The Boardroom never changed. People came and went but the boardroom always stayed the same. As Owen walked into the well lit room with the long rectangular table and leather chairs, he thought about all that had changed since the first time he had stepped into this very room.

***********************************twelve years ago************************************

Knock knock knock

"Come in."

He knew that voice it was the voice of the chief of Seattle Grace, Dr. Richard Webber. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He wasn't ready to come back and just work at a hospital. Iraq was where he belonged, he wasn't normal enough to work in this hospital. But for some reason, he still took the step through the doors of the conference room. The Chief was hard at work on his computer flipping through documents.

"Wow Major Hunt! What a surprise! What are you doing here? I thought you were still stationed overseas." The chief said as he rose to shake Owen's hand.

"I was Sir, but I was released last week."

"Well I am hoping you are here to accept my job offer because the offer still stands. I am desperately in need of a Head of Trauma with your skill and experience and you would be perfect for the job."

"You know…. I actually came here to ask if the spot was still available but I'm standing here now and I'm not sure if I am ready to work here…"

"Listen, I know that war must've been tough on you. So I'm not going to pressure you but you would be a fine addition to this staff but I would understand if you can't take the job. How about you take a few days and think about it and get back to me? Okay?"

"Thank you sir, I will get back to you as soon as possible."

Right when he walked out of the room he saw her. Her dark, bouncy curls bent over a chart writing something down. Right as she closed the chart, her friend, the one who had helped him with her icicle, came up to her and said something. He saw her face light up and he could hear her laugh from across the room. She had the most amazing laugh and the way her eyes lit up made him want to walk over and kiss her. That laugh and those eyes could save him. They could make him whole again, he was sure of it.

"You know what Chief, I'll take the job. If I don't, I think I will regret it for the rest of my life."

"Wow. That was fast. What made you change your mind so quickly?"

"I realized that this place is where I want to be and where I want to be healed." He said smiling thinking about her black curls bouncing while she laughed.

"Well it's great to have you aboard Major Hunt. You won't regret your choice."

As he sat down, he looked at those who sat around him. Bailey sat at the head of the table. Since he had given up the job, she was voted as the new chief. She was great at her job, no one wanted to mess with her now more than ever. Beside her, sat Webber. He was still the best general surgeon at Grey Sloan despite being the oldest on staff. Callie and Arizona sat together to the left of Bailey. Since their divorce, they had become friends again and both were happy dating other people. It was amazing to see them being able to laugh and talk to each other again. Jackson and April, the newest member of the board, sat opposite to Bailey, kissing and laughing. April's 8 month pregnant stomach kept hitting the table while she was trying to whisper in Jackson's ear. Finally, Owen took a seat beside Alex near the centre of the table.

"Do you have any idea what this is about? Because I have a cholecystectomy in an hour and I've already had to push it for this stupid meeting."

"I don't know Karev but you're the one that decided to take the spot on the board. You could've let Bailey take the spot and you could've just kept the shares." Alex complained way too much.

"Yeah and not be part of the decisions again? I don't think so. Plus Yang trusted me to not screw up this hospital not Bailey. Had this hospital been ruined had I not been on the board, you know she would blame me for screwing up."

"True," Owen laughed. Of course she would've. Cristina was always hard on people, especially the ones she loved. God he missed her sarcasm.

His thoughts were interrupted by Avery clearing his throat.

"Okay guys. I am really sorry to bother you guys, I know you have a lot of work to do but—"

"Get to the point Avery! I have places to be!" shouted Alex as he grew more impatient. These meetings were always so boring and pointless.

"Thank you Alex. What I was trying to say is that we really need to start getting results. The Harper Avery Foundation is starting to think we aren't generating enough research and they are starting to think about pulling the plug on this hospital."

"What? Are you serious? We are working our asses off trying to make this place the best it can be and now they just want to close the hospital just like that?" Callie screamed. This was so like the foundation. It had been like this since they had taken over and she was tired of it.

"We have worked too hard to go down like this. We have lost so many people and we have tried to deal the best we could but we aren't perfect." Exclaimed Arizona. This is not how we are going down.

"Okay everyone should just calm down and hear me out. This isn't them pulling the plug right now. It's just we keep losing all our doctors that were making real medical advancements. It started with loosing Yang to Zurich and then we lost Derek and now with Grey being you know…. We need new research projects that will get results and we need it now. We have to find a way to attract high caliber doctors that have ground-breaking research they are working on." Jackson tried to explain.

"Well the only problem is that no one wants to come here with their research because if you work here there is no chance you can ever win a Harper Avery. I mean just look at what happened to Cristina. She was not the same after she lost and I think not being able to ever win that award was one the reasons she left. She loves to win and this hospital takes away the chances of winning," Callie explained.

Owen had had enough. This was total crap. He had to say something.

"That award was not the reason she left. Maybe if we were talking about intern Cristina but that was not who she was when she left. Cristina went to Zurich because that was her dream job and it took all of her to leave. Truth is, I don't think we will ever find projects or doctors for that matter who could replace Cristina…. And Derek," said Owen and then he quietly sat down.

"Thank you Hunt. Good points by you. No matter how extraordinary Yang and Shepherd were, we need to try and find a way to replace them in some way shape or form or we will lose this hospital. Any ideas?" Jackson said as he looked around the room. He did not want his mother and the foundation attached to his name be the reason his hospital be shut down.

Everyone went silent. Bailey and Webber exchanged a look. Webber slowly started to stand and he cleared his throat.

"Bailey and I had an idea. We think it could solve all problems but I don't know how much your mother would like the idea Avery," Webber said while fiddling with the boardroom tv remote.

"Well what is it? I am open to any ideas you guys can give me." Jackson said anxious for any proposition that could save the place where he met his wife, where he met his friends and where his baby would be born.

"Could you guys all watch the screen please? This clip is from the yesterday's news."

"A research institute in Europe is making waves today as they have announced a plan to buy hospitals across the country in hopes of expanding their medical research to the United States. This hospital is owned by billionaire Bastien Fetsch who started this institute after his 9 year old daughter died of a heart condition. The institute is located in Switzerland and was formally run by Dr. Preston Burke before he quit to spend more time with family. As of next week, the institute will start to accept applications from hospitals who would like to become a part of their ground-breaking research projects. They are planning to buy five hospitals across the country. We will update you when we know more."

As the screen went blank everyone turned to Owen. He was confused and happy all at once. He couldn't believe he might have the chance to see her and to be with her again, but things were different now, he was different now. He was engaged and it had been 8 years, it was over- they were done.

"Well I guess we know who to call then," Owen said quietly as he chuckled.

"Are you sure about this Owen?" April said quietly not wanting to offend him. He had finally moved on and she didn't want him to be hurt all over again.

"April why wouldn't I be? We've both moved on. We're both happy and I don't want this hospital to be shut down. Plus when she left, we were friends and I don't expect that to change so yeah call her and see if we can apply to be one of the five hospitals. It'll be good for us to see her I mean it's been 8 years."

"Okay great! I'll call her today and see what's going on. In the meantime guys, just work hard on your research. You guys don't need to worry. We will find a way to survive even if we don't get a spot, we always do," Jackson said while holding April's hand.

"You know I'm actually surprised she hasn't been back since she left 8 years ago. I mean I know that she had an emergency on the day of Derek's funeral but I mean I can't believe she hasn't come back what with what's going on with Mere. I would've thought she would be here by Meredith's side while she was going through this. I mean isn't she her health care proxy?" Callie asked.

"Well Meredith said when it first happened that she didn't want anyone to contact Cristina because she would just come for no reason. Her condition kept deteriorating and Dr. Shepherd was the lead surgeon on her case so you'll have to ask her if she contacted Yang but I don't think she did," Richard explained.

Owen couldn't believe what he was hearing. Cristina- Meredith's person, her twisted sister, her family—didn't know what was going on with her? How could this have happened? He stood up quickly and slammed his hand on the desk.

"I'm sorry are you implying that Cristina Yang doesn't know about Grey's Alzheimer's?" Owen screamed.