A/N: Written mostly because it seemed like Derek was the only one willing to support Karen in the last episode. It made me like him actually.
Derek made stars. It was more than just his job; it was his purpose in life. He took normal people and molded them into greatness. Derek was about to do it again if these idiots that surrounded him would just leave him be. Karen was born for stardom whether they could see or not. The point was he could see it and since he was the director that was all that mattered.
He could have snorted when he heard Julia talking about "everyone" wanting Karen to succeed. Derek was really the only one that wanted her to reach the heights that were clearly in her grasp. Everyone else was cheering for Ivy to get the part. It was a good thing Derek didn't live for anyone else's approval because otherwise this might be a hard time for him. But he lived for bigger things than that so he could ignore his naysayers. Quite easily actually.
All he needed to do was find his Marilyn and make everyone eat their words. The hard work was already over. Derek had already eliminated all of Karen's distractions by getting rid of Dev. Now if he could just track Karen herself down, he could take care of everything else. Including the morons that were still rooting for Ivy. Couldn't any of them see that Ivy was just another chorus girl? Derek had had hundreds of them, had directed millions of them, he knew what they were like. Nothing special, not in any of them. They were each a dime a dozen. But Karen…now that girl had what it took to be a star.
Derek glanced down and saw an earring on the floor. "That game," he murmured. Stars and their tantrums. That was something Derek knew well. He had seen every trick in the book. Karen thought she was having a real breakdown. Derek had seen real breakdowns. People in real breakdowns didn't leave breadcrumbs like a cry for help.
"Leave me alone," she muttered.
Not bloody likely, Derek thought as he moved things around to sit down next to her. If he was going to make "Bombshell" run forever, he needed his one in a million star. And if he had to coddle her like a newborn kitten to get her back out on that stage? Well then, damn it, that was what he would do. He kept his voice low and soothing, teasing her quietly before taking the sober route.
Oh, he could see her crumbling. His Marilyn muse was putty in his hands. Now to just prick her anger a little. Derek didn't temper tantrum, just a little steel in the spine. You needed a steel spine to get through Broadway. And Derek was going to get Karen through this. Just as he did so many before her. "Do you really want Ivy to win?" he asked.
"What?" Karen was confused by the abrupt change in conversation.
"I overheard what happened. Or enough of it anyway. A diamond ring, a fight between the lovers…the rest is easy to guess. Do you really think Ivy just happened to leave that there? That she waited until now to tell you out of the goodness of her heart?"
"You mean she did this to sabatoge me?"
"I don't know why she did it," Derek shrugged. "But I do know that with you out, this is her big chance to shine."
Karen looked thoughtful at that. "We don't have time to run "Wolf"," she pointed out.
Derek had to hide his triumphant grin. Oh, sometimes it was just too easy. "No we don't," he agreed. "But considering all you took off on your way here, I think we have that down." He got to his feet and reached out a hand. Karen looked up at him with eeys so big she might have been a doe lost in the forest. Then her resolve firmed and reached up to take his hand tightly. "That's a girl," he murmured. "Go get back into your wig and get your makeup touched up. I'm going to find the dress we need to start act two, alright?"
"Yeah. I'll be out in five minutes."
"Make it two," Derek suggested, but gently because Karen was clearly still in need of coddling. Oh well. She could have all the coddling she wanted until they were back in New York. Then she would have to face reality.
For now, his star was going on and it would be perfect.