Disclaimer: Still isn't mine. Seriously.
Damage Case
Mark banged hard on the bathroom door in the hall. "Mer, c'mon!" He shouted. "You're being unreasonable."
"I'm being unreasonable?! Seriously? You really wanna go there, Sloan?" She yelled her voice muffled by the door between them.
"Meredith," Mark groaned loudly. "I'm sorry, okay? I really didn't think you'd mind."
"You didn't think I'd mind?" She screeched. "Seriously!" He heard the sound of her slamming things around and winced.
"What did you do?" Izzie scowled at him as she came up beside him in the hallway. Mark only glowered at her. Izzie shrugged and pounded on the door. "Meredith! Let me in. I have to get ready for work."
"What's with all the noise?" Callie asked and poked her head out into the hall from George's room.
"Fine!" Meredith's voice exploded and the door to the bathroom slammed open. "Take the bathroom, Izzie! The only place I have any kind of privacy. Whatever!" She stomped past Mark and Izzie and glared at Callie before striding into her bedroom and slamming the door shut.
George poked his head over Callie's shoulder and stared at Mark with wide eyes. "What did you do to her?" He breathed out in shock. "I haven't ever seen her that mad."
Mark glowered murderously at him, turned on his heel and stalked down the stairs.
Izzie, George and Callie blinked at each other and then shrugged. There was nothing they could do about this argument until they knew what it was about. They all silently got ready for work and tried to ignore the tension filling the house to the rafters.
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Even with as much as she disliked Callie, Izzie was glad she'd accepted her offer for a ride to work. The coldness emanating from Mark and Meredith had seeped through the kitchen as they'd gathered their coffee and had a quick breakfast. George had tried to start conversation with them and they'd ignored him or only grunted wordless acknowledgements. It was totally disconcerting.
It was strange though. Even with the coldness and the not talking thing Meredith still left the house and went to Mark's BMW. He didn't even blink, just opened the door for her and then got in himself and drove off. So what did it mean?
"Okay, seriously!" Callie finally exclaimed about a block from the house. "What is wrong with the two of you?"
"We've just…uh…just never seen those two fight like that," George stuttered. "We've seen them irritated with each other and stuff but they don't fight. Like, ever."
Callie stopped at a stop sign and turned to her boyfriend in surprise. "You're kidding, right?"
"No," Izzie said from the backseat. "They really don't. Meredith says that trying to argue with Mark is like arguing with herself. Mark says that arguing with Meredith is like trying to convince himself of something he doesn't want to convince himself of. And no, I have no clue what that's supposed to mean."
"Her and Dr. Shepherd would argue all the time," George observed. "And he'd storm out of the house and go to the trailer or work without her. Or she'd storm out of the house and drive to work alone."
"And she would cry, every time Mer would cry. Even though she hates crying and she never really let the tears fall she'd still cry," Izzie interjected. "But she's not crying now. Not even close to it."
Callie shrugged. "So? Mark and Meredith are allowed to have a for real argument sometimes. It's not like they're calling it quits. He still drove her to work and she still let him. You two are seriously overstressing about this."
Izzie rolled her eyes at the back of Callie's head. What did she know about Mark and Meredith anyway?
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"We have to find her, George and make sure she hasn't slipped back into her dark and twisty," Izzie exclaimed as they made their way through the ER to the ambulance bay.
George rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Izzie, Callie's right. We're stressing over nothing. I'm sure they'll work it out without any input from us. They're Mark and Mer."
"She doesn't know anything," Izzie refuted. "Come on, George. She wasn't there the last time we had to piece Mer back together because a guy broke her heart. She has no idea what it's like when Mer does her dark and twisty."
"Meredith is not going dark and twisty. She's angry and we don't even know why so drop it," George advised as they made their way through the automatic doors. "You see?" He discreetly pointed to a spot on the wall where Meredith and Cristina slouched together. "She's fine."
"She's not fine," Izzie hissed. "She looks terrible."
Meredith glared over at her. "Standing right here. I can hear you. I'm fine."
Cristina and Alex stared at George and Izzie and then at Meredith. "You know…" Cristina started. "You do look…furious."
"I am," Meredith said simply. "Mark is an asshole that I'm going to strangle someday."
"Oh," Alex nodded. "Makes complete sense now."
"Shut up, Alex," Izzie hissed. She gave Meredith a sad look. "Are you all right, Mer? Is there anything we can do?"
"Not unless you want to pool our resources and hire a hit man." Her face lit up in an evil smile. "Never mind. I have access to Mark's credit card. I'll hire a hit man with his own money."
"You know," Cristina grinned. "Every time I think you're getting boring you do something surprising. I like it."
"Don't you think that would cross a line?" Izzie asked her astonished. "Seriously? Use his credit card to hire someone to kill him? That's way across the line, Mer."
Alex scoffed and rolled his eyes. Izzie glared at him. "Oh! We're still pretending that you're not seeing a patient, right?"
"Would you all stop?" Cristina asked them with a strange look on her face. "Live and let live." She threw one arm over Izzie's shoulders and then other over Alex's.
George reached out and touched her face in wonder. "You're cheerful." He accused and backed away slowly. "It's creepy. Why are you happy?"
"I scrubbed in on a four hour paraesophageal hernia last night," Cristina gloated. "Then I got laid and now three ambulances are coming in full of bloody, broken car crash victims, all who need to be cut open." She grinned and snapped her glove. "So I'm cheerful," she spun around and jumped up and down. "I'm cheerful!"
Cristina wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings and Meredith's eyes widened at the figure walking up behind her. Cristina threw her arms out and nearly smacked Derek in the face. Derek let out a loud, tired sigh and glared at Cristina. Meredith snickered.
"Mature, Meri," Derek scowled at her.
Meredith frowned. "It was funny. I would have laughed at anyone in that situation."
"Don't let her get to you, Dr. Shepherd," Izzie told him. "She's in a seriously bad mood today."
Derek turned to look at Izzie and then back to Meredith. "Oh?"
"Apparently—" Izzie started but George clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Girl stuff," Alex said. "You know, PMS and hormones and all that?"
Derek ran a tired hand over his face. "I don't have time for this."
"Then go," Meredith told him. "Fix someone's brain, screw your wife, play tag with the cars on the freeway."
"You're so mature today," Derek accused. "Trouble in paradise?" He never got an answer other than a glare as the ambulances pulled up just then and the interns ran for them. But the idea stuck in his head. Maybe he did have another chance with Meredith.
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Meredith concentrated on her job and not the simmering anger at Mark. She knew she was being completely irrational about this but she was mad at him anyway. She wasn't really worried about it though. About once a year one or the other of them got this insanely stupid irrational urge to just scream at the other. Anything could set it off. Being too solicitous, being not solicitous enough, leaving the cap off the toothpaste, snoring, not calling at the exact moment the other wanted, really anything. And then they would yell, spend a few hours, if they were together or a few days, if they were apart ignoring each other except for glares and then it would be over.
Bailey's voice ordering a neuro and an ortho consult for her patient made Meredith's heart drop a bit though. She so didn't need Derek's stupid innuendos today.
"Marshall Stone," Meredith read off the ID card she'd found. "Surgical intern over at Mercy West."
"What happened?" Marshall mumbled.
"Page ortho to look at his wrist and let CT know we're coming down," Derek told George. George nodded and left the room. "Marshall I'm going to say three words to you and then I want you to repeat them back to Dr. Grey, okay?" He asked and shone a pen light into Marshall's eyes.
"Okay," Marshall said slowly.
"Okay, bat, orange, car," Derek said. "Think you can remember that?" Marshall hummed. "Good. Okay, here," he turned around to face Meredith. "He has a closed head injury. Watch for vomiting, confusion, and loss of consciousness, okay?"
Meredith nodded. "All right, Dr. Shepherd."
"So," Derek started. "About before."
"Nothing to do with you, Dr. Shepherd and this is not the time or the place," Meredith said blandly.
The door opened and Mark walked in holding a cup of coffee out in front of him like a shield. "I come bearing peace offerings from the land of caffeine," he said in his most charming tone.
Meredith pointedly turned her back on him and walked over to Marshall. "Marshall? Can you remember those words?"
Derek grinned at her back. Trouble in paradise indeed.
"Fine," Mark told her loudly. "I'll just drink it myself. It wasn't one of your girly mochas or lattes anyway. Just a regular cappuccino. And I told the coffee guy not to give you the good stuff until you go there with me."
Meredith rolled her eyes without turning to face him.
Derek chuckled and Mark glared at him. "What?" Derek asked innocently. "I can only assume you're the reason she's acting childish today." He raised his voice. "I did warn you about him, Meri. He'll only break your heart."
Meredith ignored him too. It wasn't like this was the first time Mark had taken drastic action to get her to pay attention to him. A few years ago he'd even paid the pizza delivery guys a hundred bucks each to not deliver to her apartment in Hanover. It was childish and immature and she had no problems acknowledging that fact but…well, he was Mark. He was childish and immature sometimes. It wasn't like she didn't take drastic action with him when needed. Like showing up on his doorstep in January in nothing but a trench coat and heels. That had been a fun weekend.
Meredith lifted her chin and pushed past the men to get a nurse to help her take Marshall down to CT. If she took the cup from Mark's hands on the way past…well, it was only because she could smell the caramel in the cup from across the room. He would have only tossed it and that would have been a waste of money and good coffee.
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Your husband just yelled at me because the CT was backed up. What's his problem today? Cuz that's just mean. –Mer
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He's been really moody lately. Why are you texting me instead of calling Mark? Or your friends? Not that I mind. Just curious. –Addie
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Because Mark and I had a fight and I don't need my friends to point out how irrational I'm being. Izzie's already driving me nuts with her 'support'. If she were to find out what we're fighting about then she'd be all 'God, Mer, that's just stupid' and I already know that. –Mer
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Ah, the infamous yearly blow up over something stupid. Did he leave the cap off the toothpaste again? Or did he leave the toilet seat up? Did you really show up at his apartment naked that time? Give me the goods, girl. –Addie
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He told you about that? And it's really stupid, Addie. I don't even know why we're fighting about this. –Mer
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Tell me anyway. I promise I won't laugh…well, not where you can hear anyway. Besides, not talking to someone for three days over the toothpaste cap? That's pretty stupid too. –Addie
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Fine. Just…damn…he's been looking for an apartment or a loft by the waterfront for a weekend getaway for us. I know it's sweet and it'll be nice to take our days off away from the frat house but…he didn't even include me in the idea. –Mer
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It's not stupid. That's actually one of the best reasons for one of your yearly fights. Wasn't last year the year that he got mad at you for folding his shirt wrong and wouldn't talk to you for the last five hours he was in Hanover? That's a stupid reason. Crap! Gotta go. Pregnant car crash victim is crashing. –Addie
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Meredith watched Derek help Marshall into the CT machine. She knew she'd screwed up but really Marshall should have known better. And it wasn't completely her fault. She'd turned around for a moment to talk to the CT tech and he'd disappeared.
Derek glared over at her and shut the door to the CT room. "How in the Hell do you let a patient get that far off your watch?" He exploded at her. "What were you too busy texting the boyfriend to care that you had a patient?"
Meredith gave him her own glare. "No. I turned my back to talk to a CT tech—"
"I don't care," Derek spat out. "He was in the damn gallery! He had no business being there. He didn't need to see the massive internal injuries of the pregnant woman he rammed into! He is a patient. A scared patient. This is your fault, you had him and you lost him. You gotta take responsibility for your actions for once in your life!" He turned and started to walk away.
"This isn't about Marshall is it, Dr. Shepherd?" She called after him.
Derek stopped, turned around and came back. "You took the coffee." He said bitterly. "I pour my heart and soul out to you and you blow me off. He brings you a cheap cup of coffee and you forgive him. How is that fair?"
Meredith's eyes narrowed. "Mark isn't hiding a wife," she said simply. "You have no clue what this argument between me and him is about and yet you instantly believe it's something as big as hiding a wife."
Derek smirked. "Isn't it? You sure were mad enough at him. Are you really that desperate, Meredith? Are you going to forgive him like that every time he screws up? Or are you going to hold out for more expensive make up gifts? Is that why you're with him? God! You really are a whore."
Meredith reeled at the cruel and hurtful words. "You have no idea what you're talking about and you know nothing about me." She turned away to stare at the screens of the CT. "Go away, Dr. Shepherd, I'll bring you the scans when they're finished."
Derek stalked off and Meredith ignored the sound of his angry footsteps. "So I guess I don't need to pull the attending taking an intern to task as an excuse to get you to talk to me then?" Mark asked her seconds later.
Meredith bent forward and put her hands on the counter. "I took the coffee," she said. "I'm sorry for overreacting." She bent her head and stared at her hands. "How much did you hear?"
He ran a hand down her back. "Really? You forgive me already? I was expecting to have to grovel a little more. And I only heard you telling him to go away. Did he say something I need to know about?"
Meredith let out a shaky laugh. "Not this time. You know it's funny. We fight over the stupidest things. Whose turn it is to get the groceries, leaving off the top on the toothpaste, folding shirts wrong but usually when it comes to the big stuff there's no arguing." She finally lifted her head and looked at him with those big green eyes. "But this time? This time you did something big without me. And it hurt. I wasn't mad about the idea of a loft or something for just us. I was hurt because you did it without me."
Mark put an arm around her shoulders and drew her into his chest. "Yeah, I get that now. I just…I wanted it to be a surprise." She nodded against his chest. "I'm sorry."
"Me too."
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Derek watched them walk out the door together and scowled. He still didn't know what they'd been fighting about but it seemed to have blown over.
"You know," he heard George's voice behind him and turned to look over his shoulder. George and Callie were standing at the nurse's station in their street clothes. "We should do the same maybe?"
"The same?" Callie murmured and signed off on a chart.
"Get a place for just us…I mean your place is great and all but…well with Izzie being such a bitch to you…"
"Yeah," Callie smiled. "I'd like that…but nowhere near the waterfront. I think we'd probably be able to hear the two of them all along the coast line."
George snickered. "Why do you think Izzie's staying here tonight?"
Meredith was moving? What? Why the Hell was she moving?
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"So…I've been thinking," she mumbled into his chest.
"Mmm, did it hurt?" He teased.
She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Find us something, buy it or whatever and then take me there. Surprise me. So long as it has a view of the water."
"I can work with that."