The idea of Bailey trying to start a free clinic came from the episode 'Great Expectations' in season three. I've always hated how Bailey was treated by the attendings when she was trying to start up the clinic, so I decided to change that a little here :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Grey's Anatomy belongs to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.

Reminder: I know that some of the events in my fic took place at different times on the show, but in my fanfic, it happens the way I want it too. That's what fanfiction is for, right?

Thanks for everyone's awesome reviews, they've made me so happy! Please keep them coming!

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"Tell me again why we're doing this," Izzie asked as she missed yet another perfect aim at the ball coming towards her.

"Because you needed a distraction and I needed a new partner," Mark told her, bending over to pick up the ball and getting ready to serve again. "Derek isn't exactly in a squash playing mood these days."

She rolled her eyes. "I wonder why."

A few days had passed since Izzie had shown up at his hotel with her eight million dollar check. He had gone with her to the bank the morning after and watched as she deposited the check and was there for her as she broke down in tears. The poor male clerk hadn't known what to do when his client had started crying and Mark had to take over in comforting her. Since then, Izzie had walked around in a daze. After watching her mope around the hospital for a few days, Mark had finally gotten tired of her attitude and decided that she needed to learn a new activity to keep her mind off things.

He knew that she'd had the day off and so he had gone to her apartment that morning (and was greeted by an excited Jasper) and had dragged her out of bed and took her to the squash courts after they'd had breakfast. Mark was proud to say that his method of distraction was doing wonders for Izzie's sullen mood. At least she wasn't agonizing over what to do with Denny's money anymore.

Having never played squash in her life, it was not a surprise that Izzie wasn't too good at the sport. The blonde squealed when she saw the ball coming towards her and she ducked. "You really are the worst squash player I've ever seen," Mark informed her as he watched Izzie with amusement.

She scowled. "Not everyone is as skilled as you."

"So true," he nodded.

He handed the ball to her and she tried to serve the ball and let out a frustrated yell when she missed once again. "Damn it!" she cried. "Why can't I get this?!"

"Let's take a break," he suggested. He headed over to where his water bottle was located in the corner and sat down leaning against the wall. Seconds later, Izzie sat down next to him with her own water bottle in hand, placing her squash racket off to the side. She sighed, taking a drink of water.

"I'm sorry I can't play better."

Mark smirked. "Don't worry about it. You aren't a lost cause, you just need to practice and you know, stop screaming like a girl whenever the ball comes towards you."

"Shut up!" She smacked him. "For your information, I am a girl. And I do not scream."

"My eardrums suggest otherwise," he shook his head. "Still, you do justice to those shorts." He winked, admiring her long legs.

She smacked him again. "Stop flirting with me!"

"You secretly like it when I flirt with you," he grinned and leaned his face closer to her.

"Stop giving me your McSteamy look!" She accused, feeling her heart flip over in her chest at his grin and a blush creeping up her cheeks.

He couldn't help but laugh at her. He shook his head and then stood up. "Come on."

Izzie looked up at him. "What?"

Mark held out his hand. "I am going to teach you how to play squash properly so that someday I can actually play a match with a partner."

She took his hand and pulled herself to her feet. "Fine," she rolled her eyes. "Let's get this torture over with." But then she grinned, letting him know that she wasn't really annoyed and that she was enjoying hanging out with him.

--

Mark was sitting in his office working on his patient files when a knock came from his door. He looked up and was surprised when he saw Miranda Bailey standing in the doorway with a bunch of files in her arms. "Dr. Bailey," his attention directed towards the short woman. He folded his arms. "What I can I do for you?"

"I'd like to talk to you about a project that I want to start up and I need the support of all the attendings and the chief before the department heads can even consider it," Bailey walked into his office and got straight to the point. She placed the files down onto his desk. "I want to open a free clinic."

Mark was surprised. "A free clinic?"

Bailey nodded. "A free clinic."

He leaned back into his chair. "That's a huge undertaking, especially for a resident."

"I know," she gestured towards her files. "But I've done all the research and I can do this, and I would like your support while I do this. If we have a free clinic, illnesses could be caught early meaning fewer unnecessary surgeries, which also means fewer deaths."

He cleared his throat. "I see."

"And the commitment I'm asking for is only a few hours a week," Bailey added. "So, it shouldn't take to much time out of your schedule."

Mark listened as Bailey listed all the reasons as to why he should sign onto her project and made a split second decision. "Okay."

The short doctor gave him a surprised glance. "Really?"

He sat up straight from his chair. "Yes," he nodded. "I think having a free clinic is a great idea and if there's anyone that can do it, it's you. I'll write you a letter of support and will give it to you at the end of the day."

"Thank you, Dr. Sloan," Miranda smiled, feeling touched. Her softer side was coming out now that someone was finally supporting her. "You're the first attending I've asked that has said yes."

Mark frowned. "The others said no? But why? A free clinic at Seattle Grace would do wonders for the hospital's reputation, not to mention that it would help a lot of people but that goes without saying."

Bailey shrugged and began gathering up her files. "Everyone else is too involved in their own drama to really listen to me."

"What are you going to do about funding?" he asked.

"I'm taking things one step at a time," Bailey replied, turning to leave. "I haven't gotten that far yet. I've got to get everyone else's support first."

"Let me know if you need anything else," he told her. "I'll come find you at the end of the day."

"Thanks Dr. Sloan," Bailey smiled at him and then left, leaving Mark to get back to what he was doing.

--

"So, is it true that you got eight million dollars?"

Izzie looked up from her lunch and found Alex and Cristina standing in front of her. Mark had been pulled into a last minute emergency surgery and as a result, wasn't able to eat lunch with her that afternoon. Because he wasn't going to be there, Izzie felt that it would be wrong to eat at the observatory without him so for today, she opted to eat lunch in the cafeteria.

As she had done all week long, she thought about what to do with the money that Denny had left her. She agonized over everything… should she donate the money to the hospital? To charities all over the world? Everything she thought of… she knew that it would have to be dedicated to Denny in some way… in a way that would let the world know about the incredible man she had fallen in love with. She needed to insure that Denny had a legacy. He deserved that much.

Alex and Cristina sat down with their trays and looked over at her. "So, is it true?" Cristina repeated her question as she opened the lid of her fruit salad.

Izzie frowned. "How did you know about that?"

"We overheard a couple of the nurses talking," Alex told her as he took a bite of his pasta.

Wonderful. She was once again the subject of gossip around the hospital. Just what she needed. How did the nurses find out? "Great," she muttered. "I don't want to talk about it." She ate a forkful of her own lunch.

"Hey, can I have a cookie?" Alex asked.

She passed him the bag of cookies that she had baked that morning. "They're all yours."

"I've missed your food," he told her as he took a cookie from the plastic bag. "It's just not the same without you at the house."

"Yeah, about that," Cristina chimed in. "What's up with you moving out? Even I was surprised to hear that."

"Why would I want to live in a place where people ignored me?" Izzie asked. "In my defense, I tried to talk to you guys. Cristina was the only one that wasn't mad at me."

Cristina snorted. "That's because you did Bambi. It's not exactly news worthy to me."

"It was a drunken mistake, okay?" Izzie's voice became exasperated. "I was drunk and I was lonely. It takes two people in a situation like this, so I'm not the only one to blame."

"Cut the melodramatics already, would you?" Cristina rolled her eyes. "I was just making a statement. No need to go all defensive. I don't think even Meredith knows you moved out yet."

Izzie looked at Alex. "She still doesn't know?"

"Meredith is caught up in her own dark and twisty drama," Cristina revealed. "She and McDreamy are having problems. It's been this way since her accident where she almost drowned. Shepard thinks that she didn't try to fight for her life or whatever."

Izzie fell silent, unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry I was such an ass, Iz," Alex muttered as he finished the last of her cookie. "I kinda took you sleeping with O'Malley personally."

"It's fine, let's just forget about it," Izzie smiled. "I'm just glad you're talking to me again."

Cristina rolled her eyes once more. "If it makes you feel any better, Evil Spawn's been an ass to O'Malley as well."

"Hey," Alex spoke up, effectively trying to change the subject and both women turned to look at him. "Did you guys hear? Apparently, O'Malley and Torres are trying to have a baby."

Izzie nodded. "Yeah, I knew that. Callie rubbed it in my face not to long ago."

"Seriously?" Cristina's voice held mild disgust.

"Yeah, overheard a couple of other nurses talking about that too," he nodded.

"So they're trying to procreate," Cristina shrugged. "Who cares? What's your point?"

"Just telling you what I overheard, Yang," Alex shrugged. "Don't get your panties in a knot."

Izzie sighed. "Everything's sure changed around here. It's like one minute you know a person and the next, well they're different. Its like the old person that you knew is dead and gone."

"Speaking of gone," Cristina swallowed. "Where have you been the last couple of weeks? This is the first time I've seen you eating in the cafeteria in a long time. I've tried to find you a couple of times but it's like you disappear off the face of the earth around lunch time."

Izzie felt her heart stop and an image of laughing with Mark flashed in her mind. She had come to know Mark Sloan in all the time that she had spent away from her friends and found that she liked the softer side of him that other people rarely got to see. She appreciated the fact that the plastics surgeon was there in her time of need and that he supported her. She didn't want to tell her friends about their secret lunch meetings in the observatory because it was private and special to her. "I've been alone a lot and so I got used to hiding in the laundry room at lunch times," Izzie lied, avoiding Cristina's gaze and took another bite of her lunch. "So, how are the wedding plans going?"

"Ugh," the Korean doctor shook her head. "Burke is driving me insane. He wants a big wedding, I want city hall."

"In other words, it's a clash of opinions," Alex added, looking amused.

Cristina glared at him. "Did I ask for your input, evil spawn?"

Izzie laughed, feeling relieved that she had managed to avoid their questioning as her friends began arguing. She was glad that she was finally reconnecting with them again – she had missed their bantering. It had been far too long.

--

It was late at night and Izzie was sitting in one of the conference rooms at the hospital, studying for her upcoming intern exam that was to take place in a few months. She figured that in order to distract herself from her eight million dollar check, she might as well begin studying for one of the most important tests of her life, making sure that she didn't bring any more chaos to her surgical career.

"Stevens?"

Izzie jumped and immediately turned around, but calmed down when she saw who it was standing in the doorway. She placed the textbook that was sitting on her lap onto the desk and smiled at her resident. "Hi, Dr. Bailey."

Bailey walked into the conference room and stood next to where she sat, frowning down at her. "Why aren't you at home, Stevens? It's late."

"Oh, I'm on call tonight," Izzie nodded towards her books. "I'm studying for my intern test in a couple of months."

"Getting an early head start? I'm impressed," Bailey smiled.

Before she could respond, a voice interrupted their conversation. "Dr. Bailey! There you are!" Mark Sloan suddenly appeared at the doorway, carrying a dark blue file in his hands. "I was just about to page you, I wasn't sure if you'd left the hospital yet," he stopped short as he noticed Izzie sitting in the chair beside where Bailey was standing. "Stevens," he grinned.

Izzie grinned back. "Hi, Dr. Sloan."

Mark handed the file to the resident as he walked into the room. "One glowing letter of support for your clinic," he nodded and then looked at Izzie and the pile of books around her. "Intern test?" he asked, knowingly.

"Yeah," the blonde replied and then looked up at Bailey who had a large grin on her face. "Clinic?"

"I'm trying to get a free clinic for Seattle Grace Hospital," Bailey answered, smiling at Sloan. The plastics surgeon had been the only attending that day that had actually listened to her ideas and offered her his support and that, unknowingly to him, had endeared him to her. "The Seattle Grace Free Clinic will exist. I just need to get a few more signatures and then I'm going to figure out a plan to get funding."

"Any ideas on how you're going to get funding?" Sloan asked.

The resident shrugged. "Not yet, but it will come to me."

Mark nodded and then turned to look at Izzie. He became concerned when he noticed the blonde just staring at her resident like her dream had just come true. "You alright there, Izzie?"

Bailey turned to look at her intern and was startled to see the extremely serious expression on her face. "Stevens?"

"The Denny Duquette Memorial Clinc," she said softly.

Bailey looked confused. "What?"

Izzie looked briefly at Mark and then back at her resident. "I don't know if you've heard the rumors going around the hospital but Denny left me an inheritance," she paused as she watched the expression on Bailey's face as what she was trying to say started to sink in. "I have eight million dollars."

Mark was in awe. As soon as Izzie had uttered the name for the new clinic, he knew exactly what she was going to do with the money she had received. He knew that Izzie was kind and caring, but to see her being this selfless – it blew his mind. A warm feeling spread through him as he waited for Bailey's reaction.

And it looked as though she had also stunned her resident. Miranda Bailey was rarely at a loss for words but it looked as though Izzie had done what seemed to be the impossible. She had shocked Bailey to the point where the resident was in tears. "Izzie Stevens…" Miranda was too stunned to say any more than that, her tone implying it all.

Izzie grinned over Bailey's shoulder at Mark as the resident leaned in to give her a hug. She let out a happy laugh as she pulled back from the embrace. The money was going to help a lot of people and it was going to do a lot of good and Izzie knew deep in her heart that Denny would be proud of her.

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