FIVE - the watch

She felt like she was under surveillance. Everywhere Meredith turned there seemed to be an Attending breathing down her neck and though she knew that was their job it felt like a certain handful were being a little too vigilant.

Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres were suddenly hell bent on becoming her best friends and if she wasnt contractually obliged to work with them she would have filed a restraining order against them for harassment by now.

Addison, however, had dropped off the face of the earth.

For weeks, it seemed, the Doctor had been stalking her in the same way a predator stalks its prey. It was strange. Though it felt threatening, invasive even, she felt an odd kind of pull that she found weirdly comforting. The experience of being cared for so unconditionally was unfamiliar and foreign and she found herself wanting to run away from and towards her in equal measure. It terrified her but she couldn't help but crave it now it was gone.

What she didn't crave was the constant tailgating.

They were like bloodhounds; constantly sniffing her out only to descend on her like overly friendly puppies. Maybe they really could smell blood. That would be funny. Surgeons who could smell blood from miles away. They would certainly sniff out the bloodiest trauma cases. It would be a helpful tool - if they weren't using it on her.

Today she had been accosted twice by the couple - one inviting her to lunch while the other just awkwardly hovered. Even after she had politely declined their offer Arizona had cornered her an hour later attempting to coerce her into a lunchtime 'consult'. Frankly, it was as nauseating as it was worrying.

Addison on the other hand was frantic in her separation from the intern. Logically she knew that distancing herself made sense but her head was struggling to communicate with her heart which constantly seemed to beat out of sync in the absence of her. She found herself checking her pager far too often for any news on the blonde. She trusted Callie and Arizona but she was constantly fighting the urge to swoop in, scoop Meredith up and hide her away somewhere that no one, not even herself, could hurt her. That was very obviously out of the question though given the blondes obvious aversion to affection or any kind of vulnerability. Addison supposed that was Ellis Grey's doing. Though Meredith had never spoken ill of her mother she hadn't been able to help but notice the way her muscles stiffened at the very mention of her mothers name or achievements. It was obvious there was some kind of contention there.

Meredith, struggling to hide the effects of her restrictive lifestyle, was already exhibiting too many unhealthy symptoms for the trio to ignore or anyone else for that matter. Bailey had already expressed her concerns to them - she wasn't a fool, she had noticed the attention Grey had been getting from the trio and knew it could mean nothing good and so she found herself inducted into the fray. It's also how the trio found all of their tactics being called into question.

"Do you have an action plan?"

Arizona nodded, "We page Addison if she looks like she might fall over."

Bailey scowled at the blonde who, under the chief intern's intense gaze, was now nodding like a bobble-head. "That's an awful action plan."

Callie winced on behalf of her wife at the intensity of the chief intern's glare. "Now we've said it out loud - yeah, you're probably right."

"There's no 'probably' about it, I am right."

Callie sighed in exasperation, "Ok, well what do you suggest?"

Miranda threw her hands in the air,"We strap her to a gurney, pump her full of IV fluids and scare her straight."

The couple blinked back at her in bemusement before Callie broke the silence, "That's an even worse idea."

"Ok fine, I don't have anything better either…" she paused for a second before turning back to Arizona, "I do have one question though. Why Addison Montgomery? Last time I checked, those two were hardly each other's biggest fans."

Callie and Arizona exchanged a look that did not go unnoticed by Bailey. She raised an eyebrow at the couple.

"Addison is just worried about the health of an intern. There's nothing more to it"

Bailey snorted in amused exasperation.

"Sure she is. Frankly, I don't want to know what's going on there - just make sure that girl doesn't get any more hurt than she already has."

They could both recognise the threat. Even if it hadn't been an explicit one

"We are fighting Meredith's corner as well , don't worry"

Meredith Grey wasn't stupid. She knew she was going to need to clean up her act if she wanted to avoid being stalked by overly protective attendings for the rest of her internship. She couldn't bring herself to though. It was a habit, way of life, even. It wasn't a healthy one - she was well aware of that but she had existed like this for so long she had no idea how to live any other way, let alone think in any other way.

As much as she hated to admit it, something deep inside her kind of enjoyed the idea of being worried over. She loved to fantasise, even if only just a little bit, that someone would come along to tend to her wounds and save her from herself. As much as she loved to fantasise, she had no desire for it to happen in real life. That was far too vulnerable, embarrassing and altogether terrifying and the longer she thought about Addison and her gentle, yet persistent, concern, the more she felt like the walls were closing in on her. It made her want to run. She was good at running, she had run away with Sadie halfway around the world when she had found out about her mother's diagnosis. She had run away to Dartmouth as soon as she got home. There was nowhere left to run to and she was tired.

That doesn't mean that an exhausted animal, when cornered, won't put up a fight. So after a week of dodging the watch team she confronted their leader. Who was currently reviewing a chart at the nurses station. Meredith tried to get in touch with her 'inner Bailey' as she stormed up to the redhead.

Addison, sensing her approach, looked up from her charts with a friendly smile on her face. The young blonde shifted uncomfortably in front of her.

"Will you call off your dogs?"

Addison cocked a confused eyebrow at her, "My dogs?"

"The other attendings. Torres, Robbins, even Bailey. They have been stalking me and I'm pretty sure you're behind it," Meredith glared accusingly.

Addison admired the cute little frown that she assumed was supposed to be threatening but as much as she tried to act scared, if only for Meredith's sake, she couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Ok, you got me there, but what did you expect? You drop that kind of bombshell on me and then run away? Forgive me for being worried - it's a big hospital Meredith, I was going to need some extra eyes"

Meredith's scowl only intensified in its cuteness as she huffed,"Number one: I didn't drop anything on you. You cornered me and have obviously come to your own conclusions. And two: what did you tell them?"

Addison paused. She knew she had fucked up here. She had told Callie and Arizona far more than she should have and if Meredith knew she would likely never forgive her. She had to lie, "Nothing. Just that I had some concerns."

"Those concerns being?," Meredith probed.

Addison blanched, "Your wellbeing… and health."

Her discomfort goes unnoticed by Meredith who dismisses her quickly, "Well you can call them off, I'm fine."

Addison was sick of pretending to fall for her lies as she had been doing for the past week. Enough was enough.

"No, you are not fine Meredith."

Meredith tried to protest but she was quickly silenced by the redhead who gave her the sternest of looks.

Addison's eyes softened but her tone remained unshaken, "Please, don't. Don't try to explain everything away for once. You aren't ok - could you accept that and let someone help you for once?"

Though Meredith could see how hard Addison was pleading for her to let her walls down, she knew that it would take an army and an alarming amount of explosives to break through her defences.

She hardened her glare and remained resolute as she responded, "Stop trying to play the hero Addison. It doesn't suit you. If you refuse to call your minions off then that's your problem."

With that she turned on her heel, still seething and took herself away to an on-call room to calm down.

Addison was left yet again worried and confused but this time… she wasn't without a plan.