Chapter 8: Drink on It

"What the hell did I miss?" Callie asked under her breath. Arizona came out of the bathroom in jeans and blue top. She put her used scrubs in the bin and went over to the closet to get her jacket and her purse. "Arizona" Callie said walking over to her, "who was that?" she asked again clearly unsatisfied with the answer she'd given before she went in the bathroom.

"I told you" she said taking her jacket off one of the hangers, "she's Joey". She put her jacket on and picked her bag up from the floor where she'd set it at her feet and slung it over her shoulder.

"Yeah, you said that. How do you know her? How does she know Sofia?" She really didn't want to get into it with her about yet another thing.

"I met her a few nights ago" she answered honestly. "She was at the bar. We played trivia together. And she doesn't know Sofia. She just knows about her". She tried to keep her explanation as simple as possible. It always happened when one of them starting seeing another person. It was natural, she guessed, to have some jealousy when your ex starts to move on. It happened to her when Callie was the first to move on after their first split. Now, it seemed, the shoe was on the other foot. In other cases, it wasn't so bad because once the relationship was over the person was out of your life. In their case, it was harder because, not only did they have a child together, they worked together every day. So, either way, they couldn't have a clean break from one another. "I have to go" she said taking her purse down from the shelf and slinging it over her shoulder. "Sofia's waiting". She went around Callie and headed out of the lounge. Callie huffed out a frustrated sigh. She turned and followed behind her, walking quickly to catch up.

"Are you sleeping with her?"

"God, Callie" she groaned.

"Well, are you?" she asked still following her. They came to a stop in front of the elevator and Arizona pushed the button to go down. "Arizona" Callie whined impatiently.

"Callie" she said whipping around to face her, "when we got divorced…. the first time" she clarified, "you told me that it wasn't my business who you see and now it's my turn to tell you. It's really not your business if I slept with her or not". Callie scoffed.

"Great" she said with an eye roll. "Great. I have to work with another one of your bedmates".

"Like I haven't worked and lived with enough of yours?" Arizona shot back. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Callie sighed.

"Ok, loo... I don't wanna argue" she said apologetically.

"Neither do I, Callie" she said as she got on the elevator. "Good night". The elevator doors closed, leaving her standing there alone. She went back to the attending's lounge to change her clothes then headed over to the bar.

She walked in and looked around for her coworkers and friends who had left before her. She saw them in the back of the bar. They seemed to be having a good time, drinking and laughing together. Unwinding from a long, stressful day. They had pulled a few tables together to seat everyone. There were quite a few unfamiliar faces at the far side of the table; a group of boisterous men and a few women, including her new coworker. There was no denying that she was a looker. She could see why she caught Arizona's eye.

"Callie" she heard her name called from the back of the bar. She looked and saw Meredith waving at her. She took one last lingering look at Joey then headed to the back of the bar to join them.

"Hey" she said as she approached their table.

"Heeyyy" a slightly inebriated Meredith said. "Pull up a chair. Catch up with me" she said pushing a shot of tequila towards her. Callie pulled a chair over from an empty table and before she sat down, she picked up the shot and tossed it back. She returned the glass to the table then shrugged out of her jacket and took a seat between Meredith and Jackson. "You're staring" Meredith said, her voice only slightly lowered. She drew the attention of the coworkers seated closest to their end of the table.

"What?" Callie said with an awkward laugh. "No, no I'm not" she lied. She grabbed an empty glass and poured herself a beer from the pitcher in the middle of the table.

"You are" Meredith pestered. "You're staring. You're staring at the hot, hot, new trauma surgeon" she teased.

"Wai- You think she's hot?"

"You don't?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She looked down the table at the doctor who was apparently newly involved with her ex-wife.

"N-no" she shook her head. "I mean she's pretty" she said changing her answer. "You know, she's nice looking. She's…. you really think she's hot?"

"She's totally hot" Jackson said obviously.

"Definitely" Alex agreed. Everyone looked at him curiously. "What?" he asked with a shrug. "I'm married. I'm not dead" he said before taking the swallow of his beer and refilling his glass. "You just don't wanna think she's hot because you know Arizona wants to get in her pants". He received a swift smack on the shoulder.

"Alex" Meredith chastised. "But he's right" she said turning back to Callie.

"He's not right" she said defensively. She took another drink from her glass as she took another look at the beautiful woman socializing with a bunch of clean shaven, broad shouldered men at the other end of the table. "Maybe he's a little right" she said under her breath. Then it dawned on her. He said she wanted to get in her pants as in she hadn't yet. "Wait, so they haven't slept together?" she asked hopefully.

"Not yet" Alex quipped. Meredith giggled.

"Ok, so how do they know each other?" April asked, needing to be filled in on the story. She'd been volunteering the previous week and hadn't been able to talk to Arizona about her new love interest.

"They met at bar" Teddy started to explain. "They talked. They made plans to see each other again". They didn't have to try hard to keep their voices down. They were pretty sure their companions at the other end of the table couldn't hear them over how loud they all were.

"Somehow I don't think either of them bet on work being the place they'd see other again" Amelia said leaning forward to get into the conversation. "Did you see the look on Joey's face when Arizona walked in?".

"Yeah" Jackson interjected, "she definitely wasn't expecting that".

"Stop staring" Meredith said kicking Callie's chair.

"I…urgh" she groaned. They continued chatting among themselves then after a couple minutes, Joey, along with a few of the guys she was drinking with, went over and started to play darts.

"You're not thinking about going for her, are you?" Amelia inquired. "Arizona really likes her".

"I am not going to go for her" she said categorically.

"She's going for Arizona" Meredith said slyly, leaning back in her chair. She looked at Callie through squinted eyes. "You" she said with a swift finger point towards her, "are going after Arizona" she accused.

"I am not" Callie said defensively. As she finished her beer, she peered over the rim of her glass at all the accusing eyes directed at her. She slammed her now empty glass down on the table. "Oh alright, fine" she caved. "Maybe… I'm considering it". They all groaned. "I mean, we… we've talked about it, you know? Trying again".

"Callie, we've talked about this" Meredith said in a slightly whining tone. "It's been over a year. It's time for you to move on" she said with a pacifying pat on her hand.

"For both of you" Alex added. Just as he finished his sentence, the door to the bar opened and Arizona walked in. She let her hood down and lightly shook off water on her jacket. It was raining now. She immediately spotted her friends in front of her towards the back of the bar. Then further behind them, Joey. She took a drink from a glass before stepping up in front of her companions and throwing darts at the board on the wall.

"Arizona" Meredith yelled, giving another wave to another friend who'd just entered the bar. This announcement got Joey's attention. She looked over. They locked eyes. Time stood still.

They could tell that she was staring past them. They turned to see that Joey was staring back at her. Feeling eyes on her, she broke eye contact with Arizona and looked over to see the table of her new coworkers looking at her. She shook off the awkward moment and went back to her game of darts. Arizona walked over to their table, pulled a chair over and sat between Alex and April. Alex grabbed her a glass and poured her beer as she took off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. She thanked him as she accepted the glass and took a drink.

"What are you doing here?" Callie asked disparagingly.

"I was invited" she said displeased with the attitude she was receiving.

"Where's Sofia?"

"Ugh" she sighed, "she begged me to go to the sleepover at Kailyn's. I gave in". Callie scoffed.

"She has school tomorrow".

"Yeah, I know that Callie" Arizona said obviously.

"Yeah, that's my cue" Jackson said before finishing his beer. He wasn't interested in another dose of Callie and Arizona's sparring. "I gotta go get Harriet. Although I'm sure my mom would be happy to keep her, I told her I'd be there by nine". He got up and put on his jacket. "See ya tomorrow". They all said their goodbyes as he made his exit. April leaned over to Arizona.

"So Joey, huh?" she whispered in her ear. A guilty smile came over her face. "Yeah, I'm gonna need details later". Arizona laughed and nodded silently.

"I can't believe you let her go out on a school night" Callie said shaking her head.

"Her homework was done and she has everything she'll need for school tomorrow" Arizona said not understanding the big deal.

"So, Maggie didn't have any problems going home to watch the kids?" Teddy asked Meredith. She wanted to move the conversation along before they could start bickering back and forth. They were all tired of the constant co-parenting drama between the two. Arizona thought Callie was too strict. Callie didn't think Arizona was strict enough. Around and around they went.

"No" she shook her head, "she loves staying with the kids. She bakes…. even when they don't ask her to" she said with amazement even though she'd been doing it for years now. "She loves Auntie Maggie time".

"That and she didn't want to be in the bar with…." Amelia pointed over her shoulder in Joey's direction.

"Oh god" Teddy said laughing, "yeah I heard about that. They had some kind of run in over a patient, right?" Arizona looked confused. She hadn't heard the story of Maggie and Joey duking it out over a heart procedure.

"Maggie was not happy" Amelia said bringing her glass to her lips.

"What happened?" Arizona asked interestedly.

"Your girlfriend didn't tell you" Callie said under her breath but still loud enough for everyone to hear her. Meredith kicked her chair again, only this time she missed the chair. "Ow" she said rubbing her leg. Arizona rolled her eyes.

"Wait, you're Major Rajah's girlfriend?" they heard from a seat further down the table. One of the soldiers who was a guest to Joey hadn't joined in on the game of darts and was nursing a beer in his seat. They hadn't even noticed he was there. Teddy and April laughed at his random interjection.

"Uh, no" Arizona answered with a stifled laugh.

"Umm…" April stifled her laughter, "there was a patient this morning with chest injuries from a slab of ceiling falling on him during a ceiling collapse. He had a pericardial effusion that progressed to a tamponade because of clotting" April said relating the story as she'd heard it from Joey. "So, Joey opened his chest and did a pericardial window to remove the clot and get his heart back".

"How's the patient?" Teddy asked.

"He's…. fine" April said hesitantly.

"Weeellll" Amelia said through clenched teeth.

"Ok" April shrugged, "He hasn't woken up yet but there's nothing to indicate that he won't".

"So did she screw up or what?" Callie asked. Meredith glared at her. "What? If she didn't screw up why would Maggie be mad?"

"Beca- because she didn't know who Joey was and she didn't like that she was doing a cardio procedure instead of a cardiothoracic surgeon".

"Well I get that" Callie said with a shrug. They all gave her a side eye. "What?" she said again. "We've all done it. We all get territorial about our patients. I wouldn't want some random doctor off the street doing an ortho procedure on one of my patients".

"She isn't a random doctor off the street and he wasn't Maggie's patient" Meredith corrected her. "Maggie shouldn't have walked in assuming that she didn't belong there. She did the same thing to Nathan when Bailey hired him. She was out of line then and she's out of line now.". Even though Maggie was her sister, Meredith couldn't deny that she was in the wrong in this situation. "If I had my hands in a patient's chest and another doctor came in and tried to force me out of the way, I'd be pissed" she admitted. "And so would you" she pointed to Callie.

"I'm just saying, she should've paged cardio".

"She paged her twice" Alex said defending her. "Maggie took too long. We all do procedures outside of our specialties when we have to. I'm with Meredith. Maggie was out of line, plain and simple" he said clearly stating his opinion.

"Well, she doesn't think so" April said with a chuckle. "She went on and on during surgery about how she should've just kept the patient stable until she arrived to do her job".

"So the guy is crashing and she expects her to let him go south until cardio decides to show up" Alex asked in disbelief.

"I- I" April shrugged.

"She's out of her mind" he said shaking his head. "I get being territorial about your job and your patients. I've done it. We all have" he said reiterating Callie's earlier point, "but she takes it too far".

"Wai- ok" Teddy said speaking up again, "but the patient is okay?" she asked again to be sure. She wasn't too interested in who was at fault as long as the patient didn't suffer because of their dispute.

"The patient is fine" April repeated. "The surgery couldn't have gone better. Maggie placed the drain for his heart and I assisted Joey on the liver lacs. He's stable in recovery". She gave a rundown of his post-operative stats and scans. "He just hasn't woken up yet".

"His neuro exam was clear so" Amelia said shrug, "we'll just have to wait and see".

"Aye, sixty second" they heard yelled across the bar. A buff guy with a crew cut was standing near the door, pulling on his jacket. "Our cars are here" he announced. A series of groans were heard throughout the bar as they all started to get up from their chairs or leave their darts game. They finished their drinks as they got ready to leave. Joey followed them out of the bar and said her goodbyes, instructing them to shoot her texts when they made it back to post safely. They loaded up the cars and she watched as they pulled away. Once they were out of sight she headed back inside. She went up to the bar to settle the tab for all the drinks they'd had.

"Joey" she heard from behind. She turned to see Amelia waving her over to their table. She shoved her card in her pocket, signed the credit card receipt and went over to join them. The tables and chairs they'd moved over to accommodate everyone had been moved back to their proper places so there wasn't an open seat for her.

"Here" April said getting up from the table. "You can have my seat" she said offering her chair which was conveniently next to Arizona.

"Oh, you don't have to…." she said starting to decline the seat.

"It's fine, really" she said as she put on her jacket. "I should be heading home".

"Thanks for your help today in the OR" Joey said as she passed her to leave.

"Not that you needed it".

"I did n-need it" she said unconvincingly. April looked over her shoulder, obviously not convinced. "Ok, maybe I didn't" she admitted. "But the tour was… very helpful so…" she said with honesty this time. "thanks for that". April laughed and nodded.

"You're welcome. And I'll add Mr. Houser to my prayers tonight". Joey could tell that she was being genuine. There was no doubt in her mind that she really would pray for him.

"Thank you" she said appreciatively. "That's really kind". April gave a silent nod.

"Good night guys" she said with a wave. Everyone said goodbye as she made her way out the door.

"You gonna sit down?" Teddy asked looking up at her.

"Oh" she said as if she'd forgotten she was still standing. "Yeah". She went over and hesitantly took the vacant seat next to Arizona.

"Have a beer" Alex said pushing an empty glass and the pitcher of beer towards. "On us. Welcome to Grey Sloan". She chuckled.

"Thank you" she said sarcastically as she poured herself a beer. Her leg lightly brushed against Arizona's. They pretended they didn't feel it.

"So how does it feel to be stateside again?" Teddy asked. She cracked open a peanut and popped it in her mouth as she waited for her to answer. Joey sighed heavily.

"Great" she finally said. "I'm close to my parents again and my sister".

"I have sisters" Amelia interjected. "Three of them. Hate them all" she quipped.

"Oh" Joey said with a cringe. "I'm sorry".

"You have brothers too right?" Teddy asked. Joey nodded.

"Four".

"And they're all military too?" Meredith asked. She nodded again. "Are they here in the states or overseas?"

"Um, my oldest brother is stationed in Texas, second oldest is in Japan, third in Korea and my younger brother is in Georgia" she said giving the rundown of where everyone was.

"And you love them all?" Amelia asked in disbelief. Joey chuckled again and nodded.

"Yes, very much" she said genuinely.

"Well, Meredith's the only sister I love" she said with a shrug. "Oh and Maggie" she added.

"You two are sisters?" she asked curiously.

"In laws" she clarified. "She married my only brother. He died".

"Oh" she said surprised by how nonchalantly she'd added that last detail. "I'm so sorry". They both had solemn looks on their faces as they remembered their lost loved one. "And you said Maggie…" she said attempting to change the subject, "as in Dr. Pierce, she's your sister too".

"Well, technically no. She's Meredith's half-sister. We're not actually related but she's still family. We call each other sisters" she explained.

"Don't worry about what happened today with your patient" Meredith said waving it off. "She'll get over it".

"Have you ever been married?" Callie asked out of nowhere. She'd taken two shots with Meredith and was on her third beer. Her filter was on its last leg. "Do you…. have any kids?" she asked curiously. "Oh, I'm Callie by the way" she said remembering that they hadn't actually met. "Callie Torres, chief of ortho".

"Joey" she said after clearing her throat. "Joey Rajah". She took a quick glance at Arizona who was looking down at her lap as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The last thing she wanted was for Callie to start interrogating her. "No, I- I've never been married. No kids either" she said answering her questions.

"So, you're single?" she asked trying to suss out where she stood with Arizona.

"Callie" Arizona said in a chastising tone.

"What?" she played dumb. "We're asking questions. We're getting to know her, right?"

"It's fine" Joey said, not put off by Callie's questions. "I'm not seeing anyone yet" she said as she brought her glass to her lips. Alex leaned over to Arizona.

"I like her" he said attempting, but failing to achieve, a whisper in his inebriated state. Meredith laughed at him for being unable to whisper. They bantered for a bit longer before Joey decided she would call it a night. She finished her beer then got up from her chair.

"I'm gonna head home" she said, adjusting her jacket. "Thanks for the drink. See you guys tomorrow". They said their goodbyes as she headed for the door. Alex tapped Arizona's leg and gestured for her to leave with her.

"Go" he said with a light push. She rolled her eyes but got up from her chair, grabbing her jacket and pulling it on.

"Hey wait" she called after her. For a moment, Joey contemplated pretending like she didn't hear her. It was a busy bar. It wouldn't be hard to believe that it didn't register. But even as she considered it, her feet stopped moving her forward.

"Shocker" Callie said snidely as Arizona moved past her. On one hand, she was jealous at the prospect of Arizona moving on with someone else. They had talked about giving it one more try. They wanted their family to work out for them and for Sophia. Still, they hadn't taken any real steps to get back together and, as Meredith said, it had been over a year. So, on the other hand, maybe it wasn't really jealousy. Maybe it was just a reluctance to, once and for all, let it go. Arizona stopped and leaned down, putting her mouth to her ear.

"Stop it, Calliope" she said softly. Callie's stomach flipped when her name rolled off Arizona's lips. "Please" she added. Callie sighed and silently nodded. Arizona went to catch up to Joey and they walked out of the bar together. "I'm sorry" she said once they were outside alone. "About Callie" she said clarifying the apology.

"Oh" Joey shrugged, "it's fine. No need to apologize" she said waving it off. "She seems funny".

"She's… very funny" she admitted.

"So, what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Arizona asked confused.

"You said you couldn't come; that you had Sofia tonight" she clarified.

"Oh, yeah" Arizona chuckled. "Sofia ditched me for her best friend's sleepover. She begged and begged and I just couldn't say no".

"Wow" Joey said surprised. "On a school night?". Arizona sighed.

"Have you been talking to Callie behind my back?" Joey laughed.

"No" she shook her head. "It wasn't a criticism by the way. I think it's cool" she confessed. "My parents never let us sleepover friend's homes on school nights. Homework and chores could be done and the answer would still be a resounding no". Arizona nodded in understanding.

"My parents were the same way" she admitted. "I'm trying to be different with Sofia than they were with me and my brother".

"And Callie's not?"

"No" she said with a laugh. "Sofia is definitely home on school nights with her".

"So, you trade weeks or…"

"Um, we split the week actually. It's three and two and we trade weekends". Joey looked at her with confusion. "I get her three days of the week. Callie gets her the other two days. Then the next week, Callie gets three days and I get two" she explained. "And we each get every other weekend".

"I see" she expressed her understanding. "So you have her Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week?" Arizona nodded.

"Callie gets her Thursday and Friday then I get her back for the weekend. And next week, it's the opposite. And we accommodate each other for any switches we need to make".

"So, you not having her on Thursday when we met was…"

"Was a switch we made" she confirmed. "I took one of Callie's days earlier in the week because she had a surgery that went…. a lot longer than expected. So, she took one of my days".

"Sounds like a solid arrangement".

"It is. It's been working well for us". They made it back to the hospital parking lot. "This is me" Arizona said pointing out her car. "Can I ask you something?" Joey hesitantly nodded. She hoped she wasn't about to ask her on a date. "Were you really going to find me?" She thought for a moment before answering.

"I don't know" she answered honestly. "I really wanted to but…. I don't know if I would have".

"Why? Why wouldn't you?" Joey sighed.

"I just…" she paused as she ran her hands through her hair. "I'm not…" she wasn't exactly sure what to say. "It's complicated" she said settling on the answer that wasn't really an answer. It didn't really explain anything but she thought Arizona would accept it.

"Ok" Arizona said unsatisfied. Although she wanted to know what was so complicated, she wasn't going to question her further. "Well, good night".

"Good night Arizona". She opened her car door, same as she had on the night they met. She waited until she was inside then shut the door for her. With one final wave, she turned and headed to her own car to go home. When she walked through her apartment door, she received several texts from her guys telling her they'd made it back to post. She acknowledged their messages then undressed and went to shower. As the hot water washed off her day, she contemplated what she would do now that she worked with the woman she had planned to avoid. They were two surgeons working in one hospital. There was no way she wouldn't be seeing her often. She knew the "it's complicated" line wouldn't work for long. Eventually Arizona would want a real explanation. The more she saw her, the more she would want to keep seeing her and, ultimately, be with her. It was just a matter of time before they would become the very thing she was trying to avoid; a couple. She might as well start preparing herself now.