Title: Loud And Clear
Authors: Sara And Lizzie
Rating: T for language, mild sex
Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.
Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work.
Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way.
WOW. Amazing response so far. You guys are AWESOME. Seriously, we wouldn't be able to do this if it weren't for all of your support and sometimes criticisms. We're just grateful that you share your opinions of our writing.
SPECIAL NOTE FROM LIZ: Okay, so here you meet Bridget, who is my creation. She's one of Mer's interns and she obviously instantly develops a thing for Derek. She's going to make a play for him in a big way, and yes, she is loosely based on Sara, just in some of her mannerisms. Bridget is kind of Sara, with the fixations and the smoking and the self involvement, but nowhere near as mean. Sara is absolutely wonderful. A few of her quirks are in Bridget. That's all.
Enjoy. REVIEW.
Derek watched in amazement as Meredith embraced each of his sisters, one by one, and finally his mother. She hugged his mom. "We'll see you around wedding time, if not before." She said, smiling a genuine smile. His mother nodded and embraced her again.
"We'll see you when you come to go dress shopping." She whispered in Meredith's ear. Meredith giggled a little and nodded.
"I'll see what I can do." She climbed into the taxi and waited for Derek to say goodbye to his family. Diane raised her eyebrows at her son as he too hugged all of his sisters and then her.
"She's perfect for you, Derek." His mother told him. Derek knew she meant it. Diane Shepherd was a master of white lies and politeness, but to her own children she had never been anything but candid.
"You like her?"
His mother smiled and nodded. "We like her." She said, looking at her daughters. Derek could see it in their faces. They liked her. Derek grinned so hard he thought he face might split. Nancy rolled her eyes and pushed him lightly.
"Get in the taxi, Derek." She said. He nodded and obliged climbing on over Meredith and pulling her lose to him before she could even shut the door. They waved as the cab pulled into traffic, on course for La Guardia. Derek looked at Meredith in astonishment.
"What?" she asked, giggling as her kissed her neck.
"How'd you do it?" he asked. "They like you. Genuinely, truly like you. My sisters. And they don't like anybody."
Meredith smiled coyly and shrugged. "I have my ways, Derek Shepherd." She said, snuggling close to him. His face lit up as he remembered the wager they had made. Meredith pulled back suspiciously. "Why do you look like Christmas has come early?" she asked.
"Meredith Grey, we have a bet to settle."
Meredith groaned. "I was hoping you had forgotten about that."
Derek smirked at her and looped and arm around her shoulders. "Not a chance. I believe I get to pick the time and the on call room." Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Not in the morning, and it has to be one with a working lock."
Derek stuck out his hand. "Deal." She grabbed his hand and used it to pull his body into hers and again, she kissed him on the lips.
"How was the family Shepherd?" Cristina asked Meredith as they entered the hospital the Monday after her weekend in New York. Meredith bit her lip and considered how to answer this.
"At first, horrible." She said. "I thought they were going to kill me. It was all Addison this and you're a whore that. But then I kind of freaked out a little bit and that sort of solved my problem. So they like me now, I think."
Cristina raised her eyebrows. "They like you. That's both surprising and disturbing."
Meredith shrugged and nodded in the direction of Izzie who was coming at them full force, tugging Alex along by the hand. "How'd it go?" she asked.
"They like her." Cristina said.
"They like you? After you destroyed the golden couple?"
"Shut up evil spawn." Cristina defended loyally. "She didn't destroy them."
"You can stop talking about me in the second person." Meredith suggested. "I am actually right here." Cristina rolled her eyes for the millionth time that morning and she hadn't even been inside the hospital.
"Dude," Alex said, wrapping an arm around Izzie. "We get interns today." It had almost slipped Meredith's mind. Interns of her very own. Fifteen minutes later she was surveying them. Three out of her four were present.
"Amanda Connor?" she asked. A sweet looking blonde girl raised her hand shyly, looking like a fourteen year old on her first day of high school. She blushed when Meredith smiled at her and looked down. "Luke Douglas?" A handsome brunette guy nodded at her. He looked serious, and a little Cristina like. "And you must be Kevin Livingston, because I wouldn't peg you as a Bridget Neilson."
"Kevin." The other boy muttered, nodding. Meredith tapped her hand on the wall she was leaning against.
"Maybe Bridget quit." She mused. "Anyone know her?" The other three looked at each other uncomfortably. Suddenly a voice rang out down the hall.
"Dr. Montgomery. Dr. Sloan. Imagine seeing you two on the West Coast!" Addison fought to keep her eyes from rolling bitchily and smiled tightly. Bridget Neilson. Addison and Mark knew her parents, who's friends had been friends with Addison's parents. Sort of. Addison's money was old. Generation after generation of luxury and wealth. The Neilson's money was new in the most obnoxious way possible.
"Bridget." She said coolly. "How are your parents?" The young socialite smiled and shrugged.
"How the hell would I know?" she asked before smiling at Mark and setting off. Bridget fought the urge to look back at Mark Sloan. Of all the older men she could possibly want to seduce in Seattle, he was at the top of her list. But she knew better than to cross the Montgomery family. "I'm looking for a Dr. Grey?" she called out.
"That would be me." Said a tiny woman with dirty blonde hair. Bridget appraised her, taking in her scattered appearance, and tossing her own glossy chestnut locks for good measure. "Are you Bridget Neilson?"
Bridget laughed. "Well, of course I am."
Meredith narrowed her eyes. "You're late." She snapped. Bridget flashed her white teeth at her.
"Sorry about that. Do you know how it was to land my Learjet in this freaking city?" Meredith had not been expecting that.
"Learjet?" she repeated. "You have a Learjet?"
Bridget smirked. "If you want to more about me, check In Touch or US Weekly." She said quietly to Meredith. Meredith's eyes narrowed. After spending most of the weekend sucking up to Derek's sisters, her tolerance for passively bitchy woman was all out. She pursed her lips and appraised Bridget. This girl wouldn't see the inside of an OR for a long, long time.
She turned back to her group and started giving them assignments.
As the day sped by, it was evident to Meredith that as much as annoyed as she was by Bridget's behavior, her overwhelming cockiness, her narcissistic attitude, her sense of entitlement, she was also equally fascinated with her. She had a way of garnering people's attention.
Meredith watched Bridget as she darted in and out of patient's rooms, wondering what on earth had possessed this girl to want to become a doctor. She felt her pager vibrate at her side. Bailey. She wasn't even Bailey's intern anymore, but anytime she paged, Meredith went running. She pretended it was habit, but it was really just terror.
Bridget watched her resident head swiftly down the hallway and rolled her eyes. Meredith Grey. Whatever. Just because she was Ellis Grey's daughter didn't mean Bridget owed her respect. She heard a smooth male voice talking and turned around slowly. Her breath caught in her chest in an unexpected surge of feelings. It was a tall guy with bright blue eyes and wavy dark hair. He looked pretty familiar, like someone she might have met in New York.
"Dr. Yang." He said, in a voice oozing sex. "Have you seen Dr. Grey?"
Cristina rolled her eyes. "Cashing in on your bet? Still morning, McDreamy. Not a chance." Derek smirked at Cristina eliciting an exasperated look from her. It hit Bridget just then. Addison's ex husband, Derek Shepherd. Forget Mark Sloan. She had found the object of her Seattle seduction.
"I saw her." Bridget said, smiling coyly. "But what do I get if I tell you?" she said asking biting into her lower lip. Cristina raised her eyebrows and backed away.
"I didn't see that." She muttered, grabbing her pager from her waist. She got a few feet down the hall and turned around. "Dr. Shepherd, if you find your fiancée, tell her I'm looking for her too." She called, shooting a meaningful look at Bridget. It dawned on her that Derek Shepherd must be engaged to her little resident. She smirked at Dr. Yang just to let her know an engagement didn't mean anything to her, and turned back to Derek Shepherd, but he was already gone.
Bridget let a slow smile spread across her perfect, patrician features. Okay, so he was engaged. Big deal. She had yet to be turned down by anyone in her whole life. She got whoever she set her sights on. She wasn't going to let that change.
At the end of the day, Meredith walked outside of the hospital, looking for Derek. She coughed as she walked into a cloud of smoke. The carcinogens infiltrated her lungs and she placed a hand on her chest as she hacked unattractively. She looked to her right, and Bridget, her rouge intern was leaning against the wall, taking a drag off of a Marlboro Light.
"You're smoking a cigarette." Meredith said, horror evident in her voice. Bridget nodded slowly and looked at her.
"Yeah. Why, do you want one?"
"What?" Meredith sputtered. "No, I don't want one. You're a doctor. You know those will kill you."
"Ah," Bridget corrected. "I'm a doctor with an addiction."
"You're a doctor who's going to get cancer."
Bridget shook her head. "There's this kid in India, Akrit. He performed surgery when he was like, seven or something. He's thirteen and theorizing on how to cure cancer."
Meredith stared her blankly, and opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking. "That's your plan? To smoke until you get cancer on the hopes that some whiz kid will cure it?" Bridget gave a nonchalant shrug, her eyes focused on Derek who was striding out of the building. He came outside and kissed Meredith's cheek.
"Ready?" he asked. She smiled up at him.
"Let's go." She said. They joined hands and walked away without so much as a glance in her direction. Bridget smirked as she watched them. They looked like they really loved each other. Not like that was going to stop her.