A/N:

I am SO SO SO sorry for the belated update. I had a terrible writer's block with Ch13 but now that I have finished it, I've allowed myself to post this chapter. Simply, I have a busy couple of months coming my way, SAT, prom, and other school events are depleting my time to zero and I am so sorry if my updates become slow, but I promise to finish this story because it's my baby now and that's a promise I'm willing to keep. Now I didn't do much proofreading, so yeah. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and cross your fingers for a faster update next time!~

"I need you all to welcome Doctor Grey and Doctor Sloan back to work." Owen announced as he stood on the stairs in the main reception. At the end of the stairs stood Mark, in the navy scrubs and the lab coat – Lexie stood beside him in the baby blue scrubs and her own lab coat, her hands curled around the handle of the crutches that held her up. She still had some balance and steady issues – but as far as what Lexie could do right now, she could walk.

It was a critical time now, the time to decide whether she would lose the crutches or keep them on forever. It was why Lexie made the decision to return to work again – after all, it had been Jared's suggestion to do so. It was the only way Lexie could practice and at the same time be under the watchful eye of many doctors. Work was her cure – and Lexie couldn't feel any happier. The Medical Boards would be in no less than two months and Lexie seriously needed to prepare. She was very aware that Callie's cards and some old textbooks wouldn't be very much of an aid for her. She needed the real stuff. She needed her work.

As the crowd of doctors, nurses, and technicians erupted with applause, Lexie smiled. All these people had greeted her in and out since the day she'd gotten in. Even the new interns – she already liked two of them and was looking forward to meet the rest. A group of interns was assigned to her today, and she was on Derek's service so she had a good bunch of interns running around in neuro today and that would be good.

"Are you okay?" Mark demanded and the crowd dispelled and Lexie sighed as she looked up at him, "Don't you have a department to run? Aren't you scared Jackson brought your burn center to the ground?"

"Ouch, Doctor Grey." She heard Jackson say and whipped her head around to look up at him. Lexie still couldn't let go of how Jackson had very much 'dumped' her – and it wasn't that she did have feelings for him. Jackson was literally, and in every sense of the word, her rebound boy. Her Mark placebo – she thought that since he hung out with Mark so much, he could replace the gap that Mark had left in her heart, but god was she ever so wrong.

"Congrats." She muttered once, almost too nonchalantly as she looked up at him. When he stared at her, perplexed, she gestured to his navy scrubs. He nodded once and then held up some charts to Mark. Before he could start speaking, Derek interrupted, "Excuse me, but I think Doctor Grey is on neuro not on plastics today." Derek smiled charmingly as he towed Lexie away. "You better take care of her." Mark said quickly and Derek shook his once as he chuckled.

"Thank you." Lexie exhaled, not really realizing she was holding her breath that much as she hobbled beside Derek.

"I figured you would need saving – I've been there." Derek mused, and Lexie lifted a brow. Derek sighed once, knowing he'd have to explain, "I was in the elevator, and Meredith, Addison, and Rose were in there." He elaborated and Lexie grinned foolishly to keep herself from laughing. "I bet you wished you took the stairs." Lexie retorted playfully and Derek burst into laughter, "That is exactly what Mark said."

After the brief exchange, Lexie heard the interns huddle behind her as she stepped in the neuro department. Derek told her to meet him in the viewing room and Lexie nodded before she turned back to the interns. "So – you probably all know, I'm Doctor Lexie Grey. Yes, I was in a plane crash, and yes I almost died. Also yes, it's a miracle I'm alive and yes I can't walk properly yet but that's an obstacle I'm willing to overcome." She said quickly, "I hope that answered all of the questions any of you had in their minds. Now, I'm not going to be the scary resident that will make your life a living hell – but if you push me, I will."

As Lexie let the interns sink that in, she smiled, "Good. You, I need some scut tracking. You, cover the pit. Brooks, I will need someone to carry the charts because my hands are busy so you're with me. Ross, Doctor Shepherd has requested you so I hope you're up for what we have today. Alright, chop chop people!" Lexie called enthusiastically as she started towards the viewing room hearing both Heather and Shane's steps fall behind her quickly.

It wasn't exactly what you would call a busy day – so Lexie found occasional chanced to rest her crutches beside the wall and stretch. It was odd, but no one tried to ask her what she doing. In all honesty, it has been long since Lexie had done this tremendous amount of standing and walking around. No one paged her for consults or any code blues, which was kind of a disappointment, but Lexie knew she wouldn't be able to get there in time and that was something she couldn't exactly let her conscience carry.

However, as she grabbed her crutches again – the monitor in the patient room right in front of her flatlined. "Code blue!" She yelled as she hobbled into the room and set her crutches aside so she could use her hands to apply compressions on the woman's chest. "1…2…3" She whispered under her breath, "Where's the crash cart!" She called loudly, and as she did the nurse came with crash cart. Lexie picked up the paddles, "Push one of eppy." She said quickly and looked down at the patient, not really recognizing her.

"Charge two-hundred!" Lexie announced as she held up the paddle and listened to the sound of them charging. When the machine beeped, she yelled again at anyone who had their hands on the patient. "Clear!" She said quickly and pushed the paddles against the woman's chest. The surge of power sent Lexie back into the wall, but when she looked up, the monitor had regained a normal marker. She sighed, relieved and let go of the paddles – handing them over to the nurse. Lexie sighed heavily and let herself slide to the ground as everyone filed out of the room, one nurse lingering behind to cover up the patient.

Lexie laid her legs out in front of her and scowled as she leaned forward to touch her toes, huffing a little. She seriously needed to work better on planting her feet to the ground or else some strong winds may blow her away – well, not literally, but the idea as impended. She sighed again and swallowed thickly. She knew it was a tough road, but she also knew she could do it. She had it in her – she was a Grey, Meredith had told her once.

Derek came rushing into the patient room just as Lexie was pushing herself up against the wall. When he reached for her, Lexie shook her head firmly, "I got it." She huffed once and stood up, tossing her hair over her shoulder and running her palms down her scrubs to smooth them. Her hand pressed against the wall as her other retrieved the crutches to hold herself up. Once she was all set, she walked out of the room with Derek then looked up at him. "Are you okay?" He asked and Lexie nodded once.

"I was paged to the conference room." He said with a scowl, as if he had been expecting this. Lexie narrowed her eyes and looked down at the page hanging around her neck when she saw it flash. Lexie looked up at Derek again and scowled, "Seems like I was paged too." Lexie answered him skeptically, and they both shared knowing look before they started towards the south wing to the conference room.

As Lexie walked in again, she almost groaned out in complained when she saw the lawyer – who seemed equally disappointed to see her walking again. "Doctor Grey, it's so good to see back and on your feet." The lawyer mutter through her teeth as a cloying smile spread on her face. Lexie nodded once, her expression stoic as she went to sit down beside Mark and set her crutches aside. Mark's hand found hers underneath the table and Lexie smiled as she felt their locked hands rest against her thigh.

"Seeing as the last time we've all been in this room didn't go as planned, I shall go over this again." The lawyer started and held up separate folders with their names on them. Their medical records. Lexie sighed and leaned forward against the table to tip her forehead into her knuckles, refusing really to pay any attention to the woman.

"Doctor Grey, I really want some of your attention." The lawyer pressed and Lexie looked up at her through narrowed eyes, "I will not agree for a lawsuit!" She said quickly, "What part of that don't you understand?" Lexie demanded as she leaned forward, "Even if we sue a charter company – that would get us barely anything but money. Do you know how many times that company has been sued the past year? How much money they've given out? It won't make a difference. It's a waste of time, money, and effort."

Lexie sat back into the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Lexie had had a lot of free time when she was in Meredith's house, and she'd used that to find out more about the lawsuit and about the charter company that had made their plane. Three lawsuits, two of which they lost and gave out a huge amount of money for – Lexie didn't really see the point of this. She didn't want money. She wanted to move on from this. And the usual bringing up of the lawsuit wasn't going to help.

"This is why we're suing the hospital." The lawyer said, loud and clear.

"What?!" The six doctors exclaimed in unison.

"You must understand that simply – the person who put you on that plane was your Chief of Surgery. Under interrogation, it was revealed that the hospital needed some budget cuts, which is why you were moved from another plane to the one that crashed." The lawyer explained, and she heard Cristina gasp. Lexie glanced sideways at everyone, wanting to gauge their faces than try to determine what exactly she felt right now.

Betrayal, her mind screamed. But she refused to let that take over all her thought. She needed to be rational. She has seen the amount of money that Charter Company has given out for losing their lawsuits – and she knew that she and everybody else's injuries would get them a whole lot of money. One thing she was sure of after she did the math, the minimum she'd set in her mind would pretty much make the hospital do some terrible budget cuts – or even worse, close a department.

Lexie pursed her lips and looked down, "It's still a no." She said slowly and stood up, reaching for her crutches. Meredith and Cristina stood up as well, and so did Mark & Derek…Arizona was left on that table alone and in thought, before eventually she stood up as well and left the conference. The lawyer stared after them and scowled furiously as she pushed her chair back sharply and stood up, collecting her papers – wondering if this really was nothing but a waste of time.

Lexie, Meredith, & Cristina silently went to the cafeteria, got sandwiches and juice and sat down at a table to eat silently. "It wasn't his fault." Cristina started slowly and Meredith & Lexie glanced sideways at her. "He put us on that plane, Cristina." Lexie said slowly. She figured, after all they have been through, it would be okay to call Cristina on first name basis – and Cristina didn't seem to mind that, so that was okay.

Lexie was simply voicing what she knew Meredith couldn't say, and also what she was feeling. Her mind has screamed betrayal when she heard what the lawyer said – betrayal and just pure fury. She wanted to go march into Owen's office right now and yet at him for all the pain that he has caused her & Mark for all this time. But she also felt relieved. It was like she had found someone to blame, someone to hate. She wished she'd discovered about this before, or not. She wasn't sure. Lexie just knew it felt a whole lot better.

"He didn't know." Cristina argued back as she stared at her sandwich.

"He's the chief of surgery. He should have known." Lexie argued, trying to remain calm.

"Well, if that's what you think, then why did't you go with the freaking lawsuit?!" Cristina exclaimed, and Lexie lifted both brows as she watched the woman stand up and storm off. Lexie never witnessed Cristina loose her cool – it was almost impossible. She didn't even loose her mind when they were stranded in that forest. Lexie sighed a little as she watched Cristina storm off and looked down.

"Why don't you want to go through with the lawsuit, Lexie?" Meredith asked gently as she set her paper plate down. Lexie sighed once, she didn't want to share the information she had until she made very sure of the information she had. Lexie knew that the insurance company should pay for any compensation in case they won the lawsuit, but – the budget cuts were still impending, and she knew lots of insurance costs of the nurses and workers here would be cut. That too would be as bad as closing a department. The nurses may leave; they may suffer of shortage of medical personnel. No one would take their place because obviously Seattle Grace Mercy West is a curse.

"Lexie!" Meredith exclaimed and Lexie shook her head once. She was thinking too much.

"It's…nothing." Lexie said quickly, "It's going to be for nothing, Mer. That company has been sued for crashes that were a lot bigger than ours and yet still they are up and running. Our lawsuit will be nothing but a waste of time. I don't want money, or at least more money – the settlement is just fine! And that settlement is like…what? Five million for each of us? I mean…that's a lot." Lexie muttered and scowled as she ran her fingers through her hair, "I just want this damn chapter to be over. Is that too much to ask for?"

"No, it's not." Mark muttered, and Lexie looked up as both he and Derek exchanged looks. "We talked…And he heard you." Mark said once as he clapped Derek's back, who sighed once. "I think you're right." He muttered and pulled a chair just as Mark did, and each of them sat beside his girl. Lexie pursed her lips before she looked up at them, "Why am I doing the entire decision making?" She frowned then glanced sideways at Derek, "You should be the one doing that." She muttered briefly and lifted a brow.

"You deserve it. The authority. You're the one who was trapped under the plane." Derek explained and smiled a little at her. Lexie felt a little uneasy about that, "I don't want to force any of you into making this decision. I mean, this is huge – and we've all been in that crash. Just because I don't want the lawsuit you guys shouldn't try to seek out what's rightfully yours." Lexie muttered and looked down at her salad. Mark frowned and glanced at both Meredith & Derek before he draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Lexie, what's rightfully ours is moving on. And you're right, who knows how long this lawsuit may take?" Meredith reasoned as she stuffed some French fries into her mouth and glanced sideways at Derek.

"What about Arizona? What does she think?" Lexie asked and tilted her head as she glanced sideways at Mark. He shrugged, "She doesn't care. She's just, and I quote, that she's grateful to be alive and back to her daughter and wife." Mark muttered once and then pulled Lexie close to him. Lexie closed her eyes as she leaned into Mark's chest. They were all on the same page. They all didn't want the lawsuit – yet somehow, she could still see a bit of uneasiness in Derek's eyes. She didn't want that. She didn't want them to regret it.

Lexie signed off on the last off her charts and then checked away her card before she smiled at Mark who wrapped his arm around her as they both got into the elevator. Lexie pursed her lips once and looked up at the sky as it rain. Once they exited the hospital, Lexie grinned at Mark, "Hold these." She handed him the crutches. Mark narrowed his eyes as he watched Lexie take a couple of steps away from him. "Lex, be careful." Mark called and Lexie laughed a little, holding her arm at either her sides to keep herself balanced. Mark followed her, waiting for her to lose her balance.

Lexie laughed, "Look at me!" She grinned and turned back, her foot slipping on the wet sidewalk and Mark reaching out to catch her. Lexie laughed as she fell back into his chest and looked up at him, and leaned up a little to press her lips to his. Mark hummed and shook his head at her, internally more than ecstatic that his Lexie was finally back. Mark helped her up on her feet and handed her the crutches, and they proceeded to cross the street to go their condo.

Once they'd had some of the remaining pizza from last night and were showered and all ready for bed, Lexie crossed her legs and put the laptop on the bed to open it. As Mark climbed onto the bed, he frowned. "Lex, what are you doing?"

Lexie shrugged once as she pulled her hair up and tied it. "I'm going to find a reason why this lawsuit is wrong." She said and glanced sideways at Mark. Mark groaned a little and propped himself up on his elbow, "We already said we won't do it. We'll tell the lawyer that tomorrow." Mark said and Lexie pursed her lips as she looked down at Mark, "I need to convince Derek. You've seen how hesitant he looked. He's not convinced. It's a bad idea. It's just a bad, bad idea – I feel that. And I can't exactly convince him with my feeling."

Mark sighed once as he watched Lexie before he sat up and rested his chin on her shoulder, "Do you need any help?" He whispered, and Lexie glanced sideways at him to peck his lips then shook her head once. "Sleep." Lexie muttered and smiled, a small giggle leaving her lips when he muttered a grateful thank you in ear and clambered underneath the covers. Lexie sighed once and turned to face her laptop again.