As promised, I've updated this weekend... Actually 2 Chapters! Please Enjoy!


Chapter 29: Standing on the Other Side

Several hours later, after setting Derek's trailer on fire with the trackers and evidence of their attack inside, the group pulled up in front of the Cullen home in Lexie's rental and Mark's Porsche. Jumping out of the car, Seth quickly came over to help Sam get Mark out of the back seat and into the house. After trying to make sure Mark was as comfortable as possible upstairs on Edward's bed, Lexie made her way back downstairs to meet with the Quileute's waiting in the living room.

"I… I cannot even express my thanks on what you did tonight." She started as the trio turned to face her. "You saved us…." She continued, starting to get choked up as everything that had happened hit her. Seth rushed over and enveloped her in a hug; although he still had a crush on her and was jealous of her relationship with Mark, he never wanted any harm to come to either of them.

"Hey, that's not true. From what we saw, you were doing just fine saving yourself." Seth joked, while rubbing her back.

"I agree with Seth, your abilities were pretty impressive." Sam said, watching her warily while wondering if what he saw her do to that Vampire, could also be done to humans.

Pulling away from Seth, Lexie wiped the tears off her face and chuckled, "Yeah well it's a secondary power that I normally don't use, so it took me a while to remember how to activate it." Seeing Sam's confused expression, she continued to explain. "My primary gift is the ability to heal humans, which I use much more frequently in my line of work."

Looking relieved, Sam began to make his way to the door. "Well, I'm happy we were able to help, but I've got to get home before Emily starts to worry. Oh and I've already gotten in touch with Jacob to let him know that you're okay and he wanted me to tell you that the Cullen's will be arriving shortly; they immediately headed back to Seattle after Alice saw the trackers arrive." Then he gave a small wave and left.

Coming up to Lexie, Leah touched her arm and said, "Seth and I are going to stay here until the Cullen's arrive, in case you need help with Doctor Sloan." Then gestures toward the luggage sitting by the door, "Seth got your stuff out of the car, why don't you take a quick shower before getting him cleaned up before the Cullen's arrive.

Lexie smiled at her two friends gratefully and whispered, "Okay" before grabbing her bag and heading for the bathroom. Once inside, she turned on the light and was shocked at her reflection in the mirror; she looked like an assault victim covered in dirt and blood. Fifteen minutes later, she walked into Edwards's room and set down the items she was going to use to get Mark cleaned up. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she could tell by the sweat glistening on his skin and his low guttural groans that the venom was now burning its way through his body despite her administering the morphine to make the transition easier. Reaching over to the pan of cool water, she squeezed the water off of the wash cloth and gently began cleaning the dried blood and dirt from his body. He moaned louder at the touch, but continued her task, since she knew the smell of blood to a newborn would drive him insane. Once completed, she lay down next to him and caressed his errant curls off of his damp forehead for the next several hours, with the hope that her familiar touch would help ease his suffering, but with each cry of pain her guilt became unbearable.

"I'm so sorry." She sniffled, "I never meant for this to happen….I just wanted to make sure that you were okay…. You see…. I thought I could live without you….if you had moved on…. If you were happy." She closed her eyes at the pain, then quickly reopened them to angrily wipe them away. "But I couldn't stay away… I love you so much and now look what I've done to you!" Unable to stop her tears, she laid her head on his shoulder to sob, until a gentle hand touched her shoulder.

"Lexie?" asked the soft voice.

"Esme!" she exclaimed and pulled away from Mark to go into her adopted mother's awaiting arms, until her tears finally subsided.

"Oh sweet girl... we were so worried." She began, "everyone is waiting downstairs to make sure you're okay." And began pulling her toward the door.

"But Mark…" Lexie began, and then saw Leah waiting outside.

"Don't worry, I'll watch over him until your done visiting with your family." She said and gave Lexie a small smile. Nodding her head in agreement, she allowed Esme to hold her hand like a child until they arrived in the living room where the rest of the family remained anxiously waiting. Hearing her approach, Carlisle quickly made his way over to his youngest child and enveloped her in a hug before whispering, "Thank the heavens, you're okay." Sensing the rest of the family waiting, he released her after placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and chuckled when the kids formed a circle around her and began bombarding her with questions, while at the same time giving her hugs.

Not long after, as they all sat by the fireplace, Lexie described the evening's events beginning from the moment she had gotten the phone call about the trackers arrival up to Mark's impending transformation. With the story now completed she could see that Alice was upset and got up to sit down next to her on the couch.

"Alice, are you okay?" She asked, while placing a hand on her arm.

"Oh Lexie….what happened last night was entirely my fault…..if I had just seen them before they arrived in Seattle…" she began, upset that she had almost gotten her little sister captured by not 'seeing' the trackers looking for them.

"Alice, it's not your fault." Carlisle said, trying to reassure her. "There are immortals that have shielding powers similar to Bella, much weaker of course; so it's possible that one of the trackers had the ability to make themselves and the people in close proximity, 'invisible' from your visions."

"Carlisle's right, this isn't your fault…it's mine. I should've never come back to Seattle. It was my selfish need to see my human family that put them all at risk, not you…and what's happened to Mark is the price for my arrogance." Lexie said taking Alice's hand.

"I don't know what to do about Mark." She says looking to the rest of her family for guidance. "I'm supposed to be flying back to England in a few hours, but I can't leave him…I won't leave…. He needs my help to get through this."

"No Lexie, he needs all of our help." Carlisle said gesturing to her surrounding family. Moving away from Esme, he put his arm around her waist and began to guide her back upstairs to relieve Leah. "I think it's time I met your young man."

She giggled a bit at Carlisle's comment, knowing that the whole age thing was going to be something of a problem for Mark once he woke up. Age wise, most of the Cullen family was decades, if not centuries older than him, yet their appearance remained frozen from the moment they changed; to the human world, Mark would look to be the elder in the family, not Carlisle.

Entering the room, Lexie smiled in thanks to Leah and made her way to sit down next to the moaning man in the bed. Carlisle watched as she leaned over to whisper, 'Shh, I'm here Mark,' before kissing his feverish brow.

"From what Alice and Bella has told us, this man is the reason why you left for England so suddenly 5 years ago and is possibly the main reason why you put yourself in danger by returning to Seattle." He said softly.

"I love him." She whispered, while lovingly looking down at Mark, "I tried to stay away…. I really did but it's like… he holds a piece of my heart and without him there's just something missing. I don't feel complete." She looks up to Carlisle with questioning eyes, "Does that make sense?"

He smiles, then chuckles. "Yes…it does, because I felt the same until Esme came into my life. In fact, I believe all of us have felt that emptiness until our respective mates were found." Walking to her side, he bent over and kissed the top of her head before making his way to the door. "You were just lucky to know who he was before, you were changed." Lexie gave him a grateful smile before returning her attention to Mark.

"I know right now, you feel like you're being burned alive," she whispers in his ear, "but you need to hold on because this will end and when it's over, I'll be here waiting."


20 hours later after cleaning up his body and redressing him in the clothes from his suitcase; Carlisle, Jasper and Lexie could hear his heart struggling as his transformation came to an end. Taking Jasper's advice, the two men remained out of sight by the door, while she stood waiting by the window. He reminded her that awakening from the change was a startling experience and most newborns instinctively lashed out at anyone standing nearby.

Without warning, his heart stops and his red eyes jerk open as he tries to focus on the world around him. Sensing the others, he leaps off the bed and gives a low growl in warning, until he hears her soft voice.

"Mark….It's okay. It's just me." she says wanting to rush to his side, but stays still until he calms down.

Still wary, he looks toward the sound of her voice and sees her standing near a window bathed in the soft glow of moon light, if possible looking more beautiful than ever.

"Lexie." He whispered, then without realizing he had moved from one part of the room to another in a blink of an eye, pulled her into his arms.

"Thank god you're okay." He said, then reached up to cup the back of her head with his right hand, as the other wrapped around her waist to draw her against his body for a kiss. He can sense something has changed; a few days ago when he held her in his arms her skin was cool and smooth like marble, but now it was soft and warm just like it had been when she was human. Trying to deepen the kiss, he pouted when with obvious reluctance she pulled away and took a step back.

"Wow." She whispered at how heightened her senses were around him. "In England, that would have been called a proper snogging." She joked lightly, trying to alleviate the sexual tension practically surrounding them; she had to find out what he remembered, so she could explain what happened back at the trailer.

"Mark, Please a lot has happened in the last few days; I need to know what you remember from the other night." She asked and watched his forehead crinkle in concentration before speaking.

"We were hanging out in Derek's trailer, when some guys burst in. I remember trying to fight them, but they dragged you out into the yard and I ran out after you. I think I tried to rush one of them to pull you away….. but….then everything gets all jumbled…..my head hurt… I couldn't focus and then my whole body felt like it was on fire. What happened, Lex? Where are they? Did they hurt you?" he asked, looking to her to fill in the gaps in his memory.

"No they didn't hurt me, Mark. They hurt you." She began. "You tried to protect me from two immortals and lost. When you rushed the big one, he pushed you so hard that you flew back onto the porch and hit your head, causing a severe concussion."

"They were going to take you away." He interrupted, remembering bits and pieces of a conversation they had while she had held him in her arms.

"Yes…. And while they ransacked the trailer and made plans to leave. I was able to get close enough to you to start using my gift to heal your injuries, but then the skinny one pulled me away and the other…" she couldn't go on when a sob caught in her throat from the memory.

"The other immortal ripped out your throat, Doctor Sloan." A voice said, completing her sentence. Hearing two men step inside the room, he instinctively turned around to face them as a low threatening growl came from his throat.

"Mark, it's okay." He felt her hand touch his arm as she came to stand next to him. "This is Carlisle and Jasper Cullen, members of my Immortal family." Feeling a wave of calm rush over him, his instinctive need to protect Lexie began to fade as the tension left his body.

"Wait… he ripped out my throat?" he asked in confusion, looking to Lexie to explain; when he finally realized what had just been said.

"Yes, Doctor Sloan. You were not needed, so they tried to kill you." Carlisle said, sensing that the rest of the story was too painful for Lexie to continue.

"Then how did I…." he began, but then suddenly realized why his body felt so different, energized even. "I didn't survive…it changed me. I'm like you….Immortal."

"I tried to heal you, Mark." She said softly. "But it was too late; the venom was already in your system. I'm so sorry." Turning to face her, he put his hands to each side of her face and looked lovingly down into her eyes.

"No, don't you be sorry. This is not your fault; you tried to warn me about how dangerous it was to be around you, but I didn't listen because I didn't care….I just wanted to be with you. So this whole immortality thing may not have been planned, but it means I get to spend the next 100… 500…or 5000 years showing you how much I love you." Lowering his head, he gently kissed her lips until he felt her smile against his and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in for a deeper kiss. After a few minutes, they heard a clearing of the throat and they pulled away giggling like two high school kid's caught making out by their parents.

"I think it's time we show Doctor Sloan…." Carlisle begins before being interrupted.

"Please call me, Mark." Mark says and holds out his right hand to greet his new family members. Stepping forward they both shook his hand before continuing.

"I think it's time we show Mark how to control his thirst, so he can meet the rest of the family." Carlisle said smiling at the couple, then like they had done when Lexie was first turned, walked onto an outside porch and jump over the side to the ground.

Had he not already spent time with Lexie and seen her abilities, he would have been worried that they had injured themselves, but he knew that they were waiting patiently below for the couple to follow them. Taking Lexie's hand they made their way outside and he smiled at the illuminated world around him, before returning his gaze to the woman he planned to marry and love forever.

"Babe, I know that for the next several months….hell maybe for the next few years, we'll have some difficult choices to make; but I want you to know that whatever the future brings, we'll do it together." He says his voice filled with emotion, "Because through it all…. We're meant to be."

She smiles at the familiar words and looks lovingly back into his eyes.

"Meant to be….forever." She reminds him, then pulls him out into the night.