AN; I know, it's been too long. It's been a busy month, but I'm back in business. And we've got a 7,000+ word chapter, that's something right? lol. Enjoy.


Chapter 18: Meet Me In The Middle

It made perfect sense why they were called 'board meetings,' although spelled incorrectly. Perhaps they didn't think too much of it going in; they just wanted to save their hospital from the brainwashing mediocre medical care that was Pegasus. Not have to move to a different hospital, a different state possibly, just to do your job. So maybe it never occurred to them once they signed on the dotted line. But when you're a surgeon and have to take time out of your day to sit in a conference room and talk about budgets and the plumbing issue on the 4th floor, it's excruciating.

And they never got any more interesting. Well, except for that one time after the dinner party from hell. But if you valued your multi-million dollar hands, you didn't say a word.

"Chief could we speed this along at all, I have a bowel resection in twenty minutes."

"Grey, we're almost done," Bailey replied, closing a folder and opening the very last one in the pile. "We just have to go over Dr. Castro's contract and then you all can get back to doing what God intended."

Jackson looked up slowly from his own forms, green eyes watching cautiously for what he hoped, was not a big deal.

"What about her contract?"

"We have to decide if we want to extend it."

Richard cleared his throat, "Well I think she's been a fine addition to our staff, so I say we keep her on board if she's not getting any department head offers."

"Exactly, which is why I think we should offer to extend in case she decides to change her mind."

All eyes couldn't help but wander over to the blonde at the end of the table, twirling a pen absently between two ivory fingers. Blue eyes rolled slightly.

"I think she's great, let's keep her," Meredith shrugged. "Maybe throw in a larger salary to sweeten the deal?"

"We could do that," Jackson nodded, "And I agree with Meredith."

"Alright, so we all agree to keep Dr. Castro?"

Callie shuffled uncomfortably in her leather chair, "Yeah, sure." She avoided Meredith's sly smirk across the table. There was nothing else she needed more than to not be here. How can you basically sign off to keep someone who she was pretty sure wanted to accidentally stab her with a scalpel in the middle of surgery?

"Okay great, so we're all in agreement then?" All eyes went back to Arizona for final confirmation.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, "Really?" As if it was even worth a vote.

Jackson banged his fist on the table, "Okay great, I'll have Joe in legal draft up a new contract by the end of the day."

Meredith went straight to the coffee pot, quickly pouring a cup and putting in the necessary cream and sugar before taking her leave.

"She's been acting weird lately," Bailey commented, making her own cup of coffee at a much slower pace.

"She's Meredith, weird is normal for her."

"I know, but this is a different weird. And I don't like it."

"Well I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Callie replied, taking a bite of her Danish.

"You're being weird too," Bailey said flat out, dark eyes watching her over a coffee cup.

Callie snorted, "What? No. I'm not being weird."

"Yes, you are. Robbins is still somewhat ignoring you aside from random bouts of conversation before running away. And so here you are, acting weird around all forms of social interaction. I don't know what one has to do with the other, but you're being weird."

"Hey, I am naturally vivacious! Not awkward and certainly not weird."

"I'm Bailey, I know everything, and you. Are. Weird."

###

Words blurred together as fingers worked tirelessly across the keyboard, only stopped for a brief moment before returning to work. Which seemed to be her life lately. Constantly typing away medical genius paragraph after paragraph.

Arizona had been working on a few fetal ideas for three months now and had put publishing on the back burner. But this is what she needed, mindless work that she could do in her sleep. She was itching to get into the OR, but this needed to get done. The perks of being an adult, although a highly successful one. Arizona only had one minor procedure to do today before her shift ended.

Needless to say, the day couldn't be over soon enough.

Her sessions with Dawson had been getting better. They had started out like they always did, the blonde too uncomfortable to talk about anything, let alone herself to a complete stranger. It didn't help that the woman she was talking to watched her marriage deteriorate in a puff of smoke before her very eyes. But Dawson was good at acting like she hadn't been there.

She was starting to open up, to finally understand a lot of things about herself that she had fought her whole life to suppress. And it wasn't just her marriage or the plane crash. It was losing her brother, and Nick, never feeling like she could measure up to the duty and honor that her father instilled. It was everything.

A soft knock on the door brought her fingers to a halt.

"Hey? You busy? I figured you could use some lunch."

Arizona exhaled in relief, "Thank god, yes of course. Come in, I'm surprised you had enough time to cook and come hang out."

April chuckled, closing the door with one hand, "Yeah well my mom is all about baby-sitting while she's here. I had to get out while I can, as painful as it is."

The blonde accepted the bag of food and set it on her desk, "Yeah it sucks, but it's good for you to get out when you have a chance."

A savory aroma of hot soup erupted from the bag, clearly awakening her appetite. She couldn't remember the last time she ate. All that came to mind was coffee.

"My mom and I made some chicken noodle soup and grilled some paninis."

"Smells absolutely delicious," Arizona commented, handing the container of soup and package to April. The two moved over to the couch in her office. A few minutes went by with no talking except to compliment the meal. Arizona was two bites into her panini before speaking.

"So how's motherhood?"

"It's a little different than I thought it would be. But I love it. And Jackson's been so great, coming over all the time and helping out."

"Is he changing diapers?"

"Just changed his first one a couple of weeks ago. He got lucky," April laughed, taking a sip of water. "As much as I love staying home, I can't wait to get back to work. I feel like I'm missing everything."

"Oh you're not missing much," Arizona replied, looking up briefly, "Callie built me a new leg."

The redhead's eyes bugged out before curling one leg under the other to completely face her friend, "Woah, are you serious? Arizona, that's – that's huge!"

"I wouldn't say that. I don't know if I'm gonna do it."

April took another swig of water, capping the bottle carefully. Arizona began to chew slowly.

"Go ahead, tell me I'm an idiot."

She just – she wasn't there yet. And she didn't know if she would ever be ready, that was the honest truth. The whole situation had put her into a mild tailspin, followed by almost catatonic waves of thought. The dreams, or nightmares, came back a couple of times a week, keeping her up for hours at a time. She had started sleeping on the couch when Natalie was over. The blonde didn't want to wake her.

It was throwing her off her game.

"I wasn't going to say that."

"Yes you were," Arizona rolled her eyes.

"I just, I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't want to. I mean, it's surgery and you'll be out of commission for a little bit but, it doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Callie worked on it with Amelia behind my back, and went to Natalie for help. They were keeping it from me for God knows how long. And that makes me mad, not at them exactly, but because it makes me think about it all over. And when I think about that I think about Mark, and Lexie, and everything bad that happened after. It's…it's a trigger for me that I'm trying to deal with. And – it's been tough."

April nodded in understanding. It was messy, but nevertheless, very cut and dry. The trauma surgeon had extensive knowledge in fucked up situations, but this was very out of her range of experience.

"Have you been talking to somebody about this?"

"I'm going to therapy again. It helps, I guess. But it's gonna take time," Arizona replied absently. This was really the last thing she needed to be telling her friend who just had a baby about. She already talked it to death with Dawson as well as Alex.

"Now enough about me. Let me see those baby pictures!"

###

Callie grumbled, her despair echoing over the stairwell walls. Her pager had been going off incessantly the past fifteen minutes, along with her phone, pinging just as much, all coming from Meredith. Why the woman thought the ortho surgeon was always at her beck and call was beyond her.

She took the stairs in hopes that she wouldn't have to run into Arizona, and pretty much anyone else.

She couldn't work, talk, breathe without feeling immense guilt. Her head couldn't find the big deal about it, but her heart thought differently.

Reaching the end of the stair well, she threw the door open and entered the dark tunnel that was the basement. Just the mere smell of it brought back memories of when she used to call it home. The brunette could have lived anywhere with the trust fund she had, but the basement was honestly the ideal place for a resident to live. And she had pulled it off for a while.

Thinking back, it was pretty neat. She would wake up in the morning and head upstairs and start her day, always early, and always first. She was bummed when Webber finally caught her.

Callie spotted Meredith lying on her back across an abandoned gurney, staring off into the ceiling.

"What is it, Mer?"

"I paged you a bunch of times."

Callie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I got your texts too. What could be so important that you couldn't, I don't know, tell me at the meeting this morning?"

"This isn't something I actually want to say out loud but I'm going to because you're my friend and you've got shit going on too so I figure I'd distract you, even if it's just for ten minutes."

The ortho surgeon blinked, slowly sitting down on the neighboring gurney. "Ooo-kay…what is it?"

Meredith sat up on one elbow, "I'm screwing Riggs."

Wide brown eyes became wider, "Seriously? Nathan Riggs?"

"Yeah."

"Woah," Callie replied, laying down. "How did that happen?"

"He was being a douche."

Callie chuckled, "Yeah, that's how it always starts." Those were one of the many reasons why she steered towards women from now on.

Meredith looked down at her hand, "Maggie likes him. Like really likes him. Do you think I should tell her?"

"How much does she like him?"

"Like massive 'share my bacon' kind of like. She's gonna hate me. What do you think I should do?"

Callie was surprised at the revelation, but kind of not in a way. Meredith was notorious for sleeping with inappropriate people. Although the brunette thought the other woman had changed that habit since residency. But maybe a leopard really doesn't change its spots.

She shrugged, "Maggie's the only sister that you like right now, and she's Maggie. This will absolutely crush her. But you have to be honest. Do you want to see Riggs?"

"I'm not seeing him. We're just sleeping together randomly."

"Well do you want to keep sleeping with Riggs?"

"I don't know. He's kind of an ass."

Callie sat up, brushing the lint off her scrub pants, "I would figure that out too. And find a way to tell Maggie that doesn't make you look like a huge crush-stealing slut."

Meredith scoffed, "That's all you got for me? What happened to all this rediscovering that you're doing?"

"You're missing the part where I said I was rediscovering myself, not everyone else's problems."

"But that's it? Be honest?"

Callie shrugged, placing her hands in her lab coat, "That's all I got for you, Mer. Ask me tomorrow."

"You okay?" Meredith asked skeptically, eyeing her friend. Usually Callie would be all over the sudden surge of information. But now it almost seemed like the woman was definitely not surprised, let alone interested.

Callie sighed, rolling her neck, "I talked to my dad this morning. He's coming into town."

"What's wrong with that?"

"The last time my dad visited me was when I was still married. Me and Sofia have gone to Miami to see him every time. I'm excited, I want to see my dad, but this is so not the right time for him to make an appearance. Everything is just – complicated.

"Well it wasn't as bad as when you were being sued," Meredith offered sympathetically.

"True, but I always freak out when my dad comes to Seattle. He's gonna want to know all about what I'm doing and if I'm seeing anyone, what Arizona's doing, who she's doing it with, and then proceed to talk about how I walked away from my marriage and how I didn't even try, blah blah. I can't listen to that right now."

"He didn't ask those same questions over the phone?"

"I usually ramble on about other stuff."

"You can't hide forever."

Callie scoffed, "And what exactly are you doing?"

"Do as I say, not as I do, Torres."

###

She didn't know what she was looking for, but Joe's seemed like a good idea to find it. Well, not really. But Arizona had spent all day pent up in her office and did not feel an ounce of clarity that she had been looking for the past few weeks. And she hadn't been to the beloved bar in even longer. A stiff drink would do her good.

All the familiar bar smells brought a sense of nostalgia as she made her way further to the bar top. Joe gave her a wave from the beer taps.

"How's it going, Dr. Robbins?" he greeted her cheerfully, setting a napkin in front of her.

Arizona smiled, "Joe, Arizona, please. And I'm fine, how are you?"

"Doing well, Arizona. What can I get you?"

Blue eyes perused the selection of the different bottles behind her. She narrowed in on a pretty glass bottle that she rarely ever had.

"I'll have a gin and tonic," she finally answered, leaning back in her seat. She would have one drink to unwind, and then head home to her comfy bed.

"Give the woman a tequila, Joe," another voice added from two seats away.

Arizona eyed the other woman before nodding at the bartender. Looks like she would be having a couple of drinks. "How was your day, Meredith?"

The general surgeon took that as an offer to join her. She picked up her still full shot of tequila and sat in the empty stool.

"Peachy."

Arizona blinked. The woman looked on her way to being very drunk. Not that Meredith wasn't irresponsible. But these days, the woman didn't get sloshed at the bar unless there was something bothering her. Like, really bothering her. They all were like that.

She smiled in thanks to Joe, who set down her two beverages. Arizona took a sip from her straw while Meredith downed her shot.

"Another Joe."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Just because she had been wrapped up in her own crap, didn't mean she disregarded everybody else's.

"Do you?"

The two women had a mutual understanding in that moment with no words exchanged. Arizona took her own shot of tequila and threw it back slowly. The burn felt good.

"Another Joe."

###

"You know, the one good thing about Amy and Owen being married? They want to babysit, all the time."

"Wow, you really don't like them together, do you?"

After a few shots the two decided to share an order of fries and mozzarella sticks. They might have been drunk, but they knew tomorrow would not bode well if they didn't at least eat something tonight. Arizona always found it odd how unhappy Meredith was for her sister-in-law and the ex-husband of her person. When the people you love are happy, that's supposed to make yourself happy. At least that's what she blonde still tried to tell herself.

The theory was still pending.

Meredith shrugged, twirling her empty glass, "It's selfish, really. And I'll get over it one day. I think."

"Is it because of Christina?" Arizona asked, munching on a fry dunked in ketchup.

"Christina, Derek. Maybe it's because of me. I don't know. I'm trying to work on it."

Arizona shrugged, taking a small sip of her bottomless shot glass, "We're all working on it."

The general surgeon glanced around the bar at all the other patrons. It seemed like a normal night, with mostly hospital staff unwinding from their shifts and the occasional group of others getting off work from the many other corporate buildings in the area.

"Natalie working tonight?"

"Acoustic neuroma," she answered. Both women made a face. The neurosurgeon was in for a long night.

"Yikes," Meredith grimaced. "I'm sure she'll pull it off though. She is brilliant. Did you mention the contract extension?"

"I haven't really spoken to her today. We've both been busy. It shouldn't be a problem." And it really wouldn't be. Natalie was too over-qualified to be working there, but it didn't seem like the neurosurgeon minded at all. She still got to do cutting edge surgeries, without having to worry about running the department. And the blonde knew she had a lot to do with Natalie's content. She made a mental note to do something nice for the brunette.

She had been way too closed off lately. It wasn't Natalie's fault by any means, but Arizona needed time to recognize what she was feeling and why. It made her pull away from a lot of people. She had yet to call her parents back.

Meredith smirked, "I'd think not, with you to keep her preoccupied."

Arizona rolled her eyes, "I'm not discussing this with you."

"Discussing what?"

"My sex life."

"I didn't say anything about your sex life."

"You're Callie's friend."

"We could be friends."

Arizona sighed, licking the gin from her lips, "We're friends by circumstance and association. That's how it's always been." The general surgeon was Callie's friend first, from the beginning. Although they were already together by the time that friendship formed, Arizona was merely an extension. When they split, her relationship with Meredith had stayed the same, regardless of what they went through together.

She didn't blame the other woman, Meredith didn't make friends well anyway from what she had seen. And that was okay. But never the less, they weren't buddy-buddy.

Meredith burped, "But we could be friends."

Arizona was skeptic.

"Maybe."

###

Meredith tossed peanuts into her mouth, munching loudly while the pair waited for their next round of drinks. The general surgeon was somewhat surprised, Arizona was actually pretty funny. But not the perky funny that she was expecting. It was that morbid, not-sure-if-you-should-laugh-or-not funny. She liked it.

"Have you ever – had sex with someone inappropriate?" she asked out of the blue.

Arizona raised an eyebrow, "I know you were giving birth and all, but you can't tell me you don't remember." The blonde didn't blame her, she tried not to remember that fact herself.

Meredith winced, "Right. Well other than that, did you?"

The fetal surgeon shrugged, "That was pretty much all I did before Callie, at least. Friends, friends' friends, ex-girlfriends, ex-girlfriends' girlfriends. Nurses, radiology fellows – pretty much all fellows, residents, attendings, interns," Arizona snorted, "I even slept with my Chief's daughter at Hopkins. Geez, I haven't thought about that in ages."

In her defense, she didn't know that was her boss' daughter. At least the first time.

"So that sounds like a yes."

"What's your point?"

The general surgeon puffed, "I did a bad thing."

Blue eyes narrowed, leaning closer, "How bad?"

"Bad," the other woman whispered. Arizona closed her eyes at the strong whiff of tequila. She had surgery tomorrow.

"Are you gonna tell me or…?"

Joe didn't have time to set the small glass down onto the counter before Meredith grabbed it from his hands with surprising coordination and took a small sip.

"I slept with someone that my sister really likes."

Arizona's jaw dropped, "You slept with Owen?!"

"No!" Meredith shouted, earning the looks of the remaining occupants, "Someone Maggie likes," she hissed.

"Oh," blue eyes blinked, "well did you tell her?"

"Should I?"

"I mean," Arizona shrugged, "You're kind of screwed either way. But the least you could do is be honest."

Meredith groaned, downing the rest of her shot, "Ugh you sound like Torres. Where is all this honesty coming from all of a sudden? I mean, it's not like she really filled you in on the whole bionic leg thing. Or – or how you walk around like you're not still mad at her for it."

Arizona stared blankly. She honestly didn't know how to respond. If she was sober she might have told Meredith all about herself and then proceeded to throw her drink in the other woman's face. But, she was drunk. Really drunk. And they were trying to be friends. Or something close to it.

"Another Joe, please. And keep them coming."

###

"Is the sex really good?" Arizona asked breezily, a fair hand cradling a blonde head.

"It's ridiculously – insane," Meredith answered, the tequila replaced with a pint of beer. "I don't even know if I'd consider it good, you know? It's different, and wild. And I don't know if it's just because I haven't had sex in a long time, or if that's just – what it is."

Arizona tipped more tequila down her throat, "Did you have an orgasm?"

"Well, yeah."

"More than one?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's good," she replied curtly.

"Is that how you knew the sex was good with Castro?"

Arizona rolled her eyes, "We're not talking about me."

"I shared, now it's your turn. Who's better in bed, Callie or Natalie?" she grinned.

A blush made its way to porcelain cheeks, "Meredith!"

"What?"

"We're not talking about this!" Those were two very different women, and two very different relationships that she would prefer not to get into. Of course, the blonde had a type, but it was different. Night and day. Yin and yang.

The sex was good on both counts. But there would always be a difference. Whether it was a good or bad difference, the blonde was still trying to figure that out.

Meredith raised an eyebrow, "Okay, then let's talk about how you don't want to get set up with the bionic leg."

Arizona groaned, when would this not become a part of every thought and conversation? Not only did she think about it all day, every day, but she had already talked to April about it earlier. Did she really want to get into it with Meredith of all people?

They weren't that good of friends yet.

"This isn't something you just – decide on. I still have nightmares, and phantom limb, Mer. It's not as bad as before, but every once in a while, I'm reminded of it. I've rebuilt my life around the fact that I'm an amputee. There's been enough change already."

"Change is good though."

"Look who's talking."

"All I'm saying is that we've all survived pretty shitty stuff. And we're still here, saving lives, being mothers, getting drunk," she gestured to her glass, "what else is there for you to be afraid of?"

"Everything else."

"Amelia's not gonna screw it up and Callie won't let you down."

"Saint Calliope to the rescue," Arizona murmured under her breath.

Meredith snorted, "She's no saint, we know this. But she's a good person, who was trying to do a good thing. She just – she doesn't think sometimes." Despite how successful their medical careers were, everyone spent a lot of time not thinking.

Arizona chuckled, "I know, I was married to her, remember?" That was a serious understatement.

"Vaguely."

"We could've done worse though," the fetal surgeon smiled wistfully.

"We could have."

###

It was times like these Callie was thankful that her mom decided to disown her. It still hurt like hell to think about, but at least she didn't have to deal with both her parents coming into town pretty much without notice. Her dad was always a lot warmer and loving. She supposed her mother was like that to a point, but their relationship had always felt more for show, prestige, than anything else. She still didn't know how she survived a double Spanish Inquisition growing up.

She could hear Sofia's cheerful giggle from upstairs, followed by the low timber of her dad's voice, reading her a bedtime story. The mother-daughter duo had just settled down for dinner when the doorbell rang. Callie wasn't expecting anybody, so it was an even bigger shock to see that it was her father. Early, she might add.

He had brushed off his unexpected turn up, mentioning something about a business meeting and how fast Sofia was growing. Carlos then proceeded to listen to all the new things his granddaughter had to tell him, throwing in Spanish every few breaths. Callie felt like a meager bystander, simply serving up the rest of dinner and listening intently. She honestly didn't know why her dad felt it necessary to tell her mere hours before he actually showed up. She didn't know what exactly he was trying to do.

But it was nice to see him. He looked older, but yet still the same. He didn't mention her mom, he almost never did as to not turn a good conversation sour. Other members of the family came up every once in a while. And apparently Aria was being groomed to take over when Carlos decided to retire. Callie still hadn't heard from her sister aside from the occasional birthday card. She had learned to accept it. Aria was always a bit more like their mom.

"Calliope? Are you still down here, mija?"

"In the living room, dad," Callie answered, topping her glass off with red wine.

"Sofia is finally knocked out," Carlos chuckled, accepting a second glass from his daughter, "It took me 4 chapters before she finally fell asleep. I used to get halfway through one page before you and Aria were already snoring."

Callie laughed, she did love her sleep, "She doesn't get that from me."

"From Arizona, perhaps," he suggested. He might have given her the stink eye and maybe didn't like her sometimes, but Carlos always loved Arizona from the minute the blonde doctor approached him without batting an eye and proceeded to tell him how honorable his daughter was. The fact that she wasn't a vegetarian helped as well.

It was difficult over the years, shuffling between what had been two separate families. Ignoring subtle insults from his wife and making last minute flights to visit his exiled daughter and family. Scrolling through pictures of Sofia over the years and having no one but his driver and maids to share them with. Sitting at the dinner table on Christmas Eve with all the relatives and just knowing that there were 3 members that should have been there.

Frankly, it had taken a toll on the man. But he had done it because he loved his daughter and granddaughter. And he loved Arizona as well despite it all. He had spent a short period of time holding resentment towards the blonde. But at the end of the day, he had never wanted anything to work out so much before.

"Dad, it's not that I'm unhappy to see you. I'm really glad that you could visit. But…what exactly are you doing here?"

Carlos took a slow sip from his glass, swirling the red liquid around, "We still talk every Sunday, Calliope. And so far it seems like you've been doing well. I just thought I'd come visit to see if that's really the truth."

"Everything's fine, dad. Really. I'm really focused on work and Sofia. And it's good, it's good for me."

"What else is going on?" he asked pointedly. "And before you beat around the bush for the next five minutes, just tell me if it has something to do with a woman?"

"Dad," Callie groaned, rubbing her eyebrow, "I'm not seeing a woman."

"A man then?" She couldn't help but smirk at the skepticism in his voice.

"No, there's no one. And that's fine. That's what I need right now."

"So this Penny woman, she's really gone? The relationship ended?"

"Yes, it ended when she took the grant I told you about and moved to New York. She wanted me to go with her, I didn't want to. End of the relationship."

Carlos rested his arm against the couch, "So the fear and sadness in your voice had to do with Arizona."

Callie stared into her glass. It was crazy, being an adult and having your parent read you like that. "I'm not sad."

"What happened?" he asked slowly.

Callie sighed, finally meeting her dad's eyes, "You know that veteran's project I've been working on? Well, I got together with Amelia, the neurosurgeon and she customized the sensors while I built a new leg. For Arizona. And – I didn't tell her until it was already done. She got mad at me. She felt like I was making decisions for her, without asking her. I think I got her to understand where I was coming from. But, I still feel weird about it. Unsettled, I guess. And now everything's all awkward and I still don't know if she wants to do the surgery to implant the sensors. I want to talk to her about it but I don't know if I even have the right to. And she's off, she's not herself and I know it's my fault. But once again, I don't know if I even have the right to say anything."

Carlos had stared blankly as he witnessed his daughter's word vomit. He still found it adorable even in adulthood. Nevertheless, she was troubled. And like always, all signs pointed to a certain blonde.

"Why did you go forward with it without consulting her? You were married to the woman, Calliope, you should've known what would happen."

Callie winced, "I don't know dad. I just, did it. I thought that if I covered all my bases, made everything perfect, that she would say yes."

"Well, it sounds like you were trying to make the decision for her," he added.

"Well now we can't even have a conversation without that huge elephant in the room," Callie slumped into the couch. "And then I asked Natalie her opinion on the whole thing and got her to keep it a secret from Ari –"

Carlos blinked, "Wait, who is Natalie?"

"Arizona's…girlfriend."

"Calliope."

"I know, okay? Bad move, I get it. I was just trying to do something good. She shouldn't have to give up anything else in her life."

"Mija that's not your call anymore," he answered, pouring another glass for each of them. "This Natalie woman, what's she like?"

"She's a neurosurgeon, and a brilliant one. From what I've seen, she's great. She really cares about Arizona."

"Has she met Sofia?"

Callie nodded, "Yeah, but not that much I think. And I don't know if Arizona told her they were girlfriends or just friends."

"And how does that make you feel?"

Callie scoffed, "It's fine dad, it's been years. I've dated, she's dated, it was bound to happen one day."

Carlos hummed disapprovingly, "You don't like it."

"I just – I don't have the right to feel anything about it anymore. I was such a bitch in the beginning and it caused a lot of problems between me and Arizona. But we talked, and I've been trying to find a way to not to be like that. And then this whole mess happened and we're not fighting, but I still feel terrible. I wasn't trying to embarrass her or even fix her, I just wanted to help. Just because we're not together anymore doesn't mean I stopped caring."

"She went through something horrible, perhaps it's something she's still working through. But she's a good woman, I'm sure you two will make it right again."

Callie smirked, "You still think she's a good woman?"

"Without a doubt. People make mistakes, Calliope, you know this. Doesn't mean their character is completely decimated," he commented, "I do wish it could have worked out though."

"Dad, I told you, it was the best thing. I just wanted to be free."

Carlos groaned, "Ugh mija, what does that even mean? You made a commitment, had a family, you were working through your issues, going to therapy. And then I get a call saying that it was just over. It sounds like you gave up."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. She expected this, she had heard it more times than she'd like to admit. Over the phone it was easy, she could make up some excuse after a couple of minutes and have to go. Or Sofia was still around, demanding all the attention. She didn't like pouring through all past decisions, because she couldn't change them now. That was the old person she used to be.

"I tried, and I did the best I could at the time. We both did, there was just too much stuff dad. Some things just…aren't meant to be," she shrugged. "And Arizona's happy now with someone that accepts her. And I need to be by myself and find happiness, and I know I will eventually."

Carlos eyed his daughter carefully before chuckling, "If you say so, Calliope."

Eyebrows furrowed, "What's that –"

The doorbell rang, throwing her off the rant that was sure to erupt from her lips. She eyed her dad questioningly. Callie wasn't expecting anyone, especially at this hour.

Carlos stood up first and made his way past the living room to the front door, his daughter following closely behind. He leaned forward into the peephole, a small grin reaching his face.

"Who is it?"

He chuckled again, "You'll see." Carlos opened the door, revealing a somewhat disheveled but oh-so-adorable blonde, blinking wearily at the porch light.

"Arizona! What a pleasant surprise!" Carlos greeted.

Callie peeked over her dad's shoulder, "Arizona, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

Arizona exhaled loudly, "I have to talk to you." Faint snickering was heard from further down the driveway. Callie could see the end of a yellow taxi in her driveway, along with a dirty blonde head popped out of the window.

"I told her not to do it!"

Callie closed her eyes briefly before sighing, "Sure you did! Pay the guy and get in here!" Leave it to Meredith to manage to talk both of them into the same situation.

She left Carlos to attend to Meredith when she finally made it to the door, and she grabbed Arizona's arm and led her into the house and to the couch.

"How much did you guys drink?" Callie asked, grabbing two bottles of water from her fridge. Carlos had already escorted Meredith to the couch as well, and the two drunk women looked thoughtfully at each other.

"Um – like 4 –"

"No it was definitely, maybe eiiigghttt…?"

"Yeah but then you had anoth –"

"Oh ye –"

"Never mind," Callie mumbled, unscrewing both bottles and handing them out. She stood next to her father, two pairs of arms crossed.

"Still think she's a good woman?"

Carlos smirked, "There's nothing wrong with unwinding, mija. And they took a cab, so no harm done."

"Who are you and what have you done with my father?" she demanded.

"I've settled down in my old age," he chuckled. "And you were a teenager, I had every right."

"It's still not fair. I guess they can just stay here, Mer's sister has her kids for the night. And I hope they don't have an early surgery tomorrow." This was not how she planned her night to go.

Carlos shrugged, "I could always drop them off on the way back to the Archfield?"

Arizona giggled, "Probably not a good idea, Carlos. Mer likes to throw up in cars."

"That was ONE time! And we were bonding when I told you that. You weren't supposed to tell anybody."

Callie snorted, "Pretty sure we all knew that already, Mer."

Meredith threw her arm over her eyes, her water balancing precariously on her knee. "Whatever."

Arizona slugged the other woman's shoulder sloppily, "At least I didn't tell anyone about your secret sex buddy."

"Wait, you told her about Riggs?" Callie exclaimed.

Blue eyes widened, "You're sleeping with Riggs?!"

"Callie!"

Carlos cleared his throat, "On that note, I am going to take my leave. Call me tomorrow Calliope. Goodnight, ladies." He might have calmed down, there was only so much the man could take.

###

"I can't believe you told her."

Callie rolled her eyes for the third time. She had managed to wrestle the general surgeon into some clothes to sleep in and was turning down the bed covers of her guest room. So far it had taken fifteen minutes, precisely ten minutes longer than necessary.

It was rare that Callie found herself on this end of the situation. Usually she was the one that was drunk and needed to be tucked in. It was embarrassing, but at least it wasn't her for once.

"I thought you told her."

Meredith tried for a smack to the arm, but ended up hitting her hand. "I told her I was sleeping with Maggie's crush, I didn't say his name."

"Well how was I supposed to know that? You guys are very shit faced right now." Callie grabbed her arm and guided her to the bed, pulling the covers back up. She grabbed the trash can and set it right beside the bed, just in case.

Meredith blinked up at the ceiling, "I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm a horrible sister, might as well make it public."

"You'll figure it out, Grey. You always do. Now do you need anything else? Because now I have to go deal with Arizona."

The other woman hummed. She double checked in her head to make sure she had all her bases covered. She was going to be very pissed off if she woke up to puke all over the place in the morning.

"One more thing, Torres." Meredith leaned up on her elbows. Her hair was a mess and her eyes had that glassy, drunk look about them.

"Yes?"

The general surgeon shrugged a shoulder, "I don't know if I ever told you this, but Arizona's great. You could've done worse."

###

Arizona was slightly sober by the time she made her way down the stairs. Her head was bobbing to some unknown beat though, giving her away intoxication away.

"Whatcha listening to?" she asked lightly, sitting down on her coffee table. She proceeded to unzip the blonde's boots and put them off to the side.

Arizona leaned back on the couch, "This song that was on the radio on the way over here," she chuckled, "it's that song we danced to on our first date."

The brunette halted her movement for a second before recovering and removing Arizona's thick watch. She couldn't forget that song for the life of her, even if she tried with all her might. The date had been somewhat awkward in the beginning. Callie felt hugely inadequate in her presence and just wanted to do or say something that could make it better. And so they danced. It was fun and hilarious. A perfect date in the end.

"I haven't heard that song in years," Callie commented, pulling on the lapels of her jacket. It pulled the blonde's torso forward, and she let Callie remove it.

"I still listen to it every now and then," Arizona admitted, rubbing her forehead. She was too inebriated to care right now, but she knew her head would not be happy with her in the morning.

"Really?"

Callie reached her hand up carefully, gently removing the earrings dangling from fair earlobes. Things had gone from one end of the spectrum to another. If someone told her she would be doing this two weeks ago, she would have referred them to Shepherd for a lobotomy. Or just paged Psych. But Arizona was drunk, and had obviously came to her house for a reason. She wasn't going to let her be any more uncomfortable then she had been lately. The least she could do was let her sleep without earrings stabbing her throughout the night.

It still caught her breath, touching her. Even though it was just her ears, it brought her closer to Arizona. And when she got closer, she could see the faint blush that accentuated her cheekbones, and the slightly dark eye makeup that made her eyes dreamier than she'd like to admit to anyone. And when a faint dimple appeared, she couldn't see anything else.

"Really," Arizona answered, "it's nice, to remember the good times."

"Yeah, sometimes it is," Callie sighed, smiling wistfully. She patted her own thighs, standing up. "Okay, let's get you to bed." It was as easy as she remembered, lifting Arizona from the couch without so much as flinching. She placed her arm around a slim waist. It made her heart drop when she felt an arm grasp her shoulder.

It took a little bit longer to get up the stairs since Arizona kept on running into the bannister, and then instructed them to walk slowly as to not wake up Sofia.

"I don't want to wake her up," the blonde had whispered, loudly.

Callie rolled her eyes, "She's not gonna wake up. She sleeps like a log."

"Just like her mother," Arizona mumbled. Callie smirked, opening her bedroom door and settling her down on the edge of her bed. Arizona looked around curiously while Callie rummaged through her drawer. She hesitated at the t-shirt and shorts she held in her hands.

"Here, you can wear these," she offered, hoping that the blonde wouldn't notice the old Hopkins shirt and Snow White boxer shorts that were her own, that might have mysteriously went missing after they both moved their stuff out of the old house.

"What am I doing here?" Arizona finally asked, taking note of all the pictures that adorned the walls. Her and Callie had meticulously gone through all of them, wanting to have their own tokens of what was once their family. She hadn't seen these other pictures in years.

"You're gonna sleep here, and I'll sleep on the couch. Or with Sofia, Lord knows that bed is big enough."

"Callie," Arizona pouted, "You don't have to do that. I can sleep on the couch, or with Sofia."

"Sofia will probably kick you off the bed, and that couch is gonna make your back sore as hell in the morning," Callie reasoned. "Now change."

The brunette went into her bathroom to give Arizona privacy, but also not wanting to argue about the sleeping arrangements anymore. She brushed her teeth and scrubbed her face clean from the day, changing into her own set of pajamas. She grabbed two tablets of Ibuprofen and her trash can.

Arizona was already underneath the covers, her clothes folded on the empty side of the bed. Her prosthetic was propped up against the nightstand. She looked like a curious little girl, blue eyes darting across the room, taking in a new place that she'd never seen before.

"Just in case you throw up," Callie stated, setting the can down, "and take these right when you wake up."

Arizona nodded.

"I'll wake you guys up in the morning."

"Wait," Arizona proclaimed, sitting up and grabbing the brunette's arm. "I had to tell you something, remember?"

"Um," Callie swallowed, "okay…" she sat down, patiently waiting. For what? She had no idea.

It looked like Arizona didn't quite know either. She had that look on her face, one that Callie knew all too well. Like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if she should, or if it was the right time, or place. She was uncomfortable. Her lips pursed briefly, before pouting. And her bright eyes went sad, staring at her own hand that was still attached to Callie's arm.

She took a breath, finally looking up.

"I want to do it, you know. I want Amy to do the surgery…"

Callie blinked. Not exactly what she was expecting, but it gave her that foreboding sense of hope. "Are you sure?"

"I wasn't. I didn't want it, at first," Arizona sighed. "But I've been thinking, a lot. I want to do it. But – I'm scared. What if something goes wrong? Or if it goes well, but then the sensors can't communicate with the sensors in the prosthetic. What if it's all for nothing?"

"Amelia can do this, she will not screw it up. And this will work. Why do you think I waited this long before bringing it up to you? I wanted to make sure all the mistakes were already fixed, and they are. Nothing and nobody is gonna screw this up for you."

"I just – I can't take another loss. Another disappointment."

Callie placed her hand over the one on her arm, "Arizona, you're not going to lose anything. I'm not gonna let that happen. All you have to do is trust me."

She could still sense the hesitation on the blonde's face, so she decided to leave it alone for now. This was not how she wanted to have this conversation. Firstly, she would think Arizona would be sober, and not in her bed after a night of drinking with Meredith Grey. But things didn't really work out how she planned. Ever.

And Arizona didn't stop her when she turned out the lamp on the night stand.

But she did stop her right at the door, before she closed it.

"That's the thing, Callie. I do trust you. Still. More than anybody."

"Is – is that a bad thing?" Callie asked. She could still see a small dimple, a sad one.

"I think it is. But, I still do."