AN: This is my first fic so be nice. I just wanted say that I know that there is another fic out there that has Addison has a brother and his name is the same. I just wanted to say that there is no similarity beyond that. The character is from another story I have been writing.Thanks.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from the show. The Pirate and Raptor, however, are mine. I wish I did own some of the boys though.
AN: Flashbacks are in italics. Enjoy.
Marco Polo
Addison sat staring at the clock in her office. She had a busy morning filled with antsy mothers and lots of babies. After lunch and checking on her patients, she decided to catch up on some much needed paperwork. Well, the needed part was debatable, which was why she was sitting there staring as the minutes and seconds just ticked away.
At least this time it was idle boredom that caused her to stare and not think. Oh, how she hated thinking. It was never a good thing to do because her thoughts were plagued with Derek and Mark, or just Derek or just Mark, hell there was even some Meredith thrown in the mix. She would think about all the good times that the three of them shared together, Der, Mark and her. As the holiday season was fast approaching she found herself thinking more often……great, now she was doing it again. Why couldn't she get away from them? It's hard enough working everyday with them and trying to be friends with out running away, but now the only safe place she had has been invaded. Something needed to happen and fast. She couldn't take anymore of this.
As if on cue, her phone rings and she turns to stare at the offending noise that has broken the silence. She continues to stare at it as she debates about actually answering. As the office phone continues to ring, her cell starts to go off. What in the world is going on? How many people want to talk to me? As if to answer her question, her pager goes off as well. Finally moving out of her semi-daze, she answers the phone.
"Hello, Addison Sheppard speaking."
"Ah, so I see the rumors of you keeping your name are true."
"Jas? Baby brother, are you calling my cell and pager too?"
"No, Addie. I can honestly say that I only called your office. The other two would be weird, so of course it wouldn't be me."
"Right. Because you have never done something like that before. I'm sure. But anyway, to what do I owe this pleasure? The last I heard, you were out of the country on some protection job with the Bandits. And something about radio silence if I remember correctly."
"Shhhhhhh. Addie, you know I can't talk about my job. There are clauses in those contracts. I am calling you to actually tell you to come out of your office. We're playing a game."
"And how am I to talk to you if I leave my office?"
"Pick up your cell."
"I thought you said that it wasn't you who called."
"Right. But what I left out was the fact that the person who did is right next to me."
"Okay."
She picks up her cell and recognizes the number.
"Hey Elizabeth, of course you're with the Pirate. I should have known. Sometimes it's like you two are always together. I never see you apart. One would think tha…."
"Hey now, none of that is necessary. You know as well as anyone, I will never date your brother. It's weird. I have enough weird in my life right now. So are you going to come play or what?"
"Fine, I guess I have to if I want to see you two, now won't I?"
As she gets up she hears a "YAY!!!" through the phone. She heads out of her office and starts saying "Marco" to which the response is "POLO". She listens for the sound in the actual hospital as well as other sounds from the other end of the line. She continues through the hospital, knowing they would avoid areas where patients needed to rest. They were children at heart, but would never bother patients. They knew how she felt about that. As she keeps walking with a phone attached to her ear and a wide smile on her face that reached her eyes, she started to attract some attention.
Alex Karev stood watching his mentor wandering around apparently playing Marco Polo. He was baffled. He spent the last few months watching Addison, as he now called her, sink into a melancholy mood. Although to anyone else it would seem she was normal, he spent a lot of hours on a lot of days watching and working with her. They had even developed a sort of friendship. He liked her as a person and she was like the sister he never had. If you had asked him back when he was working for Sloan if he would be here right now he would have laughed at your face, but like the woman who convinced him to suck up his pride and ask for what he really wanted had said, things change and people even more so. He was glad that Addison was smiling, but he wanted to know what was making her smile.
Addison sees Alex walking up to her, curiosity written all over his face. And who could blame him? After Thanksgiving her mood had started to decline and he had become worried. He tried his best to cheer her up, but it only did so much. So any insight into how to make her smile would make him curious. Who knew he would become such a good friend. It was funny to hear that people thought they were more than friends; people around here needed lives. Gossip: apparently this hospital runs on it.
When he reaches her, she tells the other end to hold on a sec.
"Hey Alex, what's up?"
"What are you doing Addie?"
"I am playing a game with my brother and his friend who is a girl. Not to be confused with a girlfriend."
And a "Damn straight" and a "Hey" are heard through the phone from the other end.
"So, you are playing Marco Polo. Interesting, can I play too?"
"Seriously? You want to play?"
"Yeah, I have nothing else to do. And I want to meet your brother; you talk about him so much. And girls are good too."
Laughing at the last part, she nods her head and they set off to find the Polo pair. One doctor playing was odd to see, but the two started to not only attract attention, but also gathered a following. They were too caught up in the game to see that the rest of the interns had taken to following them, as well as some others. George, finally having enough of the girls being 'stealth', walked up to the Marco pair and was about to ask what was going on, when the pair stopped in front of two people he had never seen before.
Hanging up her phone, Addison throws herself into her brother's arms, in a very un-Addison like way. Alex nods to Jas and stares in shock at the woman next to him. It was the one who he met a few months ago in the NICU.
Alex is walking through the NICU, he was on his break and hid...avoiding Dr. Sloan. He had been 'working' for him. He hadn't been in a surgery since he helped O'Malley with the sport baby girl as he named her. He went from intern to gopher. And though he would be shot before he'd admit it, he missed working on the Vagina Squad. Dr. Sheppard was a good teacher and he liked working with her. She was a good person, though none of the others would admit it. God forbid they say something that would hurt Meredith's McDreamy. Sometimes, he thinks that she is the only one that has any feelings in their torrid, little love square. So Alex is wandering around the neonatal unit watching the nurses as they check on their little charges and sees a woman watching the babies from outside the unit. He approached her thinking she was a family member of one of the babies.
"Hi, can I help you with something?"
"Huh? Oh no, I am just fine where I am."
"Are any of the babies related to you?"
"No, I just like coming up here to see them. Actually, my friend and I are dropping off a baby. He was abandoned out in Nevada, but they found out he had relatives in the area and he still needs some care. So here we are. Oh, and I was talking about the baby not my friend, although the difference is small…so do you work up here?"
He didn't know why, but she seemed to make him want to open up. Oh, what the hell, why not.
"No, I don't. At least not anymore."
"Not anymore?"
"Well I pissed off the surgical attending of the unit and as punishment she had me attached to her for a while."
"Diiirty."
"Seriously? I'm being serious."
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to make you a little less…never mind. Please continue."
"Right, so I was working with her for quite sometime, then she let me off and now I'm interning und...for the plastic surgeon, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. And here I am now."
"Well, don't sound so excited about it. You don't sound as happy as someone who is doing what they want. I mean if I was doing what I wanted, I would be totally happy."
"Well, I've been thinking that maybe it's not what I wanted. I mean it would be cool with the money and every thing, but what I'm doing right now sucks. Not to mention the guy's kind of an asshole. It's so confusing. I don't know, sometimes I hate work. I like coming up here to think, the little ones tend to be quiet when I am."
"Well, I'm not one to offer advice…to people I don't know, people I do are whole different story, but anyway. It sounds to me like you're a different person trying to stay in your old spot. Maybe you're not doing what this 'new' you wants to. Things change, and that's okay, hell so do people. You just need to decide if you want to be the new you or try and go back. If you ignore the change long enough, it will return to the old way..."
With that her pager and cell go off at the same time, "Sorry, I have to go. My ride's here. Good luck."
He never thought he would see her again.
"You?"
"Me, what?"
"You were the chick in the NICU. She's the one who talked me into asking to be your intern, Addie. You totally changed my life and I had no idea who you were. This is so weird," he says excitedly.
"Wait a minute. Raptor, you were here before? Why didn't you stop by?"
"I was here for something else and I had no idea that you worked here now. If I did, I would have been here more often. You know that. Did I change his life for the better or do I have to hide?"
"Oh, no you did good, actually great. I like what I'm doing. It's cool."
Alex turns to George, who is stunned at his friend's outburst, and says, "This is the girl I told you about. She was in the NICU and we got to talking. I told you she was real."
Jas, getting confused, butts in, "Okay. Hold on. I have no idea who the heck half of you are. Addie, will you please introduce us…and you might as well introduce the rest of the crowd as well."
"Yeah, Addie, you know how the Pirate hates being left out of the loop. Okay this is creepy, those people aren't going to eat us are they?" the Raptor adds looking around and starts to hide behind Jas.
Addison turns to see all the people watching them, shaking her head and laughing at the Raptor's antics, she replies, "No, Raptor, they aren't."
Then she addresses the crowd, "Okay everyone, the shows over. Now go about your business."
The crowd just stands there and stares at her, both the Pirate and Raptor standing behind her and glaring at the crowd in a menacing way, causing the group to disband quicker than ever before. When the crowd finally thins, the only ones left are Meredith, Christina, Izzie, Burke, Callie, Bailey, Derek, and Mark.
"Okay, now that everyone has left. You can meet the rest of the doctors of the Seattle Grace team. Oh, and will you both stop glaring at them. We're fine. Everything is fine."
"Is that true, Dr. Karev? Has my Addie been Fine? Because if she has been Fine, Dr. Sheppard and Dr. Sloan had better run. Like. Hell."
"Why would they be in trouble if she says she's fine?" Meredith questions from beside Derek.
Jas turns to look at the intern, "And you are? Because I don't remember addressing you."
"Pirate, now play nice with the little annoying intern. For anyone who doesn't know who we are, I am Beth Philips and this is Jason Montgomery, Addie's brother. Oh, and for all the gossip mongers, we're not together. And to answer your question, person, F.I.N.E. stands for Freaked Out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional. And if you don't get the reference you are a sad, sad soul."
"Okay enough. You two are going to be the death of me. We will talk about me later. Right now I shall introduce everyone. You've met Alex; George is right next to him. You know Der and Mark. The intern, you were being mean to, is Meredith. Next to her is Christina, and next to her would be Izzie. The woman glaring at us is Dr. Miranda Bailey; next to her is Callie, both of whom are my friends so say nothing. And lastly is Dr. Burke. Now that you've met everyone, about face and let's go to my office."
The former Marco Polo players head off to Addison's office, leaving behind Der and Mark to answer the questions of their peers.
"I didn't know she had a sister. And who was the girl?"
"Dude, that was weird. Dr. Sheppard was actually happy right then. Standing right here, did you guys see that smile? She never smiles around here. I mean, she might when she's not here but I wouldn't know because I don't see her. Well she must smile, but happy, I mean really happ..."
"O'Malley, shut up. Dr. Sheppard is like anyone else. Just because she is professional in her place of work unlike some people, doesn't mean she isn't normal," Bailey responded.
"So who's gonna explain what just happened here, McDreamy or McSteamy?"
"Christina, it isn't any of our business. And as interesting as that was, we have a valve replacement soon. So have a lovely day."
Dr. Burke and Christina turn and head to their patients' room, together. After the fallout from the tremors passed, they began to work through their relationship. It took time to get back the trust they once had, but they got there. It surprised everyone that they worked it out and the hospital's token couple didn't last.
After a month of being bright and shiny coupled with dull and lifeless, Derek began to realize that it wasn't what he thought it would be. Meredith wasn't who he thought she was. She turned into a clingy woman, who would get jealous every time he so much as looked at Addie for more than a few seconds. It only got worse after he started mending the friendship with his ex. It took a short time to realize that she was a huge part of his life and he needed her still in it. So he decided to try and mend things with her. She was still a little wary of him, but she did agree to let him try over the last few months. Things with Meredith just went down hill from there. They would argue constantly over his interactions with Addie and how she thought that Addie wanted him back. The truth was he was starting to want Addie back, but she still didn't trust him. The only good thing was that she wasn't with anyone else. He was in a much better place, he was even becoming friends with Mark again. The breakup was bigger than he thought it would be when Meredith completely lost it at him in the middle of the surgical floor.
"What are you doing with them, Derek? Better yet, what are you doing with her?"
"Mer, they're my family. I know that you don't get it yet, but they are a part of me. Both of them. Why can't you at least try and understand that I want to be friends with them again."
"She's only doing it to get you back. She thinks that if you see what you've been missing you'll go back. I know that's the reason she agreed to this 'friendship'. How can you be so blind? She's nothing but a two bit whore, who can't leave you alone."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?!?!? You have no idea what she is or isn't. That 'whore' may have been upset with you and not liked you, but she never ever called you a whore. Damn it. You know what? I'm done with this. If you can't accept my choices you can decide what you want more. Me or whatever it is you seem to be clinging so dearly to."
"So I have to choose? You won't change for me? You won't give her up, but you gave me up when she asked? How does that work?"
"I was trying to work on our marriage. I had to try, but then I was in love with you. That you, not this one, you've changed really fast. I don't think I can do this anymore, at least not like this."
"You know what? Then don't do it. We're done. That's it. I hope you're happy."
"Fine, but know that this was your decision and you can't back out of it. This is it for us forever. I'm sorry for this, but it's the way it is."
And that lasted about two weeks before she decided that she missed him and wanted to try again. The thing was, he didn't. After seeing how she could really be, it made him sick to his stomach. On her worst day Addie still maintained a level of class that Meredith couldn't ever imagine having. After the breakup he couldn't talk with most of the staff because they were friends with Meredith. Mark, one day, walked into the cafeteria and saw him sitting by himself and sat down. Before then, they had been civil to each other and had some small conversations about nothing. At lunch that day, they fell back into post-breakup patterns just like old times. There was still stuff to work on, but with his newly restarted friendship with Mark, he began to realize that all three of them were messed up. As much as he had hated to admit it, Mark was in a bad place too and he ended up cheating with Addie because she wasn't who he really wanted, but she was close. Then again he cheated on Addison because she was close enough to who he wanted. Speaking of Mark, Der turned to look at his friend.
Mark stood staring at the visitors heading off to Addie's office. How could she be here? I left New York because every time I went somewhere I would think about her. This can't be happening.