Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. I loooove Meredith and Alex together (as if this story wasn't proof enough of that), and I'm so glad that other people do, too.

Just something to mention: Meredith's mother was never treated at Seattle Grace, so the hospital does not know about Ellis Gray's Alzheimer's.

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Chapter 5: "Who'll Stop the Rain"

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"Are you going to tell us where you've been the past two nights?" Cristina asked. She sat perched on the bench staring at Meredith expectantly.

Meredith laughed. "No where, really."

"Seriously, I've been here for four hours already and I really don't care what you were doing, or who you were doing it with, but George and Izzie are really starting to annoy me. Do something about it!" she snapped at Meredith before turning to leave the locker room.

Meredith and Alex exchanged a look and a guilty smile before leaving the locker room. They immediately found their fellow interns standing in front of Bailey.

"Yang, you're with Burke. O'Malley – Torres, Stevens – Montgomery-Shepherd, Karev and Grey, you're scrubbing in with Shepherd. No complaining, let's go, people."

Izzie gave the pair a fleeting glance before leaving to find Addison. Meredith and Alex were involved in an apparently serious conversation. "I swear, if you keel over dead from salmonella poisoning today, I'm going to pilfer your apartment and then celebrate."

"You wouldn't be the least bit upset?" Alex asked. "Or guilty? It's your fault I was hung over today!"

"But it's not my fault you masochistically ingested a raw egg-"

"Karev, Grey, I'm glad you have time to lollygag, but I've got lives to save." Derek Shepherd stood before them, clipboard in hand. "If you'd rather, I can find other interns."

"No, Dr. Shepherd, that won't be necessary," Meredith spoke, but refused to meet his eyes.

"Very well. Meredith, I'll need you enter some information on the computer for me. Dr. Karev, go check on the patient." Alex locked eyes with Meredith briefly. She nodded at him, silently telling him that she was okay.

"I'd appreciate it if you would call me Dr. Grey, please," she told him, taking the clipboard from him. "I'll use the computer at the nurse's station."

Derek caught Meredith's arm in her hand. "Don't do this," he said quietly.

"Dr. Shepherd, I know you're not mishandling my intern because you're not stupid." Dr. Bailey appeared out of nowhere, nodding her head at Derek. "And since you're not stupid, you're going to let her go, or I'll put you on scut, even if you are my boss."

Meredith sent a quick, thankful smile at Bailey and scurried off before Derek could say or do anything else.

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Alex wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the look of the guy talking to Meredith at the nurse's station. Something told him to stay and watch things unfold, poised to jump in at any moment. Just in case she needed help. Not that Meredith Grey often needed help.

The fact that she was smiling, though, was a good thing. He almost turned away, satisfied that she was okay, when he saw Derek Shepherd stalking toward them, anger evident in each step.

Though he saw it coming, Alex was just as surprised as Meredith and Mystery Dude when he saw Derek's fist connect with the guy's face.

"What the hell was that!?" Meredith shrieked. Alex's jaw remained open. Meredith helped the guy up and took him away, presumably to stop the blood from pouring out of his skin, while Derek continued to shake his hand in pain.

Alex chose to follow Meredith, certain that their surgery would now be cancelled. He joined Izzie, George, and Cristina, who'd already secured a spot outside of the trauma room where Meredith stood, gently cleaning the guy's wound.

"Come to check on Meredith?" Izzie asked, sarcastically.

Cristina and Alex rolled their eyes, almost in sync. Alex was about to respond in kind when the man took the stitches and began suturing his own face. Then it clicked.

"Why is he suturing his own face?" George asked, mystified.

"To turn me on," Cristina responded, not taking her eyes off the man or his hands.

Finally, Alex got it out. "He's Mark Sloan," he answered with excitement. "He's the go-to plastic surgeon on the East Coast."

"Whoever he is, he's hot," Izzie offered.

"What's he doing here?" George asked.

"Besides hitting on Meredith?" Alex asked, smirking slightly. He loved to rile up George. "He's probably the dude that She-Shepherd had sex with. And now he's here to piss off Shepherd even more, which, judging from his face, worked." With that, Alex entered the trauma room, leaving the other three behind.

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On account of her mother's home calling, Meredith was sent home early to tend to the latest episode her mother had gone through. On account of his fist connecting with Mark's face, Derek was sent home early. Addison had disappeared somewhere, and Mark kept showing up everywhere.

"So this Meredith, she was with Derek?" he asked. Alex was in the middle of charts when Mark Sloan made his presence known.

Part of him wanted to tell Dr. Sloan everything, on the off chance that he stayed and Alex could get in on some surgeries. But Meredith was not some play thing for anyone. "You were with She-Shepherd?" he asked in return.

Alex could feel Mark Sloan still staring at him. "I came to make amends with Derek."

"Then hitting on his ex-girlfriend probably isn't the way to go." Alex remained focused on the chart that sat before him.

"I think my face told me that already." Then, "Too bad I already asked her on a date." Alex's head snapped to attention at that. "And I hate to break dates with hot women." Mark chuckled. "I heard you have an interest in plastics. You want to scrub in on this lionitis case?"

Despite wanting to punch this dude in the face to give him a matching scar on the other cheek, Alex dropped his chart. "Yes sir," he told him.

"Well, then, Dr. …"

"Karev."

"Whatever. What do you know about this Meredith?" he asked. "Like, what's a good place to take her on a date?"

"Did she say yes?" Alex asked.

"No, but, come on. I sutured my own face. She will."