Derek Shepherd looked impatiently at his $3,000.00 Rolex watch. Great, they were late. Just perfect, he thought.

Addison sighed. She knew better than to say anything. His mood was volatile at best. He wasn't abusive, mentally or physically, he just was always in a terse mood. It had been that way for 3 years now… since she had persuaded him to leave Seattle and return to New York to give their marriage a real shot. Seeing as they had just come from their divorce lawyer, that hadn't worked out so well. He had tried…they both had, but their marriage was beyond repair. It was her fault. She had cheated first…with his best friend…who they worked with as attendings here at Mount Sinai. That was oh so much fun. None of them would talk to the other unless it was about work. Not that Derek cared. He didn't care about anything anymore. He was still one of the best neurosurgeons in the world, but he wasn't himself, like when he smiled it didn't reach his eyes. If she was to be completely honest with herself, it hadn't since he left Seattle…since he left her. The tiny blond that haunted his subconscious. They had decided to throw in the towel around six months ago. The divorce would be finalized next week. It had been drug out for some unforeseen reasons such as property. She was fighting to let him have his fair share because he obviously didn't care if he lived in a dark alley. He refused everything. He just wanted out. So she had given in, but refused alimony. In time, she really hoped they could be friends. That was what she missed more than anything…her friend. He was unhappy and she hated that. She knew it was partly her fault. She just didn't think it possible for him to love someone that much that he had only known for a couple of months. She sighed again.

"What's wrong?" He said curtly not looking up from his Blackberry.

"I miss my friend…I miss the Derek you used to be." She said simply.

"Well, I miss…" He cut off his sentence, took a deep breath and started again. "I'm sorry Addie. I don't mean to be…indifferent or insensitive. I will try to be more…personable." He tried to smile but it failed halfway through. His eyes revealed his agony. He blinked and suddenly his eyes changed showing his normal blank expression.

She looked at him. He was so handsome. He was 42 years old and in great shape. His hair was still as plentiful as ever, dark with gray streaks starting as his temples. He still had the crooked nose that she thought always made him that much more rugged. His smile was her favorite part of his looks, but she hadn't seen a genuine one in…forever. Her favorite part of his personality was also gone. The teasing and natural charm that could have any woman melt into a puddle at his feet…gone.

"We have a meeting with our interim residents that we are now five minutes late for. Do you know where they are from?" He asked breaking her out of her reverie.

"Oh…somewhere from the West Coast, I think." She responded listlessly.

The elevator arrived on their floor and they headed towards the conference room to meet their new residents.

*************************************

"Alex, put that back!" Mer demanded as Alex took an award off of the wall.

"Yes, mommy." He returned as he came to sit by her with their backs facing the door.

"Well, the interns are not that bad." Mer said.

"Okay, one of mine actually asked me what placenta previa was. He is on rectals today." Alex smiled devilishly.

"Alex, what am I going to do with you?"

"I can think of several things." He said waggling his eyebrows. The door opened.

"Good, you're here. We didn't want to have to chase you down." The annoyed masculine voice said.

Meredith stiffened. Her breathing became slightly shallow. Alex looked at her in concern, the new attendings forgotten.

"Mer? What is wrong?" He whispered.

"Derek, really. You said you would work on being personable." Addison admonished.

"I meant with you." He said.

Alex straightened up. Oh. My. God. It was him. The man who had single handedly ripped out Mer's heart and stomped on it a few times for good measure. His blood began to boil. Then he calmed down. Mer. He had to concentrate on Mer. He wouldn't let her fall apart. Not in front of this jerk. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear.

"Get it together. Don't let him see what he has done to you. Suck it up Grey. Just follow my lead. I will take care of you, okay?"

Mer looked at Alex and nodded. She took a deep breath and let it out. Her eyes closed and then opened leaving a blank expression in them.

"Hello? Can you speak?" Derek said impatiently.

Alex stood up and turned to face them. Derek's eyes widened in recognition.

"Alex?" He gasped.

"It is Dr. Karev." Alex said tersely. Addison looked between the two. What the hell? This guy looked familiar but she couldn't for the life of her figure out where she knew him. This Dr. Karev looked like he wanted to commit premeditated homicide on Derek.

"What is going on?" She finally asked when no one spoke.

"Hello again, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd." Alex said to her emphasizing Shepherd distastefully as if he couldn't bear for the word to leave his lips.

"Have we met?" She asked confused and quite frankly a little scared.

"Oh, so you forget people easily, do you? Well, that is okay. The only reason I remember you is because I hate you so much."

Addison gasped. She looked at Derek who had seemed to forget he was still present in the room. His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply as if he smelled something pleasant.

"Stop it, Alex." A soft but clear voice rang out in the infinite quiet of the room as Meredith stood up and decided to make herself known.

Addison went completely still. It couldn't be…after all this time, she stood face to face with the woman in her husband's dreams and her nightmares. Time had not touched her. She was still interestingly beautiful as when Addison had first met her. The only difference was her eyes were dead, just like Derek's.

"Meredith?" Derek asked disbelievingly. She was standing in front of him, just as beautiful as the day he met her. He smiled…for the first time in 3 long years…he really smiled.

"Dr. Shepherd." She said stiffly. She would not break, she would not break, she said over and over in her head. She would not let him see the damage he had inflicted. She wouldn't give either of them the satisfaction in knowing they had broken her.

"How have you been?" He asked, everyone else in the room disappearing. Only he and she remained. She had been an angel in his dreams for so long. Was she really here or did seeing Alex conjure her up in his mind?

"Fine."

"What is your specialty? You are a fourth year, right? How long are you here for?" His brain exploded with all the questions he had for her.

"You know what? We don't have to do the thing." She said.

"We can do anything you want." He smirked remembering this particular conversation.

"This…the reminiscing, pretending you care about me bullshit. I am Neuro, which I take to mean that I have to work with your sorry ass. Lucky me. So can we just get this over with so I can leave…please."

Alex looked at Mer. Maybe she didn't need backup after all. However, he just saw a golden opportunity to make Derek suffer.

"Mer, honey…calm down. I don't want my girl getting upset." He said meaningfully to her. He took her hand in his and caressed it softly. She got it instantly, thank god, or he would looked like an idiot.

"I know. I'm sorry Alex. Thank god I have you here to keep my temper in check." She said sweetly thanking him with her eyes.

"You two are…together?" Derek asked, painfully awaiting the answer he knew was coming.

"Yeah, for what…three years now Mer?" Alex said as he looked at Mer adoringly.

"Oh…um…more like two and a half. Honey." She said awkwardly.

"Two and a half blissful years together. I guess I shouldn't be mad at you. Your leaving gave me the perfect opportunity to get right in there. So thank you…really from the bottom of my heart. So, how have you two been?" Alex asked.

"We are getting divorced." Addison spoke up. She watched Meredith's face closely for her reaction. Other than a little twitch, nothing. Alex however winced as her grip became lethal.

"Oh, really? I am so sor…you know what I cant even finish that sentence. It's not nice to lie." Meredith said breezily.

Addison looked at Derek, but he was no help. He just looked at Meredith like someone told him he could have ten million dollars and then yanked it out of his sight as soon as he reached for it.

"Okay. If Mer…Dr. Grey is Neuro that means that you, Dr. Karev, are Gynecology and Obstetrics. We all have patients to see, so we had better get on with it."

"I am not leaving her alone with your husband…oh excuse me, ex-husband."

"Alex, I will be fine. Go with Dr. Montgomery-Shep…Dr. Montgomery and I will go with…him and I will see you at home. Okay?"

"Okay, but if he tries anything…"

"I will take care of it."

"Alright." Alex said agreeing.

Meredith looked at Derek and sighed.

"Let's go." She walked to the door and got halfway into the hall.

"What? No kiss." Meredith stopped as she heard Alex. He couldn't be serious. She turned around and walked back to Alex and leaned up to kiss his cheek. He smiled at her wickedly.

"You have to be more convincing than that..." He whispered.

He ran his fingers through her silken strands and leaned down and took her lips with his. He left no part of her mouth untouched. She felt that kiss down to her toes. He let her go and she had to grab on to him for support.

Addison just gaped and Derek had to turn around…either that or vomit at the sight of someone kissing his Meredith.

"Now, you have a good day babe and I will see you at home." Alex said to a recovering Mer. Then he looked at Derek, who had turned back around.

"Sorry, I just had to mark my territory and that was much more fun than pissing on her."

Meredith jabbed her elbow into his side. He winced. Damn she had some bony elbows.

"Behave." She hissed. She walked back to the door and with her head held up and her cheeks a fiery red, she looked at Derek.

"Well, are you ready?"

"Yeah." He said miserably. They left with him leading the way.

Alex turned to look at Addison who looked as she had aged in the past 15 minutes. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

"So…are you ready or not?"

"Oh…yeah, let's go." She said forcing a smile. She led Alex out of the room and decided to focus on work. That was all she had now anyway.