A/N: Chapter 3 is up. Thank you for the reviews. I do not own Grey's Anatomy or its characters. Please review!

Next Monday, Derek and Meredith left for Washington D.C.. Zola and Bailey were the responsibility of Alex, Amelia and Maggie for the day. The three of them were setting up for a movie night at their place, so they could chaperone the kids and enjoy some time together. This was a relief for the couple as that was their primary concern before they left for the capital city.

Derek had booked them first class seats, wanting them to be as comfortable as possible. It had been almost three years since the plane crash, but their fears were still fresh.

"You alright?" He asked sometime after takeoff.

"Umm... yeah... it's just..." Meredith started, but wasn't able to word her thoughts.

"I know. I still imagine the worst, every time I fly." Derek agreed with

"I was going to visit you once weekend, in D.C." Meredith started.

"Why didn't you? I guess... I can recall which one, you were unavailable the whole time."

"Yeah, I came till the gate, but my fear of flying along with the tiniest insecurity about us, prevented me from getting on the plane."

"Oh Meredith... come here." Derek tugged on her hand. Thankfully, the seats were big enough for Derek to pull his wife on his lap and hold her close. He would have loved it of she visited him, but understood her fears. All he could do was try and remove those doubts from her mind, especially when it came to the two of them. The two of them soon fell asleep in the same position, blissfully unaware of their surroundings.

When the landed in D.C., they straight headed to the hotel Derek had booked them. It was close to the NIH and one of te better hotels in the city. After grabbing a bite to eat, Derek asked Merediht whether she wanted to come with him or rest in the hotel.

"I want to see where you worked. I can wander around. Talk to people with projects related to general."

"Of course. Come on."

As they entered the facility, Derek saw Dr. Adams, one of the project heads waiting for him.

"Dr. Shepherd, glad you could come here."

"Of course. This is my wife, Dr. Meredith Grey. She is a General Surgery Attending at Grey-Sloan Memorial." He introduced the two and they shook hands.

"Welcome. Any relation to Dr. Ellis Grey?" He asked her, causing Meredith to almost roll her eyes. Wherever she went, her mother's name followed her. It was both a blessing and curse.

"Yes. She was mother."

"Ah. The medical community suffered a great loss with her demise."

"Thank you."

"Meredith wanted to see where i worked and just go around the place." Derek mentioned, wanting to confirm that it wouldn't be an issue.

"Of course. And if you have a suggestion that could help us, please voice it out. We would be obliged." He stated, leading them inside.

Derek and Dr. Adams headed to his office, to finalise the terms of Derek's resignation and Meredith chose to loo around and talk to researchers. She did not know which department she was walking into at any given time. She first came across and couple of doctors who were, much to her relief, in general surgery. She spoke to them about the Grey Method, of her mother and her own ongoing research about islet cells. She also got a few ideas regarding the latter which she was looking forward to testing.

After talking to them, she continued on her journey, where she unknowingly entered the cafeteria. Pregnancy had made her hungry. Though there were limited items she could keep down, she had the urge to keep eating anything in sight. She went over to the food counter and examined her optioned. To her delight, they had a Basil, Tomato and Mozzarella sandwich, one of her favourites which did not trigger her morning sickness.

As she was in the line, she overheard a group of people talking about a project related to neurosurgery. What she heard what similar to the first trial done by her and Derek back when she a resident. "You can try injecting it from two sides. Both in the frontal lobe..."

The members of the group looked at her weirdly. "Hey, are you joining out team?" One of the guys asked, a little too happy at the prospect.

"No. I'm a surgeon in Seattle. I overheard you guys, and wanted to suggest this."

"We don't need-" One of them started, but was cut-off by another.

"Yes we do. How about you accompany us upstairs and we can show you." What she heard, had little to do with brain mapping, atleast according to her, so she took them up on their offer.

Entering the lab, she saw a couple of more people, engrossed in their work. She started talking to the researchers about their project and was bouncing ideas off with them. "Are you doing any research back in Seattle?" one of the doctors she came to know as Dr. Booth asked.

"I'm actually a general surgeon. I'm researching islet cells, in hope to 3D print a live nerve."

"Then how are you helping us in this?"

"I came pretty close to specialising in Neurosurgery. I know this stuff." She continued talking to them, as soon as they heard her last name, also asked about her mother. Her ideas were well received by the members of the room, most agreeing with her and setting up to try out her method. She was discussing one of the other projects, when her phone rang and she saw Derek was calling her.

"Hey, you done with your meeting?"

"Yes, where are you?" Derek asked. Meredith having no clue as to their location, turned to the lady she was talking to. "Which room are we in?"

"N-13" Came the answer.

"Im in room N-13." She told Derek.

"What are you... I'm on my way." Meredith looked at the phone oddly, but let it go and continued her discussion with the Dr. Collier.

Derek opened the door and Meredith went to him. "How was your meeting?"

"Good, what are you doing here?"

"Talkig to these guys. You know, i still have a knack for neuro. I helped these guys."

"I know you have a knack for neuro. But what I was saying was that, Meredith this is my team, the team I was heading."

"Oh, nice guys. You must have... Oh..." She turned to Derek wide eyed, finally getting what he was saying. She was here. "Which one?"

"Mere-"

"Which one? You tell me or I shout the question."

"Ughh.." Derek said, rubbing his head, "Red head in the back."

"Dr. Collier?"

"Yes. How do-"

"I was just talking to her!" Meredith screeched.

Derek almost had to control his laughter at her face, but did not because that would be very bad for him, very bad. He was about to drag Meredith out of there and to the hotel, when he heard his name being called.

"Dr. Shepherd are you really resigning?"

"Yes, Dr. Booth. I'm returning to my family and my previous hospital."

"Dr. Shepherd can i talk to you for a minute?" Asked the person Derek wanted to avoid the most. Meredith was annoyed. He didn't want her to tense herself nor did he want her to cause a scene. More the former than the latter.

"Calm down, please." He whispered to his wife. It took all of Meredith's self control to not shout at the lady in front of her.

"What is it, Dr. Collier?" Derek asked calmly.

"Umm, can I talk in private?" She asked, nervously. She still thought that she and Derek and a chance to be together and wasn't going to let him go without persuading him to stay.

"No." Came Meredith's sharp voice.

"Excuse me? Dr. Grey, I don't-" Started the Renee.

"Let me reintroduce myself, Dr. Meredith Grey, Dr. Shepherd's wife." All the members of the room were shocked.

"Damn, Dr. Shepherd, you didn't tell us your wife was this hot." Said a guy named Dr. Harris.

"And brilliant too, her ideas are amazing." Added Dr. Booth.

"Yeah, I know my wife is hot and brilliant. Thank you guys." Derek said, getting slightly jealous and wrapping a possessive arm around her.

"Can we leave?" Meredith asked, eyeing Renee.

"Of course, come on." Derek took her hand and lead her back to their hotel room.

"So, that was her?" Meredith and Derek were lying on the bed, with her leaning on him, talking about their day. They had avoided the elephant in the room up until then.

"Yeah. Meredith, she means nothing."

"I know, I saw that." She said, smiling at him. Derek looked confused, so she elaborated. "I saw the way you looked at her. There were no emotions in your eyes."

"You can see that, yeah?" Derek asked her smiling and tickling her slightly.

"Of course I can. When she answered your cell, I kind of paralleled myself with her. But I still remember the way you looked at me, when you were chasing me, or when Addison and you were together. I didn't see that here."

"You won't. Meredith, no one can come close to what you mean to me. No one at all. Please, never compare yourself to any other women, especially in my eyes."

"Okay. You know, I think it was good I came. I saw that you were telling the truth and what you just said now from my own eyes. I needed that." She leaned a kissed Derek on his lips.

"Good, now we can finally put D.C. behind us." Derek said, again kissing her and Meredith giggled and Derek rolled her underneath him and leaned in for a proper kiss.

It was finally early evening and the both of them were getting dressed. Derek had specifically asked her to bring a nice dress with her, and was himself wearing a well tailored suit.

"Where are we going?" She asked him. Derek was being very secretive about their plans for the evening. Meredith wanted to stay in and relax, but Derek had other ideas.

"Wait and see. Be patient." Derek said, coming behind her a clasping her necklace.

"I'm not a patient woman." She said, acting to be irritated.

"Oh I know that, but please?" Derek asked giving her his McDreamy eyes.

"Fine, only because I love you."

"I'll take that." he said, kissing her neck from behind. "Now come with me."

They went downstairs, and Meredith saw a limousine waiting at the gate, Derek leading her towards it. The chauffeur opened the door, and Derek helped the two of them inside. Meredith was slightly confused, but was liking it nevertheless. They drove for about half an hour, before the car came to a halt. The door opened and Derek got down first, extending his arm for Meredith. She gladly took it and the two of them headed inside one of the finest hotels in downtown Washington D.C. They went up to their open air restaurant.

"Reservation under Shepherd for two." He told the manager.

"Of course, come on in." The manager led them to a separate area, which seemed to be set up specially for them. It was decorated in lavender flowers and a band was playing slow songs. Derek pulled Meredith's chair and then sat across her. She could see most of Washington's monuments from her seat. She marvelled at the Capitol Building, the Memorial Tower, and also the white house at a distance.

"Derek, what's going on?"

"I just wanted to have a nice meal with you." He told her smiling inwardly.

"Really?" Meredith asked, not believing him for a second. She also knew that Derek would tell her what she needed to know, when he liked. There was no point pushing him, so she dropped the topic and focused on enjoying the dinner. Derek had told her that this was one of the finest Italian restaurants in the city, and the food lived up to the reputation. They had just ordered their dessert when Derek got up from his chair and kneeled down in front of Meredith.

"What are you doing?" Meredith whispered to her husbands, seeing as the were getting all kinds of attention. Derek pressed his finger to her lips, shutting her up.

"Meredith Grey, will you give me the honour of being your husband and marry me, again?" Derek asked, opening the ring box and showing her the ring. It was teh same one, which he had sneakily taken out of Meredith's closet before coming here.

"What?"

"Meredith, answer me. Marry me!"

"Uh, yes. Of course!" Derek stood up and pulled Meredith up as well, giving her a long kiss and pulling her in his arms. He slid the ring on her ring finger and kissed it. The waiter came with their dessert, causing them to sit back down, much too their dismay.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what lead to this?"

"Okay, you don't know this, but remember when Addison's brother was brought in?" Derek started.

"Yes." Meredith said, recalling the incident from a few years back.

"I had decorated our room in your mother's house. It was full of roses and candles and what not. I was waiting for you to come back form the hospital when i got the call." Meredith was shocked at this revelation.

"Oh, you never told me this. That's why a found a lone rose petal on the bed that day."

"Yeah, but now we are doing things a little traditionally. So I thought, to give you a cliché proposal as well." Meredith started giggling

"Derek, I loved this. Absolutely loved it. But I think I'm glad that out first one of the one in the elevator."

"I love both equally. You agreed to them. That's what I care about."

"Always. If you asked me in a completely random way also, I will always tell you yes." Meredith said, tracing abstract lines on his hand. "By the way, you don't expect me the wear a white dress, right?" She needed to clarify. She tried on those dresses all those years back just for Izzie, thankfully the wedding was gifted to the deserving couple.

"Of course not." Derek said, knowing his wife well.

"Yeah, you said traditional and all." Meredith said.

"Hey, it's our vow renewal, do as you like, wear whatever you like." Derek told her. He did not care about such stuff and even if anyone else did, their opinion did not matter.

"Okay, because I saw an amazing light purple dress in the mall, which I have sent to be fitted in my size." She told him

"I'm sure you will look beautiful, and I will arrange for a light purple flower to be pinned to my tux."

"You look hot in a tux." Meredith said, her eyes full of mischief and lust.

"I look hot in everything." Derek told cockily. He then signalled for the check, which he paid. He then went over to Meredith's side and offered his hand.

"Really?" She asked coyly, getting up and walking alongside him.

"Oh, yes. I would love to show it to you, but we need to leave for the airport." Derek told her sadly. He really wished that they could head back to their room, but it wasn't an option. They didn't want to impose on the guys taking care of Zola and Bailey and they were needed at the hospital the next day as Dr. Grant was about to come and present her case.

"That's a shame. I was looking forward to celebrating our engagement." Meredith sexily whispered in Derek's ear. Derek groaned and took her down into their limo which would take them to the airport. It was a fitting ending to this trip, which cleared the air between them further and had them engaged once again. he was looking forward to them getting home and in their bed, where they could finally celebrate, in the way they both wanted.