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Chapter Text

Addison Adrianne Forbes Montgomery-Shepherd did not want to be in Seattle for long. Her plan was to get in, do the surgery, serve Derek divorce papers, get out, and live the rest of her life a free woman. She practically glided down Seattle Grace’s hallway, her heels clicking sharply across the tile floor. She spotted her soon-to-be ex-husband putting on his coat in the waiting room, chatting with an intern, smiling the way he used to smile at her. He turned, spotted Addison, and went pale.

“Meredith, I’m so sorry,” she heard him mutter to the young woman beside him. Addison smiled and approached.

“Derek,” she acknowledged, nodding at him. Derek nodded back, almost mute. She then held out her hand to Meredith, introducing herself. “Addison Shepherd,” she said.

“Addison, I had no clue you were coming,” Derek said, sounding like his mouth had suddenly gone quite dry.

Addison gave a sort of half-smile.”You would if you answered any of my calls,” she snarked at him.

Meredith interjected with “Hang on, ‘Shepherd?’” Addison nodded.

“Yes. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. You must be the woman who is screwing my husband,” Addison said, once again holding out her hand for Meredith to shake, hoping for a truce.

Meredith took it, anger filling her eyes. She then turned to Derek and snapped “You have a wife and didn’t tell me!?”

“Well–um, I!” Derek sputtered. Addison hid her mouth behind her hand, attempting to hide her chuckles. Meredith rolled her eyes and snatched up her bag, about to stomp off. Addison stopped her by putting her hand on Meredith’s shoulder.

“Wait. Do you want to grab a drink?” Addison offered, seeing the pain behind Meredith’s eyes and understanding that she had caused some of it, even unintentionally. SHe wanted to make it right.

Meredith nodded. “The Emerald City Bar is pretty nice, and it’s right across the street,” she replied.

–––––

Addison quickly found out that Meredith was a sad drunk. Sad, and apologetic, with a surprisingly low alcohol tolerance for an intern. Addison barely remembered her own internship days, between the sleepless nights and the nights spent at the bar.

Still, Meredith kept apologizing for sleeping with Derek, which had begun to get exasperating as Addison truly did not care. She had, as she kept telling Meredith, come to Seattle to divorce Derek. Eventually, Addison decided that it was time to take Meredith home and called a cab from the bar’s phone. She had Meredith tell the cab driver the address of her house when they got in and paid the fee, plus a tip. They made it to Meredith’s house in roughly twenty minutes, then Addison had to get Meredith up the stairs and into bed.

That turned out to be a surprisingly easy process, with Meredith muttering thank yous and apologies to Addison as they made their way up the stairs. Meredith insisted that she’d be able to change into pajamas without help and actually managed it, but fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. Addison, knowing that Meredith would have a horrible hangover in the morning, went to go look for Advil or Tylenol to place on Meredith’s nightstand, along with a glass of water.

Addison crept downstairs, only to be met with two faces staring at her from the couch, one of Ellis Grey’s surgeries playing on the television. “Shit!” she cursed.

The blonde woman waved cheerily, clearly having gotten over the shock faster than the dark haired man. “Hi?” Addison said. It felt more like she was asking. “I’m Addison. Where’s your painkillers?” she asked, deciding to be direct.

The blond woman pointed Addison towards the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. “I’m Izzy. Izzy Stevens,” the woman introduced herself. Izzy then pointed to the man and said “That’s George. Why are you here?”

Addison got the distinct sense that Izzy was quite nosy. “I’m with Meredith,” she answered carefully.

Izzy shared a look with George, who chuckled. “I didn’t know Meredith swung both ways,” he joked. Addison rolled her eyes while Izzy giggled. She took the bottle of Advil and a glass of water and brought them upstairs to place on Meredith’s nightstand.

There, she took a glance at the alarm clock on Meredith’s dresser and noted the time. 1:00 AM. If she went back to the hotel now, she’d get maybe three hours of sleep before having to go back to the hospital. But, if she stayed here, she’d be overstaying her welcome. So Addison decided to go back to the hospital and sleep in the on-call room.

–––––

Meredith Grey woke up with a pounding headache, and a bottle of Advil and a glass of water on her nightstand. She took one and chased it down with the water, soothing her dry throat. She got up and got dressed, then went downstairs to find Izzy and George sitting at the table, staring at her. Meredith grabbed a piece of toast and left to go to the hospital, not particularly in the mood to hear whatever it was Izzy and George had to say after finding out her boyfriend had a wife and then spending the night being taken care of by said wife.

When she arrived, Meredith pulled Cristina aside, feeling as exhausted as she looked. “Derek’s married!” she hissed, wringing her hands.

Cristina scoffed. “He cannot be married. You guys have been dating for like two months!” She exclaimed. Meredith shushed her.

“He is,” Meredith insisted. “His wife is here, in Seattle! She’s got a surgery to do, the T.T.T.S. case.” she explained.

Cristina’s eyes lit up. “Dibs!” Cristina said. Meredith rolled her eyes. “No fair! We don’t even know who’s on her service yet,” she protested.

The rest of the interns filed in and changed into their scrubs, then waited for Bailey to come in and give them their assignments for the day. Meredith ended up on Addison’s service, much to Izzy and Goerge’s amusement and Cristina’s playful jealousy.

–––––

“T.T.T.S. is?” Addison asked Meredith, going over the case notes with her.

Meredith blushed, embarrassed to be around Addison after the night before, but answered dutifully. “Twin-twin transfusion syndrome.”

“And that is?” Addison asked, looking up from her notes.

“Twins conjoined by the placenta, so one twin gets too much blood while one twin gets too little,” Meredith answered, again dutifully.

“Very good,” Addison said, and nodded at Meredith. Something warm bloomed in Meredith's chest. She enjoyed the feeling of Addison’s approval.

Addison turned to the patient, Julie, who looked very nervous. “Don’t worry, Julie. Your twins will be fine, we’ll be able to get you into surgery tomorrow,” she assured Julie.

Meredith nodded. “Dr Shepherd is the best of the best,” she added, trying to ease Julie’s fears.

Addison nodded. “And if you have any questions, you can ask Dr Grey. She’s one of our most competent interns,” she told Julie. That warm feeling fluttered in Meredith’s chest again at the praise.

Addison and Meredith left the room and Addison instructed Meredith to keep an eye on Julie and bring her Julie’s labs when they came in.

–––––

Addison sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Meredith had brought her Julie and the babies’ labs and the twins were going into heart failure. They’d have to go into surgery today. Addison put down the divorce papers she’d been staring at, already signed and initialled by her, waiting to be given to Derek.

Addison tucked the papers back into her bag and went to inform Julie that they’d be taking her into surgery a day early and why. Meredith was already there, explaining how the surgery worked. Addison knocked on the doorframe to call their attention.

“Julie, I’m afraid we’re going to have to take you into surgery today instead of tomorrow,” Addison said, apology lacing her voice.

Julie looked up, her eyes filled with fear. “What? Why?” she asked, cradling her stomach.

Addison took a deep breath and began to explain. “Your babies are going into heart failure. If we don’t do the surgery now, they could die.” Julie bit her lip and looked at Meredith, hoping to get some reassurance from her.

Meredith rubbed her back. “It’ll be okay. We caught this in time and Dr Shepherd is the best there is. Your babies will be more than fine,” Meredith assured, relieving Julie somewhat.

–––––

The surgery went incredibly smoothly and it was fascinating to watch. While Meredith was not interested in going into peds or gynecology, she did find the whole process very interesting. Still, Meredith had some concerns.

As they were scrubbing out, Meredith gathered her courage and asked “Why are you being so nice to me? I mean, I slept with your husband.”

Addison turned, flicking the water off her hands. “Meredith, you didn’t know he was my husband. As a matter of fact, you didn’t know he was married,” she told Meredith firmly.

Meredith nodded and went back to scrubbing out, regret still churning in her stomach. She finished and left the sterile area, thinking hard. She navigated on autopilot to the on-call room to take a breather and let the adrenaline from surgery leave her body, only to run into Derek for the first time since she found out that he was married.

“Meredith!” he exclaimed, glad to have found her. He wanted to explain, to tell Meredith why he had left Addison. He grabbed her hand before she could walk away. “I’m so glad I found you! I want to talk, want to explain–”

Meredith rolled her eyes and pushed Derek away. “There’s nothing you could say that would convince me to like you again. You lied to me!” She exclaimed. She stalked off, now irritated.

–––––

Addison was once again staring at the divorce papers, gathering her courage to hand them to Derek and tell him she wanted a divorce. She knew that Derek was frustrated that she was in Seattle, and was frustrated that Richard had called her in. It was frustrating to Addison that Derek couldn’t look past his own feelings to see that Richard had made a decision for the well-being of the patients, not to spite Derek.

Addison took a deep breath and went to go find Derek so that she could give him the divorce papers. Once they were signed and filed, Addison would be out of Seattle and could forget this ever happened, this era of mistakes.

Addison found Derek just outside of the on-call room, looking a little shell-shocked. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the on-call room, then had him sit down on one of the bunks.

“Derek, we need to talk,” Addison stated, her tone serious.

Derek rolled his eyes and scoffed. “About what? About how you cheated on me with my best friend?” He asked, his voice sharp.

Addison groaned. She did not want to deal with Derek’s obstinance today. “No, we are not talking about that. I want a divorce,” she stated, handing Derek the divorce papers.

Derek’s jaw dropped. Clearly, this wasn’t something he had been expecting, which was odd considering he had been harping on about her being Satan all day. “What!?” Derek exclaimed, more surprised than upset.

“Don’t be so surprised. Did you expect me to come crawling back to you, begging for you forgiveness? Let’s face it, Derek, we haven’t made each other happy in a long time,” Addison said, eyes hardening. “So, sign. I’ll be out of your hair forever.”

“No,” Derek said, practically throwing the papers to the side. “You won’t be out of my hair forever, because you just ruined the best relationship I’ve had since university. Meredith and I had a good thing going and you ruined it.”

Addison rolled her eyes. “I didn’t ruin anything, Derek. You did, when you forgot to tell Meredith you were married. I can see why she doesn’t trust you anymore. If you didn’t tell her something as important as that, what else haven’t you told her?”

Chapter Text

Meredith could hear the conversation happening on the other side of the door. Addison cheated on Derek. She wanted a divorce. Derek thought it was Addison’s fault Meredith herself didn’t trust him anymore. Meredith needed to talk to Cristina.

She could hear Addison’s heels clicking across the floor, so ran to the locker room, and paged Cristina “SOS.” Cristina came into the room twenty minutes later, looking frazzled but excited.

“So, how was your day with Satan?” she asked Meredith, smirking.

Meredith rolled her eyes. “She’s not Satan! She’s actually really nice and the surgery was fascinating,” Meredith protested.

“I’m so jealous that you got to do the T.T.T.S. surgery,” Cristina complained playfully. “Did you get to cut?”

Meredith shook her head no. “But that’s not why I paged you. She’s trying to divorce McDreamy,” she said.

Cristina rolled her eyes. “Don’t you want that? This way he’s all yours, no strings attached.” Cristina replied.

Meredith sighed. “You’d think so, but I just can’t trust him anymore. Who knows what else he’s hiding from me?” she asked rhetorically.

Cristina snorted. “You’re right. He could have syph too,” she joked, badly. Meredith rolled her eyes.

“That’s not very nice," Meredith paused, thinking, "Oh, shit! You might have a point!” Meredith exclaimed. “Who knows who else he’s slept with?! Who knows what he could have given me?!”

–––––

Derek looked positively pitiful as he searched for something to defend himself with. Eventually, he relented under Addison’s gaze and picked the divorce papers back up to read through them. “You want the brownstone?” he asked, indignant.

“You haven’t been there in two months. Not since you caught Mark and I. I still have my practice in New York, I can use it,” Addison stated, eyes hard.

“What about alimony?” Derek asked, pouring over the papers for any mention of the payments.

Addison rolled her eyes. “Don’t need it. We’re both successful enough as it is,” she answered.

“Fine, I’ll sign the papers,” agreed Derek, “on one condition. You tell Meredith to get back together with me.”

“What?! Derek, that is not something I’m willing to do!” Addison exclaimed, perturbed by the request. “You can try to gain Meredith’s trust back, but I’m not going to tell her to get back together with you.”

“But–” Derek started, but Addison interrupted.

“But nothing. That’s completely manipulative, Derek. You can’t give an ultimatum like that after having practically disappeared from all lines of communication for two months,” Addison exclaimed, anger growing at Derek’s inane request.

“Then I’m not signing,” Derek said, stubbornly, rather like a child throwing a tantrum.

–––––

Meredith laughed bitterly. “This is great. Look at the two of us. The two dirty mistresses. You’re knocked up and I’m working for my ex-boyfriend’s wife,” she stated, frustrated with life. She was staring at the ceiling, carefully not looking as Cristina drew blood for a blood test.

Cristina rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so bitter. Sure, she’s Satan, but she’s a total McHottie.”

Meredith raised her eyebrow. “Is that her nickname now?” she asked, surprised at the new McNickname.

“Sure,” Cristina said, shrugging. She withdrew the syringe and poured the blood into a vial for testing. Meredith grabbed a bandaid and put it on her arm, where Cristina had drawn blood.

“Great. Just great,” Meredith muttered. Turning to Cristina, she said “What if it's positive? What if he gave me syph?”

Cristina rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Then you’ll take antibiotics. It’s not like it's eating your brain yet. It’s been two months at most!”

Meredith bit her lip, but relaxed slightly. “You’re right. I’ll be fine,” she said, sighing.

“Yeah, you’ll be fine. Now get out there before Bailey murders you, I’m gonna go test this,” Cristina said, shooing Meredith out of the locker room.

–––––

Addison walked into the lab, frustrated beyond belief by Derek. She was going to have some labs done on her T.T.T.S. patient now that the surgery was over to make sure the babies were okay. She found Cristina there, reading her medical textbook and waiting for a test to finish.

“Dr Yang? What are you doing here?” Addison asked. Interns did not usually hang around the lab while testing was being done.

“Hm?” Cristina said, looking up from her textbook. “Waiting for something for Meredith,” she said, dog-earring her book and shutting it.

“Dr Montgomery?” a nurse called out. “I have the T.T.T.S. labs here,” she said. Addison approached the nurse and took the file.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling. She turned back to Cristina and asked “What does Dr Grey need? Maybe I can bring it to her so you can get on with your work?”

Cristina glanced around and beckoned Addison closer, then lowered her voice so that no one would overhear. “Meredith thinks your husband could have given her syphilis. I’m doing a blood test for her.”

“Oh god,” Addison whispered. “Does she have any symptoms? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Cristina shook her head. “No and no. I think Meredith would kill me if she knew I told you. Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered back.

Addison nodded and left to talk to Julie Philips about the results of her labs and next steps, her resentment toward Derek only growing. Cristina returned to her textbook, waiting patiently for Meredith’s tests.

–––––

“Oh, thank fuck!” Meredith exclaimed, relief filling her voice. She laughed, the weight lifting off her shoulders.

“Congrats,” Cristina said dryly, “you’re syph free.” Despite her demeanour, she did give Meredith a hug.

Meredith came down from her high very quickly and bit her lip, thinking. “I’m gonna find ‘McHottie’ and see if I can stay on her service. I don’t want Derek near me ever again and she seems like the safest person to be around for that outcome,” she said.

Cristina nodded, understanding. “I wouldn’t want that either. It’s getting late, you should go find her.”

Meredith got up and hugged Cristina, then left. She wandered the peds halls for a bit, looking for Addison, but spotted Derek at the other end of the hallway she was in. She turned around and began walking in the other direction, only for Derek to spot her and jog towards her, grabbing her elbow to stop her.

Meredith jerked her arm out of his grasp. “Leave me alone,” she hissed at him.

“No. I need to talk to you,” Derek said sternly, rather like he was reprimanding Meredith.

Meredith rolled her eyes. “About what? There’s nothing you could say that would convince me that you were right not to tell me you were married,” she fumed.

“She cheated on me first,” Derek said, as if it would justify the lying. Not noticing the incredulity on Meredith’s face, he continued. “She cheated on me with my best friend. So she’s dead to me. As far as I’m concerned, I’m not married,” he insisted.

“I don’t give a shit,” Meredith said. “Sure, as far as you’re concerned, you’re not married, but is that true legally? Plus, you lied to me, outright lied to me, for two months!” she exclaimed, getting more and more angry with Derek.

–––––

Addison exited Julie Philips’ room to find Meredith and Derek in the middle of a confrontation. She could hear Derek try to justify lying to Meredith and Meredith scoff and ask if he actually thought he had a chance after two months of lies. Deciding to step in before someone got physical, Addison approached.

“Leave her alone, Derek. She’s made it quite clear that she doesn’t want to get back together with you. She doesn’t trust you, and I don’t blame her,” Addison said, her voice calm. Derek turned and huffed, but stalked off, away from the peds ward.

Addison turned to Meredith and scanned her. “Are you okay? You look a little shaken up,” Addison said.

Meredith shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s just, he’s such an ass! Why on earth did you marry him?” she asked.

Addison sighed, thinking back to med school. “He was sweet. Charming, even. In the early days, he made time for us, for our relationship, but after we got married…” she trailed off.

“He didn’t,” Meredith finished for her. They began to walk out of the peds ward, not wanting to disturb the patients.

“Exactly!” Addison said, nodding. “I tried, I really did, but a relationship isn’t a one-way street.” She said, frustration filling her voice.

“My mother was the same way,” Meredith said, bitterness filling her voice. “She’d put surgery above everything else, including me.”

Addison frowned and tutted. “I’m sorry,” she said sympathetically.

Meredith shrugged. “It’s fine. That part of my life is over. Um… you don’t have to answer this, but did Derek sign the papers?” she asked.

Addison shook her head and sighed, putting her head in her hands. “He gave me an ultimatum. He’d only sign if I told you to get back together with him. I want a divorce, but that’s too far,” she said, her frustration with Derek returning.

“You should have taken the deal,” Meredith said. “I wouldn’t have gotten back together with him anyway. And you would’ve been free to go back to New York.”

“To be honest, I don’t really have anything left for me in New York,” Addison admitted. “It was nice working with you, teaching you. You’d do well in neonatal surgery,” she told Meredith.

“Thanks, that’s a huge compliment. Honestly, I’ve been looking into neuro or general. That’s part of the reason I wanted to be with Derek so often. He’s the leading neurosurgeon in America, and it would have been so interesting to learn from him,” Meredith said, her voice filled with regret.

Addison nodded, understanding. She hugged Meredith, surprising her a bit, but Meredith quickly melted into the hug. “Thank you,” Meredith said, her voice muffled by Addison’s shoulder. It felt good to be hugged by Addison. And Addison felt good hugging Meredith. It was like they fit together, like puzzle pieces.

Chapter Text

Meredith was staring at her bedroom ceiling, contemplating all the ways her life had gone wrong since she’d started her internship. First, her mother had all but forgotten who she was, which was bitter-sweet as it was something a younger Meredith had deeply wished for, but it still stung. Then Meredith had met someone she’d thought was the perfect man, with such beautiful eyes and such perfect hands, but Derek had turned out to be married. And to cap it all off, Meredith genuinely liked Addison, she was kind and gorgeous and great at surgery.

Meredith shook herself out of her reverie. She’d just broken up with Derek, she couldn’t be fantasizing about his hopefully soon-to-be ex-wife. Her alarm clock blared, signalling morning, and that Meredith had been stewing in her fantasies all night long. She hoisted herself out of bed and sighed, then went to shower, brush her teeth, and start the day.

–––––

Addison woke up in her hotel room, to the same knocking at the door she’d woken up to for the last week. Housekeeping was at the door, which meant she needed to get dressed and go to the hospital. Truthfully, she wasn’t looking forward to work, a rarity in her case. At work there was Derek, and drama, and Addison didn’t want to deal with him.

She got out of bed, groaning, threw her hair into a ponytail and threw on the salmon pink scrubs she’d brought from New York, then went to open the door for housekeeping and brush her teeth.

–––––

Meredith walked into Seattle Grace dragging her feet behind her. In front of her was Izzy and George, chatting and laughing. She sighed. It was going to be a long day. And then Addison sidled up beside her. “Why the long face, Meredith?” she asked.

“No reason,” Meredith said, shrugging. “I just get the feeling it’s gonna be a long day.”

Addison nodded in agreement. “Did you get your assignment for today yet?” she asked. Meredith shook her head no. “Then I’ll ask Bailey to have you on my service again,” Addison said. “You have talent in my field and even though you don’t want to work in it, there are some transferable skills between neonatal and neuro.”

Meredith nodded, “That makes sense. Both fields are so delicate,” she said, that same sense of wonder filling her voice as when she was in surgery.

Addison smiled softly, then spotted Bailey. “I’m going to go ask. Go change into your scrubs,” Addison said, shooing Meredith in the direction of the intern locker room.

–––––

“Grey,” Bailey barked. “Dr Montgomery-Shepherd has requested you again. Seems like she likes you.” Meredith blushed. She knew Bailey didn’t mean it that way, but she couldn’t help herself. Bailey snorted.

“Seems like you like her too,” Alex crowed, much to Izzy and George’s mirth. Meredith elbowed him in the side gently at the same time as Cristina went to cuff his ear.

“Shut it, Evil Spawn,” Cristina growled. Meredith giggled behind her hand.

–––––

Hours later, at the cafeteria, Meredith was picking at her food. Sure, it was nice being on Addison’s service and they were quickly becoming friendly, but there were no surgeries today, nothing to cut. Meredith found herself itching for something more interesting to do. Her pager buzzed against her side, Bailey paging her to come down to the ER.

She groaned, but packed up her food and headed towards the ER, where Bailey was waiting for her impatiently. “Grey,” she barked, as per usual. However, before Bailey had a chance to explain the situation, Meredith could hear familiar screaming echoing from the ambulance bay. Her stomach dropped and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was like she was five again, her mother staring her down, reprimanding her for interrupting a phone call.

“Amateurs!” Ellis Grey roared from the gurney. “Imbeciles!”

Meredith felt herself taking a step back, backing into the wall accidentally. Bailey turned around to ask her what was happening, only to see Meredith go white from fear. “Are you okay, Grey?” she asked, compassion filling her voice. Meredith shook her head mutely. “Go take a breather,” Bailey ordered, shooing Meredith from the emergency room.

Meredith immediately ran, barely hearing Bailey order George to look after her mother. In her haste, she ran right into Addison, nearly toppling both of them. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Meredith gasped, but began to rush off again.

“Wait! Meredith, are you alright?” Addison called out, following Meredith. Meredith stopped, considering the question, then shook her head no, tears beginning to stream down her face. Addison gathered Meredith into a hug, rubbing her back. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Meredith choked down a sob then said “My mother,” before dissolving back into tears. Addison pulled Meredith closer, tucking Meredith’s head into her chest to hide her tears and give her some more dignity in the public hallway.

“I’m sorry,” Addison murmured, remembering their conversation the day before. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Meredith shook her head no and buried her head further into Addison’s chest. They stood like that for a few minutes, Addison holding Meredith closer, Meredith drawing comfort from Addison, under Meredith could once again breathe and think without the feeling of her mother looming over her.

–––––

In the hours since her mother had been admitted, much had happened. Meredith couldn’t bring herself to care much about what happened to her mother, but she was standing stony vigil over Cristina, waiting for her to wake up from surgery. Cristina’s eyes fluttered open, and she sighed, taking in her surroundings.

“Hey,” Meredith whispered, drawing Cristina’s attention. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

Cristina tried to sit up and groaned, her stitches protesting. “Like shit,” she replied, deadpan. Meredith rolled her eyes.

“No. How are you really feeling?” Meredith pushed, staring Cristina down.

Cristina huffed and tried to sit up again. “I told you, I feel like shit,” she insisted. Meredith shrugged and went along with it, not willing to argue with Cristina at the moment.

“I told Burke to get some rest,” Meredith mentioned after a few moments of awkward silence.

Cristina nodded. “Good. How did he take all of it?” she asked, her tone neutral.

“Fine, I guess,” said Meredith, shrugging. “I can’t really tell, honestly.”

Addison came into the room then, holding Cristina’s chart. “I see you’re awake,” she said, a sad smile on her face.

Cristina shrugged. “So, baby doctor, what happened?” she said, a false bravado entering her voice.

Addison sighed and sat down beside Cristina. Meredith went to hold Cristina’s hand. “You collapsed in the OR,” Addison began, her voice careful. “You were rushed to surgery. Your pregnancy was ectopic, there was no way the baby could have survived. I had to remove your fallopian tube.”

Cristina nodded, taking in the information. “Okay,” she said simply. There was no emotion, no feeling in her voice. Meredith squeezed her hand and let go, knowing Cristina needed to process in her own time. Addison led the way out of Cristina’s room.

“Go home, Meredith,” Addison said. “You need rest just as much as she does.”

Meredith nodded and gave Addison a quick hug, then turned in the direction of the intern locker room. “Bye,” she said, waving.

“Bye,” Addison said, waving back.

Chapter Text

Meredith was sitting by her mother’s bedside, doing a crossword puzzle. She did not particularly like crossword puzzles, or find them even remotely relaxing. However, it was better than thinking about the shadow of a woman laying on the bed beside her, sleeping and for once, not reprimanding those around her, who she believed to be her underlings.

Cristina was up and about, and had been for the last couple days. Meredith’s heart still hurt when she thought about how Cristina had finally broken down, finally let herself mourn. It had been heartwrenching to see the strongest person she knew cry.

Ellis would be checked out of Seattle Grace soon, and go back to the nursing home she’d been in before. Life would go back to relative normalcy, back to surgeries and labs and forever-despised scut.

–––––

Addison was seated in front of Richard’s desk, reading over an employment contract. She had reading glasses balanced precariously on the tip of her nose and was biting the inside of her lip as she read. She nodded as she finished reading the last page and began to sign and initial where it said to. Once she was done, she set it down and smiled.

“Congrats, Addison. You’re officially part of the Seattle Grace team,” Richard said, smiling. He held out his hand for Addison to shake.

“Thank you,” Addison said, shaking his hand. She took a deep breath and stood up, ready to start her first official day formally working at Seattle Grace.

–––––

Meredith was speed-walking after Addison, listening to her describe the case that had come in. Quintuplets, each with their own issues, and a mother that would have been a high-risk case even without the high multiples.

Addison and Meredith arrived at Dorie Russel’s room quickly. Meredith waved, smiling lightly, and introduced herself and Addison. “I’m Dr Grey and this is Dr Montgomery-Shepherd. We’ll be your doctors during your stay here at Seattle,” Meredith said.

Dorie smiled and tugged on her husband’s arm and introduced him to Addison and Meredith. “Tom, these are our doctors,” she said cheerily.

Tom nodded and shook Addison and Meredith’s hands then went back to talking on his cellphone. Whoever was on the other line seemed to be sharing some news that was upsetting him a bit. “Dorie, hun, the boys have the flu,” he said.

Dorie sighed and smiled that pained, exasperated smile of a mother too much on her plate. “So. How do we keep these kiddos in here for two more weeks?” she asked.

Addison sighed, always hating to disappoint her patients. “We don’t. Babies come at their own time, whether we want them to or not,” she stated kindly.

Dorie groaned, but smiled and said “These ones will listen to their mama, whether they want to or not.”

Meredith nodded, making a note in Dorie’s chart about her wanting to make it to 36 weekends with the quints. “Alright,” she said, putting the chart down, “I’ll be checking your blood pressure while Dr Montgomery-Shepherd checks on the quints.”

Dorie held out her arm to Meredith as Addison pulled the ultrasound machine and a stool closer, then pulled up Dorie’s blouse. “This will be cold,” Addison warned.

“Oh, I’m used to it,” Dorie said laughingly. Still, she sucked in her breath as the gel was spread around her distended stomach.

“Do you have names?” Meredith asked kindly, pumping the blood pressure cuff.

Dorie nodded, staring at the screen on the ultrasound machine. She smiled softly. “Tom and I picked names when we found out. Julie, Kate, Lucy, Charlotte, and Emily.”

Addison smiled at Dorie. “Those are gorgeous names. Very classic.”

Dorie nodded again. “They sort of match, but they’re still different. We thought it would be cute.”

“It’s adorable,” Meredith said, chiming back in. She read the dial on the pressure cuff, frowned, and made a quick note on Dorie’s chart.

–––––

Meredith was wolfing down lunch, as she had learned to, as working at the hospital usually left very little time to eat. And she was right to do so, as she was paged to OR2, where Addison was waiting for her to scrub in. “What’s happening?” Meredith asked, seeing so many surgeons in the OR.

“Dorie Russel’s placenta started tearing. We’re doing an emergency C-section,” Addison stated, serious. Her voice was calm and steady, but there was the underlying excitement that all surgeons had when they were about to step into a particularly interesting surgery.

Meredith nodded and began to scrub in, her excitement growing.

–––––

Meredith, for once, was not trailing after Addison. She was sitting in front of an incubator, watching little Charlotte’s chest struggle to rise and fall. She had made Addison promise to take someone else on her service. Izzy had been wanting to try neonatal surgery now that Addison was on staff, it was most likely she’d end up on Addison’s service next.

“I’ve got the best quint, she’s smiling at me!” George exclaimed, looking at Lucy.

“No way,” Meredith said. “I’ve got the best quint. She’s smart, you can tell by her wrinkled little forehead.”

Cristina jumped in now. “No way, Julie’s the best quint. She’s got all of her organs hanging outside of her body and she’s still alive,” she insisted.

Alex walked in then, practically strutting. “Nah, Kate’s the best quint,” he said, offering no justification.

Bailey walked in, clipboard in hand. “Who’s on call?” she asked. Izzy raised her hand. “Great,” Bailey continued, “The rest of you, go home, get some rest.”

–––––

Meredith sighed, crawling into bed. After such a long, odd shift, she was exhausted. Her sheets felt practically heavenly around her, cradling her in her own body heat. Her eyes fluttered shut and she found herself drifting into dreams about a gorgeous redhead that she wouldn’t remember in the morning.

–––––

Back at the hospital, Addison was very much not asleep. She was standing in front of Derek, glaring at him as he once again stared at the divorce papers in front of him. “You had better sign these, Derek. I want out of this marriage and I’m willing to take you to court over it,” Addison insisted, her lips pursed.

“Fine,” Derek scoffed, finally agreeing. He signed the papers angrily, nearly tearing the paper with each penstroke.

Addison exhaled, relief flooding her body. She grabbed the papers and slid them into their folder before Derek could take them and dispose of them like medical waste. “Thanks,” Addison said shortly, and walked out of the hospital, throwing her coat over her shoulders. She walked across the road to Joe’s bar and sat down at the bar, grinning from ear to ear. “Joe, I’m celebrating. I just got divorced!” Addison exclaimed.

Chapter Text

“This one’s on me,” Joe said, passing Addison a shot glass filled to the brim with tequila. Addison gulped it down and slammed the glass back down on the bar.

“Thanks,” she said, grinning and already feeling the effects. Or maybe that was her last drink? Who knows. Who cares, she’s celebrating. She’s free! Eleven years of marriage, ten years of miscommunication, and two months of begging for a divorce, but she’d gotten it. She was no longer legally tied to one Derek Shepherd.

–––––

Addison was drunk. She knew she was drunk, because she currently couldn’t walk in a straight line to save her life. She also knew that she was going to suffer for this in the morning, because she hadn’t been this drunk since she’d passed her intern exams. She regretted it even now, thinking of the tiny preemies in her NICU, struggling to stay alive.

Lying on her bed, watching the ceiling spin, Addison started thinking about Meredith. She could see why her ex-husband had gone after her, she was sweet and smart and oh so pretty. And thinking about Meredith inevitably led to thinking about Derek. About how lovely he had been at the beginning of their relationship, how he must have turned on that charm with Meredith too. About how much he would have stifled Meredith’s incredible brain.

And now Addison was back to thinking about Meredith. About the way she bit her lip while concentrating, about the way her nose crinkled when she found something displeasing, about her pleasingly messy hair. And Meredith was so headstrong, so focused. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it.

Addison sighed, shaking the thoughts out of her head. She stumbled out of bed and went to get some bread and water, hoping it would lessen the effects of the alcohol in the morning by soaking up the alcohol in her stomach. She stuffed the bread in her mouth and chewed, for once forgetting the manners drilled into her by Bizzy and the Captain.

–––––

Addison regretted getting drunk. A lot. She suspected that she was still slightly drunk, which would be an issue today. She called in, saying that she would be a bit late and disclosing to Richard that she had gotten a little carried away celebrating. She came into the hospital two hours later than planned and found that Izzy Stevens had been put on her service, keeping an eye on the quints.

Addison could already see Izzy getting too attached to the quints. Sure, they were cute for preemies with a variety of issues, and there was definitely a lot of hope for them, but Izzy needed to have realistic expectations and needed to keep Dorie and Tom’s expectations realistic as well. Addison already knew that Emily wasn’t able to be saved, that her heart wasn’t salvageable, and she was too small to survive a heart transplant. It was really a matter of keeping Emily comfortable. If Izzy continued to be so attached, she’d break once Emily passed.

–––––

“I think I have to do to Stevens what you did to me, Richard,” Addison said, sighing. She was sitting in front of Richard Webber’s desk, her head in her hands as she tried to find another option, something to do other than traumatizing the intern.

Richard sat in front of her, his hands folded on his desk. “Why?” he asked, curious. Of all the interns he had interacted with, he had interacted with Izzy the least.

“She gets too attached, and I’m afraid that if she makes a mistake that kills a patient, she’ll break completely. Emily is almost certainly going to die soon and I’d rather Stevens have her first death in a controlled environment,” Addison explained.

Richard nodded. “She’ll hate you,” he told Addison.

Addison smiled grimly. “I know. I hated you,” she said. “But it made me a better doctor and a better person and I think it will do the same for Izzy.”

–––––

Addison and Meredith got off their shifts at the same time and though they hadn’t seen each other all day, they ran into each other in the elevator. “Long time, no see,” Meredith joked.

“Yeah,” Addison said, rubbing her eyes. She was exhausted. “Good news,” she told Meredith, a weary smile on her face. “Derek signed the divorce papers.”

Meredith hugged Addison tightly. “Congrats, Addie! That’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. Addison nodded, having gotten over the celebratory phase and was now numb, realizing that the last eleven years of her life were over and that she was in a new era, one she didn’t quite know what she wanted to do with yet. But she did know that she was staying in Seattle, something that she wouldn’t have believed if someone had told her that even a month before.

“Do–do you want to have a movie night?” Addison asked. “I need a distraction from life,” she admitted. Meredith nodded. Something warm filled Addison’s chest, a satisfaction she only got from surgery.

–––––

Addison and Meredith spent the night watching classic Disney movies, escaping to the simpler times of their childhood. The next morning, they went to work together. Izzy was standing in front of the NICU, practically vibrating with rage. “You knew. You knew, and you still let me waste my time trying to save her,” Izzy hissed at Addison.

Addison sighed. “I’m sorry, Stevens. You don’t have to like it, but it’s a lesson you need to learn. You can’t get so attached to your patients,” she said. Inside, Addison hated herself for letting Izzy go through something so horrible, but Izzy tended to be volatile emotionally and her first patient death being in a controlled environment, and being something she couldn’t have prevented in the first place, would likely help her understand that some deaths are going to happen no matter what, and that she couldn’t get so attached.

Izzy muttered something decidedly unfriendly under her breath and walked past Addison, slamming her shoulder into Addison’s purposely.

Chapter Text

Addison couldn’t have been happier. She was officially free, having gotten her divorce certificate that morning before she’d gone back to the hospital. She walked in with a bright smile on her face and walked right into Meredith, who immediately noticed her smile. “Someone’s happy today,” Meredith commented. “What’s up?” she asked.

Addison couldn’t stop her smile growing wider. “I got my divorce certificate in the mail, which means I am no longer legally tied to one Derek Shepherd!” she exclaimed.

Meredith hugged her tightly. “Congratulations!” she cheered. Realizing just who she was hugging, Meredith very quickly let go. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Addison laughed. “It’s fine. It was,” she paused, searching for the right word, “nice.” In reality, it had been more than nice. Sure, they’d shared hugs before, but those had been hugs of comfort, not celebration. It was nice to celebrate something with Meredith, rather than commiserate over their awful ex.

–––––

Meredith’s good mood very quickly dissipated. Derek had requested her on his service and if history had taught her anything, he was going to make a pass at her at some point during the day. She did not want to be around him, however, it was her job. And Meredith did her goddamn job.

“Meredith!” Derek called out, catching up to her, Meredith rolled her eyes, but turned around.

“Dr Shepherd,” she acknowledged, her voice cold. Derek fell into step with her. She sped up. He sped up to match her. “Who are our patients today?” Meredith asked.

Derek smiled. “No one. I wanted to talk to you about your mother. There’s an Alzheimer's study that she qualifies for, that she’d be perfect for, actually. I wanted you to sign off, since you have power of attorney over her.”

Meredith stopped and finally turned to look at Derek. “Is this your way of wooing me?” she snapped. “You just got divorced and you requested me, specifically, on your service.”

Derek chuckled, and smirked that classic McDreamy smirk. That twitch of the lips that would have, once upon a time, had Meredith falling head over heels all over again. “Fine. Yes, it is. Meredith, would you like to go on a date?” he asked.

“No,” Meredith said, shortly. “No, because the last time I dated you, you lied to me about being married. I don’t trust you anymore and I don’t think I will ever again.”

Derek nodded, his smirk falling slightly. “Alright,” he accepted. It was rather anticlimactic. After everything, Meredith had honestly expected a bit more, but she was thankful that there was nothing else, no more emotion to it.

–––––

Addison watched the entire interaction from the nurses’ station, where she was reviewing some charts. She couldn’t help but be relieved that Meredith had turned Derek down. Meredith was sweet, and kind, and didn’t deserve to be stuck in a relationship where a surgery was put above her needs. Addison was glad that Meredith had turned Derek down.

Meredith spotted Addison at the nurses’ station and headed towards her. “Addison!” she called out.

Addison waved, smiling. “Meredith. Looks like it’s a good morning for both of us,” she said.

Meredith nodded. “From now on, Derek Shepherd is only in our lives professionally. How do you like the sound of that?” she said, her voice cheerful.

“That sounds pretty good,” Addison replied, chuckling. “So, you’re on Dr Shepherd’s service today?”

“I am. Honestly, it might be nice to actually learn something for once. Before when I was on his service, he was just flirting the whole time,” Meredith admitted to Addison, who wrinkled her nose.

Addison’s pager went off, so she waved goodbye and rushed down the hall, practically breaking into a run.

–––––

All in all, the day had been utterly uneventful. One minor surgery, nothing fantastic. Honestly, Meredith was beginning to think that neonatal was a better place for her than neuro. Or maybe it just had better teachers. She went to Joe’s bar for a drink, to spice the night up after such a boring day.

The next morning, Meredith had a raging headache and found herself wishing that Addison was there. Addison was so comforting, and kind, and smart. Plus, the last time she’d had a hangover this bad, Addison had left painkillers and water on her bedside table.

When she arrived at the hospital, Meredith immediately sought out Cristina. She found her in the locker room, pulling on scrubs. Meredith sat down beside her, glanced around, then whispered “I think I have a crush on McHottie.”

Cristina looked at Meredith scathingly. “It’s about time you figured that out,” she whispered back, exasperation filling her voice.

Meredith shrugged. “I was a little busy being a surgeon,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Sure, sure,” Cristina replied, slightly mocking. She laughed lightly and changed her tone. “Why don’t you tell her?” Cristina asked.

Meredith shrugged. “Because I’m afraid she won’t like me back?” she said, sounding more like she was asking.

Cristina scoffed. “What’s the worst that could happen? She says she doesn’t feel the same way? Go for it!” Cristina encouraged Meredith. “Besides, you already slept with her husband and she doesn’t hate you for that,” she said.

Meredith rolled her eyes at Cristina’s sass and began to put on her own scrubs. The rest of their intern group came in and put on their scrubs, then Bailey came in and gave them their assignments. Addison had requested Meredith again, Izzy had been assigned to a specific patient, Denny Duquette, Cristina was on Burke’s service, and George and Alex were sent to help in the ER.

Meredith found Addison reviewing files at the nurses’ station. “Hey,” Meredith said, leaning against the desk.

“Hey!” Addison said, sounding cheerful. “We have a pretty simple case load. I figured you could use something light after dealing with Derek all day yesterday.”

Meredith smiled. Addison was always so thoughtful. “Thank you, Addison,” she said, blushing slightly.

–––––

Most of the day passed pretty simply, the cases being the more run-of-the-mill ones. It was nice to see mothers excited about their coming children, rather than worried about their lives and what various conditions they may have.

As Addison and Meredith were settling in to go over some files, Meredith remembered her conversation that morning with Cristina and decided to go for it. Cristina was right, the worst thing Addison could say was no.

“Um, Addison,” Meredith said, sounding very nervous. “I think,” she paused, composing herself, “I think I like you as more than just a friend.” Meredith blurted out, then immediately turned as red as a beet and bit her lip, as if to stop herself from saying more.

Addison blushed too. She smiled, looking relieved. “I think I feel the same way,” she said, chuckling. Meredith started chuckling too, the nervousness leaving her system and relief flooding her.

“Great,” she said. “So now what do we do?” Meredith asked, still laughing.

Addison shrugged. “I guess we kiss,” she said, and leaned in, kissing Meredith on the cheek.

Meredith pouted. “You cheat! Kiss me properly!” she exclaimed. Meredith leaned in and kissed Addison square on the lips. She felt Addison melt into the kiss and did the same. They came up for air quickly, and broke into laughter again.