Title: With This Ring
Author: thedoc617
Spoilers (up until 8X23)
Summary: Owen goes to think on the vent, and has a wee bit more of a problem.

A/N: Thanks for the notes on the first chapter, this one started out being a solution to the big problem that happened in ch1; but turned out to be more of an A/U with what happened inbetween Owen proposing, and the CO wedding. Special thanks to my CO girls who answered about Cristina's ring. (as scarce as it is shown). Also shows Cristina in her PTSD phase, scared yet still holding on to what she holds most dear.
I also am not sure what happens at the end of this chapter is legal; I'll have to figure that out for chapter 3.

Oh crap! What the hell did I just do? Owen got down on his hands and knees and peered down at the grate. Air blew up in his face, and this was the first time he hated that feeling. His ring was the only thing still keeping him linked to Cristina. He couldn't lose that. EVER. He lost that, he lost HER forever.

Sweat poured down his face, as he contemplated how to retrieve it. He thought back to after the shooting when he proposed. Wow. Had it really been that long? It will be (would have been?) two years in September. Two years ago, when he made the best decision of his life, when he made the decision that he wanted to marry badass cardio-goddess Cristina Yang. She was determined, defiant, and sometimes catty, but he loved everything about her. He decided this when he was halfway "home" (to Cristina's house. He barely spent time in his apartment anymore. All the plants died.) and he did a u-turn and drove to the first jewelry store he saw.

He had to make it quick, as she was expecting him at 7. How can you make a decision that will be with you (and the woman you love) for the rest of your life rushed?! She'd forgive him once she figured out what he was up to. For this, he could be a little late.
He'd been in a jewelry store before- before he proposed to Beth. Although that time he had a nagging feeling about something. Sure, he loved Beth, but he had doubts whether she was the one. At this very moment, standing in the jewelry store, he did not have a doubt in his mind. He didn't feel surer about anything other than enlisting in the army.

"Sir can I help you?" The perky saleswoman asked.

"Yea, I'm looking for a ring; for my girlfriend."

"An engagement ring?" She asked, smiling (and he thought she imagined dollar signs in her head)

He sighed. Did this woman really need to know everything? "Yes. But you see, she isn't really a ring kind of girl. I'll probably only be able to get her to wear it now and at our wedding. After that, all bets are off."

The woman gave him a strange look, but it was his business, "let me see what we have."

He KNEW she wasn't a "ring girl". She even told him that once before- when she told him how Burke had hurt her. When she opened up and told him all the things that Burke did to her, he vowed to never hurt her like he did. Burke wanted to make her out to be somebody that she wasn't. Cristina Yang was not a "white dress, pretty flowers, ring wearing type of girl". And that's what Owen loved about her. Such a strong vibrant, independent woman, who was the most stubborn person he ever met, other than himself. Perhaps that's why they work so well together.

He strolled through the store, and saw rings with small diamonds, and large ones. Rings that he went a bit cross-eyed at the price, and ones that were a bit more reasonable. And then he saw the one.

"What about that one?" He told the saleswoman.

"it's a little plain, but ok. It's a 14k white gold ½ carat marquis diamond." She said, and now he understood when he talked medical-speak to patients, he had no clue what she was talking about. Whatever it was, it was completely Cristina. Not too fancy- had a beautiful cut diamond in the middle with not a lot of junk around it. Plain and simple, yet beautiful.

"It's perfect. I'll take it."

He remembered when they went to the jewelry store right after he popped the question two weeks later. He was surprised he didn't have to drag her to the jewelry store. She went willingly, and happily. He was thankful that Meredith did not insist on coming. That would have been slightly problematic.

"I'm looking for simple." She kept telling the clerk over and over again. They just ended up getting a matching band in the same color as the engagement ring.

For Owen they chose tungsten so it would not get tarnished or dropped, since he'd be wearing it a bit more often.

"Do you want anything inscribed on them?" The saleswoman asked. Owen figured Cristina would be the first to say "no, absolutely not" but her answer surprised him. She almost had a child-like grin on her face.

"You only get married once. Well, in my case almost twice, but the first one didn't happen. One thing I know though. Owen's very traditional, in that he'll probably wear his wedding ring until the day he dies. He'll only take it off when he's scrubbing in for surgery. We wont do vows, because that's silly; but instead of that, we could have something on our rings instead, I guess." She said, deep in thought and not really talking to anyone in particular.

"Can you give us a minute?" he asked the saleswoman, as she nodded and went into the back. "I'll see what we have and how long it will take"

"I got it!" Cristina proclaimed, and giggled. "MY PRECIOUS!" she cackled. It was the first time he thought he heard her laugh since the shooting.

"I didn't know you were a fan of Tolkien!" he said, surprised.

"I read pretty much everything in school. Even my textbooks cover to cover." She grinned. And then her face turned serious, he wondered if this was too much for her to handle in one day.

"Medicine has been my whole life. I know I'm incredibly gifted, and I was the top of my class even in elementary school. I have never known anything else, and I fall for people with authority. It's what happened with Burke, and it happened with you. And then I traded you to Teddy; because I was scared I was going to lose my gift if I didn't allow myself to shine. But then you showed up drunk at my house and told me that people matter. That you and I matter. I want inscribed 'we matter' because I wont wear my ring very often, but when I do, I want it to remind me that surgery is not my whole life, it's just what makes my life whole. I was with you through your PTSD, even though it scared me; and right now, every night when I hear a car backfire or Callie drops pots and pans in the kitchen, I'm back to that OR on that day. And Gary Clarke is screaming at me, and you get shot and I don't know if you're alive or dead. And going back to that day scares the crap outa me, and you're the one to bring me back to reality. You said I don't get to toss you aside, that you wont let that happen. Please don't toss me aside even though i'm not myself right now. I'm terrified I'm going to lose you. We matter Owen. Please don't toss me aside." She said, as she started to cry.

Now he was the one who had tears in his eyes.

He embraced her, and his face found her soft curls comforting as always. Still embracing her, he whispered,

"I'd never do that. You know that. When I told you back in joes way back when that I wanted to be around 40 years from now, I meant it. Through the good, the bad, the terrible, and everything inbetween. We've made it through so much. Much more than a bunch of other people I know. There has to be a reason for that. That's why I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Cristina Yang. More than just 40 years, I want a lifetime."

"I think you should get '40 years' on your ring. To remind you of that, even when I'm crabby and old. Or when I'm complaining about surgery and being exhausted. You promised, and you can't just back out of it like that. It's like a contract. I'll have to hold you to it! Like Meredith and Derek yell 'post-it' to each other when they're arguing. How about that?" She said as he nodded. "I love you, Owen Hunt"

"I love you, future Mrs Owen Hunt."

"Don't push it!" she waved a finger at him playfully.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"40 more years, damn it" he swore.

Back in the vent room, Owen paced back and forth, panicking. He could get another ring, but he wanted THAT one. The one that's somewhat worn from being dropped so many times. (thankfully never down the drain or vent!) The ring that she always kisses when they make love; and how sometimes his ring gets caught in her locks of hair, and they laugh about how to get it out without hurting her.

And then the idea came to him! It was brilliant! He walked out of the vent room, and up three flights of stairs (he didn't like taking the elevator anymore. It made him somewhat sad.) to the digestive health center.

It was 12am; nobody would know, and even if the did, he was the chief. He liked to use this power.

He wheeled the monitor and the endoscopy equipment towards the elevator. He was bound and determined to get that ring back!