Okay, here is the second part. I think a lot of you have been waiting for this to happen for a few chapters now. Well, it's only half of it but still. Ominous enough? :-) Enjoy!

Oh, and some of you might have missed that I updated this story yesterday, too.

I hope I'm still in time, Jime-GA-Lover. :-)

Chapter 11

Mark had been right. They were still a topic in the media but it had calmed down considerably and the paparazzi had moved on. It had only lasted two weeks and they had survived it. The Seattle Dragons making it into the Stanley Cup final after they'd crushed the Los Angeles Kings were apparently more interesting news.

Hearing Mark's soft chuckle, Lexie looked up from the fashion section of the newspaper she was reading and threw Mark a questioning glance. His legs were propped up on the couch table and Lexie had pushed her cold feet under his thighs while they were reading the newspaper. A morning routine they'd established whenever one of them slept over.

"What's so funny?"

"Photographic memory, huh?" Mark replied, grinning from ear to ear.

Lexie rolled her eyes, not surprised that a reporter finally found out about her ability. Mark tapped his finger thoughtfully against his lips, watching her with a scrutinizing look.

"Hmm, let's see … Ha, I've got it. Periodic table. Go!"

Lexie sighed heavily before she started to recite the periodic table. "Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon, Sodium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorus, Sulfur, ..." Lexie chuckled as he saw his stunned face. "I can keep going."

"They are suggesting that I should use you for my pregame preparations." Mark grinned. "I have to admit you could come in pretty handy if you would take a look at the statistics of the New Jersey Devils."

"Hey!" Lexie pushed one foot into his thigh. "I'm not a robot."

Mark stopped her foot from pushing into him again as he wrapped his hand around her ankle, almost laughing out loud as she tried to wriggle it free. Lexie pushed out her bottom lip into a pout and the twinkle in Mark's eyes changed into fire in a second as Lexie drew her lip between her teeth, inviting him silently to have a full-blown make-out session on the couch. But before Mark could take her up on her offer they heard a key in the lock and Mark raised his eye brows in surprise since they didn't expect anyone.

If the reason he'd showed up at Mark's apartment unannounced hadn't been so serious Ryan would have smiled at the extremely domestic picture in front of him.

"What are you doing here, Foster?" Mark snapped, annoyed that Ryan had interrupted them.

"Have you talked to Chloe lately?" Ryan asked back.

"You know how irregularly her phone calls are when she is in a war zone." Mark replied. "It's been a few days. Why?"

"I … It's just ..." Ryan gulped hard, the fear he'd tried to suppress for the last hours rising up again.

"Spit it out, Foster." Mark said impatiently.

"We had a Skype date yesterday but she didn't log in and she didn't call either." Ryan took in a deep breath, locking eyes with Mark. "I'm worried, Mark. Damn it, I'm worried sick."

"That happened before, Ryan." Mark replied calmly. "She couldn't always get a connection."

"No, Mark. This is different. Since ..."

"Since you're sleeping with her?"

"Yes. She always found a way to reach me. Always, Mark. She knows that I'm always worrying about her safety and she'd always found a way. Something happened, Mark. I just know that something is wrong and … I just needed to come here. Being alone in my apartment was driving me crazy."

"Sit down, Ryan." Lexie spoke softly. "I'll make some coffee."

"Make it a scotch, Lex. I think we might need it." Lexie looked at Mark, seeing how pale his face was. He didn't want to think the worst but Lexie could see that his mind already came up with worst case scenarios.

Lexie filled two glasses generously with Mark's best scotch, wrapping Ryan's hand around it as she gave him one. Walking over to the couch again, she gave the other one to Mark before she sat back down beside him, laying her hand on his shoulder, trying to give him silent support. Mark lifted his hand and wrapped his fingers around her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Do you have your computer with you, Ryan?" Mark asked, his voice strangely flat.

"Yes."

"Then plug it in. Maybe it's better we all wait together."

Ryan welcomed the distraction but it took him only a few minutes to set up his computer and make a connection to Mark's WLAN. Now the only thing they could do was wait. Hoping that Chloe would try to reach them. His phone was laying beside Mark's on the table, he was logged into his Skype account and his email account was open in another window. No matter how she would try to reach them, they would know immediately.

Seven hours later they had still no news, the bottle of Scotch was almost empty and even Lexie had filled one glass for herself because watching how Mark and Ryan went more and more quiet with every hour without there being anything she could do to help them made her restless.

Suddenly the computer pinged and all their heads jerked towards the screen, looking at the message that just popped up, announcing that Chloe had just logged in into Skype. Ryan sighed heavily, almost knocking over the couch table as he rushed towards the computer. When he hit the button to open the screen, he slumped into the stool, relief washing over him as he saw Chloe's tired face.

"Oh my god! You're okay."

"I'm sorry, Ryan." Chloe replied with a hoarse voice. As he looked closer he could see that her lips were cracked and that her face and clothes were dirt-stained and he wanted nothing more than to wrap her into his arms. "The car in front of us hit an IED and the satellite phone was at the major impact point. There was only a ball of metal left. Fortunately there were no life threatening injuries. We had to take back a different road. I'm sorry that I couldn't call you sooner."

"You are alive." Ryan said quietly. "Nothing else matters."

"And what about your brother? Don't you think he was worried, too?" Mark asked as he leaned into the web cam of Ryan's laptop.

"Mark?" Chloe exclaimed surprised. "What are you doing in Ryan's apartment?"

"It's actually my apartment. Your boyfriend came over because he didn't wanna worry all by himself."

"You know that my calls are always irregular when I'm researching for a story. I didn't think that you were expecting a call."

It didn't slip Ryan's attention that Chloe hadn't objected when Mark called him her boyfriend and his heart jumped in his throat as he realized that they'd already taken the next step without either of them noticing it.

"I didn't until Ryan showed up a few hours ago."

"I'll be home in two days." Turning her head she locked eyes with Ryan, giving him a shaky smile. "Are you gonna pick me up from the airport?"

"Of course. Just send me your flight dates as soon as you'll have it."

"Will do. I'm exhausted, guys, and I'm in desperate need of a shower. I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay. I'll see you all in two days."

"Try to stay away from trouble the last two days." Ryan said softly.

"I promise. My thirst for adventure is satisfy for a few weeks. I need to let the next one on the computer. Bye everyone."

"Bye, Chloe."

As the screen turned black, Ryan rubbed his hands over his face before he turned around to face Mark and Lexie.

"That was some scare, wasn't it?" Ryan said with a small smile on his face.

"You can say that again." Mark replied clearly relieved.

"Thanks for waiting with me."

"Hey, she is not only your girlfriend but also my sister." Mark told him. "I'm glad you came to me."

"I don't want to bother you any longer. I'll go now. I'll need to get some sleep. I hardly slept last night."

"You should do that." Lexie said softly.

"Until the next time, Foster."

~M&L~

Lexie had seen Ryan out of the apartment and when she walked back into the living room, Mark was sitting on the couch, his head resting on the back, eyes closed. Lexie sat down carefully beside him, lifting her hand to caress his cheek.

"Everything is okay, Mark."

"I know. But today just reminded me once again how dangerous her job is. Most of the times I don't think about it. But seeing Ryan almost losing it in front of me ..." Mark opened his eyes slowly, raising his hand to thread his fingers into her hair. "She is my sister. I can't deal with the fact that I might lose her."

"But you didn't lose her."

"But it could have been ..."

"Mark, stop it!" Lexie interrupted him. "You know it doesn't help. You can get hit by a car tomorrow. Every single one of us could die every day. We are mortal. No one is invincible."

"I wish I could protect her."

"Completely normal reaction for a big brother. But even you can't protect her from everything no matter how hard you try."

Mark leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. "Let's go to bed."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Lexie straddled him while she deepened the kiss. Mark pressed her tighter into his body as he stood up slowly with her in his arms, securing her legs around his waist while he walked towards the bed room.

Mark took of her clothes in an excruciatingly slow pace, caressing every part of her skin, making her whole body vibrate under his hands. His mouth searched hers, his tongue swirled around hers lazily. His hand trailed down her body, stroking over her nipple on the way down before he slipped one finger into her, watching her while his finger slid in and out. As a second finger joined the first, Lexie's breath caught in her throat and she arched her back, almost at the point of begging him to fuck her already.

But Mark didn't want to give her the release just yet. Worrying about Chloe for hours had almost driven him crazy and he wanted nothing more than to forget everything for a few hours. Cherishing Lexie's body always made him forget reality. She was never holding anything back, always given him everything she had. He wanted to see her come.

Lowering his head, he sucked her nipple into his mouth, his thumb brushing simultaneously over her clit and Lexie moaned as the first waves of her orgasm raced through her body. But Mark didn't give her any time to come down as he pulled her towards him, bending her knees and pushing them down on the mattress as he lowered himself between her legs. Lexie's eyes fluttered close as she felt him between her thighs, his hoarse voice in her ear almost make her come again.

"Look at me, Lex. Don't close your eyes. Look at me."

Lexie locked eyes with him and what she saw in their depths made tears rise up in her chest and clog her throat. It was as if he was baring his soul to her. She could see the remnants of his fear about his sister still in them as he took her with slow and deep thrusts. His body started to tremble when they got close to their orgasms and seeing all the different emotions swirling around in his eyes Lexie couldn't hold the words back any longer.

"I love you." Lexie whispered, seeing the shock in his eyes but couldn't help saying it again as she lifted her hands to cup his face. "I love you, Mark Sloan."

She didn't expect him to say it back, she just pulled his head down to her, kissing him ferociously, wrapping her legs around him, drawing him deeper into her and Mark plunged into her as deep as he could. Shouting out his name, Lexie was hit by her next orgasm, but this time she took him with her.

~M&L~

Mark was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling while Lexie was sleeping beside him and he turned his head, staring at her face which was barely visible in the darkness of the room. He wanted to brush it off, wanted to tell himself that she didn't mean the words she'd said shortly before they both went over the edge. But he'd seen it in her eyes that she had been saying the truth. She loved him and Mark didn't know what to do now.

He felt more for her than for any woman before … but love? He didn't think that he was able to love anyone. Not the way she would want him to love her. He respected her and he really liked her but he wasn't the kind of guy who could be faithful his whole life and he didn't want to hurt her. He just wasn't the right man for her. He knew it. Now he just had to find a way to show her how wrong he was for her without hurting her feelings more than necessary. But maybe he could wait a few days, maybe he could be with her for just a few more days.

I'm really trying to write as many chapters as I can for all my stories during these vacations. But I just watched the first Bones ep today again and man, I really love this show. So I'm definitely gonna have a Bones marathon now. What can I say? I love Seeley Booth almost as much as I love Mark Sloan. :-) Well, I just have to split my time between two handsome men now. Shouldn't be a problem. LOL.