Dr. Warren's pep talk was short. He just reminded the rules of the shift and wished them good luck. While he was talking, Meredith looked discreetly around her, over her colleagues, no, her family. When she joined the IEPS team, she expected overly ambitious know-it-alls with inflated egos. Well, you don't always get what you expect. Sometimes, you get better. It didn't mean that they were a perfect, sickly sweet seventh-heavenlike family. There were conflicts and harsh words; and no sentiments when it came to actual work. The primary purpose of the program was to train them to be the best and the most skilled surgeons after all. But they stuck together, they stuck together.

And that day was the last time they would be working together as a team. Apart from Meredith, there were seven other surgeons to cross the finish line during the next 48 hours. And they made a pact among them. The first one of them to get their hands on the scalpel was to perform a ritual dance to ascertain the good luck for them. The ritual dance was the tradition born during a wild party, one of the very few that Meredith took part in. Since then, in every new city and every new hospital they visited, the first person to step into the OR had to dance so as not to bring bad karma. Meredith smiled at the memories going through her head but suddenly she frowned. She didn't exactly saw herself dancing in the Seattle Grace OR…

"Go and don't disappoint me, don't disappoint yourselves!" Warren's booming voice woke her up from her reverie.

Everyone hurried to the locker room to change into the scrubs. Navy clothes were waiting for them on the benches. Meredith picked up her set and smoothed a crease on the material. Today, they had the status of attending.

"Thank God, they're not red," a red-haired girl, Ana, breathed in relief.

"Huh? I liked the ones in Tokyo better," Ingrid wrinkled her nose.

"Oh, right. The green ones that looked like vomit, I remember, they were cute," teased her Ned.

"I really like this colour," Ana stood her ground unfolding her scrubs. "They are… intense."

Intense…Meredith certainly used to think they were intense, especially while ripping them off of Derek in the on-call room… She shook herself. She couldn't let herself have these steamy thoughts about Derek, or any thoughts about him for that matter; not when he might be in the same building! She quickly changed into her scrubs and scurried after the others to the pit.

"Mer, what d'you think?" asked Ana. The locker banter was clearly still going on.

"I… think they're sexy," she said eloquently.

"Sexy?" asked Ned with a sneer. "There's no accounting for taste. Anyway, the last to the pit is the looser!"

Meredith gave a hearty laugh and shook her head. They were like kids. Nonetheless, she ran with the others past the opening doors of the elevator.

**********************************************************************************

"… a bunch of kids to my OR," Mark Sloan was complaining to Derek Shepherd as they were getting out of the lift.

Derek stopped abruptly and raised a hand to silence his friend's tirade. He had got off the elevator just in time to catch the last tones of Meredith's laughter before she disappeared over a corner.

"What?" asked Mark.

Derek remained silent. He could swear it was her even if he hadn't heard her voice for more than two years. But he was probably imagining things; Meredith couldn't possibly be here. She was… somewhere. He often wondered what had been happening with her after she left. What's more, he often asked Yang what had been happening with her. He was sure they were in contact all this time. But Cristina was adamant to stay mute on the subject and just looked at him with contempt or perhaps pity. He couldn't really decide.

Although, he secretly admitted she had every right to look at him like that. He had been a damn fool assuming he could have a lasting relationship with a woman other than Meredith. He realized his mistake shortly after her departure and he'd been paying for it painfully ever since. His relationship with Rose finished as quickly as it started. Afterwards, he had dated occasionally but no other woman could equal Meredith. They didn't have that wild streak about them; or that ineffectual fists; he even missed her snoring.

"Derek, you alright?" Mark was eyeing him with concern.

"Yeah, I just- It's nothing," said Derek. "You were saying?"

"I was saying that I'd rather let Hunt stitch up my face than allow some pseudo-surgeons mess with my OR," drawled Mark with annoyance.

"You can do just that, in a form of protest," joked Derek. "See whether the Chief cares."

"The man is completely insane with the idea."

"He just wants to catch some fresh talents."

"I wouldn't like to be the one who breaks to the Chief that the IEPS won't be exactly killing each other to get a place at Seattle Grace; not after the last year's rankings."

"We were ranked higher this year," reasoned Derek. "But I guess you're right. I heard the chief of Boston Providence is visiting us today. He hopes his new head of neuro straight out of the pan."

"Man, you're gotta be kiddin' me! I have enough of this."

"And you're going to hear some more," said Derek as he noticed Webber coming with Dr. Warren in their direction.

"Gentlemen," greeted them the Chief. "Meet our guest from the IEPS, Dr. James Warren. Dr. Warren this is Dr. Mark Sloan, head of plastics; and Dr. Derek Shepherd, head of neuro at Seattle Grace."

"I heard of you of course," stated Dr. Warren. "But you don't look too pleased with the presence of my team at Seattle Grace," he added lightly.

"No offence, Dr. Warren," said Mark, completely ignoring the warning looks he was given by the Chief, "but these are our Ors in the hands of your kids."

"They are very competent hands, I assure you. I-" but Dr. Warren never finished his statement as they were met by an energetic woman.

"Gentlemen," said Dr. Warren, "this is Dr. Stacy Warren, my wife and my right hand. Any updates on the situation, honey?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," her eyes twinkling. "That's why I was looking for you."

"Are we going to witness the first procedure? Who's performing?"

Stacy shot him a meaningful smile.

"It's a neuro case," she simply replied.

"A neuro case," Warren acknowledged with excitement. "An excellent opportunity to show you how capable are hands of my kids."

"Les us see," said Mark and patted Derek's shoulder. "Our expert will be watching."

**********************************************************************************

In the meantime, the IEPS residents were getting bored. The pit was as busy as ever, but the cases minor. Most of the patients suffered from superficial cuts requiring simple stitching up; a task that they delegated to their interns.

"God, the place is terrible. There's nothing going on in this hole!" whined Ingrid.

"Hey, watch it!" warned Meredith ferociously. "It's my hometown."

"Well, I'm not surprised you dumped it!"

Luckily, the further discussion was cut short by the appearance of paramedics rushing a patient into the ER. Ned and Ingrid were the first to reach them.

"A four-year-old girl with head trauma, unconscious, no other apparent injuries, lost some blood but not much, vomited!" informed one of the paramedics.

Hearing the given description, Meredith made her way to the gurney.

"Out of the way! It's a neuro case!"

"Fowler!" Meredith beckoned her intern and inspected skillfully the girl's head. "Fowler, take her for CT. I'm afraid, there's more to it than just the concussion, let's go!"

"What d'you see, Dr. Fowler?" asked Meredith investigating the scans, her forehead creased.

"Aneurysm in the anterior cerebral artery."

Meredith nodded. "A bad one. We have to operate immediately. There's a great risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Prep her, you'll be assisting," she ordered.

Meredith hurried out of the CT room. Ned was waiting for her propped against the doorframe.

"You're the dancer, Mer," he shot with a smirk. "We'll be watching."

Just my luck, thought Meredith.

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A.N. Hi, I'm awfully sorry, I know I promised the MerDer reunion in this chapter, but during typing the text I realized it was disproportionately long in comparison with other chapters. So, I had to split it, just for the sake of balance  Rest assured you get what you want in the chapter 5 which I'm posting tomorrow, barring any complications. 

Please, review, and don't be too angry with me!

P.S. Tell me if there's something silly from the medical point of view. I get all details from Wikipedia as I'm totally ignorant when it comes to surgery.

P.S.2 "Boston Providence" is a product of my imagination. I'm not from States so I have no idea what hospitals are in Boston. I just thought that "Boston Providence" matched nicely "Seattle Grace" and "Mercy West"  Cheers!