[Next day]

[Alex]

Alex groaned and plodded his arm around wildly. Where is this freaking alarm? When he finally got the obnoxious beeping silenced, he rolled onto his back and yawned widely, rubbing his eyes, trying to organize his mind. He looked up to the white ceiling, thinking. Where the hell am I? Alex padded his arm around the bed clumsily, looking for a reason why he was in a strange bedroom. Nobody. Alright, what day is it? What time? Where the hell am I? Alex scrunched up his face and looked around, slowly rising up to a position propped onto his elbows. Ughh, Baltimore, right. Alex plopped back down again, putting a pillow over his head, groaning loudly. Why did I do this again? Alex tossed around like a young child not wanting to get up and go to school. Suddenly he sat up straight and looked at his alarm again. 7.18 a.m. on Thursday, 22nd of November. Dutifully but unwillingly he threw the pillow aside and wrestled with the sheets to get up. He stomped into the bathroom and looked at his face. His eyes were all puffy from sleep and the side of his face had an imprint of those stupid hotel sheets. He walked into the shower and turned it on, immediately feeling better when the ice cold water trickled down from the top of his head towards his toes. He stretched again and yawned before soaping himself. Why? Why do I always have to please those people at the hospital so badly? Oh yeah, easy one, because you told yourself you don't wanna disappoint any more people…and your mentor Arizona actually believes in you…that's why you're her bitch now… Alex turned off the faucet and shook off the remaining water drops, stepping out and rubbing himself dry. Does that mean you're gonna do everything and anything now for her or them? Things you hate doing, things you're not even sure you're capable of doing? Oh, come on, Alex, you're capable of presenting a straight-forward, uncomplex piece of work you have created. You are at least capable of doing that. Right? The doctor walked back into the bedroom, getting some boxers and socks, before putting on a white button up shirt and some black slacks. Business casual. Whatever. Alex sighed and went back to dry his hair and brush his teeth. Don't think about it too much. Just tell them what you did. Chronologically. Use numbers, they impress. Tell them all the good things about it. But also tell them how hard it is and what the system dictates and prohibits sometimes. Tell them how awesome you are. Yeah, yeah, get out of my head, Robbins. Oh, and show them the pictures, people are suckers for pictures, even doctors. Oh, oh, I love the one with you holding Zola, Dumi and Faye, that's my favorite. Put it in the presentation. Will you? I said get out of my head! Alex fought with the tie Arizona was making him wear and cursed. Stupid tie. Stupid speech. Stupid all of them. Alex grabbed his sweater and jacket, pocketing his wallet and phone before rushing out of his room, immediately running into Arizona.

"Alex," she beamed at him. "You look terrific," she complimented him.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, rushing on, walking besides her towards the elevator, waiting.

"Are you prepared?"

"No," he grunted.

"Excuse me?" Alex rolled his eyes.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Oh, ok," Arizona laughed. "You had me for a second there. I was like… did you actually go down to the bar last night and got really drunk?" she smiled at him, Alex tapped his fingers on his thigh impatiently, averting his eyes from hers. "You nervous?"

"Whatever," he gave her back dismissively.

"Don't be. You'll be great. Did you put the picture in?" Arizona inquired when the door dinged open and they boarded an elevator full of completely drained looking interns. Arizona got distracted with her question, looking at Murphy, Velasquez and Shields. "What happened to you?" she asked them in a dangerously quiet voice. None of them said anything, Leah just leaned her head against the silver lined elevator wall, sighing. Alex scrunched up his face, scrutinizing them before looking over at their chief resident who spoke.

"They all went out drinking last night," she told them straight-faced.

"I'm appalled I actually chose you people to represent our hospital," Robbins just said, making Alex snort. She snapped over at him with a pissed look on her face.

"Well, what did you expect, told you they were idiots," Alex just ranted, his mood worsening by the minute. "Why does this crap elevator take this long?" he was frustrated. He started to loosen up his tie again, wriggling it around. When he looked down it was all messed up again, making him groan.

"That looks horrible, fix it," Arizona had adopted the exact same mood. When they walked out, Arizona led them over to the entrance and looked at them with a scary face. "If one of you," she pointed her finger at every single one of the interns, "only slightly embarrasses me today, you're done, I promise you," she hissed. "Say one word to one person, and you're done for," she added.

"What if we're being asked," Velasquez interjected. Arizona looked ready to kill.

"Do not interrupt me," she barked at him. "Do not say one word. I expect you all in Dr. Karev's and my lecture. And I expect you all to go to at least four more before we leave tomorrow, I want reports later on. Do not think you can get away with sleeping through them today," she raised her eyebrows dangerously high, before walking away. Upon looking back at Alex, she sighed and called back at him. "Meet you out there in 5. And fix that tie, will you," she snapped, snorting mad.

"Does it look like I'm not," Alex finally lost his patience, groaning. The three hung over interns stared at him weirdly. "Oh, get lost," he snarked at them. They slowly walked away leaving the chief resident, that Ortho intern and Wilson. The latter who had watched that entire scene quietly, walked up towards him and reached out for his tie, making Alex scrunch up his face.

"Come here," she said soberly, undoing the knot and redoing it. Alex was so pissed; he could barely stand her fixing his tie so he looked around impatiently. "Stand still," he heard her say.

"I didn't ask you to do this," he hissed at her, making her look up at him with a wild glare and hush him, instantly going back to work on the perfect knot. Ugh, just get on with it, will you. Nobody cares about that stupid tie anyways.

"So, you went drinking with her last night?" Jo asked him saucily, but in a low tone, not to make the other two notice. Alex looked down at her, feeling anger spill over again.

"Oh, shut it already," he was slowly seething.

"What? Just asking," she mocked him with a smile.

"I didn't. I sent her away," he replied dismissively, making her chuckle. "Thanks for that, by the way," he told her grumpily.

"Oh, sorry, didn't know dishing out was fine but taking it afterwards too much to ask. My bad," she looked at him with an unimpressed face and lowered her arms. "Done," she told him, walking away. Stupid chick. Thinks she's so smart. Ugh.

They drove over to the hospital, getting to the lecture hall and prepared their presentation. Time seemed to have stopped, it felt to Alex like his scheduled lecture wouldn't and wouldn't be done with. He watched as the rows filled and spotted the interns taking their seats. He responded to Arizona's questions and orders whereas he could only hear them from afar. The voices were quiet and even though he knew the noise level had to be way up, he couldn't make it out. When was the last time you spoke before hundreds and hundreds of people? Alex sighed, going through rows and rows of people, trying to depict their faces. Excitement, anticipation, suspense, interest, fascination. Never. Well, in front of medical committees and the likes… but he had never really done a speech amongst fellow surgeons. Alex walked up on the stage with Arizona by his side who did the welcome speech and he dutifully raised his hand in greeting when he heard his name and smiled. After that he stepped aside a bit and leaned against the table, listening to Arizona talk about their department. Well, you're watching, not listening. You can't make out one word she's saying. She's looking over to you. Is she talking to you?

"Right, Alex?"

She's actually talking to you. Huh. There's an audience of hundreds of people.

"Absolutely, yes," he replied, giving her a bright smile. Arizona reciprocated the sentiment but he could see in her eyes that she had spotted his weak knees, scrunching up her eyebrows the tiniest bit, silently asking him if he was okay. He just smiled and nodded tinily, making her go back to her presentation. He took a long gulp of his water bottle. He could hear applause. Oh, great. It's your turn. Are you ready? Ha! Fun times. You're supposed to present your project now. Arizona is holding out her arm, I guess that means she just handed the audience's attention over to you. Alright, breathe. What is it you're going to say first? Alex stood up straight and walked over to where Arizona stood, smiling at her and then looking at the audience, all staring up at him expectantly. Arizona walked off the spotlight and he was all alone. Silence. He searched the audience, waiting. Right, it's my turn. They're waiting for me. "My name's Alex Karev, I'm a Pediatric Fellow at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital," he started slowly, not knowing what to say. His eyes wandered over the people, halting at a familiar face. I know her. I'll look at her. Wilson gave him wide eyes and slowly moved her head towards him, raising her eyebrows, asking him to get it on, please. Right, my speech. She nodded at him, smiling a fake smile. Alex chuckled and scratched his eyebrow before looking back to the presentation on the screen. That horrible picture of Zola, Dumi, Faye and me. How many things was he planning to do to please his superiors and colleagues until it was too much?

[Jo]

What the hell are you doing? Talk, for God's sake! Come on, talk. Jo watched her superior's eyes flit over the people. Don't think about it. Don't think about all those people. Come on, Karev. You're better than this. These are just people. You usually don't care about what the hell you say to anyone. Come on! Yes, move your eyes over towards me, come on. Jo waited impatiently until finally, he did look at her. Alright, if you can read my thoughts now, you'll know that I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't start talking right now. She smiled a creepy fake smile. He chuckled. Okay? Then he faced away, looking at his presentation. Jo sighed, crossing her arms in front of her body and sank down into her chair, letting go of a long, calming breath. His whole... behavior and demeanor and just everything about him was becoming more and more confusing day after day.

"When you first go into medicine, you rarely think about what you're gonna do with your competences once you acquire them, right?" Jo's eyes snapped up as she heard Karev finally start talking, looking a lot more relaxed now. She sighed and couldn't help but smile. Idiot, she thought to herself, biting her lip when she felt excitement rise in her guts. For his speech. Only for his speech. "Anybody here who had big dreams on their first day of being an intern?" Karev asked into the audience. Jo looked around – whoa, lots of raised hands. "Anybody here who realized those exact dreams of day one," he asked further. Jo looked again. Wow, very few hands. Alex laughed, so did she. "Anybody here who had big dreams, but mind you, different ones, after the first, say, 72 hours?" There was some general chuckling in the audience and lots of people raised their hands again. "Okay, this is going nowhere," the presenting doctor concluded, making them laugh again. "I could probably ask this for every day of medical school, every day of one's internship, residency, fellowship and so on," he listed, making a lot of people nod. "Let me ask you this, then. Anyone here, who actually came into a med school program, had a dream, realized that exact dream…," he asked, looking around. Heads turned slowly, no hands. He smiled. "I have no clue how I wanted to save the world in med school," he started, people laughing amicably. "But when I started my internship, I wanted to be a plastic surgeon so bad," he paused. Jo smiled, raising her eyebrows. Well, there's something that's not vastly surprising. "I was terribly arrogant back then, and there was no way I was going to wear a pink gown ever, even if it were benefitting my patients," he winked. The audience was under a spell. "Then I met Dr. Montgomery, I guess every single one of you knows who that is," he paused again, looking around. Lots of nods. I didn't know she'd been at Seattle Grace. Interesting. "She taught me better. So did Dr. Robbins over here. Three years later, I had never done a liposuction but I met those three kiddos," he pointed his thumb up on the screen. "And they sure did grow on me," Jo had to smile.

Where in the world had that come from? He was… he was talking Peds… right? Yeah, that's his Peds talk he was doing. He's never that nice and charming when around people his own age. He was imagining an audience full of kids, making jokes, telling embarrassing stories about himself, being all charming, he was imagining kids for sure. Jo listened to Karev dive into the project, explaining horrifying numbers and depicting diseases, showing examples and dropping names. She watched as the crowd was completely mesmerized by the depth of that project, the importance of the existence of Dr. Alex Karev's work. Jo smiled again. You really know how, huh? It was amazing, it really was. Jo had never in her life even dreamed of Alex Karev having achieved something like that. Starting during his residency! Phew! That much about him being that shallow callboy having spent his first few years of his medical training in the on call rooms... image busted.

"And that's why I'm pleading with people every day to put their money on the successors of Zola, Dumi and Faye instead of liposuction… well," he shrugged. "Cause...um... I really like my job and... who cares about your love handles, right? Thank you," he said, smiling. Jo was startled by the intensity of the applause, people getting up to cheer and show him respect for his work. Wow. Karev, you surprise me. Nothing like the shallow, grumpy asshole I expected you to be. About this anyways. I mean, you're still an asshole, I'll give you that… but you're not shallow at all, nuh-uh, not at all. Not that I doubted that after what happened with Elijah… but sometimes… sometimes you're just so complicated… Jo got up, too, smiling when she watched Robbins and Karev walk off the stage and mingle with the other doctors, all grasping for them, demanding more information, more numbers, more kids, more diseases, more treatments. Jo packed up her stuff and withdrew quietly from the group of interns, making her way. She spent her last day in Baltimore picking out the most interesting and also inventive talk subjects and sat all through them, taking notes, asking questions, drawing up her own dreams in her mind. When it was getting dark and the conference started to die down, Jo looked around, making sure she wouldn't be seen sneaking away, walking towards the harbor. When she looked down at her watch, she sighed. She still had about 30 minutes. That should work, she was already turning onto East Pratt. There were numerous things, Jo couldn't figure out at the moment. It seemed to be an especially complicated month for her. But what she was about to do, she sure had not been able to figure out if it'd turn out right or wrong. At least until now. Was she gonna go in or not? Jo turned onto Light Street and narrowed her eyes upon seeing the red and blue sign.

Well, she wasn't going to figure it out until she had walked in and found out.

[Andrew]

Andrew sat in a booth by the window, watching the small waves crash against the dock. He drummed his fingers on the table impatiently, smiling at the waitress that had just brought over his beer. He took a sip and sighed. Was she gonna show up? What was she gonna look like? What were they gonna talk about? Was she gonna bring up the old story again? Gah, why in the world had she asked him to come here… this officially… why couldn't she just have taken some time off and visited as she usually did. Or not. Andrew frowned. She hadn't visited in years. He let go of a long held breath, letting all the frustration and hurt flow away from him.

"Drew," he startled upon hearing her voice a few steps behind him to the right. She was early. He turned his head and looked her up and down, slowly getting up himself.

"Well, well," he snarled. "Look who's made it back from doctor's camp," he teased her before adopting a smile to his face, watching her meticulously. She was smiling cautiously, sighing and waiting for him to be done with his ritual. They would never see eye to eye. But she was still Jo. That would never change. He rolled his eyes and held out his arms, making her step closer and wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Hey," he whispered, kissing her head and holding her close.

"Hey yourself," she whispered back, her face buried deep into his chest. When they parted, they looked at each other sheepishly and sat down, Jo opposite the table from him, looking straight at him. She got off her coat and put her purse aside, adjusting her hair, nervously it seemed.

"So," he started with a slight cough. "How have you been?" Jo smiled at him politely, he knew that.

"I've been great," she chucked out. Liar. "What about you?"

"Awesome," he replied in the same tone of voice. The young woman raised her eyebrows and looked at him as if she was bored, smiling though.

"Really? That's what it's gonna be like?" she asked him audaciously. Yeah, you'll never change. Always hiding your face but never accepting the other's lie.

"Well, I'm just trying to be level here," he told her straight faced. Jo sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Where is everyone?"

"Aquarium," he answered dutifully. Jo nodded and grinned mischievously.

"You hiding out?"

"Um, duh," he gave her back, getting infected with her chuckles.

"Can't blame you," she agreed with him. Andrew tried to depict Jo's face. She was making an effort, he could see that. So can you, you know.

"So, this conference," he pointed out, taking a drag of his beer. "What's it about?"

"Pediatric surgery," Jo answered, getting distracted with the waitress rounding on her. "Hi, Margarita on the rocks, extra limes, please," she smiled at the lady before turning back to look at her company.

"Whoa, whoa, aren't you on the job?" Andrew mocked her.

"Does it look like I'm on the job right now?" she gave him back dismissively. He grunted. "And anyways, I believe I have seen you drink beer on the job," she accused him.

"I'm not hacking any people open though," he argued. "And beer's light weight. Tequila though…," he trailed off. They stared at each other. When Jo looked down, he knew momentarily what she was going to say. "Listen," he immediately tried to steer her away from that topic, raising his hands to soothe her.

"Did you read it at least?" Andrew sighed.

"I did. I did not change my mind, however," he informed her.

"Look, Drew, it's not your sole choice anymore. You're not alone in this. I'm in this too. We both get to vote. And Danny does too. And to be fair, even Carly gets a say. It's not your choice anymore," she tried to make him see. Right, aaaand we're back to where we stopped last time.

"Well, it's not your sole choice either. And since this isn't choosing from the variety of shrimps we have offered here or a question of where Carly will go to school, I'm saying, our votes should be unanimous," he told her, as he had told her in the past. Jo stared at him with those eyes.

"It's cruel, you know," she told him quietly.

"Well, I say the same about your idea," he responded just as quietly. They sat in silence for a bit before Andrew made out the distant sound of the restaurant door opening and a squeal. He closed his eyes, listening to Jo getting up and subsequently perceiving the sound of a face smothering into her chest. He opened up his eyes and met Jo's who was hugging Carly tightly but still observing him.

"Hey sweetheart," she murmured, kissing her head repeatedly, rubbing her back. "Hey," she shushed when she realized Carly was losing tears. "Hey, calm down, I'm here now, aren't I?" Jo soothed the younger one, holding her at arm's length and studying her. She took one hand and wiped the tears away, making Carly smile. "How have you been, baby?"

"Well, not so great," Carly plopped down where Jo had initially been sitting, already starting her teenage bitching. Jo chuckled quietly, making the other one smile, before she moved over to hug Dan tightly without saying anything for a long while. When they parted, Jo looked at him sadly.

"How are you, Danny?"

"I'm great," he answered, averting his eyes and sitting down next to Andrew. Jo's eyes flitted over towards the last two people of the group.

"You remember Sally," Andrew offered, making them both smile.

"Of course, hey," Jo said, giving the other woman a friendly hug. "And you must be Lyla," he watched as Jo bent down a little to take the baby's fat hand into hers and greet her. Lyla smiled as she always did. When they all got settled, the chattering began. Andrew barely listened to everyone talk onto Jo. What has she been doing, why hasn't she been home for so long, what's happening in her life, does she have a boyfriend, will she stay for longer, can we meet her co-workers, what's the most exciting surgery she has been on, is she watching the all new Scandal, did she get a haircut - what a stupid question to ask after years of not seeing her – blah blah blah. Andrew sipped at his beer, smiled and nodded politely and participated in the conversation at hand. He watched Jo wriggle her way through the interview gracefully. Awkwardly at times, but mostly gracefully. She knew how, she had learned soon enough. Disclosure? None. Andrew wasn't even sure he himself even knew her. Him of all people. He wasn't sure. The waitress served their crab cakes and onion strings, their shrimps and their jambalayas, they ate and joked and had a good time. Andrew was just ordering another beer when the mood tilted.

"So, when are you gonna come visit with dad?" Danny asked her bluntly. Andrew sighed and put his face into his hands, Jo lapsed into silence. When he looked up at her, she looked deeply grieved. She took a deep breath before answering.

"I don't know," she replied. "I don't know if I'm…," she halted, very interested in her fingernails all of a sudden. "I don't know," she shrugged, looking up.

"He misses you, you know," Carly breathed out. Andrew watched Jo close her eyes as if in pain or irritation or something in between and shook her head, madly.

"He doesn't, Carly, don't make this something that's not," she told her off harshly. Carly looked taken aback.

"I don't get it, Jo," Danny looked her square in the eye. "When did you stop caring about dad?" Jo looked up at the ceiling, seemingly grasping for words. When she looked back down, she chuckled, humorlessly though.

"I did not stop caring about dad," she stated. "He stopped being dad a long time ago," she explained her motives.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Danny blew up. Andrew immediately put an arm out and looked at him sharply to quiet down.

"Look," Jo tried again but he interrupted her thought.

"Told you we have different takes on things over here," Andrew prompted her. Jo leaned back, looking at him without any emotion visible on her face. "We can't all be hot shot doctors, right?" he smiled mockingly, letting go of Danny, both taking long gulps of their beers.

"What has that got to do with anything?" Jo asked him, her voice sounding put off.

"Well, have you actually read what you sent us the other week," Andrew came back. She nodded. "We had a hard time decoding it, let's just say," he told her. Jo sighed. They stared at each other. "Look, Jo, you decided a long time ago that you wanted to live a different life than we do, just… let it go, will you? What does it do to you if we're doing it our way if you don't plan to see him ever again anyways?" Jo leaned forward a bit, disbelief apparent on her features.

"What is it to me? What does it do to me? You have got to be freaking kidding me, Andrew," Jo finally lost her patience. She laughed madly, shaking her head in disbelief. "What does it do to me, ha," she murmured to herself. "You actually think I don't care if he's dead or alive? Do you? Do you actually think I don't give a crap? You know what… fuck it. I tried to be civil, I tried to be nice, I tried to be fucking patient, but this is enough. When did you get this arrogant, Andrew, huh? When in the world did you start priding yourself as the king of everyone, everything, every decision? You act like I'm nothing to you, nothing to him, you act like I don't even belong to you. Like I'm a character from a fairy tale that everybody knows from the distant past but nobody likes to talk or think about, let alone take for real? Are you freaking kidding me? Will you ever forgive me that I moved away and went to college? Will you ever forgive me for becoming a doctor? I have been through just as much as you have and," at this she held out her hand since she knew Andrew was gonna object, "nobody asked you to take on all the responsibility, Andrew, nobody did. I'm deeply grateful that you did but do not ever play that card again, ever, you hear me. We all went through the same crap. I did too. He's my dad too. I love him just as much as you do. But he is gone, do you hear me? He has been gone for a long time. Too long," Jo stressed that last part.

"And that's where you get it wrong," Andrew sighed. Jo rolled her eyes and gulped, looking at Carly and then Danny.

"You won't even listen to me, will you?" she asked dejectedly.

"We have listened to you, Jo," Danny interjected their heated conversation. They all looked unhappy. Andrew was hurting. So bad, he thought he might never recover. Why would she think like that? Why?

"I guess I'll keep my opinion to myself from now on," she said, waving towards the waitress.

"No, Jo, don't go just yet," Carly begged her. Jo faced her, smiling a fake smile. Andrew could see her eyes glazed over though.

"I gotta, honey," she said, soothingly, as always. "Gotta get up early tomorrow morning, catch a flight, you know," she winked at her, kissing her cheek. She looked around for the waitress again.

"It's fine, Jo, I'll take care of it," Andrew told her.

"I don't want that," Jo replied, reaching over towards Lyla and tickled her belly. "Bye, baby girl," she giggled at the baby who grabbed Jo's hair with her fat baby hands. She said her goodbyes to Sally and got up, the guys imitating her. Danny walked over to hug her, silently. She avoided his gaze upon parting and stood before Andrew, getting out forty dollars and put them on the table.

"Come on, Jo," he begged her to leave it be.

"No," she just said, looking up at his face, putting on her coat. "I'll see you soon," she added when he just looked at her. He acknowledged that with a grunt. He knew it was a lie. When they hugged, Andrew held her a little longer than usual, not letting her go. She wouldn't do him the favor of matching their eyes after saying goodbye, only smiling at the people around the table. She took a deep breath, shouldering her purse. "Kiss him for me," she whispered, not directing it to anyone really, before walking out of Bubba Gump's and they watched her distance herself swiftly, as they had done so many times the last few years.