Callie and Arizona have put the trauma of the last couple of months behind them and are gradually healing their relationship when a seemingly innocuous incident threatens the very foundations of their love and the possibility of a future together.
Rated: M for language and mature themes.
They say that there are only 7 basic plots, so if this story feels derivative or familiar, I apologise, it probably is. Romance, angst, sex and potty humour to be found herein and not necessarily in that order. I also realise that I didn't do what good writers are supposed to do i.e. arrive late and leave early, the story meanders forever; sorry about that.
If the spirit moves you, feel free to leave feedback, constructive criticism or tell me that I used the semi colon incorrectly.
Oh yeah, I speak no Spanish and I have zero medical knowledge. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and all characters belong to ABC, Shondra Rhimes et al. No profit being made here etc, etc etc.
Thanks for the comments. Glad you're enjoying the story.
3
Arizona's jaw ached.
It ached a lot.
Primarily because she had been grinding her teeth for the better part of the day. And if she didn't already know, she also learned that grinding one's teeth usually gave rise to a thunderous headache.
Not to mention unbearable tension in the neck and shoulders.
And the acid turbulence in the gut.
Arizona felt like shit.
She was scrubbing out after a surgery but her mind was fixed on what she had seen earlier that morning.
A small pale hand trailed along Callie's tanned forehand. There was a blatant sensuality in the gesture, an intimacy that screamed at Arizona. She had only been at the door for half a minute and Arizona, knew that she should have gone into the lounge and, if necessary, ripped the anaesthetist from limb to limb or, at the very least staked her claim to Callie or anything that didn't involve her turning around and basically running away. In her heart, Arizona knew that she was just as angry by the fact that she hadn't confronted the woman, if only to smile and warn her off, as she was by the touching.
"Hey, that was good work in there, Dr Robbins, we should do it again sometime."
"What?" she whipped her head round at the voice, her voice a harsh snarl.
"God, Arizona, what's wrong?" Teddy took a step backwards, shocked at the response to her teasing comment. She and Arizona had just finished a particularly tricky heart surgery on a 9 year old.
Arizona blinked, willing the anger down and forced a smile to her lips as she dried her hands.
"I'm sorry Teddy, I was miles away. What did you say?"
"I was just complimenting you on today's work...but are you ok? You look a ... little upset." Teddy said carefully, making the understatement of the century.
Upset didn't even begin to cover it, Arizona looked like she was about to smack the snot out of the first person to look at her cross-eyed.
"Umm, just a little distracted," Arizona prevaricated, examining her hands carefully.
"Hey, Arizona, awesome friend here, remember? Tell me what's wrong?"
Arizona took a deep breath. She knew that she was blowing the incident out of all proportion, that this level of jealousy was juvenile and that she trusted Callie implicitly. But the image replayed itself again and again. A hand that wasn't hers was stroking Callie's flesh, feeling its delicious warmth; fingers that weren't hers were entwined with the strong, shapely fingers of her woman...
"Arizona!" Teddy prompted, shaking her out of the continuous loop that just wouldn't quit.
Arizona shook her head and then shrugged.
"You remember me talking about my green-eyed monster? Well, its just taken up residence and I'm having a hard time not acting out right now."
"Callie? Really?" Teddy said doubtfully.
"Not really, just something I saw that I didn't especially appreciate." Arizona tried to downplay her emotions, even as the image flashed through her mind again.
"Look, just talk to her about it, whatever it was. You trust Callie, right?" At Arizona's nod, Teddy patted her on the shoulder.
"So, take a deep breath, discuss things with her and send your green-eyed monster packing. Arizona, you know this."
Arizona smiled. It was what she had been telling herself all day.
"You do make an awesome friend, Teddy."
Callie was exhilarated.
She pulled out her keys and juggled the grocery bags she was carrying.
The surgery had been every bit as challenging as she had expected and then quite a bit more. The kid had not responded well to the anaesthetic and she had been faced with the options of cutting the surgery short and doing, what she considered a half-assed job or doing her absolute best, but in less than half the time. She had opted for the latter and worked like a demon against the clock. If that wasn't bad enough, Dr Liz Bennett had discovered late on that he was a sickle cell carrier, which also had implications on the length of the surgery.
4 and three quarters of an hour later Callie spoke to Mr and Mrs Benton to give them the news. The procedure had gone well. The metal rods had been fitted and now they had to let his bones heal before he could really start on his long road to recovery. She was surprised that Arizona hadn't made an appearance but hoped that she caught some of the procedure from the gallery.
"Hey, baby, I'm home."
Arizona was in the kitchen area, bent low, her head peering into a cabinet and offering Callie the most delectable view of her toned behind.
"Very nice," Callie murmured to herself, feeling the familiar tingle of awareness she got anytime she was in proximity to Arizona.
Hearing the door close, Arizona spun round and her gaze skated very briefly over Callie's face before looking at the groceries on the counter.
"Hey. I hear the surgery went well." Her tone was mild, pleasant even but detached and Callie's antenna immediately went up. Arizona was almost always full of positive sunny emotion. Her greeting just now was distinctly lacking in the sunny positive emotion column; Callie had heard her speak to a brick wall with more affection.
"Whoa, what's the matter?" She went straight over and put her hands on Arizona's shoulders.
"What? Nothing's the matter." Under the pretext of unloading the bags, Arizona moved away from Callie's embrace and bit down on her anger.
She hadn't been home long but the silence of the apartment had given her time to brood and the minute Callie came through the door, every last bit of sensible advice that Teddy had given her went straight out.
"No?" Callie watched her closely but gave Arizona her space.
"So why are you being all friendly and polite? I go to give you a hug and you move away? Really?"
"Why do you always forget half the groceries and then buy the most random things? There's no point in writing a shopping list if you never get what you're supposed to." Arizona lifted a box of cereal and ignored Callie's question.
They had fights occasionally, usually little ones. Silly fights over nothing and very rarely, they'd have a serious fight. Usually they could talk about it. But right now all Arizona could see was red. That and the hand of another woman on her girlfriend.
"Case in point," she shook the box, sorely tempted to throw it at Callie.
"Why the hell buy this? Nobody is going to eat this crap."
"I brought that crap because Yang asked me too. Arizona, leave the groceries alone and look at me for a minute. What the hell?" Callie kept her voice level. It wasn't the first time Arizona had picked a pointless fight because she was upset about something completely unrelated.
"What the hell?" Arizona slapped the offending box down and spun to face Callie, her eyes flashing with the pent up anger that had seethed through her all day long.
"You plan a surgery to last for 10 hours and you rush through it in half the time? Callie, what the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking about my patient, Arizona. About what was best for him, turns out he's a sickle cell carrier. You know full well it's better to limit the exposure to the gases. This was a good thing." Callie shook her head, baffled.
"And whose idea was it to re-calculate the anaesthetic levels, yours?" Arizona snapped out harshly.
"Actually, it was. Are you seriously questioning my expertise, Arizona?" Callie ground her teeth and tried to hold on to her temper. Nothing would be solved if they both started screaming at each other.
"Callie, all I'm saying is that a little professional consideration wouldn't go amiss. You should have paged me the minute you got into difficulties. Josiah is my patient..."
"Arizona, you know Webber moved him to my service to free you up so you could do the heart kid with Teddy." Callie chewed on her lip for a second but decided to respond the veiled comment.
"And FYI, I didn't get into difficulties, I totally rocked that surgery. Oh and seriously, babes, way to congratulate me on an innovative procedure today. Thanks a lot." Callie kept the irritation out of her voice. She now had a good idea why Arizona was picking a fight but she was hoping that her obvious anger would fizzle out so that she could talk about the flirtatious anaesthetist.
Arizona knew that she was completely out of line but couldn't stop the words from falling out of her mouth, one hard unfair word after another. But all she could see again and again was that small white hand, trailing sensuously over the toned flesh of her girlfriends arm.
"Whatever." Arizona flung the word at Callie. Dismissive. Hurtful.
Callie's lips were drawn in a thin line and a crease formed between her brow at Arizona's words.
"Are you going to tell me exactly what the hell is bothering you or not?" Her words were flat and deliberate, devoid of the tension that was bubbling up inside her.
"What?" Arizona snapped, her anger rising at Callie's apparent coolness.
"This almighty outburst isn't about fruit loops or even a professional difference of opinion. You're mad at me about something and I promise you, you'll feel a whole lot better if you just spit it out."
Arizona stared at Callie and felt the sting of her sarcasm.
She was angry and now she felt stupid in the face of Callie's calm expression, which made her even angrier.
Snatching up her car keys, she swung around and made for the door.
"You know what? Just forget it. I'm going to the movies." She flung the words over her shoulder, her hand already on the door handle.
"Arizona Robbins, don't you dare walk away from me." Callie's voice snapped out, hard and commanding; brooking no resistance.
"If you're mad at me, be mad at me. Yell at me. Throw things, if you must. But I swear to god, I won't have you walk away from me. Arizona." Not again
The last words merely echoed in Callie's head, she couldn't bring herself to say them out loud.
Arizona turned to face her and stood stock still at the tone, her chest heaving and the adrenaline coursing through her. Callie could be bossy on occasion; she could be a hardcore badass when she wanted to be. But this level of commanding presence was something she had never seen in her before.
It excited the living daylights out of Arizona.
Arousal and fury raged for supremacy within her and as she flung her keys down, Arizona couldn't tell which emotion won.
"What's bothering me is the fact that you let that insipid slut of an anaesthetist practically come all over you this morning." Arizona's eyes glittered with unconfined rage. She didn't care on tiny bit that her jealousy had got out of control.
"You let her touch you." She almost screamed the words out.
Callie had straightened up and observed Arizona with narrowed eyes. Somehow, she had known that Arizona had seen the interaction; she had instinctively felt Arizona's presence. Perhaps she might have expected some reaction from Arizona. Some teasing or a ribald joke. It was probably the first time, at least outside of a bar, that a woman had so blatantly hit on her. But she hadn't been prepared for this torrent of emotion.
"And you watched me remove her hand from my arm, Arizona. You watched me smile and be all professional."
"I don't care. I do not care. I don't want anyone's hands on you. I don't want to see women with their hands on your body." Arizona could hear the wild irrational possessiveness in her voice and wondered who she was becoming.
Finally a burst of emotion erupted in Callie's eyes turning them completely black with something undefined, something so primeval that Arizona felt a frisson of apprehension shoot through her even as another gush of moisture flooded her sex.
Callie moved towards Arizona so suddenly that the breath was knocked from her as her back smacked into the door. She slammed her body into Arizona's, breasts crushed against breasts, hip bones clashing and chests rising and falling rapidly with the unfettered, visceral tension that was consuming both women.
Callie's hand circled her throat, not quite squeezing and she pushed her knee between Arizona's thighs, the other hand pushing the skirt and panties aside and reaching her burning, wet core.
Arizona grabbed at Callie's wrist, trying to stop her, trying to think. She was so wet, so fucking turned on right now that the words wouldn't form.
"Callie, no... Please... Not when you're angry with me." Arizona swallowed, her anger subsumed by the force of the desire that now burnt through her aching, wanton core. Her mouth was dry and her heart was pounding; mad and wild, out of all rhythm.
Callie's hand slowed, infinitesimally and she lowered her mouth to Arizona's, and flicked her tongue out to ghost along the soft curve of Arizona's lower lip.
"Look at me, Arizona," she demanded, her voice gravelly and choked with emotion.
Arizona raised her eyes to Callie's and felt the rush of her arousal at the intensity of Callie's gaze.
"It's not anger that I feel for you. Not here. Not now. Do you understand me?"
Arizona nodded silently, believing her.
"The only hands I want on my body are yours." She leaned in closer, her breath hot and sweet on Arizona's lips.
"Tell me you understand me, Arizona." Callie's voice commanded and Arizona was powerless to deny her.
"I understand, Calliope."
"Good."
Callie thrust two long fingers deep inside Arizona, her thumb firmly pressed against the throbbing aching clit.
Arizona let out a breathy scream into Callie's neck as she felt the almost unbearable pleasure at the penetration. She gripped hold of Callie's shoulders as she raised a leg and wrapped it around Callie's waist, her hips thrusting wildly to the rhythm of her lover's hand. She flung her head back against the door, still feeling the tightness of Callie's hand around her throat. Neither one of them was particularly submissive but there was an undoubted extra element of passion caused by the faintest hint of menace in Callie's grip.
Callie stared deep into Arizona's eyes as she continued to thrust deeply into her; allowing no let up, no mercy. She was going to fuck her hard and for as long as they both could stand it.
She couldn't name the emotion that coursed through her right now; love, passion, desire, lust, none of them even began to match what she felt for the woman writhing and melting under her strong hand.
Arizona could be a little jealous on occasion but this level of possessiveness was something else. It wasn't pretty but Callie couldn't deny how it made her feel. Despite the fact that they were both fully clothed and that Arizona hadn't touched her intimately, Callie was wet through and through and was about to come. She curled a finger to graze the spongy mass within Arizona and allowed a tight smile to come to her lips at the frantic movements her actions incited.
Arizona's control went. Completely.
Her arms circled Callie's back and shoulders and she held on for dear life as her body took over.
She couldn't stop the screams, she just couldn't and in utter distraction she sunk her teeth into Callie's neck, trying to muffle herself as she came apart.
Dimly, in the far recesses of her consciousness, she could feel Callie shuddering her own release and was both shocked and awed each time it happened, that her own emotional response could spill over and trigger an orgasm in Callie.
Callie had dropped her forehead into Arizona's shoulder and absently pondered on the fact that the pain of Arizona's bite had actually pushed her clear over the edge. Maybe they should try a little BDSM once in a while. She widened her stance a little, bracing for the point when she would have to take all of Arizona's weight. Her fingers had finally stopped thrusting but were held in a vice grip as the blonde continued to spasm strongly.
The tremors didn't let up for a while and Arizona could see black spots jumping wildly in front of her eyes, as orgasm after orgasm slammed through her body, rolling her like a rag doll caught in a tidal wave. Her legs felt like they were made out of pure jelly as all remaining strength in her just fizzled away.
"Baby, I can't stand," she panted out, brokenly. She could feel tears squeezing out of her eyes and couldn't explain why. There was just too much emotion in her right now. Her body simply couldn't handle it.
"I've got you, babe," Callie breathed as she slowly, tortuously slid her fingers out of Arizona's still quivering core and wrapped her arms around Arizona's waist, holding her close and then lowering both their bodies to the ground.
She lifted her head and kissed Arizona hard and deep, knowing that they would both bruise a little at the brutal contact.
"I love you, Arizona." She said the words carefully as stroked the hair away from the blonde's face. "But, baby, you really pushed a few buttons today."
Arizona looked into Callie's face with regret.
"I'm sorry I was a shrew. I don't know what happened..."
She took a hiccupping breath.
"You rock me to my very core. I just lost my mind for some reason."
"OK, but we can't have mad and slightly violent sex each time you're jealous of some random woman, babes..."
At Arizona's arch look she sighed.
"OK, we can but I'd rather you talk to me first instead of going up in smoke." Callie got to her feet and helped the wobbly Arizona to stand.
She placed hands on the shorter woman's shoulders and examined her face closely.
Her beautiful eyes were still hooded and darkly turbulent from their love-making, her full pink lips, swollen from their kisses and her hair was mussed and wild.
She looked like she had been fucked hard and liked it.
Callie took a deep breath and dropped a gentler kiss on those soft pouty lips.
"Arizona, I know I don't need to say this, but I'm going to anyway. You never, never need to question my heart. Everything I am, everything I want, is right here with you. That isn't going to change." She folded up Arizona's soft hand and placed it on her own chest. They could both feel the solid thump of the taller woman's heart.
"Every single beat is for you, Arizona. Every last one."
Arizona's eyes blinked slowly as she took in Callie's words.
Abstractly, she considered that Callie could have been a poet. There was often such a lyrical quality to her words that she wished she could write them down and read them over and over again.
"I do know that, Callie and my only excuse is that ... that..." Arizona finally shrugged and gave it up.
"OK. I don't have an excuse. That woman simply incensed me with her smiling and touching." She fiddled with Callie's blouse, her hand still resting on the Orthopaedic surgeons chest.
"I wanted to come in there and slap her into the middle of next week. No, to the end of next week," she amended, fiercely.
At Callie's raised eyebrows she squirmed a little but was defiant, her chin stuck out and eyes sparkling.
"Hey, have you met you? You're hot and intelligent and funny and kind and ... and extremely hot. " Her hand tightened on Callie's blouse, pulling her down for a deep kiss, her tongue darting into Callie's warm moist mouth and getting lost in the sensations of her lips.
"I did mention that you're hot? And you're mine, baby. I can just about manage to share you with Mark and Bailey and Cristina and the others. But some bimbo anaesthetist who thinks she can crawl into your panties ..."
Callie placed a finger over Arizona's lips, halting her diatribe.
"Ain't never gonna happen. I promise." Callie decided it would be prudent not to mention that, despite her hugely inappropriate introduction, Dr Liz Bennett had been more than merely competent at her job during the difficult surgery. Callie also wondered if it was worth recounting to Arizona her conversation with Liz Bennett after their surgery. But the thought fled as the finger that she had placed over Arizona's lips had found its way into her mouth and was slowly being sucked.
A grin spread over Callie's face.
"I thought we were going to the movies?"
"Fuck the movies," Arizona growled as she leaned up and ran her tongue over the vivid bite marks she had left on Callie's neck.
"Hmmm, much rather fuck you." Callie swung her around and pushed her onto the sofa.
Approximately an hour earlier.
Callie felt the burn in her neck, back and shoulders and stretched, cracking a few bones in her vertebrae to release the tension. She had been bent over Josiah's hand and arm in almost the same position for nearly 5 hours and right now a hot bath and maybe a massage, sounded really good.
As she scrubbed, Callie went back over the procedure and the complications that she and Dr Liz Bennett had encountered. Despite everything, the tiny anaesthetist knew her business and was able to translate Callie's rapid instructions into viable solutions for the surgery.
Under any other circumstance, Callie would have enjoyed working with the woman more often but after their recent introduction it would probably better all round if she kept the woman at arms length for the time being.
In a stroke of pretty rotten timing, the said Dr Bennett walked into the scrub room, and shot a smile at Callie. She still had her mask on and all that really could be seen was the crinkle at the corners of her eyes and the flash of merriment.
She tore off her cap and mask and shook out her long, curly hair, her head swaying from side to side, like she was in a shampoo ad. Liz Bennett then chose the sink next to Callie's to begin her scrub out.
Really? Now? Callie asked herself wearily.
But, there was no time like the present, so she decided to meet the challenge head on.
"Thank you, for today, Liz. Very good work. I was impressed."
Good, that's good. Friendly, professional but aloof.
"It bodes well that my skills impress you, Callie … in the OR that is." Liz drawled.
Aw, fuck professional and aloof.
"Alright, will you just quit with the inappropriate flirting and the touching. Just quit it. It's not funny."
Callie burst out, her colour slightly high. With the exception of Arizona and a few drunken passes as Joe's that didn't really count, no woman had been so aggressive in pursuing her. Callie didn't like it.
"Pardon?" Liz was laughing at her, Callie could tell from the twinkle in those sea-green eyes.
Callie frowned and peered at her, still trying to work out if it was some elaborate gag of Mark Sloan's. She wouldn't put it past him.
"Don't pardon me. Don't flirt with me. I don't like it. I don't want it." Callie drew a breath and regarded the woman, who had resumed her scrub.
"And besides, you must know I'm with someone."
Liz Bennett shrugged and flashed a brazen smile up at Callie.
"So? You're not wearing a ring and you are show-stoppingly gorgeous. You really can't blame a girl for trying."
That stopped Callie in her tracks.
She took another deep breath and decided to try again.
"Ok. Thank you. That's sweet of you. I'm very flattered," she trotted out, her brain trying to come up with the right combination of words.
"But irrespective of whether I'm wearing a ring or not, I am in a loving, committed relationship and I'm not looking for anyone else, I'm not interested in anyone else."
Callie took a deep breath, hoping to appeal to Liz's maturity, though, based on her recent behaviour, she wasn't really betting on a sure thing.
"We have the makings of a really good, professional, working relationship, Liz. I wish you wouldn't jeopardise it on something as fleeting as a passing attraction."
Liz rested her hands on the sink and considered Callie's face.
"Wow. That really was quite earnest, wasn't it, Calliope?" she mocked gently.
"It's Callie." Callie said shortly, wondering where the hell she went from here.
Human Resources and a sexual harassment complaint? Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Ok. Ok. I'll stop. Professional relationship it is. Deal?" she held out her tiny, wet hand to Callie.
Callie's lips twisted slightly at the gesture, remembering the last time they shook hands.
"Deal," she replied, folding her own, freshly scrubbed hands, primly behind her back.
"And we'll just keep all touching to a bare minimum, shall we Liz?" With that, she nodded politely and left the scrub room.
Liz Bennett went back to her hands, chuckling lightly, her eyes positively sparkling.
"You really think I'd give up that easily? Silly, silly ... yummy girl," she murmured to herself.
TBC