PICKING UP THE PIECES

Maddison fic. Thanks to Sparklepop777 for the title. Addison tries to set up a new life for herself but there is one man she really misses. Mark heads over to Chicago and he is in for a huge surprise.

Author: Emily

Rating: T

Summary: Addison leaves Seattle, and no one knows where she has gone. Mark sets out to find her, and eventually he does. They start a new relationship, but can their love hold out through everything they will go through?

Chapter Fourteen – When You Love Someone (Addison's POV)

Someone was lightly shaking me, and I opened my eyes to Mark's smiling face. His eyes were deep and thoughtful as he gazed down at me, and then bent his head to kiss me gently. My pulse soared well over a healthy and normal limit.

"Evie made you scrambled egg for breakfast, Addie." He whispered, and at the thought of scrambled eggs, that yellow wobbly mass on a plate, my heart and my stomach sunk. I pushed Mark out of the way and staggered on unsteady legs to the bathroom, where I threw up. Three times.

By the time I was done he was crouching behind me, holding my hair and stroking it gently, whispering, "It's ok, baby, it's ok."

I reached up for my glass of water and drank it down, desperate to get rid of the burning taste in my mouth and throat. Then I sank back into Mark's arms. He held me for a minute.

"You ok now?" he asked. I nodded, still not trusting myself to speak and slowly he helped me back onto my feet, supporting me where my useless shaking legs would not. I leant into him and sighed a huge sigh as he kissed my forehead and slowly supported me into the bedroom again.

"I guess scrambled eggs is off." He said, smiling at me. I grinned weakly back. He knelt down in front of me where I was sat on my bed and stroked the side of my face with his hand.

"I guess." I said, and found myself drowning in the intensity of the love in his eyes. It was incredible really, that all that – steaminess – in those grey blue eyes was for me.

"Do you want anything, Addie? Do you want to go back to bed? I can call Harvey, I'm sure he'll understand."

I would never let him know, but I loved protective Mark. Protective Mark made me feel wanted.

When you love someone

You'll do anything

You'll do all the crazy things you can't explain

"No. They need me in there, Mark. They've still got casualties spilling in from the bombs and so many surgeries that need doing."

He sighed and kissed me gently, softly, right on the mouth.

"Whatever you say." He murmured in a voice barely more than a whisper and went back to kissing me, gently. I pulled back slowly and took his face in my hands.

"I stink of sick, Mark."

He smiled and kissed me again. "I love you anyway."

I stroked his cheek lightly with my thumb, gazing into his eyes, when we heard someone clearing their throat. Evie stood in the doorway, smiling at us, bright red.

"Uh… Addison? There's someone on the phone for you – a Miranda Bailey?"

"Shit." Mark swore and as he looked at me guiltily I realised that neither of us had let Seattle know I was ok. I took the phone from Mark's daughter, smiling.

"Addison Montgomery." I said.

"Addison?" Miranda's usually harsh tone faded into nothing in almost disbelief. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. All that's happened to me is I've got some stitches in my face."

"Why the hell didn't you phone someone or leave a message or something? We all thought you were dead, Addison Montgomery. I know Shepherd told Sloan to phone us when he got any news. Now a random girl is picking up your phone and telling me she's Sloan's daughter!"
I sighed. There would have been better ways for Seattle and the Merediths to find out about Evie.

"I'm sorry, Miranda. There's been a lot going on the past day and a half and I've been busy with work."

"That is no excuse! We thought you were lying in a pile of rubble somewhere, and no one knew who you were!"

I couldn't say anything to that. I looked at Mark and he grinned apologetically back. There was a silence from the other end, and then Miranda spoke again.

"Well, I'm glad you're ok, Addison. Is the other thing we discussed?" I figured there was someone else in the room with her, that didn't know about the baby.

"Yeah. I told Mark."

"So the asshole's back then, is he?"

I laughed. "Yeah. He's back for good." And Mark reached across and took my hand.

You'll shoot the moon

Put out the sun

When you love someone

"Well, I suppose I won't be able to persuade you otherwise on that front. There's way too much history there."

I nodded, smiling. She had summed it up perfectly. There was so much history between me and Mark that we couldn't help but end up together in the very end.

"I'm sorry I didn't ring, Miranda."

"That's ok, Addison. Dr Torres wants to talk to you now."

"Sure." I said, and then Callie was thundering down the phone.

"Why the hell didn't you phone someone?"

I sighed. "I've just been through all this with Miranda, Callie. I'm sorry. I was very busy helping the relief and all that. And – I'm pregnant!"

Callie gasped. "As is having a baby pregnant?"

I laughed. "Call yourself a surgeon!" But in the background I could hear her shouting at someone.

"George, if you dare tell your little friends!"

I just laughed. "Let him tell them, Callie. And whilst he's at it, tell them Mark has a sixteen year old daughter. Give them something to talk about. I'm sure Seattle Grace isn't half as interesting without me."

I could almost hear the smile in Callie's voice. "You'll make a great Mother, Addison. You have to come down here as soon as you can."

"Once the hospital quietens down again after the bomb, I promise. Me and Mark'll come down and maybe stay for a couple of nights or something. Would that be good?"

"Brilliant. We've all missed you, Addie."

"I missed you too. But I've gotta be getting to work now."

"Oh, God, hang on a second. The Chief wants to talk to you."

There was a silence on the line, and then the familiar voice of my boss and friend.

"Congratulations, Addison."

"Thank you, Richard." I said, "I'm sorry I didn't call."

"It's ok. We were just worried about you, that's all. I suppose you'd better congratulate Sloan, too."

"OK."

"Has Robert Harvey been treating you right?"

"It's great here. I love working with Tammy, and with my other friends…"

I trailed off, Frankie Rogers' smiling face swimming into my mind.

"So you wouldn't consider coming back to Seattle Grace then?"

"I don't know, Richard. I want to stay with Mark now. And there's the baby."

"I'm offering the both of you your jobs back. I'm really retiring in a few months, and Derek's going to be Chief of Surgery. But I don't think the team will be strong enough without you or Sloan. I want both of you back. I can talk to Harvey, I'll be able to convince him."

I thought hard. I liked CCH, I liked Tammy and Kayleigh and Vicki Brown. I liked salmon scrubs and I liked working under Robert Harvey. But it wasn't Seattle. Seattle, the town I had come to love to hate.

"I'll think about it. I'll talk to Mark."

"All right. Well, let me know in the next few days. Thanks, Addison. I'm glad you're ok. Congratulations."

"Thanks. Bye, Richard."

You'll deny the truth

Believe a lie

There'll be times that you'll believe you can really fly

I put the phone down, shaking slightly. The familiar voices had made my head spin and suddenly the fact that I had almost died was beginning to sink in. I had already cried a lot, but that was for everyone else. Frankie and the others who had died suddenly, without warning, without thought. All of a sudden the fact that I had narrowly escaped death was in the forefront of my mind. I felt my eyes blur up with tears when the thought of never seeing Mark again, never seeing any of the Seattle lot again, crept into my brain. I felt Mark's arms come around me and before I knew it I was crying hard into his shoulder, unable to control the rush of emotions overtaking me.

Somewhere, the obstetrician in me was telling me it was hormonal, but the only thing that I could think of was the wreckage and disaster, the death and the destruction. I let Mark hold me tightly until the sobs had subsided. Evie was still stood in the doorway, looking sadly at us both. I hardly noticed as she crept away.

"Addie, I'm putting my foot down. You're in no state to go to work today."

"Mark, I need to-"

"No, you don't, Addison. The hospital and all the other perfectly good qualified doctors can cope without you for one day. You're pregnant, and you've just suffered a huge shock. You are not going back to work today."

I pouted. I knew I was doing it, but I couldn't help it. He leant in to kiss my cheek, but I leant away.

"Addison…" he said in a warning tone.

"Mark…" I echoed back, teasing, and then I hugged him tightly to me.

"Is this real?" I murmured in his ear, "Is this really us, now?"

"I think so."

"It's too good to be true." I said, "I love you."

"I love you too." He said, "Now, go back to bed, get some sleep – because neither of us got very much last night – and then spend the day doing nothing useful. Watch TV, read a book, relax. Don't worry, don't think about work, don't think about what happened."

"All right." I said, and he looked shocked.

"You're agreeing with me?"

"Uh huh. I'm letting you be the bossy one."

He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose. "All right then, Addie. Evie's still here for now. You know how to reach me if you need me."

"I know. I love you, Mark."

"Love you, Addie." He said, and kissed me one last time, then grabbing his bag and walking out the door. I heard the front door slam and I sighed.

And then I realised that of all the mornings I'd woken up sick since this whole thing had started, this was the first I'd shared with someone I loved.

But your lonely nights

Have just begun

When you love someone

It was almost midday when I woke up, feeling substantially better than I had before. I put a dressing gown on and wandered downstairs, hoping for something to eat. Evie was sat in front of my TV, watching The Simpsons and texting someone on her cell phone. I made a cup of coffee and sat next to her on the sofa.

"You all right now?" she said, almost warily. I didn't blame her, really. She had seen me at my very worst state this morning. I smiled.

"Yeah, thanks. A little bit sicky still but other than that I should be fine."

"Great." She said, and tried unsuccessfully to disguise a sigh as she read her next incoming text.

I argued with myself over whether to ask her about it. She was so like Mark, I felt I knew her already. But she didn't know me. And maybe she didn't want to.

"What is it?" I asked, and she looked at me, suddenly sadly.

"Have you ever had a friend that you thought loved you more than anything and then they let you down so hard you think it would hurt to start feeling again?"

I nodded slowly, thinking of Mark, when he cheated on me in college.

"Well, there's this guy, my best friend, Mickey. And I was going out with this guy called Jack but then – well, there was this one night and Mickey and I ended up… you know."

I nodded. God, this was beginning to sound uncomfortably familiar.

"So I dumped Jack and I was going out with Mickey, for a couple months or whatever. And then I come down here for like a day, and Mickey's gone back to college. He's been there like one day and one of my other friends, Chantelle, she says that she saw him with his old girlfriend again. So I texted him and asked him what the hell was going on and he said what we had was just a fling."

And I don't know how it happened, but suddenly Mark's daughter was crying into my shoulder. So far my days seemed to have been made up of crying. I stroked her golden hair and wished I could say something to make her feel better. But I couldn't. I knew exactly how she was feeling.

"I didn't want it to be a fling." She said, "I wanted it to be forever. He was supposed to be my best friend."

And I wished Mark was there to help me help her.

When you love someone

You'll feel it deep inside

And nothing else can ever change you mind

"Evie." I said solemnly, looking into her eyes, grey, familiar eyes. "Evie, you are strong, you are beautiful and you are intelligent. And no guy can ever take that away from you. You can do whatever you want with your life and no one can stop. You are totally in control."

She smiled at me. "Sure. I'm going to art college. My Mom says it's a waste of my intelligence, but there's nothing else I want to do. It's like my thing, you know, the thing I do good? Like Chantelle plays bass guitar and Libby can do Math with her eyes closed."

"If that's what you want to do, you'll do it, Evie." I said, "If you believe you can."

She smiled at me and then gave me a rough, awkward hug.

"I think you're supposed to hate your Dad's girlfriend, but I can't help liking you." She said, and that made me beam.

"Thanks." I said. "Look, you don't mind about the baby, do you?"

Evie shrugged. "At first, I was excited. Then, laid in bed last night, I wasn't sure. I thought, stupidly, I know, that maybe a baby would change in some way the way my Dad sees me. Because right now he thinks I'm special. I'm his only child, and if that changes, I can't help thinking that I won't be so special to him anymore."

I smiled weakly at her and patted her hand. "You will, Evie. I've never seen him look quite the way he does when he talks about you. You are the best thing he's ever done."

There was a silence for a minute and then she spoke.

"I've seen him look like that." She said. "When he talks about you."

And the tears that came into my eyes stung.

When you want someone

When you need someone

When you love someone

Mark didn't get home until late, and when he did he came bearing groceries from the shop. I cooked. Mark stood there, watching me in amusement.

"What?" I said, trying to work out how to work the grill.

"You don't cook, Addie. You're crap at cooking."

"Gee, thanks." I said, "Nice to know someone has a little faith in me. I used to cook for Derek."

"No you didn't." he said pointedly. "You used to buy basically pre-prepared food. Or Derek would cook."

I sighed, because he was right, and I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

"I brought the groceries so Evie could cook."

Evie looked up at the mention of her name. "What?"

"You can cook. You cook at home."

"Dad, I'm going home tomorrow. Can't you cook for me?"

I snorted. "Mark, cook? I don't think so."

"Like you're any better." He threw back at me.

"Oh yeah? I bet I could make something out of these?" I gestured to the meat and vegetables he'd bought, "Better than you."

"In your dreams, sweetheart."

"Children!" Evie said, laughing, a sparkle back in her eyes after the pain that had haunted them earlier. "I'll cook!"

We all laughed.

When you love someone

You'll sacrifice

You'll give it everything you've got

Dinner was bittersweet. Evie was leaving early tomorrow morning, going back to school and to making a portfolio, aiming for art school in the future. Mark and I were muddling forward, unsure of what there would be in the future except a baby. Unsure of how we would forget all that history Miranda Bailey mentioned. Evie had cooked a delicious meal, and the conversation we made was polite and impersonal. But so much in my life had changed in the past four days that I was suddenly shaky and unsure of everything. Mark hadn't cheated. Mark had a daughter. We were having a baby together. Richard wanted us back at Seattle Grace. Derek was going to be Chief of Surgery. Nothing stayed constant, nothing remained the same.

And you won't think twice

You'd risk it all

No matter what may come

The next day we stood together at the train station, waving to Evie.

"Bye honey." Mark said, and kissed his daughter gently. I hugged her and looked her in the eye. "You can do whatever it is you want, Evelyn Firth." I said, and she hugged me tightly.

Then she was gone, pulling her suitcase towards the train and leaving Mark and I behind. Mark had a slight tear in his eye that I reached up and wiped away.

"She'll be back." I said, "Before we know it, she'll be back. You'll see her more than ever now."

"I know." He said, "I just don't like it when she leaves."

I held his hand tightly as we walked back to my car.

"Richard wants us back in Seattle." I said bluntly, realising there would be no right time to tell him, I just had to get on with it.

"What?" Mark spat.

"Derek's gonna be Chief. But Richard wants us back."

Mark said nothing.

"What do you want to do, Mark?" I asked. He reached across and took my hands.

"Whatever it is you want to do, Addie." He said, and then he kissed me. "As long as I'm with you…"

You'll shoot the moon

Put out the sun

When you love someone

There you go. Fluffy, happy Maddison. Which Greys hasn't actually invented yet. And now they never will. Reviews, please!