𝖔𝖓𝖊

You think you're safe,

"No Cristina. I can't even remember what he looks like," I reminded my friend of my dilemma; however, she was more concerned with the new signs being put up in front of the hospital.

"Oh my god! What if he didn't wear a condom?"

"I doubt he would go all wam bam thank you ma'am without a condom and then leave you a number, not to mention you now know his home address," the Korean pointed out. I chuckled lightly, partly at her comment but mostly at my stupidity.

Shoving my keys in my purse as we stopped in front of the building, I examined the new sign that read the new name of our hospital. Seattle Grace Mercy West.

"This is, by far, Webber's worst decision," I shook my head. "And that's saying a lot."

I took a sip of my lukewarm coffee, just before watching the cup fly out of my hand as an orange figure flew past Cristina and I.

but then all of a sudden
there are twenty klutzy
day lilies taking over your
hospital, your home. 
Your job.

I turned to the unamused resident and stared at her with a dumbfounded look on my tired face. "You see, this is why I got drunk last night," I mumbled, my heels from the night before clicking against the concrete as we made our way into the orange invaded building.

"Yeah, so drunk you forgot who you had sex with," Cristina snorted. "Might I add, the first time you've had sex in-"

"Shut up," I sang, tapping the toe of my shoe on the tiled floor as we waited for the elevator to open.

"You look terrible," Lexie exclaimed with wide eyes, looking at the dark circles under my droopy ones.

  I gave my friend a sarcastic smile as I tossed my heels in my locker and replaced them with a pair of flats. "Don't even get me started."

"I will fight you." I whipped my head around at the outburst, scoffing lightly at the one and only Izzie Stevens who was already going at one of the Mercy Westers. "You're pretty tiny. I could take you down in just a couple of seconds."

  I watched Alex drag his wife out of the resident's lounge while she yelled at the laughing Mercy Wester with a pixie cut. I winced at the pounding in my head, rubbing my temple for a moment. "Banana bag here I come."

"They're locusts...comfortable locus, feeding on our surgeries," Meredith pouted from her hospital bed.

"It's rude. There should be at least a couple of days where they act like guests before they put their feet up on the coffee table," Izzie carped.

"What's with the carrot costumes?" I chuckled lightly, popping a grape in my mouth. "What, our scrubs aren't good enough for 'em?"

"We ran out. They're on back order. Randall from the supply company says there'll be here in a week," Meredith told. "That's what you learn when you lie here all day."

"Why bother ordering new ones?" Ryan asked. "We could just give these to our replacements."

"We're not gonna be replaced by anybody," Alex reassured him.

"If I have to become a coroner-" Steve began.

"No one is becoming a coroner," Meredith looked towards Cristina. "Cristina, tell him."

"Tell him what? They're here. It's over."

"Hey. We are not some stupid hosts. They can't invade us," Mer's hands flailed around as she spoke. "They can't attach themselves to our faces and then while we're eating spaghetti, explode out of our chests and skitter across the floor. This is our ship. This is our ship."

"Excuse me. Are you...are you quoting a Sigourney Weaver movie?" Lexie looked at her sister with furrowed brows.

"Shut up."

"That's what happens when you live here," Izzie laughed lightly. "You watch a lot of TV."

"We own this hospital. We were born in this hospital. And we will hold this hospital with our last gasping breath."

"I really don't want to be a coroner. I don't like dead people," Steve whined.

"Go out there and go get surgeries before they take them," Meredith encouraged. "Go! And I want a full report by the end of the day."

  At her demand, everyone scattered the area, making their way back onto the playing field now known as the halls of Seattle Grace Mercy West.

"Callie!" I exclaimed, jogging through the ER to catch up to my friend. "You're back...Oh wait, do I have to call you Dr. Torres since you're an attending now?"

  Callie laughed lightly, shaking her head as we stopped at the reception desk next to Owen Hunt.

"Ah, our new attending!" Dr. Hunt greeted.

"First day back?" Derek Shepherd, who stood behind the desk, looked up at Callie and I.

"Yeah."

"You picked a good one. It's nice and quiet. Not a lot going on," Derek joked; it was almost too loud to even hear him speak.

"Yeah," Callie laughed as the two broke away from Hunt and I and headed to the other side of the ER.

"Okay, where do you want us?" I looked up at the group of residents, waiting for Hunt to assign us to something.

"Uh, at this point, anywhere is good."

"At Mercy West, we do zones," I turned my head at the unfamiliar voice. "When it's super busy, we just give everyone a zone, a space. The nurses put a person in that space, you know it's your patient. Helps you get to 'em quicker."

  I cocked my head to the side, looking at the tanned skinned man who looked awfully familiar.

"Yeah, well, this is the ER not a school yard," Cristina was simply unamused. "We're not playing four square." She earned laughs from the group of residents behind her and a small chuckle from me.

"I like it," Hunt shrugged with a satisfied look on his face.

"What?"

"It's a good idea. Let's try it. What's your name?"

  I studied the pretty face that I couldn't quite place; but then it hit me.

"Jackson Avery."

"Dr. Avery, Dr. Hunt," the attending shook his hand, earning a bright smile. "It's all yours. Zone away," Hunt patted my one night stand on the back before rushing past the group of residents and out of sight.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I mumbled to myself, turning around towards the nurse at the desk and discreetly hiding my face as the three residents in the orange scrubs left the area.

"Cristina, we have a problem," I hissed, making my way over to her and pulling her and Lexie to the side.

"So I remembered his name," I ran my hands through my hair before sighing in distress.

"That's good, isn't it?" Lexie asked, almost looking concerned.

"Jackson Avery."

  Lexie's confused face turned into a look of horror and Cristina just chuckled lightly. "Oh, you're screwed."

Rereading my patient's lab work for the third time, I made my way to the ER. "Has anyone seen Dr. Torres. I need a-"

"You son of a bitch!"

  Just as I looked up at the commotion, a body clashed into mine, causing me to stumble backwards and hit the floor with a loud thump as my head hit the doorframe of a trauma room. I winced with a violent shake of my head as I looked at the man in front of me, being pinned down by a Mercy Wester.

"We got it from here." A security guard grabbed ahold of the screaming man, letting the resident's attention go elsewhere.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his bright eyes looking up at my unfocused ones. He blinked rapidly, coming to the realization of who exactly I was.

"I guess I should've taken you seriously when you said you were a surgeon," he spoke quietly before pushing himself off the ground and holding out a hand to help me up. Hesitantly, I took it, and when I got back to my normal stance, the pounding in my head from earlier came back once again.

"Yeah, we need to talk."

Autumn didn't usually get wasted but tonight she felt it was necessary. What better an excuse than dozens of people taking over your home or potentially your job?

A cheers to the merge with Mercy West and Seattle Grace Hospital may have been something Jackson Avery or Charles Percy wanted to do but people like Autumn Brady simply wanted to forget the tragedy. That's exactly what they all did, well, tried to at least.

  The two residents watched the woman in her late twenties struggle to unlock her Station Wagon.

"Should we help her?" Jackson asked.

"Huh?"

"Quit looking at her ass," he hissed at his friend.

"Oh, you're looking at it too."

"She's obviously drunk. We should call her a cab."

"Maybe I could buy her a drink," Charles joked, eyeing the woman up and down. Jackson gave him a dirty look before shaking his head and storming off towards the now distressed woman.

  Autumn continued to press the button on her car key to take shelter from the frigid air. She jumped lightly at the sight from the corner of her eye as someone headed towards her.

"Hey, do you need some help?" The handsome stranger asked.

  She raised her eyebrows and gave him a seductive smile. "Why, yes, I do." She shook her head roughly before looking at him with a serious face. "No, wait. I really do." She pointed her key towards her car and pressed down once again.

  Jackson took her hand in his, examining the key before chuckling. "Well, this is a key chain with, I'm guessing, your name on it. Autumn. Cute."

   Jackson snatched the key from the intoxicated girl before studying her stunning features as she did the same.

"Are you going to steal my car? Because that would be mean," she slurred.

  Jackson chuckled lightly with a small smirk. "No, but I am going to call you a cab."

  The drunk surgeon fumbled with her fingers as she waited for her blue eyed lifesaver to dial a number.

"Hold on," Jackson spoke before holding the phone to his chest. "What's your address?"

"Uh," Autumn stared at him for a moment, mouth parted as she thought. For the absolute life of her, she could not remember. "I don't know...wait wait! It's in Seattle."

  Jackson scoffed lightly before hanging up the phone and shoving it in his pocket.

"Is there anyone inside that knows where you live?" He suggested.

  Her eyes now half open, Autumn struggled to stand. "No! Just take me to the hospital. I can just sleep it off in an on call room before my shift," she mumbled, throwing her hands around.

"Oh, yeah, okay sure, let's go," Jackson nodded, assuming to not believe anything she was saying. "I'm not going to take you to the police station so either give me your phone and I'll call one of your friends or you can come with me."

"My phone is in the car, duh," she dragged." Just take me to the hospital. I'm a-" she held up her finger before spinning on her heel and coughing out some of the liquid that she had ingested an hour before. She wiped her mouth and turned back around to finish her sentence. "Surgeon."

"Come on."

"You mean we didn't have sex?" I exclaimed before frantically glancing around, worried I was being too loud. "You mean we didn't have sex?" I repeated quieter.

"No, definitely not. I slept on the couch," the resident held his hands up.

"Likely story. You could've taken advantage of me. Typical Mercy Wester."

"Uncalled for," he shook his head, obviously now annoyed.

"Hey, I'm allowed to joke. You've seen me drunk and vulnerable, possibly naked."

"Possibly," he smirked lightly, eyes falling to the chart in his hands.

"See, you're getting the hang of it."

"This blows," Alex huffed, his tray clattering on the table as he sat down next to me.

"Getting your ass kicked?" Cristina chuckled, taking a seat across from me at the cafeteria table.

"Shut up," he muffled, mouth already full of food.

"I hear yours got a standing ovation in the ER."

"Yours is the one who saved the whole ER. From the maniac with the hammer?" Lexie asked.

"Okay, he didn't save anyone. He did some stupid ninja leap and then tripped a guy. I used actual medicine to stop a person from dying," Cristina snapped but quickly gathered her composure. "However, mine is the one that explored the cucumber patch with Autumn last night." Cristina said nonchalantly before taking a sip of her coffee. All eyes were suddenly on me.

"You had sex with him!" Alex hissed quietly.

"No! He slept on the couch."

"Ugh, boring," Cristina grunted.

"Oh, you totally had sex with him," Alex scoffed.

"Well, mine has a notebook, a notebook that she takes notes in, notes of a very personal nature, and I stole it," Lexie averted the attention elsewhere.

"You what?"

"Give it," Alex demanded.

"No. No, I-I am not sinking to their level. They are vindictive and they are aggressive and... and they are not team players," Lexie raged, shoving the red notebook in her bag. "And if we are not careful, that spirit is going to infect our hospital. We have to fight it."

"Which is why you stole her notebook?" I clarified.

"And read it?" Alex added.

"Well, she's not a very nice person."

"Hey."

  I turned, seeing Izzie appear at the table next to Alex. "Oh, score. You rock," Alex went to grab the coffee from his wife's hands but she pulled it away.

"Oh, no. That's not for you."

"Who's it for then?" I asked.

"Charles."

"Your Mercy Wester?" Cristina raged.

"They're handing us our asses on a plate, and you're serving 'em coffee?" Alex took the coffee from Izzie's unwilling hand.

"Charles is actually kind of awesome. And if you all could get past your sad, little egos, you would realize, you can't write off all of the Mercy West residents just 'cause you feel threatened." Izzie took the cup back before turning on her heel and walking away.

"Oh, we don't feel threatened."

"No."

"Yeah, we feel pretty threatened."

"Well no shit. Chief is going to be firing people and I sure as hell don't want to be one of them," I mumbled, putting the last piece of my sandwich in my mouth. "Who am I kidding. I won't be one of them."

"Dudes..." Alex looked around the room, the look on his face growing concerned. "They're not here."

"Hallelujah."

"They're not eating. They're working." Alex threw his sandwich down as the rest of us looked around the room.

"Oh, my god. They don't eat lunch."

"Oh, god!" We jumped up and raced out of the cafeteria, once again back onto the playing field.

"Someone page Dr. Brady again!"

"I'm here. I'm here!" I yelled, throwing my lab coat on as I raced out the ER doors to meet Owen Hunt and an ambulance with opening doors.

"Colleen Andrews, thirty five year old female, found unconscious outside her apartment building with a swollen ankle." I raced over to the now barely conscious woman who had panic written all over her face. "Initial B.P. was 90 over palp. Vitals stable after a bolus of N.S."

"Okay, Colleen. You with us?" I called, holding onto the gurney as Dr. Hunt and I pulled the woman into the ER.

"Brady, go get Torres," Hunt ordered.

"I I-can take care of this," I watched the attending with a confused look on my face.

"I know you can," he strained, him and a nurse lifting the woman and setting her on an ER bed. Hunt sighed and turned to me with his hands on his hips, "I heard that her dad was here."

  I nodded, not needing another word to send me off to find Callie. Rushing down the hall, a black blur through the blinds made me stop in my tracks and open the door to the left of me.

"Callie?" I exclaimed, hurrying over to the woman with her head in her hands. "What happened?"

"He-he brought-he brought-"

"It's okay, it's okay," I soothed, sitting down next to my friend and rubbing circles on her back. "Your dad?" I felt her nod against me.

"He flew three thousand miles to tell me I was going to hell."

  I wrapped my arms around Callie and gave her a reassuring squeeze before opening my mouth to speak. The sound of the door opening caused me to stop and made Callie and I look over to see my older cousin enter the room.

"I'll-uh-let you two talk," I gave Arizona a small smile before stepping past her. "Hunt needs her in the ER. It's pretty minor. I can take care of it."

"Will you?" Arizona asked.

  I nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

"Well, it's just a hairline fracture," I gave the patient a warm smile after examining her X-rays.

"The other doctor said I'll need crutches. How long will I have them?"

"A hairline fracture takes about six to eight weeks to heal. We'll bring you back in four to see how you're doing and we'll go from there," I explained before turning on my heel and colliding with orange scrubs.

"You work pretty good for having a hangover," Jackson teased, following behind me as I walked.

"I shouldn't be seen talking to you," I mumbled, not looking back at the resident I could tell was smirking.

"Why not?"

"Your people are here competing for my people's jobs, whether we like it or not, we have to fight back."

  I stopped in my tracks and turned to the pretty face that was looking down at me with hopeful eyes.

"Thank you for your help last night. But that doesn't make us friends. You're a doctor, you save people, you would've helped anyone."

  Dr. Avery took a deep breath with his hands on his hips, avoiding any eye contact.

"I hope you keep your job."

"You too."

"Tell me everything. Did you beat them? Did you kick their asses?" An intrigued Meredith looked up from her hospital bed at Alex who stood by the door. "Come on. I want a full report. Everything that happened."

  The room was silent for a moment as we waited for Alex's response. "Izzie left me."

  Cristina's head cocked slightly and Meredith just looked at Alex in disbelief. "She wrote a note and she left me. I-I don't-I don't know-I don't know if she's coming back." All I could see was red, and surely everyone could tell.

"SHE DID WHAT?"

You're not safe.
Your safe haven is
now a battlefield.
You are not safe.