Thanks as always to those of you reading and reviewing - love the support! This chapter brings a little insight into the family background for Jack & Derek, and some musings for Meredith and Derek after their encounter.


Chapter Five - He's Your Family...

"Meredith, why was Derek here with you?" Jack asked, his voice dangerously soft, while he kept a tight grip on her arm as they headed for her office.

"Just a new client," Meredith replied easily. "Seriously, I had no idea you had a brother, let alone that he was coming in to see me! Why doesn't he have the same last name?"

"Derek took his mother's maiden name when he started his so-called acting career, thank god." Jack closed the door behind him, crossing his arms over his chest. "I haven't seen him since our parents were killed in a car crash ten years ago. I thought he was still in New York."

"Oh, god, Jack...that's terrible. You never mentioned about your parents before either." She sat down at her desk, looking at him, curious about the lack of information, as always. He was private to a fault, but then, so was she.

He shrugged. "Nothing to tell. My mother died when I was only six, and Dad married Alicia Shepherd a couple years later. She was an actress, apparently, nothing major, but I guess that's where Derek got his aspirations from. He took off for New York after graduating high school, stayed there after the funeral. We weren't close."

"Still...he's your family, Jack."

"I'm not interested in talking about him any more," Jack sighed, his possessive gaze sweeping over her. She toyed with the bracelets on her arm, absently smoothing the gold bangles. "Where is your ring?"

"Oh…it's locked in my desk, you know that, Jack. I can't wear it when I'm working. Something might happen to it, and I'd never forgive myself," she told him, moving to unlock the drawer on her desk. She pulled the ring from it's spot and slipped it onto her finger. It twinkled merrily, but Meredith didn't really like the ring. For all it's brilliance, it seemed without warmth, but Jack liked it. The bigger the better, she thought ruefully. He did like to flaunt the trappings of a successful businessman.

Jack moved closer, and perched on the edge of the desk, cupping her chin in his hand. "That's better, Meredith." He lowered his head and kissed her, driving his tongue against hers so suddenly, she whimpered and tried to twist away. "What's wrong, baby? Don't you like it when I kiss you like this?" he asked, claiming her mouth again forcefully, pulling her up against him then. His hips ground against hers, giving full evidence of his erection, his arousal for her making him fierce.

Meredith gave in, letting him have his way, giving him the responses he was expecting, until he let her go slowly. "Much better, darlin'," he said, the soft cadence in his voice at odds with his actions. "See what I do for you…" He smoothed his knuckles along her cheek, and kissed her forehead. "Now, let's get out of here. Are you done for the day?"

"Actually, Jack, I do have a few more clients scheduled, but I can get out of here for a quick lunch break, if you want me to," she murmured.

"Good." Without waiting, he walked to the door and headed out of the office, not bothering to see if she followed. Which she did, of course, after collecting her purse, and adjusting her dress. As she passed by Alex's station, she caught her friend's eye on her. She shook her head slightly, to defuse any comment that might be forthcoming. Jack might be aggressive, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

"I'm going out for lunch, Alex – keep an eye on things, would you?" she called out.

Alex stepped away from the client in the chair, one hand on his hip, blow dryer dangling from his other hand. "Sure, Mer. I'll talk to you when you get back…" But Meredith was already gone, with Jack's arm around her shoulders as they walked outside. "Asshole…" Alex muttered under his breath, watching Jack squeeze his friend's slight body tightly against him.

By the end of the day, Meredith sat in her office again, going over some financial statements. Alex poked his head through the open door. "Hey, you're still here, cool." He flopped into the chair, and put his feet up on the desk. "Long day, huh?"

Meredith nodded. "Very long."

"So, who was that perfectly decadent looking guy I saw you with at the front today before Jack showed up?" Alex asked. "He looked like sex on legs..." His groomed eyebrows went up suggestively.

"Who? Oh, that was Derek Shepherd…" Meredith nibbled on her pen as she scribbled some notes for herself.

"Wait, Derek Shepherd…you mean the guy I had the biggest crush on when I was younger? I loved that movie he was in when he was nineteen…" Alex sat up straighter. "Man, he's matured well. He was kind of nerdy looking then, but still hot, you know? What's he doing now? He fell off the radar for awhile."

Meredith looked up at her friend. "Well, he seems very nice. Kind of charming, actually. But the crazy thing is, he's Jack's half-brother. I had no idea there was a brother..."

"What? That's a well kept secret. Derek's hotter," Alex smirked.

Meredith frowned briefly. "Seriously, why wouldn't Jack say something? It sounded like they had some kind of feud going. He didn't talk about it after we left for lunch, just brushed it off, but still.."

"I don't remember reading any good gossip about that. Is Derek still acting?"

"It sounds like he's still in movies, but he didn't sound happy about the kind of things he's in. No blockbusters, obviously. I have to admit, I've never seen those earlier ones." She shrugged lightly.

"I have them on DVD, Mer, you gotta see'em sometime. And what a body...too bad he's not interested in guys..."

Meredith wrinkled her nose at him. "Not everyone is gay, Alex."

"Trust me, Mer, more than you realize," Alex smirked at her, raising one eyebrow suggestively. "I could tell you stories from the club scene..."

She held her hand up. "Stop - do not ruin my perception of movie stars any further than it already is..." she giggled. "Was Derek ever married?" Not that it mattered, she told herself, just curiosity about Jack's brother.

"Hmm…now there is something I remember," Alex said, sitting back again, happy to dish some gossip. "He married his agent, when he was 20 and she was like, mid-forties. Big age gap, huh? She had a son his age, for god's sake. But it didn't last long, and they broke up. Never married again, from what I know."

"Interesting. How do you know that?"

Alex shrugged now. "Honey, you know I keep up on the gossip mags – it's a guilty pleasure. And he was hot…"

"Still is…" Meredith added without thinking, and then bit her lip.

"Aha…you DID notice," Alex laughed.

"Alex, I'm engaged, remember?" Meredith reminded him, waggling her left hand in the air.

"Not married, yet. That's good. You can still break it off."

"Jack is good for me, he has plans, and he's solid. I need that…"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Whatev…but he's not good for you in other ways, Mer. I've seen those bruises that you try to hide, and how you look pained sometimes when you think no one sees. It won't get any better, trust me."

Meredith sighed, and closed her books and shut the desk lamp off. "I can handle it, Alex. Once we're married, he'll settle down. You'll see."

There was more Alex wanted to say, Meredith could see it in the expressive eyes that regarded her. "Just promise me you'll be careful. And call me if you need to talk, please?" he finally asked, obviously realizing she wasn't ready to discuss it any further. His booted feet hit the floor, as Meredith stood up. "Are you going home now?"

"No, I'm meeting Jack for dinner at the restaurant first. What are you up to tonight?"

"Nothing. I'm beat – going home to watch trashy reality shows on TV and crash early. Eric is NOT going to talk me into going out again tonight." Alex slung his bag across his shoulder, and turned to go. "See you in the morning. Take care…" He gave her a quick hug, and kissed her cheek before heading towards the back entrance. Meredith shook her head, and closed up her office, turning her engagement ring thoughtfully.

Derek sat outside in the dark, stretched out on the lounge chair on the small patio. A small pyramid of beer cans was rising alongside the chair.

"Hey, Derek...you out there...?"

"Here..." Derek acknowledged with a wave of his hand, as Mark walked outside.

"You okay, man? Sitting outside drinking alone is a bad sign. Lose out on a part?" Mark dropped into the opposite chair, leaning back, lacing his hands behind his head.

"No...just saw someone today that pissed me off. Along with...ah, never mind," Derek groaned. "Fuck it..."

Mark grabbed a beer from the open case. "Where's Morgan?"

"Out. Some commercial shoot."

"Mmm..."

"D'you remember that woman from the party a couple weeks ago?"

"Which one?" Mark smirked.

"The one pretty one...blondish hair, white shirt...amazing legs..."

"Oh, yeah, that one." Mark agreed, then looking closer at Derek. "Hey, you finally got a decent haircut."

"It was Meredith."

"Who?"

"The one from the party – don't you get it?"

"Sorry, you lost me. Obviously I need to drink more beer to follow this conversation."

"She's beautiful and she's engaged to my fucking brother. Just another karmic joke at my expense."

"Jack?" Mark hadn't met Derek's brother before. Their friendship in New York was after Derek severed all ties with Jack, but Derek had mentioned his half-brother once or twice, enough to make it clear there was no love between them. "And you care...why?"

"Don't care." But Derek grimaced in the dark, thinking of Meredith with Jack. How had she met him, why would she agree to marry him? Jack was cold and selfish, always had been, and it was something Derek had endured growing up.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're drunk...?"

"Just...oh hell, I'm an ass. Look forget about this." Derek rubbed a hand over his face, trying to exorcise the image of Meredith's soft green eyes, of her gentle touch on his arm.

"Sure, whatever you say." Mark paused, taking another swallow of beer. "You and Morgan okay?"

"Sure, fine."

"Look, this is the extent of my self-help advice. If you want this chick, go for her. You're not married – no one gets hurt."

"No, I'm no good at one night stands – never have been. Besides, I hardly think she's interested in me. Jack is rich, successful, good looking – everything I'm not."

Mark crumpled his beer can and lobbed it at Derek. "You're right...you're broke, unemployed and horribly disfigured...."

"Fuck off, Sloan!" Derek laughed despite himself.

"C'mon let's go get dinner. I'll buy." Mark pulled Derek out of the lounge chair. "Can't have you sitting here feeling sorry for yourself."

"Sure...just as long as it's not Moonglow we're going to..."

Meredith sat on her bed, wearing her favorite silky pajamas, after she finished dinner with Jack. Pleading a headache, she drove home, anxious to have some time alone. She eyed her laptop, thinking she should just go to sleep, but her curiosity about Derek was gnawing at her. With a little smile, she gave in, and within moments had the sleek machine booted up, and she settled cross-legged on the bed, pulling up the Google search page. Typing in Derek's name, she bit her lip, finally tapping the enter key, and watching the results pop up. Several movie references, some gossip pages about his previous marriage, and a few fan club websites.

She grinned to herself – aha, he has fans even if he thinks he's not doing so well. There were a lot of older pictures of him, his hair large and untamed, his grin even then an indication of what he was going to become. Alex was right, though, there was a certain geeky charm about Derek's early movies, judging from the still shots. Scrolling through the list of movies, she had to admit they didn't sound familiar to her at all. Even from her bouts of insomnia, watching movies to fall asleep, none of these had come up. "Well, Stormy, he's been busy, if not successful," she commented, as the little cat snuggled in beside her. The purring intensified, as Meredith rubbed his throat. "I hope things go better for him. He seems like a really nice guy, as far as Hollywood goes." She closed out of the website, and shut the laptop off. And part of her hoped she would see him again, even just as a friend, maybe he could give her some insight on Jack. There were similarities that she could see now that she knew they were related, but Derek was definitely less aggressive, and his good looks and easier manner were very attractive. Then she shook her head resolutely. This wasn't like her at all, and yet she couldn't put the thoughts out of her mind, that his eyes had seemed to be warm on her, that there had been a certain attraction between them. An attraction that shouldn't be there.

"Crazy, this is crazy," she murmured, shifting Stormy out of her lap, and putting the laptop away. Stormy curled into another spot, blinking his eyes at her. "Yeah, I know you don't like Jack...wonder what you would do if you saw Derek?" she wondered, crawling into bed, and turning off the light.