Chapter 8: The Spies, Witnesses of Pain

Cristina was ready to explode as she went over the conversation she had heard between McSteamy and Satan. She looked for Meredith everywhere but could not find her. Then it hit, of course she would be at the tunnels. She was annoyed with herself for running around like an idiot. As if the usual intern hang out spot would not be the first place she would go if she was hiding.

Cristina had watched her walk out like someone was chasing her, clearly pissed off. She thought of catching up with her after getting her coffee but the attendings' conversation held her in place. Standing by the entrance to the cafeteria with a file she heard everything and was privy to all of the reactions. Now though she was happy to find her person fiddling with her shoe laces lost in thought.

"You won't believe what I just heard." Cristina sang excitedly as she found her friend sitting on one of the beds down in the tunnels.

"What? That Addison slept with Mark? I already knew." Meredith said in an irritated tone.

"Wait, what?" Cristina questioned her in disbelief.

"Yeah, they slept together." Meredith replied bitterly, rolling her eyes.

"No way. He was just teasing her about…" Cristina began but was quickly interrupted.

"Meredith? I finally found you." Derek called as he approached the two.

"Hey." Meredith smiled one of those smiles that Cristina knew for a fact was fake.

"How's coming back to work? How are you feeling?" Derek asked as he reached for her cheek.

The moment Cristina saw him moving she moved as well spilling the coffee she had brought with her all over his shoes. He jumped back but it was too late, as the liquid was already seeping through his shoes. Meredith threw her a grateful smile and went on to gasp in feigned surprise.

"What the hell, Cristina!?" Derek cursed lightly.

"Did it burn you?" Cristina asked unfazed.

"No it didn't, thankfully." He replied, trying to shake off some of the excess liquid.

"Too bad." Cristina said with an exaggerated pout as he scoffed.

"What the hell has gotten into you Yang." He questioned.

"I don't like you and I'm tired of pretending." Cristina shrugged.

"Keep going on like that and no one will want you. Not even Burke." Derek warned as she continued to shrug off his words.

"Anyway, Mer, how about we go out tonight? Do something together?" He proposed turning his attention back to the blonde.

"I don't know about tonight. But I'd be ok with a few minutes over coffee later." Meredith suggested.

She knew she had to talk to him and be clear about what she was feeling or rather no longer feeling for him. So coffee at the hospital seemed like a good idea, that way she would have a way out. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cristina's nod of approval and smiled a bit.

"I want to go out. I want to take you for some nice steak." He flashed her his dreamy smile, but she was not buying into it.

"Last time we were going out for steak I actually got a rather big and a little unpleasant surprise." Meredith recalled the night she met Addison as if it were happening now.

Especially because she could hear them, she could hear her heels. She saw Cristina snickering behind Derek and knew her mind was not playing games with her as she was beginning to suspect.

"Dr. Grey, I thought I'd find you here. We were called for a consult. Shall we?" Addison said as she stopped right in front of Derek, Cristina chuckling in the background.

"Excuse me. I'm talking to her." He said, slightly shoving her to the side, which caused her to slightly lose her balance.

"Do not touch her!" Meredith snarled defensively, surprising not only the other three but herself. Quickly forgetting about Mark's and the redhead's night together. Subconsciously she reached for Addison's arms to steady her and pulled her away from him and behind her. "No one gave you the right to push her like that." She fumed.

"Not very McDreamy if you ask me." Cristina sneered.

"No one asked you." Derek directed toward her. "I'm sorry Addison, I didn't mean to be rude or harsh. But you could have stood somewhere else." He said as he turned back to Addison.

"I need Meredith, now. I don't have time for dowey eyes." Addison said, squeezing Meredith's hand to let her know she was not talking about her.

"I have to go, excuse me Dr. Shepherd." Meredith grumbled pulling Addison to god knew where since she had no idea where the consult was.

"Meredith. Mer." He called grabbing her free hand. "Can we still do coffee?" He again flashed his usually dazzling and dreamy smile to no effect.

"I don't know Derek. I'm busy. Bye." Meredith huffed, yanking her hand away from him.

"That's what you get." Cristina mocked.

"Cristina so help me god if you don't shut up." Derek said bitterly and stalked away.

Meredith and Addison were a ways away from Derek when the redhead stopped her. Meredith was like a woman on a mission as she led her away but now she had no idea what she was supposed to do. There was that consult but she was sure it was not supposed to be all the way in the pediatric oncology ward. She looked at Addison who still had a shocked expression about the whole growling and snarling at Derek.

"I ummm… I don't know where the consult is." Meredith said sheepishly.

"Oh right. Umm it's over at the OB floor." Addison responded with a soft smile. " Are you ok?" She asked.

"I should be asking you that. Did he hurt you or anything?" Meredith asked, getting closer to the redhead.

"I'm fine. He didn't hurt me at all. I just lost my balance when he moved me." Addison explained.

"He didn't just move you. He shoved you. That's not right. I'll hurt him if he does that again. Or anyone for that matter. I'm little but I can fight." Meredith insisted in a rather serious tone.

"Thank you but I promise I'm ok. And Derek was kinda right. I did stand right in front of him while you were in the middle of a conversation." Addison said softly.

"That doesn't mean anything, Addison. I'll hurt him if he touches you like that again." Meredith snapped. The shock in Addison's eyes reflecting her own. "Sorry, I shouldn't have spoken like that."

"No umm… it's ok. Just not very used to someone defending me so fiercely. Thank you, Mer." Addison replied with a gentle smile.

The gentlest Meredith had ever seen from her. A smile that reached all the way to her eyes, which glimmered brightly as they crinkled a bit at the corners. Meredith was there and gone in a second, swimming in her gaze, resting on that smile.

"Meredith?" Addison called snapping her away from her reverie as she squeezed her hand.

"Huh? Sorry." Meredith quickly apologized.

"It's ok. How about we go to that consult?" Addison grinned.

"Right." Meredith smiled and went to finally let go of Addison's hand but the redhead tightened her grip.

Meredith looked at their linked hands and then at her eyes. Addison looked a bit surprised by her own reaction. It seemed like it was the day to act on nothing but impulse, without a care in the world. At least until they realized what they had done, in which case they either began to blush or stammer incoherently or, as it was the case at the moment, grow completely quiet. Neither Addison nor Meredith said a thing and just stood there awkwardly looking at each other still holding onto each other.

"Uh-umm." Addison stammered.

"Umm so… you lead the way?" Meredith offered leaving her hand secure inside of Addison's. True, she probably should let go but it felt nice, touching her.

"Sure." Addison replied her flustered and unsure demeanor changing to a more bright and cheery one.

As Meredith suggested Addison led them both back to the other side of the hospital, back towards the elevators so they could go to the OB floor. Happily unaware that as always there was someone watching their whole exchange. Not just one someone but two.

"You'd make a good spy cardio chick. Not a great one since I found you but good." Mark murmured as he stood behind Cristina.

"Oh. My. God." She hissed. "Why would you do that?" She asked angrily.

"So your friend is into my friend." Mark smirked as his eyes watched the two retreating women, not bothering to reply to her question.

"Not too sure about that. I'm actually kind of confused." Cristina looked at him rolling her eyes as he saw his flirty smug smirk. "That won't work on me, McSteamy."

"McSteamy, huh?" He chuckled. "So what has got you confused, little lady?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

"I'm not little." Cristina snarled.

"Ehh you're tiny." Mark mocked making a hand gesture to show how small with his fingers close together. Cristina took an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes once more.

"Whatever." She slapped his hand away lightly. "Earlier you were teasing Satan about liking Meredith but then Meredith said you are sleeping together." She explained. "So which is it? Are you and her together or what?" She questioned.

"A good spy indeed. Do you enjoy gossip?" Mark smirked earning himself a glare that actually had him shiver a bit. "Fine. Fine. Well Addison and I got drunk and we did sleep together but she doesn't want me. First I didn't get why but now I know. Also I noticed the jealousy and resentment in your friend's eyes." He explained and chuckled.

"So you slept together because you were drunk? She doesn't want anything with you? I am not here trying to figure out a way to get Meredith to get over herself for nothing. Am I?" Cristina pushed. She needed to know she was not about to make her friend suffer more than she had to.

"Yes. No. I don't think so." Mark responded with a smirk.

"This is serious. I will hurt people if she gets hurt unnecessarily." Cristina warned again using that gaze that made goosebumps appear.

"I'm being serious. Don't think for a minute I'll let just anyone come near Addison. She may not want me. And she might be right about me not being in love with her but I do love her. Someone hurts her I'll hurt them." Mark declared seriously any hint of a smirk or smile completely erased from his features.

"Good." Cristina simply stated.

"Great." Mark smiled once more.

"So you were teasing her. Is she really feeling something for Mer?" Cristina asked as she motioned for them to walk back towards the main building.

"I think there is something. I'm not completely sure. But there is. Addison used to wear her heart out on her sleeve but Derek, and I changed that. She's been burned quite a few times." Mark reflected out loud, sadness in his voice. "You say any of this to anyone and I'll end you Yang." He warned.

"I'm not a gossip when it comes to things like that. Besides, it is really none of my business. My business is Meredith, and she has also been burned more than a few times. Derek being one of the biggest parts of that." Cristina spoke as they continued on. She was not entirely sure what it was but she felt she could sort of trust him.

"They can be broken together, I guess." Mark remarked.

"No. They can heal together." Cristina corrected.

"Right." Mark agreed. "So what do we want to do?" He looked at her, brows raised in question.

"Why don't we let them be for a while? I know I already pushed Meredith a bit. Though the whole finding out you two slept together might revert her back to hiding what she feels." Cristina said.

"I think I'm going to push Addison a bit more." Mark mused.

"Why?" Cristina asked, jerking her head a bit.

"Because I just started to tease her. I'm not stopping now." Mark laughed.

"What do we do with him?" Cristina asked as she spied Derek reading some scans.

"What do you mean?" Mark questioned.

"I have a feeling he'll be quite difficult." She eyed the neuro attending.

"Derek isn't that big of a sore loser." Mark replied.

"That's why the first day I saw you, you needed stitches." Cristina chuckled as Mark turned to look at her with a slight frown.

"You may be right. I guess just keep an eye on him." He suggested and Cristina nodded.

"Well as pleasant as it is talking to you I have things to do. Bye Dr. Sloan." She said as she began to walk away.

"Bye Cupid 2.0" He chuckled and walked away after receiving a scowl from the brunette.

As Meredith and Addison made their way to the patient's room to which they had been asked to consult they found a panicking, pacing, OB resident. Both women exchanged looks and finally let go of each other's hands. It was time to work. As they approached the resident stopped pacing and turned his beady eyes toward the attending. Inside the room Addison could hear laughs and cheers so she was not exactly sure what had the man in such a state.

"Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, I-I need help." He stammered pointing at the ultrasound machine.

"Just Montgomery." Addison corrected. "What seems to be the problem?" She said pulling on her glasses. Meredith stood watching for a while mesmerized by her until she noticed the light slightly leave the redheads eyes.

"What's going on, Dr. Montgomery?" Meredith inquired, her voice full of concern.

"Come take a look, Dr. Grey." Addison directed her tone growing more somber as she spoke. "Tell me what do you see?" She instructed motioning Meredith over.

Meredith did as she was told and looked into the monitor at the picture of the unborn fetus, specifically her bones. She noticed the deformities and breaks along the longer bones and ribs. Dread filled her insides, she knew what it was that had the OB resident panicked, she knew what was about to happen. The woman inside that room had most likely come for a routine ultrasound. Probably having thought better about finding out the sex and but now her world was about to come crashing down.

"Dr. Grey, what do you see?" Addison snapped her away from her inner thoughts.

"I see signs of deformation. There are some crumpled and shortened limbs here." Meredith pointed at the region on the image. "Also there are some fractures along one femur and the other one is angled." She said and looked back at Addison, whose face had grown slightly cold, a mask beginning to form to cover the emotions she was feeling inside.

"What does this tell you?" The redhead questioned.

"It means the fetus is presenting with symptoms of OI or osteogenesis imperfecta." Meredith replied softly.

"I knew that already. But which type?" The resident protested.

"Dr. Grey?" Addison simply said.

"Type 2." Meredith said, swallowing hard.

"Dammit." The resident swore lightly.

"If you are reacting like this I can't have you in the room when I speak to the mother." Addison admonished.

"I'm sorry this is just my second week. And my second bad case this week. I don't think… I" He stammered at the end going white as a sheet. He ran then to the closest trash can and threw up. Addison watched him and shook her head.

"I'll take over this one. Thank you." She said dismissing him. "Are you ready for this, Grey?" She turned to Meredith who watched the resident go.

"Yes, I'm ready." Meredith said after taking a deep breath and swallowing hard.

"Hold your stethoscope so you have something to do with your hands." Addison suggested.

Meredith followed her instructions taking her stethoscope in her hands and following Addison into the room. Addison stopped abruptly as she neared the door, her eyes fixed on the patient's name.

"Dr. Montgomery?" Meredith called as she almost collided with the redhead.

"Susan Burns." Addison spoke softly and went quiet once more.

"Addison?" Meredith gently touched her elbow.

"Seven months ago I treated her during her third miscarriage." Addison's view blurred a moment but she shook her head and cleared her throat. "Let's go Grey." With a deep breath she knocked on the door and entered.

"Dr. Montgomery, hi!" Susan's face was lit up by a smile as was her husbands.

"Hi Suzy, Clint." Meredith had no idea how but Addison managed a tiny smile for the couple.

"We told you it would be worth it." Susan cheered. "Was that other doctor not good at reading the sex? We wanted to wait at the beginning but now I want to know. Why is there another doctor with you? Are you doing the ultrasound?." She continued.

"Suzy this is Dr. Grey, she's my intern for the day. She and I have already seen the ultrasound." Addison began as Meredith nodded at the couple.

"Ok so boy or girl?" The patient interrupted excitedly.

"It's a girl." Addison replied and the couple began to celebrate. "Mr. and Mrs. Burns there was something else we found with the ultrasound." She added quickly and loud enough so they could both hear her over their cheers.

Addison took a deep breath, Meredith could see the mask in place, her features softened as she showed some compassion but did not allow her own emotions to bleed through. When Addison began to explain Meredith watched as their eyes much like Addison's began to lose some of their light. Their hands which had been intertwined, now lay loosely on the bed. As the redhead explained everything to them Meredith witnessed as pieces of the two slowly fell away. She fidgeted more and more with the stethoscope as Addison finished explaining the condition.

"A child with type 2 can live hours to weeks but not longer than that." Addison said. "I am very sorry about this. Do you have any questions? Do you need some time to talk about this?" She asked.

"Is she in pain right now?" Clint asked his eyes fixed on his wife's belly.

"Yes." The attending simply said.

"She's in pain? Inside of me? She's in pain?" Susan looked at her horrified with tears in her eyes as Addison nodded.

"What do we do? We need to do something. You have to do something." Clint pleaded as he shared on his wife's horror.

"I could induce your labor since you are at 19 weeks now and we could deliver the baby. We would keep her here until she passes." Addison explained swallowing hard, Meredith stepped closer to her then trying to instill some comfort.

"No." Susan said and before her husband could try and interrupt her again she repeated herself. "No!"

"Susan I…" Addison tried.

"No! You are wrong. I came here to know the sex of my baby girl. Like I came here months ago when I started bleeding a little bit. You are not taking my new baby!" Susan roared.

"Mrs. Burns we…" Addison tried again.

"Get out!" Susan shrieked. "Get out!" She yelled once more and grabbed the box of tissues on the table throwing it at Addison and Meredith.

"Ok. Ok." Addison surrendered as she ushered Meredith outside as well.

As they stepped out Meredith noticed the solemn nods of a few nurses passing by, clearly showing their support as the dark side of the job reared its ugly head. Addison just stood in the middle of the hallway breathing hard. Meredith was not sure what to do so she just stood with her in silence. Suddenly Addison was off, Meredith following close behind.

The redhead walked into an on-call room not bothering to check if it was occupied. Meredith heard a hiccup and then she saw them. Tears streamed down Addison's face as her body shook in silent sobs, the sight broke her. Never. Never had she witnessed the redhead lose her composure that way. She was not sure if she should hold her or stand there or leave her or call someone. She thought of Derek but Addison was not Derek's fan or vice versa right now. Then it occurred to her that maybe she could bring Mark.

"I-I'm gonna go get Mark for you." Meredith stammered.

"I don't want Mark, Meredith!" Addison snapped her voice uneven.

"Derek?" Meredith dared.

"No!" Addison turned to face her completely then. "Why would you suggest that?" Her voice was wavering.

"I don't know. I'm… I want to help… tell me what you need and I'll do it. Tell me who you need and I'll get them here. Just tell me what to do." Meredith begged her own eyes stinging now.

"You!" Addison blurted out.

"What?" Meredith stood there just looking at her. Addison sighed looking at the ceiling while shaking her head.

"Just go Meredith." She said bitterly.

"Addison." Meredith moved toward her.

"Leave, Grey!" Addison pointed to the door and turned. Meredith quickly turned and headed for the door, which had closed at some point during the whole exchange. She stopped, her hand in the handle, and locked the door.

"No." She said and turned back to Addison who was beginning to protest. "No." She repeated as she crashed herself against the redhead wrapping her in a hug.

It did not take long for the attending to really let go, sobs echoing inside the small room. Meredith managed to get them both on the small bed her arms still wrapped tightly around Addison. She shifted them in a way that Addison's head rested on the crook of her neck. As the redhead continued to cry Meredith ran her hands through her hair in a soothing motion until slowly the redhead stopped sniffling and her breaths evened out.

"Heck of a first day back." Meredith whispered as she lay there with a sleeping Addison on top of her.

And then there were 8! I honestly thought I wasn't going to get this chapter up but I did it cuz I'm awesome lol jk. I hope you guys are enjoying this. I know it was a little sad but I promise I'll make it better. Anyway please keep with the comments and likes and stuff. Just so I know if you are enjoying the story k. Until next week. ;)