Where You Belong

44

"You realize that in some states, including this one, this is considered stalking?"

"Come on, baby brother," Nancy said dryly, trailing along beside him. "You know you love me. And I just want to know what your life is like."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he forced himself to trudge along through the familiar halls of Seattle Grace, trying to formulate the best route of escape. He could always jump into an elevator and make himself disappear before she caught up, but if he was unsuccessful and she got into the elevator car with him, it was all over. The trick, he had learned at an early age, was to be discreet and wait for the perfect opportunity. If she – and she could mean any one of his sisters – caught onto his plans to escape, avoid, hide, keep secrets or do anything they didn't actively agree or participate in, he was screwed; escape was futile.

So, yes, escape by elevator was out of the question. But he did have an advantage over his sister that he hadn't had growing up. Whereas he and Nancy had been equally familiar with their childhood home, he was the only one with inside knowledge of Seattle Grace.

"I do have to admit that this is a nice hospital. When I pictured a Seattle hospital in comparison to New York I have to admit I was expecting something...less evolved."

"Ah, there's the East Coast snobbery I remember."

"You're certainly in a mood this morning," she shot back.

Derek groaned as he seriously considered jumping over the railing of the bridge as they crossed it. The reason he was in a so called 'mood' this morning was because his sister had shown up unannounced in his new life the day before, had caught him and his new girlfriend coming out of the shower together, and was now stalking him at his new job. Their conversation the night before – once all three parties were sufficiently clothed – had been okay...until Nancy had announced that she was staying with them at the trailer.

He had barely slept the night before; mostly because Meredith hadn't been sleeping and he had stayed awake beside her, worrying. Nancy had slept on the spare bed that pulled out from the couch, and with no barrier between the 'living room' and the 'bed room' of the trailer, Meredith had been terrified to touch him during the night, lest his sister catch her. So, she had lain awake, as close to the edge of the bed as she could. And he had lain awake on the other side, keeping his promise to keep his distance, listening to her shallow breathing and wishing he could reach out for her. And in the morning, when Meredith had gotten up early, he had offered her an out on an awkward morning by giving her his keys and telling her to go in early.

She had been grateful, he knew, even though she refused to even kiss him in the presence of his sister, and it had made him feel better...that he had been able to save her from another potential bad memory involving his sister. But it had led to one unfortunate situation.

He had been forced to ride into work with his sister in her rental car. And while Nancy's terrifying teenage driving skills had been downgraded to worrying in her adulthood, it, added with the fact that he hadn't had a break from his sister in hours, was making Derek pray for a page. Any page.

Any page, or even suspicious beeping sound in his near vicinity, that he could pretend to be a nine-one-one.

"So, do I get to see your office?"

"Whatever you want," he placated. Maybe he could lose her on the way. The stairs were an option, but he wasn't sure whether he could outrun her enough to get away. He may be able to make it to a restricted area, but doubted the security signs would even slow her down. Locking her out of his office was always an option, but that didn't leave him a method of escape, only avoidance.