Title: Variables
Chapter: Adaptation (4/4)
Rating: T
Pairing: Addison/Alex
Summary: One visit. That is what Addison has told herself. Life, however, hardly runs on a plan, so when change shifts into the fourth gear a choice to look back may not seem so bad after all. AU 4x13 "Piece of My Heart"
Note: Honestly, I want to thank those who consistently review my works, because you're always there for my works--knowing you enjoy my work is as great a satisfaction as it is writing for something that personally means a lot. So this one's for you, & those Addex fans who still live in the land of denial. So do me one last favor--or perhaps two, please? Review & Enjoy!
"Thank you for your stay, ma'm, and we hope you'll seek our services if and when you visit again," the hotel's receptionist spoke like a drone and with a plastered smile.
Addison nodded politely at her and smiled tightly, scurrying off before she had to deal with her for another second. At least as a doctor she did not have to smile 24/7.
She adjusted her large shoulder bag as she left the hotel, pulling her small luggage pack behind her. She grumbled when, once outside, she didn't spot the taxi from the night before that she had told to come by at seven am on the dot.
She clicked her tongue and cracked her neck, irritation already building up in her when she saw the cab finally pulling up by the curb. Quickly she walked up to it, and opened the back door to shove in her small luggage bag when in the corner of her eye she caught sight of who she could swear to be was Alex Karev. She twisted her head and looked around the small groups of people standing outside the hotel, when sure enough each took notice of each other.
She watched as he zoomed in on her and he grinned, waving to her.
"Karev?" she called out.
His grin slightly smirked, and he marched in long strides to reach her.
"Hey," he said.
"Wha--hey," she responded, confused at his presence.
He smirked at her befuddled gaze, and then bent his head and brought a knuckle to the passenger side window of the cab. He knocked on it, and when the driver rolled the window down, Alex said," It's alright--she's found another form of transportation."
"I have?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.
"What? Would you rather take a cab?" he shrugged nonchalantly.
She rolled her eyes but conceded," fine." She swiftly closed the door and waved the cab driver off.
Alex smiled, and in another surprise, was a gentleman enough to grab Addison's luggage and carry it off to what she presumed what his car.
"A lot of stuff for a one night stay, don't you think?" he commented.
"I'm a girl, Karev," she retorted.
They climbed into his car, and once they started on their way, Addison turned to Alex in her seat.
"Not that I'm complaining, Alex, because this car is infinitely better than that cab, but what has prompted you to do me this…favor?"
She saw him smirk, but he did not turn his eyes from the road, nor was there any body movement to otherwise acknowledge her question.
"I called the hotel earlier, and thanks to my charm and honed bedside manner," when he said this, he did glance at her for a second, knowing she'd roll her eyes," I was able to find out your check out time. I was only late because Izzie wouldn't stop asking questions."
"That's fine and all, Karev--"
"Alex."
"Alex," she sighed, hiding a little smile," but why, and does the Chief know you're not at the hospital?"
Noticeably uncomfortable, he tightened his grip around the wheel and flexed his shoulder muscles. "In exchange for some info, Izzie's taking care of what the Chief knows--Bailey may be the difficult one, though."
Addison nodded, knowing that Bailey would probably be able to extract the truth from Stevens if anything.
"And…?" she urged him when he did not continue.
"And…" he shrugged," I figured I owed you."
She smiled to herself, glad she had pushed him to admit at least that, because it probably was the best answer she would get out of him. That, and his simple explanation felt more than just enough for her.
They drove quietly for a good ten minutes or so until the question so fervent in Addison's mind was too much for her to restrain.
"So Alex. Mind telling me how it went with Ava?"
He breathed in deeply, and she could see that some of his composure was lost in the moment. As though he was being reminded of a terrible incident--which just may have been the point. Fortunately, he did not go completely mute, and was able to answer her after a moment.
"I didn't tell her that I knew. Just told her that a nurse had mentioned some lab results of hers, and if it would be okay for me to look at them…" he stopped for a second and bit his upper lip, as though he was still trying to take in the situation as a whole.
"Then she got all nervous, and I sorta used that to ask a couple of more questions, like why she was nervous, or if there was something I should know. Eventually, the truth just kind of spilled out of her."
"Wow," she stared at Alex, imagining just how difficult the whole ordeal must have been.
"Yeah," he breathed in a quiet whisper.
The car began to fill with a pregnant pause, when Alex cleared his throat to admit," I still have some stuff to figure out with her, though."
The statement implemented an inch of worry within her, making her wonder just how deeply invested he was in Rebecca Pope, and to what extent he was investing in her.
"Oh?" she said in her best interested tone.
"Something--I don't know, something's up with her, and I'm not sure I just want to send her off without finding out what it is."
"Oh." Even she could hear the difference in this 'oh' from the previous one, the slight sigh of relief that went into it that caught both their ears. She chuckled when she saw him smile at her non-too-secretive expression.
Having reached a stop light, he turned his head to her and caught her gaze, her inability to conceal her reaction bringing him to think about the character Addison projected to the people around her, and sometimes even to herself. He had seen her putting on her mask of indifference (or of happiness or whatever depending on the situation) many times, always intent on proving her strength and resolution.
He had come to the conclusion some time after she left Seattle Grace Hospital for good, that one reason that she had that ability to see past his guise, was because she was an expert at masks and thus was at the capacity to identify when another person utilized them. But it never made much sense why she of all people should so often wear one, when in fact she was a strong and confident individual. Perhaps if she were to set it aside more often, or if she were not set up to be a punching bag by so many people, she could breathe more easily and break less often.
But now, now he could see that she was breathing a little easier. There were also hints that she was living an easier and thus happier life, meaning that LA had been doing her some good. She was yet to be completely cleansed of her past, however, which was why she was still hesitant regarding some issues. She would need more time, which was why he could partly understand her need to remain in LA--at least between the time of her being that fragile, vilified ex-She Sheppard and her being…well, herself without external perceptions affecting her.
For the remainder of the ride, the radio played between them, with only small talk here and there. LA weather, strange cases, weird patients, and the antics of their co-workers filled the pair's conversations until they reached the airport.
After shutting off the ignition, Addison gingerly opened her door. She turned her head to Alex, with a smile that said she had no idea what to say.
He smirked at her and in turn opened his own door, and stepped out of the car. Addison followed suit, and they met at the hood of the car after she took out her luggage pack.
"So…" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"We're here," he looked to the small airport in front of them.
"I hadn't noticed, Alex."
She leaned against the car, eyes flitting up to the plane taking off overhead. But instead of feeling eager at knowing that in a little bit more than an hour, she'd be sitting in a plane heading to sunnier days, anxiety began building up in her and she felt her throat close up.
She had felt something similar to this the very same day she left to Los Angeles to permanently take up the job at the private practice. Just as that day, though, she put it in her mind to focus on the arrival rather than the departure. However, it did not change the fact that she felt a part of her constrain, thus making the process to think ahead marginally difficult.
She inhaled deeply and just as she prepared to exhale, Alex's fingers brushed against her hand.
"Addison?"
She shifted her eyes to him, and when she saw that his body was turned to hers, she turned to match his position.
"Alex?" and she smirked, thinking he would provide some playful quip before she left.
But he didn't appear to be in a playful behavior (well, not completely), as his fingers remained on her hand.
His brown eyes stayed on her blue-green ones, making the hair on her arms stand on end, a chill enveloping her skin. She searched his eyes, wondering what he was thinking or what he planned on doing.
She got her answer when he began leaning towards her, and for a millisecond she contemplated turning her cheek to him.
She had made up her mind about him that night after the on-call room mess, had decided he wasn't worth it during that wedding that wasn't.
She had accepted and made amends with the Addison and Alex romance that was obliterated, by the time she agreed to return to Seattle Grace Hospital for the one case.
Or so she had convinced herself evidently, because she couldn't force herself to turn her head for his lips to meet her cheek. She let his mouth finds hers.
And when she let that happen, she also opened the gate to her involuntary response of sighing against his lips. Her eyes closing, mouth parting as his tongue sought her mouth out.
For what felt a too brief period of time, she allowed herself to relish in the taste of him.
Until slowly, their mouths parted and eyes opened, exposing her look of surprise. Finally, she exhaled.
She laughed nervously. "Again, not that I'm complaining--"
He cut her off with another kiss--albeit a quicker and hungrier one, that unfortunately lasted much briefer.
Still inches from her face, he said in a low voice," The first one was for me being an idiot."
"The second," he brushed away some of her hair strands, his thumb momentarily running over forehead," so you'd consider visiting again. And the third…"
"Third?" she grinned.
He angled his mouth in a fixture to meet hers, but rather moved in beside her ear.
"The third one's for when you come back," he whispered, and she could feel him smirking and the hint of victory in that very smirk, as though he had won a battle without even having to do much.
Addison solely swallowed the lump in her throat and bit her lip. She drew her head back to find Alex smirking at her, just as she had predicted.
"You don't know that I'm coming back, Alex," she contracted in his challenge.
He kept his face in close proximity to hers for a second, until finally drawing it away. She bit back a pout, then composed herself by standing upright and sweeping her hair over to her left shoulder.
"Don't you have to check in an hour before the flight?" he inquired, not acknowledging her rebuttal.
"Right, the flight!" she exclaimed much too enthusiastically.
Hastily, she grabbed her luggage case and holstered her bag.
"You don't need someone to accompany you inside?"
"Oh, no, it'll be hectic in there and you need to get to the hospital…but thanks anyway."
And they both had a small chuckle at that, recognizing how many thank yous had been exchanged between them in the last day and quarter.
"Later, Alex--I mean," she flinched at her own choice of words," goodbye."
Awkwardly, she gave him a hug even shorter than their initial one when she had arrived, even keeping him at a greater distance. Something he couldn't fail to notice, and he had to hold back a chuckle at the irony.
"Later, Addison," he whispered when she was out of earshot.
As she walked away, and as she turned to look at him few times before finally walking through the airport entrance, he smiled. He knew she was heading somewhere she felt she needed to be--and that small fraction of him that he had always been so good at tucking away, left itself open to believing that perhaps someday, when she was wholly Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, and when he accepted being more than just a Dr. Alex Karev, she could very well come looking to make that assurance of his a three for three.