Chapter Nine

A/N: Okay, so I know that it's been forever since I've update and I apologize. I do. Everything has been a little crazy and I just wasn't sure where I was going with this story. But I do now, I have a plan, and I'm putting it in motion.

I hope to have many updates in the coming days but a little note now and then to tell me to get my ass in gear wouldn't hurt either. Thanks for sticking with me (at least I hope you have) and enjoy!! Megan

Chapter Nine

"Oh, my god, Derek, you're happy."

"What," Derek asked. He had been looking over the chart of his afternoon craniotomy when his sister ambushed him by the Nurse's desk.

"I've been trying to figure out what's different about you all day," she told him, "and I figured it out. You are honest to goodness happy, Derek. Congratulations." She smiled at the nurse behind the desk. "Excuse me, Nurse -," Emma peered at the nametag, " – Olivia. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Dr. Riggs, what can I help you with?"

"Do you think Dr. Shepard is happy?"

"Emma," Derek scolded. "Nurse Olivia, you don't have to answer that. In fact, I would rather you didn't. I'm just going to take my sister and leave . . . now." He grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her away from the Nurse's Station. "What was that about?"

"Nurses are so very helpful," Emma said, "and awfully chatty. Did you know? They have all kinds of things to say about you, Derek." His sister's voice was falsely sweet and her smile just a bit too wide to be genuine. He looked at her, trying to figure out what she knew. "I'm hungry, Derek, are we going to dinner anytime soon or should I try to eat something at the cafeteria?"

"You'd willingly eat hospital cafeteria food," Derek asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Unless you plan on feeding me, say, soon."

Derek nodded. "We can do soon. We should go change and get Mark and . . . Meredith. Meredith should come, right?"

Emma giggled. "Yes, Meredith should definitely come. I'm going to change back into actual clothes," she said, looking down at her black scrubs, "and then we can go." Derek nodded, grabbing his cell phone as Emma walked away.

"Mark? Yeah, Emma wants to go to dinner. Sure, see you then." He hung up and went to change.

/ / / / /

Two months later, Derek paced the small stage in one of the gigantic conference rooms at Mt. Lenox Hospital in New York City. Meredith sat nearby going over her notes obsessively. The two of them had experienced several successes with their clinical trail since Emma had returned to New York. As news spread of their success, several hospitals invited them to speak at small conferences they were putting together. Mt. Lenox had been the last on the list because Derek planned to spend a week in New York afterwards. Meredith had enough to be worried about, so she had blocked that particular fact out until after their last presentation.

Derek looked up as the big doors on the other side of the room opened. He watched Emma, long curly hair tumbling down her shoulders, maneuver around the tables and chairs to the stage. She smiled the whole way and Derek couldn't help but smile back. He was such an idiot. He loved his family and he always forgot how much he missed them until he saw them again. His mother had made a trip to Seattle just last month. She hadn't talked to Mark at all, but she had spent time with Derek and met Meredith, with whom she was very happy with.

"Well, don't I get a hug hello," Emma asked, smiling. Her scrub cap had been stuffed into her pocket and the scrub gown she had worn in surgery hung open over her scrubs. Derek hurried quickly down the few steps to wrap her in a bear hug. "Ack, cripes, Derek, watch it," she complained, laughingly. "Hey, Mer," Emma called as Derek put her down. Meredith mumbled a salutation, never looking up.

"She's nervous," Derek whispered. Emma shook her head. "She's done this at least half a dozen times."

"Nervous is good," Emma told him. "Look, I just got out of surgery, so I can't stay long, but I'll be here for your presentation, I wouldn't miss it."

"Dr. Riggs," a voice called from the other side of the room. Derek and Emma rolled their eyes as Meredith ignored the interruption. "Didn't Chief Travers expressively forbid anyone to come into this room until this evening?"

"If that's the case, Doctor Neilson, then what are you doing here," Emma said, rolling her eyes.

Derek smiled. He and Henry Neilson had been interns together and had been battling against each other for over a decade. Neilson was the current Head of Neuro and had been since Derek left. It was the only way the other surgeon would have ever been able to get the position. Since Neilson had never been able to get back at Derek, he had taken to making Emma's life as miserable as possible, especially after Derek was no longer in New York.

Neilson's lips set in a hard line. "May I remind you, Dr. Riggs, that I am an Attending and therefore . . ."

"You're an ass," Emma suggested, innocently. Derek turned his head to hide his smile this time. He may not work at the hospital anymore, but he couldn't be encouraging his sister's bad behavior, even if he approved of it at the moment. "I just came to see my brother before his presentation, Dr. Neilson," Emma sighed, "and now I'm off to find McKay." She turned back to her brother. "You're staying in the guest room, right?" Derek nodded. "You have the key. See you later." She hugged him again, tightly, and ran off through a side door so she wouldn't have to pass Neilson.

Derek turned to look at the other man. Not much had changed in almost two years. "Shepherd," Neilson said, nodding to him.

"Neilson," Derek volleyed back. With that, the other surgeon turned on his heels and out of the room. Derek shook his head. Neilson was an ass. "You'll be wonderful, Meredith," Derek said, sitting down beside her, putting his arm along the back of her chair. "You shouldn't worry so much," he smiled at her.

Meredith looked up just in time to see Derek use his McDreamy smile on her. She melted. Then she swore. Who was he that she melted when he smiled at her. "What's wrong," he asked.

"Quit smiling at me," she hissed, "I need to concentrate."

Derek chuckled at her as his phone rang. "Shepherd," he answered.

"Shep, it's Mark."

"Hey, Mark, what's up?"

"I just told Emma that I would meet you guys for the trip to Mom's for the picnic this weekend," Mark said, sighing. "I didn't even think . . . could you kind of clear the way for me?"

"I'll make a few phone calls. You should have Emma call Tessa though. The two of them are close and she can explain or at least sway her. I'll call Kathleen a little later and go from there," Derek said. "It'll be okay. Did you get a flight?"

"Yeah, I leave in a few hours. I'll be there in the morning. I'm sorry to put this on you, man, but I . . ."

"Listen, they won't talk to you, so I'll do it for you," Derek said. "Don't worry about it, I got your back." Mark sighed. "Don't worry so much, if I got over it why should they still be mad?"

"Because no one holds a grudge better than a Shepherd woman," Mark told him. "You know that. Remember when we were seven and we buried Nancy and Kathleen's dolls in the backyard? They didn't talk to us for months."

"It was a quiet few months," Derek commented.

"Whatever. Thanks, man, I'll see you later." They hung up. Derek smiled to himself and went back to doing last minute preparations for the presentation. He was busy meeting people and catching up with old acquaintances before he knew what was going on. Then there was the business of introducing Meredith and making sure she got the credit she deserved so people wouldn't paint her as riding on his coattails.

Hours later, they were nearly done with their presentation. It would be the last one for a while and Derek was looking forward to the mini-vacation with his family. It honored him that so many surgeons that he knew, that he admired, had come to hear what he had to say, had come to hear what they had accomplished. He was just starting his closing thoughts, when the doors on the other side of the room opened and Emma walked in. She wore a little black dress, her hair down, and she carried her high heels in one hand as she walked through the room. He rolled his eyes when he noticed a lot of the older surgeons eyeing his sister. They had been eyeing Meredith most of the night, too.

"Dr. Riggs," Derek said, stopping his presentation, "perhaps you could find your seat quickly so we could continue the presentation."

"Dr. Shepherd, perhaps you are too easily distracted," she countered back, smiling. The occupants of the room chuckled, but the Chief of Surgery turned and glared at her. "Well, continue on, don't let little old me stop you," she said, making her way to the table near the front. The Chief of Surgery leaned over and whispered in her ear. Derek noticed that instead of looking chastised, she was smiling.

He finished up his speech, thanking everyone for their time, and was moving away from the podium when someone grabbed his arm. "Hold on, now, Dr. Shepherd," Emma said, pulling him back, "we aren't quite finished. For those of you who haven't figured it out, I'm Dr. Emmeline Riggs. And it's on behalf of Chief Travers and Mt. Lenox Hospital of New York City, I'd like to present these plaques of Appreciation to Dr. Derek Christopher Shepherd and Dr. Meredith Elizabeth Grey for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their new discovery with us. And also on behalf of Mt. Lenox Hospital and its staff, along with the participants at today's conference, I would like to wish Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Grey many continued successes in the future." She handed them the plaques, ignoring protocol and hugging them both instead of shaking hands. "Great job, Dr. Grey," Emma whispered.

"Thanks. I was so nervous," Meredith confessed. The Q & A session that happened before Emma had gotten there and Meredith hadn't been sure that she would be able to focus. She had done wonderfully, though, and the session had gone off as well as could be expected.

"Travers said you were very professional," Emma commented. "No show me which jerk tried to say that you were using your personal relationship to get ahead professionally."

"It's not necessary, Emma," Meredith tried to tell her.

"Nonsense," Emma cut her off, "your family now. Point the way." Under the guise of introducing Meredith personally to a number of highly successful surgeons, Emma waited patiently for Meredith to point the perpetrator out. "Dr. McKay, may I introduce Dr. Meredith Grey. Dr. Grey, this is Dr. Thaddeus McKay, Head of Cardio here at Mt. Lenox."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Meredith said, shaking the doctor's hand.

"Yes," Thaddeus agreed, "it is." The three of them stood together, each sipping from a glass of chilled champagne when Emma stopped. Behind her Travers, Derek, and Henry Neilson stood talking with two Professors from Bowden University, Derek's Alumni.

As Thaddeus and Meredith discussed the development of the technique used in the procedure, Emma eavesdropped on the conversation behind her.

"Well, Travers, it must be great to have Shepherd back on familiar ground," Professor Adams said.

"Seattle is lovely," Derek spoke up, "and very rewarding."

"Yes, I imagine it's wonderful to give your girlfriend extra surgeries," Neilson said, bitterly.

"I don't do that. She came to me with the idea . . ."

"Now, now, boys, fight nicely," Professor Black cut in. "It must be nice, Travers, to not have to worry about who is taking your place when you step down next week. There's only one candidate even interested in the position with McKay taking the position at Royal Savoy and the other Attendings wanting to spend time with their families."

"Yes, it was exceedingly easy," Travers agreed, readily, "but we're still considering a few outside candidates." Neilson scowled.

Emma reached out and grabbed Thaddeus' arm to steady herself. She knew that the Head of her department was moving to England in the coming weeks, he had spent the last couple months convincing her to come with him, but no one had said a word about Travers stepping down. "Emma, are you okay," Thaddeus whispered, "you look pale."

"Travers is leaving," she asked, barely audible.

"You weren't supposed to find out yet," he said, putting an arm around her waist and making sure she stayed upright. "Let's go, I think your day has been long enough. Dr. Grey are you sticking around or did you want to call it a night as well?"

"Let me just get Derek . . ."

Thaddeus nodded and led Emma out of the room to grab her belongings from her locker.

Meredith eased herself into the conversation, standing by Derek's side.

"So, Dr. Grey," a man that was introduced to her as Professor Adams said, "you must be very proud of what you accomplished."

Meredith nodded. "It was a lot of extra hours," she commented, "but well worth it. This procedure will save the lives of hundreds in the coming years, the lives of people who wouldn't otherwise have a chance. Dr. Shepherd, may I speak to you a moment?" Derek excused them and let her guide him away. "I'm not sure what happened, but Emma got really pale. It was something about Travers . . . Dr. McKay said he was taking her home."

"We should probably go, too. This thing could last all night. Let me just let Travers know and we can go." Meredith waited patiently, graciously accepting congratulations as she stood there. Derek was ready to go fifteen minutes later and they headed to the Fellow's locker room to find Emma and Thaddeus. They found Emma on a bench as Thaddeus packed her bag to go home.

Derek knew that Travers was planning on leaving, it was one of the many reasons Travers had insisted that Derek and Meredith make Mt. Lenox one of their stops. Travers and Richard Webber had been talking over the last two weeks and had been busy making arrangements for Emma to transfer to Seattle Grace and finish her Fellowship with Erica Hahn. Emma didn't know any of that, though, and he imagined his mother would have a few words to say about all of that. Derek thought of something to cheer her up.

"Hey, Emma," he said, talking softly with a cheerful undertone as if he was talking to one of her small daughters instead, "guess what? Mark will be here in the morning. Won't that be great? You'll get to see Mark soon." Emma didn't say anything. She just sat there, staring at nothing.

"Hey, Emma," Meredith said, figuring she could try, "let's go home." Emma stood up and walked out of the locker room. They shrugged at each other and followed her, Thaddeus closing her locker as he walked by.