The Shepherd Legacy

Deceit

A/N: If you have any requests, please let me know by either commenting or messaging me directly! They could be plain or involve discipline. 


The Shepherd household was unusually quiet for an evening that was supposed to be bustling with plans and late-night returns. Derek Shepherd, the seasoned neurosurgeon whose life had been a whirlwind of surgeries and familial responsibilities, found himself caught in a rare moment of tranquility. Or so it seemed. With Meredith, his wife, immersed in the complexities of a challenging surgery and Mark, his brother in all but blood, away with Lexie, the house echoed a silence that was almost unnerving. Mary was supposed to be out till later today, as Jackson, her boyfriend, had invited her out to dinner.

Derek was attempting to lose himself in the pages of a novel, a luxury he seldom afforded himself. Yet, despite the intriguing plot that lay spread open on his lap, his mind was elsewhere. There was an unsettling feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach, a premonition of sorts that he couldn't quite shake off. It was then that the sound of the front door opening and closing far too early in the evening snapped him out of his reverie.

Derek set aside his novel. The footsteps were too early and too frantic to belong to Meredith, and with Mark and Lexie away, that only left one possibility—Mary. The sound of a door slamming shut jolted Derek from his room, concern etching his features as he approached Mary's door. The household, typically filled with laughter and medical banter, felt suffocated by the sudden tension. The unsettling feeling in his stomach now churned with worry.

Knocking gently, Derek called out, "Mary? It's Derek. Can I come in?" Silence greeted him, save for the muffled sobs seeping through the door. His heart clenched; Mary, his little sister, the baby of the family who had grown up too fast, was in pain. Without waiting for a response, Derek pushed the door open, the sight before him tightening the knot in his chest.

Mary was curled up on her bed, her body wracked with sobs, the kind that steals your breath and leaves you gasping for air. Her eyes, usually bright with the kind of ambition that reminded Derek of their mother, were clouded with tears. Derek didn't hesitate; he crossed the room in three strides, enveloping Mary in his arms, a silent promise of refuge.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I've got you," Derek soothed, his voice a steady anchor in the tempest of Mary's grief. But the storm wouldn't calm; Mary's cries only grew louder, her words tangled in sobs. "Shh, it's okay, Mary, I'm here," he whispered, trying to infuse his voice with as much calm and reassurance as he could muster.

But Mary was inconsolable, her sobs wracking her body in waves of betrayal and hurt. It took her several attempts, her voice choked with tears, to finally reveal the cause of her anguish. "I walked in on...on Jackson...with Izzie...in the on-call room," she gasped out between sobs, the words slicing through the silence of the room like a knife.

Each word felt like a blow to Derek, his initial worry now replaced by a simmering rage towards Jackson Avery. Yet, he forced himself to maintain a facade of calm for Mary's sake, though inside, his thoughts were a whirlwind of disbelief and anger.

Mary's voice, broken and raw, filled the room. "I... I don't understand, Derek. Why would he... with Izzie?" Her words were punctuated by sobs, each one a testament to her pain.

Derek's own anger simmered beneath the surface, but he pushed it down, focusing on Mary. "I don't know, Mary. But it's not your fault. You hear me? None of this is your fault." His words were firm, a lifeline thrown in turbulent waters.

"Why would he...how could he do this to me?" Mary's voice was laden with a mixture of confusion, hurt, and disbelief, her tears continuing to soak the fabric of Derek's shirt.

"I don't know, Mary, I don't know," Derek found himself at a loss for words, his usual eloquence abandoned in the face of his sister's heartbreak. "But I do know that you're not alone. We're here for you, always. This...this pain, it won't last forever. I promise you that," he continued, his voice steady, though his heart ached for her.