In spite of her worry over her career, Eliza slept like a log that night. As did Arizona. Both were completely worn out by the events of the past twenty-four hours... and it's not like they'd slept much in the nights before that either. When Arizona woke it was to a call from Meredith. Blearily she reached for the phone and spotting the caller ID decided she'd better answer it. Glancing at the brunette still sleeping soundly beside her she eased herself out of the bed, carefully extracting herself from beneath Eliza's arm. She rejected the call, and sent Meredith a text saying that she'd call her back in a minute. Reaching for her prosthetic, she attached it carefully, and then exited the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She really needed to leave a set of crutches here.

"Hey", she said as soon as her fellow blonde surgeon answered.

"Sorry, I hope now isn't a bad time."

"No, not at all. I just needed to attach my leg before I could talk", Arizona admitted.

"Oh, right, of course."

"So I'm assuming that you called because you spoke to the others? I haven't had the chance to check my emails yet."

"I did. We've all agreed that a board meeting needs to be held to discuss the renovations and rebuild, and considering your proposal that it should be done as soon as possible."

"So, when are we all available?"

"This afternoon."

"Okay then. What time? Could you send around a confirmation email?"

"Will do... What do we do about Bailey?"

"What about her?" Arizona asked, the tension evident in her voice.

"Well she she is technically a board member, even if Alex is the one who owns the shares."

"Well I can't exactly pass a motion of no confidence if she's there, now, can I?"

"No. But you also can't exactly call a board meeting without her."

"Right...Well then, she won't get a vote on that matter, it would be unethical. She will get a chance to defend herself though, obviously. And she can't be present while it's being discussed."

"Seems reasonable."

"First though we'll have to deal with the situation with Eli- Dr. Minnick, given that her handling of that whole situation is what led to this vote."

"Right. I guess we'll have both her an Bailey present their position to the board? Minnick does want to appeal this, right? Wrongful termination?"

"Yes, of course! I mean- yeah. I spoke to her after the incident occurred and she seemed upset. And then she said that she would like the case reexamined..." Arizona said, stretching the truth a little. Eliza would agree to this, she rationalised.

"Okay, well given the vote of no confidence issue, the board will deal with this. I doubt HR have even been notified yet anyway, given the way things are the hospital. I'll confirm a time with the others and get back to you, if you'll contact Dr. Minnick. And maybe ask Webber to be present seeing as he witnessed the firing."

"Will do. Thanks Mer."

"No problem. See you soon"

Climbing back into bed, Arizona felt a smile spread across her face. Eliza was so cute when she slept. Any worry lines smoothed, and she looked younger and innocent. She propped herself up on her elbow and simply admired the brunette, watching the steady rise and fall of the brunette's chest under her worn USC t-shirt. Although it had only been a few months, the thought of giving this woman up caused an ache in her chest. Eliza's contract was supposed to last another two months, with the possibility of extending, so it wasn't a conversation that they had had yet. And now here they were. Her brow furrowed in anger as she thought of what Bailey had said to Eliza. A robot?! Maybe if everyone had been a bit more welcoming in the first place then Eliza would have been able to open up to them more, show them how great a person she really was. Instead, she'd been forced into defensive mode the minute she arrived. Arizona still felt guilty when she thought of the way she'd treated her girlfriend when she'd first arrived. She was interrupted from her thoughts by Eliza turning beside her, still asleep, and draping an arm across her. Smiling, Arizona turned her body so that she was facing the sleeping orthopedic surgeon.

A few minutes later, Eliza began to shuffle more, and then slowly forced her eyes open. The corner of her lips turned up into a smile when she saw the blonde facing her. Closing her eyes again, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on her pink lips.

"Good morning", she said sleepily. "Been creepily staring at me for long?"

"Not long enough."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just... Stuff."

"Me being fired stuff?" Eliza pressed gently, forcing one eye open. Her eyes were still heavy from last night's emotion, and in spite of the fact she didn't need caffeine, it always took her a solid five minutes to force herself out of bed.

"Y-yeah. The board meeting, Bailey being a bitch, that sort of stuff."

"Arizona-"

"No, it's fine, I told you that I'm gonna fix this."

"I- look, let's just not talk about any of that right now. Let's just enjoy the fact that we're here. In bed. Together. With nowhere to be for the next couple of hours. How does that sound?" Eliza asked, reaching her hand and running it along her girlfriend's side.

Arizona shivered under her soft touch.

"That sounds perfect."

"Good", Eliza whispered, her hand drifting beneath Arizona's t-shirt. "So stop worrying and kiss me."

So Arizona did.

Lying there afterwards, tangled together beneath the sheets, Eliza realised that she couldn't lose this. With her work, she had never really allowed herself to get too serious with anybody, knowing that by the time she did it would be time to move on. And she certainly hadn't planned on falling for the blonde beside her. She had seen her and thought she was probably the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, but she had told herself that nothing too serious could come of it. Even if she did get butterflies every time the blonde's eyes met hers from the moment she had seen her through the window. She had had her heart broken more than once, and she wasn't ready to go through that again. But then the pediatric surgeon had resisted her charms, rebuffed her advances even. And that had intrigued her. And then she'd learnt about everything that Arizona had been through, and her strength and resilience had blown Eliza away. So that when Arizona had rejected her, it had wounded more than her ego. And when she had finally kissed the blonde, Eliza realised that whatever happened between them, it would be more than just a fling. She had been terrified. But also electrified by the thought. Arizona Robbins had the power to make her fall again, which was something she had never thought she would say. She didn't know what she was going to do. But she did know that she would do everything in her power to stay.

Meanwhile beside her, Arizona was also lost in thought. Lying beside her was a woman who meant more to her than she was ready to admit, maybe even to herself. A woman who, hard as she tried, she had been unable to resist. And she was willing to do anything she could to keep that woman here in Seattle. But she wasn't sure that the residency director felt the same. After all, she had stopped Arizona in her tracks when she had talked about fixing the current mess. And if that was the case, what was the point in even trying? She was done being the one who wanted to fix things. She needed a relationship to be based on equal feelings, equal respect, equal lov- Not yet Robbins. Don't say it.

Eliza felt Arizona stiffen beside her.

"What's going on?" she asked in concern, "Is your leg hurting?"

It did that sometimes she knew.

"My leg is fine."

Eliza noticed the slightly sharp tone.

"Did I do something?" she asked cautiously. When the blonde didn't reply she began to worry. How had she gone from all protective and romantic to stone cold?

"Did you not enjoy-"

"The sex wasn't the problem Eliza", Arizona snapped.

Seeing the brunette flinch in surprise, she quickly backtracked.

"The sex was great. I think that's something I always make pretty clear", she added jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Well then can we talk about whatever is bothering you then?"

Arizona sighed. She knew it was a conversation that needed to be had, and one that should be had sooner rather than later. For both of their sakes. She turned so that she was looking at the brunette again, propped up on her elbow.

"Do you want me to fight for you to stay? Are you going to fight? Or is this just something that puts your plans out by a month or two?"

"What are you talking about? I've told you how I feel about you."

"Except that you haven't, not really."

"Ariz-"

"No, look. If this is just sex to you, or a causal fling, then that's fine. But I need you to tell me. Because I don't want to be blindsided when you pick up and leave with nothing but a quick goodbye."

"Arizona, last night I told you that I had finally found a reason to stay somewhere. And I thought that I made it pretty clear that that reason was you."

"I did too, but then any time I talk about doing my best to keep you here you change the subject", Arizona said defeatedly.

"Do you know what I was thinking about just there?" Eliza asked. "I was thinking about the fact that no matter the outcome of your meeting, that we have to find a way to make this work. Because I can't just leave you. I don't fall for people easily. I can't. Not with my job, and not with my experience. But as soon as I got to know you, I realised that there was no way in hell you could just be a quick fling. You fascinate me. You fill me with awe. Your strength, your compassion- not to mention how goddamn hot you are. Jesus, it's not even fair, you should come with a warning sign!-"

Arizona blushed.

"-This is about so much more than sex, I can promise you that. But there's nothing that I can do now except wait and hope. And I know who the board members are, which doesn't really give me much optimism. So I don't want you to get your hopes up. Because I don't want you blaming yourself if this doesn't work out."

"Actually, there is something you can do..."

"What?" asked Eliza in surprise.

"Meredith and I spoke on the phone before you woke up, and came to the conclusion that we should treat this as an appeal to the board for wrongful termination- in other words you and Bailey will both explain your logic behind why you should or shouldn't have been fired, and then we'll make a decision off of that."

"You want me to go into a room full of people who don't like me and convince them to keep me on staff?" Eliza asked in disbelief. "I thought you were questioning Bailey's competence for her position?! I thought that I'd be hired back dependant on whether or not she was still chief!"

"I know, but this is more effective... Hear me out?" she pleaded.

Eliza gave a curt nod.

"First of all, the board has to make objective decisions, and hard as that may seem, we know that. No bias, I promise. Second of all, we both know things have been getting better. Yesterday we were discussing car sex with Maggie and Jackson for crying out loud!"

"Not our car sex! And this could throw you under the bus too. If people realise we're dating they'll think that that's the only reason you're defending me, and then they'll hate me more... Is it? Why you're defending me?" she added nervously.

"Don't be ridiculous. You were fired in violation of your contract, simple as. Maybe I'm slightly more invested in you staying at the hospital for personal reasons", she admitted, "but the fact is, you still were unlawfully dismissed."

"And what about the others questioning your integrity because of our relationship?"

"I'm going to tell them about us before we speak to either yourself or Bailey", Arizona said calmly. "It's best if everything is out in the open, and that way Bailey can't use it against me."

"You are?" Eliza asked softly. "Are you sure? The last thing I want is for your friends to judge you or treat you differently because of me."

"If they're my real friends then they'll be happy that I've finally met someone who makes me happy. Besides I think Meredith might already have an inkling."

Eliza gave her a quizzical look, and Arizona just shrugged, not willing to go into further detail about her and Meredith's phone call, and run in the night before.

"Okay. So. Say I agree to this-"

"You will. For me. For us... Besides, you'd do this if it were any other hospital. Anyone would."

"Okay fine, I'm agreeing" the brunette sighed, rolling her eyes at her girlfriend's satisfied smirk.

"Who's on the board again?"

"I'll give you the run down. Jackson, as a representative of our main shareholder, the Harper Avery Foundation. Meredith, who has three times the shares the rest of us have aside from Avery, because of Derek and Lexie. Not of that matters though because the board it a separate matter to shares, so we all have one vote-"

"Lexie?" Eliza asked, interrupting her girlfriend's rambling.

"Meredith's sister who passed away in the plane crash", Arizona said sadly. "Also known as the love of Mark Sloan's life."

"Oh my God. Dr. Grey really has been through hell."

"Yep. She's been through some crazy shit that nobody should ever have to go through."

Both paused for a moment thinking of Meredith's misfortune before Arizona continued on with her list.

"Anyway, then there's Bailey, who got Cristina Yang's board seat, even though Alex got her shares, and then there's me."

"Okay", Eliza said with an exhale, taking it all in. "I can do this. I just need to be honest, and rational, and tell it like it happened."

"Exactly. Just like you told me."

"I'll admit that I made a mistake, but clarify that it was only because I was pulled away to deal with a patient."

"Mhm. And mention that Bailey called you a robot- personal attacks are unprofessional."

"Oh I will", Eliza bristled.

"Good. Now, my elbow hurts from lying like this, so I'm gonna get up and hop in the shower if you don't mind", Arizona smiled.

"Sure, I should probably get up too. Will you manage my shower?" Eliza asked, regretting the fact it didn't have a handle for the blonde to hold on to.

"Yep, I'll just use the wall for support", Arizona said with a smile. "But thank you for your concern."

"Okay, well I'm gonna go make some breakfast. I'll get something ready for you too."

"You're a star!"

"I try", Eliza winked.

Walking to her wardrobe she pulled out some underwear and some sweats and a t-shirt before being distracted by Arizona.

"Oh, uh, Eliza, one more thing", she said, poking her head out the bathroom door, the sound of the running water in the background.

"Uhuh?"

"I forgot to mention one insignificant little detail... my ex-wife is also on the board."

With that she closed the door, and swiftly turned the lock, leaving a shell-shocked Eliza open-mouthed and speechless.

AN: After a longer than anticipated delay, I'm back with chapter 3! I'm so grateful for all the feedback and support this fic has gotten, and I'm very sorry if this chapter was a let down, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Things got a bit technical board member/vote wise because I honestly haven't a notion how the board has survived the death/departures of it's founding members, seeing as we never seem to see that side of things any more. There will probably be a follow up to this chapter- Eliza defending her case, and the outcome of that, plus what Callie has to say about all of this! That is if you guys want, so let me know!

It's been a pretty hectic week, and next week will be more so, but if y'all want one, another chapter should get written by this time next week- reviews are very motivating! ;) (No but seriously, I'll do my best.)

Also just realising how long and dialogue heavy this is- apologies if that's not your thing!