Author's Note: This idea has been bugging me for quite some time so I finally decided to write it. I suppose it is set late in Season 8 i.e. pre-plane crash.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea
Won't You Come See About Me
"Won't you come see about me,
I'll be alone dancing,
you know it baby"
Erica Hahn never thought she would be once again walking the halls of Seattle Grace Hospital, or Seattle Grace Mercy West as it's now known. Everything about the hospital seems slightly different to her now, even though on the surface nothing appears to have changed. Everything, right down to the reception area with floor to ceiling glass windows is the same as it was when she left, almost four years ago. It's positively eerie and she can't help but feel completely on edge. This hospital is no longer her home. This used to be her place, the one place where she didn't have to worry about anything, and she could just be the amazing cardio surgeon she always was.
There was another reason for the uneasy tension that was presently sitting in the pit of her stomach. These knots had been steadily forming ever since she got the call to come into Seattle Grace Mercy West for a cardio consultation. That other reason being the very real possibility that she could run into her ex-girlfriend Callie. The ex that she hadn't seen in almost four years. The ex that she had left without so much as a goodbye or an explanation. The ex that had changed everything about her, including her sexual preferences. She can't even decide if she wants to see Callie again. One minute, she's praying that she can just do this consult and get back on the helicopter to California before anyone even notices that she's here. But another part of her is hoping that she'll run into Callie. She's not even sure why, she can't imagine receiving anything other than a frosty reception from the Latina, not that she doesn't deserve it. She knows she does. But there's just a part of her that she knows will not be satisfied until she sees the woman who used to hold her heart all those years ago.
Erica is so caught up in her own internal dialogue that she barely even registers the conversation that Dr. Altman is having with another blonde woman. She fights the urge to roll her eyes as the two women before ramble incessantly about their plans for "Ladies Night". So much for this consult being a matter of life and death. How could anyone who has the time to stand around talking about Ladies Night run a successful cardio department? Erica can't bear to think about what this woman has done to her immaculately run department. It's only when Altman mentions Callie's name that she is pulled from her musings about the current state of the hospital. Immediately her ears prick up as she tries to tune into the two women's conversation, while her eyes remain trained on the chart in her hands. Altman is passing a message from Callie on to the other blonde women, something about looking for her up on the Peds floor. Erica's eyes are immediately drawn to the other woman as if she could figure out her significance to Callie just by looking at her. The blonde is dressed in her street clothes so Erica can't even use the color of her scrubs as an indication as to who she might be.
Erica's eyes sweep over long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and the hint of a dimple peeking out of the corner of her mouth and Erica has to admit that she is quite attractive in a classical beauty kind of way. She doubts very much if Malibu Barbie is actually a surgeon, in fact if it weren't for the I.D. badge that hung from the top of her black slacks, she would have just assumed the woman was a visitor.
Erica's eyes quickly dart back down to the chart when she notices the blonde's gaze catch on something behind her. The expression on the blonde's face changes instantly and those dimples are suddenly out in full force as a bright smile overtakes her face. Erica doesn't have the time to glance over her shoulder before her entire body tenses as she hears the unmistakable voice of her ex ring out behind her.
Suddenly, it's as if time has ground to a halt and Erica feels her stomach drop to her toes. She can't help but close her eyes and she feels rather than sees the brush of Callie's form as she sweeps past her. She inhales the same papaya shampoo that hasn't changed in the four years she has been absent. She opens her eyes in time to see a caramel hand reach out and grasp the arms of the blonde woman in front of her. She watches with wide eyes as Callie leans down to capture the lips of the blonde who melts effortlessly into the kiss.
Erica stares unblinking at the couple in front of her and resists the urge to rub her eyes to check that this is actually happening. Because this is so not how she imagined running into Callie again. Actually of the hundreds of scenarios that she had played out in her head, she never imagined that she would be watching her make out with another woman. And yet they are standing right in front of her, their lips still fused and their bodies pressed flush together.
Callie pulls away slowly, a smile pulling at her lips as she gazes lovingly down at the slightly shorter blonde woman.
"Mmm… There you are, I went up to Peds but they said you'd already left," Callie said as she trailed her fingers down the other woman's arm until her fingers found a pale hand.
"Surgery went quicker than I thought it would," the blonde offers as explanation as she interlaces her fingers with Callie's. "Are you finished for the night?"
"Yep, I cannot wait to go home, this day felt like it would never end," Callie replies as she rubs her forehead in the attempt to get the pressure building behind her eyes to dissipate.
Erica uses this opportunity to sweep her eyes over the brunette standing before her. Her hair is a lot shorter than she remembers and it falls in a gentle wave around her face. She is wearing her signature leather jacket and a flowing green top that hangs off one shoulder. Erica can't help but notice the soft smile on Callie's face despite the fact that she is clearly getting a headache.
"Well then, I guess it's a good thing Teddy and I rescheduled Ladies Night 'til tomorrow," the blonde woman giggles.
This time Erica can't fight the urge to roll her eyes. Of course she looks just like the type of woman who giggles. Of all the women she imagined Callie being interested in, she never thought she would pick the one who looked as if the birds help her get dressed in the morning.
Erica prays that Callie and the mystery blonde will leave before they notice her standing there but, as luck would have it, Altman chooses that moment to draw everyone's attention to her, "Yeah I've got a consult that will probably run late so we decided tomorrow would be better. Dr. Hahn shall we?" she asks while gesturing to the stairs behind her.
Erica is acutely aware of the fact that three sets of eyes are now focused on her and she watches Callie's smile instantly fall away as she tightens her grip on the blonde woman's hand. Erica's attention is fixated on Callie but she doesn't miss the way the shorter blonde tenses beside Callie and the icy blue stare she is fixed with. Dr. Altman is looking from her two friends to Erica and back again with such a confused expression that would almost be laughable if it weren't for the tension in the air.
Erica is unsure how long the four women stay staring at each other before Callie seems to shake off her momentary shock and schools her features into an unreadable mask.
"Erica, this is a surprise," the Latina says with no emotion in her voice.
All Erica can do is blink and attempt to clear the dryness that has settled in her throat. She is almost overwhelmed with the urge to run and just pretend that this whole awkward encounter ever happened but running out on Callie a second time would be bad even for her.
Arizona slips her hand under the material of her wife's leather jacket to press the flat of her palm against the small of her back. Her lips quirk upwards in a small smile when she feels Callie relax into her touch and the look of shock starts to fade off her face. Arizona flicks her eyes towards Erica once more willing her to say something, to give Callie the explanation that she deserves. She tries to be objective as she studies the woman who stands frozen in front of them, but all she can think about is how much she hurt Calliope. Her wife had been so broken when they first met, just an empty shell and Arizona swore to herself that she would do all she could to build her back up piece by piece.
Arizona clears her throat and turns her gaze back to Callie, "Why don't Teddy and I go pick up Sofia from daycare and give you guys a minute?"
Callie opens her mouth to protest but Arizona calms her with the soft stroke of her thumb across a tanned cheek.
Callie lets out a quiet sigh and nods weakly. "I'll be back in a minute," Arizona promises, eyes locking with Erica in warning and Erica can't help but feel slightly intimidated by her. Callie purposely leans down to press her lips against Arizona's once more, which is as much to reassure herself as it is for her wife.
Arizona gives her wife's hand one more reassuring squeeze before grabbing Teddy's arm and dragging the still open mouthed cardio surgeon towards the elevator.
Callie once again turns her attention to Erica and stares expectantly. Erica's mind is racing and every single way in which she could start this enevitably awkward conversation sounds completely inadequate and feeble in her head. "Callie, how have you been? You look good," she begins before trailing off realising that it sounded just as trite out loud as it did in her head.
Callie takes a moment to ponder Erica's question as she thinks back on the four years that have passed since Erica walked out of her life. She was devestated, she had never before even considered persuing a relationship with a woman but Erica had somehow managed to change that. Callie had never before been filled with such nerves and abject terror about dating someone but she had been willing to try and see where she and Erica would go. And she knows that she made her own share of mistakes, sleeping with Mark being the most glaring, but she was so lost and confused. She thought she and Erica would be able to work through it and that they could have had a real chance at something. But then she left. She left and Callie lost her one of her closest friends and her kind-of girlfriend in one felled swoop. And once again she was left feeling alone and small and just a little bit more broken. Until Arizona. Until this complete stranger had approached her in a dark, grimy bar bathroom and assured her that people still noticed her, that there were people out there to whom she mattered. Callie can't help but think that if she had to look back and pinpoint a moment when her life changed that that would be it. It wasn't always easy, God knows that they have had more than their fair share of drama as a couple surviving their first breakup over kids, the hospital shooting and then Africa. And then there was trying to navigate co-parenting with Mark and the car crash that almost cost her her life and them their daughter. But she and Arizona have worked through it all and they are together now, their own little family, all the stronger for it.
And as much as it would be nice to get an explanation from Erica and some answers as to why she felt the need to just bail, Callie realises she doesn't need or want one. There were months after she left when she would prepare these little speeches in her head just in case she ever saw Erica again. She used to wish that she could see her again if only just to give her a piece of her mind, but in all honesty she can't even remember the last time she thought about the cardio surgeon. So instead she decides to play nice.
"I've been good, I've been really good," she confesses unable to keep the smile from her face as she thinks about just how wonderful her life is at the moment.
"So I can see," Erica says while stuffing her hands in her lab coat pockets, "I have to admit I'm a little surprised, part of me thought you would be married to Mark Sloane by now."
"Well you are half right," Callie smiles and she has to stop herself from laughing at the confused expression on Erica's face. "I am married. Arizona is my wife," she clarifies.
Erica registers that this is the second time in as many minutes that she has been rendered speechless. Married. That one word seems to hurt more than watching the two of them embrace right in front of her. She knows that it shouldn't matter to her but she can't help but feel that this would be easier to swallow if Callie had admitted being married to a guy. Erica would have felt vindicated in some way. Like she would have been perfectly justified in leaving because their relationship was just a phase for Callie. But Callie is standing here telling her that she is married. To a woman. And Erica wonders now more than ever what they could have been if she hadn't just walked away.
She pushes these thoughts away and tries to look like she is happy for Callie but she knows her smile doesn't fool the Latina. "Married? Wow that's... huge. Congratulations."
"Thanks," Callie replies as uncomfortable silence settles between the two women once again. "So how have you been?"
"I'm good, you know, always busy with work" the blonde woman manages before remembering why it is she was brought to SGMW in the first place. "I really should be going Callie, but it was good seeing you again," she confesses before gathering her charts. She is about to head to the patient's room before she turns and looks back at the Latina, "I'm glad that you're happy Callie."
Callie smiles back at the cardio surgeon, "I really am," she admits nodding her head.
Arizona chooses that moment to reappear carrying a small toddler on her hip. Erica pauses just as she turns a corner and takes a minute to observe the little family. She is vaguely aware that what she is doing is probably considered creepy, but she just wants a chance to take in the two women without the fog of shock clouding her vision. She watches the scene in front of her unfold almost in slow motion. She sees the amazing smile that threatens to overtake Callie's face as she approaches her wife and baby. The Latina leans in to place a noisy kiss on her daughter's chubby cheek which elicits a giggle from the toddler and the woman holding her. She watches the silent communication that takes place between the couple - the brow the blonde raises in question, the smile and almost indiscernible nod Callie gives her in return before she leans in to place a soft kiss on her wife's cheek. She watches the couple interlace their fingers and walk out of the hospital before she turns and continues to make her way towards the cardio department. Yeah Erica cannot wait until she is back in California.
A/N Thus concludes my very first foray into the world of fan fiction. I always love viewing a couple through another person's point of view and I have always wondered what would happen if Erica came back. I resisted the urge to turn Erica into a complete bitch and have Callie cheat because in my head there is no way that would ever happen. Reviews and feedback are always welcome and appreciated. Feel free to get in touch on tumblr at stillsearching01
