Chapter 8
Summary: Callie & Arizona AU fic. Arizona is lost in a whirlwind of circumstances, relying on her motorcycle to give her clarity. Will this ride lead to the change that she needs, or lead to further hurt and heartache, or is this just the journey that she needs?
Chapter: 8/?
Disclaimer: All characters from Grey's Anatomy belong to the Queen that is Shonda Rhimes… I only wish I was old enough and wise enough to come up with them first….
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"Hey little sis, how was PT?" Daniel had just come out of a patient room, noticing the younger blonde at the nurse's station. She was attempting to seem inconspicuous in her search for Dr. Torres, but Daniel could read her from a mile away. This was her second trip to the ortho floor today, it was apparent who she was there to see and it wasn't her big brother.
"Oh hey Jr. it's about time I you showed up." The blonde woman turned on her good leg, crutches keeping her steady after the hasty shift in stature. Faux excitement at the appearance of the older sibling in place, Arizona was hoping he was buying her demonstration. "I was wondering if you wanted to take advantage of a great privilege…"
Stepping closer, Daniel placed his tablet down into the docking station. "Great privilege huh?.."
His back against the to the station, he sat on the edge of the desk crossing his arms in front of him. Knowing very well that the young blonde was flying by the seat of her pants, he decided he would enjoy going along with it for now. "What's up?"
"I was going to find something to eat, so I thought I'd offer you the chance to accompany me." Seeing the knowing smile spread across the man's features, Arizona knew he wasn't buying it. But if there was one characteristic the blonde carried well, it was her dedication. So she continued, "We haven't gotten to really spend much time together, and I wanted to buy my big brother lunch. So, I've been camped out here for the second time today waiting for you."
Yeah, she wasn't getting any better with her runaway lie. Just in time a certain brunette Latina was exiting her office out of the young blonde's line of sight. Standing, Daniel wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulder. "Damn, I was sure you were looking for Dr. Torres. I feel special Zo."
Callie knew what Daniel was up to; she stealthily snuck up behind the siblings taking a seat at the nurse's station. If just so happened that this seat was right behind Arizona, unbeknownst to the ped's surgeon. The brunette held her tablet up hiding her face just enough as she listened for Arizona's response. "Really Jr? I think about more than just Dr. Torres, I came here to see you."
"Mhm, so if Dr. Torres happens to be on the elevator on the way out, you're not going to abandon me?"
"Why would I do that?" She tried to appear offended. But truthfully, Arizona was hoping the beautiful figment from her dreams would appear. She was the real reason the blonde was making a second guest appearance on the fifth floor right now. "Come on Jr. give me more credit than that. Have I ever ditched my brothers for a girl?"
"Uh, Su-"
Quickly capturing the man's words, she silenced him with a well-placed hand over his mouth just in time. "Don't answer that."
Pulling the petite hand from his mouth with a chuckle he spoke again "Uh, hey would you mind if I bring a friend to this lunch?"
"Whoa, you have a friend?" Arizona leaned back a breath placing her hand over her mouth with a gasp "Now that needs to be celebrated" Arizona pumped her fist in the air in celebration teasing her brother.
Callie had been sitting back enjoying the banter between the siblings. Watching the ped's surgeon was quickly becoming one of her favorite past times. Here she was, her walls down, head thrown back in as she laughed. Blonde curls bounced around freely, highlighting the dimples that were popping from the woman's cheeks. Peeking over the tablet, Callie appreciated the blonde's beauty. At the clearing of a throat she was pulled from her daze….
"Ahem, Dr. Torres I was wondering if you were free for lunch, little sis here is buying." The smile that spread across the man's face was priceless.
Arizona was stuck to her spot, cheeks quickly flushing. Her nerve endings were telling her to run, but for some reason the message wasn't actually reaching her limbs. She hadn't heard a response, so maybe her brother was just trying to get her back for her little dig. Blue eyes started directing the rest of the blonde's upper body cautiously turning. Barely catching a white lab coat from the corner of her eye, blue orbs quickly snapped shut. Maybe if she closed her eyes she could be invisible, right?...
Placing the tablet on the desk Callie stood, enjoying the position the ped's surgeon had put her self in. "Lunch would be nice, but I wouldn't want to cut in."
"Not cutting in, trust me. She was here for you, not me; isn't that right sis?"
Arizona was still sitting stock still, eyes still closed. She knew she had been found out, but how could she turn this into an absolutely adorable moment? "So, I'm not invisible?" she scrunched her nose, peeking one eye open.
This woman was adorable; the way she could channel a six year old and still pull off sexy was mesmerizing to the brunette. Callie took in the blonde's appearance in admiration with a soft giggle at the woman's display.
Daniel spoke up "Uh, no closing your eye does not make you invisible. Sometimes I wonder how you finished in the top of your class at Hopkins."
"Don't be jealous because I'm smarter than you, and more fun." Standing she turned her attention to the woman that had been overtaking her dreams more than she was willing to admit lately. "Calliope! I didn't notice you come over… so, would you like to join us for lunch? I am buying.."
Feigning as if she was contemplating the offer, the brunette pulled out her phone as if to check her schedule "hmmm, I think if I move that around, and push that one back.." biting into one half of her bottom lip her eyes squinted at the screen. She was completely free, but she wanted to mess with the blonde just a bit.
Daniel had moved closer to his boss seeing what she was doing. "Oh don't forget, I think they are setting up to present you with that award in the lobby.. You don't want to be late for that."
Smacking her hand to her head brown eyes shot up as if remembering something big "Oh, how could I have forgotten that."
Catching onto the two ortho surgeons "I'm on to you two." Moving in closer to the brunette Arizona took hold of the strong yet baby soft hand of the Latina. Meeting the brunette's eyes, she intertwined their fingers. Giving Callie her full attention Arizona asked again "Calliope, I would love for you to join me for lunch today.." slender pink lips spread into a smile as two dimples made an appearance.
"Hmmm, well in that case, I guess I could." Callie shrugged on the outside, on the inside she had melted as soon as blue eyes had met her own. One look, easily left the brunette in a trance for the blonde to ply at will. It hit the brunette in that moment; she should be worried that the blonde could so easily get her way. But for some reason she was willing to trust this woman.
They began towards the elevators; taking a few steps, the two women noticed the tall well-trained form of Daniel wasn't shadowing them. "Uh hey, you coming or what old man?"
"You might want to watch it Bo-"
"Don't you dare!" Arizona challenged the taller blonde. Lucky for him, her crutches handicapped her maneuvering abilities. Had she been able to reach him faster, she would have very likely leveled a hard slap to his bicep. If there was one thing Arizona absolutely despised it was the wretched nickname she had been called growing up. 'Boney Zoney' yeah, she was a late bloomer and very few people let her forget it.
Noticing the scowl forming on his sister's face, Daniel thought it wise to continue allowing that nickname to rest in peace. "Alright, sorry. Letting it go." His strong hands were held up in surrender, hoping to ease the stress that had just been formed across the ped's surgeon's forehead. "But, you two go ahead and enjoy lunch. I have a few post-ops that I really need to be checking in on."
"I didn't want to put you out Dr. Robbins. If you want to have lunch with your sister, I can assign those post-ops to a resident…" Callie did want to have the woman all to herself, but she also didn't want to become between the two siblings. If there was one thing the brunette held close to her heart, it's the importance of family. The Latina nervously placed her hands in her lab coat.
"Trust me, you're not putting me out. Zo was really here looking for you, I just happened to show up." Placing a hand on his boss's shoulder he continued "besides, I just plan on having lunch delivered…since you're paying, I don't need to eat the crap in the cafeteria."
Really wanting to only share lunch with the brunette beauty, Arizona figured she could bite the bullet and just pay for the man's lunch. Placing a crisp twenty-dollar bill in his hand she continued her journey to the elevator. "Don't spend it all in one place…"
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The two women had gotten their lunch and were seated at a small two-person table away from everyone's attention. "Last night was a lot of fun, I'm happy that you joined us."
"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. My face still hurt this morning from laughing so much. You and your brothers could very possibly have some kind of television show." The ortho surgeon chuckled at the memory of last night. "Seriously, who goes rollerblading around a marine base in their bikini at two a.m., for a slice of apple pie?"
The ped's surgeon had been sipping on a juice box, her smile spread as she placed it down "You haven't tasted momma's apple pie. Trust me, you would have done it if the last piece was up for grabs." They both laughed "But I do have to say, I don't recommend doing it when stationed in Boblingen, Germany…cold in the states has nothing on cold in Germany." Just the memory of the cold caused a shiver to run through the blonde's body.
Callie had been looking at her lunch-mate, and she was completely captured by the woman. Whenever she spoke of her life she had such a sparkle in her eyes, the brunette couldn't help but to be connected to this woman. Sitting forward, her hand slid across the table, capturing the pale hand of the blonde; placing her hand atop the other woman's felt right.
Arizona was pleased at the contact, quickly entwining their fingers. "So Dr. Torres, do you make it a habit of staring at blonde ped's surgeons, or is it just me?"
The brunette had to laugh as the blush filled her cheeks. "You caught me.. Hey, I can't help it."
Now it was Arizona's turn to blush "You're one to talk, have you seen yourself…like ever?" she looked down for a moment at their hands that seemed to mold together perfectly. "Alright, Dr. Torres, enough about my crazy childhood. Tell me something about you, like how do you survive rainy Seattle over Miami?"
"I love Miami, it's home. But sometimes its better to visit home than live there." Arizona could see a bit of sadness behind the brunette's eyes. Some carry their emotions on their sleeve, but this woman's emotions were all carried in her eyes. One look, and you could read something that she kept inside attempting to hold it just out of reach. "Besides, Seattle when the rain breaks, green everywhere, the smell of springtime… its beautiful."
"I have to admit, the beauty of this city is absolutely breathtaking." It was clear the blonde wasn't talking about the outside landscape, but the sexy Latina across from her. "So are you and your sister close?"
"We are, well we are now." She laughed lightly "You think it's hard growing up with brothers…two very opinionated Latina's in the same house, breeds many arguments. But now, yeah…I wouldn't be where I am in my life without her. She is possible my greatest cheerleader…"
Smiling at the glint in the brunette's eye as she spoke of her sister, Arizona had this insatiable desire to know more about the ortho doctor. "You're parents must be super proud, I mean department head in a male dominated field and not even thirty…" She stopped herself as she noticed a hint of pain flash through the chocolate eyes across the table. The brunette attempted to right her appearance just as quickly as she let it slip, but Arizona had seen it.
"Uh yeah…" this wasn't something she liked to talk about ever; definitely not something she wanted to talk about right now. Right now was supposed to be a light and fun lunch with this blonde bombshell. But how could she get around this…
Seeing the battle rage through the brunette, Arizona was worried she'd said something wrong. "Are you all right.. Did I say something wrong?"
She didn't want the blonde to feel like she'd messed up "No, no not at all. Uh, my parents passed away when I was fourteen…"
Arizona offered a squeeze to the tan hand enveloped in her own in support. "I'm so sorry. Ugh, I shouldn't have brought that up."
"No, no, you didn't know…" Seeing the concern in the majestic blue eyes, Callie looked up briefly in attempt to hold back the tears at the thought of her parents.
"Alright, now that I have completely ruined lunch…" Arizona felt bad, she didn't want to dampen the mood. She had hoped to cause the brunette a lot of emotions, but none of them she wanted to be sad.
"No, don't do that. You didn't know. And lunch isn't ruined. I am sitting across from the most beautiful woman in this place, who by the way, asked me on a date last night… not ruined.."
It was easy to see that a change in topic was a good way to go right now. But the blonde did make up in her mind that this would be a topic to return to at the right time. "Speaking of this date…I get out of this thing on Thursday" she motioned to the soft cast that had taken over her lower left leg "so I was hoping that I would have the pleasure of taking you out on Friday night?"
"Friday sounds great to me. So are you going to tell me where we're going?"
"Nope" she smiled at the brunette, taking her bottom lip between perfect teeth. "I have something in mind that I think you will like." Now she was drawing invisible patterns in the brunette's hand. Their eyes met, and everyone around disappeared.
"Uh, yeah. Um.. good, I'm looking forward to it." Lost in the depths of blue, Callie could barely piece together a logical thought.
"You're staring…" the blonde looked up from under her lashes. "Do I have a pimple, or food in my teeth? Oh no, it's not a booger is it? That would be totally embarrassing."
The brunette couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. Covering her mouth "No, nothing like that. Trust me, your skin will still be beautiful and blemish free tomorrow…I just wanted to say thank you."
Relieved, she squinted through one eye. "Thank you…. for..?"
"Thank you for lunch. Thank you for giving me a clear moment from the chaos of the fifth floor…" Callie had stilled the blonde from the patterns she had been drawing on the inside of her hand, intertwining their fingers again.
"You're sweet, but its just hospital cafeteria food…and hey, anytime you need to get away, I'm your girl…"
"You're my girl huh?"
"Uh, um-hmm, you know what I mean" truthfully she wanted to say 'well yeah' but that may have been too much right now. They hadn't even gone on their first date yet. Plus, she had done the whole, jump head first into the 'I'm your girlfriend pool' and she almost drowned. Pulling her phone from her pocket, Arizona eyed it quizzically..
Catching the expression on the blonde's face, Callie was worried something may have happened "Is everything alright?"
Looking up from the device, she saw the concern etched across the brunette's features. It was hard for her to keep a straight face "Uhm, there seems to be something wrong with my phone, it doesn't have your number in it.."
Callie couldn't help the brilliant smile that broke out across her face. "We can't have that now can we" A tanned hand quickly reached across the table removing the phone from the blonde surgeon. She quickly went into the contacts adding herself further into the woman's life before handing it back over. "You are such a dork"
Arizona shrugged "hey, it worked didn't it?"
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The two women had finished lunch, going separate ways when Callie had been paged to the OR for an emergent femur break. Arizona made her way up to see the chief. She was hoping to start sooner, rather than later. Being a thrill seeker with nothing to do, was starting to get to her. She couldn't get on her bike just yet, and watching surgeries in the gallery just left her wanting to cut even more.
Closing in on the double doors she was nearly to the catwalk she needed to cross in order to reach the chief's office. Before pushing through the doors, she noticed a familiar figure exiting the chief's office, shaking hands with the older man. As the figure turned in her direction, she quickly moved out of the line of sight. Moving to the opposite wall, she leaned back against it.
As the door pushed open, Tim strolled through without a care in the world. "What are you doing here?" Arizona's voice broke through his high, causing his steps to pause as he looked into the identical eyes of the woman in front of him.
"Oh hey sis, I thought your PT was over a while ago. What's up?"
"Yeah, that's not going to work. Why were you just talking to the chief? And don't you dare try bullshitting me, I can tell when you're lying." The shorter woman offered her twin a very pointed glare.
"Damn Zo, I was going to tell you when I told momma and Jr. later."
"No, you're going to tell me now. I know that something has been going on with you. Spill!"
"So, on a scale from one to excited… how happy would you be if I told you Webber is going to let me finish my fellowship here too? I mean NY is good and all, but now you and Jr. are here with momma, and I'm all the way across the country. Which, that wasn't bad before when you were at Hopkins but…"
Following the ramble falling from her brother's lips, she couldn't help the excitement that came across her. Before Tim could continue his words were cut off when the petite form of his sister jumped into his arms, excitedly squealing. Luckily for the woman's injured leg, her twin was quick on his feet and had caught her.
"So, yeah? This is good?"
"No not good, this is great!" More than a highly trained pediatric surgeon, Arizona resembled Tony the Tiger in this moment. "Have you met the trauma guy yet?"
Placing his sister back on her feet gently "Yeah, Dr. Hunt… he used to be a Major before coming here, so he's good, and not just 'oh I trained at the best school' good. He didn't have a fellow; the resident he was training was hit by a bus or something…"
"Are you trying to be funny, or was this like a real bus?"
"Not being funny… a real bus, a few years ago I guess. But after that, he didn't really take to anyone. I don't know if it's the whole marine brat or my dazzling charm, but I'm in.
"Maybe it's because you look just like me" Arizona playfully wiggled her eyebrows, poking Tim in his rib. "So, how long has Jr. known about you trying to move closer?" She gave a knowing look to the man.
"Don't be mad Zo, I would have talked to you about it… but you-
"I was being a complete bitch to everyone… I haven't apologized about that by the way have I? I'm sorry for the whole losing it and all… I uh..
Now the siblings had made it to the lobby, taking a seat. Tim placed his strong arms around the slender shoulder's of his sister, pulling her into him. "Stop, its alright Zo, I get it. I didn't take any of it personal, I know you better than anyone Zo and I know you didn't mean it."
Arizona was grateful for her brother understanding "Thank you Tim"
Holding his sister at arms length, he met her gaze "You want to thank me, come stay at the house with us. At least until you actually find an apartment. You're going to go into debt staying at the Archfield Zo. Momma, worries about you, you know."
Looking down, she rubbed at her brow "I know, but I can't Tim. I can't go there and see dad everywhere. He's never going to be there again… I just.. I can't.. just not now, alright. Please get it. I'm not trying to worry momma. I, uh….I, please…"
Pulling her back in for a hug, he squeezed her into his strong chest "I get it, I get it, ok. When you are ready, I will be right there holding your hand. The siblings sat for a bit longer taking in the feeling of their new life. "You think they can handle all three of us at SGMW?"
The twins laughed at the thought
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You're kinda, sorta, basically, pretty much always on my mind -Zo
Oh is that so? Well if so, that's good because then I'm not the only one. –Cal
Ready to be properly wooed? -Zo
Wooed, huh? What does said wooing consist of? -Cal
Can't tell you that…but I'm aiming for the best first date ever.. -Zo
Setting the expectations pretty high there lady… -Cal
Baby, I might not be Sriracha sauce, but I sure will spice up your life ;) -Zo
You do remember I am Latina, you have to be pretty spicy to get to me… -Cal
Oh baby, I'm plenty spicy. I would come over there and show you, but I'm so hot I'm afraid you're air-conditioning bill would skyrocket. -HotTamale
Mhm… alright 'hot tamale' we shall see. See you tonight… -Cal
I will be on the other side of your door at 8pm, look for the smoking hot blonde in the unforgettable dress that just so happens to hug me perfectly -Zo
The two women had been texting back and forth the past few days leading up to date night. Arizona was trying to play it cool in front of the brunette, but really she had been wracking her brain trying to make sure every detail would be perfect. Without being able to get in on a real surgery, she only had one other way to calm her nerves. Luckily for her, she got the call this morning that her bike was ready. Now here she was at the track, she pulled the zipper to her Alpinestars Stella T-GP jacket. Pulling her hair back, she pulled on her pink and black, DLX Impulse helmet over her blonde locks.
Gloves in place, she stretched her left leg over to the other side, taking the machine between her thighs. Getting reacquainted with the beast, she stood rubbing her hand up to the handlebar. Taking in a breath, she steadied herself for the ride. "Alright, you ready for this?" she took in another breath "I know I wasn't so nice to you on our last ride..and you kicked my ass for it. But I have a hot date tonight, like the hottest…and I need to clear my head. I promise, I'll play nice."
Before long, she was off, she easily approached 70mph. Zoning out of the outside world she focused in on the ride. Leaning in, she took the curve of the track with ease. There was nothing that compared to the feeling of cutting through the atmosphere feeling the wind go through you as you push a machine at a high speed.
The young blonde spent the better part of two hours making the track her bitch. Pulling off the track, she took stock of her bike's condition. The repair shop had done a great job with it. Removing her hand from the riding gloves, she eyed the new addition she'd asked to be added to her custom paint job. She ran her fingers across her father's name, now painted in script, she paused there momentarily before seeing the time on her watch "shit, I need to go get ready."
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Hanging up her FaceTime from her call with Mark, she was still a little unsure of her dress choice for the night. She needed to call in the big guns for this one. Pulling up her contacts, she found the desired number. Swiping across the screen of her iPad, she waited while it rang.
"I'm guessing there must be some kind of emergency, because I haven't seen that beautiful face pop up on my screen in way too long."
"Addie! I need you help" Callie eyed her red head friend, sitting on her couch with a glass of wine in hand; glasses at the edge of her nose.
Pulling her glasses off her face "Hello to you too doll. What's got your hair on fire?"
"Sorry, hi, I love you, I miss you, kisses and all of that" she sped through a greeting "I have a date tonight, and I need your advise on what to wear." Pulling up the dress she had discussed with Mark, she waved it in front of the screen. "Mark says this one, but I'm not sure…thoughts"
"What else were you thinking" Callie quickly grabbed two more dresses she'd had spread across her bed, flashing it across the screen to be spectated. "Go back to the first one…" she compared the options "As much as I hate to admit it, Mark was right. That dress is perfect, match it with the tan heels for accent, and that bracelet Aria gave you last Christmas. Now, date?" she raised an eyebrow to the Latina.
"Uh, yeah. All right, gotta go get ready, love you b-" she moved towards the screen to end the call, but Addison cut in before she should.
"Don't you dare! Start talking" She pointed to the screen to emphasize her demand.
"All right, all right, her name is Arizona.. she's a surgeon, new to the hospital. Blonde, blue eyes, dimples that I don't even know, I'm pretty sure they have me under some kind of spell or something…"
"As I hear it, she was your patient…" Addison wanted to tease her friend just a little bit.
"Mark or Derek?"
"I'm not telling. It's not like I heard it from you. So I'm not giving away my source, it's the only way I know anything about you lately. Now, where is my beautiful niece?" green eyes searched the room through the screen.
"Sof is with Meredith and Cristina… they're keeping her for the night." Callie with a very guilty look on her face, attempted to hide from the screen.
"Cristina, Cristina Yang, Cristina…and Meredith… also known as the twisted sisters… YOU LEFT MY NIECE WITH WHO!?"
"Calm down, Cristina is keeping her over at Mer's… Derek and Hunt are on overnight… and I just talked to Sof, she's good. Plus, Derek and Mer are trying to adopt…so she was hoping for some practice. And Cristina is her god-mother, she's really good with Sof."
"Is this the sex date?...is that why you shipped my niece off?" thinking for a breath "no, you said first date… but alright. I will trust your judgment. Now, go ahead hot stuff… you have a hot date to get ready for."
"Love you Ads, thank you so much!"
"Mhm, I better be the first call so you can tell me all about it." Closing her screen, the two women ended the call.
Callie had already showered, and had been in her robe while figuring her wardrobe out. Laying her heels and jewelry next to her chosen dress, she placed the other two that didn't make the cut back in the closet. Catching the time on the clock, she had about thirty minutes before her date was set to arrive. That left her with just enough time to get dressed and put the finishing touches to her hair.
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AN: As always, so grateful to everyone that is taking this ride with me. I am in complete awe at every follow, favorite, and especially your reviews...I love all of the feedback. I hope that I continue to entertain you, and can't wait to see more reviews...
Next: This is just part one... In two hours, part two will be up for your viewing pleasure, featuring THE DATE...
xoxo
