CHAPTER FIFTY
here comes the flood.
season five, episodes
three and four.

          "HEY, CASS?" DEREK QUESTIONED, PEEKING INTO HER ROOM. He and Meredith officially decided to live together, which Cassie was totally supportive of. She looked up at his entrance, giving him her undivided attention. "Do you mind painting the walls back to white?"

Cassie frowned, as she sat up on her bed and let out a small, confused laugh. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm not really a fan of the dark green for our home office," Derek shrugged. "At least, that's what I think we're going to do with this room, we haven't fully decided yet."

"Okay, hold up," she held a hand in the air. "What the hell are you talking about? Why would I paint my room?"

"Because you're moving out," he shrugged.

Cassie scoffed, as her eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. "I'm moving out?" she repeated incredulously.

"Exactly," Derek nodded, oblivious to her tone.

"Since when?!"

"Since... Meredith asked you to?"

She stood up, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. "Meredith never asked me to move out."

Derek furrowed his brows, thinking for a moment. "She didn't?"

"No, she didn't."

"Hm," he mumbled. "Interesting."

☆

"When were you planning on telling us we had to move out?" Alex asked as he, Izzie, Cassie, and Derek surrounded Meredith.

"When were you planning on telling them they had to move out?" Derek repeated.

Meredith looked around, totally lost. "What? Why do they have to move out?"

"Meredith!" Izzie interrupted, shoving a muffin in her face. "Hey, look, I made this especially for you."

"I'm not moving out," Cassie deadpanned, glaring at her brother.

"It's a zoo," he glared back. "A frat house, with Alex and his parade of women—"

"—his parade of skanks," Izzie cut him off.

Cassie shrugged them off. "Huh, you know, it really doesn't bother me that much. Probably because they're nice to look at in the mornings."

"Not helping," Izzie scolded.

"Don't talk to me," Cassie shot back.

"Whatever," Alex rolled his eyes, done with the conversation. "Am I apartment hunting or what?"

"I don't know," Meredith blurted. "I have to think about it."

"Just... eat the muffin, Mer," Izzie grinned. "Taste the muffin. Love the muffin."

Cassie snorted. "That sounded dirty."

"Get out of here," Derek rolled his eyes, pushing the giggling resident away to walk with Alex, who was also laughing under his breath.

☆

"All I'm saying, is that flamin' hot is way better than cool ranch. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar, and probably a psychopath," Cassie told Cristina as they shared a packet of Dorito's while taking a break from their hectic day.

"Hey guys," Izzie greeted, wearing an unusually wide grin. She held out her packet of chips. "Switch?"

"Sure," they shrugged, taking a few from her bag as she did the same. The blonde stared at them, causing them to share an odd look. "What?"

"You're not terrible people," she said nonchalantly.

"Okay."

"I know we don't always see eye to eye, to say the least, but I found this really great apartment, and it's right across the street from the hospital." Izzie took out an apartment listing and showed it to them. "I know you can both afford it, and it's Burke-free for you, Cristina and has a huge bay window for you, Cassie." The two residents looked at the paper curiously, causing Izzie to smirk. "Think about it."

Once she walked away, Cassie turned to Cristina. "We should totally move in together!"

"Definitely," she nodded excitedly. "But, who will take the third bedroom?"

"Hm," the brunette hummed. "No idea."

Cristina waved her off. "Don't worry, I'll find somebody. I mean, there has to be someone out there in need of a roommate."

☆

Mark and Cassie were walking closely by each other in the hallway, the latter complaining about how she was being kicked out of Meredith's house. "I mean, it's a total dick move on Derek's part, don't you think?"

"Totally," Mark agreed, though he was only half listening, as his mind was elsewhere.

"It's just selfish of him to think that Mer will kick us out just because he says so," Cassie shrugged. "Although, I suppose it will be okay, because I already found somewhere else to live."

Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned to her, slightly upset. "You— really?"

"Yep," she smiled happily. "Cristina and I found this incredible apartment, but we still need to find another roommate. I was thinking about asking Alex, but I'm not sure if Cristina could handle that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but I don't think she'd be a huge fan of making breakfast for a different half naked woman every morning."

"Oh, that's uh, that's great."

Cassie frowned. "You don't seem too happy."

"It's just," Mark paused, trying to approach the topic he'd been thinking about without scaring her away. "I thought that maybe, if you were ready, of course, you would, uh, you know..."

"Huh?" she asked cluelessly.

He sighed heavily, finally building up the courage to ask. "Cass," he began nervously. "I thought you might want to move in with m—"

"Cassie!"

The young resident whipped around at the sound of Cristina yelling her name, not hearing what her boyfriend was asking her. "What's up?"

Cristina caught up with her, completely ignoring Mark's presence. "I found someone to take the third bedroom."

"Really?" Her smile grew, while Mark's immediately dropped. "Who?"

"Torres," Cristina said happily. "I already made the call, and turns out the tenants were in a rush to move out, so it's officially ours!"

Mark rolled his eyes, cursing himself for not asking sooner. Although, he realized that it was kind of a blessing in disguise, seeing as Cassie had quite the track record for commitment issues.

Just the fact that she was his girlfriend was already pushing it, so asking to move in together so soon would probably freak her out. Still, he was a little disappointed.

"Awesome!" Cassie cheered.

"Yeah," Mark agreed sarcastically with a huff. "Super awesome."

☆

A week later, Meredith and Erica Hahn were both helping Cristina, Cassie, and Callie move into their new apartment.

Cassie offered to pay for half of the rent while the other two split the other half. Partly because she felt guilty for splitting it evenly when she had so much more money than them, but also because she needed an excuse to take the biggest bedroom.

"Hey," Callie scolded Cristina. "Your boxes, your room. The living room will not be a dumping ground like the old place was."

Cristina picked up the box, moved it to the left about two feet, and set it back down. Cassie let out a snort at her actions.

"Did you not hear her?" Hahn asked rudely.

"Okay," Meredith nodded once the woman had retreated to Callie's bedroom. "She kinda scares me."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Because she's scary. Callie needs a new best friend."

Cassie laughed at her friend's ignorance. "Yeah, because they're totally best friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meredith smiled, raising a brow in her direction.

"If you asked Derek, he would say that Mark and I are just best friends," she shrugged innocently, wearing a smirk. "That's all."

☆

"You haven't read any of it?" Cristina raised a brow at Meredith just as Cassie joined them.

"Read any of what?"

"Her mommy's diary."

"Oh," Cassie nodded, pointing to Cristina in agreement, "yeah, you should definitely read that."

"No, what if I'm in it?" Meredith argued. "I don't want to hear what she thought of me. I've heard enough of that already."

"What's worse, if you're in it or you're not in it?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "But I mean, see, why is he in the study rooting around in closets. trying to dig up my mother's ghost?"

"I think, because you invited him," Cristina suggested.

"Derek?" Cassie tilted her head in thought. "Yeah, he's a little nosey, but he means well."

The group of three joined the others, who were gathered in front of the Chief for an announcement.

"Apparently," Webber started sternly, "some people thought I was kidding last week when I announced that nobody was going to get to hang out on their favorite specialty anymore. I wasn't. Junior residents don't specialize. So all the requests to send you back to that place where your true heart lives, can end now. Dr. Bailey makes the assignments. Do not, and I repeat, do not harangue her."

"Since when is that a rule?" Cassie wondered aloud.

Meredith shrugged. "He told us yesterday."

"Yeah," Cristina smirked. "You were too busy getting steamy with McSteamy to show up to the meeting."

"Shut up," Cassie grumbled, a grin threatening to pull at her lips.

"Grey, you're on cardio with Hahn today," Bailey ordered. "Stevens and Karev, pit."

"Oh, come on," Alex groaned.

"The Chief wants us to have a change," Izzie complained. "That's not a change. I'm always stuck in the pit with Alex."

Bailey gave her a deadpan look. "When the Chief said don't harangue Dr. Bailey, what do you think he meant?" Izzie went silent. "Harper, with me. Yang, clinic."

"What?" Cristina scoffed. "No!"

"No, no, wait, wait," Izzie held a hand up. "The clinic is my responsibility. I say how it's staffed. She'll just ruin it."

Cristina nodded feverishly in agreement. "Yeah, I will. I'll ruin it."

"Just let me do it."

"No, you will not," Bailey raised her voice, gaining their attention. "You will do what I say. And since Yang couldn't be bothered to show up at the clinic since it opened, think of it as a new frontier in her training." Bailey crossed her arms. "Besides, Stevens, technically, Harper has the final say. It is her clinic."

As Cassie sent Izzie a mocking wink, Mark passed by, gesturing for his girlfriend to follow him.

"Cass, let's go. We've got a patient."

Bailey scoffed, grabbing Cassie's arm to stop her from leaving. "Harper is off your service, Dr. Sloan."

He frowned in annoyance. "Since when?"

"Since I said so!" Bailey shot back. Mark didn't move, causing the resident to make a shooing away motion. "Now scram. You can talk to your girlfriend later."

Cassie froze, her eyes going wide in alarm.

"We're not dating!" she exclaimed. "Why would you think we're dating? That's totally crazy! We're not—"

"I know everything, Cassandra," Bailey narrowed her eyes threateningly. "Everything."

Watching Bailey storm off, Mark and Cassie stood in place with their mouths gaping open.

Mark raised a brow. "She is a very scary woman."

☆

"Dr. Bailey," Callie greeted the resident, who was going over her patient's labs with Cassie.

"What can I do for you, Torres?"

"Can I steal Dr. Harper for a moment?"

Cassie made a face of confusion, following after the dark haired woman once Bailey gave a nod of approval. They moved to a secluded corner, as Callie anxiously wrung her hands together.

"Hey, what do you—"

"I have a date with Erica Hahn."

"Oh," Cassie smiled, looking her up and down. "That's awesome, Callie. I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, not the point," she waved her off. "The point, is that I'm a mess. I mean, what if I'm not into it? Because I've never been south of the border with a female. I mean, I-I've never even been over the northern mountains, you know what I'm saying?"

Cassie breathed out a laugh. "Okay, slow down. What do you need, exactly?"

"I don't know!" Callie exclaimed in frustration. "You're the only woman I know who's actually been with another woman. I thought you might have some advice, or whatever."

Cassie thought for a moment, watching as the older resident impatiently shifted in place. No one had ever asked her for sex advice before, so she wanted to make sure she guided her well.

"Okay, first of all, communication is key," she started. "Just be honest with her, tell her how you feel, and make sure you set up a safe word. That way, if either of you get too overwhelmed or nervous, you can call it off without any hard feelings."

Callie nodded, whipping out a notepad and a pen. "Communication, safe word, got it. What else?"

"Well, um," Cassie pursed her lips. "Oh! Before your date, get a mirror. Not too big, not too small. Lie down, and... you know."

"No, I don't know."

"Just... you know."

She shrugged, oblivious. "No, I really don't."

Cassie sighed. "You know, pleasure yourself."

Callie immediately put down the notepad, an incredulous look on her face. "Oh my god!"

"I'm serious!" Cassie laughed. "That's how you learn. Get a mirror, and watch yourself. Figure out what feels good to you, and then later, you can use that to figure out what feels good to her."

"Wow," she thought for a moment. "That's actually really good advice."

"Thank you. But remember, there's no rule saying you need to do all of that stuff on the first date. So just talk to her, and make sure you're on the same page." Cassie grinned in encouragement, patting Callie on the shoulder. "Don't stress. You'll be fine."

Callie watched her leave with a smile, a newfound confidence in herself.

☆

Cassie and Meredith rushed through the doors to the dermatology wing, stopping in front of Cristina, who sat idly on the couch.

"What happened?" they chorused.

"I was in the middle of studying for Hahn's pulmonary autograft," Meredith complained.

"Where's the emergency—"

Cassie was cut off by Cristina taking their hands and pulling them to sit on either side of her.

"No, no, no," she whispered, pointing towards the people in pink scrubs standing behind the desk. "They're residents." Meredith and Cassie raised their brows at her. "That one baked a seven layer cake for that one's birthday, from scratch. Oh, oh, and that one, that one's girlfriend is taking him skiing this weekend. Oh, but this one's the best," she pointed to a brunette woman. "Okay, this one gets to leave to go get a facial. And she told her attending, and her attending was happy, because they have to have facials. They're dermatologists."

In wonder, Cassie and Meredith gazed around the lobby, before saying in unison, "Oh my god."

"The hospital has hired someone to rub them," Cristina laughed. "Full time."

Meredith shook her head. "I bet their boyfriends don't go digging around in their closets without asking."

Cassie nodded in agreement. "There's no way a blonde went psycho and killed their psuedo father."

"Never," Cristina sighed happily, kicking off her shoes and reclining backwards against the soft pillows.

☆

On their way to perform a standard appendectomy, Cassie and Bailey passed Rue, Lily, Ollie, and Ryan outside of the OR.

"Hey guys," Cassie smiled at her interns, tying her scrub cap. "What are you all doing down here?"

"Dr. Shepherd is letting us observe his surgery with Dr. Sloan," Ryan smirked. "It's gonna be cool as hell."

Cassie tilted her head. "What surgery?"

"The patient has a brain tumor," Lily informed.

"Not just a brain tumor," Ollie cut in excitedly. "They're peeling off the dude's freaking face!"

"What?!"

"It's going to be sick," Rue said, her face blank as usual, but the eager nature of her voice betraying her. "You should come."

"Dr. Harper is going to be busy in my surgery," Bailey interrupted harshly. "Goodbye."

As her interns immediately turned on their heels, Cassie gave Bailey a pleading expression.

"Oh, come on!" she sighed. "They're removing a guys face! I was supposed to be in that surgery."

"No, you're supposed to be in this surgery. This surgery, where you will be the one to remove the patient's appendix."

Cassie froze. "Wait, really?"

"Not if you don't shut your mouth and stop whining," Bailey deadpanned. "Now get in there and scrub."

Immediately following orders, Cassie practically skipped into the scrub room with joy.

Bailey shook her head, laughing fondly under her breath.

☆

"Hey," Cassie grinned, plopping herself down next to Meredith and Cristina in the dermatology wing. "Did I miss anything good?"

"You're gonna love this," Meredith said. "The redhead just gave the short one a case because she thought he'd find it interesting. A pyogenic granuloma. Gave it away."

"We could transfer," Cassie jokingly suggested. "Maybe we'd be less twisty and more shiny."

"We'd die of boredom," Cristina deadpanned.

"We'd die with great skin," Meredith shrugged.

Cristina shook her head with a disappointed scoff. "I had the biggest derm emergency that exists today. It was fun for about a minute, because a woman almost died, but then we saved her. And all she needed was a stupid biopsy."

After a moment, Meredith smirked. "I reattached a coronary artery."

Cassie made the same expression, a prideful glint in her eye. "I did a whole surgery by myself."

Cristina looked between them. "I hate you both."

The three of them stared straight ahead with blank faces, into the sea of people in pink scrubs.

"We are not happy, glowy people."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"We gotta get outta here."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

author's note —
drumroll please...

dun dun dun...

and we are officially caught
up to the rewrite! i started this
book way back in june 2020,
and originally wrote up to
this episode before unpublishing
the whole thing and starting
from the beginning!

thank you all so much for the
support you've shown me over
this past year! i'm so excited to
continue cassie's story <333