Fic: Alphabet Meme - U is for Unexpected (Alex and Mark)

[waltzmatildah]

Title: U is for Unexpected...

Word Count: 960

Rating: PG

Characters/Pairing: Mark and Alex.

Summary: This is so far from how Mark had been intending to spend the early hours of the morning... (no slash...)

Spoilers: Season 5 but only if you squint.

Author's Note: Written for

citron_presseas part of the alphabet meme... prompts still available if you like what you see...

Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and all the characters, settings, and events thereof, are properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for profit, it constitutes fair use. Referral to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

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Mark has heard rumours of alcohol fueled benders, of bar fights picked with random strangers capable of inflicting maximum damage with minimum provocation, of hangovers and nightmares and sullen, unrelenting silence. But rumours are one thing, scientific, photographic evidence is something else entirely and he is finding it harder and harder not to care.

 

The left cheekbone is definitely fractured, as is the corresponding eye socket. The jaw is thankfully still intact and the nose isn't broken, this time. There are numerous cuts that will require suturing and a scalp laceration that is bleeding profusely, staining previously white gauze pads a dark black-red. Mark runs his hands over his face and presses his palms deep into his eye sockets in an attempt to block out everything that isn't helping him make a decision about what to do next.

 

He shudders slightly at the thought of what the girls may have woken to had he not made the early hours of the morning decision to sneak in and wrap himself around Lexie's sleeping form. He'd not even made it past the front door.

 

He leaves the x-ray where it is, lit up like some macabre wall hanging, in the hope that Alex will see it and react. Anger, horror, fear, at this point Mark really doesn't care, anything will be better than the wide eyed stare and complete silence he's received so far.

 

He pulls a chair up beside where he has stealthily stationed Alex on a gurney in the otherwise deserted clinic. He is concussed, severely, and has no business even being conscious, but he is and Mark is planning to keep it that way.

 

“Karev?”

 

It's not the first time he's tried this tactic, and like all previous attempts he is studiously ignored. He sighs and turns his wrist, peers bleakly at the hands of his watch as they mockingly display the time, 2.27am.

 

“He never really meant to hurt her, you know? I get that now.”

 

At the sound of Alex's words Mark looks up and finds him staring intently back at him, as if expecting a response; Mark has no idea what he is talking about.

 

“Ah, no. I guess not,” he supplies anyway and it must be at least semi appropriate because Alex simply nods and screws his face up in a ghost of a grimace that is not even vaguely congruent with the amount of pain he should actually be in.

 

“M'shoulder feels like crap.”

 

“I'm not surprised, it's about two inches lower than it should be. Doctor Torres is on her way, hopefully she can help me get it back where it's supposed to be and you cleaned up before someone figures out that we're not meant to be in here.”

 

There is a shaky pause as Alex seems to process what Mark has just told him... or not.

 

“M'glad she wasn't pregnant. Don't think I would've made a very good Dad...”

 

Alex is back to staring at him and the conversational tone he has adopted is unnerving Mark more than the eerie silence that preceded it ever could.

 

“D'you think he broke m'nose?”

 

“Nope, I know he didn't, but unfortunately I can't say the same for the rest of your face.”

 

“Oh... well, s'pose it doesn't matter. S'not the first time.”

 

“Yeah, so I can see from the x-rays. What'd you use to do? Use your face to catch footballs?”

 

“Guess I just walked into a'lotta doors when I was a kid...” Alex shrugs, a one shouldered, lopsided movement that should be excruciating; he doesn't even flinch, “...doesn't really matter anyway, Izzie 'n I can make a baby... if we want. The Chief made us make a frozen baby, like peas... or popsicles.”

 

Alex's incoherant rambling is starting to make Mark nauseated. He feels like an intruder, like he's eavesdropping on Alex's most private thoughts and he's desperately trying to drag up any remnants of memory he has from compulsory mental health classes he took during medical school. He knows there was something about empathy and apparently sleeping with your clients is a big ethical no no in psychology too... but other than that he is drawing a terrifying blank.

 

“She's not coming back, is she?”

 

Mark sighs, a mixture of exhaustion and an overwhelming realisation that he is currently way out of his depth. All he wanted was to wake up next to his girlfriend in the morning, he did not expect this, he is not prepared for this, for Alex Karev, of all people, to be unintentionally revealing his deepest, darkest secrets. He's not even supposed to like the guy.

 

“No...” Mark sighs and closes his eyes briefly, starts to pray that Callie will arrive any moment now to rescue him from this, to think he should've woken Meredith and dragged her along for the ride, to wish he'd never made the decision to change beds in the first place, to realise that maybe this is what he gets for betraying his best friend more times than he can count, “...no, she's not...”

 

Comments

[ice-whisper.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I love Mark/Alex fics no matter the realationship. And the tiny hint of M/M in the end? Sneaky.

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

That M/M (and by that I take it you mean Mark saying that he wished he'd woken Merdith and brought her along) was totally unintentional and not meant to mean M/M at all... earlier in the fic I mentioned that Mark was on his was to see Lexie and he totally way. The only reason he 'wished' that he'd woken Meredith was because he feels that she would be better at dealing with his current situation with Alex than him...

Crap. I totally didn't mean to make it sounds M/M, it's not meant to be even a little bit...

Poo.

Oh well... hope you still liked it!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

totally was... not totally way...!

[ice-whisper.livejournal.com]

Haha. I think it was just the last line about betraying his best friend that my mind SHOULD have gone to Lexie, but it went to Meredith instead. Haha. Who knows?

[citron-presse.livejournal.com]

OMG - unexpected is right! Of course, I didn't know that until the last paragraph, so then I went and read it again in that light. I loved it the first time; but the second time I also realized how incredibly clever it is. It's honestly hard to know which of them is the more dissociated - and I think it may well be Mark!

I'm very impressed by how you portray Alex's awful rock-bottom situation (and, of course, his life and all the defenses he's built up) and yet have what is often quite an entertaining dialogue going on between him and Mark. The "conversational tone" is profoundly disturbing - but kind of cool to read, as are Mark's responses.

I like the simple (heartbreaking) honesty of Alex's realization at the end (I rather hoped this signaled the end of his dissociation, or at least a beginning of the end, but I'm not sure); and I liked the parallel with Mark's thoughts about betraying Derek. (On the second reading, when you wrote about Mark's realization that "he is currently way out of his depth" I couldn't help thinking that this applied to his whole life, not just the situation with Alex.)

Oh, this is just insightful and elegant and awesome! Thank you so much for writing this for me!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

Damn, damn, damn! It was totally not meant to be Mark/Meredith at all... and I can't believe I've written it in a way that is... I'm so annoyed at myself!

At the very end, Mark is simply wishing that he'd bought Meredith along for the ride because he thinks she would be better at dealing with Alex than he is... the whole betraying Derek thing was simply an allusion to the Addy/Lexie thing... Mark is definitely with Lexie (in my head anyway...). This fic probably seems so much less clever to you now! The unexpected part was Mark feeling sympathy for Alex and how the whole situation (Mark being the one to clean him up) was not how he had planned to spend the night...

Grr, I'm annoyed with myself now!

Hope you still like this, even in light of this new information!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

OOOH! and I meant to say YAY for the fact that you picked up on Alex's dissociation... I'm a clinical psychologist so that was really there for my own enjoyment but, it's nice that you picked it up too... !!!

Yeah, his line at the end, his realisation that she wasn't coming back... that was to mark the end of the dissociative state.

I sincerely hope that you still like it!!! It was my pleasure to write it for you!

[citron-presse.livejournal.com]

Actually, I like it even more without the false Meredith twist! (I can appreciate fiendish cleverness - but really I tend to like my fic more emotional!) In that case, my heart just goes out to Alex; and Mark is incredibly sweet struggling to cope with Alex and with his own feelings. I loved when he tried to dredge up facts from psych class; and, now that this has become a simple line again, I adored this: All he wanted was to wake up next to his girlfriend in the morning. Aw!

(It was the changed beds and the betraying Derek more times than he can count that made me think it was Mark/Meredith; without these, Mark wishing he'd woken Meredith would have seemed innocent. And, like I said, I'm really pleased it was!)

You wrote the dissociation so well (that's how I picked up on it); and I'm glad to know that he came out of it at the end. Honestly (especially now) I think this is one of my favorite one shots.

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

“No...” Mark sighs and closes his eyes briefly, starts to pray that Callie will arrive any moment now to rescue him from this, to think he should've woken Meredith and insisted she deal with this instead, to wish he'd never gotten out of bed the first place, to realise that maybe this is what he gets for betraying his best friend more times than he can count, “...no, she's not...”

Should I edit to something more like this? Or do you think it's okay as it stands?

And I'm so glad you like it without the Meredith twist. A lot of people bag the Lexie/Mark relationship, but I actually find its progression quite believable and realistic so... I wouldn't wanna mess with it by stereotyping Mark any further...

[citron-presse.livejournal.com]

I think that takes away the ambiguity, certainly. But I also think it's okay as it stands - because now I know the twist isn't there, I can't really see it anymore!

I really like Mark/Lexie - especially what the relationship has done for him in terms of growth, self-esteem etc and I am all for not stereotyping Mark :)

[rinslet.livejournal.com]

Wow, you really feel for Alex on this one. I haven't read any Mark and Alex fics, and for my first, this is great!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

To be honest, this is the first one I have read or written too... and it was FUN!

[lving-darkness.livejournal.com]

ahhh. I know i'm like three months too late, but I just re-read this. and just re-feel in love with it. Damn girl. You just break my heart with this.
The sad sad line about how "The Chief made us make a frozen baby, like peas... or popsicles." that just crushed me. I thought of it like he was so upset by the fact that he could still have children, he could still have Izzie, but it would be so mechanical, so beautiful, so tragically cold.

Mark's inner thoughts are wondrous here, and the opening paragraph sets the stage quite well.
I like how you have Mark thinking about others, like he's not focused completely on Alex, like a normal person thinks. (hahaha, i have no idea if that made sense)

Plus, you have him call Callie, and even the hint of Callie and Mark's friendship always makes me smile.

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to stop and say a huge thank you for this meaningful and honest review. So... THANK YOU!

As for being three months too late... late reviews are the best! It's so nice to know people are still reading!

[violet1979.livejournal.com]

Wow! I had no idea! -- Mark's immediate, professional help/tending to Alex's wounds PLUS he's eavesdropping on Alex's most private thoughts PLUS “She's not coming back, is she?” -- OMG!!!! Did they pay you for using your idea?! I hope you made most of it!! Even though it's truly priceless!!

This characterization still rings so true for both of them. I love that Mark feels uncomfortable, on the brink of sorry for Alex, rather than annoyed or impatient; and I'm quite convinced that he still thinks that having to deal with Karev is fate's favorite way of punishing him. And I feel very, very sorry for Alex.

Thank you so much for telling me about this story!

[waltzmatildah.livejournal.com]

Did they pay you for using your idea?! NO THEY DID NOT! And because I wrote this soooo long ago, I'd completely forgotten how prophetic it was! Damn!

Anyway, glad you liked it. I know it's poor form, pimping your own stuff, but it sounded so like the scene you were alluding to so I thought I'd send it your way...