Mark opened his eyes. During their first night in the woods when he'd he nearly died, he'd realised that Arizona was asleep and so he'd dragged himself the 30 metres through the trees to where she was lying. She. Lexie. His Lexie.

It had taken him hours and he'd definitely added to his injuries, even passing out once, but he had eventually made it to the tail of the plane. Her arm was still laid out as they'd left it and he pulled himself over to grab it, it was freezing. He held it and rubbed it, desperately trying to warm it slightly. He pulled himself in as close as he could to her and he pressed his lips to her head, her hair, her cheeks and finally her cold, grey lips. He was tired. Mark was so tired. He felt himself drifting again and he remembered what Arizona had said to him about Sofia and Callie but he felt himself struggling to stay awake and finally, his eyes shut.

It was Derek that woke first the next morning. His arm was throbbing and his hand was pulsing, he hurt all over. For a second he forgot where he was and what had happened... who they'd lost... who Mark had lost. Thinking of his best friend he looked over to Arizona to check he was alright but he could see Mark wasn't there. He struggled to make a noise, his throat was so dry but eventually Meredith and Christina stirred next to him.

"Mark, Mark..." he muttered.

Meredith and Christina looked over urgently and realised he wasn't there. They jumped up together and ran to wake up Arizona.

"Where's Mark, where's Mark, Arizona?" Christina shouted.

Arizona came to, bleary eyed and groggy.

"What? What do you mean 'where's Mark?' He's right... Oh God!"

"We have to find him; we have to find him now!" Meredith screamed. Lexie's death still played over and over in her mind, she wasn't losing Mark too. "Where could he be?"

"I know..." muttered Derek. "He'll have gone to see her..."

Meredith and Christina helped Derek up and the three of them set off leaving Arizona with the pilot, neither of whom could walk.

"Please don't be dead, please don't be dead..." Meredith chanted over and over as they trekked over to where the end of the plane had crashed.

As the tail came into view, all three of them could see the legs in dark blue scrubs sticking out the side. Christina ran over and saw that Mark had managed to pull most of himself under the wreckage too and was holding as much of her as he could. She tried to find his pulse and was just starting to panic when she suddenly felt a very weak pulsation beneath her fingers.

"He's still alive!" she yelled. "His pulse is weak but it's still there! Should I pull him out?"

"Yes we need to check his injuries again," Derek said, "but be careful Christina!"

Together Christina and Meredith slowly dragged him out, careful not to hurt him anymore. They couldn't pull him too far away as his had was securely clamped around Lexie's and they couldn't get him to let go. Meredith stroked his hair as Christina checked him over.

"I think there's more blood in his chest, but it'd be too risky to try and release it" Christina muttered, "Damn it Mark!"

"Wait Christina, look! He's coming round!"

It was true. Mark's eyes were slowly opening, his cheeks shining with tears.

"Lex?" he asked, "Lexie? Please Lexie I love you, don't leave me!"

"Mark? It's me Meredith!"

"Lexie. Thank you for coming back for me, I miss you Lex and I love you so much"

"No Mark it's Meredith! It's not Lexie... Lexie died... remember?" Meredith asked tearfully.

"I'll never leave you again Lex, I'll never love another woman, there's only you"

"Mark please! It's Meredith, Lexie's gone!"

"Meredith? I don't think he can hear you" Derek whispered into his wife's ear.

"He can hear me, he just doesn't want to! Mark please it's Meredith, are you ok? Does anything new hurt? Mark?"

"We're meant to be Lex, forever. We're gunna be so happy. As soon as we get back to Seattle we'll get married and we'll buy a nice bug house and just be happy Lex, happy forever" and with that final declaration he fell back into unconsciousness.

The three people surrounding him fell silent, the whole wood was silent. Suddenly a woman's voice made them all turn with a jump.

"Oh my God! What the hell happened? Did you crash?"

It was a hiking group. Four men and four women all equipped for hiking and surviving in the woods.

"Oh thank God!" Christina shouted leaping up, "Yes, yes our plane crashed yesterday morning and we haven't been able to contact anyone! We've already had one fat... fatal... one of us hasn't made it but there are at least six of us still alive! What do you have in those bags? Do you have any first aid supplies or water?"

A man ran forward "Yes, yes we do! What can we do to help you? What do you need? Where are the others?"

"Well there's us four, and then two more are through those trees," Derek pointed "But do any of you have a phone or something that we can call for help with?"

A woman ran forward then already calling emergency services, "Hello? Yes I'm hiking in the North Cascades National Park and we've come across a crashed plane with survivors! There are some serious injuries and apparently one has already died but there are still six alive, we're only 5 miles in by the West Gate entrance, please send help as soon as you can! They're... wait I don't know who they are... who are you?" the woman shouted at the group.

"We're a group of surgeons form Seattle Grace Mercy West on our way to Boise, Idaho for a surgery!"

"Right urm ok, so yeah they're a group of surgeons from Seattle Grace Mercy West and they were going to Boise, could you contact their hospital as well? Ok thank you!"

The original woman stepped forward again, "My name is Jenny, what are your names?"

"I'm Meredith, and this is Derek, Christina and Mark. Arizona and the pilot Jerry are through those trees" she said gesturing around.

"And Lexie... don't forget Lexie..." Mark muttered before losing consciousness again.

"Oh!" Jenny jerked back, "He's still alive? I thought he must be the one who'd died! So... who's Lexie?"

"She's the one who died" muttered Derek, purposefully looking away from the tail of the plane.

"Oh," said Jenny, softer this time, "I see... and was she, Lexie, with him?" she asked gesturing to Mark.

"They were in love, soul mates" Meredith added.

"I'm very sorry, to all of you; I know it's hard to lose someone like that..."

"I think I might go and see Arizona, tell her help is coming," Christina said jumping up, "she should know"

There was silence then as Christina left and all the hikers awkwardly stood around, no-one having any idea of what to say.

But suddenly they all heard it at once, the sound of the helicopter.

"Hold on Mark, please just a little longer! The helicopter's coming!" Meredith begged. His pulse had slowed even more and it was so weak she was struggling to feel it.

She looked up to see the helicopter overhead and saw it landing 20 metres over, through the massive hole in the trees the plane had made. Two people that she thought she recognised came running over and as they got closer she realised it was Owen and Teddy.

"Oh thank God," she muttered before passing out herself.

"Meredith, Meredith, MEREDITH!" Derek screamed, "not you too! You do not get to die today!"

By this point Owen and Teddy had reached them, "Derek what the hell happened here? Christina, where's Christina is she alright? Who was the fatality?" Owen yelled, grabbing Derek's scrubs.

Christina had come running through the trees at the sound of the helicopter and she threw herself on her husband.

"Christina you're safe! Oh thank God!" Owen cried pulling Christina tight to his chest, "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Christina had fully broken down by this point, and great thick tears were pouring down her face, and she turned to see Teddy already checking out Mark and Meredith, who'd, thankfully, regained consciousness by this point.

"Right OK, so who was the casualty, who's... who's died?" Owen asked desperately looking at everyone, "Robbins? Little Grey? ...the pilot?" he added almost hopefully.

No-one would answer him and it wasn't until Teddy tried to finish her check of Mark, that she realised there was someone else with them.

"Owen... Oh God Owen..."

"Teddy what is it? Will Mark be ok? And guys please who is it? I... I need to know!"

Mark had regained consciousness briefly, "I think Teddy's trying to tell you..." he muttered before passing out yet again.

Owen turned to face his old friend, "Teddy...?"

"Lexie" she whispered sadly, staring at the young woman's face covered in cuts and blood and then the great piece of plane crushing her

"Oh God, no..." Owen muttered, "So where's Robbins? And the pilot?"

"Through those trees, I'll take you now"

Jenny led Owen away as Teddy flew into action.

"Right he needs to get into an OR right now. His chest is filling with blood and he's very weak so let's go!"

Paramedics came rushing over and the woods became a hive of activity as everyone was loaded up into the helicopters, well, nearly everyone.

"Wait, Lexie! We can't just leave her here!" Meredith said spinning round and away from the helicopter, "We can't just leave her alone!"

"I'll stay Meredith it's ok. You need to get to hospital as you've lost alot of blood but I'll wait here for the next helicopter with Lexie, it's ok. I won't leave her. I promise" Derek kissed his wife's cheek and watched as they seated her in the helicopter waving as it flew away. When it was all silent again he went to sit with his beautiful sister-in-law, determined to honour his promise and make sure she had company, even in death.

1 week passed. Everyone took shifts but Mark still hadn't regained consciousness. His body slept on, but every day his brain activity had increased and everyone was waiting, waiting to see if he'd come back to them.

Mark was happy. He had a glass of wine in one hand and beautiful girl lying against him. The sun was shining and five children were running around in front of them. Sofia was nearly 11 now, but she still loved playing with her younger brothers and sisters. There was the eldest Jack who was 8, and then there was Lucas who was 6, Lily who was 5 and then Holly who was 2.

"I thought we agreed two boys and a girl..." Lexie murmured, nuzzling her face into his neck. "Because I can definitely see two boys and two girls..." a giggle escaped her lips.

"A happy accident" he grinned back, kissing her gently, "and I was thinking Logan for a boy and Jessica for a girl" he added cheekily, looking down at her bulging stomach.

"Uh huh! You think this is funny mister! Getting me pregnant... again!" Lexie tried to sound angry. But she could never be angry with him, not for long anyway.

"Well... a little bit yeah," Mark beamed.

"I feel like it's been years since I properly worked, I wanna cut!" she pouted.

"And you will again, you'll be an amazing neurogod, better even then Derek" he said, knowing flattery would get him along way, "and you know why? Because I love you!"

"Oh yes of course darling" she grinned back.

They lay like that for hours, chatting about anything and everything, watching their beautiful children playing and feeling the stomach when the new baby kicked. But eventually it grew dark and Lexie looked up into the beautiful eyes of her gorgeous husband.

"Mark?" she whispered, "Mark, you need to go now. You can't stay here."

"huh?" Mark mumbled near sleep "Why not? Is your lover coming round now then?" he teased.

"Mark" she said seriously.

"Lexie?" he joked back, "come on what's up with you? We've had a perfect day, don't spoil it now..."

"Mark, Derek needs you, and Meredith needs you and Sofia needs you and Callie needs you and Zola needs you and Arizona need you... they need you Mark. More than I need you. You need to be with them too."

"I only need you Lex, you and our family."

"No Mark. You need to go."

"Go? Where?" Mark was confused now, why was she sending him away?

"Back Mark, back to life. Back to your friends and family."

"but you're my family, you're what I need!"

"I'm sorry Mark, I truly am, but I'm dead remember? I died in..."

"...the plane crash" Mark finished, his eyes filling with tears. "I loved you. I loved you so much and I didn't tell you until you were stuck under that great piece of metal and then... and then you died! It's not fair Lex, we didn't get our life together!"

"No, no Mark it's not fair, but... you need to live! See everything there is to see, feel everything there is to feel and do everything there is to do! And then Mark, then we can be together."

"But without you? What's the point Lex? Why can't I just stay with you?"

"It doesn't work like that Mark..." she shook her head sadly "you have to earn this Mark, and I need you to bring me back all the wonderful stories of the world," she said smiling through her tears. "Don't worry my love, I'll always be here waiting, I can visit you in your dreams and eventually, when you've lived, you'll join me here, with our family, forever. All of us together"

"Do you promise Lex? Are you sure?"

"I'm Lexipedia... of course I'm sure" she winked.

They stood up together and looked deep into each other's eyes before kissing passionately, desperately clinging onto each other trying to convey how they feel. He looks into her eyes again and as everything fades around him, an annoying beeping begins by his head. Just as he feels her completely disappearing she whispers a secret into his ear and Mark finally opens his eyes to see all his family and friends standing around staring at him as the whisper, the secret, are the first words from his mouth.

"Meant... To... Be..."

For a whole week Mark just lay there, wishing he was dead. He wouldn't do anything, eat, read, talk, nothing. He tried to sleep all the time, hoping she'd be there in his dreams, but she never was.

Everyone tried to help. Everyday Callie and Arizona would arrive with the Sofia and they'd talk to him and desperately try to get him to talk back. Arizona was in a wheelchair but it wasn't going to be permanent, her leg just needed time to heal.

Derek and Meredith would also visit every day with Zola, although Meredith nearly always left crying quite early on. Derek however would sit and do his physiotherapy for his hand, just to give Mark company.

Most of the other members of staff at SGMW visited too, but no-one knew what to say, so eventually they left too. But eventually it was Teddy who managed to get him going again.

"Mark. I know it hurts, I know your pain, I feel your pain Mark. I miss Henry every minute of every day and all I wish is that I could tell him I love him and say goodbye properly, but I can't. You had that Mark! Lexie died knowing that she was truly loved and with the man she loved by her side, isn't that what anyone wants?"

Mark felt the pain growing inside of him, but he tried to ignore it, to bury it.

"Mark you need to move on. You have to keep living your life. You have to come back to us, to life"

These words stirred Mark, they were her words. That was what Lexie had told him too, that he needed to live to see her again. And so, for the first time in a week, he spoke,

"I miss her."

And so that night when he fell asleep, he wasn't alone. She was there in his dreams, always slightly out of reach but there none the less, and Mark realised what he needed to do.

After that week everyone was astonished at his recovery. He was out of the hospital a few days later and was able to move back into his apartment alone. To everyone's surprise he put a few photos of Lexie up around his apartment and he even attended her funeral. He didn't say anything, and he cried through most of it, but at the end he went and spoke to Thatcher and the two men talked and cried all evening.

He didn't like to talk about Lexie and the only day he would was the memorial of the crash and the only person he ever spoke to about her not on that day, was Sofia. He told her loads of stories about Lexie so that his daughter would love her too, and he found it a nice way to remember her. Every day on her birthday he would disappear and he would go to one of the places that reminded him of her. The hotel room where she had come that first time was his usual spot, but sometimes he even visited the crash site where there was now a memorial or her grave.

He made a vow to himself that he would live, for Lexie, so they could be together again.

It was 58 years to the day. 21184 days. And on every single day he had thought of her and her promise, that if he lived properly, then when he died they would be together again, but this time forever. So he had. He had stayed in Seattle until Sofia grew up and then he had left. He travelled the world, meeting people and helping them, finding adventures and learning, always learning. Everywhere he went he did something new, found a new story to tell Lexie. And he did. He went to every continent and saw as much of the world as he could so he wouldn't let her down. The only thing he never did was fall in love again, he'd had enough love for a lifetime and soon he'd had have it for eternity.

He would talk to her all the time, but not as if he could actually see her, just that she was watching him. Sometimes when he was struggling he would feel her pushing him forwards and sometimes he felt he could really feel her and smell her, and that would keep him going.

He'd settled down properly 10 years ago in Seattle, it ended up being where they all lived. Meredith and Derek, Christina and Owen, Callie and Arizona, Miranda and Ben, Alex and Izzie, even Teddy had come back eventually. They weren't all here now of course, Christina and Owen had both died a few years back, Izzie's cancer had returned yet again not longer after and then Ben had gone just a couple of months back. Mark knew he'd be next and he was very tired. Tired but not afraid. Because unlike the rest of his friends he knew exactly what was coming, and he couldn't wait.