Chapter 8

Derek places a steaming cup of coffee in front of Scott. He sits beside him at the table and clasps his hands around his own cup. "So what do you want to ask me?"

"Uh…" Scott stutters. "Well I need to know…"

Derek puts his hand up indicating for Scott to stop. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Scott says quickly. His eyes dart to the direction of the basement door.

"I don't know. It sounds like… like a woman?" Derek is unsure of what he hears and poses his statement as a question instead.

Scott quickly stands up. "No," he says quickly. "It's probably the TV. Let me go check." He dashes out of the kitchen and turns on the TV. Before returning to Derek, he raises the volume. "Yup," he says when he returns to the kitchen, "it was the TV."

Derek gives him a sad smile as Scott returns to his seat. Derek turns his attention to his coffee and takes a sip. He feels the warm liquid begin to sooth the lump in his throat. Of course, nothing will soothe it like finding Meredith.

"Look," Scott says, "we don't have to do this right now. How about we go out for a drink? My treat."

Hesitantly, Derek shakes his head yes. He begins to down his coffee. "Let's go," he says, following Scott to the door.

xoxo

Meredith's heart sinks when she hears the doorbell. Ignoring her throat, she begins to scream as loud as she can. She begins to thrash around insanely, trying desperately to free herself from her restraints. She tries to get to her feet but the rope around her wrists and ankles make it difficult. She continuously falls on her butt. She stops and thinks. Why would somebody ring the doorbell? Maybe it's Scott making sure that nobody is home. She decides it doesn't matter. If it is him, she has nothing to lose.

She stops thrashing around for a second so she can hear what's going on upstairs. She hears footsteps and muffled male voices. It's Alex. It has to be. "Help!" she screams. She pauses and waits. It takes only a few seconds before she hears the TV turn on, drowning out her voice. Defeated, she stops screaming. Now instead of trying to stand, she begins to crawl her way up the steps to the door.

xoxo

Scott has no intention of taking Derek out for a drink. Meredith is in the basement and he must get him out of the house. This is his chance to get rid of Derek so that Meredith and he can have a long, happy life together. He opens the front door and waits for Derek to exit. But Derek turns to his right instead.

"I have to turn off the TV," Derek says. "I can't believe they have this TV going 24/7."

Scott doesn't say anything. He prays that Meredith doesn't scream. He knew he shouldn't have taken her here. This wasn't his plan. He was going to take her to his house but he got called into work and he didn't have enough time. He knew that Alex and April would be at the hospital for a while. When he was on his way back to get Meredith, he found Derek at the front door. He never expected to see him here.

Just as Derek is about the exit the house, a loud thud comes from within the house. He stops and turns around towards the interior. "What's that?" he asks as he steps deeper into the house.

Scott sighs. He pulls his knife from his belt loop. This would be a really great time to have his gun. He slowly stalks towards Derek. He didn't want to have to do it here but he will if he has to. Nothing is getting in the way between him and Meredith.

Just then Derek's phone begins to ring and Scott immediately retracts his weapon and replaces it in its spot. He backs up a few steps.

"Hello?" Derek answers. He goes to the living room where Scott cannot hear him.

"Dr. Shepard, this is Detective Powers. I have some information for you."

"What is it?" Derek is unsure on whether he should be worried or happy.

"The blood in your bathroom isn't Meredith's."

Derek breathes a sigh of relief. He smiles. This information provides a little relief. "Whose is it then?"

"I need you to come down so we can discuss it."

"Well Detective Peirce is here. Can't he tell me?"

"He's what?!"

"Scott Pierce," Derek says slowly. "He's here with me at Meredith's old house."

"Is he listening to you?"

Derek looks up and doesn't see Scott. "No. What's going on?" Worry begins to fill his blood.

"Listen to me closely, Derek. Do not let him know that you are talking to me. I am on my way."

"What is happening?" Derek asks with a stern voice. Worry is penetrating every muscle.

Terry pauses. "The blood in your bathroom is Scott's." He pauses. When he doesn't hear a response, he says, "Scott is Meredith's stalker."

Derek hangs up the phone in disbelief. He stands there for only a second before his feet start moving. He has to find Scott. "Scott," he calls, "I think I'm going to have to pass on that drink." He goes into the kitchen but doesn't see Scott. "My…uh…my babysitter just called. I have to go get my daughter. She's not feeling well." Derek pokes his head in the study. No Scott. "Scott?" He is about to go upstairs when he hears a door opening and closing. He follows the sound to what he thinks is the basement door. He finds Scott standing next to the basement door. "What were you doing down there?" he questions.

"Oh nothing," Scott says.

Derek decides to drop it. "Well that was Zola's babysitter. I have to pick her up."

Scott, not buying it, just stares at Derek. "Why?"

Derek opens his mouth to say something but his curiosity grabs ahold of him. "Why were you in the basement?" His voice is strict. "What's down there?"

Scott continuously just stares at him. He doesn't move and he doesn't say a word.

Derek thinks. Suddenly, everything makes sense. "You didn't come here to talk to me, did you? You came here for whatever is in the basement."

Scott shakes his head. "That was Terry, wasn't it? He was letting you know that I'm the stalker and that he's on his way."

Derek backs up. "Is it Meredith? Is Meredith in the basement?" He looks at Scott like he looked at the man with the gun pointed to him not too long ago. When Scott doesn't say anything, Derek begins to work his way around Scott to get into the basement. "Meredith!" But Derek's hand makes his goal difficult.

Scott pushes Derek so that he can't access the basement. "She can't hear you," Scott says devilishly.

Derek's heart drops in his stomach. "What did you do to her?" Derek looks at the basement door with pleading eyes. He knows Meredith is down there, but he can't get to her. That's what pains him the most.

"Nothing I'm not going to do to you." Scott says, pulling out the knife and points it at Derek.

Derek can easily make it to the front door to escape but he knows that Meredith is down in the basement, probably hurt. He decides that while he is after him, Scott can't hurt Meredith anymore. Derek immediately runs to the kitchen with Scott on his heals. Derek runs around the kitchen table where Scott's steaming coffee still resides. Derek uses the kitchen table as a shield against Scott and his knife.

The two men dance around the table like kids playing musical chairs.

Derek figures that he has to hold him off until the police arrive, and he figures the only way to do that is to distract him. "So you're the coward that was slashing women's faces."

Scott smiles. "I only did that so that Meredith can have what she loves the most: surgery. I figured that if I cut up some people for her, she could stitch them back together. It was to show her my devotion to her."

Derek darts to his left while Scott darts to his right, swinging the knife. Derek laughs when he misses. "Your plan didn't work. She never worked on any of those women, especially with her name written on them like a package."

Scott tries to lunge over the table but fails. "At least I tried. What do you get her? Nothing. She doesn't love you. She loves me."

"If she doesn't love me, then how come I fall asleep with her in my arms every night? How come she kisses me every chance she gets? Let me ask you this: did Meredith willingly go with you or did you force her?" Derek's response is Scott running around the table to the opposite side. Derek easily avoids him by running to the side Scott was on. "Does that cut on your face prove her love?" Derek smiles deviously knowing that Meredith gave him that cut.

Scott's rage boils over and he runs around the table once more to try to have a stab at Derek. Again Derek easily avoids him and runs around the table to the opposite side, placing Derek on the side closest to the kitchen.

Derek glances to the coffee pot just a few yards away from him. He leaves the safety of the wood table and races for the coffee pot. He grabs it and just before Scott has time to jab the knife into his body, he splashes the boiling liquid onto Scott.

Scott immediately backs up and screams in pain.

Derek tries to maneuver his way around Scott and out of the kitchen but Scott's quick recovery stops him.

Scott laughs as he slowly closes in on Derek with the knife. Scott doesn't immediately go after Derek, however. He likes to see the fear in his eyes as he takes baby steps towards him like a lioness going for her prey. "You know once I kill you, Meredith and I are going to run off together. We are going to live a wonderful life full of love and promise."

Derek grabs a knife from the block on the counter and points it at Scott. Years of handling a scalpel should make this easy but his patients never hold a scalpel to him at the same time. Derek swings at Scott but he arches his back and jumps back avoiding the knife.

Suddenly the memory of Meredith possibly being hurt rushes back to Derek. He has to do something so that he can get to her. She could be dying at this very moment. It would kill him if he didn't get to her on time. Well aware of Scott's knife, Derek leaps towards Scott with his knife above his head. Derek tackles Scott, knocking the knife from his hand.

Both Scott and Derek are lying on the kitchen floor. Scott is lying on his back. The knife is just out of reach. Derek is next to him, lying on his side, facing him. Derek winces in pain as his left hand throbs in pain. He landed on it and now his hand is angry at him.

Before Derek can react any further, he turns towards the entrance of the kitchen where he finds that Scott has already gotten his knife back. He crawls towards Derek and raises it above his head, fully prepared to stab him.

Derek watches as the knife closes in on him. If I die, at least the cops will be here in time to save Meredith, he thinks.