Author's Note:

I know...I'm a horrible person when it comes to updating. I have no excuse and I apologize. Thank you to everyone who leaves a review! They mean the world to me!:)

This chapter takes place in 2x01, 2x02, 2x03...you'll recognize some of the cases and the incidents that happen!

All errors are my own:( Sorry!

P4TH

Part Five: You Give Love a Bad Name

"…An angel's smile is what you sell
You promised me heaven
And put me through hell
Chains of love got a hold on me
When passion's a prison
You can't break free

Oh, you're a loaded gun, yeah
Oh, there's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

Shot through the heart
And you're to blame
You give love a bad name (Bad name)
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name (Bad name)
You give love a bad name

Paint your smile on your lips
Blood red nails on your fingertips
A school boy's dream, you act so shy
Your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye

Oh, you're a loaded gun
Oh, there's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done…"

~ "You Give Love A Bad Name" – Bon Jovi

Mark's prediction that Addison and Derek talking was a good thing had failed horribly. Popping the Reese cup in her mouth as she walked down the hall, Lexie let herself savor the chocolate and peanut butter. She'd found a package of mini peanut butter cups in her locker with a smiley face on a post-it note. Mark's sloppy handwriting had been disguisable on the post-it that told her to enjoy them.

It was no secret between them when things got stressful that she became a stress eater. Mark always joked to her that he had no idea how she had the hot body she did with all the candy she ate. For the most part, Lexie did lay off the candy. Holidays, exams and major events were the only times she really ate. Derek and Addison being at each other's throat qualified as a major event. They both expected her to be on their sides in the cluster fuck that had become their marriage but at the end of the day, Lexie loved them both and wished they'd leave her out of it like Yang and Burke. It had come out that Christina Yang and Preston Burke had had a thing going on and when it fell apart, no one in surgery had been affected. There wasn't any dragging fellow friend through the mud or anything.

"Your ass is gonna be huge."

Lexie turned to see that Meredith was walking in step beside her.

"I can't help it! I'm a stress eater. Everyone knows it," she defended with a smile, "Besides; Mark bought them so the calories don't count. It better than drinking tequila like it's going out of style and it's better for me because chocolate is a proven mood enhancer."

Meredith looked like she was gonna be sick, "Don't even mention tequila."

"You've been hitting the bottle that hard?"

"You've been eating Twinkies left and right!"

"Touché," Lexie grinned, "How's the guy with the ten Judy doll heads go?"

"Good. How's your car crash victim?" Meredith asked as they stopped at the nurse's station to hand to check the charts on their respective patients.

"The stories aren't matching up," Lexie said, "When I took the mom to get x-rays she was going on about how her husband was a safe driver and so on. The son told Alex that apparently the dad had road rage and hunted down the guy who cut him off in traffic. That's how the accident happened."

"Who do you believe?"

"The kid's story because the mom's films had years of healed fractures and breaks on it and the evidence doesn't lie. It's obvious that she'd been abused. Bailey wants me to track down Mark to fix the laceration on her face and stay with her."

"Well, I've got to go book an OR," Meredith smiled, "Cutting Judy dolls out will be fun."

"Enjoy that," Lexie smiled back before slipping inside of Lea Seibert's room where Doctor Burke was talking to Lea along with Yang and a few other interns.

"We'll give your son as much time as we can to let him make a decision, okay?" Burke said before giving Christina a look and leaving.

Burke walked past her without a word as did everyone else. Lexie stood in the doorway for a moment listening to the wife cry about how she didn't want Bob to die before going to the nurse's station to find Mark standing with a chart in front of him.

"So, what's the story with the crash?" he asked as he signed off on something and looked up at her.

"Guy got road rage," she said, "Took his whole family out in an accident. Other guy is dead and Bob Seibert is a wife beater. Now, I have to look after the wife who doesn't want her husband to die even though he needs a new liver. I was just getting ready to page you anyways."

"For what? Lunch or hot sex in the on call room?" Sloan asked with a smug grin.

"Funny. The wife has facial laceration and she needs your expertise," Lexie smiled back as the nurse's watched them closely.

Mark looked up at the clock above the nurse's station, "I've got two patients ahead of her. Do you think she can wait?"

"She can," Lexie nodded, "They're not too deep."

"Great," Sloan said as he closed the chart he'd been working on and handed it to the nurse, "We're still on for a date tonight?"

A grin crossed Lexie's face. Wednesday had always been their date night in New York. It was nice to get dressed up and go out dinner or throw on comfy clothes to go watch a movie. Lexie could even remember going out with Derek and Addison along with other friends for double dates before everything had gone to hell. It had been nice and Mark had been right when he'd insisted that they needed to start their tradition again.

"Yeah," Lexie said as the smile on her face got bigger, "We're still going."

"Great," Mark smiled, "I'll be there soon."

Lexie watched him walk off before spotting Addison down the hallway talking with Meredith. Walking back to her patient's room, Lexie braced herself for the waves of emotions that were bound to come up. She could see her mother in Lea Seibert and the most painful part about it was that there was nothing she could do to help Lea. Only Lea could help herself and that was the basic fact of the matter. Sighing, Lexie resigned herself to having to listen to the woman extort the greatness of her husband while they both knew she was lying. Walking back into the room, Lexie grabbed a pair of gloves and slipped them on.

"Mrs. Siebert could you turn onto your side for me, I need to check you back and that bruise," she said with a smile as Lea moved over onto her side and looked over her shoulder at Lexie.

"I need to see Scotty," Lea said quickly, "I need to talk to him. Get him to understand that he has to help his dad."

"I think that they want your son to make a decision for himself," Lexie told her gently as she looked at the bruise. They were both silent until Lexie moved away from the bed and scribbled a note in Lea's chart.

"You think I'm sick for wanting to save my husband," Lea accused harshly.

Lexie looked up at her startled, "I don't think that all. I think you need to consider the facts Mrs. Siebert. You're husband nearly killed you and your son. He also killed another man today on the highway. Beyond that…I have no opinion what you and your son chose to do. All I'm told are the facts and those are the facts Mrs. Siebert."

"I saw your rings…the ones you keep pinned to your scrub top. I also saw the way that you looked at that doctor out there. Is he your husband?"

Lexie felt uncomfortable under the questioning, "That's a very personal question."

"So he is," Lea continued with a frown, "I assume you love your husband. Wouldn't you do anything to save him?"

"Love has its limits," Lexie said after a moment as Lea Siebert rolled her eyes and shook her head, "When people abuse others…that's not love. That's something entirely different."

Mark Sloan knew he had little tolerance for some things. Men who beat their wives was high on the list but even higher on the list was women who defended the men who abused them. He could still remember all the arguments he'd had with Lexie when she'd come home to New York for a weekend from Harvard. He'd been fearful of her staying with Jerry Ezitka and her mom. Stitching her up wasn't something he'd ever enjoyed doing. When she'd come to the ER the first time, he'd been short with her, but the more he got to know her the more he understood why she'd let Ezitka hit her.

As a strict father, Jerry Ezitka had made her social life difficult and all that spare time Lexie had had on her hands was put into studying. She'd been counting down the days till she could move out and Mark hadn't blamed her. When Harvard had offered her a full ride, Lexie had jumped at the chance, but she'd always felt guilty at leaving behind her mother. As a result, Lexie would come home every other weekend and that was how Mark had met her. She'd tried getting Jerry to AA and nearly convinced her mother to leave Jerry before he beat the hell out of her when he found out what the two women had been planning.

Even after they'd started dating, Lexie had still gone back to that hell hole she called a childhood home to try and convince her mother to go even though Mark had begged her to come and stay with him when she was in the city. No matter what Lexie did, Jenny Ezitka wouldn't leave her husband. It took Jerry breaking her wrist to convince Lexie that she was helpless in the situation. Mark had been angry when Derek had called him saying that Lexie was in the ER with a broken wrist. That had been the night that Lexie had promised him she'd never go back to the house without him or Derek. She'd been so scared that Mark could still remember her small, shaking frame in his arms as he hugged her before she'd been taken for an x-ray to determine if she needed surgery.

However, sitting with any victim of domestic violence was uncomfortable because Mark could see Lexie in each of them. Their resolve that their loved one would change was just like Lexie's deep belief that one day Jenny would have left Jerry. He didn't speak much too any patient simply because he knew that there was nothing he could say that would help them. He could give them all pamphlets and try and help them to a shelter but if anything, Mark had learned from Lexie that the only person who could help a victim of abuse was the victim themselves.

"Bob's a great guy," Lea said shakily a few hours later as she laid back in bed. Mark didn't say anything as he continued to work closing the gash on her forehead up. He was too focused on stitching Lea up and pushing the many memories of stitching Lexie up out of his mind.

Lea was shaky as he worked and Mark knew that she was nervous. Doctors always asked questions when it was obvious that stories weren't adding up and Lea was probably expecting questions as well.

Mark didn't asked because he knew Lea would lie just like Lexie had many time. Unlike Lea, Lexie had managed to escape the domestic situation she's been in but he'd seen the ways that it affected her. Seeing an abuse patient was a constant reminder in the back of his head that his own wife had been abused trying to protect her mother. Loud noises still made Lexie jump sometimes and she avoided alcohol as much as she could. He could also see the hurt and anger in her eyes earlier as she'd told him about listening to Lea Siebert cover up for her abusive husband. It was one of the major reasons he'd sent her away from the room earlier to get lunch when he'd showed up to start fixing Lea. It was obvious that Mrs. Siebert was weighing on her nerves heavily and Lexie had practically run out of the room when he'd told her to go.

"He's a really good driver and he's a great dad," Lea continued, "I think you'd like him once you met him. You're both from New York and he really likes the Jets."

"I'm a Giants fan," Mark said quietly as put another stich in.

"Where in New York are you from?" Lea asked sounding more and more nervous.

"I was born and raised in the city. We lived near central park in a townhouse until we moved here," Mark told her as he adjusted the light to see better.

"We?" Lea asked with a confused look.

"My wife and I moved here for work," Mark replied, "We're both originally from the East coast. I got offered a job here at the hospital as head of plastics and we packed up and moved."

"Oh! You're married?"

"Five years this past summer."

"I hope you're very happy. Marriage is a beautiful thing," Lea replied as Mark put the last stich in. He tried not to sigh as he moved around on his stool. He looked Lea Siebert in the eyes and shook his head. The lying had to stop because everyone in the surgical wing knew that Lea Siebert was an abused woman. She gained nothing from trying to hid it when many people wanted to help her.

"Mrs. Siebert…I know you love your husband, but you've sat here and told me how great a guy he is. We both know that he caused that accident by hunting the other driver down. I've seen your x-rays and they show years of abuse. Why are staying with Bob?"

"Bob's not abusive!" Lea said quickly but from the look on her face, they both knew she was lying again.

Sloan moved over to the small supply tray that he'd brought with him. He picked up a pamphlet about domestic violence that he was require to give her by law and held it out with an outstretched arm.

"Lea, I know that real men don't hit their wives. I know that people can lose their relatives to abuse and it leaves an aching hole in their heart that is never quite filled," Mark told her quietly, "Your son is hurting too. He doesn't want to see you in pain anymore. No one wants to see their loved ones in pain ever."

Lea accepted the pamphlet with her head down. She didn't say a word and Mark stood up and tossed his latex gloves away.

"Was it your mother?" she asked quickly before he could leave the room.

Lea's question caught him off guard and Mark turned to look at her with a confused expression.

"Was it your mother that was abused?" Lea asked again as she nervously held the pamphlet in her twitchy hands, "I see the way you look at me. The other doctors look at me with pity, but you…you think something else and I don't understand why."

"Have a good day Mrs. Siebert," Mark told her before leaving the room. He wasn't about to divulge into his personal life with any patient. It had always been one of his rules and he didn't break his rules especially where Lexie was concerned.

Lexie walked through the halls on her lunch break. Mark had told her to come back to Lea's room after he was finished fixing her lacerations and it would probably take him a little more than an hour to do. Walking past Olivia, Lexie walked into to the I.C.U. room where the harvest patient was being checked over by O'Malley.

"I see you finally picked up a case," she said as she watched George.

"Did you see that?" George asked quickly as he looked up at her.

"See what?"

Before O'Malley could finish his sentence, Dr. Orsen and his transplant team walked into the room.

"We'll take it from here," Orsen said with a creepy smile that always rubbed Lexie the wrong way. He was looked like the kind of man you didn't want to meet in a dark alley way. The team quickly took the patient as O'Malley argued with Orsen about the patient's status and Lexie quietly watched.

"She's alive now," O'Malley said frustrated as he looked at her for backup. Hearing the double meaning behind his words, Lexie nodded and took off quickly to find Derek. He was the one person who could help them. Jogging down the corridor with O'Malley following her, they quickly found Derek heading towards his office with a snack.

"Doctor Shepard!" George called and Derek turned.

"Doctor O'Malley."

"We were just in the I.C.U with the harvest patient. Doctor Bailey has us do exams and test on patients even if there dead-"

"What did you find?" Derek interrupted as he looked between them curiously.

"The donor is decerebrate," O'Malley said quickly, "Her brainstem is still alive."

Derek's eyes went wide as he pushed his bag of pretzels in Lexie's are and quickly took off with O'Malley following close behind. Lexie stood in the middle of the hallway and groaned. She knew that Bailey would kill her if she found out that she jumped ship on the Siebert case. Turning, Lexie popped a few pretzels in her mouth as she walked back slowly to Lea Siebert's room. Lexie could only hope that she could find something to do while they waited for Bob Siebert's surgery to end. She wasn't sure she could continue to listen to Lea Siebert sing her husband's praises anymore without screaming.

"She's not going to leave him is she?" Lexie said as they walked down the sidewalk of the busy city street. It was late in the evening and they were almost to the restaurant where Mark had made reservations for dinner. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder as Lexie let him pull her close to his side. With an arm around his waist, Lexie smiled when she felt his lips brush against the top of her head.

"I distinctly remember us agreeing that when we had date nights we wouldn't talk about work or anything medically related," Mark chuckled.

"You always broke that rule," Lexie told him as she looked up at him and smiled, "I lost track of how many times you've broken that rule."

Mark didn't say anything tightened his arm that was around her. Walking to the little hole in the wall restaurant they had reservations at, Mark held open the door for her. Lexie slipped into the dimly lit reception area.

"Hi," Lexie smiled at the hostess, "We have reservations under Sloan."

The hostess smiled back and quickly led them to a cozy table that had candles on it. Settling in, Mark quickly ordered them a bottle of wine. The waiter hadn't even been gone five minutes when Mark's pager started beeping.

"Tell me that's not what I think it is," Lexie sighed.

"Shit," he mumbled softly as he started at the screen, "It's the hospital."

Lexie sighed again before her own beeper started going off. Digging it out of her purse, she stared at the message before raising her hand to flag the waiter down. Within ten minutes, they were walking out of the restaurant to their car.

"I didn't even get to drink a glass of wine," she said with a frown as Mark started the car.

"I'll buy you another one later," he grinned, "I promise."

It was a few days later when Mark found himself standing at the nurse's station in the NICU, staring down at the chart of the little girl he was planning on operating. The surgical floor had been in uproar the past few days. Between Chief Webber trying to come back on as Chief a week after surgery, Addison and Derek being at each other's throat constantly, Ellis Grey being checked into the hospital, an E.T.S case and a drug addicted baby that needed surgery. Signing off on the chart, Mark passed it back to the nurse and ignored Addison as she walked up next to him.

"Can I talk to you?" Addison asked.

"If this is about you and Derek, leave me and Lexie out of it," Mark sighed, not bothering to look up at her.

"I want to apologize," Addison began sounding almost desperate.

"For?"

"I know you don't like me a lot right now Mark. You have every right not to like me and I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have used Lexie as a cover for what happened between me and Derek. I just wanted to apologize to you for hurting both you and Lexie."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," Mark said with a hard edge in his voice, "You owe Lexie a far bigger apology than you owe me."

The nurse held out a second possible surgical case for him to look over and Mark took it. Addison left his side quickly once she knew he wasn't going to listen to any more things she had to say. Signing off on the second chart, Mark watched with interest as Derek walked into the NICU. Mark had heard through the grape vine about the drug baby that needed an operation because of a mass on her spine. It was sad, but Mark knew the baby probably wouldn't live through the surgery.

There was just too much damage and she was too little and weak. Watching Addison and Derek be somewhat civil with one another was interesting. Slipping his pen into his lab coat pocket, Mark felt his eyes widen as he watched Addison lean down and kiss Derek.

"Hey, did you hear—"

Lexie's voice stopped as she stood next to him. Mark wasn't able to move his eyes away from the scene as he watched Derek willingly kiss Addison back.

"Did I hear what?" he asked as Addison broke the kiss and smiled at Derek.

Lexie was silent and he looked down to see her mouth opened and confusion written across her features.

"Did I hear what Lex?" Mark asked again.

"Nothing," she said, "I forgot what I was gonna say."

Lexie's eyes lingered on Addison and Derek for only a moment longer before her beeper started going off. Taking off of her waist, she looked at and shook her head.

"Cristina's awake and out of recovery…Meredith said everything is gonna be okay," she mumbled to herself.

"Yang's awake? What happened?" Mark frowned.

"She collapsed in surgery with Burke," Lexie told him, "She had an ectopic pregnancy. I'm gonna go check on Meredith. She's not doing so well between Cristina's scare and her mother being in the hospital."

"Will you be home later?"

"I have no idea," Lexie said as she kissed him on the cheek, "I'll see you later."

Mark watched her walk away and shook his head. Surgery was always interesting in New York, but Seattle Grace's Surgery was far more interesting than any other hospital he'd ever worked. Tapping his fingers on the desk for a moment, Mark walked away from the nurse's station towards the elevator. He had a surgery to scrub in for before he could go home.

"How's she doing?" Lexie asked quietly as stood next to Meredith at the nurse's station across from Cristina's room. Bailey was sitting on the chair next to the bed and it was obvious that she was telling Cristina what had happened.

"Alright…I guess," Meredith said quietly, "I just can't believe this happened. First my mother, now Cristina plus Derek…I mean, God, will this ever end? "

"I'm sorry about your mom," Lexie told her softly, "I can only tell you that life goes on and it will for Cristina."

"How do you know that?" Meredith asked her looking skeptical.

Lexie was quiet as she thought about her own lost child…

Beeping was the first thing she heard. A warm had covering hers was the first thing she felt and bright lights was the first thing she saw. It had only taken a few moments for her eyes to adjust but she knew Mark was sitting with her long before she actually saw him. He looked both relieved and tired. Stubble had grown on his cheeks and dark circles were underneath his eyes.

"Hey you," he said softly, "How are you feeling?"

It only took a moment for her to realize that what she was feeling was pain. Her chest felt like it had a heavy weight on it and body felt cold. Her throat hurt and moving her hand, she could feel that they had cut into her neck to put a tube in so she could breathe. The tube was gone but it still hurt. Mark gently pulled her hand away from the incision and held it in his.

"What happened?"

Her voice sounded so weak and rough to her own ears that Lexie barely realized she'd spoken.

"You've been asleep for about two weeks Lexie," Mark explained softly, "They had to keep you sedated because your heart wasn't quite working the way it should. They had to replace a valve and your body didn't take it well. They only stopped sedating you yesterday. Do you remember what happened?"

Frowning, Lexie tried to close her fingers around his hand, but wasn't able.

"You had gone to work," she started softly, "You'd gotten a call early on your day off."

"Yeah," Mark smiled a little, "I had to go and I wish like hell I hadn't. Do you remember what happened next?"

Frowning even more, Lexie tried to wrack her brain to think about what had happened, but she shook her head slowly. Wincing, she stopped immediately and shivered.

"Are you cold?"

"Mm, hmm," she moaned as Mark hit the nurse's button. A nurse appeared a few seconds later and Mark quickly asked her for hot blankets. The young woman returned quickly and Lexie found herself surrounded by warmth. Snuggling down into the thick layer of warm blankets, she watched as Mark sat back down on the chair and to her exposed hand.

"Do you remember what happened after I left?" Mark asked her again.

"No," she whispered.

"You're mom called," he told her gently, "She was in trouble and she needed help. You got up and drove to see her."

"What happened to her? Is she alright?"

"Lexie," Mark started with a sad look in his eyes, "She…she died Lexie…before you got there."

Mark's words triggered her memory and Lexie closed her eyes. She could remember every detail and the blinding pain of Ezitka firing the gun. Cold dread filled her as she opened her eyes and looked worriedly at Mark.

"The baby, Mark," she whispered desperately, "The baby?"

Mark shook his head sadly as Lexie choked out a sob.

"I'm so sorry Lexie," he told her softly, "There wasn't anything they could do. The baby was already gone and they were losing you. I told them to save you first before anything else."

"No," she choked, "No, don't say that."

Mark shook his head sadly and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked at him. She understood medically what he was saying, but she had still lost her child.

"I'm so sorry! This is my fault! If I hadn't gone–"

"This is not your fault Alexandra," Mark said softly, but firmly, "This isn't your fault and don't you dare blame yourself for what happened. You didn't know what Ezitka was going to do. None of this is your fault."

Sobs wracked her body as Mark tried to calm her down. He quickly moved the bed up so she was sitting as a few nurses came running into the room. Lexie could feel pressure in her chest and it hurt to breath. Mark was standing as he grabbed an oxygen mask and barked directions at one of the people she recognized as a surgical intern. He held the mask to her face and she felt light headed. Blinking up at him tiredly, Lexie felt a wave carry her away…

"Lexie?" Meredith asked.

Jumping and looking at her friend, Lexie smiled sadly.

"My life has gone Mere…Cristina's will too. I'm going home. See you later."

Wrapping her arms around herself tightly, Lexie walked away from a stunned Meredith towards the elevators. All she wanted was to go home and snuggle up with Mark. She just wanted to be with him and know that no matter what happened in life, she'd always have him to lean on.

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Xxxx: Thank you so much for the review! Yes, I can just see Mark Sloan wanting to punt Iggy...it still makes me giggle:)

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Next chapter will cover 2x04, 2x05, 2x06! The next chapter is called Easy!