A/N: God only knows why I'm doing this. Keep in mind this is a sequel to a story that had an ending that came out of nowhere, so that'll get resolved a little, and you'll see some changes in the characters based on how they've progressed on the show (or shows, I guess). I hope you enjoy it. - M.

The Heinrich Maneuver

My Way Home

July 4th, 2035

2:00 PM

There's something about sitting at the singles table that makes her feel more lonely than anything else. She should be at the table with her family and her friends, but she's not sure how they'll receive her at this point. It's been twenty-two years and she knows at least Addison will be mad. Maggie and Parker too. She settles the Dior sunglasses over her eyes and leans in to her chair, taking a sip of her punch. Her disguise isn't very good, but her hair is still black and the sunglasses at least hide her eyes, so she figures if anything she'll be able to hide until most of the guests leave and she can talk to Mark.

He saw her as soon as she walked in to the church. Black hair and sunglasses don't hide anything, El, he thought, watching her sit down in the back of the church on the brides side. I'd know that body anywhere. When he walks Casey down the aisle he has to resist the urge to tell her that her mother is there, but he's proud of himself for keeping it quiet. The ceremony goes well and when they make it to the hall, he sees her sit down at the singles table, which is where he figured she'd be.

"Daddy?" Casey comes up behind him and rests her hand on his shoulder. "Who is that?"

"Hmm?" He turns and smiles. Every time he looks at her she takes his breath away. His daughter looks just like her mother, and even more beautiful in a wedding dress. "Who is who, sweetheart?"

"That woman? Black hair, sunglasses? Did you invite her?"

"Oh." He nods. "I did. I hope that's alright."

"Of course." She smiles and kisses his cheek. "It's nice to finally see you dating someone."

He nods. "Sure."

"Ask her to dance, Dad." She smiles. "And then introduce me. Maggie and Parker will probably want to meet her too."

He nods, and when Casey finally heads back to the table where Elliot is sitting he heads across the hall to the singles table. He sees a smile cross her face and when he reaches the table, she stands.

"You look very handsome in that tux, Mark Sloan."

"And you, Eliot Grey, look stunning in red." She smirks. "Would you like to dance?"

"Of course." He laces his fingers through hers and leads her to the dance floor. "I'm back for good this time."

"You are?" He pulls her into his arms and leads her around the dance floor, completely unaware that his friends and his children are watching him. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure. The last man in the family that wasn't dead or in jail was killed three nights ago."

"Three nights ago? Where have you been?"

"Oh Mark, this week isn't about me, it's about Casey and Elliot. I can't just...show up."

He sighs. "I know. I'm glad you're back now though."

"Me too." He leans in to kiss her, but she turns away. "Mark..."

"What?"

"People don't know it's me."

"I don't care." He moves her chin back so that she was facing him and presses his lips gently to hers, waiting until she lets out a sigh and opens her lips to continue any further. "I love you," he whispers as he pulls away.

She smiles softly. "I love you too."


7:00 PM

When Casey and Elliot get ready to head out of the hall, Mark is nowhere to be found. The womens bathroom is locked, and Derek is crossing his fingers that Mark is finally getting laid when a woman he doesn't think he's ever seen before comes out of the bathroom. She's got sunglasses on her head and her hair is dark, but she looks a little familiar, so he stops her as she tries to duck back in to the hall.

"Excuse me, have you seen Mark Sloan?"

"Oh, um. No." She smiles and heads past him.

"E-ellie?" She pauses, and turns slowly. "Oh-oh my god."

"Please don't say anything." She says softly. "I'm not ready to tell everyone yet."

He pulls her aside. "I don't understand."

"Derek, I'll explain everything later. Today is Casey and Elliot's day."

"I know it is. But Ellie..."

"It's very complicated, Derek. I'm going to sit down with everyone and explain everything, I promise."

He sighs and touches her arm. "Does Mark know?"

"Yes," she closes her eyes. "He's known all along."

"He-he has?"

"Yeah." She sets her hand on top of his. "I'm sorry, Derek. I'm going explain everything very soon."

He nods slowly. "Alright." He kisses her cheek. "You look good with dark hair."

She laughs. "Thanks."

"So have you seen Mark?"

She grins. "He's still in the womens bathroom."

"I knew it!"


July 16th, 2035

6:00 PM

Her whole world is different now. Her children are grown-up, her boyfriend is retired, and she even has grandchildren. Mark lives in New York, but kept her dad's home as a summer home for him and the kids. Maggie and her husband live in Washington, DC, while Parker and his husband live in Boston. Casey and Elliot are in Seattle with the rest of the Shepherds. Her family is spread across the country, but Mark tells her that all three kids are happy, and that is all that's important.

She explains everything to Addison, Derek, Meredith and Finn first, because she wants her children to be together when she tells them. Addison and Meredith are the most upset, but they come around to the idea of having her back. Addison even joins Ellie at the Salon for a girls day when Ellie decides she needs to dye her hair back to it's natural color.

When Casey and Elliot return from their honeymoon, Mark invites all three of their children over for dinner the night before Maggie and Parker and their families head home. Ellie spends the whole day pacing back and forth, worried about what her children will think.

"Dad?!" Maggie's voice carries up the stairs and Ellie lets out a breath. "We're here!"

"I'll be right down!" He sits down on the bed next to Ellie and squeezes her hand. "Everything is going to be okay."

"I hope you're right, Mark."

"I'm always right." He smirks and then frowns when she starts to cry. "Ellie..."

"I'm so scared that they're going to hate me..."

"They'll understand. They're adults." She nods slowly, but can't stop her tears, so he pulls her into a hug, rubbing her back. "Everything is going to be fine, baby, I promise."

He heads down the stairs a few minutes later, letting Ellie fix her make-up before she comes down to see the kids. Maggie, Parker and Casey are in the kitchen talking, and he can hear their husbands talking in the front room. He sits down at the counter and Casey hands him a glass of wine.

"So, what is the purpose of this dinner?" Casey asks, fiddling with her still new wedding ring.

"I want you guys to meet someone."

"That woman that was at the wedding?" Casey smiles. "Oh Dad, that's great."

"Yeah." He takes a gulp of wine and lets out a breath.

"Is everything alright?" Maggie asks, sipping from her own wine glass. "You seem nervous."

"I am." He admitted, smirking. "I want you guys to like her. I mean...you've met her before, but it's been many years."

"And old friend?" Parker asks.

"You could say that."

"Does she drink red or white?" Casey asks, pulling a wine glass out of the cabinet.

"I don't drink." Ellie's voice comes in to the kitchen and Mark looks back at her, smiling before he turns back to the kids.

Maggie looks at Ellie, then at Parker, and then back at the woman standing in the doorway. "M-mom?"

Ellie bites her lip. "Hi sweetheart."

"Oh...oh my god." Maggie reaches for her brother, whose pale complexion matches the refrigerator he's standing in front of. "What...I-I don't understand."

"I've been in hiding for the last twenty-two years. One of my patients...his family was connected with the mob and when he died...they came after me. I had to go away."

"For twenty-two years?" Parker's voice cracks and Ellie nods. "Couldn't you have taken us with you?"

"I wanted to, and your father tried to get me to change my mind, but I didn't think it would be this long. I thought it would just be for a couple of months; a year at the most." Ellie lets out a breath. "I thought about you guys every day. Your father sent me pictures and updates about you...I wish I had been here. I do. I've been at all of your graduations, and all of your weddings, but I couldn't let anyone see me."

"What changed?" Parker squeezes his sisters hand. No one notices that Casey is still gripping tightly to the wine glass.

"The last member of the family died a few weeks ago. Everyone else is already dead, in jail, or doesn't want anything to do with me." Ellie lets out a breath. "I don't expect the three of you to forgive me right away. I know I hurt you, but I didn't want to have to relocate you and make you change your names for just a few months. I-I was looking out for your best interests."

No one says anything for a while, but before Ellie can say anything else, Maggie crosses the kitchen and wraps her arms around her mother, breathing in deeply. "You still smell the same." She whispers, tears on her face.

Ellie smiles and hugs Maggie tightly. "You're so beautiful, Maggie. And you looked gorgeous at your wedding, and at Casey's wedding. And I'm so proud of you." Maggie grins and steps back, giving Parker a chance to hug their mother. When Ellie finally lets go of him, she turns to Casey, who has finally set the wine glass down. "Hi."

"H-hi." Casey tucks her hands in her pockets. "I, uh...I don't know what to say."

Ellie smiles. "It's alright. Me neither." She takes a step towards her youngest. "I wish I'd been able to hold you for more than a few hours."

Casey immediately starts to cry. "M-me too." Ellie pulls her into a hug and rubs her back as her daughter cries into her shoulder. Mark and the other children leave the kitchen, settling in the living room with the others while Casey and Ellie talk.

Dinner is delayed, but when David, Tom and Elliot meet their mother-in-law, everything seems very comfortable. The men in her children's lives are gloriously decent men, and Ellie tells Mark that night that he's done a wonderful job raising their children, because clearly they not only picked good men, but they were successful and beautiful.

She also cries herself to sleep.


July 18th, 2035

2:00 PM

"So how did they take it?"

Ellie sighs. "Good, at first. Maggie cried, Parker hugged me, and Casey..." Ellie looks down, fighting tears. "She was so sad."

"Sad?"

"She'd never met me. I expected her to be sad, I think."

"You think?" Addison laughs. "How is she now?"

"Good, I think. I feel horrible for springing this on her right after she got married, but you raised a good young man, he's great with her."

"I raised more than just a good young man."

"You're right Addie." Ellie smirks. "He's wonderful."

"No, Ellie..." Addison sighs. "I helped raise Casey too. I changed her diaper, I took her to pre-school, I helped her put her dress on at her wedding...I raised that little girl, I raised all of your children!"

"Addison..."

"No." Addison clenches her jaw. "I helped Mark raise those children because you left. You left!"

"I had to leave. I didn't have a choice!"

"Except you did, Ellie. You could have told us, and you could have taken your whole family with you, but you didn't. You chose, on your own, to go in to Witness Protection, and you left all of us to flail around without you."

"Flail around?" Ellie scoffs. "Addison, you were always the strongest one in our relationship. I thought you would be okay!"

"I wasn't! I lost my best friend and went from raising four children to raising seven. Mark was not prepared to raise those kids, and Meredith and I weren't prepared to lose you."

"Don't bring Meredith in to this."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't know anything about my sister! And you don't know anything about Mark. I'm sorry that you had to help raise my children, but I'd rather be alive now than dead, and the only way to do that was for me to disappear for a while."

"I don't think it was." Addison sets money for her lunch on the table. "I think if you'd really thought about it, you could have at least raised your children."

"Look, Addie, I regret not being able to raise them..."

Addison shakes her head. "I don't believe you." She stands, throwing her purse over her shoulder. "And I'm surprised anyone else does."


8:00 PM

Mark is sitting on the couch when she finally arrives home. He's clearly worried; she can see it in his eyes when she looks at him.

"I'm fine." She says softly, hanging her jacket up.

"Well that's good." He crosses his arms over his chest. "You've been gone for hours. Derek said Addison arrived home at 2:30."

"That's wonderful." She hangs her purse on the coat closet doorknob and heads up the stairs.

"Ellie..." He follows her, suddenly even more worried. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She's undressing when he enters the room, and he leans against the doorjam, watching her. "Stop staring at me."

"I just want to know what happened."

"Nothing." She snaps, turning to face him. He sees the 'M' she'd had tattooed on her hip peeking out over the top of her panties and grins. "Stop smirking at me."

"I'm not." He smirks on purpose and she heaves a heavy sigh and heads for the bathroom to shower. "El, come on!"

"Mark, just leave me alone." She shuts the door in his face and turns on the shower. She stares at herself in the mirror, running her fingers through her dirty blonde hair. She looks the same as she did twenty years ago, just with a few more wrinkles and boobs that sag a little more than she'd like. When she finally gets in the shower, the water is scalding hot, but she doesn't really notice. The fact that it's burning her skin even makes her feel a little better.

When Mark notices that she's been in the shower for more than 30 minutes, he ducks into the bathroom to check on her. He can't see the outline of her body in the shower, so he opens the door and finds her sitting on the shower floor. "Ellie?"

She turns to look at him, and he can't tell if her face is wet from the shower or from crying. "D-do you hate me?"

"Of course not."

She turns away from him. "Don't answer so quickly!"

He sighs and sits down next to her, not bothering to turn off the shower or take off his clothes. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

"But I left."

"Yeah, and I hate that, but I don't hate you. I hate that your patient's family felt the need to come after you, and I hate that the police couldn't find another way to help you. And you know," he sighs. "I don't like the choice that you made, leaving me and the kids, but it would have been worse if someone had hurt you." She turns back to him and he realizes that she's sobbing. "Ellie I love you so god damn much it hurts. Please don't cry." He slides towards her, feeling the lukewarm water beat down on his shoulder as he pulls her into his arms. "It's going to take people some time to get used to you getting back, because you had to lie to protect them, but I will never hate you. I promise."

She buries her face in his shirt and they sit in the shower until the water is so cold they're both shivering. Once they're curled up in bed and he's running his fingers through her drying hair, she asks him if he'll finally do her the honor of letting her share his last name.