Title: People Talk, Alot 3/?

Author: Lauren Michelle

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG, for this one at least

Summary: Before the kiss at Joe's and how Arizona got ahold of all of this, "talk." Also, shedding some light upon Arizona's past and Callie's present.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show, or anything related to the show. I don't make any money, from this or otherwise, and simply am writing for my enjoyment.

-------------------

Relaxing her form, the blonde threw the key's lazily into the ceramic bowl by the door. She couldn't help recounting the day as she slumped into the couch, too tired to make it towards the bedroom. She preferred it there anyway, she thought.

The day had been rough, and she had lost a patient that shouldn't have died, she'd about killed herself skating through a hallway- a thought that made her instinctively rub her arm- and at the end of the day, she was doomed to end up in her apartment. Not necessarily the safest place in her mind, to say the least.

The silence was ebbing at her, in need of a remedy she reluctantly rolled to on her side to reach the stereo remote on the coffee table. She wasn't particularly sure what she had previously left in the player, but figured anything was better than the nothing. Pressing a button the sounds of Uh Huh Her's "Covered" drifted through the room.

It seemed appropriate enough to the blonde, as she set down the remote with a sigh. The room seemed calmer now that sound had penetrated dreary silence. More of a clean slate.

"Though a slate never really comes clean..." She thought as her eyes wandered up to the ceiling. Her thoughts then pondered how many ceilings she may have seen in her life, how many she had only seen once and the ones she never hoped to see again. Unfortunately, one of those horizontal walls was her own.

"Maybe I should have gone farther away, moved to a different apartment." The thought was a valid one, cowardly perhaps, but valid. So many positive memories, if taken out of context, had happened under this ceiling, behind those doors. Her gaze fell to the direction of her bedroom and then her eyes snapped shut.

"Don't go there Arizona." she proclaimed into the pillow that she had brought over her head.

She knew that no good could come of it. Nothing could fix those memories. She had dealt with them to the best of her abilities. Gotten all the help that she could have. She had thrown herself into her work, into her research and drowned all the rest with occasional one night excursions. She had seen therapists, psychologists, and had just reached past the need for group sessions. She knew that what had happened had no quick fix and that all that she could really do now is wait for time to slowly fade the memories and the wounds that she had licked to scar.

She found that her arms had lifted from the pillow and her hands had occupied themselves by alternating wringing her wrists. Recognizing the familiar action, she stopped abruptly and turned her thoughts elsewhere.

There had been a few pleasant moments that day. Since meeting Lexie the day-before-yesterday she had someone to talk to that didn't mind discussing personal matters. She loved Bailey, but- she knew that the chief resident didn't really want to swap heart-to-hearts. She had eaten with the small brunette for the second day in a row and had learned a bit about the politics of the hospital, meaning, of course, the sordid details that was the tangled web of Seattle Grace. It almost made her smile for a moment, hearing about on-call room incidences and the game of musical sexual-partners that seemed to always be going on behind sometimes closed doors. She had also learned about "Calliope." The full name that she felt kind of guilty about knowing.

Arizona's question about what Dr. Torres's name might be short of seemed innocent enough and some how on topic. Apparently Lexie had read some files at some point and with a photographic memory, had easily recalled the information. The blonde resident had to stop herself from taking advantage of that little wealth of knowledge. She knew that she would rather ask Callie herself at some point.

A bitter sweet moment had occurred after the death of her young patient Daniella. She had died of a severe case of pneumonia that was thought to be under control. The small girl had only been four, the only child of a young couple. It had broken her heart, seeing them holding her hand as she slipped out of reach in a hospital bed. After she called the time of death and stayed with the parents for a while, she had taken a moment in a nearby supply closet. She had set her watch to allow her two minutes to process and prepare to smile for the next small patient that entered the hospital.

She had wiped the tears from her eyes with her coat sleeve and took a deep breath. Upon exiting, she decided the a good glide across the hallway might give her a pick-me-up. So she did, only to glimpse a passing Dr. Torres in the process.

Distracted by thoughts of what might bring her up to Pediatrics and the shock of the sighting, she skated right into a small boy's room window. She had hit the glass with a loud "Oumf" that prompted the boy, her patient named Matthew, to let out a surprised sound and then a loud bout of laughter after seeing that his doctor was alright.

The Attending remembered looking through the glass at him sheepishly as she raised her arm to see the damage. Mid-motion she had realized what had made her run into the glass in the first place. She looked around panicking that the brunette might have spotted her lost battle with the window.

Arizona laughed softly at the recollection as she turned towards the cushions on the couch and thought how grateful she was that the moment had not been her first impression in Dr. Torres's mind. On the other hand it was unfortunate that Bailey had witnessed the scene. God knows she was never going to be able that live it down.

She was also thankful that she hadn't broken any bones that required any Ortho work. That would have been quiet the meeting though, she had to admit.

The blonde shook her head at the thought and decided it was time to get up and out of her work clothes. Sliding off her lab coat she padded through the main room and into her bed room. The wall of memories was beginning to come down and images didn't immediately enter her mind. She set down the coat and pealed her shirt off, following it when the rest of her garments.

There was something freeing about lacking clothing and coming home to an empty room. At one point she would have deemed it loneliness but now, it was just peaceful. Something that she wasn't going to be taking for granted for a very long time. She had worked hard to get to this place in her mind. A space that didn't require anything but herself. It was almost pleasant, she thought as she slumped into bed.

The covers were cold and inviting in the dark room. The sun had set hours ago and all that lit the apartment was the soft moonlight streaming through the open curtains. A few months ago, this time of night would have terrified her and kept her tossing and turning, but the lack of direct connection to those times had quieted the fear. The dwelling may house memories but now that was all it housed besides herself.

Before she drifted for the night, she thought she should celebrate her continuing freedom. "Maybe I'll go out tomorrow." she whispered dreamily, hearing Uh Huh Her still playing softly in the other room.

-----------------

Lexie had calmed down it seemed, Callie thought with a sigh in relief. She hadn't been approached between surgeries for the past six hours.

"It must be some sort of record." she breathed out softly.

The Ortho surgeon liked the brunette, she seemed like a nice kid, but if she had to hear about one more drop of happiness, sexing Mark, or wonderfulness she was going to have to crack some bones, and she didn't mean a patient's.

The Latina found a lull in work and settled into a chair, turning slowly in the chair her head turned to look up at the ceiling. It had been a while since she had sincerely smiled and she knew that. Her life seemed to be a series of false hopes, with George, chief-resident, and Erica. The turning slowed to a stop at the end of the thought.

There had to be a way to get out of this rut, she wondered about the possible solutions. She directed her gaze done a hallway to catch the back of an exiting blonde.

"Maybe I'll go out tomorrow."

------------------

Author's note: Thank you all for your patience with me! I'm in search of a beta currently and anyone who would be interested in proofing my work and kicking my ass into writing gear is welcome to contact me :D

Until next time,

Jai