Author's Notes: Wow, thanks so much for the great reviews! Chapter two is up early because of them. ;) I replied to each individually at the end. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters (except Danielle) and I don't own the fandom. Just my own creative interpretation.

Chapter Two - Relations

Derek Shepherd was a busy man. He'd been a busy baby, a busy boy, a busy teen, and now he was a busy man. He'd heard people say that it was much better to be too busy than too bored, but he wished he could've at least decided for himself. He never regretted becoming a neurosurgeon--he was amazing at it. That wasn't bragging, it was just the truth and anyone who knew anything about neurology knew that if Derek Shepherd couldn't do it, chances were it couldn't be done at all.

Too bad for him, he was too busy studying biology to get any kind of education in real life. And as he got older, that fact was becoming more and more painfully obvious. His marriage to Addison had failed and he was desperately trying to right the mistake. He wasn't even sure that was what he wanted. Since fleeing New York, he'd met the most...aggravating, bewitching, amazing woman he'd ever known. But when given the choice, he'd picked Addison. Even given the slow progress he and Addy were making, sometimes the fact that he'd picked the cheating wife over the amazing new woman in his life perplexed him.

"Sounds like a soap opera," Derek mumbled under his breath with a fatigued laugh.

"Did you say something, Dr. Shepherd?"

Derek turned to see George O'Malley standing beside him. When did he get there? Derek thought back to morning and vaguely remembered Dr. Bailey assigning the intern to assist him that day. "No, Dr. O'Malley. I was just...thinking aloud is all."

George nodded and went back to standing uncomfortably. He was the shy guy, yes, but he was extra uncomfortable around Dr. Shepherd. 'McDreamy,' as Cristina and Izzie had come to call him. By this time, George had accepted that Meredith would never move past her 'best friend' view of him. But to be around the man that did capture her desire was a little too much for him sometimes. It didn't help that Derek Shepherd was a perfectly nice person--nothing unlikable about the man on the surface (unless the fact that he was perfectly nice counted as a reason to dislike someone).

George turned his head at the sound of voices down the quiet hallway. His fortunes weren't turning for the better; Alex Karev was making his way toward him.

"Morning Dr. Shepherd," Alex uttered as he approached.

Suck-up, George thought but said nothing.

Derek glanced up from his paper work distractedly. "Dr. Karev," he acknowledged. His eyes fixed on the brunette beside Alex and he seemed to snap to attention all of a sudden. "Danielle."

Danielle shifted nervously. "Dr. Shepherd."

"What are you doing here--"

"Having lunch with my brother," Danielle said quickly, emphasis on 'brother.'

"You two know each other?" Alex asked.

"We met yesterday. I kind of ran into him literally...knocked all his stuff on the floor," she explained.

Derek stared at her. "Right. It was mainly my fault though, I wasn't looking where I was going." His eyes remained locked on hers. "I didn't know you were Dr. Karev's sister though. I should have figured it out--how many Karevs could there be in Seattle Grace hospital?"

Danielle smiled in appreciation of his humor. Her eyes turned to focus on the other man that was standing next to Derek.

"I suppose you haven't met George O'Malley, he's in your brother's intern group," Derek introduced, his voice retaking it's distracted quality as he turned back to his paperwork.

"You're George!" Danielle exclaimed, reaching out to shake his hand.

"You've heard of me?" George's attempt at humor came out flat.

Danielle laughed anyway. The sound rang through the silent hallway, but quickly dissipated. All that was left was the creaking sound of a wheelchair moving past the four as they stood there. Might as well be crickets chirping, thought George, wishing he'd never opened his mouth.

"Yeah, you're famous." Danielle finally answered his question. "I'm Alex's sister, Danielle." Turning to her brother, she went on. "He has testosterone."

George's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets--even Derek looked up from his paperwork. Alex covered his mouth to keep the laughter in. They were in the hallway of a hospital, after all.

"Trust me, you couldn't be anyone's sister." Danielle winked at George.

Alex couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Am I missing something?" George asked.

Alex reached out and put his hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "Don't worry about it G-Dawg, ok?"

George stared up at him with contempt in his eyes. As usual, there was no good comeback to be found. He looked at Danielle, who's face seemed unreadable. Was she trying to pull a fast one on him too? She just met him and she was in on the joke. He shouldn't be surprised--she was a Karev, after all.

"I hate to break this up, but Dr. O'Malley and I have a patient to check on and the clock on your lunch break is ticking, Dr. Karev," Derek said. "It was good to see you again Danielle."

"You too. It was nice to meet you, George." Her voice had become strangely quiet.

"That was great," Alex said as he and Danielle walked away from Derek and George. "Did you see the look on his face when you said he had testosterone? Classic!"

"You thought I was kidding around? I think we might have hurt his feelings."

"He'll survive."

Danielle sighed. Alex turned curious eyes to her. "You were so quick to judge Meredith, Cristina, and Izzie, why are you so sensitive to George? You have a problem with women or something?"

Its all about you! Danielle wanted to fire back. It was obvious that Cristina took any chance she could to put Alex down and Meredith seemed to go along some of the time. Danielle didn't even know what to make of Izzie. With George it seemed like the tables were turned and Alex was the one doing all of the pestering. Danielle didn't like to see people being put-down, it came with being a social worker and seeing helpless children pushed around by so-called adults.

"He just seemed like a nice guy," was all she offered. "Obviously I don't know any of them, its just the impressions I got, that's all."

Alex just shrugged. He'd never understand his sister. "What was going on with you and Shepherd? He was undressing you with his eyes."

"Alex!" Danielle exclaimed, louder than she should have. She slapped her hand over her mouth, her wild eyes still on him.

"If I wasn't worried about my job, I'd have done something about it," Alex continued, amused at his sister's antics.

She replied, "He wasn't...doing that. I think he was just surprised that we were related. I kind of made a fool of myself yesterday when I ran into him and I doubt he expected to see me around again."

"And that's it?"

Danielle nodded, annoyed at his persistence. "Of course," she said. "You must be bored here--you seem to be looking for trouble," she teased.

"No, definitely not bored," Alex said, his eyes moving to watch Izzie move down the hall the opposite way.

Bored would not be an emotion that anyone at Seattle Grace would be feeling in the near future.

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She was busy. That was the excuse Izzie used not to make eye contact with Alex as he and his sister walked by her down the hall. She'd known that Alex had seen her and was trying to get her attention, but she didn't want to deal with Danielle. Not that she'd notice Izzie anyway.

Thanksgiving had been such a wonderful turning point in their relationship, at least that's what Izzie thought. Alex's lateness notwithstanding, it had been a lovely dinner. Then she'd shown up. She hated the way she couldn't be herself around Danielle. That taciturnity was a trait she thought she'd left behind when she entered med-school. Danielle was the most important person in Alex's life that Izzie would have to impress, that was true, but Izzie wasn't one to shy away from giving her best. So why was Danielle Karev so intimidating? Whatever the reason, it was starting to affect her working life--something she could not afford. What kind of doctor sat and thought about their personal problems when there were lives to be saved?

"Stevens, enema in room 210," Dr. Bailey called as she rushed by.

Izzie winced. Maybe lives were not at risk at this particular moment, but she was pretty sure that the man in room 210 would feel much more...relieved once Izzie did her job.

Worrying and obsessing would have to wait until retirement.

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Danielle Karev had only had one serious relationship in her life. His name was Jeff Clarkson and she'd met him when they were both seventeen. Some say that true love is unattainable at such a young age, but if any of those naysayers had seen Danielle and Jeff together, they would have almost certainly changed their stance. Jeff was a wonderful man; he'd loved Danielle and treated her like a queen. He told her he would never hurt her and he never did. At least not directly.

When it ended six years ago, it was so traumatic that Danielle swore she'd never love again. But that was six years ago...seventy-two months...three-hundred and twelve weeks. Not that she was counting. Loneliness had found a way to settle into her life and make her ache. She didn't want to fall in love again and she didn't expect to find one fourth of what she'd had with Jeff, but she didn't want to be alone anymore. That was part of the reason that she'd come out to Seattle. Life in Iowa to Danielle meant life with Jeff. Time didn't ease the pain as it was supposed to. Now she wanted to see what the rest of the world was like.

Danielle shifted in her seat at the Emerald City Bar. Something about the grungy place was comfortable. It was only her second time there, but she could see why everyone was so fond of it. Even though she sat there alone, she was at ease.

She didn't know why she was suddenly thinking about Jeff. It had been awhile since her mind had brought her back to that place in her life.

An upbeat song began to play over the jukebox. Enough thinking about the past, Danielle decided, it was time to look to the future.

"Whiskey sour on the rocks," came a dejected voice beside her.

Danielle turned to see that George had taken the stool next to her. "Rough day," she commented.

George was surprised when he saw the owner of the voice. "Yeah," he offered lamely. She hadn't exactly helped the cause, although he would admit that tagging along with Derek Shepherd usually put him in such a mood. But as he looked at Danielle, he had to admit that she didn't seem like the irritant she had earlier that afternoon. Maybe he was more at ease when Alex wasn't around. But she had teased him mercilessly too, hadn't she?

Appropriately, Danielle said, "Listen, I'm glad I ran into you here. I wanted to apologize for earlier. I think I might have offended you with the testosterone and sister comments and I really didn't mean to. Alex was teasing you and I was trying to stick up for you and I kind of screwed it up. I know I can be a little snarky, but I'm really not a total pain in the ass, I promise."

She smiled and he found himself smiling back. "Thanks, but I wasn't offended," he fibbed. "I'm used to the teasing, so its no big deal." His head bobbed in a poor attempt at nonchalance.

Joe set George's drink in front of him. "Put it on my tab," George said without even thinking.

"It's on me," Danielle said, setting a ten-dollar bill on the bar as she stood up. George stared up at her with a curious look. She just chuckled. "See you around?"

It took him a second to respond. "Yeah. Definitely." Was this girl really related to Alex Karev after all?

Danielle couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she exited the bar. She hummed along with the familiar song on the jukebox.

"If there's a reason
Its lost on me
Maybe we'll be friends
I guess we'll see..."

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Lyrics: Third Eye Blind - Never Let You Go

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AJeff: Thanks. The funny thing is, is that I'm not wild about Alex and Izzie as individuals (I'm much more of a Cristina and George fan, though not as a couple), but together they're just so right, you know?
Am I mOrE tHaN yOu BaRgAiNeD fOr YeT: Glad you think so! I hope ch. 2 is just as interesting. ;)
klutz101: Thanks! I definitely will keep updating.
sweetgirl73: Wow, you're too kind! Thanks for the compliment, I really appreciate it. I hope you like ch. 2.
SweetScam: I'm really glad you like Danielle. Thats what a writer likes to hear about their original characters. :)
yaba: Thanks so much! Alex having a sister seems to work for some reason, you know?
Lady MR1: Thanks. The drama's just getting started! ;)
RedLA: I'm from NY so Seattle is not exactly close but I'd love to visit someday. And I agree, Grey's rocks! Thanks for the review.
Greyaddict: Coming right up. :) Thanks for the review.
rach: Thanks so much. Glad you like the idea too.
izzabella: I hear ya, but I wanted Alex and Danielle to be similar, that way Danielle can cause trouble in the already troubled world of Seattle Grace. And as for Danielle/George...I can't give away all my secrets, now can I? ;)

Thanks again to all!