-1Gibbs slowly headed down to the basement, Meredith running her hand over the bare structure of the boat while walking around it. It was smooth, Meredith not caring about splinters.

'What's wrong?' Meredith shook her head, not answering him.

'Meredith,' Gibb's shirt swamped her body, Meredith not able to look at him. Gibb's watched her, Meredith still in a world of her own.

'You can talk to me about shepherd,'

'He's a fucking asshole Jethro, it's all I can say,'

'Yeah he is but you can't let him get to you like this,'

'What mark said…it's been nine years since I've been with him and Mark tells me that he still loves me. I want to kill him, I really want to kill him,'

'I have a sniper gun in the drawer,' Gibbs pointed over to the comer, Meredith covering her eyes with her hand.

'I don't need this right now, I don't need him interfering in my life like this. I don't even like him and yet he's in love with me,'

'Look, this is only a suggestion but maybe you should talk to him, tell him this,'

'I don't even want to look at him,' Gibbs walked over, Meredith inhaling the scent off him as he kissed her forehead lightly.

'Once you tell him what you want to tell him, you'll find he'll back off and give you room to breath,' Meredith nodded slightly.

'Ok,'

'Ok,' Gibbs lifted a piece of sandpaper and handed It to Meredith. She started rubbing it over the wood, Gibbs placing his hands over hers and guiding her gently. She lifted her hands off the wood, taking hold of his hands and wrapping them around her waist. He lifted her up, Meredith leaning in against him. Her lips crashed against his. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his head falling. She pulled the pager off of his waist and looked at it.

'It's Tony,'

'I need to take this,' he gently placed her legs back down on the ground, Meredith not moving from the bottom of the stairs as she watched him leave. She lifted the phone, dialling an all too familiar number.

'Shepherd…yeah, we need to talk,'

Meredith stood at the end of the pier, looking out over the ferryboats. The fleece was pulled up and around her face, the smell of Gibbs still hanging around her.

'I didn't expect you to call me,' Meredith kept her back to Derek, the feeling of his eyes on the back of her neck.

'I spoke to Mark…he told me stuff, stuff I can't believe and hope to god aren't true,'

'What?'

'He said you were still in love with me,' the silence that hung in the air alerted Meredith to the fact it wasn't a lie.

'You Can't do this…I won't let you do this. Your not gonna walk into my life an screw it up just to walk back out with some slut you pick up from a bar,'

'You mean like I did you,' Meredith's head fell as she shook it slightly. She turned to face him, the tears sitting in her eyes.

'Mere,'

'It's Dr Gibbs to you from now on in. I want nothing…I mean nothing to do with you from now on in and if you call me, if you come near me, I swear to god that I will personally have you sacked for harassment,'

'you have no authority over me,'

'No, but the board of directors do I know for a fact they don't take to kindly to harassment cases. They tend to fire the problem, or move them and with that a demotion generally happens. You want to stay chief… you back off from me and you stay away from Gibbs. You let me do my job…you let me be the surgeon that I am and you let me do things my way. Are we clear?' Derek nodded once, Meredith brushing past him. He grabbed her arm, his grip tight, Meredith pulling back sharply from him.

'don't touch me…don't ever touch me,' Derek released his grip slowly, Meredith leaving and driving instantly to NCIS. Ducky looked up from the pile of papers in front of him.

'Meredith,' he put his arms to him, Ducky engaging in a hug with her.

'What's wrong? Is Jethro ok?'

'He's fine,' Ducky sat her down, Meredith taking the jacket off. He instantly looked at her arm, the hand prints appearing. His gaze turned stern, Meredith having never seen him like that before.

'Who did this?'

'It doesn't matter,' Ducky stood up.

'There are very few things Meredith that get me angry and this is one of them. No one hurts someone I care about. Now who did this?'

'Derek,'

'Who?'

'Shepherd,' Ducky nodded his head once.

'Does it hurt when you move it?'

'No, just sore when I touch it,'

'Alright,' Meredith sat down in the empty autopsy room, the silence mixed with the lines of refrigerators starting to frighten her.

'Mere?' She let a small sob out, knowing instantly who it was. His arms holding her instantly soothed her, but no matter what he said, she couldn't stop the hurt that was going through her.

'What did he do?'

'He…he just,' Gibbs took her head in his hands, not noticing the bruises.

'Meredith,'

'I just want to go home and forget about him…forget that I was ever with him,'