"He's not gonna go easy on you, you know that?" a voice called to him, "And neither is Amelia."

"Sorry, I didn't know you were- I," Luke stammered, "Wait, are you okay, it's pretty cold-"

"I'm uh, waiting for your uncle," Meredith smiled, "We usually sit outside on these benches for a while and I know he has a few minutes after surgery so-"

"Oh," Luke sighed, "I should uh go back inside then-"

"You okay?" she called out.

"Are you Chief Grey right now or are you-"

"Aunt Mer? Or Meredith. Mer," she stuttered as she scratched the back of your head, "Whatever you're comfortable with but I-I'm not Chief Grey right now."

He stared at her. She was intimidating in many ways. But right now, she had extended a hand out.

"We're out of the hospital, so," she shrugged, "You need people if you're going to survive this…"

This was weird. Having another Shepherd -or an Adams- here in Seattle.

"Look, your mom wasn't too happy with you doing your residency here," Meredith sighed, "And the last thing she yelled at me was to take care of you and I know he's not easy. I live with the guy."

"He hates me," Lucas shook his head as he ran a hand through his hair, "He hates me and all I've ever done is look up to him. I made one small mistake-"

"There are no small mistakes in surgery, especially with him," she shook her head, "You should know that by now."

"I know! And-and I don't want to be given special treatment, I don't want people to think I'm here only because I'm the Shepherd Super Surgeon's nephew-"

"The Shepherd Super Surgeons?" Meredith giggled, "Is that what you guys are calling them? Please don't give me a nickname as cheesy as that one."

"I can't live up to that," he sighed as he took a seat next to her, "I just- I can't be like them. I can't be like him. And I need to be good. It's bad enough that everyone thought I was sleeping with-"

Meredith cackled, "Yeah, that was bad and gross."

Dr. Kwan had seen him walk out of the on-call room with Amelia once when she discovered he was staying in the hospital. She tried to find him a place but her help only led the other interns into thinking the worst. Kwan had his suspicions. He was almost certain that Lucas was a Shepherd but had never confirmed it until Lucas was forced to.

And that didn't end well for the future attending.

Meredith watched the overworked intern sitting next to her. He leaned forward on his elbows- in a similar way that reminded her of her husband. Sometimes his mannerisms were very Shepherd like. He leaned on things a lot, crossed his arms as he observed, and the empathy he showed his patients was very much a Shepherd trait. Meredith often wondered if this was what Derek was like as an intern.

Lost, a mess, and overly eager.

"He was my favorite uncle," Lucas softly confessed, "He was always nice and he distracted me when folks fought. He was just always there and then he-"

"He left," Meredith finished knowingly, "And he stayed here."

Lucas fidgeted with his hands, "I'm happy he has you and your kids- I am- it's just, I don't know I just thought we'd- I used to know him, you know?"

Meredith licked her lips as she observed the young man.

"He's gonna be hard on you," she shook her head, "He always is on every intern. But he's always tougher on the interns he cares about and believes in the most. I should know.."

A giggle escaped her, "My sister, Lexie, was also his student and he nearly got her to commit to neuro. He was tough on her and sometimes she wanted to quit. She would always come to me and tell me he was ruthless."

Lucas fiddled with his fingers, "What happened? He was an ass so she quit on him?"

"No," Meredith shook her head and grimaced, "She died in the- the plane crash that-"

"Oh no, sorry-I-I didn't- I reme- I didn't-"

"I know," she answered, "My point is, he wouldn't be hard on you if he didn't care."

"Thanks," he grinned before pausing, "Aunt Mer."

The words tasted weird as he said them out loud. And yet, they felt right.

Meredith smiled, "And I'm not gonna go easy on you either. Even if you do have that same look your uncle does. So go inside and get to work!"

"Chief now?" Luke asked as he watched her smile fade away into a stern look.

"Skywalker, get your ass in there before I fire it!" She clenched her jaw, "You've already done enough today!"

"Dr. Shepherd, I rounded on your patients-"

Derek snatched the tablet, "Hourly neuro checks on Mrs. Wells?"

"Yes, sir," Lucas nodded as he observed his uncle- neuro attending tap away on the tablet, "She's stable and responding well."

"Good, you can go," Derek answered curtly.

Lucas opened his mouth but closed it almost right away. He turned to other way and stopped.

He wasn't just his uncle. He was a surgeon he wanted to learn from. He wanted to learn from the best and he came here for the best. If he didn't take the chance now, what else could he lose?

Lucas turned around, "You know, I may not be the best intern here but I do work my ass off."

"Dr. Adams," Derek warned as he turned to him.

"I'm not asking for any special treatment, I'm not asking you to be my Uncle Derek, I am asking you to be my attending," Lucas insisted, "And that means that you're gonna be hard on me, I know, I get that."

"I am being your attending," Derek answered calmly, "I'm not gonna be easy on you. I'm not known for that. You came here to learn from the best, you are getting the best from me, Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Pierce, Chief Grey, every attending here is the best."

"I know," Lucas nodded, "But I want to learn from you so if I make a mistake, I expect to be taught how to correct it so the next time I don't do it again not be reprimanded like a kid!"

Derek sighed. Lucas was right. Derek had been unfair. He had treated him like his nephew, not his intern. Lucas had every right to be upset.

"Did we get the patient a head CT?" Meredith asked as she gloved up.

"Uh, I thought we would skip it and go-"

Derek's head snapped up, "You thought what? Who was that? Who said that?"

Lucas raised his hand, "Uh, he is bleeding through-"

"You don't skip the head CT!" Meredith yelled angrily as she barked orders to another intern.

"That's the first thing you do!" Derek yelled, "What can happen if you miss a brain bleed? Griffith?"

"Uh we could miss a-"

"Death!" Derek shouted as he through his gloves in the hazard bin, "You could miss a brain bleed and the patient will die, slowly, all while listening to you make-"

"Dr. Shepherd!" Meredith's voice broke through, "The patient needs to be taken to CT, Dr. Adams, take him now!"

"There is a pecking order, Adams," Derek shook his head, "You don't get to be treated any different because you have a leg up here-"

"I just told you-!"

"You are here standing in front of me asking to treat you the same and yet you want-"

"You ignored me the rest of the day!" Lucas opened his arms, "You should have yelled at me earlier. I get it! I screwed up! But that doesn't mean you should ignore me!"

A page went off. Lucas looked down at his phone, "Trauma. I gotta go."

He turned around and ran to the pit.

Meredith kept her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds around her.

Soft pattering of raindrops.

A couple laughing. Someone crying softly. Another family walking together. An ambulance indicating a trauma.

Someone sitting next to her and sighing deeply.

"He found you didn't he?" Meredith stated plainly. She opened her eyes to the person next to her.

Derek clenched his jaw, "He wanted to skip-"

"He's an intern-"

"It doesn't give him a reason to be so stupid-"

"Your job is to teach him, Dr. Shepherd!" Chief Grey cut him off, "That's the deal here. He screwed up. So now you teach him that what he almost did was wrong. And the next time, he does a better job-"

"So we almost let-"

"You were in there, Derek!" Meredith turned to him, "You're being like this because he's your nephew! But in this hospital, he's an intern. He's your nephew outside! And you're pushing him away!"

Derek closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Amy says he's staying in an on-call room," she muttered, "She tried to help him find a place and offered to stay at the house with her but he doesn't want to after what happened last week."

"Yeah, well what did they expect if they walked out of it together-"

"Derek!" Meredith hit his arm, "Outside this hospital, he's your nephew! If he's gonna make it, he needs people."

Meredith watched as he kept his eyes forward.

"He needs you, you stubborn jackass," she pecked his cheek before standing and making her way to the door. Her hands were stuffed in her lab coat.

"Meredith?"

"What?" she turned with an eyebrow raised.

"Why do you care so much?" he asked genuinely, "Why are you pushing me to- why?"

Meredith swiveled gently back and forth, "You remember years ago when we thought Lexie was cutting herself? When she was doing secret appys on the other residents?"

"Yeah," he blinked, "What does that have to do-"

"You told Mark to keep his little sloan out of little Grey," she snorted, "because I was watching out for my sister. Because you told me I needed to stick up for her and check in."

Derek nodded understanding. This was her telling him to stick up and check in.

"He's family," Meredith smiled as she turned back to make her way inside. The heels of her boots stopped clicking before she turned to walk back to him with a smirk, "Sorry I called you a jackass."

Derek knew he'd find him here. It's where all the interns came after a long shift.

"I'm harder on you than I am on the others because," He leaned on the counter next to the raven haired man with a bear in his hand. Derek sighed deeply, "because it's my job as you're attending, Luke."

Lucas turned to him, leaned back and observed him, "You said that."

"You coming here opened up old wounds that I thought- l felt like I abandoned you when I left and that," Derek sat on the stool next to him, "I'm learning to move forward."

"What other part?," Lucas asked with a scoff.

"The whole being your uncle part," Derek pressed his lips together, "You were a kid when I left New York, and the few times I was there, you were in college or bouncing from one place to another that it just-"

"I'm not that kid anymore, Uncle Derek."

Derek raised his brow, "Really? Because I heard you've been staying in the on-call rooms."

Lucas shook his head, "Aunt Amelia is a snitch."

"Actually it was my wife who snitched," Derek corrected him with a knock on the bar. He signaled Joe over who nodded at him already knowing his drink.

"Well then, Aunt Mer is a snitch," Lucas fiddled with the neck of his beer bottle, "Don't tell her I said that. She almost fired me so-"

Derek turned to him as Joe left his drink in front of him. He pondered on what Lucas had just admitted, "She let you call her Aunt Mer?"

"Yea," he smiled, "I think mom was wrong about her all those years ago."

"Your mom's wrong about a lot of things, kid," he sipped his scotch before turning to Luke again, "don't tell her I said that."

Lucas chuckled.

Derek shook his head as he thought about his sister, "I told her I'd take care of you."

Lucas stared at the bottle in front of him. He had wanted to follow his uncle for years, and that longing had finally come to life.

Derek threw back the rest of his scotch as he nudged at his nephew's arm, "Come with me."

Derek opened the door to their home. He could hear the faint giggles of his children running around. The homey smell of dinner enveloping him as he entered the room. He smiled at the sight of his wife looking up from the counter.

"Hey! You're home!," Meredith beamed.

"Yeah," he smiled back as he removed his coat and set down his briefcase. Meredith took notice of the door remaining open. She was about to remind him to close it when Luke walked in after him.

He stood nervously at the door and smiled faintly.

Derek turned to glance at him and then back at his wife with a tightly pressed grin.

"And you brought a stray," she observed with a knowing look.

Lucas pressed his lips tightly-similarly to his uncle's own. He looked around the room. Despite the length of time he'd been in Seattle, it was the first time inside the Grey-Shepherd home. It was strange.

He was used to watching Dr. Grey hold everything down in the hospital. She was always professional. Straight and to the point. She was always well dressed, serious but warm. Nothing like the woman in front of him.

Aunt Mer was in leggings, sneakers, and what looked to be his uncle's old shirt. Her hair was up in a loose bun and the necklaces she wore seemed to be made by a child. She radiated warmth and a sense of comfortableness. Like his own mother or even his nana back in New York.

"And I brought a stray," Derek nodded.

Meredith nodded back and turned to the children, "Zo set another plate, Bails can you show your cousin where the bathroom is?"

Both Little Shepherds looked at each other confused before smiling as they took to their tasks. Lucas followed them and smiled gratefully at Meredith.

As the cousins walked away, Derek walked behind the counter to greet his wife properly with a single kiss.

"You okay?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I know having him here is-"

"A lot, yea," he nodded, "But it's- it's nice. And it's driving Amy crazy so there's that."

Meredith giggled, "She is going crazy, she threatened to quit today."

"She won't quit," Derek sighed, "He reminds me of me when I was his age. I was worse then. I was just as stubborn and arrogant-"

"You're still both things, Derek," she teased.

"Yeah, but," Derek sighed, "He still has a lot to learn. And not just about surgery. He's been lost and he needs to be surrounded by people. You were right."

Meredith smiled proudly. Of course she was right. Wasn't she always? She leaned in to peck his lips before grinning slyly.

"You are aware you set yourself up badly here, right?" she teased, "The kids are not gonna stop asking him for embarrassing stories!"

"What the hell did I do?" he sighed heavily.

Bailey ran into the kitchen with a bewildered look, "You hated Star Wars? You told me you watched them all!"

Derek was taken aback by the accusation. It wasn't a lie. He hated the damn movie franchise. He always had. But when his son had acquired a strange fascination with superheroes and jedis, he had no choice but to indulge him.

"Who-? Skywalker! Don't start telling my kids things!" Derek gently pulled away before making his way to his nephew

Meredith laughed. She'd forever be surrounded by Shepherds. Once upon a time, she would've rolled her eyes at the thought of it. But lately, the idea wasn't so bad at all.

A/N: And I'm back with the one-shots! Thanks for reading!