Chapter 52: I Miss You

"Damn it." Derek said in frustration after the guys came in to say 502 was going to be grounded due to another malfunction. They had been out a week and 502 was a constant battle. What was worse, this was the plane Meredith was flying most of the time.

"You know, we really should replace the wiring when we get back to the island. The wiring has gone to shit on 502 anyway." One of the 2nd classes responded.

"Yeah, replacing the wiring will never happen, but we will be expected to continue to repair it." Derek grumbled, knowing his Chief would want answers, "I am going to talk to Chief, better talk face to face than avoid it. Go on and get working on it. I will probably be up on the flight deck working with you guys, we have to get this up and going." Derek said. At the level he was at in his career, he didn't do as much of the actual 'work' except during times like this.

Derek went and talked to Callie who was his shop Chief right now. She immediately became stressed about the situation and knew she needed to explain the current situation to the maintenance Chief. On his way back to his shop he heard a voice ring through the small hallway knowing it was the voice of the woman he tried to avoid over the last week. He had seen her a few times, but for the most part, has stayed clear. It was just easier to go in the opposite direction of her than to think about how he really felt about her. He was falling in love with her; there was no doubt about that.

"AT1 Shepherd." Meredith called out in a very serious voice.

He stopped and closed his eyes hearing her say goodbye to whoever she was talking to. Derek turned around just in time to see the man wink at her and to say he would see her later. What the fuck is that? I will fucking kill you if you lay a hand on her. She is mine, not yours. I can't even fucking do anything about it. Why, why have I fallen in love with the most amazing woman, who is also a woman I can't openly date? Smart Derek, real fucking smart. This was the conversation he was having with himself in his brain as he watched the interaction between this male pilot from another squadron. Derek did not like the look this man had in his eyes.

"Lieutenant Commander Grey. Do you need something? Looks like you are keeping plenty busy." Derek shot one look at her before looking up to see the man, smirking towards Meredith's direction before walking off.

"As a matter of fact, I am. However, I just got some information that my plane is grounded today due to the inability of you and your shop." She scathed at him not able to look him in the eye. This was business and she had to act like there were no strings attached. She couldn't shake the feeling that ripped her heart, cutting him down in any way, but it had to be done.

Derek looked at her in disbelief. "Why don't we take this to somewhere other than the hallway." He knew he had to get out of public before he said something he didn't want the wrong person to hear.

"Your shop. Your guys shouldn't be in there anyway seeing as how they should be up on the flight deck working." She started walking in the direction of his shop.

Derek couldn't take it anymore as he was already at a boiling point. He grabbed her arm to swing her back around, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" He got very close in her face hoping no one would walk through, but this moment, he didn't care. Derek had to get through to her. He forced her to look into his eyes.

Meredith swallowed hard, seeing the passion built up in his eyes that held many emotions. "Your shop." She barely got out feeling her throat close up and immediately looked down to start walking.

Derek nodded in agreement; thankful no one had walked up on them. He followed her at a careful distance through the maze to his shop. The boat life was always interesting where things were located. Derek walked into his shop closely behind her and closed the door. He looked around to see that the compact shop was vacant.

Meredith stayed with her back to Derek taking some deep breaths not exactly sure what to say. She needed to be his department head. His shop really had screwed some stuff up and this was the job. She took one last deep breath and turned around carefully, putting on the boss face, "We need to discuss the issues you are having currently with the shop."

"What fucking issues. The only issue I am currently having is the way that fucking man was looking at you and I can't even do a thing about it. Hell, I can't even look at you without wanting to kiss you or just talk to you, tell you about my day." Derek was trying to keep his voice down, but was having a very hard time.

Meredith just looked at him almost absently. She had to remember she was the boss here. They were at work, and she had to keep this in mind even if he was having a hard time. She knew this was going to hurt, but she took a deep breath and started talking, "AT1 Shepherd, it is no secret this plane is downed because your night crew last night screwed it up pretty badly. As the LPO, this is your responsibility. You need to make sure your people have proper pass down's from shift to shift to continue smooth operations of this shop and command."

Derek looked at her in disgust; he was furious. However, she was his boss in this place and he had to show her the proper respect. He took a deep breath to calm himself slightly. He knew one of his faults was his passion about things, which can be good and bad. He started to explain in a normal tone, "They had a pass down that was more thorough than probably any shop in this command. My shop supervisor was called in from bed this morning when I came in this morning and realized how much they fucked up last night. He heard it all from me and then we went to maintenance control for us both to get our asses handed to us. I am doing what I can to make sure this shop runs efficiently. In fact, I am about to go and put my coveralls on and get up there to work with them."

"Going to get dirty with the boys then." She smiled pleasantly to him.

Derek raised his eyebrow and smiled back at her, "I am."

"Well, I really shouldn't keep you." Meredith looked to Derek not wanting to move. They were alone for now and it was really nice.

"How are you?" Derek said tenderly.

Meredith looked at Derek surprised, "Someone may walk in."

"We can cover; I will do my best to keep my hands off of you." Derek raised the corner of his lips in a smirk.

Meredith decided to ignore that comment although she couldn't help but think about all the things he does to her with his hands, "I am doing as well as I can." She sighed slightly, looked down and back up into his eyes before adding the next part, "I miss you."

"I miss you too." Derek reached out for her arm, wanting to stroke it gently.

"Derek." Meredith felt herself moving towards him slowly.

"We can't." Derek said in a low growl, but didn't make a move to stop the advances of both of them.

"Damn it." Meredith said, backing away from him.

"I am going to sit behind the desk and you can sit…" Derek looked around but all the chairs had something in it. He quickly grabbed some stuff and moved it for Meredith to sit down. Things had been so crazy; they had really let the shop go to hell since they had been on board. Derek made a mental note to himself to stop and clean the shop once 502 gets off the ground.

Derek sat down behind his desk looking at Meredith now sitting down in the chair. There was so much he wanted to say and wanted to ask. Before he could say anything, Meredith started first…