Disclaimer: If I owned Mark Sloane do you really think I'd be online writing this?

Author's Note: I think I may have made Mark too nice here, but I think that in this situation he'd leave the smarmy comments at home and do what he could to help those around him. Also I just rewatched that ending scene and I'm not sure that Sloane was in the OR with George, but I think it would've made sense with George's face being banged up so much. So just pretend he was for the sake of the story. haha. Anyway, this is my first stab at Grey's Anatomy fanfiction so let me know what you think.

Mark Sloane, the man who always knew what to do, was at an utter loss as he listened to Owen Hunt's cracked voice announce George O'Malley's time of death.

He watched as his best friend pried Meredith Grey off of O'Malley's body, sobs wracking her body. His other best friend, George's ex-wife, was crying herself – a fact that scared Sloane more than the sounds of Meredith's sobs. Owen Hunt, a grown man who had seen and experienced firsthand the atrocities of war, seemed on the brink of tears himself. All Mark knew was that he wanted to get the hell out of that OR.

He stepped out into the hallway and ripped off his scrub cap and gloves. He rubbed his face tiredly. When he removed his hand, he saw Lexie standing at the nurses' station down the hall writing in a chart. He knew then what he had to do. He had to go tell Lexie.

He strode down the hallway and stepped up next to her. Lexie glanced up at him and rolled her eyes. "What, do you have more houses to show me that you're going to buy without me?"

"Lexie," Mark started, his voice hoarse.

Hearing this, she immediately looked up with a furrowed brow. "What's wrong?"

"I have to tell you something."

"Okay," she said cautiously, scanning his face for any indication of what was going on.

"Come on," he said softly. He grabbed her elbow and led her to an empty on-call room.

"Okay you're starting to scare me. What's wrong, Mark?" Lexie asked as he shut and locked the door behind them.

He motioned for her to sit on the bed, and once she did he knelt down in front of her. "We just took John Doe into emergency surgery. He didn't make it."

Lexie frowned and ran her hand through Mark's hair in a comforting gesture. "That's awful. But why are you making such a big deal about telling me this?"

Mark looked down at the floor. "Because, he's not just John Doe." He looked up into her eyes. "It was George O'Malley."

Tears instantly sprang to her eyes as she shook her head furiously. "No, no, that's not possible. How could that be George? No."

Mark swallowed thickly and took her hands into his own. "He enlisted in the army, and when he told the Chief, he gave George the day off to spend with his mother before shipping off. I guess he was on his way home when…"

The unspoken words hung in the air and Lexie let out a strangled sob. Mark squeezed her hands. "Somehow, he told Meredith that it was him, but by the time we got him into surgery again… We did everything we could but there was just too much damage."

Mark brought himself up and held her tight against him as she cried. Mark had never been one to comfort crying women. Especially not a woman crying over another man. But this was Lexie, and he knew that he'd do just about anything to make sure she never had any reason to cry like this again.

After awhile, Lexie leaned out of his embrace and wiped her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mark. I know you hate crying women. And I'm crying on your shoulder about a guy I used to have a crush on! God, I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

Mark resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her rambling. "Don't be ridiculous, Lexie. I'm always here for you. You know that."

Lexie smiled a watery smile and leaned up to kiss him. "You really are a better woman than I am."

Mark frowned at that, but decided now was not a time to start an argument. "Let's get out of here."

"But my shift doesn't end for another three hours."

Mark shrugged. "Screw it. I'm sure the Chief will understand. He'll probably be sending a lot of people home instead of having them practice medicine while they're distracted by… all this." Lexie nodded and they stood. "I'll meet you outside the locker room in ten minutes," he said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

Ten minutes later, Lexie emerged from the intern's locker room dressed and ready to leave. Mark put his arm around her shoulders. They headed for the elevators, but were stopped by the chief's voice. "Sloane! Grey!"

Mark cursed under his breath as they turned to face him. "Chief," he acknowledged with a curt nod.

The Chief took in their somber appearance and Lexie's red-rimmed eyes and sighed sadly. "So I see you two already heard."

Mark looked at him, confused. "I was there, sir."

The Chief looked back at him with an equal look of confusion. "No you weren't."

"I was in the OR when it happened, Chief. You can check the paperwork if you like," Mark answered apprehensively, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"The OR? I was referring to Stevens, what are you referring to?"

Mark didn't have to look over at Lexie to know that fresh tears were forming in her eyes. "Izzie? She… she died?"

The Chief merely nodded, unable to verbally confirm Lexie's statement. Mark could tell that the Chief hadn't been updated on the John Doe situation. He turned to Lexie and handed her his keys. "Do you mind pulling the car around front? I'll be out as soon as I can," he said softly. Lexie wordlessly took the keys. He kissed her temple and she headed for the elevators.

The Chief watched Lexie's retreating back and turned to Mark. "If you two hadn't heard about Stevens yet, then what's Grey so torn up about?"

"Sir, can we speak in your office for a moment?" Mark asked.

"Sure."

The two men proceeded to the glass-walled office in silence. The Chief could tell from Mark's tired eyes and tight jaw that he wouldn't be getting any answers until they were behind closed doors. Once the Chief was seated at his desk and Mark across from him, the Chief asked, "What's going on?"

Mark fidgeted in his seat. He had never enjoyed this part of the job, the relaying the bad news part of the job. He preferred handing a mirror to a patient and seeing their reaction to seeing their own face for the first time. He did not enjoy delivering this kind of news.

"The John Doe patient that was hit by a bus? We lost him," Mark started.

The Chief nodded slowly. "His injuries were very extensive. We knew this outcome was more than likely."

Mark ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Before we took him into surgery again, he communicated with Grey. Big Grey. Meredith." The Chief nodded. "John Doe was George O'Malley, sir," he blurted out. The Chief looked shell shocked, and Mark could tell he was on the verge of getting emotional. "Dr. Hunt called the time of death." The Chief seemed to choke on the air he was breathing at the word death. "He could probably give you a more detailed report of what happened." The Chief nodded, trying to process this new information. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get going. Lex, I mean Dr. Grey was close with O'Malley, they used to be roommates, and I think it's best if she go home now."

"Of course. We all need a little time to process all of this. I don't want any patients getting improper care because the staff is too distracted by… recent events to work properly." Mark nodded and headed for the door. As he was turning the handle, the Chief said, "Mark? Thank you for taking the time to tell me."

Mark nodded before slipping out the door. He went to the front entrance of the hospital, where Lexie was waiting for him in the car. She had left it on but had moved to the passenger seat. Mark got into the driver's seat and buckled his seatbelt. "You okay?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean, I don't know. Can we just go? To the hotel," she added quickly. "Not to Meredith's. I don't think I can deal with all that right now. I just want to be with you."

Mark grabbed her hand and brushed a kiss along her knuckles. "Of course," he whispered. He held her hand the entire drive to the hotel.

Once they got up to his room, Lexie collapsed in exhaustion onto his bed. Mark kneeled down and took off her shoes before taking off his own shoes and jacket and joining her. Lexie watched him do all of this, and asked him, "Why are you being so amazing right now?"

Mark mustered up the best smirk he could given the circumstances as he laid down next to her and pulled her to him. "I'm always amazing, Lex," he replied and kissed her deeply.

Lexie smiled and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I'm serious. Earlier today you were mad at me, and now you're taking care of me. What happened?"

"You know what happened," he said softly. "You know if I could do anything to make this better for you I would."

Lexie smiled sadly. "But you can't. It's just… life is so short, you know?"

"It is," he agreed. "Which is why I don't want to wait ten years to move in with you."

Lexie sat up and groaned. "Really? We're going to have this conversation now?"

Mark sat up as well. "You're the one that just said that life is short! And you want to spend the next 10 years of it crammed up in Meredith's attic instead of living with me?"

Lexie hopped off the bed and started pacing. "What does it even matter? We both work like ninety hours a week."

"Exactly," Mark said. "We're almost always at the hospital. Wouldn't it be easier if we were coming home to the same place to have really great sex and pass out for a few hours before our next shift?"

Lexie rolled her eyes. "We spend nearly every night together already."

"Exactly!" Mark exclaimed. "If you just stop pacing and move in with me, everything would be a lot easier."

Lexie stopped pacing and instead stood a few feet away from him with her hand on her hip. "Don't mock my pacing. You're making me nervous."

"You're making me nervous!" Mark countered. His tone grew softer as he continued. "Lex, if today's shown us anything, it's that life is short. One of us could get cancer, or I could get hit by a bus."

Lexie immediately frowned and walked across the room to stand between his legs. "No! If you see a bus coming at me, you have to promise me that you'll just let it hit me. Do not push me out of the way and get hit yourself, Mark Sloane," she demanded.

Mark looked at her disbelievingly. "Lexie, please."

"I'm serious!" she shouted. "Promise me." She held our her pinky, waiting for him to pinky swear his promise.

He instead looped his arms around her waist. "This conversation has taken a very morbid turn," he teased.

"Mark."

Mark rolled his eyes and took one of his arms out from behind her back. "I promise," he said as he linked pinkies with her. She quickly grabbed his other hand and pulled it out from behind her.

"You were crossing your fingers!"

Mark couldn't help but laugh at how serious she was taking this. "Lexie, just move in with me. Please?"

Lexie's expression changed from one of annoyance to one of amusement in two seconds flat. "Are you begging me to move in with you?"

Mark looked at her sternly. "I did not beg, I simply said the word please."

"I'm pretty sure the word please is a key part of begging."

Mark frowned at her teasing. Lexie laughed and kissed him lightly. "I'm not yet sold on the idea, but I'll think about it."

Mark looked up at her. Even though she was laughing and smiling, he could still see the sadness of George and Izzie in her eyes. "Fine. Let's get some sleep. I'm exhausted."

Mark simply fell back onto the bed, pulling Lexie with him. He waited until he heard her deep even breathing indicating that she had fallen asleep before he let himself fall asleep himself. He shut his eyes tight to block out the image of George's flatline, Meredith's crumbled body as she sobbed, Callie's face near tears, the Chief as he found out he had lost not one but two good doctors that day, and most of all, Lexie's small frame as she shook with silent sobs on the way back to the hotel.

It was a lot to not think about.