Fault Lines (6 [Part Two]/36)
Fault Lines
Chapter 6 (Part Two)/36
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Mark/Lexie
Rating: NC-17
Story Summary: Sequel to Choices. Callie and Arizona make the decision to move forward with their lives, but when a gradual series of events begin to snowball, Arizona tries desperately not to lose her grip on reality.
Chapter Summary: Callie tries to distract Arizona the only way she knows how, then is forced to interact with Erica Hahn for the first time in almost two years.
Disclaimer:All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Previous Chapters
---
Callie jogged after Arizona as she ducked through an empty doorway down the hall from her father’s room. “Arizona, wait!” She stopped the door from closing and slipped inside, then locked it behind her. “Zona...” Her heart leapt into her throat as she took one look at the blonde’s face and rushed forward, barely managing to catch her in her arms before she crumbled.
“Hey, it’s okay, baby, shh...everything will be okay.” Callie hugged her closely and felt her heart ache in her chest.
Arizona was full out sobbing as she broke down in the silence of the on-call room, sinking down onto the bed. Her fingers dug deeply into the brunette's scrub top and she held on as though her life depended on it.
Callie just hugged Arizona as tightly and securely as she could. She didn’t know what else to do. Her heart was in her throat as she whispered quiet reassurances and softly stroked her fingers along the back of her neck, trying to calm her down.
Arizona hadn’t meant to break down like this. Not yet. There was no reason to believe her dad couldn’t pull through. He wasn’t gone yet, and he was a fighter. He could make it.
Rational or not, that wasn’t the scenario she kept picturing in her mind.
“I can’t,” she cried. “I can’t…I can’t lose him too. God, please, I can’t lose him too…” Arizona’s fingers bunched around the front of Callie’s scrub top as she buried her face into her shoulder.
“You're not going to, baby,” Callie soothed with a kiss to her temple. “I promise you're not going to.” Even as the words left her mouth, Callie feared that she might have just told the biggest lie she’d ever told to her girlfriend.
“I can’t keep losing my family,” Arizona breathed, her voice strained as she bunched her fists tighter around Callie’s scrubs. “I-I...”
“I love you,” Callie whispered softly again. She continued to stroke her fingers through blonde curls as she held Arizona’s shaking body tightly against her own. “And I'll always be here for you. Always. You'll never have to worry about losing me, ‘cause I'm not going anywhere.” She cracked a tiny smile. “Wild horses couldn't drag me away.”
Sniffling, Arizona squeezed her eyes shut and held on tightly. She could dimly remember sitting in a room just like this one, consoling Callie when her father had refused to accept her sexuality. As horrible as she felt for her at the time, it had made Arizona grateful that her own father had taken the news much better than Mr. Torres had. She couldn’t have imagined life without her dad around to talk to every weekend, no matter what part of the world he was in.
Now she felt like she was facing that possibility much sooner than she should have been. Than she was ready for.
It took a while, but eventually she started to relax a little. Feeling completely drained, emotionally and physically, Arizona finally released her grip on Callie’s scrubs and instead slid her arms up around her shoulders. Her tear ducts seem to have finally run dry, which she was thankful for.
“I love you too,” she whispered softly into the crook of the brunette’s neck, her voice raspy and hoarse.
Callie just held her close, feeling the warmth of Arizona’s body and the slow, steady sound of her breathing as it evened out.
At least she'd finally stopped crying. Callie hated it when girls cried. Especially this girl.
Her girl.
She slowly began to smile. “I know what'll make you feel better,” she whispered gently as she turned her head just enough to brush her lips across Arizona’s ear.
Arizona felt that familiar fluttering sensation in her stomach that happened whenever Callie did that. Despite the worries she had about her father, she found herself grateful to forget the rest of the world for a little while and focus on the woman whose arms were around her.
Callie made forgetting the entire universe outside of this room pretty damn easy.
Arizona pulled back from the embrace and planted a deep, needy kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. Her arms remained around Callie’s shoulders, unwilling to let her go even the slightest bit.
Callie instantly sighed into the contact as she dropped her hands down to rest on the blonde's hips. She slowly began to smile as she pushed forward just enough to deepen the kiss, and her right hand glided down to slip just beneath Arizona's scrub top.
Then she froze.
The smile all but disappeared from Callie's face as she suddenly broke the kiss. “This isn't gonna be like that time with George, right?”
Arizona just blinked back at her, confused by the sudden stoppage in play. “Huh?”
“I-I mean, ‘cause I love you and all,” Callie went on, “but I kinda like my vagina unbroken. In that sense.” She paused. “And I'm kind of attached to the ability to sit down.”
Arizona wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not. “Uh…”
“It’s just…George’s dad, h-he died, and then we got married in Vegas like a week later and then there was so much sex, all the time, constantly, that I had to run out of the house half naked just to get away before he came back for more,” Callie babbled on, and then her eyes widened. “I don’t mean that’s what…with your dad, I…crap.” It donned on her that she had just implied Arizona’s dad was going to die. “I’m s-”
Arizona smooshed a finger into Callie’s lips, making her stop. “Calliope? I’m not George.” She leaned in. “And I promise you, by the time I’m done you won’t even be able to walk, let alone sit down.” She smiled, nuzzling her nose against a perfect ear. “And ‘stop’ isn’t going to be what you’re begging me for when I’m through with you.”
A deep shiver traveled through Callie’s body.
She could only imagine the possibilities.
Arizona felt Callie stiffen at her words, took that as a bad sign and dropped her forehead against the brunette’s shoulder in defeat. “That was supposed to be sexy. Not blotchy-faced and sniffly.” She felt incredibly unattractive right now.
Callie smiled as she turned more into her lover's warmth. Her lips once again pressed softly against her ear. “Honey,” she whispered in that patented, low husk, “on you? Everything is sexy.” She placed another kiss against there as her right hand finally pushed it’s way beneath the hem of navy blue scrubs.
The very tips of Callie's fingers grazed along smooth skin as her dark eyes slowly slipped closed.
God, it had to be a sin how much she wanted this woman.
Not so technically speaking, of course.
Arizona sighed and moved her fingers up to thread them into raven-coloured locks. She pulled back from Callie’s shoulder and immediately kissed her with the same intensity and passion that she had moments before.
With carefully calculated movements, Arizona managed to maneuver Callie into lying down against the crisp hospital sheets, easily climbing on top of her without breaking the kiss once.
Callie moaned contently as she settled back. Her scrubs had ridden up a bit to expose her bare, and suddenly very heated skin. She shifted a little uncomfortably on the bed as Arizona pushed her down harder with the weight of her own body.
Callie loved it when Arizona was just a little...forceful.
Not too much, but just enough.
She pulled back from the kiss with a sudden, sharp breath, arching her back and shifting her hips.
The blonde gave a harsh groan of her own at the separation from the kiss, and immediately attached her lips to her girlfriend’s pulse point, sucking on her skin hard enough to leave a mark.
It wasn’t until Callie groaned again that she noticed it wasn’t a noise of passion, but one of discomfort.
Pulling back, Arizona frowned down at her. “What’s wrong? Is it your back again?”
“No,” Callie grunted, withdrawing her hand from Arizona’s side to bend it backward and underneath herself. “Something keeps...jabbing me.” Callie had lain back on her lab coat pocket, and she could feel a pen or something stabbing her in the spine.
“Here, let me,” Arizona offered, still a little breathless as her heart raced and her body buzzed. She wanted Callie naked.
Now.
Callie sat up beneath Arizona a little too quickly.
Arizona’s head connected solidly with the bunk bed above them, stars exploding in front of her eyes.
“Ow!” She automatically pitched forward into Callie, clutching the back of her head.
Callie fell against the mattress, this time landing perpendicularly on the pen in her pocket.
“Ow!” she echoed, hips shooting off of the bed as she automatically rolled to the side.
As a result, Arizona, still dazed, lost her balance and toppled over the side of the bed and onto the floor with a yelp.
And then someone knocked loudly on the door.
Fucking perfect.
“I don't know what kinda freaky stuff is going on in there,” Bailey's muffled voice came through. “Nor do I want to,” she added, “but whatever it is, it better be over in the next ten minutes.”
Callie closed her eyes with a heavy groan just before dropping her head back onto the pillow.
Arizona whined from her prone, aching position on the floor.
Déjà-freaking-vu. She distinctly remembered this happening before. Maybe even more than once.
“I hate this place,” Callie mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes and reached back with a quick hand to jerk the offending object from her pocket. She held it up with a fierce glare.
Stupid pen.
Arizona slowly sat up on the floor, still cradling her head and now sporting an awesome bruise on her hip to go with the concussion. “I miss our bed,” she sighed longingly. They may have spent the previous seven or eight hours in it, prior to being paged to the hospital, but…
Sixty percent of that time, they were not sleeping.
Callie sighed heavily again. And then suddenly jerked her head up to peer over the edge of the bed.
“Ten minutes isn't that long,” she stated as she met her girlfriend's eyes. “Even less in Bailey-speak.” She tossed the pen onto the floor and lifted her hips up as she reached down to begin frantically fighting with the knot on her scrub pants. Her eyes widened a little as she stared down at the unmoving figure on the floor. “C’mon, Robbins!” she ordered. “Get those pants off!”
Arizona jumped when Callie barked at her. “What? No!” she shot back automatically, watching with wide eyes as her girlfriend started to shimmy the scrubs down her legs.
Those really nice, tan, sexy legs of hers that just made her want to...
Arizona shook her head to clear it of all dirty thoughts. “Callie, stop.”
She did no such thing.
Arizona found herself laughing as she reached over to place her hand on top of the brunette’s, stopping her motions. “Bailey is probably standing right outside, and I really don’t feel like adding her to the list of people who have seen me naked. Can we please just go home and rip each other’s clothes off in our private bedroom, soft and comfy bed included?”
Callie arched a slow, calculated brow as she just stared right back. “You're joking, right?”
Arizona hesitated before slowly withdrawing her hand from where it was covering Callie’s.
Callie groaned in frustration. “You kiss me like...that, and then you expect me to...to...” She narrowed her eyes even more as she released another ragged growl. “Wait for it?”
A moment passed.
“Fine,” Callie relented as she raised her hips and then pulled her pants back up. She met Arizona's deep blue eyes and held them with firm glare. “But when we get into that private bedroom with that soft and comfortable bed,” she began, her voice low and husky. “I get to do whatever I want to you.” She glanced down at Arizona’s lips, licking her own. “For however long, and in as many and varied positions as I want.”
Arizona’s jaw slackened a little. “You-”
“However. Long. I want.” Callie was careful to articulate each word.
Arizona bit her lower lip, fighting back a blush that inevitably flushed her cheeks anyway.
How could she possibly say no to that?”
***
Bailey jumped when the door burst open only two minutes later. “About damn time. I need a nap, get out. And take the sheets with you.”
Arizona grinned at her, which seemed to surprise the shorter woman. “Don’t worry, Bailey, they’re clean. We were just talking.”
Well, it was sort of true. They had been just talking before there was kissing.
Or, Arizona had been crying and Callie had been holding her, but…same thing, sort of.
Arizona just flashed Miranda another grin before tugging Callie along behind her.
Bailey watched them go, shaking her head very slowly with a disapproving look on her face. “Teenagers.”
***
Callie was right behind Arizona as they were about to head out of the Attendings’ lounge, and bumped into her back when the blonde suddenly stopped just short of the exit.
“Wait.”
Callie glared at Arizona. “Wait? Seriously? Do you want me to just...take you right here? Up against this door? Because I will if you don’t hurry your little white-girl ass up, Robbins.” That didn’t seem like too bad of an idea, actually.
Arizona sighed and pushed a hand against Callie’s chest, moving her a few steps back into the room, then turned them around so Callie’s back was facing the door. “First, you have to talk to Erica.”
Callie’s look turned from annoyance to disbelief in less than a second. “Seriously?” she repeated. “Did you get concussed earlier or something? I want sex, not a chit-chat with the woman who left me without so much as a ‘fuck you’.”
Arizona shot Callie a pointed glare of her own. “I know you, Calliope. If you don’t get it out of the way now, you’ll just spend all of your time and energy fretting about when you have to talk to her again and who’s going to say what.”
“I will no-”
“And then you’ll lie to me about not caring and being fine,” Arizona continued on. “And that’s just no good.” She paused. “Also, she’s headed right this way, so I don’t think you have much of a choice.”
Arizona smiled innocently.
Callie froze and her eyes sprung open considerably wider. “For the love of all things lesbian-”
“Callie.”
The brunette jerked a little again at the sound of a familiar voice.
Coming from right behind her.
“Erica.” Callie smiled and she quickly whirled around to meet the other blonde's gaze. “How ya been?” she laughed nervously.
Hahn lifted a slow eyebrow in return, smiling as she met wide, dark eyes. “I've been,” she replied casually before glancing over Callie's shoulder at the other woman in the room.
Arizona smiled brightly at her, despite the rather unemotional, deadpan look she was receiving.
Arizona Robbins didn’t get intimidated that easily.
…unless it was Chief Webber or her father.
But Erica Hahn didn’t scare her one bit.
“I’ll let you two talk.” Arizona turned back to Callie. “See you at home.”
She wasn’t going to be petty. No need to grab Callie and make out with her right in front of Erica.
But she did very sneakily pinch Callie’s cute ass and wink once before heading out the door. Just to give her some incentive to get home sooner rather than later.
Also…‘mine’ may or may not have passed through her brain as she did it.
Callie jumped a little, but never wavered in her terrified smile as she stared at her ex. “Soo...” she stalled as she searched her brain for something to talk about.
Anything at all.
But what exactly do you say to the first woman you ever had sex with, thought you loved, and then was abandoned by in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again?
“How ya been?” Callie winced.
Erica's smile grew a little. “You said that already.”
“I know,” Callie sighed. “But I'm really not good with this whole awkward...” She paused to wave a hand between them. “...awkwardness.”
“Apparently,” Erica replied.
“Would you stop with the frikken’ one-sentence sentences, please?” Callie demanded. “What are you doing here?”
“Treating your new girlfriend’s father, apparently,” Hahn replied evenly. “Which I had no idea of, by the way. I didn’t plan this. The universe just has a twisted sense of humor.”
She sighed, her amused smirk fading a little. “I’m not here to make your life miserable. I’ve been treating Colonel Robbins for seven months. He suffered a heart attack last night while in Portland, and now here we are. He requested to be moved out here to be closer to his family in the event that the transplant doesn’t come through in time.”
Callie's eyes hardened. “Don't talk like that,” she snapped back a little harsher than she intended. “Nothing is going to happen to that man so long as I'm breathing.”
Erica's smile slowly returned. “Same old Callie.”
The brunette's anger slowly ebbed away as she found herself staring back into familiar blue eyes.
She was beginning to notice a theme here.
Callie swallowed back uneasily.
Erica just looked back at her silently for a long moment, until it became clear that one of them had to say something.
“This apology is a year too late, but…I’m sorry for the way I left.” Hahn shifted her weight nervously. “I was…screwed up at the time by a lot of different things, and I blamed you, even though none of it was your fault.” She paused, watching Callie’s guard drop just a tiny bit more. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Callie swallowed again. “It's worth a lot, actually,” she replied in a low, shaky voice. It wasn't until that exact moment that she realized how much she needed those words.
She thought she was over it. Over Erica. She was so sure she had moved passed it. The whole...‘being abandoned’ thing.
Again.
Arizona had found her, picked up the pieces and fixed her, and now she was happier than ever. Nothing could ever change what she had with Arizona Robbins. Nothing.
But there was still that tiny little part of her that had needed some form of closure that hearing those words seemed to help bring.
Callie cracked a shaky smile. “It's really good to see you again, Erica.”
Hahn slowly began to smile again as well. “You too, Callie.”
***
By the time Callie made it home over an hour later, the sun was starting to come up.
Helluva night.
She dropped her purse onto the couch and shrugged her jacket off before heading for the bedroom. “Zona?” Pushing open the door, she found her girlfriend passed out cold.
Arizona lay on her stomach on Callie’s side of the bed, her left arm falling limply over the edge and her face buried into the brunette’s favourite pillow. Her back rose and fell with silent, even breaths, and the sheets rested halfway down her back.
Her bare, naked back.
A little further down, her left leg poked out from beneath the covers.
Also naked.
Callie began to smirk as she quietly walked over to the opposite side of the bed. She couldn't keep it from her face as she gingerly sat down against the mattress. She winced when she heard a soft snore behind her, but her smile didn't falter.
She was gonna be sure to remind Arizona of that little noise as soon as she was conscious again.
Callie carefully began to remove her shoes.
“It's late,” Arizona's rough, sleepy voice suddenly broke in from behind her.
The brunette's smile widened just a little. “Don't you mean early?” she replied softly.
“Mm,” Arizona groaned incoherently, clearly not awake enough to know what she was talking about. She peaked an eye open but the hair in her face kept her from seeing the alarm clock. The sun was just barely on the horizon outside, so it had to be really, really early in the morning.
Very resistant to moving but finding herself with no choice, Arizona turned her head in the other direction, looking over at Callie. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and swiped a hand back through her messy hair. “I was awake until five seconds ago, I swear,” she added softly, though her voice betrayed her exhaustion. “How’d it go?” She rolled onto her back, pulling the covers up over her chest as she settled in against the pillows once more.
Callie sighed, but didn't turn back to face Arizona just yet. She quietly resumed the task of removing her sneakers and socks. “It went okay,” she finally replied. She pulled one shoe off by the heel and then made quick work of her sock before exhaling again.
“That's an awful lot of sighing for 'okay',” Arizona spoke up from her spot just behind her.
On cue, Callie sighed a third time. She dropped her foot heavily to the floor before finally turning just enough to glance back over her shoulder. She cracked a tiny smile. “You make coming home after a long night so incredibly sexy.”
“I try,” Arizona chuckled, sitting up and holding the sheet to her chest as she scooted over right up behind Callie. She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against her shoulder. “You’re getting good at deflecting questions, by the way. Almost might’ve worked, had I been someone other than me.”
Arizona leaned comfortably into Callie and rested her cheek on the brunette’s shoulder, gazing at her intently. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I can respect that. All I need to know is if you’re okay.”
Callie sighed softly yet again. “I'm okay,” she whispered in response. She gave her best effort at another smile before leaning in to place a gentle kiss on those tempting lips. She moaned into it under her breath, turning her body just slightly as she deepened the kiss. She felt Arizona's hand slip down to bunch the material of her shirt in a tight fist. Callie moaned again as she pushed forward into the blonde's body.
Arizona resisted a little at first, knowing that if they went horizontal there would be no more talking about her girlfriend’s run-in with her ex. And despite Callie’s reassurances, she wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her ‘fine-ness’
But being kissed like this was a good way to melt her resolve completely.
The blonde fell back slowly against the bed, Callie following along on top of her. Arizona’s hand kept its grip on the front of Callie’s shirt, holding her in nice and close. She groaned into the kiss, suddenly feeling much, much more awake than she had moments before.
Callie kept the contact with her girlfriend's lips for as long as she possibly could before pulling back with a needy moan. “My other shoe's still on,” she murmured when she met the look in confused blue eyes.
Arizona had to laugh at that one. Her girlfriend was just too cute sometimes. “So take it off,” she whispered huskily.
Callie chuckled as she arched a brow and dropped her gaze down to the deep blue sheet covering the blonde's body. She groaned heartily. “You first.”
“I think I’m a little bit ahead of you in the naked department,” Arizona pointed out with an amused smirk. “You first.”
Callie didn’t say anything. She just stared down at Arizona, slowly arching a perfectly shaped eyebrow, the rest of her not moving an inch.
Arizona faltered a little under Callie’s gaze. Those damn eyes could disarm her in an instant when they wanted to.
But instead of caving completely, she propped herself up on her elbows, fixing Callie with a seductive stare of her own. “Be my guest,” she spoke softly with a tiny smile, glancing briefly down at the thin blue sheet covering her torso.
Callie groaned as she flashed her eyes up to meet the tempting blue gaze. Her hand shook a little as she raised it to the hem of the sheet.
“You're shaking,” Arizona whispered, but her smile didn't waver.
“You would be too,” Callie instantly replied as she gripped the fabric in her fingers. She offered a crooked smile.
Arizona chuckled and waited.
And…waited.
“Callie?” The blonde tilted her head to the side, watching her girlfriend curiously when the woman still didn’t move. “I am naked under here, you know. And I’ve been waiting a very, very long time for you to come home to me.”
An hour was a long freakin’ time, considering what she had been waiting for.
But still, Callie hesitated.
She bit her bottom lip as she glanced down at the hand resting on the sheet and then back up into curious blue eyes. “Erica's back,” she suddenly whispered before pausing to take in a short, shaky breath.
Arizona hadn’t been expecting that.
She quickly masked the surprise on her face and slowly sat up once more, still keeping the sheet held tightly to her chest.
“She is,” Arizona replied quietly, watching Callie carefully. Not knowing what else she was supposed to say, she sat in silence and waited.
“She didn't even say goodbye,” Callie went on as her hand slowly tightened against the sheet covering the blonde's chest. “And now, a year later, she's just...back. Treating your dad, of all people.”
Arizona didn't like this. She didn't like this at all. “Honey? Are you-”
The rest of her words were abruptly swallowed back when she found herself suddenly and forcefully kissed.
Callie's hand tugged on the sheet as she pushed her girlfriend's body back into the bed.
Caught by surprise, Arizona shivered when her skin was suddenly met with cooler air, only to be instantly re-covered with her lover’s warmth.
She fell back against the bed, Callie pressing hard into her as they kissed. Her fingers worked their way up to grasp onto the sides of Callie’s neck as she kissed her back with just as much ferocity.
It seemed they both needed a little distraction right now.
Arizona tried really hard not to let Callie’s reasons bother her.
Which became a whole lot easier when she felt the brunette's hand slip down between her legs.
Arizona tore her lips from the kiss to release a sharp gasp, arching up off the bed with a deep moan.
Callie instantly moved her lips to the warm skin of the blonde's neck as she pushed her body down a little harder.
She didn't want to think anymore. Didn't want to feel.
At least, nothing but this. Nothing but Arizona.
The rest could wait until morning.
---
A/N: Sooo...don’t shoot me, but...I have decided that a portion of this story needs re-writing/re-working. Majorly. And I don’t have time to do it until next week, because of school and various other reasons. (Like I’m exhausted from re-reading this longass thing and need a break from it to recharge before I can coherently re-write a good portion.)
So, next week I doubt I’ll be able to update chapters 7 and 8 to the Callie_Arizona fanfic group. BUT - I have a five-chapter short story type thing that I will be posting instead. I was left to my own devices for an extended period of time, and it just kind of...happened.
So. While you won’t be getting an update for Fault Lines, you’ll still get this other thing in place of it. Hopefully it’ll keep people entertained while I get my shit together. Thanks for being patient and hopefully understanding. I still promise those 2-3 updates a week once I sort everything out.
Chapter 6 (Part Two)/36
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Mark/Lexie
Rating: NC-17
Story Summary: Sequel to Choices. Callie and Arizona make the decision to move forward with their lives, but when a gradual series of events begin to snowball, Arizona tries desperately not to lose her grip on reality.
Chapter Summary: Callie tries to distract Arizona the only way she knows how, then is forced to interact with Erica Hahn for the first time in almost two years.
Disclaimer:All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Previous Chapters
---
Callie jogged after Arizona as she ducked through an empty doorway down the hall from her father’s room. “Arizona, wait!” She stopped the door from closing and slipped inside, then locked it behind her. “Zona...” Her heart leapt into her throat as she took one look at the blonde’s face and rushed forward, barely managing to catch her in her arms before she crumbled.
“Hey, it’s okay, baby, shh...everything will be okay.” Callie hugged her closely and felt her heart ache in her chest.
Arizona was full out sobbing as she broke down in the silence of the on-call room, sinking down onto the bed. Her fingers dug deeply into the brunette's scrub top and she held on as though her life depended on it.
Callie just hugged Arizona as tightly and securely as she could. She didn’t know what else to do. Her heart was in her throat as she whispered quiet reassurances and softly stroked her fingers along the back of her neck, trying to calm her down.
Arizona hadn’t meant to break down like this. Not yet. There was no reason to believe her dad couldn’t pull through. He wasn’t gone yet, and he was a fighter. He could make it.
Rational or not, that wasn’t the scenario she kept picturing in her mind.
“I can’t,” she cried. “I can’t…I can’t lose him too. God, please, I can’t lose him too…” Arizona’s fingers bunched around the front of Callie’s scrub top as she buried her face into her shoulder.
“You're not going to, baby,” Callie soothed with a kiss to her temple. “I promise you're not going to.” Even as the words left her mouth, Callie feared that she might have just told the biggest lie she’d ever told to her girlfriend.
“I can’t keep losing my family,” Arizona breathed, her voice strained as she bunched her fists tighter around Callie’s scrubs. “I-I...”
“I love you,” Callie whispered softly again. She continued to stroke her fingers through blonde curls as she held Arizona’s shaking body tightly against her own. “And I'll always be here for you. Always. You'll never have to worry about losing me, ‘cause I'm not going anywhere.” She cracked a tiny smile. “Wild horses couldn't drag me away.”
Sniffling, Arizona squeezed her eyes shut and held on tightly. She could dimly remember sitting in a room just like this one, consoling Callie when her father had refused to accept her sexuality. As horrible as she felt for her at the time, it had made Arizona grateful that her own father had taken the news much better than Mr. Torres had. She couldn’t have imagined life without her dad around to talk to every weekend, no matter what part of the world he was in.
Now she felt like she was facing that possibility much sooner than she should have been. Than she was ready for.
It took a while, but eventually she started to relax a little. Feeling completely drained, emotionally and physically, Arizona finally released her grip on Callie’s scrubs and instead slid her arms up around her shoulders. Her tear ducts seem to have finally run dry, which she was thankful for.
“I love you too,” she whispered softly into the crook of the brunette’s neck, her voice raspy and hoarse.
Callie just held her close, feeling the warmth of Arizona’s body and the slow, steady sound of her breathing as it evened out.
At least she'd finally stopped crying. Callie hated it when girls cried. Especially this girl.
Her girl.
She slowly began to smile. “I know what'll make you feel better,” she whispered gently as she turned her head just enough to brush her lips across Arizona’s ear.
Arizona felt that familiar fluttering sensation in her stomach that happened whenever Callie did that. Despite the worries she had about her father, she found herself grateful to forget the rest of the world for a little while and focus on the woman whose arms were around her.
Callie made forgetting the entire universe outside of this room pretty damn easy.
Arizona pulled back from the embrace and planted a deep, needy kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. Her arms remained around Callie’s shoulders, unwilling to let her go even the slightest bit.
Callie instantly sighed into the contact as she dropped her hands down to rest on the blonde's hips. She slowly began to smile as she pushed forward just enough to deepen the kiss, and her right hand glided down to slip just beneath Arizona's scrub top.
Then she froze.
The smile all but disappeared from Callie's face as she suddenly broke the kiss. “This isn't gonna be like that time with George, right?”
Arizona just blinked back at her, confused by the sudden stoppage in play. “Huh?”
“I-I mean, ‘cause I love you and all,” Callie went on, “but I kinda like my vagina unbroken. In that sense.” She paused. “And I'm kind of attached to the ability to sit down.”
Arizona wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not. “Uh…”
“It’s just…George’s dad, h-he died, and then we got married in Vegas like a week later and then there was so much sex, all the time, constantly, that I had to run out of the house half naked just to get away before he came back for more,” Callie babbled on, and then her eyes widened. “I don’t mean that’s what…with your dad, I…crap.” It donned on her that she had just implied Arizona’s dad was going to die. “I’m s-”
Arizona smooshed a finger into Callie’s lips, making her stop. “Calliope? I’m not George.” She leaned in. “And I promise you, by the time I’m done you won’t even be able to walk, let alone sit down.” She smiled, nuzzling her nose against a perfect ear. “And ‘stop’ isn’t going to be what you’re begging me for when I’m through with you.”
A deep shiver traveled through Callie’s body.
She could only imagine the possibilities.
Arizona felt Callie stiffen at her words, took that as a bad sign and dropped her forehead against the brunette’s shoulder in defeat. “That was supposed to be sexy. Not blotchy-faced and sniffly.” She felt incredibly unattractive right now.
Callie smiled as she turned more into her lover's warmth. Her lips once again pressed softly against her ear. “Honey,” she whispered in that patented, low husk, “on you? Everything is sexy.” She placed another kiss against there as her right hand finally pushed it’s way beneath the hem of navy blue scrubs.
The very tips of Callie's fingers grazed along smooth skin as her dark eyes slowly slipped closed.
God, it had to be a sin how much she wanted this woman.
Not so technically speaking, of course.
Arizona sighed and moved her fingers up to thread them into raven-coloured locks. She pulled back from Callie’s shoulder and immediately kissed her with the same intensity and passion that she had moments before.
With carefully calculated movements, Arizona managed to maneuver Callie into lying down against the crisp hospital sheets, easily climbing on top of her without breaking the kiss once.
Callie moaned contently as she settled back. Her scrubs had ridden up a bit to expose her bare, and suddenly very heated skin. She shifted a little uncomfortably on the bed as Arizona pushed her down harder with the weight of her own body.
Callie loved it when Arizona was just a little...forceful.
Not too much, but just enough.
She pulled back from the kiss with a sudden, sharp breath, arching her back and shifting her hips.
The blonde gave a harsh groan of her own at the separation from the kiss, and immediately attached her lips to her girlfriend’s pulse point, sucking on her skin hard enough to leave a mark.
It wasn’t until Callie groaned again that she noticed it wasn’t a noise of passion, but one of discomfort.
Pulling back, Arizona frowned down at her. “What’s wrong? Is it your back again?”
“No,” Callie grunted, withdrawing her hand from Arizona’s side to bend it backward and underneath herself. “Something keeps...jabbing me.” Callie had lain back on her lab coat pocket, and she could feel a pen or something stabbing her in the spine.
“Here, let me,” Arizona offered, still a little breathless as her heart raced and her body buzzed. She wanted Callie naked.
Now.
Callie sat up beneath Arizona a little too quickly.
Arizona’s head connected solidly with the bunk bed above them, stars exploding in front of her eyes.
“Ow!” She automatically pitched forward into Callie, clutching the back of her head.
Callie fell against the mattress, this time landing perpendicularly on the pen in her pocket.
“Ow!” she echoed, hips shooting off of the bed as she automatically rolled to the side.
As a result, Arizona, still dazed, lost her balance and toppled over the side of the bed and onto the floor with a yelp.
And then someone knocked loudly on the door.
Fucking perfect.
“I don't know what kinda freaky stuff is going on in there,” Bailey's muffled voice came through. “Nor do I want to,” she added, “but whatever it is, it better be over in the next ten minutes.”
Callie closed her eyes with a heavy groan just before dropping her head back onto the pillow.
Arizona whined from her prone, aching position on the floor.
Déjà-freaking-vu. She distinctly remembered this happening before. Maybe even more than once.
“I hate this place,” Callie mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes and reached back with a quick hand to jerk the offending object from her pocket. She held it up with a fierce glare.
Stupid pen.
Arizona slowly sat up on the floor, still cradling her head and now sporting an awesome bruise on her hip to go with the concussion. “I miss our bed,” she sighed longingly. They may have spent the previous seven or eight hours in it, prior to being paged to the hospital, but…
Sixty percent of that time, they were not sleeping.
Callie sighed heavily again. And then suddenly jerked her head up to peer over the edge of the bed.
“Ten minutes isn't that long,” she stated as she met her girlfriend's eyes. “Even less in Bailey-speak.” She tossed the pen onto the floor and lifted her hips up as she reached down to begin frantically fighting with the knot on her scrub pants. Her eyes widened a little as she stared down at the unmoving figure on the floor. “C’mon, Robbins!” she ordered. “Get those pants off!”
Arizona jumped when Callie barked at her. “What? No!” she shot back automatically, watching with wide eyes as her girlfriend started to shimmy the scrubs down her legs.
Those really nice, tan, sexy legs of hers that just made her want to...
Arizona shook her head to clear it of all dirty thoughts. “Callie, stop.”
She did no such thing.
Arizona found herself laughing as she reached over to place her hand on top of the brunette’s, stopping her motions. “Bailey is probably standing right outside, and I really don’t feel like adding her to the list of people who have seen me naked. Can we please just go home and rip each other’s clothes off in our private bedroom, soft and comfy bed included?”
Callie arched a slow, calculated brow as she just stared right back. “You're joking, right?”
Arizona hesitated before slowly withdrawing her hand from where it was covering Callie’s.
Callie groaned in frustration. “You kiss me like...that, and then you expect me to...to...” She narrowed her eyes even more as she released another ragged growl. “Wait for it?”
A moment passed.
“Fine,” Callie relented as she raised her hips and then pulled her pants back up. She met Arizona's deep blue eyes and held them with firm glare. “But when we get into that private bedroom with that soft and comfortable bed,” she began, her voice low and husky. “I get to do whatever I want to you.” She glanced down at Arizona’s lips, licking her own. “For however long, and in as many and varied positions as I want.”
Arizona’s jaw slackened a little. “You-”
“However. Long. I want.” Callie was careful to articulate each word.
Arizona bit her lower lip, fighting back a blush that inevitably flushed her cheeks anyway.
How could she possibly say no to that?”
***
Bailey jumped when the door burst open only two minutes later. “About damn time. I need a nap, get out. And take the sheets with you.”
Arizona grinned at her, which seemed to surprise the shorter woman. “Don’t worry, Bailey, they’re clean. We were just talking.”
Well, it was sort of true. They had been just talking before there was kissing.
Or, Arizona had been crying and Callie had been holding her, but…same thing, sort of.
Arizona just flashed Miranda another grin before tugging Callie along behind her.
Bailey watched them go, shaking her head very slowly with a disapproving look on her face. “Teenagers.”
***
Callie was right behind Arizona as they were about to head out of the Attendings’ lounge, and bumped into her back when the blonde suddenly stopped just short of the exit.
“Wait.”
Callie glared at Arizona. “Wait? Seriously? Do you want me to just...take you right here? Up against this door? Because I will if you don’t hurry your little white-girl ass up, Robbins.” That didn’t seem like too bad of an idea, actually.
Arizona sighed and pushed a hand against Callie’s chest, moving her a few steps back into the room, then turned them around so Callie’s back was facing the door. “First, you have to talk to Erica.”
Callie’s look turned from annoyance to disbelief in less than a second. “Seriously?” she repeated. “Did you get concussed earlier or something? I want sex, not a chit-chat with the woman who left me without so much as a ‘fuck you’.”
Arizona shot Callie a pointed glare of her own. “I know you, Calliope. If you don’t get it out of the way now, you’ll just spend all of your time and energy fretting about when you have to talk to her again and who’s going to say what.”
“I will no-”
“And then you’ll lie to me about not caring and being fine,” Arizona continued on. “And that’s just no good.” She paused. “Also, she’s headed right this way, so I don’t think you have much of a choice.”
Arizona smiled innocently.
Callie froze and her eyes sprung open considerably wider. “For the love of all things lesbian-”
“Callie.”
The brunette jerked a little again at the sound of a familiar voice.
Coming from right behind her.
“Erica.” Callie smiled and she quickly whirled around to meet the other blonde's gaze. “How ya been?” she laughed nervously.
Hahn lifted a slow eyebrow in return, smiling as she met wide, dark eyes. “I've been,” she replied casually before glancing over Callie's shoulder at the other woman in the room.
Arizona smiled brightly at her, despite the rather unemotional, deadpan look she was receiving.
Arizona Robbins didn’t get intimidated that easily.
…unless it was Chief Webber or her father.
But Erica Hahn didn’t scare her one bit.
“I’ll let you two talk.” Arizona turned back to Callie. “See you at home.”
She wasn’t going to be petty. No need to grab Callie and make out with her right in front of Erica.
But she did very sneakily pinch Callie’s cute ass and wink once before heading out the door. Just to give her some incentive to get home sooner rather than later.
Also…‘mine’ may or may not have passed through her brain as she did it.
Callie jumped a little, but never wavered in her terrified smile as she stared at her ex. “Soo...” she stalled as she searched her brain for something to talk about.
Anything at all.
But what exactly do you say to the first woman you ever had sex with, thought you loved, and then was abandoned by in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again?
“How ya been?” Callie winced.
Erica's smile grew a little. “You said that already.”
“I know,” Callie sighed. “But I'm really not good with this whole awkward...” She paused to wave a hand between them. “...awkwardness.”
“Apparently,” Erica replied.
“Would you stop with the frikken’ one-sentence sentences, please?” Callie demanded. “What are you doing here?”
“Treating your new girlfriend’s father, apparently,” Hahn replied evenly. “Which I had no idea of, by the way. I didn’t plan this. The universe just has a twisted sense of humor.”
She sighed, her amused smirk fading a little. “I’m not here to make your life miserable. I’ve been treating Colonel Robbins for seven months. He suffered a heart attack last night while in Portland, and now here we are. He requested to be moved out here to be closer to his family in the event that the transplant doesn’t come through in time.”
Callie's eyes hardened. “Don't talk like that,” she snapped back a little harsher than she intended. “Nothing is going to happen to that man so long as I'm breathing.”
Erica's smile slowly returned. “Same old Callie.”
The brunette's anger slowly ebbed away as she found herself staring back into familiar blue eyes.
She was beginning to notice a theme here.
Callie swallowed back uneasily.
Erica just looked back at her silently for a long moment, until it became clear that one of them had to say something.
“This apology is a year too late, but…I’m sorry for the way I left.” Hahn shifted her weight nervously. “I was…screwed up at the time by a lot of different things, and I blamed you, even though none of it was your fault.” She paused, watching Callie’s guard drop just a tiny bit more. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Callie swallowed again. “It's worth a lot, actually,” she replied in a low, shaky voice. It wasn't until that exact moment that she realized how much she needed those words.
She thought she was over it. Over Erica. She was so sure she had moved passed it. The whole...‘being abandoned’ thing.
Again.
Arizona had found her, picked up the pieces and fixed her, and now she was happier than ever. Nothing could ever change what she had with Arizona Robbins. Nothing.
But there was still that tiny little part of her that had needed some form of closure that hearing those words seemed to help bring.
Callie cracked a shaky smile. “It's really good to see you again, Erica.”
Hahn slowly began to smile again as well. “You too, Callie.”
***
By the time Callie made it home over an hour later, the sun was starting to come up.
Helluva night.
She dropped her purse onto the couch and shrugged her jacket off before heading for the bedroom. “Zona?” Pushing open the door, she found her girlfriend passed out cold.
Arizona lay on her stomach on Callie’s side of the bed, her left arm falling limply over the edge and her face buried into the brunette’s favourite pillow. Her back rose and fell with silent, even breaths, and the sheets rested halfway down her back.
Her bare, naked back.
A little further down, her left leg poked out from beneath the covers.
Also naked.
Callie began to smirk as she quietly walked over to the opposite side of the bed. She couldn't keep it from her face as she gingerly sat down against the mattress. She winced when she heard a soft snore behind her, but her smile didn't falter.
She was gonna be sure to remind Arizona of that little noise as soon as she was conscious again.
Callie carefully began to remove her shoes.
“It's late,” Arizona's rough, sleepy voice suddenly broke in from behind her.
The brunette's smile widened just a little. “Don't you mean early?” she replied softly.
“Mm,” Arizona groaned incoherently, clearly not awake enough to know what she was talking about. She peaked an eye open but the hair in her face kept her from seeing the alarm clock. The sun was just barely on the horizon outside, so it had to be really, really early in the morning.
Very resistant to moving but finding herself with no choice, Arizona turned her head in the other direction, looking over at Callie. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and swiped a hand back through her messy hair. “I was awake until five seconds ago, I swear,” she added softly, though her voice betrayed her exhaustion. “How’d it go?” She rolled onto her back, pulling the covers up over her chest as she settled in against the pillows once more.
Callie sighed, but didn't turn back to face Arizona just yet. She quietly resumed the task of removing her sneakers and socks. “It went okay,” she finally replied. She pulled one shoe off by the heel and then made quick work of her sock before exhaling again.
“That's an awful lot of sighing for 'okay',” Arizona spoke up from her spot just behind her.
On cue, Callie sighed a third time. She dropped her foot heavily to the floor before finally turning just enough to glance back over her shoulder. She cracked a tiny smile. “You make coming home after a long night so incredibly sexy.”
“I try,” Arizona chuckled, sitting up and holding the sheet to her chest as she scooted over right up behind Callie. She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against her shoulder. “You’re getting good at deflecting questions, by the way. Almost might’ve worked, had I been someone other than me.”
Arizona leaned comfortably into Callie and rested her cheek on the brunette’s shoulder, gazing at her intently. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I can respect that. All I need to know is if you’re okay.”
Callie sighed softly yet again. “I'm okay,” she whispered in response. She gave her best effort at another smile before leaning in to place a gentle kiss on those tempting lips. She moaned into it under her breath, turning her body just slightly as she deepened the kiss. She felt Arizona's hand slip down to bunch the material of her shirt in a tight fist. Callie moaned again as she pushed forward into the blonde's body.
Arizona resisted a little at first, knowing that if they went horizontal there would be no more talking about her girlfriend’s run-in with her ex. And despite Callie’s reassurances, she wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her ‘fine-ness’
But being kissed like this was a good way to melt her resolve completely.
The blonde fell back slowly against the bed, Callie following along on top of her. Arizona’s hand kept its grip on the front of Callie’s shirt, holding her in nice and close. She groaned into the kiss, suddenly feeling much, much more awake than she had moments before.
Callie kept the contact with her girlfriend's lips for as long as she possibly could before pulling back with a needy moan. “My other shoe's still on,” she murmured when she met the look in confused blue eyes.
Arizona had to laugh at that one. Her girlfriend was just too cute sometimes. “So take it off,” she whispered huskily.
Callie chuckled as she arched a brow and dropped her gaze down to the deep blue sheet covering the blonde's body. She groaned heartily. “You first.”
“I think I’m a little bit ahead of you in the naked department,” Arizona pointed out with an amused smirk. “You first.”
Callie didn’t say anything. She just stared down at Arizona, slowly arching a perfectly shaped eyebrow, the rest of her not moving an inch.
Arizona faltered a little under Callie’s gaze. Those damn eyes could disarm her in an instant when they wanted to.
But instead of caving completely, she propped herself up on her elbows, fixing Callie with a seductive stare of her own. “Be my guest,” she spoke softly with a tiny smile, glancing briefly down at the thin blue sheet covering her torso.
Callie groaned as she flashed her eyes up to meet the tempting blue gaze. Her hand shook a little as she raised it to the hem of the sheet.
“You're shaking,” Arizona whispered, but her smile didn't waver.
“You would be too,” Callie instantly replied as she gripped the fabric in her fingers. She offered a crooked smile.
Arizona chuckled and waited.
And…waited.
“Callie?” The blonde tilted her head to the side, watching her girlfriend curiously when the woman still didn’t move. “I am naked under here, you know. And I’ve been waiting a very, very long time for you to come home to me.”
An hour was a long freakin’ time, considering what she had been waiting for.
But still, Callie hesitated.
She bit her bottom lip as she glanced down at the hand resting on the sheet and then back up into curious blue eyes. “Erica's back,” she suddenly whispered before pausing to take in a short, shaky breath.
Arizona hadn’t been expecting that.
She quickly masked the surprise on her face and slowly sat up once more, still keeping the sheet held tightly to her chest.
“She is,” Arizona replied quietly, watching Callie carefully. Not knowing what else she was supposed to say, she sat in silence and waited.
“She didn't even say goodbye,” Callie went on as her hand slowly tightened against the sheet covering the blonde's chest. “And now, a year later, she's just...back. Treating your dad, of all people.”
Arizona didn't like this. She didn't like this at all. “Honey? Are you-”
The rest of her words were abruptly swallowed back when she found herself suddenly and forcefully kissed.
Callie's hand tugged on the sheet as she pushed her girlfriend's body back into the bed.
Caught by surprise, Arizona shivered when her skin was suddenly met with cooler air, only to be instantly re-covered with her lover’s warmth.
She fell back against the bed, Callie pressing hard into her as they kissed. Her fingers worked their way up to grasp onto the sides of Callie’s neck as she kissed her back with just as much ferocity.
It seemed they both needed a little distraction right now.
Arizona tried really hard not to let Callie’s reasons bother her.
Which became a whole lot easier when she felt the brunette's hand slip down between her legs.
Arizona tore her lips from the kiss to release a sharp gasp, arching up off the bed with a deep moan.
Callie instantly moved her lips to the warm skin of the blonde's neck as she pushed her body down a little harder.
She didn't want to think anymore. Didn't want to feel.
At least, nothing but this. Nothing but Arizona.
The rest could wait until morning.
---
A/N: Sooo...don’t shoot me, but...I have decided that a portion of this story needs re-writing/re-working. Majorly. And I don’t have time to do it until next week, because of school and various other reasons. (Like I’m exhausted from re-reading this longass thing and need a break from it to recharge before I can coherently re-write a good portion.)
So, next week I doubt I’ll be able to update chapters 7 and 8 to the Callie_Arizona fanfic group. BUT - I have a five-chapter short story type thing that I will be posting instead. I was left to my own devices for an extended period of time, and it just kind of...happened.
So. While you won’t be getting an update for Fault Lines, you’ll still get this other thing in place of it. Hopefully it’ll keep people entertained while I get my shit together. Thanks for being patient and hopefully understanding. I still promise those 2-3 updates a week once I sort everything out.