Author's Note: Dedicated to all the wonderful readers who left a review :-) seroox, Alexia, JJ, Emma, shipperficial, Ange, Chiph, Bryn, carmelcarmie, Jessica, greysgirly1, carmen, PatrickHenry77, OCshipper, slytherinchickk, Reannederful. And of course, to my favorite critic, wyee83. Thanks heaps guys!

Inside the creased envelope, he withdrew a folded crinkled sheet of paper that had yellowed slightly over time and he unfolded it carefully. His azure blue eyes widened in shock as they skimmed slowly across the first line.

Seattle Presbyterian Hospital – Prenatal Paternity Test for Patient: T. Altman

Dear Ms. Altman,

We have enclosed the results of the Chorionic Villi Sampling test on the DNA sample/s that you have provided. They have been compared to the set of non-invasively acquired prenatal samples from the foetus.

Results:

Sample 1 – Owen Daniel Hunt: Negative Match at 99.9% accuracy

Sample 2 – Owen Daniel Hunt: Negative Match at 99.4% accuracy

Sample 3 – Michael Henry Perkins: Positive Match at 70.5% accuracy

Sample 4 – Andrew Winton Tupper: Negative Match at 99.6% accuracy

If you have any questions or wish to discuss these results, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Warren or another OB-GYN specialist today. We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

PrenatalGeneTestCheck – SP Hospital

His eyes had glazed past most of the letter and the only line he truly saw was 'Sample 1 – Owen Daniel Hunt: Negative Match at 99.9% accuracy'. He vaguely recalled providing DNA samples via buccal swabs, but Teddy had never shown him the results of the test and he was too preoccupied with keeping his mind off Cristina to ask her about it. Shock had glued Owen's feet to the soft carpet floor as the letter fell from his weakened grip and landed soundlessly against the floor. His cerulean eyes resembled a vast ocean of emptiness as they stared blankly ahead, the fallen letter long forgotten.

Thoughts ran thick and fast through his mind as he grappled with a multitude of emotions. He hadn't been the father of Teddy's child. This thought should have come as a relief to him yet all he felt was a sense of loss. As a result of the pregnancy, he had not only lost Cristina, but also being by her side through every step of the ups and downs of the two years that had gone past. He felt his legs weaken as these waves of loss crashed violently against him; ripping and tearing away at his conscience. Slowly, these waves of loss pooled together to form another emotion. Anger. He was angry at Teddy for lying and hiding everything. He was angry at Cristina for simply walking away. He was angry at whoever was responsible for knocking Teddy up in the first place. But most importantly, he was angry at himself; he had been a fool to just give up Cristina under the impression he was righting a wrong.

He ran his hand roughly through his tousled red hair. Numerous questions bombarded his mind as he found himself contemplating the options of his future. He knew he wanted Cristina; he just didn't know how to get her back. He had hidden the truth from her two years ago by ending everything with a simple lie and she had walked away believing it. Now he found that the tables had turned, he was at a complete loss at what to say to her and how to even start. The anger that Owen felt towards Teddy has disappeared for the time being as Owen sat there as a plan slowly pieced itself together in his mind.

Cristina lounged lazily on one of the gurneys in the basement hallway, flipping non-committedly through the latest cardiothoracic medical journal. Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes upon her and she looked up to see Jackson's soft emerald green eyes staring at her from a few feet away.

"What are you? Some kind of perve who watches women read on gurneys from a distance?" she mocked as she continued flipping through the medical journal.

"If that's your way of saying 'thank you', then you're welcome," said Jackson as moved closer and seated himself at the edge of the gurney, near Cristina's feet.

The medical journal slid off Cristina's lap as she sat up instantly. "Why? Did you get me a surgery?" she demanded.

"Nope. But being a wonderful friend, I did help you move your suitcases from Shepherd's office back to the apartment," Jackson replied proudly, grinning as if it were some huge accomplishment.

"Oh. Whatever," replied Cristina non-enthusiastically as she started going through the magazine once again.

Jackson merely rolled his eyes in response.

"Are you okay?" Jackson's forehead suddenly creased with worry.

"What?" Cristina's voice was incredulous. "Seriously? Why is everyone asking me that? Do I look weak or something?"

"Nope. You just happen to have a huge bloodstain on your sleeve," said Jackson as he stared pointedly at the dark patch that covered most of Cristina's left sleeve.

"Oh." Cristina shifted slightly awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable under the intense stare that radiated towards her arm.

"You going to tell me what happened?" persisted Jackson as his eyes remained transfixed on the darker area of the sleeve.

"Traffic pile up yesterday. Happy?"

"Is that all?" His grass green eyes narrowed suspiciously. After having spent two years with Cristina, Jackson had honed a sixth sense that told him whenever Cristina wasn't telling him the complete story.

Beep Beep. Cristina's pager went off before she had a chance to reply and her hands instantly reached for them. "Oh look, it's Webber. Guess I'll have to talk to you later," Cristina said before she made a speedy escape through the door to the stairwell.

"We're not done talking," called Jackson after her disappearing back. He took Cristina's place on the gurney, grabbing her medical journal and flicking through it while his mind drifted off elsewhere. He had spent two years staying by Cristina's side through her ups and downs, highs and lows in the vain hope that someday she would turn around and notice him as more than a friend, but it had never happened. He had been scared of ruining the friendship between them to be the first to make a move so he had instead lingered by her side silently and patiently, holding onto this thread of futile hope. Fate had a twisted sense of humour as it had brought him and Cristina back to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital; the place where everything had started out. Most people who had seen him and Cristina together had instantly assumed they were a couple, but Cristina had always laughed it off saying it was something that would never happen. In times like those, he would simply laugh along with her while secretly wishing she would someday change her mind. Meredith's words from before had given him a lot to think about and now they echoed loudly in his mind. 'Hang in there. Don't give up on her just yet.' Although he had no idea what the term 'person' meant even though Cristina used it so often to describe her relationship with Meredith, it seemed to be another word for best friend or the person you'd do anything for. He sighed loudly as closed the medical journal. He was neither Cristina's boyfriend nor her person. But hopefully, that would change soon.

Cristina knocked tentatively on the Chief's closed door; two years away from the hospital had done nothing to change the authoritative aura that was projected by Richard Webber at all times.

"Come in." His voice rang loudly through the thick wooden door which Cristina openly slowly.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" she asked as she walked closer towards the long maple table.

"Uh yes. Take a seat." He gestured towards the hard plastic chair situated in front of his desk. Cristina sat down silently, unsure of why she was there.

"Sir...?" she prompted cautiously.

"Today, not long after I spoke with you and Dr. Avery, I received an email from Dr. Altman. It was her letter of resignation from the position of Head of Cardio at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital," said Webber as he clasped his hands together nervously.

"Teddy's gone? Did she say why?" Cristina's eyes widened in surprise as the cogs in her brain whirred rapidly; she had seen Owen barely two hours ago, not long after her meeting with the Chief and Dr. Freischlag. Surely Owen couldn't have also disappeared in the space of two hours too, could he?

The Chief cleared his throat loudly before he continued. "Her letter was fairly short and direct. Her contract ended a few weeks ago and I wanted to consider other options before renewing the contract with her." Richard paused. "She didn't give a reason for her resignation or any reason for the short notice, but she has recommended that I hire you in her place."

"Hire me?" Cristina's voice rose with surprise.

"Hire you," replied Webber before he paused and look Cristina directly in the eye. "How would you like a job here, Dr. Yang?"

"I- I need some more time to think about it," replied Cristina quickly.

"I can give you a higher wage, more residents and more benefits, but I can't give you more time. The board is pushing me to find a replacement for Altman by three o'clock today. And right now, you are my number one choice. All I need is a yes or no, Yang." His dark brown eyes now focused intensely on Cristina.

It was in that split second Cristina made a life-changing spur of the moment decision. "It'd be a pleasure, Sir."

"Good. Welcome aboard. I'll get Patricia to make sure Altman's office is ready for use. We'll discuss your pay and benefits later." Webber as he extended a hand for Cristina to shake. Cristina grasped it quickly although she was still in a state of shock as a result of her spur of the moment decision. She pulled her hand from his grasp and turned headed towards the door.

"Oh and Yang."

Cristina's hand stopped on its way to the door handle. "Chief?"

"Get a new scrub top," said Webber as his eyes fell upon the dark stain on Cristina's sleeve.

"Yes Sir." And with that, Cristina left the Chief's office in a slight daze.

In the cafeteria, Meredith and Cristina lounged leisurely at a table for four, each with their respective meals in front of them.

"No way. Seriously? Why?" Meredith's forkful of salad that had stopped halfway on its journey to her mouth was long forgotten as she stared at Cristina, her eyes wide with shock.

"I don't know. He offered, I accepted," replied Cristina nonchalantly as she took another bite of her chicken sandwich.

"But why?"

"There's a nice cardio department here." Cristina tried to shrug off Meredith's question, but her attempt proved to be unsuccessful as Meredith stared at her sceptically with scrutinizing eyes.

"Johns Hopkins has an even better one! What were you thinking, Cristina?" reprimanded Meredith. "I thought you wanted to get away from here as soon as you could."

"I did, I mean I do." Cristina averted her gaze away from Meredith's accusatory stare.

"Then why did you take the Chief's offer?" retorted Meredith exasperatedly.

"Cristina took who's offer?" Izzie slid smoothly into the seat beside Meredith as she leant forward and injected herself into their conversation.

"Cristina's the new Head of the Cardio Department," said Meredith before Cristina could say anything.

"At Johns Hopkins?"

"Nope. Our Head of Cardio actually." Meredith popped a forkful of salad into her mouth, ignoring the glare that radiated strongly from Cristina's seat.

"No way." The apple Izzie was holding fell back onto her loaded tray and landed on her box of Caesar salad. "She didn't! You didn't! Right? What about Hunt? And Altman?"

"That's what I asked!" said Meredith as she waved her fork in Izzie's direction.

"All right. Shut up." Cristina put her sandwich down. "Altman's gone and I don't know or care about Owen. I took the job when Webber offered it and I have no regrets about it. So now, I'm officially your boss. Satisfied?" Cristina glared back at Izzie and Meredith. Instead of the defeated looks of acceptance she had expected, both Meredith and Izzie were staring at something over her head with their mouths slightly open. She turned around slowly and found herself staring at a stunned Jackson Avery who stood strangely motionless, still holding his tray of cafeteria food and an extra coffee that presumably had been for her. "Uh hi," said Cristina awkwardly after a brief pause. Jackson merely stared back in response, his emerald eyes unmoving. "You want a seat?" she asked conversationally, trying to ignore the thickening taste of tension that filled the air.

"We need to talk. Now," said Jackson in an abnormally calm voice.

Cristina opened her mouth to argue, but she noticed that they were attracting curious stares from the other occupants sitting nearby in the cafeteria so she sighed resignedly and abandoned her tray of food before she followed Jackson out of the bustling area.

"You took Webber's offer?" Jackson's voice rose as he faced Cristina in the empty supply closet.

"Keep it down," hissed Cristina. Her eyes darted nervously towards the door; the hospital's grapevine spread gossip like a raging wildfire and she had no intention of sharing her new decision with the entire hospital just yet.

"You took Webber's offer?" he repeated, incredulity crept into his voice.

"Yes. I took his offer. Big deal." Cristina rolled her eyes.

"It is a big deal." Jackson stepped closer to Cristina and looked deeply into her eyes. "It is a big deal to me," he repeated, not breaking off the gaze.

Cristina suddenly found herself feeling uncomfortable under the intense gaze that radiated from Jackson and took a step backwards to find herself backed against the shelves in the supply closet. "Uh, you're in my space," she said awkwardly as she averted her gaze downwards.

Now or never, Jackson thought to himself. "Cristina," he called quietly as he stepped forward, closing the near non-existent space between him and Cristina. He felt a suddenly emboldened. "I've loved you for forever. I never wanted to push you because I wanted you to be the one to make the first move," he said softly, as he waited patiently for her to look up and maybe see the sincerity of his words in his deep emerald eyes.

Unsure if she had heard correctly, Cristina looked up at him; her soft brown eyes peered questioningly at him. "What?"

As soon as she looked up, Jackson's lips immediately claimed Cristina's, replying her question with the passion he had accumulated over the past two years.

Cristina found herself being pushed backwards against the shelves as Jackson's lips found hers and felt a sense of déjà vu as her mind flashed back to a similar incident from years ago where they had both been severely intoxicated at Arizona's surprise birthday party.

Flashback

The 'surprise party' Callie had planned for Arizona was a completely flop, thought Cristina as she grabbed a beer from the alcohol-crowded bench top. There was a wide variety of people in her apartment, from nurses to psych residents and her supply of alcohol was being depleted at a rapid rate. She sighed softly. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed Owen. He had always been there through her highs and lows, and it felt strange and empty for him not to be by her side. Meredith's words had given her a lot to think about and she had spent the whole day thinking about them. Owen did love her and he truly did care about her; she knew that, but she didn't think she had gone too far. It had been months since she had scrubbed in on a decent cardiothoracic surgery and because of this, she had instantly jumped at the chance to perform one. Why couldn't Owen see that about her? Why couldn't he see that under her snarky and quick-tongued exterior, she was slowly dying on the inside? She was a private person and she knew Owen respected that. But there were too many things between them that she had left untold; Burke, the almost-wedding, her ectopic pregnancy, her remaining fallopian tube. She tried to push away these unpleasant thoughts as she downed half her beer in a go. She missed Owen and that was all he needed to know for now.

She glanced around the room cautiously. No one would notice if she disappeared into her room, would they? She needed some quiet time alone to think everything over. She opened her bedroom door quietly and slipped in only to find herself face to face with Jackson Avery.

"Yang. Doctor- Can I Cristina you? Or are we not there yet," he drawled slightly drunkenly as he appeared from her bathroom. Cristina rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly in response. Still, Jackson wasn't at all deterred. "So no? Okay. Dr. Yang. Let me just tell you that- that was incredibly hot in that OR yesterday. Very deeply hot. It was hot. You were hot," he continued, the effects of the alcohol slurring his speech slightly.

Cristina merely laughed in response. The pretty boy was pretty funny when he was drunk and she would have jumped at the opportunity to mock him if her mind hadn't been burdened with thoughts about Owen. "Uh you're drunk and you're in my room," she said as she backed slightly away from him.

"I am in fact inebriated; that's legal, you know and even if I wasn't, you're the rule-breaker which I think we established in surgery." He downed his drink in one go.

"Really? You think that was hot?" Cristina decided to humour him as she placed her drink on the stand near the door.

"Would it be really really bad if I just- you know, 'cause of the whole embolism thing and you in general. Could I just -" Out of the blue, Jackson's lips crashed roughly onto hers; forcing them open as his tongue explored the inside of her mouth. Shock took hold of Cristina for a second as she found herself pressed against a wall with a mouth that wasn't Owen's stuck to hers. Her hands immediately went to Jackson's shoulders, pushing him away from her and creating a distance between them.

"Uh no. I'm involved," she said quickly, raising a hand. "I'm involved," she repeated before she made a quick escape from the room. Jackson stood there as she left, slight surprise etched across his face. No girl had refused him before and certainly not a girl as hot as Cristina. But then again, he was always up for a challenge.

End of Flashback

Time had not changed Cristina's reaction as she found herself pushing Jackson away when he tried to deepen the kiss. She looked up and found herself staring into a pair of eyes that were tainted with hurt and rejection. She remained silent as she stared back with a questioning look in her eyes.

"I'm in love with you." The words slipped out of Jackson's mouth as he saw the look of incomprehension appear in Cristina's eyes. "I've loved you for over two years now. That's one of the reasons I've stayed by your side through it all," he continued as his green eyes monitored her face for any sort of reaction. Cristina merely stared back, her eyes widened slightly with surprise. He paused.

"You didn't say anything before," she said after a brief moment of silence.

"I never found the right time," he shrugged, his eyes not leaving her face.

"And now's the right time?" Scepticism filled Cristina's voice as she looked up and her soft brown eyes peered curiously at him.

"I love you, Cristina Yang," repeated Jackson, his moss-coloured eyes stared intensely at her. An unpleasant silence fell upon them as they stared at each other. "Say something," Jackson suddenly pleaded.

Cristina opened her mouth, but no words came out. Beep Beep. Her pager went off suddenly and she grabbed at it like a lifeline. She froze as she looked at it.

"Crap. 911. Sarah Blakes." She looked at Jackson; he still had the intense look on his face as he looked back at her.

The timing of the page couldn't have been any worse. "Go," he said quickly. She was a professional, the best in her field and he wasn't going to make her have to choose between a patient's well-being and him. "You can reply me later. Go now and page me when you're done."

Wordlessly, she pushed quickly brushed Jackson and headed off at a run towards the patient's room.

The rest of the hospital around her blurred as she ran towards Sarah Blakes' room. The patient had been fine in the morning when Cristina had checked up on her, but obviously something had gone terribly wrong.

"What's happened?" Cristina burst into the room and her eyes immediately jumped to the monitors.

"She's had an embolic stroke which has clogged up her thyroid and she's been unresponsive to the doses of thrombolytics we administered," replied Lexie as she quickly passed the patient's chart to Cristina.

"Her BPs dropped to 90 over 70 and she's become hypotensive. Why didn't you intubate her?" snapped Cristina as she flicked through the chart.

"What- I- I didn't think of it." Lexie wrung her hands in frustration.

"Get her prepped and book an OR. You can observe. Move," Cristina commanded as she grabbed the intubation kit from a nurse's outstretched hand and skilfully slipped the tube with the aid of the laryngoscope into patient's trachea.

"All the ORs are being used right now," panted Lexie as she returned to the room, slightly out of breath. "Dr. Shepherd is doing a craniotomy in OR 1. Dr. Bailey is doing a bowel repair in OR 2 and Chief Webber is doing a liver transplant in OR 3."

"What about OR 4?" Cristina didn't look up from the patient as she continued pressed the oxygen pump at a steady pace.

"Dr. Hunt just booked it and is about to start a GSW repair," replied Lexie.

"Tell him to wait."

"I tried. He says the patient will bleed out if he doesn't get in there."

"Where is he now?" Cristina finally looked up.

"He's scrubbing in right now."

"Come here. Hurry up. Take over and I'll be right back." In that moment, Cristina made her second spur of the moment decision of the day and sprinted out the door and headed towards the OR hallway.

Less than a minute later, Cristina burst loudly into the scrub room of OR 4 where Alex and Owen were scrubbing in.

"I need your OR," she panted.

"What?" replied Alex and Owen in unison as they both turned to look at her.

"I need your OR," Cristina repeated, avoiding the questioning blue gaze that radiated towards her.

'Dude, the guy has five bullets lodged in his abdomen," replied Alex. "He's going to bleed out if we don't get to him."

"Pack and clean the entry wounds with antibiotics and if he does start to bleed out, use the green dry fibrin sealant powder that replicates the body's clotting process and it'll give you at least an extra hour or so. My patient is going to suffer from permanent brain damage and possibly death if I don't get her into an OR within the next ten minutes," retorted Cristina as she glared at Alex.

Alex looked at Owen, waiting for his reply. "Dr. Hunt?"

Owen remained silent for a moment before replying. "How long will your procedure take?" he asked quietly, his blue eyes still fixed on Cristina.

"Half an hour if there aren't any complications." Cristina avoided his intense stare.

Owen paused for a second, his mind calculating the risks of delay for his patient. "Fine. Karev, tell the nurses that we'll be performing the repairs after Dr. Yang has finished with the OR."

"Are you kidding?" Alex's voice was incredulous. "The guy's going to di-"

Owen cut across Alex. "We're waiting until Dr. Yang finishes with the OR. That's an order, Karev." Alex glared at Owen for a second before retreating into the OR. "Page me when you're done," Owen said to Cristina, his eyes lingered momentarily on her as he made to leave the scrub room.

"Owen," Cristina called out suddenly just before he reached the door. Owen turned around and looked questioningly at her. "Drinks after work sounds nice."

Owen's face broke into a huge eye-crinkling smile and his cerulean eyes glinted with warmth and happiness. "Okay." And with that, he left. Baby steps; that's all it takes, he thought quietly to himself. Maybe him and Cristina weren't a lost case after all. The very thought of it triggered a wave of warmth that travelled from his chest to his fingertips. He would tell her. He would tell her how he felt. He would tell her everything.