Calliope Torres liked to think of herself as a badass. Fuck, Calliope Torres was a badass. She worked with bones for a living. As an orthopedic surgeon, you had to have a strong stomach and at least some upper body strength for pushing bones back into place.
She had a string of lovers while working at Seattle Grace Hospital. She got married to George O'Malley. She slept with Mark Sloane one too many times for her liking. Hell, she even had a brief lesbian fling with super-bitch Erica Hahn who, as odd as it was, helped Callie realize her attraction to women and her bisexuality. So when the cute blonde started to work in the pediatric unit at the hospital, she was naturally curious.
The blonde, she learned, was Arizona Robbins. Arizona Robbins was not Callie's usual type. Arizona was perky. Almost unbearably so. She called children the 'tiny humans'. She wore trainers with wheels attached. No, Arizona was not Callie's usual type. Which is why she was so confused when she found herself thinking of the blonde at really inappropriate times. Like during surgery.
Unlike her previous partners, Callie could tell Arizona was different. George had cheated on her. Mark Sloane was a known womanizer. And Erica… Well the less said about her the better. Callie could just tell that Arizona was a good person. Nobody that perky could have a bad bone in their body. And Callie decided that she'd just love to find out if her hunch was right.
Callie sat in the canteen listening to Meredith Grey and Christina Yang bicker over something stupid that neither of them really cared about. They were like an old married couple and the group had long decided to just leave them to it when they got like this.
"Hey, Sloane." Although Callie and Mark had slept together, they were still best friends.
"Afternoon." Mark placed his tray in front of an empty seat at their table and pulled out the chair. He slumped down in it and opened the lid of his coffee. He looked at the arguing women opposite him and raised an eyebrow. "What are they fighting about now?" Callie shrugged.
"Beats me. I've tuned it out." She finished her sandwich with one last bite and set the corner on the plate. "Busy morning?" Mark looked exhausted. "
"You could say that. Just minor stuff. I've been back and forth all day." He wiped a hand over his forehead and focused on his meal.
"Anything from peds?" Callie asked hopefully. She tried not to let her keenness show, but she couldn't. Mark saw right through her. He smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Torres, I'm not going to be your stalker for much longer. No, I haven't seen hot doctor today. No, I don't know if she's seeing anyone. And no, I don't know if she's into women or men." Callie pulled a face at him and crossed her arms. "Don't look at me like that. If you want to know, ask her. There's not much I can do for you."
"Oh come on! You of all people would be able to find out if she's gay or not! You're Mark Sloane! Help a girl out!" Callie hated to beg. Especially to Mark Sloane. But this was serious business. She couldn't get the blonde out of her head and it was driving her crazy. Mark grinned more at her desperation.
"Sorry! You're on your own from now on. Get down to the board, we're swamped today." Callie pouted at him and stood up.
"I hate you Mark." She started to walk off.
"You too, Torres!" He waved after her, not looking up from his lunch.
"Afternoon, Chief!" Callie powerwalked past the chief of surgery to get to the board. "Oh, hey!" She made a sudden halt and turned on her heels. "Chief!" She called him back. "I was wondering. Is Doctor Robbins from peds in today?"
"I've seen her around, yes. Why?" Richard eyed her suspiciously. Callie was acting shifty.
"Oh, I just…" She struggled to think of a reason. "I just needed to talk to her. Thanks!" She smiled and rushed off away from him.
Reaching the board, she glared up at it, searching for her name. She was so caught up in looking she didn't notice who stepped up next to her.
"I want you." The voice stated. Callie tore her eyes away from the board and jumped when she realized the voice came from nobody but Arizona Robbins herself. "That okay?" The blonde stifled a giggle when she noticed Callie's heartbeat race.
"Yes!" She said, a little too quickly. "I mean, yeah." Callie realized the blonde probably meant a patient. "What's the case?" She tried to act completely normal as she spoke to the shorter woman. Arizona noticed that the brunette was flustered and smiled to herself.
"9 year old girl. Fell out of a tree in her garden and broke her leg. Looks nasty." Callie looked down into the blonde's blue eyes, not really taking in what she was saying. "Doctor Torres?" She waved a hand slowly in front of Callie's face. Callie snapped out of it immediately and tried to recover herself.
"Uh, right! Yes."
"Yes to what?" Shit. Callie had been so caught up in staring at Arizona that she hadn't heard a word. 'Yes' is usually what women want to hear, so she'd naturally just said it in the hopes of it being right.
"Yes to… Uh… The patient. I'd love to help." Her face flushed and she looked at her feet.
"Okay, let's go."
"Right." Callie decided it was best not to say much else to embarrass herself further, and followed Arizona to the patient.
"Hey, Kelly!" Arizona continued to follow the peppy blonde into a room. She looked down onto the patient and instantly looked for her injury. It was covered with a hospital blanket.
"I covered it up. It's icky." The small girl said, looking between Arizona and Callie with expectation.
"It's not nice, no. Are you in any pain?" Arizona took it upon herself to remove the blanket covering the girl's left leg. The girl shook her head, looking at her leg with a disgusted expression.
"Good. This is Doctor Torres, she'll be fixing your leg for you!" Callie caught eyes with the girl and gave her a warm smile.
"Call me Callie. Don't worry, your leg will be fine!"
"And you'll get a really cool cast that all your friends at school can sign for you!" Arizona added. She seemed more excited over the cast than Kelly was. Kelly's face dropped.
"I still have to go to school?" She whined, looking defeated. Callie and Arizona smiled.
"'Fraid so, girl! Where'd your mom go?"
"She went to call daddy."
"Okay, well we'll wait for her to get back before we explain everything, okay?" Kelly nodded. "Okay, can Callie take a look at your leg for a minute?" The young girl nodded again and Callie took it upon herself to examine what she had to work with. She called Arizona out of the room to tell her the plan.
"Looks simple enough. We just need to clean it and it's just going to be a regular set and cast." Talking to the blonde when there was something to talk about was a lot easier than just trying to make basic conversation with her. Callie could focus on the patient and not on Arizona naked. "What are you staring at?" Callie noticed the blonde had a bemused look across her face.
"Nothing! You've just got-" Arizona stepped forward and Callie instantly leaned back away from her, not knowing what Arizona was doing. Arizona stopped in her tracks. "You've got an eyelash." The peds doctor finished, cautiously reaching back out. "Lemme just…" Callie stood normally, out of her defensive state. Arizona brushed across her cheek with one finger, wiping away the eyelash. Callie closed her eyes instinctively at the blonde's touch, repressing a shudder. Arizona stepped away and looked at Callie's eyelash on her finger. She blew it gently. "Sorry."
"Thanks." Callie replied, confused. Why was she wiping away her eyelashes? The tall brunette didn't dwell too much on it, thinking her crush was just being nice and hoping it was something more.
"Sloane." Callie caught up with her best friend when she got out of surgery. "Help."
"Walk and talk, I want to get to my car before I'm called on for something else."
"Okay, well." Callie strode along next to him, not struggling at all to keep up. "I was in a surgery with Arizona today." She blurted, knowing she didn't have much time before Mark reached his car.
"Arizona?"
"Hot peds surgeon!" Callie almost shouted in exasperation. She lowered her voice immediately, looking around them to make sure she hadn't caught anybody's attention. It didn't seem like she had, so she carried on. "She blew my eyelash." Callie almost whispered as they exited the hospital.
"Why did she blow your eyelashes?"
"Focus, Mark. She took it off my cheek and blew it away. What does that mean?!" They trotted along the car park.
"I don't know, Callie. Maybe she just doesn't like it when people have eyelashes on their face."
"Do you think she's interested?"
"TORRES." Mark stopped next to his car. "Please. I don't know. Just ask her out and get it over with. I don't know how to help you." He put both his hands on either of her shoulders. "You're hot. You're sexy. You're beautiful. Even if she likes dick, she'd be crazy to turn you down. Go for it and for the love of God tell me everything when you nail her." He winked at her and opened his car door, sliding into the driver's seat and closing it behind him. He rolled down the window. Callie was not impressed.
"One does not 'nail' a woman like Arizona Robbins." She sighed, folding her arms.
"One does not 'nail' a woman like Callie Torres, but I managed it." Mark mocked her with another wink.
"Go home, Mark. You're no help." Mark laughed mischievously and started his engine.
"I still want the details!" He drove off, leaving Callie standing alone in the parking lot before she could reply.
Callie went home that night, poured herself a glass of red wine and settled down on her bed with her thoughts. Before she finally found sleep, she came to the conclusion that she very much liked Arizona Robbins, and that she was going to try her hardest to see more of her. Their afternoon together had definitely stirred something in the brunette, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
The next morning, Callie woke up before her alarm. She brushed her teeth. She showered. She put on freshly washed clothes and made sure her make-up was perfect. If she wanted to catch Arizona's attention, she had to think outside the box. She could barely speak to the shorter blonde without tripping over her words and making a fool of herself, so if she were to try to find out if she was interested in women, she had to look hot.
"Christina, come on, we need to leave!" Callie rapped on the bedroom door of her roommate.
"I'm coming!" Christina replied, opening her door. She took one look at the brunette in front of her and shook her head. "Hot peds surgeon?" She asked. It was a rhetorical question. Arizona was all Callie had been talking about ever since she'd first noticed the blonde at work.
"She has a name." Callie corrected her, almost irritated.
"Yes. We know. Arizona. Ah-ri-zoooo-na." Christina dragged out Arizona's name, enunciating every vowel to show Callie that she'd heard just about enough of her.
"Yesterday, she picked an eyelash off my face and blew it away." Callie grinned smugly, ignoring Christina's annoyance.
"Good for you. I hope you're very happy together." She pushed past Callie. "Come on. Lots of surgeries!"
Callie had never before felt a day drag like this one. She had one planned surgery, which was pretty minor and she had finished that just after her would-be lunch. The rest of the day was spent doing rounds and lending a hand to everyone else that needed her. Unfortunately for her, the woman she desired most had not called for her help. Not once. The day came and went and Callie could think of absolutely no reason to track down Arizona and talk to her. She couldn't just go up to her and make small talk. That just wouldn't do. That would lead into an awkward silence and her looking goofy. Callie wasn't ready for that kind of embarrassment. She had been hoping for some kind of surgery in Arizona's unit, but there wasn't anything. Callie had a short break from helping everyone else, and she slumped down in the cafeteria on her own with a lukewarm cup of coffee. How was she meant to talk to Arizona if she couldn't talk to her? She drained her cup in three large gulps and set the empty container down. She didn't really have a reason to stay at the hospital. She hadn't had a real reason all day. She'd just hung around helping out in the vague hope that Arizona might request her. She didn't. So Callie sat. She sat in the canteen and wallowed in self-pity.
"Mind if I sit?" A voice from above her spoke and Callie didn't look up.
"Sure." She lifted a hand to indicate the empty seats around her table and fiddled with her empty cup with her other hand.
"Calliope?"
"Don't call me-" Callie looked up and found herself staring into big blue eyes. The big blue eyes of Arizona Robbins. "Oh." Callie stopped her irritated words and instantly felt bad. "I mean." Callie didn't mean anything and once again, she felt herself feeling stupid in front of Arizona. "Hi." She managed to squeak, trying to hide behind her bangs as much as possible.
"Do I intimidate you, Calliope?" Arizona rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward just a little bit. She tried her best to hide a smirk as Callie crossed her legs uncomfortably.
"Uh." Callie gulped back air. Her mouth was dry.
"I thought so." Arizona concluded, leaning back in her chair. Callie just stared at her, not knowing what to say. "You dated Erica Hahn, didn't you?" Callie's eyes went wide. She hated herself for not being able to form a coherent sentence in front of the blonde. She nodded dumbly.
"Yeah." Callie grimaced thinking about it.
"That bad huh?" Arizona asked, smiling. Callie smiled back. Something about Arizona made her want to open up and talk about stuff that she normally wouldn't talk about. She never liked to talk about her previous relationships. Least of all Erica. She just left. That was not okay.
"Stomped all over my heart and left, actually. So, yeah. Bad." Callie grinned to make sure Arizona knew she was okay talking about it. A silence washed over them and Callie thought about her relationships. When Erica left she'd just about given up on finding someone else. There's only so much heartache a girl can take before it gets too much. It was like Arizona had read her mind when she spoke next.
"You'll find someone you know?" The pretty blonde told her, standing up. She motioned with her head for the Latina to follow her. Callie stumbled as she stood up, not wanting to keep Arizona waiting. They walked side by side in the direction of the pediatric ward.
"You think so?" Callie asked after a little while.
"Think so what?" It had been a few minutes before either of them had said anything.
"That I'll find someone." Callie replied, a little embarrassed to be repeating such an insecure topic. Arizona grinned and halted in the empty corridor.
"You're very beautiful, Calliope. Any woman would be lucky to have you." The blonde was standing a lot closer to her than necessary, and Callie noticed it. Her breathing grew shallower at Arizona's words.
"Thank you." There wasn't much else she could say, really.
"I mean it. You're beautiful." Before she knew it, Arizona had leaned forward to close the last few centimetres between them, planting a soft, sweet kiss to Callie's lips. Callie thought she was going to stop breathing. Her arms hung limply at her sides, her fingers aching to reach out and pull the blonde closer into the kiss, but she didn't want to push it, as much as she wanted to. When the shorter woman pulled away, Callie kept her eyes closed. Until she realized that she looked stupid and opened them again to find Arizona smiling at her.
"Uh." Arizona giggled at the fact she'd left the brunette speechless.
"I have surgery. Thanks for walking me here." Callie watched as the girl who'd just kissed her turned on her heel and walked down a corresponding corridor. What the fuck just happened.
She pulled out her phone and fired off a text to Mark.
"Where are you? We need to talk. Emergency!" It didn't take long for her best friend to reply, telling her to meet him in the on-call room.
Callie raced straight to their regular meeting room and perched herself at the head of the bed, crossing her legs underneath her. She anxiously waited for Mark to show, needing more than anything to tell someone about what had just happened before she exploded. She didn't wait long, and Mark barged into the room.
He looked panicked.
"What's the emergency?!" He asked, sitting himself down next to her.
"You ran here, didn't you?" Callie grinned.
"Yes! You said it was an emergency!" The brunette laughed at him.
"I didn't know you cared so much."
"Of course I care! What's the emergency?!" Callie's eyes lit up.
"Oh my God, Mark!" She tried her hardest not to squeal. Calliope Torres did not squeal. She opted instead to flail her hands about in front of her, still grinning that goofy smile.
"What?!"
"She kissed me!"
"Who?"
"ARIZONA!" Mark's eyes grew wide.
"Tell me everything." Callie was more than happy to oblige, gesticulating wildly as she told him the story.
"Well I was sitting on my break on my own with a coffee and I just sat there thinking and then she just appeared next to me and I didn't know it was her so when she asked if she could sit down I just said yes and I didn't pay any attention and then she said my name and I looked up and it was her and she called me Calliope so I almost snapped at her because I didn't know it was her and then it was her and I stopped being irritated and we were talking and she knew about me and Erica and then she asked me to follow her so I did and then she told me I'd find someone because I was beautiful and she thinks I'm beautiful Mark! Anyway and then she just stopped in the hallway and repeated it and told me I was beautiful again and then she just leaned in and kissed me and then walked away to surgery and the first thing I did was text you." Callie barely breathed at all as she relayed the full story to her best friend, who just sat in front of her in awe, his mouth wide open as he comprehended what Callie was telling him. He eventually spoke.
"You're so hooking up with hot blonde doctor."
"Whoa, whoa. No. Nooooo." Callie held up her hands in front of her, facing her palms to the man on the bed.
"Why? You've been drooling after her for weeks!"
"I don't want to just 'hook up' with her!" Callie protested, making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "She's too good for that."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"You don't know her!"
"I know enough! She's incredible, Mark. She makes me talk to her. And I actually want to! She just brings something out in me…" Callie trailed off, staring into space as she thought back to her brief encounter with Arizona.
"Calliope Torres, you've got it bad." Mark teased, poking her shoulder with his finger.
"Don't call me Calliope."
"Oh so hot blonde doctor can call you it, but I can't?"
"That's right."
"That's rough. You're really going to let her call you Calliope?" Mark said, disbelieving. Callie didn't let anyone but her parents call her Calliope.
"She could call me anything and I'd still like it."
"Anything?" Callie raised an eyebrow at him.
"Don't you have surgeries to do?"
"Don't you?" Mark fired back.
"Get out, Sloane." Callie pointed towards the door with a grin. Mark patted the brunette's knee and left the room, leaving Callie to her thoughts. She lay back on the bed, stretching her legs out. She put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling with one thing going through her mind. Arizona Robbins.