Over the next 6 months Cristina's thoughts about Owen slowly drifted to the surgeries she scrubbed in on. She had found a realtor to help her search for apartments and had narrowed it down to a 2 bedroom apartment from across the hospital which Callie happily agreed to.

Cristina never cared where she had lived but now she was an actual surgeon and she had worked her ass off to finally get to the place she was in and felt like she deserved to treat herself to live in a so-called palace.

She had found some of Burke's things and burned a few of his shirts in the fireplace and it made her feel good now knowing he was gone from her life. She decided she was going to get rid of everything the red comforter, the glass table everything that has Burke's name on it.

"Why are you so bright and shiny today?" Mere asked Cristina.

"Oh just excited for this surgery I have in a few hours."

"Well you look happy and you're glowing too which is weird even for you," Meredith mentioned.

"I used the fireplace to burn some of Burke's shirts and I even wrote some things on them before burning them," Cristina smiled evilly.

"That sounds healthy but wouldn't it be easier to donate them to goodwill or something?" Meredith asserted.

"I'm moving out of the hell hole," Cristina sighed. "And the first step to forgetting that asshole is to burn his clothes."

"Why am I now just hearing about you moving? Move into my house so we can have sleepovers every night." Meredith suggested.

"No, I don't want to live with Tinkerbell and evil spawn."

"Fine suit yourself but Izzie likes to bake which means the fridge is full of different types of cakes."

"Yeah well, Callie cooks and I don't want to hear Izzie's collection of chick flicks," Cristina added.

Owen had been gone for several grueling months saving soldiers in the heat and terrible conditions. He also convinced one of his friends Teddy from combat to come to Seattle. she was impressed with the hospital and applied for a position as a cardio attending.

Owen had been back for a few days and he hadn't caught sight of her yet. He and Teddy were on their way to the attending lounge to get ready and start their shifts when Cristina came in and didn't notice them. Owen eyed her for a second before speaking, "Morning Cris- Dr. Yang."

Cristina turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Morning Dr. Hunt... aren't you supposed to be in Iraq?"

"I told you I'd be gone for several months not 10 years Cristine," he smirked at her.

"Again It's Cristina but only my friends are allowed to call me that," she said and went to the coffee bar.

Owen knew he was walking on thin ice and looked at Teddy who was giving him a smirk. Teddy went up next to Cristina and introduced herself, "I'm Dr. Altman I'm the new cardio attending."

"Oh yes, I'm Dr. Yang a cardio fellow. Dr. Russell told me I'm supposed to be working with you today."

"Your Dr. Yang? Wow, you look so young! Russell has told me you're very good at what you do."

"Uh thank you. Anyways I've got rounds it was nice to meet you, Dr. Altman," and she walked out of the room ignoring Owen.

Teddy turned back to Owen and gave him a playful glare.

"What?" He asked.

"What was all that?" she gestured with her hand.

"What was what?" Owen asked trying not to expose himself

"Owen Ryan Hunt I may be a lesbian but I know what I just saw and you were flirting with her and she was clearly not having it with you."

''I was not flirting with her we're colleagues nothing more," argued Owen.

"Well don't chicken out invite her for drinks after work you'll regret it if you don't," Teddy smiled.

Owen and Teddy were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch when the other head of the departments joined them. "How's your first day going? You ready to go back to Baghdad yet?" Mark teased Teddy.

"I'm actually really impressed... the facility, the equipment, the caliber of the residents."

"Mmm Have you met Cristina Yang yet?" Arizona asked.

"Cristina Yang might be the best fellow I've ever seen she looks very young but she's got skills I actually like her."

"Yang was the top resident in her class and she's got a reputation of being a ball-buster hell I've seen colleagues even grown men brought to tears after five minutes of interaction with that woman. You sure as hell don't ever want to fuck with Cristina Yang," Mark gossiped.

"You're right Man Whore you don't ever fuck with me. You talk shit about me again and I'll make sure to find a scalpel and cut your tongue," Cristina threaten him and pinched him.

"See what I'm saying," Mark chuckled.

"Callie do you know where Derek is?" Cristina asked.

"Last time I saw him with Meredith heading into an on-call room," Callie smirked.

"Ugh," Cristina groaned sitting down. "Just great looks like my consult is going to have to wait."

"Hey, you paged?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah in exam room 2 there's a 29-year-old woman who's 20 weeks pregnant who came in complaining of chest pains and turns out it was just heartburn stupid intern wasted my time any way I paged you to check on the fetus."

"On it. Hey, wanna go to Joe's after with Mere? You know a girl's night no Alex or George around."

"I guess I could use some booze in my system," Cristina concluded while Izzie skipped happily to the exam room.

"So what are we supposed to do on this girl's night," Cristina asked Izzie.

"I was thinking we should have some drinks then go have a sleepover with manicures and baking at Mere's."

"Izzie what is this high school? You know what I'm going home," Cristina said.

"Fine I'll just go talk to this cute guy over there," Izzie squealed.

Meredith turned back to Cristina, "So, how would you feel about me setting you up on a date?"

"I would really hate that and you."

"Oh. come on. It's something that regular people do," Meredith exclaimed.

"We're not regular people Meredith."

"We could try to be."

"You and Derek knock yourselves out. Go on as many dates as you please. Just don't involve me. I'm good," Cristina said taking a sip of beer.

"People need a connection to stay healthy and positive connection with another human," Meredith explained.

"I don't... I don't need your pity positivity Meredith I'm fine."

"Seriously?" Meredith asked.

"Seriously."

"You know, you sound like an old woman who has given up on love." Meredith paused. "And sex."

"Maybe I have. It's pointless anyway," She shrugged.

"Maybe... you need someone who you can't irritate," Meredith said.

"Find that man for me and I'll marry him."

"When's the wedding?" Meredith smiled.

"I was kidding Meredith! Geez," Cristina said.

Meredith sighed, "Just agree to this one and then I'll leave you alone forever."

"Why are you forcing me to go on a date?" Cristina raised her voice slightly.

"Because you've been inside this little bubble ever since Burke left and I'm starting to get worried about you!"

"There's nothing to be worried about," Cristina assured her.

"Cristina."

"Meredith."

"Would you stop being so stubborn and let me help you, for god's sake?"

Cristina groaned, "You know what? Fine. If it will get you off my back, fine."

Meredith smiled. "Thank you."

Cristina looked at her. "You're really annoying, did you know that?" Meredith put her drink down, a smile still on her lips. "I know oh hey there's a guy coming towards you right now maybe you can talk to him and if it doesn't work out come find me and I will set you up."

"That's not happening!" Cristina shouted at her.

"Hey is this seat taken?" the stranger said.

"No go ahead," Cristina said.

"I'm Marcus Liam and you are?"

"Cristina. Dr. Cristina Yang."

"Interesting what kind of doctor are you, Dr. Cristina Yang?"

"I'm actually a cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital not far from here."

"Very impressive care for a drink Cristina?"

"I guess so."

The next hour was interesting. Cristina learned a lot about Marcus he was a middle school teacher who loves bike rides and books and Cristina found those things stupid but didn't say it out loud. Cristina on the other hand didn't reveal much about herself and mostly talked about her career.

"You're staring at her," Teddy said as she took a sip of vodka.

"I want to go up to her and talk to her but she's talking to someone," Owen said.

"Here's an idea for you get your ass over there and talk to her and I'll go talk to this other chick who I've had my eye for since we got here."

"Fine with me," Owen muttered as they parted ways. Marcus was in the middle of a story about one of his bike rides when Owen came up to them, "Dr. Yang."

"Dr. Hunt," she acknowledged.

Marcus looked at Owen and suddenly spoke, "If you don't mind Rambo, Cristina, and I were actually in the middle of something."

"Don't worry about it Marcus Dr. Hunt actually works with me he's the head of trauma at the hospital I work at," Cristina said. The truth was she was glad someone came up to them even if it was Owen Hunt she needed an interruption from Marcus who was a pain in the ass.

"You know what I should probably leave the 2 of you alone," Owen said and turned to Joe and asked for a beer.

"So Cristina are you free tomorrow night?" Marcus asked her.

"Um, I am why?" she hesitated

"I would like to take you out to dinner and we'll go from there," He smiled seductively.

Cristina found herself feeling a little out of place with that smile he gave her. Yes, she loved sex but she wasn't a whore and she will certainly not be used as a sex toy. Then she saw Meredith looking in her direction smiling so she decided to go with it.

Owen couldn't help but listen to their conversation. He and Cristina were just colleagues nothing more except for that stupid move he made of kissing her before he left for Iraq. All he wanted was to have a simple conversation with her.

He looked at Teddy across the bar she was having success with some girl and at least she was having better luck than he was.

"Good," Marcus said. "I'll pick you up at the front of the hospital at 6 are we clear?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah that sounds fine anyways it's getting late and I have a shift later so uh I'll see you tomorrow," Cristina said

Meredith came up running towards Cristina desperate to know what happened, "So what happened?"

"Weren't you watching my every move?" Cristina asked annoyed.

"Well, I can't read lips so spill!" Meredith beamed at her.

"He asked me out and I stupidly agreed."

"Cristina this is a big deal! First date since Burke left it's a healthy second step towards forgetting him," Meredith smiled. "You're not going to wear that purple dress you wore on your date with burke?"

"No of course not I think it's bad luck I've only worn it twice and both of those times something disastrous always happens," Cristina admitted.