A/N: That finale. Oh boy. Let me just say, this chapter reflects my sadness at the loss of one of my favorite characters and ships. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

Mark and Jackson spoke over a skin graft, the events of the weekend proving as fodder for the procedure's conversation.

"So, what happened with you and Kepner?" Mark asked. "You went out after her. She left. Something is definitely wrong there."

"Well, the kiss happened," Jackson said.

"You finally manned up and landed one on her?"

"Not exactly," Jackson said. "She kissed me. She panicked. She ran away. End of story."

"Well, that's unexpected."

"Not exactly," Jackson said, remembering how she had essentially asked him to leave after their night together in San Francisco.

Mark arched an eyebrow and asked, "Care to expand on that, Avery?"

"Long story. Anyway, now we're not talking. Actually, scratch that. We're still talking – only now it's very polite. Very careful."

"Very awkward?"

Jackson frowned, thinking of his and April's uncomfortable exchange that morning. Her car was still in the stop, so he picked her up as usual. Thankfully, Alex was too grateful for the unusual stilted and brief conversation to delve too deeply into the reason behind it.

"It's like we broke up," Jackson said. "Except…there was nothing to break up.

"Mixing work with pleasure," Sloan noted loftily. "It's never easy. Believe me."

Jackson snorted. "Yeah. You of all people would know."

"So, what's your plan?"

"I don't know. Should I have a plan?"

"You don't want to lose her, do you?"

"No," Jackson said immediately. "But what can I do?"

"Not much," Mark admitted. "But you still should plan something. Chance favors the prepared mind. Even a mind like yours, Avery."

Jackson chuckled lightly at the thinly veiled jab. "Alright, I'll come up with something. So, how are things with Julia?"

"She wants to have a baby," Mark announced rather nonchalantly, blazing right past Jackson's incredulous gape. "Apparently, my sperm is in high demand."

"A baby?"

"I haven't said yes or no," Mark told him. "There are, uh, complications. To put it lightly."

"Complications?" Jackson said. "What, Lex confess her undying love or something?"

He laughed at the joke, but noticed that his partner was silent. When he looked at Mark, everything that he needed to know was written plainly on the attending's face.

"Lexie confessed her undying love?"

"Well, the undying part was left out, but the rest is pretty accurate."

"Wow, that's rough man," Jackson said, shaking his head. "And here I thought I had issues. So, what did you tell her?"

"That I needed a few days."

"You don't need a few days," Jackson said. "Everyone knows you're in love with her."

"It's not that easy."

"She even loved you when we were together," Jackson said. "And don't try to tell me that you didn't either. I know the whole taking me under your wing thing was just a way to keep your eye on me."

"I believe in taking advantage of synergies," Mark replied easily. "Anyway, I haven't decided what to tell her yet. So, I'm letting it lie."

"You're letting it lie? What does that even mean?"

"It means, that I am not giving her a response until I am one hundred percent sure of my response."

"You'll never be one hundred percent sure. If you love her, you should tell her."

Izzie knew it would be difficult coming back. Two years was a long time and things were bound to change. She had prepared herself – or tried to – but she still felt a displacing sort of déjà vu when she walked the halls of Seattle Grace. There were so many memories that pushed from every hallway, every doorway and OR. Some were pleasant memories. Others made her chew on her cheek. And then there were all those doctors she worked with, real life ghosts as they moved past her. She had thought it would be a good thing to face her past, her mistakes. Plunged in the middle of the chaos, though, she wasn't so sure that she had been right.

It was hardest seeing him. The years had done nothing to soften his effect on her – the shortening of breath, heart slamming against her ribcage, body sent in such a jolt that she didn't know how she managed to keep walking straight. She looked for him at every turn and stop. Leaving a patient's room or waiting in the cafeteria, she was in a constant state of anticipation.

She wondered if her presence was as disarming to them as all of theirs was to her. Did it transport them back to simpler times? Before babies and marriages, when it was only the five of them (or four after George) taking on the surgical rotation and then the world?

Sometimes she wished she could go back to that time. Before she got cancer and George stepped in front of that bus. Before she had alienated herself from them, from herself.

"Iz."

His voice pulled her from her thoughts. She was sitting alone in the cafeteria, absentmindedly eating a roast beef sandwich. He gestured to the seat in front of her and she nodded, swallowing uncomfortable as he settled in front of her.

"You look tired," she noted, eyes travelling over the dark circles that resembled bloated tea bags beneath his eyes.

"I got called in for a surgery at two in the morning," he said.

"How'd it go?"

"It was fine. The kid's lungs filled with fluid. Robbins did most of it, but called me in anyway. Probably to punish me for considering Hopkins."

"Hopkins?"

"Oh, sorry, you probably wouldn't know. Hopkins offered me a position."

Oh sorry, you probably wouldn't know.

That statement hurt more than she knew was intended. She used to know everything. She was the first told, or second at the least. Now she was the last to know, a forgotten entity only filled in when necessary to carry out polite conversation.

"That's amazing," she said. "Congratulations, Alex."

He shrugged. "It's nothing."

"No, it is. Hopkins is definitely something."

"I still don't know if I'm going to take it," he said. "I sort of already told Robbins that I would stay."

"You should go wherever fits best," she said. "Don't let others influence you."

He nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich. As he chewed, she thought to herself that if he did leave that meant she only had months left with him, if even that. An urgency descended on her like a swarm of flies, anxiety pulling at her stomach as she tried to devise a way to get the most out of these possible final moments with him.

"Alex, could we maybe grab a drink at Joe's sometime?" she asked tentatively. He looked up at her, surprise registering in his gaze. "I'm not asking for anything," she said quickly. "I know we can't go back to the way things were. But I miss you. We used to be friends. Heck, I used to be your only friend."

He smirked.

"I know I've missed a lot these past two years," she continued. "I don't want to miss any more."

Alex was quiet for a moment before asking, "Are you free after work today?"

Teddy joined Cristina at the rotation desk, propping her elbow comfortably on the counter as she said, "I have an angioplasty later this afternoon. Do you want to scrub in?"

Cristina nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"The patient has Budd-Chiari Syndrom."

That drew Cristina's attention. "Really? I don't think I've ever seen anyone with that. Isn't it like one in a million or something?"

Teddy grinned wide. "A one in a million chance. That's the sort of program that Seattle Grace offers. Thrilling and unique opportunities is only one facet of-"

"I've made my decision, Teddy."

Teddy's eyes widened, and she hastened to compose her face into one less obvious as she tentatively asked, "And?"

Cristina crisply replied, "After weighing my options, I decided to stay on here."

"You're not kidding are you?"

"Why would I be kidding?" Cristina asked.

"So, you're really staying on at Seattle Grace?"

"Yes, that's what I said," Cristina said, smirking at the incredulous look on her mentor's face.

"That-that's fantastic! That's amazing! You're staying! Does Owen know? What am I saying, of course he knows!" Teddy pulled her into a tight hug, but let the younger resident go when she felt her stiffen. Teddy cleared her throat while Cristina straightened her lab coat. "Well, that is very good news, Yang. We're, uh, happy to have you."

"Thank you, Teddy."

"Let's get you the chart on that angioplasty patient, yeah?"

Lexie leafed through a chart, reading up on a patient she would be seeing later in the afternoon. She turned the page, hissing when the edge of the paper sliced her finger. She had been turning with some gusto, and she scrunched her nose when she saw that the paper cut was somewhat deep. Closing the chart, she stood and walked to the nearest supply closet for a bandaid. She opened the door and stepped in, stopping short when she found Mark Sloan rifling through the cabinets.

"Mark, hi."

He looked up and his face showed just as much startling as she felt. He closed the cabinet door and she spied a box of bandaids as the door closed.

"Lexie. Uh, what are you doing in here?"

"Paper cut," she admitted somewhat sheepishly, holding up her finger. "Don't want to get blood all over the chart."

"Probably not a good idea."

"I saw some bandaids in that cabinet next to you," she said. "Could you hand me one?"

He didn't move an inch, his eyes glued to her face. She began to feel a bit uncomfortable under his gaze and shifted between her feet. "Uh, Mark?"

"I love you," he said.

It took a moment for her to register what he had said, and she stared at him, mouth dropped into a visible gape.

"You-you love me?"

A bright smile spread on his face, and he turned back to the cabinet and pulled the door open. He grabbed a bandaid and stepped toward her, gesturing for her to give him her hand. She obliged without question, mind still stuck on those three words. She studied his face as he unwrapped the bandaid and wrapped it tightly around her finger.

"Mark?"

His eyes met hers, and she felt a jolt go all the way to her little toe. He reached up and cupped her face with his hands, thumbs gently caressing her cheeks. Her eyes drifted shut as he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. She had forgotten how nice his mouth felt against hers, how right. He pulled away and locked his gaze with hers.

"I love you, Lexie Grey."

"I love you, too," she murmured happily, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed her face into the curve of his shoulder, inhaling his unique scent. When they first started dating she had asked him what sort of cologne he wore. He responded by saying that cologne was for sissies, and his scent was his alone. It was pure Mark Sloan.

He pulled back enough to capture her mouth with his again and her toes curled. She had forgotten the intoxication of his kisses - the feel of his lips against hers, tongue sliding along her own.

Between kisses he mumbled, "On-call room?"

"Lead the way."

Jackson had some free time during Dr. Altman's angioplasty and planned on watching from the observation deck. He walked in and saw April in the front row, a seat open beside her. He walked around a group of people standing to the side of the observation deck and dropped into the seat. She looked over for a moment, but then directed her attention back to the OR.

"I'm surprised you're not down there," April said, her voice strained as she attempted to conduct polite conversation. "Weren't you on Altman's service?"

"I was switched over to Sloan's this morning," Jackson said, glancing at her warily. She only nodded in response he added, "I wouldn't have minded scrubbing in for this one, though."

She actually looked at him then and asked with genuine curiosity, "Why? It's just an angioplasty."

Meredith leaned in from behind them and said, "Yeah, but the guy has Budd-Chiari Syndrome."

April's eyes widened. "I've only read about that!"

"Yeah, it's pretty rare," Jackson agreed. He glanced back at Meredith and said, "Altman probably only gave it to Yang to bribe her into staying."

"She doesn't have to bribe her anymore," Meredith said. "Didn't you hear that she's staying?"

"Great," April grumbled. "Another year of Cristina Yang."

"She's choosing this craphole over Stanford?" Jackson said, shaking his head. "I don't get it."

"Whatever choice Cristina made is the correct one for her," Meredith said levelly. "You know she doesn't take these things lightly."

"She probably had some anal-retentive-pro-con list," Jackson said.

"Oh, and like you don't," Meredith retorted.

Below them, the patient's bp plumetted dangerously as the machines began to beep madly. April leaned forward in her sheet, hands shooting to the arm rests. One hand inadvertently covered Jackson's and she pulled away as if she were burned.

"Sorry," she mumbled, cheeks flushing.

"It's fine," he said quickly.

Behind them, Meredith looked between the two of them, eyebrows furrowed.

"You are just as good as I remembered," Lexie murmured, curled beside Mark in the on-call room. He ran a finger down her arm lazily and she shivered at his touch. It had been too long since she felt like this; too long since he made her feel like this.

"Back at you, Little Grey."

She thought of them in the supply closet and smiled against his chest. He chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath her cheek.

"Reliving what we just did?"

"No."

"You're not?"

She laughed at the wounded tone of his voice. "No, I'm thinking about the supply closet. About what you said."

"Ah, I see."

She rested her forearm on his chest and propped her chin on her wrist so that she could see his face.

"Say it again."

"Say what?" he retorted playfully.

"Mark."

"Fine. I love you."

She grinned wide. "Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

"No matter how many times I say it, Lex, it's not going to trump your count from when you told me."

She blushed at the memory of her rather ineloquent confession.

"I was overexcited," she said. "And slightly neurotic. But, that's why you love me, right? Because I'm over-excitable and slightly neurotic?"

He kissed the top of her head. "That and what you did a few minutes ago."

She laughed, slapping his arm lightly.

"Although, I think I might need to see it one more time," he said. "Just to really cement it in my memory."

"We need to get back to work," Lexie said, although she made no effort to move. "There are lives to save."

"Yes, there probably are," Mark said.

He shifted so that her back was against the mattress, his hand making a burning path along her waist. He dropped his mouth to her neck, nibbling and sucking.

"We have a job to do," she said breathlessly as his mouth moved south. "We have responsibilities. We…"

"Are you done now?" he asked, glancing up toward her.

"Yes. All done."

Her eyes drifted shut, but they flew open when she heard the door open. Her stomach dropped when she saw Julia in the doorway, looking at her and Mark with a look that could only mean one thing.

"You son of a bitch," Julia hissed, slamming the door.

Mark sat up and murmured, "That is not good."

"You didn't tell her?" Lexie said loudly.

"I was getting around to it!"

Jackson found April in the locker room before they left for his car. The room was empty besides the two of them and he sat beside her on the bench as she gathered her things.

"Are we ever going to talk about it?" he asked softly.

She looked at him in surprise. "No. I mean, yes, but not here. Anyone could walk in."

"It was only a kiss."

"Jackson-"

"We slept together and moved past it. Why can't we move past this?"

"It's different," she said wearily, pulling on her sweater. "It's not the same."

"Yeah, you're right it's different. It's small. It's nothing."

"It's not nothing," she threw back.

"I didn't mean-"

"I admitted that I had feelings for you," she said heatedly. "You admitted you had feelings for me. That isn't nothing!"

"I know that," he said. "That's why I'm trying to understand why you haven't so much as mentioned it these past few days."

She didn't say anything and he stood up, stepping over to the bench so that he was standing in front of her. He laid his hands on her arms and asked, "What are you afraid of, April?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "Everything. I'm afraid of everything, Jackson. I'm afraid that all of you will get ahead of me with your careers and I won't be able to catch up. I'm afraid that Seattle Grace will pull my position. I'm afraid that I'll let you in and then you'll leave me. I'm-"

"I wouldn't do that," he said, sliding is hands up to cradle her face. "You know I wouldn't do that."

"I'm afraid I'll hurt you," she continued. "I'm afraid that we'll rush into this and both of us will end up hurt and broken."

"I won't hurt you," Jackson said, tracing her cheek with his thumb. "And you won't hurt me."

"You can't know that."

"And you can't know that we'll hurt each other, either."

"I can't lose you," she said softly. "I can't lose you, Jackson."

"You won't."

"I won't?"

He pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her cheek. "You couldn't shake me if you tried."

I-I'm not ready yet," she said. "Even with everything you said, I'm just…"

"That's fine," he said, rubbing her back. "We don't have to start anything. Can we just stop the awkwardness? I don't like the only person I can talk to on those rides being Karev."

"Okay," she relented. "No more awkwardness."

He gave her a quick squeeze and then said, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Alex sat in the corner table at Joe's with his beer and the untouched vodka tonic. It was thirty minutes past when they agreed to meet. He had run into her on his way to a surgery and they agreed to meet up at eight thirty. Nine o'clock and his phone rested beside his beer without any messages or calls. He was on his third beer, the vodka tonic seemingly mocking him in its fullness. It was a constant reminder that he had been hoodwinked. Brought in and spit out again by the woman that he found himself powerless to refuse. As he finished off the third beer, the front door opened with a melodious jingle, and she was walking toward him with her hair a mess of curls framing her face.

"I am so sorry," she breathed out, dropping into the seat across from him. "I got caught up in the hospital and I didn't even have a moment to step to the side and call or text you. Gosh, I feel like an awful human being. I'm an awful human being, aren't I?"

He stared at her, wondering if his beers had conjured her there. Because had had given up all hope, and yet there she was, at the end of a classic Izzie-Stevens-ramble.

"I got you a drink," he said, pushing the vodka tonic toward her. She smiled brightly, her fist closing on the drink.

"Vodka tonic?" she guessed.

"Yeah. That's what you like, right?"

She nodded, taking a sip. Her eyes widened and she laughed a bit as she said, "I forgot how strong Joe makes 'em."

"Yeah, you get your money's worth here."

"He knows better than to jip Seattle Grace doctors on their alcohol," she retorted lightly. "Imagine Cristina if she got a vodka tonic heavier on the tonic than vodka. Mass pandemonium, right?"

He snorted. "Yeah, totally."

They laughed a bit, the awkwardness between them lifting slightly.

"I missed this," Izzie said genuinely. "The two of us just laughing. We didn't have enough of that in the end. The laughter."

Alex's smile dimmed. "There wasn't much to laugh about."

"I guess not," she admitted. "But, um, let's not talk about that. It's in the past."

"I missed it to, you know," he said. "The laughter."

"You did?" she said, voice silkier than she intended. His eyes were soft, though, when he nodded and said, "Yeah, I did."

A/N: I realize this was a big ol' Lexie/Mark cornball. But after that finale I had to give them some happy times. There was some good Jackson/April development, though, as well as Izzie/Alex. This one was all about the couples! Did you like it? Leave me some feedback!