xix. keys
2.10

Cristina is brushing her teeth at Burke's apartment when she leaves the bathroom and starts exploring the apartment — still brushing her teeth.

"Where'd you find him?" Christina asks, referring to the guy Atlas had met late last night.

"Joe's." Atlas's voiced cracked through the cell phone line.

"But you didn't bring him home?" The Korean woman said, her words sounding mushed together since she was still brushing her teeth.

"Nope."

"What a shame. Hmm. Guess where I am?"

"Where?" Atlas thinks it's Meredith's, but Christina wouldn't have said 'guess' if that was the case.

"Burke's apartment. He went to the hospital." Christina makes it to the kitchen and spits the toothpaste foam into the sink, "He left me here alone."

"Christina Yang, are you doing what I taught you and going through his stuff?" Atlas laughs on the other side of the phone call, his hand grasping the small cell phone as he sits in his rocking chair, watching as something moved in his bed.

"Psh, what, no."

"Yang."

"Oh fine! There's no stuff to go through. It's a freak show. I mean you could do surgery in here."

"Maybe he holds illegal surgery there then." The man suggested,

"Why would you say that?!" Christina shouts in the phone, causing Atlas to move it away from his ear.

Cristina walks into his adjoined dining/living room which indeed is neat and squeaky clean. Everything has a spot and there seems to be a lack of personal mementoes. Cristina notices his bookshelf and walks up close in pure horror, "Oh! He arranged his books using the Dewey decimal system. Atlas, I'm scared."

"C, Get out. Get out of the house now. Just leave."

A soft bark catches the twos attention, Atlas having heard it and Christina hearing it through her phone.

"What was that?" She asks.

"N-nothing."

"Liar. Now I'll ask again, what was that."

"Nothing, Yang." Atlas didn't want to tell her that he had adopted a dog as a way to distract himself from his love for Derek.

Cristina shrugs and finishes getting ready and moves into the kitchen looking for food in the fridge, her phone tucked between her chin and shoulder. She decides against having anything and closes the door.

The intern notices a coffee maker and moves to grab the pot and a mug next to it. She picks up the mug and it jingles.

"What just jingled?" Atlas asks.

Christina muttered a 'don't know' as she reaches in and pulls out a key.

"He keyed me!"

"He what?!"

Before she can say anything else she notices a yellow square of paper that was under the mug and picks up to read it.

"C, I had a key made for you. - B." Christina read out loud.

"Ouch, I'd definitely leave now."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"Typically people don't ask for me to be included in their surgery's." Venus noted as she stood beside Atlas who was just about to make the first cut.

"I know, but you — even for a nurse, have potential in cardio, you know things the interns don't even know yet." Atlas concluded, his voice was kind and smooth.

Venus handed him an surgical tool so he could continue with his surgery as the door opened. "Hi, sorry I'm late." The intern said as a different nurse gowned them.

"No problem. I'm just starting." Atlas commented.

Once the intern rounded the table to stand across from Atlas, the attending handed the intern the scalpel. "Make the first cut."

"M-me?"

"You are holding the scalpel, Grey."

The surgery was going well — Atlas doing all the work well Meredith assisted with ease. And Venus stood off to the side handing the attending and intern the tools they needed.

"I didn't think you'd want me to scrub in with you after what happened between me and Oliver." Meredith broke the silence. Everyone turned to look at the intern — most of everyone having heard some form of rumour.

"Just because something happened between you and my brother — just because you had found out something doesn't mean I'm gonna deprive you of learning hands on." Atlas wouldn't even think of not allowing an intern into surgery with him just because they had gotten into an argument with his brother or wronged him in a way.

"Thank you."

"Your good, Grey."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"You still have a key, and you haven't given it back." Atlas said as he stepped into the elevator beside Derek.

"The key?"

"The key." Atlas nodded.

"Would you like it back." Derek turned his body to look at Atlas.

"I-I really wanna kiss you." Atlas blurted loudly, like he had been thinking about kissing Derek all day — which he had been slightly...

"S-so your key?" Derek chose to ignore the comments.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and to them both it felt like the first time they had met. They slowly graduated towards each other and before they knew it their lips locked and the two were engaged in a kiss.

Atlas broke away, "shit-fuck-ah! Your married." As if the elevator knew Atlas needed an escape, the doors opened and Atlas moved out of the elevator as fast as he could without tripping over his feet.

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"Is this seat taken?" A strong masculine voice snapped Atlas out of his small trance.

"Are you a brain surgeon?"

"No." The unknown man said as he moved closer to the bar stool.

"Are you a doctor of any kind?"

"Nope, Im a high school teacher."

"Then this seat isn't taken." Atlas placed his hand out and motioned to the empty chair beside him.

"So...can I buy you a drink?" The unknown person with pretty coloured hair and vibrant blue eyes asked.

"Only if you tell me your name." Atlas smiled as he looked from Joe to whoever had sat down beside jinx

"I'm Finn. Finn Piper. And yourself?"

"Atlas. Atlas Lee-Sunny."

"Hey Joe! Let's get a drink for this guy. On me." Finn Piper smiled happily at the man beside him who smiled just as brightly.