A/N: Yepp, Mark is back. Sorry for the gap between chapters. I travel for work and haven't had as much time to write lately. This is a shorter chapter, but the next one will be much longer ;)


Chapter 9

Miranda Bailey stood firm with her hands on her hips, waiting for Derek to reach her as he walked down the hallway.

Her eyes locked with his when he finally reached her. "Would you care to explain to me why I've got a bunch of interns whispering about you and not my surgeries I've got lined up for them? Or should I ask Meredith Grey?"

Derek gave Bailey a tired look. "You know they call you the Nazi, don't you?"

"For good reason," Bailey responded evenly.

"It's just gossip." Derek said as he tucked his pen in his lab coat pocket. He moved in the direction of anywhere that was far away from her.

Bailey followed close behind, determination fueling her every step. "Oh, I was there. I don't know if I'd call it 'just gossip.'"

Derek paused and spun around, nearly bumping into Bailey's small, angry form. "There is nothing going on between Meredith and I anymore. Let the hospital talk until the next thing they find fascinating comes along."

"There'd better be nothing going on between you and Grey. The last thing I need is a bunch of horny adrenaline-spiked interns running around with the residents and their spouses out for blood. It's a damn circus around here!" Bailey huffed.

Derek sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "Speaking of adrenaline-spiked interns, I've got to ask Karev a question. So, if you wouldn't mind," he gestured for Bailey to walk past him.

Bailey eyed him, but took heed to his gesture and continued on her way.

"Karev!" Derek called when he saw Alex turning the corner. He walked briskly over to him.

"You shouted?" Alex asked, an annoyed look already painted across his face.

Derek leveled with him. "You're working with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd tomorrow, aren't you?" He asked.

Alex continued to look at him without offering a yes or no.

Derek resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I need you to get me the files for her patients. I'd like her to have a chance to look things over before she comes back to work."

"Yeah, whatever," Alex replied with a shrug before strolling off.

"He's a tough egg to crack, but he's a good doctor."

Derek turned around to the sound of Richard's voice.

"You've got to be tough with that one," he continued before dragging his eyes to Derek. "How's Addie doing?"

"Good, she's doing good," he nodded absentmindedly. "I'm just trying to wrangle up her patients' files for her before she comes in tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Richard looked at Derek dumbly. "I thought she was coming in the day after tomorrow."

"No, it was always set for tomorrow," Derek stated. "Why, is that a problem?" He asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

Richard thumbed through a stack of files in his hands. His eyes widened only slightly and then went back to normal before he made eye contact with Derek again. "No…not a problem at all."

"The way you said that makes me think there's definitely a problem. What's going on, Richard?" Derek turned to face him fully, concern laced in his voice.

"There's no problem," Richard reassured as he waved him away. "I just realized there's something I have to do." He turned to leave and headed in one direction before spinning around and heading in the complete opposite direction.

Derek studied him carefully, suddenly very nervous for Addison to join him at work the following day.

"Did you want those files or not?" Alex shouted from down the hall, snapping Derek back to reality.

It would be a miracle if Derek didn't end up strangling him by the end of the day.

xXx

Derek opened the trailer door to reveal a warm yellow room, the smell of apples and cinnamon and a content Addison sitting on the couch, her feet tucked securely under her legs.

It felt nostalgic, smelling her favorite candle scent, and only having lamps on throughout the house. She insisted on low lights after being under the buzzing, florescent hospital lights all day and night.

He unwrapped the scarf around his neck and loosened his collar. "So, apparently we're the talk of the hospital," he said.

Addison beckoned for him to join her on the couch. "What's new?" She asked, barely looking away from the evening news on the TV. "Look at this." She waited until he had sat down next to her. "Another shooting," she said sadly.

Derek wrapped an arm around her shoulders, encouraging her to scoot closer to him. She nestled herself in the crook of his shoulder as she looked on at the hoard of cop cars and men in black suits with firearms draped over their shoulders.

"Sometimes I wonder if the world is getting worse every day," she said under her breath. "That wasn't far from here, you know. It could be us operating on those kids right now."

Derek nodded and watched the replayed videos of bodies being hauled out on stretchers. "I've seen enough tragedy today," he said after a moment, thinking of the losses and distraught families he had witnessed in the hospital. "Let's watch a movie or something. I can order Chinese food unless you want something else."

Addison seemed to awaken from her reverie and turned to face him. "No, Chinese still sounds good to me. How about one of those baking shows?"

Derek smiled, causing the lines around his eyes to crinkle slightly. "Perfect. One second, I'll make the call."

Addison flipped through the channels while Derek called in their order to the restaurant, all the while debating if she should mention Mark or not.

She had no idea what he was doing here or when he would be leaving. She had a sneaking suspicion he had wormed his way into Seattle Grace Hospital, and it might be better to tell Derek now, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted to stay in this moment with him forever, where it was just the two of them and the British judges destroying people's self-esteem over cupcakes. Besides, if that was the case, she was sure Richard would have mentioned it to Derek.

"One hour," he said after he had hung up. "I got you the steak. You still…that's still your order, right?"

"We weren't apart for that long," Addison said jokingly. She stretched out on the couch, inching her feet towards Derek until her toes were cushioned under his thigh.

"God!" He jumped. "Your feet are freezing!" He exclaimed as though she had stuck him with a hot brand.

Her lips stretched into a mischievous smile as she nestled her toes further under his legs. "But you're so warmmm," she purred.

"Give me those things," Derek laughed as he plucked her feet from under his leg and secured them in his lap with a throw blanket.

A comfortable silence settled over them as the British bakers droned on about flour and frosting. Derek ran his fingers over Addison's feet under the blanket and he felt her body twitch at the contact.

He smirked when she shot him a look. "Sorry, didn't mean to tickle you," he promised. "Here," he took both of her feet in his hands and kneaded into her soles, eliciting an appreciative sigh from Addison.

"Good?" He asked as he worked his way down to her heels and then back up.

"Good," she answered thickly while looking at him with glossy eyes.

Derek felt her body relax under his touch. It was a rewarding feeling – to know she could let her guard down with him once more.

Addison closed her eyes, imagining the way she and Derek used to be. It seemed like a dream, remembering how some act as small as rubbing her feet would elicit a fiery passion.

They would tear at each other's clothes at any given moment. Nothing was off the table. They would try to find a vacant on-call room at work or keep hushed voices so they could have sex in their childhood rooms during the holidays. She wanted that passion again.

But then she remembered Mark. Mark, who would also be at the holiday events just down the hall. Mark, who would eventually find his way into being at every event with them and then slowly, it was only Mark that would be around. The same Mark that had been at the front door that very morning, begging to be in their lives or even just hers again.

Derek swept his hands along her legs, feeling the silky smoothness of them. Slowly, he pressed his palms into the soft flesh of her calves and began massaging until he heard a small moan escape from her.

Addison shoved thoughts of Mark out of her mind. She let him ruin her life in a single night and in a moment of weakness. Mark was not her Achilles heel, she realized. Missing Derek was. Mark just happened to be the man that was there that night.

She often wondered if it had been Derek there that night if it would have brought them closer together. She had lost a patient. She could see the little girl in her mind - a tiny lifeless infant that could almost fit in the palms of her hands. It had destroyed her. She had cried and cried before calling Derek, hoping he would be home later that night to comfort her. But it was Mark who showed up instead. And in her moment of weakness, the weakness of needing human contact and comfort, she made a decision that would ruin her life.

She would never make that mistake again. She would choose Derek every time. And now she could prove it to him. No Mark or mystery man from the bar would take this moment from them. She opened her eyes and found his, determined to connect with Derek in way they hadn't been able to in a long time.

Derek looked up to find Addison's eyes already trained on his in a familiar, wanton way.

Addison pulled her legs back and sat up on her knees so that she could gingerly crawl the short distance to him on the couch.

She stared at him long and hard. Derek could see her chest rising and falling rapidly, and suddenly realized his breathing matched hers.

She dipped her head towards his and he met her halfway, colliding together in a slow, sensual kiss.

Derek threaded his fingers through her hair, and he felt her tension collapse around him as she pressed flush against his chest. He sat up straighter, wanting to be closer to her than they already were.

He could feel his body reacting quicker than his mind could and they couldn't find it within themselves to stop, so their kisses became hungrier, fueled with need and fever.

Derek felt Addison's fingers pulling at the hem of his shirt. He replaced her hands and tore his shirt out of the confines of his waistband so that he could take it off.

He mirrored her movements, asking permission to help Addison with her shirt. Addison parted from him so that he could help free her. She moved to kiss him again, but Derek gently placed his hand over her heart to stop her advances.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked breathlessly.

She gave him a small smile and pecked his lips. "I'm sure about this," she whispered before deepening their kiss again.

That was all Derek needed to scoop her into his arms and carry her to their bed.

Neither of them heard the knock or the thud from their bag of Chinese food hitting the door. Even if they had, they were too enamored with one another to care.


Chapter 10 coming soon.