Meredith grabbed Cristina's hand as she led the group out of the clearing and onto the final stage of the hike... she had decided not to tell Cristina just yet about the steps that she would still need to climb...
"You have got to be joking!" Cristina yelled out a short time later as they approached the steps.
"Oh man, that's just cruel to put steps there..." Will sighed as he stopped and stared.
Finn walked up beside Meredith, he too was out of breath and sighed, "You could have at least warned us."
Meredith gave a weak smile, wondering at the same time just how the hell she was going to get Cristina up the stairs.
"You will need to be careful when climbing the stairs," Derek said as he led the rest of the group to the bottom step. "I don't see any water on the steps, but still be careful of your footing and take your time."
"At the moment all I want to do is take a run up them and get it all over with," Meredith remarked.
Finn gave her a look as if to say she were crazy.
"Well I do seem to remember a bet the last time we were here..." Derek muttered out loud to everyone.
Meredith smiled as she remembered and then realised everyone was staring at them.
"The last time I was out here, someone in the group challenged Derek and I to run up the steps, call it a race to the top, only the steps were wet and it was too dangerous," Meredith explained.
"They are not wet today," Derek smirked.
Meredith glanced at the steps and then at Cristina. "Cristina needs my help to get up those steps; I did tell her we would be the first ones up."
"You still can," Derek challenged her. "We race up, leave our backpacks and then you can stand at the half way point and I'll stand at the bottom and we will get everyone up that way."
"Do it Mer, then we can all have an extra few minutes rest," Cristina sighed as she leaned up against the rocks.
"Go Miss Grey!" Shouted the students, much to Meredith's embarrassment.
"Ah but Ranger Shepherd you clearly stated no running earlier when we were on the boat deck," Meredith smirked back.
"That rule only applies if you are under the age of 21," Derek answered back.
Meredith rolled her eyes realising that she was not going to get out of doing this and within minutes she found herself standing beside Derek as they started to run up the steps.
Two minutes later and she could feel the familiar pain in her legs, she was cursing under her breath; she could hear Derek's laugh as they both reached the top at exactly the same time.
"Tie," Derek yelled back down to the rest of the group as Meredith stared ahead in front of her.
"Still gets you every time," Derek whispered. "I thought you would appreciate a few minutes to yourself..."
"Thank you," Meredith replied smiling as she watched Derek turn and walk back down the steps.
She waited a few minutes before walking half way down where she met Cristina who was muttering under her breath.
"This had better be worth it, I swear my blisters have blisters on my feet, I cannot believe I let you talk me into this you crazy moronic idiotic so called friend," Cristina stated to Meredith's amusement. "I can't breathe; my legs are killing me and holy crap..."
"What have you got to say now that you are at the top?" Meredith asked her friend as she led her from the top of the steps over towards a small clearing.
"Meredith..." Cristina turned and looked at her, the tears evident in her eyes and she collapsed into Meredith's arms.
They both cried. They both broke down and cried for their friend. Meredith had never seen Cristina cry over April's death, not even at the funeral, but she was crying now, and as she glanced up she could see the ten students all standing in a line staring ahead of them at the aquamarine lake that was filled with small icebergs. Mount Grinnell was towering over them, with its snow fields sloping down towards them. They all had tears in their eyes.
Finn just stood and stared as Derek stood beside him.
"This is truly beautiful," Finn whispered.
"It is," Derek said. "Did you know the teacher who died?"
"No, but from what I have heard she would have loved this," Finn replied.
"Give them another few minutes and then we will take the group photos," Derek said as he walked away and started to prepare for lunch.
Meredith and Cristina came over and joined the line as they savoured the view.
"Miss Grey, you were right, being here helps," Mandy stated.
"Do you know what the funny thing is?" Cristina laughed. "April would have climbed this hike, and sat down on that rock over there and pulled out whatever novel she was currently reading and just sit there and read. She would never even think to bring a camera, take a photograph or even just stand and take in the scene."
They all stood in silence for a few minutes until someone started to laugh and within seconds they were all laughing.
"I can't feel my feet or legs, but all Miss Kepfner would have been worried about was what was going to happen on the next page," Will yelled out as he laughed.
Meredith smiled her agreement as she saw Finn approach with the camera and quickly wiped her eyes.
"Okay it's time to prove to everyone back in Seattle that we climbed the Grinnell Glacier!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The lunch break was surprisingly quiet as everyone sat in a small area close to the steps. Derek had advised of a wooded area nearby that also acted as an outdoor restroom. It was the only place in the area free from poison oak and throughout lunch nearly everyone had quietly strolled over to the area.
They were due to leave the glacier in thirty minutes and Meredith glanced up from the map she was studying to see Finn stand with Will and Mandy as he pointed out various points of interest. Cristina lay beside her snoring.
"Well I think we are safe from bears," Derek stated as he sat down beside Meredith.
"That is quiet," Meredith answered as she nodded in the direction of her snoring person.
"Okay," Derek laughed. "You keep looking over at them, Finn and those two students."
"I'm not looking at Finn, I am keeping an eye on Will and Mandy," Meredith explained, "they are brilliant students but are easily distracted and are always sneaking off together and skipping classes."
"Then why bring them here on this trip?" Derek asked as he looked back over at them.
"Because this trip was their idea," Meredith replied. "They wanted to do something memorable to raise money for a memorial for April."
"They are good kids," Derek stated. "Normally school groups can be quite stressful. Small hikes like yesterday are workable with one ranger, but ones like today you really need two. One to lead and the other to install discipline."
"Was that why Bailey was scheduled to come along?" Meredith asked.
"Yes," Derek laughed. "Trust me you do not want to get on the wrong side of her."
"I can believe that."
"Most school kids don't want to learn, they just want to mess around and have fun, but your group...they are a pleasure to have around, I don't know whether to praise the parents or their teachers," Derek said.
"Praise the parents," Meredith smiled. "Self-praise is no recommendation."
"You did a great job in preparing them for this," Derek said as he looked directly at her.
"As I said I wanted them to know exactly what they were facing... that and the fact that I thought I could scare them into deciding not to come here," Meredith muttered.
Derek frowned and then lowered his head to the ground. "You did not want to come back?"
"Truthfully? No," Meredith answered. "Being here brings back a lot of memories."
Derek nodded his head and then cleared his throat. "To change the subject, do you still want to go sailing at Bowman Lake tomorrow? It is just I need to let the rangers up get there get prepared for tomorrow."
"Yeah, we may as well," Meredith muttered remembering the one time Derek had took her there and they had hired a small boat and went sailing on the lake, something they would probably be doing tomorrow.
"Or we could tire them all out again with a climb to Dawson Pass, Cracker Lake or the Highline Trail," Derek suggested.
"I think that if you value the use of your legs we should go sailing tomorrow and do another hike the following day," Meredith laughed.
"Every suggestion..." Meredith sighed as she remembered the hikes the previous summer – all with Derek. "Brings back memories but then again no matter where I go in the park or in the town it brings back memories."
"I know," Derek replied. "I feel the same."
"I would like to see Cracker Lake again and at least it would be easier in terms of elevation gain," Meredith suggested quietly, vividly remembering the sex they had along the shores of the lake.
"I can arrange that," Derek answered he too was remembering that day.
Meredith looked at Derek before turning to look at Finn who was standing at the other side of the clearing however he was not aware of the fact that he was talking to himself.
"Will! Mandy!" Meredith shouted as Cristina jumped awake.
Finn turned around and realised he was alone and quickly joined Meredith as they ran down into the trees in search of the two missing students.
Derek turned to Cristina before taking off. "Stay here with the rest of the students," he then quickly ran after Finn and Meredith.
"They cannot have gone far," Finn said as they walked through the trees. "They are probably taking a bathroom break."
"Oh wake up Finn, you and I both know what they are up too," Meredith snapped back. She was angry at Finn for not paying attention to the teenagers sneaking off, but mainly she was annoyed at herself at being distracted from watching them.
"Meredith," Derek said as he stood behind them and pointed. "Over there."
Meredith followed Derek's line of vision and saw the two teenagers kissing against a tree and she knew that if that they had been five minutes later they would have been interrupting more than just kissing.
"Will, Mandy," Finn yelled over to them. "You have exactly one minute to join the rest group or you are both in detention for the rest of the school year.
"How many times do we have to tell you...?" Meredith said ready to give them the full blown, "you are too young to be having sex speech," when she caught the look on Derek's face.
"Sorry Miss Grey," Will and Mandy both muttered as they walked past her.
"You will be because your latest escapade just woke Ms Yang and she will not be happy," Meredith stated.
"I will deal with them," Finn said as he all but marched them back to the glacier.
"What?" Meredith glared at Derek as soon as Finn was out of earshot. She guessed that their truce was over.
"How can you discipline them?" Derek asked staring intensely at her.
"Derek, they are underage," Meredith practically shrieked. "Of course I have to discipline them!"
"I take it you have forgotten about the amount of times we had sex against a tree," Derek whispered loudly.
"That was different," Meredith whispered back.
"Really? They are two teenagers who just want to have some fun, which I think is similar to what we had," Derek exclaimed.
It is different Derek," Meredith continued to explain, defending her actions. "We are adults, they are not. They are underage, that and the fact that I do not want to be held responsible for a teenage pregnancy when I am supposed to supervising them. We both knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into from the beginning."
"Did we?" Derek asked quietly.
"I was only ever going to be here for three months Derek, I knew exactly what I was doing," with that Meredith turned and headed back towards the rest of the group. Her heart was racing. She didn't have the guts to tell Derek, that she had intended to return to Glacier when the trial had finished. Only the moment she witnessed Derek accepting her father's bribe had put an end to that plan.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the hike back down to the jetty Derek was again leading from the front while Meredith stayed at the back, this time round Cristina was able to walk along the cliff face without any assistance.
Everyone was quiet. The constant chatter on the walk up to Glacier had been replaced with a peaceful quietness as everyone took in the scenery in front of them.
They were walking alongside Swiftcurrent Lake on their way to the boat dock when Derek stopped suddenly and signalled for everyone to move inland from the river.
Meredith walked down to where he was standing and saw the bear standing at the edge trying to catch a fish. It was probably the closest she had ever been to a bear and it freaked her out at just how calm she was.
"What do we do?" Meredith whispered to Derek.
"Tell everyone to be quiet, the last thing we want to do is disturb it. Grab your bear spray just in case," Derek whispered.
Meredith quietly walked back to the group and they watched as the bear continued to stroll along the water. It was the sound of a nearby flock of birds that had disturbed the bear and it suddenly bolted out of the water and into the bushes behind it.
Everyone looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Meredith looked at Finn and smiled.
"Tell me you got all of that on camera?"
"I did."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------They did not have to wait long for the boat and they were soon sailing across the Swiftcurrent Lake heading back to Many Glacier.
Meredith was standing at the front of the boat when Derek walked up behind her.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
"Why? It was the truth," Meredith replied as turned to look at him.
"You are an extraordinary teacher Meredith," Derek stated, "and they are underage."
Meredith smiled as Finn walked over to them. He was still excited about capturing the bear on video.
"I don't know about you but I could kill for a beer," Finn whispered.
"Oh yes," Derek replied.
"I would be just as happy with a well done steak," Meredith answered as Cristina now joined them.
"Are you feeling okay?" Cristina asked her.
"Well you have vowed to get drunk tonight and Finn is hitting the beer, one of us has to stay sober and supervise them," Meredith said nodding in the direction of the exhausted teenagers.
"I am not going to argue with you," Finn laughed as he looked at Derek. "We will be in Owen's tonight for dinner if you would like to join us? I think we owe you a drink."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Owen's bar/restaurant was full by the time they had arrived and Meredith was relieved that she had, had the sense to book a table for dinner. Finn had asked Derek to join them but he politely declined and sat at the bar instead.
As soon as Owen came out of the kitchen and saw Meredith he walked over to her and hugged her. "It's good to see you again Meredith."
"Thanks Owen," Meredith said as she introduced him to everyone and immediately noticed the look he shared with Cristina.
"I have one question," Cristina asked as she turned and looked at Meredith. "Is he single?"
"He was last year, I don't know if he still is. Why?" Meredith smirked.
"Because that is a real man, and not the pathetic wimps that I normally meet in Seattle," Cristina remarked as she grabbed her drink and headed straight for the bar.
Meredith looked around the table. Everyone was exhausted. She had picked the perfect night to supervise the group because she knew that the second their heads hit their pillow's they would be fast asleep. She sat in chair and simply observed the bar.
Cristina and Owen were flirting – no scratch that – they were practically jumping each other over the bar, whilst Finn and Derek were playing darts. The door opened and Meredith was surprised to see Carolyn and Amelia Shepherd come in and head straight towards her.
Within seconds Carolyn had pulled Meredith into a huge hug, something like the one mothers would give their children.
"Derek told me that you were back in town," Carolyn said. "I see the children had a good time."
Meredith glanced back at the table and saw that the three students looked as if they were ready to fall asleep.
"They have," Meredith smiled. "I am sorry but I need to get them back to the motel."
"I understand," Carolyn said smiling warmly at her. "I would like a chance to talk you before you leave. Even if it is just for a quick coffee?"
"Of course," Meredith replied as she waved to Finn.
"That and I still have some of your belongings in a suitcase in my spare room," Carolyn stated.
Meredith looked at the woman for a minute and then realised that in her haste in leaving West Glacier she had left some of her clothes and other belongings behind. "I had forgotten all about those. I will be sure to come and get them before I leave."
"There is no rush dear," Carolyn smiled as Finn walked over.
Meredith made the introductions but could not help but notice that Amelia had not said anything to her and she prayed that Derek's sister would not cause a scene.
"Okay everyone lets head back to the motel," Finn said as he walked around the table and gathered their belongings.
"I will go and pay the bill," Meredith said as she walked over to the bar and she noticed that Amelia had followed her.
"Meredith."
Meredith turned around and looked at the young doctor.
"I wanted to apologise for my behaviour the last time we met," Amelia said quietly.
"I would do the same thing if I thought someone had betrayed my sister," Meredith replied.
"How is she...your sister I mean, with the miscarriage?" Amelia asked.
"She is good. She and Jackson did not get married but they are still together... for some strange reason," Meredith stated and saw the confused look Amelia was giving her. "I don't like the guy."
"Ahh," Amelia replied smiling. "He missed you."
"Sorry?"
"Derek, I felt like killing him when I told him I knew about the cheque, but Meredith you have to believe me when I tell you that he has missed you. I have never seen him so lonely," Amelia explained.
Meredith looked over to where Derek had been standing and noticed that he was talking to a very drunk Callie Torres.
"I thought she was ill?" Meredith asked out loud as Olivia finally returned with her receipt of payment.
"Her father died yesterday and she is flying home to Miami tomorrow," Amelia told her.
"Along with a killer hangover by the looks of things," Meredith stated as she watched Callie fall off of the bar stool.
They both watched as Derek helped Callie stand up and then watched as she half fell and half hugged him. Meredith could see that Derek was embarrassed at what was going on but that did not stop Callie from planting a kiss on his cheek followed by pinching his ass.
Amelia frowned. "I think I had better go and help Derek get her home."
"That might be a good idea," Meredith answered quietly.
"I'll maybe see you before you leave...again," Amelia said as she turned and walked towards her brother.
Meredith looked over at the table where she had been sitting and noticed that Finn and the kids had already left and as she looked round she realised that Owen and Cristina had also vanished too.
As she lifted her purse she saw Callie throw her arm around Derek as he and Amelia tried to get her outside. She knew that Derek and Callie were just colleagues and good friends. In fact she even knew that Callie was a lesbian and that she was not interested in Derek, she also knew that the woman was drunk. It was harmless fun. But still she could not help but feel jealous that someone other than her was touching Derek in such a flirty manner.
She quietly left the restaurant and took in a deep breath of fresh air. She closed her eyes as she tried to remove the image of Callie and Derek from her brain.
When Meredith opened her eyes she saw that Finn and the students were standing at the traffic lights at the end of the road. She walked quickly down the street to meet up with them and by the time that it was safe to cross the road she was already holding Finn's hand.
