Distilled Hearts (It's How We Breathe)

Chapter 1-Mysteries

By greyeyedgirl

takes place after 2.22 "Name of the Game."

P.S.A:

Yeah. This is a public service announcement. Seriously. All of you need to p/m a person named PRESTINALUVR, because, according to her, she has stopped writing because CERTAIN PEOPLE kept yelling at her, others copied her storylines (fine. So this one was quite possibly me), and others still...sent her a bad p/m asking her to do something horrible (you know who you are, and so do I!). The idea of prestinaluvr not contributing lots and lots of BC fic is not a nice one, so everyone needs to send her pretty, generous, complimentary (sucking up and bribes are fine, too) private messages, NOT rude ones, no shift key and $#& allowed, telling her that of COURSE we appreciate her hard work and brilliance, and we need her fanfic desperately, especially in these hard times in which we have to wait until April freakin thirtieth to see another new episode. : (

Okay. On to the story.

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chapter one: "Mysteries"

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Cristina Yang was a mystery to him. He was used to loving mysteries, he always felt a delicious spark as each new clue was released, as each new fact was gathered, and he could finally grasp at the conclusion.

Mysteries were...intoxicating, they were mind-stretching, they weren't supposed to be heart-wrenching.

She was, though. He dug desperately for each clue, with her carefully hiding the book titled "The Life of Cristina Yang" behind her back, teasing him with her eyes, laughing out loud when he tried to reach for it. She was never going to let him read the whole thing, just sit down with his feet propped up and start at the beginning. She was going to allow him to grasp at pages, random tidbits from her past, try to piece it all together like the pieces of a puzzle, not even letting him see what the finished picture would be. How could you solve a puzzle like that?

She...was Jewish, she had grown up in Beverly Hills, she'd went to one of the highest regarded medical schools in the country and graduated top of her class. She could go from crying to holding him to being inquisitive to strolling through their apartment, naked. How on earth was he going to place those pieces together?

Preston Burke remembered staring at the doorway she had passed through, his mind putting two and two together. She had played him.

He had been played! By an intern!

A sexy, brilliant, mysterious intern who could take his breath away.

The next morning he had cornered her, itching for a new chapter, wanting so badly to read the subtext or the author's note or just find out what page he was on.

He had been able to hear the water spraying fiercely as he pulled back the curtain to the shower, he carefully released the towel he had wrapped spontaneously around his waist.

She turned, he got a glimpse of her face before he cupped her chin in his hand, kissing her as he stepped into the shower. She let out a little moan when he brushed closer, before wrapping her arms around his naked body, he could gently feel the soft touch of her fingers brushing against his back, then digging, leaving little cuts for the next morning. God, she was exhilarating. He left his eyes open for a few seconds, staring down into her searching orbs, her lips pushed against him and he slowly bent his head. Suddenly, the last thing on his mind was reading or puzzle pieces...

The next morning:

Cristina strolled into the opening doors of Seattle Grace Hospital, heading past the small lobby area and into the elevator. Izzie and George were already there, for a moment Izzie didn't seem to notice Cristina's presence, she was staring at George with a look of curiosity, the hint of sadness mingling in her eyes. She turned her head, though, noticing Cristina for the first time, and smiled, waving hello. Cristina managed a tight smile, curly hair hanging in front of her face, as she avoided George's searching look, an expression of awkwardness etched on every line of his face.

"Hold it, please!" George stuck his foot out to hold the elevator without thinking, and his flustered look seemed to portray his embarrassment at this, as he carefully avoided Burke's eye. The tall doctor stepped quickly into the elevator, taking his place next to Cristina, sending her a quick smile. "I forgot to tell you," Burke said quietly in her ear so no one else could hear, "But I've got something to talk to you about later."

Cristina turned to look at him curiously, one brow furled, but the elevators dinged open, and Burke strolled out, looking sideways down the hall as he exited.

Izzie looked down at Burke, then at George, then at Cristina. "What was that all about?" She asked curiously.

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"Seriously? Seriously?" Izzie sat laughing, her hair falling across her face as she leaned back in her chair at the lunch table. She glanced back at George, who was looking down at his food with a tight, awkward smile, then at Cristina, who was holding back a smirk, and laughing. "Seriously," she said quietly to herself.

"It was horrible," George said. He looked around, then back at Izzie, frowning. "I don't think I'm Burke's guy anymore!"

Cristina's smile grew as she moved her fork around in her food. Suddenly she seemed to remember something though, and her expression changed. Izzie turned to look at her. "So what does Burke want to talk to you about?" She asked. Cristina grimaced, not answering. "I have to go," she said, setting down her fork. Izzie glanced up at her, semi-surprised.

"Yeah, um, you know what? Some of us have patients to see." Cristina rolled her eyes. "Seriously!"

Izzie looked contemplative, as she chewed slowly on her food, exchanging a glance with George. "Must be bad," she said, shrugging.

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Cristina laid on the top bunk of the bed in the on-call room. She'd purposely picked an on-call room in a different wing, just for the fact that Burke would never think to look for her here.

Preston Burke turned the corner of the hospital, walking purposely into the on-call room he had watched Cristina enter minutes before, looking down the hall before she did so.

He swung open the door, entering the room, taking note of Cristina's exhausted appearance, making no noise as he did so, as Cristina's eyes remained close. He looked at her calmly for a few moments, before swinging upward, and kissing her softly.

Her eyes flew open, she moved to sit up, the hint of a smile in her eyes as her face became blank. "Hi," she said.

Burke smiled tentatively up at her. "Hi."

"What was that for?"

Burke continued to smile. "Do I need a reason?"

Cristina shrugged, her face seemingly focused on something else, before she laid back down again, closing her eyes and resting her hands under her head.

"So," Burke said quietly. "About before,"

Cristina clenched her eyes tighter, not responding, but before Burke could finish, a loud sound interrupted them, the sound of their two pagers going off in two unsynchronized, high-pitched beeps. They both reached for their pagers at the same time, looking down at the '991 ER,' before Cristina scrambled off of the top bunk, both of them racing for the door.