Chapter 54: Can She Be Trusted?

Derek had been so busy since seeing Meredith. He had gone straight from working, to showering, to bed, and back again. He had been working on the plane himself, but it needed all new wiring. He really didn't feel comfortable with Meredith being in the plane, but he was going to make sure at all costs it was safe for her to fly. He knew her flight would be in the morning since everything seemed to be fixed.

Derek looked to his watch and sighed when he saw it was 9:30pm. So much for a hot dinner. Looks like it is cereal or a quick microwave thing. He had been so busy the last few days he barely had time to eat. He grabbed something that looked edible and went to the lounge in their barracks area. The first classes had their own area. It had a big TV, DVD player, snack machines, and comfortable chairs for them to just relax in. It was much nicer than the lounges in the 2nd class and down barracks areas.

Derek went over to the microwave and heated up the sandwich he had decided to try to scarf down, knowing he had to eat something. He turned around and stood casually against the counter while the microwave was going. He looked at the baseball game that was obviously a feed in from ESPN. Most of the time, the ship got baseball games and/or other sporting events; however, there were times the satellite was not working for various reasons. He smiled tiredly watching the Yankees and Mariners on TV. He didn't necessarily have a favorite team being he lived so many different places with his dad. Every place they lived with a ballpark; they went to it. He thought about the many hot dogs he had shared with his father which created a bigger smile. They had never made it to Safeco field in Seattle and knew Mark and he should try to get down to a game before their big deployment.

"What in the hell is that smell?" Mark made a nasty face looking into the microwave beside Derek.

"My dinner." Derek replied unenthusiastically, taking it from the microwave, sighing slightly at the looks of the sandwich. He picked up his food and soda and headed over to some of the comfortable chairs with a coffee table to set his stuff on.

Once situated, Derek took a bite of his sandwich and winced a little.

"That good?" Mark looked on in disgust.

"Terrible." Derek let out a small laugh and quickly took another big bite to try and eat the sandwich without tasting too much.

"502 is scheduled to fly in the morning. All done?" Mark asked curiously, knowing it was a few rough days for Derek and his shop.

"We have done as much as we can do to get it up and flying. The wires are going to shit and really needs a complete overhaul. I just had to make sure it was completely safe to fly." Derek took another huge chunk of the sandwich.

Mark knew this was the plane Meredith was scheduled to fly in the morning and knew she was the pilot that flew that plane the most. "Is it?"

Derek looked up from his sandwich, "What do you fucking think? I have been up on the flight deck working on that fucking plane non-stop for 2 days. Why don't you tell me what you think? How many times in the last week and a half have you put on fucking coveralls to go work up on the flight deck on one of the planes?" Derek was somewhat angry at Mark even questioning him.

"I was just asking. Don't get your panties in a bunch." Mark replied jokingly.

Derek sighed, knowing Mark was just trying to make small talk and be there with him. He hadn't really seen him in two days, and they had been eating most of their meals together prior to that.

"Cristina and I had an interesting conversation yesterday." Mark started off knowing this might not be the best time to talk about things, but he needed to know.

Derek was wondering if or when this conversation would happen. He figured Cristina would at a minimum talk to Mark, but was surprised she hadn't come directly to him. Derek looked up to Mark, "So, what exactly did she see or hear?" Derek wasn't really sure what all she had actually seen or heard before walking into his shop.

"She had a lot of questions. What the hell were you and Grey thinking?" Mark asked, knowing they should be more careful than that.

Derek looked down and thought about the conversation with him and Meredith. He had only moved over to her when he was nervous that she was telling him she didn't want to continue what it is they were doing. He needed to be close to her, make sure she could look clearly in his eyes. He made sure to lower his voice so that no one could hear their conversation, "I saw her in the hallway. She was talking with another officer." Derek stopped and looked at Mark, "A fucking male officer from another squadron."

Mark smirked, "But you don't get jealous."

"Not until now." He did smile a bit, thinking about how insane she made him feel anytime she was around. He wasn't the jealous type; however, with Meredith, he couldn't help himself.

"What in the hell did you do?" Mark asked, hoping Derek was able to show self-control.

"She called me out about the shit with 502 and it being down. We went to my shop, it was empty, and we talked. It started out about the plane and work, but quickly turned to much more." Derek gazed to the side of Mark, thinking about the conversation. It had popped into his mind at times in the last two days, but he hadn't even had a chance to think much about it. He took a deep breath, "I think we have come to an understanding and we both know this isn't going to be easy, but we are both committed to doing what it takes." Derek didn't need to go into details, but said enough to let Mark know the seriousness of the conversation.

"Grey is going to stop with the guys? She is always with them."

Derek growled under his breath, "I hope so."

They both sat quietly. Mark didn't want to say anything else knowing the last statement was probably not the smartest thing he had ever said. Derek was processing his feelings for Meredith. He had no doubt that he was falling in love with her. He did wonder one thing. He spoke up quietly, "What exactly did Cristina talk to you about?"

"She is smart. She knows there is more than meets the eye. I thwarted her off as much as I could. She is very suspicious though. She said the two of you were in very close proximity when she walked in but did say both of you didn't skip a beat once she walked in." Mark's lips curled into a cocky smile, "That woman is going to drive me insane. She could tell I was avoiding answering her questions."

"Damn it." Derek said quickly hoping that what Cristina saw was staying only with her. He knew this was bad… very bad. "Will she talk?" Derek simply asked.

"No, I actually think she can be trusted completely. I have your back. She realizes I know something more and I wasn't talking, nor did she push me. I did have to promise some favors." Mark looked with the cocky look that he had perfected. When he saw Derek roll his eyes, he continued, "She isn't the one to get involved in this type of shit. Cris may come off as a bitch at times, but really, it is all a cover." Mark couldn't help but laugh at Cristina. He was one of the few people to really know her and vice versa.

Derek realized he had really screwed up talking to her alone in his shop. He did know better than this as did Meredith. It was a situation that had presented itself and he had to seize the opportunity. He knew they could not be that careless again on the boat. "You really think she isn't going to start digging and try to find something more about this?" Derek had to be sure to take necessary precautions and try to communicate that with Meredith if they were in danger of being found out.

"I think she will talk to you. The only reason she has kept her distance is because she knows you have been busting your ass on that plane." Mark explained.

"Fuck. I don't even know what to tell her. Why were we so fucking stupid?" Derek mumbled on to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I actually think Cristina is not a problem even if she were to find out. She really is not someone who would run to tell the higher ups." Mark was pretty sure she would be ok.

"If it came down to getting ahead, she might." Derek stated very quickly.

Mark pondered this in a few seconds, "Even then, I don't think she would. She did make one interesting comment about the occurrence."

"What's that?" Derek hastily replied.

"The energy in the room was intense and the look in the eyes of both of you. She said Grey was the type of person that gave a lot away by her eyes although most don't realize that. Her eyes were full of warmth and wonderment which was something she had never seen from her. Apparently Grey always has very hard eyes, very focused on only the job, but not then. She had eyes focused on one distinct thing. You." Mark said quietly making sure his voice stayed in a hushed whisper.

Derek clung to every word Mark spoke hearing about Meredith's eyes. This was something he had also learned about Meredith. He thought about Cristina; he had spent a little time with her. The one thing he did notice about her is she stayed out of the political bullshit. She was good because she was good, not because of who's ass she kissed. "So, Cristina can be trusted."

"I think more than you and I think." Mark knew he was not wrong about this.

Derek saw an interesting expression on Mark's face at any mention of Cristina. "What is going on with you and Cristina?"

Mark didn't expect this questioning from Derek and wasn't prepared to respond to anything regarding him and Cristina. He knew how he felt, but was trying not to consider the possibility at this point. "We are... friends. Sexy friends." He was proud of that statement.

Derek was glad to have the tables turned a bit, "Sexy friends, that is all there is?"

Mark looked away, "Yes."

Derek knew Mark as well as Mark knew himself. He knew there was more ,but Mark didn't want to admit it because that made it real. "Even though, you would bust my balls for giving you some shit answer like that, I will let this one go. When you are ready to admit it… I am right here." Derek smiled when Mark looked back over at him.

"Isn't that cute, do you want to hold my hand now too?" Mark asked jokingly deflecting more conversation about Cristina.

"Can I?" Derek played along really happy to be on detachment with his best friend. He knew deployment with Mark would never be a dull moment.

"I draw the line at holding hands." Mark said emphatically and a little more loudly than before.

"And I was hoping to at least get a hug from you." Derek laughed, got up, and patted him on the back.

"Going so soon? I am too hot for you?" Mark laughed.

"You just wish. I need to shower and get my ass in bed. I want to check everything over just one more time before the scheduled flight." Derek explained.

"I should get in bed. You never know when the shit is going to hit the fan on one of the planes and your shop is nothing to ninety in sixty seconds." Mark stood up as well to head to his rack.

During the walk to their racks, "Thanks Mark. I really hate you are in the position you are." Derek said seriously to Mark.

"You would do the same." Mark simply stated.

Derek nodded his head to his friend while he grabbed his shower kit to head to take a shower. He was really glad to have his best friend with him. He did wonder… what the next 2 ½ weeks would bring.