Owen palmed the counter letting out a tense breath as he tried to prioritize the chaos the storm was creating. It had hit full force about an hour ago and on top of an influx of patients there were power outages throughout the hospital, surgeries were being cancelled left right and center and he was starting to get reports of flooding in various areas.

Somebody needed to go check the basement but after last time he was hesitant to order someone down there and he sighed knowing he was going to have to nominate himself for the job.

"Doctor Hunt?"

He was so engrossed he nearly missed Amelia's approach but despite everything her appearance made him smile. She was like a breath of fresh air and he turned to her glancing over her shoulder for Edwards. The two of them were meant to be working a case and when he couldn't spot the resident, confusion played across his features. "Aren't you supposed to be in surgery?"

"One of the other rooms lost power so it got bumped." She shrugged her shoulders having already come to terms with it. Stephanie was taking the patient back to his room and she'd decided to see if she could be of use somewhere else. With the storm wreaking havoc on the hospital they all needed to support each and she rested her elbows against the counter returning his smile, "what can I do?"

His shoulders visibly relaxed at the offer and his mind started racing back the the list of tasks he was trying to get in order. Even though it was a maintenance issue their main problem was flooding and if he could get eyes on the damage it would make prioritizing a lot easier.

"There's water up in one of the research labs on level eight. Powers been cut as a precaution and everybody's been cleared out but I need someone to go up there and tell me how bad it is." He wished he could give her a more stimulating task but he needed someone he could trust to go up and assess the situation. He'd been getting conflicting reports based on the amount of research damaged but if it was just a few soggy note-books and ruined laptops then it wasn't a priority.

"Okay-" she nodded slowly, digging her hands into her pockets, "I mean it's not exactly cutting into people but hey..."

"Seriously, you'd be doing me a huge favor." He put on his best pleading face, fully prepared for her to say no but he felt a wave of relief when she swiveled nudging him in the side with a reassuring smile.

"You owe me." She lifted an eyebrow, despite the fact it really wasn't a big deal. She was happy to help in any way she could and if she was crossing one thing off his list then the effort was already worth it.

"Thank you. When this is over you can have your pick of surgeries." He caught her gaze once again conveying his gratitude. There weren't a lot of people in the hospital who would follow his instruction without some kind of rebuttal and knowing she had his back meant a lot to him.

"I'm head of neuro-" she threw the comment at him with a smirk, "I already get my pick."

"True." He shook his head deciding it was a fair point, "then you can have the O.R with the least amount of water damage."

She laughed, not sure if it was a genuine offer but willing to take it. The rate things were falling a part there were going to be a lot of facilities out of action for the next few days so the sooner she could get her surgeries back on track the better.

##

##

"You know, it's kind of nice that your flight got delayed." Meredith grinned across the bed at her husband. They were doing sutures on a young women who had been in a car accident and even though she felt bad for the mother, working along side Derek was something she'd actually missed.

He held her gaze for a moment taking in her warm smile and feeling a wave of relief wash over him. It felt like forever since they'd been in a good place and since he'd been away he'd let go of so much anger. It was hard. He missed his family and in a few more months he was going to seriously consider making the return home but for now the job in DC was something he needed to do and both of them were finally in acceptance with that. "It would be nicer if we were at home enjoying a bottle of wine."

He lifted an eyebrow and she threw him a playful, admonishing glare. "Derek Shepherd, if we were at home you'd be knee deep in pladough and glitter, so don't pretend like I'm the one ruining your night."

It was a fair call and he laughed softly finishing up the stitched on the women's right femur. In her defense the hospital was inundated with emergency patients and even though he was technically on a secondment issued by the president, no one had objected to his help. Pulling off his gloves he glanced up over her shoulder, stiffening as he caught sight of his sister talking to the chief of surgery.

Meredith sensed the shift and turned, rolling her eyes when she realized what had caught his attention. "Again Derek, seriously?"

"Have you told Cristina?" He shot back, watching her nose crinkle in annoyance. He would have thought that out of everyone his wife would have taken his side, after all it effected her best friend.

"Cristina is moving on with her life-" she pressed down the bandage she was placing, smiling reassuringly at the women who was was still in shock. The brunette nodded hesitantly and Meredith turned her attention back to Derek, "she's seeing someone too you know?"

He huffed walking away from the bed and over to their next patient. The young boy was sleeping and he picked up the chart, stepping around the father who was also dozing. "Asthma attack, we just need to monitor."

She moved round to take the boys readings, using her tablet to fill in the information. The last thing she wanted to do was pick a fight but he could be so damn stubborn sometimes. "I know you don't like it but they're not hurting anyone... and besides she seems happy. They both do."

"Yeah-" he breathed out sharply, rubbing behind his neck, "and how long do you think that is that going to last?"

She turned to the pair, watching her sister in law playfully nudge the chief of surgery. Maybe she was softening in her older age but she couldn't help it, she thought they looked cute together. "Could be longer than you think?"

He mad a grunt of disapproval, feeling a flare of irritation as he watched his sister smile at Owen before leaving. Obviously his talk with the chief of surgery had been completely disregarded and he shook his head in annoyance. She was setting herself up for another failed relationship, another heartbreak and he didn't understand why he was the only one who could see it coming.

AN: Thank you for all the reviews! I absolutely love Amelia and Owen together :D xx