The season premiere of Grey's anatomy left me sadder than I thought I would be, so I decided to write this little one-shot, because other than some talking in the cafeteria Meredith didn't really talk about Lexie with anybody and I've always loved Meredith and Alex's relationship. So… here we go.
They hadn't hung out there in a very long time, but that's where they found themselves on the day after the one when everything was supposed to change… in the basement of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.
Alex Karev and Meredith Grey both fell down on a gurney. The same gurney they used to spend so much time on back when they were interns. He had a packet of Doritos and she was eating Reese's peanut butter cups.
"Tell me again why we're here?" he asked.
"To escape" she answered simply taking a bite of the sweet she had bought from the vending machine.
"Escape from what exactly?"
"Everything, anything… the interns who hate me"
"They do not hate you Mere"
"They call me Medusa, does that make you think they like me?"
"Why do you even care?"
She paused for a while enjoying the flavor of the chocolate mixed with the peanut butter, then turned to him and she said "I was one of them… we were both like them and I always told myself that I would not become an angry attending making the interns scared of me"
He ate some chips staying silent for a moment "you have every right to be angry Mere" he added then.
"I know I do, but it's not what I want to be… it's not who I want to be and besides, it's not their fault"
"Of course it isn't, but… let's face it, life treated you like crap. Whenever you got something it took it away from you and it's normal to be angry about it" he reassured her.
"The fact is that this is not who I am, I'm not an angry person… but I'm just so sad and I feel empty… I'm afraid I won't be able to live the life I had hoped to live... enjoy the happy moments with the people I love..."
"I know the feeling, believe me… but, hey even if I'm not Cristina or… well, or Lexie… you have me" he added after a little pause, feeling weird pronouncing her dead sister's name.
"I know I do... you're the brother I never had" she said sighing and putting her head on his shoulder. He put the chips down and put an arm around her shoulders trying to comfort her.
Sitting like that, close to one another in companionable silence the two of them had no idea they were being spied. Three of the new interns had been hiding in the basement and they had no idea about how to get out of the situation they had gotten themselves into.
"What should we do?" asked an alarmed Dr. Jo Wilson to the other two.
"Nothing… we just stay here and wait for them to leave" answered simply Dr. Shane Ross.
"What if they stay here all night long?" she went on "We have rounds at 6 a.m. and we wouldn't be able to sleep!"
"Calm down Jo… who in their right minds would spend the night here?" asked Dr. Heather Brooks.
"Nobody I guess, but they don't really look like they're in their right minds" whispered Shane.
"Do you think they're together?" asked Heather, feeling a little jealous of the way they were hugging each other.
Shane shook his shoulders uninterested in the topic "I don't know… she might be scary, but she's also hot, so I guess maybe…"
"Well, if they're together he's been cheating on her a lot" continued Heather.
"Do you have the hots for Dr. Karev?" asked Jo.
"Just so you know he's been screwing most of our class" added Shane.
"I know… but still… I hoped he didn't have a significant other"
"And maybe he doesn't" said Jo looking at the two of them again.
"What do we do now?" asked Meredith after a long while.
"We try to go on… together, like we always did… I guess there's only the two of us now, until Yang finally decides to ditch Mayo and the horrendous Minnesota weather" he answered.
She chuckled thinking about Cristina living in a place where it snowed so much, then got serious once more "I still cannot believe she's gone… I expect to see her coming out of every corner, smiling and talking excitedly about something…" she sighed.
"I know it hurts Mere, but… we have to believe she's someplace better than this…"
"Yeah… with her mom and my mom and… Mark, I guess…"
He just nodded.
"My sister is dead..." she whispered after a while "That's so unfair!"
"I know it is..." he whispered back trying to comfort her somehow.
"She didn't have the chance to ace her boards, she didn't marry the love of her life, she didn't have children with photographic memory who were a perfect mix of her and Mark..." a lone tear escaped her eye and Alex reached out and hugged her.
"Shhh... hey, it's all right Mere... I know it hurts, but Lexie wouldn't want to see you like this, you know that..."
She cried silently for a few minutes, wetting his scrubs in the process "I know she wouldn't... she was such a happy girl... why would something so horrible happen to her? She didn't deserve this..."
"Life isn't fair Mere, we both know that... we just have to hope she's in a better place right now... she's not hurting anymore and she can spend eternity with Sloane"
She nodded, her eyes wet with unshed tears.
"What do you say we get out of here?"
"That might be a wise idea..." she conceded him, stealing a couple of his chips.
"Where are your husband and child?"
"Zola is having a playdate with Sofia and Tuck, Callie will pick her and Sofia up and she'll bring her home later, after dinner... and I don't know where Derek is, I was a complete idiot yesterday... I don't think he's forgiven me quite yet..."
"Maybe he hasn't, but he will... let's go look for him and take him for a drink... I think the man needs one!"
"Yeah, you're right..."
They both got up and threw the packages in the trash can, before they left the basement.
"Wow..." Jo looked at the other two "Did you guys know she was married and had a kid?"
They both shook their heads "She must have lost her sister recently..." added Shane.
"Yeah... maybe in the plane crash everybody knows about, but nobody talks about" added Heather.
"Would you go around talking about a plane crash that left you in the woods for almost a week if you were her?" asked Jo looking bewildered.
"Probably not..." she answered.
"Let's get out of here before they come back" said Shane.
"Yeah... let's go for a drink maybe" proposed Heather.
"I'm in" they both answered.
"Let's see if anybody else wants to join us" added Shane.
Half an hour later the three interns had joined the rest of their group at Joe's bar, finding the two attendings they had been spying on sitting at a table close to theirs with other attendings.
"I'll go buy the next round!" exclaimed Alex getting up.
"I'll help you with the drinks!" added Owen getting up with him, followed by Jackson.
Meredith and Derek were the only two left at the table, they exchanged a nervous look.
"I'm sorry about yesterday" she started to say, he kept looking at her encouraging her to go on "I was selfish, I should have stayed with you... Mark was your best friend and losing him was more important than trying to get on a stupid plane..."
He nodded drinking the last of his scotch "I know Lexie's death was very hard on you Mere..."
"It was..." she whispered.
"I wish I could ease your pain" he added touching the side of her face.
"I wish the same... I know Mark was like a brother to you"
He just nodded "We have to be there for one another... it's the only way we'll be able to get past this..."
"I know... Alex said that they're probably together now... I like to think that..."
"I like to think that too..." he gave her a small smile "I'm just so sad thinking Sofia will grow up without a dad and Zola will only have faint memories of her auntie Lexie and uncle Mark..."
"Yeah, me too. I guess it's up to us to help them remember them both!"
"It is..." he answered, finally gathering her into his arms and hugging her close.
"I love you so much" she whispered in his ear.
"And I love you" he whispered back looking intently into her eyes.
They both leaned into one another, slowly, almost in slow motion...their lips came into contact and it was like a jolt of electricity was exchanged between them.
The kiss was sweet and tender at first, but also full of hope and love. They were gonna make it, as long as they had each other.
After it had ended they locked eyes and smiled slightly.
"We'll get through this" he promised her hugging her small body once more.
"I know..." she whispered back.
Than the other three attendings came back with the next round of drinks and they all toasted to Lexie and Mark. They would never be forgotten.
"Who knew Medusa had such great taste..." murmured Stephanie looking at the other interns.
The others just shook their shoulders, but Jo spoke up "We shouldn't call her that..."
"Yeah, she's right... it's a horrible nickname!" added Heather while Shane nodded.
"What's up with you three?"
"Nothing… we just happened to have been in the basement earlier and we heard Grey and Karev talk. From what we've gathered her life has been horrible recently, she has every right to be cranky… so we're not calling her that anymore!" answered Jo, as the other two kept on nodding.
"All right… there's no need to get mad at us… we'll give her one more chance then!" smiled Stephanie.
"We should" said Heather, the three of them had decided not to tell about what they had found out. If Dr. Grey wanted to she could share her experience with their fellow interns.
They all clinked their glasses together, celebrating their new friendship, hoping for a future full of success and happiness.
When five weeks later Meredith and Derek found out they were expecting twins they were overjoyed. It seemed like everybody was slowly getting back to normal... Cristina had abandoned Mayo, she had come back to Seattle and she was fixing things with Owen. April was repeating her fifth year of residency, this time without the stress of being Chief Resident and trying to build a relationship with Jackson. Arizona was learning to walk with a prosthetic leg, she was looking forward to go back to work with Alex soon, she was enjoying every moment with Sofia and Callie, because life was too short to hold grudges, Mark's death had taught her that. Alex had decided to call Izzie, ask her how she was doing and, surprisingly enough, she had passed her boards as well and she was willing to come back to Seattle. Everybody was rooting for them to be able to work things out.
When the twins were born, a month earlier, on January 27th it appeared like a sign from heaven that they were a boy and a girl. They both had Meredith's blond hair and Derek's deep blue eyes. Zola was thrilled about becoming a big sister and Sofie started to ask about a little brother as well. It only made sense to call them Alexandra and Marcus, after the aunt and uncle they would never meet, but they would hear everything about!
The ending was quite sappy, I know... but I'm a sucker for happy endings... I think the guys at SGMW have had enough bad luck for two or three lifetimes! :) Let me know what you think... press the pretty blue button!