Chapter 12

A/N: Well, this isn't quite the end yet. I have more fics to work on, but my mind isn't letting one go just yet. Enjoy this chapter!

It's two weeks later before Meredith was allowed to return to work. Two, long, long grueling weeks. Meredith wasn't sure which she hated more: not working or having recurring nightmares. Honestly, she probably hated the nightmares more. Because when everything was starting to return to normal, her dreams were plagued by them. She thought that she was over them, thought that the therapy had helped, but no, of course they had to come back. She tried everything she could to keep them at bay, but now, she found that Addison had woken her up from them more than once a night. And that made her feel guilty because waking Addison wasn't something she'd wanted to do, seeing as the redhead still went to work during those two weeks. As much as it had annoyed her at first, she knew that it was better that Addison was working; besides, it wasn't Addison's fault that she was on moderate bed rest while her ribs healed.

She watched as her bruises faded more and more each day. She relished in Addison being able to hold her more securely at night. Even with the nightmares, she always fell back asleep feeling safe.

She stayed home with Zola and Milo for the first couple of days. But if there was one thing about a one-year old she had forgotten about; it was the endless amount of energy. It wasn't until after the second day that she was feeling the full effects of chasing the little girl. Or, more accurately, Addison came home around lunch time to check on them and found her trying to gingerly pick herself off the floor from where Zola had fallen asleep in front of the TV. As it turned out, trying to entertain a one-year old while healing fractured ribs and a broken wrist was hard.

"How about I take her to daycare?" Addison had questioned as she gently helped her onto the couch, "You need to rest. And Milo is a good cuddler."

"Not as good as you," She'd replied, to which Addison had smiled.

And so, she and Addison came to the mutual decision: Addison would take Zola to daycare before work and Meredith would stay home and rest. And if that involved cuddling on the couch with Milo, so be it. As long as she wasn't overexerting herself, it was fine. And if Alex came over on his days off to help with laundry, that was alright; and if Mark came over to help paint over the tumor on the wall that Derek had drawn a few years back, that was okay too. Lexie and Cristina took turns bringing her lunch, giving her updates on their cases, sometimes just sitting with her on the couch while her mother's surgical tapes played in the background; sometimes Teddy came with Cristina, to get her insight unofficially on a couple cases. Hell, even April and Jackson had made trips to see her, bringing her a few new medical journals.

Callie and Arizona came over a week before she was set to be back, bringing wine and Chinese take-out. The food and company were great, but Callie checking in on how her fractures and wrist were healing was even better.

Now, she sat on the couch with Milo on her lap and watched her mother's surgical tapes, trying not to think of the impending trial. As much as she hated to admit it, she was nervous. What could he possibly say to defend himself? What would his lawyer say? It was set to begin on her day back to work, and that put a damper on her mood and a wrench in any plans she may have had. How long would it last? How much would she have to go? She messed with the wrist brace Callie was insisting she wear, getting lost in her thoughts.

"This was such a great talk, Meredith. Maybe I'll go find Addison next. See if we can have an even better one."

Icy fear had gripped her tightly, and despite her body aching, she had reached out towards him, grabbing onto his pant leg.

At the time, she'd honestly thought he'd broken her hand, just to spite her; she was relieved that it had only been her wrist. Yeah, it wasn't ideal either, but she knew that it would heal much faster than any damage to her hand. Still, maybe there was something wrong with her after all, to think one injury was better than the other. Neither injury would've been ideal, but it wasn't like she had any say in the matter.

She supposed all the time off was a good thing; she'd finally come to terms with everything that had happened in the last month. Her marriage to him had been over for months, long before she and Addison had shared their first kiss. And despite her initial guilt over her stairwell kiss with the redhead, she'd worked out that despite being legally married to him at the time of the kiss, she hadn't exactly cheated on him. Yes, they were still married, but she'd already tossed the rings. Technically, they were separated, albeit all of close to 5 minutes before the aforementioned kissing took place.

"I want a divorce!" It felt like she'd said that ages ago. She felt like she'd aged 10 years in that time.

She felt like she had fallen even more in love with Addison if that were even possible. She didn't understand how Addison could be so patient with her, but she was; even after her nightmares, when she was clinging to her shirt, a crying mess, Addison held her, reassured her. Even when she had to be up in less than 4 hours and had only gotten home after midnight, Addison didn't care. She didn't understand how she ever deserved someone as loving as Addison.

She could still remember the first time the nightmares had come back. It was the first night after she'd been released from the hospital. Addison had carried a sleeping Zola into the house while she'd waited in the car, and then she'd come back to help her out. The pain meds were making her sleepy, and Addison had carefully helped her with her nightclothes, mindful of her ribs. The sadness and anger that swirled in Addison's eyes as she took in the bruising on her body still haunted her. She didn't remember much after getting into nightclothes because she was out before her head even touched the pillow.

Even when her heart was pounding wildly in her chest, even with the remnants of the nightmare playing on repeat in her head. Even when she could still see Addison's lifeless body and hear Zola crying. When Derek was screaming at her that it was what she deserved, and there was so much blood dripping from the scalpel as it hung loosely at his side. And she felt hopeless and useless. She. Couldn't. Breathe.

"Shh, wake up, Sweetie," Addison's voice had cut through the nightmare, and she'd clung to her voice, "I'm right here." Addison reassured her over and over, would keep doing it until she had fallen asleep. But still, she clutched the front of the redhead's nightgown, feeling so stupid for getting so worked up over a nightmare, "You're alright, Mere. Let it out."

Every night she had a nightmare, without fail, Addison would repeat those words. She felt safe with Addison, happy. She wasn't sure the last time she'd actually felt that. She just knew she never wanted it to end.

The interns arrived not long into her unofficial vacation began, and that meant that Addison was able to pass off the labs and post-ops to them so she could get home at a decent hour. According to Addison, they had been buzzing around the hospital in wonder, and it reminded her of her intern year, the eagerness, the excitement. She couldn't wait to be back, to teach the new interns. But according to Cristina and Lexie, what a few of the interns were more interested in than surgeries was Satan's love life. Apparently, her random texts to Addison throughout the day had her girlfriend smiling whenever she read them; according to Cristina, it was throwing the interns for a loop seeing the no-nonsense neonatal Attending smile.

The new group of interns enjoyed speculating about what made Satan so happy at the end of her shift. No one really knew who started calling Dr. Montgomery Satan first, just that they heard Dr. Yang mention it to the redhead in passing, and it had stuck. And it wasn't just the end of her shift that put Satan in a good mood. There were also text messages that she got randomly throughout the day that never failed to make her smile. She was strict but fair when she was teaching, making sure that they knew what neonatal was about, how important the specialty was, so she couldn't be all bad. Right?

"Look, I'm just saying," Jo Wilson tried to get her thoughts across to her friends as they sat eating an early lunch, "Satan can't be all bad. There has to be a reason she's getting all these texts. I mean, who are they from?"

Stephanie Edwards and Heather Brooks sighed at their friend's comment. She'd been on this since they'd begun a week and a half ago. Why the brunette couldn't just let it go was beyond them.

"Maybe it's the mysterious Meredith everyone keeps talking about," Leah Murphy chimed in with a smirk, "Drs. Yang and Grey keep talking about her. And I heard Drs. Torres and Robbins mention something to Satan about her earlier. Maybe she works here?"

"There's no way Satan is gay," Shane Ross' voice is quiet as he leaned into table, mindful that while they were in the back of the cafeteria, people walked by all the time, "Besides, we've met all the Attendings, haven't we?"

But had they really? Even at the intern mixer, Dr. Montgomery had left early. So early, in fact, that they hadn't really gotten to introduce themselves. She'd seemed standoffish and distant, though she interacted with the other Attendings.

"No one said she was gay, Shane," Jo replied.

And that was the end of the conversation.

At least it was until they saw that Drs. Karev and Sloan were waiting near the hospital entrance a couple hours later. They figured they were waiting for Chief Hunt. He'd had a court case he had to go to today.

"I wonder who sued him?" Murphy asked.

But when Chief Hunt walked through the door a little while later, followed by Satan and the mysterious blonde woman they all assumed was Meredith, Drs. Sloan and Karev made their way to the women, ignoring the Chief.

"She looks white as a sheet," Jo commented, "Let's get closer. Maybe it's a case."

And never mind it made no sense for the Chief to bring a case from the courtroom; and the fact that the woman was with Satan and not him. But she made her way down anyway, not caring if the others followed.

Meredith took a breath, grabbing Addison's hand as she made her way into Seattle Grace Mercy West. She'd been so eager to get back to work. When Dr. Wyatt had come over a few times in the last week to do a few therapy sessions, she'd expressed that desire to return to work, to get back to normal. But in her most recent session, she'd expressed her worry over the trial.

"What if he gets away with it?" She'd asked Dr. Wyatt, and never mind that the odds of that happening were slim-to-none. But it had been in the back of her mind, hiding as the root of her nightmares.

"Do you think he will?" Dr. Wyatt had replied.

She'd shrugged, "Yes, no, I don't know. He could say it was a mental break, the stress of losing his patient, he could get away with it."

"Do you really believe that?"

She'd sighed and looked over at the woman, who was watching her intently, "With how my life has gone, I don't not believe it." Milo jumped into her lap, purring contently and begging to be pet, "I just want this to all be over."

Dr. Wyatt nodded in sympathy, "It will be, Meredith. You just have to have a little bit of faith."

She wasn't even sure if she believed in faith, but for the sake of her daughter, for the sake of her future with Addison, for the life she would live, she would believe in anything.

With the case against Derek today, she wished she could've come back to work tomorrow. She was nervous and hadn't slept well, even with Addison holding her. And she didn't know how long court would last for the day, how taxing it would be on her. It was still early, and she was scheduled for a simple appy at 3, and it was fine, it was good. Actually, not a simple appy. The intern appy. Why they'd chosen her to do the intern appy after the day she would have she didn't know, but when Owen offered to give it to someone else, she'd refused.

Addison's hand was tight in hers, her face an impossible-to-read mask by anyone who she didn't want to see her true thoughts. Though, she knew exactly what she was thinking. Because she had the same thoughts running through her head.

"How'd it go?" Alex's voice washed over her.

She felt like she was going to throw up. Maybe she should've listened to Addison and gotten something to eat before the trial had started. But she'd been nervous, and now she was even more nervous.

"Come sit," Addison's voice was soft, and she nodded, letting her girlfriend guide her towards the chairs.

Mark and Alex joined them. Owen watched from the nurses' station. He, like Addison, had gone to be a character witness; other statements had been given to the prosecution in writing. The other evidence had been Meredith's statement and Derek's confession from Owen's office. They'd gone, expecting at least a two-week trial. But they weren't expecting…

"Well?" Mark asked.

"He took a deal," she said softly, refusing to make eye contact.

"A deal?" Mark's voice held the same confusion she had felt.

"The prosecutor didn't say anything until just before court began," Addison answered, "We didn't even know."

"So, what was the deal?" Alex asked, and she felt like a lead ball had settled in her stomach.

"5 years," She answered, the words feeling like bile in her mouth.

"5 years?" Alex repeated, anger and frustration bleeding into his voice as he continued, "5 years for what he did to you?"

She shook her head, "He had to plead guilty to the assault. 5 years, no contact with me or Zola or Addie, and when he gets out, he'll have to refile for his medical license. Under the stipulation that he doesn't work in Washington state anymore."

"That's not good enough," Mark replied.

"No, it's not," Addison spoke up, and she sighed softly, "But it's the deal the prosecution offered him, so this wouldn't go to trial."

The two men looked at them in shock, and she couldn't blame them. She was shocked too. After everything, it didn't feel like justice. It felt like sweeping everything under the rug, hiding the fact that a world-known neurosurgeon had gone off the deep end. The judge had wanted 10 years. His lawyer had wanted probation. Even if she hadn't liked the idea, she felt like it was a good compromise. Eventually, he'd be allowed around Zola. Maybe. She still wasn't sure, even if he was her father.

"If it makes you feel any better, he thought it was a stupid deal too," She explained with a soft smile, though she didn't feel like laughing, "Or so he told me in open court. Where he also wanted the court to know that I was an adulterous whore who ruined his life."

Addison smiled softly, "The judge almost nullified the deal because of it. But his lawyer argued against it."

"He won't be up for parole until," she began before she was interrupted.

"Is everything okay over here?"

She looked up at the five over-eager interns that had walked up to them. God, there's no way we were like that. The eagerness had to have been a phase.

"Who's asking?" She questioned.

"Oh, uh, I'm…"

Addison jumped in, nodding to each in turn, "You've got Murphy, Ross, Wilson, Edwards and Brooks. One of them gets to scrub in on your appy with you today, Dr. Grey."

"Is that so?" She looked between the five of them, a glare fixated on her face.

She thought she heard one of them ask, "There's another Dr. Grey?" but she'd ignored the comment.

"When people are having a private conversation, you make yourselves scarce, do you understand me?" As the interns scrambled to speak, she continued angrily, "I'm not even officially on the clock yet, damn it! No one paged you! Stop hanging around like surgery-hungry vultures! Get out of here before I send you all back to med school!"

She watched with satisfaction as they practically tripped over themselves to flee.

"Good going, Medusa," Mark grinned, "You probably just scarred them for life."

"Good," she replied.

"Did that make you feel better?" Addison questioned, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

"It did, just a little," She sighed.

"So, as you were saying," Alex pushed, "Parole, McDreary."

She nodded, "He'll be eligible for parole in 3 years."

And it didn't feel like a lot of time. She'd watched him being led away by the bailiff, and he never looked at her once. Not at Owen, not at Addison. She wished that he could've just let them get divorced, let them move on with their lives, but he'd chosen to do everything wrong, from the verbal assault in the stairwell to the physical assault in the on-call room. And she felt sorry for him, sorry that he'd chosen to throw away 3 years of his life because he was hell bent on ruining hers.

Jo came out of the surgery with Medusa, feeling close to tears. No, strike that. She was definitely crying. This was supposed to be a great surgery! Her solo surgery. Instead, she felt humiliated. God, Medusa was so strict, probably stricter than Satan, maybe even downright mean. She saw Chief Hunt rounding the corner and just had to know.

"Chief," she said, getting his attention, "About the appy…"

He cut her off, "That surgery was designed for you to fail. The intern appy, it sets you as the example. Okay? Don't let it get to you."

"Why is she so mean?"

"She's just trying to teach you," He explained.

"No, why is she so mean?" She replied, "The others and I met her earlier and she was just so mean to us. Is it because of that plane crash?"

"What?"

"I heard she was in a plane crash with some other doctors," She explained, "They were stranded in the woods for, like, a week. People died or almost died or something."

"Yeah, yeah, people died or almost died or...something," He sighed and took a breath, "Dr. Grey isn't mean. She's strong. And she's not gonna go easy on you because she knows that that would be a disservice to you. You're a surgeon. It's your job to fix things other people can't. Now, if you can't handle that, leave now. If not, don't stand around in hallways and cry. Cry somewhere else, where I won't see."

She wiped her tears on the back of her hand and nodded, "Yes, Sir."

He smiled at her and then he was gone. She took a breath and started around the corner when she heard voices. She stopped and looked over at the nurses' station. She gulped. Medusa was standing beside Satan, going over charts. There was no way to go pass them without them seeing her. Great.

"She's got talent, Addison. You should've seen her." Wait, was Medusa actually praising her?! "She was a bit shaky, maybe over-eager. But there's definitely talent."

"I wish I could've watched," Satan chuckled softly, "Though, I did hear that Alex's nickname is sticking, Medusa."

The blonde Attending rolled her eyes, "One time. I blow up on him one time, and suddenly I petrify people. Ridiculous."

"Oh very," She watched as Satan leaned in to kiss Medusa, and she found that she couldn't look away, "I have a couple C-sections today but unless there's something else that comes up, we have reservations at 9."

"Callie and Arizona agreed to watch Zola," Medusa's lips curled into a smile. Who knew that was possible?

"So we'll have the house all to ourselves," And then Satan grinned, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. And whatever she said made Medusa go red.

"That sounds acceptable, Dr. Montgomery."

Satan grinned, "I thought you'd say that, Dr. Grey."

It was official: Satan was Medusa's kryptonite.

She was 15 hours into her 48-hour shift when she finally caught back up with Steph and Heather.

"No, guys, seriously!" She tried to get Steph and Heather to listen to her, "Medusa turned to mush around Satan."

"You're reading too much into this," Steph answered.

"They kissed at the nurses' station, in full view of others. Talking about having the house to themselves. And they have a kid. That's reading the facts," She argued.

"Jo," Heather muttered, hitting her in the arm.

"What?" She asked, and the other two pulled her to a stop in front of the railing, overlooking the main surgical floor.

Medusa and Satan stood with their backs to them, chatting with Drs. Torres and Robbins.

"So, we'll be over around 9 tomorrow to get her," Meredith said, as she handed Zola off to Callie.

From beside her, Addison smiled and mouthed 'eleven.'

Callie grinned knowingly, "Sounds good."

"And if you need anything, you can call."

"I'm sure they'll have it handled," Addison interjected, "Plus, they'll have Lexie and Mark to help out."

"Exactly," Arizona agreed, "We'll be fine."

"But if you're not," She started.

"Don't you worry," Callie interrupted, "Go have fun on your date. You deserve it." She smiled.

"Oh my God, did we miss it?" Cristina asked as she came running up to them, Amelia in tow.

"Miss what?" She asked.

Addison groaned, almost pleadingly, "Don't say it."

Amelia grinned at them, "This is the last time we're going to see you before Addison defiles your body. It's like the last hurrah. You may not be able to stand tomorrow."

She felt her face warm at the comment, even as Addison muttered, "Filter, Amelia."

"Hey, at least you're buying her dinner first."

Addison sighed and gently grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to Zola's cheek, "We'll see you tomorrow Zo Zo. We love you."

Meredith mirrored the action, "You heard her, Zo Zo. Be good. We love you so much."

Zola smiled at them, babbling at them, trying to give them each a kiss back.

"Ready?" Addison asked.

"Ready," She echoed.

"That was sweet!" Jo gushed as they watched the two Attendings walk towards the elevators, "They're so cute together."

"They're so cute, it's disgusting," Heather muttered with a smirk.

"Hey, shhh," Stephanie muttered.

"Fifty bucks they don't make it past dessert," Cristina offered up as soon as the two were out of earshot.

"Dessert? I've got fifty that they don't even get there," Amelia replied.

Arizona smiled, shifting to hold Sofia better, "You two and your silly bet, I swear."

Callie laughed softly, "I've got fifty that says they won't show up until noon tomorrow."

"Calliope, honestly, not you too."

"What? It's all in good fun."

"Are we still making bets?" Mark called as he and Lexie made their way towards the small group.

"Not in your life, Mark! Get out of here!" Amelia answered.

"What?" He asked with a laugh, "I don't get to join in on the fun?"

"No, you don't. You're probably already imagining them naked," Cristina answered

"And since one of them is my sister, it's even weirder," Lexie chimed in.

"So mean," he grumbled.

"Does anyone know how to do their jobs around here?" Bailey's voice made them all jump.

They looked towards her voice and found her overlooking the surgical floor, saw the three interns scurrying away. She glanced down at them before making her way towards them, "Interns, always eavesdropping," She smirked at their terrified expressions, "One hundred that Grey and Montgomery call off tomorrow."

"How come you can get in on the bet?" Mark asked.

She fixed him with a glare, "Because I'm Dr. Bailey," As he sputtered to come up with a rebuttal, she added, "Unless you're off duty, get back to work. This is a hospital, people, not a betting hall." And then she walked away.

A/N: Well, I tried to finish the story in this chapter, but my muse was having none of it. One more to go. I get to write a cute Meddison date now. Please review.