ARIZONA
The infamous Seattle rain bounced off the pavement as she walked to the doors. She'd heard about the rain in Seattle before, but she didn't really get it until now. It didn't smell like the rain did back home. It wasn't stale, just refreshing and…somewhat relaxing. She took one last drag of her cigarette, gave herself a small internal pep talk and made her way through the doors. Wow, this place was huge, bigger than she thought. Much bigger than the place in Africa, anyway. She had worked in a hospital in California before she went to Africa, but she'd been there so long she forgot the clinical feeling about these huge places.
"Hi there, I'm here to see Chief Webber?"
"Do you have an appointment ma'am?"
"Yes, Arizona Robbins"
The receptionist smiled politely as she pointed in the vague direction of his office. Her second order of business would be to explore the hospital and get a feel of the place for herself. She made her way through the long corridor on to a bridge, overlooking the entire hospital. She stopped for a second, taking in the sight.
"My god, if it isn't Arizona Robbins?!" a man stated from the other end of the hall.
She was startled out of her trance and turned to face the resident. He was a fairly tall, good looking young man. His slightly perky demeanour gave his specialty away in an instant. Only one breed of surgeon is allowed to be so chirpy, and that was the Paeds. She herself was a paeds surgeon, in fact, she was about to become the new Head of Paediatric surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. She was young, but she had a lot of experience under her belt. She had completed her residency at John Hopkins, graduated top of her class and had worked in Africa for three years. She loved her time in Africa, she loved the children, the miracles and the people. But she missed home. She missed being allowed to be herself, she missed her friends, her family and she missed working in a hospital.
"At your service! I do hope I am greeted like this by everyone in the hospital" She laughed.
"Ha, sorry. We've heard a lot about you. We have all been dying to have you on board."
"I see…"
"Alex. Alex Karev, pleasure is all yours" and with a cheeky smile and a wink he made his way back down the bridge.
Arizona made her way to the Chief's office, said her pleasantries, signed her papers and continued her exploration of the hospital. She had spoken to the chief many times before and he was extremely keen to have her on his team. So she had no worries about getting the job at all.
Of course, she visited the Paeds wing first, to get a feel of her home away from home (as it would now be). She didn't venture near the on call rooms however, she was warned by the Chief to stay well away for the first few weeks. She could only imagine why. The Paeds wing was warm, welcoming. The walls were pastel yellow and the wards a pastel blue. They had pictures all over the nurse's station from the children with little heartfelt notes of thank you. She had to admit that she kind of felt at home here in Seattle Grace.
CALLIE
Callie had a long day ahead of her, she had two tib fib repairs to set up and a few consults. She needed to find her source of caffeine and she needed it fast. Of course, she made the mistake of trying to drink Cristina Yang under the table the previous night. Two bottles of tequila, a bottle of vodka and a lot of vomiting later, she was feeling the effects. Cristina Yang was her scalpel hungry, cardio god roommate. She had an appetite for tequila, cereal and surgery. She had a very hard exterior, but she was fiercely loyal and gave everything she had when she decided you were her friend.
"My god Torres, did you fall under a car last night or something?!"
"Very funny Mark. I am tired and ratty, get me caffeine"
Mark smirked as he went to find her a coffee. Mark had been her best friend since she started in Seattle Grace. He had been there for her through everything. Callie Torres was the badass surgeon who walked tall around the halls of Seattle Grace. She was confident, quick and a world class surgeon. She made time for patients and gave orders like medusa. She was an attending's dream resident. She practically ran the ortho wing herself. Then she met George, she got married, divorced and then found herself in a relationship with a woman. George had ruined her. She no longer walked tall around the hospital. She felt small, invisible, and didn't have the confidence she once did. Erica had also damaged her in ways she never knew possible. She ran off, leaving without a goodbye or an explanation, only telling her she couldn't "kind of be a lesbian". And so here she was, drinking tequila until 5am and starting work at 8am.
Mark reappeared with coffee in hand and noticed her dejected look. Mark was a man, a typical man some would say. But he cared deeply for Torres and he knew her like a sister. They were family to each other and they had always been since day one. Callie's eyes were bloodshot with dark circles encasing them every day since Erica left. He knew she didn't sleep anymore.
"Hey, I was kidding. But you do look rough. Let's just go to the cafeteria and get some breakfast and then we can start our rounds in half an hour eh?"
"Thanks Mark" is all she could manage. She was physically and emotionally drained. She didn't sleep and kept replaying the Erica incident in her head.
He put a protective arm over her shoulder and led her in the direction of the cafeteria.
ARIZONA
"Well, fancy meeting you here!"
She spotted Karev strolling towards her with charts in hand. To look at, he wouldn't automatically strike one as a Paeds kinda guy. He wore his 5 o'clock shadow with pride and had a small twinkle in his eye that resembled a five year old who was always up to something.
"I see you're doing rounds alone then Alex? Aren't you paired with an attending?"
"Walk with me and I will explain how much of a douchebag our head is right now and give you a small insight into just how ridiculously amazing Alex Karev is". He smirked.
After a half hour doing rounds with Alex and meeting the children, he decided he would aid her tour around the hospital. First stop, cafeteria for some breakfast.
"So tell me about yourself Arizona, what's your story?"
"My story huh?"
She knew it was coming, of course it was. He was her colleague; he wanted to know more about her. She hated this, but she knew it was inevitable. You see, the thing about being a surgeon is that your life is an open book. Your fellow surgeons need to know they can trust you, they need to read your every move in the OR before anyone else in the room. They need to know you better than you know yourself, and that was something Arizona hated.
"Well, I studied at John Hopkins, graduated top of my class, and then eloped to Africa with a Carter Madison grant in hand to save some tiny humans."
"Boyfriends, husband, kids?" he quizzed
She laughed louder than she had planned.
"What? I was only asking?"
"No no, don't worry. It's not you Karev. I just don't bat for that team"
"You don't ba…ohhh I see. Well, each to their own I s'pose. I can't judge, I had a cancer wife who ran away without finishing her ILT2 treatment"
"I'm assuming it's protocol to indulge all this overly personal information?" Arizona smirked in his direction.
"No, of course not," he blushed. "I just thought you should know me better too and I thought…well never mind. We're here anyway"
Arizona looked for a seat in the corner, she didn't want to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of breakfast time at Seattle Grace before she even started her first shift. Karev disappeared to the counter to collect them some yoghurts and juice. She noticed a table right smack in the middle with 4 attendings and two residents sitting around chatting and laughing together. At John Hopkins, attendings would not be caught even talking to residents outside of working hours never mind having breakfast and laughing with them. She continued to watch with amusement as they laughed and joked with one another.
"They're all good friends. We all are here actually" stated Karev. He set the tray down and took a seat in front of her. "Come on, I'll introduce you"
"Oh, no it's fine Alex honestly. I'm sure I will meet them when I start my shifts." Arizona looked terrified. She hated the idea of talking to people outside of work. She had friends, but she never really had friends.
"Oh shut up and come on"
"Is that protocol too? Speaking to superiors like that?"
He gave a sarcastic sorry and pulled her towards his table of friends.
CALLIE
Callie had never been so glad to see the cafeteria in her life. She took a seat with Derek, Mer and Cristina. Cristina looked as rough as she did, this made her feel significantly better.
"Well, at least we know both of you are fit for rounds this morning" laughed Meredith.
"Shut up Mer" chorused Callie and Cristina.
Mark sat down beside Derek and Owen walked through the door.
"Wow, I'm glad I didn't get out of work last night!" laughed Owen.
This time the both women ignored him as the rest of the table erupted into fits of giggles at their expense.
"So Derek, I hear you have a temporal lobe resection today, can I scrub in?" asked Owen
"Yeah, sure. How about you Callie, scrubbing in?"
Callie was zoned out. She looked up toward the door and spotted Karev with a mystery blonde. She had short hair, beautiful blue eyes and light skin. Callie had never seen her around the hospital and was totally fixated with her beauty.
"Hottie at 12 o'clock, don't expect a reply Derek"
Again the table erupted into laughter as Mark observed his best friend. She hadn't once taken her eyes of this mystery blonde. She was simply exquisite. She was beautiful in every way and Callie could not take her eyes off her. The other doctors at the table continued discussing surgeries while Callie stared at this beautiful woman who had now made her way to a table at the other side of the room.
Suddenly she realised Karev was dragging her over to their table and only then did she feel the true effects of last night's session. She felt how she looked and she knew it. Callie hadn't even so much as looked at another man, never mind a woman following the Erica thing. And now she was about to talk to, what she thought, was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen?! She decided growing old alone was much better than going through that hurt again.
Even the way she walked entranced Callie. She had an air of quiet confidence and an absolutely beautiful smile.
"Hey guys, so the Chief finally replaced that asshole and got us a new Head of Paeds, This is Arizona Robbins, one of the most renowned Paediatric surgeons in the world".
"Hey." They chorused
"Karev hasn't shut up about you for months for gods sake. Thank god you're finally here" moaned Cristina.
"Crisitina!" whispered Meredith with a small swipe to her knee. "What she meant to say, was Hi. Welcome to Seattle Grace. I'm sure you'll really like it here."
Callie couldn't even find the words to introduce herself. She just gazed at the woman as she took a seat. As she caught Arizona's eye, they both lingered for much longer than they should have. The connection was instant. She felt as though someone had reignited whatever had died within her. Callie felt her old confidence come back.
"Hi Arizona." She gave her sexiest smile, "Callie Torres, Ortho. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other. Kids are definitely my most frequent patients."
"Ah, I see, well. I'm sure I will have no problem with that at all."
The other doctors observed the interaction with amusement and took that as their cue to leave. They all excused themselves and made their way out.
"Torres knows her way around here." Smirked Alex, "I'll eh…leave you both to it"
ARIZONA
"Arizona Robbins, as you just heard" she smiled back at Callie.
This woman was beautiful. She had long brown hair flowing freely over her shoulder. Her eyes were a deep brown and Arizona could tell they were the gateway to this woman's soul. Her skin was a light brown colour, totally flawless. The curves, the curves spoke for themselves. She stopped herself mid thought and gathered it together. She hadn't thought about anyone this way since…well since she left Kate. Kate was beautiful, a sweet sweet girl. But things went south very quickly and Kate decided that her vacation in lesbian land was well and truly over.
"So, you uh…you're our new Paeds head?"
"Yeah, I guess I am" she smiled. She could tell the latina was slightly flustered, maybe even a little nervous. But it obviously wasn't over Arizona, she was sure Callie was straight. "The beautiful ones always are Arizona, come on, even you know that" she scolded herself.
She studied Callie as they made their way through the halls of Seattle Grace, getting her first good look at the woman. She had dark rings around her eyes, a sadness radiated from those beautiful brown eyes and Arizona couldn't refrain herself from thinking that she should be the one to take that away.
"So, Callie, is that short for anything or…?"
"Unfortunately, yes" she laughed. "Calliope. But before you laugh, you also have a silly name so you are in no position to do so"
"Touchè Torres!" she laughed. It was a hearty laugh, a real laugh.
Arizona hadn't laughed properly in months and she knew it. She knew it was the effect that Callie had, but she couldn't help herself. Callie's laugh was beautiful, it was a deep laugh, straight from her belly.
After their tour had finished, Arizona felt somewhat downhearted to know that she would have to wait until the next day to see Callie.
"So I uhhh…I guess I'll see you around then Arizona?" questioned Callie. But Arizona knew there was something behind the question that the woman wasn't giving away.
"Yes of course, thank you so much for the tour. I really need to get to know my way around this place. It's huge." She smiled back. "Maybe we could even be friends, do dinner or something?" Arizona knew it was a long shot but she had to be close to this woman, she knew it. She was infectious. Her laugh was amazing, her curves were…wow and she loved how badass Callie was.
"That sounds great" the latina smiled.
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow then Calliope"
CALLIE
Not one of her friends ever called her Calliope. Never. She hated it, if anyone dared mention it, she threatened them with some hours in the OR as a patient rather than a surgeon. But this time it was different. She liked how it sounded when it left the blonde's lips.
She was thrilled at the blondes proposition for dinner and even to become friends. She was smitten already and she knew it. This was good 'ole Callie Torres. Heart as big as they come and always worn on her sleeve. Everyone had grown to know that Callie was a softie inside, she always had been. She even made her teddy's all sleep in her bed because she felt sorry for them as a child.
"Well well, how did your "date" with blondie go then?" smirked Mark.
"Firstly, it was not a date" she scowled, "and secondly, it went very well thank you"
"Arizona, right? I mean come on Cal, she's HOT. You've got to admit."
Callie's heart fluttered slightly at the sound of her name.
"Well, I uhh…I mean I guess she is a little…but I'm pretty sure she's straight anyway Mark. Besides, why would she go for me?" Her shoulders sagged as she practically just admitted out loud that she had given up any hope on love that she had before. And any hope she had for herself.
"Torres, look at me" she lifted her eyes to meet Mark's stern gaze. "You are hot, really hot. So shut up and get after her, but for now. I have ice cream, football and maybe even a foot rub if you accompany me to my apartment?" he smiled.
"See, this is why we are friends Mark." Callie smiled as she walked beside her best friend to their apartment block.