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

A/N: Thank you so much for the response, I really appreciate it. Sorry for yet another delayed update, but I've been a bit stressed lately. Hopefully, things will be getting better soon (: Hope you guys enjoy this, I'm really excited about the chapters to come. Let me know what you think! (:

Lexie gently traced her finger along Mark's chest as she felt the elevator move upwards. She would have to move soon, leave the encasing warmth of his safety, and the thought made Lexie's shoulders slump. She didn't want to move, not when she was so emotionally drained. Mark's soft voice tugged her into focus. "We can't stay like this."

The weight behind his words sent a sharp dagger through Lexie's heart but she let out a steady breath. He was right. She knew that. But that didn't stop the disappointment she felt.

Slowly, Lexie raised her head and smiled shyly when he stared down at her, his eyes intense. "Okay," she whispered as she slowly entangled herself from his body.

Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, Lexie turned to face the steel doors, a small smile on her lips. I care about you more than I should. I care about you. I care. As the door pinged and slid open, Lexie glanced back at Mark, who was watching her intently, and then turned and left the elevator. Soon enough, he fell into step with her and Lexie couldn't help but say, her grin barely contained, "You care about me, Dr. Sloan."

"Don't let it get to your head," he replied, his voice holding an air of nonchalance.

Lexie smirked slightly as they went up to the nurses' station. Resting her arm against the desk, Lexie watched him flip through a chart that didn't belong to him. She tried to figure out what was going on his mind, but if she was honest with herself, she couldn't figure him out. "Are you regretting it?"

It was a simple question, a question which had been spoken in a calm and careful voice, however to Mark it felt like an accusation. "What is that meant to mean?" He asked, his voice low, his eyes darting to the sides to see if anyone could overhear them.

Lexie rolled her eyes at his actions, and leaned in slightly, so that they wouldn't be overheard. It was an added bonus that it allowed her to be so close to him. "Everything. This," she whispered discreetly, waving a hand in between their bodies. "Do you regret it?"

"Of course not." He didn't understand why she would assume that. "I told you. You heard what I said. I don't lie and I don't have regrets."

His voice was stern and for some reason, it caused Lexie to raise an eyebrow. "Really?"

He blinked and a long list of regrets ran through his mind. However, he knew it was irrelevant. Lexie didn't need to know about all the reasons why she shouldn't let him near her. "Really," he replied, his voice certain although his heart wasn't.

Lexie looked at him for a moment, trying to calculate what to do next, when Mark's pager beeped. She watched as he looked down and sighed. "Trauma?"

"Yeah," Mark replied before glancing around the ward. Before anyone noticed, Mark quickly took Lexie's hand in his and pulled her towards the elevators. As she stumbled behind him, Mark spoke in a hurried voice, "Hurry up, Grey."

Lexie nearly laughed at Mark's nervous exterior. She hurried alongside him until they reached the elevator where he dropped her hand, settling for lightly brushing his hand against hers. Lexie smiled and looked up at him, her voice adopting a mock whisper, "Was that you being affectionate, Dr. Sloan?"

Mark didn't bother looking at her and instead replied, "Get that grin off your face." Then, as an afterthought he said, "I don't like the word affectionate."

This time Lexie openly laughed at him. "What should I use instead? Warm, kind, loving?"

Mark glared at the steel doors and as if sensing his urgency, the elevator doors slid open. "Shut up and get in."

Lexie laughed and followed him into the elevator, enjoying the fact that for once, it was her doing the teasing. "Don't tell me you can't take being teased, Dr. Sloan," Lexie said, her grin barely contained.

Although he was glad Lexie was happier than she had been lately, Mark didn't appreciate being the butt of her jokes. However, a voice reasoned with him, it was him that was making her happy. It was her teasing him that was bringing a smile to her face. Mark considered the thought for a moment, and then when he heard Lexie sigh happily, he realized that maybe it was alright being the butt of jokes.

For her, it was more than alright.

"Hunt," Mark hollered as he entered the ER.

Owen looked up from his chart and nodded towards the end cubicle. "Patient's in there," he said in his gruff voice. He then noticed Lexie standing timidly behind Mark. He smiled at her, "Dr. Grey."

"Dr. Hunt," Lexie replied quietly.

Owen watched as Mark turned to her and quietly told her to get the patient's chart. The action was calm and gentle, causing suspicion to shoot through Owen. He regarded Mark for a moment, and when Lexie was out of an earshot, he spoke curiously. "How's Dr. Grey doing?"

"She's fine," Mark replied, his eyes narrowing. "Why?"

Owen shrugged, "I'm a considerate guy. I like to know how the interns are doing."

"I'm not falling for that."

Owen laughed. "Paranoid, Sloan?"

"Shut up," Mark growled. He turned and walked towards the cubicle, muttering under his breath, "Meatballer."

Mark was about to open the cubicle curtain when he felt Lexie stand next to him. He looked down and tried not to smile when she smiled at him. "Here you go, Dr. Sloan," she said sweetly, her hand brushing against his when she gave him the chart.

"Thank you, Dr. Grey," he replied and flipped open the chart. His eyes quickly scanned the writing and he nodded slightly, before opening the curtain.

Julia Greene's eyes nervously looked at the two doctors in front of her, immediately noticing the woman's sharp intake of breath. Nervously, she fidgeted with her fingers as the male doctor walked over to her. "I-It's bad, isn't it?" Julia whispered as she watched the younger doctor close the curtains. "Yeah, close the curtains. We…We don't want to scare anyone…"

Mark shook his head, "Miss. Greene, no-one is afraid of your face."

"I wouldn't…I wouldn't blame them." She looked down at her intertwined fingers and mumbled, "The intern was afraid."

Lexie's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, no. No, of…of course not, Miss. Greene." Lexie looked at Mark desperately and he only gave her a stern look in return. "I…I've never seen a, err, facial injury as severe as yours. I'm…I'm sorry."

Julia shrugged and tried to look up at the ceiling but the pain in her eye was restricting her movement. "Please," she whispered. "Just fix my face."

Mark nodded as he took in the sight of her injuries. The right side of her face was red and purple, the bruising and swelling extensive from under her eye to the bottom of her nose. There was no need for a CT scan, it was clear her cheekbone was fractured, the bone indented and pushed to one side. Immediately, Mark noticed she was breathing from her mouth and he narrowed his eyes, noticing her nasal septum wasn't straight.

"Don't worry, Miss. Greene," Mark said. "Now, I need you to tell me how your injuries occurred."

Her eyes widened slightly and she nervously glanced at Lexie. "I-I…fell."

Her voice faltered and instantly, Lexie knew. The fidgeting, the stuttering, the nerves, the seeking out another woman's stare. Her heart broke for the woman in front of her. She didn't fall, Lexie knew that excuse all too well.

Mark glanced at Julia's injuries once more and nodded curtly. It was up to her whether or not she wanted to tell him the truth, he wouldn't pressure her. "Alright. I need to assess if there are any injuries to your nervous system." Without looking at her, Mark asked Lexie, "How would I do that, Dr. Grey?"

"Glasgow coma scale."

"What would it involve?"

"Level of consciousness, pupil reaction to light, reflexes, response to stimuli," Lexie said without fault. She looked at Mark eagerly and when he nodded, she smiled in relief.

"Good, Dr. Grey," Mark said before asking Julia if he could do the tests that Lexie had said. After they were done, Mark straightened and nodded his head slightly. "There seems to be no initial damage to your nerves, and I've looked and there seems to be no cerebrospinal fluid leakages, so we can rule out brain injury."

Julia nodded slowly and spoke slowly, "Okay." She began to scratch her hand nervously and looked at Lexie. "That's good right?"

Lexie briefly looked at Mark before turning back to their patient. "That's definitely good."

"Okay…Okay." She looked at Mark, her eyes pleading with him. "You can fix my face, right?"

"Yes."

Julia tried to smile but looked at Lexie instead. "H-He isn't lying is he?"

The uncertainty of not knowing if people were telling you the truth, if they really care, if they really wanted to help you, look after you – Lexie understood where she was coming from. Her back straightened slightly and she smiled gently, "He wouldn't lie to you." Her eyes met with Mark's, their stare intense and unwavering. "He doesn't lie."

After Mark had left, Lexie helped Julia into a wheelchair and proceeded to take her up for a CT scan. Although she knew she shouldn't ask, Lexie couldn't help the sudden urge that rushed through her. You didn't get injuries like this from a fall. You didn't become that nervous around people if you were fine, if you were living in a safe environment.

But it was none of her business. She couldn't ask her patient if she was punched, or hit with a baseball bat. It was inappropriate. She could ignore this, why did it matter so much to her? She should understand, she should understand how it feels to be constantly questioned by people.

"Are you alright, Dr. Grey?"

Lexie looked down at Julia and smiled slightly. "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry."

Julia shrugged, "No need to be sorry. You just seemed a bit…out of it." She tried to turn her head to look at Lexie, but didn't get very far. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lexie laughed slightly and pushed the button for the elevator. "No, thank you." She paused and at first thought against it, but Lexie couldn't resist the need to help someone. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"No."

Her voice was abrupt and strong, and Lexie realized that she must have used that tone of voice a million times before as well. She should have known better. No-one ever wants to talk about it.

"Alright," Lexie said, her voice unnaturally cheerful. As the elevator doors opened, she carefully pushed Julia into the small space. They stood in silence until the doors reopened and Lexie pushed her out again. As they went down the hallway, Lexie was surprised to hear Julia's voice again.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

Lexie quickly weighed up her options: tell her the truth, or act oblivious in the hope she would tell her because she wanted to. "I'm not here to judge, Miss. Greene," Lexie replied. "I'm just…I'm just an intern. I'm not allowed to judge. No judging whatsoever."

They fell into silence again as Lexie opened the door to the CT scanner. With some assistance, Lexie helped Julia onto the long bed and then left the room. While she waited for the scan to be over, Lexie leaned against the wall, contemplating what to do. Julia was here to get her face fixed, not her heart, or mind, or life.

Lexie could only help her face. Nothing else. She had to remember that.

But even though she knew this, Lexie couldn't help the overwhelming sadness that seeped into her veins at the sight of Julia's bruised face. That had been her once. That was still her. Just because she had told someone, didn't mean this wasn't still part of her life. But now Lexie had help. She had Mark, didn't Julia deserve someone too?

Once the scan was over, Lexie helped Julia back into her wheelchair and, with the scans sitting in Julia's lap, made their way back to Mark. Lexie thought about saying something, making idle chat with Julia, but then thought against it. Maybe she should ask Mark what to do. After all, he had been in the same position not long ago.

Mark watched as Lexie came out of Julia's cubicle and made her way over to him, the scans in her hand. She placed the scans onto the light box and then stood next to him, her arms crossed over her chest. Mark glanced at her from the corner of his eye and tried not to sound too amused. "Something you want to say, Dr. Grey?"

Lexie chewed her bottom lip slightly before letting out a huff. "She didn't fall."

Mark raised an eyebrow as he looked at the scans. "I know that."

"You know that?" Lexie screeched. Looking around her, she quickly lowered her voice. "You know that? How…How do you…" She sighed and shook her head. "Bastard."

Mark frowned, "Excuse me?"

"You…Y-You're a bastard, you know that? You know someone did that to her, on purpose, you know someone intentionally hit her, probably used a fucking bat to do that to her face and you…you didn't say anything!" Lexie whispered harshly. "You knew and you just accepted the fact that she 'fell.'"

Mark's sudden laughter caused Lexie to glare at him. "What? Why…Why are you laughing?"

"It's not my job to care whether or not a patient's telling me the truth," Mark said. "If she wants to lie, then that's up to her. You heard her; all she wants me to do is fix her face. Not care."

Lexie was about to respond when Mark interrupted her. "What do you see?"

Lexie clenched her jaw and looked at the scans in front of her. "Fractures to the arch and orbit of the cheekbone," Lexie replied tensely.

"Good, Dr. Grey," Mark said as he snapped the scans off the light box and placed them back into the envelope. "Now," he said mockingly cheerful. "Come along."

Lexie glared at the back of Mark's head as he walked over to Julia's cubicle, and silently she wished he would trip and fall.

Bastard.