Author's Note: I have realised that I haven't had an A/N with this story yet! How sad. So, welcome to Life in a Glasshouse! I like this story, so hopefully that should lead to regular updating. Also, it will be my summer holidays soon, so I will have oodles of time for writing! And posting, and other fanfiction-related things. So, enough from me. On with the chapter!

Cristina slammed her tray down on the table, making the food shake, and flopped into her chair.

"What's wrong with you?" Alex asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Burke's back," Meredith replied, placing her tray next to Cristina's and sliding into her chair.

"Who's Burke?" Lexie asked. They all turned to look at her, faces completely blank, then returned to their food. Cristina stabbed a piece of salad particularly violently, then threw her fork onto her plate and leaned back in her chair.

"I'm stuck in peds again," Alex said, trying to break the tension. Cristina sat up and began to wave her hands frantically at him.

"I'll swap with you. Give me peds. You can have cardio."

"You're on Burke's case, aren't you?"

Cristina glared at him. "Just give me peds. Please, Alex. I'm actually begging you to swap right now."

"No way." Alex grinned. "I want to know what happens."

"Bastard," Cristina muttered, glaring at him as she slumped back in her chair again. She remained silent as the other three ate, trying to ignore Alex's conversation with Meredith.

"I bet she lasts two days before she jumps him."

Meredith tried to look disapproving, but gave up. "No, I think she might make three. But then it's all over." Cristina gave her a scandalised look.

"I am sitting right here, you do realise that, right? And I am not going to jump Burke. I don't even want to."

"Are you sure?" Alex asked teasingly. "Not even a little bit?"

"Oh! Burke's the guy you were going to marry who left you at the church!" Lexie exclaimed.

Cristina grabbed her tray and stalked out of the cafeteria. Meredith looked at her sister with a very hypocritical reproving look.

"Lex, sometimes you need to know when to shut up."

Cristina shut the door of the linen closet and leaned her forehead against it. She didn't understand why she always ended up in this position, shut in a confined place, relying on something else for support, trying to hold back tears. This was not her. She had become a person she didn't recognize, emotional and hysterical. She'd become, well, Izzie. In fact, she and Izzie weren't so different. She'd been left by the man she had been about to marry, Izzie had been left by Alex. Izzie moved to another hospital to work, just like Burke. Alex was with Lexie, Cristina was with…Owen. Too many parallels could be drawn between her and the woman they all missed but wouldn't speak of.

"How did this happen?" Cristina said to the closet. "How did I turn into Izzie Stevens?" The closet gave her no answer, of course. Cristina sighed yet again.

She tried to hold back a sob, but did not quite succeed, and was met with a strangled hiccup. If I am really Izzie, then this is a moment when I would let my emotions out. And that is exactly what she did. Another sob built in her throat and she stumbled backwards until she hit the opposite wall. Her cheeks were saturated with tears, her body shaking as she grasped the shelves behind her. She held onto them as though they were the only thing left in the world as she cried.

"Dr Yang." Every time Burke spoke, it was like he was punching her in the stomach. She was at the opposite end of the corridor with her back to him. It was entirely plausible that she hadn't heard him. Cristina turned the corner and continued to walk. "Dr Yang," Burke called again, louder, more irritated. "Cristina!"

She stopped then. She did not turn around, but she stopped. She heard Burke's footsteps stop behind her. They stood in silence for a few seconds until Cristina turned her head to the left so she could speak over her shoulder, but kept her eyes carefully trained away from Burke.

"Don't call me that. Don't say my name."

"Dr Yang." His voice made her flinch, and though she tried to hide it she was certain that Burke had noticed. "I need another set of eyes to assess while I scan Mrs Colton, and I would like you to help me."

The knot in Cristina's stomach gave a painful twist. "Can Dr Grey not do it?" She still had her back to him.

"She could. But I don't want Meredith. I want you, Cristina," he reached out and stroked his fingers across her shoulder. Cristina spun around, slapping his hands away.

"I told you not to say my name!" And then Cristina made a terrible mistake: she looked up, into Burke's face and into his eyes. They were standing so close and his gaze was unavoidable, unbreakable. She could not even try to look away. He stared at her with the blank face of Preston Burke that Cristina knew far too well.

"Mrs Colton will be in the MRI room in an hour." And with that he turned and left Cristina standing immobilised in the middle of the hallway.

"Dr Burke." Derek leaned his forearms on the side of the walkway and joined his old friend in surveying the hospital from on high. Burke looked at him with a small smile. Derek returned it. He knew that Burke had hurt Cristina deeply and, in all fairness, he should take Meredith's side, which was most likely a loyal loathing of him. But Derek couldn't do that. He and Burke had been friends once, and he wasn't going to say that he hadn't missed him when he left Seattle Grace. They watched the hospital below, a constantly moving swarm of people, working, stressing, flirting, mourning. All the emotions of life came to being within these white walls.

"So how is Massachusetts General?" Derek asked. He knew where Burke worked now. He was famous; most of the medical world knew, except Cristina, who had studiously ignored all Burke-related medical journals, articles and conversations.

"Good. It's not as...exciting as Seattle Grace. More than once I have to wonder why I left," Burke said, grimacing slightly.

"More importantly, why have you come back? This patient is very interesting, certainly, but we have had quite a few interesting cases before now." Derek was almost challenging, trying to make Burke tell the truth. Surprisingly, it worked.

"I heard about the shooting," he was frowning now. "I was worried about you, about all of you. I needed to see if she - if you were alright."

Derek nodded. He pretended not to notice Burke's slip. "We're okay. We had some losses, people you don't know. We had a memorial service last week." Derek's mouth had become rather tight. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Definitely."

The two of them walked to the end of the walkway and into the Chief of Surgery's office. Burke sat on the sofa while Derek made coffee. After a few minutes he handed Burke a steaming cup and sank onto the sofa next to him.

"So. How does it feel to be the Chief?" Burke asked over the rim of his cup.

Derek took a large gulp of coffee before answering. He was slightly wary of this conversation. He was worried Burke was still angry that Derek was chosen and not him. "It has its benefits, as with any job. But there are downsides."

"Like what?"

"I have to slot Meredith into my timetable now." Derek felt a slight twinge in his stomach as he thought of Meredith. He was still reeling from the loss of their child and could not bear to imagine how she was feeling. "I don't sleep that much, but that was to be expected. It has the downsides that any job does." Derek did not want to say something that might set Burke off. The man was his friend, but he was volatile and Derek was not inclined to anger him. "But tell me about you. What have you been doing with yourself? Any interesting patients?"

"A few. Not like here. How is Dr Altman working out?"

Derek did not like where this was going. "She's excellent. A very gifted surgeon. Deals well under pressure, of course. That is one of the major advantages of her army work."

"You have two from the army, don't you? Dr Altman and...?"

"Dr Hunt," Derek muttered. Burke did not know about Owen's relationship with Cristina and Derek was not about to enlighten him. As much as Burke pretended, Derek was not sure he had completely let Cristina go. Unwilling to enter into a conversation about Owen, he decided to leave it there. "I'm sorry, Preston, but I have a surgery in an hour and I need to prep, so I'm going to have to leave you." He smiled, flashing his pearly teeth as they both stood up. He placed his mostly full cup of coffee on the table and escorted Burke out of his office.

Cristina turned over in the bed. Sleep had been eluding her for over three hours and she was ready to give up. She had successfully avoided Burke in the MRI room by sending Lexie to him instead. She was no longer her intern, but Lexie accepted as a peace offering for her tactlessness. Cristina looked at Owen's sleeping face, his mouth slightly open, a look of oblivious calm across his features. She traced a finger down his cheek, enjoying the slight scratch of his stubble against her skin. Owen shifted in his sleep, putting his arm across Cristina's waist and pulling her close to him. She settled her face against his chest and closed her eyes. Miraculously, she fell asleep.

Cristina stared at the body at her feet. Owen was lying a pool of his own blood, which had poured out of three bullet holes in his chest. She fell to her knees, frantically trying to push the blood back into his body, pounding his chest as she tried to restart his bloodless heart, tears staining her cheeks. She looked around her, searching for someone to help and had to hold back a scream. Burke was standing over them, a smoking gun pointed at Owen's chest.

She screamed. She felt warm hands gripping her arms but she couldn't see them. She could see nothing but Burke's gun and Owen's bloodless body. She could hear nothing but her screaming. Someone was shaking. She barely noticed.

"Cristina!"

A man was yelling her name. She didn't stop screaming. Suddenly, the noise was cut of as someone pressed their lips against her own. She was so shocked that her voice caught in her throat. She blinked and saw Owen's blue eyes extremely close to her own. She felt his hands gripping her cheeks roughly. His lips were extremely warm. His cheeks were flushed with warm blood. He released her mouth from his and she collapsed into his chest. He lay on his side, pulling her with him. She rested her ear against his heart, wanting to hear its steady beat against her ear. His arms wrapped around her tightly and he stroked her back with one hand, murmuring into her hair all the while, soothing her. Her tears wetted his shirt but he said nothing. She clutched to his shirt in her hands, trying to remain as close to him and his heartbeat as possible. They lay there until for hours. The first fingers of dawn began to push through the edges of the curtains. Her mind was still filled with the images of last night. Whenever they began to overwhelm her she pressed herself closer to Owen and focused on his heartbeat, listening to each part of it. Late diastole, atrial systole, isovolumic ventricular contraction, ventricular ejection, isovolumic ventricular relaxation. She chanted this to herself as the heart pulsed until she felt calm again. Eventually, as the light leaking through the gaps in the curtains lit the room, the alarm next to the bed began its shrill ring. She felt Owen lean across her and turn it off. He returned his arm to her back and kissed the top of her head.

"Cristina," he whispered.

She lifted her face so that she could look him in the eyes. "I love you," she whispered back, then stretched to press her lips gently against his.

"I love you," he replied when they broke apart. Hearing the familiar words from him comforted her. She braced herself before sitting up. The blood rushed to her head and she had to remain still as her vision went black and the dizziness made her sway slightly. When it had passed, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Owen took her hand and led her into the kitchen.

A/N: So there we are. I think we all know what I want you to do. Review!