the world will still turn when I'm not around;

[noneoftherules]

"They've sucked the life right out of you. The Meredith I used to know -"

"Is right there. I'm right here. I just don't wanna sleep my way through Europe anymore, I wanna be here. I wanna be here

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[drownondryland]

The last few days have been weird. It's not that they've been bad, because they haven't, they've been good, but Meredith's still caught between being content and grieving, enjoying what she's got and fighting how utterly unsure she is all the time.

None of which especially matters at the moment, because right now, she's just enjoying the beach - even, fine, the sunshine - when she hears someone behind her. Glancing absently back over her shoulder, her first reaction is a wave of irritation, of not wanting to deal with Emma again. A second look, though, is enough to make her rethink that, because this? This isn't someone dressed for island weather (plus she actually is dressed).

"...Die?"

This really isn't a mistake she wants to make twice in one week.

[noneoftherules]

Meredith Grey's is not the first voice Sadie expects to hear - not even close - but it is a voice that she would recognize anywhere, regardless of how much time has passed since she last heard it. It just so happens that she heard it not too long ago, and it wasn't exactly please with her then.

It isn't the sudden sound that catches her off guard as much as it is Death's tone. Considering the argument they just had, Meredith sounds a little too... well, a little too Death. Too much like her old best friend, not enough like the bore she's become in recent years.

Combined, this is all enough to distract Sadie from the very real fact that she has know idea how she found herself on this beach - which, for the record, couldn't possibly be anywhere near Seattle - and has likely gone completely insane in the last half hour. Instead, she turns toward the source of the voice and asks, "Death?"

[drownondryland]

Any trepidation left in Meredith vanishes entirely at that, and she starts toward Sadie, breaking into a grin and picking up speed as she goes. "Die!"

This is so much better than dealing with yet another lookalike, a welcome relief from constant loss, and she reaches to rest her hands on Sadie's arms as she reaches her, lit up. So maybe every person she gets is one more she'll lose; right now, it just means she's got another tiny piece of her life back, even if it's a life she left behind a long time ago. "Oh my god," she says, a little awestruck. There's a difference between thinking Sadie's around and it actually being true, and it's a welcome one. "Look at you. I can't believe you're really here, hi."

[noneoftherules]

"I can't believe it either." Despite herself - despite the circumstances, despite everything - Sadie lets out a laugh. There are things she should say and ask. Meredith isn't forgiven, even if it does feel better to forget anything happened and laugh with Death than to hold onto that memory and carry a grudge. Are you alright? is among the first questions that come to mind. There's a very real likelihood that Meredith hit her head sometime in the past hour or so. But all that comes out is: "Where exactly is here?"

[doubleomalley]

"Uh..."

The few months he'd been around, George had the pleasure of not having to do the Welcome speech, or see anyone arrive. Knowing he'd shown up the same way in front of Meredith didn't really change much.

People weren't meant to just pop into existence like that.

"Hi?"

Maybe he wasn't really cut out for this greeting thing.

[noneoftherules]

Oh, Christ.

Not only has she gone off the rails entirely, but now Sadie's subconscious has seen fit to give her O'Malley, of all people, to keep her company. She'd almost rather be her physical self right now, staring off into the distance surrounded by four padded walls in wherever it is they've had her committed. Because this? This doesn't just happen, not outside of sci-fi films, and Sadie is pretty sure she's not a fictional character. If she were, she'd be starring in a medical drama of some sort, the kind without any form of paranormal activity. Unless the writers are that desperate and the show's already gone on for fifteen seasons, but the point is, Sadie Harris is up to 95% certain that she isn't really standing on a bright, sunny beach right now. She was in Washington just a moment ago, and chances are she's still there now, while her mind is... here.

Damn. She'll never make it to Europe at this rate.

"What do you want?"

[doubleomalley]

George's hands immediately went up in a defensive posture, not taking the chance that this was another version of Emma Frost (though the clothes said not) to earn his wrath from.

"A little politeness, maybe? I was going to ask if you needed any help. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're kind of...on a beach..."

[noneoftherules]

"Politeness? From me to you?" Sadie's indicated just how little inclined she was to be civil towards George. What had he done to deserve anything from her, aside from narcing on her to hospital administration?

"Yeah, I noticed. What I don't understand is why you'd want to help me." God knows how well it had worked out that last time he'd tried to 'help' her.

[winewomenand]

Goodfellow, who had been returning to the beach for hours each day, near to where he'd arrived -- as if just being there might improve his chances of no longer being there -- had been currently laying on a makeshift beach-towel made of his suit-coat. The large Fendi glasses over his eyes weren't even lifted as he opened his mouth, without turning his head, which was pillow on top of his folded arms.

"You are in my sun, sweetcheeks."

[noneoftherules]

"What?" Sadie spun around (as much as one could spin with their boots buried in the sand) toward the source of that voice. She'd never heard before, nor had she laid eyes on the man to whom it (presumably) belonged. Naturally, she felt herself deserving of some goddamn answers. "Who the hell are you? Did you bring me here?"

[winewomenand]

Pressing himself up on his elbows, Robin left his sunglasses to slide down the length of his pointed nose, staring at the woman in his sun over the dark rims now with a look that blatantly questioned her intelligence.

He laced his fingers lazily over his bare stomach.

"What: you are in my sun. Who: you show me yours and I will show you mine. Me: hell no. But thank you for the compliment. I do look like a supremely powerful god-like being on my good days."

[noneoftherules]

"We're on an island," Sadie pointed out. "Plenty of sun to go around." Still, she stepped off the side, hardly in the mood to argue with a stranger who could very possibly exist solely in her mind, along with the island in question.

"And you're hot, sure, but I'd have asked that of the first person I saw regardless of what he looked like."

[playingtheenemy]

At nine and some change full months pregnant, Ainsley supposed that she shouldn't just be walking around, especially considering her need to be resting, but she had been resting for weeks and weeks and the beach was so close and she just wanted to walk a little. So she'd snuck out while Shadow was away and was having a leisurely walk when she saw the figure on the horizon. She shielded her gaze and tried to squint, but it was definitely a person.

A swearing person, which usually meant sand in their clothes or new. "That's usually the sentiment," she agreed as she kept her gaze on the girl.

[noneoftherules]

Sadie turned. She wasn't sure who she had expected to find - that voice was in no way familiar - but this wasn't it.

"What sentiment is that?" She asked, because making sense of anything else was proving impossible at the moment.

[playingtheenemy]

Ainsley pushed forward, liking to get some exercise even in her state. "Well," she said with a critical eye roaming over the woman. "You look like you aren't out here to spend a day on the beach. I mean, don't mind me saying, you could be a strange beachgoer in those clothes after all, but I'm going to guess that it's a no. So then, logically, the next thought is that you're here and don't mean to be."

[noneoftherules]

She wanted to believe that she had gone insane - what other explanation could there be, really? - but this woman was making it incredibly difficult. She looked like no one Sadie had ever met before, and reminded her of no one she particularly wanted to remember. Another in a long line of failed female role models. No one her subconscious would cook up. At least, she didn't think so.

"Where don't I mean to be?" She asked, because the last thing she needed was a play-by-play of this woman's reasoning. She wanted answers. "Where the hell am I?"

[noneoftherules]

Sadie jumped back. She was startled, confused, angry - you name it - and having a stranger creep up on her like that did nothing to help.

"Transported to a WHAT? Who the hell are you?" Needless to say, she didn't take his hand.

[noneoftherules]

For a few moments, Sadie could do nothing but stare; Ishiah had caught her completely off guard. There was nothing more unsettling than someone remaining completely calm while she was freaking out.

"Much in the same way? What does that mean? You just stumbled out of a cab and ended up here? And... and night! Night just turned to day, just like that, right?"