Meredith is back.

Meredith is back, and Briar is so excited. She missed her. Cristina will be so much more tolerable with her best friend around, and Briar needs someone to really gossip with. Meredith always knows the most drama.

Briar can't find her anywhere, which is annoying, since Briar bought her her favorite breakfast sandwich this morning.

When she sees Alex, she turns to him with a sigh. "Have you seen Mer? Or Cristina?"

"No." He doesn't look up at her, and she grimaces. They got in a huge argument last night, once again over Isobel Stevens, who might just be Briar's least favorite person at the moment. She saddled him with her medical bills, and Alex was trying to ignore it, like they would go away. And while Briar was thirteen levels of pissed off at the girl for doing this to him, she knew that he couldn't ignore them. The bills will get taken to collections, his credit score will tank, and he'll end up in court. He could lose his job, go to jail, all because Izzie is too busy running from her problems.

"Well, I bought Meredith something since it's her first day back."

"Good for her."

Briar takes a deep breath, reminding herself that she can't resort to violence. He's still her best friend, and they're at their place of employment. She'll just yell at him later.

"If you see her, tell her I'm looking for her," She sighs out as they turn the corner, only to literally lock eyes with a shocked Meredith. Cristina is next to her, just as she assumed she'd be, and so is Weasley. And. . . oh my God.

Nevermind, she's fighting someone in the hospital today.

"I may not be a doctor anymore, but I'm not a complete idiot." Izzie is saying, both Briar and Alex freezing at the sound of her voice.

Agree to disagree, Briar fumes, beyond angry at the sight of the blonde. Her and Izzie have had a lot of disagreements in the past–such as with the whole Denny catastrophe, or when she helped George cheat on Callie, or when. . . well, let's just say Briar has often wanted to smack some sense into the woman– but nothing compares to the complete disgust Briar feels for her now.

Briar isn't surprised when Alex turns and walks away, staying rooted to the spot herself. She can't help but glare at Cristina and Meredith, avoiding looking at Izzie for fear of how she'll act if she sees her stupid face.

"A little warning would be nice," She scoffs, while Meredith and Cristina don't seem to know where to look. Meredith grimaces at that, and Briar reminds herself that she's not the one she's so mad at.

"You need a warning to be around me now?" Izzie questions, having the nerve to sound upset. Briar shuts her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief, and doesn't bother answering her.

"Welcome back, Meredith." She says with a warm smile for her friend, who gives her a small, nervous one back. Briar walks over to give her the sandwich, which isn't hot anymore, but whatever. At this moment, it feels a little like an olive branch. "I've missed you."

With that, she walks away, going to find the new cardiothoracic attending she's been hearing murmurs about all morning. She's on her service today, and she hopes it's messy: she needs something to cheer her up.

She finds her with Owen as soon as she's put on the yellow protective gown and gone outside. Avery joins her after a minute, but she's more focused on walking up to her attendings with a perfect smile on her face.

"Dr. Hunt." She greets him with a nod, before turning to the woman standing next to him. Sandy blonde hair, green eyes, a few inches taller than Briar. Briar hopes she's a badass: some of the best education she's gotten from this hospital has been through badass female attendings. "You must be Dr. Altman, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Briar Sinclair."

"Teddy Altman." She gives her a warm smile as she shakes Briar's hand, Briar smiling back as she decides she likes her. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well."

With one last smile, Briar moves to stand by Avery, allowing Dr. Altman to continue talking to Owen. It sounds as if they've known each other previously, Briar assuming that they both served together.

Cristina joins them a moment later, giving Briar a strange look before moving to stand on the other side of Avery instead of her. Avery gives her a look, but Briar just shrugs back, not in the mood to deal with the intricacies of Cristina Yang.

"I'm sorry, where were you before, Dr. Altman?" Cristina questions, sparking Briar's interest.

"In Baghdad with Dr. Hunt." She confirms Briar's theory, turning to face Cristina, who continues asking questions as condescendingly as possible.

"Oh, no, I mean before that." Cristina clarifies, making Briar look up to the sky for a moment in annoyance. What is in the water today, and why is Briar the one dealing with it? "Where did you do your fellowship?"

"At Mayo." She answers, Owen looking annoyed with Cristina. Briar sighs to herself, knowing exactly how this is going to go. Cristina doesn't know how to quit when she's ahead. Briar is assuming this is jealousy over her laughing with Owen, which she honestly thought was below Cristina.

"Oh, with Paul Moak?" Cristina asks with fake enthusiasm, Briar and Avery giving each other looks. It's like watching a train wreck.

"No, Moak is in Rochester. I worked primarily with Joshua Moore." She answers with a smile, being kinder than any other attending would be at this level of questioning. Briar looks between the two women, feeling as if she's missed something, and Avery nudges her subtlety.

"I'll tell you later," He barely whispers, Briar giving him a small nod. Today seems to be full of drama, and Briar would rather be in the middle of this than whatever's going on with Izzie.

"Oh, Mayo in Florida." Cristina says to Avery, making Briar raise her eyebrows.

"Moore wrote that paper on retrograde coronary sinus perfusion, right?" Avery asks, clearly trying to cover up his clear amusement with Cristina.

"Yeah, I actually worked on that with him." Dr. Altman says, a more natural smile forming on her face as she turns to face Avery.

"Yeah, I almost–I considered Mayo." Avery says with a little shrug, just as Cristina interrupts in order to continue her interrogation.

"Where'd you go to med school?"

"Dr. Yang is, uh, a little thorough." Owen tries to excuse the questioning, giving Dr. Altman a small smile. It's clear that he's embarrassed, and Briar completely understands the feeling.

"U.T. Southwestern." Dr. Altman answers, sounding colder now. "And then I did my residency at G.W."

"Have you published?" Cristina asks, holding her phone up. "'Cause, according to Google, I mean, you don't even exist."

Never mind, she'd rather be dealing with Izzie right now.

Cristina doesn't get the response she's looking for because it starts raining, Dr. Altman turning away from her and laughing. "Oh my God, it's raining."

"Yeah, it's Seattle, it rains a lot." Cristina complains, but Briar shakes her head and watches as Dr. Altman skips out into the rain. She holds her hands out, cheering up at the sky, and Briar reaffirms the idea that she likes her.

"Whoo! Hunt, how awesome is this?" She questions, beaming up at the rain, and Briar watches with interest as Hunt starts to genuinely smile. Cristina has to be dying inside right now, but at the moment, Briar doesn't care about her feelings.

"She's been living in the desert for a long time," Owen explains, but Briar decides to ignore all of them and follow Dr. Altman into the rain, tipping her head back and trying to feel what she feels. It feels good, honestly, especially with all the stress of the day, like the rain is washing all of it away from her one drop at a time.

"Whoo hoo!" Dr. Altman cheers, laughing as she twirls around, and Briar starts spinning around with her.

"This feels great!" She shouts, grinning at the excitement in the green eyes looking at her. This hospital could use more positive energy, and Briar is going to enjoy every second of it, even if it means she ends up soaked. "I needed this!"

"Me too!" Dr. Altman shouts, laughing again as they listen to a thunder clap. "I really needed this!"

Briar imagines she needs it way more; she could not imagine living in a desert. She picked a great place to land if she's looking for rain, Seattle is the best for that.

Briar and Dr. Altman are the first ones to greet the paramedics when the ambulance pulls up, Briar following all of her instructions. She's not too interested in cardiothoracic surgery, but she's never going to turn down a chance to learn from more experienced surgeons.

"Sick sinus syndrome," Avery announces as he pulls back his stethoscope. The five of them are in the room they've brought the patient to, and Briar looks up at Cristina as she speaks next.

"She needs a temporary transvenous pacemaker now."

"Dr. Yang, do you want to take this one? I haven't done one of these in 10 years."

"Excuse me?" Cristina questions, turning to look at Briar. Briar just looks away, focusing back on the patient.

"I do." Avery jumps for the opportunity, Dr. Altman giving him the go ahead. Briar bites back a smirk, happy to see Cristina knocked down a peg. She loves her, she truly does, but she doesn't like the way she's acting today. There's nothing worse than an egotistical surgical resident.

"Wait. Uh, you don't remember how to, or–" Cristina doesn't let it go.

"I've been working primarily on soldiers, Dr. Yang, most of whom are well under the age of 70."

Fair enough.

"Use the right I.J. Dr. Avery," Owen instructs, Briar focusing her attention on her fellow resident instead of the one sided stare down from Cristina. "It'll give you the most direct approach."

"Dr. Altman, will you excuse me just for a moment? I-I just need to talk to the Chief about something."

Right now? Briar shakes her head, moving to take Cristina's place and help Avery, who gives her a wide-eyed look. She just shakes her head at him, a silent reminder to focus on the patient, and not the human train wreck storming out of the room.

Briar is just thankful that Meredith is here to listen to Cristina's complaining again, because she doesn't have the patience for it.

✦

"How are we doing, Dr. Yang?" Dr. Altman questions as she enters the O.R. room, Briar and Avery following behind her.

"Gary Clark, 57, S.T. elevation in leads 1 through 4." Cristina reports.

"Which would indicate?"

"Anterior heart attack. Probably a blockage in the L.A.D. He's ready for an angioplasty."

"Alright. Talk me through the procedure."

"Because you don't remember how?" Cristina questions, Avery and Briar shooting each other looks of dread from where they stand on opposite sides of the table, Avery next to Cristina.

"No, that was actually a teaching moment." Dr. Altman says, and Briar can't hold back her smirk. It's nice to see Dr. Altman fighting back: Cristina has run off far too many cardiothoracic attendings, all because they couldn't handle her attitude. Briar thinks they might just have a permanent one now.

She hopes, at least.

"Access the femoral artery, thread the catheter to the heart, inject dye, then open up the blockage." Cristina recites tonelessly.

"Good. Make sure you use the pigtail catheter to get a good–"

"Like this one?"

"Huh. Look at that. Dr. Avery, what can we infer from this?"

"He's got wall motion abnormalities."

"Yes, in the left ventricular wall." Dr. Altman responds. "Okay, let's get into the left coronary tree."

"Already there." Cristina says with the slightest attitude.

"Oh. O-Okay, um. . . well, you want to make sure that you get images in many planes, so you're gonna have to shift the fleuro–"

"Oh, well, we use a rotational angiography." Cristina interrupts again. "It does that on its own."

"Huh, look at that." Dr. Altman responds, staring directly at Cristina. "I guess I'm the one who learned something today."

"Yeah, look at that." Cristina answers.

✦

Briar stares into the cafeteria, trying to decide if it's worth going inside or not. In the end, she decides to, only because Izzie isn't sitting at their table. She joins Cristina, Meredith, and Alex, swatting Alex's hand away when he tries to steal a cracker from her lunch box.

"How do you like your present?" Meredith is asking when Briar sits down, relief filling her over them not discussing Izzie. She doesn't have the energy for that conversation.

"Oh, Private Benjamin over there?" Cristina mocks, all of them looking at where a group of attendings–Sloan, Hunt, Callie, Arizona, and Altman–are talking and laughing. "Owen said she would surprise me. Well, guess what? Surprise! She doesn't know how to do surgery!"

"That's not true." Briar defends at the same moment as Alex speaks up: "Leave her alone, it's her first day."

Briar gives him a cracker for being kind, Alex accepting it with an eye roll.

"Why are you defending her?" Cristina questions, Briar shaking her head in disbelief. "She went to state school."

"So did I!" Briar and Alex both protest. Briar technically went to both a private and a state school: University of Pittsburgh followed by the University of Chicago. She's proud of the education she received from both, and she doesn't need Cristina acting as if what school someone attends really matters.

"Well, she's skinny and blonde." Cristina continues, and Briar shakes her head, not liking that the list of grievances has so quickly come to Dr. Altman's appearance.

"So's Mer." Alex defends, Briar grimacing at the amount of food on his lips.

"Well, she's annoying."

"So are you."

"Where's your wife, by the way?" Cristina questions with fake innocence, making Briar stiffen up.

"What did you say to Owen?" Meredith rushes to ask, trying to break the tension. Briar stares at Alex, watching him roll his shoulders and clench his jaw.

"Oh, she's gotta go!" Cristina says as if it's obvious. "I mean, he knows how important this is to me. I need someone who's gonna take me to the next level. And he brings me, like, this desert storm Barbie who hasn't seen the inside of the O.R. in, like, 10 years? I mean, if this is what he thinks of my talent, then I'm–I–I gotta break up with him."

I wish you would, Briar thinks, not a fan of the two of them together. Cristina gets too many free passes due to her relationship with Hunt.

"Have you even talked to Izzie yet?" Cristina questions Alex, and Briar groans loudly. She knew she should've taken her lunch in the tunnels. "Has anyone talked to her?"

"You don't want me talking to her." Briar says flatly.

"You know what? No one's allowed to talk about Izzie while I eat." Alex snaps, making Cristina pull back for a second before speaking up again.

"Am I the only one concerned here?"

Alex shoves his chair back, walking away with a loud sigh. Briar stares after him, wondering if she should follow or give him space, whipping her head around to glare at Cristina when she asks "what?"

"It's my first day back. I just wanted to have a nice, normal lunch together." Meredith sighs out, Briar privately thinking that that was too much to ask for. Nothing about them is nice or normal anymore.

"Oh yeah? Well, take a look around." Cristina shoots back, looking around the room. "Nothing's normal."

Briar's had enough, getting up and packing everything into her bag as the two turn to her, looking confused.

"Have you ever considered that, in order for someone to teach you, you have to let them speak? Actually speak? Without interrupting them every other word, therefore interrupting everyone else's education as well. If you didn't run off every cardio attending by being a bitch you would have someone to learn from!" Briar snaps, Cristina just blinking at her as she slowly chews.

Briar shakes her head in annoyance and leaves, hearing Meredith make a comment about clearing the room as she does.

✦

"You guys paged me? What's going on?" Arizona questions, stepping up to the bed where Briar, Cristina, and Avery are examining their newest patient. Briar shoots a quick smile to her and to Dr. Altman who came with her.

"Casey, age 8, asthmatic, nebs at home haven't been working." Briar presents, shooting a reassuring smile to the boy who hasn't looked away from her once since she arrived.

"We added steroids, but he's still having trouble breathing." Avery continues, Arizona moving to be closer to the bed and to Casey.

"Casey, I'm Dr. Robbins." Arizona speaks softly, his eyes flying over to meet hers instead of Briar's. "I'm gonna take a look at your X-Rays."

She switches places with Dr. Altman, who takes a few moments to listen to his heart with her stethoscope. Briar watches her with interest, taking in the total focus she has, before Cristina becomes impatient.

"Dr. Altman, are you–?"

"Trying to concentrate, Dr. Yang." She states firmly but kindly, making Cristina slowly pull back. "Has Casey had any other medical issues?"

"A febrile seizure at 3 months." Cristina answers, cutting off the mother before she can speak.

"Okay, can you sit up for me?" Dr. Altman gently asks, both her and Briar helping him stay upright once he has so that she can listen from his back. Briar squeezes his shoulder, softly giving him instructions on how to properly breathe in and out, hoping to distract him from everything happening around him. It's not the same thing, but as someone with anxiety issues, she understands how terrifying it can be to struggle to breathe.

"Did he scream a lot when you brought him home from the hospital?" Dr. Altman asks his mother, Briar curious about where this is going.

"Yes." She answers.

"And has his asthma gotten better or worse as he's gotten older?"

"Worse."

"Okay, thanks." Dr. Altman gives her a gentle smile, Briar helping Casey lie back down. Avery moves in to give him a breathing treatment, Briar backing away to give him more space, listening in to Dr. Altman's talk with Cristina and Arizona.

"Book an O.R."

"What? Why?" Cristina asks, still questioning her every move.

"Because I said so." That answer makes Briar smile slightly.

"But he has asthma." Cristina continues to protest, while Briar uses the time to book the O.R. If Cristina won't do it, she will.

"Cardiac asthma, Dr. Yang."

"And you know that because?"

"Because that seizure he had wasn't from a fever. He had a heart attack then and he's having one now. So you're gonna book an O.R. because I am your attending and when I tell you to book an O.R., book an O.R.!"

"Already done." Briar says when she's done, biting down the smirk that wants to come out at the look on Cristina's face at being verbally reprimanded. "O.R. 2 will be ready for us."

"Thank you, Dr. Sinclair." Dr. Altman gives her a nod before leaving, Arizona leaning in close to Cristina to whisper: "I like her."

"You and me both." Briar says with a grin, shrugging at the glare she receives from Cristina. "You did this to yourself."

✦

"The birds on your scrub cap are cute." Arizona breaks the silence in the O.R. by speaking to Dr. Altman, Briar grinning behind her mask at the clear annoyance on Cristina's face.

"Thank you."

"Is he on full bypass?" Arizona asks, getting confirmation quickly.

"See the anatomy here?" Dr. Altman asks, allowing the residents a chance to get a good look.

"The coronary artery is attached to the pulmonary artery, not the aorta." Cristina puts words to what they're all seeing, Briar's eyes widening at the sight.

"It presented as asthma, but it's ALCAPA." Dr. Altman explains, Briar completely impressed by her and this save.

"How did you know?" Avery asks, sounding just as impressed. "I mean, you only listened to him and asked his mom a couple of questions."

"I saw some cardiomegaly on his x-rays." She answers, "And I heard a holosystolic murmur through his wheezing. You'll know for next time. And after today, Dr. Yang, you'll know how to fix it."

Briar can't help but give Avery a look at that. She's not completely upset by Cristina being given the spotlight–she is still more interested in other specialties, particularly peds and trauma. Cristina is amazing with cardio. But it is still frustrating to watch her be given the opportunity after she's treated Dr. Altman with so much disrespect all day.

"Me? I. . . I thought you and Dr. Robbins were. . ."

"Dr. Robbins, do you mind if Dr. Yang first assists?"

"Not at all." Arizona says, switching places with Cristina.

"Maybe we'll both learn something today." Dr. Altman tells Cristina, and Briar can't even be upset. It's clear that this is a huge moment for the both, and she thinks it means she'll be sticking around.

Briar can be happy about that, at the very least.

✦

"That was amazing." Avery breathes out, Cristina already rushing past them down the hall with a big grin on her face. Briar takes a look around them, and then tugs him with her down a few halls and corners until they get to the vending machines.

"I feel like we always end up talking here." He notes with a laugh, but she rolls her eyes as she starts pulling change out of her pockets. The first thing she pulls out is a certain bracelet, which she slips onto her wrist, making Avery laugh.

"Is that a friendship bracelet?" He asks her, amusement heavy in his tone, and she can't help the way she smiles as she holds her wrist out for him to inspect. "Oh wow, it is! Very fancy, Dr. Sinclair."

"Thank you, Dr. Avery." She says with a wink, smiling softly down at the bracelet for a second before shaking away thoughts of Wallace. "Alright, you told me you'd tell me about the tension between Cristina and Dr. Altman. Go, go, go!" She urges him, unable to look away from his eyes. They're particularly green right now.

"Okay! Fine, but you have to analyze that surgery with me after."

"Deal. I love rehashing surgeries." They shake on it, Briar quickly twisting around to make a selection next, grabbing a bottle of Coke. "You want anything?"

"Well, if you're buying." He laughs, before reaching over and punching the button to get a bottle of water.

"Boring."

"Shut up. Okay, you're Altman, I'm myself and Cristina."

"Shit, okay." Briar straightens out, taking a quick sip of her drink before setting it aside. "I took theater classes in high school, this is my moment." She rolls her shoulders out and then nods to herself. "I'm ready, hit me."

"Nice to meet you. Jackson Avery." Avery introduces, reaching out and shaking Briar's hand. Briar gives him a smile, shaking back the way Altman had shaken her hand earlier.

"Teddy Altman." She says, almost introducing herself instead. That would've been mortifying, Avery would never let her forget it.

Avery smirks, shifting his posture and running a hand through invisible hair, clearly switching to Cristina's character instead of his own. Briar falls back on her old improv lessons to avoid laughing, Jackson is shockingly funny when she takes the time to actually speak to him.

"Teddy Altman. I. . . I've never heard of you." Jackson imitates Cristina's voice, making Briar's jaw drop, their little play completely forgotten in her shock.

"No way!"

"Yes!" Jackson laughs, before shaking his head. "I haven't gotten to the best part yet. Okay, switch. You're Cristina, I'm Altman, last line."

Briar blinks past the shock–she really shouldn't be so shocked, this is Cristina they're talking about–before she repeats Jackson's last line.

"Teddy Altman. I. . . I've never heard of you." Briar says, putting all of her I'm-Cristina-Yang-and-I'm-superior attitude into the line, Jackson smirking slightly. He leans in, his eyes darting down to the lab coat she's wearing.

"Cristina Yang. I–I've never heard of you either." He says dramatically, giving her a charming smile. "So I guess that makes us even."

"Oh my God!" Briar breaks character, bending forward as she laughs. "Fuck! I can't believe I missed that because of Izzie Stevens! That bitch!"

"Yeah, what is going on with that?" Jackson questions, the smile slowly fading from Briar's face as she sighs.

"It's a nightmare, is what it is. But–fuck it, I don't want to think about her now. You still want to talk about the surgery? We could go across the street to Joe's bar?"

"I would love that." Jackson says, his smile almost shy, and Briar smiles back.

Before they can leave, Alex comes down the hall to her, looking more upset than she's seen him since Izzie first went missing. Briar gives him a quick scan, seeing past his tense expression, seeing the anger and hurt he's experiencing.

"Where've you been?" He snaps, making her arch an eyebrow at him. "Izzie's here, or did you forget? She's here and–"

"I couldn't get out of surgery." Briar defends, deciding not to point out that he was pissed at her this morning. Now isn't the time, and she doesn't really care about their argument anyway. "Alright, come on, let's go to Joe's. I'm buying."

She starts pulling him along, turning around right before they turn the corner to look at the boy she left behind. He looks confused, but not upset. Even if he was upset, Briar wouldn't choose him over Alex.

He's a pretty boy, one who she could actually see herself being friends with, but he's not Alex. He's not her person.

"Raincheck?" She mouths, Jackson nodding his head with a soft smile, and she forgets all about him in favor of drinking in silence the way they've perfected.

authors note:
i love cristina so much, but she needed brought down a peg. teddy & cristina's mentorship is one of my favorites in the whole show, she really takes the time to teach cristina about more than just medicine. a lot of cristina's character development can be tied back to teddy

izzie & george... im not a fan of either of them. izzie especially drives me crazy, especially when she blames everything on other people. she got herself fired: not percy, not alex, but herself. i was so happy when alex stuck up for himself and said he couldn't forgive her either. i'm just not a fan of the two of them.

briar is a character that is very opinionated and very stubborn, but also very loyal. she's not afraid to point out when a friend is being hypocritical, like with cristina, as friends shouldn't be. true friends are honest. she would want them to be honest with her: that's why she gets along with alex so well.

i know it might seem like briar's world revolves around alex, but it doesn't. they're very close friends & he's going through a hard time, so she's doing everything she can to be there for him. i promise she has a character aside from being alex's best friend

... anyone see the moment briar goes from calling him avery to jackson? ooohhhh, my girl loves a man with a sense of humor!!!