season 4 episode 3
veronica snuck out of her bedroom, that mark was still in and across the hall to alex's. she knocked gently.
"what?"
she walked in.
"i did something stupid," she admitted.
"come on," he sighed, moving so she could sit beside him.
"i slept with someone i probably shouldn't," she whispered.
alex laughed, "about time you got some."
"dude. i came here for help," she whined.
alex rolled his eyes, "ronnie, you have been through hell, you deserved to get some. it doesn't matter who."
"even if it was mark?"
"it was sloan?"
"maybe."
"it was going to happen eventually, we all knew it would," he told.
"please don't tell anyone."
"i won't."
veronica smiled, "thanks, alex."
veronica walked back into her room, grabbing the clothes she needed for the day. she nudged mark, waking him up.
"you gotta go," she whispered. "it's just i don't want the other to know just yet, because if they know derek knows. and it'll- i just- you gotta sneak out."
"what are we sixteen?" mark joked. his smile fell when he saw her serious expression. she stared at him, wide-eyed. "you're serious?"
"yeah. i just- it's- i- derek would freak and then there would be an expectation and i-"
mark nodded, sitting up, the sheet covering him slipping down. veronica glanced down, coughing slightly as it took a lot not to stare.
"okay. i'll sneak out."
---
veronica arrived at work, silently thanking god no one had caught mark sneaking out of the house that morning. well, except alex, but he had distracted the others so they wouldn't see. she was standing in a patient's room who was having part of her tongue removed and replaced with flesh from her leg. her interns were with her, answering the questions that she hit them with.
they were doing well, and veronica was proud, sure most of them were her age or older but she felt like they were her children and she was watching them not fuck up.
she directed a question at lexie.
"uh, the extra flesh will provide the bulk your tongue needs to breathe properly, chew, swallow," lexie answered.
"and talk?"
lexie paused, unable to think of a response.
"dr sloan...i'll be able to talk, won't i?" connie, the patient asked.
"you will be able to talk, connie. i just don't know how well you'll be understood," mark revealed, taking a pause between each sentence.
veronica sighed, it was not a good time to get people's hopes up, which mark had done for a few seconds. she watched connie's face light up just to fall.
her friends were comforting her.
---
veronica was overlooking her interns attempting to do some smaller procedures, that she ensured they didn't mess up when alex found her.
"really old guy woke up," he informed, before leaving the room.
"shit."
veronica oversaw the rest of her interns before making her way to really old guys room.
"this time tomorrow, you can call me really dead guy," she heard him say.
"mr yost, your awake," veronica exclaimed.
"guys, i don't think mr yost knows who you are," izzie told.
"sure i do. that's meredith. she and the brain doctor are always running hot and cold. and you're, uh, alex. you still got a thing for that old patient of yours?" charlie (aka mr yost) began. "and that's veronica, or sunshine, which the other one calls her. she has a thing for the plastic surgeon. i was semi-comatose, blondie. i could still hear you guys."
izzie ordered some tests.
---
veronica went to find george.
"really old guy woke up," she informed. "they think his kidney's rebooted or whatever. but he knows like everything we said in that room."
"yeah, i was nearby when he woke up."
mark was walking over as they spoke. veronica ignored how her face flushed and her heart sped up as he walked over. no one could know, so she took a deep breath.
"but he knows everything, it's weird," veronica added, pulling a chocolate bar out of her pocket. she took a bite just as mark reached the pair. she smiled as he began filling in a chart.
"oh, can i have some?" george asked.
veronica looked him dead in the eye and licked the bar, "sure."
"thanks," george responded, taking the bar from her. "licking it doesn't do anything, i grew up with brothers."
"and i grew up with addicts, your point?"
"it's just like kissing but with chocolate and no mouth to mouth contact."
"gross, give me back my chocolate, freak," she exclaimed, snatching the hershey's bar back. "you can't talk about growing up with brothers and then say that."
"wait you grew up with who?" george asked, just catching on.
"ugh, get with programme, georgie."
the chief interrupted, coming over, talking about some other procedure with muscles and a nerve graft. george asked what it was, the chief passing over the folder. veronica snatched it out of his hands, reading it. she wizzed through the first page as they spoke, moving on to the second. george watched her shocked.
"how-"
"i read like 20,000 words a minute," she informed, waving him off.
"they've only done a half a dozen of them," mark raised.
"better than none. sometimes you gotta push the envelope, sloan," richard reasoned.
veronica frowned, "why? why is it better to do a surgery that neither of you have done than to do a surgery that you know at least gives her a chance to have a normal life? do you know how to do this procedure?"
"are you saying that we're too old to learn new ways, jennings?" richard challenged.
she rolled her eyes, "you know what, sure."
she knew that this would mean they'd do the newer procedure, since he'd already made up his mind about what she really meant. she shrugged.
"are you saying we're old dogs who can't learn new tricks?"
"like i just said, sure."
"we're not old dogs," mark argued.
"we still got it."
"i'm sure you have," veronica responded.
"just because you're twenty-three doesn't mean you can call us old," richard reprimanded.
"twenty-four," she corrected. "i had a birthday. i'm a leo."
"wait, we missed your birthday?" george asked.
veronica glanced at him, "everyone missed my birthday because i never told anyone when it was. and you will miss it again."
mark stared at her for a second, his gaze lingering a bit too long. what was meant to be a second was elongated over a few more. he had flashbacks to the night before, his knuckles tightening on the pen he was holding as he coughed, shifting as he tried to blink away the images of her back arching and eyes rolling back in pleasure from underneath him.
god, he'd never wanted to drag her into an on-call room more to recreate the events from the night before.
veronica noticed his eyes on her, she saw the look and recognised it almost immediately. it helped his eyes were not on her face, but elsewhere. when his eyes moved back up to her face, they made eye contact. she smirked, her mind flashing with similar images.
she pulled her eyes away from him, beginning to read the file in front of her once again. this snapped mark out of it.
"i did do a functional muscle transfer to restore elbow function once," mark told.
"elbow, tongue... that's pretty close. come on. what do you say? let's light this candle." richard held out his fist.
"yes, sir." mark bumped his fist.
"age is just a number, jennings."
"yes, sir," she agreed.
veronica spread her interns across different areas. she had a few going to attend the surgery with her and a few in the clinic and er. she had them there under the watch of meredith.
---
veronica got put on the tongue surgery along with meredith. cristina, who had figured out she was still seeing derek was using the burke situation against her to get what she wanted and eventually get meredith to admit to her current situation-ship.
veronica watched in amusement as cristina pretended to be all gloomy, lying on the counter.
"i'll trade you the hemiglossectomy," meredith informed.
"what?"
"you take the hemiglossectomy, and i will take the er. and your interns," meredith repeated.
"are you sure?"
"take the surgery if it makes you feel better. you're starting to freak me out," meredith told before walking off.
veronica smiled, "you're good."
---
veronica was more than amused when she was checking on connie and she began going off on her friends. she insulted one of her friends clothing and ass, another breath and hair. it was brilliant. she then freaked out on the way down.
"you think they'll forgive me?"
"connie, i can't believe i'm saying this but you need to chill out. they'll forgive you. milk the cancer thing and it'll speed the whole process up," she reassured. "and maybe let them hit you back with a few insults."
---
they were in the surgery, discussing richard's date with adele and where they were going when mark paused.
"what happens next?" veronica asked.
"um..."
"you don't know?" veronica questioned. "is everything okay?"
"we're not sure."
"what does that mean?"
"it means we've never done this before."
veronica watched as they discussed the next step. she took a step back, closing her eyes, trying to visualise what she had read prior to the surgery. she was slowly going through the steps.
"we need an extra set of hands. someone who knows nerves," mark told.
they sent one of the interns to grab derek to help them. it was once they left that veronica's eyes snapped open.
"i remember."
"what, sweetheart?" mark asked.
"i read all the papers, processes, everything. i remember what they did but i don't want to mess it up, maybe we should wait for-"
"tell us."
veronica nodded, going through each of the steps from the very beginning. it was while she was doing this derek came in to help. he nodded at her.
"she's right," he told.
she continued going through the steps as the others followed what she said.
---
once the surgery was over they went to really old guy's room, who had died earlier that day while she was in surgery.
they stood around, all saying something nice about him.
"he listened," veronica remembered, unsure what to say about the guy she had never actually spoken to in a conversation. "and remembered who we were."
after that she left to treat connie, who's friend came in a bit later. veronica went to leave but heard her friends telling her the truth. they insulted her taste in men. veronica smiled, leaving them alone.
it was time for her to go home, order pizza and then sleep. she was stopped by mark.
"hey, i was thinking, maybe, we could-"
"veronica," a voice called. it was derek.
veronica took a step back from mark, turning to the voice.
"hey."
"you did good today," he told. "if it wasn't for you those two idiots would have sunk. they were in over their heads."
"hey-" mark began.
veronica chuckled, "i read the reports. it was no big deal-"
derek shook his head, "shut up."
"i'm sorry what-"
"take the compliment. veronica, you're smart. don't start the whole humble routine," he ordered.
"jesus-"
"you're twenty-three-"
"twenty-four, i had a birthday-"
"twenty-fourwith the brain of an attending, own it," he complimented.
"thanks but can we stop with the compliments, it makes me feel icky. insult me, restore the balance," she quipped.
"ronnie-"
"please. i feel yuck. i'm gonna get a big ego. take me down a couple pegs."
"you're not as funny as you think you are."
veronica paused, staring at derek, "that'll do it."
derek nodded, walking away.
veronica turned back to mark, "you were saying?"
"i can't believe you're twenty-three-"
"twenty-four-"
"not helpful. this is wrong. you're- i'm way older than you, veronica," he muttered.
"and yet you slept with me? what are you saying you regret it? you say you like me and can't stop thinking about me but you-"
"no. i don't regret it. i'm just now realising how many people will kill me if they find out," he sighed.
"so, they don't find out. it's pretty simple."
"do you wanna come home with me?" he asked.
veronica nodded.