Heads turned in the front lobby of the Seattle jail at the sound of high heeled shoes moving swiftly across the floor. A very poised woman approached the desk, clad in a long coat, sunglasses, and with her hair swept up into a knot at the nape of her neck. Both her confidence and her attire made her seem out of place in the small, city-operated jail. She slid her sunglasses off her face and retrieved a leather-bound checkbook from her pocket.
"How much to post bail for Grey, Webber, and Karev?" the woman asked the guard.
The guard laughed. This woman may look like she had damn near everything, but the three doctors who had come in the evening before were not going to be let out on bail cheap.
"If the check bounces you'll be fined quite a bit."
"I don't think you know who I am. I'm good for it." the woman assured him. "Now how much?"
After a few more choice words were exchanged and a check had been written with a handful of zeros on it, the guard signaled his colleague to go and retrieve the trio of doctors.
The woman looked around the room and opted not to sit. Instead she floated a few feet away from the desk, which is where her companions soon joined her.
======== TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER ========
Cristina Yang was not easily surprised. She had been the top of her class at Stanford and was the most observant and logical person she knew. Despite the many nights where she and Meredith Grey had joked about bailing each other out of jail, she would never have anticipated the welcome she got from her fellow when she exited an emergency surgery at 5:30 AM.
"Dr. Yang, you received four calls from a Dr. Andrew DeLuca in Seattle. I hope I wasn't too presumptuous, but I've packed your bags and booked us a pair of one-way tickets to Sea-Tac."
Cristina's eyes narrowed. "Dr. Ross. I trust you have a good explanation as to why we're up and leaving this hospital with very little notice?"
Shane handed Cristina a bottle of water and a stack of charts to review on their way out. "Sign these, get changed, and then I'll tell you." he told her.
Cristina sighed, but did as she was told. She handed off the files to their secretary before entering the town car that Shane had arranged.
Shane loaded their bags in the back of the car, then entered the car and poured Cristina a glass of red wine.
"Wine? Shane, what's going on?"
"You should probably hear this from someone else. Call back the last number your phone called."
Cristina went into her call history and called back the Seattle number that showed up at the top, she held her phone out on speaker between Shane and herself.
"Dr. Ross?" a young man answered. There was a sense of urgency evident in his voice.
"This is Dr. Cristina Yang. I'm here with Dr. Ross."
"Dr. DeLuca," Shane chimed in. "Dr. Yang and I are on our way to the airport. I haven't told her why we're leaving yet. I figured that might be best coming from someone who can answer her questions."
Andrew DeLuca began to explain the events of the last few days and found himself rather taken aback by Cristina's reaction.
Cristina couldn't stop laughing. Meredith Grey getting herself into an insurance fraud situation was one thing, but Alex Karev and Richard Webber getting tangled up in it with her was another. She just couldn't help but be amused.
"Dr. Yang?" Dr. DeLuca asked after a minute.
"Cristina!" Shane hissed, placing a hand on her thigh.
"I'm sorry. It's just rather… well… just wait until I get to Seattle, Dr. DeLuca. I'm sure I have so many stories you haven't heard yet."
======== BACK IN SEATTLE ========
Cristina stood stoically between Shane and Dr. DeLuca while waiting for her friends. They'd only shared a few brief exchanges since her arrival in Seattle, but Cristina could already see what Meredith saw in the young man. He was strong, confident, just arrogant enough to pique her interest, and his hair was straight off the head of Derek Shepherd. In fact, Andrew DeLuca reminded Cristina very much of a younger version of herself mixed with all the parts she hadn't hated about Derek. While she was definitely going to give Mer hell about dating a resident, she couldn't say she didn't approve of her choice.
Cristina's emotionless facade broke the instant she saw Meredith Grey's familiar face emerge from behind the door by the front desk. The two ran into each other's arms so quickly they almost fell over.
"Insurance fraud?" Cristina asked as they parted just enough to face each other, while still caught up in their embrace. "I fly halfway across the world to bail you out for something as boring as insurance fraud?"
"Shut up!" Meredith exclaimed. "I can't believe you're here!"
Cristina and Meredith squealed and held each other tighter again. They only parted when they heard the familiar cough of Richard Webber clearing his throat.
"Sir." Cristina greeted him, standing up straight and returning to the calm, collected woman who had initially walked into the jail.
"Good to see you Dr. Yang." he responded with a small smile on his face. The two exchanged a brief nod which said everything else that needed to be said.
"Are you two done squealing? It's too weird." a fourth voice entered the reunion.
Cristina smiled warmly at Alex. "I missed you too, Evil Spawn."
As Cristina exchanged words with Alex and Richard, they all couldn't help but watch another reunion out of the corners of their eyes.
As soon as Cristina had shifted her attention to Richard, Meredith made her way into the waiting arms of Andrew DeLuca.
"Andrew." she said softly, so only he could hear.
Andrew placed a finger to her lips and gave her a look that said they'd talk later when they were alone. Once he was satisfied that she understood, he replaced his finger with his lips, telling Meredith how happy he was to have her back in his arms through his kiss.
"So how serious is this?" Cristina asked Alex.
"He told her he loves her." Alex explained. "And from the looks of it, she's done freaking out about it."
Richard just watched silently as the girl he loved as much as his own daughter, who had grown into a full-fledged adult, rested her head on the shoulder of the man he hoped she could let herself truly love. DeLuca was good for her, and with the lawsuit that was soon to be headed their way, she was going to need someone like him in her corner.