Landing
Title: Landing
Author: 8030baxley
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Summary: Arizona returns after Malawi.
Disclaimer: All characters mentioned are the intellectual property of Shonda Rhimes/ABC/Disney Co. They are being used for fun and not profit.
“Can I take those ma’am?” A passing flight attendant asked about the three tiny bottles of booze Arizona had downed trying to maintain her composure in-flight.
“Sure,” the blonde said, clanking the bottles together nervously she handed them over.
She knew what was coming. Landing. Landing was the worst part. Taking off was bad. No, taking off was really bad. But, landing. Taking off had nothing on landing. She would have thought this would have gotten easier by now. All the landings she had gone through in the last three and a half years should have prepared her. This landing, though, this was the last one.
When the final descent was announced, she clutched the armrests so tight that her knuckles turned white. She took several deep breaths, her brain repeating a simple mantra, ‘don’t crash.’ She braced herself for the impact of what was to come. She closed her eyes willing herself to imagine she was anywhere but here. A big metal flying death trap. Why in the hell is this an accepted mode of transportation?
“I’ve landed a thousand times,” a soft voice came from beside her, “and I’ve never crashed.”
At first, Arizona wasn’t sure if she had imagined it, or maybe God was reassuring her. Then she felt a small, warm hand cover her own. The blonde’s eyes popped open and she looked over to the woman who had sat beside her the entire flight.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Arizona said in hushed tones. She was afraid to speak too loudly in case it caused the plane to tilt or something.
“What’s in Seattle?” the woman asked.
Calliope. A job that she loved. Calliope. A great apartment. Calliope. That coffee shop where they made the perfect caramel no fat mocha. Calliope. A storage unit filled with most of her earthly possessions. Calliope. A relationship left in tatters. Calliope. More resentment than she could probably imagine. Calliope. A love she unraveled by pulling the string all the way across the world. Calliope. Calliope. Calliope.
“I used to live there,” Arizona finally answered.
“Oh yeah?” The woman brushed her auburn hair over her shoulder. “I come on business quite a bit. It’s a beautiful city.”
“It certainly is,” the Peds surgeon said quietly. She could feel the air pressure building. The pressure of landing.
“Are you moving back?”
“Possibly,” the pressure was getting unbearable. “I’m in preliminary talks to return to my old job.”
“Oh? What do you do?”
“I’m a surgeon.”
The woman was visibly impressed.
“Pediatric surgery,” the blonde said through the pounding in her head. “I’ve been…abroad. Working. I was in Africa, Malawi actually. I received a grant to open a clinic.”
“Impressive.”
Arizona’s grip on the armrest tightened again when the plane hit some unexpected turbulence. “Thanks,” she squeaked.
“How long were you in Malawi?”
The blonde blew out another breath. “Three and a half years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Feels like a lifetime,” Arizona replied.
When the plane touched down there was instant relief. Instant relief followed immediately by the dread of returning to the scene of the crime. Multiple scenes. Multiple crimes. This was just the first. Maybe the hardest. It’s where she started pulling the string.
“You made it,” the redhead told her. “No crashes.”
Arizona smile was kind but subdued. “Not yet.”
As soon as the seat belt sign blinked off, she was up and out of her aisle seat already sorting through the mental checklist to get out of this airport to a location that might sting a little less.
Baggage Claim. The first of many in this city, she was sure. Her one suitcase was a much lighter load than the rest that awaited.
A taxi ride to her hotel. Familiarity registering slowly.
Check-in. The realization she no longer had a home to go home to.
The crank of the elevator. A green light and a the click of the door. A change of clothes. The uncomfortable firmness of a hotel bed. The quiet of being alone. The thought occurring that she was floating through her life without feeling and without stopping, just like her parents had warned her about several times in the last few years. She vowed again to stop doing that, just like she had so many times before.
Arizona pulled her suitcase closer to the bed by a wheel. She reached in the front pocket and pulled out that old wrinkled medical journal article that she had ripped out a couple of years ago. There was a little blurb about semi-finalists for the Harper Avery. Calliope Torres. No picture. No information that Arizona didn’t already know, actually. But, it was the closest she had gotten to Callie in over three years. Until now.
Now she was in the same city. She was mere blocks from their old apartment. Two lefts. Five stop lights. Hang a right into the parking garage. Five floors up. 502. That’s if Calliope even still lived there. Arizona eyed her cell phone sitting on the night stand before picking it up. She could call, but what if somebody else answered? What if it wasn’t Callie’s number anymore? Even worse, what if it was? And that somebody was the somebody in her life now.
Four solid job offers and she had chosen to come back here. Clean slates available in every other option. The best hospitals in the country offering more zeros than she had ever been offered before. Locales that didn’t make her heart feel this heavy. Dots on the map that left her empty, because inevitably the string tied around her heart was spinning her back here. It had been since she left. She just couldn’t resist the urge anymore. No instilled feeling of fulfilling her civic duty was holding her back now.
Arizona returned the old article back into the pocket of her suitcase. She stared at the Calliope entry in her phone for a few more minutes before setting it back down. Calling now wasn’t fair. Neither was just showing back up in Callie’s life, but a chance had to be taken. Chances and choices and the chickens inside the white picket fence pecking around the little feet of the children that she learned to want swirled inside her head. Too late. Much too late. But maybe not. Hopefully not. Hopeful wasn't something she was used to, but being this close certainly helped.
She clicked the lamp off in the room and let her eyes soak in the darkness. Tugged the sheets up around her waist. Hugged the extra pillow. Wiped a tear away. Closed her eyes and dreamt of crashing.
Author: 8030baxley
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG
Summary: Arizona returns after Malawi.
Disclaimer: All characters mentioned are the intellectual property of Shonda Rhimes/ABC/Disney Co. They are being used for fun and not profit.
“Can I take those ma’am?” A passing flight attendant asked about the three tiny bottles of booze Arizona had downed trying to maintain her composure in-flight.
“Sure,” the blonde said, clanking the bottles together nervously she handed them over.
She knew what was coming. Landing. Landing was the worst part. Taking off was bad. No, taking off was really bad. But, landing. Taking off had nothing on landing. She would have thought this would have gotten easier by now. All the landings she had gone through in the last three and a half years should have prepared her. This landing, though, this was the last one.
When the final descent was announced, she clutched the armrests so tight that her knuckles turned white. She took several deep breaths, her brain repeating a simple mantra, ‘don’t crash.’ She braced herself for the impact of what was to come. She closed her eyes willing herself to imagine she was anywhere but here. A big metal flying death trap. Why in the hell is this an accepted mode of transportation?
“I’ve landed a thousand times,” a soft voice came from beside her, “and I’ve never crashed.”
At first, Arizona wasn’t sure if she had imagined it, or maybe God was reassuring her. Then she felt a small, warm hand cover her own. The blonde’s eyes popped open and she looked over to the woman who had sat beside her the entire flight.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Arizona said in hushed tones. She was afraid to speak too loudly in case it caused the plane to tilt or something.
“What’s in Seattle?” the woman asked.
Calliope. A job that she loved. Calliope. A great apartment. Calliope. That coffee shop where they made the perfect caramel no fat mocha. Calliope. A storage unit filled with most of her earthly possessions. Calliope. A relationship left in tatters. Calliope. More resentment than she could probably imagine. Calliope. A love she unraveled by pulling the string all the way across the world. Calliope. Calliope. Calliope.
“I used to live there,” Arizona finally answered.
“Oh yeah?” The woman brushed her auburn hair over her shoulder. “I come on business quite a bit. It’s a beautiful city.”
“It certainly is,” the Peds surgeon said quietly. She could feel the air pressure building. The pressure of landing.
“Are you moving back?”
“Possibly,” the pressure was getting unbearable. “I’m in preliminary talks to return to my old job.”
“Oh? What do you do?”
“I’m a surgeon.”
The woman was visibly impressed.
“Pediatric surgery,” the blonde said through the pounding in her head. “I’ve been…abroad. Working. I was in Africa, Malawi actually. I received a grant to open a clinic.”
“Impressive.”
Arizona’s grip on the armrest tightened again when the plane hit some unexpected turbulence. “Thanks,” she squeaked.
“How long were you in Malawi?”
The blonde blew out another breath. “Three and a half years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Feels like a lifetime,” Arizona replied.
When the plane touched down there was instant relief. Instant relief followed immediately by the dread of returning to the scene of the crime. Multiple scenes. Multiple crimes. This was just the first. Maybe the hardest. It’s where she started pulling the string.
“You made it,” the redhead told her. “No crashes.”
Arizona smile was kind but subdued. “Not yet.”
As soon as the seat belt sign blinked off, she was up and out of her aisle seat already sorting through the mental checklist to get out of this airport to a location that might sting a little less.
Baggage Claim. The first of many in this city, she was sure. Her one suitcase was a much lighter load than the rest that awaited.
A taxi ride to her hotel. Familiarity registering slowly.
Check-in. The realization she no longer had a home to go home to.
The crank of the elevator. A green light and a the click of the door. A change of clothes. The uncomfortable firmness of a hotel bed. The quiet of being alone. The thought occurring that she was floating through her life without feeling and without stopping, just like her parents had warned her about several times in the last few years. She vowed again to stop doing that, just like she had so many times before.
Arizona pulled her suitcase closer to the bed by a wheel. She reached in the front pocket and pulled out that old wrinkled medical journal article that she had ripped out a couple of years ago. There was a little blurb about semi-finalists for the Harper Avery. Calliope Torres. No picture. No information that Arizona didn’t already know, actually. But, it was the closest she had gotten to Callie in over three years. Until now.
Now she was in the same city. She was mere blocks from their old apartment. Two lefts. Five stop lights. Hang a right into the parking garage. Five floors up. 502. That’s if Calliope even still lived there. Arizona eyed her cell phone sitting on the night stand before picking it up. She could call, but what if somebody else answered? What if it wasn’t Callie’s number anymore? Even worse, what if it was? And that somebody was the somebody in her life now.
Four solid job offers and she had chosen to come back here. Clean slates available in every other option. The best hospitals in the country offering more zeros than she had ever been offered before. Locales that didn’t make her heart feel this heavy. Dots on the map that left her empty, because inevitably the string tied around her heart was spinning her back here. It had been since she left. She just couldn’t resist the urge anymore. No instilled feeling of fulfilling her civic duty was holding her back now.
Arizona returned the old article back into the pocket of her suitcase. She stared at the Calliope entry in her phone for a few more minutes before setting it back down. Calling now wasn’t fair. Neither was just showing back up in Callie’s life, but a chance had to be taken. Chances and choices and the chickens inside the white picket fence pecking around the little feet of the children that she learned to want swirled inside her head. Too late. Much too late. But maybe not. Hopefully not. Hopeful wasn't something she was used to, but being this close certainly helped.
She clicked the lamp off in the room and let her eyes soak in the darkness. Tugged the sheets up around her waist. Hugged the extra pillow. Wiped a tear away. Closed her eyes and dreamt of crashing.