Aria tied her hair back quickly, fingers moving on autopilot as she shoved stray strands into place. The locker room buzzed with early morning chaos—metal doors slamming, voices overlapping, the distant echo of stretchers rolling through the halls above.
First day back.
New interns.
New responsibilities.
She exhaled slowly, steadying herself before pulling on her scrub cap and grabbing her clipboard.
This was it.
She stepped out into the hallway and found her group of interns waiting—four of them, all standing a little too stiff, a little too eager, a little too terrified.
God, that used to be her.
Aria's expression softened just slightly before she slipped into attending mode.
"Alright," she said, clapping her hands once, drawing their attention. "Welcome to your first day of being overworked, underpaid, and constantly wrong."
A few nervous laughs.
Good.
"At Seattle Grace Hospital, you don't think—you observe. You don't guess—you know. And if you don't know?" She tilted her head slightly. "You ask before you kill someone."
Now they looked terrified.
Perfect.
She gave them a small, reassuring smile. "Stick with me, and you might survive the day."
⸻
Later, Aria made her way down to the basement, where the other residents were already gathered, scattered across gurneys like they owned the place.
Her people.
Her chaos.
"I hate them," Cristina Yang announced immediately, arms folded, expression unimpressed.
Aria smirked slightly as she dropped onto the gurney beside Alex Karev.
"You don't hate them," Meredith Grey said calmly. "You hate you."
Cristina shrugged like she didn't care—but she didn't argue.
"That was hideous," Izzie Stevens groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "I feel like a fraud."
Alex smirked, completely unbothered. "I rocked it. I think I'm the new Nazi."
Aria let out a quiet scoff from where she was half sprawled beside him, one arm thrown over her eyes. "Oh, you are not the new Nazi."
Alex turned to her, mock offended. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," she muttered. "You're more like... a mildly aggressive babysitter."
Meredith snorted.
Alex nudged Aria's shoulder. "You're just jealous."
"Of what?" she shot back, lifting her arm just enough to glare at him. "Your personality?"
"Hey—"
"Meredith, I need to talk to you."
They all turned as George O'Malley approached, hovering awkwardly like he wasn't sure if he was welcome anymore.
"George. Hi!" Izzie said brightly, a little too brightly.
Aria watched the interaction quietly, her gaze flicking between them as tension settled into the room.
Izzie launched into her story before George could even respond.
"I didn't do much. I just... hung out alone. For seventeen days," she said, her voice laced with forced casualness. "Which, coincidentally, is the last time I saw any of you. The wedding. Which was—" she gestured vaguely, "—a disaster."
YOU ARE READING
Shooting Stars
Fanfiction"But he's Evil Spawn." "Don't you think I know that. I didn't wake up one day and suddenly decide I was going to be in love with Alex Karev." Being the daughter of a world renowned surgeon was never destined to be easy. The first born of the Grey tw...
