AN -
I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year, 2024 is here and i am planning to focus on my writing this year. I have this fic in the works as well as approx 5 other fics which i have started but havent finished and havent started posting, i would love to see how those fics pan out so thats my focus this year.
Im just glad there are still readers for this fandom, i can see by the stats that there are people reading even if there arent many reviews coming through, thats ok though... i write for myself and sharing my fics is just an added benefit, that being said, please feel free to drop a quick review. it lets me know that your there still, that im not alone in this fandom.
Anyway thats enough from me, please enjoy the chapter and im off to work on the rest of this fic.
Love Always
ALxx
-oOo-
The next morning, as the group of survivors and the group of soldiers sat eating a breakfast of bacon and eggs freshly appropriated from the grocery store the day before, conversation was sparse... almost tense.
After Callie and Arizona returned the night before, everyone called it an early night. The house of trouser returning to the corner house, the soldiers returning to number five and the women retiring to their rooms. Everyone in a somber mood which had carried through to the morning.
"Well, what's on the agenda today?" Alex asked to break the silence.
Callie glanced to Derek expecting for him to take the lead as usual but instead he motioned for the Latina to speak. With a tight smile, she turned to the rest of the group and smiled widely.
"The bodies in the carpark are starting to smell so I want them burning today... there is the other van and my car to empty into number fives garage. I would like the vehicles moving from the road into the school's fence line. We need to start digging up the playing field to prepare the land for planting and there are a few locked houses that still need securing" Callie finished.
"Sounds like a full day" Hunt commented. "We spoke last night, and in good faith we cannot put the group at risk of retaliation from rogue groups"
"Major Hunt, with all due respect. We are at risk from these groups regardless. Arizona was right last night...I was a jerk and I was genuinely thinking of the group, but I spoke out of turn. It would be our pleasure to have you guys stay on here" Derek offered with genuine shame.
"Derek that's very kind but I don't think you appreciate how dangerous it is out there. All it takes is for one pissed off group to follow us back here and we could put all of your lives at risk" Hunt smiled tensely.
"Our lives are already at risk, every minute of every day. We aren't soldiers like yourselves. We don't know the first thing about guns or keeping everyone safe" Callie interjected. "I know how to grow food, I know how to build things. Jim knows how to rig up a solar farm and maintain it. Alex knows all about hunting and trapping. The rest of these guys are surgeons... collectively we have many skills. But with you five in the mix our expertise would grow significantly, so yes there may be a risk involved, but there are also many, many benefits that are worth considering"
"Do you mind if I speak to my team privately?" Hunt asked and everyone around the table nodded with bated breath. "Mind if we use your garden?"
"Of course, But I haven't done poop patrol for the last two days so please watch where you stand" Callie advised seriously, adding tidying up her back yard to the ever growing list of jobs that needed doing that day.
The group of survivors watched as the soldiers filed out into the back garden and stood in a semi circle around Owen Hunt as he spoke to them, he kept his voice low and made eye contact with each member of the team as he spoke to them. It was obvious for anyone to see that these five people had been through hell and back together, they were more than an army unit, they were a family and it showed as they each took it in turns to speak their mind as Hunt listened intently.
After about fifteen minutes of watching the interaction as they cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes between them, the soldiers filed back into the house with straight faces.
"Ok so here is the deal. If we accept your offer it is under the proviso that we aren't here a lot of the time. We will be out on the streets trying to keep law and order, which brings me to the next point which is that this group, should you have anything to tell us about any... lets say, dodgy dealings or indiscretions, we need to know about them up front as it may sway our decision..." Hunt broke off and looked at the faces watching him with confusion. "Have you done anything lawless?" He clarified.
"Well, we broke into peoples houses, stole food, stole vehicles, we broke into the mall and the gun store and grocery store" Callie listed off unsurely, feeling like she was being questioned by the police.
"What about killing anyone. Have any of you killed anyone?" Owen asked as he looked at each of the faces staring back at him shaking their heads in the negative answer to his question.
"Just the infected" Callie surmised.
"This might be an awkward one but have any of you raped anyone?" Again, he was met by every member of the group shaking their heads in the negative.
"Right. In order for this to work that needs to stay that way. If this groups dynamic changes, then we are out and will have to take appropriate action" Hunt said seriously.
"Wait a second, surely there is some leeway on this... I mean what happens if someone attacks us and we have to defend ourselves. Does that break your rules?" Addison asked the question that most of the group were thinking.
"No, that would come under the remit of self-defence. Any other questions?" Hunt said with a straight face.
"Just so we are clear Major Hunt... Callie is in charge here" Derek spoke up.
"Agreed, but I am in charge of my team. Inside and outside these walls" Owen replied before Callie had a chance to interject that she didn't want to be in charge of the group. Since when had that happened? "Now, while we are out, we may come across other survivors like yourself. We would like to be able to bring them back here to the safety you have created. How do you feel about that Callie?"
"Look, I'm not sure when you guys decided to elect me as the boss, but I'm not. The group we have here, we make decisions together. No one person is above the other and I don't like being put on the spot" Callie threw a pointed look at Derek. "But as for your question, the more people we have here the better. But we also need to be careful of who we are bringing into this community. We don't want to risk bringing in troublemakers, or bad people disguised as good people, or people who aren't going to pull their weight for the better of the community... there has to be some kind of, I don't know, code or something. Something we all agree on"
"Agreed, we won't be bringing anyone back without seriously vetting them first. We don't want to put any of you at risk. But we have found small pockets of survivors before finding your group. Good people like yourselves that have offered us refuge and a warm meal, people who have been too scared to approach us and have scarpered away, if we can bring them back to this place then we can start to rebuild civilisation" Hunt stated, and everyone felt the air in the room thicken. Major Hunt, like Callie, was thinking about the long-term goal here. Not just how to survive each day, but to plan for the future.
"I think we have an agreement" Callie said after glancing at the rest of the faces in her group.
"Then we would like to accept your offer" Owen released an unusual smile which was echoed by the rest of the soldiers. "My team have asked that we take a few days to rest before heading back out. Its been a long month on constant guard and we could all do with a few days to just... recover and refresh our heads"
"Of course" Callie smiled.
"Then it looks like we are staying" Owen grinned.
-oOo-
Two hours later and all vehicles were empty of the grocery store loot, the bodies were burning with Alex keeping an eye on the fire from a distance. Mark and Derek were moving the few odd cars left from the road outside the estate into the interior fence line whilst Callie, Arizona and Addie were digging up the turf from the soccer field. Ben and Millie were sat in Callie's garage organising the seeds into piles whilst Jim and Diaz worked on the solar farm which was practically ready.
"Wow this is hard work" Addison commented as she wiped at her brow once again, this time smearing dirt across her forehead which caused Arizona to giggle.
"Welcome to my world, this is where I am in my element" Callie said as she rested her muscles for a moment and tried not to stare at Arizona who was dripping with sweat and flushed yet somehow looking incredibly sexy.
"I don't know how you do it Calliope, I'm pooped" Arizona admitted as she grabbed one of the bottles of water from the esky they had brought with them filled with ice and bottled water and damn near downed the entire bottle in five gulps.
"Calliope?" Addison asked confused and when she saw the side glare the Latina was throwing at Arizona, she realised that must be what Callie was short for. "It's nice, I like it"
"Oh please, no one... including me, likes my name" Callie scoffed.
"Hey, I like your name" Arizona defended.
"Ok fine, you and my parents... and they are the only people who get to call me that" Callie warned Addie only half seriously.
"Oh wow, I see how it is, special treatment!" Addison joked to which Arizona feigned hurt.
"I do not get special treatment! I'm out here slaving away just like you" Arizona threw a pout on her face for good measure.
"Yeah, but you make it look good" Callie smiled sweetly which wiped the pout off Arizona's face and she replaced it with full dimples.
"Oh God, you two are sickly sweet. I need to find some eye candy otherwise this apocalypse thing is going to be long, boring and stressful without a way to scratch my itch" Addie commented as she dragged her shovel back to the grass and began lifting another section. They had been at it for hours and had hardly made a dent in the field.
Callie and Arizona broke into a fit of giggles at Addison's comment, only laughing harder when Addison looked at them incredulously "It's ok for you two... all loved up and googly eyed over each other. I'm stuck in the end of the world with my ex-husband and the man I cheated on him with"
"We're sorry... we shouldn't have laughed" Callie said not wanting to offend her new friend, Addison threw her a wink and got back to digging.
"Well that's all the car's moved" Mark said as he and Derek approached the three women twenty minutes later. Callie stopped digging and glanced around the perimeter of the field, there was now seven cars parked at almost even distances around the field. She knew it wasn't perfect but if the shit did hit the fan, even more so than it already had, at least they had a chance of running for cover now.
"Addie, pass the shovel and take a break" Derek practically ordered as he watched his ex-wife, who he was used to seeing in glamorous dresses and high heels operating on new mothers, stood in tracksuit bottoms, trainers and a tee with mud smeared all over her red and sweaty face.
"You too Robbins, go sit for a minute" Mark said as he held out his hand to take the blondes shovel.
"What about me?" Callie scoffed as she watched her two companions abandon her and leave her there with two members of the house of trouser.
"I have the feeling you're coping just fine, the other two however are trying to keep up with you and are failing miserably" Mark whispered once Arizona and Addie were out of hearing range causing Callie to laugh softly.
"I probably should have gotten them to take more breaks, I was just in the zone" Callie admitted as she watched Derek remove his hoody and toss it on top of the esky before he started lifting the turf.
Addison and Arizona flopped down on the patch of grass a little way away from the three workers and smiled tiredly at each other.
"So, you and the steaming hot Latina, hey?" Addison asked after a catching her breath.
"It's early days... and its hardly the kind of world where you can casually date someone... but I like her" Arizona admitted with a blush.
"I think it's cute, you make a striking couple" Addison smiled as she glanced over to the two men in her life and sighed audibly.
"How are things with you and those two?" Arizona asked as she followed Addie's eye line and saw Mark and Derek laughing about something with the beautiful Latina.
"Strained, Mark still flirts shamelessly at every opportunity and Derek... He's trying to be civil but I can tell it's difficult for him. I'm just glad that after the punch up, those two have found a bit of peace with each other" Addison sighed. "It was a stupid idiotic thing I did. When I started having thoughts that my marriage wasn't working, I should have spoken to Derek about it instead of getting drunk and falling into bed with Mark"
"Well I don't condone cheating, but we are only human and we all make mistakes Addie and as much as it must suck for you... we are all stuck in this together so maybe it's time you and Derek sat down and had a chat, cleared the air a bit?" Arizona suggested to the deep in thought woman.
"Yeah your right... I think it's time we had a long overdue chat" Addie returned her attention to Arizona with a smile of thanks.
"No time like the present" Arizona urged softly and Addison's smile fell. "What's wrong with now, he seems in a good mood?" Arizona pointed out as she nodded with her head in the trio's direction where Derek was laughing at something Callie had said.
"Fine... but you owe me" Addison growled as she rose from the grass.
"Wait, why do I owe you?" Arizona yelped.
"You just do!" Addison sang as she approached the trio nervously. "Derek, could I speak to you for a few moments?"
"Addie, I'm a little busy right now" Derek said dismissively as he gave a tight smile to his ex-wife.
"I can take back over now" Arizona chimed in as she took the shovel from Derek's hands.
"Fine... but I feel like I'm being played here" Derek said seriously. He glanced at Mark questioningly who just shrugged his shoulders that he didn't know what was going on with the red head.
Addison led Derek away from the group and towards the wall of cars where they would have some privacy.
"What's that about?" Mark asked as he watched them leave.
"Just trying to clear the air, and I suggest if you wish to keep the peace that you stop with the flirting, Derek doesn't appreciate it" Arizona warned softly.
"I'm a flirt... Derek's known that about me for my whole adult life" Mark defended himself.
"Yes and that might be fine for anyone else, but you are flirting with his ex-wife, the woman that you and she broke up his marriage... it's not appropriate" Arizona said seriously.
Mark glanced at Callie to see the serious look on her face too.
"Oh come on Cal don't tell me you're on her side" Mark sighed.
"Look, I don't know all the details and I don't want to, it's none of my business but I do know that if my ex- partner was flirting with the person they cheated on me with I would be all kinds of furious, how Derek hasn't punched you is a mystery to me"
"Oh he punched me alright" Mark sighed as he mulled over what the two women he considered friends had said, perhaps it was time to leave Addison alone. Lexie Grey and Teddy Altman were pretty stunning ladies, perhaps he could focus his attention on one, or both, of them.
-oOo-
"So what's this about?" Derek finally asked after getting fed up of the tense silence.
"Us" Addison sighed.
"There is no us" Derek reminded with a bite to his words.
"I know, and that's my fault. I take full responsibility for that..."
"Oh how very mature of you" Derek interrupted.
"Please let me finish?" Addison implored and Derek nodded though she could tell by the tightening of his jaw that he wasn't happy.
"I fucked up Derek... I should have spoken to you about my doubts in our marriage instead of jumping into bed with someone else, that was so wrong of me and I wouldn't blame you if you never forgive me, but the way I see it... we're kind of stuck together now. It's not like I can move back to New York... or jet away to LA to give you some space, we're in this together now and this tension between us is going to make it incredibly difficult... we need to find a way to move forward from this, if not for us than for everyone else"
Derek sighed and relaxed slightly as they fell into an awkward silence. He glanced to his ex-wife who was now staring out at the nothingness on the far side of the wall of cars.
"It's not easy for me seeing you with him" Derek admitted quietly.
"I cant imagine how hard it must be for you and if in the same position I would have killed Mark by now... but we have to find a way forward from this. Mark's not going anywhere, I'm not going anywhere and your not going anywhere... we can't, not in this world it's not safe" Addie said softly.
"I suppose your right about that" Derek frowned as a million thoughts ran around his head. "Must you flirt with him though?"
"I don't Derek. You know what Mark is like, he's flirty. I don't encourage it, I don't reciprocate it... I can't control what Mark does but I can control my reactions to it and I don't reciprocate it" Addie said honestly.
"That's something at least... look, we both know our marriage wasn't perfect... far from it. But I thought what we had was going to last" Derek said softening his tone.
"So did I... until I knew it wasn't" Addison admitted honestly.
"I wished you had just talked to me" Derek offered.
"So do I... So many times I have wished to go back in time and change how I did things, but I can't change it. All I can do is ask for your forgiveness" Addison asked softly.
"I can forgive you... but it's going to take some time. Some days it feels like it was years ago but other days it feels like it was just yesterday and it's all so new and raw" Derek admitted.
"Ok I understand... but I want you to know Derek that I am so, so sorry for hurting you and I truly will never forgive myself even if you can find it in yourself to forgive me" Addison sighed softly, she laid her hand on Dereks arm and squeezed it softly. Derek turned and smiled softly at Addie, a smile that promised that everything would be ok.