A/N: Hey Guys! Welcome once again to this adventure! Well, it feels like things are crazy out there, so I wanted to take the time to give you an escape! So, I have updated all of my stories and posted them one after the other! Starting with this one!

Shout out to smiley714!

Enjoy!

In the hallway of the pedes ward, Callie hugged her wife. Her body trembled and shook with sobs and memories. God, she was too old for this. She was too young for this. She had too much ahead of her to worry about death or the threat of it. She had a wife and a kid and…Mark.

Why couldn't she be happy?

Over Arizona's shoulder and blonde locks, she peered at Sofia, asleep and blissfully unaware of the danger that occurred across the hall. She grabbed Arizona's hand. "Come on."

"What?"

Callie led her a few feet away to a family room and pulled her inside. A glorified closet, the room held two scoop chairs and a phone. She sat down and gestured for Arizona to do the same. " Are you okay?" she asked.

"Well, considering I had a gun pointed at me... okay, I guess," she breathed. "I'm... okay. Are you okay?"

"Well, considering I saw some psycho point a gun at my wife, I'm okay..." Callie sighed. "Are we okay?"

Arizona hesitated, eyes dark. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her labcoat. "Are we?"

"I don't know. Sofia asked me what a divorce was." Callie pulled her chair close to Arizona. She bit her lip. "I saw you leave an on call room with that new resident, Blake. I thought you were cheating on me."

"Callie, I-"

"I know you didn't. I know. I think I knew even when I was accusing you. I just didn't want to admit it to myself." She glanced at her wife, swiping at a threatening tear. "If it was your fault, I wouldn't have to look at myself.

"Look, several years ago, I was in the bathroom of a bar, staring at myself. Just wondering, what was wrong with me? I just wanted someone that accepted me for me. And then you kissed me. You didn't know me. You just looked at me and said things, and then you kissed me, and my whole world flipped.

"Arizona, you're the one who accepted me for me. You have no idea how much I need that. Most of the time... like eighty-three percent of the time, I'm trying to believe I'm not a freak. But there's seventeen percent of me that's down with the freak… and all I want is someone who understands that. I feel like you used to. What happened?"

Arizona stared at the door for a long time, her hands clasped between her knees. When she looked back at Callie, there were sparks of tears in her eyes. Fear squeezed her insides, as she considered the answer. Maybe this was her fault. Maybe they weren't okay. Maybe their marriage was too broken to fix.

"I used to get your 'Freak,'" Arizona said. "I used to love it, even. That you were bold and stood tall and strong for what you believed in. You never let up. When we first met… you wouldn't take no for an answer. You demanded me to see you, really see you. And I loved that.

"But after… after the plane crash," she sunk back into her chair, rubbing her leg just below the knee where Callie knew there was no bone, only metal and plastic. "That was all I saw. That stubborn, bold, strong part of you took no prisoners with me, and I hated it. I hated you. So much. Even though I knew everything you were doing was for my own good… I just- I couldn't accept it."

"Is that why you cheated on me with Leah?"

"You think you think you're a freak? Callie, for the better part of a year I was the freak in our relationship. I felt like Long John Silver… all I needed was a parrot and a bottle of rum. You kept pushing and pushing to just be normal… and I couldn't, because I wasn't. But with Leah I didn't have to try, because to her I was already normal." Arizona swallowed thickly and wiped her eyes again. "I messed up, and… I'm sorry Calliope." She reached and touched her knee. "I never meant to hurt you.

"Today, the man with that gun... I remembered Gary Clark. I remembered how brave you were and how painful the thought of losing you was. I don't want to lose you. But I feel impossibly torn between trying to make us work and wanting a career that will make me happy. I'm tired of choosing. I'm a neonatal surgical fellow, who loves her daughter and her wife. That's all I want to be. So… it's up to you, Callie.

"How do we do this? How can we make it work?"

Arizona bit her lip, "I forgive you," she said.

Her words hit her like a brick. Arizona had apologized before, but Callie supposed she'd never taken it to heart. She hadn't had time to let it sink in. And now? "What?"

"I think… that's the only way isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I forgive you. For… amputating my leg. I forgive you. I mean… Otherwise we're just repeating the past. Saying things in the heat of the moment, making promises we can't keep, just so we can be happy. It doesn't work anymore. So… I forgive you."

Callie stared, stunned. She never thought she would hear that from her wife. Arizona had been so vehement, so angry and bitter that year. She made herself the bad guy. And Callie had accepted that, if it meant that Arizona lived and thrived.

But it took its toll.

For a long time, she'd been alone. And lost.

There was a cast around her heart. One she'd formed and plastered herself.

"What? Arizona?"

"I'm not saying it because I want your forgiveness for my actions… I'm saying it for me." Arizona reached and touched her arm, "I love you, Calliope."

xxx

April groaned when she felt her baby kick again. It wasn't painful, actually it soothed her anxious mind. She rubbed her belly gently, trying to follow her unborn child's movements. Beside her, Jackson rested, curled against her body. She kissed him on the nose. Her man… her silly loving husband… she was so glad she met him.

"Hey," Jackson shifted, gazing at her with sleepy eyes.

"Hey," she said.

"I can't believe it," he kissed her lips lightly before running his hand over hers and onto her tummy. The baby moved again, alerted to this new presence and making itself known. Jackson smiled. "I saw the tumor. You saw the tumor. Now it's gone. How? How does that happen?"

"Well, prayer helps."

"I know, but..." He shook his head. "How?"

"It's a miracle." April replied. "An extraordinary event that surpasses human understanding and can only be ascribed as a work of God."

"So you're saying you don't know how."

She chuckled. They'd always had this conversation. It's not that Jackson didn't have faith… it was more like he didn't have faith in Faith. He had been raised to believe that there was an explanation for everything. But today… today was different.

"I don't need to know. I trusted in God, and..." she shrugged, "that's all I have to do."

He blinked. "You make it sound so simple," his hand gently grazed over her stomach, making the baby roll around to follow it.

It was simple. To her, it was. She had prayed… asked God to heal the life inside her, and he had. Even if God had not healed her baby, she believed that he would give her the strength to handle whatever adversity would come her way. No matter what, she believed God was on her side.

She believed, even, that God had given her Jackson.

They weren't residents anymore. They weren't immature, surgery-hungry students vying for the best positions or the best jobs…

They'd grown up. They'd learned to take care of themselves… and each other. And Jackson was truly a gift for her. He stepped up. Married her… fell in love with her. And she had no clue how that happened because it certainly wasn't anything she did. Not at the beginning anyway.

"Know how I believe?"

"I think about us. Our first time together… and everything that happened that led to that… and I just can't help but believe that we were meant to be. And if we were meant to be… then we're meant to face this… do you know what that means?"

"No," his blue eyes searched hers. "What?"

"Jackson you're my miracle," she cupped his cheek, pulled him to her, and kissed him.

xxx

Jo was fully awake. Her abdomen throbbed dully as she stared at the ceiling. "I think I said something stupid," she said to her best friend, Stephanie.

"Like what?"

She shook her head, unable to form an answer. Partly because she doubted her anesthesia fogged brain, and partly because her heart hurt… so much. Did she say what she thought she said?

Alex wasn't here.

"You think Alex really wants to Marry me?"

"He loves you."

"I know..." Jo said quietly. "That's what scares me."

"Why?"

"Because I know it's real. I've never had that before, a relationship that's real." She closed her eyes, only to see Paul on the backs of her eyelashes. Her heart screamed in fear.

"So why run from it?"

"I don't know," Jo lied. She knew, perfectly why she was running, and perfectly why she was hiding. Her heart belonged to Alex… but her soul? She'd sold that to Paul when she signed her marriage certificate.

"You know what?" Stephanie rallied. "Stop being stupid. I know you had a rough past, but you battled through it. You fought tooth and nail to get where you are, and you fought to be with Alex. Why are you suddenly scared now?"

"I..." Truth was, she had always been scared. Only now, her love for Alex was equal to her fear of Paul finding her. "I can't tell you."

Stephanie gripped her hand, and leaned in. Her dark eyes intense and demanding. "Jo, you almost died. You need to tell him. You need to work this out. You both deserve it."

Jo sniffed. She wanted to believe her friend was right. She wanted to, but- she just didn't know.

xxx

Alex had remained in Danielle's room after Arizona left, after Pruitt hauled Martin away. He remained there, not sure what to do. After about ten minutes of awkward nothingness, he looked at her. "You okay?" he asked finally.

"Are you my dad?" the girl asked.

"What?" his head snapped up.

"Nothing," she said as though he hadn't heard her. But he had.

"I'm... I'm your mom's brother."

"Like... my uncle?"

"I guess, yeah." he said.

"I didn't know I had an uncle."

Alex remembered what he'd told his brother Aaron once. He'd basically shut him out. He'd had to shut them all out. Be the bad one. To do this, be a surgeon, he had to close off ties, close himself off. He supposed Amber had done the same to him.

"I didn't know I had a niece," he said, stepping closer. "You okay?"

She shrugged her good shoulder.

"Look, uh... I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I'm sorry."

"That's what everybody says, but nobody means it."

"I mean it. I..." he sighed. "I wasn't there for your mom, you know, and I should've been. Then I would've been there for you. I could've kept you safe."

"Shoulda woulda coulda..." Danielle breathed, sounding exactly like a Karev. "Whatever."

He stepped forward, sat on the bed. This kid was alone, and in a way, he was responsible. He hadn't reached out. Been a big brother, been an uncle. Suddenly, he wanted it. He wanted to be. "I'm here now. I wasn't before. I wasn't ready, but I'm here now, you know... and I'm going to help you."

xxx

Amelia walked through pedes to Sofia's room to check on her, and to give herself a brain break from Herman's tumor. Lexie had proven to be a great resource and they'd come up with some great ideas, and now had a semblance of a plan to present. It just needed some refinement. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. Coffee. She should grab some coffee on the way back.

"Amelia."

She turned around, "Maggie, hi. Uh-" her heart thundered nervously from the other Grey sister, knowing she hadn't forgiven her for her massive mistake.

"Something's wrong with Meredith."

"What? What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I don't- she locked herself in the bathroom."

"What?" suddenly her mind vaulted back in time to the last time she'd discovered Meredith in the bathroom. What was wrong? What happened? Her mind raced… had something happened to Anna? To Zola? "Um… can I help?"

"It's just... I'm an only child, what do I know about being a sister? You have lots of sisters... you know more about this than I do."

"Well..." she shook her head. True, she had a lot of sisters… but they were catty and tight. Forged together by fighting a mutual enemy. Her, usually. Or Derek.

"Amelia," Maggie begged.

But Amelia knew she wasn't the person Maggie needed. "I know just who can help, okay? Just stay by the door."

And with that, she turned back to imaging, to get the one person that had always been there.

A/N: Don't worry, Mere will be okay. Don't forget to Review, and check out all my other stories, okay? Gone Baby Gone, Save Me, Off the Carousel, Mistletoe, and Out of Body have all been updated!