LEGO HOUSE

a Grey's Anatomy and Rizzoli & Isles story

with

Callie/Arizona and Maura/Jane

CHAPTER ONE

Arizona Robbins knew that she could be a coward.

Despite the fact that her father – the Colonel – had raised her to be the good man in a storm, she had a tendency to run when things turned just a little bit too hard on her. He'd taught her how to stand up for what she believed in, he'd taught her how to care for others and never back down, he'd taught her… how to be the person that she really wanted to be. And she was proud of all those things; she did stand up for what she believed in, in fact she never backed down when she knew – knew – that she was right. She cared for others; and she spent most days surrounded by pain and agony, and yet she still managed to keep that smile on her face and make plans for tomorrow.

She was a good man in a storm, and she fought, she fought every damned day. But she was also a coward, because she was a runner. When things got hard: She ran.

She still hated that about herself. She hated that despite all of her good intentions, she'd somehow run in the opposite direction when life demanded something serious of her. Like commitment for instance. She'd spent the better part of her life running away from it on her Heelys, and still it had caught up with her.

She'd made a promise – a promise to honour and cherish the love of her life for all of eternity. She'd promise to take care of her and their daughter, and it was a promise she didn't take lightly. She'd abandoned Callie once before, but only to come running back a few weeks after; she simply hadn't been able to stay away. She'd tried to convince herself that it was for the better, and that they wanted different things, and that it would never work out between the two of them. But who had she been kidding? They might have wanted different things, but she loved Callie. Never had she loved another person more than her. And if anyone was going to change her mind about marriage and kids and an 'ordinary' life, it was going to be that fierce orthopaedic surgeon who fixed bones for a living.

So she'd come back. And even though everything had happened very quickly after that – a few years too soon for Arizona's liking – she'd never felt more afraid in her life than when she thought that she'd lose Callie and the baby. For the first time in her life, she'd stayed. She hadn't even considered running, because she knew then that it was for life. That Callie was the one person she was supposed to be with. So she'd stayed and everything had been close to perfection… until that stupid plane crash.

And from that day on, Arizona's life had been nothing but one big fight. She'd checked-out; she'd seriously left the building and expected Callie to pick up the pieces. And it wasn't even that; Callie knew how tough it could be to lose a limb, the other woman had been nothing but supportive, and yet… Arizona had decided to run anyway.

She couldn't even explain why she decided to turn the lock on that door and proceeded to undress the other woman. She couldn't even explain why she found Lauren so attractive to begin with; well, of course there were the obvious reasons. Lauren was beautiful, she was smart, and she was flirting with Arizona from the very beginning. Her brilliance had taken her a bit off guard – but it had been nice to feel that way again. Not that Callie wasn't all of those things, because… because Callie was amazing. And fantastic. But – she also wasn't on that plane, and she'd kept acting like she was, and as true as her intentions might have been, she just didn't understand and she never would.

She loved Callie, and she wasn't even going to make excuses for herself. She couldn't explain why she slept with Lauren, and she would never expect Callie to understand. Arizona didn't even know if she wanted the other woman to forgive her.

Just maybe – maybe Callie was right. Maybe Arizona wasn't the only one who'd lost something. Maybe Callie really had lost her. But… how could she be sure? It felt like she still loved her; she could feel it, deep within her heart, but she also couldn't ignore the way that she just… she hated her.

She'd been avoiding everyone at the hospital since the storm; anyone but Alex. He'd never judge her, and they worked, in unison, like they'd done for a long time, and Arizona had been sleeping at a hotel room and sneaking in to see Sofia at the day-care, because she couldn't find it in herself to ask Callie for a few hours with her after work. Not because she thought that the other woman wouldn't let her see their daughter – but because she couldn't bare to see her wife and the disappointment in her brown eyes.

She knew they had to talk about it eventually; figure out what was going to happen, discuss the options. But for right now, it seemed to suite both of them to ignore it and blatantly ignore each other. There were a lot of questionable looks sent her way, but she ignored it and did what she did best – tried to save the tiny humans.

Trying to remember the last time she was truly her usual cheerful self, Arizona came to the startling realization that she couldn't. As scary as it was to admit this to herself, she really couldn't remember. She'd just been faking it – faking it for such a long time. To please Callie, and to convince herself that everything was going to be okay, even if she'd been in a horrific plane crash and lost her leg. She couldn't even skate around the hospital anymore, and it felt like a part of her was lost because of that.

The blonde woman sighed heavily and fell back into the soft hotel bed. She glanced down at her leg, or what was left of it. Her prosthesis was placed against the wall, and she was happy to admit that she no longer resented it. She no longer avoided looking at her stump, and she didn't feel disgust by it. It was who she was now, and despite everything else – she felt lucky to be alive.

But if she truly felt that thankful, then why did she keep on hating Callie for making that decision? How could she truly resent her wife – her beautiful, smart, amazingly funny wife – for doing everything in her power to save the woman she was married to? To save the mother of her child when there was a possibility to do it? Arizona knew, deep within herself, that she honestly would have done the same thing; fought tooth and nail for Callie, just like she'd done once before.

Yet she still couldn't forgive her for it. She knew it was irrational, she knew it was stupid. It was nowhere near Callie's fault that she was in this position; it was the hospital's fault for sending them on that stupid plane. In those woods she'd actually feared that they were never going to be found; she'd had to talk to a scared pilot who couldn't feel his legs, she'd had to reassure him. She'd had to watch Mark as the life slowly seeped out of him and Cristina tried to safe him, stunned by what she saw on his chest. She'd had to listen to Meredith's hysterical cries for a week as she clung to the side of Lexi's dead body. Callie hadn't been a part of that – and she thanked God for that every day, because she would never wish that on anybody, let alone the woman she loved – but she hadn't been there, and she didn't know.

How were they ever going to come back from this? She knew that she'd made Callie believe that everything was OK, but truth was – it wasn't OK, and it hadn't been for a very long time. She wished that she could have handled it better; she wished that she could have been more honest with Callie and been stronger when Lauren tried to lure her into bed. A proposal she had – willingly – accepted in the end, because she just needed to… she just needed to feel. To let go and not think about anything anymore.

She couldn't even blame it on Lauren, but she was still thankful that the other woman was gone; that she'd travelled back home and wasn't wandering the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital anymore. Not that Arizona thought that she'd fall back into bed with her, but just … Just because it wouldn't be fair to Callie if she had to see her every day.

Arizona grabbed her iPhone from the bedside table. What she really wanted to do right now was curl up on her sofa with a good movie – something she and Callie used to do all the time – but she had practically none of her belongings with her at this point, and there was only one other thing that would usually help her in situations like these: A long talk with her very best friend.

She dialled the familiar number and tried to get comfortable in the bed. She hadn't talked to Maura for weeks, and the other woman didn't even know what had happened the night of the storm. Arizona knew that Maura would be disappointed in her; she adored Callie. She'd taken an immediate liking to her the only time she'd met her; at their wedding ceremony. She'd travelled all the way from Boston to be there, which Arizona had been thankful for, because she knew that Maura had a very demanding job and a lot of personal issues, too. She'd brought a brusque-looking woman as her plus-one, and Arizona knew that it was her best friend and co-worker, but unfortunately she hadn't had time to say hello to her.

Maura picked up the phone on the first ring, "Isles. How may I help you?"

"Hi Maura… It's me." She whispered, and as an afterthought, she added, "Arizona."

She could hear Maura laugh on the other end of the line, "I would know that voice anywhere, Arizona Robbins. It's been entirely too long for my liking. How have you been?"

Sighing, Arizona knew that it was going to be exhausting to talk about this, but she also knew that it would help her feel better, "It's a… long story. Is now a good time?"

"I have just gotten home from a particularly exhilarating yoga-class and Jane is coming by later for dinner." Maura told her, "I've got time."

Arizona felt relief stream through her body; just the mere sound of Maura's voice was able to calm her down during the hardest of times. It had always been like that; ever since the day they met each other. It had been a week before medical school started, and Arizona had gone with her parents and her brother to get sorted into her room. The day had been particularly hectic and she'd had to say goodbye to them after spending a summer at home, but when they'd finally left everything had been quiet, but nice. She'd had a few minutes to think about her new life at school, to wonder who this Maura Isles was that she was going to live with; if she was going to be weird or awesome, and if they were going to get along.

And then the door had opened and her roommate had walked in; looking impeccable in her gorgeous clothes and wearing a beautiful smile on her face. Arizona's first thought was that this girl was incredibly beautiful, and it had only intensified when the other woman had said;

"Hi, I'm Maura Isles. You must be my roommate Arizona Robbins? What an interesting first name, I'm assuming that you're not named after the state. There was a Robbins on the U.S.S. Arizona when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, is that perhaps the reason for your uncommon name? Was he a relative of yours?"

Since that day the two of them had been best friends. Arizona had immediately learned that yes, her new roommate was in fact very weird and quirky, but that she was also incredibly awesome – because she was weird and quirky. Her knowledge of possibly everything more than made up for her poor social skills, and Arizona couldn't have asked for a better friend.

All through medical school they'd had each other's backs through gruelling hours of studying, through hangovers and heartbreaks. Arizona had never had a friend like Maura; she hadn't even blinked when Arizona told her she was gay, and she'd hugged her tight and slept in her bed for months when her brother died. They were alike in many ways, but mostly, they weren't alike at all. Their fields of expertise couldn't be more different (and it was well known that one's speciality told a lot about a person); when Arizona had chosen paediatrics as her specialty, Maura had decided on forensic pathology. Their lives had turned out so differently too; where Arizona worked at a hospital saving lives of tiny humans, Maura worked with the Boston PD, doing autopsies and solving crimes. They'd kept contact though, always looming there, in each other's lives.

And Arizona couldn't imagine her life without Maura in it.

"Arizona?" Maura questioned, and the blonde could hear that she was already starting to sound worried.

She cleared her throat, "Yes. Yes, Maura, I'm here. You're going to hate me for this, so I need you to be super cool about it and help out?"

Maura paused, "Arizona, what did you do?" she just questioned. Her voice was cool and collected, and it was evident that she knew Arizona well enough to realize that something was up. "Arizona?" she added, pressuring her to talk in that persistent way. Arizona knew that, had she been able to see her face, she would have gotten the look as well.

"I cheated on Callie." She whispered, finally baring her heart to someone who wasn't just Alex Karev, someone she didn't just tell because of all people in that hospital, he'd be the one to not judge her. Even if she still disliked him for not being on that plane when he should have – instead of her. "I cheated on my wife, Maura, and I can't even tell you why."

Maura was oddly silent on the other end of the line. She wasn't one to keep her opinions to herself, and Arizona knew she must be thinking and taking some time to digest the information she'd just been told. "Does Callie know?" she asked her then. And there was no judgment in her voice, no condescending tone, even if Arizona knew that Maura loathed infidelity.

She breathed slowly in and out and tried to force herself to stay calm. "Yes. She found out almost right after it happened. I would never lie to her. I just – I can't tell you why, Maura, and now, now we're not even talking about it, and I'm living in a hotel room."

Maura questioned, "Are you going to split up?"

Arizona shrugged. She had no idea; she had no idea about anything anymore. Was she and Callie going to get a divorce now? She didn't want that – did she? Oh, she was just so confused right now! "I don't know if she'll forgive me. And there's Sofia to think about. She already lost Mark in the plane crash, and now this?"

"But I thought you guys were doing better?" Maura continued to question her, "The last time we talked, you told me that everything was starting to look up, and that it was going well for you with your prosthesis and being back at work. What changed?"

"I don't think… I don't think it really was good again." Arizona heard herself whisper, because that was the conclusion that she'd come to, the only thing she could get to make sense. "I just – I love her, Maura. I do."

Maura was thoughtful for another second, "You love her, but you still slept with someone else. Attraction can be a dangerous thing, Arizona. Take it from someone who knows what she's talking about. You can… love one person, but still sleep with someone else because it's easier somehow."

Arizona raised an eyebrow, well aware that Maura couldn't see the amused, though slightly intrigued, look she had to have on her face right that moment. What was going on? Arizona knew that Maura hardly ever had any serious man in her life, but she sounded awfully regretful right there. "Is everything OK?"

Laughing, Maura brushed her off, "Me? Oh Arizona, I am as fine as can be expected. I am busy with work and Jane and I, we have this case right now and it's proving to be a bit more difficult than we expected. I did find some very interesting DNA earlier today, so we're waiting to hear back from the lab." She paused and made a small sound, "But we're talking about you! Tell me what happened, will you?"

Swallowing, Arizona shrugged her shoulder, "She is a specialist, and she came to help me and Karev reconstruct a child's face. She was beautiful and smart, and she made me feel bubblier and more like myself than I'd felt in months."

"You have been sounding uncharacteristically gloom the last few times we've spoken." Maura observed in her usual way.

Arizona couldn't help but feel relaxed by the familiarity of her conversation with Maura; it was so easy and ordinary, and Maura just never ceased to put a smile on her face. She still tried to explain to her best friend, even if she knew it made her sound awful; she'd cheated on her wife, and that was her only explanation? But – it was the truth, and she couldn't lie to Maura. "I just… I just decided to let go." She whispered.

"Does this still have something to do with your leg?" Maura asked then, and Arizona would have been scared at how well she knew her; she would have been scared if it wasn't for the fact that Maura knew everything about her, and there was no question that she was the person who could help her. "Do you – perhaps – still resent Callie a little for telling them to cut it off?"

Arizona could suddenly feel her heart thud away in her chest; she was suddenly aware of how quickly it was beating, and of how chilly it seemed to be around her. She shrugged swiftly underneath the covers of the bed as she started to reply to the other woman. Logically she knew that Maura wasn't going to judge her, she knew that she could tell her everything. If anyone was going to listen to her and understand her for acting the way she had, it was going to be Maura. She wouldn't look down on her; she'd just listen and try to understand. But… she'd never dared say this aloud to anybody, because it made her sound like an ungrateful bitch, which she would really like to believe that she wasn't.

She huffed out a breath of air, "It's going to sound so awful, Maura, but… I do. I do still resent my wife for saving my life."

For a long time, Maura didn't say anything. She was completely quiet on the other end of the line, and Arizona was waiting in anticipation, trying to figure out what her reply was going to be. She never knew exactly what to expect when it came to Maura; there were so many possible – and plausible – replies coming from the other woman, and all she could do was hold her breath and wait. She didn't know what she was going to get, and it was scary, but she hoped it'd help her anyway.

When Maura finally answered, it wasn't exactly what Arizona had thought it would be, "You now own the hospital in which you work, am I correct?"

"…yes?" Arizona questioned, feeling rather confused at Maura's sudden change of topic.

"So you're free to visit me in Boston for a little while?" Maura asked, and before Arizona had any time to even think about processing the suggestion, she continued, "It sounds like it would be beneficial for you to get some time away from Seattle, and you know what? I can help you figure out your lady-troubles like when we were in medical school together. It's much easier to do so when you're right here with me. And I do have a more than suitable guest bedroom you can stay in. What do you say?"

Arizona was quiet for a few seconds. It wasn't even because she needed to think about it, or because she was confused about what to do. She was quiet for a second because she needed to really appreciate the fact that she had such an amazing best friend. She knew what she was going to do; she didn't know if it was the right thing to do, or if it would come back to bite her in the ass. Even if she had to get onto a plane again, something she'd probably fear for the rest of her life, she'd do it. She'd do it; she'd do it to see Maura and to figure out what was going on with herself. So she did what she did best – she ran.

"Maura… I'll book the first flight out of here."

Maura's only reply was, "I'll see you at the airport."

I know. I know. Didn't I say that I had retired from fanfiction? I'm pretty sure I proclaimed that only a few months ago. But – here I am anyway, now posting something new; something I do not have time to write, but it simply will not leave my mind. I'm not sure if any of my regular readers are fans of these two fandoms, but alas – here I am, and I hope that someone will enjoy this!

I love Grey's Anatomy, and I love Rizzoli & Isles (I have also read the books, because that's some seriously amazing crime-writing for ya'). However, this is my first time venturing into the fandom of these two shows, and therefore it's my first time writing Arizona, Callie, Maura and Jane. It should be interesting, challenging and fun! And hopefully I'll be able to do them justice.

I love Rizzles as a couple because everyone in their right mind can see all the eye-sex they have, and even with all the drama Shonda has thrown their way, I love my favourite folded pizza and I hope they pull through when the new season starts.

My updates will come sporadically and with no regularities at all. That's just how much I suck with university, work, writing my novel and taking care of the beautiful woman in my life. I hope you can be patient with me, and I just hope that you like this and that you want more! Anyways – I'd love to hear your thoughts on my characterization and the first chapter, and please let me know if you have something I just MUST consider putting in my story. The plot is not finalized yet, so there's room for lots of in-puts!

Next chapter will feature both Callie and Jane, so stay tuned!