A/N: Okay, I know I promised a quick update, but school has been absolutely nuts lately. Thank God it's over in exactly ONE WEEK! yayy!! Then it'll be summer and I'll have plenty of time to write! Anyway, I want to thank the reviewers. Once again, I can't say how excited I get when I check my e-mail and I have a story review. You guys are great! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Diclaimer: I own nothing.

"But anyway, what the hell are we going to do to pass the time today?" Izzie asked.

Mark shot her a suspicious smile. "I have a great idea."

Addison rolled her eyes and entered the O.R., leaving Alex to scrub in. And there, in that room as he was washing his hands, an idea came to him. He knew exactly what he had to do to nip the Izzie and Sloan thing right in the bud once and for all.
Chapter 21: Unopened Letter to the World

Izzie folded her arms and studied Mark intently. "I don't like that look," she decided, eyeing him suspiciously.

Mark dropped the smile on his face to look at her with mock-awe. "What look?" he asked, trying his best to sound innocent as he ducked back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

"Do not play dumb with me, Sloan," Izzie called. "Just exactly what is this 'great idea' you have for us?"

She did not receive a reply. Mark flung open the door to the bathroom, re-emerging in his rapidly deteriorating scrubs. He strode over to the door and opened the venetian blinds, reconnecting them with the outside world.

Spotting Nikki, a nurse, he turned to Izzie. "Hold that thought," he told her.

Just as she was about to pass by the room, Mark rapped on the window. The young nurse, startled, dropped the files she was holding. She quickly gathered them up and faced Mark, her face red with embarrassment.

"Hey. How are you doing this lovely morning?" Mark asked her with a sweet smile from the other side of the door, turning on his flirtation mode.

"Just fine, Dr. Sloan. How are you?" Nikki replied, shyly tucking a stray piece of dark chestnut hair behind her ear, seemingly intimidated by the good-looking surgeon.

"Please. It's Mark," he insisted, opening the door to usher her in. "And I'm doing even better now that you're here," he said, his icy blue eyes gleaming at her. All the while, Izzie just stood back and watched their interaction in amusement.

Nikki blushed furiously. "Oh, stop that," she said, playing hitting him on the shoulder with a flirtatious giggle.

"Well it's true," Mark said, reaching out and tucking the pesky piece of hair back for her. Damn. He was really on his "A" game that day. "I need you to do me a favor," he asked, fully knowing the pretty brunette was officially putty in his hands.

He was correct in his assumption. "Anything for you," she replied bashfully. Izzie could practically see her knees wobbling from across the room.

"That's what I like to hear,"Mark said, flashing that damn "McSteamy" smirk. "Now, listen," he said, motioning for her to come closer with his finger.

Nikki inched closer until their scrubs were brushing together. Mark leaned down and whispered in her ear. At first, her face flushed even redder at his proximity to her, but as she listened intently, nodding every so often, and then her eyes grew wide and a grin appeared on her face.

Soon, he pulled away from her ear. "Got that?" he asked, holding her by the shoulders and looking her dead in the eye, making sure she got his message.

Nikki, still under Mark's grasp, turned to glance at Izzie, a laughing smile on her face. "Be right back," she said, still looking at Izzie, a knowing look in her eyes.

He released the nurse from his grip. "You're the best!"he told her, guiding her back to the door, his hand grazing the small of her back.

She had to fumble with the door handle for a few seconds before she was finally composed enough to leave, shooting an embarrassed smile at Mark before taking off down the hall.

Mark turned around to find Izzie rolling her eyes. "I think I just vomited in my mouth a little," she said, sounding disgusted.

He turned the grin on to her. "It's not my fault I'm irresistible."

Izzie resisted the urge to once again roll her eyes, and instead held out two fingers."I have two questions," she told him. "One, you are absolutely incorrigible, and two, what the hell are you planning?" she asked, her voice almost bordering on frustration.

Mark's eyebrows knitted together as he studied her. "That first one wasn't a question," he informed her.

She couldn't hold back her eye roll any longer. "Ugh, whatever."

"Well, you said you had two questions," he said logically, shrugging his shoulders as he settled on the bed.

Izzie let out a exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine. One statement and one question," she said knowing he was not going to let this one go.

"Thank you," he said smugly, as she moved over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"Great, now that that's over with, let's try this again," she said sarcastically. "What the hell did you tell that nurse?" she asked, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Why?" he asked as he rested his hand on her knee. "You nervous, Stevens?" he asked with a smirk.

"No! I just-" she began in protest.

"What about now?" Mark asked, cutting her off and placing his hand midway up her thigh.

Izzie shook her head at the abrupt change in subject. "You're insane,"she told him with an incredulous laugh.

He chose to ignore her comment. "Now?" he asked, his hand migrating further north up her leg.

In truth, her heart was beginning to pound, but on the outside, she kept her demeanor calm. "You're seriously playing the nervous game right now? What are you, five?" she joked, trying to mask the fluster in her voice.

"We've been through this before. I'm six," he said, his expression stoic. "How about now?" he asked again, his hand lingering dangerously far up her thigh.

Izzie looked at him through narrowed eyes. "You're an ass"

"Please," he said, scoffing cockily. "You love it."

She did, but she shot him a glare anyway. Mark, deciding to be bold, kept that one hand where it was and placed the other behind her head, pulling her in for a hard kiss. Izzie was surprised at first, but she quickly recovered and reciprocated his actions. However, they were soon interrupted by a knocking at the door. Pulling apart, they found Nikki standing outside.

Mark turned to Izzie with a sly grin on his face. "Looks like our fun has arrived, Stevens," he said with a wink.

Meanwhile, Alex was just going through the motions in the O.R. His previous emotion of pure shock about his discovery of Izzie and Sloan was quickly becoming replaced by anger. She had totally dismissed his earlier confession of his feelings toward her, claiming that it was 'too soon' after Denny, but there she was, not all that long after, sexing up Sloan. That guy was all wrong for her. He didn't know her like Alex did. He didn't know that she baked obsessively when she was upset about something or that her nickname was "Cricket" because she always fell asleep to the sound of crickets outside her trailer when she was younger. And Alex sure as hell knew that Sloan didn't know that Izzie Stevens had three kinds of smiles. There was one where she was smiling at someone out of politeness, but in reality, she really thought they were nuts. And then there was her sarcastic smile and finally, the one she wore when something really made her laugh. That one could light up an entire room. Thinking about this, Alex mentally cursed himself, shuddering because all of a sudden he was thinking like he was in some cheesy chick-flick.

"Something on your mind, Karev?" Addison suddenly asked from across the operating table, pulling Alex out of his thoughts.

"Dr. Montgomery?" he asked, unable to hide the fact that he clearly wasn't all that focused on what was going on around him.

"You seem a little out of it over there. Everything all right?" the attending asked, genuine concern in her voice. She, after all, could relate. She was going through a rough patch. Derek and Meredith were officially together, and she still hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Mark.

Alex scoffed."Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't it be?" he asked, trying to sound confident.

Addison peered at him over the frames of her glasses. "Karev, you're lying," she stated, looking back down to the patient on the table before them.

"I'm not-" he tried to insist.

"You don't seem like yourself," she told him blatantly, keeping her gaze to the table.

Alex's eyebrows furrowed together just below his scrub cap. He wasn't sure why Addison was so insistent in getting him to talk. "What do you mean?" he asked, curious to find out what she was thinking.

Addison could tell something was wrong because he was acting the exact same way she was:distant and distracted. "You're not complaining about being on 'The Vagina Squad' today," she said, trying to make a joke. She didn't want him to know that she could relate with him. She didn't want any questions from the nosy intern.

"Just thinking. That's all," he said, shrugging her comment off.

"Hmm. Is that a new development for you?" Addison asked, continuing to mask her awkwardness with jokes.

"It's not the only new development around here," Alex muttered under his breath, his mind still on Izzie and Sloan.

Addison glanced up from the patient to look at him. "What's that?" she asked, unsure if she had heard him clearly.

"Nothing, Dr. Montgomery. It's nothing," he said, waving her off.

Addison knew the tone in his voice all too well. He didn't want to talk. "Well, okay then. Hand me a clamp," she said, dropping the subject.

Back in the quarantined room, Mark went over to the door and opened it a crack, allowing Nikki to slip something in. Izzie couldn't tell what it was, Mark's body was blocking it from her view."Thanks, Nikki," he said, quickly shutting the door.

"Not a problem, Dr. Sloan," Nikki said with a smile. "Enjoy."

Mark turned away from the door and faced Izzie, allowing her to see what the nurse had brought.

"Oh, my God. You are unbelievable," she said with a disbelieving laugh when she recognized what he was holding.

He laughed. "Told you I was six," he said with a satisfied grin.

"You're serious?" Izzie asked, her eyebrows raising.

Mark walked back over to the bed and sat back down. "As serious as the Ebola virus," he joked.

She shot him a "look." "You're not funny."

"I beg to differ," he said with a smirk. Izzie didn't reply, but her "look" intensified. "Well, do you want to do this or not?" he asked with a loud sigh.

Izzie shook her head incredulously."I can't believe I'm going to do this."

"You better believe it, Stevens," Mark said, grinning, as he opened the box. "It's about to go down."

After the surgery, Alex retreated to the locker room. He dialed his combination and flung it open, ignoring the random, various items that fell out at his feet. He dug through the messy locker, flinging things over his shoulder as he searched for something.

"Dude, watch it," George said, coming into the locker room only to be bombarded by a flying apple core.

Alex whipped around and glared at George with fire in his eyes. "You!" he said viciously, pointing at George, "Don't talk!" he commanded before continuing his search.

"What's up his ass?" Meredith asked George, as she came into the locker room just in time to witness Alex's outburst.

George pondered that question for a moment. "Maybe-" he began.

"Dude! Seriously!" Alex shouted, turning back around to face his two coworkers. George immediately closed his mouth. Satisfied, Alex turned back to his locker, throwing some old scrubs over his shoulder.

"What's wrong with him?" Cristina asked, entering the locker room.

This time, Alex whirled around before George even got the chance to open his mouth. "Don't!" he commanded harshly, pointing straight at him. George holds his hands up in defeat and didn't say anything and Meredith nor Cristina didn't dare to speak up either.

Once again, Alex turned back to his locker and proceeded to toss a few more things out of his way. Finally, he found what he was looking for. He grabbed it and brushed past his three coworkers, leaving his locker the way it was.

Once he was gone, both Meredith and Cristina looked at George questioningly. "Hey, don't look at me!" he exclaimed, just as confused as the others.

"Ha! Queen Frostine! In your face!" Izzie exclaimed gleefully. As Alex was chewing out George, she and Mark were making full use of what Nikki had brought them. Candyland.

Mark glared at her, eyes squinting. "You so cheated!" he decided as she happily moved her playing piece all the way near the finish.

"Jealous!" Izzie said, maturely sticking her tongue out at him.

"You must have rigged the cards," he decided. "How else would you explain landing the Queen Frostine while I've been stuck here on this damn yellow dot space forever?" he asked, voice bordering a whine, as he pointed to his playing piece which was stuck back near the beginning.

"Aww, someone's being a sore loser," Izzie said in a baby voice, coolly mocking him.

Mark sent a sarcastic sneer her way, but didn't say anything more. Instead, he drew a card from the pile. "Finally!" he said, truly exited that the card he drew was a yellow square, thereby allowing him to move again.

"That's good. I was getting tired of kicking your ass," she joked, flashing him her sarcastic smile.

It was Mark's turn to shoot her a "look." She ignored him and took her turn, drawing a card. "Gloppy!?" she moaned loudly. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Ouch. Tough luck, Stevens," he said in mock-sympathy while laughing while she moved her piece all the way back to almost the beginning.

Izzie looked at him suspiciously. "You fixed the cards, didn't you?!" she accused.

Mark's hand flew to his heart. "You're calling me a cheater?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if the shoe fits..." she said snarkily, folding her arms across her chest.

He laughed incredulously. "Now who's being a sore loser?"

Mark had called Izzie out and she knew it. "Shut up and pick a card," she said begrudgingly, with a small pout on her face.

Meanwhile, Alex stood at the nurses station, writing on a big manila envelope with a permanent marker. Glancing up, he saw Nikki coming down the hallway. Just as she was about to pass him, Alex grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

Nikki looked at him in confusion. "Hey, can you do me a favor?" he asked.

She let out a small laugh. "That seems to be the theme of the day," she narrated out loud.

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, as he now looked at her in confusion.

"Oh, you know, it just seems today's the day that hot doctors ask me to do favors," she explained, trying to clarify.

Alex's eyebrows shot up. Nikki, realizing what she just said, turned red and tried to shake it off. "Never mind. What can I do for you, Dr. Karev?" she asked.

He handed her the envelope. "I need you to give this to Mark Sloan. Don't tell him who it's from. Just slip it under the door or something," he instructed specifically.

"Umm, okay," she answered skeptically, but not asking any questions.

"Thanks," Alex said, patting her on the back. "Really appreciate it," he told her before heading off down the hall in the opposite direction.

Nikki watched him go for a moment, but then turned around and started for the quarantined room.

Back and that room, Izzie and Mark's intense game of Candyland was nearing the end. "A purple card and I win, Stevens," Mark informed Izzie smugly, knowing full well that she was aware of that fact and also knowing that she wasn't the least happy about it.

Izzie, indeed was fuming. She couldn't believe she was getting this worked up about a game usually played by kids who couldn't even read yet. But still, it seemed to her that she was moving backward more often than she was moving forward, and it was damn frustrating. "Pick up the stupid card," she said, refusing to look at him.

Mark picked a card up from the pile slyly, holding it to himself so Izzie couldn't see. When he didn't say anything, she looked up at him and found him grinning at her wickedly.

"Oh, don't even say it," she whined.

He didn't say it. He simply laid it down so she could see. It was purple. Izzie's jaw dropped. "You little sh-"

Her comment was interrupted by a knock on the door. They both turned to look but they didn't see anyone standing there. Instead, they saw a big, manila envelope slide under the door. Izzie looked at Mark curiously. He shrugged, not knowing anything about it. She slid off the bed and grabbed the envelope. She then tried to look out the door to see who had delivered it, but there was no one in sight.

Izzie turned her attention back to the envelope, studying it curiously. "It says 'Sloan'," she told Mark, going over to hand it to him.

With a confused look plastered across his face, he opened it and peered inside.

"What is it?" Izzie asked him expectantly.