𝙓𝙇𝙄𝙑.
THE DOMINIC EFFECT

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I DIDN'T TELL anyone about Petunia.

When Eli asked me if the meeting went okay I just shrugged and off-handedly joked that I was "still standing".

He told me he was pleased and that work would be boring without me and the conversation moved onwards. He didn't ask any questions and I didn't answer any. I was fully aware that shooting my mouth off over a legal situation was not the way to go. I clocked out that evening and made brief eye contact with Katherine in the hallway on my way out.

From the look on her face, I half expected her to pull me into her office for a quick chat, but she kept walking and left me alone to my thoughts.

The rest of the week was uneventful. Easing into January in Seattle felt bizarre, in all honesty, it felt as if no time had passed at all. Consultations flew past, appointments seemed to take half the time and every conversation I had felt empty and completely useless.

I didn't hear about the lawsuit at all, nor did Mark or Arizona approach me to talk about it again.

Before I knew it, Charlie was due home in a day and I was receiving an invitation from Derek, inviting the two of us to a dinner scheduled couple of hours after Charlie's flight was due. He branded it as returning the favour but also mentioned that he had big news.

I eyed him suspiciously but agreed to turn up: I figured that it would be nice to spend an evening outside of my apartment for a change (I hadn't done anything social since Christmas and I almost didn't recognise myself as the introvert I was becoming). I relayed the invitation over the phone to Charlie. I could hear the hesitation in his voice:

"Uh, actually, Andrew needs me to stay in Boston for a couple of more days."

"Oh."

I couldn't cover my disappointment.

I was stood outside my apartment, waiting for some takeout to arrive, arms crossed tightly over my chest as I'd forgotten to grab a sweater. It was Friday night and I'd clocked out early. I scratched my cheek and breathed out, watching breath condense on the air in disdain. His words caused me to frown and want to kick something across the sidewalk. I was really beginning to hate living alone.

"I swear it'll only be a couple of days," His voice sounded small like he was trying not to speak too loudly. It made me wonder idly where he was and what he was doing. "Andrew's kicking my ass about not being here and we've been working overtime trying to get some legal stuff sorted out- even had to fly in Dom from New York?"

Dom. The last puzzle piece of their three-man band.

Calum, Dom and Charlie had all been best friends in college. Both Calum and Dom were distinguished lawyers and were now universally our point in call for any help we needed. Of course, I'd briefly considered calling either one of them for legal council, but I figured that the hospitals' legal team were enough.

Plus, I was hesitant about telling my friends about another professional mistake I'd made when they'd all fought so hard for me to get back on my feet. Dominic Fox was a big indicator that Charlie was really dealing with some shit.

And Dom, well, he didn't like me much anymore.

"Is everything okay?" I sounded tentative.

If Andrew returned Charlie to me all battered and bruised I was going to be peed off. He was already working him to the bone.

"Yeah... It's just-" I could imagine Charlie shaking his head, letting out a little breath and shrugging his shoulders. "It's nothing, it's just usually the person who has this job works in the office and has daily meetings with my brother. Taking on this position was a lot harder than I thought it was and living on the other side of the country is just..."

I could hear it in his voice, the same question that Eli had asked. The hesitation of why Charlie was in Seattle when he could be with his family and at his workplace in Boston.

I pressed my lips together and swallowed, hard. My eyes rose to stare up at the city sky. It was cloudy tonight and hazy as if the city had decided to have an air of mystery to itself. My chest felt very tight.

"I'm worried about you," I voiced the concerns that I had when he'd first taken on this position. "He's working you half to death, babe."

"I'll be fine," He sounded breathless and insistent. "It's a lot right now but when I'm back with you, it's all going to work out... okay?"

I very hesitantly nodded but then I remembered that he couldn't see me. I couldn't find it within myself to give a verbal agreement. Instead, I bit down on my bottom lip and sighed.

"I miss you."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "I miss you too. I'll be back before you know it."

"Cooking for myself is shit."

It was almost a whine. It was as if I'd forgotten that a few months ago I had been alone in my apartment (admittedly just surviving off of leftover takeout and black coffee). I felt like a teen that had been abandoned at home while their parents went globetrotting.

"I'm stood outside waiting for takeout because I forgot to buy groceries like a computing adult."

"Oh?" He sounded offended. A breathy laugh escaped my lips. "Is that all you want me for?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nah, you're pretty nice to look at too."

"Wow," Charlie chuckled. "And they say chivalry is dead."

"What?" I asked, my eyebrows flying up my head. "What else am I supposed to say? That I care about what happens to you more than I care about what happens to myself? Because I have a whole list."

He paused. "I'm very interested in that list."

"Then please don't die on me while you're out there," My tone was light but my words had weight.

It was a silent plea: please come back ASAP because I'm having a very slow mental breakdown and I need a crutch even though my New Years Resolution is to stop relying on men.

"You promised me France, remember? I'm not going to miss that."

I smiled at the thought. Warm, Mediterranean weather was such a nicer feeling than this cold street. I had goosebumps all down my arms. My dumb ass had run downstairs in one of Charlie's shirts, sweatpants and my running trainers.

"I'm looking forwards to it. It's all I can think about right now," Charlie said, "It's literally keeping me sane, B. We should book it when I get back- think about it... sand, sea and me getting sunburnt every five seconds. I was thinking about July?"

"We'll have to raid CVS for all of the sunblock they have," I teased.

"Still won't work," He said, his voice strained as if he could already feel the pain of it.

I chuckled. "And I thought I was pale..."

"Oh you are," He was smiling again. "I'm just a ghost."

"A very alive ghost who is going to come back here and give me a hug because I'm lonely." I couldn't pinpoint the moment I got needy but I was sure that it was the moment that I outwardly made a decision not to be. Fuck, when did I become needy? Charlie made me needy and I didn't like it. "God, I think I just cringed at myself."

He actually shushed me. "No, this is nice- keep it coming."

"Alright." I sounded exasperated but a huge smile was plastered over my face. "If you want more, you're going to have to get your ass back here. I don't want to be the sappy girl who begs their boyfriend to get back to them but... fucks sake, I'm going to end up begging you to come back."

"It's cute."

"Cute?" My face scrunched up like a discarded piece of paper. "I sound like a teenager."

"We would have been a cute couple in high school."

"Probably," I really didn't want to think about high school. "We would have been annoying. I would have punched myself in the face. Like that weird affectionate couple that people can't make eye contact with."

"It would have been cute."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say, Char."

Being alone in the apartment while my life seemed to fracture into pieces wasn't the ideal situation. I avoided telling Charlie about the lawsuit. If he was busy, he didn't need the extra stress. I wanted him in Seattle but not enough for him to screw over his family business.

Plus, he'd just want to fix it in the usual way men were- he'd try to get Dom or Calum to come to Seattle and I didn't need them here. It'd get crowded and then I'd be even closer to a mental breakdown.

I apologised about Charlie's absence at dinner. Derek and Meredith both shrugged it off and said that they understood how busy people can be. The table had been set for four but Derek cleared it away. I watched him do it.

Once we were all making light small talk I eyed the two of them. It was weird, watching a domestic Derek Shepherd. He'd never made an effort to do these sort of things when Addison had made him host her parties and dinners with her. Actually, he'd been stand-offish about the idea. Now, he was in a brilliant mood.

It made me wonder what the hell his good news was.

"Addison's calling."

The kitchen filled with the sound of the ringtone, causing my skin to crawl.

There was a brief pause, in which Derek frowned at me from the other side of the room and his wife picked up my cell phone, holding it out towards me. I stayed seated and just glowered at the flashing name tag on the screen.

"Let it go to voicemail."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Meredith set my cell phone back onto the countertop, and Derek frown very subtly in my direction. I just huffed to myself. The two of them seemed to have a non-verbal conversation with their eyes. Eventually, Derek cleared his throat.

"You should probably talk to her..."

It was in his concerned voice. It was 10 pm and the house was empty and Derek and Meredith had been talking about their day at work. I'd been offhandedly dropping in comments about what I'd seen around the hospital but hadn't really mentioned anything too exciting.

"You're right," I said, causing Derek to grin, thinking that he'd just single-handedly ended world hunger. "But I'm not. She can choke for all I care."

I was being petty. His smile withered.

Derek seemed to sense a shift in my attitude and didn't bring it up for a while, instead, letting me simmer in my anger in the corner. Full disclosure: this was not how I'd envisioned my evening to go. There was a very dry look on his face as he ordered takeout on the phone; he kept glancing over at me as if he was expecting me to blow into pieces. A phone rang again and Derek shot me another look out of the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes- that wasn't my ringtone.

At the same time, Meredith hurried out of the room, answering her mobile. My ex-brother-in-law seemed to deflate with the subtle tension in the room. I knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Don't," I warned as he ambled towards me, placing a refilled glass of lemonade in front of me. I raised a finger, causing him to frown in the grumpy way he always seemed to revert back to. Over the years, it had almost become his default setting. "Don't give me that look, Derek. Don't get involved. You're finally free of Addie's shit and I'm not pulling you back into this."

He went to answer but was cut short by Meredith as she came sweeping into the room, cell phone pressed to her ear. She busied herself, looking through the cupboards, all while tensely talking to whoever it was on the other side of the line. Her husband watched her, clearly concerned. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought Meredith was panicking.

"I don't see how I'm supposed to help..." She sighed, exhaling very sharply through her nose. "No... Izzie... I just don't want Alex to- No- I don't think that's right- I don't want to get- No, I understand that- He's not-"

I looked over towards Derek, my forehead creasing. "Did she say Izzie?"

Admittedly, I'd almost forgotten about the blonde.

She'd taken off into the night and left Alex in the dust. I'd honestly thought that it was the last we'd ever see of her. Last I'd heard Izzie had left because she was sacked from her job. I didn't quite have the capacity to worry about her anymore, from the moment she'd been taken off of my patient list I'd had another cancer patient take her place.

Not to mention, I was still peeved over the fact that she'd screwed everyone over and put herself at risk by skipping her cancer treatment. I'd heard all about the hell that Alex had gone through to get it covered by their medical insurance.

"Yeah," He leant against the back of my chair, folding his arms over his chest. "She's back in town and she's been trying to get in contact with Karev all day." We exchanged a look. "Yeah, he's not having it."

"No..."

Meredith's voice rose from the other side of the kitchen. She'd found what she'd had her heart set on: a large glass. The two of us watched as she poured herself a serving of wine that I could only describe as my idea of a Friday night. My eyes went round in wonder: now that's what I'm talking about.

"I can't help-"

Admittedly, I didn't have the fondest memories of Izzie. Of course, she was kind and dedicated to her career. However, she'd also taken off and abandoned Alex when it was clear to everyone that he cared about her more than he cared about himself.

"Why is she dragging Meredith into it?" I asked, not quite understanding why she was caught in the crossfire. Derek shrugged. "God, Meredith's coming after my thing... I thought I was the person around here that unnecessarily gets involved with everyone's drama."

"I was going to ask..." Derek cracked a smile, cocking his head to the side. I felt validated that I wasn't the only one who noticed. "What is it with that...?"

"Beats me." It was my turn to shrug.

"Maybe it's the whole doctorate in psychology thing."

"If that's the case, I'd like a refund."

I really had looked for a relaxed evening and I'd deemed Meredith and Derek as the most sensible place to be.

After all, Christmas had been uneventful and I was beginning to admire the fact that Derek had finally found himself an unproblematic marriage. They were a very easy couple to third wheel. Addison and Derek, on the other hand, had been a little bit difficult in their later years.

So I'd arrived at the Grey household for my nice little stress-free evening, excited to watch Derek get tipsy (he always did dumb shit when he was drunk and sometimes decided to pull out his ultimate party trick: juggling). However, there was something in the way that Meredith abruptly hung up the phone on Izzie, that implied things were about to get interesting.

I raised my glass to Derek as we both realised the evening might get a bit choppy..

"L'chaim."

He rolled his eyes. I'd dressed nicely, smartly and Derek was in slacks. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him in slacks- probably George's funeral or Izzie's wedding, at this point I couldn't remember what came first. He smiled.

"So what's this mysterious piece of news that you want to share?" I had some news too: Petunia's suing my ass. He didn't know and I couldn't legally speak about it. His grin was wide and Meredith didn't look as delighted as he did.

"I thought it would be nice to just have a family dinner-"

"Fab," I said, eying the fact that there were only four placemats on their dining table. "Are you going to adopt me? Is that what's going to happen?"

Derek let out a sigh, rolling his eyes. "Seeing as you're older than Meredith-"

"Suit yourself," I shrugged. "I'm a young soul." I eyed the table, the three existing placemats that were sat on the table. I found it interesting that Meredith's sister wasn't accounted for. "No Lexie for this family dinner?"

"She's out with Karev, actually." I didn't expect that. "I would have invited Mark but I thought it'd be best to-"

"I'm not bothered." I shrugged, meeting his eyes. "If you want to invite him and he's free, invite him. He's practically your family..."

Derek smiled.

Mark arrived within two hours.

He'd come straight from a shift and sat beside me, in the exact spot that Charlie had been intended to sit in. We very briefly met eyes but didn't speak. He'd made small talk in the kitchen and had been caught off-guard by the sight of me sat at the dining table, chatting to Meredith about lipomas. I greeted him politely and Meredith watched the two of us, still stressed from her conversation with Izzie. She was holding the glass of wine in her hand very tightly.

"How was work?"

"Good," Mark answered Meredith's question with a nod as Derek refilled drinks.

I was half tempted to ask for a Capri Sun. This was a bizarre situation and I felt the need to sit at some sort of kids table. They were all talking about their surgeries and about interns they didn't like and nurses they felt needed more recognition. Eli came up and Meredith grinned at me.

"Good day?"

I blinked when I realised that Mark was bringing me into the conversation. I nodded, looking down at my glass and realising I'd left a red lipstick print on it. "Yeah, busy but good."

The conversation picked up again when Derek made it to the table.

He'd cracked open a few beers and handed one to Mark. Despite the fact that we were all dressed respectably, the food fell short from the smart atmosphere- I'd spent the last twenty minutes debating whether to eat my pizza from Frelard's with a knife and fork or not.

Again, I met Mark's eye as we ate and he raised his eyebrows as if to ask, humorously, what the fuck is going on? I just shrugged. It felt extremely chaotic, again, completely different from what Addison would have ever done.

"Now, I know this is really weird-"

It was halfway through the meal and Derek was tipsy, about half a second away from juggling. We all laughed as he got to his feet, holding up a beer. He cleared his throat as if he was about to give a speech at the Met Gala.

I shook my head, pressing my hand to my lips and seriously considering looking away. Beside me, Mark was heckling, waving Derek back down into his seat. My ex-brother-in-law just scowled, shushing him and telling him to shut up. Meredith and I just grinned at each other, wondering how the hell we'd gotten into this situation.

My smile grew softer as I finished my lemonade.

I found myself thinking that this was a family dinner that I wouldn't mind coming home to.

"But I got some big news yesterday that I felt like I really needed to share..." Derek turned to me pointing a shaky finger in my direction. "And no- we're not adopting you, Beth... Although I would if I could..." Meredith nodded towards me.

"I'm touched," I said, brushing my hair behind my ear and tipping my drink towards him.

Still very tipsy, he waved my toast away dismissively.

"I just wanted to say..." He paused as if trying to gather his thoughts. "That I'm really thankful to have found you people... I know we've had our ups and downs... but you're all... my people."

"Ah shit," Mark said in an undertone to me. "He's gone mad."

I snorted.

"Oh shut it, Sloan." He said sharply but there was a glimmer in his eye. My eyes bounced between the two of them: no matter what, they were the sort of people who would forever be best friends. Their friendship went further than I would ever even be able to understand. I could only hope to have that sort of friendship one day. "What I just wanted to say- thank you for supporting me. I appreciate it a lot-"

"Hurry up with it!"

It reminded me of Addison and Derek's wedding, Mark drunkenly heckling with a handful of college friends. Back then, with a glass of champagne in his hand, in front of my parents, Addison and his whole family, he'd blushed a dark red and then he'd got a guitar out of no where and sang the wedding song.

Derek hadn't been amused then and he wasn't amused now:

"Shut up." Derek shot a look at his best friend. "What I'm trying to say is- I'm going to be interim chief."

"Shut up," Mark repeated Derek's words, his eyebrows flying up his forehead. "Chief? You're going to be the chief?"

I stared at Derek as he nodded. Beside him, Meredith subsided a little bit, as if she wasn't as happy as the rest of us. Despite his incredulousness, Mark was grinning, congratulating the neurosurgeon with a sense of pride in his voice.

I followed suit, hiking up my glass again in a faux toast. When I met Meredith's eyes, she was smiling suddenly, as if she'd realised that she wasn't supposed to be sad.

"What happened to Webber?" I asked, looking straight from Meredith to Derek.

"He decided it was best to step back for a little bit," He seemed to sober up a little bit. Something in his voice made me think that Richard Webber hadn't decided to step down at all. My brow furrowed but I didn't say anything. "So I've been asked to step in for him for a little bit, just until he's able to come back- I thought it was an offer I couldn't refuse?"

Mark's words from last week echoed through my brain.

"Think about it- he's got the hero complex, the need to save everyone and everything," Mark would've made a good lawyer. It sounded as if he'd give those two associates a run for their money. In my head, I saw a detectives board. Mark had drawn the whole thing up and established Derek as the culprit. Meanwhile, Derek was as low on my list of suspects as you could get- in fact, he wasn't even on there. "You saw what he was like with Amy... He will go at no limits to 'save' people. He even has the damn hero hair- He did it, Beth."

"I think that's fantastic." Mark's voice was different now. He was grinning and he was holding his beer up in a toast. "To the new chief."

Meredith and I made eye contact as we echoed his words, both of our glasses a little lower than theirs.

Let the record show: I offered to help clear up after we'd finished eating.

I offered to do the washing up. Derek told me not to be silly.

So I lingered around the kitchen, leant against the countertop, texting away. Derek and Mark were in the family room, talking about fishing (Men.) and Meredith was very quietly rinsing our glasses under the faucet in the kitchen sink. I glanced up at her, watching as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"It's cool about Derek's promotion." My voice felt startling in such a quiet room.

Meredith sighed. "He's really happy about it."

"He seems it." I put my phone in my pocket and slowly walked towards her, picking up a towel off the table and grabbing a wine glass before she could object. She watched as I dried it, my lips falling into a frown. "I don't think Richard is."

She paused.

"He outed him, didn't he."

Meredith nodded.

"I have some pamphlets I can send to him." I placed a hand on her arm, squeezing it as she sighed sadly. "There's some good rehabilitation clinics that I can recommend. He can't let this set him back."

***

"Need a ride?"

The evening had come to an end and I was watching Derek and Meredith talking in the kitchen. Mark appeared behind me and I almost jumped. He was very close and I turned my head to frown at him.

"I'm about to call a taxi."

He was dressed smartly and he'd put his jacket on.

One hand in his pocket, the other holding his car keys out in front of him, as if to remind me that he could drive and I couldn't. I looked away from him and back into the kitchen. Meredith and Derek had gone.

"C'mon," Mark seemed miffed by my shrug. "It's no problem... we live in the same building."

I'd taken the bus over here, it'd taken me an hour through rush hour traffic to get here and I didn't fancy it on the way back. I'd spent the whole journey here sat next to a man who kept trying to look down the front of my shirt.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I weighed the pros and cons. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his car keys shine in the light of the family room. My grip on my phone tightened and I let out a very long breath before saying very reluctantly: "Okay."

Yet another reminder for me to learn how to drive.

Twenty minutes later and I was sat in the passenger seat of a car I didn't recognise, watching the suburbs wash away into the city. Traffic was lighter now, it was dark outside and the man I was sat next too didn't seem too bothered by the front of my shirt.

His eyes were set dead on the road. I opened the window beside me and inhaled the city air, idly wondering whether I could even remember the last time Mark had driven me home from somewhere. He liked driving and I really shouldn't have been surprised that he'd offered me a ride: he offered everyone a ride. He was that sort of guy.

It wasn't as uncomfortable as I'd thought it would be. He'd put on music, some late-night classical radio that filled the space between us. I leant against the door, gazing up at the sky, hoping to see a star.

It was too cloudy and polluted here; we'd had so many stars in Indonesia. Ever so often, Mark would glance over at me, as if to check that I hadn't tumbled out of the window and into the road.

"I spoke to Petunia."

It was the first time that anyone had brought up the lawsuit since the day of the initial meeting. I didn't make any indication that I heard him, just continued to gaze out at Seattle as it passed. Mark, once again, looked over at me, noticing how I stiffened at the mention of her voice.

"She told me to go to hell."

She wasn't going to give up easily, I could have told him that without him having to forfeit his pride. I didn't speak throughout the whole drive, instead opting to just watch the world around me. Mark didn't push me to speak, possibly sensing that I was a little self-reflective and really didn't feel like saying anything.

Lately, I was saying too much.

I let him drive us home in peace and, then once he'd parked the car, I found my voice.

"Thanks."

We were stood in the underground parking lot of our apartment building, seatbelts undone and doors open. Mark held my gaze for a few moments, opened his mouth as if to speak. But then, he seemed to think better of it. A choppy nod and then he got out of his car in silence.

We rode up in the elevator together. I counted the floors going past. Again, neither of us spoke.

When we arrived on our floor, he let me go first. I dug through my pockets, finding my keys and glanced at Arizona and Callie's apartment as we passed. My eyes glazed over the place where I'd left the bottle of wine. I hesitated before shoving my key in the door, looking over to see Mark stood on his doorstep, probably not particularly looking forwards to coming home to his daughter. Sloan was loud. I could hear her music through the apartment walls sometimes.

I'd taken to sitting on the bathroom window sill, on the small balcony-ish space that I'd discovered a long time ago. I could also hear him begging her loudly to be quiet, begging her to let him sleep for a second. His grimace said it all, as he turned the lock.

"I'm sorry."

The words escaped my lips before I could stop them. At first, Mark didn't seem to hear me- but then his head turned towards me and his blue eyes fixed me with the most surprised look I'd ever seen. It made my heart peel into fragments.

I hadn't thought beyond those two words. My eyes dropped to the floor and I leant against my door.

"I didn't mean to... ah."

I had to give it to Mark, with Addison's guidance or not, apologising was fucking hard. The words caught at the back of my throat and instinctively made me want to vomit. He was shocked that I was even trying, in the same way, that I'd been completely caught off-guard when he'd attempted to apologise to me.

We were both shit at this sort of thing. Communication had been an issue for both of us.

"It's okay."

It was almost a painful moment.

Mark was squinting at me, watching as I tried to gussy myself up to say the words I wanted to say. His voice was soft, he was trying to dismiss it completely- I shook my head and squeezed my eyes closed.

"It's not- I-" An even breath. "I'm sorry for accusing you of getting me kicked off of the internship."

There it was. Something shifted in his eyes.

My apology was almost painfully genuine. Mark had sold his pride to Petunia, begging for her to lay off the lawsuit, to let him go out of her psychotic game that she'd been playing for the last two decades. I was doing the same thing, effectively ripping out my own heart and shoving it out in front of him on a gilded silver platter.

"Okay." He nodded. If his expression hadn't spoken a hundred words, his simple reply would have pissed me off. Instead, I stared at him, my throat feeling very dry. He cleared his throat, his hand coming back to rub at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about Addison-"

"I know."

That was it. I opened my apartment door and very firmly closed it behind me.

***

There was unfamiliar energy in the hospital.

Derek was the new Chief of Surgery and he was about to give a speech to his department. Out with the old, Richard Webber was a non-existent ghost that seemed to only linger in his office. I stood in the same space Webber had called me to all those months ago, staring out of the glass wall and in the direction of the suspended walkway.

Derek and Mark had fought on that walkway. I'd been called to this office to drag Derek out of his sorry vacation getaway- I blinked as Derek turned to me, showing me two ties.

"I vote for blue," my voice was tight. It was three days since Derek's dinner and I still hadn't gotten over the fact that he'd thrown Richard Webber to the wolves for his career. I couldn't believe it- Well, actually, of course, I did. Derek's ambition was destructive and his impulse to protect and serve was bloodthirsty. "When in doubt, go for blue. It brings out your eyes."

He gave me a grin. "Yeah, thanks."

Derek was yet to change the furniture here.

Webber's nameplate hadn't even been changed on the door. Boxes were scattered everywhere but it still felt as if Derek was out of his league. Idly, I wondered how long Richard had been the head here. I also wondered how long it would be until Derek found out that the hospital was due to go under any day now when Storm Petunia hit full force.

Had he had that briefing yet? Was he aware that he was walking into a deathtrap?

God, Petunia was going to eat up the fact that it was Derek she was going up against.

"You're not happy with me," Derek noted it dispassionately and I looked up at him, raising a single eyebrow as if to challenge the claim. I wasn't impressed. He shook his head, smile subsiding. "The hospital, the staff, they love Richard. To them, I stabbed him in the back to get the job. They're gonna be mad at me just like you are."

"I'm not mad," I said softly. I had the pamphlets in my hands, the ones that I'd intended to give Richard. I glanced down at them as I spoke. "I know why you did it, but I'm disappointed that you went through with it." Then I sighed. "That doesn't mean I don't think you'll do a great job. I think you'll be a very good chief."

His grin appeared again, fainter than last time. "Thanks, I appreciate that Beth."

He was nervous but I didn't stick around for his speech, I left as Meredith knocked on the door. I gave her an exasperated smile as I left, walking rapidly away from the department that I was beginning to think was more trouble than it was worth.

However, it only took me a few steps before I was mobbed- I looked over to my left to see two people I didn't particularly want to see. Alex rolled his eyes as I got swept up with them. Lexie didn't meet my eye.

Ah, the it couple.

"Montgomery, do you know what this big meeting is about?"

I vaguely recognised the guy that was speaking to me. Large forehead, beady eyes. He'd befriended Izzie at the mixer and had been on my bipolar case with Bailey. I squinted at him, gesturing to my name tag as if to say 'I'm not even in this department'.

"I heard there was a coup." My favourite surgical resident of them all piped up, fixing Lexie, Alex and I very piercing looks.

She didn't seem so bitchy when she was desperate. I almost felt bad for her.

"Webber's out. Shepherd's in." Jackson, now I remembered his name. His eyes fixed with mine as I recognised how friendly I'd been with Derek at the merger mixer. I pressed my lips together, remembering that neither Alex or Lexie had been at the 'family dinner'. They didn't know shit. Jackson singling me out was actually a very smart move. My mouth flickered into a smile. "Is that true?"

"We know what you know." Lexie's reply was stiff and did not satisfy them.

"Bull, alright...Your sister's married to the guy-" I kept up pace with them as they powered in the direction of the reception. Jackson clearly wasn't having it. "You expect me to believe that you don't know what's going on?"

I chuckled as Alex scoffed. "Don't you have your own loser friends to talk to?"

"I also heard Shepherd plans to clean house," I think his name was Percy, I really hadn't taken the time to get to know any of the staff we'd gained in the merger. His face contorted as he contemplated losing his job so quickly. He eyed Alex with distaste. "Maybe he'll start with you."

"Dude, I'm safe." Lexie looked over at (who I assumed was??) her new boyfriend and frowned as he rolled his eyes. I looked between them, they didn't look good together. "The guy's my roommate. You're the ones who should watch your backs."

"That sounds very impartial," I commented sarcastically. Only two people seemed to hear: Lexie scowled very softly and Jackson chuckled, shaking his head.

"Why?" Meanwhile, our fan-favourite Reed seemed to extremely alarmed. She took Alex's bait, her eyes wide and alarmed as she struggled to keep up with us. Desperation crept into her voice again. "What do you know?"

"It's simple maths," Alex's tone was almost mocking. I felt the need to roll my eyes. "Shepherd hates the merger, You're from mercy west, you're toast."

I couldn't imagine Derek firing people just because, especially after leaving his office and seeing him in that state. He was a bundle of nervous energy and he was so desperate (almost as desperate as Reed) for people to like him.

He wouldn't detonate himself in front of everyone in his first year or so, firing all of the people the hospital had hired in the first few months. It was a stupid decision as a leader but I could also only imagine the financial implications it left for severance packages.

"Derek's not gonna fire people just because they're from Mercy West." Lexie's pure energy came shining out but it left a sour taste in my mouth. I was beginning to really, really dislike her. "He's not like that. He's loyal and fair."

"Yeah," Like me, Jackson wasn't taking whatever Lexie was trying to sell. His eyebrows rose and a smile cracked over his face. He shook his head and his tone came out choppy and incredulous as if he couldn't believe the image of Derek as a Mother Theresa. "Tell that to Webber..."

I smirked as Lexie grew flustered, looking away and picking up her pace. I slowed down near the elevators and let them go off into the distance. I thought I was alone until someone pressed the button for me and I heard the sound of a low, amused chuckle.

I looked upwards to meet Jackson's eyes. He was smirking right back at me.

"You know more than you're letting on."

His statement was definitive as if he was very confident in the fact that I knew all of the answers he needed. He wasn't wrong. I knew for a fact that Derek wasn't going to fire a hundred staff members on his first day.

I pursed my lips, risking a very wry smile. I had to give it to him; he was the only one smart enough to put two and two together. They'd all seen me leaving Derek's office.

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know," He searched my eyes and then laughed. I shook my head very slowly, suppressing the need to roll my eyes. The elevator turned up. "How's that boyfriend of yours?"

"He's very well, thanks for asking." I tilted my head to the side, taken aback by his boldness. It was kind of refreshing though. He nodded, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Good to hear."

I stepped into the elevator and gave him a rather amused parting smile. I didn't know when he'd decided trying to flirt with me was a good idea but I found it entertaining. The look in his eyes told me that he was very aware that he didn't have a chance with Charlie in the picture but he was going for it anyway.

The last thing I saw was the crooked grin he gave me as I punched in my floor number and the doors closed.

Men. I should've just used my common sense and tried out lesbianism when I had the chance in college.

"Did Avery just..."

I hadn't realised that Mable was beside me until I saw her. She sidled up beside me and shot me a very surprised look. I scrunched my nose and laughed with her, disbelief filling me.

"He did." I nodded, letting out a long breath. "I'm actually quite impressed."

"Shoot your shot you handsome, stupid boy," Mable said to the ceiling as if Jackson could hear her. "I've had a crush on him since I saw him in the canteen on the first day."

"He's cute," I said quietly. Of course, when I said cute I meant one-of-the-most-attractive-guys-I've-ever-seen-in-my-life. One of them. Just one of them. "But Charlie's my guy."

Mable paused, looking over me with glimmering eyes. "You think?"

I smiled. "I know."

Immediately, I hurried into an appointment with a Mable-made coffee from the break room. I spent the next thirty minutes trying to help someone through their grief process for their recently deceased spouse. They were absolutely devastated and I spoke very quietly and held her hand tightly. By the end of the session, her tears had dried and she'd agreed to a couple of more sessions, just to make sure that she was coping well.

I'd also managed to convince her to sign up to a support group with a pamphlet that I'd taken from Charlie's work bag.

I'd very slowly managed to convince Katherine to let me take the majority of PTSD and grievance patients that they had on record. In all honesty, I knew jack-shit about areas and it'd taken me four months to convince her to let me specialise in a specific area. Everyone had one, Helen had just become certified in schizophrenia and Mable was now working towards a specialisation in child psychology.

I had other colleagues too, ones who specialised in Autism, ADHD and OCD. I officially was now surrounded by patients I was confident in treating and this job wasn't as stressful as I'd first made it out to be.

Well, that was until-

Halfway through my second meeting, my pager flashed and screamed at me from the desk. I gave a quick, 'I'm really sorry... let me just get this quickly' to my patient and grabbed my pager. I sighed when I realised it was from the ER. Helen wasn't in today and no one else was on hand for consultations. I phoned down to the ER: "This is Doctor Montgomery returning the page from the ER."

"We need a consult on a suspected suicidal patient," Daphne answered my page, her tone curt as I felt my stomach curdle. Professionally, I wasn't allowed to have favourite and least favourite types of patients but those were definitely my least favourite types of patients. I glanced up at the patient in front of me. I really couldn't afford to leave at the moment but this seemed to be urgent. "Patient is under Doctor Altman and consult is urgent-"

"Can you forward the request to Doctor Chaudhry?, I'm currently in with a patient."

Sorry, Mable.

Cases were emotionally tolling and I was one heavy case away from a mental breakdown. That or literally any small inconvenience. I sat up straighter in my chair when the call ended. I stared at the phone for a prolonged moment and then cleared my throat.

"Sorry about that-"

"It's no problem." My patient smiled but it didn't meet their eyes.

Just before my break, I was called to the surgical department for a consult that barely needed any time. They needed me to revise a patient's medication; I went through the medical chart, checked a few boxes and handed it back to the nurse so quickly that they were almost caught off-guard.

They thanked me and took off into the medical closet, preparing the medication I'd just prescribed and leaving me to make my way back out of the department.

That was until I saw a very familiar face-

"Holy shit."

I couldn't believe my eyes. I felt the same sort of panic that I'd felt when I'd seen Petunia sat in her bed, propped on pillows and looking completely out of it. Except now, this was a tall man in a tailored coat who didn't seem to notice me.

He was stood in the middle of the surgical reception, talking to Derek of all people- I ducked out of the way, almost diving behind a half wall that separated the nurses' station from the rest of the reception. A few of the nurses shot me odd looks.

What the fuck was Dominic Fox doing here?

Dom. The same lawyer that Charlie had told me was currently in the middle of helping him and his brother out of chaos in Boston. What the hell was he doing in Seattle? I found myself peering over the desk at him, half expecting him to be some sort of mirage. Was I hallucinating- I was very sure that I hadn't taken anything...

Oh god, I wasn't hallucinating. He was really there-

"What are you doing?"

I shushed Mark loudly, waving a hand at him. He was staring down at me, a patient's chart in his hand and a look of bewilderment in his face. He didn't seem to get the memo. I tried to wave him away from me; unfortunately, Mark was always this beacon of attention and he was the last thing I needed right now.

His brow furrowed and he handed over his chart to a nurse who gave him a very flat look as if to say 'Look at the shit we have to deal with?'

"I'm trying to avoid someone."

I dropped my tone to a low drawl, straightening very slightly as I realised ducking was overkill. It was reasonably busy and Dominic couldn't see me from all the way over there? Could he. God, as if I thought this year couldn't get any worse- I'd very clearly jinxed myself.

"Who?" Mark asked, turning and looking around the reception as if didn't understand what 'avoid' meant.

"Him." I jabbed a finger in Dom's direction.

"Who?" He repeated, not understanding what the hell was going on. "Derek?"

"No." I denied.

As if he'd heard Mark from across the room, Derek's eyes zeroed in on him. A groan escaped my lips as I watched Derek say something to Dominic and then as if my day really couldn't get any worse, lead him towards us. I very quickly turned around but I was faced with a wall. There wasn't really any opportunity to escape.

"Oh god."

"Wha-"

"Mark!" Derek sounded pleased to see him.

I kept my back to the pair, pretending to be very engrossed in a pamphlet that I managed to slip out of my pocket. It was one of Charlie's pamphlets from his brother's company, the words 'How to Grow' written across the front of it.

"Mark, this is Dominic Fox," He introduced the man beside him, "He's the representative from Harper Avery whose here to review the hospital. Dominic, this is Mark Sloan, our head of Plastic Surgery."

I could almost hear the stiffness in Dom's voice as Mark held out his hand to politely greet him.

"Mark Sloan." Dom tested the name on his tongue. Of course, he recognised it. "The infamous Mark. It's great to meet you."

God, I want to die.

"Yeah, same to you," Mark said, although he didn't sound very delighted.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his head turn towards me as if he wasn't sure what was going on. Honestly, neither did I. I had no idea why the hell Dom was here. If I found out that it was because of the lawsuit I was sure as hell going to throw some hands.

"Beth?"

It was Dom's voice. He sounded surprised.

Oh, he hadn't expected to see me here either. I closed my eyes, composed my thoughts and turned on my heel. He looked exactly the same as he'd been the last time we'd met, although his eyes had this shine to them that seemed to feign a sense of maturity.

I willed my eyes to widen a little bit as if struck by an overwhelming shock that he was stood in front of me. He raised an eyebrow.

Meanwhile, Derek and Mark just looked bewildered.

"Oh my god?" I paused, my professionally plastic smile on my face as I looked at him, "Dom? I didn't see you there!"

A blatant lie that Mark noted. his brow furrowed as he watched me step forwards, dragging Dom into a very choppy hug. It was very different to the cordial and businesslike handshake. When I stepped back, there was an awkward lull in the conversation.

Derek blinked, regathering his composure and continuing his business venture very tentatively.

"You know each other?"

"I went to college with her boyfriend," Dom's tone made my stomach twist and my smile started to make my cheeks hurt. He looked good. He always looked good, he was the sort of guy who looked perfect without even trying- he'd always reminded me of Mark in that way. He jerked his head towards me and flashed a perfectly perfect smile. "You still got Charlie on the ropes?"

"I like to keep him on his toes."

He chuckled. "Just make sure you don't kill the poor guy."

"What are you doing in Seattle?" I breathed out the question, remembering the phone conversation I'd had with Charlie before Derek's dinner party. "Charlie told me that you were in Seattle with him and Andrew-"

"Not since last Tuesday," The lawyer said tightly.

There was a shift in his eye that made me uneasy, but then it disappeared as soon as he blinked. I noticed that he was holding a binder of legal papers and had a briefcase in one of his hands. On further inspection, he actually looked pretty tired as if he'd had a very long week. It was only Monday.

He paused. "We should catch up sometime."

"Absolutely." I lied, nodding quickly.

"Well, we should probably get to the meeting..." Derek lead Dom away and immediately my heart rate went down and my stress levels crashed. I was glued to the spot, watching as the two of them walked off into the department. I couldn't breathe until they were out of sight.

Mark was still very confused.

"The infamous Mark?"

"Not now." I sighed.

"Infamous?"

"Take it as a compliment," I wasn't in the mood. "Actually, maybe don't... your ego really doesn't need any more help. Be offended."

Mark opened his mouth to speak but Eli seemed to power out of nowhere, waving about a prescription and a pen. "Beth! Great- I need a signature-"

"Oh well, duty calls."

I left Mark stood there and hightailed it towards my best friend who grinned at me, eyes very wide and round. I was telepathically screaming at him, my mind a whirl of nonsense and obscene sentences that also didn't really make any sense. When I reached him, he shoved the pen back into his pocket.

The prescription in his hand turned out to be a piece of scrap paper- he'd overheard the whole conversation and saved me from a sticky situation. We'd planned on meeting for lunch anyway. Once we were sure that we were out of earshot, he gave me a very worried look.

"Dom?" He recognised the name from the stories I'd shared about him. Eli hadn't lied. He truly thrived on chaos. He looked as though Christmas had come 11 months early. "Is that who I think it is-"

Dom. Dom. Dom. Stupid dumb handsome Dom.

Friend of Calum and Charlie Dom.

"Yeah," I said, not quite sure whether to cry or laugh. "It's the guy I cheated on Charlie with."