Los Angeles-3 Months Later

Addison Montgomery stood in the middle of her now empty beach house and sighed. She glanced back when she heard the sound of footsteps coming into her living room.

"That's the last of it, "Mark said as he stood next to her in silence.

"You sure this is what you wanna do Addison?" he asked as she looked around at the place that had been home to her for the last 5 and a half years.

"I can't stay here anymore Mark, not after, after what happened," she said in a shaky breath.

Mark didn't argue, he simply reached out to grab her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Naomi's pissed," he said quietly.

"She'll get over it, she always does," Addison said, still glancing out at the ocean from the sliding glass door.

"What about Amelia?" Mark asked.

"Said she doesn't fit in with anyone here," Addison replied as she absently walked through the sliding doors and onto the deck.

The air was cool as it floated around her shoulders; she said nothing as she glanced out at the vast strip of land and ocean. This would be the thing she missed the most about her home, the peaceful view of the beach.

"If I could bottle this up and take it with me, I would," She said, knowing that Mark had come to stand beside her on the deck.

"I agree; I still can't believe you're giving up this view Addie," he muttered as Addison sighed.

"Mark, you know I can't stay here, not anymore, the shooting it, it changed me," she said.

"It changed us all; I still can't believe it happened," Mark said as Addison hummed in agreement.

oOo

They both turned at the sound of the sliding glass door opening. Carson stood cautiously in the doorway. She looked different, older, more tired as she stood there in her father's oversized Columbia hoodie and a pair of Black yoga pants.

"Hey kiddo, you okay?" Mark stretched out an arm as Carson moved towards him, wrapping herself in his embrace.

"I don't know if I'll ever be okay, not after-" Carson began though the words came out in a choked sob as Addison moved to her other side, gently stroking her back.

"It's over honey, it's over, I promise; that's why we're moving," Addison soothed as Carson looked up at her with eyes that reminded her of Derek.

"When's it gonna stop hurting?" Carson whispered, causing Addison's throat to tighten.

"I, I don't know honey; someday it will. Not right now, but some day, it will," Addison said as Mark reached over to give her hand a squeeze.

"She's right little Red; it's not gonna hurt forever. I know you miss him, I know your mom does too but-"

"It's not fair Uncle Mark! It's just not fair!" Carson sobbed, turning her body towards his as Mark cradled her against his chest.

The sight became too much for Addison as she quickly pulled away and hurriedly made her way down the steps of the deck and out towards the ocean. Carson looked up as she saw her mother walking away.

"I didn't mean to upset her," Carson said as she looked up at Mark.

"You didn't, Addison just needs time to grieve, and Montgomery's-"

"Grieve in private, I know. Y'know, none of them showed up at the funeral? I mean, I didn't expect Bizzy to show, not even The Captain, but at least I thought Uncle Archer would come," Carson said, letting out a bitter sigh.

"You know your grandparents and your uncle kid," Mark sighed, still holding her close as she allowed herself to breathe in his scent.

"I'm glad you're alive Uncle Mark because I don't know what I would've done if-"

"Shh, don't think about it, kid. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere, I promise," Mark murmured as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Don't make promises you can't keep; he never expected to die but-" Carson said as Mark lovingly ran a hand through her hair.

"Let's not think about it; remember what Dr. Wyatt said. When you start to think about it-"

"But that's just it Uncle Mark I can't not think about what happened! All of those people, Reed, Percy, Alex, my dad, Kevin, Meredith and the baby…that was me," Carson whispered; Mark hated seeing his goddaughter/niece in such pain.

"Carley, listen to me; what happened was not your fault. You know that you didn't make Gary Clarke walk into Seattle Grace and start shooting people," Mark said as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"But, but I saw him; I saw him and, it was like time stopped. He walked past me and I knew, I knew what he'd come there to do," Carson whispered as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

"You knew and you did the right thing by telling your father. Sweetheart, the shooting wasn't your fault. You're having survivor's guilt, but this wasn't your fault and I don't ever wanna hear you blame yourself for this ever again, do you hear me?" Mark was trying not to be so forceful because the last thing she or anyone else needed was someone to force them. But he couldn't help it; he needed her to stop blaming herself for what happened.

"I need to hear you say it, honey, it wasn't your fault," He said, pulling back to look directly into her eyes.

"Carson, I need to hear you say-"

"Me saying won't change the way I feel Uncle Mark," Carson said bitterly as she pulled away from him. Mark sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at Carson. This shooting affected her more than she was letting on.

"No matter how you feel, I'm not gonna let you take the blame for some asshole idiot deciding to open fire on the hospital. Now, unless you're solely responsible for his wife's death or you held a gun to his head and made him start shooting people, then what happened isn't your fault," Mark said as he watched Carson; her body remained stiff as she stood there looking out at the ocean.

"Ryan's next door with Naomi, Sam, and Amelia; I'm gonna go check on your mother. We'll be ready to leave soon. I love you, kid," Mark said as he walked over to Carson and pressed a kiss to her hair. She remained quiet, her arms still protectively wrapped around her body as she rigidly continued to stare at the water.

Seattle-3 Months Prior

There is a shooter on the loose in Seattle Grace Hospital, in Derek's hospital.

Carson is standing beside him, ashen white as she whispers that she'd seen him on her way to his office. April Kepner is standing there visibly shaken and in a state of shock, covered in Reed Adamson's blood. Reed Adamson is dead, and there's no telling who else is dead. Derek's mind immediately races to Meredith, his wife, his pregnant wife who is somewhere in the hospital with a crazed shooter on the loose. He also thinks of his other wife, correction, ex-wife, Addison. Addison, the mother of his children is somewhere in the hospital while a crazed gunman is on the loose. He also briefly thinks about Mark, Lexie, Alex, Izzie, Callie Torres, Bailey, Owen, Cristina. These are all people he loves and cares about deeply who are somewhere in the hospital while there is a crazed shooter on the loose.

"Daddy," Carson's voice startles Derek out of his revere.

"Daddy, I think, I think Kevin may try and go after him," Oh, right, there's also Addison's boyfriend Kevin, the trained SWAT cop whom Addison is in love with and plans to marry. He's trapped here too.

Wait, Kevin is a trained SWAT cop Derek thinks to himself.

"Carson, do you have Kevin's cellphone number?" Derek asks as Carson nods mutely.

"You need to call him and have him call our SWAT team," he says to her as he makes his way out of his office.

"Dad, daddy!" Carson is rushing out into the hallway behind him.

"Carson, go back," Derek tells her but she refuses. Oh, his stubborn redheaded child refuses.

"No, dad, I'm not leaving you!" And suddenly, she reminds him of Addison; the woman never could listen.

"Carson, I need you to stay with Ryan, he shouldn't be alone," Derek tries reasoning with his eldest daughter who shakes her head.

"And you shouldn't be alone either, Gary Clarke is in the hospital and wants to-" Carson is damn near screaming and Derek doesn't want to send his hospital into a panic by having his 16-year-old daughter screaming that there's a gunman on the loose. He quickly turns towards her and places a hand over her mouth.

"I need you to listen to me; you need to go back into my office with your brother, you need to call Kevin and have him call Seattle's SWAT team. I need to find Meredith and your mother," Derek tells her before shoving her back into his office amidst her protests.

"Keep her in April, don't let either one of them out of your sight," Derek says to the shaking young resident

"You're, you're leaving me here?" He'd thankfully found a pair of clean scrubs for her to put on in the midst of the chaos.

"I need to find Meredith and Addison and figure out what's going on. I need someone to look after my children, can you do that for me April?" Derek is oh so tenderly wiping away the remaining traces of Reed's blood from her forehead as she simply nods in return.

oOoOo

Cristina Yang steps into the elevator with a sigh, just as the doors close and she rests her head against the elevator paneling, a man interrupts her thoughts.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where to find the chief?" The man beside her is wearing a stoic expression on his face. He seems…something is off about him Cristina can tell, though he's not hurt or in need of surgery so…not her problem.

"Dr. Shepherd? He's uh, probably in his office," Cristina is distracted as she talks, her mind much too focused on the Owen and Teddy drama.

"Yeah I've been there before; I can't seem to remember how to get there. I keep going in circles," the man, Cristina will later learn to be Gary Clarke, remains focused, his eyes looking straight ahead as he waits for her to answer his question.

"It's it's in the East Wing, that's over by labs across the catwalk," Cristina tells him and finally, he glances at her, his interest piqued.

"I'm sorry…"

"You just gotta cross through the patient floor on 3 and then follow the signs to the main lobby and then you should find it no problem," Cristina further explains.

"Thank You," He tells her before finally turning his attention forward again.

Cristina murmurs a response as the ride becomes silent again, Cristina caught up in her own thoughts, Gary Clarke caught up in his own. The elevator dings, signaling that it's time for one of them to exit. He easily strolls out of the elevator, but not before turning to Cristina one final time.

"Have a nice day," he tells her, a calm expression on his face as Cristina politely smiles in return.

"You too," she parrots back.

oOoOo

Carson is furious as she paces back and forth in her father's office. Apparently, April Kepner is no longer in shock, as she's blocking the door and refusing to let her leave. Ryan has lost interest in his game of tossing balled up paper into the plastic basketball goal on the wall and is asking quiet questions as to what's happening, where their mother is, why April is covered in blood. He's scared but he's trying not to be; 10-year-old boys don't get scared.

"Not now, Ryan, I have to try and get a hold of Kevin," Carson is still pacing as she waits and waits for Kevin to pick up. It takes five rings before he responds.

"Kevin! Thank God you're alright; listen, I found my dad and he wants you to call Seattle's SWAT team or the police since you're a cop. Yeah, can you do that? And while you're at it, can you find my mom? My dad said he'd find her but he's much more interested in finding Meredith because she's pregnant and-"

"Meredith's pregnant?" April Kepner's eyes widen at this newfound piece of information as do Ryan's.

"Dad's having another baby?" Ryan had always secretly hoped that his parents would get back together, this news seems to put a huge damper on his hope. Carson silently curses herself for letting that secret slip. Well, there goes any trust Meredith had in me, she thinks to herself.

"Yeah, and Kevin? Don't do anything stupid okay, because my mom really loves you and I, I care about you too, me and Ryan. So don't be stupid and die okay? Bye," Carson lets out the shaky breath she'd been holding since her father left.

Now, she had to call him and let him know that their plan was in motion.

"Come on daddy, pick up, pick up…"

oOoOo

Derek is in the conference room on the phone with the head of security. Thank God for his ex-wife's boyfriend having ties to the Seattle P.D.

"The police are on their way, what's the procedure? You're the head of hospital security, how do you not know? I know it's never happened before; no, I found it. Lockdown; nobody moves in or out. Yeah, nobody moves, nobody breathes until we know what's going on," Derek hangs up the phone and turns to face Kevin who's leaning against the conference table.

"Whoa, where the hell do you think you're going? You just said nobody move, nobody breathes," Kevin is also heading for the door to stop Derek who looks him square in the eye.

"Nobody moves but me, this is my hospital," Derek tells him.

"Derek-"

"If Carson's right, then that man…Meredith is out there, Addison is out there…"Derek's eyes are fearful, though he tries to put on a brave front.

"You let me find Meredith and Addison; I'll make sure they're both safe. This is my job Derek, it's what I'm trained to do. I deal with this kind of thing every day," Kevin says, causing Derek to sigh.

"At least-"Kevin places a hand on Derek's shoulder as a private mutual respect flows throughout the room.

"No, what you can do is go be with your children, they need you right now because Carson sounded scared shitless on the phone," Derek sighs as they both part ways, Derek heading back to his children, Kevin to find Meredith and Addison.

oOoOo

Addison Forbes Montgomery is in her zone, she is so in her zone. She's elbows deep into a woman's uterus with Naomi by her side.

"See, don't you miss it, being in the OR?" Addison teases to her best friend who rolls her eyes.

"I still see an OR, I'm just not a surgery junkie like you," Naomi diplomatically replies as someone walks into their scrub room, whispering something a nurse which changes the atmosphere of the room.

"What's going on?" Addison asks; she doesn't stop her surgery but she does glance up at the nurse.

"We've just been put on lockdown," The nurse informs Addison who rolls her eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me," The redhead mutters just as everyone's pagers begin going off.

"Okay, it looks like we are on lockdown," Addison says with a sigh as she continues with her surgery. However, things just continue to get awkward when her boyfriend buzzes in on her surgery.

"Kevin? What the hell are you-"

"You need to shut this surgery down Addison," Kevin is looking down on her and, okay now, she's really confused.

"Kevin, what's, first of all, how the hell did you get down here?"

"I told Derek I'd find you and Meredith," Kevin tells her as both she and Naomi glance at one another.

"Kevin, what's-"

"Addison, please don't argue with me, shut the surgery down, do whatever you have to do, but you and those doctors have to evacuate this OR right now," There's something about the tone of Kevin's voice that unnerves her.

"The rest of the procedure is simple, you remember what to do?" Addison turns to face Naomi who nods.

"Go, figure out what the hell is going on; if I need you, you'll be right up there in the gallery," Naomi says with a smile as Addison nods before exiting the scrub room.

oOoOo

"Kevin, what the hell is going on?" Addison makes her way to the gallery and makes sure to mute the speaker.

"Addison, there's a shooter on the loose, a man named Gary Clarke and he's after Derek," Addison shakes her head, scoffing in disbelief until she notices that Kevin isn't laughing.

"Kevin, Kevin, you're, you're serious? Oh my God where's Derek? Where are Carson and Ryan?" Addison is starting to panic but Kevin carefully grabs her arm and looks her in the eyes.

"Is your patient stable?" he asks. She carefully presses the intercom button down to the OR.

"Naomi, how's the patient doing? Is she stable?"

"Yeah, she's stable, why?"

"Is she stable enough to close?" Addison asks as Naomi looks up at her worriedly.

"She's still-"

"That's not what I asked; I said is she stable enough to close?" Addison's voice is sharp, firm this time when Naomi replies.

"Yeah, she's stable,"

"Good; pack her and then send her to recovery. After that, everyone is to remain on the OB floor until further notice," Addison then turns her attention back to Kevin.

"Kevin-"

"You need to be with Derek and your kids, I'm gonna try and find Meredith," Kevin tells her before taking her hand and leading her away from the OR.

"Wait, Mark too; you have to find Mark too. He's, he's my family too, I know how that sounds but, he's Derek's best friend and he's my children's godfather and-"

"He's family; I'll find him too…anyone else I should be looking for?"

"Uh, Meredith's got a younger sister named Lexie and, my friend Callie, she's up on peds I think,"

"I heard someone say that the peds floor is closed off, she should be fine," Addison nods, letting out a shaky breath.

"But Mark-"

"I'll do my best to find Mark, Meredith, and-"

"Lexie, Meredith's sister's name is Lexie. I may not like Meredith or Lexie but-"

"They're important to Derek," Kevin says with an understanding smile as Addison pulls him into a passionate kiss.

"I love you I just…I need you to know how much I love you, okay?" Addison is doing her best not to cry but there's a crazed shooter on the loose in search of her ex-husband.

"Hey, I get it, and I love you too. I know this is bad timing but, if we get out of here alive-"

"When, when we get out of here alive," Addison corrects him.

"Right.When we get out of here alive, let's take a vacation huh? You, me, the kids? Maybe while we're there we can even get-"

"Yes, yes," She tells him, pressing one final desperate kiss to his lips as they part ways.

Los Angeles

Addison stood silently and watched as the waves crashed against one another. As Mark watched her, she seemed to be an exact replica of how he'd left her daughter just moments before. The closer he got the clearer it became to him that she was crying, idly toying with the diamond necklace that now hung around her neck.

"Carson thinks she upset you," Mark called out over the crashing waves as Addison glanced back at him.

"She didn't; I just…seeing how upset she was, I can't cry, not around her," Addison shook her head as Mark moved to stand beside her.

"I tried telling her that too, but she's so…she blames herself, Addison," Mark couldn't get over the fact that Carson held herself solely responsible for what happened during the shooting.

"Dr. Wyatt and Kathleen both said that she'd be dealing with a serious amount of survivor's guilt. I mean, she watched Derek get shot and Kevin…that was a scary time for her Mark," Addison reminded him.

"How are you holding up? I know this couldn't have been easy for you," Mark remained standing beside her as he wrapped his arm around her shaking frame.

"What do you expect Mark? Two men that I loved got shot on the same day, but one of them didn't make it. The shooting alone is a life changing experience, but to add on the fact that one of them died is still something I'm working on dealing with," she said as Mark pulled her into a hug.

"Did you love him Red?" Mark asked as she looked up at him, her eyes a sea full of pain.

"I did, it may not have been that hard hitting love but, deep down, I loved him, I loved them both. I just hate that I was almost forced to choose who to save and who to watch die. I needed them both here, I needed them both," Addison's words came out in a choked sob as Mark gently swayed them back and forth.

"I hate that you were caught in the middle of that Addie, but none of it-"

"I needed them both Mark, I needed them both! I couldn't my life is a mess without him. I was finally happy y'know. I had my ex-husband and my boyfriend and I was happy, everyone was happy. Everything was fine but that goddamn Gary Clarke! Damn him! Damn him for ruining everything! Damn him for shooting them both! Goddamn him!" Addison sobbed, nearly collapsing into a pitiful heap against Mark's chest. He cradled her gently as he led them to the ground.

He didn't say much or voice his opinion out loud, but he was silently (and guiltily) thankful that his best friend had been the one to survive.

Chapter 2 to follow…

Hello, my lovelies!

Welcome to the second installment of the Fighting Our Way series. Yes, Kevin is dead, but his fate is the first of many that will be revealed in these first few chapters. Nobody is safe but Addison, Mark, Carson, and Ryan. Everyone else's fate is still up in the air at this point. But yes, Kevin is the first casualty, aside from Reed Adamson. Keep reading and leaving reviews for me, it helps speed up the writing process!

Enjoy!

Xx