Trigger Warning: Violence, Some mild language, mature themes, major character injury and/or death.

Cast: Season 8

Premise: What if the roles were shuffled the day of the plane crash? What if Lexie wasn't the one crushed under the plane and Arizona wasn't the one with the injured leg?

Enjoy.

XxXxX

She had been asleep in his lap, the moment their world was shattered. Peacefully sleeping with no idea of the trauma she was about to experience. He had his hand on her hair, running his fingers through it absently as he stared out of the oval-shaped window. The clouds formed a barrier between them and the earth below, like a blanket covering the land.

There was a bump.

He thought nothing of it. Just turbulence, everything's fine. He went back to stroking her hair.

Another bump. Bigger.

A hint of worry buried itself in the back of his brain and he looked up at the other people on the plane. They all started looked around in the same confused manner.

The lights flickered.

He looked out the window and saw the peaceful blanket of clouds approaching fast. Meredith stirred in his arms. He made eye contact with Mark across the aisle.

A huge bump.

He was almost thrown from his seat as the cabin went dark. Meredith jumped up, looking around in confusion. Derek was frozen in fear as he saw the whites of her eyes glistening in the minimal light. She grabbed his shirt and clutched the fabric for dear life, staring out of the window in terror.

From the outside, it was almost graceful. The plane dipped slowly down and fell silently through the sky with no smoke or anything to show that something was wrong. The aircraft only plummeted downwards, breaking through the blanket of clouds in its dive towards the earth.

Inside the cabin, chaos reigned. Mark and Derek shouted for everyone to get down as Lexie, Cristina, and Arizona all dropped to the floor and covered their heads. Mark ran down the aisle to make sure everyone was okay. Meredith curled up in her seat and felt Derek leaning over her, shielding her with his body.

No one knew when the plane was going to hit the ground. They only sat in horrible anticipation as everything was silent. Lexie looked up and saw that Mark was still standing in the aisle at the back of the plane. She yelled at him to get down. Meredith clenched her eyes shut and focused on Derek's body against hers, feeling the ragged breaths going in and out of his body.

They heard crunching of metal and horrible crashing as everyone tensed up, feeling the heat of the fire as they were thrown from their seats. Lexie looked back to see if Mark had taken cover in time and saw that only the blue of the sky.

"The back of the plane! It's gone, Mark is gone, oh god!" She screamed, but no one heard her. Derek was only focused on Meredith's body under his. He felt her ripping from his grasp and held onto her for dear life, but she was sucked away from him. He looked up to find her but couldn't see anything in the chaos.

"Meredith!" He screamed, unable to hear his own voice. Cristina saw something fly past her as less of the plane became visible behind her, another chunk having broken off. She heard indistinct shouting and looked around her, seeing that Lexie and Arizona were still holding on for dear life. She clenched her eyes shut, her fingers digging into the carpeted floor as she prayed that everyone made it out okay.

What was remaining of the plane ground to a halt. Arizona slowly looked up to assess the damage. She saw that most of the front and back of the plane had detached, leaving just a small segment of the cabin where her, Lexie, and Derek all sat. She noticed the absence of Meredith, Cristina, and Mark, her stomach filling with dread.

Lexie was unconscious. Arizona almost envied her. Derek immediately stood up, stumbling down the aisle chanting Meredith's name to himself and searching with his eyes. He saw that she was gone and walked out the back of the plane, wandering through the forest and calling her name.

Arizona heard screaming, horrible, loud, feminine screaming as she slowly pulled Lexie out of the plane. Pain erupted from her left arm but she ignored it, dragged her wife's best friend's ex-girlfriend into a clearing in the forest.

"Lexie! Lexie, wake up! You don't get to sleep right now, wake the hell up!" She yelled, leaning over the brunette's face. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and looked around, becoming wide and filled with fear the longer she stared.

"You're not injured, just get up! We have to find Meredith and Cristina and Mark, come on, GET UP!" Arizona yelled. Lexie slowly sat up, grunting in pain as she looked down at the shard of glass in her thigh. She grabbed a piece of fabric laying on the ground a few feet away and pulled the shard out, wrapping the fabric around her leg to stop the bleeding.

"How long have I been out?" She asked, surprisingly calm as she looked up at Arizona, who had her arm dangling uselessly at her side.

"I...I don't know... I lost my shoe..." She said, almost as if she were drunk.

Screaming filled her ears and she looked around, her eyes landing on Cristina laying down near the front of the plane.

"I... I found Cristina.." She said, pointing towards the screaming surgeon. "But... but what about... Meredith and- and- and... and Mark? Where- Where are they? Did you... did you see them?" She asked, standing up slowly and scanning the forest for any sign of life.

"I... I don't know... I lost a shoe..." Arizona rambled, staring down at her definitely shoe-less foot.

"What happened?" Lexie asked, taking a few steps further into the clearing. She caught sight of Derek, wandering through the wreckage and calling her sister's name.

"The plane crashed! We were going to Idaho on a plane and it crashed. PLANE CRASH!" Arizona yelled.

"Where is Mark?! Where's Meredith, Derek? WHERE are they?!" Lexie screamed, tears in her eyes.

"I had her in my arms. I was holding her... and then she was gone. I... I think she fell into the back of the plane." Derek called from the other side of the clearing. Lexie's heart pounded in her chest.

"I DON'T SEE THE BACK OF THE PLANE, DEREK!" She screamed, tears running down her face.

"Shut up! Shut up, Shut UP!" Arizona screamed at Cristina, who stopped screaming and looked at the three of them.

"Something flew by my head. Right before the back of the plane broke off, something flew by me." She said. Just then, they heard a constant banging sound from the top of a hill behind them.

"Does anybody hear that sound?" Cristina asked. All four surgeons looked at each other for a moment before the three standing ones took off in the direction of the hill.

"Arizona! Wait!" Cristina yelled, grabbing hold of the pediatric surgeon's ankle before she could run past her. "Help me up. Hurry, help me up!" She ordered. Arizona grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away from the plane, stopping once they were a couple feet away. Cristina tried to stand but screamed in pain as her leg crumpled under her.

"Yang, your leg is broken. You can't go anywhere, I'm sorry." Arizona said. The heart surgeon dropped backward to lay on the ground, groaning in frustration as Arizona ran to go find her best friend.

Meanwhile, Mark woke up slowly. He heard Lexie screaming his name and raised his head, looking around, disoriented. He tried to get up but quickly realized that it was no use. Something was holding him down. He turned and froze, his eyes going wide.

His hand was stuck in a chunk of metal from the plane.

So... we've located every character but Meredith. Most of you probably know where she is by now. Don't give up hope yet, though. This story isn't going to follow the same path as the episode did. Buckle up, my friends. ;)

Kisses!

-E