A/N: Thank you all for the support that you have given this story I honestly never thought I would get this number of views or even favorites and followers when I started writing this story, but I did, and I am forever grateful. This chapter is where things are going to be taking a Derek turn with the government having Meredith but I will try to not be to graphic. I'm going to try and finish this story before the year ends but I make no promises, but I decided that I am not going to start watching Grey's Anatomy again until this story is finished. I also have a new story called All Too Well out so please give that a read.

Disclaimer: I only wish that I owned Grey's Anatomy, but I do own the DVD's now

Dynasty

Chapter 17

Derek hadn't been able to fall asleep after getting back from the father daughter dance, he had been too anxious hoping to hear from Meredith, but nothing came through and he was even more worried than ever. And he knew that this had something to do with the government and knowing that they had finally struck meant that his family was in danger especially his wife if they had him and if they had sent Lili after them.

He knew the lengths that Lili went through to get a mission done and he knew that it meant that Lili would be willing to torture Meredith if her boss had told her to. She had been the one to do all the damage to his shoulder and was afraid of what she would do to his wife.

But Derek also knew that he couldn't let them get ahold of him because it could lead them to his kids, and he knew that Meredith would want him to protect Zola, Bailey, and Ellis to the end. Even before they had kids and when they had started trying, she had made him promise that if anything happened to her when she was pregnant that he would choose their kid over her if he ever have to. He had only agreed because it's what Meredith wanted.

Looking at the time Derek knew that Alex would be dropping off Ellis and Bailey soon and that he had to stop looking like a crazy person before they arrived, and Zola woke up because he knew that Alex would be able to see right through him. Alex always had the ability to see through the faces that anyone forced on and would know that something was up with Meredith.

His cellphone was laying on the coffee table in the living room because as much as he tried, he hadn't been able to leave it just in case Meredith called him. It buzzed and when he saw the name Meredith on the screen his heart started pounding thinking that it was his wife calling him and would be telling him that she had been called into an emergency surgery or she had spent the time looking through files looking for her replacement as the chief of general surgery, but he knew that it probably wasn't going to be that simple.

Swiping the answer button Derek put the phone to his ear and in what he hoped wasn't a worried voice stated, "Hello? Meredith is that you?"

There was laughing on the other end of the phone and the familiar voice of Lili St. John was now saying, "Did you really think that we wouldn't be able to find you Derek? We knew that you would run back to your wife and your brats the moment that you escaped which is why we have something that we think that you are missing. Does the name Meredith Grey sound familiar? It should seeing as she's your wife, and we have her now."

Derek's heart sank and was beating faster than he thought was possible when he heard what he thought all along that the government had his wife and the mother of his three children. His anxiety was kicking up again and he forced his hands not to shake as he ran a hand through his hair and asked, "What do you want?"

"What we've wanted from the beginning Derek. We want you to finish the work that you started before you get to go back to your family. And we are behind schedule from this little field trip that you took so now it might take you longer to finish than originally planned. Trade yourself in for Meredith and you'll be able to get back to your family as soon as you finish."

He knew by the time that he finished doing what they wanted that his kids could very well be adults and hate him for never being there for them. And as much as it killed him to think about what would happen to Meredith if he wouldn't trade himself in, he also knew that Meredith would kill him if he even considered turning himself into the people who had kept him from his family for the past three years.

Swallowing hard Derek pretty much forced himself to reply, "That isn't going to happen Lili. I'm where I was always meant to be, and I refuse to go back to being your prisoner."

There was a degree of excitement to Lili's voice as she stated, "A part of me was hoping that you would say no."

He could imagine her nodding to someone because at the moment the sound of an electric drill whirring and handcuffs rattling and he could hear Meredith and it was almost as though she was pleading with someone and he could hear her saying, "What are you doing? No please don't. Don't- "

She then was cut off from saying anything when he heard her screaming in pain, it was a gut-wrenching scream almost as someone was torturing her and as Derek's hand tightened around the phone that was in his hand, he had to stop himself from breaking it. The whirring stopped and he could still hear Meredith screaming and trying to catch her breath like she had run a mile and knew that it wasn't good what they were doing to her.

"Just leave her alone she didn't do anything to you. She is just protecting our family."

Lili let out a sharp laugh, "I don't know about not doing anything Derek after all she had been protecting you for us and we always were going to get you back. We've been watching you for weeks now and you didn't even know that we were there. You must know that we are serious now Derek. Are you going to trade yourself for Meredith now Derek? After all your wife has another knee left."

Derek felt his heart sinking they were torturing his wife because of his refusal to go back to them and he knew that it would only get worse if he didn't say that he would trade himself for her but he also knew that Meredith would never forgive him if he agreed to turn himself in. Meredith was probably hearing everything that was being said between him and Lilli because that had always been her style to let people know that they didn't have a choice, in the three years that he had been held captive he had gotten to know her style pretty well and thinking about it made his shoulder twinge despite the fact that it was healing well it was almost like it in response to what Meredith was going through.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times unsure of what he was going to say because he was in an impossible position on one had he could give himself up and miss his children growing up but on the other hand his wife was being tortured to get him back and he wasn't able to do anything to help her. It was like losing Zola all over again but this time it was his wife that could be taken away from him.

Meredith must have known that he was struggling to make a decision on what he was going to do because he heard her voice laced with pain and she nearly yelled, "Don't do it Derek. You have to watch out for our kids. They need their father."

The was the sound of skin hitting skin and Meredith let out a low grunt before the voice of someone that Derek didn't know came over the phone and in a gruff voice said, "That's enough out of you."

The whirring started up again and Lili spoke over it and stated, "In case you need a little more persuasion, I'll leave you mulling this over. Contact us when you made your decision Derek."

Meredith was screaming again but this time it was mingled with crying and Derek knew that they hadn't just slapped her this time. They had taken out her other knee and he knew that she would need surgery and months of physical therapy before she could even think about returning to the OR.

When the whirring stopped, and it was just Meredith crying and screaming the phone cut off and Derek couldn't help but stare blankly at the phone in his hand. Tears were running down his face since he heard them take out her first knee and he didn't think that anyone would have been able to get through that without crying, he had just listened to his wife being tortured because he had escaped. And he was stuck in a decision where no one was going to win. He either had to turn himself in or let his wife be tortured and he was struggling to make the right decision.

Derek knew that he had to calm down before Zola woke up or she would ask him all kinds of questions and even though he normally loved the questions that she would ask him he just didn't know how he was going to tell her that her mother was missing because of him. Running a hand down his face Derek wiped away any remnants of tears that remained on his face to clear them away before Zola came down the stairs.

His mind might have been preoccupied about what his wife was going through by he couldn't let his daughter know what was going on with her mother. Especially since Zola would want to tell her mother about the dance last night and was going to be disappointed when she couldn't.

Zola rounded the last stair and was rubbing her eyes tiredly as she yawned, "Morning Daddy."

"Morning princess. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded enthusiastically and then asked, "Where's Mommy? I want to tell her all about the dance last night."

Meredith's screams echoed throughout Derek's head as well as her begging him to not do anything and even though it was going to kill him, he knew that he had to do what she asked him until he could get the cops involved in this. Making something up which he hated doing, he hated lying to his daughter about where her mother was but knew that he had to to be able to protect her.

"She got called into work early Zozo, but I have today off to spend with my kids, so we are going to have some fun together. And the first thing on the agenda is making breakfast for you, Bailey, and Ellis. So, what do you want for breakfast Zo?"

Zola frowned the same way that she always did when she was thinking hard before she exclaimed, "Pancakes."

"Alright Zo we'll make pancakes as soon as Uncle Alex drops off your brother and sister."

She nodded before going into the living room and started to pull out some toys and play with them. Meredith had made sure that they had all types of toys and it was one of the things that proved that she was an amazing mother to them. Despite her worry about being a good mother she was amazing and loved to do anything with her kids but he knew that it was going to be a while before she was able to play with them again because of the agents that had taken out her knees.

Emotion welled up inside of him again and he had to look away from Zola because of how similar she was to Meredith when there was a knock on the door. A part of him froze thinking that it was someone from the government but then realized that if they were making him think about trading himself for Meredith then it wasn't going to be them and that it was probably Alex with the kids.

But still he had to be careful and pulled him phone out of his pocket and pulled up the app for the outside camera and once the footage loaded, he saw that it was just Alex with his kids. Putting his phone back in him pocket Derek walked to the front door and unlocked it before opening the front door.

"Hey guys did you have fun with Uncle Alex and Aunt Jo last night?"

"Yeah. Aunt Jo played Candy Land with us last night."

Derek smiled and took the bags from Alex as Ellis and Bailey ran over to where Zola was and started playing with her. He then turned to Alex and asked, "Did they eat breakfast?"

"I didn't have the time Derek I had to drop them off and I need to get to the hospital I have a busy day. Where's Mer? She wouldn't miss seeing her kids get back home."

Derek should have known that he would notice that Meredith wasn't in the living room they were best friends after all. Whispering Derek stated, "You can't tell anyone Alex."

Worry showed on Alex's face when he heard Derek say those words and said, "Yeah I won't tell anyone. Derek tell me where she is."

Derek sighed and then stated, "The people who took me have Meredith to try and get me back. They most have taken her when she was on her way back from her meeting with Bailey because that is the only way that they could have. Meredith has been so carefully about everyone that we trust and talk to since I got back since we don't know who could be working for them."

"Do you think some in the hospital could have sold you out? Have you at least called the police and got them involved Derek?"

Derek stated, "I am going to call them as soon as the kids are playing so that they don't worry about what is going to happen to their mother. They already lost one of their parents before I can't let them think that they are going to lose their mother this time. Because even when they didn't have me, they had her. And they are basically torturing her until they get me back but Meredith wouldn't let me say anything to get her back."

There was a pure rage on Alex's face when he heard that and he stated, "That sounds like something Meredith would do. I won't let anyone know at work what is happening with Mer, just get her back Derek. You are sure that it's the people that took you though? She did piss some people off though the one I would think of was Paul Castello."

"Whose Paul Castello?"

"He was the person who was supposedly in charge of your medical care when you were in the accident that wasn't really you. Meredith sued him for wrongful death and he lost his medical license because it was proven that he had been skipping proper steps when it came to his patients. Like not getting you a Head CT."

Could he have been the voice that came after Meredith had been slapped? Derek didn't know but he knew that he had to get his wife back and replied, "They called me Alex and I know the voice of the person who was in charge of beating me when I wasn't working fast enough for their liking. And she is relentless in what she does for the government so I have to do something to get Meredith back before they do something worse than they already have done."

Alex looked at his watch and saw the time and stated, "I have to go or I am going to be late for work. Just let me know what happens with Mer. I don't care about the time I just want her to be safe Derek."

"Me to."

A few hours had passed since Derek had told Alex about what was going on with Meredith and he still couldn't get the sound of her screaming in pain out of his head but didn't let the kids think that anything was going on with their mother. He had let them think that their mother had been called into work and didn't know when she was going to be home but knew that eventually one of them would figure out why their mother wasn't home.

While the kids played on the jungle gym that they had gotten for them when they moved back into their house Derek sat on the deck talking to a cop. The cop was dressed in civilian clothes and had the name Roger Evans and was saying, "Alright Dr. Shepherd I want to be able to help you find your wife. I know everything that had happened to you during the past three years but I want to know what makes you think that the same people who had you know have your wife and are torturing her until he go back to them."

"They called me this morning and gave me the ultimatum of either turning myself back into them or them basically killing my wife. And I know for a fact that they are torturing her because I heard them take a drill to both of her knees."

The look of shock on the police officer's face was hard to ignore and it made his stomach drop, all he wanted was to take Meredith in his arms and know that she was safe from everything that be hurting her at the moment but he couldn't do that. And he also knew that at the moment that it was a high possibility that she was being tortured because of his refusal to go back to them.

His heart sank at that thought he his attention was still on Evans who cleared his throat uncertainly before saying, "Dr. Shepherd do you know why they would take your wife?"

"Probably to give me a reason to go back to them so that I finish the work I was doing for them mapping the human brain. But I was resigning three years ago which was why they faked my death. But I escaped them for the same reason that I was resigning, so that I can spend more time with my wife and my kids. Zola watch Ellie for me, I don't like how close to the edge that she is getting."

"Okay, Daddy."

Derek watched as Zola took Ellis away from the edge of the playset before he turned back to the cops and Evans wrote something down in the notepad that he had in front of him before looking back at Derek and saying, "And you are sure that no one else could have taken your wife? Does she have any enemies?"

"My wife is a well-respected surgeon; she spends her life trying to help people she doesn't make enemies. When she isn't working, she's home with me and our kids and is the best mom to all three of our kids. The only people that would hold a grudge against her would be the people who took me or Paul Castello, she got his medical license revoked because of my supposed death."

Evans nodded and asked, "Do you know how to get in contact with them?"

"Yeah, the called me with my wife's phone. Why?"

Evans looked Derek in the eye and stated, "We are going to make an operation by tricking them. We just need you to be willing to act as the bait."

Derek nodded and replied, "I will do anything to get my wife back."

"Then give them a call and tell them that you are willing to make a trade your wife for yourself."

Nodding Derek pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Meredith's number putting the phone on speaker so that the detective could hear what they were saying on the other end. Lili picked up and Derek could hear the sound of someone being hit on the other end and he knew that it was Meredith.

Lili then stated, "I knew that you would make the right decision Derek Shepherd. I am going to give you the instructions and I want you to follow them very carefully or another one of wife's limbs is taken out for the time being."