"Through the Dark" (KT Tunstall)

It was a silent walk. With a lot of staring involved.

Dr. Addison was the first in line, with her head high, an air of pretension about her. Her heels clicked on the marble surface of the hospital floors, signaling anyone and everyone to make way for her—and the three doctors who were (curiously) following her.

Then came Dr. Isobel Stevens, with Dr. Alex Karev only a slight couple of steps behind her. her arms swung at her side, whilst she flexed her hands, and bit her bottom lip at the anxiety building up in her.

Dr. Karev was almost beside Dr. Stevens, and every time her shoulder hit his, he would shoot her a look. However, she was much too concentrated on God-know-what to notice his shots. He kept eyeing the red wavering hair that walked before him, then he'd eye her form, then quickly to those who stared at them in curiosity. Digging his eyebrows in, and sticking his hands in his coat, he looked back ahead of him and cursed to himself. He hated gossip, but not as much as being the gossip.

Dr. Mark Sloan walked the furthest behind all three, wanting to keep as much distance from the doctors and himself as possible. Looking straight ahead, past the interns, past Addison, looking only to the destination. His arms swung at his side, his steps slow, measured, although still in stride as he was very much aware of the stares. He knew how strange it must look for four doctors to all be walking in a singular direction that did not head towards a patient.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

They finally arrived at her office.

Addison took out her key and opened the door slowly. She stood in front of it, using her heel as leverage so the others could enter before her. Izzie made her way through the door first. She gave Addison a wide grin, that nervous one that came with her eyes shifting from left to right. Addison offered Izzie a small smile, along with a pat on the shoulder. She leaned in a bit, and through her teeth, whispered, "Don't worry Stevens, I can handle them."

Izzie chuckled a nervous laugh and exhaled deeply, looking at the floor and nodded her head. She smoothed her hair bak, smiled again and went inside. Addison chuckled to herself. What on Earth could have that intern so damn nervous?

Then Alex approached the door quietly. Pausing before going in, he turned his head to Addison. "I'm getting a bad vibe," he muttered to her, so Izzie and Sloan wouldn't hear him.

Cocking her head slightly, she bit her lip and muttered back " I'm pretty sure your 'vibe' will be just fine when this is all done and over with," she mocked him condescendingly.

Rolling his eyes, Alex responded, "You have that look you get when you have something up your sleeve, Addison."

"You don't know me well enough to know my looks Karev," she continued in her mocking tone, with a stern face.

He smirked, "Whatever it is you're thinking of doing– don't think I won't try to stop you," he winked and walked on, not allowing her a comeback response.

Addison quickly shut her mouth that was left agape and bit her bottom lip, as he so arrogantly walked away from her. Shifting her weight she watched Alex take a seat beside Stevens in the chairs in front of her desk. Thoughts were about to run amuck about Alex when she felt herself stumble back at the loss of support from the wooden door.

She turned her head swiftly and caught wind of what had occurred–Mark. She faced his arm, and so she turned her head only to be faced directly with Mark himself. He smirked as she nodded her head annoyance. He had pushed the door to the wall, to support himself only to catch her face to face.

"So Addison, exactly what am I to expect if I walk through this door?" he asked sadistically.

Standing upright, she inched closer. He watched her closely–Addison was quite the trickster, therefore he couldn't entirely trust her as she came oh-so-closely to him.

Addison cocked an eyebrow and ran her tongue over her teeth, before finally opening her mouth to say, "You won't know unless you walk through it," and she moved swiftly from the door, through the opening.

Grinning, he chuckled and finally let the door go as he made his way into her office.

Walking in, he noticed how Stevens and Karev had already seated themselves comfortably in front of Addison's desk, and how Addison had done the same in her swivel chair. He walked up quietly behind the interns, and finally stood in the center, legs spread, eye cocked, and arms crossed.

He stared directly at Addison, who looked at him expectantly.

"What?" he shrugged at her.

Addison rolled her eyes as Alex turned his head to glance at Mark. Izzie however, didn't move to look at Mark. Instead, her fingers tapped the armrests impatiently, as she stared at the wall in front of her.

Finally, Addison told Mark "Aren't you going to take a seat" as she waved to the (moveable) chairs on the opposite side of the wall.

"Actually," and he stood up straighter, "I'm fine right here." And he put one hand on Alex's chair, and the other on Izzie's, as he leaned forward, smirking at how his behavior irritated Addison.

She only answered a 'fine' however, and proceeded to clear her throat as she set her eyes on a mind-wandering Izzie Stevens.

"Dr. Stevens?" Addison said to snap the intern out of her reverie.

"Yeah?" Izzie shook her thoughts and shot her eyes up at the mention of her name.

Sighing, Addison leaned forward in her chair and interloped her fingers. Her hair fell to her face, and she pulled it aside as she tried conveying patience to the young woman who had insisted on bringing all four into a private area to speak.

"You brought us her for what you called an urgent matter," she drawled out slowly.

Izzie, immediately aware of all the eyes on her, gulped and laughed nervously. She nodded to Dr. Montgomery and gathered what she could of herself. She pulled her fingers into a fist, controlled her breathing, and thought of the most coherent thing she could think up at that moment.

"Um, well, first of all," she froze for a second—why did she bring them in here? Oh, right…Her eyes shifted from side to side as she continued, " I-I was the one who told Alex about the pact." She nodded her head and smiled tightly, looking to Addison for a reaction.

"I reasoned as much," she said without much surprise, or even anger.

"I told Dr. Stevens," Mark directed to Addison, seeing how Izzie was explaining how all had become involved.

"I reasoned that as well," her tone the same.

"And I sort of told Ad—" Alex cleared his throat," Dr. Montgomery." He tucked his legs below the chair and crossed his arms as he looked down at the floor.

"Yes, we all reasoned that, "Addison said smirking at Alex's reluctance to admit to this.

Alex chuckled and glanced at Addison's amusement.

"Good, well now that that's all cleared up," Mark said oblivious to Addison's and Alex's looks," why don't we all go on our way." He smiled and brought his hands off the chair, rubbing them together, anxious to escape any further conversation(s).

Izzie opened her mouth to protest, but found it incapable of speaking. Addison however found it fully capable of doing so and demanded him to stop.

"Mark, you, as well as I, know that something that simple would not warrant us all being here, isn't that correct Dr. Stevens?" Addison pushed Izzie to speak.

"Right" she found her voice. Don't let your emotions get the best of you, and you'll be fine, she told herself. Nodding in reassurance, Izzie stood up.

"So then, what's the real issue at hand?" Addison asked Izzie.

The same gripe of fear Izzie had felt going in there was trying to get a hold of her, so she gripped the desk with a hand on bit back her underlying emotions, as she was telling herself she should. Slowly, she let the desk go and faced Addison.

"You were angry when you found out that Mark had told me of the pact," Izzie said in her lecturing voice.

"I wasn't thrilled," Addison shrugged.

"She was pissed," Mark said to Izzie.

"Alright," she leaned back in her chair, "but just momentarily."

"I wasn't judging you Addie," Mark looked to Addison, who only rolled her eyes at him.

Alex grinned, always happy to see the hostility Addison showed towards Mark. Izzie found no joke in Alex's grin however, and she swatted his shoulder. She didn't see how it could please someone for a person to be so cold towards another, how Addison treated Mark like unwanted leftovers when he hid his (mild) best to not butt heads with her. Wait, why was Alex enjoying this?

"And you," Izzie shot a glance to Alex.

"What?" Alex was caught off guard.

"You just went off and told her that we knew," she stepped closer to him as he racked his brain for explanations.

"Uh, well, yeah—didn't I say that already?" he raised his arms, as if being assaulted and trying to plead his innocence.

"And what in the hell drove you to that, Karev?!" Mark angrily demanded of Alex.

"I…" he avoided the gleam, not ready with a rational excuse.

"Wanted to be the goody-two-shoes intern, and go off and tell the attending?!"

Alex stood up, his temper rising to the same level as Mark.

"Hold on there!" Addison yelled, seeing where this could easily lead. She stood up, having been the last one sitting, and shot cold stares at the two men. "We are going to keep this as civil as possible."

Alex and Mark just rolled there eyes and distanced themselves from each other. The irrational anger in each, however, did not dissipate.

"It just got out," Alex fumed to Mark, "Sort of the way it got out to Izzie."

"That was different," Mark growled.

"Yeah, how?" Alex smirked, knowing he was only flaming Mark's temper.

"Okay guys, this is getting us nowhere," Izzie was getting frustrated at the childish bravados of Alex and Mark. Well, they certainly weren't complete opposites.

"Then why don't you tell where we're supposed to be getting, Dr. Stevens, " Mark mockingly asked her.

She glanced a look at his eyes and quickly put her mind to the issue she was trying to bring to the forefront.

"Dr. Montgomery was mad, and so was…Dr. Sloan," she looked at him again, noting his inch of withdrawnness at her calling him by his professional name, "because she found out that he told me. So the problem seems to be the fact that he told me this big confidential secret—in secret."

"I just wasn't too pleased at knowing that Mark had gone off and confided in a girl he barely seemed to know, "Addison stumbled a bit at her admission.

"So you were jealous, " Mark grinned.

This wasn't the direction Izzie had hoped this would go in, then again, what was she expecting. For Mark's non-existent light bulb to go off and realize the impotence of this pact, and for him to see that Addison didn't care half as much about him as he did her. For him to look at her, Izzie Stevens, and find a real friend, a friend he could possibly—wait, where was her armor. She needed to stay focused on reality. Because dreams were wrong, but reality, unfortunately, was real.

Alex wasn't liking the direction very much either. He cut his eyes to Addison, hoping she would scoff or laugh at his statement. She couldn't possibly be jealous.

"Not jealous. Just shockingly surprised that you, Mark Sloan, would be so quick to open up to a stranger when it took you 11 years to open up to me," straight-forwardly, Addison admitted.

Mark looked at her, trying to grasp whatever feeling she was portraying. Maybe it wasn't exactly jealousy, maybe a bit more envy than jealousy. But was it exactly his fault that he felt more compelled to be honest with Izzie than with Addie?

He didn't speak a word, and Izzie lifted her gaze to look at Mark. And there was the same pain she'd seen that night at the bar. If only she could give him that same comforting hold he had given her that (second) time in the supply closet

"Well, what's your excuse, Karev?" Addison spun the focus onto Alex.

He shrugged, more drained of patience than before after the brief exchange between Addison and Sloan. "I couldn't keep my mouth shut?" Alex mumbled. But Addison felt like there was more this than he was letting on, although she kept her mouth shut to avoid any inappropriate admissions.

"I've told you a lot of things Alex," Izzie spoke up, shifting her own focus from Mark to Alex, "and not one of those things has ever left your mouth—at least not willingly. But this time, you did let it out."

"Iz—"Alex began, rubbing his face in his hands.

"No, you may be a cocky, self-absorbed, rude person, but anyone who knows you knows that your like the crypt keeper when it comes to your friends secrets."

Mark looked at Alex curiously. The guy was never his favorite—okay, he hated his guts, but truthfully, he was the only who had stuck with Izzie after that whole mistress thing. So why would he go on and tell Addison?

"Yes, Dr. Karev, what exactly compelled you to tell me of Sr. Sloan's and Stevens' newfound confidentiality?" Addison may not have really wanted to know, but curiosity always won the fight.

"Fine," Alex grumbled, his eyes flitting from Addison to Sloan. "I just found it hard to believe that a respectable doctor would make such a stupid pact with a guy like him," Alex nodded in Mark's direction, which, to say the least, infuriated Mark.

"You son-of-a-bi—," Mark gritted his teeth and drew his fists.

"Mark!" Izzie scolded him, gripping his shoulder to put some more distance between himself and Alex.

Mark turned slightly to eye Izzie, whose eyes seemed to be on fire. He released his fist and let himself breathe out, because if he didn't he had no doubt Izzie would not only give her that disappointing glare, but also a major lecture beat-out.

Izzie was glad he calmed down, but still made her way around to be between Mark and Alex. Thereafter, she drew her eyes to Alex, who had seemed to have gotten the message as he had drawn back as well.

"Are men capable of conversing things out without a fistfight?" Addison muttered to herself, but nevertheless all eyes had traveled to her.

"Alright, so we have Dr. Montgomery's excuse, and mine. So Dr. Sloan, why were you yelling at Izzie?" Alex raised the question to prevent any further discussion on his true intentions.

"Because, it seems as though Dr. Stevens herself couldn't keep a secret," Mark defended himself.

"Yeah, but dude, it wasn't her fault it got to Addison," Alex defended Izzie.

"Yeah, it was yours," Mark retorted to him.

"So why take it out on Stevens?" Addison raised the question Mark seemed reluctant to answer.

Mark rolled his eyes and cut to Izzie. "She told Karev," he stated as her eyes had a difficult time staying on his.

"I was drunk, "Izzie mumbled.

"Yes, but nonetheless, you are to blame—"

"Wait," she flared her anger, "I do not have control over Alex. That mess was of his own doing! You can't just go and blame me for your problems!"

"You were the one who interjected herself into my life!" Mark spit back as the two began rumble.

"Oh please, "she scoffed as she rolled her eyes, "I did not. And if I did, it was only after you invited me to the bar, and way after you begged me to spill my 'woes' to you after that whole George thing!"

Their eyes locked, the intensity of tension and strong-will forcing each to charge the other irrationally of faults.

"Then I suppose it was my fault Alex was the only one who didn't hate you after that, making him your only gossip pal!"

Alex glanced to Addison as Mark and Izzie fought. She wore a smirk, one hand on her hip, the other resting on the desk. She noticed his glance and acknowledged him. She stood up and shifted her weight, crossed her arms, and smirked to Alex, and back to the stubborn doctors., who were in such close proximity, they could literally butt heads.

"And I suppose it's my fault you have absolutely no other friends!" Izzie continued screaming.

"Just like--!"

"Enough," Addison grumbled loud enough for the two to cease their 'war of words' and turn to her.

Izzie looked back, glancing up to Mark, her throat strained, her self-esteem a little hurt at his apparent dislike of her. Mark slowly drew his eyes back down, and he stepped a foot behind to give the furious blond some space. He was also furious, though, at having to try to explain something that he could find no answer for. He didn't hate Izzie, in fact he didn't even find her annoying, and above all, he didn't feel like she was some pest in his life. He just couldn't fathom how he could feel so much rage due to his apparent trust in Izzie, and lack thereof in Addison. And he felt angry at Izzie trusting Karev so much.

"I don't know what all this rage is between you two, especially after seeing you two just a couple of weeks ago laughing it up like some old friends. However, I also know that in your friendship, I have no business--" Addison rested her hands on her hips and spoke, just as Mark tried interrupting her.

"Addie, you--" he breathed in deeply, prepared to convince her otherwise.

"Let me finish," she told him, "now, I do feel that this sort of anger does not arise between a seemingly good friendship so quickly without good reason, therefore you two must conjour up a resolution to stop all this senseless arguing."

Addison turned to both Mark and Izzie, and gave them an expectant look, asking them to do something for themselves.

Quickly, Izzie opened her mouth. "That won't be necessary. After all," she tilted her head a bit to Mark, " It's not like Mark really considers this to be friendship, and he doesn't seem to want it to be that way either."

Mark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Refusing to meet either woman's gaze, he didn't peep a word and so Addison kept on with her words.

"Well, I guess that settles it, being that I shouldn't have any say in your friendship," Addison paused as she searched for any regret in the pair's expressions, but only pride was apparent in both. "Mark, I realize that you are not in this hospital to make friends, but having one couldn't hurt you. So do not isolate the one who could be a friend due to some egotistical pride."

At this, Mark scoffed.

"What?" Addison rolled her eyes at Mark.

"I have not isolated her," he said.

"I haven't either," Izzie quickly threw in.

"Whatever the case," Addison ignored them, " I still believe the two of you should clarify your dilemma. You know, maybe with some lunch…"

"I am not having anymore cafeteria food," Mark remarked.

"Who said I'd have lunch with you, " Izzie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

And suddenly, a rather 'fun' idea hit Addison. A smirk crept up on her lips, one noticed quite nicely by Alex who had zoned in and out of Addison's 'speech.' He scrunched his brows and eyed her carefully, as she formulized her idea, and threw it in right away.

"Go to the wedding," was her suggestion.

"What?!" was the resounding statement by Alex, Izzie, and Mark.

"Burke's wedding, " Addison tucked her smirk away and pretended the idea was simple. "It's away from the cafeteria, the nosey nurses, and it's a fun social event, " she grinned to make the idea more likeable.

"That's not a good idea," Alex scoffed.

"That is a bad idea, " Izzie said, half laughing, mostly just mortified at the idea, "like really, really bad."

"There is no way I can do that Addison," Mark chuckled.

"And why not?" she asked,

"Cuz I'm going with Izzie, "Alex fibbed.

Izzie mouthed a quick thanks to him and turned to Addison. "Like he said, " she smiled too nervously, "we're going together."

Mark looked at them suspiciously. Izzie's tone wasn't too convincing…And going with Karev? No way.

Addison gulped, and she hoped she could churn out another idea. "Well then let's switch--Mark will go with Stevens, " and drawing air she finished, "and I'll go with Karev."

Now, suddenly, this seemed like a good idea to Alex. Yeah, Izzie going with Mark could definitely steer Izzie the wrong way, but a date with Addison? Now that would be awesome…

"But not as dates," Addison quipped quickly as she saw the confused faces of the rest.

Dammit, thought Alex.

"How would going to a wedding help?" Mark questioned her.

"Like I said, you'd be away from the hospital--it'd be a different scene for you two to get acquainted in…

"But Dr. Montgomery--"Izzie protested.

"If anything, "Addison said more forcefully than before, "it'll just go to show how fine I am with the friendship Mark has with you."

"But," Izzie took Addison's tone and added strength to it, "it's like a da--."

She didn't want to formulize that word, but it was on her mind, and she couldn't keep bottling things up in there--her emotional storage system could only take so much.

"It's nothing but two friends, two hard-headed, but good friends hitting the social scene," Addison explained.

"If they're being forced to go, how is it going to work?" Alex scoffed.

"She doesn't have to force us--we'll go," Mark threw in the towel. Addison was going to fight this all the way through, and if he had learned anything about Izzie, she would as well. Some people just weren't accustomed to being wrong, not that he was one to be preaching on the subject, but if he didn't want to spend any extra days in the dog house, he'd have to comply with Addison as much as possible. Or at least, that's the way he saw things.

"But how does Karev fit in this?" was the only question on Mark's mind.

"I need a date, otherwise there will be a flashing sign above my head screaming 'older, lonely, single woman at a wedding--by herself.' And who knows how my resistance to temptation will hold up that night," was her calculated answer.

"And Karev is the only one disposable that night?" Mark kept on.

"It's only a week away, Sloan," Alex retorted meticulously.

Izzie's hearing sort of went out after Mark said something to the effect of 'we'll go together.' Her heart jumped, her throat seemed to dry out on her, and her thoughts went in too many different alleyways to keep track. Because this could seriously make things worse, or…or nothing, it could only make things worse. She'd wear this beautiful dress, he'd wear a suit that would bring out the blue in his orbs, and an orchestra would play that frickin wedding song as she looked at him dreamingly in the audience…Ugh, that sounded so sickingly…sweet and romantic--were it not for the flashing neon light that was Addison sitting off somewhere, with a pair of blue eyes looking at her too attentively. Mark was making this about Addison, and at the wedding it'd all be about Addison. No way could she put up with it.

"What, so I'd go with a complete stran--" Addison was interrupted by Izzie

"Uh, thanks for letting me bring this whole mess to you Dr. Montgomery," Izzie laughed as they all turned their eyes to her, "I'll see you around." She nodded to Addison and turned to Mark. "Um, Mark, can we speak outside, quickly," she communicated.

Mark nodded his head and proceeded to leave the room. he acknowledged Addison with a nod and smirk, and stepped outside. "See you around Alex," Izzie sent a look of distraught to him.

"Iz--" he stepped forward, concerned about how all this was affecting her.

"I'm fine Alex," she tried reassuring him, "really." So he nodded, knowing there wasn't anything he could do for her to actually be fine. There was so much a friend could do anyway.

Izzie turned on her heel and swallowed the lump in her throat. She was about to tell this guy she had a huge thing for that she couldn't go…out with him. And in the back of her mind she had to keep restrained that the reason was that she had a huge thing for him and her going with him for the sake of another woman would only screw her up some more.


Addison watched the interaction between Alex and Izzie. It was short, but there was definitely a connection there. Given Izzie's last look though, it was obvious she felt nothing more than just friendly feelings for Izzie. Biting back her grin, she sat back down in her chair and breathed in deeply. she was actually quite happy with her 'suggestion.' Not because Mark could fix a rough patch with a friend, but more because she actually had someone to go to the wedding. God was she tired of being the lonely woman at social events. That, and she'd always wondered what Alex was like on a date. not that this was a date, but a girl can dream…

"You shouldn't have done that," Alex's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What?' she shook her head.

"Tell them to go to the wedding together."

He focused his browns on her blue-greens. He buried his brows, snuck his hands into his labcoat pockets, and his voice had deepened, half-whispering, half ready to burst out.

"It won't make things better," he said.

"What makes you think that, Karev?" she returned coldly.

"What makes you think it will help?" he burst out.

"Alex, I may not have the best relationship with Mark, but--" she sighed, closing her eyes to calm herself.

"That's putting it mildly," he said bluntly.

"But," she ignored this," I do care about him being lonely or not. And Stevens is the closest thing he's had as a friend in ages, so…"

"So this is for him," he brought his voice back down as his tone took on a despairing one.

She paused for a second, but answered a 'yes.'

"What about Izzie?" he asked calmly.

"You sure do seem to look out a lot for her, "she mumbled to herself, but he had heard her.

"Sloan is not a good influence," he gritted his teeth.

Looking back straight at him, Addison tilted her head and asked him, "Is that your decision to make?"

"You don't get it Addison," he scratched his head. He turned his body slightly, to avoid her glare, afraid to spill Izzie's private feelings.

"Do I want to 'get it'" she asked mockingly.

Sometimes her condescending tone could really drive him nuts, but Alex had to admit it was a good mask to hide her self-depreciation.

He walked to the doorknob, knowing Addison would neither object nor nag him on about their conversation. As his hand approached the doorknob, he turned his head to Addison.

"I just need to tell you Addison, " he paused, "it's only going to make things worse." He looked her in the eyes and softened his features a bit, trying to come as sincere as possible, even with the knowledge that no matter how honest he tried being with her, she wouldn't be able to grasp the reason for those words, or the meaning.

Not understanding his words, she just furrowed her eyebrows and kept her eyes locked on him as he went under the doorway.

Close to the door shutting behind him, Alex looked to her one more time, this time with a playful grin.

"I'll pick you up at your hotel," he told her.

"How do you know where to pick me up Karev?" she laughed.

"I know a many things about you Addison," and he let the door close as a real smile formed on her lips.

She didn't know about the 'things going worse' thing, but whatever it was, was not going to deter her from having some fun with Alex.


The tone of Izzie's voice worried him some. She didn't look too happy, nor did she sound it. Yet, after all this that had gone down in Addison's office, she wanted to speak to him some more. What about though? Still, he'd listen to her. After all, he wasn't going to go somewhere with a person who "wasn't in the mood." He'd have to get Izzie to be excited about that wedding in order for them to enjoy themselves, to reconnect, for Addison to see he had room in his heart for a friend, as he would usually not give anyone the time of day, and that he was trustworthy.

So he followed her outside, where he saw she was walking slowly to the stairs. Without a request, he followed her. He figured she just wanted privacy, and he did too actually. He wasn't one to air things out in public. Okay, well just not air out his own dirty laundry. Otherwise it was kinda fun seeing some idiots overdue for some embarrassment, be humiliated.

Izzie walked the steps cautiously, but he saw how she started a little faster once his foot hit the first step. She stopped once they made it down a flight of stairs, her hand frozen on the handle of the stairs, she only turned to face him once he arrived on the same floor as her.

She was hesitant, without a question. He watched her carefully, each day more and more aware of sudden changes in her. When she first spoke to him, she seemed like quite the giddy intern, but the moment he hit on her, she was a fiery, defensive woman who refused to be the token blond. He didn't pay too much attention to her, as he wasn't going to chase after another woman who rejected him. However, once in a while he would find himself intrigued with her. She just stood out sometimes. Her spirit was so resilient, it was impossible to notice how strong she stood in the most difficult times.

The death of her fiancée must have been devastating, but soon enough she came back to the hospital, and she fought for her respect all the way through. The whole Grey ordeal should have had her losing faith, but through the door he saw her encouraging her friends to believe, saw her believing that Grey was far from dead. And in between that, she had performed a procedure that the most experienced doctors would back away from in such hazardous conditions; she had more than just 'drilled a guy's head.'

But this resilience he had seen so much of was appearing less and less. She was speaking less out of turn than usual, she was hiding in others shadows more, her tongue was not as sharp as before.

So it wasn't just the tone of her voice that worried him, nor the language of her body, but really the mix of the aforementioned and those two things combined.

"We don't have to do the wedding thing," she verbalized after moments of silence.

Well, the words weren't shocking. It was obvious she hadn't been thrilled about the whole idea. He wasn't either but really, what bad could come from it?

"Sure, it isn't an obligation, Stevens, but it couldn't hurt," he said.

He didn't smirk, didn't grin, didn't show too much awareness. He matched her tone, looked at her directly, daring her to look in his eyes and fight him on the subject some more.

And he also called her 'Stevens.' Just like in the office, like he couldn't call her 'Izzie' anymore because that would mean he did have an ounce of trust in her.

And damn, was he oblivious, in denial, or just plain stupid? Even if it wouldn't hurt, couldn't he respect her enough to see she just didn't want to do this?

As I walk away
I look over my shoulder
To see what I'm leaving behind
Pieces of puzzles
And wishes on eyelashes fail

"Then let me put it this way," she lowered her voice a parameter as her eyes withdrew its emotion an inch," I don't wanna do this."

Imitating her, he lowered his voice and his eyes glazed a bit when he took his turn to speak to her.

"Give me a good reason," he said.

'Because it could be the final step to me being fully in love with you,' was the line Izzie pushed down.

She breathed in deeply. A cold stare, forced so hardly out of her. No response. She couldn't give him one. Besides, she didn't owe him anything.

Oh, how do I show
All the love inside my heart?
For this is all new
And I'm feeling my way through the dark

And he knew that was exactly what she was thinking. His glare fell, his eyes softened, and he kept his voice lowered, but without the added irritation and tension.

"I do have a good reason, and I know I can't force you to do this with me," he paused and took a stride forward," but I want you to do this for me."

"Give me a good reason," she said, angered further by his ignorance.

"I need to do this, Izzie," his expression softened more.

God, it looked like he was prepared to plead with her, but she couldn't melt for him.

I used to talk
With honest conviction
Of how I predicted my world
I'm gonna leave it to stargazers
Tell me what your telescope says

"For her," her voice gathered a more stern tone.

"For Addison," he answered so inconsiderately.

Izzie half-laughed, half-cried due to her anger, hiding the latter by biting her lip and averting her eyes to the ceiling. She then turned her eyes back to Mark, masking her hurt with bitterness, showing him a mixed result of the two feelings.

Oh, what is in store for me now?
It's coming apart
I know that its true
Cos I'm feeling my way through the dark

"It's always about Addison, isn't it?"

"What?" his face contorted. When had he ever made things about Addison. Sure, he talked a lot about her and his 'frustrations.' And yeah, he'd yelled at Izzie over something Addison had said--well, all that might have been where Izzie got the idea from. But did she have sound so mad at Addison.

"Okay Izzie," he said," I'm not particularly good at keeping off the subject that is Addison, but you never expressed any complete disgust at the subject."

Subject?

"Subject?" she repeated aloud. "Is that what you refer the woman you supposedly love as? Seriously Mark! You feel you need to go to this wedding with another woman to prove you're trustworthy, and you refer to Addison as a subject! Does any of that sound like reason." Of course, she wasn't exactly entitled to burst out like that, but Izzie could only keep so much to herself.

He was left with a bit of shock. His face tensed again, and he couldn't seem to justify himself. Izzie groaned and turned her heel. Mark was quicker on his feet though, as he grabbed her before she could make a complete turn.

"I get that it doesn't make sense," his voice remained ever so calm," but there's nothing I want more that for Addison to go back to what it used to be. I want a second chance. I need it."

She felt so close to pity for him. He was so blind; Addison wasn't longing for that second chance with him half as much as he was. Now the anger obvious in her facial expressions lessened, and her eyes softened when she looked into his eyes.

Trying to find a light on somewhere
Trying to find a light on somewhere
I'm finding I'm falling
in love with the dark over here

He was lost, his eyes mirroring the ocean's more than she could remember before. It was for this moment that she was silent, too encompassed in trying to find his true desire, that he took to convincing her.

"Do this for me Izzie," he took her hand, tepid and limp before he enclosed it," and i do consider you a friend. And I don't want to lose you--as a friend. So please do this, and it'll be the last thing I ever ask of you."

That's what I'm afraid of, she thought as her hand warmed at his touch, one of those small touches he allowed her. She gulped and looked down at how he rubbed his thumb over her hand, trying to soothe her to say 'yes.'

Oh, what do I know, I don't care
Where I start

"Okay," she breathed. And she closed her eyes and nodded, in case he didn't hear her, although she half-hoped he wouldn't see her nodding either. She just agreed to do one last thing for him. One last thing.

He broke into a smile. He actually changed Izzie Stevens mind. Even though he preferred it when she was too stubborn for her own good, he quite enjoyed the fact that he convinced her of something.

So Mark, happy that he got his way, pulled Izzie into him and wrapped his arms around his ways. Laughing, he rubbed her back and whispering, "You have no idea how much you're helping me."

Needless to say, he body immediately loosened up, and she placed her arms around his shoulders, resting her head softly on his shoulder blade, just close enough to inhale his scent.

He wrapped her in him, giving her the last convincing statement, hoping she'd see he did care about her. She was strong, abrasive, and confident, and sure, he hadn't seen much of that as of late, but maybe she'd come back to that at the wedding, where they were sure to have some fun.

He pulled away carefully, although not enough so to not have Izzie feeling sorry at the lost of their proximity. He pulled his face back and gazed at Izzie who now appeared with a shy smile. No words came from her, and hell if someone told him he would be happily hugging an intern, he wouldn't have any words either. Laughing it off, his arms left her waist and his hands landed on her arms, where he squeezed her softly.

"I knew you couldn't resist the McSteamy charm," he whispered in a playful tone with his signature smile. And with those words, he made his leave, but not before giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.

For my troubles are few
As I'm feeling my way through the dark

"Yeah," she said in a breath as he left her agape, processing the last ten seconds. He had hugged her, without a second thought. Just gathered her in his arms, and yeah, maybe he had squeezed a tad too hard, but that just went to show how much it came from his heart.

And no kiss, no matter its simplicity or rigor, had ever left her so powerless.

Through the dark

I'm feeling my way through the dark

Bringing a few fingers to her head, cautiously she touched the ever-fresh mark she had been gifted with.

Mark Sloan really had no idea how far the McSteamy charm had taken Isobel Stevens.

'You have no idea, Mark,' and her hand went limp again.


Please R&R. And thank you to those who have reviewed. They keep me going…PEACE.