I know, I know. Those of you that read Taking Time are going, "What the hell? She should be working on the next chapter of that not a new story!" Yeah, well…so what. I'm losing my edge on Taking Time, maybe due to the lack of reviews, maybe due to the fact that I'm not able to watch Gilmore Girls on its regular night due to one of my college classes. Regardless, I'm now incredibly addicted to Grey's Anatomy and I thought of this idea that seemed spectacular to me. You might hate it, but give me a chance, will ya? Trust me. I'm good at this. ;) (I'm not cocky, I swear.)

Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's Anatomy, although I'd give my left leg to own Patrick Dempsey. I do, however, own the character of Ellie.

Takes place: Starting the day after Meredith dropped Doc off at Derek and Addison's in "Tell Me Sweet Little Lies".

Summary: With a surgeon on bed-rest (Bailey) and the nurses set to go on strike, Addison Shepherd calls in a favor from New York. The kicker is that there's more to this "favor" than meets the eye.

Chapter Title: "Here We Go" by Trina

Half Love

"Here We Go"

If no one ever took risks, Michaelangelo would have painted the Sistine Floor. - Neil Simon

January 25th, 2006

1:00 P.M.

"Ellie, please."

"Addison, I don't know…"

"We need you. One of our surgeons is on bed rest, there is a nurses strike that is about to go down…" The woman on the other end of the line burst in to laughter. "What?"

"Don't say 'about to go down' Addison. It doesn't suit you." Addison groaned. "Sorry, sorry…keep going."

"I was just going to say, if this is about Derek…"

"It's not." The woman said, cutting Addison off. "It's not at all about Derek."

"Oh, please."

"Okay, maybe it's a little about Derek."

"Look, I know you hate him because of what happened with him and …"

"Addie, I don't hate him. " She said, sighing. "He aggravates me to the end of the earth and on certain days I would like to strangle him…slowly…but I don't hate him."


The woman sighed. "Okay, but on one condition."

"Anything. You're my hero right now."

"Don't tell Derek I'm coming. And don't tell her either."

January 27th, 2006

7:00 A.M.

Meredith Grey padded down the hallway, only half awake. She'd spent the entire night dreaming about Derek, and Doc, and them living in the trailer with Addison. As much as she wanted George to stay rather than Doc, she'd hated dropping the dog off. It was just one more piece of her life that she was handing over to Addison Shepherd. As she walked back in to her room from the bathroom, she went in to a panic. How could she not have set her alarm? She had 15 minutes to get George and Izzie up, get ready, and get to Seattle Grace without Bailey…Meredith paused. Bailey was on bed rest. Meredith grinned and then raced in to Izzie's room to wake her sleeping roommate.

"What the hell?" Izzie sat up, rubbing her eyes and then glancing at the clock. "Meredith! Bailey's going to kill us!"

Meredith grinned. "Bailey is on bed rest." Izzie took a moment to register what Meredith had said, and then smiled. "We still have to be on time, just not on Nazi time. I'm going to go wake George." Meredith tiptoed down the hall and slid in to Georges room, opening and closing the door silently. She crawled on to the double bed, and lying down next to him, curled in the fetal position, facing him. "George…" He groaned and pulled the comforter over his head. "George, you have to get up. " George moved the comforter and opened one eye, then jumped back, both eyes wide, almost falling off the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Waking you up." Meredith said innocently, smiling and sitting up.

George glanced at the clock. "Bailey's going to kill us."

"Did everyone else forget the Bailey's on bed rest?"

George laughed. "Yeah, I did." He stood and began to strip tossing his shirt on to the bed and reaching for his waistband before realizing that Meredith was still in the room. "Out!"

"Oh, George."

"Get out! Just because you're having a good morning, doesn't mean the rest of us are. Move it!" Meredith grinned and left the room, leaving George standing near the window, his head against the glass.

8:00 A.M.

"We're getting some substitute resident from New York." Cristina said, sitting down next to Meredith. "Don't know who, don't know why, don't know when, all I know is, she's younger than Bailey, nicer than Bailey, and a friend of Montgomery Shepherds."

"Goodie." Meredith slammed her head back against the wall, the loud banging sound making Cristina jump.

"Doesn't that hurt?" She asked, inspecting the section of wall Meredith's head had connected with, and then inspecting Meredith's head.

"I've done it enough times, that no, it doesn't hurt."

"Eventually, it will start to get painful." Meredith looked up in to the eyes of Addison Shepherd, and managed a smile. "Thanks for the dog. There was too much room in the trailer."

"You took it. Give it back if it's too crowded." Meredith snapped, slamming her head against the wall again.

"I was joking." Meredith cringed. "It's okay. I get why you hate me."

"I don't hate you." Meredith choked out, her head still against the wall.

"No, I believe despise is the correct word." Cristina said, smiling maniacally at Addison.

"She's kidding." Meredith said, lifting her head back up. "I promise."

Addison shrugged. "Whatever. Look, I was going to go pick up the new resident at the airport, but I have a surgery. Grey, I want you in the surgery with me. So, Yang, can you go to the airport?"

Cristina looked at Meredith, and then back at Addison. "Seriously?"

"Yes. I would send Derek, but, well, the person that needs to be picked up doesn't want to see him yet. And I want Grey in this surgery. So, it's either you or O'Malley. Although, I guess you could go with O'Malley."

Cristina looked down and sighed. "Whatever. I'll go. What time?"

"Her flight gets in at 10:00." Cristina nodded and took a piece of paper with the flight information on it. "Thanks."

"Uh-huh. Um, how am I going to know who this person is?"

"I told her to meet me by baggage claim. She's blonde and she'll have a black suitcase. Or a few black suitcases. And, her name is Ellie."

"Ellie what?"

Addison looked at Meredith, who didn't notice, and then back at Cristina. "Just Ellie."

10:30 A.M.

Cristina leaned on George in the baggage claim, looking around for "Just Ellie". George's eyes were closed, and Cristina was drifting, both figuring, hell, if they can't sleep anywhere else, why not sleep here?

"Excuse me." George's eyes flew open and he took a step backwards, causing Cristina to stumble.

"Hey…" Cristina opened her mouth to rip on George when she realized why he had stepped backwards. "Are you Ellie?"

"Yeah. I just got off the phone with Addison Shepherd. Sorry I kept you waiting so long; I never thought she might send someone else to come get me."

"Don't worry about it." George said, looking down. "Is this all yours?"

Ellie blushed. "I know four suitcases is a bit much, but there was some stuff I really needed." George nodded and reached for the bags. "Oh, you don't have to do that. I can handle most of them on my own."

"No, let him do it." Cristina said, smiling. "I want to see how long it takes before he collapses in pain."

11:00 A.M.

"Meredith?" George came flying in to the locker room, running almost directly in to his roommate. "Have you seen the new resident?"

"No. I just got out of surgery. I'm supposed to go meet her. I guess she wants to meet all of the interns."

George nodded. "Yeah. She got to know Cristina and I on the way here from the airport. She's really nice, but…"

"But what?"

George sighed. "You'll see." The two interns walked out of the locker room together, and made their way down the hall in silence. As they reached the front desk, Meredith froze.

"No way." She grinned and raced towards the front desk. "Ellie!"

Ellie turned and smiled. "Hi kid!" Ellie wrapped Meredith in a hug and held her close. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Meredith stepped back and smiled. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Wanted to surprise you. Also, I didn't want McDicky to know." Meredith rolled her eyes and Cristina and George laughed.

"McDicky?" Cristina smiled. "So much better than McDreamy." Meredith hit Cristina's arm and rolled her eyes.

"Watch what you say." Meredith said, turning to Ellie. "He's still your attending." Ellie cringed. "Hey, do you have a place to stay?"

"Only if there's room at the house."

"There is. How long are you here?"

"I'm not sure. I have to check with Addison." Ellie looked around. "Is this everyone?"

Meredith nodded. "You already know George and Cristina, and then these two are Alex and Izzie."

"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm going to be your 'substitute resident' until Dr. Bailey gets back. I'm from New York, Addison Shepherd was my resident advisor, as well as my attending before she came here. My name is Ellie, but only in private. If there are patients or doctors at a higher station than me around, you will address me as Dr. Grey."

"You have the same last name as Meredith." Alex said, speaking before thinking.

"Thank you Alex. I hadn't noticed that. My full name is Eliot Grey, and yes, Meredith and I do have the same last name. First test: Can anyone guess why?"

George cleared his throat. "Are you her cousin or something?"

Ellie smiled. "Or something."

Okay, so what do you think? Huh? Huh?

Review please! I thrive on feedback!