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

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and story alerts. Sorry this isn't much, but I really just felt the need to show people what's going on in Lexie's and Mark's mind before something that I've labeled 'The Event' happens (: I hope this is good, I know their feelings can get a bit confusing, but that's how I picture them feeling. Let me know what you think! (:

Lexie stared at the doors for a moment, wondering why Mark had changed the subject so quickly. She didn't understand him. Was he trying to help her? Did he know something? A sudden panic gripped Lexie, raw, its fingers clutching her throat – she felt the fear run through her bones. What if he knew something was wrong? Her face paled and Lexie suddenly felt the urge to throw up. He couldn't know. She had tried so hard to disguise what was going on, her excuse were solid, no-one would doubt her – she had been so sure.

Had she failed? Or was he just bluffing? It was fair to assume that he didn't know, and that he was simply testing her knowledge of contusions, helping her since he was her teacher. He was her teacher, that's all. But…Did he have ulterior motives?

Lexie nervously chewed on her bottom lip, was she being paranoid? Of course he couldn't know. He didn't know. If he did, wouldn't he have said something to her? She had always considered him as a man that spoke his mind; surely if he knew something he would have mentioned it. Lexie paused. What if he knew and didn't care?

Now, she knew she was going to throw up.

The thought sickened her. If he thought she was in trouble, wouldn't he want to help? Was she that insignificant? Slowly, she felt the panic rise within her and her breaths became slightly irratic. Was she really that invisible that people didn't care that she was getting…Lexie caught herself. What exactly was happening to her? She wasn't being abused, she knew that. She just…He hit her. Sometimes. He was hardly home to do any serious damage. Serious damage. What exactly did that mean? Could the verbal abuse, the shouting, the insults, did they all count towards serious damage? Was it really affecting her that much?

Yes, it was, she thought.

She was twenty-four and she still slept with the light on.

The thought brought a wave of depression onto her.

The sound of her pager buzzing snapped her out of her frantic thoughts. She snapped it off her belt and took note that she was being paged to the ER. Lexie took a moment to regulate her breathing, slow, deep breaths she thought as she carefully stood up. Straightening her back, she headed towards the cafeteria doors, and pushed them open with a determined force. She wouldn't think about this anymore. She was a doctor; she would focus on being just that. At work she wasn't invisible, she wasn't scared and she wasn't damaged. She was Dr. Lexie Grey and as she headed in the direction of the ER, Lexie felt herself relax at the thought.

By the time Lexie reached the ER, there was already a crowd of people around the gurney. Cristina, Hunt, Callie, Mark and Derek were all rushing to stabilize the man who by the looks of it had been in a collision. Lexie assumed he had been in a car accident, going by the amount of blood and the neck brace on the patient.

Nervously awaiting orders, Lexie watched as Cristina began compressions. When no-one noticed her, Lexie attempted to raise her voice over the crowd. "Er, D-Dr. Sheppard? How, how can I help?"

Derek however didn't reply and continued to work on the patient. When Callie took over compressions, Cristina moved to the other side of the gurney, brushing past Lexie. Quickly, Lexie spoke. "Dr. Yang! How can I help?"

Cristina grunted in annoyance and instead focused on the patient, taking over the pump from Derek. When no-one glanced over to her, Lexie felt herself move closer to the door, unable to be in a room where no-one wanted her.

As she opened the door to leave, the sound of the monitor beeping steadily made her turn around, hand still on the doorknob. Derek looked at Lexie. "Dr. Grey," he said sternly. "I need you to take Mr. Robinson to the MRI. You weren't about to leave, were you?"

Lexie opened her mouth in shock and shook her head. "N-No, Dr. Shepherd." Looking around the room, she picked up on Cristina's eye roll and Mark's stern look. Abruptly she moved forward to the gurney and looked at Derek for approval. When he nodded at her slightly, Lexie cautiously moved the gurney, with the help of Hunt, out of the door.

Stopping in front of the elevator, Lexie stared at the doors, fully aware that Hunt was staring at the side of her face. Unable to take it anymore, Lexie turned to face him, a bright smile on her face. "Is there something wrong, Dr. Hunt?"

Owen looked at her, carefully calculating what to say. "Nasty cut."

Lexie's smiled tightened and she replied in her usual cheery voice. "It isn't that bad."

"Looks bad."

Lexie gave a half-shrug. "That's only b-because of the sutures. Otherwise, it's fine. Perfectly fine. Not nasty at all."

Owen nodded and turned to face the elevator. "Okay."

Lexie nodded gently, the word okay repeating in her mind. Eventually the doors opened and they guided the gurney in. Then, Owen stepped out of the elevator and raised an eyebrow. "You okay to get there?"

Lexie smiled , "Yes, thank you."

Owen nodded and waved slightly before turning back for the ER. Once there, he spotted Derek and Mark talking. Going over, he caught the end of their conversation.

"I'm just saying maybe there's something wrong."

Owen looked at Derek, a frown on his face. "What's wrong?"

Derek shook his head slightly, still staring at Mark. "Lexie."

Owen raised his eyebrow. "Something's wrong with Grey?"

Mark huffed, "There's nothing wrong with her. She's fine."

"She has cuts all over her face." Derek turned to look at Owen. "There's something wrong and he knows something about it."

Owen nodded his head slowly, looking Mark up and down. He then turned to look at Derek, his eyebrow raised. "He slept with her?"

"I didn't sleep with her!" Mark said, his voice loud. Taking a quick glance around, he lowered his voice. "I know nothing. Even if there was something wrong–"

"Something's wrong," Derek interjected.

"If there's something wrong," Mark stressed. "Then, I know nothing about it. Why would I? It's not as if she confides in me."

There was a hint of resentment in his voice.

Derek nodded his head absently. "If there was something wrong….You're the best person to get information."

Mark looked at him as if he was crazy. "So now you think I'm good for her? A couple of hours ago you were warning me off her, saying she was too 'fragile.'"

"I just don't think you should sleep with her," Derek said. "There's a difference."

"Oh really?" Mark said, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm.

"I'm just saying, she seems…There's something not right. And Meredith wants nothing to do with Lexie. I keep telling her she's her sister and that family matters but it doesn't seem to be working." Derek sighed. "I know she hasn't noticed her lately, but...If Lexie needed to talk to someone, as hard as it is for me to admit this, she would go to you, not Meredith."

Mark grunted. "Maybe. But that doesn't mean I would listen to her."

Owen's sudden laughter burst through the air and the two men turned to look at him. Owen raised his two hands. "I just think the denial that Sloan's experiencing is…really, really funny."

"Want to elaborate on that, Hunt?" Mark gritted out, his voice stern.

"I just think that you would listen to her." He looked at Derek who smiled back at him. "Maybe just to get in her pants, I don't know. But you would listen to her. We've seen the way you act with her."

Derek nodded and was about to say something when his pager beeped. He looked down and saw that it was Lexie. The scans must be ready. Slapping Mark on the arm as he walked by, Derek grinned at the death glare Mark aimed at him. It was always fun pissing Mark off.

Lexie looked away from the board when the door opened. She smiled gently when Derek walked through the door and gently closed it behind him. He smiled at her and then moved over to Mr. Robinson. Whilst checking his obs, Derek spoke. "Still unresponsive…"

He turned and walked up next to Lexie, looking at the MRI scans. He nodded slightly and pointed to the screen. "Can you tell me what this area here signifies?"

"Er, it looks like an…intracerebral hematoma," Lexie said, unsure of herself.

Derek nodded. "Correct." He then sighed and shook his head. "If we perform surgery, he'd lose more brain function…"

Lexie nodded. "Is there anything we can do?"

Derek rubbed a hand over his face, knowing this wasn't a case they could win. Surgery would increase permanent brain damage and by the looks of it, his brain was already damaged enough as he wasn't responsive. Derek looked at Lexie, his face solemn. "There isn't much we can do."

Lexie looked at the man on the bed, her face softening. Despite his large figure, he appeared so small and fragile to her that it made the defeat and sadness overwhelm her. "Can't we do something? Anything?"

Derek shook his head and lightly placed a hand on Lexie's shoulder. "The bleeding into his brain tissue is extensive. Surgery would involve removing the underlying tissue to get to the hematoma and you and I both know that's risky." He glanced back at the man and sighed. "Has next-of-kin been informed?"

"I, er…I believe so."

"Okay. Page Dr. Torres. I want his broken arm seen to."

Derek was about to leave the room when Lexie spoke suddenly. "Sh-Shouldn't I page Dr. Sloan as well?" Lexie blushed when Derek turned around to look at her, his eyebrow raised. Automatically, she shrugged and fumbled through her explanation. "He, er, was in the ER, treating, Mr. Robinson's…burns. The burns on Mr. Robinson. Wouldn't D-Dr. Sloan, wouldn't he need to…assess them? Treat them before the next-of-kin arrive?"

Derek smiled slightly, amused, and shook his head. "Dr. Sloan patched up the burns to Mr. Robinson's arms in the ER. The nurses will redress the burns. There's no need for Dr. Sloan to be here."

"Oh. Oh, yes, okay." Lexie nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled awkwardly at Derek. "After paging Dr. Torres, should I stay with the patient until we…?"

Derek shook his head. "You don't need to be here for that, Lexie. Go home."

"Oh…but, my shift doesn't–"

Derek smiled. "Rest, Lexie. You need it." When she hesitated, Derek laughed slightly. "I'll cover for you if that's what you're worried about. I won't tell."

Lexie tried to smile. Getting into trouble for leaving her shift early wasn't why she was hesitant. Lexie swallowed and quickly nodded. She could always go somewhere else instead of the house. "Thank you, Dr. Shepherd."

Derek simply smiled at her and walked out of the room. After a beat, Lexie left the room also, before quickly paging Callie. She waited for her to arrive and when she did, Lexie felt her stomach drop at the sight of Callie with another doctor.

Mark.

Lexie attempted to smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She approached the two and waved her hand in the direction of Mr. Robinson's room. "Er, hi. Dr. Shepherd wants Mr. Robinson's broken bones to be er, seen to before his next-of-kin arrives."

Callie looked at her before asking the question she already knew the answer to. "Is there nothing we can do?"

Lexie shrugged, and the sadness once again swept over her. "I, don't think so…"

Noticing how upset Lexie appeared, Callie reached out and lightly squeezed her shoulder. "You know we can't save them all, Lexie."

"I know that, I know. I just…" She couldn't finish and instead averted her eyes, looking at the floor instead. She sighed and looked up at Callie, and from the corner of her eye, noticed Mark staring at her.

She refused to look at him.

Lexie indicated to the stretch of hallway behind Callie. "I-I have to…"

"Yeah, go ahead…" Callie said quietly and watched as Lexie quickly walked past Mark, without saying another word. Once she was gone, Callie raised an eyebrow. "What did you say to her?"

"Nothing," Mark said in a mono-tone voice as he walked past Callie and into Mr. Robinson's room. "Hurry up, so we can go to Joe's."

Callie huffed. "Don't tell me what to do. And Lexie seems to be getting weirder by the hour."

Mark nodded absently. "Fragile."

"What?"

"Oh, er, Derek said something about her being fragile."

Mark watched silently as Callie worked on Mr. Robinson. Lexie was acting strange and distant, and he knew he was probably pushing her further away because of his curt actions and mood swings. If Derek was right, if something was wrong with her, Mark was sure she wouldn't want to confide in him now. He shouldn't be so abrupt with her. He should figure out another way to approach her. Less abrupt, and more…gentle? Mark frowned, was he even genetically set up to act that way? He didn't know, but it was clear that he would need to change his actions.

Or, there was another option. He could wait. He could wait until she came to him. That way, he would definitely know if something was wrong. He couldn't ask her, and then find out that there was nothing wrong and it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Mark frowned, no, there was something wrong. She wasn't acting correctly – but then what was considered 'correct'?

No, something was going on. He knew it. He was nearly certain.