A/N: Remember at the end of 06x16 where the female surgeons are at some baseball field having a girls' night and Cristina goes "you know, I'm in love with Teddy"? I couldn't stop thinking about how cute it would be if there was a little something going on with her and her mentor, and that pretty much inspired this fic. This one-shot is loosely based on the episode "Perfect Little Accident", but with a good amount of Calzona fluff bc they are my faves and most of my other work will probably be about those two. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own, claim to own, or attempt to monetize off of any of these characters. Full ownership belongs to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.
"What do you think of Teddy Altman?"
Arizona looks up from the paperwork she was trying to finish, surprised to find Callie hovering over her.
"Well hello to you too," Arizona jokes.
Callie smiles, reaching over the front desk of the Pediatric Surgery floor to give Arizona a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry about that. I was on the elevator with Yang and Altman, and I could've sworn there was some chemistry going on there, and now I can't stop thinking about them."
"My girlfriend can't stop thinking about girls that aren't me", Arizona teases. "Not the news I was expecting today".
"You know what I mean," she looks at Arizona pointedly. Callie leans back on the desk, talking in part to Arizona, but mostly to herself, with the most idyllic grin on her face. "Can you imagine how great it would be if all four of us could go out and do couple things together? We'd have the best double dates!" Callie looks back at Arizona, her eyes shining with excitement.
Arizona laughs as she finishes writing up her last patient report. With a flurry, she puts down her pen and closes the binder. She hands it to a nearby nurse before re-focusing on Callie.
"All this for us to have people to go out with?"
"Well yes. That, and the fact that we are Seattle Grace's model couple. It's practically our job to help everyone be as crazy happy in love as we are. I've had a few conversations with Teddy since she got here, and I think she's definitely on the lookout to meet someone special." Callie looks at Arizona with those irresistible dark brown eyes of hers, a mix of giddiness and mischief. "You know you want to, you love fixing people up, remember?"
Arizona smiles dreamily. "I do like playing matchmaker." She had fallen right into Callie's trap, but she didn't mind. "Alright, let's do it."
"You're onboard?" Arizona nods enthusiastically. "Great, that's great!" The smile on Callie's face matches hers, and Arizona's heart swells to see her so happy. Callie is in mid-celebration when she turns around, looking almost nervous.
"I forgot to mention though," Callie starts off carefully. Arizona's eyes narrow at her, waiting for her girlfriend to finish her sentence.
"I uhh", Callie avoids eye contact. She was looking everywhere else except right at Arizona. "I haven't exactly verified which team Teddy plays for, if you know what I mean," she finishes in a whisper.
"You mean to tell me, you don't even know if Teddy likes girls or not?" Her voice raises an octave higher, the distinct tone she uses only when she's stressed or aggravated. She wasn't exactly either of those things, but she was getting there.
Callie smiles sheepishly. "I may have glossed over a few steps. But now that you're here, you can help with that. Use your magic lesbian powers to figure her out!"
"Okay, first off, I do not have magic lesbian powers. Secondly, you know that lesbians have the worst gaydar ever. What am I supposed to-" Arizona pauses when Callie's beeper goes off.
"Oh no, will you look at that? I'm being paged," she says, as she starts backing away. "I totally want to help you out with the whole Teddy thing, but," she points to the incessant beeping, "lives need to be saved."
Arizona narrows her eyes even further. She gets up from her seat to watch Callie tentatively round the corner out of her sight. "Fine go, I'll figure this out," she concedes. She's about to settle back into her seat, when a wave of dark hair catches the corner of her eye.
"You'll be great!" Callie calls to her from a safe distance. She blows her a kiss before finally disappearing from her line of vision. Calliope Torres, you owe me lots and lots of sex for this, she muses to herself.
Hours later, Arizona is at the hospital cafeteria, ordering a cup of coffee when she spots Teddy at a table by herself. Her first instinct is to head for the exit and avoid Teddy completely, unsure how to even broach the topic of her dating life, but then she hears Callie's voice in her head saying "magical lesbian powers" with that adorable smile of hers. I might as well give it a shot, she thinks, as she starts walking towards Teddy.
"Hi Teddy!" She says in her usual chipper voice.
"Dr. Robbins, hi! Please, take a seat," she gestures to the chair beside her.
"Don't mind if I do," Arizona replies with a smile. "And you can call me Arizona by the way. We're all friends here."
"We are?" Teddy looks confused. Arizona smiles brighter. Teddy had only been at Seattle Grace for a little over a month, and most of their interactions had been polite chit chat in the elevator, or the casual nod as they passed each other in the halls. Saying they were "friends" was a bit of a stretch, but Arizona wanted Teddy to feel comfortable around her.
"Well not yet, but I think we could be great friends, don't you think?"
"Of course," Teddy replies hesitantly. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. It's just been a long day and I'm still getting used to the work here. It gets overwhelming pretty quickly".
Arizona is overcome with sympathy for Teddy, noticing the sadness in her eyes for the first time. She's not quite sure what to say next at this point.
"I didn't mean to unload on you like that," Teddy says, feigning a smile. "I mean things aren't great, but they're not awful either. And maybe, a friend is exactly what I need right now." She musters a half-hearted smile at Arizona.
"Yes, I can be your friend! I'm a great friend!" She says excitedly. "Listen, you might not be up for it just yet, but when you're more settled, maybe we can plan for a fun night to hang out and get to know each other even more?" She leans in, sounding almost conspiratorial.
Teddy looks surprised. Arizona wasn't sure if she had said something wrong, or wondered if her cheerful disposition was just too much for Teddy right now.
"Arizona", Teddy begins cautiously, "are you trying to ask me out?"
Arizona's eyes grow large, realizing how her actions could have been misinterpreted.
"I'm flattered, but I'm just not in the headspace for-"
"Oh, no, no, no," Arizona interrupts her. "I'm seeing someone. I'm uhhh, Callie Torres, I mean, Doctor Torres. She is my, my... I mean, she's my girlfriend. Very committed relationship, we have matching necklaces and everything," she sputters. She reaches for the delicate open heart pendant around her neck, if only to show Teddy evidence of their relationship.
Teddy looks sheepish, and buries her face into her hands. "Oh god, how many more times am I going to make a fool of myself today," she mumbles.
Arizona laughs, reaching for Teddy's arm. "You're fine, I promise. I'm aware of how powerful my charming personality is. You just weren't ready for all this," she jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
"I'm really sorry Arizona," she repeats.
"All in the past! Anyway, you can make it up to me by saying yes to hanging out, which," she pauses for emphasis, "I meant in a completely platonic, fun night with the girls kind of way. I'll ask some of the other surgeons to join us. Maybe Bailey, or Grey and Yang. Those two are a little twisty, but they're good company." Arizona noticed how Teddy's eyes lit up for a split second when she said Cristina's name. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but it was something to report to Callie at least.
"You like her, don't you?" Arizona says without hesitation.
"Excuse me?" Shock registers on Teddy's face, but there's also a slight panic in her eyes. Arizona reigns herself in, realizing the direct approach might not have been the best way to go about this conversation.
"I just mean," she says cautiously, "that you and Yang seem to get along. She's a brilliant resident, but she's got a tough exterior and doesn't let people get too close. However, she seems very fond of you, from what I hear."
Teddy can feel the warmth rush to her face as her cheeks take on a pale crimson color. "We, uhh, we just work well together is all. She's a talented surgeon, and well beyond her years. I just want to make sure her skills are honed properly and that she receives the guidance and mentorship she needs to be amazing at her craft."
Arizona leans back into her seat, giving Teddy some much-needed space. She reaches for her drink, acting nonchalant, but still watching the blonde before her, who is struggling with what to say next.
"I hope you're not implying that people think there's something going on between us? Because there is nothing going on," Teddy continues. "I heard what happened with Owen, and how badly things ended, which honestly", she pauses, her frantic eyes looking at Arizona, "just confirms how I feel about romantic entanglements in the workplace, which isn't even the case here because Cristina and I are just colleagues. So you can go ahead and squash any rumors you hear about us," she finishes in a breath. She sounds adamant, but the blush that has taken Teddy over tells Arizona otherwise.
"I wasn't implying anything, and no, there aren't any rumors going around," Arizona clarifies. "All I'm saying is that you two look good together, and yes, workplace relationships aren't ideal, but sometimes it's worth it. Look at Callie and me, or Grey and Shepherd. I'm not telling you to sleep with the next surgeon you see walking your way, I'm just suggesting you stay open to the possibilities."
Teddy remains silent, watching Arizona closely. They lock eyes for what feels like a couple of minutes before Teddy looks down on her plate of food, fidgeting with her fork.
"You uhh," she clears her throat before proceeding. "You say you heard that she's fond of me?" She says quietly, without looking at Arizona.
"You didn't hear it from me," she replies, waggling her eyebrows and speaking in hushed tones, "but I think it's worth trying to get to know Yang as more than just a colleague. And I think girls' night would be the best way for you to do just that," she finishes with her signature megawatt smile.
"Girls' night?" Meredith looks at Cristina quizzically.
"Yeah, that's what I said, Mer. Robbins and Torres are inviting us to a girls' night."
"And you said yes?"
"I did, for the both of us actually. Because I'll need you there to help me get through whatever ridiculous plans those two have come up with." The pair stop walking, and enter a vacant conference room. They had been in back to back surgeries the whole day and needed to get off their feet, if only for a few minutes.
"You don't seem very enthusiastic about it, so why'd you say yes?"
Cristina sighed, lowering herself on one of the available chairs.
"Because", she says, the volume of her voice dropping significantly lower. "Teddy will be there."
"What did you say?" Meredith takes the chair closest to her friend. Cristina sighs heavily, eyes focused on the nondescript ceiling, unsure if she could say it out loud again. She'd never been self-conscious when it came to the people she was attracted to- men or women. She wondered why this was any different.
With another resounding sigh, she looks Meredith straight in the eye. "I want to go to stupid girls' night because Teddy will be there. I don't think I can be any more clear than that, Meredith."
Cristina holds her gaze, anticipating Meredith's reaction. She can almost see the smile fighting to break free from her friend's lips, but Meredith maintains her composure and does her best to act uninterested.
"Right, Teddy. Yeah, she's pretty great, I see why you'd be into her." She deadpans.
Cristina rolls her eyes yet again, pretending to be annoyed. But the truth was, she was very amused by her friend's restraint. It was one of those things where Meredith had known for a while that Cristina was crushing on Teddy big-time, but chose not to say anything until Cristina told her outright.
"You have 30 seconds", Cristina says.
Meredith looks at her, not quite sure what she meant by that.
Cristina rolls her eyes one more time. "30 seconds to say how you really feel".
At this, the blonde leaps off her seat to envelope Cristina in a hug. "Oh I knew you liked her! I didn't know how, but I just did. And Teddy is so kind and patient, and an amazing surgeon too! But she isn't so in your face about it, which is kind of the opposite of what you usually go for, but I think this could be something great! I'm just happy you're finally putting yourself out there and noticing people!" Meredith gracefully skirts around the uncomfortable topic of Cristina and Owen's breakup, and how she'd been reclusive ever since. She feels Cristina starting to squirm beneath her hug, which tells Meredith her time is up. She lets her friend go, but she can't stop smiling from ear to ear.
"I'm playing it cool, Mer. So don't go acting all shiny and bouncy, we get enough of that from Robbins. We're dark and twisty, remember?"
At this, Meredith composes herself, and pretends to put on a serious face. "Alright then, back to being dark and twisty." She returns to her seat, placing some distance between them. The room settles into a comfortable silence as Cristina closes her eyes. She had 15, maybe 20 minutes before someone would page her for post-ops, and she planned to take advantage of the little time she had for rest.
She was in a calm, and semi-conscious state when she felt an uneasiness wash over her. She peeks through one eye to find Meredith looking at her intently. "What is it?" She almost barks out, annoyed that she was wasting precious time.
"I was just going to ask," she says tentatively. Cristina eyes her closely, almost as if to warn her that this better be life or death, otherwise she'd be pissed.
Meredith takes a subtle deep breath. "I was going to ask if you already had an outfit in mind?" She braces herself, anticipating Cristina's reaction.
The dark-haired surgeon turns her seat around, choosing to face the wall instead of her friend. "This conversation is over," her voice devoid of any emotion. Meredith takes the cue and resigns with her questions. They sit in silence yet again, and Cristina is grateful she had the forethought to turn away. That way, Meredith wouldn't see the growing smile on her face. Of course she had an outfit in mind.
It was a new day at Seattle Grace-Mercy West, though for many of its surgeons, the day was just ending. The irregular work hours made it difficult to have any kind of decent sleeping schedule, so the rule was to always get sleep when you could.
Cristina and Meredith wordlessly enter the cafeteria, wanting to get a bite to eat before heading home and collapsing onto their beds. In a zombie-like fashion, they dragged their feet towards the cafeteria line, and pointed to whatever looked appetizing, too tired to even say their orders out loud.
"Hey you two, good morning!" The pair are greeted by the sound of wheels on tiled floor, and a bright and energized Arizona.
"Those goddamn wheelies," Cristina mutters under her breath.
"What was that, Dr. Yang?" Arizona asks her.
"Oh nothing, just uhh, good morning to you too, Dr. Robbins," she says with about as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She reaches for the sandwich she had picked out, and gestures towards the cash register, but Arizona hasn't budged from her spot.
"I'm going to pay for my food now," she says in the same tired voice.
"Alright, but before you head out, could you and Grey meet me over at that table?" She points to a table at the far end of the hall, where Callie is situated with Bailey and Teddy. Cristina feels her heart race when she sees Teddy. She hadn't seen her in a couple of days, as hard as she tried to catch a glimpse of her between surgeries. She had been on Shepherd's rotation and his surgeries always seemed unending.
"We're figuring out what to do for girls' night, and your input would be helpful," she says, still smiling.
Before Cristina can say anything, Meredith peeps from behind her. "Sure Dr. Robbins, we'll be there in a sec."
"Thanks, Grey." Arizona finally walks off but not before turning around to exclaim "yay girls' night", sounding like a high school cheerleader. Meredith plasters a fake smile, while Cristina shakes her head subtly in disdain.
"There should be a rule about doctors being that perky, it's just not right," Cristina mumbles as she pays for her food, Meredith following suit. With their trays at hand, they approach the table to find their attendings already deep in conversation.
Not wanting to interrupt the heated discussion between Callie and Bailey, Meredith and Cristina take a seat at the far end of the table, placing Cristina right across from Teddy.
"Hey", Teddy whispers at Cristina, trying to catch her attention amidst her colleagues' raised voices. She gives Cristina a small, encouraging smile while she nervously tucks loose hair strands behind her ear. "Shepherd tells me you've been doing great in his surgeries. You're not all of a sudden switching to Neuro, are you?" She tries to make a joke out of her comment, but there's a tinge of worry in her eyes.
"Of course not, Neuro's a bore," Cristina comments.
"Hey now," Meredith says, defending her husband's specialization.
"I just meant to say," Cristina glances at Meredith, "that I've always been interested in Cardio, and that's not changing. I know what I want, which makes it hard for me to find other specializations interesting."
Teddy laughs, which immediately causes a fluttering sensation in Cristina's belly. It was getting harder to not get distracted by the shine in Teddy's eyes, or the graceful way she ate her salad- god, she must be going crazy if she was noticing weird details like that. She keeps her head down and focuses on her sandwich, in an attempt to avoid staring at Teddy for more than a few seconds.
"I'm still not sure what we're doing for girls' night, but I'm sure whatever these three", she gestures to Bailey, Callie, and Arizona, who were still going a mile a minute, "decide on will be great. It'll be nice to get to know you outside of the OR," she continues in hushed tones.
It takes all the willpower Cristina has left to suppress a smile. "Yeah, it'll be fun hanging out with you too, Dr. Altman."
"Dr. Altman while we're at work, but when we're outside the hospital, I hope you'll be comfortable with calling me just Teddy?" she says almost hesitantly.
Unknown to the pair, Meredith and Arizona had been exchanging secret glances throughout their conversation. While Meredith was a bit more discreet, Arizona had a smile on her face the entire time, but nobody really thought anything of it because, well, she's Arizona and she's almost always wearing a smile.
Sensing that the conversation was going in circles, Meredith speaks up. "I have a suggestion for girls' night."
"What is it, Grey? Bailey has turned down every idea I've had so far," Callie remarks.
"Yeah, because all of your ideas involve unlimited tequila shots and body glitter," Bailey huffed. Before the two could get at it again, Meredith clears her voice.
"Like I said, I have an idea, but it's an unusual one," she ends with a grin.
"Why couldn't we have gone dancing for girls' night? Or bowling?" Arizona pouts as Callie wraps her arms around her from behind.
"We took a vote, babe, and you lost. Besides, Grey's idea turned out to be a good one. I'm actually having fun." Arizona makes a face, that while disdainful, Callie still found unbelievably cute. She buries her chin in the crook between Arizona's shoulder and neck, causing the blonde to laugh as Callie hits one of her many tickle spots.
It was cold that night, but no colder than the usual chill of a Seattle evening. Meredith had suggested they unwind with a bit of physical activity, which is how they found themselves at the local baseball field. With the pitching machine they had borrowed, everyone took turns at the bat, swinging as hard as they could at the balls coming their way.
"This is a pretty cool girls' night out, don't you think?" Callie says excitedly. Everyone raises their beer bottles and responds with a resounding "woohoo!". They clink the bottles right as Bailey misses her third ball in a row.
"Hey Bailey, you know the point of all this is to hit the balls right? Maybe if you were taller, it would help!" Teddy jokingly yells out. Everyone laughs, Bailey included.
"Care to put your money where your mouth is, Altman? It's your turn to bat," Bailey announces. Everyone cheers for Teddy, as she takes her place in front of the machine. The first ball comes speeding her way and she ultimately misses.
"Ha, and you said all I needed was more height," Bailey retorts.
As the two continue with their friendly banter, Arizona subtly nudges Callie. "I think Teddy might need some help," she whispers suggestively to her girlfriend. Callie catches on, responding with a slight nod.
"Your body's position is all wrong, Teddy!" Callie calls out. "Yang, go help her out."
Cristina looks incredulous. "What, why me?"
"Because," Meredith interjects, realizing what was going on, "your bat actually made contact with the ball earlier. Show Teddy how you did it." She gives her friend a soft push, but Cristina is rooted in her spot.
"Come on Yang, you be the teacher for once," adds Arizona.
Meredith gives Cristina a pointed look, encouraging her to approach Teddy. At a loss for words, which happens to Cristina very rarely, she gingerly walks over to where Teddy is expectantly waiting for her.
Still watching from the sidelines, Arizona pulls out two beer bottles from the little cooler they brought. She returns to her spot beside Callie, who is staring intently at Cristina and Teddy.
"More thoughts about Teddy and Cristina?" Arizona jokes.
"What now?" Says Callie distractedly, as she pays close attention to the other two doctors.
"Remember the joke we made the other day? About you and your thoughts about Cristina and Teddy? How could you not remember? That was literally less than 48 hours ago," Arizona comments, as she stands beside Callie and hands her the other beer.
"Arizona, look at them", Callie says discreetly as she takes the bottle.
"At Cristina and Teddy?" Arizona looks around frantically, wondering what she had missed out on.
"Keep your voice down," Callie hisses, "and yes, I obviously meant Cristina and Teddy." Arizona shifts her focus and is surprised to see the couple in question in a very intimate position, with Cristina holding onto Teddy's waist, teaching her the correct batting stance. It seemed innocent enough, but Callie and Arizona could see the sparks that almost emanated from their close proximity.
"We did it, we actually did it," Arizona exclaims quietly. Callie looks down at her girlfriend, who was smiling from ear to ear, her adorable right dimple in full display. She smiles inwardly, overcome with an unexpected surge of affection for the beautiful woman in front of her.
Arizona notices Callie looking at her. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Oh nothing, you're just really cute, did you know that?" Callie says in a breathy voice, as she takes hold of Arizona's jacket to pull her closer.
Callie leans in, and captures Arizona's lips with her own, reveling in their familiar softness. Her hand gently caresses the side of Arizona's face, deepening the kiss. She feels Arizona pull her closer as well, wanting more of her, but just as her hands start to wander and caress Arizona's waist, aching to feel the warm skin underneath all that clothing, Bailey calls out to them.
"No kissing on girls' night, you promised!" Arizona laughs as she breaks the kiss first, mostly to catch her breath, but also because of what Bailey said. She may have seniority over Bailey, but she did not want to get on her bad side. She steals one last peck on the lips before letting go of Callie.
"Fine", Callie pouts. She instead takes a swig of beer and wraps her arm around Arizona's waist. "We can always pick up where we left off later at home", she whispers to Arizona, her lips making the slightest contact with the patch of skin behind her ear. She shudders at the feel of Callie on her, and takes a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Alright, hot stuff. You need to calm down right now because we've still got a long night ahead of us." As Arizona says this, Miranda and Meredith start cheering. They look up just in time to see Teddy hit the ball straight out of the park. Teddy and Cristina start screaming and jumping as well and it was all Arizona and Callie could do to join in on the senseless fun. The excitement winds down as everyone tries to catch their breath.
"Alright, alright, I'll be the first to admit that I didn't think this was a good idea," Bailey begins. "I see you people everyday, sometimes for even longer than that, so why in the hell was I going to spend a perfectly good evening with the same group of people when I could be with my son or enjoying some well-deserved alone time?" She looks at the small circle that had gathered around her pointedly. "But this was actually a lot of fun, so I'd like to propose a toast to a wildly successful girls' night," she raises her drink and everyone starts cheering as they clink their bottles together.
"Freaking girls' night," Cristina mutters as she shakes her head and downs the rest of her beer. Standing right beside her, Teddy leans against Cristina ever so subtly, and the two exchange a quick smile that no one else notices. "Freaking girls' night," they say in unison, before erupting in a fit of laughter that perfectly punctuated their evening.
Freaking girls' night indeed.
A/N: Please leave a review if you can! I'm thinking to expand this into a few more chapters, and explore Teddy and Cristina's budding romance, but I'm also not sure where it would go. Let me know what you guys think :)