Disclaimer: I make no claim to any part of Grey's Anatomy (except the role of devoted fan) and will make no profit from any part of this story. Every single character mentioned in this story belongs to Shondaland, American Broadcasting Corporation, and any other corporate entity that has a stake in Grey's Anatomy. No copyright infringement whatsoever is intended.
Many thanks to Shonda Rimes for creating Grey's Anatomy, to the talented cast, staff, and crew who help her realize her vision, and to ABC for making it available on the public airwaves.
Author's Note: This is the spot where I would prefer to publicly acknowledge the contributions of my beta, but for reasons only partly understandable to myself, she prefers to remain anonymous. She was able to assist me through almost half of the story before RL made it impossible for her to continue, but the original concept and development of the overall story arc owes much to her inspiration and encouragement. She has my thanks for the gifts of her time, energy, and talent she shared with me.
Author's Warning: This story is labeled Mer/Mark, and it is Mer/Mark, but they're not exactly girlfriend and boyfriend. They're . . . both less and more than that. You'll understand once you start reading. Lots of sex is implied, but nothing specific is shown. (Darn!)
Families
Chapter 1
Mark Sloan had never really liked families--well, the idea of family--and he had pretty good reasons for how he felt. He'd spent most of his adult life believing that if it hadn't been for their money, he'd have been better off growing up as an orphan than as the only child of Tom and Elaine Sloan. In the short amount of time he'd been in therapy, he'd come to understand that his parents' relationship with him had been all about them unloading their unhappiness with themselves onto him--in short, an abusively ugly relationship that revolved around their needs instead of his. Realizing this hadn't exactly brought him any closer to either peace or forgiveness, but it had been a relief to tell someone the truth about what life with his parents had been like and to have that someone confirm that his resentments weren't unreasonable.
The closest he'd ever gotten to having a real family was Derek Shepherd. For a while, he'd deluded himself into thinking that he was a part of Derek's family--he'd even called Mrs. Shepherd "Mom,"--but once they discovered he'd been the reason Derek's marriage had ended, his family membership had ended, too. Oh, Nancy was nice enough to him when she came out to Seattle--but the phone calls to see how he was doing, the invitations to dinner, and the large family get-togethers had ended. Even his birthday passed without any contact from the Shepherds. He'd earned it, he guessed, by screwing the wife of their real son and brother and breaking up his marriage. But that didn't mean that the desertion didn't hurt.
The latest, and possibly the cruelest, disappointment of all, had been delivered by Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd--Derek's wife. His affair with her had been the only time he'd ever tried to create a family of his own, the only time he had dared to dream that he could be loved in a forever kind of way--and yet, she aborted their child simply because it was his, and then used a husband who clearly no longer wanted her as an excuse to leave him. Even after Addison left and he pursued her cross-country, hoping that he could capture her on the rebound once she accepted that her marriage was no longer a viable option--he was still left alone.
So--all those fairytale definitions of family as loving and forever?--he knew they didn't belong anywhere outside of a Hallmark commercial.
Once burned, twice shy. Thrice burned--don't even try. He wasn't holding on to any more hopes about loving or forever anymore. Still, the two months of illusory happiness he'd spent with Addison made the compulsive chase after the next cunt less attractive than it had been (not that he was about to give it up any time soon). While he still craved contact with other women, the one-night stands became less frequent. Then, in one of those twists of fate that prove the universe has a sense of humor, Mark and his fellow "dirty mistress," Meredith Grey, became fuck buddies.
It wasn't something either of them had planned on. But they did have a lot in common--their painful childhoods with the resulting. . . . What was it his shrink had called it? Oh, yeah--issues. Then there was their fondness for liquor and impersonal sex, and--probably their closest bond--the unique experience of having been used by Shepherds on the rebound during the break-up of their marriage. Plus, they were both doctors, even if she was an intern and he was an attending.
The friendship suited their needs, giving them companionship when they wanted it but allowing them freedom to pursue their traditional remedies--booze and anonymous sex--on those nights when conversation and/or a friendly lay weren't enough to chase the demons away. Over time, their desire for other partners lessened, but neither was in a hurry to change the label on their relationship. If anyone had questioned them about their changing relationship, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," would have been their response.
The death of Meredith's mother and Meredith's own simultaneous near-death experience had provided a brief interruption in her relationship with Mark. She claimed she needed some space as she tried to assimilate everything that had happened, including an extraordinarily painful set of confrontations with her mother on her mother's last lucid day. Mark was concerned about her and missed her, but other than issuing periodic lunch or dinner invitations, kept his distance, telling her to let him know when she wanted to resume their normal routine.
Mark's concern developed into outright worry after a conversation with Derek. It started with a page.
Mark looked down at his pager and was startled to see Derek's name staring back at him. Derek hadn't voluntarily talked to either him or Meredith ever since he had dumped Meredith by telling her she should go out with Finn. In Derek's mind, apparently, mentioning someone else's name while he was in the middle of breaking up with her gave him the right to veto all of her future relationships with other men. Watching the resulting confrontation at Joe's had been extraordinarily painful, but it had been worth it just to see how Meredith grew a pair when she faced Derek.