Author's Notes: Thanks again for all the comments (replies at the end, as usual). This may be the last chapter for a little while--finals. That and I don't even have chapter five written--I'm usually a chapter or two ahead. I have my beta read it over at least twice before it goes up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it has a lot of George-ness! The Alex/Izzie will pick up for good next chapter, I promise. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters (except Danielle) and I don't own the fandom. Just my own creative interpretation.

Chapter Four - Aftershocks

"'I know that you'll be back, boy. When your days and your nights get a little bit colder, oh, oh.'"

Alex had to smile at the sound of his sister singing as she showered. It was another early morning in Seattle. He had just grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter for breakfast when he heard Danielle's voice sail through.

"'You'll always be a part of me. And I'm part of you indefinitely. Boy don't you know you can't escape me? Ooh darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby.'"

It was horribly off-key and painful to his ears, but he'd grown used to it after having lived with her for the first sixteen of the twenty-four years of her life. Alex had to admit, if it weren't for Mariah Carey's voice going along with what Danielle tried to pass off as a voice, he would have to stuff something in his ears. That or go insane. Danielle loved Mariah Carey and probably knew the words to nearly every song she recorded. Alex was never a big fan of Mariah...at least not Mariah the singer.

He couldn't help but smirk at that thought. A whole smile and a half--in one morning, no less. That had to be a good sign.

Truth be told, he hadn't exactly been the most pleasant person to be around in the past two weeks. He had hardly said two words to Izzie. He did his best to be chilly around Danielle but she barely seemed cognizant of it save a few raised eyebrows when his tone got extra snippy. He supposed she just chalked it up to him being himself. Not the most pleasant thought, but true nonetheless.

He wanted to blame her so badly for what had happened between him and Izzie. Why couldn't she just like people? Why did everyone not related to her by blood need to win her over before she acted like a normal human being around them? But deep inside, he knew he couldn't blame her for that. She was thick-skinned and stubborn to a fault, yes, but being wary of people wasn't a character flaw. Besides it would be hypocritical of Alex to hold that against her. Iciness was a Karev trait all the way. He knew he couldn't blame her for what happened between him and Izzie either. She hadn't been there, she'd had no control over the words that had come out of their mouths.

That was something that was between Alex and Izzie and no one else, at least in his mind.

He finished off his apple and tossed the core into the garbage. "Going to work," he called toward the bathroom before exiting the apartment.

Why was she even up so early? he wondered absently as he drove. He decided that thinking about Danielle's sleeping habits wasn't worth his while as he arrived at the hospital. Upon his entrance, he saw Derek Shepherd moving down the hall.

My biggest fan, Alex thought sarcastically. Sure he'd messed up a few times, what intern didn't? Derek somehow always made him feel like he was the only one who ever made mistakes. The irritated looks, the angry and embarrassing repremands in front of the other interns...it was almost to much for Alex to handle.

"Dr. Shepherd," Alex spoke up. A little groveling for his latest error couldn't hurt. Dehydrating a man's brain hadn't been one of Alex's finer moments. "I just wanted--"

"I'm sorry Dr. Karev. I'm running late for an appointment. Can this wait?"

Alex sighed inwardly. "Yeah. Of course." Ass kissing would have to wait until another day.

Derek never broke his stride as he continued down the hospital corridor.

Alex figured it was for the best as he reached the locker room. Bailey would have his head if he was late for assignments. Again.

When he entered, he noticed the room was empty, save the sound of one person near the back lockers. He checked his watch and discovered he was early. As tardy of a person as Alex had been all his life, he had been showing up early to work lately. Ever since The Fight. In the beginning, it was a way to avoid being alone with Izzie. Now, it had become a habit.

"Finally, a good habit," he mumbled under his breath, heading for his locker.

He heard a locker door slam shut and Meredith appeared around the corner.

"What are you doing here?" he asked lamely.

"I work here," Meredith teased. Alex mustered a face so at least she knew he'd registered her words. "I noticed you were coming in early and I thought you might want to talk."

Alex blinked as if he didn't understand her. "Wouldn't that piss off Queen Izzie?" he snapped.

Meredith's eyebrows raised. "'Queen Izzie'?" she repeated. "Wow, still a little hostility there, huh?"

He SO did not want to talk about this. He and Meredith were becoming friends...sort of, but maybe it was just so she could spy on him. What if she'd told Izzie about his boards? Nah, if she knew, Izzie would have come right out with it. She wasn't one to keep her feelings about big issues to herself.

"Hello, Earth to Alex," Meredith was saying. He didn't look at her as he pulled his scrubs top on.

"My sister's far from perfect ok?" he blurted out, ransacking his bag for the bottoms to his scrubs. "I know it, you know it. Danielle knows it for Christ's sake. Is it really such a big deal?" He paused, throwing his bag down in disgust. "And where the hell are my pants?"

Meredith sat down beside him. She knew to ignore that last question. "It is a big deal to Izzie."

Alex turned to Meredith, looking her in the eye for the first time. "I noticed," he said, the edge still in his voice. "She needs everyone to be perfect like she is." He had no idea where the defensiveness was coming from. Meredith and Izzie had been completely right in all they'd said about Danielle. Somehow he couldn't manage to give them the satisfaction of knowing that. Not when it came to his sister.

Meredith shrugged, taking in a deep breath. "You and Izzie are both the type of person who can make up their own mind about things. You don't really need my help. I just hope you don't mess it up completely."

Alex let out a tired laugh. It could be too late for that.

As those words formed in his head, a new thought suddenly emerged. Was Meredith trying to tell him something? She lived with Izzie, they must talk. Did she know something he didn't?

Alex was about to ask her those very questions when the door opened and Cristina and George entered. Izzie followed not long after. As per usual, she looked indignant and kept her distance from him.

The questions about Meredith's advice would have to wait for another day. This one was about to commence and it left no room for angsting.

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Sometimes George felt like he wasn't living his own life. He watched as Alex and Izzie had their ups and downs. He was a spectator in the never-ending drama that surrounded Meredith, Derek, and Addison. He overheard tiffs and trysts between Cristina and Burke. But no one ever watched, spectated, or overheard anything having to do with him. Maybe it was better, he always told himself. All of the aforementioned parties were always complaining about something, it had to be better to be in his position where the only drama was in the workplace. He had nothing to complain about, why should he...complain about that?

George shook away his thoughts. He had a habit of getting himself into a distracting cycle of musings that had their own habit of doing nothing for him except giving him a headache. He was in the ER with Dr. Bailey and in the ER there was no such thing as a slow day. Five car accident victims (crazy Seattle drivers), six heart "palpitations" (four of which turned out to be just heartburn), two broken bones, and a bizarre rash had already come through and it was only noon. And those were only the patients George had seen.

"George."

He turned at the sound of his name. Danielle was walking toward him, her features flushed and her hair disheveled. He noticed she was carrying a bag.

Subconsiously, his pulse quickened. "Hi Danielle," he said, hoping his voice didn't sound weak as it had a way of doing around specimens of the opposite sex.

"I'm looking for Alex. I was told that he's down here."

Unfortunately, she was right. Alex had been assigned to the ER with Bailey too. Luckily for the both of them, they'd kept their distance from each other all morning.

"Yeah, I can get him for you." George watched as Danielle leaned tiredly against the nurses' station. He swallowed hard and decided to speak up. "Are you ok?"

Danielle snapped to attention then and smiled at George. "I'm sorry...yeah, I'm fine. I woke up at an ungodly hour. For some reason it seemed like Alex's alarm was extra loud this morning. All part of his anal-ness recently, probably. Anyway, I planned to lounge around for the rest of the day but then I get a call from brother dear saying he forgot the bottoms to his scrubs and could I please, please, please bring them down." She laughed as she recounted the conversation. "So here I am."

George smiled back. "I'll get him," he repeated and disappeared down the hallway. A few seconds later, he reappeared with Alex, who was looking quite ridiculous in his scrubs top and jeans.

Danielle bit back a laugh. "Nice fashion statement," she said.

"Yeah, I was just telling him that maybe we should look into getting the dress code changed," George went along.

Danielle was surprised, but definitely amused at that statement. "Great idea!"

"Fine, gang up on me," Alex grumbled, snatching the bag from Danielle. "My own sister..." he muttered, heading toward the bathroom.

Danielle and George laughed as they watched him go.

"I'm glad to see that the zinger wheel spins both ways," Danielle said to George.

George looked away modestly. "I have my moments," he said simply. The comebacks to Alex's retorts didn't come with any regularity, but he was grateful one had dawned on him right then.

She nodded in understanding. "I better be going..."

George glanced at the clock. 12:25. About time for a lunch break, if he did say so himself. "Do you want to get something to eat?" First the comeback and now this remarkable courage.

Danielle considered his inquiry. "Sure. That sounds nice."

George exhaled, he hoped not too loudly. He had no clue what he was doing or why. He didn't know Danielle, but what he did know was that a) she was a Karev, and b) his friends didn't like her. "Great," was what he said. "Let me tell Bailey that I'm going."

Minutes later they were on their way to the cafeteria. They made small talk as they ordered sandwiches and found seats away from the commotion of consulting doctors.

Danielle looked at George. What exactly was going on here? Simple enough question. Just two people hanging out, she quickly snapped back. George was one of the decent people she'd met during her time in Seattle (admittedly, only a brief few weeks), why shouldn't she take advantage of a free minute that they had together?

"How do you like Seattle so far?" George asked, opening his can of soda. Just keep her interested...

"There's so much to see," she replied, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich. "So many museums and clubs. I've walked around looking at things almost everyday, its kind of overwhelming. I like to sight-see though, its just not as much fun by myself."

George nodded, relieved that she was comfortable around him, even if it was a struggle for him to be comfortable around her. "I wish I had a chance to sight-see more often but it hasn't happened."

Danielle smiled. "You have much more important things to do," she said. "Like performing open-heart surgery in an elevator."

George nearly spit out the soda he was drinking. "How did you know about that?"

"I have my ways," Danielle said with a sly chuckle. "The internet is a beautiful thing. Its amazing what googling 'Seattle Grace Hospital' can get you."

"Wow," George said. "I've been...'semi-googled.'"

It was Danielle's turn to choke on her drink. George felt heat rising in his cheeks at the sound of her laughter. What the hell was going on?

A comfortable silence set in as the two finished off their sandwiches. Neither could be sure what the other was thinking or if it was anything close to what they themselves were thinking.

George took in a deep breath. "Izzie isn't all that bad, you know," he broke the silence, his voice low. "Once you get to know her."

Danielle, as would be expected, looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

Oh man, he'd started it now. Open mouth, insert foot. "Um...well, its just that she thought you didn't like her and it caused this fight with her and Alex..." He paused. The look on Danielle's face told him that this was all news to her.

She sat back contemplatively. Izzie and Alex got into a fight over her? She almost laughed at the thought. "I don't even know Izzie," she said simply. "And she doesn't know me."

George nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking but Izzie seemed pretty convinced."

"So why did she pick a fight with Alex about it?" Danielle's voice began to raise.

Now you've done it, O'Malley, he thought. You were having a perfectly friendly lunch and now look what's happened. "I didn't mean to cause trouble," he said.

Danielle's expression immediately softened. "You didn't," she assured, placing her hand over his. A gesture that caused something to jump inside her--something she didn't expect. She pulled away as casually as she could. "I just wish if someone had a problem with me that they'd come to me about it and not my brother."

George nodded, still kicking himself for bringing the subject up. Even if she wasn't mad at him, she didn't seem happy to find out about the fight. And Izzie probably wouldn't be too thrilled that he'd blabbed to 'the enemy.'

Danielle was watching him thoughtfully. He wondered what that was all about and if it had any possiblity of being good.

"I don't want to make you late," she said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

They stood together and headed out of the cafeteria. "Thanks for the invite," Danielle said when they arrived back at the ER.

"No problem. It was nice not having to eat alone today. Not that I eat alone much. Its just the others have been in surgeries all day." Just quit babbling, George, and ask her to do it again. Ask her to a movie. Something. "See you around?"

That was becoming their motto. She nodded and with a wave, she was gone.

And George went back to work, kicking himself the whole rest of the day for having such a "way" with women.

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Izzie prepped a pregnant teen for a cesarean late that night. Dr. Shepherd--Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, that is--would be back any minute to take the young girl into surgery and Izzie wanted to make sure she was ready. Addison wasn't exactly what you'd call a "drill sargent" but she was no picnic either. Izzie wanted the process to be as painless as possible.

Officially, her shift had ended an hour and a half ago. But really, shifts were for people who worked in stores and offices. Izzie knew she most likely wouldn't be leaving for another hour or two, depending on how the cesarian went.

"Is my baby going to be ok?" A small voice broke Izzie's concentration. The girl couldn't have been more than seventeen years old.

Izzie smiled reassuringly. "We're going to do all we can. You've got the best people to help you here."

"That's right." Addison appeared in the doorway. Thankfully, Izzie had just finished her preparations. She stepped aside for Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. "Now let's get you into surgery so you can meet your son."

The teen nervously placed her hand on her extended belly. "I think I'm ready."

"Dr. Stevens, please let the OR staff know we're on our way," Addison directed as she helped the nursing staff move the pregnant girl onto the gurney.

Izzie made her way to the elevator that would take her to the surgical wing. When the elevator doors opened to the fourth floor, she was surprised to find Alex sitting outside the OR doors. He was slumped against the wall as if he had been waiting for hours.

She said nothing, only stared at him curiously.

"I asked Bailey where you were and she said you and Dr. Shepherd had an emergency surgery going. I decided to come here and wait for you," Alex began to explain.

Izzie headed toward OR 4. Alex stood quickly and followed after her.

"Did you need something?" Izzie was too exhausted to use any kind of tone but a tired one.

"I just thought we should talk."

"About what?"

"Izzie--"

"Look Alex, its been a long day. They're all long days." She laughed in fatigue. "I'm just not up for this now."

Alex bit the inside of his bottom lip. "I've been think about this all day. I really want to talk about what happened."

Izzie turned away from him to catch the attention of the OR staff leader. "Dr. Shepherd will be down shortly with the cesarean," she said. After he acknowledged, she turned and walked out, Alex still following her. "That happened weeks ago, we don't need to talk."

"Yes we do." Something about his tone gave Izzie pause. She thought back to Meredith's advice at Joe's. Izzie had been waiting for Alex to come around, maybe that time was now. Better late than never, right?

"Fine," she agreed, stepping into the elevator alone. "Joe's, tomorrow night."

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Lyrics: Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby

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AJeff: Alex and Izzie will at least have it out next chapter. Whether or not they work it out...we'll see!
skylinechick07: Thanks for the comment!
RedLA: Wow, thanks so much! Yes, Alex is a very complex character--its going to make for some great drama later on. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
sweetgirl73: Thank you! I'm trying to hard to make all the characters, especially Alex and Izzie, true to the way they are on the show while also exploring new facets of their characters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
izzabella: The answers to all your questions will come, I promise! Thanks for the review.
Greyaddict: Thanks!
yaba: Hehe, thanks so much! Yeah the possibility of Danielle/George is intriguing--so many ways to go. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Thanks to all!