Pairings: Mark/Lexie with appearances by other the rest the Seattle Grace crew

Warning: T for now, may be updated in future chapters.

Summary: Mark regrets not telling Lexie how he feels about her as their plane plummets to the ground. Will they both make it out safe and sound? Will Mark be able to make Lexie his and prove to her he loves her?

Disclaimer: I do now own these characters. All rights go to Shonda Rhimes. Some scenes may be based off scenes that occurred in Grey's Anatomy.

Announcements: I know that Julia's character in the show wasn't like this. But I could NOT stand her so I wanted to display her character like this. Thank you for all the reviews! Please continue to favorite and review!

Endings

Julia had a million thoughts rushing through her head. What did Mark mean they needed to talk? Of course he would want to tell her what happened in the woods, she thought, though she wouldn't push him for information that he wasn't ready to share. While she was waiting for Mark to return to Seattle, she thought about why he would ask for Amelia to come and look at Lexie. She settled on the fact that Mark is just a caring person and wanted the best for his friend. Mark had let Julia know that he was still friends with Lexie, and that he always would be. Julia was fine with that as she trusted Mark.

"Of course. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you earlier. Dr. Hunt didn't want me going; he didn't think I would be much help. I was so worried about you," Julia breathed, lacing her fingers with Mark's. "I tried to get back to see you as soon as you arrived, but Jackson said that you needed to get up for a scan. Are you okay? What's wrong?" she rambled, searching Mark's eyes.

Mark's jaw tensed once again, chewing the inside of his cheek. His eyes darted over toward Julia, staring her in the eyes. "I love Lexie," Mark revealed, pulling his hand out of Julia's. "I love Lexie and I always have," he whispered.

Julia was shocked, her mouth falling open. "W-What? No, this is… this is the pain medication and sedation talking," she surmised, resting her hand against Mark's. Mark shrugged Julia's hand off him, offering her an apologetic smile.

"No, it isn't," Mark sighed, looking over at the girl. "I'm sorry, I never wanted to hurt you. I knew… I knew I still cared about Lexie when we started dating. I truly did think I was over her, but I knew I would always love her. But, then she came to me and told me that she's still in love with me… And I realized that I never got over her. I never fell out of love with her," Mark explained, knowing that this information sounded hurtful, which isn't what he wanted. He wanted to be truthful, though.

"Did this happen during the crash? Emotions were heightened. The situation," Julia started, closing her eyes. "You didn't know what was going to happen. You could have died. I understand that you wanted her to know you still cared about her, but you don't love her, Mark," Julia replied softly, her eyes opening with tears gathering in them.

Mark shook his head, glancing toward the door. He saw April and Jackson running down the hall, and his heart caught in his chest. Starting to panic, his heart rate monitors began to beep, signifying that he needed to calm down. Jackson retreated back down the hall, looking in at Mark "She's fine," he mouthed before making his way back to where he originally was going. Mark took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down before he continued the conversation with Julia.

"Julia, no. That night, the one before we left when you saw Lexie talking to me, she told me she still loved me. I was shocked, I didn't know how to respond, what to say. I was caught off guard. Lexie told me something I had been waiting months to hear from her. When she left me after I told her Callie was pregnant, I was broken. I knew I screwed up my chances with her again. So, I tried to move on. I desperately tried. Then she started to date Jackson, and I let her go. I tried to move on, I did. Then I met you," Mark stated, turning to look at Julia. "And you're great. You're smart and caring. You'll make a great mother someday. But, you aren't the future mother to my children. You're not the one I love," Mark said softly. "I don't want to hurt you, and I know that this does hurt you. I don't want that. But I need you to know that this isn't a flight or fight response. It's not a panic response because Lexie almost died. This is me, and this is her. We're it for each other. I can't see my life with anyone but her. I can't see myself waking up in twenty years next to anyone but her. She's my entire world, always has been."

"She didn't want Sofia!" Julia exclaimed, tears streaming down her face. "She couldn't handle the fact that you got someone else pregnant and she bolted. I love Sofia. I would never leave you because of your daughter," she cried, wiping her tears.

"Julia, I slept with Callie to try and get over Lexie. I regretted it the second after I did. It's a tricky thing, I don't fully regret it because it gave me Sofia. But I shouldn't have slept with her to try and get over Lexie," Mark murmured, rubbing his eye. "Lexie is great with children. She loves Zola. It was a shock for her to learn that I got someone else pregnant, but I have no doubt that she will be an excellent mother figure to Sofia. She didn't leave Sofia… she wasn't born yet. She left me because I got someone else pregnant," Mark explained, crossing his arms.

"I can't believe you! I trusted you!" Julia screamed, pacing back and forth next to Mark's bed. "I trusted you, and you broke that trust," she stated icily, her eyes conveying her hatred toward Mark at this moment.

"I'm sorry. I really am. But I will never apologize for loving Lexie. I will never apologize for protecting her and doing everything I can to help her," Mark responded.

"I should go. Seems that I have nothing left to do here," Julia muttered, walking toward the door. "But one thing, Mark. When she leaves you again, and she will, remember this. Remember that you let someone that loves you without conditions go because you couldn't get over a girl that broke your heart twice. If she even loves you anymore, mark my words. She loves you with conditions," she said coldly, storming out of the room.

Mark sighed deeply, glad that the conversation was over. He knew that it was not going to go over well, but he didn't expect Julia to have such harsh words. When she began to attack Lexie, Mark was furious. Julia could blame him all she wanted, but she was not going to talk down about Lexie, and not just because she wasn't there to defend herself. She was the best thing that has ever happened to him. Lexie was selfless, loving, caring, brilliant. She was perfect. Lexie was perfect. When April entered the room, Mark was brought out of his thoughts.

"Dr. Webber said that you're free to be discharged. Do you want me to grab you a pair of scrubs so you can go to Lexie's room?" April asked, offering Mark a smile. He nodded his head and April disappeared out of the room. She came back with dark blue scrubs and placed them on the chair in the room. "So, that didn't go well," April mentioned, running her fingers through his hair.

"How much did you hear?" Mark asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Enough. I was going to come in and say something, but she left quite abruptly," April explained. Mark nodded and disappeared into the bathroom to change. He came out and April was waiting for him. "They took her upstairs to the ICU," April stated, leading Mark toward the elevator. Once they were upstairs, Mark and April made their way to Lexie's room. Meredith was sitting beside Lexie, holding her hand. Glancing up at Mark, Meredith smiled.

"Hey," she greeted, nodding toward the chair on the other side of the bed. "Amelia said that Lexie is doing great. Her vitals keep improving. She's hoping that she'll wake up in a few hours," Meredith reported, her eyes gleaming with hope. Mark's eyes widened, sliding over to Lexie's side. He immediately took Lexie's hand in his, lacing their fingers together. April slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.

"That's great! That's amazing," Mark beamed, leaning down to press a kiss to Lexie's forehead. "I need her to come back to me," he whispered, taking a seat on the chair besides Lexie's bed. "How's Derek?"

Meredith sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "He definitely needs surgery, which we already knew. Callie thinks he should have had the initial surgery at Boise, but she's hopeful that she'll be able to get his hand close to functioning at 100% again," she explained. "It may take a few surgeries," Meredith added, letting go of Lexie's hand to relax back in the chair.

"You can go be with Derek, I'm not going to leave her," Mark smiled, his heart breaking every time he looked at Lexie. His Lexie. She was intubated and he didn't know when or if she would wake up. He wanted to talk to Lexie about everything that had happened since they left the woods. Hearing her voice always made Mark calm down. She just had that effect on him.

"Are you sure?" Meredith questioned, feeling as if she was being pulled in multiple directions. Her baby sister was clinging to life on a ventilator, her husband needed surgery, and if the surgery didn't work, his career could be over, and her best friend was in a comatose state, refusing to speak to anyone. She felt spread thin.

"Absolutely. I'm not going to leave her. If anything comes up, I'll have someone page you," Mark assured her, appreciating that Meredith was so concerned about Lexie. There was a time where Meredith wanted nothing to do with Lexie. While Mark didn't really know Lexie at that point, she had revealed to him how much that had hurt.

Early on in their "relationship", Mark and Lexie were lying in bed at the Archfield after they had finished "exploring" each other for the third time that night. "When I first got here, Meredith absolutely hated me," Lexie confessed, resting her head against the pillow while laying on her side to gaze at Mark. Mark mirrored her position, tangling their legs together. Resting his hand against Lexie's naked waist, he began to draw mindless patterns against it with his thumb. "Cristina told me once that Meredith hated me. It shouldn't have hurt me, really it shouldn't have. But it did. I just lost my mom, and Meredith was her doctor. Mom spoke highly of Meredith, saying that she had opened up to her and was beginning to form a relationship with both her and dad. So, I didn't think that it would be a battle getting to know her. It was, though. As soon as I got here, she wanted nothing to do with me. She said that we weren't sisters," she murmured, snuggling closer to Mark's body. He listened intently, pulling Lexie closer to him.

"She's a hard person to get to know. She has a tough exterior. I know that our dad left her and he wasn't much of a father to her, but he was to me. I can't imagine growing up without him in my life. Meredith never got to know that side of him, though. Her mom was also distant from her, which was completely opposite of my mom. I understand how she may resent me for having an opposite life of hers, may see it as an easy life, but I had my struggles, too. I still do," Lexie ranted, slipping her arm under Mark's to press herself closer to his body. "It just hurt me because once I found out I had an older sister, I wanted to get to know her. And she was a surgeon, like me. I could actually learn from her, you know?" Lexie sighed, looking up into Mark's eyes.

"Yeah, I get that, Lex. You should never feel pushed aside. You're an amazing person and anyone would be lucky to have you in their life," Mark whispered, pressing a kiss against Lexie's forehead. Listening to Lexie ramble about how Meredith had treated her in the past made Mark angry. He was angry because no one should treat delicate Lexie like that. She was too sweet and kind for someone to discard her, especially when they didn't even know her.

"It was hard. I had no friends here at the time. George was really the only one that even talked to me. Cristina hated me, I think she still does," Lexie laughed lightly, resting her head on Mark's shoulder.

"Isn't that how Yang is with everyone?" he teased, raking his fingers through Lexie's brunette locks.

"Yeah. But she's Meredith's best friend, so when she said that Meredith hated me, I thought it must be true. Meredith and I aren't anywhere near as close as I would like to be, but she's open to getting to know me now. She even offered to let me live with her, which I couldn't believe! I think.. I think that she has promise to be a good sister, she just doesn't know how to yet," Lexie murmured, thinking out loud. Mark nodded, leaning down to connect his lips with hers, leading to her forgetting all about Meredith and their past problems.

Meredith nodded and shuffled out of the room, leaving Mark alone with Lexie. He scooted his chair closer to the bed, taking her hands in both of his. "You have to wake up, Lex. If not for yourself, then for me. I can't live without you. I need you," he whispered, leaning his forehead against the mattress on the bed. Mark wasn't sure how long he was in that position, but he heard the doors to Lexie's room slide open.

"Hey, Mark," Callie greeted, shuffling over to stand beside him. Lifting his head up, he looked at Callie. He let go of Lexie's hand with his right hand, keeping his left hand intertwined with hers. Standing up, he offered Callie a half hug.

"Hey, how's Arizona?" he questioned, sitting back down on the chair. Callie walked around to the other side of the bed, taking a seat in the chair Meredith was previously occupying.

"She's… I don't know. I really think it's best for her health to amputate the leg. She doesn't want that, though. For the time being, we're giving her antibiotics, hoping to clear the infection. We'll see how she is in the next couple days," Callie stated, running her hands over face. "Mark, what happened out there? Arizona doesn't want to talk about it."

Mark sighed deeply, shaking his head. "I don't know, Callie. I don't know what Arizona went through. All I know is that I thought I lost Lexie forever. It took four of us to get her out. We were flying through the air just fine one minutes, and the next thing I know I'm waking up on the ground," Mark stated quietly, glancing over at Lexie.

"I'm sorry, Mark. It must have been so scary. I'm just so glad that everyone is okay," Callie whispered, reaching across the bed to rest a hand against Mark's lower arm.

"Lexie isn't okay," Mark stated harshly. He didn't want to be rude to Callie, but he felt as if she was disregarding Lexie completely.

"I, I know that. I just mean you all made it home, and no one… no one died," Callie stuttered, frowning at Mark's outburst. It was no secret that Callie did not like Lexie, but she would never wish any harm to the girl. Callie and Meredith were friends, and Lexie was Meredith's sister. Mark was the father of her daughter and her best friend, and Lexie was… well she wasn't really sure. She just knew that Mark still cared for her. She thought Mark still loved her, though she desperately wished that wasn't the case. In Callie's mind, Lexie was an immature, annoying child who left Mark whenever anything got tough.

Mark sighed deeply, pressing his lips together for a few moments. "I know. I'm glad, too. It's just," he paused, glancing over at Callie. "I don't want to have this conversation right now. We both have a lot on our plate. You have Derek's surgery and Arizona's recovery. I really hope she doesn't need to have her leg amputated," he stated, offering Callie a small smile. "And I have Lexie. How's Sofia?" Mark questioned in an attempt to change the subject.

"She's doing good. She's in the daycare," Callie smiled, glad for the change of subject. "Do you want to go see her?" she asked.

Mark shook his head, returning his gaze back to Lexie. "I don't want to leave her in case she wakes up. I'll go see Sofia in a little bit," he promised. Callie nodded, standing from the chair.

"Okay, Mark. I'll see you soon. Let me know if you need anything," she murmured, exiting from the room. Mark let his gaze linger on Lexie, rubbing his thumb against the top of her hand.

"Come on, Lex. I need you," Mark breathed, resting his head back on the bed. His head shot up as he thought he felt Lexie's fingers move slightly. "Lex?" he whispered, moving one hand up to cup her cheek. "Can you hear me? I'm here, baby. I'm here," Mark promised, stroking her cheek. Lexie's fingers flinched again and Mark jumped to his feet. "Lexie?" he called. The brunette's monitors started to beep, and Mark's eyes immediately snapped up to them. Her heart rate and blood pressure were sky rocketing. Mark tried to remain calm, licking across his suddenly dry lips. The girl applied a light pressure to Mark's hand, and Mark quickly looked down to her. Lexie's eyes blinked open, staring up into Mark's. She began to try breathing over the tube, panicking when she was unable to.

What the hell happened Lexie thought.