13. Chapter 13: Calm Before The Storm

A/N Thank you for all your somments! I hope you enjoy!

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Meredith picked up her cup of coffee from the cart and strode energetically into the hospital. She scrunched her face; there was something in the air she didn't like. She glanced up at the sky. It wasn't too bad for Seattle but it was definitely too calm. Besides, she loved stormy weather and dark leaden clouds. There was a particularly good spot to admire them at Derek's cliff.

She looked down into her cup before taking a first sip. She didn't like what she saw either. It looked decidedly bland; no distinctive aroma, no enticing color. She sighed and released her hold of the cup over a trash can.

She boarded the elevator, pressed the number of her floor and leaned back against the wall. A hand with a briefcase insinuated itself between the closing door and seconds later she saw Derek's tall form joining her in the tiny space. His face lit up at her sight and she reciprocated radiantly. Maybe the day would be better than she thought.

His briefcase fell to the floor, forgotten, while he marched up to her purposefully, cupped her face and claimed her lips. She moaned happily into his mouth and hooked her arms around his neck, playing with the locks on the nape.

With the practice gained in many common elevator rides, they pulled away before they reached their level. They rearranged their clothing, the abandoned belongings were recuperated from the floor and blissful grins were replaced with glares of utmost loathing.

When the door opened and they parted in opposite directions. No one paid attention to the tension between the two doctors. The scowls and arguments were a common occurrence. No one even registered their entrance, except for Bailey who raised her eyebrows knowingly at Derek. He cast his regard down; he wasn't able to hold her look since the incident in the supply closet. Since then as well, Miranda enjoyed her new favorite pastime – torturing him with her witty remarks. She always liked making fun of him. When he moved to Seattle three years ago, she hated him at first glance, his overly moussed hair as she described it and he was afraid of her. However, with the passage of time, they grew on each other and become friends they could always count on.

Right now, though, Bailey wasn't inclined to make sport of him as she had a very important business on her mind, a business with Dr. Grey.

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"She's been sent from hospital to hospital," said Bailey hurriedly as they sat in the conference room. "No one wants to undertake the treatment."

"And that's what we should do," commented Erica Hahn crossing her legs. "We're not a charity institution."

"I think we stand a very good chance," insisted Bailey. "I've already explained to you my plan of action."

"You don't need my permission," said Meredith ignoring Erica's signs of protest and frowning at Miranda's scheme. She knew the mechanics of the procedure all too well. "If you think you can help that girl, you have all my support."

"That's good," nodded Miranda. "Because I happen to need your substantial support. I used this method several times successfully but never in such an advanced case, that is judged as hopeless by the majority of specialists."

Meredith looked at her quickly with a dread of foreboding. She knew that day wasn't good.

"I feel that I'd be much more at ease if the creator of the method herself overlooked the procedure," stated Miranda. "That is-"

"Dr. Ellis Grey," sighed Meredith fixing her eyes coldly at the scheme.

"Your mother," finished Miranda glancing hopefully at Meredith.

"I believe that's impossible," she replied promptly. "Dr. Grey has an impossibly busy schedule. She can't leave Boston just like that."

"I think you'd be able to convince her. That's why I asked you. She won't refuse the chief of surgery…" Miranda blinked innocently.

"I believe it's impossible," repeated firmly Meredith.

"If… I ever did something for you…" trailed off Miranda expectantly.

Meredith sighed and propped he head on one hand staring at the wall and inner window…

"Who are all these people?" she inquired the sight of at least twenty men and women staring at them from the corridor.

"That's Torrie's family," provided tiredly Miranda. "They are here for her. They are very close knit and Torrie is the centre of their world.

Meredith's lips thinned. Would she have any reservations seeking help from any other doctor than her mother? The answer was simple, no. She wanted her mommy dearest as far from her hospital and her life as possible, especially now that it involved Derek. And the distance of the continent worked just fine.

She once again looked at the hopeful desperate people on the other side of the glass. She had to act like a chief of surgery she was. She had to set aside the grudges in her family so that another one wouldn't be torn apart by a tragedy.

Her gaze travelled heavily back to Miranda's. "I see what I can do."

The shorter doctor smiled, "Thank God you can do everything."

Meredith rolled her eyes and got to her feet as tough facing an execution.

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She stared at the phone on her desk, motionless, tensed, breathing as shallowly as possible. One could think she was about to deconstruct a bomb. Meredith figured it would have been a safer option.

What the hell was she doing? She was to give her mother a clear invitation to come and bring havoc into her crazy though satisfying life. But she had to. She had to rise above her trivial problems for the sake of greater good, the life of a young girl.

"What the hell…" she muttered and grabbed the phone abruptly. Many things could be said about her but not that she was a coward.

She dialed the number and soon she heard the familiar voice of Dorothy, her mother's secretary. Yes, her mother was so busy and universally popular that she had her own private secretary.

"Boston Memorial Hospital. Dr. Elis Grey's office. How can I help you?"

Meredith cleared her throat and recited, "Dr. Meredith Grey, Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. I 'd like to speak with Dr. Grey."

There was a moment of silence followed by a loud outburst of laughter. "Meredith! How are you? It's been months since I saw you! How's the new job? I've been asking Ellis but she won't say a word!"

Meredith gave a small smile, "It's been great, thank you."

"What has happened to you?" shot Dorothy. "You sound so formal!"

"Well, I've got something to discuss with my mother," she sighed. "Is she in?"

"Yeah, she is. She told me to turn down any callers but it's you, for heaven's sake!"

"Can you put her on the line?" asked Meredith. "Just introduce me as the chief not the daughter."

"Right," laughed Dorothy.

Meredith waited a good minute for the call, that was all Ellis Grey…

"Dr. Ellis Grey speaking," her mother's cold voice sounded in the receiver.

Dr. Ellis Grey, my ass… thought Meredith. The witch knew well enough who was on the line.

"Good morning, Dr. Grey," she greeted her stiffly. "It's Dr. Grey from Seattle Grace. I'm calling to ask if you're available for a consult."

Silence, that was probably not what the older woman expected.

"A consult, indeed?" asked Ellis.

"Yes, my own excellent head of general, Dr. Miranda Bailey has a complicated case on her hands and would feel your assistance would be invaluable." She was reduced to sucking up to her mother, great… "Could I fax you the patient's documentation and the devised course of treatment?"

"I have a lot of my mind… I really don't have the time for this…" sighed Ellis. "But I guess I can give you ten minutes," she decided gracefully.

Meredith felt like gagging but told Patricia to send the files over and waited, waited and waited for her mother to have a look at them with her professional eye while she wondered about the best way to end with herself.

"Your head of department agreed to take such a case?" Ellis's shrill tones would wake up the dead. "It's a waste of time and resources. And you condone it?"

Meredith bit her lip, her limited patience brought to its limits. "We're fighting to save a ….old girl, I don't think it's a waste. I would appreciate your help but if you don't have the time for us, we'll be forced to do without it."

She gave Ellis time to revise her options and, "I'll be in Seattle tomorrow, my secretary will call you with the time of my flight. I expect a car at the airport." The line went dead and Meredith stared at the phone fixedly. Her subordinates grumbled about one bitch at Seattle Grace; she was curious how they would stand two of them.

She heard a knock on the door and her own secretary came in.

"Patricia, I'm not available for anyone-"

"Sorry to bother you with this, Chief. We've got kind of a… situation," interrupted the woman, unfazed.

"What now?" sighed Meredith. What else could happen now? A tornado hitting straight at the hospital?

Patricia wordlessly put a piece of paper before her eyes. Meredith groaned.

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Half an hour later, she took a place in the middle of the biggest conference room with Patricia at her side. She glared at the crowd consisting of surgical floor staff. Derek kept shooting her curious looks but she avoided his eyes. Didn't she feel like a hypocrite telling them off for…

She cleared her throat making the room instantaneously silent and scowled at them sternly.

"Three interns, four residents and six nurses on this surgical floor have been diagnosed with… syphilis," she announced gravely. She immediately caught furtive looks exchanged by her subordinates and small laughs. Great, just freaking great! Her mother was coming tomorrow and she was the chief of one big orgy, and what's more, she was the biggest whore of them all, a queen of whores. She and Derek must have fucked in every possible place around here.

"There are over 70 thousand new cases every year," backed her Patricia. "Undiagnosed, syphilis can lead to blindness, insanity and death."

"If you are having unprotected sex with another member of the staff, get tested!" growled Meredith. "This is not a request." Another smirks and laughter. She could strangle Derek for the way he was looking at her.

She sighed and stared at the ceiling preparing herself for another gale of laughter, "Patricia will now give you a safe-sex demonstration."

She folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall. Nobody hid with their hilarity any longer as her secretary raised a condom and a banana to everyone's view.

"When the time is right, and gentlemen, you'll all know when that time is, carefully open the condom packet an roll it onto the banana…"

Seeing Derek slowly move into her direction, she slipped from the room.

"Why aren't you learning to have safe sex, Dr. Shepherd?" she asked him when he joined her outside.

"I think we're experts in that field," he quipped quietly.

She rolled her eyes. Well, they were. Although, they recently changed from condoms to the pill. Firstly, it was more comfortable as they didn't need to worry about looking for condom whenever their desire took over. Secondly, she didn't have to make a fool of herself buying condom pack after pack. She usually bought them at a pharmacy on the way to the hospital until she noticed the cashier eyeing her oddly. Like people couldn't have healthy sex lives without being judged… Thirdly, they enjoyed better the feel of their bodies without any barrier.

"You didn't,' he smiled at her.

"I didn't what?"

"Ask me if you should get tested."

She looked at him warmly. "I know you… and I trust you."

"Get a room!" Bailey effectively put an end to the tender moment. "Or into the syph line, it's on another floor, you know."

"We don't need to get into the syph line," he said indignantly.

"Yeah, right," snorted Miranda. "It's because of people like you I have to waste my time and watch adults play with condoms and fruits."

"We're not-" started Derek.

"Uh-uh," she shook her head. "I already know more about your sex life than I ever desired to know." She now looked significantly at Meredith. "And?"

"Yes," she sighed.

Bailey giggled, "Thank you, Dr. Grey."

Meredith shook her head at her retreating back.

"What was that about?" Derek wanted to know.

"About my life going to hell," groaned Meredith and trudged in the direction of her office, Derek at her heels. "A syphilis outbreak and a visit from my mother."

"It's probably unrelated," he grinned.

Meredith wasn't so sure. She wouldn't find it shocking if Ellis sent a syph nurse to sabotage her hospital.

He asked curiously opening the door for her, "Your mother's coming?"

"Yeah," Meredith threw herself onto her chair. "For a consult."

Derek stood beside her and looked at her eagerly, "You think you can introduce me?"

"Introduce you?" she repeated slowly. Which surgeon wouldn't want to be introduced to Ellis Grey?

"I get that and I have no objections that you want us to stay put for now," he went on. "But maybe we can have dinner with your mom, the three of us…"

Meredith gulped as two things in Derek's sentence alarmed her. For now… he agreed to keep their relation secret for now. Sadly, she couldn't envision the moment when they came out into the open. And then, he wanted her to present him to her mother as… her boyfriend. Poor guy, he had absolutely no idea what he was volunteering for.

She ignored his puppy eyes with a twinge in her heart and said flatly, "No."

"No?" he said with a small voice. "Meredith-"

"Derek," she stood up to caress his stubbly cheek affectionately. "It's nothing against you. Quite the contrary, it's better for all of us if she doesn't know I'm in a relationship."

"Why?" he frowned. "It's your own mother."

"You wouldn't have a life if she knew your being around me is not so professional," she argued. "She scared away the first guy that got interested in me in high school because she thought he'd distract me from my studies."

"Meredith, you were in high school," he chuckled. "You're a grown woman now who achieved everything a surgeon can dream about."

"It's not under discussion, Derek," she said imperiously. "Promise me you won't seek acquaintance with her when she comes tomorrow."

"Mer," he pleaded but she stood her ground. "Fine, I promise."

She hugged him and rubbed his back. "Thank you, it's for your own good. I'll make it up to you."

He bit her earlobe lightly, "How about now? We both have time…"

"No!" she jumped away from him. "No sex until I pack her into her plane back to Boston!"

"What?" he exclaimed chasing after her. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"I'm not," she escaped behind her desk. "We can't have sex. My mother will know!"

"How?" he snorted. "And what that has to do with anything?"

"I'll make it up to you," she assured. "Derek, get out now, please."

He sighed resignedly and strode to the door, "Whatever you wish, Chief."

She hated that she was hurting him but it was really to protect him. He would understand that the next day.

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Meredith got to her feet from the couch in the living room as soon as she heard the front door being unlocked.

"Hey," said Addie with concern, taking off her jacket. "I've heard, your mother's coming."

"Yeah, at my own doing," grumbled Meredith. "I need a therapy session, Addie."

"What are you so scared off, Mer?" faced her Addison. For weeks now, she tried to weasel out what was happening with her best friend but to no avail. "That your mother will find faults at your hospital or… that she'll find out your secret?"

"My… secret?" Meredith blanched, she thought she managed to keep the truth from Addie.

"At first, I thought you were trying something with that vet," she said with a gentle smile. "But it's obviously not the case. I never thought he was much of your type."

"I'm sorry," breathed out Meredith. "But… I can't…" She couldn't tell Addie because if she did, she wouldn't have the right to demand from Derek to keep secrets from his own best friend, Mark Sloan, and that couldn't happen.

"You can't," Addie shook her head like a mother scolding her child.

"You don't have to worry about me," assured Meredith. "I'm older, wiser…"

"But I always will," smiled Addie. "Are you being careful?"

"I am… and I'm worried about both."

"You can deal with your mother," reasoned Addison. "You learned from her."

"To be a bitch, you mean?" laughed Meredith. "Yes, I learned from the best."

"Maybe she'll be supportive?" shrugged the redhead.

"You think she missed me that much? Or she'll be impressed with my high and mighty position? You should've heard our conversation today."

"But that's just it, Mer!" Addison lied down on the couch lazily. "You are high and mighty. She'll be on your turf, not the other way round."

Addison was right, thought Meredith. She was a grown woman, she was running a hospital. It was time to drop her mommy issues. Ellis Grey won't tell her how to live her life. She grabbed her wallet and her car keys and bolted to the door.

"Where are you going?" Addie shouted after her.

"To clear my head! Don't wait for me!"

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Meredith rushed into the trailer hoping to appease Derek. He was mad or maybe just irritated with her as he didn't come out hearing her car and didn't even look at her when she came in.

"Hey," she said softly walking up to him.

"Mhm," he continued to sit fixedly tweaking his fishing rod.

"What are you doing?" she asked plunging her fingers into his beautiful hair massaging his scalp.

"Checking up my fishing gear," he shrugged. "I figured out I had to find something to do since we're no longer going to have sex."

She breathed out with relief, he wasn't pissed off, maybe just a little.

"But I came here for sex," she smiled at him coyly and with the last caress on the top of his head, she swayed her hips towards his bedroom.

"You came here for sex?" he asked feeling his pants tighten uncomfortably against his will. He wanted to stay mad at her but hell, he couldn't. He was defenseless against her eyes, her words, her skin…

"All for you," she shouted from his bedroom, momentarily disappearing from his view. "And now I'm taking off my shirt… and my pants… and now I'm lying down on your bed…" True, he saw her, completely naked, climbing on the covers. She lied flat on her back, pulling up and crossing her legs just to hide the essentials from his view. "Coming?"

He sighed and dropped the rod on the table disinterestedly. Oh, yeah, he was coming… and will be in a few minutes. When he joined her on the bed he was already as bare as she was. He felt he should try to enforce a cool conversation but any resistance against her voluptuous body was futile.

He crouched on top of her and she hooked her legs around his waist.

"I need to feel you inside me," she whispered. "Blow my mind, Derek."

He clasped his fingers with hers and brought their joined hands above their heads so that he almost crushed her with his weight if he hadn't propped himself on his elbows. He wanted to know why her mother's visit was making her a nervous wreck but she adamantly refused to share anything. He didn't insist because she wasn't pushing him away. She was leaning onto him and he was sure that with a bit of patience, she would let him in. In a slightly different sense that she was letting him now.

His tongue sensuously slipped into her mouth and down his penis mimicked its movements. They slowly build their rhythm, meeting each other halfway. They needed no other stimulation than the feel of their bodies sliding against each other. They shared frantic kisses and longing looks while they worked each other up to a frenzy, going faster and faster until they screamed their release and he sprayed her walls with his seed.

He made to roll from her but she tightened her hold of him, pressing his head to her chest. He nuzzled his face to her breasts planting little kisses on the side of her mound while she entangled her fingers in his locks. She leaned to kiss his sweaty forehead.

"Der," she whispered, "we had sex but that doesn't change a thing about your promise, do you understand?"

"Meredith," he sighed, his lids half-closed.

"You promised me, Derek," she reminded firmly. "Please, keep your word."

"If that's what you want," he opened his eyes and looked up at her from her chest, the concern apparent in her irises convincing him like nothing else.

"And a… I'm going to be a cold bitch to you tomorrow. But don't take it personally," she pleaded.

"I'll try," he muttered, "if you promise there'll be a lot of sex afterwards."

She giggled, "It's a deal."

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A/N Next chapter: mommy dearest comes to Grace and Derek learns quite a lot about Meredith's past.

Please comment! I know it's a cucumber season but your opinions help me to improve my story and keep me motivated!

Have a nice weekend,

Em