Twice the trouble

Summary: One moment, Alex and Meredith were in an accident and when they woke up, it's 2005. Back to Seattle Grace. (S15 → S1) Merder, Jolex, etc.

A/N: I had this crazy idea while I was writing my other fic so I decided to pen it down and I did not expect it to become a story. There may be some serious parts but It's pretty much a parody/crack-fic so knock yourself out...

On another note, there are minor mentions of other pairings (eg. Merluca) but rest assured, all the pairings I mentioned in the summary will come to fruition in the coming chapters.

Chapter 1: Alex, where are we?

"It's not wrong to move on..."

Meredith stared at the tomb wistfully. The rain was pouring, drenching her from head to toe, the umbrella held up by Alex was not doing any justice to cover them both up. The whole sky was engulfed by grey swirling clouds. The dark clouds occasionally lit up as a haphazard line of lightning struck across. The wind increased in intensity, trees bent precariously to one side as though they were going to topple over. It was the time of the year, Derek's death anniversary. Every year, Alex would accompany her to visit while she left her children with Maggie.

"It's hard… Even with Nathan, I couldn't. Deluca… Andrew reminds me so much of him. A younger Derek…" Meredith stooped down to place a white rose with a tight smile. Alex held her hand, squeezing it tight.

"The kids are doing great. Zola's starting elementary school. She's really bright and smart,... says she wants to be a neurosurgeon like you. Bailey's quiet and he looks so much like you. He always uses 'funny' before starting a sentence. It's adorable. Ellis is growing up so fast… surprisingly she looks so much like my mother," Meredith laughed bitterly, ignoring the blend of tears and raindrops falling down her cheeks. "I miss you… I wish I could see you..."

Flashes of lightning lit up the darkened sky followed by cracks of thunder as though in reply. Getting up unsteadily, Alex slung his arm over Meredith smaller form, pulling her closer, under the small covers of the umbrella. As the occurrence of lightning and thunder became more frequent and the howling of wind grew louder, Alex quickened their pace to make a dash to the car.

Alex drove slowly in the pouring rain. The sound was quite unsettling. The previously distant rumbling of thunder grew louder and louder. The white blur of rain had reduced the visibility to a few feet. The noise of rain on the roof of the car was so loud that it drowned the sounds of the radio.

"How's Jo?" Meredith tried to ask.

"Still the same, I wish she'd open up to me. Ever since she visited her birth mum, she hasn't been the same…"

Suddenly they heard a loud roar above the rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning were dangerously close to their location. Not wanting to be stuck in the middle of the storm, Meredith finally spoke up, "Could we go a little faster?"

Despite the dangerously low visibility, Alex saw no harm in what she said. After all, there were barely any cars on the road leading to the cemetery, especially so in this rain.

"WATCH OUT!" Meredith screamed. Sounds of tyres screeching and metal hitting each other overpowered the sounds of thunder. And then it all went pitch black…

Beep… beep… beep…

As sounds began to become more audible to her, she struggled to open her eyes.

"... Grey… Miss Grey... Can you hear me?"

Blinded by the sudden lights, Meredith shut her eyes again and blinked before getting used to the light intensity. Hands by her sides she tried to lift herself up but couldn't feel her arms.

Noticing her struggling, the man that was by her bedside helped her to sit upright.

"Wha.." She cleared her throat as she heard the croaking of her voice. The man passed her a glass of water as she took a sip to clear her parched throat. She looked at the unfamiliar nurse but noticed the familiar scrubs from the hospital, "Wha… what happened?"

"You fainted during the intern's mixer," he replied as she carried the normal procedures to check up on her before leaving the room.

Sure her memories were a little cloudy but an intern mixer? That was months ago. Pulling herself together, she laid back down as she tried to recollect what had happened. Lightning… thunder… bright lights… screeching… crash…

Car accident!

'Alex!' She recalled her best friend who was in the car with her. Struggling to get herself up to find her best friend, she succumbed to exhaustion.

A few hours later, she awoken from her slumber, regaining her lost energy. A short woman in light blue scrubs appeared by her bed while flipping charts, "You're good to go. Take a rest for the week. Lots of fluids."

As the woman finally looked up, Meredith studied the very familiar looking face of the woman standing by her bed. She took a closer look, scrutinizing every detail of the woman. She looked different, really different from the woman she saw a day ago. Not letting go of her curiosity, she finally asked, "You look really young."

"Of course I am young. I just recently hit my thirties," the woman walked away dismissively before calling for another man to process her release forms. Meredith shook away the sinking feeling she felt in her stomach but her eyes widened as a familiar looking man approached her bedside.

"Hi, umm... are you alright?" Meredith couldn't help but gape at the man before her, entirely confused by the entire fold of events. Was this a dream? Like the crazy sex dreams she had been having nearly a year ago about Link, Koracik and Andrew. Meredith was thrown out of her daze as she heard the man continue speaking, "I'm sorry I should have introduced myself. I'm George O'Malley, uh, we met at the mixer, you had a black dress with a slit up the side, strappy sandals…"

Meredith replayed the words over and over again in her head. Dejavu. The same exact words that was said by the same man at the intern's locker. That was more than a decade ago. A name that has not been said for years. Meredith began spluttering, trying the form coherent sentences but failed miserably.

"I'm sorry. Now you think I'm gay. No, I'm not gay, it's, ah, it's just that, you know, you were, I mean, you were very, unforgettable. And you suddenly fainted so I wanted to make sure you're alright…"

She got up and walked away leaving a George to call after her, "Wait you haven't signed the release forms yet." She had to clear her head. As Meredith walked through the hallways. She was hit by nostalgia at the familiarity of the place, as if it had never been renovated after the storm. As she blended among the sea of people, she finally reached the familiar hallways leading to the main nurse's station. Staring at the wall, she could hardly believe it. 'Seattle Grace Hospital' it read.

This is one of the most realistic dream she had. "Grey!" she turned her head to see the familiar woman who had given her the consent to leave the hospital with presumably an intern tailing her, release forms in hand. Knowing the drill, she grabbed the forms from his hands and signed it.

"Not even my interns yet and already causing problems," The woman muttered under her breath after grabbing the forms and walked away. Dream Bailey and real Bailey were still the same, she smiled amusedly.

Not knowing what to make of the situation, Meredith decided to hail a cab to get out of the hospital. She had to figure things out. Noticing the hospital, the roads, the city, the details were surprisingly accurate. None of her dreams were this vivid unless they were nightmares, like the haunting of the plane crash, Derek's death, the bombing incident… And maybe the sex dreams. But this was… for a lack of better words, a normal dream. It was boring, it was too normal.

Meredith finally reached her porch and entered the house. It was empty, dusty, boxes piling up starting from the doorway as if she never moved in before. No Maggie, no Amelia, no Zola, no Bailey and no Ellis. Not a hint of their presence or existence was found as she combed the house. Meredith did not know how to take it, was she in a dream or a nightmare? When she found a mirror, she took a good look at her reflection. Gone were the wrinkles by her eyes, she looked really young. As her hands reached up to touch her face, she recognised the smooth complexion she had from ages ago.

Sudden realisation dawned on her. She could feel. She could actually feel her skin. It was too realistic to be a dream. She pinched herself on the arm and all she felt was a sharp pain. But it was there, the feeling of pain. Not emotional pain, but physical pain. She was alive and by the looks of it, she was somewhere in the time before she even became an intern.

She had to find Alex.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the doorbell ring. There at the door, a young frat looking boy was leaning by the doorway.

"Alex?" she said hesitantly.