I'm starting off before the events of 3x16, partly for the sake of consistency with the previous fic but also because I had other ideas for how the favoritism complaint should have gone down.
Morgan had steered Claire through the hospital, picking up their coats and bags and led her to the nearest bar. They'd downed Morgan's promised round of beers, had a second and were starting on a third, against their better judgment. Morgan had tried to regale her with Shaun's amusing insights into the reasons for Ms. Ziegler's latest divorce. Unfortunately, none of it had managed to wipe the melancholy off Claire's face.
Morgan sighed, defeated, "Why does Melendez making up with Lim bother you so much?" When Claire failed to even acknowledge her question, she continued, "What were you expecting, Browne? Were you hoping to fall in love, marry him and have kids or something?"
"Of course not," Claire finally replied, turning to frown at Morgan's ridiculous suggestion. "We were just friends." Morgan sighed softly, not entirely believing Claire's assertion that they were 'just friends' but wisely kept her mouth shut. "Neil's helped me a lot lately," Claire continued, turning back to her glass, "he's been listening to me, giving good advice and just generally being a good friend. Maybe I'm just sad at the thought that he might not have time for that anymore."
Morgan rolled her eyes to herself. Claire could be so melodramatic sometimes. "Why does it have to be Melendez?" she asked, a little sourly, "There are other people in your life who can hear you out."
"Yeah? Like who," Claire scoffed, "My therapist? Or my dead mother?"
If anyone else speaking to her with such disdain, Morgan would have answered with a nastily worded remark, but this was Claire and she knew this was the grief talking. She knew that underneath, St. Claire was still there, or so she hoped. Biting back her witty retort, Morgan reasoned, "No, there are others. You know Shaun can also be surprisingly insightful."
Claire shook her head, the idea of piling her problems on Shaun didn't sit well with her. Even though she'd witnessed first hand how much Shaun could care about his friends, she was also aware that he had his own everyday struggles with and she couldn't bear adding her own issues. "I think Shaun has enough on his hands with trying to work out his relationship with Carly," Claire admitted, "I talked to him once, after his dad died, but I don't think he quite saw a parent's death the same way I do."
Morgan nodded. "Lim gives good advice," Morgan began but Claire quickly cut her off.
"She's the Chief of Surgery," Claire stated, leaving no room for argument.
"And apparently your rival in love," Morgan muttered to herself, glancing at Claire to make sure she hadn't heard. After a moment of silence, Morgan finally said what was on her mind, "Well, I'm here for you."
She'd said it so softly that Claire wasn't sure if she'd misheard. Morgan had presented herself as a competitive and selfish person from the first day, willing to do anything to give herself an advantage or get ahead. Morgan's moments of genuine kindness were so few and far in between that Claire often forgot that the cold-hearted surgical resident wasn't all there was to Morgan. Tonight, for the second time since they'd met, Morgan had surprised her with her kindness once again, and Claire didn't know how to respond.
Morgan cringed, silently berating herself for letting those words slip out. Claire's lack of a response agitated her and she nervously broke the silence, "Well there's Park. Park is a great listener and you know he'll always keep you on the straight and narrow."
At the mention of Park, Claire was reminded of the complaint he filed. Irritated, she finally vented her feelings about the matter, "Park needs to stop sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. You know, he's the one that filed that favoritism complaint."
"What? What makes you think that?" Morgan asked, confused by Claire's confidence.
"He told me himself," Claire replied, thinking nothing at Morgan's confusion, "He said he was doing it for my own good. You know he actually had the audacity to act like I should thank him."
"He told you it was him?" Morgan said in disbelief, knowing full well that she'd been the only one to file a complaint. She couldn't fathom why Park would take the fall for her but made a mental note to ask him when she got the chance.
Claire ignored Morgan's interjection, continuing with her tirade, "He's lucky I managed to convince Neil to stop going out of his way to shut me down just to appear more professional. He wanted to stop running together and didn't even want to sit down for a meal with me, can you believe it? We're just friends! Why do people have to start rumors when a man and a woman start spending more time with each other?"
Morgan scoffed, having finally had enough of Claire's misguided insistence that she and Melendez were 'just friends'. "Claire, I saw your face fall when Melendez kissed Lim just then," she said matter-of-factly, not giving Claire any more opportunities to blame other people for the clear ethical issues surrounding her relationship with Melendez.
Claire scowled, knowing she'd been defeated. "Looked more like Lim was kissing him," she grumbled.
Morgan lifted her eyebrows at Claire in obvious disbelief. "There's no way you're still telling yourself that Melendez wants to be 'just friends' with Lim," Morgan said testily.
Claire looked away, embarrassed, and tried to change the subject by reminding Morgan, "We were talking about Park." When Morgan didn't respond, Claire attempted to resume her rant, "He really needs to mind his own business and stop acting like –"
"Park lied to you," Morgan interrupted. As competitive and selfish as she was, Park had always tried to be friendly and treated her fairly. She couldn't let him take the fall and suffer from Claire's wrath just because she'd done something irrational and self-serving. Plus, it didn't seem right to be sitting her calling Claire out on her lies while keeping such a big secret herself.
Claire had stopped talking and was staring at her, waiting for Morgan to continue.
Morgan took a deep breath, and finally admitted, "It was me. I filed the complaint."
"What? So I was right! It was you!" Claire burst out in annoyance, "You must have known that Neil was helping me find avenues for my grief after losing my mom. Are you so competitive that you'd sabotage that?"
Morgan had been nodding slowly, her head hung in shame, bracing for the tirade she knew was coming. She'd resolved to sit there silently and take it all but couldn't stop herself when Claire accused her of not caring.
"I thought I was helping you deal!" Morgan exclaimed loudly, fueled by anger and alcohol.
"We don't have that sort of relationship," Claire replied, calmly and coldly.
"I helped you confront a man you thought was hurting your mom, I stood with you when you sent your mom off at the Marine Center, and you think we don't have that kind of relationship?" Morgan said through gritted teeth, "I thought we were friends!"
Claire recognized the flash of jealousy that crossed Morgan's face and was enraged by her childishness. "So what you're saying is you filed that complaint because you were jealous that your friend made friends with someone else? How old are you?" Claire asked while gathering her coat and bag and making to leave.
Morgan reached out and grabbed onto Claire's wrist, hoping to hold her back long enough to find the words to apologize.
"It's no wonder no one seems to like you," Claire concluded, wrenching her arm out of Morgan's grasp, and stormed out of the bar.
Morgan watched Claire leave with tears welling up in her eyes. She motioned for the bartender to get her another beer before sobbing quietly into her hands. How had she messed up so badly? But more importantly, why did it hurt so much?