A/N: Hello everybody! Here is the next chapter, with lots of spoilers for 9x12. Shane's feeling a little down after his work with Meredith. I have to say, I really liked this week's episode of Greys. April was rocking in as a teacher and in the ER like I know she can. For once it was nice to see. And nice that a certain paramedic noticed too. I say go for it, girl. Can't wait to see what happens next with April and Jackson, and with the ER. Thank you all so much for the reviews!

Shane sighed and swallowed, squinting at the dim glow of the computer screen in front of him. Directly across from him sat Dr. Kepner, already clad in street clothes, who also stared at a matching research library computer. They were both frantically searching through the backlogs of the hospital's latest 990 tax forms. He thought it was dreadfully boring, but Kepner had asked him to help her out, and given what he'd heard on the grapevine about the shaky status of Seattle Grace Mercy West's financials, and the even more uncertain future of the ER, Shane was eager to do what he could. He was proud of his program and he didn't want the hospital to lose it's level 1 trauma status. At the same time, however, he felt distracted.

"I screwed up," Shane muttered, shaking his head. "With Medusa of all people. She hates me."

"I'm sure it isn't as bad as all of that," April said absentmindedly, as she continued to read the pages in front of her.

"I did, I screwed up and now she's gonna tell Dr. Shepherd what an idiot I am and he's never going to have me on his service again..."

"Surely it's not as bad as all of that," she replied shaking her head and scrolling further. "Now, you are on the 2010 return, right? What's the discretionary fund total for that year? Should be line item number 87..."

"What?"

"It might have a different name. Look for things like...housing allowance, miscellaneous expenses, recruitment funds, or overhead incidentals."

Shane felt line the pdf in front of him was slowly morphing into a zebra like blur of black and white lines. How the hell was he supposed to know? Especially when he'd messed up so terribly that the only thing he really could see right before his eyes was the end of what he liked to think of as his promising surgical career.

Throwing up his hands, Shane shrugged, "I don't even know what you are saying right now."

April's face appeared along side her computer monitor, "Focus Ross! We need to find out where some money can be trimmed, without closing the ER!"

"I'm sorry," Shane mumbled petulantly. "I've never really been good with money, anyway. My mother still helps me do my taxes. And I can't concentrate. My mistake could ruin my chances as a resident here."

She sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Shane felt bad. He could see the stress that this whole situation was having on her. Of course she'd be more worried about losing her beloved ER, than over his stupidity on Meredith's service. He allowed his mind to think the whole cut through, and realized, with some alarm, that losing the ER would change everything at the hospital. Even for him. What would happen to his mentor if the ER did shut down? She was a trauma surgeon. The ER was where trauma's came from.

And, as much as Shane found her to be a bomb teacher, and so far a pretty good friend, it was common knowledge that Dr. Kepner was the only person at her level who had not passed board certifications. He still didn't know the whole story there. April seemed to know every rule and could run the pit like it was a machine, so it seemed a little odd to him that she'd failed to pass an oral exam on the same topic. And not having that certification was a liability. If the ER really did go, and that didn't save enough money, the next logical step would be to cut people. And Shane worried that Dr. Kepner might be one of the first to go.

"So, you made a mistake," April said suddenly, tapping her fingers on the table expectantly. "Tell me what you learned from it."

"Um...that I am an unqualified idiot?" He replied dejectedly.

She tilted her head to one side, and sighed, "No, you made a mistake. It happens. The only thing that will make you an unqualified idiot is if you don't learn from it."

"Never ever ever. Make pregnant Medusa mad," Shane sniffed, placing his elbow on the table, and leaning his head down to rest on his curled fist. It wasn't a really serious reply, but he felt like his mistake was doubly worse because it not only almost cost a pregnant woman her life, but also because it had happened on Meredith Grey's service.

"Wrong," April said shaking her head. "Look...I...okay: Do you want to know why I am so hard on you guys in the pit? Why do we have the intake checklist? Or why I make everyone update the OR board consistently?"

"Because you delight in the suffering of others?" Shane quipped, smirking at her.

She smirked and wrinkled her nose before turning serious, "No. It's because of my mistakes. In my third year, right after the hospital merger, we had a huge hotel fire come through the pit. It was crazy and chaotic, and I got distracted. I was doing a woman's intake and I forgot a step. I didn't check her airway. I didn't see that there was soot present and that mistake lead to her death. And I got fired. If I'd had a checklist, I would have caught myself and none of that would have happened."

He tried to hide his surprise, by glancing back at the computer screen in front of him. Shane felt like crap for almost causing his patient to lose her liver transplant. He felt terribly guilty even though in the end things had all worked out. He couldn't even begin to imagine bearing the guilt of actually knowing that you had caused someone's death. Looking at his mentor now, he could just see the weight of all that. In her eyes, and shoulders. Shane hadn't lost anyone like that yet. He'd lost patients, yes. But only because there was nothing that could be done medically to prevent it. No one had died from his mistake.

That would just be crushing to carry around. If it was him, he'd rather not think about it.

"Then, my fifth year," April continued. "First day as chief resident, I was in charge and there was a huge sinkhole downtown, and it was really crazy. And the boards weren't getting updated and I sent the wrong patient into Bailey's OR. Almost cut into a guy who didn't even need that surgery! That's when I learned that updates boards in a proper and consistent way is essential. Even when your co-workers don't want to do it."

Shane raised his eyebrows, "You really keep track of all your mistakes..."

"I have to," she agreed. "You have to make the mistakes matter, or else...when they don't matter is when you as a doctor are truly stupid. And it's a disservice to the patient you hurt. So tell me, what did you learn?"

Shane closed his eyes and thought back to the moment in the OR when he'd cut the wrong chord. He'd been nervous because of his screw up with the patients labs, and Meredith Grey was intimidating enough when you were feeling confident. He remembered thinking that he just wanted to get in, get the liver, and get out of there. He didn't ask questions like he normally did, because Medusa had been grumpy on the ambulance ride over because he rambled too much.

"Um...well, I wasn't really feeling comfortable. I cut the hylum. I guess...Dr. Grey and I weren't really communicating that well, and we didn't really talk about her approach before...I was kind of afraid to say anything."

"Okay. That's a lesson learned. Don't be afraid to speak up and get a solid plan figured out before you go in there. I know some attendings are hard to talk to, but when it comes to something going wrong on the table, you have to be willing to get them to explain their plans to you so that you don't mess things up."

"Right...well, I can try at least. I doubt Dr. Grey will ever want to work with me again."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," April shook her head. "Last year, when Catherine Avery came in with this awesome penile transplant case I over suctioned an entire dorsal vein and she still works with me from time to time."

Kepner's face became pensive and she trailed off, biting the corner of her lip and looking back at her computer's monitor. An Avery mention. Not the Avery Shane suspected April was still thinking about, but a mention all the same. Since their drunken night of mutual sympathy several days past, the subject of Dr. Jackson Avery hadn't really come up between them. Shane did however, notice a marked change in how they interacted. Things had been strained and awkward between the two attendings before, but now as far as he could tell, the pair seemed to be actively avoiding each other. It was kind of sad, because when they did cross paths professionally, Jackson still watched April, and April still watched him. And he seemed to know Jackson's mother well too. He filed that piece of information in the back of his mind.

"Dr. Avery's mom?" Shane pushed.

"Uh, yes..." April replied absently.

"That must have been a little awkward."

April blinked, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, "No, actually. She's...she's great. Amazing. Really...she was a mentor of mine. Sort of."

"Oh," Shane's eyes widened and he checked his watch. "Uh, Dr. Kepner? It's 3:30. When do you have to go?"

He smirked as his mentor jumped, checking her own watch and gasping again at the time.

"Uh, I-I don't really-"

He knew that April was going on a date. Stephanie had told him gleefully, when they'd eaten lunch outside by the loading dock. She was not as observant as Shane, and seemed to have missed all the signs that he saw between her lover (he refused to call Jackson her boyfriend) and his mentor.

At least Shane and Stephanie were talking again. He'd acutely felt the absence of their conversations in the half day it had taken before he approached her and apologized for acting weird. He still wasn't okay with what she was doing, but she didn't have to know just how much. He could forgive her and agree to disagree. It was hard, but he'd missed his friend, and he was still afraid that she'd end up hurt. Steph didn't seem to be worried at all though. At least now, after spending time learning in the pit, she finally agreed with him about Kepner not being 'the dud'.

"You don't really what?" he teased. "Have a hot date?"

Kepner flushed, and ducked her head, holding back a smile, "I-who told...?"

"I have my sources," Shane waggled his eyes brows and grinned mischievously, watching as his mentor gulped and started to fidget with her hair and sweater.

"It's only coffee," she stated firmly, as though she needed to hear the words out loud to believe them. April gestured at her clothing, "I mean, this looks okay for a coffee date, doesn't it?"

"You would know better than me."

Shane would never admit it, but dating really was not something he had much of a track record of success with. He didn't typically have problems getting dates so much as a problem getting second dates. The few times it had come up in conversations, his friends opinions on his situation differed. Jo said it was because he talked too much. Leah said it was because he was boring. Heather said it was hard for anybody. Then Stephanie generally told them to shut up. Luckily, he'd made the professional decision in his second year of medical school to concentrate on becoming a surgeon 100%.

"I don't go on many dates," Dr. Kepner admitted.

"Who is this guy anyway?"

"Matthew Taylor. The paramedic? You know, the incredibly tall one?"

Shane didn't know actually. Normally, when a trauma came in he was freaking out too much about treating the patient and doing a good job in front of his attending to notice what the paramedics looked like. He was pretty sure he could form a clearer picture of EMT's hands as they handed him chart information than he could and of their faces. Maybe tall guy was the one with calloused palms? Shane didn't know, and frankly to him it didn't matter so much. It was nice to see his boss all excited to go on a date.

Shane pressed his lips together, "Do you like him?"

"I don't know," April, smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I've barely met him."

"Then why?"

She leaned forward and glanced around the room, smiling faintly. She shrugged, "He asked me. And...he's nice. Cute. Tall."

"All very good things," Shane nodded.

"Yes."

"It's nice to be asked."

April blushed and looked at her nails, "Yeah."

It was clear that Dr. Kepner did feel something for the guy. Or, at the very least, there was the possibility that she could. And she seemed to like that. She was clearly flustered and excited. Shane didn't think Kepner and Avery were really over each other at all, but he still didn't really see what could be done about that right now. After what she'd told him at the bar, Shane was happy to see her get out there. She deserved a little attention.

Even as Shane had the thought, Kepner started to look nervous and shook her head, "I-I shouldn't go. I mean, this is an emergency situation. The hospital could lose the ER! I should stay here and find a way to stop it."

When April pulled out her phone, seemingly to text tall paramedic Matt, Shane reached a hand and held her wrist.

"It's just coffee," Shane reasoned.

"But-"

"I might suck with money, but am not gonna stop looking through this stuff for you. What else are interns for but grunt work?" he joked. "I don't want this place to lose the ER anymore than you do."

Shane looked and his watch. If April was going to catch this guy on time, she needed to get a move on. Being late was probably not the right message to send. He gestured to the door.

"You look really pretty, Dr. Kepner. Go. Have fun. This will all still be here when you get back."

Kepner clasped her hands and bit her lip, before standing, and walking out the door, "You're right. Thank you. Text me if you find anything important, though?"

"I promise," Shane called after her, brightly. His smile faded when he turned his attention back to the tax forms on the screen in front of him.

He really was terrible with money, but true to his word Shane continued researching for another hour before he had to go do rounds. Printing off what he could from the budget records for Dr. Kepner, Shane collected his things and made his way into the hallway. Rounding a corner, he froze as he observed Stephanie and Jackson emerging from a nearby by on call room.

It was all he could do not to wrinkle his nose. They were, of course, quite predictably disheveled, and Shane hated to see it. He did notice that, while Steph was giggling, Dr. Avery looked decidedly downcast for someone who was apparently only a matter of minutes post orgasm. Unless he'd had performance issues. Shane thought it would almost serve him right if the guy did. He was way too good looking to have everything going for him actually.

He sighed, maybe he was being too hard on Avery. Dr. Kepner liked him after all. They'd been best friends at one point. For a long time actually. The guy couldn't be so bad if he saw how cool April really was, even way back when. Shane's mild hatred of the guy was based entirely on the other man's relationship with his roommate, and how that messed with two women he cared for. So, he supposed he could try to be more open minded.

Yeah. Right.

Stephanie caught sight of him, making her way to his side and smiling broadly, "Hey Ross! Time for rounds, right? Have a good break?"

"Not as good as you," Shane tried not to sneer. He felt bad when a flash of sadness flashed across her face. "Just helping Dr. Kepner research some stuff..."

"Oh! That's not as cool as the pit."

"It isn't."

"Do you really think they'll close the ER?"

"Not if Kepner has her way. If she can't figure it out by sheer determination, I don't know who can."

"I would say you were going all weird fanboy on me again, but after working with her in the pit, I have to agree with you, Shane. Kepner can kick ass."

"She's taking a coffee break now though," Shane added, with a small glint in his eye.

He wasn't sure if Avery knew about April's date, but Stephanie sure did. She grinned. It felt like a victory of sorts, even though Shane couldn't pinpoint why.

The older plastic surgeon hovered awkwardly as the conversation played out. Suddenly, Avery's forehead was pulled into a deep scowl and he brushed past Stephanie and Shane, mumbling something about needing a consult. Steph watched him go, tapping her bottom lip with one hand, as though she was deep in thought.

"He's been acting weird lately."

Shane's mouth opened involuntarily, to his horror. He was about to spill the sum and total his theories, based upon his observations, hospital gossip, and friendship with Dr. Kepner. That he thought it was a safe bet to say that Avery was 'being weird' because he was in love with his former best friend. That Shane would bet that that was the real reason Avery was with Stephanie at all. She was being used, and Shane wasn't even sure she knew the full extent of what had gone down between Avery and Kepner. Hell, he didn't even know the full story. He just knew enough to guess. And he guessed there were still deep feelings on both sides. April's for sure.

He carefully guarded his hypothesis in general, but he always had a hard time holding anything back when it came to Steph. Luckily, she cut him off before the words started falling from his lips.

"Don't say it, Ross," she said breezily. "I know you don't like what I am doing with Dr. Avery, and I don't even want to hear it. I hear enough from Jo."

He shrugged and looked at his feet, afraid that eye contact would give away his inner most thoughts. "Fine."

Stephanie shook her head, and nudged his shoulder, starting to walk briskly down the hallway, "Just, come on, let's go do rounds."

As they walked through the hospital, they passed Jackson one more time, and the look that Stephanie gave the older man made Shane's blood boil. This whole thing was just not okay. It wasn't okay that his best friend here was being used by his sort of boss trying to use sex to get over his also sort of boss turned mentor.

Not when he feared that Steph was beginning to develop feelings for Avery, and she didn't think Kepner was a dud anymore. Not when he was pretty sure that Avery still felt something strong for Kepner. And especially when he knew that Kepner had deep feelings for Dr. Avery.

Everything and everyone was just messed up. Out of order. In the wrong place. And Shane's mind started to spin. He needed to do something. He needed to alter the course that the flow of events was taking. And he realized that this whole thing situation with dates and coffee and tall paramedic Matthew might be his ticket to do that.

Dr. Avery was going to find out about April and the paramedic. And when he did, Shane was going to make sure to rub it in the plastic surgeon's pretty face every single chance he got. And then he would see the other man's reaction, and then? Then he could finally have the evidence to prove to Stephanie that she was barking up the wrong tree. Shane was 99% sure that April being with someone else would produce a reaction in Jackson. Any reaction at all was evidence enough to know that he was still hung up on April, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't care.

And if he could get Steph away from Avery, then maybe the other man would finally get his head out of his ass and see that Kepner still liked him. A lot.

Shane smirked, as he and Stephanie went about their rounds. He could do this. It would be easy-peasy. Most of the plan depended on his talking. And if there was one thing he'd learned from his mistake on Dr. Grey's service, it was that he liked to talk. Shane knew he could do this.