My new story! As the summary says, it starts two months before the plane disaster. I only made one change, Mark and Lexie are back together. Enjoy!

The Broken Padlock

Chapter One

-Loud Shock-

Callie and Arizona were in the kitchen of their apartment, cleaning up after their family dinner. Two-year-old Sofia had just fallen asleep, and they had a nice movie night planned, just the two of them.

"What do you want to watch first, The Matrix or Harry Potter?" Arizona asked after drying the last plate.

"It's the same for me, but I can see you're impatient to watch Harry Potter for the thousandth time, aren't you?" Callie winked.

"You're right, I can't help it."

"I know. Hurry, I want to hold you in my arms."

They got comfortable on the couch, with a blanket covering their legs and close to one another.

Arizona hit 'play' on the TV remote, and the movie started. A pleasant sigh escaped her lips as she rested her body against Callie's.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?" a loud voice suddenly popped their peaceful bubble.

"It's Mark!" Callie exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "I thought Lexie was with Meredith tonight."

"NO, YOU'RE JUST A FUCKING FUCKED UP LIAR!" Mark yelled again, making the two women wince again.

"Okay, there's no way Mark would talk to Lexie like this."

"Let's go see." Callie took Arizona's hand and they walked to Mark's apartment.

The door was half-open and they entered cautiously.

"Mark?"

Mark was standing in the middle of the room, talking – yelling – in direction of a woman, who was crying silently. A young girl was a few steps away, watching.

"Who are they?" the woman asked softly.

"They're my friends." Mark spat out harshly. "My daughter's mothers."

"I'm Callie, and she's Arizona, my wife."

"I'm Elizabeth." she said, wiping her face. Trembling, she placed her hand on the back of a chair to sustain herself.

"And that girl is her daughter." a livid Mark explained. "Who apparently is also mine."

"What?" Arizona was unable to hide her shock.

"I never told Mark I was pregnant." Elizabeth continued. "I didn't think he would be capable of being a father. I made the choice for him, I know, but I can't change the past."

"So you're trying to make up for it now?" Callie asked, feeling angry. Mark was a wonderful dad. "You're granting him the choice after what," she glanced at the girl. "Fifteen years?"

"I'm dying. I could die at any moment, and I need Mark to sign some papers that say he's Mel's father. I need to make sure she'll be with someone who can take care of her."

"And how can you be sure of that?" Callie challanged her. "You didn't think he could back then."

"Because he's her father, and he's the best out of all the possibilities I have now." Elizabeth answered, then swallowed, sitting on the chair. "He said you have a daughter with him. Is he good with her?"

"He's amazing with her." Arizona spoke up.

"Then I'm making the right choice."

"Mom, I don't want to stay here." Mel's whining voice was heard for the first time.

Elizabeth smiled. "Trust me, honey. You'll be good here." then she gasped for air, and fell to the ground.

"Mom!" Mel cried, launching herself towards her mother.

Arizona called an ambulance while Callie tried to help Elizabeth. Mark, frozen, hadn't moved.

The ambulance arrived, covering Mel's shrieks.

Arizona put her hand on Callie's forearm. "I'll stay with Sofia, you go. Call me when you know something."

Callie nodded, following the paramedics with Mel and Mark at her heels.

"Mel, what kind of illness does your mother have?"

The girl took her time answering, scared, trembling. "Colon cancer."

"Okay. Don't worry, alright? We're surgeons. There are plenty of amazing doctors at Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital."

"We're going to Seattle Pres, Dr. Torres. It's closer."

"Page Bailey." Mark ordered. "And Meredith."

Elizabeth regained consciousness as they were pushing her gurney through the hospital doors. She grasped Mark's wrist, causing him to wince, and looked him straight into his eyes. "My bag... the papers... sign, Mark... please."

He nodded.

"Promise."

"I promise. I will. I'll sign. She'll be safe and happy with me."

Then Elizabeth turned to look at her daughter. "I love you, Mel."

"Mom! Mom, I love you too. Stay strong." she said kissing her cheek.

"I'm Dr. Davies." a male doctor approached them quickly. "I'm going to take her into surgery immediately. I'll send someone to update you soon."

Elizabeth was brought away to the surgical wing, and Mark collapsed on one of the impersonal and uncomfortable chairs of the waiting room, his face hidden in his palms.

Callie tried to lead Mel to another chair, but the girl, sobbing hard, pushed her away.

"Mel, we won't know anything for a while." Callie told her softly. "Why don't you try and calm down? I'm going to get you something to drink. Is a coke okay?"

Mel didn't answer, but Callie walked away anyway, coming back five minutes later with a can of coke, two bottles of water and a pack of chips. Mel was now sitting two chairs away from Mark; she was still crying, but quietlier. Callie handed her the can, smiling weakly when she took it. She sat down beside her. "Don't worry too much. Everything is going to work out."

"Even if she dies?"

"Not immediately, but eventually yes. One day you'll just look back and smile at the memories, and it won't hurt as much as it does now."

Mel was about to say something in answer, but the brief dialogue was intterupted by Bailey's arrival.

"I'm here, I'm here. Meredith couldn't come. What happened?"

Callie quickly told her who Elizabeth was and why she was being operated, and Miranda agreed to help Dr. Davies if he let her.

Mark jumped on his feet as she left. "I'm going to the gallery, I can't stay here and do nothing. Can you, can you keep an eye on Elizabeth's bag? The papers are in it. I'll sign them later." then he looked at his daughter, as it slowly really sank in. "I'm really sorry about everything, Mel. Please, stay here with Callie. I'll be back soon."

"Well, this leaves just us." Callie said, looking through the papers Mark was talking about. "Melanie Roslyn Marshall. It's a beautiful name. Hey, look." she took her wallet, showing a photograph. "This is your little sister, Sofia. She's two years old."

Hesitantly, Mel took it from her hand, staring at the little girl's face. "She's cute."

"I don't really know what your mother's doctors told her, and how spread her cancer is... but whatever happens, Mel, you'll alwayas have Mark. He may be a stranger to you now, and vice versa, but he's a great dad and he already loves you, of that I'm sure. He surely started to love you the second your mom told him you're his daughter."

"I grew up just fine without a dad." Mel replied.

Callie looked at her, smiling softly. "Having a dad is more than just fine."


It had been more than a hour, and no one had looked for them yet, not even Mark. Mel was starting to agitate again, sniffing from time to time, and Callie, worried about her best friend, was out of topics that could distract the teenager.

"I'm going to call my wife really briefly, okay? I'll be right back."

Looking for a private corner, she took out her cellphone and dialed her house number, waiting to hear Arizona's voice.

"Hey." she said, softly.

"Hey. We don't know anything. We're at Seattle Pres because it was the closest, we paged Miranda and Mark is in the gallery watching."

"How's the girl?"

"Mel? She's calmer, but the lack of information is killing her. I've been telling her about Sofia and other stuff to distract her, but I don't know what more I can say. I keep thinking about Elizabeth's face the moment before she fell."

"I know." Arizona said sadly. "I really hope she makes it."

"Me too."

"Look, I was about to call you actually. Meredith got called in so Lexie stopped by to see Mark. I told her he was out with a friend from med school but I think she knows it's a lie. Should we say something?"

Callie sighed. "I don't know. I don't want to be the one to tell her. I don't want her and Mark to break up again."

"Why don't you go up to the gallery and see what's happening?" She suggested. "If Elizabeth dies Mel will need Mark, and Mark will need Lexie. Sure, you'll be there, but Lexie should be there as well. I think you should call her just in case, and if it's bad than you could tell her."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll see how Elizabeth is, and if she's okay then I'll tell Mark to call her tomorrow. If the situation is bad, I'll call Lexie. God, this is so hard. I don't know what to do."

"Just stay calm and try to be strong. Sofia and I will be waiting for you."

Callie glanced towards Mel. "Mark is here, I need to go. Crap, he looks awful. I'll call you later."

"I love you. Bye."

Callie quickly walked back to where Mel and Mark were, just as Mel burst into tears and Mark tried to hug her. Oh God, no.

"Mark!"

Mel stood up and started to hit Mark on his chest. "I hate you! You made her last minutes miserable. You're the most horrible person I have ever met! I'd rather die than live with you!"

Callie grabbed her, pulling her to her chest and holding her tight. "It's okay, Mel. It's gonna be okay. Shhh."

Mel was sobbing hard, and though she tried to pull away, after a while she let Callie stroke her hair and rock her back and forth.

Looking up at Mark, Callie noticed he'd been crying. She watched as he reached for the papers she had left on the chair, took out a pen and signed his name a few times, where it was needed. Now he was Mel's father.

"Mark." Callie whispered after a while. "Let's go home, okay? We can come back tomorrow morning so that Mel can see Elizabeth one last time."

He nodded, clearing his throat a few times. "Bailey said she'd wait for us outside, she'll drive us home."

"Okay. Maybe we should go now." gently, she helped Mel to stand up, keeping her arm steadily wrapped around her shoulders. It was raining outside, so they got quickly into Miranda's car. The drive was extremely silent, except for Mel's agonizing sobs and Mark's occasional sighs. When Bailey stopped the car in front of their building, Callie gently led the teenager out of the vehicle.

"I'm really sorry about Elizabeth." Bailey said to them, looking slightly guilty. Callie didn't know how to reply. "I'll call tomorrow to check on you, alright?"

Mark managed to give her a weak nod, and she drove away in the night. Callie looked at the time: it was almost eleven, and though she was used to stay awake for a big amount of time, she felt incredibly exhausted. Entering the elevator, she glanced at Mark. He somewhat resembled a ghost, and she could almost feel his pain.

Before going to her own apartment, Callie opened the door to Mark's, and she gasped in surprise seeing Lexie on the couch, a book in her hands.

"Here you are! What happened? I knew Arizona was lying. Who's that girl?"

Again, Callie glanced at Mark, slowly letting go of Mel. "Mark, why don't you fix up the bed in the spare room for Mel? And show her the bathroom, she must need to freshen up. I'll talk to Lexie, okay?"

When he and Mel disappeared to the other room, Callie took place beside Lexie, looking at her sadly. "You're right, Arizona lied. We didn't exactly know what to tell you. Around eight we heard Mark yell and we came to see what was going on. We initially thought you two were having a fight, but there was another woman here. She was that girl's mother. Lexie, this is not going to be easy..." Callie sighed, frustrated. "Mark was told he has a daughter. That girl is his daughter. Her mother never told him, Lexie."

Callie stopped, giving Lexie some time to take her words in.

The young woman let out a few deep breaths. "Why now?"

"She was dying - she died. While she was explaining she collapsed, we called an ambulance. Bailey and another doctor from Seattle Pres operated on her, but she didn't make it. She came here to Mark to have him sign some papers."

"For the girl?"

"For the girl." Callie nodded.

Lexie sighed sadly. "What am I supposed to do?"

Callie placed her hand on Lexie, looking at her with sympathy. "Mark needs you right now, Lexie. He's just taken the biggest responsability one could take. Mel – the girl – will most likely live here, and it's gonna be hard because she's hurting and Mark feels guilty and they both don't know what to do. Please, Lexie, don't leave him again. I understand that you don't want children yet, but just try. You wouldn't be her mother, just someone who can help her heal. And who can help Mark to figure it all out."

Lexie slowly nodded, and Callie, before going back to her apartment, was glad to hear her tell Mark she was in for the long run.