I don't know about you guys but I HATED the Season 8 Finale. I couldn't let my favorite couple end the way Mark and Lexie did. So here is a different take on it. This is part 1 of what will be a 2 shot. I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think!

I for one will no longer be watching Grey's Anatomy so I had to figure out some way to give Mark and Lexie the ending they deserved.

I own nothing (or Lexie would not have died)!

This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own. I hope you like it!

A New Ending

Two months, 11 hours, 19 minutes and 42 seconds. That's how long it had been since Mark Sloan realized she wasn't dead. Lexie Grey, his Lexie, hadn't died in that terrible plane crash after all.

They had all thought she was gone. She had quit talking to him; quit breathing. It wasn't until they were rescued and he had demanded they get equipment out there to lift the piece of the plane off her lifeless body had they been able to feel an almost non-existent pulse.

She had slipped into a coma and and her pulse was so weak they hadn't realized she was alive. Some of that he attributed to his own body being in danger at the time but he still felt guilty for leaving her there alone, pinned underneath the shredded ton of metal.

She hadn't died though; her body had just shut down in order to try to repair itself. She was young and strong which was her saving grace. Any lesser person would not have survived such a harrowing event.

So now he sat beside her bed, glancing at his watch. He had been with her for every moment of the two months, 11 hours, 20 minutes, and 8 seconds.

She had been through eight surgeries so far and he was terrified that each would be the last but she had somehow pulled through. They had been able to repair the internal bleeding that had been miraculously minimized by the pressure of the plane.

Callie had reconstructed her pelvis, left arm and both legs. The metal rods now coursing through her body would always be there but the little bone remaining around them had healed over the course of the first month and a half.

The bruising around her torso had faded into a light greenish-yellow that he knew would disappear in time. She hadn't woken from the coma and everyone agreed it was best that her body take the time to heal. Medication had been administered to insure she did not wake up until the majority of the surgeries were completed. They didn't want her in any more pain than necessary so anything they could do to keep her blissfully unaware was done.

Mark on the other hand was painfully aware of every moment of every day. He had hardly seen Sofia except when Callie or Arizona brought her by for a visit. Julie had come by as soon as she gotten back from her conference to find him crying as he held Lexie's hand.

She had seen it then, the love in his eyes that he so clearly gave towards Lexie but never seemed to be there when he looked at her. Part of her knew he had really tried to make it work with her but the other part of her had always known he had already given his heart away to the younger Grey.

Julia had smiled at him. Wished him luck with Lexie and then vanished from his life without much of a second thought. His thoughts were too concerned with Lexie to be heartbroken over her abrupt departure. Seeing Lexie die right in front of him had consumed him and left no room in his heart or mind for the other woman.

So day by day he sat there. He had taken an extended leave of absence from Seattle Grace which was explained by his own injuries. Owen hadn't put up much of a fight seeing as it was Lexie lying in the bed with tubes and wires running all over her body.

He had moved her so she didn't get bed sores and even gave her the sponge baths because he didn't want the nurses hurting her. She had originally been intubated so she wouldn't have to breathe on her own but that tube had been taken out two days before and she was breathing fine for the time being.

They were also slowly weaning her off the meds that kept her sedated. They weren't sure when or if she would wake up and what they would find when she did. Mark just prayed she would still be his Lexie.

A soft moan brought Mark out of his thoughts. He looked up to see her stirring, her eyes fluttering behind their lids.

"Lex.." he gentle squeezed the hand he had been holding onto. His eyes filled with tears again which seemed to be becoming the norm since that terrible day of the plane crash.

Her eyes finally flickered open and met his. He was relieved to see her there behind those dark, bloodshot eyes. She was back and this time he wasn't going to let her walk away.

"Mark?" Her voice was harsh but sounded like music to his ears. She was very weak but managed to ask "what happened?"

"The plane crashed. Do you remember?" He careful cupped her face in his hands as he leaned towards her, laying his forehead against hers.

"But I…" she stopped to catch her breath, "but I thought I died."

Tears he had held back just moments before burst from his eyes. He shook his head, "you didn't. I told you, I told you you weren't going to die." A sob escaped his mouth and he gently wrapped his arms around her, placing soft kisses over her hair and the crown of her head that was now nestled against his neck.

Lexie didn't have words to say anything else. She was weak but managed to reached up and wipe the tears from his cheeks. She tilted her head back to look into his eyes and began to cry as well. She had lived; had lived to see another day from the comfort of Mark's embrace.

Sometime later, a knock sounded, separating the couple. "Mark, I…" Derek trailed off when he saw the couple in each other's arms. "Lexie, you're awake."

Lexie leaned back and managed to use her good arm to wipe her own tears. "Yeah, are you…is everyone else?" She felt bad realizing that she hadn't asked anyone else's fate in the crash. Her and Mark were both alive and that was a miracle in itself.

"Everyone is fine." He lifted up his arm to show her the scars from the safety pin Merideth had used to close his wound. They were still red and painful looking but at least he had use of his arm. "Getting better every day. Glad to see you awake."

He turned to Mark who had set up but was still clutching Lexie as if his life depended on her and in a way it did. "I was coming by to see if you needed anything but I see you have everything now."

Mark nodded and coughed, his voice also a little horse from the crying. "I'm good."

Lexie spoke up then. "I….I need a minister." She was a little unsure of herself and looked to Mark for confirmation.

"What for?" Derek asked, "they were able to repair most of the damage. It will be a long road to recovery but you will be back again Lexie."

"I know, I don't need one because I think I am going to die." Lexie laughed and wiped at the tears. "I need one because I want to live." She took a deep breath "I want to marry you Mark. If you still want me?" That was the last thing she had remembered from that day. He had told her that they would get married because they belonged together.

A smile cracked Mark Slone's face. The first anyone had seen from him in two months, 12 hours, 7 minutes and 18 seconds.

"I know this isn't the greatest place for it but I don't think I am getting out of here anytime soon." Lexie had surmised the damage to herself. She had known her pelvis and legs were crushed and from the scar running the entire length of her left arm, she was pretty sure they had had to insert metal rods in her arm as well. "And I don't want to wait."

"Then let me do this the right way." Mark released Lexie then turned to face her properly. "I promise that I will never stop loving you. When you died…" he backtracked, "when I thought you had died, my life ended. Nothing and no one mattered and all I wanted was to die too so that we could be together. I have no idea why or how God gave us another chance but he did and this time I am not wasting it. You are the ONE Lexie. You are my world. Every day, sitting here, watching you, wishing for you to wake up just made me so much more sure of the decision I made that day. So I am not asking you, I am begging you. Will you marry me?" Somehow asking her right there in the Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital room with his best friend watching over his shoulder seemed right.

"Yes, yes. I will marry you. We are meant for each other, remember?" Lexie smiled as Mark leaned forward and scanned his lips lightly over hers. He then let out a whoop of acknowledgement that was probably heard throughout the hospital. Looking at his watch, time started over again; this moment of this day was when he began to live again.

"I guess I will prepare a wedding then." Derek smiled and slipped out the door, giving the couple some privacy.

What'd ya think? Second part should be up tonight or tomorrow. Thanks!