Dear friend, what's the time?
Title: Dear Friend, what's the time?
Author: mrsfjl66
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Cristina, Lexie, Meredith; hints of canon couples past and present
Disclaimer is here.
A/N: I've owed anna_in_the_sky fic (and some Skype time) since her birthday in August. I may be late, but I bear fic and a new journal layout (I have a huge crush on the header;)) A Meredith & Cristina conversation with a side of Lexipedia. I'm a Cristina person, but apparently I had some issues. I haven't seen any of the previews for the new ep, so any spoiling, etc, herein, is unintentional. Second post of NU'NF' Fic Fest;) Thanks citron_presse for the super speedy help!.
Cecile Deegan was an art teacher in Chico, California. 36, divorced. Mother of two, non-smoker, with an incidence of diabetes on her mother's side. The aggressive glioma she'd been diagnosed with four months ago was steadily growing, despite a combination of surgery and radiation.
All that according to the charts, films, and lab results from the thick file Cristina received twenty minutes before from a courier.
She seriously missed Cardio. Not Dixon's present day regime. No, the Cardio from before; "Before what?" wasn't up for contemplation.
Shepherd's service was tolerable--at least she wasn't synching Sloan's new Blackberry like George was. Or trying not to jump Owen between traumas. Actually, that was a problem no matter the rotation. Owen (because last names didn't seem to apply) was the rush of blood back into her toes after sitting Indian style too long. Or something. He was the good news.
News Meredith would've had the freaking exclusive on if--
"You paged?" Lexie asked.
Cristina gathered the file back together, and handed it to Lexie. "This belongs to Meredith. Find her. Put it in her hands. Do not pass go. Do not perform a superfluous surgery on your way," she said.
Technically, the patient was Shepherd's of course, landing the paperwork in Cristina's arms in the first place. But the Shepherd Method and the trial supporting it couldn't be separated from Meredith Grey anymore than the man himself could. No ban on specialization or journals plastered with McDreamy's Glamor Shot would change that.
Lexie hovered in the doorway. "You could just give it to her yourself," she said, then a quiet, "You're Meredith and Cristina."
Cristina said nothing. She saw herself at the foot of Meredith's hospital bed, not saying goodbye as Burke prompted, but waiting. Waiting until Meredith's whispered, "Ouch" made the clocks start again. And Meredith's hands working furiously on the eyehooks and buttons of Cristina's wedding dress to make evidence of the non-nuptials leave Cristina's skin as swiftly as Burke vanished from Seattle.
Would Meredith do the bridesmaid thing when she and Derek became the Drs. Shepherd version 2.0? The idea of not being asked to wear a ruched and ruffled something while forever holding her peace at the ceremony was surprisingly awful. And it hadn't happened yet.
Truly pathetic. Three weeks of being estranged from her best friend and she was reduced to pondering weddings and Derek Shepherd. Weddings to Derek Shepherd. Ew.
And still, Lexie hadn't moved. Cristina shifted in her seat "Look, as far as you’re concerned, I'm Dr. Cristina Yang, owner of your soul. And Meredith is--" she paused.
"Driving me insane," Lexie offered. "Both of you are."
"Excuse me?" Cristina asked, willing her intern to step carefully.
"Meredith's not talking to you. You're not talking to Meredith. Dr. Sloan isn't talking to anyone and I'm..."
"Wait. Meredith isn't talking to me?" Cristina asked, jumping to her feet.
"You haven't talked to her in weeks. What's--"
"I know I'm not talking to her. But she should be talking to me. At least trying to. Why wouldn't she be talking to me?" Cristina leaned down to gather her pager, stethoscope and water bottle. "Where is she?"
"The tunnels, I think. But I don't understand," Lexie said, following behind Cristina as she ate up hallway with long strides.
"You don't have to understand." No one else does, Cristina thought, swiveling to face Lexie. "I'll deliver the file. Cover the clinic with Two. He better still have his appendix the next time I see him."
Lexie held on to the folder. "You told me to put this directly in Meredith's hands. I'm going to."
"Lexipedia, this isn't about you," Cristina said, and that was basically true. "Let it go."
"She's my sister. I live on her couch. And you're-- I can't just let it go."
Cristina got that. She did. "Clinic," she said firmly, taking the file from Lexie.
Meredith was paging through a neuro text, feet tucked under herself, when Cristina reached the tunnels. "You aren't talking to me," Cristina said, sitting on the far end of Meredith's chosen gurney.
Meredith said nothing. After a full minute, Cristina found herself blinking first. "Jesus, Meredith, it was an amputation." My amputation, she thought, but figured that wouldn't help things. "I gave it to Alex because--"
"I don't care about the freaking solo surgery. It was yours. It should have stayed yours, and I was stupid to feel entitled to it," Meredith said, closing the text with a forceful clap.
Damn straight, Cristina thought. But if not that then-- "Then, what?" Cristina asked.
"Katie Bryce," Meredith said, as if it was an answer.
"What does the wannabe pageant queen have to do with this?"
"When I got her surgery, you thought I was a disloyal, cut throat, inbred attending groupie," Meredith said, and the calmness in her voice was frightening. "You still do."
"Bullshit," Cristina said.
"Is it? Three weeks ago, you were pissed that I didn't use my 'influence' with the Chief to back you up. You called me out for sleeping with an attending and then accused me of not caring about my-- about Lexie. Then you have the nerve to tell me you don't take this job personally. Seriously?"
Cristina swallowed a reflexive, 'Fuck you,' and considered walking out, but that had never been much help for either of them. No words were coming though. None. Except the ones she'd been bouncing around in her head for weeks.
"You didn't have my back." But as she said it, her mind flashed to Meredith across the drape from her, the two of them keeping Sadie alive.
"I had no idea what was going on! And no idea you did until Lexie said. I was surprised." Meredith's shoulders slumped a little. "I should've known-- there's no excuse for not paying attention to the interns. And Sadie-- I tried to keep her away from Lexie, but that was--"
Not expecting that. "You did?"
"Yes. She wanted Lexie as her 'intern BFF' and I...it freaked me out. I told her it was a bad idea, but that's a humongous green light for Sadie, obviously." Meredith said. "Why didn't you tell me what they were doing?"
"Why didn't you say something to the Chief? If not right then, later," Cristina asked. So she was a hypocrite. This thing was personal enough to steal her breath. But she had to know.
Meredith hands were shaking a little now, with fury, Cristina guessed, but her eyes... she looked away.
"Why would you want me to?" Meredith asked. "To him, I'm the five year old daughter of the woman he cheated with. I'm not a doctor. I'm a daily reminder of every mistake he's ever made."
Don't ever say Meredith wasn't competitive. Conversational knock-out, there. "How do you know that?" Cristina choked out.
"He told me." Meredith said, wiping at her eyes.
"That's," she didn't know what that was. "Does Derek know?"
"Don't. Don't you even dare," Meredith said, her eyes fierce through the tears.
"Mere," Cristina started. The word felt strange in her mouth. There were just too many lines not to cross. How had they gotten here? How would they get out? "He would want to know."
"He wanted to know about Burke's--" Meredith stopped suddenly, her eyes terrified. "I...Cristina."
She wanted Meredith to say the words. Tremors. Bank robberies. Cover-up. She could hear the blood squeaking on her shoes. Felt every step of the walk to the Chief's office. Held Burke's silence, tangible because it was absolute. No description for the guilt. Meredith should just say it--confirm that it had actually happened. That she'd done it, and somehow gone free. So free.
But Meredith said nothing, clearly not wanting to touch that any more than Cristina wanted to ask about Meredith's non-swim in Elliott Bay. Unfortunately, the things they couldn't say outnumbered the things they could.
"I slept with Mark," Lexie said, her voice echoing loudly.
Meredith and Cristina's heads snapped to the right in tandem. "You what?" they said, in-step like some two headed...thing. Like them.
"I slept with Mark, but that's not... " Lexie eyed them both carefully, as if searching for bruises.
Where the hell had she come from? And how long had she been there? "Not amused, Three," Cristina said.
"Not at all," Meredith confirmed.
"I went to the clinic. But then, you didn't page," Lexie said, nodding at Cristina. "And Dr. Shepherd said he hadn't seen you so..." This time to Meredith.
As if all this was perfectly normal. As if she hadn't stopped eavesdropping just long enough to say she'd slept with Mark Sloan. "Go back to Shepherd," Cristina said, doing her best to mimic Bailey's Eye of Doom. "Clearly, you've had a head injury,"
"I had to make sure you were ok. And then I was afraid you'd... I had to make it stop."
"The silence?" Meredith asked, and her voice was ice.
"No," Lexie said.
Bad move. If not, silence, what?
"Then what, exactly?" Meredith asked, just like a disappointed, overprotective mother. Nothing like Ellis Grey. Shades of Susan Grey instead.
Cristina's throat felt tight. Ridiculous. Crying was not an option. For any of them. "Don't worry, Meredith," Cristina said. "She didn't hear anything. She was too busy thinking about Sloan's long, hard..."
"Cristina! Not anywhere close to funny."
"No, it's not," Cristina said, looking Meredith in the eye. Meredith and McDreamy conducted an adulterous love affair with little more than their eyes. Surely, Cristina could broker a truce with hers. “What choice do we have?” she asked.
Meredith held the gaze, taking a long breath. “Ok.” She nodded, then visibly shifted. “Ok. Just…Mark. I was really hoping we could avoid this conversation. Maybe forever.”
“You knew?” Lexie asked, her eyes huge.
“That you slept with him? No. That he wanted…you? Definitely.” Meredith said.
“Sadie knew too. I guess I was the only one who didn’t,” Lexie said.
Not the only one. “Oh, good. Sexy Sadie knew,” Cristina said. “I know that I can’t technically forbid you from speaking to her, but…”
“No you can’t. The surgery was my idea, ok? Mine. Sadie just went along with it,” Lexie looked to each of them, stopping with Meredith. Didn’t look like Meredith was buying it either.
“I think she’d be happy for you to believe that,” Meredith said.
Cristina’s eyebrows shot up, but she said nothing. Lexie’s surprise was audible though. “Why would you-she’s your friend.”
“And fellow refugee,” Meredith said. She shook her head and began again. “Look, Death and Die had a lot of fun. A lot of crazy, half-drunk, wholly reckless fun. No one cared if we came in at night, or called home. Ever. Which was convenient cause we didn’t do those things. Ever."
"That was a long time ago. I'm sure she--"
"Calls home to say she offered herself up as a surgical guinea pig? Not likely." Cristina said.
"The point," Meredith said. "is that Sadie still thinks she has nothing to lose. Which is..."
"Beyond terrifying. Especially when scalpels are involved," Cristina said.
"Exactly," Meredith said. "Just be careful, ok?"
Lexie dropped herself in the wide space between them. "I would say that I can handle myself, but I'm banned from the OR, and I slept with the hospital manwhore. Both of them. I've slept with both of the hospital manwhores." she said.
"Do you like him? Sloan, I mean. Of course you don't like Alex. That's a given."
"I like Alex," Meredith protested.
"Enough to date him?"
Meredith wrinkled her nose. "Izzie's got that covered, I think."
"We hope," Cristina said. "So, Sloan. Was it a one night stand? Does he do more than one night?"
"Addison," Meredith said, examining her fingernails.
"Addison, as in Montgomery-Shepherd?" Lexie paled.
"Is there another one?" Cristina asked.
"No, I just... she was..."
"Married to Derek?" Meredith asked. "I noticed that too."
"Hold it," Cristina said. "Lexie, what do you know about Sloan?"
"He's Dr. Shepherd's best friend. He likes scotch, the periodic table and this thing with, um," she coughed. "He loves nurses but I knew that beforehand so... And he thinks George is an idiot."
"Well, he gets points for that," Cristina said.
Meredith rolled her eyes. "The short story: Mark slept with Addison while she was still married to Derek. Derek fled to Seattle and got pretty good at forgetting he had a wife. Derek met me just a few weeks before Addison came here to get him back. Mark followed Addison to Seattle to bring her home, but she stayed with Derek. I dated a vet but lost my panties to Derek anyway, and Mark showed up in Seattle again, though whether it was for Addison or Derek I'm not sure. Derek and Addison divorced, and somehow Mark and Derek are friends again. Did I miss anything?"
Yeah, the part where Shepherd knocked McSteamy to the floor for hitting on you. "Nope," Cristina said. "Though I can't believe she didn't get all that from the Nurse's Station on Day One."
Lexie looked like she might be sick. "Crap," Meredith said, looking at Lexie's bent head. "I shouldn't have said all that. It's history. Way in the past. It doesn't matter."
"No. I'm okay. It's just a lot. I needed to know," Lexie said, slipping off the gurney. "I think I need coffee or something, so I'm just going to..." Lexie backed away from them.
"Lexie?" Meredith asked.
"I'm good. I swear. I'll see you at the house, ok?"
"Okay," Meredith said. And as soon as Lexie was out of earshot. "Dammit. Why did I do that?"
"Because you want her to know who she's sleeping with?"
"Or because I didn't want her near him in the first place."
"You didn't?"
"No. Of course not. I like Mark, but..." Meredith bit at her lip, giving herself away.
"What did you do?"
"I asked Derek to tell Mark to keep Little Sloan away from Little Grey."
"That's revolting. And apparently, totally ineffective."
"I know!"
Cristina stretched. "Little sisters are hard work," she said, not entirely sure how she meant that.
"Tell me about it," Meredith said, adjusting her ponytail.
Cristina picked up the patient file by her feet. "This came by courier today. Possible candidate for the Shepherd Method. I figured you'd want to do the intake."
"Thanks," she said, her eyes scanning the first page.
"Meredith?" Just one more thing Cristina had to know.
"Hmm?"
"The falling for the attending thing?"
"Yeah?" she asked warily, drawing the chart up to her chest like a shield.
"It doesn't necessarily have to end in horrible disaster, does it?"
"No. God, I hope not. No," Meredith said.
"Good." Cristina said, looking at her watch. "I'm going to the cafeteria,"
"Spying on Lexie or looking for Hunt?" Meredith asked.
"Probably both." Cristina said, hopping down from the gurney.
"Want company?" Meredith asked.
"You're buying the fries," Cristina said, as Meredith stood and grabbed her stuff.
"Deal."
Author: mrsfjl66
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Cristina, Lexie, Meredith; hints of canon couples past and present
Disclaimer is here.
A/N: I've owed anna_in_the_sky fic (and some Skype time) since her birthday in August. I may be late, but I bear fic and a new journal layout (I have a huge crush on the header;)) A Meredith & Cristina conversation with a side of Lexipedia. I'm a Cristina person, but apparently I had some issues. I haven't seen any of the previews for the new ep, so any spoiling, etc, herein, is unintentional. Second post of NU'NF' Fic Fest;) Thanks citron_presse for the super speedy help!.
Cecile Deegan was an art teacher in Chico, California. 36, divorced. Mother of two, non-smoker, with an incidence of diabetes on her mother's side. The aggressive glioma she'd been diagnosed with four months ago was steadily growing, despite a combination of surgery and radiation.
All that according to the charts, films, and lab results from the thick file Cristina received twenty minutes before from a courier.
She seriously missed Cardio. Not Dixon's present day regime. No, the Cardio from before; "Before what?" wasn't up for contemplation.
Shepherd's service was tolerable--at least she wasn't synching Sloan's new Blackberry like George was. Or trying not to jump Owen between traumas. Actually, that was a problem no matter the rotation. Owen (because last names didn't seem to apply) was the rush of blood back into her toes after sitting Indian style too long. Or something. He was the good news.
News Meredith would've had the freaking exclusive on if--
"You paged?" Lexie asked.
Cristina gathered the file back together, and handed it to Lexie. "This belongs to Meredith. Find her. Put it in her hands. Do not pass go. Do not perform a superfluous surgery on your way," she said.
Technically, the patient was Shepherd's of course, landing the paperwork in Cristina's arms in the first place. But the Shepherd Method and the trial supporting it couldn't be separated from Meredith Grey anymore than the man himself could. No ban on specialization or journals plastered with McDreamy's Glamor Shot would change that.
Lexie hovered in the doorway. "You could just give it to her yourself," she said, then a quiet, "You're Meredith and Cristina."
Cristina said nothing. She saw herself at the foot of Meredith's hospital bed, not saying goodbye as Burke prompted, but waiting. Waiting until Meredith's whispered, "Ouch" made the clocks start again. And Meredith's hands working furiously on the eyehooks and buttons of Cristina's wedding dress to make evidence of the non-nuptials leave Cristina's skin as swiftly as Burke vanished from Seattle.
Would Meredith do the bridesmaid thing when she and Derek became the Drs. Shepherd version 2.0? The idea of not being asked to wear a ruched and ruffled something while forever holding her peace at the ceremony was surprisingly awful. And it hadn't happened yet.
Truly pathetic. Three weeks of being estranged from her best friend and she was reduced to pondering weddings and Derek Shepherd. Weddings to Derek Shepherd. Ew.
And still, Lexie hadn't moved. Cristina shifted in her seat "Look, as far as you’re concerned, I'm Dr. Cristina Yang, owner of your soul. And Meredith is--" she paused.
"Driving me insane," Lexie offered. "Both of you are."
"Excuse me?" Cristina asked, willing her intern to step carefully.
"Meredith's not talking to you. You're not talking to Meredith. Dr. Sloan isn't talking to anyone and I'm..."
"Wait. Meredith isn't talking to me?" Cristina asked, jumping to her feet.
"You haven't talked to her in weeks. What's--"
"I know I'm not talking to her. But she should be talking to me. At least trying to. Why wouldn't she be talking to me?" Cristina leaned down to gather her pager, stethoscope and water bottle. "Where is she?"
"The tunnels, I think. But I don't understand," Lexie said, following behind Cristina as she ate up hallway with long strides.
"You don't have to understand." No one else does, Cristina thought, swiveling to face Lexie. "I'll deliver the file. Cover the clinic with Two. He better still have his appendix the next time I see him."
Lexie held on to the folder. "You told me to put this directly in Meredith's hands. I'm going to."
"Lexipedia, this isn't about you," Cristina said, and that was basically true. "Let it go."
"She's my sister. I live on her couch. And you're-- I can't just let it go."
Cristina got that. She did. "Clinic," she said firmly, taking the file from Lexie.
Meredith was paging through a neuro text, feet tucked under herself, when Cristina reached the tunnels. "You aren't talking to me," Cristina said, sitting on the far end of Meredith's chosen gurney.
Meredith said nothing. After a full minute, Cristina found herself blinking first. "Jesus, Meredith, it was an amputation." My amputation, she thought, but figured that wouldn't help things. "I gave it to Alex because--"
"I don't care about the freaking solo surgery. It was yours. It should have stayed yours, and I was stupid to feel entitled to it," Meredith said, closing the text with a forceful clap.
Damn straight, Cristina thought. But if not that then-- "Then, what?" Cristina asked.
"Katie Bryce," Meredith said, as if it was an answer.
"What does the wannabe pageant queen have to do with this?"
"When I got her surgery, you thought I was a disloyal, cut throat, inbred attending groupie," Meredith said, and the calmness in her voice was frightening. "You still do."
"Bullshit," Cristina said.
"Is it? Three weeks ago, you were pissed that I didn't use my 'influence' with the Chief to back you up. You called me out for sleeping with an attending and then accused me of not caring about my-- about Lexie. Then you have the nerve to tell me you don't take this job personally. Seriously?"
Cristina swallowed a reflexive, 'Fuck you,' and considered walking out, but that had never been much help for either of them. No words were coming though. None. Except the ones she'd been bouncing around in her head for weeks.
"You didn't have my back." But as she said it, her mind flashed to Meredith across the drape from her, the two of them keeping Sadie alive.
"I had no idea what was going on! And no idea you did until Lexie said. I was surprised." Meredith's shoulders slumped a little. "I should've known-- there's no excuse for not paying attention to the interns. And Sadie-- I tried to keep her away from Lexie, but that was--"
Not expecting that. "You did?"
"Yes. She wanted Lexie as her 'intern BFF' and I...it freaked me out. I told her it was a bad idea, but that's a humongous green light for Sadie, obviously." Meredith said. "Why didn't you tell me what they were doing?"
"Why didn't you say something to the Chief? If not right then, later," Cristina asked. So she was a hypocrite. This thing was personal enough to steal her breath. But she had to know.
Meredith hands were shaking a little now, with fury, Cristina guessed, but her eyes... she looked away.
"Why would you want me to?" Meredith asked. "To him, I'm the five year old daughter of the woman he cheated with. I'm not a doctor. I'm a daily reminder of every mistake he's ever made."
Don't ever say Meredith wasn't competitive. Conversational knock-out, there. "How do you know that?" Cristina choked out.
"He told me." Meredith said, wiping at her eyes.
"That's," she didn't know what that was. "Does Derek know?"
"Don't. Don't you even dare," Meredith said, her eyes fierce through the tears.
"Mere," Cristina started. The word felt strange in her mouth. There were just too many lines not to cross. How had they gotten here? How would they get out? "He would want to know."
"He wanted to know about Burke's--" Meredith stopped suddenly, her eyes terrified. "I...Cristina."
She wanted Meredith to say the words. Tremors. Bank robberies. Cover-up. She could hear the blood squeaking on her shoes. Felt every step of the walk to the Chief's office. Held Burke's silence, tangible because it was absolute. No description for the guilt. Meredith should just say it--confirm that it had actually happened. That she'd done it, and somehow gone free. So free.
But Meredith said nothing, clearly not wanting to touch that any more than Cristina wanted to ask about Meredith's non-swim in Elliott Bay. Unfortunately, the things they couldn't say outnumbered the things they could.
"I slept with Mark," Lexie said, her voice echoing loudly.
Meredith and Cristina's heads snapped to the right in tandem. "You what?" they said, in-step like some two headed...thing. Like them.
"I slept with Mark, but that's not... " Lexie eyed them both carefully, as if searching for bruises.
Where the hell had she come from? And how long had she been there? "Not amused, Three," Cristina said.
"Not at all," Meredith confirmed.
"I went to the clinic. But then, you didn't page," Lexie said, nodding at Cristina. "And Dr. Shepherd said he hadn't seen you so..." This time to Meredith.
As if all this was perfectly normal. As if she hadn't stopped eavesdropping just long enough to say she'd slept with Mark Sloan. "Go back to Shepherd," Cristina said, doing her best to mimic Bailey's Eye of Doom. "Clearly, you've had a head injury,"
"I had to make sure you were ok. And then I was afraid you'd... I had to make it stop."
"The silence?" Meredith asked, and her voice was ice.
"No," Lexie said.
Bad move. If not, silence, what?
"Then what, exactly?" Meredith asked, just like a disappointed, overprotective mother. Nothing like Ellis Grey. Shades of Susan Grey instead.
Cristina's throat felt tight. Ridiculous. Crying was not an option. For any of them. "Don't worry, Meredith," Cristina said. "She didn't hear anything. She was too busy thinking about Sloan's long, hard..."
"Cristina! Not anywhere close to funny."
"No, it's not," Cristina said, looking Meredith in the eye. Meredith and McDreamy conducted an adulterous love affair with little more than their eyes. Surely, Cristina could broker a truce with hers. “What choice do we have?” she asked.
Meredith held the gaze, taking a long breath. “Ok.” She nodded, then visibly shifted. “Ok. Just…Mark. I was really hoping we could avoid this conversation. Maybe forever.”
“You knew?” Lexie asked, her eyes huge.
“That you slept with him? No. That he wanted…you? Definitely.” Meredith said.
“Sadie knew too. I guess I was the only one who didn’t,” Lexie said.
Not the only one. “Oh, good. Sexy Sadie knew,” Cristina said. “I know that I can’t technically forbid you from speaking to her, but…”
“No you can’t. The surgery was my idea, ok? Mine. Sadie just went along with it,” Lexie looked to each of them, stopping with Meredith. Didn’t look like Meredith was buying it either.
“I think she’d be happy for you to believe that,” Meredith said.
Cristina’s eyebrows shot up, but she said nothing. Lexie’s surprise was audible though. “Why would you-she’s your friend.”
“And fellow refugee,” Meredith said. She shook her head and began again. “Look, Death and Die had a lot of fun. A lot of crazy, half-drunk, wholly reckless fun. No one cared if we came in at night, or called home. Ever. Which was convenient cause we didn’t do those things. Ever."
"That was a long time ago. I'm sure she--"
"Calls home to say she offered herself up as a surgical guinea pig? Not likely." Cristina said.
"The point," Meredith said. "is that Sadie still thinks she has nothing to lose. Which is..."
"Beyond terrifying. Especially when scalpels are involved," Cristina said.
"Exactly," Meredith said. "Just be careful, ok?"
Lexie dropped herself in the wide space between them. "I would say that I can handle myself, but I'm banned from the OR, and I slept with the hospital manwhore. Both of them. I've slept with both of the hospital manwhores." she said.
"Do you like him? Sloan, I mean. Of course you don't like Alex. That's a given."
"I like Alex," Meredith protested.
"Enough to date him?"
Meredith wrinkled her nose. "Izzie's got that covered, I think."
"We hope," Cristina said. "So, Sloan. Was it a one night stand? Does he do more than one night?"
"Addison," Meredith said, examining her fingernails.
"Addison, as in Montgomery-Shepherd?" Lexie paled.
"Is there another one?" Cristina asked.
"No, I just... she was..."
"Married to Derek?" Meredith asked. "I noticed that too."
"Hold it," Cristina said. "Lexie, what do you know about Sloan?"
"He's Dr. Shepherd's best friend. He likes scotch, the periodic table and this thing with, um," she coughed. "He loves nurses but I knew that beforehand so... And he thinks George is an idiot."
"Well, he gets points for that," Cristina said.
Meredith rolled her eyes. "The short story: Mark slept with Addison while she was still married to Derek. Derek fled to Seattle and got pretty good at forgetting he had a wife. Derek met me just a few weeks before Addison came here to get him back. Mark followed Addison to Seattle to bring her home, but she stayed with Derek. I dated a vet but lost my panties to Derek anyway, and Mark showed up in Seattle again, though whether it was for Addison or Derek I'm not sure. Derek and Addison divorced, and somehow Mark and Derek are friends again. Did I miss anything?"
Yeah, the part where Shepherd knocked McSteamy to the floor for hitting on you. "Nope," Cristina said. "Though I can't believe she didn't get all that from the Nurse's Station on Day One."
Lexie looked like she might be sick. "Crap," Meredith said, looking at Lexie's bent head. "I shouldn't have said all that. It's history. Way in the past. It doesn't matter."
"No. I'm okay. It's just a lot. I needed to know," Lexie said, slipping off the gurney. "I think I need coffee or something, so I'm just going to..." Lexie backed away from them.
"Lexie?" Meredith asked.
"I'm good. I swear. I'll see you at the house, ok?"
"Okay," Meredith said. And as soon as Lexie was out of earshot. "Dammit. Why did I do that?"
"Because you want her to know who she's sleeping with?"
"Or because I didn't want her near him in the first place."
"You didn't?"
"No. Of course not. I like Mark, but..." Meredith bit at her lip, giving herself away.
"What did you do?"
"I asked Derek to tell Mark to keep Little Sloan away from Little Grey."
"That's revolting. And apparently, totally ineffective."
"I know!"
Cristina stretched. "Little sisters are hard work," she said, not entirely sure how she meant that.
"Tell me about it," Meredith said, adjusting her ponytail.
Cristina picked up the patient file by her feet. "This came by courier today. Possible candidate for the Shepherd Method. I figured you'd want to do the intake."
"Thanks," she said, her eyes scanning the first page.
"Meredith?" Just one more thing Cristina had to know.
"Hmm?"
"The falling for the attending thing?"
"Yeah?" she asked warily, drawing the chart up to her chest like a shield.
"It doesn't necessarily have to end in horrible disaster, does it?"
"No. God, I hope not. No," Meredith said.
"Good." Cristina said, looking at her watch. "I'm going to the cafeteria,"
"Spying on Lexie or looking for Hunt?" Meredith asked.
"Probably both." Cristina said, hopping down from the gurney.
"Want company?" Meredith asked.
"You're buying the fries," Cristina said, as Meredith stood and grabbed her stuff.
"Deal."