Title: Tangled Web
Author: Farrah
Disclaimer: If I had a couple million to spare, believe me Grey's would be mine, but I don't. I'm going to cry now :-(
Summary: Meredith didn't deserve the cards she was being dealt, so she took matters into her own hands. She left, but the death of a loved one brought her back. But when she returns, she's not alone. Post 'Into You Like A Train' episode. Set six years in the future.
Is it just mine or is everyone's emails down? I'm not getting any notices that I have messages that I have messages or reviews waiting to be read. No biggie though.
ILoveDoctorMcDreamy: Thanks so much fo the compliment. I love your story as well
YC: Thanks so much for leaving a review. My updates have been kind of lax lately, i know, i'm sorry, writers block got me for a while but i'm back now!!!!!
InGreyEyes: Thanks for the review. Mark looking at houses for them just seemed right. I'm glad you liked that part
littlewhitelie91: I'm glad you like the MerMark and JerMark relationships.
Lollie: Thanks so much for the review, they keep me going
FauxPoesFoes: I'm glad you liked the chapter
sunflowersinspring: I'm thrilled that you love my story
Chapter 9:
- Seattle, WSH, Thursday, June 28th, 2012 -
Richard Webber pulled up to the gate of the most prestigious community in Seattle. The community in which Mark, Mer and Jer now lived. Her rolled down his window in order to speak to the security guard.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Webber..."
Before he could finish his sentence the guard had already began to interrupt "Ah, Dr. Webber, Dr. Grey has already called ahead and informed us of your visit. If you would just show me some form of identification and sign this sheet, I'll let you be on your way sir."
"Of course" Richard replied as he handed the man his drivers licence, then took the clipboard to sign in. When he received his licence and passed the clipboard back, the guard gave him a sticker with a bar code on it
"What's this for?"
"Dr. Grey requested that you receive it, she said you might be a frequent visitor. It allows you to go to any of the other three gates and just drive right through, saves you the hassle of coming to this gate and showing identification. Place it on the window or the windshield, whichever is best for you."
"I see, thank you"
"No problem sir, a word of advice though. In the future, go through the west gate, it's closer to the house."
"Thank you" Richard nodded and went through the community, following the directions Mer had given him.
When he reached his destination, he couldn't believe his eyes. The house in front of him was a large, two story Country/European style home with a wide wraparound porch encircling the first floor, a huge balcony on the second, and what was either a loft or very high ceilings. A large body of water was also visible, which made Richard come to the conclusion that a lake was situated behind the house. It was on what he estimated to be about four to five acres of land. The house represented a little bit of both Mer and Mark, and there was certainly enough room for Jer to play around.
He placed his car in the spacious circular driveway and made his way to the door. Shortly after he rang the doorbell, the door was being swung open.
"Gwampa!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jeremy exclaimed as he jumped into Richard's arms
"There's my favorite grandson" as he gave the boy a light squeeze
"I'm your only grandson silly." Jer corrected as he was placed on the floor once again
"But that doesn't prevent you from being my favorite, now does it?"
Jeremy pondered the question given him for a moment then conceded, "I guess not, now come on, I want to show you my room" he exclaimed as he pulled Richard into the house.
"How about I go say hello to your mom first?"
"Okay" he replied in a reluctant tone, "but then we go see my room"
Jeremy led his grandfather through many hallways, all of which led to different rooms that had boxes sprawled all over them. Finally they got to the kitchen, where they found Meredith adding spices to a pot of spaghetti sauce.
"Meredith"
"Hey!!" she exclaimed as she went over to give Richard a hug, the same time Jeremy was leaving the room
"How's everything going?" he raised his hands above his head, referring to the house.
"Well as I'm sure you can tell, we still have some unpacking to do. Jeremy's room is the only one that's finished so far. Other than the unpacking, everything is fine."
"That's good. I brought the contracts so you guys wouldn't have to stop by the hospital, until necessary."
"Great. Thanks for helping me keep the move under wraps. I really want to surprise everyone, especially Christina."
"Trust me, they won't see it coming. I'm the only one at the hospital that knows you're in town."
"Fantastic. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces, they still think I'm in New York. I just got off the phone with Izzie about half an hour ago, and before that I was talking to Bailey."
"Bailey won't like this."
Meredith chuckled as she thought of what Bailey's reaction would be "No she won't, neither will Christina, but they'll get over it."
"That they will" he said as something caught his eye
"Hello Dr. Webber" Mark said as he entered the room with Jer on his shoulders
"Mark" he nodded
"Umm, Mer?"
"Yeah" she turned around to greet him
"The sauce is bubbling over" he informed her, using a calm, relaxed tone
Meredith ran to the stove and turned it off "Oops" she giggled. "Hey Mark" she called to get his attention
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you and Jeremy give Richard a tour of the house while I finish up here." She then turned to Richard "You are staying for dinner right?"
"Sure, I'd love to"
"It's settled then, we're off to give the tour" he looked up at Jeremy "Where do you think we should start first bud?"
"My room!!!!!!!!!" Jer jumped up and down on Mark's shoulders
"Your room it is" Mark agreed as they left the kitchen
Jer and Mark showed Richard around the house, as well as the grounds. They all sat down for dinner and settled into easy conversation. After they had finished eating, Mer and Mark washed up the dishes while Richard went upstairs to put JR to sleep, per his request. When Richard made his way downstairs and down to the living room, he found Mer and Mark each nursing a cup of coffee. He retrieved his briefcase a pulled some papers out it, he placed said papers on the coffee table, right in front off its owner, a pen resting on both.
"The only thing left to do now is sign"
Mer and Mar looked at each other briefly, rested their mugs on the table, moved closer to the contracts, picked up the pens and signed on the dotted line. Richard just raised his eyebrows in amusement, a small smile playing on his lips, they were so synchronized it was funny.
"Now it's official"
Mark and Richard shook hands and Richard turned to do the same with Mer, but it was as if she wasn't there. They both realized the far away look in her eyes.
(Flashback to the same night Derek told Meredith he was staying with his wife)
Meredith Grey walked into the Chief of Surgery's office and sat opposite him, she sat there until he finished sifting through the stack of papers before him.
"Dr. Grey, what is it that I can help you with?"
"I would like to be transferred to another teaching hospital Sir"
For lack of a better word, Richard was shocked. "Excuse me"
"I would like to be transferred ..."
"I heard you the first time. I would like to know why"
"I'm sorry sir, but I don't think I'm living up to my full potential here at Seattle Grace"
"You're going to have to do a whole lot better than that Dr. Grey"
"Sir I..." Mer let out a heavy sigh, she knew her reasons for wanting to leave weren't substantial enough for her to be transferred
"Dr Gr..." Richard began but was quickly interrupted by Meredith's hysterics
"Chief I can't... I can't do it... the looks, the gossiping, it's just too much sir. I don't think..."
Meredith's voice faded as Richard looked at her, he knew deep down that it wasn't because of the gossiping and the looks she was receiving that she wanted to be transferred. It was because Derek chose his wife, something he had found out earlier by overhearing a group of nurses talking, he knew Derek's decision was why Meredith wanted to be transferred, he knew this because it was the same thing Ellis had done when he chose to stay with Adele.
Meredith sat before him pleading her case as to why she felt the need to leave Seattle and that she wanted to leave as soon as possible, but Richard wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, he was looking across the desk at the girl whom he considered a daughter. She was in pain, pain which he felt responsible for, because he was the one that brought Addison there in the first place; even if he didn't know Meredith and Derek were together then. He also felt a slight pull at his chest because he was happy Derek had chosen Addison, after all, the reason he brought her out Seattle in the first place was so the two could work things out.
As the Chief looked at Meredith, he realized that this pain she was feeling would eventually affect her career, so right then he made the decision to let her go. He was overjoyed when she decided to come to Seattle for her internship and would indeed miss her presence, and was sure that a lot of others would too.
She had stopped talking and was now looking at Richard expectantly, "Where would you like to be transferred to?"
"Anywhere on the East coast is fine with me"
"Where would you prefer to be" he wanted her to be at least content with the place she was being sent to
"I wouldn't mind New York or possibly Boston" when he heard her say New York, he was sure of where he was going to send her but didn't let on one bit.
"I'll see what I can do, I'll get back to you to tomorrow Meredith"
"Thank you sir"
(Following Day...)
Bailey walked into the locker room, she looked at her interns, four of them were seated on a bench, extremely exhausted from the train wreck the night before.
"Clean up, rounds in umm five minutes" Bailey said in a not so regular Bailey fashion "Grey, the Chief wants to see you" Bailey said before walking out of the locker room
All of them got up to get ready but Christina stops Mer, "what did you do?"
"I don't know, I really don't know"
Mere made her way to the Chief's office, knocked twice, then entered
"Meredith, come on in, take a seat"
Mer did as she was told, waiting to hear what the Chief had to say.
"I've spoken to the Chief of Surgery at Western Memorial, an old friend of mine. She has a space available in her internship program, you have a week to be there and ready for rounds."
"I understand. Thank you for all your help sir" The both got up to shake hands
"Sir" Mer questioned
"Yes"
"I was wondering if I could finish the rest of my shift, you know, for old times sake"
Richard was hoping she would "I see no problem with that" Mer smiled "Best of luck Meredith"
"Thank you Chief"
"Now, I expect you to stay in touch"
"I will sir, promise" with that Meredith left the Chief's office to finish off the rest of her shift. She dreaded when the end came as she would have to tell her friends, whom had become family to her that she was leaving.
(End of Flashback)
"Meredith, Meredith are you okay?" Richard asked
Mer snapped out of her reverie to see two very concerned men sitting before her, she smiled at them "Yeah, I'm okay"
"Where did you go just now?" Mark asked
"Down memory lane... I was remembering my last day at Seattle Grace"
"Oh yes, the pregnant guy" Richard chuckled
"Pregnant... GUY. What?" Mark asked, voice laced with disbelief, confusion and interest
Mer began to laugh "He wasn't really pregnant, per se, he was ...- I'll explain it later"
"Well I'm going to head home now" Richard said as he got up and placed the signed contracts in his briefcase
"Okay I'll walk you to your car" Mer said as she got up and Mark took the mugs
"Good night Dr. Webber" Mark said as he headed to the kitchen
"Good night Mark" Richard replied
Richard reached his car and put the brief case in, turned around and gave Mer a hug "I'll see you in three days"
"I have a feeling I'll see you before then but definitely in three days" she said. She stayed out there until he pulled off then headed back in side to finish packing.
"You gonna have to explain this pregnant guy thing to me" Mark smirked as she walked inside
"Okay, but we have to finish unpacking first"
"Deal" he came over and gave her a kiss on the forehead
So that was chapter 9. Nothing too big happened in this chapter except for the fact that Mer and Mark have signed their contracts and in three days will be working at Seattle Grace Hospital. I think it also shows how much Jeremy loves his 'Gwampa', and even though he's really smart (which I will introduce further, later on) he has a normal life. This is the reason why Mer didn't come back to Seattle sooner. It's also just a little more MerMark fluff before I introduce Derek and a bunch of things happen and lives start getting turned upside down. Also, even though I've made Mark awesome in this story, I'm still not sure what the pairing will be where Mer is concerned, I intend to make whether it should be a MerMark or a MerDer very hard for you guys. Having no Grey's for a month has made me lose sight of some of the MerDer greatness, but after reading "I'm all for Believing" by GraveDancer it's all coming back to me. If you haven't read that story yet, you should, it's great. There is a big, I mean BIG surprise for you guys in the next Chapter.
Next Chapter Mer is at SEATTLE GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!