Disclaimer: I don't own anything but a crazy mind.

A/N: Firstly, let me say that I was astonished by the response I got for the prologue. I couldn't believe it; nothing I've done has ever been received so well! Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, added this story, or me, to their alerts or favourites. It really means a bunch! Secondly, I hope this chapter is equally liked. As this is my first Greys story, I'm finding it difficult to keep them in character. Please, let me know if I can improve in any way. Thirdly, let me know what you think, as always!

- Vin

Cracking her bedroom door open, Lexie peered out. She hadn't heard any noises. It was in her mind, she told herself for what felt like the hundredth time. Quietly closing the door, she turned to scan her room. There was nothing else she needed.

Lexie tried to find something else, something else she could pick up, anything to prolong her stay in the safe house that was her bedroom. Unable to find a reason to stay in the room, Lexie sighed and turned around. She stared at the door. It shouldn't be this hard. She was going to work. She was going to save lives. No, she was going to work to do charting and clinic duty.

She attempted to remain calm. He would be asleep. Asleep, not awake. Asleep was safe. She was fine. Fine. Taking a deep breath, Lexie walked to the door and opened it. She walked down the hallway quietly and then cautiously down the stairs. Silence. He was definitely still asleep.

Releasing the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, Lexie hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and darted to the front door.

"Lexie?"

The sound of his voice made her jump. Slowly, she turned around. He was standing a few steps behind her, clad in the clothes he wore yesterday, at the bottom of the steps. Clearly, he hadn't been asleep.

"Morning," she said, her voice soft. She nodded her head towards the door behind her. "I was just on my way to work."

Squinting at her, still not fully aware of where he was, he spoke in a raspy voice. "You look different."

Lexie smiled brightly, "I look the same. You've just woken up; you're a bit confused that's all."

He frowned. "I'm not confused."

Lexie softened, "I know you aren't, dad."

Thatcher walked closer to her, his eyes fixing on the mark above her eyebrow. "You're hurt."

"I know," Lexie replied quietly, her eyes focusing on anything but the man in front of her. She looked at her watch and sighed. She glanced up at Thatcher and smiled gently. "I really have to get to work. If I'm late Dr. Yang will kill me, and probably put me on clinic duty and although she probably will do it anyway, I don't want to give her a reason to actually do it."

He was still staring at her, his eyes trailing over her face, a look of mystification on his face. Lexie sighed; she didn't have time for this. He never remembered.

Turning around, Lexie opened the front door, not bothering looking back at him. "See you later, dad."

Mark walked down the hallway and his eyes automatically narrowed on the woman standing at the nurse's station, frantically writing.

"Dr. Grey," Mark drawled as he came up behind Lexie at the desk.

Startled, Lexie's head shot up. Noticing who it was, she swallowed nervously, before tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Looking down at the chart on the desk, Lexie tried to focus on the charting she had to complete. "Dr. Sloan," she said calmly. "What can I do for you?"

Mark noticed her sharp intake of breath and her overly nervous front. He also noticed the cut above her eyebrow. Casually, he leaned against the desk, carefully observing her. "What's wrong with your face?"

Lexie quickly glanced up before looking back down at the writing before her. "Is that your way in telling me I look ugly today, Dr. Sloan?"

"No, that's me, telling you that you have a suture on your face." When she didn't reply, and instead continued to scribble down notes in the chart, Mark continued. "You sutured your own face didn't you?" He peered closer at the weave of lines. "Interrupted, one eighth apart?"

Lexie looked up, her eyes wide. "How did you know that?"

Mark smirked slightly, though it held resemblance to a small smile. "I'm the best plastic surgeon this hospital has ever seen. I think I'd know what suture you used...Now, what's wrong with your face?"

Lexie chuckled lightly and shook her head, "Nothing is wrong with my face, Dr. Sloan. I have a cut, a small cut, that shouldn't go under 'something's wrong with your face.'"

Mark shrugged, "Fine. I just thought the interns had stop self-harming. Clearly, you haven't. Just moved up in the ranks to faces now."

Lexie tensed slightly before letting out a breath. She turned to look up at Mark, before glancing back down. Once she was sure nothing else had to be done with it, Lexie grabbed it, along with the others she had to finish, and began to walk away. She paused and turned to look over her shoulder, "We were practising, Dr. Sloan. Because no-one cared enough to teach us. We were not self-harming...not in the way everyone thought we were. And I haven't been doing either to my face."

With that, Lexie turned and walked away, leaving Mark to stare after her, his curiosity higher than ever.

Soon enough, he found himself in step with her, walking down the hallway in the direction of the elevators.

"Something you need, Dr. Sloan?" Lexie asked as she tried to remain calm, although his presence, his scent, was having a profound effect on her.

"If you aren't suturing with the crazy interns again, then why the need for the suture?"

Lexie stopped, her face displaying how stupid she thought he was. "Ever thought I needed to suture myself because I have a deep enough cut that required one?"

Mark narrowed his eyes, "Don't look at me like that." He carried on walking alongside her, and then spoke again. "I thought you said it was a 'small cut.'"

"A small, deep cut. Small in length, deep in...Depth."

"Walked into a door?"

Lexie flustered briefly at how his voice had adopted a dry, mocking tone. She stated defiantly, "My closet door, actually. Though...It is none of your business, Dr. Sloan, so I don't understand why we are even having this conversation."

Mark made a sound of acknowledgement and wondered why he was even bothering her. It wasn't as if he cared about why she had a cut, he just saw it as another opportunity to tease and mock her. Then, why was he putting in so much effort to talk to her about it? Mark frowned slightly, and tensed, annoyed that he was questioning his own actions. He rarely did that.

Luckily for both of them, they had reached the elevators and by the time Mark could open his mouth to speak again, the doors had opened and Lexie had rushed on, jabbing the close button until the doors did just that.

Picking up the charts off the floor, Lexie stood up in the cramped supply closet. Originally, she had been annoyed that Cristina had placed her on charting duty–she was only late by three and a half minutes–but after a day of relative peace, Lexie wasn't as annoyed. She had got the chance to escape from the noisy interns and moody residents. Overall, it had been good. Except for when Dr. Sloan felt the need to question her.

Cristina hadn't noticed, neither had Sadie when she rushed past her earlier. It had to be him. Lexie shook her head slightly, and held the charts closer to her chest. He was an observant man, it was just unlucky for her that he was also an annoyingly persistent man, too.

When Lexie walked out of the closet, heading towards the surgical floor to drop off the charts, she heard a voice shout her name.

"Hey, Lexie!"

Lexie turned around to see her fellow intern jogging towards her. She smiled her first real smile of the day. "Hey, Sadie."

Sadie fell into step with her and the two carried walking in the direction of the surgical floor. "I noticed the suture."

"I haven't been practicing on myself, if that's what you're about to ask," Lexie said, annoyed before Sadie got the chance to continue.

Sadie shook her head, "I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Lexie smiled, embarrassed. "I'm sorry; I just thought you would give me a lecture, like everyone else."

"Everyone else?"

"Well, not everyone, just Dr. Sloan."

That piqued Sadie's interests. "Sloan, eh? He's concerned about you hurting yourself? Why, isn't that sweet..."

Lexie shook her head, laughing slightly. "No, not sweet. Annoying. Very annoying."

"The man cares about you, Lexie. Let him."

Lexie frowned and stopped walking. "What do you mean by that? He doesn't care about me, he's mean to me, he calls me pathetic. He certainly does not care about me."

Sadie rolled her eyes. "You're so oblivious, Grey."

"To what?"

Sadie simply shook her head, and wrapped her arm around Lexie's shoulders. "To you, Lexie. To the power you have over that man."

"You're crazy."

Sadie laughed, "I know."

They continued to walk and soon enough came into contact with the man they had been discussing. Mark was standing at nurse's station and looked up from his conversation with Callie to stare at the two. Lexie suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze.

When he had turned away from them after a moment, Sadie whispered to Lexie, "Don't act as if you didn't feel that."

"Feel what?" Lexie asked, her voice shaky.

"The passion, the intensity, the need for sex!"

Lexie's eyes bulged and she whirled around to face Sadie. "Excuse me?"

"The passion, the–"

"I heard you. I heard you; I just don't think it's appropriate to say that Dr. Sloan looks at me as if he needs sex. He's our attending and to say that, it's, it's rude and uncalled and..." Lexie trailed off when she noticed Mark and Callie had turned around to look at them. She swallowed hard, finding it hard to breathe under his stare.

Sadie smirked, her eyes fluttering over Callie's body. "And you were saying?"

"Shut up!" Lexie squeaked before turning on her heel and stalking off to the supply closet.