Warning: Rated T for strong language.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews and comments. As always, I will address some questions/comments before this next chapter.

One question I usually get through reviews or PM's is how many chapters this will be? IDK…lol. It usually depends on creativity and whether I still have you all enjoying it. I do at least expect double digits.

Leann - Susan died in Seattle. Whether I will have Meredith as her Doctor see below ;) As it relates to Mer and Lexie…their may be rough seas ahead…

moonxue5 – Jackson and Jo are not foes. They only acted initially that way b/c they thought that Lexie left them behind. April didn't want to believe it and deep down she didn't…but initially it looked bad.

Mark and the hotel – No on the hotel. One thing I hated about the show…they kept him WAY too long in the hotel. To me, once he came out for Derek and Addison left after sleeping with Karev, Mark made his choice to stay. So, in my story, he put down roots and got his apartment. The rest of the gang are able to be in the same apartment b/c they heard attendings live there and Jackson Avery has the funds to support getting a good apartment. The rest just help attribute as much as they can on their intern salary.

Maria- welcome back and thank you for your continued reviews and support.

Chapter 2 – The Meeting

Lexie

I was sure of two things. Mark Sloan could be the cockiest and biggest ass there was, and he could be the sweetest and most caring person. It was just hidden under all those hard abs and muscles.

Mark Sloan was also really good with his hands. My back felt even better than before. Of course, he made a point to tell me to follow up with my own chiropractor—I was a doctor after all—before he had left my apartment.

I raced to finish getting dressed and made my way to the hospital. By the time I had gotten there, I quickly dressed in my first ever pair of blue scrubs and lab coat. I was a little sad that I didn't have the time to really appreciate the chance to wear these after earning them with eight years of medical school under my belt.

Just as I shoved my arms through my coat, I caught up with the rest of my friends: Jackson, April, and Jo in the main level of the hospital. April's smile and look of relief told me she was just as glad to see me as I was to see her.

"What did I miss?" I asked, taking the extra packet she was holding out for me.

"You got so lucky," April replied.

"Yeah?"

"They didn't even start yet," Jackson said.

My eyes lit up just as I looked at my watch on my wrist. "But I am almost an hour late."

Jo shrugged. "Apparently, one of the attendings got held up assisting with a pretty urgent medical situation. Chief Hunt didn't want to start without him."

I bit my lip and avoided their gaze. Could it be that the missing attending was Mark Sloan, and the urgent medical situation was me? I mean, I'm not exactly an urgent medical situation, but if that meant no one knew that I had been missing, I just got extremely lucky.

April looked down at my leg. "Were you limping?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, in a mad dash to get here I lost my footing and hurt my ankle. It's all good though," I assured.

Everyone continued to talk, while my eyes took a turn about the room. There were so many doctors and nurses standing about all of them in different color scrubs. Towards the front of the room, there were five doctors in dark blue scrubs standing next to what I figured was the Chief of Surgery.

A moment later, I saw Mark come from around the corner and stop next to the other five surgeons. I was supposed to take the opportunity to see if I could make out who my sister was, but with so many bodies in one area it was almost impossible to decipher who she might be.

If I thought that Mark Sloan looked good in jeans in a sweater, he looked just as good in the dark blue scrubs and white lab coat. The deep blue bringing out the blue of his eyes.

He's you're attending. Your boss. And he is practically close in age to your dad. Let it go.

"No wonder they call him McSteamy," said Jo.

"Really. We aren't even here more than thirty minutes and I already have to hear who you all think is hot." Jackson complained.

April scoffed. "It's not like you aren't checking out the female doctor's mister hypocrite."

Jackson made a face at his best friend—because April and Jackson had been best of friends since high school which then extended into medical school, before she gave him a friendly shove resulting in both of them laughing.

"Who's McSteamy?" I asked.

Jo turned to me and grinned. She pointed right at Mark. "Mark Sloan," she answered. "Apparently, he has a reputation of being quite the sex god."

I clucked my tongue. "And you know that how?" My question came out a little more defensive sounding then it should for someone I wasn't even supposed to know.

Jo rolled her eyes. "Because he is a legend around here. Not only in the sheets but outside of the sheets," she added. "Word on the street, you want a good time without any strings, Mark Sloan is your guy," she whispered.

April looked as if she just smelled something sour. "Ugh, that is something to be proud of. Does anyone value getting to know anyone anymore and actually building some sort of foundation?"

"No," said Jo and Jackson in unison.

I said nothing as I looked back at Mark Sloan. So, my initial thoughts about him were correct. No one looking as good as him and built of solid muscle would be someone that was interested in long-term commitment. What was the point when he could potentially have anyone he wanted?

That shouldn't bother me. I mean, he is my boss, and he is much older than me, and there was no way in hell I would ever have a shot with him…but knowing that he was a player who probably bedded a new woman every night, suddenly left me feeling just a little sadder than it should.

As I looked up to his face again, my breath hitched when I noticed he was staring right back at me. This feeling stirred in me that suddenly made me think we could be in a room like this with hundreds of people, and I was sure that it wouldn't matter, because I was beginning to think whatever this thing between us—this pull every time either I or Mark stepped into the room—I would notice him instantly.

I looked away, embarrassed that I had been caught. Just before I looked away, even from across the room, I could have sworn the corners of his mouth turned up, his eyes sparkling with that recognition that the two of us had a private moment that no one else knew about.

That sudden realization dawned on me. As of right now, he hadn't told Chief Hunt what had happened for why he was late, but that didn't mean he wouldn't tell people. What if he told everyone that I fell in the shower and the compromising position he had to save me from, before getting a good laugh.

"Oh, and there's McDreamy," Jo pointed out.

I was glad for the interruption to my gloomy thoughts as I looked towards where she was pointing. "There's a McSteamy and a McDreamy?" I whispered.

Jo nodded. "That's Derek Shepherd. Neuro god. I mean look at that hair. Who wouldn't want to run their fingers through it," she commented, tilting her head to the side as she crossed her arms over her chest.

I looked over at him, and while he did have gorgeous dark hair, and was extremely attractive in that prince charming sort of way, he didn't really stir any feelings in me like someone else seemed too.

Enough! Those thoughts end here.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if we can please quiet down."

I assumed the red curly hair man with the paler complexion was in fact Chief Owen Hunt. He started his welcoming speech, the same type of speech that I had heard countless times in medical school and graduation. That as doctors we were all lucky to pick such a prestigious program that was all about teaching the next generation of doctors. Blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to get into the action and start learning more about surgical cases.

"Ugh, these speeches are so boring," Jo whined.

"Shh!" April admonished. "Some of us would like to hear."

Jo rolled her eyes. "He is only doing this because of the fact that Seattle Grace went down in the rankings for teaching hospitals."

I tore my eyes from Owen and looked back at Jo. "How do you know all this?"

She shrugged, giving me a mischievous look. "It's easy to blend in and hear things when you know how to make sure no one notices you."

"She's right," Jackson agreed. "You know my mom is pretty well connected on the board. Chief Webber—well former Chief Webber—who held the title for the last fifteen years just recently stepped down."

April looked genuinely sad by the news. "Why? What happened?"

"His wife. Apparently, she's got some condition that he would rather keep quiet for now. Apparently, it's enough that he can't spend the time discharging his duties so he stepped aside," Jackson answered.

April smiled. "That's so sweet. See, some men can still be romantic."

Our conversation died back down when Owen turned towards announcing all of the attendings. Neurosurgeon, Derek Shepherd, Plastics, Mark Sloan. Orthopedics, Callie Torres, Pediatrics, Arizona Robbins, Cardiothoracic, Erica Hahn, General Miranda Bailey, and Senior Attending of General Surgery and Director of the Residency Program, Richard Webber.

Owen went on to explain that as interns each of us would spend time learning from the specialty, but would report to our second-year residents. It was then he introduced the four residents: Christina Yang, George O'Malley, Alex Karev, and Meredith Grey.

My eyes went to Meredith and even though I was looking at her, I was aware that someone else's eyes were on me. Mark Sloan. He was the only other one that knew my secret that Meredith Grey was my half-sister. I didn't even tell my friends and roommates why the sudden change from wanting to intern at Mass General to now Seattle Grace.

My sister looked every bit intimidating as I thought she would be. While Jo seemed to be spending all of her time listening to the gossip of all of our attendings and the hospital, I had been trying to discreetly know more about the half-sister I never knew I had.

She stood next to the female doctor with the Asian complexion—Owen introducing her as Christina Yang—as the two of them whispered as their eyes took a look about the room. I had built up in my head what it would be like the first time I laid eyes on my new sister. What the moment would be like when our eyes met. It was nothing like how I expected or pictured. Meredith barely even spared a glance in my direction before turning back to her smaller group and started whispering.

Owen started reading from his clipboard. His directions were that each attending would have a different resident and intern they would be working with on their service. This could change based on case, daily, or weekly. Everyone was expected to take turns in working with the different attendings.

Don't give me Sloan. Don't give me Sloan.

"Dr. Sloan, your resident is George O'Malley, and your intern is Lexie Grey."

Shoot!

I noticed that Mark did not look at all happy with the pairing. The second thing I noticed was that my half-sister who barely even spared a glance in my direction before, was now looking at me directly, and it made me want to squirm and hide.

All three of my roommates turned in my direction. Six pairs of eyes were looking at me expectantly and waiting to know whether it was just coincidence or something more when they heard Meredith's name.

"Something you been meaning to tell us?" Jackson asked.

I sighed. "It's no big deal."

April jeered. "That you apparently have a sister in the same medical program. I would say that's a pretty big deal."

"Did you know?" asked Jo.

I let out an exasperated breath. "I found out a few months ago, ok?"

Jackson's eyebrows shot up. "Is that why you came here instead of Mass General?"

I nodded. "You remember when my mom passed away."

The frowns and sudden looks of sadness told me that all of them remembered my mother's unfortunate passing.

April gasped. "You found out at her funeral?"

I shook my head. "No. Meredith was my mother's doctor. Apparently, my mom knew about Meredith but never said anything. My dad wasn't ready to tell Molly and I about her yet."

Jo's eyes went round. "That seems like a pretty crappy thing to do to keep that information from you."

I had felt the exact same why when I had found out. I was furious with my dad. I had just lost my mother, found out my father had lied to me for the last twenty-four years of my life, and learned I had a sister I never knew about all-in-one day. It was still a sore subject between us to this day, so for now, it was a subject we generally didn't bring up when we did see each other.

"By the looks of it, Meredith definitely doesn't know about you either," Jackson pointed out.

I bit my lip, my voice turning somber. "This was not how I wanted her to find out."

April who always was good about trying to find the good in everything looped her arm through mine. "Well, I think it's still a good thing. You both have another family member you never had. It might be awkward at first, but I am sure you will work through it."

I nodded, but as I looked back up at my sister, her eyes were squinting in my direction and her residents were all looking at me as if they were sizing me up. While April was feeling that this was a positive thing, Meredith was looking at me as if I was the dirty mistress's child that she wanted nothing to do with.

At least for now, I wasn't directly assigned to her. What didn't help matters was that I was assigned to Mark Sloan's service. His gaze on me wasn't anymore comforting either. He looked like he wanted to be as far from me as possible. Completely different then how he looked earlier this morning.

"Just great," I muttered quietly to myself. "This wonderful day just gets better and better."

Mark

He paired me with Lexie Grey.

What were the freaking odds that I would get paired with the one intern I was trying my hardest to stay away from. If I didn't know any better, Owen Hunt was trying to punish me, by also sticking me with the one resident who was a joke and couldn't even pass the boards.

"It's a great day to save lives," Derek said, clapping me on the shoulder.

I glared at him. "Shut up. You don't get to say that."

Derek looked at me questioningly. "What's gotten into you?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that you get the best resident while I get stuck with the idiot," I snapped back.

"Dr. O'Malley is not an idiot."

"He couldn't even pass his boards," I countered.

George O'Malley shouldn't even be a resident. He should be treated like an intern until he is given another chance to take his test, but since former Chief Webber and now Director of the Residency Program, felt that he did remarkable during his internship year, that his score did not reflect it. It was starting to make a little more sense why our ranking was dropping. I didn't leave New York to come work for the twelfth ranked hospital.

Derek let out a long breath as if someone had just opened a bottle of soda and all of the gas was escaping at once. "That doesn't mean he is an idiot. You know how hard those boards can be."

"Yeah. It's to weed out the morons so they don't kill anyone."

Derek shot me a warning glare. "Mark, be nice."

"Lexie Grey…is she related to Meredith?" Callie asked, coming to stand next to Derek and I.

Callie Torres was not only the best orthopedic surgeon in Seattle, but also my best friend and sometimes my friends with benefits. I wasn't used to having either type of friend in my life, but I was glad we had struck up a friendship shortly after I got here. She was everything in a woman I wanted without all the strings. Now, that she was actually a Lesbian it made our relationship even less complicated. Just the way I liked it.

Derek looked genuinely surprised. "I had no idea. She didn't say anything to me."

"Did you think she knew?"

I shook my head. "Based on her initial reaction, I don't think so," I answered.

Derek's brows pinched together in thought. "If time with Meredith has taught me anything when it comes to Thatcher Grey, is that the man has more secrets and surprises then you could ever imagine."

While that was true…I didn't have the heart to tell my best friend—and whom I considered almost like my brother—that Meredith Grey was the same way as her father in some circumstances. In the last two years I had been in Seattle, Derek and Meredith's relationship had its ups and downs. They had their fair share of breakups. Currently they were on again and happier than ever, but Meredith had a tendency to try and pull away when they started to grow roots in their relationship.

After Derek's divorce from his ex-wife, Addison Montgomery, I was worried that my best friend would never get over the debacle of the mess of the divorce and the role I played in their marriage falling apart. When Derek met Meredith Grey, it was as if the light had finally returned in his life, which made me ecstatic that he was happy again.

"Well, maybe you should tell Meredith too stop looking at the other Grey like she is trying to decipher some medical diagnosis," said Callie.

Derek laughed, and then excused himself to go and check on Meredith himself. I turned back to Callie a scowl back on my face. "How did I end up getting your ex as my resident?"

Callie pretended to look like she felt bad, but it was mixed with a smirk and a bit of anger. "On the bright side, you can help—for me—to make his life a little harder."

It was hard for me to stay mad when she put it that way. Even though they had broken up months ago, Callie was still pissed—rightfully so—when she found out that George O'Malley had cheated on her with Dr. Izzie Stevens. Izzie fled shortly after, unable to take the gossip and heat that came with breaking up an engagement. George's betrayal had done a number on Callie, and in some ways, she was still trying to get over it. That is where my awesomeness helped.

Callie crossed her arms over her chest and my gaze followed hers. "Looks like my former fiancée is already doing a good job of being friendly with his new intern. Maybe he will sleep with her too," she said bitterly.

Anger flared within me at hearing Callie say that. Because as I looked over, George and Lexie were standing, talking, and laughing. I freaking had her laughing. She was smiling at him. I had spent all morning helping her and covering for both of our absences, and I never got a smile like George was getting.

More importantly, I didn't know why I was getting so worked up about this. Lexie Grey was just an intern, and I was an attending, her boss. Well, apparently some people needed reminding of this.

"Well, then, there is no time like the present for me to start making your ex-fiancé's life a living hell," I said happily.

Callie grinned. "Oh, how I love you."

Lexie

"Hi, I am Dr. George O'Malley. I will be your resident for your internship year," he said outstretching his hand.

I raised my hand and shook his. George O'Malley was kind of a dork, but considering I could in many ways too…it was kind of cute. He was infectious as he started talking about my intern year, that together we would be a team, and that he was taking it personally responsible that my success was his success and my failure would be his failure—but failure would not be an option.

I laughed, finding myself smiling at his easygoingness. As far as residents were concerned, I somehow lucked out with the nicest one from what I could see. Maybe my day was looking up.

"O'Malley, Grey! Are we just going to stand around all day!" Mark snapped.

I half jumped at his yell and tone. He didn't wait as he turned, prompting George and myself to start following.

"Is he always like this?" I whispered to George as we followed behind, lowering my voice in hope Mark couldn't hear me.

He nodded, his expression turning bleak. "Kinda, sorta," he answered apologetically. "Dr. Sloan is a great doctor, but he's not so good with interns or teaching."

Mark stopped abruptly, almost causing the two of us to run directly into him. His arms were folded across his chest, as he first gave George a scathing look and then turned his look onto me. It wasn't any softer, but there was something in his eyes, that made it seem like it was more that he was studying me and trying to figure me out. I was going to make sure that if what George said was true about him not liking interns, that I would be the exception to that rule of his.

"Is there something important you need to say?" Mark asked, his question aimed at George.

I felt bad that George seemed generally afraid of his attending. Was Mark Sloan really that bad? The man I met this morning did not seem that awful. Sure, he could be pompous and cocky, but I had seen far worse, and I would never have put Mark in any category that would make George want to shrink inside himself and look as if he wanted to hide.

"No, Dr. Sloan," he answered meekly.

"Good. Then unless I ask you to speak, follow along and keep your trap shut."

Mark turned on his heel and started off in the direction to what I assumed was the ER. Just before we had left, I had heard rumblings of our first ER patients that were minutes out. I was finally going to get the action I was looking for.

"Sorry," I whispered again, once we resumed walking.

George shrugged and shook his head, but didn't dare speak again as we entered into the ER.

"What'd we got?" Mark asked as he started prepping himself in the yellow scrubs and gloves.

"An incoming car full of crash victims, including one really bad one—the driver of a limo is in the worst shape," replied Chief Hunt. "We are expecting three women along with their perspective husbands. They were on their way to a "Fire & Ice" ball when they hit a bad patch of ice and got into a collision."

Mark turned back to George and me, his brows pinched together. "What are you waiting for? Get suited up." He pinched his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Give me the strength," he muttered.

George was quick to get his gloves and scrubs, turning to me to help. My hands were shaking from nerves. Not because I wouldn't be able to handle the incoming trauma, but because in a weird way I was excited about the opportunity to learn. That sounded really morbid and sad considering that my eagerness to learn was at the expense of someone else being injured.

The ER doors opened and in came a flurry of injured car crash victims. The three females walked in, while their husbands were each in worse shape being brought in by stretchers as the Seattle Grace residents and my fellow roommates sprang into action.

In that moment, all I could do was just take in the chaos. The screaming and bustle of questions as nurses and doctors alike tried to make sense of what was happening while at the same time trying to grab as much information as possible to treat each perspective patient.

"Dr. Grey!" Mark snapped.

That broke me from my thoughts, as I sprang into action.

"What the hell happened to this guy?" Mark asked.

Luckily, Dr. Sloan's question wasn't raised to either George or myself, since I wouldn't have anything other than the obvious answer. The patient had a pen sticking out of his throat. A pen. So cool.

"That would be my handiwork," said a blonde-haired woman in Army fatigue. "Dr. Teddy Altman. I stumbled across the accident and realized the man needed a pen trach," she answered confidently.

Mark growled. "Someone get this woman out of my ER, now."

I looked up to see that Dr. Altman seemed taken back by the harshness, but turned and walked out of the room per his request.

"It looks like his trachea is completed crushed. I am going to need to book an O.R. I will need a second set of hands. That means O'Malley and Grey, you will both be with me," he said.

"Wait, really?" I asked.

He looked at me and sighed. "You will observe." He turned to George. "Can you handle this O'Malley?"

George nodded eagerly. "Yes, of course, Dr. Sloan."

Once George and I had our patient prepped for the O.R. for his surgery, Dr. Sloan returned to the room. He gave George the instructions that they needed to push a tube down his throat ahead of the surgery. George was supposed to be showing me how it was done, while Dr. Sloan was observing his technique.

Almost immediately, George started to struggle trying to get the tube past his left bronchus. I could see him tensing and stressing trying to prove that he could do it while at the same time impress Dr. Sloan. I had seen it many times in labs and study sessions back in medical school. Overtime, pressure could make any one-person crack, and I feared that George could be a strong candidate for cracking. He seemed so nice and easy-going. I liked that he was my resident. I didn't want to lose him.

"You almost got it, George," I encouraged.

Dr. Sloan looked at me disapprovingly. He almost looked at me as if why I had even uttered a word to begin with. I swallowed.

His tone was one of disgust. "What are you, his little cheerleader?"

I was shocked and a bit outraged by how mean he was being.

Dr. Sloan turned back to George. "Step aside, wonder boy, before you make things worse." He sighed. "Go and see if you can manage if the O.R. is ready for our patient to transport. If you can manage that."

George's shoulders sagged as he stepped away from the patient, removed his gloves and filed out of the room with his head hung low. I thought this was a teaching hospital. I thought…well, I don't know…I expected meanness and cutthroat from other interns, but I did expect that my possible attending would act this way. Especially, not the attending that had been accommodating and helpful to me earlier in the day.

"You know…Dr. Sloan, you were a little mean to George just now. In fact, that was really unnecessary," I said in his defense once he was gone.

His brows shot up in surprise that I would actually address him in this manner, and for a moment, I wondered if I made the absolute wrong decision. I mean, I had only been here so far for about couple of hours, but when I felt something was wrong…I needed to speak up. Regardless if that person may be my boss. And hot. And my boss.

His eyes hardened as his jaw went tight. His next words to me were clearly said with a prim disapproval. "You're an intern. Why are you talking to me?"

My mouth fell open. Literally open. I felt it opening and shut as if words were coming from my mouth, but realized nothing was coming out. Did he seriously just say that to me?

"Well, you're my teacher, and after this morning…"

"You thought because I helped you out this morning—because I am a doctor and that is my job to help people—that makes us friends?" He still held the tube to the patients throat with impressive precision as he scolded me further. "You thought you could defend the obvious crush you seem to have on your new resident and think I would just take it?"

I could have sworn I was on a television show in that moment. I looked around waiting for the television crew to come popping out, or come through the doors of the room and yell, "Surprise, your being punked," but that didn't happen. What the hell is his problem?

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. "He is not…I am not…whether I like or don't like George—Dr. O'Malley—has nothing to do with it."

"Then what makes you think you have the right to even address me or this situation?"

I hesitated a beat, trying to push back my anger, to no avail. "Human decency for one."

"Dr. Grey?"

"What."

"Your excused from my service today. You may leave the room," he said.

I looked at him with utter disbelief and outrage, before I stormed out of the room.

Mark Sloan was one gigantic ass.

I slammed my lunch tray on the cafeteria counter as I sat there and gnawed at my straw like it was a dog's chew toy. All three of my roommates looked up at me expectantly as I realized I was sitting there -half growling and half muttering to myself.

"Jeez, what's gotten into you?" Jackson asked.

"My attending is an ass," I replied.

"Dr. Sloan? McSteamy?" Jo clarified.

I slammed my juice box on the tray. Don't think I don't know it only added to the fact that it made me look as if I was throwing a tantrum like a kid. "There is nothing McSteamy about him."

That was a lie, but the way I was feeling right now, I wanted to march right up to him and sock him in that perfectly sculpted face.

April's entire face scrunched up in surprise. "What happened? We've only been here a couple of hours."

"He kicked me off his service today. How can I learn anything, if he is going to kick me off his service?"

All three of them got quiet as they dropped their food and leaned in. "He kicked you off his service. That must be a new record. What the hell did you do?" Jackson asked.

I bit my lip thinking about it. I mean, I was right to do what I did…but now as I got ready to tell my friends…I was sure they were going to disagree. "I may, er, told him off because he was being mean to my resident."

Jo gasped. "Who knew Lexie Grey was this much of a badass."

I groaned. "You don't think I am going to get kicked out of the program, do you?"

Because even though I did not regret standing up to Dr. Mark Sloan and think he was completely out of line, telling off my boss on the first day when I was nothing but the bottom of the totem pole was not a good decision on my part. My stomach instantly started to regret the apple juice I just sucked down. I hope I don't get fired.

"Nah. I'm sure the worst would be a reprimand," said Jackson.

"I agree," Jo added.

I turned to April. The ever calm and methodical thinking April. "April?"

She bit her lip and looked at me with sad eyes. "I don't really know, Lexie. I would think not, especially if what you said was true about how he spoke to you and Dr. O'Malley, but he is an attending and apparently really good at his job."

I groaned. "Well, that's it. It was nice knowing you," I cried, my head coming to rest on my hands on the table.

April rubbed small circles on my back. "It will be ok, Lexie. I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

One by one each of my friends got up to go back and work with their residents and their cases. Since I was off Dr. Sloan's service for the remainder of the day, I wasn't really sure where I should go. Maybe I could go and sit in the gallery and still observe the surgery even if I wasn't allowed in the O.R.

As I got up to deposit my tray, I noticed that my half-sister, Meredith, was sitting at a lunch table with another of her residents—which if my memory recalled me correctly—was Alex Karev.

It's now or never.

"Um, Meredith?" Both my sister and Alex turned to face me. I was suddenly losing my confidence. "I was hoping that maybe you and I could talk, if, um, you had time."

Meredith looked up at me, but it was hard to get any sort of reading on her expression. Her face was completely deadpan, and she showed no other emotion. I was hoping she would have at least looked a little more excited to want to meet me, but as I stood in front of her now, it appeared I was very wrong.

"I'm kind of busy right now," Meredith replied.

Alex scoffed. "An opening just came up," he said, grabbing his bag of chips and getting up from the table.

"Alex!"

Alex just smirked at Meredith as he left the table and cafeteria, before turning back to me. Her eyebrows rose. "Well, are you going to sit?"

I sat immediately, my hands in my lap. I hadn't even been this nervous when I opened my letter on whether I had gotten into medical school with Harvard.

"Uh, thanks." I sat there for a second, the silence lingering as she continued eating her pudding. She didn't even seem phased at all. "I'm sorry you had to find out about having a sister like you did today."

"I've learned long ago, that when it comes to Thatcher Grey, surprises usually come with the territory," she replied.

Her voice was so detached as if she really didn't seem to care. I on the other hand had been so excited to learn that I had another sister. A big sister. It was a little disappointing that she really didn't seem to feel the same way.

"I was…well, kinda hoping that maybe we could get a drink sometime, or maybe dinner and get to…um, know each other better."

Meredith slowly removed the spoon from her last bite from her mouth and dropped it back on her tray. Something inside of me could feel that this was going horribly wrong. I was starting to regret that I even came over here. Why would I think that coming over here would be a good idea after the day I was currently having.

"Uh, Listen, it's not that I don't want to get to know your or anything, but I'm just not in the right space for that. I have a lot on my plate with residency, and…"

"Say no more," I said standing up and stopping her from finishing that sentence. The last thing I needed was to be rejected on the crapiest day in my entire life. Well, second to my mother actually dying. "I'll…I'll see you around," I said, before bolting from the cafeteria.

Even though I felt defeated and had the worst possible first day any intern could possibly have, I held my head high and forced myself to go to the gallery and watch the surgery. Mark Sloan might have dismissed me from his service, but he wasn't going to dismiss me from watching from above.

"Crap. His vocal cords are damaged beyond repair," Dr. Sloan said as he worked below on the patient.

I hadn't realized how enthralling the surgery would be, leaning forward in my chair to make sure I was getting every viewpoint I could. Dr. Sloan might be a big fat jerk, but even I had to admit that so far, he really was a good surgeon.

"Guess there isn't much you can do. That he won't be able to talk again," commented George.

"Really?" Dr. Sloan said. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you suddenly were the Plastics attending here. I guess, because you suddenly get approved to retake your intern test, you think you are big man on campus. That you suddenly know everything."

"Sorry," George said sheepishly.

"God, what is his problem," I muttered.

As if Dr. Sloan could suddenly hear me, he looked up from his patient and stared directly at me up in the gallery. I couldn't make out any of his facial expressions, since it was covered behind his mask, but I swear, even from up here, I could see a sly gleam in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Grey, was there something you wanted to say directly too me?" Dr. Sloan asked.

My eyes went as wide as saucers as his voice filled the room. Shit! George's color looked as if he turned a shade of green. Did he really just hear what I said? I looked around the room and then noticed the intercom on the wall. Crap. Double crap.

"Um, no, sir, Dr. Sloan," I replied.

He looked up from the patient and again back at me. "Are you sure? Because a moment ago, it sounded like there was definitely something you wanted to say."

I grit my teeth. "No. Nothing."

"Coward," he said under his breath.

"Ugh, Jerk!" I sputtered quietly.

"Lexie!"

George looked at me appalled, and I realized I hadn't said that as quietly as I hoped. Before anything else could happen, the machines started beeping frantically, both Dr. Sloan and George refocusing back on the patient. The erratic beeping indicated that the patient's pressure was dropping. For a moment it was looking bleak when Dr. Sloan indicated they were losing their patient, but being the apparent badass surgeon his reputation indicated, he saved the patient. He successfully repaired the trachea, but the patient still wouldn't be able to speak since his vocal cords had been completely severed in the accident.

I waited until Dr. Sloan was gone, and the patient was back resting comfortably in his room before I went and found George.

"Dr. O'Malley," I called catching up to him.

He let out a long sigh. "Dr. Grey." When he turned to face me, he looked at me as if he was disappointed. "Your behavior today in gallery was unacceptable." he scolded.

Was this dump on Lexie day? "What? I was trying to defend you." I lowered my voice. "He has been nothing but a complete jerk to you."

"You don't get to talk to an attending that way. If you think you were helping me in anyway, the only thing you managed to do was make it worse," he said.

I stopped, dumbfounded, which caused him to stop. "How could I make what he is doing to you any worse?"

George stopped, and turned to face me. "Because he is our boss. What makes you think you can…" his face transformed into shock, "You're sleeping with him aren't you? Not you too."

My mouth fell open. "What? No!" I shouted in complete outrage. "I barely know him and just started today. You just said he is my boss."

"Didn't stop your sister," he muttered.

My brows furrowed together. "Meredith slept with Dr. Sloan?"

George looked like he wanted to slap himself for letting that piece of information slip. "No, not him. Dr. Shepherd," he clarified.

"Aren't they together?"

He groaned. "They slept together the night before she started her internship. They didn't know who each other were at the time…you know what never mind, that's not the point."

"Then what is the point," I stressed.

He sighed. "Dr. Sloan already doesn't like me much as it is…and you doing what you did back there in the O.R. that is only going to make it worse," he replied.

"But why?"

George looked around the hallway before he lowered his voice even further. "Look, I'm not proud of this. I was engaged to Dr. Callie Torres. While we were engaged, I may have slept with another doctor, and her and Mark are really close…so he's been enjoying being rather hard on me because I hurt Callie."

I felt torn. I still felt horrible for George because the way Mark was treating him…but at the same time, if any one of my friends had been cheated on…I would want to give them the cold shoulder and make their life a living hell for hurting my friend. Looking back at George though, I could see the regret for what he had done to this Dr. Callie Torres. Besides, he was my resident and right now, I needed all the help I could get.

"I'm sorry," I said.

He looked confused. "What do you have to be sorry about? I'm the cheater. I'm the one that deserves the backlash."

"You made a mistake, George. Everyone makes them. And, as you said…he is your boss. Regardless of what happened between you and Callie, we're professionals. Or, we should be."

He offered me a small smile. "Thanks, Lexie." A moment later his face turned serious. "Still, I can take care of myself. Let's just try a little harder to make sure what happened in the O.R. doesn't happen again," he said.

I nodded, offering my own encouraging smile. "Understood."

We parted ways after that, George letting me know that my first official shift of the day was over. Instead of immediately going to the locker room to change like I should, I found myself thinking about what George said and our patient.

Even though Mark had taken me off his service for the day, I found ways to still stay connected. I checked in and listened to the conversations outside the door. Mostly, George took pity on me and updated me on everything in the case. Especially, the gossip. That almost everyone in the group was sleeping with each other's spouses.

Even though Dr. Sloan was able to save the patient, he wasn't going to be able to talk again. He needed more surgeries, but he was giving up because his wife had found out that he was sleeping with one of her other friends. My conversation with George just now…it gave me an idea, and even though I was supposed to be off the case, I had to try.

I walked into the room, and luckily my patient was still awake. I didn't know if he would recognize me from earlier in the day, but the flash in his eyes as he made eye contact with me told me that he just might.

"From what I hear, you're doing good." I looked at the machines next to him, all of them steady. "Stable is good, because they won't let you into your next surgery until then."

The patient nodded, but he still looked so defeated as if he was giving up. If I was going to do what I came to do, now was the time. I just hope it was the right decision.

"It happens, you know. People make mistakes. You know, they sleep around with the wrong person. And they hide it. When the person they care about finds out…the hurt, pain, humiliation you may have caused…it's natural that the person you hurt would want to do that to you." His eyes started to shine a bit more with water. I took a step forward. "But if you ask me, it's the part that comes after that matters. The part where you make it right. And I think you are off to a good start. So, don't give up. Keep fighting. Even if they don't seem to want to fight with you."

I gave him an encouraging smile, before I turned on my heel and came face to face with Dr. Sloan standing just outside of the patient's door. He was looking at me, but it was hard to decipher what it was as far as emotions he was feeling. It was like earlier in the day at my apartment. Like he was trying to somehow to figure me out.

I stood there for a moment, waiting for him to yell and scream at me. He did take me off his service today, and here I was disobeying a direct order from him. I should be sorry, but I wasn't. Medicine wasn't just about diagnosing the physical symptoms, but sometimes the emotional ones too.

I cleared my throat. "I was just leaving."

I moved to walk past him, but he stood in my way. "Dr. Grey, a moment."

I opened my mouth before he could. "Ok, listen. I know I should be sorry to have gone in there even after you took me off your service. If you want to punish me or recommend to the Chief to remove me from the program, that is your prerogative, but I am not going to apologize for what I just did back there. I stand by that it was the right call."

Mark put his hands in his pockets of his lap coat. "You're right. It was."

"Fine. I will get my stuff and…wait what?" I asked, stopping in mid-sentence that he had actually agreed with me.

He didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was enjoying me squirm. "I said, you were right. It was the first thing you did right today with this case."

"Um, thanks."

I don't know why even that little praise that was somehow still mixed in with a criticism made me feel good. All the more, I don't know why suddenly I was craving the fact that I wanted more of Mark Sloan's praise.

"I know you think I'm a jerk." He paused and when I didn't respond to counter that comment, he grinned. "I am. But I also know that you're a good doctor."

I looked at him doubtfully. "But…it's been less than a day, and you kicked me off your service in the first hour. Forgive me, if that's a little hard to believe."

He crossed his arms over his chest, his expression hardening. "Because that's the problem…you don't believe. From what I witnessed this morning in my assessment, and yes, even in the brief time you were in the room…you have the talent Dr. Grey. You have the talent and the ability." He looked in the room where our patient was laying his eyes opened and thinking. "You also have something that many doctors can't be taught."

I found myself enthralled and unable to stop myself from asking. "What's that?"

"The ability to talk to patients. The ability to make someone believe they can do better. Be better."

There was a brief moment where I swore, I saw his eyes softening as he looked down at me, before he masked it, and gave me a quick curt nod.

"Tomorrow's another day, Little Grey. I won't be easy on you, because easy isn't what is going to help you. So, brush this off, and be better tomorrow."

Before I could even respond, he turned and walked down the hall, leaving me to look after him.

Little Grey?

A/N: Hope you enjoyed