Seattle Move

16. Big Brother Pt.3

The atmosphere inside Joe's bar was lively as Jackson, Ben and Alex sat huddled together at the corner table, deep in conversation about what happened today.

"I bet you it has something to do with the DC thing," Jackson said.

"No way," Alex denied as he took a swig of his beer, "Two dudes fighting is almost always over a chick. I bet you it has to do with Yang or something."

Alex, Ben and Jackson were hypothesizing the reasons for why Derek throttled Owen earlier, when the ginger came through the door, ice pack still to his jaw. Their eyes all met, and without a word, the trio knew what the other was thinking. Derek had beaten up Owen pretty bad. But why? It was unlike the neurosurgeon to lash out without a reason, and Owen was not the type to provoke anyone. They all looked over at the trauma surgeon, who was sitting alone at the bar, staring into his drink. They could see the bruises on his face and the distant look in his eyes.

The three friends walked over to the bar where Owen was sitting, pretending to order drinks, but in reality, they wanted to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Hey Hunt," Alex greeted the surgeon, "Didn't expect to see you here after the beating you took."

Owen looked at Alex and rolled his eyes. "Double scotch," he asked the bartender. When the man came back with his drink, he downed it all in one gulp, asking for another. Jackson and Alex watched with a bit of concern in their eyes; clearly the chief was having a really bad day.

"So what happened with you and Derek?" Ben prodded, getting straight to the point.

Owen's jaw tightened and he shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Jackson and Alex exchanged knowing looks. They could tell that he was hiding something. But instead of pressing him further, they changed the topic as they moved to play darts, hoping the light conversation would get Owen to open up.

"So, what do you guys think about girl Shepherd?" Ben teased with a Cheshire grin, knowing the two had taken a liking to the baby neurosurgeon. Jackson and Alex exchanged a knowing look and grinned. Derek's little sister, Amelia, had been a hot topic among the group lately. She had been catching the eye of many of the male doctors at the hospital over the last four months, including some female ones. In fact, they'd placed bets to see who'd get through to her first, but she hadn't entertained anyone since she'd gotten here. At least, not anyone they knew about.

"Oh yeah, she's hot, for sure," Jackson affirmed as he threw three darts in a row, "A little crazy, but good crazy. Feisty." Alex nodded in agreement, having had his fair share of cases with Amelia to see exactly how outlandish, yet brilliant, she could be at times.

"It's always the boy moms who are hottest," Ben informed the group, "Trust me, I'd know." He took the darts off the board and readied himself for his turn.

"That's true, all my male patients have banging moms," Alex chuckled, taking a sip of his beer, "How do you think she is in bed?"

"Probably amazing," Jackson replied with a sly grin, sipping his gin.

"I bet she's wild in bed," Alex chimed in, "She probably has all sorts of tricks up those sleeves."

Owen's face turned red and his grip on his drink tightened. "Stop talking about her like that," he grumbled, "She's not some object for you to fantasize about."

Jackson, Ben and Alex were taken aback by his sudden outburst. "What's your problem, Hunt?" Alex asked, going to the board to take the darts off.

"You don't know anything about Amelia. She's not like that," Owen snapped.