I am terribly sorry for the long delay, but I was very busy – finals, then traveling the entire summer, work etc. I couldn't keep up with the story, but I am back on track now. This is the new chapter, I really hope you will like it – please read & review!

Being a surgeon means being a student all your life – it almost feels like you never really leave high school. Teaching hospitals are a lot like schools, but they are also a lot like home. Being a surgical resident, means residing within the hospital walls for the next five years of your life – after time you suddenly realize that everything you needed or even wanted is there. Your fellow residents become your friends, your attendings become your father or mother figures, and quite often a fellow surgeon becomes your spouse. Leaving the hospital where you've grown from the scared and unsecured intern to the confident and skillful surgeon is never easy. On nobody's part.

Dr. Webber was observing the small group of people heading for the exit. He has seen them leave the hospital every day – sometimes late at night, sometimes early in the morning or in the middle of the day. But tonight it was different. They were leaving Seattle Grace Mercy West forever. Being a surgeon in a teaching hospital is a lot like being a parent – young and eager doctors, fresh out of medical school come every year. Although they are considered adults, they are nothing more than babies with medical degrees. And here they start their first grade – they slowly grow, stumble along the way, fall, learn how to pick themselves up, until one day they are old and experienced enough to leave. And you were there – every step of the way. During their first shifts in the ER, their first steps in the operating rooms, their first solo surgeries. You watch them evolve in their field, but you also watch them grow – not as doctors, but as human beings. They fall in love, get married, have children of their own. They change. And when they finally reach that finish line, you can't help it but feel proud – proud that you helped shaping them into the people they are today.

"We did good, chief." Bailey's voice interrupted his internal monologue. She joined him with a half-smile – everybody expect for Jackson and April were leaving Seattle.

"Yes. We did good." Webber agreed and they both observed as Christina, Meredith and Alex cheerfully left the hospital.

"These are on the house." said Joe as he loaded dozen tequila's on the small table.

"So leaving this crappy state has some surprising benefits." Cristina said before she took a shot of tequila.

"What's the verdict?" Meredith asked looking first at Cristina and then at Alex.

"Columbia." Cristina said flipping her small glass backwards.

"Hopkins." Alex replied.

"Mass General." Meredith joined in. They stood there for a while, in silence. As if absorbing the realization that their paths were finally parting. Then Cristina raised a second tequila shot.

"To George." she said and a single tear appeared in her eye.

"To Izzie." Alex joined in raising his own glass.

Cristina and Alex stood with their glasses in the air waiting for Meredith to join in. She was staring down at her hands. She finally raised a glass up in the air, eyes full of tears, as if this gesture took everything out of her.

"To Lexie." she finally said. "And to change." she added a few seconds later.

"To moving on." Alex said.

"To getting the hell out of here!" Cristina joined in the final toast. They emptied their glasses and after the liquor had finally kicked in, they started laughing uncontrollably.

"We did good." Meredith said.

"Hell yeah we did good! In a million years, I wouldn't have thought that this empty head will ever set a foot in a first world hospital, let alone a top rated one!" Cristina said between chuckles as she playfully hit Karev at the back of his head. "I am proud of you!" she told him and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Yeah, yeah." Alex said indifferently. "Meanwhile, you could've done better." he teased.

"Hey, the university hospital of Columbia and Cornell has amazing cardio program!" she argued. "Besides, it is in New York, as oppose to having to live in this hell hole called Baltimore. I can't even locate Maryland on the map, even the people who live there can't."

"So why Columbia anyway?" Meredith asked curiously.

"Owen got a great position there. He is going to be the new head of the trauma department and considering this is New York City, being the head of trauma is like being the chief of surgery in terms of work and responsibilities." Cristina grabbed few peanuts from the small bowl and slowly started peeling them. "And why Mass Gen?"

"Did you really just asked me that question?" Meredith said. "Besides, Derek has negotiated a deal with Harvard. He will be teaching until his full recovery."

"Unlike you two, I actually based my decision on my own desires." he emphasized. "It's a bitch being married."

"Oh, no worries Karev. You will meet some intern over there at Hopkins, knock her up and eventually be forced to spent the rest of your life with her and four kids, who will be just as annoying as you are. Then you will know how we felt for five very, very, very long years."

Alex pulled himself to laugh at her mean jokes, but eventually excused himself and left for the bathroom, leaving Meredith and Cristina alone.

"Talking about kids..." Meredith started. "How is everything between you and Owen."

"What do you mean?" Cristina shot back immediately.

"Well, you know..." Meredith stammered a bit, hoping that her friend will get the point, without her having to go into any unpleasant details.

"He told me he chooses me, Mer. What else is there?" Cristina asked, with a tone of annoyance in her voice.

"So you haven't talked about it since?" Meredith continued.

"No." Cristina said.

"I am so glad I was born with a penis, there is a whole slew of women waiting for the chick bathroom." Alex joined in and grabbed a small red straw to play with. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing." Cristina said shooting a warning look at Meredith.

Alex looked at Meredith, then at Cristina. After several moments spent in silence he broke the ice.

"Uncomfortable silence it is." he nodded and emptied another shot of tequila.

Meredith took a deep breath and turned her gaze towards Alex.

"Actually we were just discussing Cristina's marriage and how after she had an abortion her husband was against, they got into a serious fight that almost ended their marriage. Then he cheated on her, that really almost ended their marriage and now that we survived the plane crash, they are back together. She claims they are happy and everything is fine, because he told her that he chooses her over being a father. So Alex, are you buying this?"

"Mer!" Cristina shouted out.

"Hunt cheated on you?!" Alex looked shocked at his friend.

"What the hell Meredith?!" Cristina continued, feeling the anger building in.

"Hunt...cheated...on...you?!" Alex said slowly and pointed Cristina with his red straw.

"Oh, shut up Alex!" she hissed angrily. "What the hell is your problem, Meredith?"

"My problem is that I don't trust him." she said. "He says that he is fine with it now, but will he? Will he be fine with it in a year? Or five? This is a serious issue to deal with Cristina. One-time discussions are not acceptable."

"Okay, okay. Slow the fuck down, both of you." Alex interrupted. "So let me get this straight. Hunt cheated on you, then the plane crash happened and you having the habit to make the most important decisions in your life, during your most severe traumatic experiences, decided to stay together."

"First of all Karev, I don't make the most important decisions in my life during crisis..."

"Bullshit!" he cut her off. "You got married right after a guy had a gun pointed at your head. You are choosing Columbia over Mayo – which by the way has so much more to offer you in terms of learning and career development, because your husband got a fancy job there. You decide to stay with him, even after he cheated on you, because you haven't fully recovered from the fact you almost freaking died in the woods."

"You don't know the whole story, Karev, so why don't you just shut up!" she said defensively. "Both of you! I choose to stay with Owen, because I love him. And I choose Columbia, because it is one of the leading hospitals in the country and has a great cardio program. And yes, because he got s great job offer too. It is called compromise."

"You don't do compromises." Alex said. "You are Yang. Cristina Yang." he said in a James Bond style of speaking.

"Well, people change." she told him.

"So, you've only talked about it once? The having-a-child thing?" Meredith asked again.

"Yes." Cristina confirmed.

"And he said he chooses you." Alex asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"Yang, I will tell you this as...my friend." he started moving closely to her in his chair. "I mean, we've known each other long enough and you've been there for...a lot." he exhaled deeply. "Here is what I think – from a male perspective. He is lying. Okay, not lying, lying, but still lying."

"English was not your best subject, isn't it?" Cristina asked sarcastically.

"Anyway. The guy wants to be a father. He says he doesn't want it now, that he chooses you over being a parent, but this ain't gonna last forever. He said it, because you almost died, he was close to loosing you forever. He is probably scared that if he speaks his true mind about the issue, he will loose you!"

There was a long silence between the three of them.

"Look, Cristina before you make any further steps concerning your future, talk to him. Again and again, until you are absolutely sure that one day, few years from now, he is not going to leave you for someone who is willing to fulfill his desire to be a father. He did cheat on you. Do not ever forget that." Meredith said looking at her friend with concern.

"Can we stop talking about that?" Cristina finally said. "It is our last night together."

"Last? Come on, we are all in the neighborhood." Alex said cheerfully. "Although, I must say I am not going to miss you a whole lot, considering there is always some bat shit drama going on in your both personal and professional lives." he teased and slowly the mood started to light up again.

The three of them spent the rest of the night drinking, laughing and remembering. Their internships, different moments, procedures and patients throughout their residency. The people they were able to save, those that didn't make it to a good outcome. They were able to summarize five years of training in 4 hours and two bottles of tequila. When they eventually parted and got into their own cabs, the feeling of leaving haven't fully kicked in. It felt like one of those nights they just spent at Joe's. It felt like they were going to see each other tomorrow morning with a cup of coffee and a raging hangover.

It wasn't until Cristina finally reached the firehouse and saw the living room empty and only a few boxes left on the floor, that she finally realized she was leaving. Forever.

She found Owen asleep. They haven't moved their bed yet – he was in charge of the whole process and Cristina was just going with it. She looked at him, sleeping peacefully. No nightmares, no visible signs of troubles. Chest raising and falling. She loved him, she always loved him. There was something about them, as a couple – on paper, they should not be together. A choking, an abortion, cheating, collapse – every other sane person would have walked away. But they were still together – it was this strong chemistry that always drove them back together. But would this natural force be enough for them to stay together? Forever? Were Alex and Meredith right? Would he change his mind after few years and bring out the skeleton from the closet? Cristina shook her head, tossed her jacked and shoes on the floor and carefully crawled into the bed, curling up next to Owen. He shifted in his sleep and once he realized the presence of another person, he opened his eyes.

"Cristina?" he said quietly.

She just smiled in the dark and shifted on top of him, burying her face into his chest and locking her hands around his neck. Owen's hands quickly found their way around her and he held her tightly.

"I am scared you will leave." Cristina said, but her words were muffled in his chest.

"What was that?" Owen asked in a tired voice, because he couldn't quite hear what she said. After few minutes of silence, he gently caressed her hair in whispered in her ear. "I love you."

Soon they both drifted away in a heavy sleep, not letting go of one another.