This is my first Grey's Anatomy story, but I have done quite a few for Hawaii Five-0. I have only recently started watching GA (I know, I know) and I'm hooked; Especially with the Mark and Lexi story…..and the Mark and Callie "best friends with benefits" relationship.

The idea for this story came to me yesterday and I couldn't wait to sit down and write. I hope you like it.

BTW, this will most likely only be 2-3 chapters long, but we'll see what happens. ;)

DISCLAIMER: I have no copyright claims to Grey's Anatomy or any characters. This is simply a story of my over-active imagination. ;)

ALSO…The story will deal with the subject of domestic abuse in someone's past. Just wanted to forewarn you in case that is a sensitive subject for you.

Please let me know what you think!

*********GA***********GA******************GA

Dr. Mark Sloan was sound asleep in one of the deepest sleeps he'd had in a while. He'd come off a 30-hour shift….including 3 surgeries…..and was "bone tired" (meaning it was the kind of exhaustion you felt all the way to your bones.)

All he wanted was sleep.

The incessant ringing of his phone woke him up, though, and he was not happy.

It was the "ringtone" he'd assigned to Callie, however, so he knew he had to answer. He groaned before turning over to pick his phone up reluctantly. He was still half asleep as he looked at the screen briefly and hit the "Talk" button.

"This better be good, Torres. I am tired. Actually, I'm beyond tired and just want to sleep. Do you know what I've done in the last 30 hours?!"

"I know….I know. But Mark, I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't important."

Mark propped himself up on one elbow and tried to open his eyes a little wider. Callie was right; She knew his schedule and knew what he'd been through that day. She had even been with him on one of the surgeries requiring both of their expertise.

"Okay, so what's going on?" He asked.

"A trauma victim was just brought in. She's beaten up pretty severely; Contusions, lacerations, some broken bones. She even has a couple of teeth knocked out. We're going to have to do a CT scan to see if there is any internal bleeding or anything else we can't see on the surface."

Mark felt himself begin to fume. If there was one thing he hated it was when a man laid his hands on a woman out of anger, frustration, or whatever other lame excuse he came up with.

"I'm working on setting and taping her broken ribs and casting her wrist," Callie continued. "But she's going to need some plastic surgery. Otherwise, she's going to have some nasty scars. Depending on what the CT shows, we may have to call Derek in, too."

Mark heard her take in a breath as if trying to calm herself down before speaking again, "The lacerations on her face are bad, Mark. I mean…bad. She is traumatized, so I thought maybe you could look at her and maybe put her at ease that you'll be able to fix it. Then, you can go back to get some sleep and we'll deal with all of it tomorrow. I'd just like to give her some hope that things will be okay. I will owe you….bigtime. Just name it, and I'll do whatever you want to pay you back."

Callie heard Mark sigh on the other line. He didn't need bribery from his closest friend to listen to her request. He would already do anything for Callie.

However, in this case, he had to ask because he heard the concern in Callie's voice: "She's that bad?" he asked softly.

"Yes. This is one of the worst ones I've seen. Please, Mark. I'm really sorry to wake you, but it'll only take a few minutes to calm her down, I think."

Callie rarely asked for favors of this nature, so since he'd had a good 3 hours of sleep, he would consider it a "power nap". He started lifting himself up to get out of bed to brush his teeth and get dressed.

"Give me 15 minutes and I'll be there."

He heard her sigh of relief, "Thank you."

************GA********************GA*****************GA

True to his word, Mark Sloan walked in to Trauma 1 thirteen minutes and forty seconds later…..even though he was still tired and trying to fully wake up.

Callie was there to meet him and quickly handed him the patient's chart for his review. Mark opened it and started his routine perusal of the specific injuries, the patient's preliminary medical stats, and other information he might need to know. What it told him, in short, was that this woman had suffered a hell of a night.

Once he reviewed everything, his gaze moved upward to see the name of the victim; He always liked to call them by name to put them at ease…Especially after a trauma like this one where a female had been assaulted and was going to instinctively 'close up' as soon as a male doctor walked in.

Many people, or at least those who didn't know him well, might consider Mark Sloan a "womanizer"….but in cases like this one, he felt a very protective instinct towards his patients and wanted to put them at ease from the get-go. A man who assaulted women was one thing that just pissed him off…so he did whatever it took to protect them and give them some confidence back.

He saw the name of the patient and froze.

Morgan Grace Matthews-Age 38.

He read on a little further: Birthdate: July 23rd

He unconsciously took a step backwards as he continued to look at the chart.

No way.

It couldn't be the same one.

Or could it?

What were the chances of two women being named "Morgan Grace Matthews" who were the same age and shared the same birthday?

He cast a quick glance towards the room to get a look but a curtain had been pulled around to give her some privacy from anyone wandering by.

Could it possibly be her?

If so, the first question on Mark's mind was….What the hell was she doing beat up and needing plastic surgery in his hospital? And second…..Who would do this to Morgan?

He noticed Callie watching him with curiosity. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?" she asked.

Instead of answering her question, he asked his own, "Who brought her in?"

The question caught her off guard. "Uh…..I think paramedics brought her in. I'm not sure. Why?"

Mark shrugged it off. "Doesn't matter. Come on….Let's see what we've got."

He tried to enter the exam room with the same confidence he always did, but he felt shaken. He pulled back the curtain and stepped forward.

What he saw both shocked and infuriated him….Literally shaking him to his core.

It was Morgan.

The same Morgan who had attended college with all of them. When they all moved on to med school, she went into Law. She and Mark had dated for a while back then and there was a time Mark was convinced he'd been in love with her. Derek sometimes still teased him about Morgan being "the one who got away".

Hearing the curtain open, she turned from the nurse and Mark saw her eyes grow wide in recognition as they rested on him. Mark stilled too: Even through the swollen eye, swollen jaw, and cuts on her face, he could still see "her" in there…..It was in her eyes….She'd always had the most beautiful eyes; They were crystal blue with little hints of green and long lashes that use to bring him to his knees.

"Mark?" she asked in surprise as she tried to push herself up a little on the bed. Her attempt was short lived, though, because the pain was more intense than she had figured.

Mark quickly stepped up beside the bed and took one of her hands in his. "Yeah, it's me…..Don't try to get up." Once she had settled back down and her pain had subsided somewhat, he asked, "What happened, honey? Who did this to you?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "I can't tell you that, Mark," she whispered.

Mark sat down on the bed beside her and kept holding her hand. "Yes...you can. Talk to me…..Who did this?"

Morgan knew Mark was tenacious when he wanted something, so he wouldn't give up until she told him. Besides, if she was going to tell anyone, it might as well be Mark; Someone she'd loved at one time and still thought about every now and then.

She took in a deep breath trying to calm down, but her voice was still shaky when she spoke. "His name is Jason Elliott."

Mark felt her hand quivering as she said it and a mixture of heartache and anger boiled inside him; Heartache that she was so scared and anger towards whomever had done this to her.

He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb trying to calm her down and ease her fears. "Who is Jason Elliott?" He tried not to sound menacing, but it was difficult to do so. Whoever he was, Mark had every intention of hunting him down and kicking his ass as soon as possible.

"My boyfriend. Well, actually I guess he would be my ex-boyfriend."

"Tell me what happened" Mark's voice was soft….but firm….and Morgan couldn't help but notice how that hadn't changed much over the years: Mark was always one to take charge and be in control. So it was no surprise that rather than asking her to tell him what happened…..he told her to tell him with every expectation that she would follow his lead.

She would have to tell them eventually, she reasoned, so she might as well get it over with.

"Jason came here for a conference. Or he said it was a conference anyway. I've had some suspicions about him cheating on me so I surprised him by showing up to see if I was right.….I found them at a hotel….right in the middle of….." She looked up at Mark and saw a flash of anger in his eyes. "Well anyway, I found them….together."

"And then what?"

"I confronted him…asked him how he was enjoying his 'conference'. It didn't take long for his 'girlfriend' to run out as fast as she could which left us in the room alone together."

She looked up at Mark with eyes pleading him to understand and not jump to conclusions.

"I started it, Mark" she began. "I'm the one who started it….I was screaming and calling him every name in the book and…and…This is my fault because I started it and..…"

"Stop!" Mark said a little louder than he'd intended causing her to wince. Noticing his mistake right away, he softened his voice again and lifted his fingers to rub her cheek, "This is not your fault! I don't want to hear you say 'you started it' anymore. Understand?"

She shook her head but stayed quiet.

"Good girl." He gave her a soft smile. "Now, we're going to need to run some tests…and then we can give you something to help you sleep tonight. We should be able to tell more about what we need to do in the morning."

Tears came to her eyes again. She didn't have to look in the mirror to know her injuries were bad. "Am I ever going to look the same again?"

Mark felt his heart break again.

"You're going to be more gorgeous than ever, honey, I promise. You're in good hands." He winked at her and Morgan knew he was right; Mark Sloan may be her old 'college boyfriend' but he was also one of the most renowned plastic surgeons in the country. If anyone could help her, it would be him.

For the first time in several hours, she began to calm down and feel as if everything would be okay.

"I'll be right back," Mark said before walking back into the hallway with Callie. As soon as they were out of earshot, Callie asked the burning question.

"You know her?"

Mark sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah. Morgan went to college with Derek and I…and Addison, Sam, and the rest of our group. She was my 'college girlfriend'."

Not what Callie had been expecting...but okay.

"So what happened between you?" Callie asked.

Mark shrugged, "We were young…..and headed in different directions with our careers….so it just sort of 'ended."

Interesting, Callie thought.

"I'm going to call Derek," Mark said. "I want him down here as soon as possible to look at her scans and see if we need to do anything else."