Chapter 26

"Sure you are ready to put your blonde days behind you Lex?" Meredith asked her younger (half) sister as Arizona finished soaking the young residents hair.

"Hell yes" Lexie replied, trying to lift her head but Arizona pushed it back down.

Lexie was leaning over the sink in Callie and Christina's apartment so that Arizona, Meredith and April could dye her hair back to its original dark brunette colour. It didn't really need three people but Arizona wanted to make sure the bathroom didn't get trashed too much, Meredith seemed quite keen to do the deed and she had brought April to the apartment so she seemed determined to make her feel welcome. April was merely acting as a dispenser as she had their drinks, the towel, a comb, rubber gloves and the hair dye piled up around her and was passing them what they needed when they needed it.

Now Lexie's hair was suitably wet April passed Meredith the rubber gloves and the older Grey snapped them on like she was about to go into surgery.

"If you weren't related to me I'd be getting a bit worried now considering the position I'm in" Lexie quipped from her position in the sink. Arizona giggled rather than laughed so she knew she was starting to get a bit tipsy. She only ever giggled like that when she was tipsy.

"Lubricant" Meredith joked towards April but the naïve resident just looked at her blankly.

"It was joke April" Meredith explained, "hair dye please!"

"Ohhhhhhhh" April replied, blushing slightly, before handing Meredith the bottle of hair dye. It looked like one of those plastic bottles that contained liquid antibiotics for children.

Arizona had never used hair dye on herself; she loved her hair, more that she'd ever admit to anyone. One of her housemates during her residency used to dye their hair all the time in all kind of whacky colours and they used to make a terrible mess. That's why she was currently stood with a flannel ready to wipe any dye that splashed on the tiles because she was damn sure Callie would kill her if they made a mess. She had no idea how her girlfriend was going to react to having everyone in her apartment when she returned from work so she wanted to keep the nasty surprises to a minimum.

Meredith started to massage the dye into Lexie's hair, occasionally taking the comb of April to part the hair and make sure she wasn't leaving the younger Grey with blonde roots.

"It's good news about Christina and Dr Hunt" April piped up. "I believe he asked her to marry him in the ER."

"He did" Meredith agreed. "He actually spoke to me about it first. Asked me if I thought Christina would forgive him. I told him she would; she'd stuck by him through worse after all."

Arizona had heard about the time when he'd strangled the cardio resident in her sleep from Callie. Christina had been very brave to work through that mess with him and she was sure he'd do the same for her now she seemed to be suffering with a bit of PTSD herself.

"At least they get a happy ending" Lexie voice was muffled by the sink but it was easy to tell she was thinking about her and Mark.

"Dr Robbins and Dr Torres have a happy ending" April commented, smiling at Arizona as she said it. "Just be grateful you are alive."

April sounded sad as she finished speaking. Arizona had almost forgot because of all that had gone on since the shootings that April had found her best friend dead in one of the store rooms. She had also seen Derek get shot as well as being involved in all that followed with Derek, Owen and Gary Clark.

"And now we have Dr Hahn to deal with too after all that crap" April continued. "That woman is such a monster; god knows why they didn't give it to Dr Webber temporarily."

It was funny to hear April rant about any of her superiors. She had always come across to Arizona as a suck up and as terrified of authority as she was.

"Monster is an understatement" Lexie mumbled from inside the sink again. "Hurry up Mer I feel like my head is going to fall off and I want my beer."

She was in a particularly uncomfortable looking position so Arizona had some sympathy for her. April who was stood to Arizona's left cleared her throat and took and put the beer she was currently drinking down. It was no wonder she was being so bold because whilst they had been standing there she had finished off her own beer and drank ninety percent of Lexie's.

"I'll….erm…I'll get her another one!" she pulled a nervous face before scampering out of the bathroom.

Arizona woke up in desperate need of a drink. She'd drank about four glasses of water before she'd gone to bed but apparently she was still dehydrated after all the alcohol she'd ingested. She detangled herself from her sleeping girlfriend and found her dressing gown. They had ended up with both Grey's staying in their apartment, Lexie on the sofa and Meredith on the floor on a bed of cushions. April was sleeping on the other sofa. Bailey and Teddy had ended up staying in Mark's apartment. He had very nicely given them the bed whilst he took the sofa although she was sure he was too terrified of Bailey to not be a gentleman.

Arizona crept across the living room area and into the kitchen without waking anyone. So far so good, so she found herself a clean glass and turned the tap on low to fill her glass. As she turned the tap off she heard a soft whimper and she wondered if she'd woke someone. No one spoke up though so she knocked the glass of water back, put the empty glass to one side and started to creep back to her and Callie's bed. There were more soft whimpers as she passed the nearest sofa to their room and she realised that someone was crying. She wasn't sure which resident was on which sofa so she leant over the back of the sofa and strained her eyes in the dark to see. She made out the form of Lexie who seemed to be shaking as well as crying.

Meredith had obviously heard it too because she climbed up of her bed of cushions and knelt next to her half-sister. She took one of Lexie's hands in hers and gave the distressed resident a light shake.

"Lexie" she called out softly, causing the sleeping brunette to stir suddenly. Lexie reached out instantly and hugged the older Grey. Meredith looked slightly surprised bug hugged her back.

"Gary Clarke" Lexie choked out through her tears, "he was pointing a gun at me and I thought I was going to die…."

Meredith hugged her a bit harder and glanced up at Arizona. She didn't know what to say to comfort the young resident any more then Meredith did.

"It was just a nightmare" Meredith tried to calm her. "It's all over now honey, Gary Clarke is dead and gone."

"How could anyone do something so crazy?" Lexie clung onto Meredith all the more as she spoke.

"I don't know" Meredith admitted, "but it's over now and you need to rest."

Lexie nodded but didn't let her half-sister go just yet. She was still sobbing slightly and Arizona was amazed that all this talking and noise hadn't woke April on the couch just a couple of metres away. In fact the resident was as still as a log.

"She's still alive" Meredith seemed to notice where Arizona was gazing, "she was snoring before!"

Arizona felt a sense of relief; all she needed was a dead resident lying on her girlfriend's sofa because she let her drink herself to death. As it was Arizona was sure the evening had done them all good and brought them together as a unit.

"Arizona can you push my bed this way so I can sleep right by her?" Meredith asked, "I think that might help tonight…"

It was a good idea so Arizona shuffled around the sofa and shoved the mix of cushions and bedding towards Meredith so that it was pressed against the sofa. Lexie had finally stopped sobbing and had lain back down by the time Arizona had finished. Meredith was still holding the hand that her younger half-sister had flung over the edge of the sofa. As Meredith sat down onto her bed Lexie's heavy breathing signalled that she was already asleep again.

"She must be exhausted" Meredith commented.

"She's been sleeping in dribs and drabs on chairs since it happened" Arizona admitted. "That's why I invited her here tonight…because she was afraid to be alone."

It had been a long few days since the shooting and she was sure Lexie had slept no more than a couple of hours a night. The eyes of Seattle and quite possibly America would be on them tomorrow. Would they be able to all hold up to the pressure? Arizona wasn't even sure if she was ready to drag it all up in front of a watchful media at a memorial service.

"You are a good person Arizona. Surgeons can be cold; competitive…you care about the people around you" Meredith complemented her.

Arizona shifted awkwardly at the praise. She thought of herself as good person but it was different hearing someone else say it. She could feel het rising to her cheeks but luckily it was too dark for the older Grey to see it.

"I think you have been amazing considering everything that happened, I don't know how you have been so strong."

It was human nature to return a compliment when one is received but Arizona truly meant what she was saying. She was terrified when the gun man had entered the room with her, Callie and Ruby. She could not begin to imagine how she would have felt if Callie had been injured.

"I have spent most nights in a chair too to be honest, next to Derek, but I do sleep at least" Meredith admitted. She lay back onto the cushions and pulled the blanket over her. Arizona could roughly make out her brow furrowing in thought as she lay there.

"Speaking of sleep I should get back to my girlfriend, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Arizona decided it was best to leave Meredith to her thoughts plus it was about four thirty in the morning and she had to be up at seven. She still had to do her morning rounds before the ten o'clock memorial service.

"Night Arizona" Meredith briefly broke her reverie to respond.

Arizona headed back into the bedroom, quietly opening and closing the door behind her. It seemed like Callie was still asleep as the room was still and silent but as she slipped between the covers Callie stirred and wrapped her arms round her so they were pressed front to front.

"Everyone okay?" Callie mumbled in her ear, "I heard someone crying."

"Lexie had a nightmare" Arizona cuddled into her girlfriend and kissed her shoulder. "She's settled again now."

Callie nuzzled her cheek before kissing it, and then she started kissing close and closer to her mouth before finally placing a soft kiss on her lips. Arizona closed her eyes and enjoyed the attention her girlfriend was giving her. The small kisses continued for another few seconds before Callie pulled back and Arizona opened her eyes at the sudden loss of contact.

"This memorial service is coming so quick" Callie admitted, "I don't think the wounds have even begun to heal yet."

Arizona remembered all that Callie had said the first night after it had happened. The fact she had put herself between Arizona and Gary Clarke because she couldn't bear to lose her. It seemed silly looking back how Arizona had ever let her go in the first place but the shootings for them had been the rebirth of their relationship. There were wounds certainly, friends had been shot and they themselves had been in danger.

"It was fun last night" Callie spoke up again. "I thought I was going to kill you when I first walked in but it was a great idea."

Arizona had seen the look on Callie's face when she had entered the apartment the night before. She already knew her girlfriend had been unimpressed but she was glad Callie was telling her it was okay. Plus it had been a fun night and they had found out some interesting things about the other surgeons.

"I can't believe you had a threesome with two nurses" Callie chuckled. "You can never grumble about the fact I slept with Karev ONCE ever again now I know that."

"I can…I know Karev…name me one nurse you know at John Hopkins" Arizona protested lightly.

She nearly died of embarrassment when she had to explain that little gem to them all during 'I never'. She had been the only one to drink and worst of all it had been Callie's go. The look on her girlfriends face had been priceless when she had took a mouthful of brandy and her jaw had dropped when Arizona had explained it wasn't just one nurse it was two…at the same time.

"Hahn was such a pain in the ass yesterday" Callie changed the subject. "She came into my OR and hung over my shoulder. I tell you I thought Kepner was a mouse before yesterday but I have a much better opinion of her now."

Callie took a breath and went to continue her rant but Arizona cut in.

"I know Bailey told me" she admitted. The general surgeon had told her what she'd overheard when she had first arrived at the apartment the night before. Bailey had ranted and raved about Hahn and the board because she couldn't understand the logic in bringing someone back who just left the hospital with no warning rather than intrusting the hospital to Webber or one of the other Attending's short term.

"It's a joke that she is going to be there at the memorial service" Callie continued, "She's only interested in herself."

Arizona stroked her girlfriend's hair and Callie pulled in closer to her again for a cuddle. From what Arizona had heard they could probably get Hahn done for sexual harassment in the workplace. Bailey was certainly all for reporting her but Arizona had told her Callie would probably not want the hassle. She was sure her girlfriend would just want to ride out the storm until Derek was back on his feet and Hahn would be miles away again.

"What can I do to make it better?" Arizona asked her thoughtful looking girlfriend. Arizona's eyes had adjusted to the dark so well by now that she could pretty much see Callie's face clearly. Every time she admired her like this she felt so lucky to have such an awesome and beautiful partner.

"Mmmmm" Callie responded, "You could kiss me until the sun comes up?"

That sounded perfect; it wasn't quite the answer she was expecting but it sounded perfect. She was expecting her to request a night alone or a date or something like that and maybe she would request it later. For now though it was a request that Arizona was very willing to make happen.

"That I can do" Arizona replied silkily before pressing Callie back against the bed and slowly and sweetly kissing her.