DISCLAIMER: All recognizable characters, dialogue and scenes from the show belong to Shondaland Media, ABC and/or Disney Corporation.
~ Juist, Germany, Present Day ~
"I want to marry you. I want to have kids with you. I want to build us a house. I want to settle down and grow old with you. I want to die when I'm 110 years old in your arms." Derek sees her eyes widen but before he could hear her reply, he's yanked away from the bright hallway.
He's in a dark void and looks around, hoping for a way out of the darkness. He sees a glimmer in the distance and begins to walk towards it. His fear turns to relief and joy when he gets closer and realizes the lights were coming from hundreds of candles with the same woman standing in the middle of it. He could not help but kiss her and is surprised when he hears himself say:
"Wait for me, don't move, stay right here."
Derek wakes up in cold sweat, trying to hold on to the dream, hoping the woman is from a memory rather than just his imagination. His dreams, at least the happier ones, always had the woman in it. The settings changed, from a dingy bar, to an operating room, to a sunlit living room with two children, to a random elevator. The one constant was her, her, and her green eyes.
He doesn't know what he wants more, for her to have waited, or for her to have moved on. Deep down he knows he loved her enough that he wouldn't want her to feel the loneliness he's felt for over six years. The connection he feels they had; he wouldn't want to subject her to the pain of him not returning.
The first few years, the dreams used to drive Derek crazy since they never really offered an answer of who he really was, or where he came from, or how to get back to her. He used to hope that she would find him and bring him back to his life before the accident but as more time went on and with the move, he resigned himself to learning a new language and giving back to Dr. Schaefer and the small town they moved to after his accident.
~ Seattle, Present Day ~
"You love me, and God knows I love you. I'll be right here when you're ready." Derek tells her, before she can respond, she hears the Cristina's ringtone pulling her from her sleep.
"Cristina, it is 3:00 AM Seattle time! I thought our call was supposed to be in five more hours!" Meredith grumbles into the phone.
"It's not my fault that you told your spawn to call you WHENEVER they needed you." Cristina responds unapologetically.
"Is everything ok?" Meredith asks, now wide awake as she sees Ellis pull the iPad away from Cristina.
"Mommy, I miss you! How many more sleeps until you come?" Ellis asks.
"Just 10 more nights Ellie-belle. You've only with AC for 7 days, you can't be bored already! I'm sure AC has loads of fun stuff planned until I get there."
"FIIIIIIINE… I still miss you though." Ellis pouts.
"Cristina, you promised no work while the kids are with you!"
"It's not really work! I just stopped by, I wanted to make sure everything is set up for the conference, you know, the one you agreed to be a speaker at, the one with loads of people all over Europe are coming for? Besides, the kids love it at the Institute!" Cristina replies but after a few more moments of Meredith's silent glaring adds "I promise, we're barely here, then I am out and about with the Three Musketeers! Go back to bed!" before disconnecting the call.
"I wish we went with you, that I agreed to push the trip just those two weeks. Maybe things would've been different, maybe you'd still be here." Meredith thinks as she drifts off back to sleep.
~ Seattle, March 26, 2015 ~
"I got to the airport safely, just waiting for my plane to board… I tried you earlier, but I just left a voicemail." Derek tells Meredith as soon as she picks up the FaceTime call.
"I heard! So sorry I missed your call, but your voicemail was a great pick me up. I love you too, I love our family, and yes, yes to taking a day to ride ferry boats, we can even do it as soon as you get back this weekend." Meredith replies with a grin.
"Have I told you what an amazing wife and mother you are and-" Derek starts to say before Meredith cuts him off, her grin now having disappeared.
"Ok… you were doing so well with the voicemail! What could have possibly happened in the few hours since you left that you're starting a call with that?" Meredith asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Meredith, I am so sorry. I thought that the handoff would just be in DC before I could fly home. Unfortunately, my secretary just e-mailed me to say that the Europeans are unhappy about my resignation and are threatening to withdraw their participation if I am unable to satisfy their questions about the Brain Mapping Initiative. The plan was to always visit Europe to check out the labs. I was hoping to get it all done before my official resignation but the delays with the BMI relays kept pushing the visit back. The President has asked if I would not mind flying over and meeting the committees and introducing my replacement to them as a goodwill gesture before leaving the BMI. I know I promised I was coming back home so if you are really opposed to it, I will tell the President I can't go." Derek nervously replies.
"Derek, don't try to use your sparkly eyes thing! The puppy dog eyes will *not* work either, it's your fault for teaching your son and daughter how to use them that I've now developed some immunity." Meredith laughed.
"In all seriousness Mer, I would rather just fly home and work on that *project* we discussed this morning, but this is also a great opportunity to strengthen ties with European Allies." Derek pauses, his smile suddenly brightening then continues, "Actually, I have a better idea! Why don't you and the kids join me? We haven't been to Europe as a family, it might be nice! You can visit Cristina; you know how the kids would love to see their "AC" in person rather than just over FaceTime." Derek pleaded.
"Cristina suggesting "AC" for "Aunt Cristina" to make it more time efficient is STILL hilarious." Meredith chuckled.
"Well, I didn't think it was appropriate for the children to call her "Yang" … and Bailey still struggles with her whole name. AC was a great idea on her part!" Derek said, a bit bemused to find a common ground with any of Cristina's ideas.
"So back to the topic… two-week European family vacation? I could probably ask to delay the resignation and the trip two weeks from now to when Zola has spring break from preschool?" Derek asked.
"A vacation sounds amazing Derek, but I don't think I can get anyone to backfill my service for that long on two weeks' notice, especially over Spring Break. Bailey already said she had plans with Ben and Tuck, and I think Richard is travelling with Catherine. You should go though, make connections, make the president happy, then come home to us. We can take a family vacation later, after you've settled back home in Seattle." Meredith said with a tinge of regret.
"If I have forgotten to mention it lately, you are the best wife EVER, I adore you, and I'm happy we are us again." Derek said before signing off with his signature McDreamy smile.
A/N:
This is my first attempt at any form of creative writing, FanFiction or otherwise, so apologies in advance for any flow or grammatical issues. Although I was glad to see Derek back in Season 17, a part of me still wishes that he survived the car accident and was still living. Cue the constant daydreaming of possible scenarios of how he could still be alive, where he has been for the last 6 years, how he could come back and how his family would react to his sudden return.
Further Notes:
"Present Day" is post-COVID, everyone has been vaccinated, travel is allowed again.
Season 1 to Season 11 occurs as it did in the show, but the timeline diverges after Derek leaves his last voicemail.
I am not German, nor have I been to Germany, though it's always been a dream. I picked Germany for its relative proximity to Switzerland (Cristina) and a Season 10 character, Dr. Gerhardt Strauss being from Germany. Also, based very rudimentary research, some call Juist, "Töwerland" which translates to "Dreamland." If this is true, then I thought it would be fitting that's where McDreamy ends up, and also because quite a number of their memories are in their dreams.
2021-Apr-27