Briar, Alex, and Lexie only get a few moments of peace before they're swarmed by Mercy West residents.

"Any of you know what this big meeting's about?" Jackson asks as soon as he catches up to them with Pixie Cut and Weasley. The three of them keep pace behind them, Jackson walking right behind Briar, who tries to ignore him. She's tired, having stayed up all night talking with Alex, but she can't be upset about it. It felt nice to really have her best friend back: it's been a while since they stayed up talking about anything and everything.

"I heard there was a coup." Pixie Cut adds, walking behind Lexie, who just picks up her pace.

"Webber's out. Shepherd's in. Is that true?" Weasley asks them all, Lexie rolling her eyes.

"We know what you know." Lexie says, making Briar bite down a grin. That's a complete lie.

"Bull!" Jackson exclaims, scoffing from behind Briar, who pointedly doesn't turn to look at him. "Your sister's married to the guy. You expect me to believe you don't know what's going on?"

"Don't you have your own loser friend's to talk to?" Alex asks, making Briar laugh.

"The two of you live with him too. You definitely know something," Jackson continues, this time speaking directly to Alex and Briar, who fake gasps.

"Oh no, are you stalking me now?" She asks him, making Lexie giggle. "Gotta say, I'm disappointed at the lack of roses. . . love letters. . ."

"Oh, was that letter meant for you?" Alex plays along, smirking at Jackson. "Dearest Briar, oh how my heart beats only for y–!"

"Shut up." Jackson grumbles, shoving him forward, while Briar laughs so hard she's almost in tears.

"That was shockingly good." Pixie Cut says quietly, making Briar smirk over at her.

"He's a romantic." She tells her, fluttering her eyelashes at the girl with the huge crush on her best friend. "Not that you'll ever know, but . . ."

Okay, maybe that's rude, but she's annoying so Briar isn't going to apologize for it. Lexie giggles again, making Briar's smile turn genuine as she turns away from a now blushing and stuttering Reed.

"I also heard Shepherd plans to clean house." Weasley says, clearly changing the subject from Pixie Cut's love life.

"Hmm, you must've heard us talking about how messy the house has gotten." Briar says, playing dumb. Speaking of, she really does have to get everyone together to clean. A bunch of surgeons living together means that they're rarely there for long, and no one ever wants to spend their limited free time cleaning. The house is suffering as a result.

"Maybe he'll start with you three." Weasley continues, ignoring Briar, who snorts at the lame attempt at an insult.

"Dude, we're safe." Alex starts. "We're the guy's roommates."

"True!" Briar adds in, grinning at the annoyance being shown to them. "I made a roast the other night that he adored, he's never getting rid of me."

"Oh, that was so good." Lexie tells her, not for the first time. Briar just smirks back. She knows it was good, she's a really good cook.

"You're the ones who should watch your backs." Alex tells them, sparking up their worry again. Briar is loving this. They're so easy to rile up, it's hilarious. Also, Briar honestly hopes that Alex is right, and that they lose the Mercy Wester's. Or, at least two of them. Jackson has his moments, she can deal with him sticking around for comedic relief.

"Why? What do you know?" Pixie Cut questions, struggling to keep up with their pace.

"Simple math–Shepherd hates the merger, you're from Mercy West, you're toast!" Alex says, Briar giving him a high five.

"Cheers!" She says brightly, feeling the three of them glaring at the back of her head.

"Derek's not gonna fire people just because they're from Mercy West." Lexie assures them, ignoring the way that Briar glares at her. Ugh, she's no fun. "He's not like that. He's loyal and fair."

"Yeah, tell that to Webber." Jackson points out, making Briar grin.

"Oh, please say stuff like that around him, instead of just with his roommate's and sister." She reminds him of their friendship, making the smile on his face drop.

That ends the conversation.

Derek is standing on the stairs, people forming a crowd around him, holding a notecard. Briar gives Lexie a concerned look–Derek is not the best with planned speeches–and shoves her way through the crowd with Alex, ending up near Cristina, who looks sick. Briar makes a mental note to avoid her as much as possible.

"I promised him we'd clap." Arizona announces, turning to them quickly. Briar grimaces, looking at the shirt and tie Derek is wearing underneath his lab coat. They clash in a way that is hurting her eyes, but she can't look away.

Briar smirks, looking back to the Mercy West residents.

"Hey, maybe if you guys start clapping, he'll give it a week or so before firing you." She suggests sweetly, seeing Weasley pale at the idea of getting fired. Jackson rolls his eyes at her, while Pixie Cut looks as if she's considering it.

"Ahem." Derek clears his throat, the murmuring around the room slowly coming to a stop. Briar smiles at him, hoping that she's underestimating him, and that he'll give a good speech. "I want to thank you all for being here. I know you're busy so I'll try to make this quick."

"As you may have heard, I have been appointed the new interim chief of surgery." He continues, a few whispers going around the room. "It's my personal goal to make this transition as smooth as possible. I know we've had a rocky few months."

"Here it comes," Alex says to the Mercy Wester's.

"Mistakes have been made."

"He's talking about the merger." Alex adds, Lexie shushing him as Briar tries desperately to not start laughing. Oh, this is going better than she expected.

"I intend to right those wrongs, and, uh. . ."

"Told ya." Alex says, Briar snorting at the look on Jackson's face.

". . .Bring this hospital back to its former glory." Derek gives a smile, although Briar tilts her head to the side. That's one hell of a loaded compliment. Former glory.

"We are screwed." Jackson mumbles. Briar smirks as she reaches over and fist bumps Alex, pleased that getting in their heads worked so well.

"Yes, you are, sucker." Alex agrees with him.

Briar's eyes widen, nudging Alex, as she watches Dr. Webber follow Jennings from the board into the room, both of them looking as serious as ever. Their presence clearly makes Derek nervous, as he falters in his speech.

"What I meant. . . uh, by that is–what I'm trying to say is, I want to thank you for your support in advance." He stumbles through it, Briar hiding a grimace in Alex's shoulder. He puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer into him. Briar wants to see everyone's reactions, but the secondhand embarrassment is too much. "Uh, that's all. Okay, let's get back to work."

Arizona claps, making a few people join in, everyone trying to ignore the tension in the room, before they all scatter.

"Avery, I need you to round up my charts and bring 'em to room 22-14." Dr. Altman tells him.

"Oh, Yang usually comes in early to do that. I'm sure–"

"You know what? Yang's not on my service today. You are." With that she's off, Jackson staring after her in confusion as Briar chuckles at him.

"Word of advice, if you do want to keep your job: don't say no to the attendings." She tells him with a wide smile, enjoying the annoyance written all over his face.

"Karev, I hear that you're the future of peds." Arizona says excitedly, making her way over, and Briar brightens up. Yes! She's been waiting for this!

"Excuse me?" Alex questions, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, a little birdie named Bailey whispered it in my ear." She continues. "I want you to work with me today so I can see if she's right."

"What did she say?" Alex asks, Jackson speaking up before Arizona can.

"That you're the best babysitter in the hospital." He says with a smirk, one that fades when Arizona turns to him.

"You don't think peds is hard-core?" She asks, and then gestures to Briar. "'Cause you could say that to our faces, Avery."

Jackson clears his throat, his face getting flushed. "No. No, ma'am."

"Mm-hmm. Don't let the roller skates fool you. Peds is nothing but hard core. Rounds in ten." With that, she's off, Briar snickering as she watches Jackson watch her leave.

"Peds. Who's the sucker now?" Jackson asks as soon as the room is clear, making Briar raise her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, which one of you is doing intern work?" She asks, making Alex brighten up while Jackson frowns. "Also, dude, if you have to wait until the room is clear to make a comment, that's just sad. Say it with your chest."

Briar leaves him sputtering behind her, grinning to herself as she goes to find her attending for the day. Today is great: she got a few jabs in at the Mercy Westers, they're fearing for their jobs, and Alex might become interested in peds!

✦

"Oh my God." Briar gasps, watching the way Cristina is walking towards her. Walking is a kind way to put it, because the girl is limping. She walks over and whisper-yells: "Dude, did you get railed?"

"Dude, fuck off." Cristina snaps, just as Alex joins them, munching on an apple.

"Why are you walking like that?" He asks, frowning down at Cristina's legs while Briar breaks out into giggles. She's been trying to hunt down Owen, but she thinks she knows where he's been now.

"Uh, I got a burn." She says, looking away from them both. Briar's grin widens.

"Ah, sex injury." She sighs out wistfully. "I remember my first of those."

"Where?" Alex asks Cristina.

"Go away."

"Well, we're all doctors. No need to be embarrassed." Alex explains, groaning when Briar steals his apple, taking a bite and then handing it back with a bright smile.

"I'm not embarrassed. I'm just waiting for Meredith." Cristina argues, turning to Alex. "Now. . . go away."

"I let you treat my tick. Come on." Alex points out, Briar rolling her eyes.

"Today sucks." Lexie whines, dropping down onto a hospital bed. "Mark sucks."

"Yeah? Yang got burns on her girl parts." Alex informs her, making Lexie sit up in sudden interest.

"I do not–it's not on–on my girl parts!" Cristina protests, Briar tilting her head and looking her over again.

"She's right." She says, waiting until Alex looks annoyed and Cristina looks grateful to speak again. "It's totally on her ass, look at the way she's limping."

"Don't you all have patients?" Cristina snaps.

"I sent mine for a scan, the others can wait. Fuck, today is perfect." Briar says, and then frowns, rushing over to the nurses station and knocking on the wooden desk three times. She does not want to jinx it.

"How did you get burns on your ass?" Lexie questions, just as Meredith joins them.

"You paged?"

"Mer, come." Cristina orders, holding out supplies for her burn, and Briar bursts out laughing at the look on Meredith's face. "The rest of you, bye."

Briar shares a look with Alex and Lexie, watching Meredith get pulled away, before they're rushing to follow after them.

"Oh my God!" Meredith exclaims from behind the curtain, Cristina hissing at her to shut up. "How did you–what did–you have grate marks burned into your ass."

Briar can't resist after that, quickly pushing aside the curtain long enough to enter, closing it with a flourish behind her.

"Briar!"

"I've been there," She tells Cristina honestly, moving to examine the burns. She gets shocked–Meredith–and annoyed–Cristina–looks in return, shrugging. "I was married to a firefighter, remember? There was a lot of sneaky firehouse sex. These are vent marks, right?"

"I hate that you can spot the difference." Cristina groans out. Meredith grins over at her, looking amused.

Briar grabs gloves, helping Meredith dress the wound.

"Owen's being very caveman-like." Cristina says after a moment of silence. Briar is grateful that she can't see her face, because she instantly grimaces. She does not want to know what Owen Hunt is like during sex. "And it's hot–vaguely disturbing, but mostly hot. I-I think he might still be a little upset that I offered him to Teddy."

Briar can't help but snort at that. She still thinks it's hilarious that she begged Dr. Altman to stay to the point that she said she could have Owen.

Behind them, the curtains open again to reveal both Alex and Lexie, although Cristina and Meredith only yell at Alex for it.

"Hot cross buns." He says with one of his classic smirks.

"That's gonna blister." Lexie adds, wincing in amused sympathy.

"Will you get them out of here?" Cristina snaps, waving them away. Unfortunately for her, Meredith's pager goes off, and she rushes away.

"Lay back down." Briar tells her, reaching over for the tube of ointment to finish the job. Cristina tells Meredith that she hates her as she does so, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand. Meredith at least takes a laughing Alex with her.

"This is a sex injury?" Lexie asks, walking forward and closing the curtains as she does.

"Oh, my God." Cristina grumbles.

"It is." Lexie says, and then in a wistful tone: "I used to have sex injuries with Mark."

"Okay, nope." Briar decides, handing off the supplies to Lexie and stripping her gloves off. "I'm not listening to this, not happening. Cristina, have fun with the sex injury! Bye!"

✦

Derek clearing his throat grabs her attention, looking up from the bench she's sitting on, slowly gathering up her bag to leave.

"Hi. I know it's been a long day, and you're all anxious to get home. But I feel like we got off on the wrong foot this morning. I don't expect to win your trust overnight. But I want each of you to know. . . you have mine. Which is why I felt it was important to personally come in here and, uh, apologize. I want to clear some things up, I am neither pro or anti-merger. From this point on, everyone has a clean slate. I am not focused on the past, I'm looking to the future. To all the promise this hospital has to offer. I plan to honor Richard Webber, and his legacy, not undo it. . . Which is why I'm both humbled and honored to be your new chief of surgery."

Briar smiles, watching as he walks out of the room, the room bursting into conversation.

She watches Weasley and Pixie Cut talk by the coffee machine; Alex sitting at the table, shoving his things into his bag; Jackson doing the same from next to him; all of her friends, and some rivals, scattered around the room. Some leaving for the night, some coming in for the night shift . . . All doing the same job.

It's easy to lose track of that.

✦

authors note:
i added 5k words to the first chapter, so if anyone wants to read briar's POV of george dying, that's updated :) i honestly had fun writing it, which is probably not a good sign for my mental state. oops.

this is a very short, very filler chapter! i'm excited to get to a point where the residents are actually friends instead of rivals who are occasionally not assholes to each other... kinda want to just skip to season 7. also, not really looking forward to april coming back. kind of considered not adding her for a second there, her character drives me nuts.

anyway. next chapter is valentine's day. i have plans for that!!