Notes: This is a fanfiction based on characters from the TV shows, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice. This rewrites parts of the second season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. But this fanfiction tells an alternate story of what happens after Derek and Meredith have sex in the exam room at Seattle Grace hospital. Instead, it asks the question: What if Derek and Addison didn’t end things after Derek cheated on her with Meredith? What if they decided to give their relationship one more shot? This story and chapter were originally posted on Archive of Our Own on December 11th, 2021. This is chapter four so it is necessary to read the third chapter before moving on. This has been edited to include headings and images.
Start Again: Chapter 4
Derek and Addison took turns driving until they finally reached their new home in LA. It was a beautiful house with plenty of space and the beach was right in their backyard. But they were supposed to go to the practice to meet with Sam, Naomi, and the rest of the doctors. So they did just that. But when they got there, they were met with more opposition than they thought they would. They were excited, this was their new life, their second chance at being Addison and Derek again. But everyone at the office was tense. They were curt with their words and Sam and Naomi could barely look at each other. They knew the divorce was bad but this was just on another level.
After Sam and Naomi introduced both Addison and Derek in the conference room, everyone went their separate ways without saying another word. Derek and Addison looked at each other, confused at what to do next. Addison talked to Naomi throughout the divorce and she told her that they were friends, that they were mature, responsible adults about the whole ordeal. They had a daughter, Maya, and a practice they loved that they were running together. And they weren’t going to throw it all away just because they were getting a divorce. So seeing them passively-aggressively avoid each other wasn’t what they expected to see.
“I thought you said they were friends,” Derek looked at Addison after everyone left the conference room.
“I thought they were,” Addison admitted. She felt a little stupid now. Of course, they weren’t friends. And of course, things were tense at the practice. Frankly, it’d be a little odd if it wasn’t at least a little weird. But this was borderline hostile.
Derek Talks to Sam
“You take Sam, I’ll take Naomi?” Addison finally said after taking a deep breath.
“Divide and conquer,” Derek nodded and smiled at Addison. “Good idea,”
After they went their separate ways, Derek went over to Sam’s office to find Sam frantically typing away on his computer.
“You wanna tell me what that was about out there?” Derek asked coyly as he leaned on the door frame.
“I’m just trying to keep this place running,” Sam sighed and slouched in his chair just slightly. “After Naomi practically ran it into the ground,” he mumbled after his breath.
“Ahh,” Now things were starting to make a little more sense. This wasn’t about the divorce, not entirely anyway. This was about Naomi almost bankrupting the practice and not telling him about it.
“Well, I’m sure she didn’t mean to,” Derek said as he tried to defend Naomi.
“Yeah, I know she didn’t mean to,” That much, Sam could agree to. “But she could’ve at least told me about it. This is our practice. We’re supposed to be partners. Business partners,” He added.
“Yeah,” Derek said softly after a minute. He didn’t really know what else to say. He was right. But he wasn’t going to throw Naomi under the bus. Not when he knew there must’ve been more to the story. He knew that Naomi was probably freaking out about the whole thing and she probably just didn’t want Sam to freak out too.
Addison Finds Naomi
As for Addison and Naomi, things weren’t going too well with them. After Addison knocked on her office door and peeked in, she also kept herself busy reading patient charts.
“Hey,” Addison said as she stepped into Naomi’s office.
Naomi didn’t say a word back. In fact, she didn’t even look up from her charts.
“So…do you wanna tell me what just happened in there?” Addison asked nervously. But Naomi wasn’t giving her an inch. Instead, she kept her head down as she continued reading her charts. Or at least pretended to.
“Are you really gonna tell me that things are fine?” Addison joked. After Naomi refused to respond once again, it started to irritate Addison.
“Nai!” Addison had moved closer to her desk and tried literally snapping Naomi out of it. And it startled Naomi a little.
“What?!” Naomi asked, annoyed.
“What the hell’s going on with you?” Addison demanded. “I moved my entire life down here for you and you can’t even talk to me?!”
Naomi Tells the Truth
“I told you about the practice’s financial problems in confidence,” Naomi finally said. She knew Addison wouldn’t just walk away without getting an answer.
“And then you go off and tell Sam,” Naomi added, as she tossed her charts lightly onto the table and leaned back in her chair slightly.
“I didn’t realize it was a secret,” Addison said, earnestly. She knew Naomi handled all the administrative stuff for the practice, but she also figured that Sam would know about the practice’s financial problems. I mean, it was their practice. How could Sam not already know?
“Well, it was,” Naomi said angrily. “And after he talked to you, he decided to take over. Got everyone together and said that I was ‘relieved of my administrative duties’” she said as she used air quotes.
“And now, he’s pressuring everyone to make more money instead of focusing on our patients,” Naomi added.
“Well, you guys will need both if you want this practice to make it,” Addison said after a minute.
“Yeah, I know we need both,” Naomi scoffed. Did she really think she was that incompetent?
“I thought everyone buying into the practice was supposed to help with the financial problems,” Addison added.
“Yeah, it did,” Naomi said. “But it’s only to keep us afloat for now. What’s gonna happen next year when the balloon payment’s due again?”
Derek Proposes a Plan
Addison sighed. She knew the practice was in a bad place, but she also thought buying into the practice would fix things. So it was a bit of a disappointment to learn that it didn’t. In fact, maybe it made things worse. Everyone was angry and resentful, and apparently, Sam was pushing everyone to make more money. And it only aggravated everyone even more.
This was supposed to be her and Derek’s new beginning. And it was starting to look like it might not happen. At least not without some intervention. They couldn’t live like this. They couldn’t work at an office where everyone was angry all the time, where everyone resented each other. She knew she had to do something. Or that she and Derek had to do something. But they just got there. They didn’t have the right to just boss everyone around. They just met them. But when Addison left Naomi’s office and found Derek back in the kitchen, she could tell that he felt the same.
“We need to do something,” Derek said.
“Yeah,” Addison agreed. “But we just got here, we don’t have any power here,”
“No, but we can at least try to get everyone to deal with their crap,” Derek added.
“And how do you propose we do that?” Addison asked. “They barely even look at each other, let alone talk to each other,”
“That’s it,” Derek straightened up. “We just need to get Sam and Naomi in a room together. Make them talk to each other,”
“You’re right,” Addison agreed. “But I think we should get the other doctors on board,” She added.
“Why?” Derek asked. “The problem’s between them,”
Addison Fills Derek In
“Yeah, but their fight is affecting everyone else here,” Addison pointed out. “And I think the last thing we need is for everyone else here to hate us,”
“Wait, who hates you? I mean, I know they’re all not happy that we’re just coming in, but they don’t hate us,” Derek said. “They just don’t know us yet,”
“Nai hates me,” Addison confessed.
“Nai? Why? You guys are best friends,” Derek was confused.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Addison said softly. “But apparently the practice’s financial problems were a secret. One that Sam knew nothing about,”
“Sam didn’t know they were about to go bankrupt?” Derek was shocked. How could he not know? Wasn’t this supposed to be their practice?
“I thought it was weird too but I guess Naomi really does do everything here. It might be their practice but Sam might as well be just another doctor here,” Addison admitted.
“Or at least he was just another doctor,” Addison added.
“What do you mean by that?” Derek asked. This was getting more complicated by the minute.
“Apparently, Sam took over after he found out,” Addison said.
“What do you mean he took over?”
“He staged a coup,” Addison revealed. “He basically told everyone that he was the boss now instead of Naomi,”
“No wonder they’re so hostile,” Derek said after a beat.
“Yeah,” Addison said softly.
“So…” Derek took a deep breath. “Where do we start?”
The Other Doctors Get Involved
After that, they came up with a plan: Derek got Pete and Cooper to meet him in the kitchen while Addison got Dell and Violet. The last thing they needed was for Sam or Naomi to suspect anything so they figured the kitchen would be a safe place to hold a secret meeting with the other doctors. It wasn’t easy to get them all out of hiding in their respective offices, but they couldn’t resist. Especially when they said they wanted to “save the practice”.
“So what’s the plan?” Pete asked as he grabbed some snacks from the cabinet.
“Look, we know we just got here,” Derek started. “But it doesn’t take a genius to see that things aren’t going well,”
“Wow, way to sugar coat it,” Cooper said sarcastically.
“We don’t mean to sound demeaning,” Addison added.
“Well, you’re not doing a very good job so far,” Violet flashed a fake smile towards them.
“Look, the bottom line is, we know that things have been rough since Sam took over,” Derek finally said.
“Yeah, he’s been running around and shaming us with a board with dots on it,” Violet started to ramble and after seeing the confused looks on both Derek and Addison’s faces, she knew she wasn’t making any sense.
“What she’s trying to say is, Sam’s been really on us to make more money. But I…I’ve been failing miserably,” Cooper admitted.
“Yeah, and I bought a non-invasive cellulite reduction system…” Pete started.
“A defatalator” Violet interrupted.
“Yeah, a…defatalator,” Pete admitted. “But I couldn’t do it, it’s just not the kind of doctor I want to be,”
“Well, we want to help you get back to the doctors you want to be,” Derek said. “And figure out a way for this practice to make money,”
Everyone Argues
“And how are we supposed to do that now? I liked it better when Naomi was in charge,” Violet admitted. “At least she didn’t drive us to buy defatalators or do 15-minute consults,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, and what good is Naomi’s way if it’s gonna bankrupt us?” Dell countered. If he didn’t care so much about everyone else here, he would’ve quit already. But he wasn’t ready to let go just yet.
“Well, what’s the point if we’re just gonna be these money-hungry doctors that don’t care about their patients anymore?” Pete added.
As they argued, Derek and Addison looked at each other and sighed. This was their new life. And now that they were finally doing better, they weren’t ready to just give up and walk away.
“This isn’t helping!” Addison shouted, which got everyone to stop arguing.
“We just need to get Sam and Naomi in a room together, lock them in if we need to. And just force them to talk,” Derek added.
“You really think it’s gonna be that easy?” Pete scoffed.
“Yeah, I mean, people do interventions all the time,” Violet added.
“And they work?” Cooper asked. “I’m not mocking, I’m genuinely asking you, do they actually work?” he added after Violet made a face at him.
“Sometimes,” Violet admitted.
“We have to at least try,” Addison added. And they all had to admit that Addison had a point. They couldn’t just keep things the way they were. They had to do something. And maybe getting Sam and Naomi to talk wasn’t going to fix things completely, but it’d be doing something. Which was better than just sitting on their hands as things got progressively worse.
The Intervention
So, the next morning they all came to the office a little bit earlier than usual and met in the conference room. Addison even brought some cupcakes to try to soften the mood. And they waited until they heard the elevator ding and the doors open, revealing Sam and Naomi standing in the elevator together. But they stepped out and continued not looking at each other. Eventually, they both reached the conference room, where they always met everyone for the morning meeting. But when they saw everyone already there waiting for them, they both knew something was up.
“I thought we said no more secret meetings,” Sam said, bluntly. Apparently, everyone else had one before about Sam’s board of dots and he wasn’t happy that everyone (sans Naomi) was meeting without him.
“It’s not secret,” Derek insisted.
“Whose cupcakes?” Naomi asked as she saw them sitting on the table.
“These are for you,” Addison pushed the cupcakes in her direction just slightly.
“I, I don’t want cupcakes right now,” Naomi brushed her off. Clearly, she was still angry with her.
“Okay guys, what is this?” Sam asked.
“This is an intervention,” Violet said.
“Somebody have a problem that I’m not aware of?” Naomi asked.
“No, no, no, it’s for you,” Cooper explained. “For both of you,” he added.
“To get you two back…” Addison started confidently. “To the way it used to be. Our leaders, together,”
Sam and Naomi Fight Back
“You don’t even know what this practice used to be,” Naomi scoffed.
“No, that’s – that’s not gonna happen,” Sam brushed her off. After seeing Addison look a little defeated, Derek placed his hand on her back for encouragement. When she looked over at him, he gave her a look that said, “You can do this,”.
“Sorry, but no,” Naomi echoed what Sam already said. When Addison turned around, she saw everyone else give her some encouraging looks and she knew she couldn’t give up yet. Paired with Derek’s support, she found her strength again.
“Okay, I was being polite,” Addison gestured with her hands to stop Sam and Naomi from trying to leave the room.
“That is exactly what is going to happen,” Addison added.
“We canceled your morning patients, so you two are gonna sit in this room until you figure this out,” Derek said.
“And then, you are going to agree on a way to move forward with this practice, together as a family,” Addison started closing the doors.
“Don’t come out, until you’re done,” Addison added before closing the doors.
Everyone Goes Back to Work
After they all left Sam and Naomi in the conference room, the doctors all dealt with their morning patients. Given the fact that it was their first day, Addison met with a sweet couple having trouble consummating their marriage while Derek consulted with one of Cooper’s patients, who he suspected wasn’t actually autistic. Instead, Cooper suspected his patient might have acquired aphasia, which Derek knew a little more about than he did.
Then, a couple of hours passed and everyone else finished with their morning patients to find Sam and Naomi talking. Actually talking, in a civil manner. So everyone was hopeful that things might actually go back to being back to the way they used to be. Granted, Derek and Addison didn’t really know what that meant, but they knew it was better than what it was now.
“I think it might actually be working,” Addison mused. “Naysayer,” Addison directed her comment towards Pete.
“Well, at least they’re talking,” Derek added.
“It is what it is,” Pete added.
“What does that even mean?” Violet asked.
“You think we’re back?” Cooper asked.
“I think we might be back,” Addison said, trying to stay positive. Then, they all saw Sam and Naomi get up from their chairs and walk into the hallway where they were all standing and waiting to see what would happen to the practice from here.
“Okay, well we agree,” Naomi said.
“Agree on what exactly?” Derek asked as he sipped his coffee from his mug.
“We’re all gonna vote,” Sam announced. Everyone looked back at them, confused.
“My way or Naomi’s,” Sam clarified as Naomi raised her hand when he mentioned her name.
A Bad Idea
“What? No,” Addison exclaimed.
“You choose which one of us runs the practice,” Naomi clarified further.
“And we’ll abide by the decision,” Sam added.
“This is a bad idea,” Derek warned.
“This is gonna tear us apart,” Addison added.
“I warned you,” Pete said quietly as he leaned towards Addison.
“Look, you were right. We can’t keep on the way things have been going. So we will campaign fairly…” Naomi started.
“Right, no dirty tricks, no bribery,” Sam continued.
“Civil, democratic. The way the practice should be run,” Naomi added.
“Are you suggesting that I want anything else,” Sam said as he sensed Naomi’s accusatory tone. Derek was about to counter but Dell stepped up first.
Dell Speaks Up
“Do I get a vote? I mean, I am a part of the practice” Dell asked. He wasn’t a doctor at the practice but he was studying to become a midwife. Plus, he had plans to go to med school eventually. He just needed a way to pay for it first. But for now, he was just their receptionist.
“Yeah, of course, you are,” Naomi said sweetly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Right. I..I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Sam hesitated. He knew things got bad between Dell and Naomi when he helped her cover up their financial problems. But he also knew that Dell had had a schoolboy crush on her since he started working at Oceanside. And Naomi convinced him not to leave when he threatened to quit. So he knew getting Dell to his side may be tricky.
“So, uh, tomorrow, at the close of business,” Naomi started.
“Right, we vote. Tomorrow. Alright?” Sam said as both he and Naomi went their separate ways, leaving the other doctors standing there, shocked at what had just happened.
“This will not turn out well,” Derek mused as they all watched Sam walk away. Then, everyone looked at Derek and Addison, who both stood in the middle of everyone, gave them a look, and all went their separate ways.
“We’re screwed,” Addison added after they all left. They both took a deep breath as Derek wrapped his free hand around her waist and kissed her forehead.
“We’ll figure it out,” Derek said, trying to reassure the both of them.
Additional Notes
So a little longer of a chapter here and it obviously took a lot of plot stuff from Private Practice, specifically the first few episodes of season two. I’ll eventually come up with patients for Derek. I just have to do more research for those and I’ll probably take some inspiration from Grey’s Anatomy patients because I’m definitely NOT a doctor. But I thought it’d be interesting for him to consult with Cooper about his patient. Which is the kid from Private Practice 2×04 who doesn’t really have autism. Instead, it’s acquired aphasia, which does affect the brain.
As for Addison’s patient(s), it’s Kathleen and Jeffrey for fellow Private Practice fans. Also, in this AU, Dell never quit but he did at least threaten to quit because of Naomi’s poor leadership skills in managing the practice’s finances. But I actually really liked that that was how Addison became everyone’s boss. And it clearly didn’t work having Sam or Naomi in charge of Oceanside Wellness. But of course, I added Derek in there because this is still an Addek fic. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I’ll try to have the next chapter up soon (which will definitely still have a lot of plot stuff from Private Practice)!
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