna make the pain after each game even worse."

"What pain?"

"I assume your right knee doesn't look any better. Don't forget that I've seen quite a few athletes in my career by now. I know that your knees are giving you hell after each game."

"Nothing that can't be cured with a cool pack." Mark shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, I bet not only one." Lexie replied dryly.

"Your point?"

"Take off your shirt." Lexie said, completely changing the subject. "I need to take a look at your shoulder."

Mark slowly opened one button after the other, obviously having problems to open them one-handed but Lexie only waited patiently until he awkwardly shrugged the shirt off and she almost licked her lips as her eyes flicked over his well defined chest, casting a glance at his six-pack before he could look up and catch her checking him out.

Damn, her fingers itched to follow the happy trail down his stomach and she inwardly shook her head, focusing her eyes on the blue area directly over his collar bone, determined to not get distracted again. But her stomach tightened when she felt his muscles under her fingers. Irritated by her strong reaction to his body, she pressed her fingers deeper into his flesh than she'd intended to and Mark flinched back, paling visibly, hissing out an expletive between his clenched teeth.

"Arghh, that hurts." Mark gritted out.

"Don't be a sissy." Lexie replied harshly, angry at herself for being that responsive to his body. "I thought you are a tough hockey player."

"You do realize that you are a strange doctor." Mark looked at her slightly amused.

"How so?" Lexie asked, carefully examining his shoulder without hurting him more than necessary.

"Do you talk to every patient like you talk to me?" Mark asked her.

"How do I talk to you?"

"Like I'm a spoiled brat."

"Aren't you?" Lexie asked, looking up into his face for the first time, struggling to keep her composure when his steel blue eyes bored into hers, his face only a few inches away from her face.

"You are getting rude." Mark replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "But you know what? Two can play that game."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, could it be that your hostility stems from a lack of mind-blowingly fantastic sex?" Mark asked, trying to shock her with his bluntness, satisfied when her head shot up again.

"Wow, okay." Lexie said rather breathlessly. "I have no idea where you got the idea that I would talk to you about my sex life."

"Is there even one?" Mark pressed further, giving her one of his lopsided grins.

"I can't complain." Lexie muttered, turning her gaze back to his shoulder.

"Really?" His voice dropped lower and he continued in a husky tone. "So you are telling me you can play out all your dirty fantasies? I can imagine that you are quite challenging. I like that in women."

"Do you?" Lexie needed all her strength to not show him how his voice affected her. When he'd talked about dirty fantasies a jolt had shot through her body, reminding her that lately he was the one she had dirty fantasies about. Trying to get a grip on the desire, rising up in her body, she countered. "You seem to me more of an 'in and out' kind of guy."

"No. I like it slow." Mark replied suggestively, enjoying to see her squirm as he sensed her uncomfortableness with the subject. "The longer it takes the better. But I do enjoy going hard and fast too. If there is just too much sexual tension to wait."

Lexie stood stock still, like a deer caught in the headlights, staring into his blue eyes. He was good. Must be the years of practice. She didn't even want to know his number, if he even knew it himself.

"If the urge to be inside is just too strong." Mark cocked an eye brow, a smug grin appearing on his face when he saw her eyes widen, but then her tongue shot out and she licked her lips and Mark clenched his jaw, unexpected desire slamming into him and he completely lost control of the situation as he looked into her eyes. He could swear he could see pure lust flashing up in their depths.

"I guess you have quite some experience in this department." Lexie said seductively before she leaned forward, whispering in his ear. "What makes you even more repulsive."

Lexie could hear him taking in a sharp breath and she leaned back, smiling widely. "I don't want to know in how many 'insides' you already were."

"I've always used protection." Mark stuttered, completely taken by surprise by her change of attitude. Only moments ago he thought she would jump him any second.

"You can put your shirt back on now, Mr. Sloan." Lexie said, being suddenly all professional what enhanced Mark's confusion even more. Did he just imagine her being as turned on as he had been?

"You definitely need surgery." Lexie told him, her head bowed low over the chart, scribbling something down. "I can squeeze you in on Friday to repair your shoulder."

"Friday?" Mark asked completely taken aback. "That's in four days."

"Wow, I'm impressed. You can count." Lexie said sarcastically before she realized that this comment was completely out of line. "Sorry. That was uncalled for. But yes, Friday."

"I'm not waiting until Friday." Mark told her determined while he struggled to button his shirt. He would not wait four days for his surgery. He was Mark Sloan.

"I do have other patients, Mr. Sloan." Lexie replied brusquely, not willing to give him any special treatment. "I'm not going to change my whole schedule because a famous hockey player thinks he should be the first. You'll have to wait until Friday."

"We'll see if I can't change that." Mark said angrily. But Lexie only walked towards the door, turning around once more before leaving the room.

"Feel free to try." Lexie said with an ice cold voice. "But believe me, there is nothing you can do to get an earlier date."

"I have my ways." Mark said slowly, trying to intimidate her by glaring at her, but with no avail. She just stared back at him, straightening her shoulders.

"No doubt, but they won't lead to anything this time. I'll write you a prescription for Vicodin and I'll give Kevin a call to talk to him about the results. A nurse will give you a Velcro sling for your shoulder. See you on Friday."

Lexie walked out of the door and closed it quietly after her. Walking a few steps until she rounded the corner, she slumped against the wall, exhaling a deep breath. This would be harder than she'd thought it would be. His body and charm made her almost forget what a condescending, conceited prick he was. Almost.