Hi. My name is Meredith Grey, and I hate airplanes.
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The bustling crowds of JWK Airport was the last thing that Meredith needed.
"Come on, I'm going to be late!" The short haired woman said as she briskly flew through the crowds, her phone held between her ear and shoulder as she made her way through the airport. She looked down to grab her tablet out of her bag and her ticket so that she could make the boarding process go more smoothly. Her head dipped just enough for her to catch sight of the shadow speeding toward her in her peripheral vision. She braced for impact and BANG! Her phone skid across the floor as she fell, her purse falling open with things scattering across the floor.
"LEO!" A brown-haired girl with kaleidoscope eyes yelled.
"I'm so sorry!" Spoke the wall of iron that cleaned her out.
"Ow," I said trying to get my bearing as a message was reported over the intercom above our heads. "Last call for flight 347 from New York to Seattle."
A blonde with dark gray eyes shot a look over to her bending down to help her up. "I'm so sorry to do this but sorry for our friends but we have to go! That's our flight."
"Mine too!" Meredith said to the blonde as she stood up from the ground. The blond looked at her intently before turning towards three of her companions.
"Connor, Travis, and Piper stall the flight. Do whatever you have to until we get there." She commanded and three kids from the group including the previous brown-haired girl shot off towards their gate. The other kids looked towards the blonde. "Don't just stand there uselessly. Help the woman with her belongings!"
"Thanks." Meredith stood up with the help of the blonde-gray eyed girl and a spiky black-haired wearing silver girl. A blonde-haired boy and two other raven haired boys scrambled around the area collecting her things. The Latino boy who bumped into her from before handed her phone. He rubbed the back of his neck as a few other kids ran up to them from the direction of the TSA checkpoint.
"Sorry again for that." Spoke the Latino as he fidgeted with his hands.
"What are you guys doing here, you're supposed to be delaying the plane for the rest of us!" A boy who radiated with a golden glow spoke as he glowered at one of the raven-hair boys who just shrugged it off. He waved towards me and the Latino. The glowing boy shook his head. "Of course Leo gets in trouble. Annabeth what's the plan? The plane is going to leave us."
The blonde who helped me up looked at the group. "Hurry up and get there. Piper and the Stolls are delaying the plane so run!"
The group took off running and I tailed them from behind. The blonde grabbed my bag and threw it at the other raven-haired boy. "Percy carry her stuff. She's on the same flight so we all need to move."
We took off through the airport with the kids pushing people out the way making our way down the halls as we followed the signs guiding us to our gate. We arrived in time to see the brown-haired girl, who I assume is Piper, waving towards the group. "Guys, over here!"
The boy, Percy, handed me by bag as we all started boarding the plane. The man at the counter scanned everyone's ticket nodding over everyone's ID cards. Annabeth was the last to board as she counted off everyone in the group before turning to me. She smiled before handing her ticket over to the guy. "Looks like we made it."
I handed the man my ticket boarding after the group. I quickly made my way down the hall before finding my seat which to the left had a certain blonde-haired gray-eyed girl. She laughed and waved at me. I laughed and said, "And so we meet again."
"So it would seem, my name is Annabeth Chase." She said extending her hand.
"Meredith Grey." I said extending my hand. Motioning to the group, I asked, "No chaperones on this trip of yours?"
She looked at me with a smile, "Our parents are always watching us besides we're all the head of our counselors so we'll be fine."
"Counselors? As in camp?" I asked confused while taking my seat.
"Precisely." She said. We talked a bit more before the safety precautions and flight attendants demanded our attention.
I zoned out my attention with flashbacks of the plane crash before. Before I knew it, the plane was moving down the track as my hands clenched around the chair arms as if hanging on for dear life. A laugh broke me out of my concentration. I looked to the side to see Annabeth staring at me with Percy on the other side clenching his armrest harder than I was.
"Hate flying?" Annabeth asked me.
"Yeah. I've been in a plane crash." I said while clenching the armrest as our plane left the ground.
"Mm, that would explain it. He hates it too." She said motioning to the boy opposite of her. "He has a fear of crashing."
"It's not completely bad." I said to the now pale boy. "I mean, at least I survived the crash."
His hands unclenched a little before turning to me. "Thanks, but if do begin an unexpected drop, no one here will be dying on this flight."
His eyes hardened with such determination that it made me want to believe him, but from my experiences from the last time I knew people who died. I looked him in the eye and found myself questioning him, "what makes you so sure?"
"Call it intuition." He said before closing his eyes. His eyes opened once more as he shot a look across the aisle to the blond boy from earlier. "No funny business, Grace."
"No promises, Jackson." He said with a slight smirk.
"Jason." The brown-haired girl named Piper elbowed him in the gut from her seat next to him. "No funny business."
"OW! Okay, okay." He said with his hand in a mock surrender. I turned back to the blonde next to me as she opened her tablet showing beautiful architectural designs for some buildings. I sucked in a bit of air.
"They're beautiful." I said staring at the designs. She looked over at me with a slight blush on her face. Her face beamed with pride.
"Thanks, they're my own designs." She said before showing me some more. We talked a bit about her designs and I added in some input based on some buildings I've seen while traveling across the country. She confused me a bit asking if I knew who both my parents were but we soon resumed our conversation to her designs. I told her all about my practice and how me and a few of my colleagues bought the hospital.
"Wait, you're Meredith Grey of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?" Asked Annabeth looking me over with a raised eyebrow.
"That's me. You've heard about me?" I asked confused on how a young teenage girl from New York would hear about me all the way in Seattle.
"Heard about you? My uncle won't shut up about you. He gushes on and on about you and your hospital and how you guys basically lift up the domain of healing with your practices." She said laughing. Thunder rumbled in the sky and Percy's eyes flit open staring at the window before closing and relaxing himself again.
"Well, we're thinking of expanding the hospital you know? We could use someone with your talents to help with the designs and constructions assuming you want to?" I said suggesting to her. Her eyes lit up before dimming slightly.
"I'm working on a big project right now for my mom and his dad, but as soon as I'm done I can send you a message." She said.
"No problem. I'll make the proper arrangements and let the board know we have a new architect." I said before making a note on my tablet. I created a new contact in my tablet before handing it to her so she could fill in the information.
"It might take a while for me to respond, but I definitely will when I get the chance." She said while handing me back my tablet. She looked at me properly before pulling me in for a hug. "Thank for all of this."
"Don't mention it. You got talent." I said before we talked a bit more. Quickly, we both started to work on other things before I started to doze off. I shut my tablet down before telling my young companion that I'd be getting some rest and to wake me up before we landed. She nodded before diving back into her designs.
* LINE BREAK *
The crash of thunder woke me from my slumber as the plane lurched downwards with a pulling motion. For a second I thought I was dreaming of the crash again but it wasn't until I heard yelling that I realized this was real. I closed my eyes. Breathe Meredith, breathe and brace for impact.
"YOU GUYS JUST HAD TO TAUNT HIM!" Annabeth hit Percy with a side hand. She shot a glare before putting a hand to her head. "Think Annabeth, we need a plan."
"Jason and Thalia, get this under control. PULL US OUT OF FREEFALL. Percy help them, your dad is known as the storm bringer." I heard Annabeth's voice call over the commotion and the pounding of my heart. "Piper calm the other passengers down."
"Everyone calm down." My breathing slowed as did my heart rate. God, I wish we had that ability in the hospital during rush hour. The girl Piper was trying to calm everyone down while talking over the crowds from her seat.
"Nico and Hazel get ready, in case we need to get out of here through shadows. Will, get your medical supplies out in case it's necessary, and Frank, be on standby if we do land this plane down in the water. I need something big and water friendly." The group of three waved their hands from in front with a 'thumbs up' gesture. A boy, the glowing one, to my right across the aisle was rummaging through his bag before pulling it on his lap. The shadows seemed to deepen in that moment, that or the experience of falling seemed to be playing tricks with my head.
I looked around confused before meeting Annabeth's eyes. Her stormy gray eyes showed no fear as she commanded the group quick and accurate. The spiky-haired girl in silver named Thalia, the blonde-haired named Jason, and Percy all had their eyes closed as if concentrating on something. The momentum of the plane seemed to lessen as we fell towards the approaching water.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" I heard as the trio's eyes snapped open wide. Next thing I know is that we're surrounded by water with all the passengers safely out of the plane and on life boats that are being paddled into the shore off the coast of Seattle, each manned by the young group of campers. I looked at Annabeth as she was typing away on her tablet.
"What happened?" I asked her half not expecting an answer while still feeling slightly groggy.
"We were almost to the airport here in Seattle when we were hit by something." She said before looking up at me. She tried to cover her slip up, "Probably a bird in the propeller. There are few injuries but no deaths."
Percy turned back towards me, "Told you no one would be dying today."
I just hummed an acknowledgment while facing the city and flashing lights of ambulance. Soon enough, with everyone working together, we made it into shore and onto the beaches where paramedics swarmed the occupants of the plane. I looked around searching for the group of kids, the head counselors, as they called themselves only to catch a flash of blonde walking the sand away from the camera and paramedics.
"Hey!" I called. Annabeth turned around only to catch my eye. "Aren't you and your friends going to get checked out?"
"No, we're fine and besides we can get checked out when we get to our sister camp down south!" She called over the sound of the sirens. She ducked away from the flash of a camera. She waved behind her. "See you later Meredith. I'll let you know when I'm done with the designs!"
"You know where to find me, Annabeth. If you ever need help in the area, come to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital!" I called to the disappearing teen. She waved once more before disappearing in the crowds of people. One of the paramedics came to check on me as I argued that I'd be fine. They insisted that I needed to be checked out and get scans before they swiftly shifted people off to the nearest hospital, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
I opened my bag and grabbed my phone, which surprisingly made it through without a scratch, calling ahead to let the others know what to expect. My hands paused on a silver necklace that appeared in my bag attached with a silver owl pendant. A note read the following message:
A gift for good luck, Doctor. Trust me, we'll see each other again. Trust your gut Meredith. Like Percy said, intuition. –Annabeth
I slipped the necklace around my neck as we pulled up to the hospital. The eyes on the pendant twinkled a little as a slight gray aura invisible to the mortal eye extended itself around the body of Meredith Grey.
As the door to my ambulance opened, I was crushed into a hug by Miranda Bailey, Chief of Surgery herself. Doctors, residents, and nurses swarmed through the hospital in a hurried mess although most damages to the patients were taken care of by first-responders and the glowing boy, Will, while on the rafts. Amelia soon came forward wrapping her hands around me and taking me inside the sliding doors. It was good to be home.
