Hello All! Thank you for all your wonderful comments! Many of you have made some great guesses! Here is the next chapter, as promised I update fast when I get reviews. I hope you enjoy, and I am sure this will add many more questions to the story.

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Once Mark returned to the hotel, he could feel the day's tension begin to gather at the base of his skull. In some respects, he had not anticipated just how hard it would be to return to Seattle Grace after all this time. So much of who he was no longer fit with the man he had been when he had worked within the walls of that hospital. It made Mark wince when he thought of that now; how shallow and petty he had been back then, but also naive as well. Mark would never have used that word to describe himself, but it had been true. He had known nothing of love, nothing of commitment. Until…

Mark groaned and clutched his head as down on the bed, his coat still on. He couldn't keep doing this to himself. When he had left Seattle last time, he had sworn that he would put the past behind him.

There was no point in remembering something that didn't matter anymore.

He stood again and tossed his key card down on the side table. Afterwards, Mark pulled his wallet and phone out of his pocket and took off his coat. He then raised his arms above his head and stretched his muscles, one by one. Soon, he collapsed back onto the bed and stared at the crown molding on the ceiling. As he laid there, the exhaustion he had been feeling the entire day began to relax his body and soon, he closed his eyes.

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Four Years Earlier…

Lexie rushed around Mark's hotel room, putting the last of his toiletries into his suitcase. She then took a hospital towel and wiped down the counter.

"What are you doing, Lex?" Mark asked, leaning in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Wiping the counter."

"Why?"

Lexie turned to look at him with a puzzled expression on her face, as if she was surprised to see him standing there. "Because you are leaving and it is not nice to leave a mess for housekeeping."

"So you are cleaning."

"I'm cleaning," She repeated.

"You are cleaning a hotel room that costs five hundred dollars a night, and that has a maid who probably makes more than you do."

Lexie ignored him, and continued to wipe the counter.

"Lex, stop!" Mark finally said, coming to stand behind her. He grabbed her wrists, and forced her to still them. "Can we talk about this, at least?"

Her back sagged, as if the cleaning had been the only thing holding her upright. In the mirror, her vacant eyes met his, "Please, don't make me. Can't we just forget? For…like a moment, just a moment? I need to believe that it is all going to be alright; that this isn't the end of the best thing that ever happened to me." Her eyes were filled with such despair, that they left Mark feeling completely unequipped to deal with it. "So I am cleaning. I am cleaning, and hoping, and praying, and I am trying to forget that in an hour you are going to walk out the door of this hotel room and I am never going to see you again."

Mark removed his hands from her wrists, and wrapped them around her torso. He then leaned over and kissed on of her shoulders. "Okay, Little Grey."

Lexie squeezed her eyes shut. "If we just wait, it will happen."

He frowned. "What will happen?"

She opened her eyes, and looked at him with a hopeful type of faith. "Derek will call, and this will have all been a bad dream."

"Lexie," Mark said softly.

"It will," She continued. "I know Derek, and I know that he would never really want you to leave. This is all a mistake, and any moment that phone will ring and everything will be alright. And we will laugh about how silly and dramatic we were, and we will fall into your bed, and you will kiss me and tell me that it will all be fine. And I will cry, and feel silly, and we will forget." Tears filled her eyes again, and Mark sadly realized that she didn't believe a word she was saying.

He kissed the top of her head and tried to give a convincing smile. "You are right, Lexie," Mark said, meeting her eyes in the mirror, "Derek will call any minute. He will call, apologize for being an ass, and I will take you to bed. And we will stay there until the sun comes up and Richard calls begging me to come back to the hospital. And it will all be fine."

A sob escaped her throat. "Liar."

He laughed bitterly and squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could block out the look of betrayal on her face.

* * *

Present Day…

Mark jerked awake to the ringing of his cell phone. He rubbed his temples and walked over to the table where he had left it.

"Hello?"

"Sloan?! Why didn't you page me? I got out of work like an hour ago!"

Mark smiled at the sound of Callie's voice. "Sorry, kid, I forgot. I came back to the hotel and fell asleep."

"Jeez, you're getting old," Callie said with a laugh.

"Hey, now," Mark grumbled. "It was a long flight and I had to sit next to a screaming baby the whole time."

"Excuses, excuses," Callie said. "Listen, I am sitting here with my fabulous girlfriend and she wants to meet you properly. Come and meet us at Joe's."

"I don't know…" Mark said, looking at his watch. It was already nine on the East Coast, and Mark still needed to make a phone call.

"Come on, Grandpa! Live a little!"

Mark rolled his eyes. "Fine," He said into the phone. "I'll be there in fifteen."

"Fifteen minutes? The hotel is right across the street from the bar!"

"Fifteen minutes, Callie," Mark said.

"You can't see it, but I am sticking my tongue out at you."

"Mature," Mark said, before hanging up the phone. He smiled to himself at the friendly camaraderie that he and Callie had easily slipped back into.

He then checked his watch again, pulled up his number one contact on his phone, and let it ring. When he got voicemail, Mark said, "Hey, it's me. I arrived safely and everything is okay. I know you said you were going out with Lindsay tonight, but I wanted to call, just in case. Look, I know that you are worried, but everything is going to be okay. I am just going to perform the surgery and then I am coming home. There is nothing to worry about. Nothing is going to change. Call me tomorrow. Bye."

Once he closed his phone, Mark stood and walked over to the closet, where his clothes had been hung and pressed since he dropped off his suitcase at the hotel earlier. Mark changed his shirt, and then grabbed his coat and his wallet on the way out the door.

When he reached the bar, Mark took a deep breath as he pushed the door open. As his eyes adjusted to the dim glow, he shook his head. Nothing had changed. The Emerald City Bar looked exactly the same way it had four years ago. Mark could practically see Lexie sitting at the bar, reciting the periodic table to him with a grin upon her face.

He smiled to himself and then looked around.

"Mark!"

He turned at the sound of his name, and saw Cristina, Callie, and who he could only assume was Callie's girlfriend sitting in a booth in the corner. He waved, and then detoured to the bar for a scotch.

Joe was standing there, cleaning glasses, when he looked up and saw Mark. "Dr. Sloan!" He exclaimed, his face full of surprise. "You're back!"

"Hey, Joe," Mark said. "Good to see you."

"You too," Joe said. "Your usual?"

Mark nodded, and wondered how Joe could possibly remember his order after all this time.

Joe placed his drink in front of them, and Mark smirked. "You remembered."

"Drinks are my thing," Joe said. "You back for good?"

"Just visiting for a surgery," Mark replied.

"Well, good luck."

Mark nodded his thanks, and headed over to the corner where the women were sitting. "Aw, three beautiful women. My favorite kind of table."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Arizona Robbins, this is Mark Sloan."

Mark shook her hand with a charming smile. "I am sorry we never had a chance to meet before I left."

"Hey, now," Callie said with a frown.

"At ease, Torres," Mark said as he dropped Arizona's hand.

Arizona smiled at Callie and patted her hand.

"So Yang," Mark said. "I hear you are doing the Chief. Good for you."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we are all puppies, hearts, and smiley faces. Whatever."

Mark grinned.

"So, what are you doing back here, Dr. Sloan?" Arizona asked. "You work in New York now, right?"

He nodded. "New York Presbyterian, and I came back to do a facial reconstruction."

"The Devons case," Callie murmured to her.

Arizona nodded, having heard about the patient from Callie. "Well, I am sure your help will be appreciated."

Mark decided then that he liked Arizona. She was exactly what Callie needed. There was a calm about her which must be attractive to his friend.

"So you said you are going to be here for a few days," Callie said. "Any way I can persuade you to stay longer?"

"Nope," Mark said with a smirk. "One facial reconstruction and then I am on the next plane back to New York."

"Why?" Callie whined. "You should stay." Her eyes then lit up. "You could probably get your old job back now that Owen is the Chief. I bet he would tell Shepherd where to stick it!"

Cristina snorted into her drink, causing Mark to smile at her.

"Sorry, Torres," Mark said. "Nothing could keep me in Seattle."

"But I am going to have a baby! She will need dirty Uncle Mark to protect her!"

Mark laughed. "You flatter me. As tempting as that sounds…"

"Please!" Callie said, holding her hands together and pouting her lips.

"Well, now that I have thought about it," Mark began.

"Yes?" Callie asked hopefully.

"No," Mark replied with a grin, causing her to frown.

"You are no fun."

"Nope, no fun at all," Mark said with a grin. "I am an old man now."

Callie rolled her eyes at him.

"So tell me about the baby," Mark said. "How far along are you?"

Callie's face began to glow. "Five months. It's a girl."

"And the male contribution to this miracle came from?" Mark asked.

"A poor medical student with a good family history and blue eyes," Arizona said with a laugh.

Mark laughed along with them, but then grew quiet as the conversation began to flow around him. So much had happened, so much had been missed. Mark knew that he had made the right decision when he had returned to New York, but it hurt to think of the people he had left behind. One in particular.

He pulled himself out of his dark thoughts and smiled at his friend. "Alright ladies, I am going to call it a night."

"Why?" Callie asked. "It is only nine o'clock."

"Yeah, well I am still three hours ahead." Mark said. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"You mean when you decided to permanently return to Seattle Grace."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Good night, Callie." He then nodded at Cristina and Arizona before leaving the bar.

Callie looked dejected after he left. "I can't believe he is so against coming back to Seattle Grace. What is so great about New York?"

Arizona smiled at Callie. "Don't take it personally, Calliope. I am sure he is just eager to get home to his wife."

Two heads whipped in her direction.

Cristina and Callie looked at her as if she was crazy.

Callie finally sputtered, "Mark? A wife? Mark Sloan?"

"McSteamy? Married?" Cristina snorted.

"What on earth would give you that crazy idea?" Callie asked.

Arizona looked back and forth between them in confusion. "The fact that he was wearing a wedding ring."

TBC

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