A/N - Some scenes are in Washington DC, while others are in Seattle, and it is confusing to keep up with the timezones. Because of that, I'm keeping it to the timezone in DC until they are all back in Seattle.

February 18th, 2017 - 3:42 AM

The front door slammed with a resounding crack as Lexie rushed to set down her things. It had been a long day. From her colleagues planning an intervention to Bailey getting a fever to Derek's vanishing act.

It had been hours since Callie told her of Bailey's fever so he couldn't stay for the sleepover with Sofia. But she and Arizona were more than happy to keep Zola as originally planned. It was better that way. Who would want to handle one sick kid, let alone two?

That brought her thoughts back to Derek. She tried to call him and let him know of the recent developments, but he didn't answer. Which was strange, very unlike him. Even in his stupor, he still managed to pick up the phone every time it rang.

Shaking her thoughts away, Lexie sat Bailey on the couch and went in search of the thermometer. A few minutes later, she was kneeling in front of the blonde-haired three year old, holding the thermometer against his forehead.

She stood up after the device beeped and used her free hand to brush off her pants while she read the number.

"100.7." Slightly lower than earlier. "You, Bails, are going to get well soon."

After ruffling Bailey's hair, she went to the kitchen to find something for him to eat. She chuckled to herself when she heard him shout "Sammich!" which always meant peanut butter and jelly.

Her eyes scanned the various papers and drawings on the fridge and was surprised to find a new one written in Derek's messy handwriting. Lexie's original intention was to carefully remove the note from underneath one of the purple butterfly magnets, but she read the first words and yanked it off causing said magnet to plummet to the ground.

She finished reading the note the same moment the magnet stopped clattering against the hardwood. The house was silent except for Bailey's incoherent babbling sounding from the living room.

Lexie leaned against the island and stared at the magnet on the ground as she went over the note in her head.

I'm going to DC.

'Didn't think to tell me before you left? Sheesh. Guess you were all too happy to get away.'

They found Mark and Meredith.

'What?'

They're alive. Don't know how long I'll be gone. Take care of the kids. -Derek

She didn't give herself time to process her thoughts as she quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Derek. As she expected, she was sent to voicemail. That didn't stop her from calling again. And again. And about eight more 'again's'.

Lexie decided to focus her thoughts on something else, to keep her distracted. She knew she wouldn't be able to sit idly by and wait. Anxiously watching the clock didn't seem like a great use of her time.

She set the note on the counter and went to find the ingredients for Bailey's sandwich.

A light bulb went off in her head while she was spreading the peanut butter and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. Since there was no way they weren't coming home...she could think of only one person to call.

April Kepner, party planner extraordinaire.

February 18th, 2017 - 9:21 AM

Derek couldn't figure out for the life of him why Meredith wanted to talk to Richard Webber of all people. He knew part of her still blamed the man for taking away her chance at having a good childhood. So his mind kept circling back to: Why?

He watched as Meredith slowly lowered the phone from her ear and turned around to face him.

"Bailey tried to take the phone from him, so I'm guessing one of them hung up in the midst of it." She held out her arm to hand his phone back, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him. The couple smiled and kissed, but Mark cleared his throat to remind them they weren't alone.

Derek looked to Mark, who was staring at them both with a huge grin plastered on his face. "What?"

Mark held his hands up in defense, "Nothing." Derek narrowed his eyes at him, hoping it would get him to concede. No such luck. He's Mark Sloan, he's not going to budge.

He sighed and remembered the phone in his hands. "Do you want to call her?" he asked Mark, who vigorously shook his head in response.

"No. I'm not having my reunion with my wife over the phone. I can wait a little longer," he spoke firmly, daring Derek to challenge him, though he knew he wouldn't.

He decided to change the subject. "How are you feeling?"

"Amused," was Mark's simple answer, which made Meredith blush and Derek glare at him. "I'm perfect. I just wanna get out of here and home to Lexie."

Derek scanned Mark for injuries but found none. None that were visible anyway. His eyes must've held the question in them because Mark spoke.

"I hit my head on the way here. Nothing serious, just a slight concussion." He saw the worry and concern emanating from Derek. "Seriously, I'm alright."

Derek eyed him skeptically before deciding to drop the topic. He looked at Meredith and then back at Mark. "Well, we gotta get going. Don't want to keep Lexie waiting," he said playfully, still holding onto Meredith like she would disappear if he let go.

He still had yet to ask them where the hell they've been, but he decided to let them tell him on their own time. Seeing Meredith's scar in the mirror only solidified his choice. If there was one, there was sure to be more. The thought alone made Derek want to tear apart whoever did that to her. He hadn't seen any on Mark yet, but if Meredith had them, it was likely he did too.

Derek kept glancing at the door, waiting for Mark's doctor to come through. After a few minutes of waiting, he sighed. He knew someone had to, so he reluctantly left to go get the discharge papers for Mark, leaving them alone.

"Wanna bet on how long it takes someone to notice?" Mark semi-joked the second the door closed.

"This isn't a game, Mark! We're immersing ourselves back into their lives, it isn't something to be taken lightly." Meredith spoke with finality in her voice, which made his cheery demeanor vanish into thin air. Though they considered each other siblings, this was one of the moments where she acted more like a mother instead of a sister.

"Seriously, though. How long?"

Meredith sighed. She knew he wouldn't leave the subject alone. "Unless they've all become extremely perceptive, I think we have a while," she answered honestly. "So really, our only issue might be Lexie. You can't slip up because of that photographic memory of hers."

"How could I forget?" he smiled widely before they both burst into laughter.

It was a few moments later when Derek reentered the room. Their laughter had died down a bit but he was delighted to see them in good spirits. 'Maybe everything will be alright,' he thought naively.

June 7th, 2014 - 2:34 PM

Derek was living in a haze. He had been for the last fifteen days. He began to tune out the world the moment he was told that Meredith and Mark didn't show for their surgery at OHSU hospital. His panic grew and the more time that passed, the more he began to lose it. Hope. It was dwindling with each and every hour.

His phone was his main focus. Derek would stare at it for hours on end. He would stare at it for forever if he could. But his basic needs would require him to leave for a few minutes but he would immediately come back. The longest his gaze had been torn from the phone was a short conversation with Lexie. Even then, it was five minutes at most.

While Derek stared blankly at the black device as he usually did, he had been going through the events that lead up to the disappearance, analyzing every move and decision he made that could've caused a difference. Maybe he could've tried to shove his own selfishness aside and talk to Meredith. Maybe he could've just tried to talk to Mark instead of getting into a screaming match with him in front of half the hospital's staff. 'Maybe' was all he could think.

Derek blamed himself. He was convinced that there was something he could have done. But there wasn't anything he could have changed, and it wasn't his fault. Some part of him knew that, but the bigger part shoved it aside and let him drown in his sorrow, his guilt, his grief. Though, there wasn't anything to grieve. Mark and Meredith were missing, not dead. Why was it so hard to believe that they were alive? Ah yes, the dwindling hope.

The vibration of his phone on the coffee table pulled him out of his reverie. He instantly took it off of the cool glass and put it to his ear.

"Anything?" he immediately asked, knowing the other person knew full well what he was referring to.

"Could you fly down to Rose Valley?" the voice asked. It clicked instantly. Rose Valley was near the flight path from Seattle to Portland. "They found something," he thought hopefully.

"Of course," Derek replied, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Athena will be there to greet you when you land. She'll see you in an hour." The man on the other end immediately hung up.

The person he had just been on the phone with was one of the people who were working 'round the clock to find them. Athena was another, she was a detective who also had some experience in forensics.

He whipped his head around when the brunette on the couch cleared her throat. Derek had forgotten she was there.

"Well?" Lexie asked. The conversation was too quick for her to pick up, but she knew that the only people to bother them right now would be the ones with information. The ones who held the glue that would put their lives back together.

She brushed a wavy strand of hair away from her face as she looked up at him expectantly. His expression was hard to read. Derek was still masking his emotions from his phone conversation. But one blink was all it took for his appearance to completely change. He was no longer slouching and stood tall, confident. It was also as if his hair matched his mood; only a moment ago was it a complete mess, but now it seemed somewhat tamed. His entire face was brightened and in his eyes she saw it: His spark. It was back.

The positive changes caused a smile to grace her features. The call was about her favorite people. If Derek was smiling for the first time in two weeks, it could only mean good news.

"Grab what you need. We're headed to Rose Valley," he said through his smile.

Lexie hastily reached for her jacket and phone while Derek grabbed the keys hanging on one of the hooks near the front door.

Barely a minute after his phone call, they were in the car, pulling out of the driveway.

Though, an hour and a half later, their hopes were crushed once again. Athena had driven them to the edge of the forest, and began leading them to the site of a plane crash. It had already been confirmed that there was only one fatality; the pilot. The reason Derek and Lexie were called was because they needed to be sure that the tiny plane was indeed Mark and Meredith's.

So there they were, trudging through the mud, drenched in rain, and for what? Their spouses weren't there. It felt as if Tom - the person Derek had spoken to on the phone - and Athena only dragged them out there to shove another knife into their hearts.

The faint smell of smoke filled their nostrils and Derek knew that they were close. As they kept on walking, the sweet scent of the rain and vegetation was snuffed out by the ever-growing smell of burnt fuel. Subconsciously, his pace began to slow, and he didn't notice until Lexie and Athena were in front of him.

His brain was screaming at him to turn around, to remain oblivious. It wouldn't become real until he saw it with his own eyes.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Athena move aside a small branch and Derek's heart cracked. He saw the tip of the plane and a massive tree on top of it. His feet became glued to the overgrown grass beneath him.

Lexie must've heard the lack of footsteps behind her, because she turned around and walked over to him.

"Hey," she said softy, before placing a hand on his shoulder and another on his back. Leave it to Lexie to have the compassion to comfort another when she was going through the exact same thing.

Derek smiled at her gratefully and he took a hesitant step forward. Then another. And another. He counted his steps until he reached the tree that was settled on top of the plane.

What he could see from his spot next to the tree was a completely smashed windshield. He could see each and every crack, and it was a mystery to him how it managed to stay in one piece. A certain spot on the glass though, was covered in dried blood. His heart went out to the pilot and his family. They had closure, whereas Derek only had false hope.

He walked alongside Lexie next to the side of the plane. They reached the cabin entrance, only to find that the door had been ripped off of its hinges. Lexie noticed his hesitance and went inside first. A few seconds later, she motioned for him to come too. Even with a broken heart, she still managed to think of him before herself. He was extremely lucky to have her as his sister-in-law.

He slowly walked inside and began following Lexie to the back until he froze. Even after two weeks, the air lingered with the smell of Lavender. His right hand gripped the back of the seat in front of him. This was where Meredith was sitting. He was grateful to see no blood, but at the same time, his heart dropped. This was their plane. So, where the hell were they?

It became too much, so he quickly stumbled out of the plane. Lexie followed and concern was written across her face. Derek looked in her eyes and noticed fresh tears on her cheeks. He needed someone who felt the same as him. Who better than Lexie? He wrapped his arms around her and they remained in the embrace until Athena called them over.

"There is one more thing you should see," she said, motioning for them to follow her.

They walked for a few minutes until Athena suddenly bent down. Derek quickly caught Lexie, who would've tripped over the detective had he not. She cast him a thankful look before focusing on what Athena was pointing at.

Derek looked, only to see grass and he frowned. They were standing in a clearing with overgrown grass but he saw nothing else. Athena reached for her pocket and pulled out and unfolded a piece of paper. It was a picture of tracks, though Derek had no clue what kind.

"This is the only clue we could find. Our forensic expert is still finding out what made these marks and when he does, he'll try to narrow it down. Since it's all we have, it'll either open a pandora's box, or it will lead to a dead end."

He realized it seconds before Lexie did. They were taken, and the pilot wasn't. If they were dead, whoever it was who took them wouldn't have bothered.

Derek had his reassurance. They were alive. Not only was he wondering where they were, he was now asking himself a question he knew he wouldn't get the answer to: Who took them?

But what he didn't know was that the tracks were the last and only clue to be found.

February 19th, 2017 - 4:26 AM

The phone rang, waking her up from her much needed sleep. Jo ignored the loud buzzing and it eventually went silent. Unfortunately for her, it picked back up again a minute later. So she angrily grabbed her phone, only to find it wasn't the one ringing.

After huffing overdramatically, she rolled over to the other side of the bed and picked up his phone.

"Hello?" she greeted sluggishly and boy was she irritated. After the other person greeted her, her eyebrows knit in confusion. "Dr. Kepner?" Sure it wasn't her phone, but Alex and April were not friends. Why would she be calling his personal cell?

April ignored her question and asked one of her own. "Where's Alex?"

"He's uh-he's taking a shower. Why are you calling at three a.m?"

She heard April scoff lightly on the other end. "Why is Alex showering at three a.m?" she retorted. "Go get him."

"What? I will not-" Jo started but was cut off by Kepner.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before. Now, go. Get. Him."

Normally, Jo would have fought against her, but she needed her sleep. She trudged off to the bathroom and knocked lightly on the shower door. A split second later, it slid open to reveal a sudsy Alex.

His hands were still running through his hair when he looked at her. "What?"

"It's Kepner," she said and all but shoved the phone into his hand before leaving the bathroom and an annoyed Alex behind.

"What do you want?" he barked. Though it was part of the job description, he hated working the early morning shift. And late night phone calls were not helping to lighten his mood.

"Are you with Derek?" she asked, and from the tone of her voice, his mood completely shifted.

"No, why?" He decided to keep up his irritated facade. That usually had people get to the point faster. "Last I heard he ran off to DC."

"He did, but it won't be for long. Anyways, I'm here with Lexie. She has enlisted my help in organizing a party!" she beamed, obviously proud to have been asked to help plan a...party? Wait.

Derek… Lexie… Party… That was not something often heard in the same sentence. There was only one thing he could think of...

"It's for Mark and Mer."

April's words confirmed his unfinished thought. Now he was wishing he dropped his facade so she wouldn't have been so blunt. So they were dead. Hold on. She said for. Why would they throw a party for their deaths? Unless…

"Are you saying they're…" he trailed off, unable to bring himself to say the word. He wouldn't let himself hope.

"Yes! They're alive! It's a miracle!"

However, Alex was beginning to tune out her words. It was impossible, their plane crashed, they couldn't be alive. How often do people survive a plane crash? One in every...okay he didn't know the statistics, but he assumed it was not often.

"When?" he managed to squeak out. He was shocked to see that he still had the ability to speak.

"He asked Chief Bailey for a leave of absence late last night. He didn't tell anyone, so we wouldn't have known if he hadn't left the note on the fridge. Honestly, what kind of.."

Again he had tuned out her rambling as he tried to fully grasp her words. Meredith and Mark weren't buried in a shallow grave in some faraway forest. Alex was feeling more relieved than shocked. Meredith disappeared the same week he had been dubbed her new person, and Cristina wasted no time in reminding him of that. She had flat out told him it was his fault and if he had talked to her when she broke into his house, she wouldn't be missing.

He knew Cristina was only lashing out, but he couldn't help but feel some truth to her words. Ever since then he had a festering feeling of guilt, but now...they were alive, and it felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

He felt the water turning cold so he hung up on April and hurried to finish his shower.

October 12th, 2014 - 11:56 AM

"We got another burn victim." Mark walked over to Meredith and handed her the patient's chart.

She quietly read through the woman's injuries, but spoke aloud when she neared the bottom, "24 weeks pregnant." She raised an eyebrow, "And the baby has hydrocephalus?"

Meredith looked to Mark, who only nodded distractedly. "Mark!" she snapped, causing him to jump.. "What is it?"

"The patient has VIP status," he answered, still avoiding her gaze.

"Okay, well, who is she?"

"Kamila," he hesitated, as if her last name would raise the Devil himself. "Barton," he finally blurted.

Oh god. This was Dr. Barton's only child. Her feeble attempts to remain calm were squashed when Mark spoke again.

"You don't want to even know who her wife is."

He didn't need to say the wife's name, for only one woman could elicit that type of fear from Mark.

Mareková. Alena Mareková.

Dr. Barton's daughter-in-law, but also one of Sacher's 'business' partners as he likes to call it. Though they all knew it really meant she was a cold-blooded killer. A cold-blooded killer who was also about to be a mother. Meredith shuddered when she thought about the environment that child would live in.

Mareková was also the woman Barton employed to 'persuade' them into helping the patients. Usually, Mark and Meredith would help no matter the circumstances, but the patients were murderers, corrupt politicians, and criminals. So, one could easily understand their reluctance. But they were still people who deserved treatment no matter their actions. They were conflicted between moral and ethical.

Mareková had seen the war raging in their minds, and wasted no time in wearing them down. It was quite simple really. A threat here, and another there.

There was a time when Mark's patient had him questioning the Hippocratic oath more than usual, so she showed him video footage of a highway. Once one of the cars got closer to the traffic camera, he saw Arizona and Callie, and little Sofia in the back seat. Out of nowhere, a car came flying down the road, running a red light, and narrowly missing hitting Callie's car. One glimpse of his family, and seeing the clear implication of a car crash left Mark with a strong desire to tear Mareková to shreds. However, her plan worked and Mark gave in out of fear of what would happen to his family if he didn't. Meredith was there too so she could see that Arizona, Callie, and Sofia could've just as easily been her husband and children.

Meredith forced herself out of her thoughts. She walked over to an unconscious Kamila, and read over the chart again before looking back at Mark.

"The only way for the baby to survive is an in-utero surgery. He's barely viable as is. We'll need to call for Dr. Romano to perform the Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy." She thought a moment before adding, "We don't have someone skilled enough in neo-natal to open her up without harming the baby."

As much as she didn't want to, the baby was an innocent victim in all of this. She needed to help him live, no matter the monster he may become.

Mark had the same train of thought.

"Call her."

A few months after Mareková 'persuaded' them to help their patients, they were given sleek black phones to serve as pagers, but were warned to not even think about contacting their family. It was clear the moment they saw Arizona, Callie, and Sofia in that car that Mareková wouldn't hesitate a second before hurting someone they loved.

This, however, was a business call.

The phone rang twice before the person on the other end picked up.

"Addison?" She glanced nervously at Mark. "It's Meredith. We need your help."

A/N - I am not going to update for a few weeks, but I can assure you that I have no intention of abandoning this story. I really just need to get over this annoying block. Hopefully I can get back in tune with my muse soon.

I'm going to go ahead and explain this now instead of later.

Yes, Kamila Barton is related to Dr. Josef Barton. She's his daughter.

Kamila is married to Alena Marekova and is pregnant through IVF treatments.

Alena is a 'business' partner to Milos Sacher.

So just like the Grey's characters, these people are all somehow connected/related.

Also, the Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy is only performed on infants in reality, but in my story, it can be done on a fetus.

Reviews -

mandyg67 - The scene where they 'escape' is a long ways off...buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Leann Nickerson - Happy to see you enjoyed it! Wait, why are you scared of them? They aren't the ones to be feared…

Jesuslover123 - Glad you're enjoying it!

aussieKayz - Thanks, I'm trying to not cram my chapters with too much info. Thank you for filtering yourself and refraining from going further than 'stupid head'. Lol.

scpotter - Is it confusing in perspective or confusing as you have no idea what's going on?

coolbunny41 - It is amazing if I do say so myself.

Momo87 - Thank you!

secprincess - You're the second person to mention the Lost/Manifest thing! I don't really see it, but I'm glad you and others do!

LiaMarieManner - Glad you're liking this story.

Patsy - Happy to satiate your MerDer needs! Thank you, I appreciate the compliment!

euqinom - Don't worry, I have no plans on abandoning this story!