A/N: Thanks for reading and enjoy! More at the bottom.

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

…

The summer months in Malawi were unbearable. Arizona wiped the sweat off of her brow as she made her way out into the hot and humid air from her wonderfully air conditioned hotel room. Most days when she was in Malawi a small part of Arizona would always regret that she wasn't living there full-time like she was supposed to be, but on days when the sun was scorching and her hair frizzed out as soon as she left air conditioning, she was grateful that she was only there for a week at a time.

"I've never seen you so depressed to be in Africa before, Robbins," Alex told his friend as he noticed her grumbling under her breath as they made the walk from the hotel to the hospital.

"I know," Arizona said reluctantly. She really didn't want to hate her week in Malawi but it wasn't just the heat that had put her in a sour mood. She had just had a crappy week of surgeries and lost too many kids in surgery than she should have. "I just haven't had a good feeling this whole trip. I'll be better once we get to the hospital. The kids always put me in a better mood."

It was their last full day in Malawi. The pair of pediatric surgeons was due to leave Malawi and head back to Seattle late the next day. Arizona spent the whole morning in surgery doing a hernia repair. She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right that day. After a morning of surgery she decided she needed a good dose of cheer and headed to the courtyard for her lunch break. She hoped that she'd find a pickup game of soccer to join or some girls jumping rope to play with – anything to improve her spirits

Arizona heard cheering and yelling coming from outside as she made her way to the outdoor space that the healthier patients and siblings of patients frequented for fun. She could hear Alex's voice encouraging the kids to try again. She was smiling before she even stepped outside. Yes, this was exactly what Arizona needed to help turn her sour mood around.

Arizona's mood had vastly improved after leading her team of rowdy boys to a three goal victory over Alex's team. Arizona did have to admit that the teams were a little unfair and the fact that the Malawian boys refused to try to take the ball from a girl didn't make things easier for Alex in his attempts to win. Alex and Arizona were making their way back to the surgical wing to start their afternoon surgeries when they heard screaming coming from the courtyard that they had just left. Instead of screams to score goals or pass the ball, these were screams of fear. Alex and Arizona immediately turned around and ran back to the courtyard. Arizona was about to pull open the door to the outside to see what was causing all of the noise when Alex jerked her hand away from the handle and pulled her behind the nearby administrative desk.

"Keep quiet," Alex commanded as he pushed Arizona onto the floor. "There are a handful of men out there with guns."

"But there are kids out there!" Arizona stood up to go help the children when Alex tugged her back down again.

Alex shook his head and pulled her behind him as they made their way to the hallway away from the doorway and up to the surgical wing. Once they were clear of the open window, he pulled them both up into a standing position. "We're not getting involved in this Arizona. Those are the rebel forces. They have no problem killing the two white doctors. I've already been shot once and I'd like to not have that happen to me again." Alex shoved Arizona into a storage closet. "You stay here. I'm going to go find Nigel and see what the hell is going on."

"But Alex we have to help the kids," Arizona yelled as she started to push her way out of the closet.

"Stay here Robbins. Please," Alex pleaded as he closed the door to the closet. He had been scared to death when he saw the men carrying guns through the window of the door. He immediately flashed back to the last time he encountered a man with a gun in a hospital. He had barely survived that day and he wasn't going to let that happen again. He had to get himself and Arizona to a safer area but when Arizona started pleading about the children he knew that he needed to try to keep them safe as well. Once he had Arizona in a safe place, he would then go try to help the kids.

Alex had just closed the closet door and was about to make his way to the hospital director's office when he was slammed against the brick hospital wall. When Alex let out a loud grunt, Arizona couldn't help but fling the closet door open to see what was going on. Arizona stood frozen in shock as the large man turned to stare at her. Her eyes immediately focused on the automatic rifle in the rebel's right hand. Her eyes then looked up to see Alex being held against the wall by his neck. She couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes as she watched Alex start to struggle to breathe. After Gary Clark filled Seattle Grace – Mercy West with bullets and she froze in fear, Arizona made a promise to herself that she would do better in the face of danger.

Arizona kept her eyes trained on the gun as she started to plead with the gunman. She avoided making eye contact with Alex so that she didn't lose her emotions. "What do you want from us?"

At hearing the blonde's words the man took his attention off of Alex and turned toward her. "I need help," he said in broken English.

"What… what kind of hel… help?" Arizona stuttered as she asked hoping to keep him talking as the longer he talked the looser his grip around Alex's throat became.

"I need doctors. I have many men hurt. They need help," the man said as he reached out to grasp Arizona by her scrub top and threw her against the wall next to Alex.

Seeing Arizona thrown up against the wall next to him, Alex had to take action; he pushed off the wall and attempted to throw the gunman to the floor. In hindsight, it was probably not the best idea to try to take on the man with the gun but Alex had to try to keep Arizona out of whatever was going on in the hospital. The rebel leader laughed as Alex bounced off of his body. He grabbed the butt of his gun and whacked Alex upside the head with it causing Arizona to cry out in horror as she watched Alex stumble from the hit.

"We're doctors!" Arizona shouted as she watched Alex grab his face to check for injuries. She wanted to do whatever she could to keep the gun-wielding man in front of her from hurting Alex again. "We can help. We're surgeons. Please. Let us help you."

"Doctors?" the man questioned.

Arizona nodded her head furiously. "Yes, doctors. We can help."

The man let his gun hang across his chest as he grabbed Arizona with one hand and Alex with the other. He dragged them toward the hospital lobby. Arizona could tell by Alex's eye contact and facial expressions that he was not happy with the fact that Arizona did not stay in the storage closet like he asked of her. He needed to keep her safe and now she was in the middle of whatever was going on between the rebels and the governing forces.

…

In the hospital lobby there was a man laid out on a stretcher. He was dressed in military fatigues and had a black mask hanging from his neck. His clothes were covered in blood and he appeared to have extensive burns to his face. Even from afar Alex and Arizona could tell that this man was in critical condition. He was surrounded by a gang of his friends who were all holding up guns to keep the rest of the hospital staff and visitors away.

The man that was holding Arizona and Alex captive appeared to be the leader of the group. Alex overheard some of the others calling him Anton. After a brief conversation between Anton and another rebel leader, Arizona and Alex were dragged into a treatment room as the rebels brought the man on the stretcher into the room.

Arizona looked flustered as she started to assess the patient. It was difficult for her to focus on helping the man when there were three men with guns staring at her.

Alex could sense her uneasiness as he noticed that she couldn't take her eyes off of the guns and spoke up. "Look. We can't work with guns in our faces. If you want your friend to live, put the guns away or wait outside. You'll be blocking our only exit. We won't be able to run away."

The three men didn't respond to Alex. Instead they spoke among themselves in their native language. Alex could tell by their loud tones and intonation that they were arguing.

"Okay, we go," Anton conceded as he held up his gun as a show of force. "But you fix him or else."

Alex and Arizona got the unsaid message. If they didn't fix him, they would be shot

As soon as the men left the room, Alex and Arizona flew into action. They had no idea how long ago their patient had been hurt and every wasted second was one second closer to death.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Arizona said as she was cutting off the man's clothes.

Alex nodded, "I know. I know. Where is he losing it from?"

"I've got a bullet entry wound on his chest. Roll him over to look for an exit wound."

Alex sighed as he rolled the man onto his side, "No exit wound. Shit. What the fuck were these guys up to? His face is charred with third degree burns. He's screwed. We're screwed."

Just as they finished assessing their unconscious patient, he came to life coughing up blood before passing out again.

"We need x-rays to see where this bullet is at," Arizona told Alex as she rolled the man back over so that he wasn't drowning in his own blood.

"Let's get him up to the OR floor. We'll do x-rays right there," Alex replied as he opened the trauma room door.

Arizona heard Alex explain the situation and the two doctors and their patient were quickly guided up to the operating room.

"Thank god it's not his heart," Arizona said as she looked at the x-rays that showed the bullet had hit the man's right lung. "We need to do a trach now."

"Then what?" Alex asked the more experienced surgeon.

"We're not cardiac surgeons, Alex. I don't know what to fucking do!" Arizona was worried. She knew that neither one of them had the skill to help this man.

Alex could tell that Arizona was getting upset. Her cursing was sure fire sign that she was either drunk or upset. After he successfully put the trach in, he turned his attention to his friend. "We're going to be okay," Alex said softly as he brought Arizona in for a hug. "I won't let them hurt us."

"The only way that's going to happen is if we save this guy," Arizona sobbed into Alex's shoulder.

"Then we save him. We find a way. You with me, Robbins?" Alex asked as he pulled back to look at Arizona. He gently reached up to wipe her tears away as she nodded in agreement. They didn't have any other choice.

Alex and Arizona did the best they could with what they had. They were able to find the bullet and remove it but that didn't stop the bleeding. Both agreed that even if they remembered how to remove a lung without killing the man that it wouldn't help. They needed to replace his lost blood but they didn't have any access to a blood bank. They had failed. The man was going to die. Their only hope was that he would live long enough for them to get out of the hospital with their lives.

…

Alex and Arizona had finished their makeshift surgery. They made their patient look as healthy as he could before they brought the rebels into the room.

"So we're agreed. We tell them everything went well. Show them the bullet. We've bandaged his burned face. Then we get the hell away as fast as we can," Alex recited their escape plan for the third time.

"Yeah," Arizona agreed as Alex turned the doorknob to the hallway.

As soon as the room opened, the rebel leaders entered the room to look at their friend. All of Arizona and Alex's hopes rested on the fact that they would be let go immediately.

"He's okay?" Anton asked Arizona.

"Yes," Arizona answered. "We removed the bullet from his chest and treated his burns. But he'll be very sick for awhile. He needs to stay here in the hospital."

Anton didn't like hearing that his man needed to stay in the hospital but could he really expect that his friend who was brought in near death would be walking out of the hospital on his own two feet? Anton looked over the patient and then turned to leave the room. As he turned, two of his henchmen latched on to Alex and Arizona. Their quick escape wasn't looking like it was going to happen.

The men threw Alex and Arizona into the same storage closet that Alex had first told Arizona to hide in. The men didn't say a word as they pushed them into the room. The surgeons had no idea how long there were going to be there or if they would even be let out.

Every noise that Arizona heard from outside the room caused her to jump.

"I'm scared," Arizona whispered to Alex as they sat in the dark. Alex couldn't see the tears running down her cheeks.

Alex scooted next to Arizona and wrapped his arm around her back, "Me too."

"I don't want to die like this."

"We're not going to die."

"Promise?" Arizona pleaded with Alex. She knew that he couldn't promise that. She knew that even asking him to promise that wasn't right but she needed to hear it – she needed to hear the impossible.

Alex kissed Arizona's temple, "I promise. As long as I'm alive, I won't let them hurt you."

Arizona didn't like that stipulation to the promise because she knew all too well that both she and Alex might not make it out of Africa alive. Even with the stipulation it still touched her that Alex would put his own life in front of her own. Outside of the storage room they heard voices. The voices were starting to get louder and getting closer to the storage room. They were speaking in the native language but Alex and Arizona could tell the voices were arguing. Then they heard gun shots. As they heard footsteps stop outside of their room Alex pulled Arizona as close as humanly possible to him and wrapped both of his arms around her. He wondered if this was what it was like at Seattle Grace – Mercy West when Gary Clark shot up the hospital. He was one of the first people shot in his rampage so he didn't deal with the fear of having a gunman roaming the hospital for hours like the other staff did. Alex didn't even remember much about being shot other than the act itself and waking up at Seattle Presbyterian.

They sat in silence as they waited for the men outside to enter their safe haven. They were waiting to be killed. Alex had been near death before when he was shot but he was so out of it due to pain and blood loss that he wasn't very conscious of what was going on. But this time he was fully aware that his life was close to ending. He thought he would see his life flash before his eyes like the movies and books tell people will happen. Alex and Arizona both found out that what was true when face with death is that you do learn what is truly important in life. Facing death helped them to see what they wanted out of life. In thirty seconds they learned more about themselves than a psychologist would figure out after a year of therapy. For Alex, all he could think about was everything that he hadn't gotten to do in life. He actually started to criticize his life choices. He didn't enjoy life like he should. He spent too much time being angry with life to enjoy it. He realized that he had spent the last few years of his life being so angry with Izzie for leaving him that he stopped living. As he sat in the dark closet waiting to die, he promised himself that if he survived he would stop being so afraid and start living again. Arizona kept thinking about everything in life that she would miss by dying so young. Instead of seeing flashes of her past life, she saw flashes of what she would be missing out on if she died. She saw herself watching her kids run around her backyard as they chased the family dog. For Arizona, it was like she was watching home movies of what she could have if she just survived. The one thing that she didn't see in her dream was who she was married to – she noticed that Future Arizona was wearing a wedding band but she never saw the person. A loud bang against the door shook Alex and Arizona from their thoughts as they realized that they had to face reality.

Arizona turned in his arms so that their foreheads were resting together. "I love you," she whispered to Alex as they looked at each other with tear filled eyes both realizing that this was it.

"I love you too," he responded. "We're going to be okay."

Alex had been fighting against the crush he had on Arizona for months but he couldn't die without telling Arizona how he felt about her. Alex reached up and wiped the tears that were falling on Arizona's cheeks. "Arizona, I just want you to know…"

"Shh…" Arizona interrupted. "Don't. We're not dying so let's stop pretending that we are. Whatever you want to tell me you can tell me when we get out of here, okay?"

"Okay," Alex nodded as he let his own tears fall.

Alex gripped Arizona even tighter as the door to the storage room was flung open as Anton reached into the darkness of the room to grab Arizona. Alex held onto Arizona for as long as he could but ultimately lost control when Anton kicked him in the head as he continued to pull Arizona out into the hallway.

Arizona was screaming as Anton pulled her out of the room and pushed her in front of him. He punched her in the face with the butt of the gun in an attempt to keep her still in his arms. He held her close to him with her back to his front and an arm around her neck to keep her in place. Arizona was flailing trying her best to get out of Anton's grip but it was no use as he was two times her size and had a weapon. She could feel the blood running down her head from where he had hit her. When she finally stopped trying to fight him, she opened her eyes and looked forward and she saw that the Malawian police forces had entered the hospital. She could hear fighting and arguing from down the hallway. She saw two police officers coming at her and Anton with their guns aimed right at them. It was then that she realized that she was being used as a human shield.

The police and Anton continued to yell at each other. Arizona didn't know enough of the Chichewa language to understand what was being said. She surmised that the police were trying to get Anton to surrender. She knew that he wasn't going to simply give up. Surrendering meant that he would be sentenced to death in the Malawian courts. She knew Anton would rather die a martyr for his cause before giving himself to the police. She also noticed that there were bodies on the floor down where the police were coming from. There were no noises coming from the area where all of the hospital employees had been held captive. Arizona assumed that they were the only ones left in the hospital. She hoped that the others had been freed but she knew that there were probably many deaths.

Suddenly, the voices stopped shouting at each other. Anton slowly moved his gun that had been aimed at Arizona to instead be focused at the police officers. Arizona knew that this was bad. The officers were going to shoot as soon as the gun was aimed at them and she was right in the middle of it. Arizona had a fraction of a second to decide what to do. She knew that once the gun was pointed at the police that they would start firing and she would be in the middle. Anton still had a firm grip on her from around the neck. She couldn't move. Her only savior would be if she could duck out of the line of fire as the shots were fired. She knew that would be her only saving grace.

Alex watched the scene unfold quietly from the darkness of the storage room. The foot to the head caused his head to collide with the back wall of the room. His head was pounding and he was sure he had a concussion but he knew that he had to save Arizona. He cracked the door to the storage closet so that he could see what was going on in the hall. Unlike the Gary Clark situation, this time Alex could help – and he needed to help in order to save Arizona.

Alex acted quickly when he saw Anton move his gun away from Arizona. He leaped out of the storage closet straight toward the man holding the blonde captive. He made contact with Anton just as the officers at the end of the hall had fired their weapons toward the rebel fighter. Once Anton heard the officers fire their guns, he pulled and held the trigger on his semi-automatic rifle. As Alex landed a blow against Anton's back he caused the man to lose his grip on his weapon just as he was shooting. Alex's actions caused Anton to lose his aim at the officer's chests and instead he was shooting wildly toward the other end of the hall. Alex landed several punches to Anton's head as he attacked him from behind. Anton finally gave up his grip on Arizona allowing her to run to safety. From the moment Alex leaped out of the closet and started attacking Anton to the gunfight that ultimately brought Anton down to the ground lasted only seconds but felt like hours to Arizona.

As soon as Anton hit the floor the officers ran up to his body. Alex's eyes immediately found Arizona as she was slumped against a nearby wall. Her face was covered in blood and tears. She looked truly frightened. Alex wasted no time in getting to her side.

"You're okay," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. He looked over her body to make sure she wasn't hurt. She had a nasty gash on her forehead but she was otherwise okay. "You're okay. We're okay."

Arizona sobbed into his shoulder as she watched the police tend to Anton's dead body. The police told them that they were safe. Anton had been the last rebel alive and he was now dead. After a few minutes of crying together, Alex pulled Arizona out of his arms to get a better look at her head wound.

"Let's go stitch up that cut," Alex said as he pulled Arizona to her feet.

Arizona noticed Alex wince as he stood up and continued to wince as they walked to a trauma room for treatment. "Alex, you're hurt." It wasn't until then that Arizona noticed that Alex's scrub pants were covered in blood. She was still scared to death but that didn't stop her from going into doctor mode. She ripped his scrubs at the right thigh, where all of the blood seemed to be coming from. "Shit Alex, you got shot," she said as she saw a bullet hole on his thigh.

"No I didn't," Alex argued. "It's Anton's blood. I think I'd know if I got shot. I've been shot. I know what that feels like."

"Alex, look at your leg. You got shot. Your adrenaline is keeping you from feeling it but it's going to hurt like a bitch once you calm down. I need to take that out."

"No, leave it in. Just stitch it up," Alex continued to argue.

"No, I'm taking it out. You don't get to stitch up my head until this comes out," Arizona rebutted. She knew that Alex kept the bullet from his chest wound in him for months and she wasn't going to let him do that again so she pulled the protective card; Arizona knew that Alex wouldn't let her go around with a deep wound on her head so he would cave and let her fix him up.

…

It was awhile before Arizona and Alex were allowed to return to their hotel rooms. They had spent hours telling the police exactly what had happened to them that day. Once the cops were done with them, the director of the hospital wanted to speak with them. All they wanted to do was get out of the hospital and away from the memories of the day but people kept coming into the conference room that had been set up for their interviews. People kept asking the same questions over and over again.

When they were finally let go they went straight to their hotel. They hadn't said much to each other since they stitched up each others' wounds. Their hotel rooms were on the same floor but not near each other. Arizona really wanted to ask Alex to stay with her; she didn't want to be alone but she didn't want to appear weak and ask Alex to stay. So they said goodbye as they got off the elevator, promising to call the other if they needed anything.

Arizona headed straight for the bathroom when she opened her hotel room door. She turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up. She needed for it to be steaming hot. She needed to get the day off of her. Arizona was forever grateful that hotels seemed to always have an endless supply of hot water. She stayed in until she started to prune. She had just changed into comfortable clothes when someone knocked on her hotel door. Arizona's immediate response to the knock on the door was fear. She was afraid that some rebel forces had found out that she didn't save their friend and were out to kill her. When the knock sounded again, she quietly made her way to look through the peep hole. Her body finally relaxed when she saw that it was Alex was standing outside of her room.

"Hey," Alex smiled as Arizona opened the door for him. "You up for some company?" he asked. He had spent the last hour in his hotel room worried about Arizona and needed to make sure that she was okay.

"I'd like that," she smiled as she gestured for him to enter. "You have a concussion so you probably shouldn't be alone anyway."

"You want to order some food?" Alex asked as he laid down on the edge of the queen bed in the room.

Arizona shook her head, "I'm not hungry."

"I know but we still need to eat," Alex told her as he picked up the phone and ordered a pizza from room service.

The duo turned the television on and attempted to distract themselves from the horror that was their day but every channel was covering the hospital shooting. They ate their pizza in relative silence. The pair was never at a loss for conversation but that night they found themselves speechless. When Alex noticed that Arizona was starting to fall asleep he tried to excuse himself to his own hotel room but Arizona insisted that he spend the night. She knew that they both needed each other that night.

Alex took the right side of the queen bed and stayed on the very edge of it as Arizona did the same with the left side. After over an hour of laying in silence Alex finally heard Arizona's breathing start to level off. Once she had fallen asleep, he let himself fall asleep as well.

Alex looked at his watch and noted that it was two in the morning. He had only been asleep for an hour when the tossing, turning and cries from the blonde in his arms woke him up.

"Zo, wake up. It's just a dream, Zo," Alex said quietly as he tried to wake the woman from her nightmare. Arizona continued to thrash around the bed and her screams only got louder. Alex gripped Arizona tighter and shook her. "Wake up!" he nearly yelled trying to break the nightmare's spell.

Arizona's eyes flew open. She looked at Alex who only looked at her with concern. She burst into tears and flung himself into Alex's arms. Alex held Arizona tightly as she fell apart. He ran his fingers through her hair softly as he felt her tears start to slow. He whispered softly reminding Arizona that it was just a dream and that she was okay.

"I'm sorry," Arizona murmured into Alex's chest after she had finally calmed down.

"Shh…," Alex stopped her apology. "You have no reason to be sorry."

"I'm a mess and you need to sleep."

Alex kissed the top of Arizona's head, "Right now the only thing I need to do is take care of you."

"Every time I close my eyes I see him. Except this time the cops don't take him out. He forces me to watch as he kills you…" Arizona said as the tears returned.

Alex pushed Arizona off of his body so that they were both resting on their sides looking at each other. "But I'm right here," Alex put Arizona's hand on his chest. "I'm alive. You're alive. And that bastard is dead."

"But…" Arizona started to say before Alex interrupted her.

Alex wiped at Arizona's tears. "No buts. Okay? We're alive and we have so much life to live, right?"

"Right," Arizona nodded her head.

The two continued to stare at each other as Alex kept Arizona's hand on his chest to reassure her that he was still alive. Both felt the sexual tension rise in the room as they lay in bed together. The intense eye contact that they maintained made them both feel like they were staring into each other's souls.

Arizona couldn't take the tension any longer. She took her hand away from Alex's chest and scooted closer so that they were hugging while lying on the bed. She looked at Alex thoughtfully as she cupped his cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. Alex immediately relaxed into the kiss. He held her close so that she couldn't pull away. He knew that this was wrong. Unlike their first kiss that was as a result of drunkenness he knew that this one was because of grief and fear. If he was a better man he would have stopped it but he was enjoying the feeling of Arizona's lips on his too much to do that.

Unlike their first kiss, Arizona didn't pull back almost as soon as it started. Instead she intensified it. She pushed Alex on his back and lay on top of him. She needed the emotional connection that came with kissing. During the trauma of the day she quickly realized how much she loved Alex. The thought of Alex being killed devastated her. And in the storage room when they both thought they were going to die, Arizona realized that she couldn't live without Alex.

The intensity of their kissing slowed into a more controlled passion as they continued to prove to themselves that they were alive. Their tongues slowed as they slowed their frenzied actions into a more sensual dance. They were both so caught up in their emotions that both of their hands started traveling to inappropriate places without even realizing it. Alex's hands roamed over Arizona's tank top and he palmed her breasts. Arizona moaned into Alex's mouth before breaking their kiss to pull the tank top over her head. The two began to shed the rest of their clothes and continued to give in to their passion.

"Alex," Arizona whispered as she felt Alex hesitate to take this to the next level. "Please?" she asked as she stared into his eyes as she hovered over his body.

Alex didn't answer. Instead he rolled them over so that he was on top and captured her mouth in another fiery kiss as he gave her what she wanted.

…

A/N: This was totally not in my planned outline but after talking to a friend in the Peace Corps in Africa and hearing about the very real civil wars down there I wanted to add in some drama and this just wrote itself almost. Just remember that people do very odd things when confronted with trauma. Now to retool my outline to fit this and the fall out in. I hope y'all liked it. Thanks!