"Shit, shit, shit!" Briar complains as she hops around her room, scrambling to get ready in time. From the hallway, she can hear Derek laughing at her, having been the one to come and wake her up. She flips him off, feeling better despite knowing that he didn't see the action.

"You have two minutes before we leave!" Derek shouts for her, and she groans loudly, running a hand through her hair in a desperate attempt to remove any knots.

"I'm coming!" She shouts, relieved when she finally finds a clean shirt, slipping it over her head. "Okay, okay, wallet. Wallet, where the fuck are you?"

She doesn't end up finding it, instead just slipping her phone into her pocket and sprinting down the stairs, smiling as soon as she sees Zola waiting by the door with her parents.

"Hey, thanks for waking me up." She tells Derek, pushing past her annoyance at how late he did it. She's an adult, she should've remembered to set her own alarms.

"Anytime." He tells her, giving her an amused once over, clearly getting a kick out of her being a mess. She looks down as well, amused when she realizes she's wearing the 'dawg pack' shirt from when Jackson and her went to that basketball game, all those months back, and a pair of plaid boxer shorts. "You might want to brush your hair in the car."

Briar laughs when Meredith tosses her a hair brush, ushering them all out the door.

"Give me my baby." Briar says with a grin, grabbing Zola and getting her settled in her car seat. "How are you doing, baby girl? Are you excited to go hang out with your friends? Yeah, you are."

Derek and Meredith start talking about the house that Derek is building, while Briar uses Zola's car seat mirror to start attacking her hair, wincing at how poofy her hair became overnight. Having curly hair is not for the weak–or for those rushing around in the morning. Zola is babbling, playing with her current favorite stuffed animal–a giraffe.

"Meow!" Zola says, and Meredith turns to look at her daughter, beaming.

"Yeah, that's right, Zola. That's what a cat says." She tells her, while Briar curls her hands like a lion, pretending to growl at her and delighting in the giggles she gets in return.

"Honestly, when the house is done, just bring me out for the big reveal." Meredith tells Derek, who arches his eyebrows at her.

"You want a big reveal?"

"I want a big reveal."

"I'm already planning a housewarming party." Briar pipes up, smirking at Derek. "Everyone is excited to see the finished product."

"Rawr!" Zola growls, and Briar instantly focuses back on her, imitating her. She's thrilled when Zola curls her fingers, trying to imitate Briar from a minute ago.

"Good, Zola, rawr! That's what a lion says." Meredith tells her, pulling out her phone and recording the two of them. Briar winks for the camera, imitating a lion again before gasping, her eyes focused on the road . . . where an actual, living, roaring lion is crossing the street.

Her friends whip back around, and all three of them share terrified looks while Zola laughs and continues growling.

"Is that?"

"That's a lion." Derek finishes Meredith's thought, gaping at it while it continues to cross the street. Briar fumbles for her phone, still staring out the window as the lion stops to growl again.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" An operator's voice sounds in Briar's ear, while she gapes at the street, relieved that Meredith is still recording.

"Uh, hi. I–I think a lion escaped the zoo." Briar says slowly, instinctively unbuckling and getting closer to Zola. The lion doesn't seem interested in anyone, but she's not taking any risks.

There's a long moment of silence, and then the operator asks if she's at the zoo.

"No. We're on our way to our shift at Seattle Grace Mercy West, and–and a lion is walking across the street." She says, feeling a little hysterical. Zola growls from next to her, pouting when no one reacts to her, and Briar quickly smiles at her before she starts to cry. "It's heading past our car now. Oh my God. Um, what's the procedure here? Are you contacting animal control?"

"Ma'am, can you give me your exact location?" She's asked, and she quickly rattles off the street signs at the intersection, frowning as she starts thinking more logically.

"God, this shift is going to be a nightmare." She says, sharing a grim look with Derek and Meredith while people continue screaming from outside.

"Tell me about it." The operator commiserates, while Zola moves on to making barking noises. "You said that you were on your way to work. Were you driving?"

"Yes, and we're in a locked car." Briar answers, anticipating her next questions. "It's moved pretty far from us, but–" She shares a look with Derek and Meredith, nodding when they all seem on the same page. "We're all surgeons. We're going to stay and make sure everyone's okay."

"We appreciate it, but please don't put yourself at risk at any point." She is told, humming an agreement. "Animal control is on their way."

"Great." Briar sighs. "Do you need any more information?"

"No, ma'am."

"Fantastic. Thank you." Briar tells her, hanging up and turning to Meredith. "Mer, please send me that video, right now."

✦

"Nice outfit." Jackson laughs at her as soon as she joins the others in the locker room. She flips him off over her shoulder, grabbing a pair of scrubs and slipping them on, tossing her hair up in a bun, uncaring about how messy it is.

"You guys want to see something insane?" She asks him, Alex, and April. They all immediately walk over to her, and she pulls up the video Mer sent her, smirking at the shock on their faces at the lion reveal. "Yeah. This is what happens when you sleep in. You almost get mauled by a lion."

"You were safely in the car the whole time." Alex points out, rolling his eyes at her.

"Not the point. The point is that we're going to be super busy today, because I don't know where it came from, but it wasn't the zoo. I got a closer look after Animal Control tranqued it, and guess what? Blood."

"Oh, shit." Jackson gasps, his eyes widening. "It really wasn't from the zoo?"

"Nope." She shakes her head, kissing him on the cheek quickly before she's shoving her stethoscope over her head and bandages in her scrub pockets. "See you out there!"

✦

"It walked across the road, right in front of us." Briar tells Richard, who is waiting with her in the ambulance bay. She shows him the picture of the knocked out lion, and he shakes his head in disbelief. "I assumed he was from the zoo, but one of the people from Animal Control said something about the zoo getting a new pet when she thought I couldn't hear her. Isn't that crazy?"

"That is not what I expected you to show me." Richard admits, shaking his head. "So, this patient isn't from then . . . I wonder where this lion came from."

"You and me both." Briar grimaces, hearing the sirens coming closer just as Jackson comes running out to join them, still tying his protective gown.

"Dr. Webber. Don't you have a gallbladder scheduled for this morning?" He asks, frowning over at Richard while he quickly ties the gown around his waist, fumbling to put his gloves on.

"Hendricks is doing it." Richard says with a small smirk, winking at Briar.

"You heard about the lion mauling." Jackson shoots back. "Came down here to claim it before anyone else could get their hands on it."

"I am down here for those in need, Avery." Richard retorts, sounding scandalized at the assumption. "I am here to be of service to humankind."

"Yeah, well, you could be of service to humankind in O.R. 3 with that gallbladder." Jackson tries, and Briar just shakes her head at the two of them.

"Try it, son." Richard dares, narrowing his eyes at Jackson. "Try and challenge me."

Jackson doesn't respond as the ambulance pulls in, with Briar being the first one to the doors. Jackson and Richard race each other to join her, shoving each other and everything. Briar just shares a n exasperated 'men' look with Nicole as she pulls down the gurney.

"35-year-old male, body covered in claw marks." She reports, handing off the chart to Jackson while Briar helps them bring the patient down. "And an arm that looks like a chew toy."

"Oh my god." The patient whimpers, unfortunately still conscious. "Oh my god. My arm! I can't feel my arm!"

Briar reaches out to carefully move the bandage on his shoulder, seeing three deep claw marks, sliced through muscle and tendons. She's quick to replace the bandage and speak to the man, paging Mark with one hand as they walk.

"Sir–" She starts, only for Richard to speak over her.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna take care of you."

"So am I!" Jackson jumps in, and Briar rolls her eyes.

"Sir, can you tell me your name?" She asks as they roll him in, learning that his name is Paul. "Paul, I know it's easier said than done, but I need you to try and calm down as much as possible. I know this was terrifying, but we're going to take good care of you."

"Naomi." He says instead of listening to her, his eyes widening. He's clearly in shock. "What happened to Naomi? Did the lion eat my girlfriend?"

"Sir, we'll get someone to update us." Briar assures him, sharing a grim look with Jackson. She's not sure she wants to know Naomi's fate.

"These wounds are deep. Avery, page Sloan." Richard orders, but Briar shakes her head.

"Or you can page Sloan."

"I already paged him." She tells them, unimpressed with this little competition they have going on. She's normally all for friendly competition, but not when it's directly in front of their traumatized patient.

They get him in a trauma room and quickly get to work on his many wounds.

"I–I could see it in those eyes." Paul tells them, calming down slightly as they get him on pain medication. "Those eyes said, 'you are meat.'"

He winces while Briar cleans out his shoulder, feeling how deep the damage is. He's going to have serious scars after this.

"And in that moment, I believed him." Paul continues.

"What happened then?" Richard asks, entranced by the story.

"And then he lunged, and I just reacted." Paul chokes out, and Briar can't even imagine being in that situation. "I shoved my arm right into his mouth!"

Briar likes to think that she wouldn't do that in that situation, but who is she to judge?

"Who the hell does that?" Paul asks what they're all thinking. "Who the hell feeds himself to a lion?"

"I'm kinda wondering the same thing." Jackson chuckles, applying bandages to Paul's arm. He stops laughing as soon as he sees Richard's face.

"What do we got?" Mark asks, entering the room with Callie and raising his eyebrows at the scene in front of him.

"Deep animal claw lacerations extending down the left side of the body." Richard reports.

"And there's your arm." Jackson lifts up the bandage to show the damage done.

"Yeah, that's what you expect when you hear 'lion'." Callie says, moving to help Briar.

"I bet it's nice to know what to expect instead of showing up at your girlfriend's house for the first time and being greeted at the door by the freakin' King of the Jungle." Paul says sardonically, and they all share a look at this revelation.

"She never bothered to mention she had a pet lion?" Callie asks him.

"Seems like something that oughta come up on the first date." Mark chips in.

"Where did she live, anyway?" Briar asks, trying to figure out how anyone could hide a lion in the city. Aside from the fact that it's animal cruelty, it just doesn't seem very logistically smart. Briar's surprised this is the first time it's escaped.

"She told me she had a cat." Paul whimpers. "A big cat. And I'm allergic, so I took an antihistamine before I left the house."

"Oh, yeah. You shoulda brought a bullwhip." Callie tells him, and Briar can't help but laugh.

✦

"We came to see the hearts." Jackson announces, leading the way into Cristina's lab with Alex and Briar. Cristina and Teddy are draining animal heart's of their existing cardiac cells until they're blank, and then injecting them with stem cells, for the purpose of making them living again. Cristina is holed away in the lab, hard at work, while Alex is on Teddy's service. He begged to get off of Arizona's, because of the huge crush Morgan has on him.

"This blows." Alex complains, taking a seat next to Briar. "Yang's growing organs, and I'm stuck patching up grandpa."

Cristina sighs, and Briar watches her for a second, her eyebrows furrowed. There's something going on with her, but she doesn't want to tell her or Meredith, and they're respecting that.

Alex's phone goes off twice, and he groans loudly.

"Is that Morgan again?" Jackson asks, sitting across from them. "Why don't you just answer her already?"

"No." Briar instantly shakes her head. "She's insistent. She's been texting me."

"I've gotta be a dead frickin' mouse. Cold and dead, okay? I mean, that's what she needs." Alex explains to Jackson, before turning to Briar. "Wait, she's texting you now? You're joking."

"I wish I was." Briar grimaces, taking a bite of her grilled chicken salad before handing Alex her phone. He pulls up her messages, finding Morgan at the very top, since she's been messaging her almost as often as Alex. Briar leans over his shoulder, reading the more recent texts that she hadn't bothered to read.

Morgan (Intern)

You can't ignore me too

Are you with Alex? He's not answering

I need to figure out Tommy's next moves, I need Alex!! He's always with you, just tell him to answer me.

Briar, please.

Where are you?

"Great. She's gonna start stalking me next." Briar deadpans. She feels bad for Morgan's situation, but she's not doing anyone–including her baby–any favors by latching onto Alex and being rude to them. "Should I check your phone for spyware while I'm at it?"

"When did she even get your number?" Alex groans, turning her phone off and handing it back to her.

"I organized that food train for her, remember?" Briar reminds him. "I gave it to her to be nice, and now she's blowing up my phone. Apparently I'm your keeper."

"Maybe you should introduce her to the Lion Lady." Jackson laughs. "They'd get along great, I'm sure."

"Hey, did you guys hear about a Lion Lady?" Lexie comes into the room with perfect timing.

"Yeah. Her boyfriend was the appetizer, and he wanted Mommy for dinner." Jackson tells her, and Briar snorts.

"Mer, Derek, Zola and I could've been dessert." She says with a grimace, pulling out her phone again to show Lexie the video. She gasps as soon as the camera pans from Zola growling to an actual lion.

"I feel bad for her." Lexie tells them, and Briar raises her eyebrows.

"Uh, the animal cruelty lady?"

"Okay, she's just a girl with a pet. You know, she probably had some nice friends once. Maybe even a nice guy. And then those friends moved away, and the guy started living with somebody else, and then her family abandoned her . . . leaving her alone to rot in an attic somewhere with her cat–her big, jungle cat, who was sitting in the corner, just licking his paws, just wanting to eat her stupid face off!"

"Lexie, baby, you need to stop seeing yourself in the crazy patients." Briar tells her, amused despite herself. "We're not abandoning you, and I won't let you turn into a friendless lion lady. Also, what's this about Mark moving in with someone?"

"He wants to take the 'next step' with Julia." Lexie instantly complains, fear in her eyes. "That's crazy, right? I mean, that relationship can't last and–"

"Look, this is a scientific lab, not a lunchroom." Cristina bursts, turning to them. "Everyone out right now."

They all trail out, and Briar wraps her arms around Lexie's shoulders.

"Cold and dead." Jackson points to Cristina.

✦

"Imagine . . ." Richard breathes out in the O.R., wonder in his voice as they operate on Paul. "The power it takes to cause injuries like these. A flick of your wrist, and whoosh."

"Nope. You know what these injuries are?" Jackson asks him. "This is natural selection at work. I mean, the guy was an idiot. I don't care how desperate you are for sex, if a chick tells you she wants you to meet her cat, you run. Fast!"

"I'll keep that in mind." Briar tells him, entertained. "All I have to do to get rid of you is get a cat?"

"He was blindsided by someone he trusted." Callie defends him. "You never know how you're gonna react when that happens."

"What did you say to Robbins?" Mark asks, and Briar perks up, curious.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. I just asked her how many other exes she has in the hospital. She said one or two." Callie explains, and Briar bites her lip, looking away from Callie. "I can live with one or two, right?"

Richard coughs, grabbing Callie's attention.

"What was that? Why did he cough?"

"Don't say anything." Mark warns Richard, although it's already too late. "We're not in this."

"Webber, why'd you cough?"

"Oh, um, well, it's–it's a little like when a patient tells you they have one or two drinks a week. We all round that number up because patients tend to tell us what we want to hear." Richard slowly explains, and Briar shares a quick amused look with Jackson. "If they'll admit to two drinks . . ."

"They're having so many more." Callie realizes, her face falling.

"Okay, what's this about?" Briar asks her. "'Cause I know that Arizona isn't cheating, so why does her past matter?"

"It matters 'cause I work with them." Callie defends. "She slept with one of the ortho nurses. I've worked with her for two years without knowing that."

"Uh, hello? Alex? Mark?" Briar waves to Mark, who's baby Arizona is helping raise. "I love you, but you're very much throwing stones from a glass house right now."

Callie doesn't get a chance to say anything before Jackson speaks up. "I've got something sharp here. Oh!"

Richard gasps from next to him, delight filling his expression as Jackson pulls a lion's tooth out of the guy's leg.

"A lion tooth!" Richard marvels, sharing a thrilled look with Briar.

"Alright." Jackson nods at it, tossing it into the bin as if it's garbage, which Briar and Richard both protest.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't just toss that aside just yet." Richard tells him. "Bokhee, keep that safe, would you?"

✦

"Turns out Paul saved his girlfriend." Jackson gossips when they meet up in the locker room that night. "He was going for her throat, and he shoved his arm in his way."

"Seriously?" Briar gasps, abandoning her coat to gape at him. "No. No way."

"Yes way." He laughs, and Briar regrets not doing the outpatient assessment with him, if only so she could've heard that story. "I mean, I get it. I'd totally do it for you."

Briar grins at the cheesy line, reaching out to pull him in closer.

"Yeah?" She asks, biting her lip and watching as his eyes follow the movement. "You'd fight a lion for me?"

"I'd fight anything for you." He breathes out, and she gives in, pulling him down into a heated kiss. She ends up pressed against her closed locker, her hands in his hair, until voices outside have them pulling apart. She can't stop smiling, pleased that this is her life now. Intense surgeries with the man she loves and cheesy flirting in the hospital locker room.

"As much as I want to take you straight home, do you want to go to the diner?" She asks him, beaming when he says yes. As much as he enjoys taking her on extravagant dates, these last minute ones are her favorite. "Great, because I am craving apple pie."

"Whatever you want." He laughs, swinging their arms between them as they walk out of the hospital. "Hell, if you want a cat, I'll get you one."

"Oh, now we're talking." Briar beams, skipping out of the hospital doors and turning to give him a quick kiss when they reach the parking lot. "You have no idea what door you just opened."

"Lord help me." He deadpans, although he smiles through the words.

✦

Mark Sloan is the bane of Jackson's existence.

He'd had an amazing night with Briar, and he'd been so excited to sleep in the next morning–she wore him out–only to be woken up hours earlier by a page from Mark. Apparently, Owen and Cristina are sick, and Owen appointed Mark as the temporary chief in his absence. Jackson has spent the last few hours listening to Mark talk about how amazing he is, his excellent ideas, and has been a glorified intern.

He's mourning the hours he could've spent with his girlfriend, who he had plans for in their lazy morning. Instead, Briar woke up to an empty bed, and is probably getting ready all by herself while he hands out notes to the attendings for their staff meeting. God, she's probably already showered.

He hates Mark.

"'Excellence is not an act, but a habit.'" Bailey reads off of the paper, frowning. "Aristotle. Avery, what is Aristotle doing in our staff meeting, and why are you even in here handing these out?"

"You mean when I could be practicing medicine or studying for my boards?" He asks her sarcastically. Or having sex with my girlfriend. "Yeah, I've asked myself the same question."

"Mm mm!" Arizona perks up, having taken a bite of one of the donuts Mark made him run out and buy. "This is delicious. When did Hunt bump up the donut budget?"

"As Chief, I'm a firm believer that a nice variety of baked goods is the right way to start any meeting." Mark announces as he enters the room, heading to the top of the table. He's got his hair slicked back professionally, and a bluetooth earpiece.

"As Chief?" Bailey questions, all of them exchanging looks while Jackson grabs a container, loading a mixture of grapes and sweets into it. He knows from experience that Briar tends to either not eat breakfast, or eat very little of it. He snags the last two glazed donuts from the box, shrugging when Derek narrows his eyes at him.

"Seriously?"

"You're Chief?"

"Wait. What happened?"

"Okay, calm down, everyone." Mark tells them, reaching out and grabbing a treat for himself. "Dr. Hunt and Dr. Yang are down with the flu. I'll be acting chief in Dr. Hunt's absence. Could be a day, could be a week. What do we got for today?"

"Let me get this straight." Dr. Bailey sets down his notes, pointing at Mark. "Dr. Hunt asked you to fill in as Chief–you, Mark Sloan, by name?"

Jackson hides his smirk with his own copy of the notes.

"Yes, he did. Any other questions?"

✦

"Bailey! Briar!"

Briar looks up when Callie calls her name, standing with Bailey as she hands over her charts. Callie rushes over to them with Arizona, and Briar recognizes the look on her face: she wants something.

"So, um, Teddy–poor, sad, widowed Teddy–wants to have a girl's night." Callie explains, and Briar can already see where this is going.

"Ladies." Arizona quickly corrects.

"Ladies night."

"Absolutely not." Bailey declines the offer, while Briar laughs to herself. The fact that they went straight to Bailey for help is hilarious to her.

"Well, no, it's–it's her first night out." Callie guilt trips, and Briar already knows that she's going to accept. So much for her plans with Jackson. "It's a big step. She needs us."

"Well, she has you. The two of you." Bailey waves to them. "That's about as much happy as one person can bear."

"She made a reservation at a romantic restaurant. I mean, would you want to be a third-wheel widow at a restaurant with us and a bunch of twinkly lights?" Arizona points out. Bailey turns to Briar, and they share a long look before turning to the beggars.

"You're buying." Bailey tells them, handing the last chart to Briar.

"Well, I figured everyone could pitch in for our dear friend, the widow." Callie tries, but Briar leans in close to the women.

"Look, I am willing to cancel my plans with Jackson to help Teddy out, but they were very fun plans. Like, making him win me stuffed animals at a fair, and share cotton candy, and kiss at the top of the ferris wheel, and then show my appreciation to him all night, kind of fun." Briar tells them, and Arizona grimaces, giving her a sympathetic look. "If I'm turning that down to hang out with you guys, none of whom is going to sex me up at the end of the night, you can at least buy my steak. Fair is fair."

"Okay, fine, we're buying." Arizona gives in, and Briar smirks.

"See you tonight." Bailey tells them, high fiving Briar as they walk past them.

✦

"Where have you been?" April demands as soon as she sees Jackson, who groans and fights the urge to go study by himself. He just got back from dropping food off to Briar in the pit. "We're halfway through the new batch of flashcards."

"Yeah, Hunt and Yang are out sick today, so Sloan's the chief, and I am the chief's bitch." Jackson informs her, giving her a fake smile as he grabs some of the flashcards. "Lucky me."

"No distractions." Alex glares at him, turning back to April. "Kepner, hit me again."

"Okay, a–a woman with Dysuria, incomplete voiding, and a palpable suburethral mass." April reads off of her card.

"Urethral carcinoma." Alex responds, nodding his head. "Damn it, I had one of those last year. Um, uh, we did, uh, radiation and surgical excision. No! Would it be, uh, chemo?"

He turns to Jackson, who answers.

"An ectopic ureter, or it could be. I mean, I scrubbed in on one of those, but I don't remember the technique the urologist used. Damn it."

"Sounds like urethral diverticulum." Meredith jumps in. "Briar and I had a case of that, what, two years ago? If it's proximal, I would do a partial ablation because it's much less likely to result in a fistula."

"You don't even need to know advanced urology for the boards." Alex scorns, snatching the card from April and scowling when he sees that Meredith had the right answer.

"But Briar and I do, because the Torres Method is in us." Meredith brags. "Speaking of, where is she?"

"She's in charge of the pit in Hunt's absence." Jackson tells her. "I offered to have us study down there, but she said she's done studying."

"The boards are so close. How can she feel confident?" April demands.

"Nah, she's been studying for like, a year." Alex groans. "And she's been studying with Callie."

"Yeah, we're going to have the best scores." Meredith gloats.

"I hope you're happy when you're alone in the O.R. and the rest of us are working the free clinic at the mall." Alex tells her, and she laughs.

"Briar and I will come visit you." She teases.

"My whole brain is crammed with so many hypotheticals, I can't even remember what real cases I was actually there for. I am screwed." Jackson complains to them, frustrated. Maybe Briar is right about him needing a break, and them going to the fair tonight will be a good thing for him. He couldn't tell her no when she suggested it, she was too excited. It's been a while since they've been on a proper date, so he is glad that they're going, even if the boards are looming over his head.

"I'll tell you who's screwed–Yang." Alex decides, and Meredith tenses up instantly. "The board's are around the corner, and no one's seen her study, plus she's out sick. She's gonna get creamed."

"Yang is fine." Meredith tells him sharply, and he shrugs, disagreeing.

"You can't pass the boards on raw talent, okay?" April tells her, shaking her head. "It is an artificial environment, which requires massive amounts of–"

"Cristina is fine!" Meredith bursts, glaring at all of them before storming away.

The three of them exchange looks in her absence, and Jackson groans when his pager goes off, Mark requesting him.

"I didn't even get through a single card!" He gripes, throwing the cards down on the desk and heading for the elevator. He wanders around, doing odd jobs for Mark before finding him on the staircase.

"Chief." He nods, handing him the schedule he'd asked him to make.

"See, from 1:00 to 2:00, you have 'lunch with the chief.'" Mark points out to him. "I told you to call it 'beef with the chief.' It's got a ring to it. You got a beef? Come meet with the chief."

"I didn't realize you were serious about that." Jackson admits, although he should've known better.

"You need to let people get the little things off their chest before they become big things." Mark tells him. "I'm serious about this chief thing, Avery. It's my shot. I want to do it right."

"You know, Briar told me once that she thought you'd make a great chief." Jackson admits to him, thinking back to that conversation. Mark softens, turning to face him.

"Really? She said that?"

"Yeah. It was ages ago, but she said that you were good with people. She said you'd probably be better than Shepherd, honestly, but don't tell him that."

"Oh, I absolutely will." Mark laughs, delighted. "That's why she's my favorite. Anyway. 'Beef with the Chief.' Put it in the schedule for tomorrow."

✦

"Briar!" Richard calls out, stopping her right as she's leaving for lunch. "You wouldn't happen to know where Dr. Sloan is, would you?"

"Uh, no, but I can check with Jackson." She offers, holding up her phone. Jackson had just been texting her, telling her about Mark's brilliant 'beef with the chief' idea. "Is everything okay?"

Richard looks at her for a long moment before grabbing her arm and pulling her into the supply closet. Briar just blinks at him in the darkness, beyond confused. And hungry. She's so hungry.

"Richard?"

"Hold on." He pulls away from her, making sure that they're the only two in the room. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Okay. I need your help. I have this long term patient who we finally got an organ donor for, but the donor's got a tumor on their liver. I want to test the tumor to see if it's benign, but Sloan has been stopping me. This is the only chance my patient has. He won't make it through the night without this operation."

"You need a distraction." Briar realizes, nodding her head. "Okay. I'm in. I won't be able to keep him busy the whole time, but I can buy you enough time to get in the O.R., at least."

"I owe you." Richard tells her, but she waves him off.

"Don't mention it."

It takes one text to Jackson to find out that Mark is on his way to the pit, and she quickly waves Richard away, turning to the surgery board and frowning when she sees that he put them down for an 8 hour appendectomy. No way Mark would believe that. It only takes her a second to erase that and put them down as performing a mastectomy.

Hopefully Mark doesn't murder me when he finds out, she thinks with a sigh before she's rushing toward Mark as he enters the room.

"Chief Sloan!" She calls, stopping directly in front of him. "I'm sorry, are you busy?"

"Never too busy for you." He tells her with a friendly smile. "What's going on?"

"Well, I asked Jackson if I could have a consult with you, and he told me about your Beef with the Chief idea. Would it be possible for me to do that? Or do I have to schedule it in?"

"Nonsense." Mark gives her a wide smile, clearly happy that someone is entertaining his idea. "Here. In here."

They head over to a conference room, and Briar feels a little guilty as he carefully shuts the door behind them before sliding into a seat across from her.

"So. Tell me, what troubles you?" He asks her, folding his hands in front of him.

"Well. Um, this is a little embarrassing." She gives a little laugh, looking down at her hands while her mind races. She didn't think this part through. "I'm sorry, maybe this was a bad idea."

"Whatever it is, I promise I won't judge." Mark assures her, grabbing her hands. "It's better to get it off your chest now than to hold onto anything."

All the best lies have ties to the truth, she reminds herself, and lets herself start rambling.

"I'm just really scared, what with the boards coming up. I'm not as scared of failing them, because I've been non-stop studying with Callie and I feel really good about what I've learned from all of you. But . . . but I've been in contact with a ton of hospitals, scheduling interviews, and . . . what if I don't get in anywhere good?"

Mark looks surprised, instantly shaking his head.

"Briar, you're going to be double-certified." He tells her, and the complete faith he shows her is beautiful. "Any hospital that turns you down isn't worth anyone's time. What else are you worried about?"

"Jackson and I just started dating." She practically whispers, despite it having been a few months. Still, it feels so recent. "What if . . . what if we pick different hospitals, and our relationship falls apart? I've never been in a long-distance relationship, and I tend to get so focused on work, so what if I don't make time for him and he breaks up with me?"

"Why are you assuming you would be the problem?" Mark asks her, unimpressed.

"Um." Briar stutters, not sure how to answer that.

"Look, kid, you two have a good relationship because you talk to each other. Have you told him any of your worries? No? You should. I'm sure he's got the same ones, given how stressed he is over the boards. I can't promise that you'll end up at the same hospital, or the same city, even. What I can promise is that you two are meant to be and will figure it out. Otherwise, I'll have to kick some sense into you."

Briar lets out a watery laugh, feeling a little better. She's been holding on to all of that for so long.

"Now. How about we conduct a fake interview, so that you aren't as nervous for the real deal." He tells her, leaning back in his chair and waving for her to get up and leave the room just so she can walk back in for the 'interview', always having a flair for the dramatics. She does just that, although she crosses over to give him a hug before she leaves.

"You're an amazing friend, Mark, and an even better Chief. Thank you." She whispers, getting a pleased smile from him before she's slipping from the room.

He's standing up when she re-enters, introducing himself with a fake name and hospital, and she can't stop her laughter to the point that they have to give it another try.

She's not sure she wants to leave this hospital after all.

✦

"I don't want to go to the fair." She blurts out as soon as she sees Jackson, who pauses. "I mean, I do, because all of that sounds really romantic and fun and I would really love to experience it for the first time with you. But, tonight, I want to focus on us and our lives, and right now, that means cancelling fun plans like the fair I was supposed to skip out on for a ladies night so that we can go home and study for our boards."

Jackson smiles, nodding his head, but Briar isn't done.

"I want to study until our heads feel like they're gonna explode, and I want to order in a pizza even though I'm just going to complain the whole time that it's not made Pittsburgh or Chicago style. And I want to talk about us, 'cause it's driving me crazy that I don't know our future plans. I really want to make us last, and I hope you do too, and–mmph!"

Briar smiles into the kiss he plants on her, his hands on her hips, quickly dropping the smile so that she can kiss him back. When he pulls away, he kisses her on the cheek before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to the parking lot.

"Yes to studying, and to pizza, and to figuring it out." He tells her, sounding serious, and something in her settles at the knowledge that he wants her just as much as she wants him. She needed to hear that.

They end up studying into the morning, just for Meredith to drag them out of bed and into the living room. Alex and April are already gathered in front of Meredith, who has a giant whiteboard behind her.

"So do you know why I brought you all here this morning?" She asks them, and Briar shrugs, curling into Jackson's side on the couch. They only got an hour of sleep, and she's feeling it. The mug of hot chocolate her hands are wrapped around is possibly the only thing keeping her awake, the warmth comforting her. "To help you, because even though we all take the boards alone, if we work together, we can all pass."

April turns to smile at her and Jackson, and Briar grabs her hand, feeling giddy as she sits surrounded by her friends. The only thing that could make this better would be Cristina's presence.

They all get handed a marker, and Briar laughs when she sees that Meredith picked the colors Briar assigned them for the calendar–red for Alex, lime green for April, grey for Meredith, dark green for Jackson, and orange for Briar.

"If you're not at the hospital, you're here." Meredith tells them. Alex grins, shooting Briar a look, and she nods at him. "You sleep here, you eat here. There are no distractions, no breaks. This is the Grey Method, and it starts now."

She writes their names at the top of the board, and Briar can't help but notice that she leaves a spot at the end. For Cristina, she thinks, hopeful that she'll join them. She hasn't said anything to anyone, but she and Meredith both know that Owen must've cheated on her. That's the only explanation for why she suddenly dropped her paranoia, just in time for her and Owen to 'get the flu.' Still, though, if she doesn't want to bring it up, Briar won't force her.

Before they can get started, the doorbell rings.

"Can I have a piece of paper?" Briar asks April, sitting up straight and smiling when April gives her an entire notebook. "I vote that whoever loses buys dinner."

"Get your wallet ready." Alex retorts, smirking at her.

Meredith comes back with Cristina in tow, holding up a burgundy marker, and Briar smiles, perfectly content.

✦

authors note

guys were so close to the boards and then the finale. im gonna puke. briar is so happy right now. I can't wait to put her in a plane crash and destroy everything🥰🥰🥰

you didn't miss the chat about their future, they just didn't get to it bc of studying.

i'm sorry about the long wait, again!! i've decided that im going to spend an hour every day writing just so that we stop with the month long gaps. unfortunately having a full time job exhausts me but i love writing and dont want to abandon you guys so much!!

ive been on a roll writing this weekend bc im snowed in (we got 5 feet in a day, no joke). but im also writing for my outer banks fic so my focus is split between the two. it's a polyamorous fic with jj and pope as the love interests, and im a little obsessed with my oc vera. she's my baby. also jjpope are just iconic and should've been boyfriends but i digress.

thank you to everyone who's been reading and commenting, it truly means the entire world to me. it's so motivational!! i love you guys, and i WILL see you soon, i promise <3