The Dig 2/?
Title: The Dig (2/?)
Author: GreysAddictJ
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13 (at least for now)
Summary: A/U - What happens when a pesky (but hot) blonde journalist shows up at the dig site of world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Calliope Torres?
A/N: I’ve done some research, but I can’t vouch for 100% accuracy when it comes to the history stuff - and I may need to take a little creative license at some point.
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, no infringement intended
After her mini-confrontation with Callie, Arizona’s journalistic mind was spinning. People didn’t react the way that Callie had unless there was something deeper going on. Whether or not there was a story there was yet to be seen. Arizona had long ago learned to suppress any qualms she might have had about prying into people’s private lives. In order to be a successful, award-winning journalist like she was, you had to be okay with offending people once in a while. If she’d stopped every time someone had told her to mind her own business, she’d have never gotten anywhere in the journalistic world.
Despite this fact, Arizona couldn’t help but feel like she was crossing a line with Callie that she wasn’t sure she wanted to cross. She’d felt an instant connection with the beautiful archaeologist and she couldn’t suppress the feeling that she’d have to compromise one way or another on this story. Compromise herself as a journalist or compromise her relationship with Callie. She shook this thought aside and gave herself a mental pep talk. She had no relationship with Callie. At least not at the moment. She’d only known her a few hours. And this magical connection that she felt was most likely one-sided. Brushing aside her concerns, she pulled out her sat phone and called one of her closest friends and fellow journalists, Teddy Altman.
“Hello?” Teddy answered.
“Hey, Teddy, it’s me, Arizona.”
“Arizona? Is that you? You’re kind of breaking up. How’s the big South American adventure?”
“Not much to tell yet, but I’ll keep you posted. Listen, I have a favor to ask you.”
“Sure, what’s up?” Teddy replied.
“I need you to do some digging for me. Can you find out anything you can on an archaeologist named Calliope Torres? That’s C-A-L-L-I-O-P-E , and the last name is T-O-R-R-E-S. She teaches at Columbia.”
“Sure. Why?” Teddy asked.
“I’m not sure. Just a hunch.”
“Okay, will do.”
“Thanks, Teddy. I’ll call you in a day or two to check in and see what you’ve found.” After saying her goodbyes, Arizona hung up and began to unpack her things.
The tent flap opened and Callie popped her head in. “Uh, can I come in?” She asked tentatively.
“Sure.”
“Listen, I want to apologize for the way I snapped at you earlier. I know you’re just trying to do your job. It’s just that I’ve mixed my personal life with my job in the past and have gotten burned. I’d appreciate if we could just focus on the professional stuff. I really don’t think knowing what my favorite color is or what my hobbies are or who I date will really make or break your story. Even so, I overreacted and I apologize.”
Arizona nodded. “Fair enough. Just promise me that you won’t shut me out of the professional stuff. The University assured me that I’d have full access and I don’t want to compromise my article because you’ve kept relevant information from me.”
“Deal.” Callie agreed.
“Can you tell me more about the legend of El Dorado?” Arizona asked, eager to steer the conversation to safer waters.”
“Sure.” Callie replied. “As far as we can tell, the legend started about 500 years ago. A Spanish sailor was captured by the Incans and when he was freed, he described this king called “El Dorado” or “the golden one.” Apparently this king used to cover himself in gold dust. Anyway, the nickname kind of stuck and from that point, a legend grew of a city by the same name.” Arizona was fascinated by the tale, but even more mesmerized by the animated light in Callie’s eyes as she enthusiastically spoke about a subject that clearly meant so much to her.
Callie continued. “The Spanish called this legendary city El Dorado, but that’s not what the locals called it. Their name for it was Paititi. Call it El Dorado or Paititi, the Spanish never found it. There are generally two camps here. There’s the camp that believes that the city does exist, and they have been risking their lives for over 500 years trying to find it. Some have even lost their lives. Then you have this other camp of people, who just don’t think that El Dorado or Paititi existed. Of course, I’m in the camp that believes that El Dorado does exist. That’s why I’m here.” Callie shot Arizona a mega-watt smile and Arizona nearly melted on the spot. The brunette was beyond gorgeous and it took every last bit of Arizona’s strength not to jump her there and then.
“This is all so super cool.” Arizona replied, flashing her own dimpled killer smile in return. Azure blue eyes once again locked with deep brown and the two spent a moment simply gazing and smiling at one another.
“How about I show you around the site as a peace offering?” Callie interjected, uncomfortable at her inability to focus on anything but Arizona and her dimples for more than about 10 seconds.
“Sounds awesome!” Arizona replied exuberantly.
After grabbing some supplies, she followed the brunette from the tent.
“This way.” Callie motioned, pulling apart some vines, leading them into a rough hewn path through the jungle. They made their way deeper into the jungle. After a time, Callie stopped in front of what looked like the ruins of a small building.
“This is called a tambo.” Callie explained. “It’s basically a rest house along the Incan road system. A place where travelers could stop for a breather in between cities - kind of like a modern day rest area or truck stop that you see along the highways. To us modern day visitors, it serves a more important purpose. It’s shows us we’re on the right track. And this one is large as tambos go, which tells us even more. Why build a large tambo unless this path was once a major Incan road? If it were a minor road, there would be no reason to build a big tambo like this one. This was one of the first clues that we were on the right track.”
Arizona ran her hand gently along the decrepit-looking stonework. “It’s amazing that this has been here for over 500 years. And it’s amazing that you can tell so much from it. You’re amazing.”
Arizona couldn’t help but notice the blush that crept across Callie’s skin. Their eyes locked and both were momentarily lost in thoughts of admiration and lust.
“Anyway . . .” Callie continued, finally breaking the awkward silence between them. “We should keep going. There’s more to see.”
Arizona followed Callie deeper into the jungle and she struggled to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Instead, her mind kept wandering to the rather delicious ass and the woman attached to it who was striding a few steps ahead of her.
Finally, Callie came to a halt where the trail seemingly took a dead-end into a wall of vines. Arizona, who had been too wrapped up in dirty thoughts, noticed too late and ran straight into the back of the brunette. Feeling the blonde’s pert breasts rub against her back, Callie took a sharp intake of breath. Arizona immediately jumped backward like a scalded cat. Callie silently cursed and hoped that the blonde hadn’t noticed her reaction.
Beckoning Arizona forward, Callie pulled apart some vines and gestured ahead.
“There it is - what we believe might be El Dorado, the lost city of gold.”
Arizona gasped in astonishment as she peered through the opening and saw a very large and very complex network of stone buildings. It was huge and awe-inspiring.
“This is amazing, Calliope.” She said, grinning at Callie. “But how in the heck did you ever find this buried here in the jungle?”
“I had stumbled upon some old Spanish travel diaries and did some research which had suggested that it might be in this area. Then, with the help of modern satellite technology, which gets better with each passing year, we were able to locate a few potential anomalies that might have been ruins. Which led us here.”
“This is all so awesome.” Arizona couldn’t stop looking, awe-struck by the sight. “Can we go closer? Go inside the buildings?”
“Not yet. Even I haven’t been inside yet. We located the site and then went back to the States to gather the proper funding. As much as I’d love to, we can’t just rush in. The site has to be properly preserved and documented. The placement of every stone and artifact can tell you volumes.”
“If you haven’t been inside, how can you know if it’s really El Dorado?” Arizona asked, the inquisitive journalist in her unable to just believe blindly in Callie’s theory.
“We can’t for sure. Here’s what I can tell you. It’s in roughly the right location. Also, you see that massive fortress over there and the stone walls?” She pointed to a large building. Arizona nodded. “The one thing you’d need if you have a city of gold is a good system of defense. A giant fortress like that is rare in the Incan world, at least as far as we moderners know. A defensive structure like that is like finding a giant road sign pointing to El Dorado. This is it. I just know it.” Callie smiled, unable to contain her enthusiasm.
There was something about the way the brunette spoke, with such passion and conviction. It made Arizona want to believe too. Unable to help herself, she threw her arms around Callie and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you so much for sharing this with me Calliope.”
Callie was taken aback by Arizona’s sudden embrace, but slowly wound her arms around the smaller woman, unable to resist the closeness of her body. She closed her eyes and breathed in her light, fruity scent, intoxicated by this perky ball of energy. They lingered in the hug, neither one willing to be the first to let go. Finally, sensing the growing awkwardness, Callie released her grip.
Swallowing hard, her throat suddenly dry, she gave the blonde a weak smile. “We, uh . . .we should start heading back to camp. It’ll be dark soon.”
As they emerged from the jungle, they heard loud music playing and saw several of the workers gathered around a campfire. Mark, who was with them, gestured for the two women to join them.
“Hey Torres, Blondie. Come on over. We’re having some celebratory drinks before starting the serious work tomorrow.”
They joined the crowd and spent the next hour or two mostly apart. Despite this fact, both women continued to surreptitiously steal glances at one another from across the fire. As the evening wore on and as everyone became more intoxicated, someone suggested dancing. Soon people were drunkenly dancing to the music played out of one of the interns’ battery-powered stereo.
Arizona took a few moments to jot down some notes from her earlier discussions with Callie, not wanting to forget anything. The hair on the back of her neck prickled as she suddenly felt warm breath from behind her. She closed her eyes and briefly enjoyed the scent that had invaded her senses earlier that day in the jungle.
“Whatcha writing?” Callie whispered huskily in her ear, clearly a little tipsy.
“Oh, nothing exciting.” Arizona replied, struggling to focus on the conversation and not on the brunette’s proximity to her. “Just uh . . . um. Just writing down some notes from what you told me earlier.” She struggled to form complete sentences as Callie’s chest grazed her back, shooting lightning bolts through her body.
“Good.” Callie replied.
“Good?” Arizona responded in question, turning around to meet Callie’s gaze, not understanding her meaning.
“Yes. I’m glad it’s not something exciting that you’re writing. Because that means you can come dance with me.” With that, she grabbed Arizona’s journal, tossed it aside and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the other dancers.
Unable to resist, Arizona followed her. Callie roped her arms around Arizona’s waist and pulled her in towards her body. Arizona responded by wrapping her arms around Callie’s neck and tried to pretend like the dance was just a little fun between two drunk friends - nothing more. It was definitely a struggle, as shocks coursed through her body each time their hips grazed one another.
Just when Arizona thought she’d gained control of her senses, Callie through her for another mind-spinning, sexy loop. She turned Arizona so that her back was pressed against the brunette’s front. Callie then wrapped her arms around the blonde from behind and proceeded to grind her hips into Arizona’s rear. It took all of Arizona’s willpower not to throw the hot archaeologist to the ground right there and have her way with her. She’s just drunk, Arizona reminded herself. She probably has no idea what she’s doing and probably won’t even remember this tomorrow. Still, it couldn’t hurt to enjoy it while it lasts, could it? Arizona closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness as their bodies moved in a slow, languorous rhythm to the beat of the music.
As the song came to a close, Mark strode up to them. Clearly inebriated, he pulled Callie by the arm. “Torres. Come dance with me. Show these interns how it’s done.” Callie smiled back at Arizona and let Mark lead her away. Arizona immediately mourned the loss of the brunette’s body, suddenly feeling incomplete.
Her gaze followed the pair of archaeologists and they danced close together. Callie flung her arms around Mark, running her hands through his hair and pulling him close as they ground their hips together in time to the music. Disgusted, Arizona tore her gaze away and headed for her tent. She was stupid. Stupid to even fantasize about Callie. Clearly women were not her thing - and it was clear that she and Sloan had something going on. Focus, Arizona. She reminded herself. Just focus on the story. There’s no time for personal entanglements anyway.
Callie was having a good time dancing with Mark, but the minute he pulled her into his arms, she knew it didn’t feel right. Not quite right anyway. She immediately missed the closeness of that damn perky journalist and her damn sexy, feminine body. She chastised herself. What did it matter? She wasn’t here for romance. She was here for El Dorado. Besides, there was no way that Arizona would be interested in her anyway. Throwing her arms around Mark, she focused on the music, hoping to push aside any thoughts of romance and attraction. Finally, unable to distract herself any longer, she looked over to where she’d left the blonde, needing to steal one more glance. But she was gone.