Fanfic: Battlefield (6/?)
Title: Battlefield (6/?)
Author: elpmas03
Rating: NC17 (future chapters)
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, other various characters
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.
Summary: Everyone, together…breathe :-).
Callie
I can hear waves crashing quietly in front of me and feel the warm breeze dancing across my face, eliciting a quiet sigh from deep within my chest. My eyes are open, but the bright glare from the sun shades my vision as I look up into the sky. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen-different shades of blue with swirls of pink and violet, like you see when the sun is setting. The tiny flecks of clouds are scattered around and I can’t help but be reminded of the grey flecks that glimmer in her eyes. That’s one of the first things I noticed about her when she walked into the bathroom at Joe’s and it’s one of the many things that I find myself mesmerized by every day-the way the cerulean color seems to glow; the way the bright blue turns a few shades darker every time she’s overcome with desire and lust; the way those grey flecks seem to sparkle just a hint more when I walk into the room. Her eyes are like windows that allow me to see everything she’s feeling or thinking and looking at the sky right now, I want nothing more than to stare into them.
The intense brightness of the sunlight causes me to turn my head to the side and suddenly I find myself looking into those very eyes I love so much. She just smiles back at me and gently tucks a brown curl that is floating in the breeze behind my ear. I know there’s a goofy grin forming on my face now, but I couldn’t care less. I break our stare after a few minutes to take in our surroundings-we’re on a beach somewhere, all alone, and lying in the sand. The trees are swaying softly in the background, the sand is glistening under the sun, and the icy blue water seems to match her eyes perfectly. I’m suddenly drawn back to her and find myself taking in every part of her that’s lying before me.
I take back what I said before…about the sky being the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t even compare to the way her blonde ringlets are shimmering in the sun, or the way her dimples are gracing her cheeks just slightly, or the way her skin is perfectly smooth and sparkling. And it definitely doesn’t compare to those eyes. Nothing does.
The silence is unbelievably peaceful and I take the opportunity to enjoy it, closing my eyes and shivering slightly under her hand that is now moving up and down my arm gently. We lay like this for a few minutes; I can feel her watching me intently, like I catch her doing sometimes when I’m asleep. She always shuts her eyes quickly when she notices me waking up, but she doesn’t know that I’ve been faking sleep for the past hour, just waiting for her to do the same so I can have my turn to watch her.
My thought is broken when I hear another wave crash, more violently than the ones before it and the breeze circling around us starts to get colder. I open my eyes and look up to see clouds engulfing the sun, causing the sky to turn a dark grey and the trees to rock faster and harder. Rain is starting to sprinkle from above us while the heavy wind is now causing little flurries of sand to form. My eyes start to sting when tiny specks of brown dust make their way inside of them. I rub them quickly, trying to get rid of the slight pain and turn back on my side to face her. The rain is pounding harder now against my skin and I get rid of the sand in my eyes quickly, preparing to run to protection from the cold droplets. When I look over at her, though, I have to blink feverishly to make sure I’m seeing correctly.
The smile that was once plastered to her face is now replaced by a straight line of her lips, her hair is sticking to her face, completely soaked from the rain, and I can see her eyes turning from blue to purple to black. It takes me a minute to break my attention from them, but when I do I notice her hand that was stroking my arm, now resting on her stomach, blood creeping out from behind it. The dark red liquid runs up her body, from her stomach, to her chest, to her shoulders and finally to her face, as if it’s being sucked by a vacuum cleaner. I can see how thick it is as it continues to flow while I lie there, completely frozen and not able to move any part of my body.
I’m struggling just to make my finger twitch, but my entire body is paralyzed and I can feel the tears starting to form in my eyes from how helpless I feel. I look back over to see her laying on her back now, the blood continuing to pour out of her body, not washing away despite the rain. She’s just staring into the sky, a blank look in her dark eyes, and her breathing is becoming heavier with each droplet of rain that hits her face.
I clench my eyes shut and use every muscle in my body to allow me to move. Suddenly, my arm breaks free from the invisible ropes and I reach instantly to her. Before I touch her skin, her entire body disappears and I’m left clenching nothing but wet sand. The panic is flowing through my veins now and I’m panting heavily, trying to calm myself down. My body begins to shake as if someone is pushing my side and I close my eyes, only to open them and find another bright light surrounding me. I gasp loudly and I can feel the cold sweat now forming on my face and across my arms.
It takes me a minute to realize that I’m in a hospital bed, surrounded by buzzing machines and light grey walls. I feel my breathing slow down when I feel the pressure on my hand and hear my name being called. It sounds as if she’s miles away, but I can just make out her soft and comforting voice. She repeats my name a few times and I blink repetitively, trying to make sure this isn’t just another dream.
Arizona
I can’t stop rubbing my eyes every few seconds, trying to wake them up so I can be awake when her own eyes open. She’s been out for almost six hours now and I’m starting to wonder where I got that much strength from that would cause her to become unconscious for this long. I settle on the answer that the adrenaline must have kicked in when I saw her racing towards me in that moment. The entire evening seems to be a blur to me.
I remember pushing her backwards, causing her to fall hard on her back to the floor and her head to follow, hitting the white floor tiles below her. I also recall hearing the piercing sound of a gunshot and seeing dark blood pooling around my feet instantly. The fear that took over my body after that seems to have affected my memory, as if it happened years ago. My panic wasn’t helped by the sudden presence of bodies all around me, screaming and yelling orders, pushing me backwards toward the nearest chair. I remember seeing Bailey’s face not long after sitting down, her hands anxiously running over my body, checking for wounds. When they come up with nothing, I notice the relief in her eyes before she starts shaking me gently, trying to break the stare I have on the scene before us. There are doctors, police officers, and nurses running around frantically, trying to take control of the situation.
I watch as they pick Jeff up off of the floor and load him onto a gurney, applying pressure to the bullet wound in his right shoulder. The blood continues to trickle onto the floor and I suddenly remember seeing it on my shoes. I look down at them to see the wet liquid still there, but my gaze is broken when I hear Bailey calling my name. I can barely hear her from the gunshot that is still ringing in my ears, but I know she’s shouting because it’s causing people around us to pull their attention to me. I see Mark make his way towards me and for some reason seeing his face reminds me of pushing Callie to the ground.
“Callie?” I whisper, not sure how well they can hear me because I can’t even hear the name that escapes my own lips.
“She’s gonna be fine, maybe a concussion at most. Don’t worry,” Mark assures me. “You’re freakishly strong, but not that strong.”
I can’t help the smile that creeps onto my face while my hearing ability slowly returns to normal. I watch nurses and doctors gently place her limp body onto a gurney and start to take her towards the elevator. I instantly move to get up, but I’m stopped by the Chief’s hands on my shoulders, pushing me back down to my seat. When I open my mouth to protest, he interrupts me.
“She’ll be fine, Robbins. You need to be checked out-“
“Chief, I’m fine-“
“No, you’re not moving until one of us looks you over!”
Despite everything that has just happened, I’m still under the spell of his authority and the tears start to form in my eyes when I nod in surrender. He seems to know the trick now and I can’t help but feel he’s using my strange issues with authority figures to make sure I’ll get checked out. I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with his protectiveness that is also mirrored in Bailey’s face and Mark’s.
It doesn’t take long for Bailey to conclude that I am indeed void of any wounds. When I finally get to Callie’s room I feel slightly guilty that I’m the one who caused her to be lying in a hospital bed, but the guilt is taken over by relief that nothing worse happened.
My memories of today’s events that have been running through my mind for the past few minutes disappear when I hear her moaning slightly in her sleep. I’m brought back to reality instantly and shake my head a little to break my blank stare before looking to see what’s causing her such discomfort. I know the signs of nightmares better than anyone and I instinctively link my fingers in her own, rubbing gentle circles with my thumb to try and calm her down. Before I can begin to whisper comforting words to her, her eyes shoot open and she looks around in confusion.
“Calliope?” I ask, trying to get her attention.
It doesn’t seem to work as she continues to glance around anxiously. I call her name a few more times until she finds me sitting beside her in a chair next to her bed. She blinks a few times as if trying to make sure it’s really me before she’s satisfied that I’m not an illusion. Her breathing begins to slow down when she sees the smile on my face that is returned quickly on her own lips.
“Hi,” she exhales.
I laugh slightly at the simple response she gives me after what just happened.
“Hi,” I reply sarcastically.
“What happened?” she asks, quickly remembering what just went on.
I explain to her everything about how the police shot Jeff just enough to wound him, but not seriously hurt him. She has a mixed expression on her face, one of disdain and relief at the same time. We both won’t be able to forgive him for this, but we know he wasn’t himself in the moment of intense grief he was experiencing. I purposely leave out the part where I shoved her to the ground, but I see something click in her brain regarding her current state of health.
“So…how did I end up here?” she asks, confused.
“Uh, well…” I say, an embarrassed and mischievous smile forming on my lips. “I may have pushed you…hard…to the ground and it may have caused you to have a concussion.”
Her mouth opens in an appalled fashion and I quickly smile innocently at her.
“Oh really?” she asks, smiling at my attempt to still look like my sweet and adorable self. “Well…I may be able to forgive you.”
An uncomfortable silence passes between us that isn’t normal and we both realize it. In those quiet moments my mind returns to something I had been thinking about long before she woke up. The words she said to me before the fire of the gun keep replaying in my mind. At first I was overcome with the happiness I was feeling, hearing what she said over and over again in my head. But after a while, my usual over-thinking self took over. Did she really mean what she said? Or was it because a gun was pointed at my head and she knew those would be the last words I would want to hear? I haven’t been able to get these questions out of my head and she seems to see that something is wrong.
“What?” she asks concerned.
I hesitate before answering her.
“What you said, before all the craziness. About…you and me and…did you mean it? Or was it all because you weren’t sure I was going to live?”
It’s hard for me to keep my voice steady through the question because I’m too nervous to hear her answer. Her hesitation to answer sends sharp pains throughout my body and I instantly let go of her hand. She’s hesitating. She doesn’t know how to verbally answer, but her lack of response tells me all I needed to know. I quickly interrupt her thoughts, not wanting to look like an idiot for briefly believing she meant it all.
“I mean, I know I said everything because of that, but…I wasn’t sure…if you…”
Her eyes narrow as if they’re trying to study my honesty in my confession and she clears her throat after a few seconds to get my attention.
“Yeah, um, I guess I did too.”
I need to get out of the room. It feels like the walls are closing me in and the oxygen in my lungs is depleting by the second. I can feel the warm water forming at the edges of my eyes and I can’t let her see me like this.
“Right, yeah,” I choke out, looking at the ground because I’m not sure how much longer I would be able to last if I were to look her in the eyes right now. “Well, I’m, um…I’m gonna go, see if Bailey and everyone needs help with getting things settled and give my statement to the police and everything.”
When I get no response from her, just a stare, I get up awkwardly and walk out of the room, letting the tears overflow as soon as the door shuts behind me.
Callie
The emotions of relief and happiness that she hasn’t disappeared yet, like she did in my dream, are taken over by even more relief and happiness that she’s okay. I can feel the warmth of her fingers entwined in my own and it’s causing more comfort in me than anything else ever could. We exchange quick and cute hi’s and joke around a little at how I may have ended up in this hospital bed, but it doesn’t take long for the mood in the room to shift. I can tell she’s thinking about something…over-thinking, most likely, as usual.
“What?” I ask her, nervous to hear what’s going on in her mind just based on the look in her eyes.
She hesitates briefly before continuing.
“What you said, before all the craziness. About…you and me and…did you mean it? Or was it all because you weren’t sure I was going to live?”
I don’t really know how to begin to respond to her question. The idea that I would say those things just because we were both most likely going to die never even crossed my mind. I feel hurt that she would even think I would do something like that, but when she lets go of my hand coupled with what she says next, it makes that pain feel miniscule in comparison.
“I mean, I know I said everything because of that, but…I wasn’t sure…if you…”
I know she’s lying. I know it. I know she doesn’t want to look like the fool right now and she’s only making this up. Isn’t she? I stare at her, studying her eyes to tell whether or not she means what she’s saying and when she holds her steadiness I gulp back the tears ready to escape my eyes. I clear my throat, not wanting to take too long to answer her, for fear that it won’t be believable.
“Yeah, um, I guess I did too,” I say, impressed at my own ability to keep my voice from cracking.
Her eyes get wider, briefly, before she answers me quickly.
“Right, yeah,” she whispers, staring at the ground underneath her feet. “Well, I’m, um…I’m gonna go, see if Bailey and everyone needs help with getting things settled and give my statement to the police and everything.”
All I can do is stare at her as she rises from the chair and leaves the room. The second the door shuts, I feel hot tears streaking down my face and the world around me is crashing, yet again.