A/N: I wanted to update on Sunday, I really did, but your love for the very first chapter and the interest you already have pushed me to reveal a bit more. So, this is it...

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Are you lost?"

Katie's voice makes Derek use all his powers of self-control not to smack her in the back of her head.

She's a child and she's injured, keep your hands on the gurney.

She so deserves a smack.

"I'm not lost."

"You are! You might look like that, but no one is giving you a second glance," Katie snickers, and he is really, really close to killing her. Or he can let her die, yeah, that can work. "You're so lost."

Derek growls, turning the gurney into a hallway that looks strangely familiar.

"Do you think I will be able to watch Kelly Alcott fall on her ass on cable TV or we have to ride around this hospital for the next three hours before you put me into a machine?" Katie whines. "Is this your first day or something?"

Derek decides that it's better to ignore her than to poke the beast more.

"Hey, are you deaf?"

"Ms. Bryce," he sighs, trying to sound calm and collected.

"Wow, you sound like my teacher now."

Okay, that's enough. Interesting case or not, she's just a pain in the ass. He groans, hopefully loudly enough that she gets the message.

"For the CT and MRI it's the first aisle on the right, straight through." A tall, slender man with nurses' scrubs directs him, his dark eyes shimmering with amusement. "Nurse Tyler at your service."

Derek smiles gratefully, feeling himself blush. That man is his new hero. He needs to buy him coffee as a thank you or something similar.

"See, totally lost," Katie giggles, winning a glare from Derek. "I can't believe that I fell and now this. I need to be at that pageant; I can't let Kelly Alcott win."

"What's your talent?" he asks, wishing with all his might that if she talks about the stupid pageant she'll become slightly more pleasant. Maybe he just opened a can of worms, though.

"Rhythmic gymnastics."

"I see." He tries to be supportive, he really does, but her rants are wearing his nerves thin, and he has a long couple of days ahead of him.

"It's a pretty smart move. Nobody else does it..."

Katie's voice becomes just a hum as she goes on and on about her talents and her enemies' talents and the place and...his mind is numb.

He's grateful when they leave her in the CT machine and she has to shut up.

Quiet bliss. Just the hum of the scan working, and the light whistle of the technician. He should be polite and ask the guy's name, but Katie's chatting has drained him of all his social skills.

"That kid must be something." The tech smirks almost knowingly, and Derek chuckles at his amusement.

"You have no idea."

"First day?"

"I look lost, right?" Derek sighs and the guy laughs, their eyes watching as the image shows up on the screen.

"All looks clear," the tech announces.

"Strange." Derek frowns, this girl turning out to be more and more puzzling by the minute. "She's the picture of health, and she's having seizures. Something is not right."

"Well, it's up to you doctors to figure it out now," the tech shrugs, handing him the test results.

Derek sighs. Maybe he should have continued his job an assistant cook at the Italian restaurant where he worked for the past four years to put food on the table. Being a surgeon is the stupidest idea he could ever had.

He brings Katie back to her room, grateful for the sedative she has required to stay still. He knows he has to enjoy the quiet until it lasts.

He brings the results straight to Dr. Bailey, and his resident looks puzzled as she peruses through the results, her frown deepening. Derek is pretty sure he's about to be beheaded or eaten alive for not bringing the results she was hoping for.

"This is peculiar," she mumbles to herself, disappearing down the aisle and leaving him alone in the room, staring at a stirring Katie.

He's about to make himself scarce as well, when a couple flies in the room like bats out of hell – his own private hell. They crowd around Katie, touching her and rousing her from sleep, treating her like a china doll.

Parents. Yeah, they are a category of their own.

"Can you please tell us what's going on?" Mrs. Bryce pleads, stroking Katie's hair gently.

"She's been here for hours, you should know something by now," Mr. Bryce fuels, his stance possessive as he stands in front of Derek, looking exhausted and sad.

"I will go get you Katie's doctor. I mean, I am a doctor, but not her doctor, so..." Derek stutters, sounding stupid even to his own ears. Assistant cook was such a nice, funny job.

Mr. Bryce glares at him as Derek swiftly slides backwards out of the room, scampering away as quickly as he can in search of Dr. Bailey.

"Dr. Bailey!" he shouts, running after the woman. She's quick, for having such short legs. Bailey almost murders him on the spot with a look as he approaches her. "Katie's parents have questions, can you answer them or should I get the Trauma attending?" He can't remember the guy's name, since he barely saw him in the room, but he knows the ginger guy is the one responsible for Katie over Bailey's head.

Dr. Bailey stares him down, and he feels self-conscious of his every movement. "Oh, Dr. Hunt is off the case, Dr. Grey is taking over. Meredith Grey." Bailey actually smirks as she lifts up her eyes, pointing her finger. "She's over there."

When Derek looks up, he hears the most perfect giggle, belonging to a petite young woman, her dirty blond hair swaying in her ponytail as she jokes with two other doctors, sharing the findings on a chart.

He swallows thickly, his heart skipping a beat. How can that fairy be Medusa is beyond him. These people have way too much time on their hands to create nicknames.

Derek looks for a beat more at her delicate features, at the way her eyes brighten while she laughs, or the way her curves seem to be all in their rightful places even in scrubs.

Man, he has an instant crush on Medusa.

He approaches her and discretely clears his throat as he holds out a chart in front of him like a shield. Her beautiful dancing eyes darken to a dull gray as they meet his, her posture stiffens, her stance immediately professional.

"Who are you?" she asks coldly, but boy, her voice is melodious.

"Dr. Shepherd."

"The intern on Katie Bryce's case, I presume." She studies him head to toe, a small smile on her lips. Okay, she's finding his weak spot, he's about to die. He's not going to survive the next forty hours.

"I am, Dr. Grey."

"What do you want?" Her voice has all the authority that even some of the most seasoned surgeons don't posses. Clearly, being a neurosurgeon comes with the ego.

"Her parents have questions," he begins tentatively, and he almost winces at the face she makes.

"So?"

"They want to talk to you, Ma'am." Another wince.

"Are you incapable of telling them that we're still running tests or do you need me to hold your hand through it and cheer you at the end of your sentence?" Her voice is filled with distaste and annoyance, and he feels a good inch shorter now, even if she's wearing Chucks and she has to look up when she growls at him.

"I..."

"This is not kindergarten, Shepherd, it's a teaching hospital. I'm pretty sure you're fluent in talking by now."

"Sorry, Dr. Grey."

"Oh, and, Shepherd?"

Derek wants to cry at this point. He wants to hide behind the corner and pretend this never happened. This woman just belittled him like he has never been belittled before. Not even the most awful temper tantrum has prepared him for this feeling of helplessness.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Never, under any circumstance, call me 'Ma'am' again."

He feels her eyes burn holes into the back of his skull as he retreats with his head bowed down, his eyes on the tiles, wishing the ground could swallow him.

She might be hot, but she's Medusa indeed. Hot and dangerous.

He already needs to lie down.

He goes back to Katie's room to brief her parents, as they keep firing question after question he only has one answer for: we don't know. And he feels awful for it. He has heard that answer many times when he was in their shoes, and it pissed him off beyond belief. He can't believe he's the one saying these things to them now. Karma is having a field day with him today.

Derek gladly goes down to the cafeteria for his lunch break when midday comes, wishing that food could provide him a small escape from the hell he is in already. He grabs a stale sandwich and a salad, with a bottle of water and an apple, before he looks around the room to find a spot.

Now he's having a high school throwback.

Attendings sit on their own, their navy scrubs creating blobs of color different from the tables of the green-clad nurses, the salmon-y gynecologists and the light blue residents. He's grateful when he sees a few familiar faces eating at a table with an empty seat.

He carefully plops down on the empty chair at the top of the interns table, waiting for someone to direct him to a different table, but nothing happens.

"God, I can't eat," Izzie moans, eying her tray with utter disgust.

"It's a marathon, not a sprint. Eat!" George orders in his best doctor voice.

"You try eating after performing eighteen rectal exams. Eighteen."

Well, maybe her karma is a little more pissed off than his, he should be grateful for Izzie, giving him perspective.

"Good afternoon, interns." They all hear a professional, blank tone greet them, just a little excitement bleeding into the last word.

When he looks up, Ellis Grey is walking towards them in her pencil skirt and lab coat in all her chiefly glory, her smile almost non-existent. She has the same eyes her daughter has, he notices, then ponders for the remaining seconds of quiet why has he noticed such a thing.

"As many of you are aware of the tradition, each year we pick the most promising intern on their very first day to perform – start to finish – a relatively easy procedure, supervised by an attending." She looks around the table in a very teacher-like stance, forcing Derek to keep his eyes low on the table. He feels like he's in the principal's office once again, but this time Mark is not next to him. "This year we picked George O'Malley. You're scrubbing in with me in OR 3 at two sharp. Don't be late."

Derek's eyes lift up to see a very stunned George with eyes wide as saucers, and an equally stunned Izzie, while Cristina is already plotting her revenge against him in her head. Alex completely ignores the announcement, diving back into his food. Derek feels relieved he won't be the one performing the very first surgery, with all eyes on him. He has heard people whispering about him already, and he doesn't want to have any more attention brought on himself. He likes living in the shadows.

His pager beeps at his hip, and his eyes widen when he sees a 911. "Crap!" he blurts, frozen for a second.

"Go, we'll take care of your tray," Izzie kindly offers, before he bolts to Katie's room.

He reaches her room breathless, only to find her quietly reading a magazine, huffing as he shows up.

"Took you long enough?"

Derek is sure his mouth is hanging wide open by now. "You're okay?"

"I'm bored. And this place has crappy TV reception. I need to see the pageant, it's a matter of life or death!" she whines. "I can't let Kelly Abbott steal my crown!"

Derek pushes her back on the bed, checking her vitals to pretend he's doing something medical requiring his page, though he's a little more brusque than usual.

"You know, there are sick, dying people here. I'm not your chauffeur or a cruise director, I'm not your waiter, I'm your doctor."

"So?"

"I'm not a TV tech either. Do something else."

"But my head is all full."

Derek glares at her, as he makes his way outside the room. "That's called thinking. Go with it!"

He takes a deep breath when he's finally out of the room. He always has a way with kids, but Katie is the exception.

He spots Dr. Grey talking to Katie's parents in the hallway, and she looks completely different than how she looks when she talks to her subordinates. She has a gentle smile on her face, a reassuring tone, though Katie's parents are almost as bad as their daughter when it comes to manners and politeness. She's being even too kind for his liking. Maybe that's what makes her such a great doctor as well.

"I'm taking her somewhere else, Dr. Grey!" Mr. Bryce shouts, and Derek feels glad for a second, only to realize what that could mean for the hospital and Dr. Grey. Bad. Even if she's a pain in the ass, it's better if Katie is their pain in the ass.

"I assure you, we are doing everything we can to make Katie feel better."

"This was supposed to be the best hospital on the West Coast! You were supposed to be the best, and instead you're a kindergartner who cuts into brains!" Mr. Bryce shouts, and Dr. Grey's eyes meet Derek's. She's glaring at him, and he knows it's his cue to leave.

He finds a haven in the tunnels, though when he gets there, his pack of interns minus Alex is already lounging there in between charts and labs, munching on various vending machines snacks.

"Surgery is hardcore, George. Geriatrics is for grown ups who still live with their mothers."

George groans. "I need to find my own place."

The women start giggling, as George fidgets with the wheelchair he's sitting on.

"Whoa, Shepherd is blushing," Cristina snickers, nudging her chin towards him. "He lives with his mommy too!"

Derek groans too. "I don't."

"Right," Izzie giggles.

"She just lives down the street from my house."

"Oh, so she just cooks for you and does your laundry," Cristina chortles. "Yeah, Derek lives with his mother."

"I can cook better than you think and she doesn't do my laundry." He slumps on the gurney, pretending to pout. "I do appreciate the free babysitting, though."

Everybody turns towards him with a question in their eyes, and he knows this is the moment when he'll start feeling either part of the pack, or a complete outsider.

He hates first days.

"You try keeping entertained a little boy for an entire day, and you'll appreciate it too."

"Is he...?" Izzie prompts.

"My son? Yeah." Derek smiles, despite everything else, picking out a picture from his phone and showing it to his friends. "His name is David. He'll be five in August. He's starting kindergarten in September."

"Look at those baby blues." Izzie coos, "And that smile!"

Derek's blush extends, though he's sporting a proud smile.

"Whoa, Mini Shepherd," Cristina comments, glancing over Izzie's shoulder at the photo, before passing it to George, who coos some nonsense as well.

"So your wife works a lot, too?" Izzie smiles, her eyes immediately falling on his empty ring finger, making him feel self conscious.

"I'm not married," Derek shrugs, glancing one last time at his phone with a soft smile before he puts it away. "It's just me and David."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Izzie blushes.

"Don't worry, she's not dead or anything. At least I hope she's not," he mutters the last part to himself, but they hear it anyway.

"Rough divorce?" George prods.

"We were never really together," Derek admits, his cheeks heating again. Way to make a good first impression.

"Wow, McDreamy. When I think you are boring, your rise," Cristina smiles smugly.

"What?" George looks at her puzzled.

"One night stand," Derek supplies. "I was an intern. A month before my intern exam, I found David on my doorstep, still with his hospital bracelet on, just a letter, his birth certificate with my name on it, the request for DNA testing, and a photo of his birth mother under the car seat."

"So nice of her," Cristina snickers.

"He changed my life. I left my internship, found a job, raised my boy..."

"And now you're back."

"Now I'm back," Derek admits with a shrug.

"Why did you wait?" Cristina frowns. "I mean, I get the first month or so, but four years?"

"David has Sensory Processing Disorder. It took me two and a half years to get him diagnosed, after multiple diagnosis of ADHD, Asperger's or autism. He's the one that makes me want to pursue Neuro, in fact. If I can figure him out, I can be a brain surgeon," he chuckles.

"You're in for a long ride, with many hoops," Cristina nods heavily. "That Meredith Grey is a tough cookie."

"She seems pretty competent, though," Derek admits. "At least she hasn't asked me to deliver coffee or pick up her dry cleaning like Mark does to his interns."

"Mark as in Mark Sloan?" Izzie yelps, and Derek sighs. Why does he have that effect on blondes?

"Yeah, we were in the same group of interns back in the day."

"He's a fellow already."

"Yeah, his first year."

"Must be tough on you," George commented, a look of sympathy in his gaze.

"I don't regret picking David over surgery," Derek admits, feeling a little self-conscious about his choice.

"What did you do, then?" Izzie asks, genuinely curious. She seems the friendliest of the bunch, really.

"Assistant chef in one of Seattle's finest restaurants." Derek winks. "A Casa di Mario, do you know it?"

"Seriously?" Izzie yelps. "You need to tell me what's the secret ingredient of your chocolate cake, it's divine."

Derek laughs, as Cristina rolls her eyes. "It won't be a secret anymore if I tell you."

"You're mean, Derek."

Derek laughs, feeling that maybe, even if he's older and has a kid, they might still be something more than co-workers in the long run.

A/N: So, Derek met Medusa Grey, and you guys got a glimpse of David. I promise you'll get to see him soon. Soonish. Forty-eight-hour shifts are pretty long!

I hope you'll stick around, and thank you for the love. I used to reply to each review singularly, but I probably won't do it anymore for this fic, unless you have questions. I can't keep up with everything, and I'm sure you prefer me writing more of the story instead of replying to your reviews.

Again, I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the response, but by all means, keep that up!