Dread started to course through Lexie's body as the afternoon slipped away to evening.

She had several post-operative patients and research to complete for Derek to keep her busy.

On the plus side, it kept her from thinking about Mark, or even running into him for that matter. She'd hunkered down in the basement away from the rest of the hustle and bustle.

However, the downside of her staying occupied, was that her day went by in a flash. She had to be in the lobby in less than hour to leave for Boise.

She still needed grab her luggage, which wasn't much since the doctors were only expected to be there for about 24 hours, barring any complications.

This conjoined twin surgery was likely going to be more complicated than the one they completed months ago. She needed to be at her best, but that wasn't what caused her anxiety.

It wasn't flying either, in fact, Lexie enjoyed being on an airplane. She found comfort in the thought of soaring miles above the world and its problems. No, it wasn't the thought of air travel make her uneasy either.

Being in close quarters with Mark for the better part of a day is what was stressing her out. She knew the tension between herself, and Mark would be palpable. It wouldn't be the good kind of sexual tension she'd experienced with him once upon a time ago either.

Lexie keened at the memories. Remembering the early days of their relationship. The sparks, the excitement, when their biggest worry was having Derek Shepherd find out.

Times sure have changed, she thought to herself.

Lexie's thoughts switched back to the brief trip. Aside from the cutting-edge surgery she was going to be a part of, she wondered what else might happen over the during their brief stay. Would Mark say something to her? Probably not. It was a business trip after all. They needed to focus.

But he had told her he needed to think things over. He wouldn't have said that to her unless there was a part of him that felt the same, right?

She mentally kicked herself for the thousandth time today. Why in the hell had she decided to confess her love to Mark right before they were about to complete one of the most difficult surgical procedures ever?!

As she made her way into the resident's lounge, Lexie saw Meredith, Cristina and Alex clearing out their cubby's, already wearing their hospital jackets, luggage in tow. She sighed. There was no need to keep berating herself. What was done, was done. No point in beating a dead horse.

She started changing into a fresh pair of scrubs ahead of the flight, when she heard a pager go off. She instinctively checked her own. Realizing the alert was not for her, she glanced to the three other people in the room.

"Why am I getting a 911 page right as we're about to leave?" Meredith asked out loud.

"Who is it?" Cristina asked her.

"The daycare," Meredith replied. "April's supposed to be taking Zola home tonight to watch her while we're gone, I told them that already."

Meredith reached to pinch the bridge of her nose, stress apparent on her features.

"Maybe they missed the memo. You know, they're just glorified babysitters, a teenager could do a better job," said Cristina, in an attempt to calm Meredith's growing anxiety.

The two exited the lounge a moment later to investigate the page. Lexie stared at the door for a long moment after it shut, concern bubbling in her stomach for her niece's welfare.

"Everything's probably fine," Alex mumbled, stuffing a few toiletries and protein bars into a duffle bag before zipping it up.

He hoisted the bag over his shoulder and made his way to the door. He looked over his shoulder at Lexie as he opened it.

"I gotta find Robbins, break the news about Hopkins before we go. That way she can't kill me," said Alex, sounding unconvinced. "I'll see you in the lobby, Grey."

Lexie nodded at him, offering a simple good luck.

She let out a breath, taking in the empty resident lounge.

Time to go.

Mark stood in the lobby, waiting for the rest of the doctors to arrive.

He mindlessly scrolled through his phone, checking his emails for the thousandth time. He checked the weather, his fantasy baseball stats.

He opened about every application on his phone but ignored the red message notification in the corner.

Mark already knew what it was. It was a text from Julia. He'd seen come across his phone nearly an hour ago.

"Safe trip. Good luck with the surgery, I'll see you when you get back," the message from his girlfriend read.

Mark couldn't acknowledge it right now. He had no idea what to reply. Even a simple thank you in response felt wrong, so he ignored it instead.

He slipped his phone into his jacket pocket when Derek walked up to him, giving him a nod in acknowledgement.

Mark glanced in front of him, noticing a familiar brunette. He watched Lexie walk up to the nearby nurse's station to grab a pile of files containing details about their procedure. She examined the thick pile of papers and began to hoist her luggage bag off the ground when the question came tumbling off his tongue.

"You got that? Is it too heavy for you?" Mark asked, bending slightly to try and reach the bag's handles.

Her warm hazel eyes met his, light astonishment flickered over her face.

"No, I'm—I'm fine, but thank you," Lexie replied, with a small appreciative smile.

Painful.

"No, uh, thank you," came Mark's response. He berated himself mentally for the dumb reply.

She offered him another smile before turning her shoulder away from him.

Meredith and Cristina had finally arrived at the lobby. The older Grey sister had a tense look on her face as she approached her husband.

"Zola has the chickenpox," she said to him, loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

Derek looked around, a confused look on his face.

"The daycare paged me 911 to tell me that she has the chicken pox, and someone needs to take her home right away," she explained, agitation and concern dripped from her voice.

"I don't understand, isn't Kepner taking her home?" said Derek.

"No," Meredith spat, before adding, "Kepner's not taking her home, because April has never had the chicken pox."

"Kepner grew up on a farm and she's never had chickenpox?" questioned Alex, an incredulous look on his face. He looked at Cristina, who only rolled her eyes and shrugged, seemingly in disbelief herself.

Derek let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, well, page Bailey or Richard, or someone because we have to leave now," he stressed.

"I can't leave our sick daughter with Bailey or Richard!" hissed Meredith.

"Our. Plane. Leaves. Now," Derek said through gritted teeth.

The couple stared at each other, waiting for one of them to challenge the other again, to back down.

"I'll stay with Zola," Lexie offered.

Everyone's head shot towards the younger Grey. Mark felt his mouth gape open just slightly, he thought about protesting her offer.

"It's fine, I can do it. I had chickenpox when I was a kid," she affirmed.

When no one argued, Lexie let out a short sigh.

"Someone let Hunt know. It will be fine. Everything should still go as planned without me. Let the doctors in Boise know too," Lexie finished, handing her files to Meredith.

She gave her sister's arm a reassuring squeeze, Derek and Meredith thanked her.

Mark couldn't peel his eyes off Lexie as she and her travel bag disappeared. She wasn't coming to Boise. He wouldn't be able to speak with her tonight like he'd planned. He felt his jaw clench in frustration.

His thoughts were interrupted by Arizona's shrill voice. She was yelling at Karev, interrogating him about something Mark couldn't care less about right now.

Why could they never get their timing right? Something always seemed to happen or come up that prevented him and Lexie from moving forward. Maybe this was yet another sign things couldn't work out between them.

"Sloan," came a deep voice, pulling Mark out of his desperate train of thoughts.

He looked up to see Richard Webber standing among the group now. Mark gave him a questioning look.

"We have a patient, a woman. S-She's badly burned. Acid to the face. Might be one of the worst burns I've ever seen," said Richard, sounding disturbed. "She has a towel stuck to her face and I've got Avery in trauma room three right now, but he's freaking out. We need you."

Mark's brows furrowed picturing the scene Richard just described.

"We're about to leave, Webber. I can't do it," said Mark. "Throw some water on the kid's face and page the on-call attending."

Mark felt bad, he did. He was a physician at the end of the day and despite what people thought of his character at times, he cared about his patients, and he wanted to help those who needed it. Mark also knew a set of babies in Idaho needed him too.

The former chief stared at Mark, urgency in his serious eyes.

"Richard, we just lost Lexie, Robbins and Karev have switched places. We can't lose Sloan," Derek intervened.

"The surgery's not until late tomorrow morning, right?" Richard questioned. "We can have Sloan on the hospital chopper by dawn."

Mark looked to Derek for confirmation. The neurosurgeon rolled his eyes and let out a groan.

"Let's go," said Mark, as he started towards the trauma room past Richard.

When Lexie arrived at the daycare to pick up her niece, she realized she'd be in for an even longer night than she bargained for.

She'd seen Zola this morning and she looked fine. Seeing her this evening, the difference was stark. Blisters were already forming over her arms, hands, and face.

Zola was miserable and Lexie really couldn't blame her. She could feel the warmth coming from her niece's body. She was burning up.

She decided to take her downstairs to the pit and try to have her admitted for the night.

Lexie knew a fever this high could quickly become dangerous, and with Zola's previous health concerns, she wasn't about to take any chances.

Lexie rubbed soothing circles into Zola's back as she choked on her sobs. She applied firm pressure, hoping the light friction through the toddler's clothes would alleviate some itching, soothing her some.

After some time, Zola's crying simmered. She let out a hiccup every so often, the aftermath of such an intense meltdown. They were both exhausted.

Eventually they saw an emergency room doctor, who acquiesced to Lexie's insistence that they set the pair up in a room overnight.

Several hours of lullabies and comforting later, Zola had finally fallen asleep. Lexie had doubted this moment would come, especially after she started wailing again when was given an IV.

Lexie glanced at the clock; it was late, already after midnight.

She figured everyone had to have made it to Idaho by now, checked into their respective hotel rooms. Lexie pulled out her phone and sent out text to her sister.

"Zola is going to be fine. Had her admitted to be extra safe. Don't worry about us. Good luck tomorrow."

Lexie locked her phone and clutched it to her chest. She thought about Mark laying alone in his hotel room bed alone, and how she'd never know if he would've come to see her that night to talk to her about where they stand.

That was the last thing Lexie thought about before she passed out in the guest chair next to her slumbering niece.

Hello friends,

This little story has received a bit of attention and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. A big thank you to the several people who have left reviews, kudos and bookmarks.

As you can probably already tell, I'm starting to diverge from canon now. I will likely still try to be compliant with other canon elements, but Mark and Lexie don't die in a plane crash in this one! Seriously my 16-year-old self was beyond devastated.

I hope you enjoyed this one! Feel free to leave a comment or review, they make my day!

P.S. Did anyone recognize the patient I grabbed from a later season? ;)

Sending love to all y'all 3.