Chapter 3

"You know," James said lazily. "These are the benefits to night shifts they never tell you about."

Juliet rolled over towards her husband. "If I weren't feeling so warm towards you at this minute, I might gently remind you that I'm the only one who has a job they have to punch in at every day."

"Are you going to mock my literary skills?" James said playfully.

"And if I were to say they were inferior to your skills in the bedroom?"

"I'd say you disagreed with that assumption at least three times in the past hour."

Juliet kissed her husband. "I would argue the point, and give you another opportunity to prove me wrong."

"Much as I love to be disagreeable, I'm pretty sure that you've got less time to prove it, considering you're supposed to be on in an hour."

Juliet lazily looked towards the clock, did a double take, and pulled away – quickly and regretfully – from James. "The irony of having to do my shift at the clinic is not lost on me."

She got up and while she was doing so, knocked over a pile of papers on her bedside.

James was a nosy parker, but he respected his wife's ethics. However, he had recognized the name on this particular paper.

Juliet sighed. "I think the phrase I'm looking for is: 'You weren't exactly supposed to see that.'"

James held it, and then handed it to her. "I could always pretend I hadn't."

"The thing is I'm not an idiot." Juliet said. "If I hadn't spent years as a practicing physician, three years as an Other would have taught me that you don't leave news that you know will influence your friends unless some part of you really wants to talk about it. I got home late last night, but not late enough to forget where to put the recent memos that say: Confidential."

"Does Jack know?" James was serious now.

"This was given as a headline to the neonatology department; there was no reason it would have gotten wider circulation until Weber made a formal announcement," Juliet admitted. "Which means he's hoping that someone can talk her out of it."

"Well, we're gonna want to hold off telling the Doc anyway," James reminded him. "He'd just about gotten off the whole 'world on his shoulders' act; this'll get him to pick the damn globe up again."

"Especially because there is just the tiniest bit of truth in this one," Juliet acknowledged.

When the forces that had wanted to bring the survivors back to the island had attacked Seattle Grace a little more than two months ago, most of the staff had managed to deal with the trauma. It had helped that no one had died and that very few people knew exactly what it was that had led to assault in the first place. There was one glaring exception: Addison Montgomery.

Addison had been beaten, had a gun held to her head, and was assaulted before she'd been rescued. Addison had assured everybody – including Derek and Sloane – that she was fine. It became clear very quickly that she was anything but.

She had come back far too soon, returning to work only a week after her initial injuries. Normally Addison was kind and pleasant to everybody; it was clear within her first days back that she was very brittle. She had gone to therapy session with all the enthusiasm that the residents held psych.

Then she started yelling at nurses and interns in the middle of procedures. And she stopped listening to anybody else. Meredith, of all people, had reached out to her and Addison had used insults she hadn't even thought of saying at the low point of her and Derek's divorce. She called her ex-husband a coward; she called Sloane's concern over her another excuse to 'sleep with the trauma victim'. She called Karev 'worse than Sloane' when he offered to explain what was going on. And every time Jack or Juliet even saw her in the halls, she immediately walked the other way.

Everybody knew what was going on with Addison; especially Weber and Bailey. The two of them were doing everything possible to cover for what she was doing with the board, but at some point Addison's behavior was going to force Weber into acting in the best interest of Seattle Grace. The fact that he'd personally hired her to work here and was now probably going to have to fire her would end up making his own position more untenable.

The memorandum that Juliet had taken home last night was almost the last measure he could take before doing so. The cover story it was telling was that Addison Montgomery was taking three weeks of vacation and that Juliet would essentially be running the neonatology department in her absence. This in itself was not news; Juliet had gotten hired at Seattle Grace in the first place partly because of Addison's impending maternity leave.

The problem was that she was going on 'vacation' for three weeks. No attending at Seattle Grace had ever taken off more than two or three days at a stretch, at least not voluntarily. Everyone on staff knew – or in the way that the hospital functioned, knew without saying – that Addison was essentially being placed on administrative leave. For all intents and purposes, Weber was telling Addison that if she didn't get her shit together, she was going to have to resign.

Weber had confided to Juliet after he talked to her that Addison's reaction had terrified him. She hadn't yelled, she hadn't threatened to sue; she hadn't said anything. Instead, she had walked out the door of his office and left the hospital, not saying a word as she went. He had been so unsettled that he immediately told Bailey to go to Addison's apartment and make sure she was there. It was a measure of Miranda's concern for her friend and mentor that she hadn't even hesitated before going.

Miranda wasn't sure if she'd broken the speed limit getting to Addison's building or even if she'd parked legally. When she got to Addison's apartment, the only encouraging sign was that her friend answered the door and was holding her son in her arms.

Miranda had done something she hadn't done in all her years at Seattle Grace: she started bad mouthing Weber, calling him an ogre and not thinking about her interests. Addison had interrupted her mid-rant said something simple: "He has to do what's best."

There was no dejectedness in this term; no resignation. Just acceptance. Miranda had been on to many suicide calls to not be terrified by what she heard in one of the strongest people she knew. "It's temporary, Addison," she found herself saying. "You'll be back." It took all of the will of Miranda Bailey not to turn that last phrase into a question.

Addison stood there, and told her: "I have to feed Stan." Then she closed the door. It took five minutes for Miranda to find the strength to leave. Then she'd made two calls; the first to Richard, telling her that she was afraid for her friend, but not to let anyone else know. The second was to George where she asked him to do something outside the confines of his duties at Seattle Grace. He was going to stay outside Addison's building and keep track of what she did. George hadn't hesitated before saying yes.

"I know you ain't a headshrinker, but you've had more than your experience with emotional trauma," James asked his wife. "In your opinion, how bad is it?"

"She's isolating herself from everybody who cares about," Juliet said. "She's acting out in public and private and refusing to seek help. I don't think she's a danger to herself or others yet, but it's a matter of time."

"Well, as we all painfully know, you can't give help to people who won't take it," James pointed out. "Jack of all people could give her help; he knows what its like to have a gun to his head. We all do. But she's just not built the same way we are."

"So that's it." Juliet said sadly. "We have to watch this happen unable to act."

James thought for a second. "Maybe we don't."

"You have an idea?"

"The beginning of one." James got out of bed himself and began to dress. "Do you have her address?"

"I can get it from Weber; that's not an issue," Juliet said slowly. "What do you want me to do?"

"You're going to go to work. When you get there, you're going to talk with Jack and tell him everything you told me," James said. "He's going to take it as a guilt trip no matter how gently you tell him, so maybe just rip the band-aid off."

"Subtlety was never the best approach," Juliet acknowledged. "I take it you're going to see Addison."

James shook his head. "We don't know each other well enough, and it wouldn't work anyway. What I am going to do is drive over the person who might be able to do the most good."

Juliet thought she knew who he had in mind. "Even so, you can't force her to take help if she doesn't want it."

"We're not going to do that either," James said. "What we're going to need to do is going to be tougher."

"What's that?"

"Convince her to go on vacation."

DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

TWO HOURS LATER

"You know this is the first time I've ever actually wished I was 007," George said sadly. "Then I could see behind drawn shades, have the ability to break the door down and rescue the woman in distress."

"Problem is, in this case the woman in question has to want to be saved," James said as he took a sip from his coffee. "Not even Connery can stop someone from hurting themselves if they set their mind to it."

"You know, you and Karev have more in common then I thought."

"We're both blunt but not in the same way. I'm a cynic; he's a realist," James pointed out to George. "You of all people know there's a difference."

George nodded. "How sure are you this will work?"

"Bear in mind this ain't usually how I use my superpowers," James reminded him. "I may be an expert at conning people into doing something they wouldn't do, but it's always so that I benefit, not them. Using them for good instead of evil: uncharted territory."

"And that's the main reason you're not doing it yourself."

"She doesn't know me well enough," James said simply. "That can work to your advantage in some cons; it won't work on her. And there's a key difference. In most cases when you're conning somebody, you only have to make them think this is their own idea. This doesn't have a chance of working unless this genuinely is her own idea. I'm good, but I ain't that good."

"So you sent Claire up there because she's a better con artist then you?" George asked doubtfully.

"She managed to persuade the devil himself to help us on his own volition; that says something for her silver tongue," James pointed out. "And Claire would never try to con anyone; she's too good a person for that. She had more empathy and compassion then most of the survivors and she puts that humanity on display for people she will never know. Three days after the plane crash, the Doc insisted on burning the bodies. Claire insisted on having a memorial service. She was capable of making you feel like you'd been her best friend even if the only things she knew about you was that you wore corrective lenses and were an organ donor. She may never have gone to medical school, but I think she knows better than most doctors than every life has some meaning to it."

George hadn't heard that part of the story. "You think she can do this?"

"Claire had a lot of influence on the island. It had nothing to do with her intellect or survival skills; people just knew she was a good person. I'm hoping Addison will pick up on that." James said slowly. "I didn't give her a script to follow; she won't need one."

"So now all we can do is wait," George sighed.

"Actually, there is one thing you can do for me."

"What?"

James seemed awkward for the first time. "When Freckles and Baldy took you to Albuquerque," he started slowly, "you saw my daughter."

George gave a small smile for the first time since they'd been there. "Yeah."

"What's she like?"

GLGLGL

Claire had been given some details by James and Juliet about what was going on with Addison, and the idea James had in mind. Surprisingly, he had left the actual method to Claire's discretion.

"You do know I'm not a devious mastermind like you," she'd said to James on the drive order.

"You ain't giving yourself enough credit, Mamacita," James reminded her. "Need I remind you that it was your feminine wiles that managed to convince Ben to help without any bloodshed? By comparison, this should be a cakewalk."

Claire couldn't deny that part, but she did have doubts that Addison would open the door to her in the first place; of all the survivors of the crash, Addison knew Claire the least. Then she remembered that they did have a very clear link – one James must have known about but had tactfully never said aloud.

So when she had knocked on the door, she had an idea what she was going to say. "I'm not up to visitors right now," Addison said.

"You sound tired," Claire paused. "He's at the age when he's crying all night for no reason isn't he?"

There was a pause. "I'm one of the world's premier neonatologists; I know how to handle an infant."

Others would have been insulted. "It's different when he's yours and you're struggling."

Another pause, not as long. "I'm fine."

"You're a working, single parent with a baby. You're never fine even when you are."

This time the pause was much longer. Claire was beginning to wonder if she'd pushed too hard when the door opened a crack. "Who told you?"

"No one had to tell me," Claire said. "I've been where you are."

The glazed look in Addison's eyes lifted just a bit. "Which part?" she asked.

"The whole thing."

Addison opened the door.

The two of them had just stood there for two minutes. Claire knew that she had to let Addison speak first.

"I haven't been as curious as some of my friends," Addison said carefully. "I've heard some stories, mostly from Jack and Juliet, and a lot of second-hand talk from half the staff. But you and your friends have reached out as much as you have to some of the rest, and honestly I didn't think it was my business to deal with rumors, considering some of the ones I have to deal with for years."

"That's fair," Claire said. "But for the record, everything we've told you is true. And though there might be some exaggeration from the rest of the staff, it couldn't be worse than the actual truth."

Addison took this in. "I'm kind of dealing with a lot right now," she said slowly. "And I don't think hearing about your island adventures…"

"'Adventures' implies something enjoyable," Claire said. "We spent three months struggling to survive, genuinely not knowing if we'd live to see another day. And to be clear, I'm not entirely certain how I did."

Addison was stubborn. "Look, I'm not saying having to give birth in the middle of an island isn't terrifying," she began.

"It was. It didn't help matters that at the time, I had no memory of what had happened since the plane crash," Claire said casually.

The glazed look completely disappeared. "What are you talking about?"

So Claire told her part of her story. How she'd been having dreams that someone was taking her blood in the middle of the night. How she'd run off from the camp in a huff and started having contractions. How Charlie had managed to calm her down and that just as they had been turning around to go back to camp, they had run into a man named Ethan.

"Ten days later, I remember walking back into the arms of Locke and Boone," Claire said simply. "I have no clear memories of what happened to me in those ten days. Only flashes that don't make any sense."

Then she told her what she thought she remembered. How Ethan had been tended to her in what looked like a nursery. How she had been perfectly docile and fine with what was coming, knitting booties with other serenity. How she had been liberated by a girl not much younger than her with dark hair. And how she had seemed to be willing to walk back into the arms of people who were planning to slit her open and pull her son out until a crazy Frenchwoman had knocked her unconscious and had dragged her back to the caves. And because of her struggle, that she'd later blamed that same Frenchwoman for that same kidnapping.

"I didn't understand until later that she was just like me," Claire said slowly. "A mother trying to find her child."

If anyone from Seattle Grace had been in the room they would have taken Addison's behavior as an encouraging sign. This was the first time in weeks that she didn't look detached from reality. "I take it back. I guess I couldn't have imagined what it was like for you."

"We were all terrified in those early days after the crash," Claire acknowledged. "But in those first terrifying days, a lot of people struggled to even make eye contact with me. I didn't blame them. They looked at me; they saw this 'ticking time-bomb of responsibility'. It would have been a harrowing situation if this was an ordinary situation. It hadn't taken long for us to realize that nothing about the island was ordinary. And that somehow I and my child were valuable pieces in a game that our side had absolutely no idea what the rules were or even who our opponent was."

Claire had no way of knowing – though she wouldn't have been surprised to learn – that the expression on Addison's face resembled the one that had appeared on Izzie's before going under the knife when Jack had promised to tell her and Alex was really happened. What was difference was the clear bond that Claire and Addison shared.

"How did you handle it?" Addison asked.

"As best as I could," Claire said. "The night my water broke, I was terrified. I thought my son knew that I didn't want it. Kate, who had to have been as terrified as I was, talked me through it. Of course, that was just the start of my problems. I couldn't come up with a name for Aaron until I thought I'd lost him; I had no diapers, baby clothes or formula to give him; the man I thought I might love was descending into chaos over withdrawal from heroin, and underlying everything was the threat that these…Others represented. They were willing to hurt or kill anyone that got in their way; but I and my son were always one of their priorities. There was only one thing that got me through it."

"What was that?"

"Everybody had my back," Claire told her simply. "I never believed in the cliché that it takes a village to raise a child, but I would never have gotten through those horrible weeks and months without everybody willing to help. Under other circumstances, I might have resented that no one was including me on all of the missions to get us rescued or save those of who kept getting kidnapped, but everybody was willing to help take care of Aaron when I needed a break or willing to listen when I needed to talk."

Addison remained composed, but her lower lip twitched a little. "You're trained for these things," she said. "When you go to med school, when you do your ER rotation, no matter what your specialty is they tell you to approach every situation as being a potential threat. They have to prepare for the worst case scenario. And the thing is I thought I was. The last time there was a code black, they evacuated the hospital but I refused to leave because I had a patient in distress. I knew very clearly that there was a chance I could die, but I pushed it aside because I had to focus on both the mother and the child."

"Your ex-husband told me this story," Claire said gently. "And I can tell you up front there's a huge difference from being told you're in a life or death or situation and actually being in one. From the first night on the island, we knew that we were in mortal danger. But that's difference from having to deal with a scary man who is willing to kill you without a second thought."

Addison sighed. "I should have known better."

"Not for nothing, but my brother has a habit of burying all of his problems until they bubble up and bite him," Claire said. "Given what nearly happened to Stevens and Karev last year, there might be some truth to doctors being the worst patients."

Addison gave a small smile – it was the first one anybody had seen on her face in a long time. "I suppose I should consider myself lucky. All I've managed to do is torch my relationships and possibly my career."

"Aren't doctor able to treat certain kinds of burns?" Claire smiled back. "Because I'm relatively sure that they're not nearly as severe as you think they are. I mean, you're working at the hospital with the ex-husband you cheated on and the woman he slept with before you tried to reconcile. That would seem to indicate that there's a certain level of good will there."

"They might see it that way, but I'm not sure the board of directors will," Addison said.

"You don't think the staff will go to the mat for you?"

"Oh, they all will; that's not a question," Addison waved them off. "What matters is will it make a difference? You know as well as anyone how much the hospital has been struggling the last couple of years, and if it gets out that the head of obstetrics has been going through PTSD, the board will have no problem throwing me to the wolves."

Claire didn't know this part because Juliet didn't know one way or the other. "How slender is the thread?"

"Everybody's been covering for awhile," Addison sat down. "But the memo that goes out is going to be a red flag."

"Even with Weber and Juliet covering for you?"

"Richard's used up a lot of his chit over the past three years," Addison thought. "Juliet's problem is she's not ruthless enough."

You clearly haven't spent time on an island with her, Claire thought. "What makes you think that?"

"Everybody at a hospital is positioning themselves up the food chain from day one," Addison explained. "Interns go in trying for the best residencies; residences are aiming for chief resident; attendings are trying to get head of departments. Since the day she signed here, Juliet has made it very clear that she has no interest in moving up the ladder, and whenever possible works fewer shifts than a good attending will."

"And this is bad because?"

"I don't know what your brother and Juliet have told you about our hospital, but the knives that come out aren't always just surgical," Addison said slowly. "If Juliet had been trying to push me out of as head of my department, they might be willing to buy the memo as a power play. She rats me out to the board, I take administrative leave; she gets my job. Everyone would understand."

"That's pretty cold for someone who only got her job because she got your pregnant," Claire said honestly.

"Every hospital operates that way, pun not intended," Addison said.

Claire's mind was working. "So it would be better for you if it seemed like Juliet was conspiring to push you out?"

"There'd be a lot more sympathy for me from most of the staff," Addison stopped. "What are you thinking?"

"I've clearly been hanging around people like James and Ben for too long," Claire was beginning to look a little sick.

Addison was clearly curious about who the second name was, but held her tongue. Mainly because she seemed to have gotten what Claire was driving at. "You do know these kinds of plans only work in the movies," she said slowly.

"I assure you, Addison, they work very well in real life as well," Claire said sincerely.

"Juliet would end up being the most hated person at this hospital," Addison said doubtfully.

"As she would put it, 'been there, done that,' Claire said knowingly.

SEATTLE GRACE

"Carlson!"

The group of interns following Juliet did everything in their power not to turn around, though it would have been hard not to flick your eyes in that direction. It had been a very long time since anyone had seen Derek Shepherd, normally the pinnacle of restraint and calm, sound this angry to anyone.

Juliet turned slowly. "I'm very busy right now, Derek," she said calmly.

"That's why I'm here." Derek didn't seem any calmer.

"Maybe we can talk in private."

"There's been far too much of that recently. Besides, I think it's instructive for those foolish enough to train under you to know the kind of doctor teaching them."

Other people would have been rattled by this display of emotion. The survivors of Oceanic 815 knew that it took a lot to break the façade of calm Juliet had maintained when they knew her. Slowly and calmly, she dismissed her residents and told them she'd catch up with them in a few minutes.

"I know that you're upset, Derek, but at some point you have to see the bigger picture," she began.

"That's why I would never make a good chief of staff; I care too much about my fellow doctors," Derek snapped. "If one of them was struggling, I'd do everything I could to help them, not try to push them out."

"No one's trying to push Addison out," Juliet said. "Everybody at this hospital – yourself included – has done everything in their power to try and help her. We've given her every chance to avail herself of assistance; she's refused all of them."

Derek didn't cool off. "Someone grabbed her during rounds, put a gun to her head, and threatened to pull the trigger for reasons even now she has no comprehension of. I'd think you'd be willing to show a certain amount of compassion for her."

Juliet didn't blink. "That's right. We must show compassion to our fellow doctors. The same way you did when you caught her sleeping with your best friend. I believe your reaction was to travel across country and sleep with the first stranger you found. Then you ignored her phone calls until she walked in the front door, something that no doubt must have come as a shock to your girlfriend."

Derek looked a little shaken at this.

"Then rather than give up on your marriage, you tried to reconcile with your wife, but actually seemed far more upset about your ex-girlfriend's bedroom habits. Even by the standards of this hospital, that's pretty cruel. But what the hell, it all worked out. You and Meredith ended up together. Until she experienced her own near-death experience and rather than reach out to help her, you broke up with her." Juliet put her hand to her nose. "Or does it count as a breakup when you're still hooking up with her in the hall closet every chance you get? You should know by now; what does HR consider that?"

Derek was starting to get angrier. "If you were a man, I'd hit you."

"You've done that to the man who slept with your wife. Which is not only a dumb move for a surgeon but was the only time you expressed any kind of anger for what happened. Though I have to ask, who were you more pissed at: Addison or Sloan?"

Derek was getting flustered. "This is beside the point."

"Then what is the point, Derek? Why is it that you only now care about your ex-wife's well-being?" Juliet was starting to sound hostile herself now. "She had an affair; you ran away. She came back; you went through the motions of reconciliation, but you screwed the same intern behind her back. And, for the record, as someone whose first husband had no problem flaunting his affairs well after we were divorced, that is quite cruel."

Derek opened his mouth and shut it again.

"Addison was planning to leave this hospital two years ago. At a certain level, it hurt to see her ex-husband so happy around her. But she stuck it out. I don't mean to be brutal, but I would say I've done more to help her be happy in the last two years than you have." Juliet said calmly. "She has a son now. I visit her every few weeks to see how her child is doing. When's the last time you even asked about him?"

"I like Addison. She's a good friend. And when I saw her struggling because of a situation that, however indirectly, I'm responsible for, I did everything in my power to help her." Juliet held her hands out. "We've spent the last month and a half asking nicely and all it's gotten us is hostility. At this point, we either have to nudge as hard as we can or the board is going to shove her out the door."

The hostility seemed to have drained out of Derek. "You're still pushing her out."

"You know as well as anyone else that in any other case, Addison would have been fired at least two weeks ago," Juliet reminded him. "I'm actually stunned it hasn't come to that before now. Never mind keeping her job here; the board finds out about this, she'll never be able to find employment at any hospital in the country."

The fire had gone out Derek's attitude; the calm and measured neurosurgeon was back.

"Derek, you know me. I'm one of maybe three doctors in this entire hospital who's never made a power grab or worked up the ladder. You really think I'm going to do so here and now?"

Derek paused. "There isn't a better option?" he said in a calm tone.

"We ran out of good options a while ago; all we can do now is hope for the least bad ones," Juliet said sincerely. "This works; maybe she can keep her job. Of course, given everything that's happened…"

She trailed off. "At least if we do it this way, she'll still have control over her own destiny."

Derek of all people should have known what was going to happen. One of the interns had stayed behind to be a looky-loo. Before Juliet came back to her residents, she had told all of them the 'telephone' version of what had happened – that Juliet had arranged things so that Addison was going on a leave of an absence.

In an hour, it had spread throughout the obstetrics ward; by the time of the shift change, half the hospital heard this version. Despite the efforts of Meredith and Derek himself to let the truth come out, by the next day the legend had become fact. Juliet was now viewed by half the hospital with disdain – and by the other half with admiration. There were a few people who didn't believe either version – one of them the newly hired Dr. Austin – and a few others who knew exactly what had happened, which was that everything had gone according to plan.

Claire had never been a master of psychology the way some of her fellow survivors had been, but she'd read enough books to know that every story needed a hero and a villain. Addison had said that was no one going to believe Juliet as one, so Claire had asked James the best way to make her one - not much of a stretch since when she had first walked into the camp, everyone had thought she was one without her having to say a word.

Because he knew that Juliet was an expert at playing people when she tried, James had asked her if she would mind doing so here for a much more worthy cause than any Ben Linus had forced upon her. Because Juliet cared about her friend, she didn't flinch.

Juliet then had cornered Jack in his office and told her what her husband had in mind. "James really misses being able to con people doesn't he?" had been Jack's first reaction.

"Maybe I miss not being trusted by anybody; you ever consider that?" Juliet had said with a smile.

"I went through that when I brought you back to camp; I know it's not as fun as it seems," Jack reminded her. "And once we do this, it's going to be really hard to un-ring this particular bell."

"I'll talk to Stevens and Karev," Juliet said slowly. "As long as they're still on our side and Addison's okay with this, I can live with being pariah for a day."

The actual method was relatively simple. Juliet was going to tell Weber to 'accidentally' email a copy of the memo announcing Addison going on vacation to Derek's inbox.

The idea for it being the other Dr. Shepherd had actually been Jack's idea – James and Juliet had originally thought it would make sense to send it to Sloane. Jack had argued that if they were going to do this, it would make more sense to use the ex-husband rather than the ex-lover.

"Mark's reputation still isn't that good around the hospital," he reminded them. "And given his past history with Addison, it'll make him look like he's going after someone for going after his ex."

"Mark's the father of Addison's son; you don't think that will count in his favor?" James had asked.

"They'll expect Sloan to overreact; it's what he does," Juliet agreed. "But what makes you so sure Derek will? He and Addison have been over for years."

"Derek is like me in a way," Jack pointed out. "He reacts very angrily to perceived slights, even to people he's shut out."

"He's not going to like it if I lie to his face," Juliet said.

"Which is why you're going to do what you do best, Blondie," James said fondly. "Tell him the truth…after he accuses you in public."

"And the way the rumor mill churns will do the rest," Juliet reasoned. "He won't be happy when he learns he's been played."

"I'll do my best to work on that when we get back from LA," Jack reminded him. "Right now, the best thing we can do is hope this helps save Addison's job."

ADDISON MONTGOMERY'S APARTMENT

"I don't know how I can apologize for this," Addison said.

"From what I understand, every attending at this hospital takes on the position of being detested or distrusted by the staff," Juliet said. "At least I'm doing it for a noble cause."

Addison nodded. "I was one of those doctors for awhile," she said slowly. "It didn't feel very good back then. But it felt better than how I'm feeling now."

"Look, right now you can't afford to worry about anyone other than yourself," Jack reminded her. "As someone who has known Juliet longer than you, I assure she can handle the slings and arrows for awhile. Besides, we know how this hospital works. Next week, they'll catch some of the interns having an orgy in the morgue and everyone will have forgotten about your problems."

Juliet blinked. "That…hasn't actually happened, has it?"

"I don't know. I've only been at the hospital three years," Addison said with a smile.

"So what are you going to do?" Jack asked.

"I'm going to do what everybody in this hospital has been trying to get me to do for the last month," Addison said. "I'm going to get help. But in order to that, I need to get some distance from this hospital for awhile. Maybe even from the city."

Jack looked at Addison. "We'll support you a hundred percent, but trust me when I tell you, trying to get distance from your problems doesn't get rid of them."

"It is if while you're doing that, you're seeing someone who can help you," Addison held up a hand. "Look I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I think all of you will agree I have to do the rest of it myself."

"You're right," Juliet said. "Besides, we have to get ready to go and see our friends this weekend."

Jack did something that would have been unheard of on the island; he took the hint. "You call us if you need us," he said.

"Give my thanks to your sister, by the way," Addison added. "If it hadn't been for her, I might still have my head up my ass."

Jack and Juliet exchanged glances, but didn't say anything until they were outside.

"James really did miss his calling," Jack said as they left.

"He would have made a hell of a shrink."

Jack shook his head. "He might have been a better leader than I was. He sure as hell knows how to delegate better than I did. Don't you dare tell him I said that."

"Hello Nae?" Addison said to her old friend.

"Addison? It's been awhile."

"I know, and I'm sorry for that," Addison swallowed. "I wanted to let you know that I'm coming down to LA in the next few days, and I was wondering if I could crash at your place while I was there."

"I'm just glad you gave me warning." There was a pause. "Addison, how are you?"

Addison swallowed and said one of the hardest things in her life. "Not good, Nae. Not good at all."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I've wanted to do a reverse pigeon drop on Sawyer almost since I began this series. I just didn't think until I began this chapter how heavily it would fit into the rest of the book. Juliet did get her job at Seattle Grace because of Addison and I can't think she'd be happy to hear this about her friend. (See the second story in the cycle for more.)

I'm not that far out of canon when it comes to Addison's PTSD. Back in the Season 6 finale of Grey's Christina had a gun put to her head while she was performing surgery on Derek and it messed her up so badly that she ended up quitting her internship. I never quite believed that storyline (it didn't seem to fit the Christina I'd known for the five seasons I watched the series) but I would have believed it if it had happened to a different doctor. Addison is far less battle scarred that Christina was, and given what happened to her, I can believe it more easily.

Does anyone know how George O'Malley earned the nickname 007? I never found out and I'd like to know. Still, I thought it would fit here.

I don't think anyone will argue that Claire was the right person to talk to Addison about the trauma she was going through. Claire might be the only person who went through and probably could relate. I don't know if the Claire of Lost could have reached an idea to help Addison keep her job, but Claire did charm Ben Linus in my last story so it's not impossible.

Originally I planned for Derek to be play acting the scene that he and Juliet did in, but I fundamentally decided that Derek is too decent a man to be a good actor. He had to genuinely believe Addison was being betrayed to go after Juliet and make it seem believable. And I do believe Derek is a decent enough man that he'd have to accuse Juliet for it to count for more.

Juliet's scene is classic Juliet. She's honest even when she's being deceptive. Remember how she treated Sawyer and Sayid when they confronted her in One of Us? We later learned she was lying about her motives, but it still seemed honest.

Yes, this is about to become a Private Practice crossover. I may be the only person in recorded history for who Private Practice was my favorite Shondaland series. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I liked so many of the actors in the cast, or perhaps it was because the stakes were always so much lower than any other series. Whatever the reason, everything that irritated me about Grey's worked for me on Private Practice. So get ready to visit Oceanside Wellness. (Though not for another chapter.)

I appreciate your reviews so far. Keep them coming!