The Fight for Chief

Chapter 7

Let the games begin

"Derek! Wait up!" Meredith called as she ran down the hallway to catch up with him. "Hey" he smiled as he made his way too the coffee cart. "Coffee?" he asked. she was about to protest but he didn't give her the chance, instead ordering two coffee's.

"I see we've both got a meeting with Webber" Meredith looked to him nervously. "Yeah, apparently we've got to work together this week and put together a presentation for the residents, something about sensitivity training" Derek said before paying for their coffees.

"Thank you" she smiled before they began walking upstairs to Webber's office. They both noticed the questioning looks from colleagues and staff members. Derek became a little awkward as he walked through the halls of the hospital with a woman that wasn't his ex-wife. "Dont worry about it. They won't know anything" Meredith reassured him.

"Hmm, I don't know about that. The whole hospital witnessed my divorce on the surgical floor" he laughed awkwardly. "Really?" Meredith asked surprised. "She told me she was pregnant. I was so excited to have a kid. Then a few days later, after a night shift, I found her and Mark in bed together. By the time I made it back to the hospital, I had the divorce papers ready. She screamed and shouted at me a lot. Everybody heard. And then Mark caught up with us and let's just say McDreary became McViolent"

Meredith laughed sadly with him before grabbing his arm. "I'm really sorry that happened to you, Der. That must have been horrible" she sympathised as she sipped her coffee. He shrugged. "Surprisingly that wasn't the worst part" he explained casually. "Oh?" she mused. "The baby isn't mine" he smiled sarcatically at her.

She stopped their walking for a moment as she looked to him. "Derek..." she said. "And everyone thinks I broke up with her because she was pregnant with my kid. That's why everyone hates me in this place" he chuckled nervously. "Well I don't hate you" she smiled sweetly at him. "I know, and thank you, really" he gently grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles.

Butterflies!

"Everyone says you used to be a really happy guy? What made that Derek happy?" she asked curiously. He paused for a moment and frowned as he leaned against the railings. "I don't know" he said in surprise. He really didn't know what made him happy anymore.

"Any hobbies?" she asked. "Fishing" he said. She smiled at him. "Then lets go fishing together" she grinned. He eyed her sceptically. "You want to go fishing with me?" he said in disbelief. She nodded eagerly. "You want to hike 10 miles with me, set up a tent in the wild with bears and snakes, and go fishing with me? McDreary?" he reconfirmed, only to be faced with an ever more enthusiastic smile. "Come on, it will be fun. And stop calling yourself McDreary" she said as she pushed him gently.

"I could ask Izzie to come with us, and her new friend Alex. That way it wouldn't be awkward" Meredith suggested. "Dr Stevens and Dr Karev?" Derek asked. Meredith nodded. "I've never met Izzie, but sure" Derek finally admitted defeat as the thoughts of him sharing his hobby with someone who actually cared warmed his heart.

Addison never liked fishing. And Meredith might hate fishing, but she was making the effort to try cheer him up and that meant a lot to him. "Do you realise how strange this is? You've barely known me 3 days" Derek said. She giggled as she turned to him. "I know enough. I'm spontaneous, so let's just live a little." she laughed. "And besides, I wouldn't say we're strangers after what happened at the bar-"

She was cut off by him walking away and laughing to himself as he made his way to Webber's office, leaving her to catch up with him. "Okay, no talking about the time we hooked up" Meredith thought aloud, only to be met with Derek's playful glare.

Without saying much more, they walked into Dr Webber's office and took a seat. "Well you two have become very familiar" Webber noted. They glanced at each other awkwardly, a small smirk falling on Meredith's lips. "I've had Dr Grey helping me out in my OR. She's very talented, and she's good competition" Derek said seriously.

Amongst the drunken one-night-stands, flirting, friendship and surgeries, they'd soon become lost to the idea that they were fighting for a job, their dream careers. Realisation dawned over Meredith. She'd never been so unfocused towards her career. She'd never forgotten her dreams. Being back in Seattle, she thought she'd be in her element, thriving, but what had she achieved in the last week? Fooling around with another neurosurgeon who, by the way, was in the running for the job she was promised.

"Webber?" she asked. "Yes, Meredith?" he looked to her. She coughed, "Dr Grey" she corrected him politely. "Can we work on an individual basis to present to the residents or is pairing up necessary?" she asked. Derek looked at her confused.

"Well I suppose. I just thought you'd like to get to know each other better but I suppose you already do. So yeah, work separately and i'll observe you both over the week. Let the games begin" he laughed as he piled up his papers.

Derek jumped out his seat, leaving the room quickly as he walked across the bridge. "Derek, wait up!" he heard her call. He rolled his eyes, stopping in his tracks. "What, Meredith?" he mumbled. "Are you- are you okay with us working separately?" she asked quietly as she stepped towards him.

"Yeah, whatever" he said as he turned to leave but she grabbed him again. "Derek?" she asked confused. "Look, I get it, you want this job, but I didn't think you'd throw me under the bus like that" he sighed as he leaned against the railings.

"What do you mean? I didn't throw you under any bus!" Meredith said defensively. "Then why couldn't we have just worked together on this?" Derek snapped back. She stood down, realising that maybe he was right.

"I get that you want this job, so do I, but I don't want your pity friendship, and certainly don't want it if you're going to stab me in the back along the way" Derek snapped. She stood there in shock. "Derek you're being dramatic" Meredith laughed sarcastically. "I tell you about my wife and best-friend and no less than 30 seconds later you're telling Webber you don't want to work with me. You were setting a boundary, I get it, but don't use it to get ahead." he furthered his point.

She didn't know what else to say, because he was right, but she was too prideful for that. "Well then maybe we just can't be friends" she said. "Maybe" he mumbled. There, she'd made her choice. Career over friendship.

She watched him for a moment, hoping he'd change his mind, but he never did.

"And for the record, Derek, maybe there's a reason Addison left you"