Title: Just Because (11/?)

Author: iheartcallietorres (laurenxx3 on LJ)

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG-13

Summary: AU - What if Callie had already had a child when Arizona had kissed her in the bathroom at Joe's? Knowing what we know now, how will Arizona react when she finds out that not only is Callie a 'newborn,' she has a newborn?

Disclaimer: You know the drill. All characters belong to Shonda Rhimes/ABC. I don't own anything. Any similarities to real life situations/persons are purely coincidental. Not for profit; for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I have absolutely NO medical knowledge beyond what I see/hear on Grey's Anatomy, so forgive me of any medical-related errors. Also, this is un-betad, so all mistakes are mine. Please let me know if you come across any. As always, comments are much appreciated (and will encourage me to write more fics in the future - *hint, hint*).

A/N2: And the story line deviation continues even more… : )


[Arizona's POV]

I walked for a while around the cemetery to try and clear my head and gather my thoughts. Standing there, surrounded by grieving people, reminded me too much of my brother's funeral. And seeing George's grief-stricken family reminded me that it was me who he had died in order to save.

In the logical part of my brain, I knew it wasn't my fault, but the voice in the emotional part of my brain kept reminding me that it had been me that George had been protecting. The emotional part of my brain kept telling me that George's family members and friends were feeling everything me and my family had felt when we'd had to bury my brother.

With all those still-raw emotional flooding back to me, I couldn't take it any longer. I had to get out of there.

As I was aimlessly wandering the rows of headstones and trying not to think of the fact that dead bodies were a mere six feet below the surface, one headstone in particular stuck out to me and made me pause and choke back a sob as I read it.

MAJOR ADAM HEATHROW LANG

United States Marine Corps

Loving son, husband, brother

& United States Marine.

Semper Fi.

Born on August 30, 1972

Died a Hero on March 12, 2008

I immediately lost the battle with my tears as I read the carvings on the large chunk of cement. No longer concerned with staying on the pathway, I made my way over to the grave of a man I hadn't known but still felt a deep connection to and fell to my knees beside it, lightly running my fingertips across the name. I choked on a sob as more tears made their way down my cheeks.

"Um, hello?" a hesitant voice said from several feet behind me a few minutes later. I looked over my shoulder, startled, and jumped to my feet. A short blonde woman stood on the pathway looking at me curiously while holding flowers in one hand.

"I-I'm sorry," I said, wiping my tears. I took a few steps away from the grave, assuming the woman was a relative of the fallen soldier and wanting to give her privacy.

"Did you know him?" the woman asked before I'd taken more than three steps. "Were you in his platoon or something?"

I shook my head. "I didn't know him," I said weakly, not knowing how to explain myself. "I-My brother died in the line of duty and-and I just saw his grave," I said, indicating the grave I'd been kneeling at. "and it-it reminded me of him…" I shrugged. "You probably think I'm crazy now. I'm sorry for intruding."

I turned to leave, but was stopped once again. "How long has it been?"

I didn't have to ask what she meant. "Three years in September," I answered, remembering the exact date we'd received that awful phone call - September 14, 2007.

"He was my brother, too," the woman said as she laid the flowers on the grave. "Were you two close?"

I nodded. "We were only eleven months apart," I explained. "And very close. He was my best friend growing up."

Silence fell over us as the woman continued to stare at her brother's grave and thoughts of my brother infiltrated my mind.

"Does it get easier?" the woman asked suddenly, her voice so soft.

I took a deep breath. "There are times when I forget that he's dead," I said. "Something good will happen and my first thought is to call him and tell him. But then I remember that he's dead." I looked up at her. "Those are the worst times. But those times start to fade. I still miss him every day, but it helps to remember that he died for a cause; that he died a hero."

The woman seemed to take in my words for a moment before looking me in the eye. "Thank you," she said. "It's nice to talk to someone who knows what I'm going through."

I nodded. "Thank you, as well. Talking helped me, too."

"I'm glad I could help somebody," the woman said with a slight chuckle. "I'm Kathryn, by the way. Kathryn Lang."

I stepped forward to shake her hand. "Arizona Robbins," I replied. A sudden rumble of thunder reminded me that I should be making my way back. "I should be getting back," I said, dropping her hand. "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she said. "I hope that whatever had you so upset in the first place gets worked out."

"Thanks," I said and smiled softly before turning and walking back in the direction I came. I needed to find Calliope. I'm sure she's probably frantic over my sudden disappearance by now.


[Callie's POV]

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" I practically yelled at Mark. "She was standing here with you."

"I'm not her babysitter, Cal," Mark replied, annoyed. I knew I was unrightfully taking my worry out on him, but I didn't care. I just wanted to know where Arizona was.

"Here," I said, handing him Liliana. "Take her and I'm going to go look for her."

I didn't wait for a reply before immediately setting off in the direction that Cristina had said she'd seen Arizona walk. I'd gone several hundred yards before I saw her round a corner and come into my sight. "Arizona!" I called out and quickened my pace as it began to rain.

She looked up and stopped, seemingly distracted as I walked up to her.

"Where have you been? Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Calliope," she hurried out. "I just needed a minute to myself. I didn't mean to scare you."

I gave her a worried look. "Are you sure you're okay?" I implored.

She nodded. "I'm fine. I should be the one asking you if you're okay."

I tried to answer in the affirmative, but I started to get choked up and tears began to well in my eyes.

Arizona took my hand and squeezed it gently. "You want to go home?" she asked. I could only nod. We walked back to the slowly thinning crowd of people that had moved to a covered area in the quickly increasing rainfall. Mark looked at us worriedly as we approached.

"We're going to head out," Arizona explained. "I think she's about to break," I heard her say softly to Mark. I knew I wasn't supposed to hear that, but I couldn't muster the energy to care. Mark offered me a worried look and I reached to take Liliana from him in attempt to hide my grief.

"Why don't Lexie and I keep her tonight?" Mark offered. "You could probably use a night to yourself. Besides, Lexie loves playing mother."

At first I wanted to refuse, but then I realized that he was right. I couldn't be the mother I needed to be if I was so preoccupied. I needed tonight. I nodded and Arizona led me to my car that we'd ridden to the cemetery together in.

"Here," I ground out, handing her the keys. "You drive." She was still healing from the shoulder injury to her left arm, but was still able to drive.

Arizona nodded and opened my door for me before circling the car and getting into the passenger seat. The drive back to my apartment was silent, as was the ride up in the elevator. As soon as we entered the apartment, I dropped my stuff and went into my bedroom, pulling at my rain-soaked clothes, suddenly feeling cold and in desperate need of a hot shower.

Arizona, already in tune with my every need, followed me into the bathroom and turned on the water in the shower before turning to help me discard my wet clothes. I in turn helped her with her own clothes, careful of her shoulder. We stepped under the hot water, both sighing in relief as the heat enveloped us.

Though we've shared many a sexy shower together in the past few months, there was nothing sexual about this one. We made quick work of our hair, me helping her with hers because she couldn't raise her right arm high enough to scrub. Then we used a loofa lathered with coconut-scented body wash to cleanse each other's bodies.

Finally clean and no longer cold, Arizona turned off the water and we stepped out onto the bath math. Arizona grabbed a towel and quickly towel-dried me off before helping me wrap it around my body.

I gripped her hand and pulled her to me once the towel was secured and gave her a quick kiss. "Thank you," I said.

She nodded and kissed my cheek. "Anytime," she said. "Why don't you go put some pajamas on and we can just curl up in bed?"

I nodded and left the bathroom in search of warm clothes.


[Arizona's POV]

I quickly dried myself off as best I could with only one fully-functional arm. I haven't been able to perform surgery in five days, which I really hated. Surgery is the one time when I can completely clear my head and think of nothing other than the precious life on the table before me. Without surgery, all I've been able to think about is George's death and it's toll on Calliope. And it breaks my heart.

I wrapped the towel around me and walked out of the bathroom to find Calliope already curled under the covers on her side. I quickly pulled on some shorts and a tank top before hastily running a comb through my still-wet hair. I crawled under the covers and couldn't help but smile when Calliope immediately curled into me. She laid her head on my uninjured shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her, my hand threading through her still-damp hair. Her arm was slung over my torso.

We lay there in silence for several moments, neither of us unsure of what to say. Finally, the silence got to me and I spoke out. "Want to talk about it?" I asked softly, allowing my fingers to brush across her cheek.

Calliope took a deep breath and sat up slightly, looking into my eyes. "I should have hated him, you know? I mean, he cheated on me with a friggin' blonde supermodel. I should have hated his guts, but… I didn't. He was George. How can you hate George? He was a crappy husband, but he was so great with Liliana. And now… now…" She shook her head and fell onto her back beside me, covering her face with her hands. "I should have hated him," she repeated.

I lifted myself so that I was supporting myself on my uninjured arm and looking down at her. "I didn't know him that well," I started off, not really knowing what to say to make her feel better. "Did I ever tell you that he warned me not to hurt you?"

Calliope slowly lowered her hands from her face and gave me a questioning look. "He… what?"

I chuckled slightly at her amazement and as I remember the conversation I'd had with the young resident. I nodded. "He came into my office late one night, said he knew he had no right to protect you, but did it anyway. Said that I shouldn't make the same mistakes he did. That he still loved you and just wanted you to be happy."

Her mouth was agape in shock. "He said that?" she whispered so softly I could barely hear her.

I nodded again. "He did." I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "He wants you be happy, Calliope. I struggled for a while, thinking that it was all my fault that he'd been killed. He put himself between me and the knife."

She started to protest, but I stopped her by placing my lips against hers, effectively swallowing her words. I pulled back and continued speaking. "I was still blaming myself this afternoon at the funeral. That's kinda why I took off like that. I couldn't stand seeing you and George's family and friends so heartbroken, so I had to get out of there. The whole thing also reminded me of my brother and his funeral… it was just too much. So I turned and walked away."

Calliope's eyes conveyed her worry, so I gave her a small smile of reassurance. "I came across a grave of a U.S. Marine that died in the line of duty and lost it. But there was also a woman there, the soldier's sister. We talked and she helped me realize that George died a hero. He died to protect me and all the others in the store at the time. He's a hero and deserves to be remembered as one."

"And if he hadn't protected you, if he hadn't stepped in between you and the knife," Calliope said, cupping my tear-stained cheek, "I could have lost you… and…and the happiness you've brought into my life. When I think about how it could have been you… I-I can't even imagine… losing you."

She caught the back of my neck and pulled me towards her, mashing out lips together in a deep kiss. I knew she needed that physical reaffirmation that I was still alive. That she was still alive.

I pulled back when I needed to breath and stared into her deep brown eyes, knowing now that I was ready to take that final leap of faith. Knowing that I could spend forever in her arms.

"I love you."


[Callie's POV]

The words were so soft, I almost thought I'd imagined them. My heart skipped a beat before starting to race. Had she just said she loved me? Something I've felt for weeks but been to scared to say myself? She loved me?

I must have taken too long to process what I'd just heard because Arizona started to turn red and advert her eyes, mumbling something along the line of "stupid time to say it," or something like that.

I quickly cupped her cheek and forced her to look at me. "Say it again," I insisted.

She swallowed noticeably and wet her lips with her tongue. "I… love you."

"You do?" I said, needing to know that she meant it.

She smiled softly and nodded her head. "I do. I love you, Calliope Iphegenia Torres."

I kissed her, threading my hands into her damp locks and thrusting my tongue into her welcoming mouth. I pulled back slightly after a moment. "I love you, too," I whispered while looking into her crystal clear blue eyes. "I have for quite a while, now." I grinned at her.

She grinned back. "So have I," she replied. "These past couple of months have been amazing, Calliope. I never thought I could fall for someone with kids, but not only did I fall for you, I fell for Liliana. I almost feel like… like she's my own." She paused and blushed slightly. "It's probably too soon to be saying stuff like that, though."

I chuckled. "No it's not," I reassured her. "It's the perfect time." I kissed the tip of her nose. Then I turned serious for a moment. "Thank you," I said.

"For what?" she asked.

"For taking a chance," I said. "For sticking with me through everything that's happened. For not freaking out when I freak out. For making an effort to bond with Liliana and being amazing with her. For understanding my grief over losing the ex-husband that betrayed me and not questioning me about it. Mostly, for being the person that pulled me out of the darkness and showed me that I deserve to be loved and to be happy."

I watched as a single tear fell down Arizona's cheek and knew that, even though earlier today had been exponentially sad and filled with sorrow, that this moment would be one I'd never forget. This right here in Arizona's arms, is where I belong.


Author's Note: Yowza! I had a rough time with this chapter! I'm so ready for the angst and sadness to be over. I felt as if this chapter were a bit rushed, but I need to get to the fluffiness again. Though, there was a lot of fluffy goodness at the end of this chapter, right? I know that this exchange of ILY's is a good 8 eps before it happened on Grey's but I don't care. I needed it to happen there and I thought it was a good place for it. Alright, so what did you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please let me know! I love reviews! They encourage me to update faster… *hint hint* : )