I'm back! Vacation was most wonderful, but I am more than happy to be home! So, there is a bit of a time jump in this chapter, it's been about a month since the last chapter. So Tessa has been missing for about five weeks now. I realize there is a bit of a mix-up in the timeline so I wanted to clear it up. I'm putting the arrival of the Shepherd's around season eight, because I want Amelia working there. Everything in the show has happened, just without Derek and Addison. I realize this confuses things, but it will work out for the best. Here's the next chapter!

Addison was fine. She hadn't seen her daughter in over a month. She had no idea where she was, if she was hurt, if she was even alive. But, she was fine. Sure, in that month, she averaged about three hours of sleep a night, but she was fine. Addison had to be fine or Derek and Amelia wouldn't let her go back to the hospital. And Addison needed an OR to be fine. She needed screaming laboring women, the comfort of a sterile OR, and the general hum of the hospital to not get lost in the dark fog of her mind. Addison needed the hospital.

Derek had taken to hovering over her at home and at work. He walked her to her office every morning and he waited for her until she scrubbed out of her last surgery of the day. Her overbearingly sweet husband tried to eat every meal with Addison. If he was unable to join her for lunch in the hospital cafeteria because he was in the middle of saving someone's life, Derek would apologize profusely until she assured him to the point of madness it was alright. The only thing that made it difficult to be at work was the Look. Every nurse, resident, and intern gave her the same look. The "I'm sorry your daughter was kidnapped" look that even the most helpless intern had mastered. Addison was sick of it.

She was sick of being handed the Look and a scalpel at the start of every surgery. She was sick of it. The red head stood at the nurse's station, filling in a patient's chart at the end of a surprisingly slow day. One surgery all day had left her with a lot of time to think. Thinking was bad. Thinking meant her mind was focused on Tessa. It meant that she pondered if her daughter was alive. It meant she prayed to every God there was that she wasn't being hurt. And strangely, if her daughter was alone. Tessa hated being on her own. Addison hoped with all her being that wherever her sweet daughter was, she was with someone she could trust.

As she finished her updates to the chart, the surgeon's diligent eyes flickered up to the two nurses sitting in front of her. They were doing what bored nurses did best: gossip. Addison paused in her writing to listen to today's topic, the good doctor herself. "Can you imagine? The poor girl was taken right outside her office, right outside! How can she even stand to come back here?"

The nurse's counterpart nodded pityingly. "I know. Lucy scrubbed in with her on her first surgery back, and she said that Montgomery was like a robot. Scrubbed in, cut, and scrubbed out. Didn't say a single word."

The two women shook their heads in pity. "She was so nice before. Knew the nurse's names that were in the OR with her, talked with them, and always said please and thank you, which is more than you get from a lot of surgeons."

"It's shame, such a shame that her daughter was ripped out of her life and she became a robot, huh?"

Addison stared unfazed at the blushing nurses. They jumped at the surgeon's voice and shared guilty looks before turning towards her, sputtering apologies. "Dr. Montgomery- Shepherd, we're so sorry, we didn't see you there."

Addison raised her eyebrows skeptically before speaking again. "You're sorry you got caught gossiping about my family's tragedy like last night's episode of The Bachelor. You're sorry that I heard, not about the content of which you were discussing. And I am sorry that I'm not the same Dr. I was a month ago, but having the most precious thing in your heart suddenly missing tends to change you a little bit. I am sorry that my life slowly falling apart is making you uncomfortable!"
Her voice rang out across the entire floor, catching everyone's attention. The nurses gave each other uneasy glances before trying to offer more empty apologies. Addison held up her hand before muttering, "Save it" and walking away.

"Addison! Wait up!"

Footsteps pounded after her, but the woman didn't bother acknowledging them. Her feet carried her to the empty stairwell and she sat down with the weight of the world pushing her down. The owner of the feet finally caught up with her. It was a huffing Alex.

"How do you manage to run so fast in those damned heels?"

Addison closed her eyes and cradled her head in her hands. "Did you want something, Karev?" Her friend sat down on the step on her left and rubbed his large hand on her back comfortingly.

"Yeah, I wanted to check on you. I've been meeting to tell you to stay away from the nurse's station. They've been worse than ever."

Addison transferred the weight of her head from her trembling hands to Karev's steady shoulder. "It's almost enough to make me want to stay home, honestly. The only thing that keeps me from staying home is that I would most certainly go crazy. I can't stand being home. Whenever I'm home alone, I end up camped out on the couch waiting for her to come waltzing through the door, even though I know she won't. Even though I know I probably will nev-"

"No!"

Karev turned to grab his mentor by her shoulders firmly. "We both know she's gonna come back."

Addison had made a pact to never cry while in the hospital, but all this talk of her daughter instantly brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away as Alex stared her down. His grip on her arm softened from firm to comforting as he helped her stand up. "C'mon, let's get you to Derek, ok?"

As strong as Addison was trying to be, Alex could see her tough exterior beginning to crack. He wanted to save his friend the embarrassment of breaking down in front of the entire surgical floor. He was surprised when she didn't protest, until he got a look at her face. It was unreadable; not a single emotion visible. The pair turned to go up the single of flight of stairs to Addison's office. When Karev opened the door to the office floor, they were met with a concerned Derek.

"Addie?"

Alex passed the barley holding it together woman to Derek, who embraced her tightly. He murmured soothing words in his wife's red hair as he led her to his office. Alex sighed as he watched the Addison fight the storm of tears from escaping. That was the strongest woman he knew, and he found himself asking why the universe continued to deal her the horrible hand it had. He was so lost in thought; he didn't hear Meredith approach him.

"She ok? I heard there was an incident with the nurses." Alex sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know how much she can take. She just keeps getting hit with these knock out blows and she keeps getting back up, but I don't know how many more times she can crawl back to her feet."

Meredith pursed her lips in pity. Tessa was adored by the entire hospital; they had all watched her grow up. The whole hospital felt her kidnap like a sharp blow. Meredith had her Zola even though she checked on her multiple times during the day, an even though she knew her daughter was perfectly safe, an inkling of fear crawled up her spine every time she walked into the daycare. She heard a sniffle and looked at Alex. He was crying. Her big, rough and tough person was crying. Without a second thought, the tiny blonde wrapped her arms around his torso and reached a slim hand up to stroke his hair. He sobbed into her hair, "I lost her too. I lost her too, Mer."

Alex pulled himself together quickly, and broke from Meredith before hurrying back down the stairwell and out of the hospital. Out in the cold night air, he let his thoughts wander to Tessa. He liked kids, all kids. He liked how innocent and honest they were. Kids were so much better than adults. Tessa was no exception. Karev had met his future partner in crime when Derek had become head of neuro three years ago. He personally thought that Derek was an arrogant jerk surgeon, but Tessa had a way of bringing out the best in people without them knowing. She'd certainly done that to him.

Alex Karev sighed as he studied the surgery board. Not a single slot had his name written there. Which, he supposed was a good thing; no children needed life-saving surgery. A flicker of movement on his left caught his attention. A young girl, thirteen at the most, was reading the board with narrowed eyes. Karev cleared his throat loudly, making the girl turn her attention to him. Her voice was bored when she said, "Can I help you?"

He was surprised by her boldness. He was the doctor, wasn't he? It was his job to ask that question, not some snot nosed brat. "Yeah, you could inform me on who the hell you are and why you're looking at my OR board."

The girl rolled her eyes dramatically before answering. "I'm waiting for my father to get out of surgery. I've been sitting in the waiting room for six hours. I wanted to know when he would be finished."

Karev felt like an idiot. He'd just yelled at a little girl who was probably scared out of her mind. "Hey, I'm sorry I yelled. That was uncalled for. How bout I take you down to the cafeteria and get you whatever you want."

The young girl smirked as she considered her answer. She might as well have some fun. She turned so her back was facing Karev and worked herself up to cry. When she turned back, tears were pooling in her eyes and her lower lip was quivering. "Yes, please."

Karev smiled gently to comfort her as he guided her to the cafeteria. "You wanna tell me your name?" Alex asked as she loaded down her plate. She looked like any other teenager to him, albeit dressed a bit nicer. The sweater she wore was obviously designer, but her jeans were faded and ripped and her knee length boots were scuffed. Her long dark hair was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. As she scooped a large spoonful mac 'n cheese on her plate she smile and said, "Tessa."

Karev flashed his he usually reserved for patients at her. "Tessa, huh? That's a pretty name."

A piece of chocolate cake made its way on to her tray. Tessa smirked. "Thanks. Got for my birthday."

Karev chuckled; it was something he would say. His eyes widened as she placed every dessert available on her tray. The kid could eat. Karev paid for her meal and they picked a table. Karev watched her pack away a slice of pizza, two slices of pie, and a thick piece of cake. "What kind of surgery is your daddy having?"

Tessa paused in her grazing; she'd forgotten what she was going to say. "Oh, a craniotomy."

Karev raised his eyebrows in surprise. Brain surgery was kind of a big deal. He had expected something a little more mundane, gallbladder removal, or even a heart surgery, but not brain surgery. "Wow, that's kind of scary, but Dr. Shepherd is the best there is. He's kind of a neuro god."

Tessa smirked; it was funny to hear other doctors talk about her father. She knew his reputation, but he was no neuro god to her, he was just her dad. "So I've heard." They had been in Seattle for a couple of months, and she although she hated to admit it, she liked it here. She hadn't seen her Uncle Richard in years, Tessa could hardly remember him, and this hospital was nicer than Mt. Sinai. But, she missed her mother. Derek refused to let his daughter speak to Addison, even though Tessa knew her mother called often. Her super surgeon father seemed happy here, though, that was good. It had been a while since her father had been happy.

"Shouldn't someone else be here with you? Is there someone I could call?" Tessa snapped back to the cafeteria and Karev. He was watching her intently, waiting for an answer. "N-no. There's nobody. I mean, there's somebody but I can't-it's complicated. There's just me for now."

Karev frowned, he was confused. "How is it complicated? There's either someone for me to call or not."

Tessa folded her arms, huffing. This random doctor didn't need to know her confusing family life. "There's no one to call."

"That's not true." A deep voice startled both of them. Tessa and Alex froze at the sight of a frowning chief.

"Uncle Richard!"

"Chief!"

The dignified chief of surgery stood in front of their table. "What do you mean there's nobody to call for you? You and your father have been here for two months, and I have seen neither hide nor hair of your mother. Where is she, Tessa?"

Karev looked at the shame faced Tessa and angry chief in confusion. "Wait a minute. You to know each other?" he turned towards Tessa in anger. "Is your father really having surgery?"

The little girl twisted her hands together nervously. She looked to Richard, but saw that he was waiting for an answer as well. She sighed, knowing the game was over.

"Technically, yes he is in surgery. He's performing the surgery."

Karev felt his jaw drop. "Your father is Derek Shepherd?! I just bought Derek Shepherd's kid 30 bucks worth of food? You could buy the whole freaking hospital a meal!"

The angry young surgeon pushed away from the table before storming off. Tessa saw the chief sit down next to her and begin to eat a brownie she'd picked up. "So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?"

She turned her chair to face the older man, advising him that what she was about to say was serious. "Uncle Richard, what did dad say when we came here?"

The chief blinked in surprise; what an odd time to ask. "Just that he needed a change of scenery. That he was tired of New York."

Tessa narrowed her eyes. "Is that all?" When Richard nodded, Tessa smiled without any happiness in it. "He really hid the details, huh? He lied, Uncle Richard, at least partially. Dad left New York because of Mom. He left her. That's why she's not here. He took me with him and dragged me here, away from all I know because he was angry. Now, he hides in the OR all day, and leaves me to wander around the hospital all day!"

Richard chewed his brownie thoughtfully as Tessa informed of his friend's real reason for accepting the job. "Why did he leave her?"

"Because I slept with Mark." A cool, calm voice spoke from behind Tessa. The young girl spun around in astonishment. "Mom!" Tessa jumped into her mother's arms, burying her face in her mother's fur coat.

"Hey,Tessa. Oh, I've missed you so much, baby." Addison wrapped her arms around her daughter tightly and pressed a kiss to her dark hair. The two months they had been apart were awful and Addison was very reluctant to release her from the hug. "How have you been? Are you ok? God, I am never letting you out of my sight again."

Addison kept Tessa tucked tightly against her side as she turned to greet Richard. "Hello, Richard. It's nice to see you. I'd love to catch up, but I really need to spend time with my daughter. Tell Derek she's with me?"

Mother and daughter walked happily out of the hospital, arm in arm. As they were getting into Addison's cab, Tessa saw Karev walking across the parking lot. She told her mother to hold on, and raced to catch up to him.

"Wait! Dr. Karev! I'm sorry I lied to you. I was just trying to have some fun. I'll pay you back."

Karev froze. He hadn't expected an apology from the brat, but she was obviously sincere. He smiled to let her know they were all good, and then tensed in surprise when Tessa wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I'll see you again, right?"

Tessa smiled brightly when Karev nodded and raced to join her mother again. Karev shook his head and smiled as the cab drove away; taking who he was sure was going to be his new best friend home. "I like her spunk."