Some dialogue from 8x22 is used here!

The pencil twists between Jackson's thumb and index finger as he sits amongst the other interns. Meredith still looks green but insists she'll be fine. April's hair is tousled and dark circles are under her wide eyes. She keeps mumbling something under her breath about God. Jackson realizes she's wearing her clothes from last night. She doesn't look at all prepared.

The only one who seems remotely put together is Cristina. She's sat up straight, shoulders forward and eyes filled with dedication. Jackson doesn't doubt that she'll pass.

The elevator bell dings. Jackson looks up in time to see Alex dashing for the chairs. He dives into the empty one beside Jackson.

"You made it."

Alex glances over at Meredith. In spite of her flu, she has that "mom look" about her. "Yeah. Just barely." He straightens his tie.

"Where's Derek?"

"Waiting downstairs. I can look forward to a nice long lecture after all this."

Jackson snorts. "Sorry, man. But you set yourself up for this."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Look at it this way, you have the next couple of hours to focus on everything else."

Jackson doesn't miss the kiss that Meredith blows Alex. He's in so much trouble, yet she's showing that unconditional love.

Suddenly, he misses Mark even more. He's not even sure if his caregiver has that for him. Still, he's starting to forget why he wanted to do this alone.

"Jackson Avery."

He takes a deep breath as Alex claps him on the shoulder. Jackson glances to get a last look at him in the reflection of the elevator. His tie is purple. Purple is supposed to convey power.

Jackson takes a step forward and holds out his hand to shake with the examiner. In a split second, the pencil drops from his grip. In the next, the examiner steps forward to grab his hand.

SNAP

Jackson forces the professional smile to remain on his face as they walk into the room.

Until this moment, he told himself that pencil was all in his head. Something Catherine convinced him he needed. A pencil can't truly bring you good luck.

He hopes more than anything he's right.

The first two sessions go well. Almost too well. At one point, Jackson corrects one of the examiners. In the moment, it felt good. Now, he sits during the second 10 minute break, reconsidering every answer.

Cristina is rambling about her older examiner. He's speaking too slow and not giving her enough time to answer. Meredith threw up during hers, but insisted she kept going. Now, she frets that there's no way she'll pass. April hasn't even rejoined the group, she ran right for the bathroom after both of her rounds.

"A trick question!" Alex snaps for about the fifth time, interrupting Cristina bitching about her examiner. "How could I fall for that trap?"

"To be fair," Meredith says, her voice slurred. "That's the definition of a trick question."

"Thanks so much. That's a lot of help."

"You're going to pass, honey. Me…well, I'm unsure how many cookies you're allowed to toss before they automatically fail you."

Cristina rolls her eyes. "You two are obnoxious. I'm going to fail if my examiner doesn't get his act together."

She and Alex begin bickering over who's during worse, with Meredith just barely being able to play interference. Jackson gets up and heads into the men's room. He's surprised to find it empty. Quickly locking the door, he pulls out his phone and dials a number. Mark answers on the third ring.

"Jackson?"

"I corrected my examiner."

"Huh?"

"They were presenting the question wrong, so I corrected them."

Mark chuckles. "That's my boy."

"No! That can't be good, right? I probably looked like I know too much."

"Jackson, they want you to know everything. Kind of the point of the test."

"I broke my pencil."

"The lucky pencil?"

"Yes. Well, I didn't break it, the examiner did. But…" He sighs. "I think it's going too well. That sounds so ridiculous, I know! But it isn't supposed to be easy. Alex is freaking out over a trick question. Meredith is scared she's too sick to pass. And Cristina's having a power struggle with hers. Yet mine…"

"Is going well. You're doing well, Jackson."

"What if I'm looking at it wrong? What if I'm too confident and I'm messing it up?"

"Then they'd tell you. Trust me."

Jackson rubs the back of his neck.

"Buddy, they won't hesitate to let you know how they feel. It's good to be confident. It shows that you know what to do in the operating room."

"Did it go this well for you?"

"I told myself it did. It's all mind over matter. Confidence isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's the best thing you can have."

"It doesn't come across as cocky?"

"In medicine, you have to be." Jackson frowns. Mark sighs. "I didn't mean it like that. My point is, in medicine, you don't have time to second guess. You need to think things through, of course, but you need to have confidence. It's the only way your patients will trust you. You're smart, Jackson. You've trained for this moment. Don't start doubting yourself now."

Jackson inhales then exhales. He nods, even though Mark can't see him.

"I have one more to go."

"And you'll knock that out of the park," Mark says. "You're on a roll."

"You're not even here."

"Maybe not, but I know you. Have you seen your mom?"

"No, but I've heard her." Jackson shakes his head. "I'm sure she's torturing her own examinee."

Mark chuckles. "Probably. And you haven't felt like dropping?"

"Kind of," Jackson admits. "Last night, when I was on my own." He frowns at the memory of cuddling up with his puppy and having to play cartoons to sleep.

"Why didn't you call me?" Mark sounds more worried than angry.

"It was late. Besides, I did fall asleep. I woke up feeling fine."

"I don't care how late it is. You can always call me. That had to be scary, being in a new place all alone."

"I didn't totally drop," he tries to defend himself. "Just needed my puppy and some cartoons."

"Still. Promise me if that happens again, you'll call."

"It was…"

"I don't care how late it is," Mark says firmly. "I'm here for you. Always. Do you understand?"

Jackson bites his lip. Mark sounds so much like a dad right now. He's not scolding him exactly. No, he's a concerned father who wants to make sure his kid is safe.

He's not your dad. You don't have a dad.

It doesn't change how comforting it is.

"I understand. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I just worry about you is all."

"I know. I'm fine now, I promise. Don't feel close to dropping at all."

"Good. Even if you were, it wouldn't be a problem. But I know you're going to do great."

There's a knock at the door, followed by Cristina's voice.

"Yo! Avery! They're calling everyone back!"

Jackson hollers back to her, "I'll be right there!" He waits for her footsteps to head out before speaking to Mark. "I better go. Time for our last one."

"You'll do great, Ducky." Jackson blushes at the use of the nickname. "Keep up the confidence. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon. And Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Of course. Now, get your little butt back out there."

Jackson chuckles and hangs up. He takes one last look in the mirror and adjusts his tie before heading out for the last round.

There's no way he's passed.

Everything was going well until Jackson began looking over a brain scan. That's when Catherine's voice broke through the connecting wall. Jackson tried his hardest to focus, but all he could think of was her. The Avery name. All he had riding on this last exam.

He made the mistake of asking if someone could tell the next room to keep it down.

"If you get distracted this easily, I think it calls into question your ability to function in a high-volume OR."

In spite of Jackson's insistence, his examiners then made him wait for traffic to pass. Just in case he'd get "too distracted".

He passed every other question but that one minute haunts his brain. It doesn't matter how well he can respond. If they think he'll get distracted by a little noise, there's no way they'll deem him fit to run surgery.

"That wasn't an exam," he announces to the rest of the group as they wait for the bus. "That was torture."

"Mind games," Meredith chimes in. She looks a little better.

"Trick questions," April and Alex say in near synch.

Jackson glances at Cristina. She's staring into space. "How'd the rest of yours go?"

"Doesn't matter. I failed."

"I highly doubt you failed."

"One of us did."

"Not that stupid statistic again. So they say say 1 in 5 fail, but that could easily mean any of the other interns in there…"

"No," Cristina interrupts. For once she doesn't sound mean or annoyed. Actually…scared. Jackson frowns. "I heard your mother talking to Weber. According to her committee, someone from Seattle Grace didn't pass."

"Did she say…"

"No. She doesn't know. But it doesn't change facts. One of us didn't pass."

Jackson sinks onto the sidewalk beside her. His stomach flip flops. He glances down at the rest. Cristina continues to stare into space. Meredith is rubbing Alex's arm, worry in her own eyes. April has her hands clasped.

That confidence is completely drained now.

Their flight is delayed and they don't end up back in Seattle until 11 PM. Due to some traffic, they're not at the hospital for another hour. April dashes inside to use the bathroom. Derek walks off to the side to give them space. The rest of them gather around the ambulance bay, still in their jackets with suitcases by their side. They pull out their phones, constantly refreshing the website.

"What time do you got?" Jackson asks.

"12:04," Cristina barks back.

"They were supposed to come online at midnight!"

"I mean it's 4 minutes late, c'mon people," Meredith says, looking at her own screen.

"It's the crazy doctors that crash the system," Alex points out.

"I already know I failed so I don't know why I keep clicking the refresh button."

Jackson doesn't have time to comfort her. He presses the button five times, but nothing loads.

"Please," Cristina says in between smashing her finger onto her phone. "If anyone failed, it's me. My guy had a vendetta."

"I've got the odds on failure," Alex mumbles.

Jackson doesn't give into the self-loathing out loud. Instead, he focuses on refreshing.

The text on the screen changes.

Jackson Avery: PASS

Jackson jumps. "I passed!"

There's other dings surrounding him, as Meredith and Cristina announce they have too. Alex continues to refresh his phone in frustration. Jackson tosses him his, excitement building up inside of him. The smile on Alex's face says it all.

They join in a group hug, jumping up and down. Derek dashes down and wraps both Meredith and Alex in a hug once they pull apart.

"We're doctors!" Jackson exclaims.

"We're doctors!" Meredith and Cristina chant alongside him.

They spend the next few moments dancing in the ambulance bay. Behind them is a hospital full of sick patients and crazed doctors. In that moment, all Jackson can focus on is celebration.

Eventually, he realizes someone is still missing.

"Where's April?"

He looks up in time to see her walking out of the hospital. Her face is glued to her phone, but she's not smiling. Heartbreak is etched across her wide eyes.

Jackson's smile fades.

Maybe 1 in 5 isn't such a myth.

Jackson knocks on the door to Mark's office. He looks up from some paperwork, head tilted to the side. A part of Jackson feels weird to have this joy building up inside of him. Owen is currently consoling April as she sobs. Even Cristina left with the Shepherd-Grey family looking a little guilty.

And yet, he doesn't want to feel sad right now.

"Plastics Posse is safe."

A huge smile breaks across Mark's face. He jumps up out of his chair and runs over, sweeping him up in a big hug. Pride summers in Jackson's bones. He hasn't even thought of calling his mom or grandfather. The first thing he wanted to do was come tell Mark.

This right here shows him why.

"That's my boy!" Mark exclaims, setting him back down on the floor. "I knew you could do it."

"I really thought I blew it for a minute, but I did it. Even with my mom distracting me and my lucky pencil, I passed."

"Because you didn't need it in the first place. You're good enough on your own, Jackson. More than good." Mark shakes his head, still smiling. "I am so proud of you."

Jackson blinks a couple of times. He's tired. That's it. That's the only reason why tears are coming to his eyes right now. Mark blasts the heat in his office. That's why his cheeks feel so warm.

"How'd Meredith and Alex do? Yang?"

"Passed. I think I'm more surprised about Meredith."

"I'm not. That woman is a Grey. It'd take more than a stomach bug to take her down."

"Not sure about the rest, but uh, Kepner…" Jackson trails off, shaking his head.

Mark sighs. "That's what happens when you psych yourself out too much."

"Owen is comforting her. He said he'll take her home. I feel like I should go check on her…"

"Tomorrow," Mark says. "You can worry about all that tomorrow. For now, you need to focus on your own victory."

Jackson nods, though his heart isn't fully in it. Mark sighs, patting him on the shoulder.

"You can't feel guilt over this, bud. You all studied the same. Had the same education. You know what they say, 1 in 5 won't pass."

"Do you really believe that?"

"It happened with my residency class. Only makes sense it'd happen here."

"I could've helped her study more…"

"Jackson, no. Stop it." Mark looks him in the eye. "You did all you could. It's not your fault, alright? And it's okay to celebrate! You absolutely should." He glances at the clock. "Tomorrow. Because it's almost 1 AM and well past your bedtime."

Jackson rolls his eyes, having to hide a yawn in the process. Mark walks back to his desk and grabs his bag.

"I got off awhile ago, I was just waiting for you."

"You didn't have to," Jackson says, running at his eyes.

"Yes, I did. Come on. Let's get my little plastic surgeon off to bed."

Mark wrap an arm around him and leads him downstair. At first Jackson looks around to make sure that no one is paying attention, but he gives up once they walk off the elevator. His eyes are growing heavier with each step. Mark squeezes his shoulders.

They eventually make it to his car. Mark opens up a door. It takes a moment for Jackson to realize it's the in the back. By that point, he's already laying against the seat, his suitcase dropped at his feet. Mark buckles him up and kisses his forehead. Jackson makes grabby hands, whining a little.

"We'll be home soon, Ducky," Mark promises. Jackson continues to whine. "Someone's a little cranky. Didn't sleep on the plane, did you?"

"Couldn't," Jackson mumbles.

It was too loud. His stomach hurt from all the anxiety. All he could focus on was a lame movie they played. He hates sleeping on planes. It's just not comfortable.

"We'll be home soon." Jackson kicks his legs. Mark chuckles. "Alright, give me one second."

He reaches into the front and digs through a console. A moment later, he returns with a pacifier. Jackson looks around, frowning.

"No one can see," Mark promises.

Jackson does another check before opening his mouth. The ducky pacifier is put in. Mark digs through his suitcase before finding Doggy hidden beneath some clothes. Jackson hugs him close once he's placed in his arms.

"There we go," Mark coos softly. "My little ducky is all set. You get some sleep."

Jackson nods. "Miss'd y'wou," he slurs beneath the pacifier.

"I missed you too."

He gets another kiss before the door shuts. Jackson is asleep before the car even starts.