Chapter 55: Anticipation

The last few weeks had seemed to fly by, and the plane had been flying like normal with a few tweaks. That was expected with what they had to work with.

Meredith sat up on the flight deck, looking out into the dusk sky around sunset. The wind was blowing her hair around her face as she could see land along the horizon. She heard someone walk up behind her but continued to look forward and softly said, "Isn't it amazing out here." Meredith took a deep breath, taking in all the scents of the ocean and night air.

"I guess." Alex said from behind her, looking out in the direction she was. He knew Meredith could sit here for hours, just thinking. Alex saw it as a waste of time to sit out and gander out into the world, but he decided to sit with Meredith and talk.

Meredith turned to Alex and smiled, "It would do you some good to just relax and take some time with yourself."

Alex just started laughing, "You really believe in that shit, one with yourself."

Meredith laughed with him, but something caught her attention in the far out distance, Derek was standing with a few people looking out.

Alex looked in the direction that had obviously grabbed her thoughts. "I am sure you both are ready to be off of here."

"You have no idea. I have really avoided him as much as possible the last 2 weeks. It has been nearly impossible, but we just couldn't have another slip up." Meredith broke her gaze from him at the risk of being caught or someone seeing him.

Meredith had told Alex everything that happened a few weeks before in Derek's shop. He was impressed that she was willing to really try. Alex knew Derek was something special when he first found out. After the monumental conversation with Derek, Meredith had proactively tried to stop flirting and being "free" with the boys which proved a lot to Alex. He felt his phone vibrate in his hand indicating he had a message. He had turned it on a few hours before anticipating getting close enough to pick up a signal. He carefully looked around making sure no one was around that would cause him trouble. The captain of the boat didn't allow the use of cell phones until they were pulled in; nonetheless, they all used it as soon as they could.

Meredith noticed Alex looked in his pocket at his cell phone and decided she would turn hers on. She figured sometime soon they would be within range. She turned it on and noticed a voicemail. It was getting pretty dark out and she knew it was probably safe to check it. She listened intently and immediately frowned upon hearing the voice. She hung up her phone to Alex looking at her.

"Who was that?" Alex asked curiously.

Meredith sighed loudly wondering why her and why now. "My mother." She said barely audible.

"Huh." Alex said casually then asked, "What did she want?"

"She is in town and will be there when we touch down in the morning." Meredith said regretfully. She looked over to where Derek and company were talking, a few of them smoking. She was thankful that was something she never saw Derek doing, not that it would make that much of a difference on her feelings; however, it showed what kind of person he was.

"What about him?" Alex asked, knowing it was exactly what was going through her mind. He knew Meredith well and knew what she was thinking most of the time without many words being spoken.

She saw him look at his phone and smiled slightly thinking about how nice it will be to just be able to communicate with him on a normal basis. They had relayed messages a few times through Mark and Alex, but they kept that to a minimum so people wouldn't get suspicious. She looked at Derek and smirked. "He is in some trouble." Meredith immediately got her phone out and started texting.

To: D

8:47pm

I think you need to be punished. Don't you know that is against the rules?

She pressed send and spoke up, "Mom will have to kiss my ass tomorrow night. There is no way I won't be with him." Meredith wanted to watch his expression but didn't want to raise any suspicions around and had to focus on the conversation between her and Alex.

"Good luck with that. The Ellis Grey will have her own agenda" Alex reminded her as Meredith rolled her eyes, but immediately had a smile cross her face hearing she had a text back.

From: D

8:48pm

Are you spying on me? How do you propose I am punished? I am open to suggestions.

Meredith giggled and went to texting back.

To: D

8:48pm

I will take care of that. Tomorrow night?

In the meantime, Derek looked around trying to see where Meredith was, obvious she was close. The second his eyes found her, he knew he missed a breath or two. He noticed her hair was down and blowing in the wind. She almost always had it up while on the boat due to regulations and not seeing her during their "off" time much. His trance was broken by the one voice he instantly felt nervous about.

"Shepherd, why do you look like a fucking kid in the candy store?" Cristina said rather quietly so that everyone wouldn't here, only Derek and Mark. Cristina noticed Derek's eyes light up the second he looked at his phone and then looked around the boat. She couldn't help but notice exactly where his eyes had landed. She did look around and take survey of the others in the group. No one else was paying attention except for Mark. When she made the statement to Derek, Mark shot her a look wanting her to shut it.

Derek looked to Cristina quickly not sure what to say. He wanted to reply to Meredith, but he had to be careful. She had been asking some questions off and on. Derek made sure to always come up with reasonable answers, but she knew better. Derek looked to Mark for help; however, both were really at a loss.

Mark finally spoke up, but kept his voice low, "Maybe he is about to be in a candy store."

"Ah, so you do have a life outside of the fucking navy. I thought you spent all your time involved with it in one way or another." Cristina smirked slightly. She knew Derek had something going on with Grey and understood why he was safeguarding it. She was as much as testing him at this point and was impressed by how well he did with the questions. Hopefully one day in the future, he would realize she was actually trustworthy. She wanted to be upset with Mark for not telling her the truth; nevertheless, she knew how close they were and would do it for her person, if there were a person.

Derek was able to breathe a little easier with Cristina backing off a little although he knew what she was getting at by her comment.

To: M

8:52pm

I am working on it. Plan on coming over to my place. Can't wait.

As he typed, he responded to Cristina, "What can I say, I like every aspect of the navy." He winked to Cristina playing this game. He had watched everything he said to her, but he was pretty sure she suspects something is going on.

"I like every aspect of you." Mark looked to Cristina with desire in his eyes. Their "relationship" or whatever it was wasn't as complicated as Meredith and Derek. It was virtually impossible for them to be physically involved on the boat. However, they were allowed to talk, hang out, eat, and work together. They still did have to be careful; it wasn't a great idea to be involved with someone from the squadron. It was helpful because they were the same rank and basically had the equivalent job in their respective shops.

"Hold the stallion until tomorrow night. We have already discussed this. Me… You… hulled up in my apartment for 24 hours. We will see how long the stallion can run. I say out of steam in the first hour after this… dry spell." She said almost blatantly causing Derek to bust out in laughter.

"What is so fucking funny? At least I can talk to…" Mark started to say before stopping when he saw the look on Derek's face. Mark immediately changed his look to let Derek know he really was sorry for almost saying anything.

Derek was relieved that Mark stopped himself, but decided he was going to go on down to his rack and read a little bit. He looked to his phone one last time and saw a text from her.

From: M

8:53pm

See you then! Let me know what I can bring!

Derek smirked while reading her message and replied back.

To: M

8:53pm

Everything is a go four my place. Just bring yourself, preferably with no clothes. Goodnight.

Derek looked up to see Cristina and Mark having their own conversation, no doubt about the plans for tomorrow night. The sexual tension had been building for Cristina and Mark for some days now. Derek was surprised Mark was so attracted to Cristina, but he figured it was the challenge she presented him time and time again. He had always had girls fall at his feet; Cristina, she was definitely not that girl. "I am heading down to my rack. I want to read a bit and get to sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a long day since we don't even pull in until later in the afternoon, then the 2-hour plane ride if the fucking planes are even working right." Derek didn't want to even think about this possibility. He couldn't even count how many times he had been stranded for hours after getting off the boat because the air-lift that was taking them back had been delayed for various reasons.

"See you in a bit. I may go to the shop and kick Cristina's ass on Rock Band." Mark laughed looking playfully at Cristina. Mark had brought his WII to the boat for them to play during free time. Usually, most shops had some kind of game box.

"In your dreams." Cristina rolled her eyes. Then she looked to Mark and smirked, "Maybe we should make a bet."

Derek looked to Mark as Mark looked for help. Derek spoke up, "You are all on your own. You can't take the heat though." Derek added patting his best friend lightly on the shoulder before walking away.

"Way to support your best friend. I appreciate it. Truly." Mark yelled as Derek walked away, laughing.

Can the forces come together?