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Mercy West Medical Center was considered a top ten teaching hospital in the nation. Not in the state of Washington but in the entire country. However, there was one other hospital who almost always outdid them in every way possible. The name?

Seattle Grace Hospital. Over at the other side of town was another teaching hospital with respected surgeons like Mercy West. But they were a Level I Trauma Center, which meant they got all of the fascinating trauma cases. They were Mercy West's biggest rival, considering Seattle Grace was known to steal their patients before they even arrived at their ER.

At least there was one thing they had that Seattle Grace didn't – an Avery working at their hospital.

Jackson was assigned to suture duty in the pit along with April and Charles. But it was a quiet day in the ER, so there weren't many patients to stitch up. Without any patients to tend to, it meant they sat around basically doing nothing. Well, almost nothing. Zach was working downstairs with them, so he and April spent their free time wisely.

It had been two weeks since Nurse Rock Star won over the redhead's heart at Schmo's. They were dating, but Jackson was grateful that he hadn't seen them kissing, if they even did that. He couldn't tell since April was all about professionalism at work, so any signs of PDA with her new boyfriend were never seen. But they spent a lot of time together, meeting up for lunch or simply chatting by the nurses' station. And occasionally, Zach gave the pretty boy a specific smirk that made him want to punch his face in. In his mind, he may have been a nice man, but he could also come off as an arrogant prick.

He silently observed the couple, who were sitting beside each other on an empty hospital bed with their backs facing him. Seated next to Charles on another bed, he watched April let out one of her adorable giggles after Zach said something he couldn't decipher. It probably wasn't even funny. And the whole time, he had been ignoring his roommate's rambles about some guy who operated on a police officer in an elevator at Seattle Grace.

"I bet it was totally badass," Charles continued, not even noticing Jackson hadn't been listening to him. "And dude was a freaking intern. Why don't we get to experience anything cool like that?"

He punched his roommate's arm after he realized Jackson was lost in thought. "Hey, Avery. Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Huh?" Jackson spun his head towards Charles and cleared his throat. "Badass intern or whatever."

"You've been acting weird as hell since Kepner started dating that nurse," he pointed out, gazing over at April and Zach. "You constantly stare at them like you're dying for a threesome with them."

"Shut up, that's not it," Jackson retorted, elbowing Charles' side. Half of his feelings were overprotective and the other half was jealousy. He was beginning to understand how she felt whenever his world revolved around Rachel. It was the other way around now. And it sucked for him. "I can't trust that guy for whatever reason. Something has to be wrong with him."

Charles chuckled and shook his head. "Are you always paranoid when you're jealous?" He brushed off the scowl on Jackson's face, gesturing his hand towards April. "So you find out she had a crush on you and you suddenly decide to have the hots for her? Or are you falling for her because she's with someone else and you can't have her?"

"What? I'm not falling for her."

"That's the worst bullshit that's come out of your mouth since I met you," he scoffed. "You're not fooling any of us, Avery. Even my drunk ass at Schmo's figured it out a couple of weeks ago. It makes sense, man. You suddenly dump Rachel after you were a horndog for like a month? No guy just dumps a hot girl like that for no reason."

"I did have my reasons," Jackson murmured. He stared down at his shoes as he dangled his legs back and forth. "She was becoming a pain in the ass. Reed also knocked some sense into me."

"Yeah, by telling you April had feelings for you," Charles added, grinning at him. "Heard you two arguing when Trevor and I were waiting outside of the ER. Be honest with me. What is it about April that you like?"

Jackson sighed as he looked up at his roommate. "A lot of things. I was just too stupid and blind to realize how good of a friend she actually is." He softly groaned. "I should've read her notebook when I had the chance."

"Oh, yeah. Then she'd really want you after that," his fellow intern sarcastically replied.

Swanson arrived at the pit appearing more disgruntled than ever. She stood beside her two male interns with her arms folded. "I really hate my roommate. She's a resident at Seattle Grace and last night, they got a bunch of trauma. Some train accident brought in dozens of patients, including two people impaled by the same pole. That bitch," she complained.

Charles smirked at the blonde resident. "You're rooming with a Seattle Grace doctor? Does she know the heart in an elevator guy?"

"Yes. Heard he's a doofus like you," she quipped, eliciting a laugh from Jackson. "And you know what else sucks? We should've gotten those patients because the accident happened much closer to us. But since they're a Level I and we're only Level II, they got them."

"If they're so great, why didn't you do your residency there?" Jackson asked.

"Because… Seattle Grace is to Harvard as Mercy West is to Columbia," Swanson said, comparing the two programs. "I'm not a crowd follower. The sheep flock to Seattle Grace, but Mercy West is also an excellent program."

"I wonder what makes them so much better, though."

A light bulb suddenly turned on inside of Swanson's head. "I have an idea," she stated and pointed at Jackson. "I'm sending you out to do some off-campus work for me. Our attendings are always trying to figure out ways to make our hospital run better, so your job is to visit Seattle Grace and try to find ideas to steal from them."

Jackson nervously laughed. "Me?" He nodded his head towards Charles. "Why can't you send Percy?"

Swanson took a brief glance at Charles before looking back at Jackson. "Like I said, I'm sending you out to do some off-campus work for me. It's either this or rectal exams for the rest of the day."

"Fine, fine. I'll go," he said, rolling his eyes. "But I should have a partner in crime. We don't want anybody over there suspecting us, you know?"

Charles shrugged. "I can go-"

Jackson covered his roommate's mouth with his hand, then he used his other hand to point at April. "I think Kepner should go with me," he suggested. Anything to drag her away from Nurse Rock Star for a while. "After all, she's your most reliable intern."

Swanson nodded in agreement, giving Jackson a quick pat on the back. "Good thinking, Avery." She smiled as she approached April and Zach. "Oh, Kepner…"


"Jackson, this is a bad idea," April complained as she entered the main lobby of Seattle Grace with Jackson. She was sporting a fake baby bump underneath a maternity shirt Swanson forced her to wear. "And for the record, this is a real empathy belly. It weighs like 30 pounds!"

"Swanson wanted us to look like a believable, expecting couple. Just suck it up," Jackson said, resting his hand against her lower back. He scanned the lobby for their tour guide. "She said a doctor would be waiting for us here. So… where's our doctor?"

She pointed at a blonde doctor standing alone with her hands inside of her pockets. "Maybe her."

They walked towards the doctor, who took notice of them. She smiled and extended out her hand. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Guppy. I'm Dr. Isobel Stevens. I'll be giving you a tour of some of our facilities," she introduced herself.

Jackson shook Izzie's hand. "Yup… that's us. The guppies," he sheepishly replied. He figured Swanson would give them a ridiculous name to go by. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Stevens."

"Follow me," Izzie ordered as she led them to the elevators. "So, how far along are you, Mrs. Guppy?"

"Umm… eight months?" April glanced at Jackson, who quickly shrugged his shoulders. "Eight months."

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" she asked, while they entered an open elevator. Both Mercy Westers responded with different sexes at the same time, causing her to look at them confused. "You're having twins?"

April waved her hand and nervously laughed. "Oh, no. My husband really wanted our first born to be a boy, but we're having a girl," she insisted, playfully slapping Jackson's chest. "He's in denial. Uhh, little Delilah Guppy is her name."

Jackson smirked at her. "Delilah? I thought we were naming her, uhh… Japril."

"Combining the parents' names? I don't think so," the redhead scoffed. "I'm surprised you didn't suggest Jackson for her name since you're so in love with yourself."

"Come again?" he replied, appearing offended.

"So, what do you two do for a living?" Izzie decided to break the tension and intervened.

Jackson pointed at himself. "I am a… teacher. I teach history."

Izzie softly laughed. "A teacher? No offense, but I wasn't expecting you to be a teacher. I know, I know. I sound extremely shallow right now, but then again, people say I don't look like a surgeon."

"He used to be a stripper," April added, slyly grinning at Jackson.

"Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrow. "I suppose I'm not surprised."

"As a matter of fact, my dear wife used to be one too," Jackson chimed in, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He smiled back at April, who slightly glared at him. "We met at a… stripper convention. Actually, she was performing on the pole. And I must say, she had very and I mean, very strong legs. She was dressed as a Catholic school girl-"

He grunted after his fake wife elbowed him in the gut. She forced herself to laugh as Izzie eyed them curiously.

"So, you said you're a surgeon?" April decided to change the subject. "How long have you been working here?"

"A few months. It's my first year here. I'm just an intern," Izzie cheerfully answered. "But we got some pretty awesome cases last night in the ER. Well, I probably shouldn't call them awesome because people died, but we get something interesting every day. Like, I've seen people come in with conditions I didn't know existed."

"Speaking of the ER, will we get a chance to see that?" Jackson inquired. "You know, in case one of us ends up there for whatever reason. I want to ensure we'll be taken care of efficiently."

Izzie slowly nodded as she stepped out of the elevator. "Sure, although this tour mainly consists of the maternity unit and meeting our newest OB/GYN. She's also a neonatal surgeon. Probably the best ever," she said, turning around to face the pretend couple. "Plus, you two have a free Lamaze class with other expectant couples afterwards."

April looked at Jackson concerned, while they followed Izzie down a hallway. "Swanson never said anything about a Lamaze class," she whispered with wide eyes. "I'm not really pregnant, remember?"

Jackson smirked at her. "But you still gave our nonexistent baby a name," he murmured. "Delilah?"

"At least it sounded better than Japril," she playfully retorted. "And I'm the last person you'll see dancing on a stripper pole. I so do not have stripper legs to begin with. I don't have a stripper bone in my body."

"Well, what's with blurting out that I'm in love with myself?"

"I'm trying to get inside of a pregnant woman's head. I thought maybe one with raging hormones would take shots at her husband," she explained. April giggled as she grinned at Jackson. "Don't take it so literally, Mr. Guppy."

Jackson sighed as she walked a few steps ahead of him to catch up with Izzie. All of the teasing and joking around between them was fun, but it also made him feel worse because at the end of the day, he had to remind himself that she was dating someone else.


"Slowly breathe in and exhale," the Lamaze instructor said as she watched all of the expecting women practice their breathing. "Good, good. You're all doing great."

Jackson couldn't help but quietly laugh at April for taking the exercise seriously, though she only did it to avoid getting caught. He sat directly behind her with his hands resting on the fake belly. His face was merely inches away from her face and her backside was practically rubbing against the front of his jeans. It was torture.

"So…" he started to ask while the Lamaze instructor was on the opposite side of the room. "You and Zach are getting pretty serious now."

April turned her head to smirk at Jackson. "It's only been two weeks. It's anything but serious," she chuckled. They hadn't talked about his break up with Rachel. She only heard from Reed that he lied about cheating to finally get rid of her, though she had no idea why. "Umm… how are you doing since you and Rachel- are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Girlfriends come and go. No big deal," he unenthusiastically replied. "She just wasn't who I thought she was. Better to escape before I get trapped, right?"

"I guess," she answered with a shrug. "I suppose I know what you mean, realizing the person you're with is someone else. Although, I was the one getting dumped. I'm trying not to place high expectations with Zach. Who knows how he'll feel about me a month from now?"

"From the looks of it, he seems very much into you," Jackson bitterly said, rolling his eyes. "Does he get to read your red notebook?"

April shook her head. "I don't let anybody read it – intentionally, anyway." She shifted her seating position and softly groaned. The empathy belly was taking a toll on her. "My back's killing me. I can't wait to ditch this thing."

Jackson moved his hands to her lower back and started to massage it. "Do you mind?"

"Nope," she sighed, closing her eyes and smiling. "Just what I need right now. Thank you."

He leaned forward, taking in the scent of her shampoo. It had a hint of vanilla and honey mixed together. She seemed to be enjoying it based on the faint moans coming out of her mouth. In terms of practicing her breathing, she wasn't kidding around anymore. The massage she was receiving from her friend felt really good. She needed to control herself, but he made it hard for her.

She immediately raised her hand. "I need to use the restroom," she yelped, pushing herself up from the mat they were sitting on. The redhead adjusted her top before rushing out of the room.

Jackson jumped up to his feet and followed her out into the hallway. April was pacing back and forth when he approached her. "Is everything okay?"

"Why don't we sneak down to the ER?" she suggested, ignoring his question. Smiling brightly at him, she grabbed his wrist and led him down the hallway. "All we have to do is find the nearest elevator and we're set."

They found an elevator and walked inside. Jackson leaned back against a railing, while April stood a foot in front of him. She was blushing, but she didn't want him to see that. Their moment in the Lamaze class was the closest they had ever been and she felt incredibly awkward about it. Zach was her chance to move on from him. She truly developed feelings for the nurse, but that freaking massage from her friend almost forced her to relapse.

She continued to tell herself that she wasn't Jackson's type. But she was Zach's. He was a sweet and caring guy with a beautiful singing voice. How could she not fall for him?

But Jackson was… Jackson. Despite her feelings for Zach, he was definitely not a Jackson Avery. Perhaps that was why she liked Nurse Rock Star. She wasn't insecure around him. He made her feel comfortable, unlike her gorgeous friend.

"So, uhh-" He watched her step out of the elevator when they reached the ER's floor. It was obvious she was slightly avoiding him. Following her into the pit, they stopped to observe the numerous doctors and nurses walking around in various directions. All of the beds were filled with patients. Some critical, some only suffering minor injuries. "This isn't fair."

"I know! Their scrubs look so much nicer than the orange ones we wear," she whined.

"I was talking about the fact that they're loaded with patients," he replied, folding his arms. "And it looks like the baby blue ones are the surgeons. They're wearing the same scrubs as Dr. Stevens. Also, the way they're fighting over patients makes it obvious."

April nodded as she stared at a Korean female surgeon fight with a guy who said the words "dude" and "freaking" a lot. "Their ER appears disorganized. At least we play fairly with our zones protocol," she pointed out. "We're not chaotic like they are."

The male surgeon fighting with the Korean came charging by, bumping into April in the process. "Dude, watch where you're going," he sternly said, scowling at her.

"Hey, I'm pregnant here!" she retorted.

"Do you need some help? If not, then get out of the freaking way," he angrily replied, walking away from her and mumbling to himself about a doctor named Yang stealing his patient.

Jackson glared at the man as he walked past them. "Douche," he muttered. He suddenly panicked when a familiar face appeared in the ER. "Oh, crap!"

April was caught off-guard by how quickly he rushed her away from the ER. "Jackson, what the hell are you doing?"

Peeking around the corner, he spotted an older African American man in navy blue scrubs standing nearby. "See that doctor over there?" he asked, pointing at the man. "That's Richard Webber. He's the Chief of Surgery here. He's friends with my mom and grandfather. I've met him in the past, so he can't see me."

"Webber? I think I've heard of that name," she said, taking a look at the Chief. "Is he a nice guy?"

"Yeah, I guess. My mother's been yearning to jump into his pants since my father left, but I'm pretty sure Webber's married," the pretty boy recalled. "Of course, she can't take no for an answer, so she'll probably keep bugging him until he gives in."

Now when she thought about it he rarely spoke of his father. She had heard many stories about Catherine Avery and her overbearing personality, which Jackson seemed to be quite annoyed with, but nothing on Harper Avery Jr. All she knew was he left the family during Jackson's teenage years.

"What happened to your dad?" she asked curiously. "You, umm… never told me what happened to him."

He looked back at her appearing uncomfortable and agitated. "He was a coward. Couldn't hack it as a surgeon and fled. That's all you need to know."

"Do you keep in touch?"

"My father chose not to, so no." Jackson motioned his hand to follow him as he walked down a hallway. "Let's find our way back to the lobby before someone catches us."

After ten minutes of wandering around, they returned to the main lobby of the hospital. They were greeted by Izzie, who was coming from another direction.

"Hey, guys. How was the Lamaze class?"

"Uneasy," April blurted out, drawing a confused look from Jackson. She forced herself to laugh as she gently patted her fake belly. "Little Delilah was pushing up against my boobs. Even the breathing exercises weren't helping. And my bladder was compromised."

"Oh, that's too bad, but you'll consider giving birth here, right?" Izzie inquired. "Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd was nice enough? While she's a fantastic doctor, her husband refers to her as Satan. It's pretty hilarious. Long story that I'm sure you couldn't care less about."

"What do you think about Mercy West?" April decided to ask. "I've heard their services are great as well."

Izzie softly laughed. "Yeah, they're good, but we're better. We have world renowned surgeons at this hospital and we're a Level I Trauma Center, so we get all of the best cases. Mercy West was my second choice, but I'm thankful to have gotten into Seattle Grace," she bragged. "Except my resident can be kind of intimidating. We call her The Nazi."

Jackson zoned out Izzie's gloating as his eyes wandered elsewhere. He spotted a small Inuit doll sitting on the counter of the nurses' station and swiftly swiped it, stuffing it inside of his jacket pocket without anybody noticing. It wasn't that he wanted to keep the doll. He simply felt like stealing something from the hospital.

A shorter man approached them, seeking information from Izzie. April tried to hide her face, but it was too late. He stared at her like he recognized her from somewhere.

"Hey, don't I know y-"

"No," she interrupted, biting down on her lower lip. It was that liar, George O'Malley. He must have seen her fake profile considering he immediately realized he had seen her before. "I-I I don't think we've ever met."

George shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure I've seen you on-" He paused, feeling just as embarrassed about joining an online dating website. "Y-you're April Kepner, the underwear model, but... you look much shorter than I thought."

April immediately waved her hand. "You're mistaken, umm…" She leaned forward to pretend to read George's name on his ID card. "Dr. O'Malley. I'm Nancy Guppy. I have no idea who this April Kepner you're speaking of is."

Izzie glanced back and forth between George and April. "What the hell is going on? George, do you two know each other?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Please don't tell me you gave her syphilis too and that's why she's in denial."

"Syphilis?" Jackson smirked at April, amused by the exchange happening between the redhead and the Seattle Grace intern. "Mrs. Guppy, who have you been sleeping with?"

"Nobody, I swear!" April shrieked and pointed at George. "He- he's a pathological liar or something. Maybe delusional. If you don't stop harassing me, my husband will kick your ass an-and I'll report you to your superior."

"George!" Izzie exclaimed, glaring at her coworker.

"She's the liar!" he insisted, pointing at April. "I saw your profile on eHarmony. I'm not hallucinating."

Jackson laughed. "What? I'm sorry, but I'm completely lost at the moment."

"So am I," Izzie agreed, raising her eyebrow at April. "So are you Mrs. Guppy or April Kepner?"

"I'm uhh… Jackson, run!" she yelled as she sprinted as hard as she could towards the exit, though her empathy belly made it difficult for her to run fast. Looking over her shoulder, Jackson was right behind her, while George and Izzie both watched them flee, appalled by what just happened.

They laughed hysterically at how terrible they were at being incognito when they reached the parking lot. Maybe if she hadn't seen George, they would have been fine. April climbed into the backseat of Jackson's car and immediately removed her maternity top.

"I need this empathy belly gone!" She practically ripped off the straps on the back before pulling the belly over her head. Letting out a sigh of relief, she placed her hands against her lower back. "I'm free."

Jackson faced forward, though he peeked at April's half-naked body through the rearview mirror. She was too caught up in being belly free that she forgot she was topless and sitting in the backseat in her bra. He hadn't seen her front side when he watched her change in the locker room that one time. Now that he had…

He clenched his steering wheel and cursed at himself in his mind for being a pervert. "Uhh… are you going to walk into Mercy West without a shirt on?"

She gasped and picked up her maternity shirt to cover herself up. "Don't look, okay?" the redhead shyly requested as she wore her top again.

Crawling into the passenger seat in the front, she wore her seatbelt and stared down at her shoes. She let her attractive friend see her half-naked, which may or may not be somewhat embarrassing for her. Not to mention she was wearing a white bra with lavender polka dots. That hardly screamed sexy to her at all. She adjusted her hair to hide the left side of her face and her blushing cheeks.

Using his free hand, Jackson reached inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out the Inuit doll. "Hey, I snatched this up from one of the nurses' stations. I doubt they'll miss it, let alone notice it's gone. Think of it as a little present for being my fake wife."

"Aww, it's so cute!" she squealed, taking the doll from him. "Thank you, fake husband. I'll name him… Little Jackman."

He smiled at her. "Little Jackman. Nice name. I like it."

Not Little Zachman or Little Rock Star. Little Jackman. He appreciated the fact that it only took her a few seconds to name the cheesy gift after him and not her new boyfriend.


"Wait, so that George guy recognized you from eHarmony?" Reed asked with a grin on her face as she sat beside April at the counter in Schmo's Bar.

"It was really strange and he pretty much blew our cover," April said, sharing a laugh with her roommate. She sipped her scotch and groaned. "And I seriously felt like I was pregnant. My feet are sore, my back aches so badly. That empathy belly was no joke."

Jackson was seated on the opposite side of April and placed his hand against her lower back, gently rubbing it. "You'll be fine. A little ice will cure that pain away." He softly laughed when she squirmed and turned her body away from him. "What?"

"Ticklish," she sheepishly replied before sipping her scotch again.

"So, what's this talk about eHarmony?" he asked intrigued. "You met George on that website?"

"Not necessarily." April nodded her head towards Reed. "She thought it'd be a good idea to sign me up and fill my profile with dozens of lies. Turned out, George also lied. He clearly wasn't 6'3" and I'm pretty sure he's an intern like us and not some great neurosurgeon."

"Tell us about Seattle Grace," her roommate demanded. "What was it like over there? Were they all gods and goddesses with light surrounding them wherever they went?"

Jackson chuckled. "No. They're just arrogant as hell. Their ER isn't all that either," he remarked. "We should be a Level I Trauma Center. Our organization skills are way more advanced than theirs. It's probably the badass surgeons they hired that make their hospital stand out."

Zach entered the bar, deflating the fun Jackson had been having since he and April left Seattle Grace. The nurse approached the threesome at the bar and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist from behind.

"Hey," he greeted, kissing her cheek.

Jackson pursed his lips, facing forward and drinking his glass of whiskey. Listening to April's perky voice greet him excitedly, he imagined himself smashing his glass over Zach's head. He had an enjoyable day with her, then Nurse Rock Star had to come in and ruin it. It didn't help when she slid off of her stool to go dance with him by the jukebox.

Reed watched her roommate slow dance with Zach. "Oh, look at her. She's so happy," she said, briefly checking to see Jackson's reaction. He appeared annoyed and bitter, a total flip from how his face looked a minute ago. "Aww, what's the matter, Avery? Still jealous?"

He rolled his eyes in response to her teasing. "You and Percy are the same. Get married already."

"Stop being a sourpuss. If you want my advice, you better make a move before April starts getting serious with Zach," she suggested. "On the other hand, she's my roommate and friend, so if you do anything to hurt her, I will gladly chop off your balls."

"Thanks, Reed. You're making me feel so much better," he sarcastically replied.

Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he cringed when he caught April and Zach kissing. He had hoped he would never have to witness that. It was karma for all of the times he made out with Rachel in front of her, he thought. But if he caught them doing more than kissing, he might go nuts.


Ipecac the Inuit doll (I hope you got the reference) will now be known as Little Jackman :D