Warning: None. Rated T.

A/N: Mojotom – I agree with you on Alex. There are times he had some great reprieves…so I wanted to make sure I gave him one here. Oh, Julia. This is all I will say…Mark made his bed and he needs to lie in it. ;) Also, yes, on the S17 one-short.

Leann Nickerson, Guest, mandyg67, PrincessAlica – Thank you for your feedback and reading. Ask and you shall receive when it comes to Julia…LOL. Although, she's kinda like a bad rash...

This chapter's song title is "Set the Fire to The Third Bar" by Snow Patrol

Chapter 7 – Set the Fire to The Third Bar

Present Day – Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital (1 week since rescued from the crash)

"Dr. Grey?"

Lexie's head lifted, rubbing at her eyes with her one free arm. She had been sitting next to Mark's bed since the previous evening, talking to him, and must've fallen asleep, her head and arm against the side of his bed.

"Yes," she answered, turning to the ICU nurse that was standing in the doorway.

"Dr. Torres has been asking for you. She said—and I quote— "you better come see me now as I will no longer allow you to put off being seen,"" the nurse informed.

"Thank you. I'll head over in just a minute," she replied.

The nurse left the room, Lexie turning back to Mark's sleeping form. It had been over a week—almost a week a half—since they had been rescued from the woods, flown to Boise Memorial Hospital, and brought back here to Seattle. The days seemed to go in slow motion, each hour passing where he didn't wake up making her uneasiness grow.

Derek came in a couple of times a day to check on him, as well as the rest of his ICU team. Derek continued to tell her that Mark was stable and that his vitals and routine checks were strong. While she was relieved to hear this information, it still didn't change the fact that no one—not even his best friend and neuro god himself—could answer the question if he would ever wake up.

"You keep saying his vitals are strong and that he is doing good. You really don't have any idea if he is going to wake up?" Lexie asked when Derek came by last night for a final check before he headed home.

He still wasn't cleared to operate due to his hand. His surgery with Callie was scheduled in a couple of days. He had broken quite a few of his smaller bones in his fingers and hand when the engine of the plane had landed on it. Callie was confident in her skills and abilities that she could not only rebuild those bones—possibly better than before—but make sure he had full function of his hand again. The orthopedic surgeon in Boise had only given him about eighty-percent. For now, he was still checking in on patients and providing consults with Jim—another neuro attending here at Seattle Grace Mercy West—until he could operate again.

"Dr. Grey, you know from your time on my service that the mind is a very fragile thing. There are sometimes things that we can do, and then the rest is out of our hands," Derek answered.

"So, you're saying whether Mark wakes up or not is out of our hands?"

He nodded. "I wish it wasn't. He's my best friend and like a brother to me. If there was anything I could do to wake him up, I would," he assured.

She let out a long-exasperated breath. "Tell me the truth, what are your thoughts on him waking up? Not the neuro answer, the Derek answer."

Derek looked at Mark, and then back at her. She could tell that he was struggling whether to sugar coat his response or tell her his honest opinion. She met his gaze with her own. She had hoped that after all the months of being on his service—the walking death march of cases—that he could trust her by now to take the hard news.

"I don't know," he said sincerely. "He crashed a number of times and was down for a period of time. The body and mind aren't equipped to sustain that amount of trauma for that long."

Lexie looked back at Mark's unconscious form. "Mark's not like everyone else," she observed, a sad smile forming on her lips.

Derek grinned. "No, he's not. He will get through this. He will find his way back."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You. Mark Sloan doesn't know how to be in a world without you in it," he said matter-of-factly, before saying his good-byes and leaving her alone.

Lexie just hoped that Derek was right. That within in the depths of his mind that he just remembered that she was here waiting for him to wake up and come back to her. She just had to hold onto that same hope that he had encouraged her to grasp when they were stranded in the woods. He had hope they would be rescued and they were. She had to hope now that he would wake up.

"Lexie."

The sound of her name jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked back up to the entryway of Mark's room and came face to face with Julia. Mark's girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Well, current girlfriend, since she really didn't know what had happened prior to him leaving for Boise.

"Julia," her greeting was flustered, pushing her hair from her face.

She had realized that she was holding Mark's hand with her one free hand, but released it now that Julia had walked into the room. Her chair was still scooted awfully close to his bed, but she wouldn't be sorry for wanting to keep him company. Letting him know that she was still there, by his side, waiting for him to return.

Julia looked from Lexie to Mark. "How's he doing?" she asked coming into the room and dropping her jacket and purse on the chair.

"He's stable. Vitals are good, but he's still in the coma," she answered.

Julia nodded. Lexie looked back at her, and could see that Julia was trying to put on a brave face. Her eyes were puffy, with dark circles under her eyes. A sign that she also wasn't getting the proper sleep. Her forehead was crinkled together, and the corners of her eyes held wrinkles at the sides, as if she too was in a constant state of worry.

It hit Lexie then, that the signs she was seeing in Julia weren't the signs of an ex-girlfriend, but a current one. The fact that she was standing here and nothing but friendly and cordial to her, let her know that Mark had most likely left Boise with Julia and him still together.

I am a terrible person, she thought.

She wanted to hate Julia. She really did. Outside of the fact that she knew Julia was in love with the same man she was, the woman was a good doctor. She was nice, pretty, and never did anything to hurt Mark. Julia loved him like she should have loved him all of this time. Not that Lexie ever stopped loving Mark, but she never had the courage to keep fighting through the worries, and fears that plagued her heart and mind.

"Do you think he will come back to us?" Julia asked.

Us.

Lexie grimaced inwardly at the question. Only because if Mark did come back to them, it would shatter the illusion of what Julia and he had together before he left for Boise. She wasn't worried that he would change his mind about loving her, but she hated causing pain to someone else—someone that she actually liked and respected—because she was directly responsible for the hurt that would be caused to her.

Lexie's gaze stayed with Julia, recalling she had asked that very question just last night. She repeated Derek's words he had uttered to her, just leaving out the portion about him waking up being directly because of her.

"He will get through this. He will find his way back," she replied.

Julia walked over so that she was standing on the opposite side of his bed. "I hope so," she said, her hand coming to his forehead and stroking his hair.

Lexie had to close her eyes and look away at the gesture, because it pained her that as it currently was, Julia had the right to do that in public, while she did not.

Even though everyone in the hospital knew what she and Mark meant to each other—that the plane crash had obviously rekindled what everyone had already guessed would eventually happen—Lexie didn't and wouldn't let anyone think that Mark was cheating or regressing back to his old womanizing ways. No matter if being with her made sense or not.

She had Mark Sloan's love, but until he could wake up himself and do what needed to be done, she had to suffer through the silence. She owed it to Mark to allow him to handle the situation in the matter in which he attended to handle it between them.

Lexie pushed up from the chair to a standing position. "I should be going," she announced.

"You don't have to go on my account," Julia offered.

"It's ok, I have to get going for rounds and Callie is threatening to hunt me down if I don't come for an exam on my arm," she explained.

Julia looked at her arm in the sling once she had mentioned it. "How is your arm?"

"It's good," she answered, looking back at Mark. "Thanks to Mark."

For the first time since Julia had stepped into the room, Lexie saw a genuine smile light up her face. Julia looked back down at her boyfriend, her hand coming up to wipe a single tear from her eye.

"That doesn't surprise me. Mark would do anything for the ones he cares about. I heard what he did for you, Derek, Arizona, and the rest." She turned her attention back to Lexie. "It's why I am so worried about losing him. Who would ever want to lose a guy like that?"

Who would indeed, she thought.

"I should go," Lexie said again, her emotions threatening to overtake her. "I hope you don't mind me being here and keeping an eye on him. We all like to take turns, and, well, he saved my life."

In more ways than one, she thought.

Julia licked her lips. "Of course, not. Mark would love having all the people he cares about around him. Thank you for keeping him company. It feels like my days keep getting busier and I can't be here as often as I would like to be."

She shot her a supportive smile, but couldn't say anything else considering the fact that she liked it that Julia wasn't here as often as she liked to be. She'd have to be more careful in the future. Usually, she would climb in his bed next to him, to sleep at night, but with Julia possibly dropping in at any moment, it might be an awkward situation finding her boyfriend's ex cuddled up against him.

"I'll see you around," she said, walking towards the door.

"Sure," Julia responded. Lexie stopped, tossing a glance over her shoulder at Mark. "Don't worry, Dr. Grey, I'll take over from here. Mark is in good hands."

Her forced smile was pained, as she looked back at Julia, before walking out of his hospital room.

Callie crossed her arms over her chest, seeing Lexie walk through her exam room. "Look who finally decided to drop by."

"I know, I'm sorry," she said, shutting the door behind her.

"I'm sure—as a doctor—I don't have to tell you the number of risks you have taken by putting off this exam, especially if in the event you need surgery to repair anything broken or torn," she scolded.

Lexie sat their mutely, as she let Callie take her arm out of the sling and miniplate it at different angels, performing different stretches. Outside of her occasional hiss or pant of pain with Callie's movements to her arm, she sat there her thoughts running away from her.

"Well, I have reviewed your scans and your movement and rotation looks good. Mark did a remarkable job setting this back in out there in the woods. You won't need surgery, but will need the sling for the next week or so. No lifting," she reminded. When Lexie hadn't said anything, Callie looked back at her. "Earth to Lexie, are you hearing anything I'm saying?"

She shook her head, blinking out of her thoughts. "Sorry, what?"

Callie squinted her eyes at her. "Are you ok?"

She sighed. "I was in Mark's room before I came here."

Callie chuckled. "Well, that isn't a surprise."

"Julia showed up."

Callie's head lifted up in understanding, her expression guarded. "I see."

"I feel terrible, Callie. She thinks I was there just because I was checking on a friend, someone I care about. She...she doesn't know the truth," she admitted.

Callie grabbed the sling from the exam table behind her and started the process of putting her arm back into the protective holder. "What would the truth be?" she asked.

She shot her a pointed stare. "You know what."

"Did something happen out there when you were all stranded?" Callie asked. "Arizona hasn't said anything. She never really wants to talk about what happened."

Lexie sighed, feeling just as bad for Callie. Her best friend was in a coma that none of them knew if he would wake up from, and her wife was still dealing with the effects from the crash. The wound to her leg had been severe. It had been touch and go for a while, the infection almost putting Arizona's life at risk of dying, but she had pulled through.

Arizona had begged Callie to do everything she could to save her leg. Callie had to wrestle with the idea of either cutting off her wife's leg or trying one final experimental drug that could help with serious infections such as the one Arizona sustained. In the end, she had promised Arizona she would do everything she could, so she tried the drug. It had worked enough that it fought the infection, allowing Arizona to get stronger to get better and keep her leg.

Even with keeping her leg, she still had some considerable damage to the nerves in her lower calf of her leg. It would be many therapy sessions of retraining her muscles to walk again, and it was possible that she might always have a slight limp—but considering the alternative—both were happy they were able to save her leg.

It was the emotional scars that Arizona was having to work through just as the rest of them. Arizona had been the only one who had awoken near the major crash site. She had bonded with the co-pilot when he had still been alive, and the one to hear him take his last breath, his pains, and cries of never seeing his family again. Arizona all the while knowing because of how bad of a shape she was in she couldn't do anything to help save him.

By the time Cristina and Mark had found her and her injuries, the co-pilot had already expired, leaving Arizona with the single promise to find his family and tell them that he tried. That he tried so hard to stay alive and that he loved them. He loved his wife and two sons so much. That when he died, he would look in on them from time to time from up above.

"Mark told me he still loves me too," she confessed.

Callie, slipped her arm snuggly into the sling, adjusting the strap on her shoulder and neck until it was tightly against her body.

"He's always been in love with you," Callie corrected. "I would think that confession would make you happy."

Her eyes darted to Callie's. "It does…it's just…"

"What?"

"Julia was crying. You should have seen her Callie. You could tell she hasn't been sleeping, she's been crying, and the expression on her face at the thought that he might not wake up…"

"Because she loves him too," she interjected. "Even if she never said it out loud or too him."

Lexie pursed her lips, her head bobbing up and down. "Yes," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "D—does Mark feel the same way? I mean, I know you are his best friend, and I know he talks to you about this kind of stuff, did he ever mention if he was in love with her?"

Callie exhaled, grabbing the rolling stool and sat down. "He never said anything to me. I won't lie and say that Arizona and I weren't in love with her ourselves, but Mark was committed to taking things slow with her. He didn't want to mess things up like he had in his past relationships, especially like he had with you," she revealed.

"You don't want Mark to love me, do you?" she guessed.

Callie met her gaze head on, her expression guarded. "It's not that I don't want Mark to love you, it's that I worry what loving you does to him when things don't…work out."

"You think I am going to break his heart again." Her words came out more as a statement rather than a question.

Lexie held her breath, waiting for Callie's answer. She had always liked Callie, even though sometimes her supercilious attitude made her intimidating. Callie had always stuck by Mark, always had his back, and genuinely cared for him—especially in the times when she herself hadn't been there. She respected her opinion on the matter more than she figured Callie might even know.

"I just worry whether you want him because you love him, or because your afraid that this time he's found someone that could make him happy, and possibly get over the hold your relationship has had over him these past years," Callie said.

"I do love him," she confirmed, holding Callie's gaze until she was certain there was no question of that.

Callie arched her brow. "And that means you want and can give Mark the things that he wants?"

She nodded without any hesitation. "Yes."

"Mark is a packaged deal. He comes with Sofia, two baby momma's, and hopefully no other surprises, but there was Sloan and—"

"I understand, Callie," she cut in, her fixed expression unwavering. "I've made mistakes, lord knows I have. I've almost lost Mark—I still possibly could," she said her voice turning somber, "but I love him because of those things. He's a good—no great—man. He's kind, generous, and a damn good father. I may not have wanted or been ready for any of those things back then, but a life without him showed me that if it wasn't with him, I wouldn't want them at all. He's my soulmate, Callie. We belong together."

"Ugh, just like that…I am team Slexie again," she muttered.

"Team Slexie?"

Callie rolled her eyes. "You know, the new thing they do these days, pairing names. Like Brad Pitt with Angelia Jolie…they're called 'Brangelina'."

"Slexie," she repeated, finding herself laughing. "Kind of has a nice ring to it."

"Listen," Callie said, her expression turning meaningful. "I am just going to say this once since he is my best friend, my child's father, and I care about him deeply. Do not break his heart, Little Grey. That man loves you, and I am sure he will always love you. If I ever find out that you are thinking about leaving him again…just remember that I work with bones. I know how to break them and properly set them…or not."

Lexie swallowed. "Message received. You won't ever have to worry about that. I promise."

Callie's smile was wide showing the whiteness of her teeth. "Good. Now, your arm is good to go. Keep it in the sling for another week, and no heavy lifting. I will check it again next week, and if all is good, then you will be good to go," she said.

She hopped off the exam table. "Thanks, Callie."

"Little Grey?" Lexie turned back to her. "All Mark has ever wanted is to love you and make you happy. That's all he's ever wanted."

"It's all I want too," she answered.

Saturday – 7:00pm (In Flight – Boise Memorial to Seattle Grace)

Lexie was laying on the couch next to Mark's hospital bed that was currently in transport from Boise Memorial to Seattle. All of the doctors outside of Miranda, Richard, and her had been sedated for the flight back. It came as recommendation from the hospital therapist after their traumatic event.

Normally, it was recommended the victim—because that is what they were now called—had time to process the circumstances of what had happened before they may have to encounter said circumstances again. It was what they had done after the shooting at the hospital. Unfortunately, here they did not have the luxury or the time to bus all the way back from Boise to Seattle.

Arizona and Derek needed to get back to Seattle as soon as possible, so Callie could immediately start reviewing their circumstances and treatment plan since they had both refused the medical plan provided by Boise Memorial.

Cristina hadn't put up a fight since she had switched from going comatose to hysterics at any given moment. Next to Mark, Cristina had been the only other one who had initially be in decent shape to care for the rest of them for the few days they were stranded. After Mark had gone down, it fell to Cristina and Meredith, but the damage had already been done.

The pressure to keep everyone alive and stable on top of forging for any food and trying to keep predators from getting at them had taken its toll on her. Lexie had wondered if it brought back the awful memories of the hospital shooting, in which Cristina had extreme PTSD afterwards that made her quit being a doctor for a short period of time, until Derek was finally able to bring her back to what she loved most.

Arizona was no better between her emotional setback with the pilots dying in front of her when she had no ability to do what she did best—try and save them—and the pain in her leg wound was still unbearable. She had begged to be knocked out until she was back in Seattle and able to see her wife and know she was in good hands.

Her sister and Derek had been more hesitant about wanting to be sedated, especially with Mark being in the condition he was in, and now that she was refusing to be sedated. Between Miranda, Richard, and even herself, she had managed to persuade them both that they needed to opportunity to rest. Even though they argued the same for her, Meredith was the one to understand the difference with it being Mark's life on the line. Meredith hadn't been able to rest or sleep when Derek's life hanged in the balance in the hospital shooting, and she knew that it would be the same for her until she was certain Mark was going to make it.

After about halfway through the flight, she could no longer stand the constant stares from Miranda and Richard in her direction. They still felt uneasy that she wanted to remain awake, and even though her entire body went still as the wheels of the plane cruised down the runway until it took off in the air, she schooled her expression to keep them from overriding her decision and forcing her to be sedated.

She thought she would meet them halfway—more to just stop the stares—by laying on the two-seater sofa that was directly next to Mark's bed. Her friends and family were resting comfortable towards the front of the plane in bunkbed like cots.

The advantage of laying down and closing her eyes—the illusion she was attempting to sleep—meant that Miranda and Richard no longer felt the need to whisper or be selective in what they were saying around her.

There was a bump in the flight—something the previous pilots had mentioned occurred all the time thanks to the flight pattern and terrain—but as they met them along the way in their flight, she closed her eyes a little tighter, her fingers of her left hand gripping the couch a little harder each time.

"I think you should have sedated me too," Miranda said to Richard. "I can't imagine what they went through if the turbulence was anything like this before the plane went down."

"It's amazing that all of them survived," he added.

"Four days trapped in the woods, in the condition they were in. It is a miracle by god they did survive."

"Let's hope it's the Seattle Grace six and not five," said Richard.

"Seattle Grace six?" Miranda questioned.

"Just something that rolled around in my head. They are among a small group that ever survive something like that." He paused. "Do you remember a few months back when that airliner went into the water, and we only had one survivor. The minor girl. They remind me of her."

"Mph., I forgot about that," she admitted.

Lexie tried to drown out their voices and their conversations, but to no avail. Her eyes didn't need to be open to hear the pessimistic tone that they were uncertain that Mark might make it through this. She refused to give into those thoughts. She was going to hold onto the hope until his very last breath—if it came to that.

"Even if they recover from this physically, are you worried we still might lose some of our best surgeons?" Miranda asked Richard.

Richard let out a sigh. "I have never met a group of surgeons that has had to endure what ours have had to endure these past few years. They are a strong bunch, and I hope for the sake of the people that lives need to be saved that they can pull through this."

"And if they don't?" she pressed.

"Then they most likely won't ever," he answered honestly.

Lexie shut off her brain at the end of that comment. She respected and looked up to Richard Webber, but this was one time, that she knew he was wrong. They were going to make it, and when they did, they were going to come out stronger than ever.

They just had too.

Present Day – Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital (1 week since rescued from the crash)

Mark was snapped back into the weightless consciousness after how long—he didn't quite know—but the familiar sensation that the memories of him and Lexie were coming to his mind made him forget all about how long the absence of them had been.

If he could feel the curve of his lips going upwards into a smile, he was sure that would be what was happening now as the most recent memory hit him so vividly that he felt like it was happening in the here and now.

He had been sitting at Joe's nursing a malt scotch wondering if she was going to stand him up. He would be extremely disappointed since he knew deep down, she still had intense feelings for him, no matter how much she was trying to convince herself she didn't.

Sometimes, his Lexie was a hard nut to crack, and even though he should feel sorry for the extreme measures he had to take to get her to agree to a drink with him tonight, he wasn't sorry about it either. She had looked so cute when Eli had been giving her a hard time. It had made his pride and ego soar when she had specifically called him for help. She could have gone to Derek, Miranda, or any of the other attendings, but she had sought him out instead.

He was going to take that opportunity and run with it. Giving up a few measly front row tickets and parking was nothing when it compared to getting a chance to have a drink with Lexie and convince her to give them another shot.

When the door to Joe's opened, he felt that familiar prickle at the back of his neck. Something he had never experience before—before Lexie that is—and knew without even looking up that she was going to make good on her promise to met him.

She marched right up to him. "I know I agreed to have a drink with you."

He finally looked up from his scotch to see her beautiful face, and damn if it didn't take his breath away. She looked like she was on a mission to end this before it even began, and she was sadly mistaken if she thought he was going to let that happen.

"But as I walked here, I realized how unfair that was…really nothing has changed."

He tilted his head to the side, looking down at her just thinking how stupid he had been to let her go the first time. That if he was lucky enough to convince her of this second chance that he wasn't going to waste it. Wasn't going to do anything that would ever give her the reason to run away again.

"I mean you're still in a very different place," she rambled on with her rehearsed speech. "A different place in your life than I am, and you want different—"

He silenced her speech by lowering his head and meeting his lips with hers. Her hesitation lasted but only a second before she realized what he already knew. This—them—they worked. They were lightening when they came together. Amazingly beautiful and electrifying that you just couldn't deny the physics of it all.

He brought his hand up to cup her cheek and neck, holding her in place. There was no way he was letting this kiss end yet. A second later, her hand came up to his shoulder, gripping him and holding onto him for dear life. It was then, he could relax and know that she felt this too. She wanted this too.

He broke the kiss long enough to take a breath, her mouth opening before she pushed back enough to want to take the control. He let her, because Lexie in control was his greatest turn on. His little vixen.

He vaguely heard what he thought was Dr. Avery come in and blabber about a page indicating they were requested back in the ER, Lexie breaking the kiss long enough to ask him to take care of it, before her dazed expression told him silently what he wanted to hear.

Take me home. So, he did.

The memory faded, but the kiss still felt like it lingered in the air. For the first time since he remained in this abyss of darkness, the memories no longer seemed to be enough. He just didn't want to remember these past moments and these kisses, but he wanted another chance on getting a lifetime of new kisses—new memories.

He stretched the confines of his mind, trying to determine how he could break through the blackness and get back to the light. He had to get to the light. He was sure if he did, that Lexie would be there waiting for him.

As he pushed at the blackness, it pushed back. He felt the fight start to leave him as another of their most intimate moments fluttered into his mind.

It was the morning after that knock him to his knees kiss at the bar. After he had taken her home and spent all night making slow sweet love to her. Reminding her why they needed to be together. Why they fit so well together.

He had been sleeping peacefully, when he felt her snuggle against his side, peppering his cheek with kisses.

"Mmm…that's nice," he said his voice sleepily.

She squealed when he turned abruptly, pinning her body beneath his, and started kissing her again. They both had to be up early—in fact out of bed and in the shower now—before they were late for their shift. Somehow, he couldn't stop kissing her though.

He turned to pull back, but her hand came up to his neck, holding his head towards her lips. He obliged, keeping his lips near hers as he said, "We have to get up," he said regretfully.

"Fine," she sighed, releasing her hold on him, and giving another quick kiss.

He started to pull away, but she grabbed at his arm, biting her lower lip, as she pulled him right back towards her. He grinned, but once again could not deny her anything and started kissing her with that same ferocity like he had last time.

When he came up for air, he again tried, "We're going to be late," he said against her lips.

She placed a chaste kiss to his in return. "Ok. Fine. Go," she gave in.

He grinned, but as he tried to roll away, he once again was pulled back by his arm towards her. She giggled, just as his lips came down on hers this time his body fully coming down and pinning her towards the mattress.

"Now we are definitely going to be late, and it's all going to be your fault," he warned.

She smiled. "It'll be worth it."

The warm and loving feeling stayed with him this time, not fading as quickly as the ones before them had done previously. As much as he wanted to stay in this moment, in this safe haven he found himself in, there was still this tickle in the back of his mind that just wouldn't quiet. That kept telling him it was time for him to go.

He grabbed hold of the voice, the memory of Lexie and him in bed together started to fade from his vision. The blackness started to take hold again. The dark depths of the onyx started to lessen and lessen with each push of his mind to hold onto the distant voice and look for the light.

"You can wake up now, Mark," the voice whispered in his mind.

How? How do I do it? he thought.

"You have to come back now. I need you. I can't do this without you," the voice said again.

He knew in the depths of his soul that voice, those words, were coming from Lexie. She was calling out to him. Asking him—no needing him—to return back to her.

I don't want you too, his mind said. I'm finding my way back. Hold on. Just hold on.

He pushed and fought at the darkness, and just as he was beginning to see light at the edge of the distance, another vision came slamming into him almost taking his breath away. This one was different from those of the last.

Julia?

They were at the baseball field. The competition game between Seattle Grace Mercy West and Seattle Presbyterian. He knew he was going to go to the game today and be playing on the opposite team of his girlfriend.

They had met at Joe's earlier in the week and for the last week had been seeing each other almost every night. It was the first time he had been excited about dating or being with anyone since Lexie. After she had left, and then started dating Jackson, he had thrown himself into work—no longer wanting his old life of sleeping around—and Julia was making him…happy.

He was just outside of the dugout when Julia came walking up in their light-yellow jerseys. His team was just wrapping up their final practice before the big game was to start. He wasn't at all confident that they were going to win.

"Not bad, not bad," she commented, folding her arms across her chest.

He smiled. "You like that?" he approached—more like stalked her—with the intention of stealing a kiss with the enemy.

"Not bad." She laughed again, very much liking that he was getting into her personal space.

He dipped down and kissed her, her own hand coming to his neck to hold onto the kiss. They had flirted all throughout the game, but it was at the end of the game, that something had happened that had surprised him.

He was tasked to guard the first base, and it just so happened that his girlfriend was currently stationed at his base after she hit the ball out into right field. Meredith and Cristina had pretty much been useless all day, so it wasn't surprising that she could have walked to first base and would have made it with no problems.

He liked that Julia was competitive, teasing him playfully as she kept finding ways to want to touch him. It made him feel like a teenager again, and that hadn't happened since he had been with…Lexie.

His eyes lifted to the pitcher mound where Lexie was standing. She rolled her shoulders up and back, angling her neck left and right as she smacked her hand into her glove. She seemed tense and annoyed, and he wondered if it was because they were getting spanked in this game and she was asked to come in and try and perform a miracle, or if something with Jackson caused her to be in a bad mood.

Julia smacked his ass again, and his attention left Lexie and back to her as he playfully returned the favor. The claps and cheers from his team cheering on Lexie as she geared up for another throw pulled him back to his present task to be paying attention.

Julia smiled and turned her attention to Lexie, after she had thrown the first pitch and successfully caused the batter to swing even though it had been an extremely low pitch to begin with. Unhittable.

"You call that a throw," Julia taunted. "My grandmother can throw better than that," she yelled.

It happened so quickly, but he briefly caught the blur of Lexie's body as she turned in their direction and whipped the ball at them, striking Julia squarely in the chest with her fast ball pitch. Julia gasped for air, as she doubled over.

"Oh my god," he said, the vision abruptly ending as he found himself back in the darkness. "She loved me then."

He didn't know why he didn't think of it beforehand. She had apologized to him and Julia profusely, indicating that she had thrown the ball because she thought Julia was trying to steal second base, but he now knew better. She hadn't thrown it because of that, but because she had been jealous that he had been flirting and having a good time with Julia when she had feelings for him.

It shouldn't make him want to smile, but it did anyway. Outside of a happy, turned on, or excited Lexie, a jealous Lexie made him want her more than anything. He liked that she felt so strongly about her feelings for him that she would go to such drastic measures to get his attention.

"I need you to wake up, Mark." The voice called again.

This time he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of his return to the light. He kept his eyes on the distance, his determination renewed at wanting to get back to her. To his life that he knew was waiting for him.

The heaviness slowly started to fade, the blackness leaving his mind, before everything stopped all together.

His eyes blinked open.

He was awake.

A/N: Well, thank the lord…Mark is awake…LOL!