Author Notes: This is a word of warning. In this chapter, things get ugly. After reading this chapter, you may jump to certain conclusions, but do know that this is not the end. After all, this story is about Owen and Cristina. I have no intention of destroying them, but upon hearing news like this, Cristina's reaction can't be expected to be positive. Furthermore, this is the story of their journey back together, but they cannot be reunited if they haven't been separated first.

If you are wondering why would write this kind of chapter/story, you can find my reasoning in the AN's of chapter 1. I do not like to write stories where problems appear and are solved within one chapter and then disappear. This story is written by WWSD (What Would Shonda Do) but the purpose is to make something good out of what happened in season 8.

I know this sounded grim, but I am just asking people not to give up on this story after reading the following chapter. I want to thank each and every one of you who have read and/or reviewed this story, and I hope that you keep reading and reviewing this story. Things will get better – but with time. You are all so great!

"NO!"

Cristina took a step back. Her eyes, widened to the size of saucers, were staring at the man in front of her. Her mouth was still open from the cry of disbelief and growing terror that had escaped from her lips and tongue. She couldn't believe this. This couldn't be. Surely there couldn't be a force – neither a force of nature, fate, destiny nor, screw the scientist inside her, even a god – cruel enough in the world to cause something like this to happen. Not now. Not now when they were finally happy, when they were finally perfect. No.

"Cristina…" Owen said and moved closer, but she put up her hand in a Stop!-motion and closed her eyes. She was trying to make sense to this situation. Rationalize it, understand it. "How… How do you know it's… she's… yours?"

"Cristina…"

"Answer the question!"

"She told me – or she told Kepner, I… She told I'm the father."

"So there's nothing more than her word?"

"Well, the timing also matches, and…"

Cristina couldn't help it; she didn't even know why she did it, but at that moment she burst out laughing. High-pitched, giggling-like laughter flew from her mouth. "That's nine months, Owen! Do you know with how many men a woman can sleep in that time? You've got only her word and you're placing your trust on it like it's from the Bible. My God, Owen! How can you even know if she knew herself who the father is? I bet she's slept with dozens of men. You're… you're… you're just one of a dozen candidates and she just picked you because you probably make the most money for her to feed upon –"

"Cristina, you're not making any sense. You're in shock."

"No! You're not making any sense. You've just decided to believe her without any evidence. I mean, how could you be –"

"Cristina!" Owen rasped, interrupting her. "Look at her. Look at her and tell me you don't see any of my features in her."

She shook her head. "Wow, you're really bent on believing this. You're actually trying to force this nightmare to be true."

"Just… look at her", Owen responded with pain in his eyes. Cristina looked at him for a moment and then slowly, hesitantly turned her head and lowered her eyes to the baby lying in the incubator. She was small. Pink. Feckless. She had reddish, ginger hair, same color as Owen's. And her face…

Cristina couldn't stop the gasp as she saw the baby's face. It was that of a typical baby: round and chubby, though a little paler than usually. But what caught Cristina's attention and caused her stomach to fall were the kid's nose and high cheekbones. Though smaller in size and younger, they were still exactly the same as his. And now she remembered the baby pictures that Owen's mother had once shown her. This baby was like a replica of those pictures, a little different but still similar in so many ways. This baby had a more knife-like jaw, her eyes were smaller, her complexion was a little lighter, and she was much smaller in size and terribly pasty, but still, without a doubt, she looked like Owen. Which meant that…

"Oh no", she whispered and backed away from the incubator. Her world was suddenly spinning. Her legs went numb and she grasped the arm of the rocking chair and sat, covering her face with her hands.

"Cristina, I…"

"Who knows about this?"

"What?"

"I said who knows about this", Cristina spoke from behind her hands. "I am asking how many people know about this. You said Callie, Arizona, Kepner and Fields operated on her. They all know? They all knew before me?"

"Well, I didn't really have any say on that, and for the record, they knew before even I knew. And why is that important?"

"Why is that..?" Cristina removed her hands and opened her eyes. Her look was stunned and she could feel that her eyes had turned a little bit wet. "That is important because I want to know just how many people knew about this before I did. I mean… My God, how could this even happen?"

"I don't know, I…"

"I mean, she just disappears for nine months and then, at just the perfect time, comes back and says: 'Hey, guess what? You knocked me up back then and now I'm going to give birth!' I can't believe you did something like this!"

"What?" Owen exclaimed. "You think I did this on purpose?"

"No, I'm just trying to understand how this happened. I don't think you did this on purpose, but I would think that you, as a doctor and a man, would know how to use a condom. Or did she say she was on the pill, or what?"

"What does that matter anymore? What's done is done."

"Yes, but why did it have to be done? She didn't even ask your opinion – she didn't even tell you about this. She did this even though it could've so easily been undone. Why didn't she get an –"

"BECAUSE NOT ALL WOMEN ARE LIKE YOU!"

Silence. Complete silence fell to the room. Even the rain, thunder and the monitors seemed to have fallen silent. Cristina and Owen were staring at each other, both panting, the eyes of both widening in shock and terror. The words hovered in the air between them, creating a gap, a bottomless gorge separating them. Cristina opened her mouth, tried to say something, but all that came out of her was a tear that emerged from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. She stared at Owen who looked absolutely terrified at what he had just said. She was also terrified. Something had just broken between the two of them. Something important. She once again tried to speak, and this time some words came out: "Is that… Is that what you… really think?"

Owen seemed to be struggling with words as well. "I… I don't… I'm sorry. It's just that… Claire's condition is wrecking me and…"

Claire. The name echoed in her mind, forced its way through her consciousness, which felt like an icicle being pushed through her brain. Claire, the child she had denied him from having… and now somebody else had given it to him. And now he was free to hate her for it. In his eyes, she was the villain in this story. She was the monster. She had brought this on herself. And now his words echoed in her mind, and every echo hurt her like a lash of a whip. Never before, not even upon hearing the truth about the night of adultery that had started this all, had she been in pain like this. The pain was psychological. The pain was physical. The pain was everywhere. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, she knew the pain. It was the pain caused by a crushed, broken heart.

She was about to say something, when the spell in the room was suddenly broken by the sounds of nearing footsteps. The sounds came back, time started to pass, and the door was opened as Arizona entered the room with a hurry. "What's going on? Your shouting can be heard throughout the NICU!"

Cristina quickly wiped away the tear. "Nothing", she said as she collected herself and walked to the door. She then stopped and looked at Owen. "I hope she'll be alright."

"Cristina!" Owen called after her as she left. When the door shut behind her, she stopped, took a shaky breath and shoved her sorrow as deep inside as possible. She was fighting it with all her strength, but she was going to lose. She needed Mer. She needed her now more than ever. She angrily wiped away the tears from her eyes, but new ones just kept coming. She needed her friend. Now.

Alex Karev entered the attendings' lounge, feeling cranky. This really hadn't been his day, mainly because of Dr. Robbins. He was sure something was going on, something that wasn't told him. Rumors were flying about a "Peds mystery patient" and nosy nurses and inters had been attacking him all night, asking questions. It wasn't like Robbins to lock herself to the NICU and ban everyone else from entering. And it wasn't like her to keep him in the shadows. Something was definitely going on. Unfortunately that was everything he knew. All he knew was that Robbins was working on something top secret, while he was stuck treating a 5-year-old boy's exceptionally high scarlet fever. And interesting case, but nothing like a "mystery patient".

And if Arizona Robbins wasn't enough, there was also Chief Hunt. Usually Alex was used to people having strange mood swings, as he was quite volatile himself, but Hunt's sudden burst of anger was something he couldn't quite put his finger on. And Hunt was also involved in the mystery in NICU, as he had told Dr. Robbins was working in there under his orders.

There has to be someone in here that knows something, he thought as he scanned the room with his gaze. Avery was eating a banana next to the fridge. He probably knew nothing. Miranda Bailey was reading a chart while clicking her pen against the tabletop. She usually knew everything that was going on in the hospital, but she looked quite irascible, so only a suicidal fool would try to ask her anything. Dr. Fields was doing a crossword on the other side of the table. There was no way Alex was going to ask her anything. So that left him with Meredith and Derek, who were sitting on the couch. Well, Alex thought, Mer knows Yang, Yang knows Hunt and Hunt knows what's going on in here.

"Hey", Meredith greeted him merrily as he walked to them. Pregnancy hormones were once again making her act like she was stoned. Derek, holding his hand on top of her belly, smiled at him. "What's up, Karev?"

"Nothing much", he answered. "I was just wondering if either of you knew what is going on in the NICU?"

"Why would we know?" Meredith asked with a smile. "Isn't it your job to know what's going on in Peds?"

"Well, that's what I thought, but I think there's something in there and I'm not told what. There's something going on with Robbins and Hunt and…"

Derek frowned. "Hunt's sick."

"What?"

"Callie told me. He's sick, and I'm covering for him for a couple of days."

"But I just talked with him, like, five minutes ago. He said Robbins is working on a case under his orders."

Derek looked confused. "Really?"

"Yea, and he seemed fine. Pissed off, but otherwise healthy."

"Well, I heard from Heather Brooks that Arizona was in a surgery with Callie, April and Fields earlier the night", Meredith said. "Why don't you ask her?"

Alex glanced at Fields and then rolled his eyes as curiosity won him over. "Alright!" He walked over to her and notified his presence by clearing his throat. Fields didn't even raise her eyes from the puzzle. "What?" she slowly asked.

"Umm, I was just wondering if you… You were in a surgery earlier, weren't you? With Kepner, Torres and Robbins?"

"Yes", she replied, still not raising her head. "Why?"

"Well, Dr. Robbins isn't telling me anything about the surgery, and I kind of need to know, since I'm a Fellow, so could you –"

"Tell you about the surgery?" she said, finally lifting her head. "No."

"Oh come on! Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Oh, Alex, when have I ever given you an easy answer?"

"Look, I'm not joking…"

"Neither am I. I –" Her sentence was broken by the sound of her pager. She checked it and instantly bounced up. "Oh crap!"

"Whoa! What?" Alex said, grabbing her hand.

"I need to go. A teen mom's decided to give birth three weeks before her expected time."

"What? NO!" Alex exclaimed, and everyone in the room turned to see what was going on, Bailey giving him and angry glare. As Fields was about to leave the room, Alex stopped her and stepped in front of her. "Please, just… Please tell me what's going on."

"Dr. Karev!" Fields exclaimed, frowning her brows. "I need to go!"

"Please! Robbins won't tell me, and when I asked Hunt, he yelled at me –"

"Well, probably because it's his daughter!" Fields snapped, bowling over the entire room. "Now could you please move?"

"Sure…" Alex slurred and moved aside. As Dr. Fields ran past him, he could see the reflection of his own stunned face on the faces of everyone else. There was a stunned silence.

"His… daughter?" Meredith repeated, taken aback. That's when she felt vibration in the pocket of her pants, as her pager started beeping.

She found her from a storage room, just like her page had said. It was the same room where they had sheltered from the shooter, just two years ago. Now Meredith entered the room and found Cristina, who was sitting on a chest in the shadows, staring at the floor and sobbing. She quickly closed the door and walked over to her friend, sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around her. "Cristina?"

"Mer!" Cristina said with a weak, trembling voice, and buried her face against Meredith's shoulder, no longer even trying to hold back her tears. Meredith was rather shocked to see her person so powerless and broken. "He has a child", Cristina squalled while squeezing her sleeves. "I denied him a child and he got one with someone else and now he hates me."

"Shh… No he doesn't", Meredith comforted. "He could never hate you."

"He already does. I thought we were past that, but he still hates me for what I did. He's going to hate me for it for the rest of his life. I'm going to pay for that one thing for the rest of my life. Is it ever forgiven?"

"Cristina, I don't mean to interfere, but what about what he did to you?"

"No!" Cristina cried. "Don't you see? I caused all this to happen. Why am I like this? Why can't I be like everyone else, like you?"

"Hey", Meredith said, "you're perfect just the way you are. You are the Cristina Yang. You're badass. I'm the surgeon/mother who's half the time too stoned from pregnancy hormones to even think straight."

"But you don't drive away the people that you love."

"Neither do you."

"Yes I do! This is the second man I've driven away. They all end up hating me. They all end up not being able to be with me because no one can love me. No one else could've done what I did, and he's going to hate me for it forever. And now I've lost him and I'm a wreck and I'm in pain and I'm crying all over my best friend because he's managed to mess with my head and made me love him. And now he had the child that I took from him, and I… I gave that child a death sentence and yelled at him while he must be feeling awful, and now I feel awful and I'm just so messed up."

Meredith was powerless. She had never seen her like that. All she could do was hold her friend and cradle her in her arms as she let out everything that she had held inside, as Meredith now realized, for almost a year. Everything – the plane crash, the PTSD, Minnesota, the problems with Owen even from before the plane crash – was now coming out, and she felt useless as the dams came crashing down.

"What did you say to her?"

Owen was now more sorrowful than he had probably ever been. He was sitting next to the incubator containing his newborn, mortally ill daughter, whose life was hanging by a thread, and now he had also managed to destroy everything between him and Cristina, the woman that he loved more than anything in the world.

Not all women are like you. He hated himself for saying that.. He regretted saying that. He couldn't believe that he had actually said something like that. It had been so quick, so nimble to escape his tongue that he hadn't even truly realized it before he had already said it. He didn't even know where it came from. Of course he was messed up and disorientated because of Claire and the danger to her life, but that didn't justify his words. And his voice, so bitter, so resentful as he had yelled at her the words. And the look in her yes after he had said it...

Why? Why couldn't they get over it? Why did it always have to come back to haunt them? Had he not forgiven her? Had they not already put that to rest? Why did it always come back to that one deed? Every single time.

"I don't know. It all just went wrong. It was a disaster."

"You have to give her time to work through all this. What you told her was a lot to process. Take it from someone who knows it from experience."

Owen looked up at Arizona. "You forgave her, right?"

"I can't really say that I forgave her. After all, I was the one who walked out. But I found out that she had slept with a man and was now pregnant, and I could have moved on, but I didn't want to. Despite everything, I wanted her back. I still loved her. So I moved over the fact that she had slept with Mark. And I can't say that I forgave her for being pregnant, because no one should have to be forgiven for having a child. And I realized that Sofia was just as much my daughter as she was Mark and Callie's."

"I think Cristina won't forgive me this."

"I think she will. Just give her time."

Owen nodded and looked at Claire. "What about her time?"

"Are you asking me as her doctor or as your friend?"

"Both."

"As her doctor I can't say anything. Her condition has neither decreased nor increased. But as your friend I'd say she's going to be okay."

"Thank you."

A moment passed. Arizona looked at her watch. "I have to get back in rounds. Karev's been in charge of Peds the whole night. I need to go help him."

"Okay."

Arizona walked to the door and then turned around. "You should talk to someone. About all this. I can get Derek here, if you..."

"No", Owen replied. "He's got his hands full with Meredith and the baby, and he now needs to keep this hospital running. I think I have someone I can talk to."

"Alright", Arizona said and left the room. Owen dug his phone from his pocket. He hesitated for a moment, thinking whether he should make the phone call or not, but then decided to go for it. He flipped through his contacts until he found the old number. Hoping that the number still worked, he pressed the call-button. He waited, his heart starting to beat a little faster, until he heard a familiar voice answering: "Hello."

Relief coursed through his body as he heard the voice. "Hey! It's me, Owen."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, then a jovial answer: "Owen! Hey! Man, am I glad to hear about you. How are you?"

"Not too good", Owen answered truthfully. "Listen, Teddy, can you spare a moment? I really need someone to talk to."