Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Hi my friends, sorry about the long waiting, hope you're still interested in this story.

I took a short vocation from writing after finished my other story. In case you're curious, there won't be a third installment of the U series. That pair of calzona is in a happy place and I am not gonna ruin it ;-p

Once again, thanks to my girl calzonaforever35 helping with this story. You are awesome as always.

Chapter 43

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Joe asked uncertainly, Callie just threw him a stare and then went back to the job she was doing.

"Don't worry about it. It's easy." She turned the screwdriver in her hand to tighten the screw, the bed frame was half way done and it looked pretty decent. Joe kneeled down next to her, holding the bar in place.

"I still think we should buy the one already built, you know, the princess castle we saw in the first store."

"Don't be ridiculous. First off, Maddy is 7, soon she'd hate the stupid castle bed. And you don't need to pay extra for some guy to come assemble it, we can put this together." Callie reached out her hand. "Hand me the other screw."

"It's your day off. You and Arizona should go out, instead of staying here assembling the bed and putting everything together. I don't want her to be mad at you." Joe leaned closer whispering to his friend, trying to keep it from the other woman who was in the living room.

"Don't worry about it, Joe." An angelic laugher coming from Joe's back. The two carpenters turned around, and there was Arizona leaning against the doorframe with a stack of children's clothes in her hands. "Believe me, this is my treat to see Callie with tools."

"That's true." Callie shrugged, watching her girlfriend put the clothes in the cabinet. "She thinks I look hot with these things."

"Oh, so that's the reason my foster daughter doesn't get the pretty bed?" Joe looked between the two women. "That's it. I am going to get the pink princess bed, and have them deliver it here today."

"Sit back down, nerdy dad." Callie laughed, grabbing the back of Joe's shirt to stop the man from getting up. "You don't need that freaking princess bed. Arizona and I already got the pink and purple sheets, and the curtains. This room is gonna be amazing."

"But the bed is wobbly ..." Joe murmured under his breath, and Callie just rolled her eyes.

"Because it's not done yet! Hand me the other screw and shut up."

The 6 foot tall bartender did what he was told with pursing lips, he was not happy with the IKEA bed but knew better than saying more at this point.

It was understandable why the man was so nervous. The application went through without any problem, that made Joe and Walter officially the foster parents of Maddy Carlson. After 2 weeks of being hospitalized, Maddy was free to go to her new home after the weekend.

Since Walter was staying with Maddy in the hospital during the days, Callie and Arizona volunteered to help Joe turn the bachelor pad into a family apartment.

Thanks to Arizona's type A personality, the three of them worked in great efficiency. They took a trip down to Maddy's old home to pick up some clothes and stuffed animals, went to the store to get the necessary furniture, and set it up in the apartment before the sun went down. The three adults looked around the room with a smile.

"Do you think Maddy will like it?" Joe asked his friends nervously. Arizona patted his shoulder.

"She'll love it. She asked for Bella bed spread, pink dresser with butterflies, and her favorite bunnies from home. And the matching desk and bookshelf? She'll be thrilled."

"But the bed... do you think it's safe?" He shifted his gaze to the bed, still worried about it.

"Oh give it a rest!" Callie exclaimed. "She can jump on it without any danger; And if anything happens, Arizona and I can fix her."

"Bite your tongue!" Joe called after the woman who was walking toward the kitchen. "If she has any accident under my care, social service is going to take her away from us."

"That is not gonna happen, don't worry about it." Arizona walked behind Joe to go toward the kitchen joining her girlfriend. "Janice said they are pleased with this arrangement. They saw how much you and Walter care about Maddy, and Maddy likes you too. The shrink said she's showing progress, and with you and Walter staying by her side helps a lot."

"We went through this, Joe. You are doing great, and Walter is doing great. You two are going to be the best parents." Callie opened a bottle of beer and took a big gulp. "Just relax, as soon as Maddy comes here, you'd know everything's fine."

"Yeah, I can't wait for her to see the room." Joe rubbed his head with a sheepish smile. "So are you two coming to the pub tonight? For Wilson's birthday party?"

"Yes, we'll be there." Callie put the bottle down, and ran her hands to readjust the messy ponytail. "But I'll need a shower first."

The couple appeared at the Horizon 3 hours later. Showering together may have saved water, but it definitely didn't save time.

The pub wasn't too busy considering Jo invited half of the hospital staff to her party, a lot of them probably were still at work. Callie and Arizona spotted their friends at different tables. After a quick peck on the lips, Callie went to the intern table while Arizona walked toward the attendings gang.

"Happy birthday, Jo." Callie gave her friend a quick hug, and then settled on an empty stool between Stephanie and Heather.

"Hey Callie, you're late. I thought you weren't coming." Jo laughed, pushing a shot glass in front of the Latina. They all picked up their drinks and toasted to the birthday girl.

"I was helping Joe set up the apartment. Maddy Carlson is going to be discharged in 2 days, and she's going to stay with Joe and Walter from now on." Everyone knew about Maddy's sad story and they were secretly hoping the foster application would go through.

The friends around the table cheered, and held up their glasses for another toast.

"So," Callie looked around. "Shane and Leah aren't coming?"

"Shane is in there dancing with a slutty nurse." Stephanie tilted her head to the dance floor, where Shane was grinding against one of the nurses. "Leah is still at the hospital, she has a patient to monitor."

"Oh." Callie nodded. "Something happened in the hospital today?"

"Leah was in a surgery with Altman and Yang this afternoon. She kinda dozed off in the OR and poked the heart, so Yang punished her by ordering her to stay for an overnight observation." Jo answered with a shrug, and the other 2 interns just shook their heads.

"She's really unfocused. I don't think she understands how precious it is to get into this program." Stephanie took a quick swig of beer and then continued. "Do you know the hospital let go of at least 2 interns every year? If Leah keeps on like this, it's not gonna be a surprise if she's gone by the end of the year."

"They're not gonna do that..." Callie looked between the others, Jo just shook her head.

"It's true. But you don't need to worry about it, you're saved by Robbins."

"Hey, first of all, I don't think they are going to fire us. And if that happened, my relationship with Arizona won't be the factor of saving my job." Callie's brows knitted together slightly. She didn't like the idea of being fired, and she didn't want her peers to think that she was getting special treatment because of her girlfriend.

"Whatever." Stephanie waved her hand and looked around. "Maybe I should try to score an attending, or even a resident. Just to be sure someone has my back."

Everyone at the table followed her gaze. There were Alex and Jackson sitting on a table not far away from them. Jackson was talking to April while the waitress delivered drinks on their table, and Alex was locking eyes with someone in their direction.

And on the other side of the pub at the attending table, Owen was talking to Mark and Bailey, and Arizona was hugging Teddy.

"It seems everyone is taken." Callie heard Stephanie's voice, but she didn't pay much of attention.

"I have to go." Callie stood from the stool and smiled at Jo. "Enjoy your party."

As soon as the brunette approached the table, she found her girlfriend was on the verge of bursting into tears. She rushed to Arizona's back and held her by her shoulders.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She leaned forward to whisper in the blonde's ear, concern lingering in her voice.

"It's my fault." Teddy raised her hand, giving the brunette a bitter smile, who looked back at her in confused.

"Teddy is leaving." Arizona said sadly. Everyone at the table had the same expression.

"Why? It's still early. You don't have to work tomorrow, do you?" Callie grabbed Arizona's wrist to check the time from the blonde's watch, it was barely 10.

"No, I'm going to Baghdad." The cardio surgeon sighed, squeezing her best friend's hand on the table. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"What? Why?" Callie blurted out, pulled a stool from the other table and sat down between Arizona and Teddy.

"A buddy called me last night. Their unit was under attacked a few days ago, caused some casualties including 2 surgeons. They need surgeons out there immediately." Teddy took her hand back when Arizona turned around to wipe her tearful eyes subtly.

"Why do you have to go? Aren't you retired from the army already?" Callie put her hand behind her girlfriend's back, and looked between Teddy and Owen, the other former military surgeon.

"I was demobilized, but they need me, I have to go back." Teddy picked up her wine, answering another question before Callie even asked. "Owen stays, because of his PTSD."

The redhead trauma surgeon sighed deeply. He wanted to go back, but his condition, and Cristina is stopping him from going back to the front line.

"I won't be gone for long, just 4 months to train some surgeons over there." Teddy forced a smile toward her colleagues around the table, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere among them. "I'll be back before you know it."

"How about the hospital? We can't go without a cardio attending for 4 months." Mark asked.

"Yeah, the chief and I have worked it out today. He already got a cardio attending to replace me for this period. She is going to transfer to here from Seattle Presbyterian, start tomorrow." Teddy looked between her colleagues, and ended up on Callie. "I talked to her over the phone. She went to Miller Miami, just like you. She finished the second in her class. I told her about you and Cristina, telling her that you two are the best intern and resident I'd ever met."

"Excuse me." Suddenly, Arizona stood up and walked toward the restroom. Everyone stared at the others with puzzled look on their faces. Without saying a word, Callie got up following her girlfriend.

"Arizona?" Callie opened the door of the restroom slowly, not wanting to startle the blonde. When she looked inside, there was Arizona leaning against the sink cleaning her face with a tissue. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"You know... I'm fine." Arizona turned around after threw the paper in the trash can. She stepped forward to pull Callie in her arms, and as soon as the Latina got into the room, she buried her face in the front of the leather jacket.

"Are you okay, Arizona?" Callie tried again. She tightened her arms to hold the woman closer.

"I just... remember my brother. He... he... didn't have to go back there. He promised to come home... he didn't." The voice muttered by the jacket, but Callie could still catch a few words, now she knew why her girlfriend was so upset.

"Teddy is gonna be alright. She's gonna be a surgeon over there, she's not a marine. She'll be safe." Callie said, her hands running the soft blonde hair gently.

"You don't know that." Arizona sighed out, face still buried deep in Callie's chest.

The door opened again, there was Teddy coming to check on her best friend. When she took in the sight that the couple were sharing an intimate moment, she stepped back and about to close the door. But Callie stopped her.

"Teddy, come on in."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Teddy said timidly, and she frowned when she met with Arizona's reddish eyes. "Arizona, what's wrong? You're crying... because I'm leaving?"

Arizona twisted the corner of her lips and sighed heavily, looking down to the floor to ponder what to say to her best friend. A warm hand placed on her cheek to tilt her face up. Getting a smile of encouragement from her girlfriend, the blonde turned to face her friend fully. But her hand was still clasping with Callie's.

"Teddy, I know what you are going to do is dangerous and terrifying and brave." Arizona took a deep breath and squeezed the hand she was holding tight. "I know that because that was what my father and my brother did."

Teddy nodded slowly. She knew Arizona's father was a colonel, and her brother died in one of the wars, but Arizona's didn't really get into the details about that.

"My brother finished his tour few months before 911. He talked about sticking around. He talked about what he wanted to do for his future but then 911 happened. He decided to go back there without discussing it with me, his sister and his best friend." Arizona sniffed, trying to hold her tears. "He promised me he'd come back... but he returned in a coffin."

Callie let go of Arizona's hand when Teddy took two steps forward to hug the blonde, but she kept her hands on her girlfriend's hips to remain physical contact for support.

"I'm so sorry about that Arizona." Teddy hugged her friend tight. "Don't worry. I'll stay in the back. I'll only be working in the hospital there. I won't go to the front line. I'll be safe. And I'll come back alive."

"You better. You are my person." Arizona closed her eyes, remembering the last time she hugged her brother before he got on the plane. But her mind was interrupted by a voice behind her.

"Uh, I thought I was your person." Callie teased her girlfriend, intending to lighten the mood, and it worked.

They chuckled together. With one last promise of return home safe from Teddy, they walked out of the restroom together, just in time to see Alex leaving the pub with Heather on his arm.

"Jo, long night?" Callie approached her colleague who was standing by the nurse station propping up her head by the elbow, mouth wide opened letting out a yawn.

"Kinda. Jason arrived late, and we stayed in the pub talking until your bartender kicked us out." Jo rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes, snatched Callie's coffee and took a long gulp.

"Jason... the OB guy?" Callie raised her eyebrows, and got a sheepish smile from Jo in return. "He seems nice."

"Yes, he is." Jo finished the coffee and threw the now empty cup in the trash can next to them. "Hey, did you see Heather left with Karev last night?"

"Yeah, what happened actually?"

"I went to get us some drinks. When I returned, he already got Heather out of the stool." Jo looked around and lowered her voice. "Should we tell Leah about that?"

"That's not our business, and Leah already has problem with me. I'd better stay away from this." Callie shrugged. "What do you have today?"

"I'm in Peds again, you?"

"I'm supposed to be with Yang and the new cardio attending." Callie checked her pager seeing if Cristina had paged her, but it stayed silent.

"So Altman really is going back to the war? At this time?" Jo made a grimace. "I watched the news, it seems horrible over there."

"It is. But it's her calling, she's doing something great." The brunette looked up, in time to see her resident walking toward her in a fast pace.

"Torres, no time for chitchat." Cristina walked through the two interns, Callie hot on her heels followed. "We just got a call from UNOS, there's a heart for Mr. Lennon. I got the clear from the chief, now we need to meet with Dr. Hahn and prep the patient."

"Dr. Hahn... The new attending?" The two ran up the stairs to the cardio floor. Cristina nodded.

"Not as brilliant as Altman. However, she's the boss now. She requested you and me today. Don't do anything stupid. You're my intern, anything you do is gonna reflect on me." The resident said coldly before they walked in the patient's room. The new attending was already there had her back to the door.

"Dr. Hahn." Cristina addressed the new attending. The tall blonde doctor turned around slowly.

"You are late. I don't know how Dr. Altman ran her department, but for me, I expect my resident to come running when I page them." The new attending cocked her head, looked down to the new comers in the room with a subtle smirk, especially when she took in the intern's shocked face.

"Erica..." Callie breathed out, almost unnoticeable. Almost.

Cristina was perplexed by her intern, but Erica's voice stopped her from asking question.

"I am going to harvest the heart. Dr. Yang, you stay here to monitor Mr. Lennon's condition and prep him for surgery. Dr... Torres," The attending made a show to lean forward, squinted at the ID badge clipped on Callie's lab coat to check her name. "You get on the chopper with me. I need someone to carry the cooler."

Erica exited the room without looking at either one of the doctors. Callie looked at Cristina with terror in her eyes, but again, they were interrupted before the Asian could ask.

"What did I just say about running?" Erica's voice coming from outside the door, the brunette intern took a deep breath and ran to follow the new boss.

Callie was fidgeting in the elevator ride to the root. She glanced at her old girlfriend from the corner of her eyes, who was remaining expressionless looking straight ahead to the metal door.

"Erica, I... I am sorry." Finally, Callie broke the silence between them.

"When Altman told me about an intern named Callie Torres, I couldn't believe my ears." Erica snorted, but she was still staring at the elevator door. "What took you so long? Becoming too stupid and repeating the internship, or slipping into a coma for years and just came back?"

"I... it's a long story." Callie was taken aback from the tall blonde's words, but she should know better that courtesy was never Erica's strongest feature. "I just want to say, I know I've hurt you. I am deeply, deeply sorry about that."

"Save your breath." Erica waved her hand, stepped out of the elevator as soon as the door opened.

Thanks to the engine of the chopper, the noise around them was so loud that they weren't able to exchange any other words during the ride. The two women just stared out the window on their sides deep in their own thoughts.

The harvesting went as easy as it could be, but Erica didn't let her tag along intern assist. She preferred to work with the in house resident while her own helper standing in the back with the cooler in hand.

As soon as the chopper touched ground on the roof of SGMW, Erica jumped out of it and ran directly to the surgical floor with Callie on her tail. Before they got on the return ride, the intern already called the hospital to inform Cristina that they were on the way back with the heart, so the patient should be prepped and ready for the transplant right away.

As the two entered the scrub room, they came face to face with one person that Callie wasn't sure she wanted to see at this particular moment.

"Oh," Arizona just finished scrubbing out, was surprised to see a stranger entering the room, but her face lit up in a second when she took in the other one behind this stranger. She smiled to the taller woman in front of her. "You must be the new cardio attending. I'm Arizona Robbins, head of Peds."

"Erica Hahn." Erica shook the offered hand briefly with a stone cold face, then stepped aside to start scrubbing.

Arizona cast a glance at her new colleague, a little offended by the rudeness but her attention turned to Callie quickly.

"Hey, when is your shift finished? I forgot to ask you this morning." The perky doctor leaned against the sink, watching her girlfriend scrubbing.

"Tonight at 8." Callie kept the answer short, doing her best to give her girlfriend a small smile. She looked over the blonde and saw the other blonde focusing on her own task, seemingly not paying any attention to the others in the scrub room.

"Walter called. He wants me to go shopping with him, he's afraid Maddy doesn't have enough change of clothes." Arizona brought her hands up to help Callie stuck the few strands of hair into the scrub cap tenderly. "But I should be home around 8. You want to eat out or we order in?"

Before Callie could answer, the cardio attending picked up a towel to dry her hands, and then threw it into the sink forcefully.

"Torres, the patient is waiting." Erica said in a flat tone before stepping in the OR.

"Pizza is fine." Callie quickly rinsed her hands and started to follow the attending. Arizona made a wry face toward the cold cardio attending, and then leaned forward to peck on Callie's plump lips before she took off.

"You go be a rock star. Good luck in there."

"Yeah, luck is all I need right now." Callie said under her breath, and walked into the OR where the patient, her resident and her attending/ex-girlfriend were waiting for her.