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"You were going to Hopkins." she hisses, seizing her sister by the elbow. "What the hell?"
"I transferred at the last minute." she shrugs. "There was a vacancy here, and I missed you guys." She smiles brightly, squeezing Meredith's hands. "It's gonna be great, Mer, all of us are going to be working together-"
"Maggie, dear, you're with Dr. Hunt. Trauma. It's on the -"
"Mother." Maggie grits her teeth in a sickening smile. "Dr. Weber. I can find it."
"Nothing wrong if you can't." their mother says breezily. "Oh, and your father wants you two to meet him for lunch at one."
"See?" Meredith demands as Ellis swoops away, Bailey trailing forlornly behind her. "This is what its like. She treats me like a baby. She's going to treat you like a baby. Nothing is about you anymore, Mag, it's all about her, you set one toe out of line and she's worried you're going to make her look like an idiot."
Maggie rolls her dark eyes, patting her on the back. "You're too dramatic, Mer. Hey, do you think I can get some time on Cardio? I mean, trauma's great, and everything, but I really think Cardio is a better fit-"
"Take it up with your mother." she answers, which is rude and makes her feel guilty when Maggie's hopeful face crumples, but she did warn her.
But she's Maggie, relentlessly cheery and friendly, and she spots Alex across the room, instantly perking up. "Alex! Hi! Hey guys, should we go get a drink after work? I totally need to discuss wedding stuff - Mer, I refuse to wear pink - and I haven't seen Alex in ages-"
Cristina snorts with laughter as Alex, twitching nervously, waves at Maggie and backs quickly out of the room. Maggie stares after him, confused.
"What's with him?"
"We...uh, we called it off." Meredith starts, closing her eyes. She can feel the beginnings of a monstrous headache pounding behind her eyes, and Maggie's piping voice is starting to grate.
"What?"
"Grace."
"Huh?" he stutters. His head is heavy and foggy. Addison looks as exhausted as he feels, but she has the excuse of having recently given birth.
"Grace." she repeats, stroking their daughter's hair as she sleeps. "We all need a little bit of it right now, and she looks like a Grace."
As if in answer, she opens her startlingly blue eyes, waving a tiny fist at them. He laughs, incredulous that this tiny being, who has filled him with more warmth and joy than he's felt in a long time, is actually real. That her tiny limbs and shrill cries and flitting eyes are something they made together, him and Addison. "She agrees."
Grace snuffles and squeaks, a tiny foot escaping her blankets; he tucks her into the crook of his arm, bouncing her like the nurse showed him before she can start to howl. She quiets, staring up at him with her unfocused blue gaze, examining him.
"Derek." Addison says behind them, wincing as she shifts in the bed. "Where do we go from here?"
"Home." he says, cupping Grace's head as he holds her upright. "At home, you have a nursery with animals all over it - I painted those, just so you know - and its right across the hall from Mommy and me, so you-"
"Derek." Addison says, shaking her head as if in pity. "Did you really think it would work out that way?"
It takes her a while to find her way to the ER - not that she's going to admit that to her mother - and she's sure the gaggle of interns trailing behind her think she's a moron. Well, she'll show them. She didn't graduate from med school at twenty three because she's a moron.
"Move!" a large orange haired man bellows at her; he's barrelling down the hall with a gurney, a dark haired young woman writhing and moaning on top of it. She catches a whiff of vomit just beifre it clips her in the side and sends her flying into a solid, warm... chest. Very muscly chest, belonging to a man with the most freaking gorgeous pair of eyes she's ever seen on a man, except for the fact that they look annoyed at her.
"Damn it." the beautiful man snaps, shoving at her. "Either help or get out of my way."
"Avery." the orange haired man yells - Hunt, it says on his lab coat - "It's your junkie."
The beautiful man - Avery - groans, whipping his stethoscope from his neck to press it to the young patient's chest, eyeing the monitors.
"She's crashing." Hunt mutters. "She made off with a bunch of oxy yesterday with this idiot's ID card -" he glares at Avery. "Looks like her junkie friends decided to stab her cause she wouldnt share."
There are three gaping wounds in the woman's pale skin, dark red in the fluorescent lighting, oozing blood that Hunt is trying to stop, Avery backing away, wringing his hands - what's wrong with him - Hunt is yelling at him to get back in there, but Avery is obviously shaken.
"I did this, Lucille's gonna die and it's my fault." he muttering, grabbing at his short hair. "I did this."
"Jesus, what an idiot." a red haired girl mutters, shoving her way into the scrum around the bed. "Pupils are pinpoint, she's tachy - okay, push 2 of Narcan-"
She and her tittering interns press into the wall, watching in fascination as the redhead works, her hands fast and deft, applying pressure to the stab wounds, pushing the drug through the IV, checking the patient's pupils, Hunt looking on in approval, and she almost seems to have got it under control when her blood pressure plummets again.
"What the -" the redhead says, surprised. Avery is now as white as the wall behind him, and Hunt steps up, looking puzzled.
The stab wounds. She can't really see the ECG from here, but she's pretty sure, and she butts Avery out of the way to see better.
"What are you doing?" Hunt demands as she barks for an eighteen gauge, repeating his words as she positions the ultrasound probe.
"Pericardial effusion." she explains, splashing betadine liberally over the woman's grimy sweaty chest. She can see where she needs to go on the ultrasound, and her hands are steady, but all she can hear in her head is don't poke the ventricle don't poke the ventricle don't poke the ventricle in time with her own racing heart.
"Who the hell are you?" Hunt asks again as she draws back on the syringe, dark blood filling it as she goes; the monitors stop screaming and the room breathes a collective sigh of relief.
"Margaret Weber." she pants, straightening up. "Nice to meet you, sir."
Chaos. It seems to be the prevailing state of her hospital today, which is making her very short tempered and irritable. It's not a good quality for a Chief of Surgery to have, but she can't help it.
First of all, there's Meredith, the silly girl; she kept Maggie's coming to Seattle Grace a secret, hoping that Meredith would be, at the least, pleasantly surprised. Instead, she just looked annoyed. And speaking of Meredith, she should probably call and cancel the Rainier Club, which promises to be an awkward conversation - nothing more embarrassing than your fiancé cheating on you. With Kepner, of all people. She wonders what Meredith lacks that April - ordinary, plain, nervy April - has.
And Alex. Such a disappointment. She really did like him, she reflects ruefully. He was such a sweet and earnest boy, so pliable, always eager for her advice. Meredith should never have let him slip away - and what was that with Derek Shepherd, in the morning? He and Meredith came in together, reeking of alcohol, puffy and tired. That girl has absolutely no judgement.
She fervently hopes nothing happened between Meredith and Derek - Meredith is brilliant, on track for Chief Resident, she doesn't need Derek's doom and gloom bogging her down.
She remembers the day he applied here; she'd been surprised, recognising his name instantly. He was known for flashy surgeries and impossible saves, but lately he seemed to have dropped off the radar. That was a year ago, and the main reason she'd accepted his application was because she knew Addison would be part of the deal - her ticket to being the best neonatal center on the West Coast, second only to the one Addison left behind in New York.
And now she has Addison's threats of resignation looming over her head, something fishy going on with Derek and her daughter, and a pushy new plastics guy showboating all oer the hospital. She wonders briefly if she should just fire the He-Shepherd and his resident raincloud and hire Sloan instead. She would, if she were convinced that Addison wouldn't skip out.
Addison. She looked ... absorbed, when she went to see her. The baby's gorgeous, of course, and Grace is a lovely name, but she never pictured Addison as the type to go all mommy the minute she gave birth. She thinks she'll give her two weeks - it was a difficult birth - before she asks her to get back to work. That's fair.
She's almost in her office, lamenting the pile of paperwork awaiting her regarding yesterday's absconding drug addict and Avery's stupidity - really, she must have a talk with Catherine about that boy, he's so distracted these days - when April skids up to her, gasping for breath.
"Chief, Dr. Weber did a pericardiocentesis in the ER." she gasps, bending over.
Good. So Meredith did something worthwhile today.
She must not have looked suitably impressed, because April shakes her head. "The other Dr. Weber."
"Well, Richard doing one is hardly news." she snaps, suddenly irritated. This stammery mess of a girl is the reason Meredith was so upset last night - the reason Meredith possibly slept with Derek, the reason she may lose Addison, and the reason Richard is so disappointed with her.
She can't help it. She's never been good at comforting either of their daughters, that was always Richard's domain. Meredith, especially, with her moods and her crying and her disturbing affinity for tragedy.
"No, Dr. Weber as in Maggie, your other daughter-"
Maggie is such a childishly unprofessional nickname, she thinks in disgust in the second before it kicks in - Margaret the first year resident has done a pericardiocentesis.
Why is her family so determined to ruin her day?
"You couldn't have specified that sooner?" she snarls at April. She should have stayed away from Alex, she knew he was engaged to Meredith. This woman hurt her daughter, she realises suddenly, and she feels a pulsing wave of anger. "Go down to the pit, do not let me see you again, and try not to kill anyone."
Except she also needs to get to the ER, which means she has to share a very awkward elevator ride with April.
"Dr. Weber-"
"What?"
"I'm very, very, sorry for what -"
"Scut." she replies furiously, gathering her lab coat around herself as she steps off the elevator. "For a week, and it'll be a month if you open your mouth again."
The instant it's over, Dr. Margaret Weber steps away, peeling off her gloves, looking stricken.
"Oh my god." she whimpers. "She's going to kill me."
"Who?" he asks, looking around for Kepner, who seems to have vanished. She was excellent today, quick, sure, steady. Avery, on the other hand...
"You thinking about Cardio?" he asks the trembling Margaret, who shakes her head furiously.
"No, my mo- Ellis, I mean, Dr. Weber, she thinks I'm great in trauma-"
"You are," he says. "But you should consider Cardio, I've never even seen Callie - my wife, she's head of Cardio - do a pericardiocentesis that fast."
"Oh, honey." a dark haired woman says behind him, smiling. "No need to praise me."
He feels his face flush. "Cal, I just meant - you should have seen her, it was amazing."
"Bet she popped the ventricle." says Yang, rolling her eyes. "Amateur."
"Of course I didn't." Margaret says defensively.
"Of course not." Callie says. "Dr. Yang, meet Dr. Weber - Ellis Weber's daughter." she stresses the last words, raising an eyebrow at Yang, who looks unruffled.
"I know who she is." she shrugs. "First day here, you should probably take it easy."
Margaret looks like she might be gearing up for a retort, but she backs away and leans against the wall, glaring, while Yang examines the patient.
"Be careful." Callie hisses at Yang. "You don't want to get on Ellis' bad side, do you?"
"I don't care." Yang replies, snapping off her gloves. "Congratulations, kid, you got lucky."
And she stomps away, her hair swinging in a black sheet behind her. He watches her go, her slim shoulders squared like she's going into battle. He can feel Callie's eyes on him.
"Everything okay?" she murmurs, her hand warm on his bicep. "Listen, I'm going to the Shepherds' around eight, to take them dinner - we were so exhausted, remember, that first night with Tess - you want to come?"
"Yeah." he says, a beat too late; Callie looks hurt, but Ellis herself is sweeping towards them, and before he can reply she's disappeared after Yang.
"What were you thinking?" she demands, taking Maggie aside. "You could have killed that woman."
Maggie looks jittery, jumpy, jerking out of her grasp. "I did it, I did the perfect pericardiocentesis and she's not dead, I saved her life."
"Dear." she says, a little firmly. "Trust me. You are gifted. You will be a good trauma surgeon, you're quick, you're smart-"
"With all due respect, Chief," Hunt breaks in. "She shows promise in Cardio. Kepner, on the other hand-" he lets out a low whistle. "Never thought I'd say this, but Kepner would be a hell of a trauma surgeon."
"Dr. Hunt, make sure that patient makes it to the ICU." she snaps. Really, all her male surgeons seem intent on getting on her nerves today. One Weber in Cardio is enough.
Hunt leaves with the patient, leaving her with her excited daughter and a pale Avery.
"Jackson." she begins, but he interrupts her.
"April saved her, she's the one who did what I couldn't." he mumbles dispiritedly. "Chief, I've been meaning to speak to you about changing my focus-"
"Nonsense, your mother personally asked Dr. Hunt to take you on." she replies. "Go. Rest, or whatever. I expect you back in an hour."
He shuffles off, leaving her with Maggie.
"What happened with Mer and Alex?" she asks, wrinkling her nose. "Are they really-"
"Its embarrassing." she sighs. "Meredith caught Alex with April Kepner-"
"April ?" Maggie shrieks. "Mom, I liked her! Oh god, I was nice to her! I was nice to a ... a fiancé - stealer!"
She doesn't have the heart to tell her hyperventilating daughter that it's entirely possible her beloved sister is a husband stealer. She sends her off to do sutures instead - she can't mess that up - and goes up to the ICU to see the junkie who's caused so much trouble.
"Have you notified the police?" she asks Owen. Close up, he looks wan, and she hopes it isn't the old war thing again. It was a real mess last time, he was out for a week and Callie was part-time. She shudders at the memory.
"Yeah, and she's settled in. I'll keep you posted on her."
"Thank you." She watches him trudge down the corridor and makes a mental note to ask him to see Dr. Wyatt.
Inside, the nameless girl is still, her face slack, pale under the grime the nurses wiped away. Her long dark hair is knotted and dirty, her fingernails bitten to the quick. The piercing in her lip has been removed for the ET tube, leaving a raw little hole that makes Ellis wince.
Her skin is clammy to the touch, sticky where the betadine was splashed on, and there's a pervasive smell of vomit in the closed room. She stirs a little, then more, straining against the sift restraints they've put on; her dark eyes open suddenly, wide in panic.
Those eyes. There's something just so...familiar about them, that raw gleam of intelligence, but then the girl begins to cough and it's gone.
She yells for a nurse as she pushes the girl down, unwinding the tape around the tube and slowly extracting it firm her throat. About halfway through, she realsises Ellis is just trying to help and settles down, hacking and coughing once the tube is out.
Ellis pours her a cup of water; she accepts it gingerly, watching her the whole time she drinks it. The piercing has started to bleed, trickling down her chin like a Halloween vampire, staining the rim of the cup. Ellis dabs at it with a cotton pad, letting the girl hold it to her lip.
"What's your name?"
"Who's asking?" the girl says belligerently.
"You can tell me or you can tell the police." she says sternly; but not too much. This girl reminds her, inexplicably, of her Meredith, naive under her tough exterior.
"Lucille Ball."
"And I'm Marilyn Monroe." she sighs. "try again."
"Lexie," she says after a long pause, after she's stared into Ellis' eyes so long she's starting to feel discomfited. "Lexie Grey."
She skips lunch with her father and Maggie to hide in a supply closet, calling the club and the caterer and the florist and all the other people her mother somehow managed to book yesterday, between surgeries and meetings. She must really have been excited about the wedding.
She's actually starving, but she's headed into surgery with Bailey in ten minutes - necrotic bowel, yippee, but stil better than the endless stream of postops she's been handling for Torres - and she doesn't want to brave the cafeteria anyway.
She used to be one of those judgy people, though. The ones who point and stare and giggle. Not anymore, though. Now she knows what it's like to be on the other side.
She's kicking at a box of Foleys when the door creaks open, the stream of light flickering as someone comes in, and then slams it shut again.
She stays quiet in her corner, hoping whoever it is will just grab whatever they need and disappear, but they don't.
Instead, they sink onto the floor in front of her, looking regretful.
"Dr. Shepherd."
"Dr. Weber. Meredith." he starts, looking unsure. "I swear I didn't follow you in here."
"Right."
"I just...needed some space. I was in the nursery, with Grace - we named her Grace - and I..." he trails off.
"Pretty name." she ventures.
"Thanks. Addie thought of it."
"How's Addison?"
"She's...good." he says thoughtfully, like his wife's wellbeing isn't something that's often on his mind. "Tired, obviously, but fine. Grace is doing great too." He says the last line with considerably more enthusiasm, his eyes lighting up.
"When do they get to go home?"
Home, to the place where you cheated on your wife?
His expression is instantly guarded, the warmth vanishing from his eyes. "They're processing the paperwork now."
"That's good."
"Yeah." They lapse into silence, his legs sprawled in the narrow aisle between the metal shelves, close enough to almost touch hers. He's wearing gis wedding band, solid, heavy gold, glinting dully under the light. She wore Alex's diamond last night, both of them betraying other people.
Hang on a minute. She wasn't betraying anyone- Alex cheated first.
Derek, on the other hand... he cheated on his wife, his amazing beautiful brilliant wife who was, in fact, in labor. With his baby.
"I guess I owe you an explanation." he says when she catches his eye.
"No," she replies, starting to get up and almost tripping over his legs. "All you owe me is to stay away from me...and stop looking at me like that!"
"Like what?" he asks, bemused.
"Like you've seen me naked!"
"But," he smirks. "I have."
"You're my boss."
"I'm your boss's boss."
"Exactly."
"Sit down."
"Excuse me?"
"Sit. Down." he rolls his eyes. "And listen."
She takes a minute to glare at him, then flops onto her box again.
"Don't feel guilty about last night." he says, sincerely, withdrawing his legs so she doesn't have to tuck hers under her. "Addie and I...no one knows the reason we came here, to Seattle. All they see is the perfect couple they want to see - and I won't lie, we were that couple, years ago, but we aren't anymore. We haven't been, for a while, and -" his voice cracks a little. "We can't be."
"In New York, well, it sounds ... horrible. Selfish. I know, believe me. But Addie...she's an amazing doctor, and a brilliant surgeon, and she never has to work for it. I'm not saying she doesn't work hard, because she does, but it's natural for her. Instinct. Me, I have to slog for hours in libraries and skills labs and...for a while, it was like she pushed me, to be better, but then somewhere it changed and I was a little jealous. I started putting work before Addie, before the rest of my family, and she and Mark, they...spent a lot of time together. My fault, really. And then, one day, I come home earlier than I told Addie I would, and there's something different. I can feel it. There's a jacket, at the foot of the stairs, not mine, and I realise the jacket is a jacket I recognise...Mark's jacket."
She draws in a breath, pity filling her heart. Poor Derek. She had no idea Addison-
"And I go upstairs, knowing my life is about to change...and i find them sitting on our bed. Looking at me. And Addie says, 'Derek, enough. You're either in, or I'm out.' and she told me... she told me she loved Mark."
He turns away from her, running a hand through his hair. "So I decided we'd move here. Fresh start, you know, away from Mark, all the distractions...thought I'd be happier here. Addie tried, I tried, we're perfect for the public, we bought a house, she decorated...it was okay. We might have been okay, in time, and then Addie tells me she's pregnant, and all of a sudden I couldn't imagine it, I didn't want the responsibility of a child when I was already struggling with my career, and I took it out on her - I've been the worst husband - but she stuck with me until she couldn't take it anymore and then she was so desperate she lied to me about the baby just to let me think it was okay to leave."
He's quiet for a minute, drawing his hand across his eyes, and she tactfully refrains from speaking.
"And that's why, Meredith, you shouldn't feel guilty. You're not a homewrecker - there wasn't a home to wreck by the time you came along."
"I'll keep that in mind." she says lightly, touching his shaking shoulder. "Take care, Derek."
Slow burn MerDer is the best kind, IMO.
As the title suggests, this story is about hiw even though the AU characters started out so different from the real show ones, they end up the way they are in canon. This fic will include a little of all of them, but mostly MerDer, Maddison, Lexie, Ellis, and Richard.
Suggestions? Requests? Feelings? Leave them all in the reviews, please!