Chapter II: All the Hospitals, In all the World

A/N: The two old friends meet again. How fast will they get back to their old habits? With the finale being today, I would like to tell you all that most if not all of the episode will be ignored in my plotline for my stories. Also a few events in the most recent episodes will be ignored, because I need certain characters for the amount of trouble they'll cause. SSD

It was the big day, about a week after Sabrina and Monica arrived in Chicago. They were starting their first day at Gaffney.

She'd managed a good 7 hours of sleep, before waking up at 0530 and quickly got ready. Her thick hair always dried quickly. Sabrina was pleased that she hadn't thrown up the night before unlike before she started at Mayo.

Monica would be following her to the hospital, as her car had arrived and Sabrina knew her way around Chicago better.

Her father was the only other one up at the moment. Bill had always been an early riser.

"Nervous Sabrina?" he asked.

"Yes. Always nervous on the first day. Worse than the first day of school," Sabrina replied as she picked at her eggs.

"Eat. You'll feel better. And you're likely one of the two youngest heads of department in the state," her father was trying to reassure her.

Sabrina fingered the lettering on her black scrubs.

"Where does the other one work?" she asked as she finished what little she could of the eggs.

"Here in Chicago. You'll likely run into him at one point or another," Bill replied with his back to her.

Sabrina had a feeling that there was something that he wasn't telling her. Same for the rest of her family. She hated not knowing what was going. But as she knew that her father's stubbornness nearly matched her own, he would not tell her anything unless he wanted to.

"Well dad, it's that time. Wish me luck," she said as she grabbed her keys and gave him a hug.

"Good luck Sabrina. Have a good day," Bill said as his daughter in all but blood went out the door.

The agreement had been to not tell her. He was now wishing he had said, "To hell with it."

Monica found that, despite having been away from Chicago for 11 years, Sabrina moved through Chicago traffic like a pro. And despite some traffic and a detour, they got to the hospital on 1st avenue and Roosevelt with 45 minutes to spare.

She noticed a Porsche in the garage as she walked to the elevator and remarked to her friend, "Looks like you're not the only one here with a need for speed" indicating the dark blue sports car.

"The Huracan is faster," Sabrina replied.

"Can't be by much. You must have been a fighter pilot in a past life. Same for whoever drives that!"

Sabrina had to suppress a shiver after she left the meeting with Ms. Goodwin and Ms. Garrett. The COO struck her as an administrator who valued ratings over just about anything else.

They were certainly getting her started right away with a patient that needed both a heart and nerve transplant. It had been decided already to do both operations at the same time, as both surgeries were extensive and it was better to do them in one go. Sabrina would have to discuss with the other surgeon as to who would be running point.

Once she got within earshot, she knew that voice. Even though it had been over a decade since she'd last heard it, Sabrina knew it nearly as well as well as her own.

God, you're testing me aren't you? This is what my family wouldn't mention!

"I'm sure Doctor Byrne will be here..." Connor trailed off before hearing, "No need to worry. I'm here now."

He felt a slight punch in the gut. Sabrina had returned to Chicago.

"Mr. Stanton, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Doctor Sabrina Byrne, your neurosurgeon," she said in greeting shaking Mr. Stanton's hand. His grandson was blatantly ogling her, which he'd never liked seeing be directed at Sabrina.

"You're definitely better looking than all the other neurosurgeons my father has seen before. Can I take you out to dinner?" the grandson asked.

Sabrina flicked a glance over to him that said not again before replying in a sweet voice (Connor knew better) "It's a nice offer but I don't generally get involved with my patient's family members like that and you're not really my type."

Connor had to work hard to suppress a laugh. Sabrina's sharp wit had not lost it's touch. Mr. Stanton the elder didn't even bother to not laugh, before saying, "Bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand, I know you both think that your respective surgeries are more important than the others, but which of you will be running point?"

Sabrina beat him to the punch by replying, "From what I've read of your chart, your heart seems to be the bigger issue. So I have no problem working under Doctor Rhodes."

He choked, this time working even harder to suppress a laugh, as Sabrina occasionally said things that sounded more than what they were.

"Doctor Byrne, think about what you just said," he asked doing his best to keep a straight face.

She thought about it for a moment before turning bright red, then hissed, Por el amor de Dios, saca tu mente de la alcantarilla y haz crecer a Rhodes!

Henry Stanton watched with a lifetime of experience as his two surgeons began to banter after finishing up the consult with him. They knew each other well, otherwise they wouldn't be saying things like that to each other.

Turning towards his grandson he said, "Kid, you never had a chance in hell with her."

The ER was overflowing with patients from the building fire.

Sharon watched Doctor Byrne when she had a few free moments. The neurosurgeon was as good as advertised, if not better.

She'd handled Doctor Abrams with aplomb when he found out that he was not the head of neurosurgery. The older neurosurgeon was likely going to raise a stink about it when he had the time.

Byrne was integrating herself well with the staff. Unlike another female surgeon she could mention. She would talk to Maggie later to ask of her opinion, once things had calmed down.

What had been easily noticed was that she and Doctor Rhodes worked in near perfect sync. How well do they know each other? Whatever the relationship the pair had, it meant that Doctor Byrne was getting dirty looks from Doctor Bekkar. Even though it was apparent that the pair saw each other merely as close friends.

And yet... There was an underlying tension between the two surgeons. Even though she was no psychologist, Sharon could tell it was a long standing one.

She'd ask Daniel to observe more closely when time permitted.

Sabrina had forgotten just how chaotic Chicago could be. Looking at the time, she saw that it was nearly 3 in the morning. Another shift of her would be beginning in a matter of hours. It was pointless to leave and just turn back around.

"One cup of coffee strong enough to float a pistol coming up!"

She had to smile at that. Ever since the four of them had seen the movie in question, it had been a favorite phrase to say amongst each other.

Moments later, a steaming cup of coffee was put in front of her, and her oldest friend sat across from her with a cup of his own.

"Never thought I'd see you back in Chicago again," Connor said as she took a large sip of the coffee. She felt more alert already.

"I didn't think you'd get back here either. You're about as fond of Chicago as I am," Sabrina replied with a tight smile before asking, "What's up with Felix? He and Jailyn were getting pretty serious when I talked to him last."

"He's planning on asking her to marry him soon," Connor replied.

Almost as if he'd sensed that he was being talked about, Felix's number came up on Sabrina's phone.

"Hey Felix, what's up?" she put the phone on speaker.

"Jailyn said yes. I haven't slept at all!" their friend called out with joy.

"Congratulations Felix, Jailyn's a lucky lady," the two replied in stereo.

"Connor what are you doing near Sabrina's phone? And I still hate it when you two do that," Felix asked with a teasing tone in his voice.

"This is our first break in over 18 hours. We're just drinking coffee and catching up a bit. Back to your news, it's about time. You and Jailyn have been dancing around each other since law school," Sabrina replied.

"Well, enjoy the rest of the night you two. You're both invited, as is Lucas who I'm calling after you guys. See you both when we all can get together," Felix then hung up.

"Who are you two to talk about beating around the bush? You two have been circling around each other for half our lives at this point," Felix muttered to himself as he put down the phone.

Ever since the last two years of high school, their feelings for each other had been obvious to everyone but them. Which had given Lucas and he the impetus to start a betting pool involving Connor and Sabrina.

There had been various attempts at getting the pool to pay out. Some of them funnier than others.

Connor and Sabrina had lost a bet to him and Lucas pertaining to a hockey match involving the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, which meant that the winning pair got to pick a relaxing class for the losing pair for their last year in college.

Lucas had quickly found a class, but Felix wasn't so sure.

"Connor and Sabrina are going to skin us alive, likely without anesthesia, when they see their class schedules!" Felix hissed.

"The looks on their faces will be well worth their anger," Lucas snickered.

"You just want to win that 5 grand betting pool. You're not the one who shares an off campus apartment with them! Up at MIT you don't have to deal with them!"

Before Lucas could reply they heard two distinct shouts "FELIX! LUCAS! You two are dead men walking!" They were talking in stereo.

At that, he and Lucas walked down the stairs he saw Connor and Sabrina. If looks could kill, they'd be well on their way to being six feet under.

Sabrina asked in a deadly calm voice, "Why tango lessons?"

"It's good exercise. Also what a nice way to relieve tension," Lucas had an evil grin on his face.

"And classes in what is the most inherently sexual dance in the world was your idea of "relaxing"?" Connor asked in a similarly icily calm voice.

"You two shouldn't have bet on the Hawks against the Blues," Felix replied and said, "And I signed up for the class you two had picked out for me anyway. It looks to be relaxing."

"We weren't trying to be wiseasses with your class Felix. We thought you would enjoy it," Connor replied.

"You two were positively evil to me. Why did you pick that class of all things?" Lucas groaned.

"Well, you do need a biology class, and you've been avoiding it since freshman year. And besides, it'd help you understand women better than you think you do," both had identical evil grins on their faces.

"What's so funny, love? Did you get ahold of your friends?" It was Jailyn.

"I was just remembering a class two of my friends had to take. And I just got off the phone with two of them at once."

"What were they doing up?"

"Connor and Sabrina are surgeons. Yesterday was a busy day at the hospital, this was their first break."

"Are they the ones..." Jailyn trailed off.

"Got it in one. They are two of the smartest people I know, and yet what's right in front of them, they're blind to."

A/N 2: Hope you all like it, and tell me what your favorite part is. Yes, the tango lessons will come into use later. Points to anyone who recognizes where the chapter title comes from! SSD

Casting choices:

Felix Belmont: Donald Glover (Lando in the Han Solo movie)

Jailyn Waterstone- Zoe Saldana