AN: I knooow, the ending was slightly unrealistic. But I just needed a way for Peter to get Addison again to get the ball rolling. Anyway, someone asked me what happened to the all the money. Unfortunately, it's still under the water, in an airtight briefcase that's waterproof and stainless steel (because a Forbes-Montgomery could afford it. teehee.) Maybe I'll bring it up in the next chapters.

Thanks all so much for the reviews! They all mean a lot considering how I'm losing my mind with my academics. :| Haha.

There. thanks so much for reading and hope you like it! (I doubt anyone reads ANs at the top of the story. If you do though, HELLO!)

- I own nothing.

Derek squinted at the bright lights surrounding him, disoriented at the lack of remembrance. He fought against the urge to go back to sleep, blinking his eyes rapidly and shaking off the slumber.

He groaned, frustrated, as his sight adjusted to his surroundings, only then realizing that he was at the hospital, a patient himself. His eyes shifted from side to side, realizing he wasn't alone, and that Meredith and the chief were beside him.

"Derek," Meredith exhaled, a smile dancing on her features. "You're awake."

He stared past her, meeting Richard's uncertain gaze. "Chief," he said, his voice hoarse. "What happened?"

Richard narrowed his eyes and sighed, hoping he wouldn't be the one to have that conversation with him. He stepped forward, past Meredith, and took a seat by his bed. "You remember nothing?"

Derek closed his eyes in thought before realization dawned on him. He had to take a deep, calming breath before trusting himself to speak unwaveringly. "Where's Addison? How is she?" he asked hurriedly, his voice pained with raw emotion. "What happened?" he demanded.

The chief sighed again. It seemed that nowadays, all he did was sigh in grief, his hope diminishing by the hour. "Peter Jones has taken her."

"And Tony?" he asked, referring to his father in law. He briefly remembered taking a bullet for him and his wife.

He shook his head. "He didn't make it. Cardiac arrest," he explained. "I'm sorry."

The neurosurgeon gulped, shaking his head in defeat. "Have you found Addison?"

"Derek… we got her to the hospital. We got her through the surgery. Hell, we even got her to her recovery room. But Peter Jones is a clever man, and he was able to take her without anyone noticing." He couldn't quite believe it himself, how something that big had escaped anyone's notice. Someone should've paid more attention, or at the very least noticed that something was out of the ordinary. But alas, no one knew what happened, and he was left with the bitter realization that his hospital was far less competent than he had made it to be.

Derek furrowed his brow in absolute confusion. "But ho—"

"We don't know," he stated, holding his hand up. "Sanders believes he took her back to wherever it is that he brought the two of you. You're going to have to help us locate it."

"But Addison is… she's in danger, goddamnit!" he yelled, feeling the anger rising as he struggled against the multiple bandages covering his body. "Why have you not found her? Why was she unsupervised in the first place? Someone tell me what the hell is going on!"

Richard laid a firm and steady hand on his shoulder. "You're going to have to take it easy, Shep. In case you haven't noticed, you're at the ICU. You'll need more rest and more medical care. So if I were you, I would get better so I could start being useful. We're all worried about Addie, and you can't help until you're perfectly healthy enough to."

"She's my wife!" he said indignantly. "I can help while I'm here."

The chief sighed. "I don't doubt that. But Addison would want you to think about yourself first before putting yourself in danger. Please, for her sake and everyone else's, get better. Bizzy is worrying her head off about you and Addie. She's controlling her grief over Anthony. And all the help she's getting is going to be from Archer and me. So you're going to have to be a good patient and suck it up until you're better."

Derek's eyes started to water, the realization that Addison was not out of danger while he was getting better hitting him full force. He couldn't, for the life of him, imagine living his life without Addison. Fear filled his body at the very thought of Addison being left alone with the sadistic creep whose head was too high up his ass to actually believe Addison was payback. "I just want her back," he admitted quietly, his head shaking in despair.

The older man closed his eyes for a moment, not prepared for the way Derek's emotions would hit him. Derek's sudden passion for his wife surprised him and Meredith, and he tried to control his own floodgates at the thought of Derek's care being too late. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know you want her back. We all do. But hang in there. We won't lose her."

-

Addison stirred in her sleep, her hands tied behind her alarming her to consciousness, and she jolted awake. Her eyes moved from up and down, right and left, trying to make sense of what she was aware of. The hospital gown, the cast, her hands tied behind her, the dark room she hoped was just dream… it was all so vivid. She couldn't comprehend how the equation didn't seem to fit at all.

Behind her, Peter cleared his throat, a solemn look on his face. He stood up, feeling Addison's fearful gaze following him. He sat directly in front of Addison, handing her a water bottle and a sandwhich. It was thoughtful gesture, in retrospect, considering how he was supposed to play the cliche kidnapper and Addison was her hostage.

"You're confused," he stated, his voice emotionless.

Addison nodded, her heart pounding. "I am," she admitted, too wary to consider the danger of replying.

"I am, too. I thought… I thought I'd feel vindicated. But I don't."

"Excuse me?"

Peter bowed his head. "Your father is dead. He died following the car accident. I'm sorry."

For the first time, Addison detected the sincerity and honesty in his voice. She didn't know why, but she believed him, she believed he was sorry indeed. But that didn't stop her eyes from automatically filling with tears, or heart contorting in fury and hate. She was shocked to say the least, and hurt and angry and downright disbelieving. "No…" she whispered in resolute denial. "You're lying. He's not… he's not dead! He's—"

"Damn it!" he snapped suddenly. "He's dead! Because of a fucking cardiac arrest! And do you know what frustrates me to no end? It's that I don't feel fulfilled! The goal was to kill him, to make him pay! And now that he's dead, I can't even begin to comprehend why I'm still the empty shell of the man I used to be."

Addison cowered in fear, tears falling freely from her eyes. She didn't bother wiping them, because she knew they would continue to fall until she found closure. She shook her head, her heart not wanting to believe it. "No…"

He sighed. "I'm not as heartless as you think I am," he whispered after a moment's pause, staring at the wall. "I'm doing this for my family."

"Killing me and my father would not bring you justice," Addison said harshly, her voice laced with loathing. Her father was dead, and she felt guilty. A million if only's ran through her conscious mind, gripping her and eating her slowly as she tried to accept it. But she couldn't, not when she knew she could have done something to stop it.

"I know. But as a man, I have to finish what I started." He stood, pacing. "Your Derek is okay, by the way. He's at Seattle Grace, safe. I promise I'm not after him anymore." He meant it, of course. He didn't care about Derek anymore. All he cared about was finding the faith he once held on to again, so that he could move forward with his life.

Addison nodded, comforted, but only minutely. Her mind was still otherwise preoccupied by her father's fate. "You killed my father."

Peter nodded. "I have yet to decide if I'm sorry about that or not."

-

"Derek…" Meredith said unsurely, taking a seat beside him after Richard had left. She reached to take his hand but he flinched away, his head still trying to make sense of what was happening. "I'm sorry about Addison's dad."

Derek nodded. "I am too."

"And about Addison."

A pained expression crossed his features. "She's… everything. If I lose her now… I'd be too lost to find my way."

Meredith sucked in a breath, shaking her head at Derek's obvious love for his wife. "I'll be here to help you find your way."

"But only Addison knows me. Only she can help me find my way." He turned his head and met Meredith's gaze. "I'm sorry, Meredith. I… this whole ordeal made me realize a lot of things; the top of which being that Addison's the love of my life, and that stringing along two women is cowardly of me."

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, confusion and the sudden realization of Dereks' feelings dawning on her. She didn't want to believe, and tried to deny it until he heard Derek say it directly.

"What I'm saying is… I'm done chasing you, Meredith. You deserve someone who'll shower you with the affection you deserve, not the empty hope I've been giving you these past months. And certainly not the lying bastard that I am now. And Addison… she deserves the best from me. I'm her husband, and I want her to have the best. You're… you're free. I'm giving you the space to move on, like you wanted me to since you found out about Addison. I just… can't be a man fully committed to you because I'll always be tied to Addison's memory." He sighed, looking at Meredith apologetically. "I'm sorry."

She struggled to keep the tears at bay. What hurt the most was that she recognized the wisdom behind Derek's words, and that she indeed needed to let go so that she could move forward with someone she truly deserved. Meredith nodded, pursing her lips in at attempt to keep her emotions in. "You really love her, don't you?"

He nodded fervently without hesitation. "With my whole life."

"You were willing to die for her," she said, referring to the bullet he took for her.

"I'd rather die than live without her."

Meredith nodded understandingly. "Make it worth it, okay? Make all of this worth the pain and the suffering. Make sure you spend the rest of your life proving your love to her, so I'm not left to wonder what if." She smiled at him through the tears starting to fall. "I know for a fact you'll be the Derek she fell in love with, only this time, you guys are going to make it to forever."

-

"So? Any leads?"

Sanders shook his head; not believing the failure this mission was turning out to be. "Once Dr. Shepherd's strong enough to talk, we can track down the place and find them."

Bizzy shook her head, her body poised amid the emotions running wild. She was dressed in black from head to toe, not hiding her grieving from the world. She had just lost her husband, and the possibility of finding her daughter was getting slimmer by the hour. "That's not enough. You can't just rely on Derek. What if he doesn't remember? You're going to need to find a Plan B."

The detective sighed. "We're doing our best."

"I've heard that before," she snapped, her eyes ablaze with anger. "You said that before and now my husband is dead, in a crate and being shipped off to Hartford for a funeral my daughter may not even be able to attend."

"Mrs. Montgomery, with all due respect, we are human, too. We make mistakes, and sometimes, these mistakes are at the price of someone's life. But don't think that we're taking the situation lightly. It is our obligation to ensure the safety of this country's citizens, and so the search for your daughter is one we're not taking with but a mere shrug. You're just going to have to trust us to find her and get her to safety. Otherwise, you can go find her yourself."

"Don't talk to my mother like that," Archer said from the doorway, his voice firm. He stared down at the detective. "You're talking about my sister. I don't expect you to understand because clearly, you cannot empathize. But some compassion and kindness amid all this confusion would be appreciated," he snapped. He walked over to his mother, embracing her tightly and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Detective, this is my son Dr. Archer Forbes Montgomery. He'll be assisting me with everything."

Detective Sanders nodded, his face red with contained emotions.

Archer nodded back. "Where's Derek?"

"In his room. Meredith Grey is with him."

"And Agatha Jones?"

"At the station," the detective asserted. "She's still trying to process, but she's willing to help."

Bizzy sighed. "I'm afraid not even Agatha can help us now. He's far too wild to contain any longer."

-

Addison stared blankly at the ceiling as she lay on the hard floor that night, her eyes streaming with tears as she thought back to the countless ways she could have saved her father. But it brought her no comfort, instead leaving her with a big gaping hole in her heart as she tried to comprehend how she would continue fighting this losing battle.

Peter Jones had been human today, offering her food and not making any moves to hurt her. Yet. She knew she couldn't hold on to the hope Peter was dangling in front of her for fear of being let down.

She was, however, relieved to know that Derek was okay. She could only hope that he would not find comfort in the arms of someone else, praying hard that he meant what he said about being her husband again. It was a weird feeling though, to know that even though she cared for him deeply, and him for her, the chances of their marriage not falling apart were slim. She knew she had to end it, like she had intended to their first night in the god-forsaken place.

But tonight, all she could do was pray that there was something brighter awaiting her, for if not, she would be left to believe that the closure she would find from her father's death would be her own death.

Okay. This sort of gets the romantic plot going. I decided to get the action plot going in the next chapter because I wanted something romantic... in a way. There. Tell me what you think. I would love to hear from you.

And once again, if you're reading this, HELLO! (Because I highly doubt ANs are read much. :)) )