XX

Oblivious to Jackson's suffering, Cristina stood beside Lexie, whose arms were folded across her chest as Cristina held the chart firmly in her arms, trying to keep her excitement at bay. Teddy's face wore a serious expression, directed to her patient who was sitting up in his bed, his sister curled up beside him, like a mother protecting her cub.

"A transplant with repaired lungs has never been done in the united states. The risks are tremendous, and with the amount of radiation that you sustained there is no way of knowing how friable your tissue is or even if you can sustain a transplant." Teddy said, her tone even and steady as she maintained eye contact with her patient, who was confused by her tone, but her expression, that he almost missed the good news she was giving him.

"Wait, I'm sorry. Are you saying you recommend it though?" Elliot asked, looking from his sister, to Arizona, then back to Teddy.

"No, they're saying they want to give us a pair of hand me down lungs. The ones no one else wants" His sister replied bitterly. She wouldn't accept the lungs, they wouldn't accept the lungs, her brother deserved better, he needed better, not a pair of hand me down lungs.

"These are good lungs. This procedure has allowed us to repair them so they're virtually the same.. " Cristina answered, as she took a step forward, the chart still in her hands as she gave a small smile to her patient, ignoring the glare the sister was giving her.

"No. we'll wait, we'll wait until you get the lungs you deserve." She cut across Cristina as she firmly looked at her brother, before turning to Teddy and meeting her eye.

"You're so used to fighting you don't even realise. This is it. I'm sick and I'm tired and I'm ready. No matter what happens, my affairs are in order." Elliot answered, his eyes only for her as he spoke. He was ready. He was going to die without them, and he could die with them, he was ready, ready for surgery, ready for death, and ready to breathe properly. Taking his sisters hand in his, he smiled at her, but she ripped her hand free.

"Your affairs are not in order. Don't you dare say that." She snapped at him, shaking her head as her eyes clouded over. Underneath her brothers stare she softened, and didn't resist when he placed his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze. "Don't you dare." She added, far more weakly this time.

"Dr Robbins, please. Is this my best shot?" Ignoring his sister, he turned to Arizona, his eyes widening as he looked at her, wondering what she was thinking, wondering if this was his best shot, wondering what he should do. She had been with him since the beginning, for years, she would know what to do.

"I'm not your surgeon here, Elliot. I have to defer to Dr Altman." Arizona said hesitantly, giving Elliot a small smile before Elliot turned to face Teddy, his face expectant.

"It's your only shot." Teddy said adamantly. Refusing to look at Cristina who stood smugly beside her, Teddy had eyes only for Elliot who gave a small nod and ignored the noise that escaped his sisters noise despite her best efforts to keep it contained.

"Then yes, do it. Give me the hand me downs." Elliot nodded.

Cristina smiled at him, and despite herself, despite the awesome surgery that she would be scrubbing into, despite it all, she felt a seed of worry in the corner of her mind, not for Elliot, for Jackson, as she wondered how his grandfather was doing, or more importantly how Jackson was doing. She missed his mouth against hers, his body pressed against hers, but he also just missed the sound of his voice, his scent as it wrapped around her, and his smile.

"Cris-" George started as Cristina stepped out into the hallway.

"Not now George." Cristina cut across him as she placed the chart on nurses station. She had surgery to prep for, and she needed to see Jackson before she went in, she needed to see how he was doing, despite everything she had to check on him for her own piece of mind. Without doing so she would still be able to focus on surgery, but before surgery was a different matter entirely.

"Harper Avery went into v-tach but he's stable now, I think they're going back into surgery." George replied, ignoring Cristina's tone as he followed her down the corridor, with Lexie on Cristina's other side, as they left Arizona and Teddy by the nurses station talking to each other as they reviewed the chart. Cristina stopped walking, and looked over at George, as she slowly breathed out. Jackson was fine, and possibly free...

"Dr Sarah Jones, same year as Lexie, hasn't slept with Alex or Sloan, which in the hospital is hard to come by." Cristina said, as she pulled out her notepad and flipped it open, flipping through the pages looking for the right one. Beside her Lexie looked at the two of them with a confused expression before she realised, only this morning George had mentioned or more so been whining about his lack of girlfriend, and Cristina's unfulfilled promise.

"What is her..." George started. Part of him felt pathetic, he didn't want Cristina's help of all things, but then again she had been right, his dating history at the hospital had been abysmal, maybe he needed some help.

"Peds." Cristina answered, misunderstanding what he was asking. Finding the page in her notepad, she ripped it out and handed it to George, who couldn't help but smile down at it. It wasn't Cristina's handwriting he realised at once, it was Sarah's phone number written by Sarah, Sarah who he had flirted with before, or at least tried to. Sarah who he had...

"You can do the rest yourself." Cristina added, pulling George out of his thoughts before she turned from him and headed down the hallway at a rush, leaving Lexie and George, standing in the hallway. About to turn the corner, Cristina grinned as she heard the sound of Lexie's laugh echoing down the hallway.

...

He was fine. He was a pain in the ass, but he was fine. He was sitting there, watching Derek and Weber as Jackson stood two steps away from his grandfather, his gaze resting on Derek. He knew that face, he knew that the news was a mixture of good and bad, and Cristina had been right, Derek was not going to let his grandfather get what he wants, that was Webber, Derek will say something, or at least Jackson hoped. The name Harper Avery, the legacy meant that his grandfather got what he wanted, without asking, simply telling.

"Your CT shows that there's been a complication." Derek continued. Jackson couldn't ignore how odd Derek looked in a suit underneath his lab coat, he still wasn't used to it, Derek belonged in scrubs in the OR not in a suit in meeting rooms. "Dr Webber will take you back into the OR and fix it right away." Derek added, nodding to Richard who gave a small nod of his head in reply. Jackson held his breath, waiting for something else, specifically his grandfather saying something stupid as per usual.

"Fine... But you're not putting me out." Harper Avery replied, causing Jackson to roll his eyes, of course, he couldn't simply accept it, he couldn't just not, for once. "Clearly a mistake was made. I'm not letting that happen again." He added as Jackson's gaze maintained fixed on Derek, he may not know him as well as Cristina did, but he knew that Derek wasn't going to agree.

"That's not going to happen this time. You're in my hospital today. You will abide by my rules. That means you go under general. Your grandson will be sitting in the waiting room as family. If you refuse, then I'll personally declare you unfit to make decisions regarding your own care. That is how a chief does things. Take note." Derek said sternly.

Beside Jackson, his grandfather was shocked into silence, his mouth drooping open in surprise. Jackson was grinning now, Derek met his eye and turned, walking out of the silent room as Jackson rearranged his features, before turning to his grandfather. Opening his mouth to say something, Jackson shut it again gave his silent grandfather one last look before leaving the room, pulling the door shut behind him as he headed down the hallway, closing his eyes as he tried to commit that look to memory.

"Jackson!" He heard his name behind him just as he was a few steps away from the residents lounge.

"Yeah?" He answered, turning, as he wondered whether they were going to wish his grandfather good luck in his surgery, check on how he was doing, ask for his opinion on a case...

"Can we meet him?" Reed asked. She was standing near the front, there was a group of people standing in front of Jackson now, one that he much preferred to have his back to. There were about fourteen of them. Some of them he talked to a few times a day, a few of them that he only knew by looks alone, they had only exchanged words once or twice. Typical. He wasn't exactly surprised with this develop, but as a few voices piped it, he turned and kept walking.

"Can you introduce us?" Another voice asked as Jackson pushed open the door to the residents lounge, his jacket in his hand as he tried to keep his voice even, his expression neutral, not portraying how pissed off he was feeling at them all now.

"Why would I do that?" Jackson asked, turning to face them, stopping them short. He was scowling now, he knew that, but he didn't really care. A few voices came out of the ground again, the same ones as before.

"Mercy West forever." Reed offered.

"Cause we're friends." April smiled. He was surprised to see her here, she wasn't a vulture when it came to things like this, but evidently she was today, or perhaps she just wanted to be part of the group. Whatever her reasoning, Jackson was pissed to see her here.

"Why not?" Another voice came from the crowd, by a resident that Jackson didn't even know the name of.

"That was never a thing, we aren't friends." Jackson answered, his gaze scanning the crowd with discontent. Reed opened her mouth to say something, but she shut it and the crowd took a small step backwards, falling quiet, Jackson looked at them in confusion.

"Don't you have attendings to suck up to? Surgeries to steal? Someone else to piss off? Scram." Cristina's voice came from behind him, she was glaring at them, her voice cutting as she looked at the one by one, as they turned and left the residents lounge. As the door fell shut behind April, Jackson dropped onto the bench and looked up at Cristina. "You okay?" She asked, as she rested her palms against his cheeks, her brown eyes staring into his greens, as she asked with genuine concern.

"I hate it." Jackson answered, his eyes looking deep into Cristina's before he looked away, pulling his head out of her hands as he looked over at the wall, his smile that Cristina loved so much, nowhere to be seen. "I hate it when they know I'm related to him. The way they treat me, the way they watch me as soon as they find out. I mean I know the name has helped, but he is not easy. Brilliant, but really not easy to be related to." He continued, sighing as he spoke. He liked that no one knew, well, he liked it when they didn't know, they would all know now, until today it was only Cristina who had known but now he wouldn't be able to just be a resident, he would forever be Harper Avery's grandson.

"What's the verdict?" Cristina asked, after a minute of silence. She was sitting beside him now, her hand resting on his thigh, as she looked at him, her body turned towards him, as he sat straight, staring at the cubby hole in front of him, his mind trying to escape his day, but he couldn't think of anything else.

"They're going back in, with him asleep and me in the waiting room." Jackson answered, his voice catching as Cristina absentmindedly, moved her hand slowly up his thigh before stopping, with a smile. "You have surgery don't you?" He added, his voice low as he looks over to her.

"Yeah. I tried to find you before I got paged to the ER." Cristina kisses him before he can answer her, her kiss firm and demanding as she brings her body closer to him. Straddling him in one movement, she feels his hands settling on her waist, while he deepens the kiss, his tongue gaining entry as her tongue brushes against his.

"How long?" Jackson breathed, only able to pull his lips away from hers for a second. Her lips part as she moves his hands along her neck, tracing the neckline of scrub top before moving his mouth up to her ear and sucking lightly on her earlobe.

"Any second now." Cristina murmured, her eyes shut as Jackson's hand moves again, and his lips find hers. Without thinking, she slips her hand underneath his scrub top, feeling his warm skin beneath her palm before she draws her hands down his chest, to the waistline of his scrub pants. Her hips are moving softly, grinding against him as he moans against her, her fingers still at his waistline, momentarily distracted by the placement of his hands on her...

"Fuck."

The beeping of her pager rings out through the room. With a single glance, Cristina knows it's Lexie paging her for the surgery. Reluctantly removing her hands from Jackson, as she stands up slowly, her lips no longer tasting him, her hands no longer touching him, she backs away, giving him a small smirk. Her cheeks feel warm as she turns, and she can feel his eyes on her, his flustered features, watching her as the door closes behind her, leaving her cursing time.

...

Jackson in the waiting room, Cristina in surgery, she couldn't think about him now, she couldn't wonder if he was worrying, couldn't wonder whether he was fine with waiting alone. When she scrubbing in, she scrubbed it all away, and now she stood across for Teddy, her gloves covered in blood, her eyes on Elliot's chest, her mind unoccupied by thoughts about anything outside of the OR.

"Damn it." Teddy muttered, her eyes downcast, her expression hidden behind her surgical mask as her mind buzzed, there had to be something.

"What is it?" Cristina asked, her eyes flitting up to look across at Teddy who was still staring at the body. Ready for the challenge, wanting to fix it, Cristina waited, her mind ready.

"The tissue is falling apart, the clamp's not holding. Get me some umbilical tape. This is why I hate awards. They don't make us better, just more competitive and stupid. And for what? To put on a dress, and eat a bad piece of fish and take home an ugly paperweight that's gonna sit on your mantle for the rest of your sad, empty, misguided life." Teddy snapped, her eyes still downcast as she scanned her brain, trying to think of something, as she swore at herself, wanting to kick herself for taking this on. Why did awards have to make people like this, why did they have to insist, why?

"We could do an interposition vein graft." Cristina muttered, after a few seconds of silent consideration. She didn't have a memory like Lexipedia, who was standing beside her, but her mind was still alight with ideas, there was something they could do, there was a fix for this, she knew there was.

"What?" Teddy asked, her tone somewhat defensive as she looked at Cristina, her gaze hard as she watched Cristina. "You have something to add Dr Yang" She added, her voice cutting. The OR was silent, except for the sounds of machines and the breathing of them all, no one said a word as they waited.

"No just..."Cristina started, sounding far meeker than usual, she was still lost in her brain, thinking. Clearing her throat she looked straight at Teddy, and with an even tone she replied, "You've already gotten this far, you could repair the PA with a graft. Maybe."

"No." Teddy answered. Cristina bit down on her lip and was about to look down before she noticed Teddy's eyes light up. Beside her, Lexi was no longer feeling uneasy, turning to Cristina Lexie gave her a small smile, but Cristina only had eyes for Teddy. "I could do a pericardial patch. I could use his pericardium to do the repair." Teddy added, her smile hidden by her surgical mask but her eyes and tone giving her away. They could do this, they could save him.

"Start cooling him."

"And arrest the heart." Teddy commanded, feeling far more relaxed, she had a plan, she knew what she was doing, she let her confidence fill her body before her gaze fell Lexie. "How are we doing on time Grey?"

"Cold ischemic time three hours so far." Lexie answered. Cristina couldn't think of Jackson now, but he still managed to sneak into the corner of her mind.

"Which means we still have enough time to save the lungs if we hurry." Teddy answered, her voice normal now, commanding and together. "All right, Yang, get in there and help me. Clamp. Good here we go." She added, Placing her hand out, her palm facing upwards, she looked at Cristina as Bokie placed the clamp on her palm. Cristina nodded to her, pushing Jackson out of her mind as she focussed.

...

Time in the OR was different, time went faster, slower, time didn't matter, the surgery did, it was all about the surgery. Cristina had no idea how long they had worked, how long they had been in there when they had reached an end, their faces wore eager expressions as they hoped, hoped they had done enough, hoped that he would breath, hope that he would live.

"Ok, this is it." Teddy said, her voice soft as she smiled at Cristina from behind her mask, Cristina smiled back. Whether he lives or dies, that surgery was amazing, but Cristina hoped like the rest of him that he would survive. "Let's take him off bypass and see if these lungs can work on their own. Clamping. There." Teddy added. Cristina and Lexie stood side by side, their eyes downcast as they watched the lungs, hoping.

"Come on breathe... Breathe... Breathe damn it." Teddy muttered, her eyes on the lungs, remaining motionless in Elliot's chest, not breathing not moving, still.

...

"I've just spent the past five hours trying to be okay with the fact that my only brother was dead... and you're saying it worked? He's going to be okay?" Elliot's sister had her arms crossed over as she swayed on her feet, trying to stay steady, but not quite believing it to be true. He had come so close to death before, so close, he had teetered to the edge, and he was all she had left, everyone else was dead, and he, he wasn't dead. He was alive. A smile broke across her face, as she felt her body flood with relief.

"Barring any complications..." Teddy started, caution in her tone and on her expression.

"He's gonna be ok, yes." Cristina cut across Teddy, giving Elliot's sister a smile as she nodded shakily at them, ignoring Teddy's words and focussing on Cristina's.

"Would you like to see him? Okay, come on." Lexie smiled, she paused for a moment and Elliot's sister nodded eagerly, Teddy turned, taking Elliot's sister with her as Lexie looked over at Cristina who remained motionless.

"You go, I'll..." Cristina trailed off as her gaze fell on Jackson, sitting in the corner, his ankle resting on his thigh as he stared straight forward, his jacket draped over the arm of his chair as he bit down on his bottom lip, seemingly oblivious to what was happening around him. Lexie followed Cristina's gaze and smiled, giving Cristina an unseen nod she headed after Teddy before pausing, pulling out her pager, she paged Alex, fuck it, she thought, she was hungry after all.

Silently moving towards Jackson, Cristina dropped into the seat beside him, as she rested her hand on his arm, his gaze shifted from the wall for a moment, giving her a small smile before he moved his body closer to her, placing his head on her shoulder as she closed her eyes. Unsure why, but not resisting the urge, Cristina shifted her head slightly and kissed Jackson lightly on the forehead, knowing that that was what he would do for her as she absentmindedly moved her hand up and down his arm. They sat like that for all of three minutes before Cristina nudged him. His eyelids cracked open before they shot open and he sat up, Mere was a few steps away from them now.

"Hey. So he's fine. It was an allergy caused by the suture." Mere said, smiling at the two of them.

"It was his fault then. Wow." Jackson sighed. It's hard to believe that it was his fault, the prestigious Harper Avery, did it to himself. Cristina gives Mere a small smile as she leans closer to Jackson. Mere is trying not to grin at the two of them, sitting next to each other, looking adorable. "That's awesome. Why don't they publish that story?" Jackson continued.

"Yeah, I know. I get it. The famous grandfather. The legacy he's trying to force on you. You didn't ask for any of it. Trust me, I get it. You're putting up walls and avoiding him and you don't want to introduce him to your friends. It was the same with my mother. But if she were her right now, in a room upstairs, I'd want to go see her and make things right with her. And I definitely would want to go learn for her. And you still can." Mere said. Jackson stared up at her in silence, and as Mere turned and walked away, Jackson looked down at Cristina who gave him a small smile before she leaned forward and kissed him quickly on the lips. She pulled way, before Jackson's hand was on her cheek, pulling her back towards him, his lips soft against her, his tongue slipped between her lips as she sighed, she missed this, she missed his lips on hers, and as their kiss grew more passionate she moaned slightly before tearing her lips from his.

"She's right." Jackson said quietly, as Cristina watched him, their faces almost touching. Cristina nodded and gave him another small smile before she stood up and pulled him up with her. "Everyone can go meet him when he wakes up." Jackson added.

"But he won't be awake for a little." Cristina smirked as she pulled Jackson after her. It took him a second to process what she was saying, and he smiled over at her, as she lead him to an on call room, without a breath of protest from Jackson who was more than ready to make use of all the time they had.

...

"I wanted to introduce you to some friends, if you feel up to it." Jackson said, as he stood beside his grandfathers bed just over forty minutes later. Harper Avery can see a small group of them waiting in the hallway, and as Jackson smiles down at him, not looking mad, not looking at him like he did before Harper Avery can't help but feel up to it.

"Bring 'em in." He answered, smiling up at Jackson. He was used to meeting people, he did it all the time, but never had Jackson wanted to introduce him to any of his friends before, not since he started going to medical school, not since his friends would fawn over him.

"All right. Hurry up. Come on." Jackson turned to the door and waved them inside. He still wasn't sure, but Mere was right, she was completely right. Alex and Percy were at the front, and Alex opened his mouth to say something when Cristina pushed in front of him, dragging George in behind her.

"We met... already, I know. But you weren't... There was so much going on." Cristina stated, her words running away from her, as they pour out of her, she is nervous, and as she blushes a little she pauses.

"Cristina." Jackson said softly. But Cristina ignores him, and Jackson smiles.

"Start with your name and we'll go from there." Harper Avery answered. George is standing beside Cristina, almost pushing her forward as Alex gives him a small glare for pushing in front of him.

"Cristina Yang. It's an honour, sir." Cristina grinned. Jackson is trying not to sigh behind her. He will no doubt have to listen to his grandfather talking about her later, asking all sorts of questions, as per usual.

"It's nice to..." Harper Avery started. He no doubt recognised her from this morning, and the way Jackson is looking at Cristina when his eyes flit up to his grandsons face, there is no doubt that the two of them are dating, or something.

"Thank you so much." Cristina interrupts as she leans next to him and holds up her phone, taking a photo of them two of them. Harper Avery is just able to smile in time as the picture takes. Jackson is shaking his head behind her as Cristina pulls away.

"...Officially meet you Dr Yang and the rest of you." Harper Avery continued. George is next, and he smiles at Harper Avery, and Harper Avery can't help but look up at his grandson, who has his arm wrapped around Cristina's waist as he pulls her close to him, he is smiling up at him before she kisses him softly, and Harper Avery grins. There is no way Jackson is moving to mass gen now.

XX

AN: I know the chapters have been very much the same as the episodes for the last few chapters but don't worry they are beginning to veer away from that, there is some more crackson interaction in the next chapter, updates should be more frequent for a few chapters at least… There are still perhaps a dozen or so chapters left of this fic so don't worry we still have a lot of ground to cover. Thank you to everyone who leaves me reviews and for everyone still reading this. Love you all :)