Disclaimer: Unfortunately Grey's does not belong to me… I only own Cass, Maeve, David, and Eileen…
I have been having a hard time with this fic but I finally decided what I will do… it will be a little shorter than I planned but will have most of the same basis as it began. So please stick with me, it means there will still be a secret, but it does not necessarily mean Meredith will stand around and let it stay a secret…
Here's the next chapter…
"Meredith!" the little voice on the other phone exclaimed.
"Cass?" she questioned, remembering she gave the young girl her cell phone number two days ago. "What's wrong? Why are you calling? Shouldn't you be in school?" All of a sudden the voice wasn't on the phone anymore as Cass hung up. "Cass?"
"I wanted to see you," Cass's voice was heard. Meredith spun around immediately. Mer gasped. Standing in front of her was the curly blond haired girl who had only just left the hospital.
"Cass!" she exclaimed.
"Hi," Cass smiled.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Meredith scolded. "Do your parents know you are here? Were you admitted again?"
"I told you, I wanted to see you," Cass said.
"Cass honey," Meredith gulped. "You can't just come see me. I'm a doctor here, I need to help people. And you are an eight year old girl who should be in school right now."
"B-but, you told me I could call you if I needed you," Cass whispered. Mer's eyes widened.
"What is it Cass?" she questioned. The little girl opened her mouth but just then, Meredith heard the voice of her husband coming around the corner. "Hold on." She grabbed her hand gently and pulled Cass off towards the elevator. Once safely on and alone, Meredith allowed the doors to close and pulled the emergency button. "I'm all ears."
"I… I…" Cass stuttered.
"What Cass?" Meredith asked.
"I just wanted to see you, that's all," Cass murmured, averting her eyes. She felt Meredith's gaze on her but avoided it.
"I don't think that is all Cass," Meredith said, bending down beside the girl. Her hair, now beginning to grow back, fell down in front of her face. Gently, as if by instinct, Meredith moved it behind her ear. "Tell me the truth Cass, you can trust me, you know that right?"
"I know," Cass sighed. "But I am telling the truth. I promise." She looked up at Meredith again, her blue eyes glittering with unshed tears making Meredith worried.
"Cass, you need to tell me!" Meredith exclaimed.
"There's nothing to tell!" Cass screamed. "I want to go home now…"
"Cass I-" Mer stuttered. She looked at her watch, it was almost noon. "Stay, for lunch. We'll go to the tunnels, I'll get us lunch, and then I will bring you home. Deal?"
"Deal," Cass sighed. Meredith bit her lip as she restarted the elevator. Hopefully lunch could open up Cass's mouth. She knew she was hiding something, Meredith didn't know what but she was. She was back to when they first met. When some instincts inside Meredith that caused her to be cautious around Cass. Hold her hand. Watch over her instead of her parents.
Her parents.
Were they the key to all of this?
It seemed that every time Cass was around them Meredith got the feeling. And even now, without them, she had a feeling they were connected to the reason Cass had run to the hospital.
"Meredith?" Cass spoke up. "We're at the tunnels."
"Oh," she mumbled and shook her head to clear it. Meredith walked forward and sat Cass on one of the gurneys before running up to the cafeteria quickly. She brought it down for the both of them but her plan almost immediately failed. The conversation quickly jumped from home to the fact that Cass was finally getting to start up soccer in a few days. Meredith smiled. It was like a completely different girl was sitting there. She was so enthusiastic. She lit up the room out of nowhere.
"Mer! There you are," a new voice said. Meredith turned around to see Izzie, Alex, and Cristina moving towards her.
"Shit," Mer hissed.
"You said a bad word," Cass giggled.
"Who is this?" Cristina asked.
"I'm Cass," Cass piped up.
"The kid who fell down the stairs?" Alex questioned.
"I'm eight, I'm not a kid," Cassandra huffed.
"Was she readmitted Mer?" Izzie asked.
"Cass, I'll be right back," Meredith told her and grabbed the arm of Alex, the one who was closest to her. "Could you guys pick a worse time to find me?"
"What do you mean?" Alex asked. "Her parents do know she's here right?"
"No, that's the problem," Mer hissed.
"Kidnapping a kid, way to go," Cristina rolled her eyes.
"I did not kidnap her, she just showed up here," Meredith explained.
"And you don't think her parents or teachers are looking for her?" Izzie said. "No offense Mer but this is pretty stupid. When she came here you should have brought her home immediately. Not fed her lunch."
"Guys…. I have this feeling; I just can't shake it… I needed some time with Cass," Mer mumbled.
"Illegal time," Cristina reminded her. "She should be in school."
"Since when do you care about kids," Mer snapped.
"I don't," Cristina informed her. "But you are my person, and I do not feel like bailing my person out of jail."
"I'm taking her home now guys, I made her promise me lunch so we could talk," Meredith sighed.
"Did you get whatever you wanted to get out of her?" Alex questioned.
"No," Mer muttered. "But she trusts me… if something is wrong… she'll call. She has my card and I wrote my cell on the back."
"You gave her your cell number, Mer," Izzie began.
"When I get feelings, they usually come true," Mer reminded them.
"Name one time," Alex said.
"Bomb," was all Mer had to say.
"She got you there evil spawn," Cristina smirked. "Let's leave her and her 'feeling' alone." They turned to leave but Meredith call after them.
"Can you promise one thing," Mer asked.
"Sure, anything," Izzie said.
"Don't tell Derek," Meredith sighed. "He's pissed at me enough already for getting to close to her while I was in the hospital."
"It's your motherly instinct," Izzie smirked.
"Hasn't happened yet," she murmured.
"With you and Shepherd, it will happen soon enough," Alex chuckled. "You guys are like rabbits."
"Shut up," Meredith muttered. "Go back to work."
"Good luck Mer," Izzie sighed. Mer nodded after them before turning back to Cass.
"Let's get you home," Mer smiled, holding her hand out, Cass grabbing it gently. Mer sighed, for wanting to go home about twenty minutes ago, she didn't seem all that eager.
"Oh Cassie Cassie Cassie," Eileen exclaimed as she squished her against her chest. "Don't ever scare us like that again."
"We were worried sick Cassandra," David said, joining in on the hug. "We were about to call the police."
"I'm sorry," Cass mumbled against the fabric of her mother's shirt. Looking up to meet the eyes of Meredith who was holding Maeve for them as Eileen and David embraced their daughter.
"Thank you so much Dr. Shepherd," Eileen said, taking Maeve out of her hands. "I do not know what has gotten into her."
"I am sorry if she was any trouble," David said, throwing a look at Cass.
"It was no problem at all," Meredith said. "Cass is a sweet girl. Took the wrong bus was all, got scared, and remembered that I worked at the hospital. Right?"
"Right," Cass nodded but winced as her mother pushed her forward slightly. "But I am very sorry for bothering you. It will never happen again."
"It better not," David muttered under his breath, so low Meredith could not hear it.
"Alright well, I have to be getting back to the hospital," Mer nodded. She turned to the baby in Eileen's arms. "Bye Maeve," she cooed. Then Mer turned to Cass. "Goodbye Cass, I hope for now it really is goodbye." She hugged the younger girl gently and Cass took one last brief comfort in her arms.
"It will be," Eileen said, as David grabbed Cass's shoulders and gently wrenched her away.
"Bye," Cass mumbled as Mer turned around. They waved at her as she got in her car and drove away. The minute her car turned the corner Cass was already wincing.
"What the hell was that?" David exclaimed, grabbing her by the sleeve of her dress and wrenching her up the front porch of their house. "What the hell were you thinking!"
"I-I," Cass stuttered.
"Shut up," he hissed, slapping her across the cheek. "You don't get to talk."
"David, what if it really was an accident," Eileen inquired after putting Maeve in her playpen.
"It wasn't!" he snapped. "I saw her purposely take the wrong bus! You didn't tell her our secret, did you? DID YOU!" He spat in her face.
"Nuh-no," Cass whimpered.
"I told you to be quiet!" David screamed.
"Oh Cassie," Eileen murmured. "Look what you did." With great force David pushed Cass back so her back came in contact with the sharp edge of the kitchen table. Cass let out as gasp as she crumpled to the floor. She did not have a chance to examine her wound before David had the fabric of her shirt again and was hauling her off towards the basement.
This was one of the worst punishments of all. Even worse than the beatings. The basement was dark, damp, and cold. When she was sent down there she only allowed water, no food. They did that whenever they got sick of her face. As David hauled her down the stairs Cass closed her eyes and allowed a tear to fall down her cheek. Today was Friday. If they were as pissed off with her as they seemed, there was a chance she'd be locked down there till Sunday. Maybe even Monday morning.
"Maybe a few days down here and you will learn your lesson," he hissed before storming up the stairs, slamming the door, leaving Cass in a world of darkness. She shivered and whimpered as she heard him lock the lock from outside, locking her in.
Cass got on her hands and knees and began crawling around the concrete floor, in search of the ratty old mattress left down here whenever she had a punishment such as this. It took her about ten minutes to find it. Eileen found it amusing to move it on her every once in a while. Make her suffer. Once found, she sat down, bringing her knees to her chest.
She wouldn't allow herself to cry out loud, that is what they wanted to hear. But tears still fell down her cheeks and her ragged breaths showed that she was trying with all her might not to cry. Gently her hand moved to her back. The spot hurt, it was tender, but it wasn't bleeding or anything. The only thing that would happen was a big ugly bruise would appear. Not that Cass could see it.
She was trapped. In a world of hurt and pain, for maybe the rest of her life. As Cass lifted her head towards where she knew the door was, she could only think of one thing.
Why didn't she tell Meredith when she had the chance?
I know you all want Cass to tell Meredith, but I have a few more twists and turns in the story before anything of that sort happens, so please keep reading, all will work out eventually (;
Please review! THE GREY'S GODS WANT YOU TO!
A/N: If any of you read NCIS fanfiction, check out my profile and vote on my poll for the title of my first multi-chapter fic… here is its summary:
Ziva centric. Ziva David has always shown an interest towards children, but when 10 year old Aliah McCallin is found at a crime scene, she never expected the connection to be so strong. No one on the team expected how quickly she would weasel her way into their hearts. But when it's discovered that they have similar pasts, Ziva will stop at nothing to protect her, going as far as to admitting something that could risk her position on the team. As they dig deeper into the past of this young girl, one of Gibbs' rules is the least of their worries. The team soon finds themselves in a race against time to save Aliah, NCIS, and prevent a terrorist attack that would make 9/11 look like a normal day in New York City.