"Hi."

"Hi…", Eliza said hoarsely.

Eliza remained standing in the door. Arizona took in her tired appearance. She had taken off her makeup, and her hair was still in the ponytail from earlier, only now it was worn with a pair of grey sweats and a hoodie. The surgeon looked tired, and her eyes were slightly red, a telltale sign that she'd been crying.

"Can I come in?" Arizona asked hesitantly.

"Sure", she stepped back and allowed the blonde into her apartment.

Arizona breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the shelves were still laden down with books and other nicknacks that Eliza had accumulated over the years. A part of her had been afraid that she was already too late, and that the brunette would have already started to pack up and move on.

She walked to the couch, and Eliza, who had been holding the door, shut it and sat beside her.

"So… What happened?"

Eliza swallowed the sob she felt forming in her throat. It wasn't one of anger, but one of rage, and frustration at the injustice of the whole situation.

"What do you mean what happened? I got fired." she asked harshly.

Seeing the look on the blonde's face she immediately felt her tough exterior crumble.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, I just-" she trailed off as she felt her eyes well up once again.

"Come here", Arizona said soothingly, pulling the other woman into her arms. "It's going to be okay. I promise you Eliza, we'll figure this out."

Eliza didn't know whether she was referring to her job or their relationship, but in that moment she didn't care, as she relished the comforting feeling of the blonde's arms around her, and her hands softly stroking her hair.

"This isn't me", she sniffed. "I don't cry. And yet this is the second time you've had to hold me together."

She gave a humourless laugh.

"it's okay to be to show your emotions sometimes you know", Arizona said kindly. "It just means you're human."

"it's just so unfair!" Eliza blurted out, pulling away from Arizona's embrace and beginning to pace.

"They fired me because I did my duty as a surgeon, because I followed through with the promise I made when I took the hippocratic oath, that I would look after any patients entrusted in my care?! I'm a fucking surgeon, not a search and rescue operator! If they had listened to me in the first place then Edwards would never have been in that situation in the first place! But no! Of course Dr. Webber knew better."

"I know, believe me, I'm just as angry and confused as you are."

"But I mean, you should have seen Bailey. She just exploded! I mean, I get it, she feels bad about Webber, but her whole manner was just so horrible! Not to mention unprofessional. Jackson Golden Boy Avery was the one searching for Stephanie, and Bailey and Webber knew she was missing too! I was on my way to tell somebody, and then there was a little boy screaming in pain so I had to go and help him. I know I made a mistake, I know that! Don't you think I feel terrible? But I did nothing wrong as a doctor today. I helped evacuate the patients, I did lung tests, I did my duty to take care of patients. I got sidetracked when I shouldn't have. And if anything had happened to Edwards I would have felt horrible. But it didn't. She survived. And so did the patients."

"I know", Arizona said in an attempt to comfort the pacing doctor.

"The worst part isn't that she fired me!" Eliza continued. "It's how she did it."

"What did she say?" Arizona asked.

"She called me a robot. Said I was too obsessed with protocol and regulations to be a good doctor. And that that wasn't the kind of doctor she wanted in her hospital."

"She had no right to say that!" Arizona said in outrage. "First of all, she has no claim on my hospital! We hired her to do a job on our behalf. And secondly how dare she! She was upset, clearly. But that doesn't justify it."

"You're telling me."

"What did Catherine say? And Richard?"

"Richard stayed pretty quiet. Catherine just told Bailey that she had enough on her plate what with rebuilding the damaged wing, so she trusted the matter to be dealt with internally. She didn't even listen to what I had to say… Then again, what's new. People have ignored me since I got to Grey-Sloan."

Arizona didn't know what to say to that.

"I went in there", she blurted out suddenly.

"You what?!" Eliza asked in surprise.

"When you told me you got fired I- I went in there and gave them a piece of my mind…"

"What did you say?!" Eliza asked in shock.

"I basically said that Bailey had been making bad decisions since she was appointed chief, and that her only good decision had been hiring you, and she'd now effed that up too. I also told Richard that he should never have signed off on Edwards and that the whole thing was his fault."

The blonde bit her lip as she recalled the encounter.

"I uh- I also called a board meeting to have a vote of no confidence in Bailey."

"YOU WHAT?! Arizona, why would you do that?" she demanded. "Those people are your friends! This is your home! I'm not worth the trouble."

Eliza may have been flattered that she meant that much to the blonde, but she was also terrified that Arizona would suffer because of her.

"Don't say that", Arizona said sternly.

"Well it's true, I'm not."

"Eliza- When Callie and I divorced, I was convinced that I'd thrown away my one chance at happiness, my one great love. I never thought that I could open myself up to anybody again. I mean sure, I dated, but I never really felt anything for any of the women other than lust, because I never opened myself up to the possibility of us actually being something. Before the crash, I used to be this bright and shiny person, who roller-skated through the hallways at work-"

She was interrupted by an incredulous snort from Eliza.

"It's true", she smiled. "And then when I lost my leg, and I lost my family, I lost the person that I used to be. I put up walls, I gave up for a little while. I just went through the motions of life instead of actually living. And then this bossy, cocky orthopaedic surgeon came into the hospital", she teased, "and somehow managed to knock those walls down. Eliza, from the minute I locked eyes with you I felt something, and the more I get to know you, and spend time with you, the more my walls come down. You are worth the trouble Eliza. Because you make me bright and shiny again."

Eliza's face split into a wide grin. Leaning forward, she captured the blondes lips and kissed her slowly but passionately, channeling all of her emotions into the kiss. Breathlessly, she pulled away.

"You know, no matter how bad things were at the hospital, I never once regretted my decision to sign that contract. Because all of it, the stares, the icing out, the dirty looks- they were nothing compared to how happy I've felt since I met you."

"I told you already, I'm not giving you up without a fight. We will figure this out. I promise."

Eliza simply nodded, and wrapped and arm around the blonde, the couple simply sitting in silence for a while.

"I do care about my patients you know", Eliza said quietly.

"What? I know you do."

"You don't, not really. I've only piggy backed patients to teach the residents here. That being my job and all", she snorted. "But that's because I set up this programme to establish the mechanics of a teaching programme, not the emotions. I come in, set up the framework, and then let the likes of Webber continue on with their teaching, just with my programme. That's how it's always been. Sometimes I miss the more personal cases. I still get called to do the odd reconstruction for big shot athletes, but sometimes I miss the ortho days…"

"Have you ever considered going back to regular surgery?" Arizona asked curiously.

"Sure. I've told you before that the nomadic lifestyle of my job can be lonely, and that I've thought about setting up roots somewhere. There's just never really any reason to… not until recently", she added with a shy smile.

A smile spread across Arizona's face.

"You found a reason, huh?"

"Maybe", Eliza said, with a sparkle in her eye, then somberly added, "that's why this situation sucks so much. I'm a surgeon, my job is to cut, and to fix. I just don't know what I'll do if that's no longer an option for me here in Seatlle."

"Hey! Don't talk like that", Arizona insisted, "I told you, we'll figure this out."

The two remained sitting there for a while, both lost in their own thoughts, both dreading the coming days as they tried to come up with a solution. Both knew in their hearts that they were in too deep to simply call things off, and have Eliza move away, but both also knew that Eliza couldn't just throw in the towel so that she could stay in Seattle, Arizona understood that as a surgeon herself. It wasn't a job for anybody. The hours and the losses, the continuous search for more knowledge, more procedures meant that you had to be truly passionate about it, which both women were.

A loud yawn from Eliza drew Arizona from her trance. She couldn't help but yawn too.

"I'm sorry, i didn't realise how tired I was", Eliza said sheepishly.

"No wonder after the day and night we've had. I'd better take off."

"Stay here with me?" Eliza pleaded.

"Of course." Always.

AN: So I rewatched the episode, and I have to admit that aside from Eliza being fired, and the atrocious idea of Maggie and Jackson being together and April pretending to be okay with it, it was actually pretty great. I'm really glad they decided not to kill Steph, and Jerika was fantastic. The Merthan scenes killed me, but the acting was incredible. Ellen deserves a lot more recognition.

I hope you enjoyed the update and that it wasn't too much of a let down! I always find the first chapter the easiest to write! I honestly don't know whether or not to continue this for a few more chapters, or to just leave it here. I suck at committing to multi-chapters, so I worry that if the interest was there, and I did continue this, that I would just abandon it mid-fic, so keep that in mind when you let me know your thoughts! (Obviously I would do my best to not let that happen). I loved seeing all of the reviews last time, y'all were so encouraging! For those of you who reviewed as Guests that I couldn't reply to, thank you so much for the feedback and the positivity!