Season Six, Episode Twenty-Three
Sanctuary

Dedicated to sailoryoongi for coming up with a really good idea for this chapter <3

Max loved the mornings like these, everything was done in the house, Maeve is all ready for school and Malakai's diaper bag was filled and ready to be taken to Nana Piper's.

It was especially her favorite when everyone had time to sit together for breakfast, it usually consist of Maeve talking about how excited she was for her next project.

"That seems really cool, honey" Mark told her after nodding his head along with what she was saying for almost 15 minutes.

"It is cool. I think I'm gonna have Dr. Fitz put me in that international science fair" Maeve told them with a shrug.

"The international science fair?" Max repeated slowly, "When did you learn about this?"

"Dr. Fitz had some foreign dude talk at our school a couple of days ago, he talked about it for awhile and said that anyone could sign up, but we had to present something great in order to actually compete" Maeve told them, grabbing her plate and setting it in the sink.

"Well, did you bring home any packets or brochures that have a little more information?" Mark asked her.

"I have all the information you need" Maeve turned around and tapped her forehead.

"I don't have much on my schedule today so I'll just email Dr. Fitz later" Max stood up from the chair and grabbed the remaining plates off the table and put them in the sink. She will just do the dishes later.

"Okay kids, let's get in the car" Mark said, grabbing Malakai and his diaper bag.

"Mom, I think Aslan should come to school with me so she's not lonely" Maeve told her.

"I think Aslan prefers to be home" Max said looking over at the dog who was just laying in her dog bed, "Besides, we will be home before she even knows it"

Max had only been at the hospital for maybe ten minutes before Lexie paged her, "You paged?"

"She's in a lot of pain"

"Ruby Kendall, age 9, fever, tenderness over McBurney's point" Lexie listed.

"Appendix" Max tisks, "Let me check your belly.

"Ow" Ruby hisses once Max presses gently over the area.

"Looks like your appendix is very angry, Ruby"

"Thats surgery? She needs surgery?"

"Yes, she does but the good thing is that it's the easiest surgery in the world" Max smiles gently at the parents, "And you ruby, will be out of here by tomorrow, with a really cool tiny scar and the excuse to eat ice cream every night of the week. Dr, Grey, admit her to pets and make sure she's comfortable"

Max still had a little while before the O.R was ready for Ruby's surgery, so when she ran into Graham the two decided to take a stroll through the hospital.

"An international science fair?" Graham asks for the second time, still as shocked.

"I know. One one hand I'm almost upset that Dr. Fitz didn't tell me before he was going to tell Maeve that she should sign up but on the other hand, its really really exciting. This could take her to so many places"

"You have any idea what she's thinking about building?"

"I have no clue, she told us that she had a couple of ideas and she wanted to go through it with us when we got home tonight" Max shrugged, "I'm sure its going to be brilliant"

They turned to walk into the elevator, giving the man who was already in there a polite smile, "Did you at least find out where this was being held?"

"We didn't get much information, no but I sent out an email to Dr. Fitz with some questions. She didn't bring home a packet or anything, she just told us she had all the information we needed and tapped her forehead" Max told him, mimicking what Maeve had done in the previous hours.

"Excuse me. Could one of you tell me where to find the chief" The man who stood next to Graham and Max in the elevator asked.

"He's most likely in his office" Max told him politely.

"Yeah, I've  been to his office before. I can't seem to remember how to get there, I keep going in circles"

"Oh, its actually just in the east wing, just across the catwalk"

"Sorry?-"

"You have to cross through patient floor on three and then just follow the signs to the main lobby, and then you should find it" Graham tried to help.

"You know what, I can just take you, no problem" Max turned to the man and told him.

"I think Ill manage, thank you"

They stood in silence for the remainder elevator ride, when they door opened the man turned back at the two of them and wished them a good day.

"Thank you, sir. You too" Max smiled at him as her and Graham left the elevator.

Before they could even get down he hallway, both of there pagers started to go off, lockdown, it read, "I didn't know there was going to be a drill today"

"Yeah, neither did I" Max told him confusingly.

Once they had reached the main lobby, they looked over to see Mark and Lexie filling out paperwork, "Hi, honey"

Mark turned to his wife and smiled, "Bubba, I wasn't sure if I was going to see you today"

"I know and now we have this lockdown drill" Max told him.

"Did either of you know about this drill?" Graham looked at his girlfriend and his best friend.

"I didn't know about it" Mark shook his head which Lexie agreed to.

"Sir, you can't leave this area. The hospital is in-"

All of a sudden, they all heard gunshots and screams and then Max was on the ground with Mark hovering on top of her.

"Graham! Lexie!" Max screamed when she couldn't see them but sighing when they crawled next to them, "Oh god, are you guys okay?" They both nodded their head, "Okay, good. We need to find a secure area. I know the Meeting Room lock"

"No, no, no, no, no, no" Lexie chants when she sees the dead nurse laying on the floor covered in blood, "No, No, Vivian"

"Come on, Lex. Come on" Graham pulled her off the ground.

"She's dead. She's-"

"We need to get to the meeting room, Lexie" Mark told her, grabbing ahold of Max once again and running.

Mark stopped at the elevator and pressed the button, hitting it when it didn't open fast enough, "Come on, Come on!"

"Oh god" Max whispers when the elevator doors open and reveal Alex Karev laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"Graham, Mark, go to each side of him and move him into the room. He's already passed out from the lack of blood. Me and Lexie will run to the nearest supply room and grab some stuff" Max tells them, pointing at Alex and then to the room down the hall.

"Absolutely not, you aren't-"

"Mark, he will die. I'm small and fast, I will be okay" Max told him in a calm tone, knowing that if she was freaking out then he will be too.

Max grabbed Lexie's hand and pulled her into a grouching position, looking around to see if the shooter was anywhere before crossing the hall. Once she saw the supply room, she picked up her speed and opened the door, shutting it as quick as she could.

"Oh god, oh god" Lexie said, starting to hyperventilate.

"Lex. Lexie" Max shouted as quietly as she could, "You can't freak out right now,  Alex needs our help. Once this is all done, I will allow you to freak out"

"We're gonna die" Lexie said lowly.

"I will not let anyone die. Especially not you, Graham and Mark" Max grabbed Lexie's shoulder to steady her, "We can't do this right now, Lex"

When Lexie nodded her head, max moved to grabbed everything they would need and a little bit extra just in case, "Okay, I'm gonna peak out to see if its okay to go and then once that door opens, I want you to run as quietly as you can to the meeting room down the hall"

Max slowly opened the door and peaked her head out and looked both ways. When she didn't see anything, she opened the door completely so her and Lexie could run.

They got to the room and closed the door, making sure to lock it. "We grabbed everything"

"I am... so... incredibly pissed off right now" Alex grunts out.

"Alex, You've been shot" Mark tells him as he puts on the surgical gloves.

"We have to get him out of here. He could come back, we have to get out of here" Lexie panicked.

"There's no exit wound" Max told Mark, ignoring Lexie, "We are going to have to flip him"

"Graham, grab him under the shoulders" Mark told him.

"We have to get outta here" Lexie continued to panic.

"Lex, he's losing a lot of blood. If we move him, he will die" Graham told her sternly before walking back over to Alex and helped Mark move him.

"Nothing" Graham said, "The bullet is still in there"

"Theres nothing we can do besides winging it, we'll need to start an I.V. Mark, set up the chest tube" Max gave out orders, grabbing the oxygen tube and placed it over Alex's nose. "You're going to be okay Alex"

"Im gonna kick that guy's ass when I see him" Alex told her as he choked on his own blood.

"And ill let you but for now, I'm going to need you to save your energy"

Lexie placed the blue protective sheet over Alex wound, so when Mark was able to cut, blood wouldn't go everywhere.

"You're doing really good, Alex. Now I need to out in a chest tube, okay? Alex, you with me?" Max looked at him as both Mark and Graham held him down.

"No, no chest tube" Alex gasped for air, "Im okay. Don't cut me"

"Lex, get the betadine ready and ill do the rest, okay?" Max looked at a distraught Lexie.

"Okay" Lexie grabbed the liquid and smeared it on Alex's side.

"Ah! Ah!" Alex screams as Max cuts him open.

"Oh my god"

"Shut him up!" Max tell them.

"Shh, Shh, Shh, Alex" Lexie tries to calm him down but he continues to scream.

"If that guy with the gun hears the screaming, he's gonna head this way, someone do something to shut him up" Max's voice hardens when none of them do as she says.

"Ahh!" Alex screams again.

"Guys!"

Graham was the first one to move, grabbing some gauze and placing it in his mouth, "Sorry mate"

Max continued with the cut, gabbing the tube and putting it in Alex's body, as close as she could to his chest, grabbing some tape and taping it down to his body so that it would stay in place, "This should be good for now, we just need to make sure that he stays awake"

Max heard everyone in the room let out a sigh as if they were in the clear but they weren't and they didn't know when this would all be over.

The group has been in this room for what seemed like hours but the clock told them otherwise, the silence in the room was haunting and Max wasn't sure if this hospital would ever go back to normal, her safe place was now ruined.

"You gotta eat more... bacon" Alex slowly said to Mark.

"What?"

"You stop you're from doing a lot of crap that you want to do in life. I mean, I'm probably dying now and I'm telling you, you gotta eat more bacon, have more sex, get married" Alex looked at Graham when he said the last part.

"Okay. I will. Ill eat more bacon but you gotta hang in there cause if you die, I don't know how she'll handle it" Mark said quietly as he took a peak at Max, "You're her superstar"

"Im gonna go see where Lexie is, she should've been back by now" Max stood up from her chair and walked to the door, "Make sure to lock this door when I leave"

Max didn't wait for them to say anything, she just opened the door and walked out. Lexie was out getting blood for Alex and now Max regrets allowing Lexie to go by herself.

She turned down he hallway and saw Lexie pushing the cart full of things, "Hey Lex, I was getting-" Max stopped mid sentence when she saw Gary Clark standing only a couple of feet from Lexie.

"Good Morning, Mr. Clark" Max smiled at him politely just like she had done before.

"I didn't plan to shoot all those people" Gary tells her, his face was stone cold.

"Of course you didn't, Mr. Clark. You are grieving and thats okay" Max steps slowly in front of Lexie as she tries to relate to the shooter.

"I only planned to shoot Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Webber and her" Gary looks behind Max at Lexie and lifts his gun, "She unplugged the machines, her hands killed my Allison"

The hairs on the back of Max's neck stood when she heard another gun load, before Gary Clark had the chance to shoot either one of them, Max turned adn grabbed Lexie's should and pushed her to the ground. "Are you okay?" Max looked at her friend and then back at the SWAT guy mnotioning for them to go.

"Lexie, I need you to run" Max told her as she pointed to the SWAT man.

"But I- what about you?" Lexie cried.

"Im going to run my ass off with this cart so we can save Alex" Max pointed to the cart, "You run to the man so he can get you out of this building" Max looked back at Gary Clark, who was sitting up with a gunshot wound in is shoulder. "We dont have time Lexie, please just go!" Max made Lexie stadn up and pushed her towards safety while she grabbed the cart full of stuff and ran back to the meeting room.

"Mark, its me, open up!" Max knocked on the door, rushing to get inside so she could lock the door back up"

"Lexie? Where's Lexie!" Graham yells.

"We ran into Gary Clark but the SWAT guy shot him before he could do anything  so I told her to get out of the building" Max rushed out, "Is he dead?"

"What? Why didnt you go with her?" Mark snaps.

"I am the last person im worried about getting out of here, lets just get Alex stable" Max disregarded Mark before turning back to Alex.

"His vitals are tanking, there's not much we can do for him" Mark told her.

"Alex if you die on me before you're able to take my job, I will bring you back to life just to kill you again and I'll make it alot worse then this" Max leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"I can't leave, there are people in this hospital, my hopital that are scared and confused. I can help". Max turns to Mark, "If i can get everyone down to this main floor, I can help them get out"

"Im sure the SWAT team would hate the help" Mark tried to convice her to no go through with this.

"I know this hospital like the back of my hand" Max turns to Mark and smiles sadly, her mind went back to the shooter and to Vivians dead body, she then remembered the lobby full of terrified people, "I have to do this, Mark"

"The hell you do" Mark snapped his head towards her.

"This is my hospital Mark, I have to go out there and see what I can do to help"

"Doing nothing sounds great. This isn't some weird captain goes down with the ship, Max! This is real life, where you can die" Mark almost shouted at her but remembered that state that they were in.

"I'm just going to see who is out there and get them somewhere safe. Ill be right back"

"Ill come with" Graham told her, walking towards the door, "Im strong, i can pick people up"

"No, No. I dont like this" Mark tells them.

"What kind of person would i be if i just let them die?"

"Someone who is a mother"

"They'll understand"

"Max- I-" Mark stopped her.

"I know, Mark"

Max shut the door behind her softly, crouching to the ground as low as she could with Graham follwowing after.

"Gary Clark most likely isnt on this floor, lets just go to each floor and see who is up there. If the Swat guys are down here liek they said they would be, then we will be able to get out alot of people" Max tells Graham the plan as they slowly head up the stairs. Once they reach the second level, Max turns her head to see a group of people huddled by the corner.

"There is a front door jsut down those steps, its gaurded with a SWAt team, I want you to go as quietly as you can, once you are down there run your ass off to get outside, okay?" Max crouches down to the scared patients, making sure she was quiet also.

Everyone in the group nodded there head and moved as quick as they could down the stairs, "It doesnt look to be anyone else in this main hallway, lets go up"

"Arent you scared?" Graham asks her questly, "Becasue im scared"

"I still have poeple in this hospital that i love, I have family in here. I have to be strong for the people that are counting on me" Max gives Graham a gentle look, "Its okay if you want to turn back, Graham"

"That's not very manly of me" Graham cracked a smile.

"I dont need you to be manly, I need you to be safe"

"Im not leaving" Graham told her and headed up the stairs.

They went up a few floors, each of them there was no one in sight, "Im glad people are good at hiding" They turned down the O.R. hall and peeked in each room, when they opened the door, they saw Owen, Meredith and April in the scrub room.

"Are you guys okay?" Max looked down at Meredith and then into the O.R. to see Gary Clark with a gun to Christinas head, "I might have to go in there, I have more experence with surgeries" Max looked over at Owen and then back at Graham.

"Wait, you're not gonna scrub in?" Meredith looks at Owen and Max.

"I'll access the situation first but if she doesnt need me then ill just watch over" Max gave her a calming smile before turning to Owen, "I have a plan, a plan that my husband is going to hate me for"

"What do you need me to do"

"Im going to try and get him out of there, maybe make a loud noise. I need you to make sure he leaves, maybe tell him that you saw Richard Webber in the hallway, once he leaves, find anything to lock that door. Make sure that Derek comes out of that room alive" Max whispers, "I need you to do this, Owen" He lets out a nod, waiting on Max's que.

"I'm helping, we'll be able to make some type of noise together" Graham tells her before opening the door to the hallway.

"Everything is going to be okay, just trust me and no matter what, do not leave this room" Max looks down at Meredith before walking out of the room.

As soon as she walked out, she began banging on the wall, loud enough for Gary Clark to hear. She hoped that Owen would do as he promised, it was the only way that Derek would be safe.

"Hey!" Graham yelled.

Soon enough Gary Clark was opening the door and walking out to the hallway, "He told me that Richard Webber was out here"

"You must've just missed him, Mr. Clark" Max sends him a sad expression.

"Why are you everywhere I go? I have a plan" Gary tells her as he walks a little closer.

"This hopital is filled with the people I love and you are shooting them. I dont like that very much" Max looks at Gary with cold eyes.

"Wait- you- you look familiar" Gary pointing at Graham with his gun.

"Im uh not sure what you mean" Graham begins to feel nervous.

"You were in there when they killed my Allison, you were there" Gary closes his eyes as he lets out a sigh, "You werent on my list but you might have to be"

"Mr. Clark, im sure you dont want to do this. You already shot Dr. Shepherd and now all you have to do is get Dr. Webber, you're almost done" Max felt herself breaking on the inside, this was not the plan.

"The list isnt done" Gary tells her, lifting up his gun and pointing it back at Graham.

"Wait- no!" Max yells, pushing Graham out of the way but only for the two bullest that was meant for him to go into her.

Max hit the ground with a thud, she didnt realize how soon she would feel the pain but it was almost instant, "R-Run" Max gasped, trying to hold her bloody abdomine, "Run!" Max yelled louder making Graham run.

"That wasnt meant for you" Gary tells her before stepping over her body.

Max didnt move, she laid there staring at the ceiling as it go harder to breathe. No, she told herself before sitting up slightly and sliding herself down the hallway, If i can jsut make it down the stairs, but she couldnt. She was too weak and the amount of blood she had already lost was concerning, her breathes became slower and less steady.

She pressed her back against the wall, there was no way out of this and Max understood that. She didnt want to give up, she wanted to go home and have Mark yell at her for how reckless she was being, she wanted to talk more about the international science fair with Maeve, she had made all these plans but as her vision faded into black, she thought about how her kids would react to her being gone, how she would miss their big achievments and miss all the things she had gotten so excited to see. She doesnt want to miss seeing her kids grow up.

"Max! Wake up, Max!" She felt someone pull her body up, she didnt like how heavy she felt, "Open your eyes"

"Graham?" She grunts out, "You... were supposed to... leave"

"I think i lost him but I've got to get you out of here" Graham tells her, picking her body off the floor.

"Derek?"

"Dont worry about Derek right now" Graham grunts as he runs down the stairs.

"Mark-" She fades off, she was so tired and all she wanted to do was rest.

"Keep your eyes open, Max" Graham tells her sternly.

Max wasn't the one to listen though.