A/N: the response to this story has been amazing, so thank you all for that! Please keep reading and reviewing :D

Just to say, even though I'm studying this subject, I'm only just starting out so I don't know everything there is to know about veterinary science so all I do is try my best!

Enjoy.

Callie breathed heavily as she sat outside soaking in the summer sun, trying to calm herself down. Of late, whenever she'd been pissed off or upset, she would go and sit on the bench that overlooked the recovery fields of the Equine Department. She didn't know why she found so much peace in just watching the horses out in the field, especially since the whole Erica saga, but there was just something so calming about them and how they went about their recovery. It was also probably due to the connection she had to better times with her family, horses made her think of when she had one back at her family home, made her remember good times with them. Those were long gone now.

'Peaceful aren't they?'

Callie's head shot up as she heard the one voice she didn't really want to deal with.

'Look, I don't want to...' Callie began. She didn't want to have to sit and defend herself once more.

'I just wanted to say that I'm sorry,' Arizona cut in. 'I wasn't doubting you as a surgeon, I just...this case is so important to me; I blame myself for it getting this bad and for this ridiculously risky surgery being the only option we have left...I really do appreciate your help...and I do think you might be on to something...' She finished lamely.

Callie could feel the blonde standing behind her, 'You don't have to change your mind...'

'I can't see any other option right now.' Arizona said simply. 'I want to go with what you suggested...that is if you'll still do the surgery?'

Even though Callie didn't turn around she could hear the nervousness in her voice, 'Can the surgery wait a couple of days?' She asked without turning around.

'Um, I don't see why not, not much longer than that though, why?' Arizona asked, obviously confused.

'I just want to make sure the cartilage is fully ready.'

'You haven't used it in a patient yet?' Arizona asked, trying, but failing, to mask her concern.

'I've had five patients; the first rejected it straight away and the second's broke down within a month. The last three patients have so far been doing good; I've got one coming in today who was the third trial so it's had the cartilage for the longest; if I see absolutely no signs of degradation or lack of use in the limb then I'll give the go ahead to use it for your operation.'

'Oh...I see, thank you.' Arizona didn't know what else to say.

'Don't thank me yet; I don't know whether it will hold up; it's only been trialled in dogs and cats and I don't need to tell you that the vertebrae are one of the most delicate areas. Just...don't thank me until we've saved the horse.' Callie had meant for that to be her final sentence with the blonde, but she obviously had other ideas.

'You know we're not all the same?' Arizona said.

'Huh?' Callie was confused but still refused to turn around.

'Us equine lot? We're not all jumped up assholes.' Arizona said with the hint of a smile.

Callie didn't know what to say, she thought she could sense a hint of a smile in Arizona's voice but she didn't want to turn around to find out. Callie didn't want to give herself away and she knew that her eyes would, if they me the blue eyes or as they roamed over the toned body of the blonde.

Arizona gave up waiting for a response as she turned and walked away. Callie remained on the bench for a while, clearing her thoughts before her consults of the afternoon. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get the new blonde out of her head; she was gorgeous, there was no denying it, but she couldn't go there again, she'd been hurt too much last time and wasn't going to get used and cast aside in the same way again.

As Arizona turned and walked away from the beautiful Latina on the bench, she sighed; she didn't like that they had gotten off to a bad start. Even though Mark had explained that it was because of this Erica whom she had replaced, it still annoyed her that she hadn't given her a chance. Arizona shook her head; she didn't have time to worry about Calliope Torres not liking her; the case with Morocco was enough to take up all her time and worry.

XXXXX

A few hours later

Callie took a deep breath and called the name of her next client, knowing too well that this was going to be make or break for her cartilage research and for Arizona's case. She let out her breath as soon as she saw the dog; the Labrador practically bounded up to her, showing no signs of weakness in the leg Callie had operated on.

After performing x-rays and a quick scan on the knee joint it confirmed Callie's joy; the cartilage was holding really well and supporting the limb as much as the original cartilage would've. After sending the client off, as happy as ever, Callie bounded off to find Mark: he had been her ear to bend all through the development and so she wanted him to be the first to know that it had been a success.

Practically running down the hall to find Mark, Callie didn't see the blonde rushing into the building until she'd knocked her off of her feet, Callie trapping the blonde against the floor.

'Shit, I'm sorry.' Callie said, not fully realising who she had ran into. Shifting her weight and opening her eyes, two gasps were heard as brown met piercing blue once more; this time there was no hiding from it. 'S-s-sorrry.' Callie stammered as I struggled to untangle herself from Arizona; her limbs seemingly unable to do what her brain was telling them to do.

'It's ok Calliope, really, I was rushing too.' Arizona smiled but Callie's face soon turned to horror as she saw blood seeping out of a gash on the blonde's arm. Arizona, obviously oblivious, continued, 'Crap, sorry, I mean Callie...I mean Dr. Torres...'

'What?' Callie raised an eyebrow, slightly amused by the blonde's rambling. 'I'm not pulling a face because you called me Calliope, I'm pulling one because I hurt you!' I pointed to Arizona's arm and as the blonde looked she was obviously surprised to see that her arm was indeed bleeding, she hadn't felt it at all.

'Oh, don't worry, just a scratch; compared to getting a hoof in the head it's nothing, believe me!' Arizona laughed as she jumped to her feet and began to pick up papers and x-ray folders. 'Can't believe I've been knocked off my feet twice on my first day!' Arizona rambled on as she continued to pick up the papers, 'At least this time it was by a beaut...' Arizona stopped herself, shook her head and continued, 'Anyway, I'd best be going.'

Callie, still on the floor, just sat and stared, had Arizona been going to say beautiful? No, that was a figure of her imagination she was sure. 'Oh Arizona?' Callie suddenly found her voice and pulled herself on to her feet.

'Yeah?' Arizona whirled around, still embarrassed by her slip of tongue.

'The cartilage is good to go,' Callie grinned proudly. 'I just saw my trial patient and the cartilage is holding up well, I don't know how different it will be as it's a horse and the vertebrae and this was in a Labrador's knee joint, but...' Callie realised she was now rambling herself. 'You want me to take a look at that arm?' She changed the subject.

'No really, it's fine, I'll shove some vet wrap on it; solves everything that does!' Arizona smiled genuinely. 'And that's super news about your cartilage Callie, I'll talk to the equine staff and see when we can get the OR for, it's going to be a long one.'

'Yeah, just let me know and I'll free up my schedule. See you later Arizona.'

'Bye Callie.'

As Arizona left through the door to the back rooms, Callie couldn't help but think that she really preferred Arizona calling her Calliope. She found her mind wandering as she watched the way the blonde's hips swayed in her tightly fitting jodphurs... 'No callie, you've been there before,' she told herself, 'and then you got well and truly burned. Just no.'

XXX

The big operation day came around within a couple of days and somehow the two women hadn't seen each other since their literal run-in. It was pretty normal for there to be a divide between the equine and the small animal practice; it was just how things were structured. As Arizona pulled into the staff car park, she noticed Callie walking through the yard gate; Arizona jumped out of her car and jogged after her, totally forgetting about her dogs in the trunk.

'Morning Callie.' She called as Callie almost jumped out of skin as the voice came from behind her. Turning she smiled as she saw Arizona.

'Hey, you ready?' Callie asked.

'Yeah, I think so, I just really want this to work.' Arizona said honestly. 'You're here early? We won't start for another hour?'

'I know, but it's my day off...'

'Why didn't you tell me it was your day off? I could've moved it a day either way so you got your day off!' Arizona exclaimed, she didn't want the Latina to have another reason to dislike her anymore than she already did.

'Arizona! It's fine, I'd only be sitting at home twiddling my thumbs anyway...' Callie said quietly.

'You're sure?'

'I'm sure.' Callie said, offering a reassuring smile.

'We'll be starting in about an hour...you want to come into my office and have a coffee rather than standing out here?' Arizona asked, not really knowing what answer to expect.

'Yeah sure.' Callie smiled as they walked together. Arizona was glad that she had taken her up on her offer; she really wanted to get along, even if it was just a smile and hello here and there. Arizona unlocked her office door and pushed it open. Throwing her stuff on her desk, Arizona watched as Callie looked in detail at the pictures hanging on her wall. There were typical anatomy posters, but then also Arizona's personal photos of her riding, her and her brother and her dogs.

'Shit!' Arizona's admission startled Callie who looked to her with raised eyebrows. 'I'll be back in a minute Callie, I just realised I've left the dogs in the car!' Arizona rushed out, embarrassed that she'd forgotten her dogs, let alone forgotten them in front of Callie.

Callie couldn't help but laugh as Arizona announced that she had forgotten her dogs and rushed out; soon realising that this was the first time in a long time that she had properly laughed. Callie resumed looking at the pictures, admiring the ones of Arizona riding; she obviously did it very well and Callie couldn't help but linger over the blonde's jodhpur-clad thighs.

Her dirty thoughts were soon interrupted as two bounding dogs entered the room, eager to know who the intruder was.

'Sorry, they're a bit...friendly!' Arizona offered an explanation as she closed the door behind her. 'The Lab is Harry and the Dalmatian is Dots.'

Callie couldn't hide the snort that escaped her as the latter dog's name was revealed, 'Dots?' She laughed.

'She came with that name!' Arizona protested, chuckling slightly herself. 'You have dogs?'

Callie obviously tensed at the question, 'I used to,' she said sadly. 'My last relationship...' she couldn't finish that sentence.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to...'

'No, it's fine.' Callie said, ending that subject and moving on. 'You have your horses here too?' She gestured to the varying ones on the wall.

'Just the one.' Arizona moved over so that she was stood right behind Callie, their bodies almost touching; sending shivers down both woman's spine. 'See the big black thing in the middle photo?' Callie nodded. 'That's Gem, she's here with me. The others in the photos are ones I, or my family, used to have.'

Callie detected a hint of sadness in Arizona's voice; it becoming obvious that Callie wasn't the only one secretly hurting in the room. Arizona handed Callie her coffee and they sat in silence, the dogs milling in between them offering the only sound. Both women racked their brains for something to say, not wanting to dwell on the sadness that they had both been reminded off with each other's latter questions. Luckily, they were saved as Derek and Mark entered the room, greeting them both and pouring more coffee all around. The conversation the men started hid the awkwardness that had been present before between the two women and both were glad, despite the fact that both couldn't help but glance at the other; their eyes never quite meeting.

The operation time soon neared and they all headed over to the large OR; Arizona and Derek scrubbed in straight away with Mark and Callie not having to scrub in until they were needed. Callie started to get very nervous; this would be the biggest operation she had ever been a part of but also it was the trickiest and the one with the biggest risks.

Watching from the back of the OR, Callie watched intently as Arizona looked around the room, scalpel in hand; 'Everyone ready?' Her question was met with nods from everyone and to Callie's surprise Arizona looked straight at the brunette. Brown locked with blue and both could swear their hearts skipped a beat as they both struggled to breath in the required amount of oxygen. Callie, wanting to offer some sort of reassurance, simply nodded her head; Arizona offering a slight smile underneath her OR mask before making the first cut.

The first part of the operation went by with ease, clearing all the tissue out of the way took an hour and when Arizona finally got her first look at the tumour in all it's horrific glory she couldn't help but gasp. Derek took a huge sigh next to Arizona as he stepped up to work with her to clear the tumour from the surrounding tissue. Vessels were cut and clamped as Derek and Arizona methodically selected which ones were connected to the tumour and no to the animal. Within two hours, the first section of the surgery was complete, one vessel had heavily bled out but Arizona had gotten in quickly stopping the bleeding before too much was lost. Now it was time for the bit that had never been done before in the history of veterinary medicine.

Arizona looked up and saw that Callie and Mark were ready and scrubbed in; Callie taking place next to the blonde, ready to work her magic. Being in such close proximity to each other made them both feel on edge; Arizona couldn't help but think that all she wanted to do was reach out and touch the Latina's flesh, but she pushed those thoughts aside, turning her attention to watch as Callie began to work. She worked in silence, only asking for assistance every now and then; Arizona helping straight away, clearing away debris so that Callie had a clear view.

Callie had removed two out of the three vertebrae safely and was working on the final one whilst Mark and Owen treated the removed ones with chemo and radio.

'Shit.' Callie declared out of the blue.

'What's wrong?' I said, trying not to panic.

'The vertebrae slipped.'

'What do you mean?' Arizona asked, wide eyed.

'I mean, the vertebrae slipped and it's now resting on the spinal cord.' Callie said matter-of-factly as Arizona strained to see into the open cavity.

'What are you saying? Is the spinal cord shot?' Arizona asked, unable to hide the panic in her voice; this case had gotten personal for her and to see it end badly would kill her.

'No. I'm saying if you shut up and give me a fucking second I'll fix it.' Callie said, shutting everyone up, including the wide-eyed blonde.

Arizona watched as Callie moved her hands and twisted the equipment she was holding in ways that Arizona had never seen before. After what seemed an eternity, she pulled out the final vertebrae handed it to Mark and stepped away.

'Cover the incision site, I'll be back in about an hour and put them back in when you've finished hitting it with that crap.' Callie said stoically before turning and walking away. Arizona watched her go, torn between following her and staying in the OR.

Deciding there was nothing more that she could do for the time being, Arizona cleared it with Mark who okayed it, and she ran out after the disappearing figure of Callie Torres.

'Callie!' Arizona called after her but she didn't turn around. 'Callie, please?' Arizona broke into a jog to try and catch up with her. 'Dr. Torres?' When she didn't answer, Arizona probed with one more try, 'Calliope?' She shouted.

That worked. Arizona watched as Callie whipped round, Latina flare pulsing through her veins as she began to walk back towards her. 'Callie. My name is Callie.' She practically screamed. 'No one calls me Calliope, so why can't you get that?'

'Why can't you get it that I'm not out to get you?' Arizona shouted back, not really knowing why she got so het up over this woman.

'You're not out to get me? Then why the hell do you have to undermine me like that in the OR?' Callie shouted back, going slightly red in the face.

'I didn't mean to...I'm sorry ok? This case means more to me than any other that I've worked on before and I know that doesn't excuse me, but that's all I've got. I feel like it's my fault we're here; I missed this when we could have caught it early on and so Morocco's here having his spine hacked into and that...well that's on me.' Arizona finished in a whisper.

Callie stood looking at Arizona for a while, deciding whether to stay angry with the blonde but somehow she just couldn't manage it and Arizona watched as the Latina's face went visibly from angry to calm as her breathing slowed.

'It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up about it...but don't beat me up either.' Callie said simply as she turned and headed for the main building.

'Callie?' Arizona tried, not wanting to leave things so up in the air. 'I am sorry for that show in there...all I seem to have done so far is piss you off...please can we just start again?'

'I'll see you in an hour Arizona.' With that Callie walked off leaving Arizona to wonder whether they had indeed cleared the air or whether it would be a heated OR once more when they returned.

Callie headed straight to her own consulting room, kicked off her shoes and slumped into the chair. As she stared into space she couldn't decide whether she wanted to let Arizona off lightly or give as good as she got. When it came down to it, Arizona didn't remind Callie of Erica in the slightest, she was a hell of a lot more beautiful and from what Callie had seen she was also a lot better at her job, but despite this, Callie still found herself shouting at Erica when she shouted at Arizona. She didn't want to take out the anger she had for Erica on anyone, no one deserved that apart from the woman herself, but Arizona was just an easy target.

Callie looked at the clock and sighed as she realised she had to head back to the yard OR and face the woman of her thoughts. The main problem was the fact that Callie fancied the jodhpurs off of her! She was beautiful and Callie couldn't deny it, not matter how hard she tried. Deciding to try and be nicer to Arizona, she headed back into the OR and scrubbed in as she watched Mark and Owen finishing their part. She heard the door go behind her and turned to see Arizona walkin in sheepishly.

'They've nearly finished now; reckon this will be the hardest part though.' Callie said, trying to make conversation about the obvious thing in common.

'I can safely say that I believe Morocco is in the best hands.' Arizona smiled and turned her concentration back to her scrubbing.

'So you're my right hand man again?' Callie asked.

'Yeah...if that's ok?' Arizona asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

'Course. Just don't freak out this time?' Callie asked, smiling so that Arizona knew there was a light humour in what she said.

'Promise.' Arizona said simply, returning the smile and following Callie into the OR. As they entered the OR they knew that this was going to be the tricky bit; they knew that if the cartilage didn't hold when it was placed then they would have wasted the day for nothing; one wrong move would have the same affect. Both women were nervous, not just because of the severity of the operation but also because of the closeness that they were once again thrust into. As both took their places in front of the cavity, picked up their tools and took a deep breath.

'You ready?' Callie asked, directly to Arizona.

'I think so.' She replied.

'Right, let's do this.' Callie said as she turned and nodded for Mark to hand her the first vertebrae.

A/N: review please.