Okay, I wasn't originally planning on doing this, but some of you predicted it in some form or another, so I thought I would give it a try. This chapter's kind of dark, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyways :)

Derek sighed as he rolled over in bed, reaching for the warm body that usually lay beside him, frowning when he felt nothing but cold sheets beside him. He sighed as he opened his eyes and saw a note sitting on Meredith's bedside table. He reached for it and frowned at the words.

Had to go in early for a meeting. Be home early. Love, Mer. P.S. We'll tour the house when I get home. I have a surprise for you.

He sighed as he leaned back into the pillows. He had the day off, and he'd been planning on starting his wife's day off right with breakfast in bed and a good round of sex, maybe the bendy thing in the shower. She'd casually mentioned about a month ago that she had forgotten to refill her birth control, and although they hadn't talked about it, they had silently agreed that there wasn't any real need for her to refill it. He knew they should probably talk, but no birth control was enough for now. He was ready for a baby, and this was her way of telling him that she was too, so he was okay with it happening when it happened.

But now she had to go in early for a stupid meeting and he was left alone in their trailer with a feeling.

With a sigh, he pushed himself out of bed and reached for some clothes. He might as well see if he could help paint some of the rooms in the house. He'd come home more than once to find his adorable wife covered in paint, giggling loudly and he might as well give it a try.

It was October now, and the house was coming alone well. The outside was completely done, and now they were painting the inside. The electricity was up and running, and as soon as they got all the rooms painted and carpeted, they could move their furniture and belongings in, hopefully in time for Christmas. They couldn't very well fit a Christmas tree in the trailer.

Meredith was surprisingly enjoying her life as a high school teacher a lot more than she had thought she would, even if there were a few students who didn't make her life particularly easy. Hopefully she would have a good day so she would be in the mood for him to spoil her when she got home, maybe have an all night sex marathon. Yes, that would be perfect.

If only he could get rid of this feeling.

XXXXX

Meredith sighed as she dropped into the chair behind her desk. It was second period, her free period, and she was already looking forward to a break. She had woken with a feeling in her stomach and all she wanted was to hear her husband's voice, make sure he was okay. Because the last time she had had a feeling like this, Michael Shepherd had been shot and killed, so she wasn't sure she could make it through the day without hearing Derek's voice assuring her that he was fine. She needed him to calm the feeling in her stomach.

She reached for her cell phone, smiling widely as she heard her husband's voice pick up. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" he teased lightly, and she could hear the laughter in his voice.

"Free period," she replied, hoping she sounded normal. She didn't need a worried husband on her hands right now.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

She sighed as she leaned back into her seat, looking at their wedding picture that faced her from the front of her desk. "I have a feeling," she admitted quietly. "A really bad feeling."

"I get those," Derek assured her in the soft voice that always seemed to calm her down.

"You do?" she asked.

"Yeah," Derek said. "You just have to wait for it to pass. It will, soon enough. I promise."

"I love you," Meredith whispered. Because in that moment, she couldn't imagine not saying it.

"I love you too," he said softly. "I'll come bring you some lunch later, how does that sound?"

"Perfect," Meredith smiled, but in that moment, she heard a loud boom, followed by screams and she suddenly felt the feeling in the pit of her stomach grow a million times worse. This was it. "Derek, I have to go," she cried. "I think someone has a gun. I love you!"

Before she could heard him respond, she threw the phone onto her desk and raced for the door as students spilled in, seeking safety. The intercom was calling for a lockdown, and she quickly locked the door and slid a desk in front of it before sliding down on the floor beside the three terrified students.

"We'll be okay," she heard herself saying. "We just have to wait."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Meredith!" Derek shouted into the phone as the line went dead. He felt panic rise in his throat as he ran for his car, lifting his phone to his ear again, praying to hear his wife's voice.

"Hi, you've reached Meredith Shepherd…"

"Fuck," he breathed as he turned onto the street. He dialed again, lifting the phone to his ear as he heard the 911 operator pick up.

"There are gunshots going off at Seattle Grace High School," he shouted. "My wife works there, you have to get her out."

"We're aware of the emergency sir, and we already have response teams at the sight," the operator recited.

"You have to make sure Meredith Shepherd gets out," he pleaded. "She's a history teacher, her classroom is on the second floor facing the courtyard."

"Sir, we're doing everything we can…"

Derek threw the phone onto the seat beside him, cursing aloud as he stepped on the gas pedal harder. He had to get to her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mrs. Shepherd," a terrified girl whimpered from beside her. "Can't we just get out of the school?"

"It's on lockdown," Meredith said, attempting a brave smile. "No one's allowed out or in."

"That's stupid," a baseball player replied. "If we all die it's on their consciences."

"No one's going to die," Meredith said firmly. "We're safe here."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," a calm voice said as a timid girl stepped to her feet, holding up a gun. "It's time to have some fun."

Meredith felt her heart stop beating for a moment, fear filling her entire body at the thought that today would be the day she died.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You have to let me through, I'm a doctor!" Derek shouted as he stood behind the police barricades surrounding the school. "My wife works in there, you have to let me through so I can help."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not authorized to let anyone through."

"Dr. Shepherd," Mark cried, rushing over to them. "Thank God you're finally here, we were just wondering where your magic touch was."

The guard glanced between the two men for a moment before he sighed and lifted the yellow tape to allow Derek through. Derek moved quickly beside Mark as they made their way towards the ambulance. "What the hell is going on?" Derek demanded.

"They wanted doctors on call," Mark sighed. "There's already one casualty and two bullet wounds."

Derek froze, stopping to stare up at the school. "Mer…" he breathed.

"None of them were her," Mark assured her. "I don't know if she got out, but…she hasn't been brought out with the injured, and there haven't been anymore shots."

"I can't…" Derek breathed. "We have to get in there."

"We can't," Mark shook his head. "It's on lock down, they're waiting to figure out who's behind this and where the gunmen are. All we can do right now is wait. You have to be strong, Shep."

XXXXX

"Emily," Meredith breathed as she stood slowly, gently approaching the young girl in her class who had always been quiet but seemed nice enough. "What in the world did you do?"

"It's not what I did," Emily shook her head. "It's what you did. All of you. You," she said, pointing to the baseball player. "With your stupid cockiness and thinking the world revolves around you. And you," she pointed at a cheerleader. "You think you're so perfect and amazing, but you make me sick. All of you."

"Emily," Meredith shook her head. "This isn't the way to fix this."

"You're just as bad as they are," Emily breathed. "Mrs. Shepherd. You told us that you were completely miserable when you were our age, that you know what we're going through. But you don't. You have a dreamy husband who brings you lunch and looks at you like you're the only woman in the world."

"I didn't find that until I was older," Meredith said. "And you can't blame this on me."

"I'm not," Emily shook her head. "It's their fault. We couldn't take it anymore."

"We?" a girl breathed from behind Meredith.

"Do you really think that I'm the only one who's completely ignored in this school?" Emily asked. "That my mom's the only one who kicked me onto the street after she heard her friends saying that I wasn't sociable? No, I'm not. We got tired of constantly being pushed around."

"Emily, you're a great girl," Meredith said softly. "You don't need to do this."

"Yes, I do," Emily said. "No one likes me."

"That's not true," the cheerleader spoke up. "We were best friends, Em. Remember middle school?"

"That was before you joined the cheerleaders, Lauren," Emily snapped.

"I tried," Lauren whispered. "We were supposed to be friends forever. But you wanted to get high instead of hanging out with me. I never…we were supposed to be friends forever."

"Well this is the real world," Emily snapped. "And this is the only way he'll love me."

Meredith frowned as she tentatively reached forward to rest a hand on Emily's shoulder. "Who's he?" she asked.

"Don't touch me," Emily cried, turning to point the gun at Meredith.

"Okay, okay," Meredith said, backing up and holding her hands in front of her. "Calm down."

"I hate you," Emily whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I hate all of you."

"Emily, did someone make you do this?" Meredith whispered gently.

"Sit down," Emily said. "I'll shoot you, I swear I will. You have everything and I have nothing. I hate you."

"Em," Lauren said softly. "You can end this. You have the power to make this go away."

"No," Emily shook her head. "He loves me. He said…he said after we did this we could be together forever."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a series of loud shots from the hallway, causing Meredith's stomach to lurch and the other two students to tense and curl into themselves.

"That's my cue," Emily whispered, raising the gun.

XXXXX

"Meredith," Derek shouted at the sound of the gunshots. "Oh God, Mer…We have to go in there!"

"Derek," Mark breathed, holding his friend back as he tried to run towards the doors with the police officers. "You can't do this. You have to let the police do their jobs."

"I can't," Derek shook his head, collapsing down onto the ground as sobs wracked his body. "My wife…my Mer, she could be…there were gunshots."

"Derek," Mark sighed. "You've got to get a hold of yourself. Grey's going to need you when she gets out here."

"She can't," Derek whispered. "Mark, she can't die. She's everything. We just got married and we're supposed to be fighting over paint colors for our house. She can't."

"She won't," Mark said. "You've got to be strong. She's probably in her room, waiting until the cops come to tell her that it's okay to come out."

"I can't do this without her," Derek whispered. "When Dad…she can't leave me, Mark, I can't do this without her."

"It's clear!" a voice suddenly shouted from the school. "Shooters are down."

"Meredith," Derek breathed as he watched students begin to stream out of the building. Paramedics rushed into the building, causing worried parents to rush forward and embrace their children. Derek stood still as stretchers were rolled from the school, his stomach tightening. It couldn't be Meredith. She was…she couldn't be hurt.

He turned to look at the pale faces of students who were laying comatose against the sheets, and he felt a mixture of relief and worry. He turned to another stretcher, needing to find Meredith and hold her in his arms, never let her go.

"Derek," he heard a voice gasp from behind him and he immediately turned around to face her, pulling her tightly into his arms before he had really even processed that she was standing in front of him.

"Meredith," he breathed. "Oh God, Mer. I can't…you're here. You're okay."

"Derek," she gasped, her fingers tightening around his shirt. "She…I…she died. She just shot herself, I should have…"

"Oh Mer," Derek breathed, tightening his arms around her as he suddenly realized that she had seen the worst of it. He wasn't sure exactly what she was trying to tell him but right now she just needed to be comforted.

"Derek," she whimpered as tears soaked through his shirt. "I was so scared."

"It's okay," he murmured. "You're okay. You're here and you're okay."

"I should have noticed," Meredith murmured. "She was so quiet, I never…I should have noticed."

"This isn't your fault," Derek whispered, running a hand through her hair. "Meredith, do not blame yourself."

"How…how bad?" she whispered, pulling back to look at him with tear filled eyes.

"There were three deaths I think," he murmured. "And several injured."

"I want to go to the hospital," she said. "I mean, I'm fine, but I want to go, make sure my students are okay."

"We can do that tomorrow," Derek nodded. "Right now we need to get you home."

"No," Meredith shook her head. "I want to go now."

"Mer, they're going to be receiving lots of medical attention right now," Derek said. "They won't even know you're there, if you're even allowed in to see them."

Meredith inhaled sharply as she looked up at him closely. "I need to go to the hospital," she whispered.

Derek frowned as he pulled back to look at her, running his hands over her to search for any hidden injuries. "Why?" he breathed. "Mer, are you hurt, I thought you said you were okay."

"I am," she said, tears filling her eyes as she looked up at the sky. "God, this is so not how I wanted to tell you this."

"What?" Derek asked, moving her head to meet his eyes. "Meredith, you can tell me anything, you know that."

"I know," she said, smiling slightly as she reached for his hand. "I'm okay, Derek," she said as she placed his hand on her stomach.

"Then why do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked.

"Because I want to make sure that your baby's okay."