(no subject)

[burningeden]

Title: Ready For A Fall (1/?)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: R
Summary: Callie finds out about Gizzie and finds an unlikely ally who is actually on her side.
A/N: I have been wounded and scarred by the recent eps of Grey's Anatomy. I don't know if my muse will ever come back to finish Kissing Chaos. Certain aspects of the show are not sitting well with me.



"How long does it usually take for the newlywed sex to stop?" Callie asked, setting her lunch tray opposite Addison’s.

Addison glanced up from her newspaper and shrugged. "Derek and I got caught all over the hospital the first two years of our marriage. Is George doing the sex machine thing again?"

"George and I haven’t had sex in over a week."

"Is he still sick? He looked pretty bad while your dad was here."

"He was hungover, Addison. Not sick. Based on the smell alone, I think he probably drank enough to intoxicate twenty men, but it should be out of his system by now." Callie took a sip of her soda and sighed. "Something’s going on."

"Yeah. All the interns are about to be testing for the residency program. That’s pretty scary."

"It’s more than that."

"Have you talked to him?"

"Every time I say anything he tells me that it’s all in my head." Callie took a bite of her sandwich and added, "And Izzie Stevens is suddenly acting scared of me. She actually backed away from me earlier when I was asking her to present a case. It’s totally weird. She’s usually all over the chance to insult me."

Addison sat up a little straighter and glanced across the cafeteria at Izzie. The blond was shooting what could only be called a ‘guilty’ look at Callie. As Addison watched, George entered the cafeteria, took one look at Izzie, then the back of Callie’s head, and turned on his heel. The signs were all there. Izzie Stevens had confessed that she had slept with a married man the day that Callie’s father arrived. Addison’s stomach sank all the way to her toes as she put two and two together. George had slept with Izzie.

And Izzie thought it was God’s plan.

Callie pushed her barely touched food away and rested her chin in her palm. "Maybe it’s me. Maybe he’s still reeling from me telling him that I’ve got money. He was really upset about it."

When Addison didn’t reply, Callie looked back at her and gasped. Addison’s eyes were flooded with tears. "Oh my god! Are you okay?"

"They slept together," Addison blurted, the clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What?" Callie reached across the table and pulled her friend’s hand away from her face. "Who?"

"George and Izzie. Izzie told me that she slept with the wrong guy the night before your father came and I just realized who the married man is that she was talking about."

Frowning, Callie let her hand go and sat back, shaking her head. "That- that’s insane. George - he wouldn’t -"

"As someone who cheated ... I know the signs." Addison dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. "I’m sorry to tell you this way."

Callie pushed her chair back roughly and stood. Her gaze found Izzie, who was looking at her with wide eyes. Callie stalked toward the blond and Izzie bolted, sending her chair crashing to the floor as she raced from the cafeteria. Any doubt that Callie had was suddenly gone. She fought the urge to sink to her knees as she felt soul deep pain that she had never experienced in her life. Addison rushed forward as Callie bent at the waist and held her steady.

"Come on." Addison tugged at her, but Callie shook her head. "Callie, people are looking. Don’t give them anything to talk about. Come on!"

"I can’t breathe," Callie choked out before the onslaught of tears began. "I - I’m dying."

"No. No, you’re not. Let’s go."

"He cheated. George cheated on me with the girl who has made my life miserable for months." Callie shook her head, angry now. "After he told me that he didn’t have a chance with her because she was a blond, stacked supermodel."

"Let’s go to the lounge."

"No. I’m going to go kill both of them!"

Addison chased after Callie as she stalked into the hospital. She attempted to rationalize with her, attempted to physically stop her, but Callie plowed ahead like a freight train. When the dark haired resident slammed open the door of the intern’s locker room, George glanced up at her. He was eating his lunch alone and he smiled when she appeared, but the smile quickly faded when he saw the tears on her face.

"What happened?" he asked, wiping his mouth and setting his lunch aside. He stood and reached for her, but she knocked his hands away.

"You slept with Izzie. You slept with Izzie the night that we fought. Didn’t you?"

"Callie-"

"Didn’t you!?" she screamed.

"I - I was drunk and I didn’t know what I was doing, but, Callie-"

"Shut up!"

"It didn’t mean anything to me. It was a mistake and I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you, but I-"

"I want your things out of my room in one hour."

"No!" George took a step toward her, hands outstretched. "No. Please! We can -"

"We? There is no ‘we’ anymore!"

"I can - I can fix this."

"No. No, you can’t!" Callie cried. "We’ve been married less than three months! And you cheated on me with the one person that you knew hated me! That girl has done nothing but brutalize me since I met you and you-"

"I’m sorry." George grabbed her hand and attempted to tug her into his arms, but she yanked free.

"Don’t touch me!"

"I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life and -"

"George, if you value your life at *all* then stop lying to me. You never loved me. I was just too stupid to realize it." She started to turn away from him, but he caught her arm and tried to hug her. She shoved him, roughly, and shook her head. "We’re done."

"Let her go," Izzie spoke up from the doorway.

Callie turned, took one look at the woman who had trespassed on what was hers, and punched her with everything she had. Izzie’s head rocked back and she slid down the door, landing in a heap on the ground. Callie started to grab her, but Addison got between them, and then Alex Karev had Callie around the waist and was pulling her out of the locker room entirely.

*~*~*~*~*~

Fifteen days.

It had been fifteen of the longest days in Callie’s life. Just fifteen days since she learned the truth and fled Seattle as if the hounds of hell were after her, but if felt like a lifetime. She had taken a leave from work ... a leave filled with alcohol, vomit, and tears. She had flown to North Carolina, driven into the mountains, and barricaded herself in a small cabin. No cell phone, no television, no internet. Nothing. Her thoughts were more than enough to keep her distracted and she silenced them as much as possible with hard liquor.

Chief Webber had been understanding. She had the presence of mind to call him from the plane. And Addison as well. Addison had promised to make George pack his things and begged to know where Callie was going, but Callie hadn’t replied. She needed time alone, time with Jack Daniels, time with the pain. Unfortunately, the cabin wasn’t available for as long as Callie really needed and on the sixteenth day she found herself sucking down champagne in first class on a flight back to Seattle.

The seventeenth day found her hung over and squinting at the scrawling text in a chart. "Who wrote this crap?" she finally snapped. "It looks like a blind man played with a broken pen!"

"That would be me," Alex replied, walking toward her. "And I’m all yours."

"Pardon?"

"Bailey told me to get out of her sight before she sharpened her scalpel on my ass so here I am." He grinned, spreading his arms wide. "It’s your lucky day or something."

"Just great," Callie groaned. "Rule number one, I’m not your baby sitter. You either make yourself useful or make yourself scarce. I’m not going to hold your hand, wipe your nose, powder your ass, or deal with any of your little intern drama. Got it?"

"Are they running PMS through the water here?" Alex asked, but didn’t wait for her answer. "I went ahead and had the OR prepped for this guy. He’s gonna need femoral and tibial traction pins."

Callie cocked her head to one side. "Well, aren’t you just the smartest little man ever?"

"There’s nothing little about me other than the size of my patience and you’re wearing it very thin, Torres."

"*Doctor* Torres, Karev." Callie slammed the chart and glared at him. "And for future reference, I happen to be the one in charge so you don’t get to tell me what my patient needs."

"Then by all means, *Doctor* Torres, tell me what he needs."

"Femoral and tibial traction pins." Callie narrowed her eyes. "Not one word, Karev."

"Told you so."

"I said -"

"That was *three* words."

"Go find someone else to work with."

"Everyone has an intern."

"Even Sloan?"

"George is with him."

Callie felt her left eye twitch. "Rule number two ... do not mention that name in my presence if you are attached to your various appendages."

"This bitterness is going to eat you alive."

"Rule number three ... you’re not a psychologist so don’t act like one. Keep your opinions to yourself. Got it?"

"Why did you go into ortho?"

"Because unlike you and your merry band of misfits, I actually knew what I wanted going into med school."

"But why bones? It’s just so boring."

Callie fought the grin that was building when she said, "Keep that in mind the next time you get a stiff one in your pants. It’s just so boring."

"Hey-"

"Zip it, Karev."

*~*~*~*~*~

Addison slid her lunch tray onto the table and sat across from Callie. The last time they had lunch together had been a horrific event rivaled only by the projectile vomiting incident a few months prior. She narrowed her eyes as she watched the dark haired woman tinker with the lime green Ipod in her hand. After a few seconds, Addy cleared her throat. "Are you ever going to eat again?"

"I’m fasting." Callie took a sip of water and shut the Ipod off. "Lack of food nourishes the mind."

"But hard liquor is okay?"

"It’s a liquid."

"I’m worried about you." Addy rested her chin on her palm as she studied her friend. Callie’s coloring was usually so vibrant and healthy, but now her face was grey, ashen. "George asked me to tell you that he’s living at the Crestview Motel and wanted me to make sure I mentioned that the roaches are big enough to carry him away. He said to remind you how he feels about roaches."

"He should embrace them. He's the same breed after all."

"Maybe you should just talk to him."

"Because I have so much to say?"

"Because he does."

"And I should care?"

"Cal, he’s still your husband and he’s really sorr-"

"Do not tell me that he’s sorry, Addison. And don’t call him my husband. That stopped the second he slept with another woman."

Addison exhaled the breath she had been holding. "Have you seen him lately? He looks worse than you which is saying something."

"I don’t care. I genuinely do not give a good god damn."

"But-"

"You sympathize with him because you are a cheater, too. The two of you are on the same plane of wrong. I don’t sympathize. I can’t. We were *married*. We spoke actual vows that I actually honored and he didn’t. As far as I’m concerned George died with our marriage."

Stung by those words, Addison pushed her lunch tray to one side, untouched. "Let me tell you something - people make mistakes. You slept with Mark Sloan and-"

"I wasn’t married. I didn’t have a husband or even a *boyfriend* at the time because I broke up with George before I did it."

"I’m not just a cheater!" Addy finally snapped. "I happen to be-"

"Oh, really? Because the story that I heard is that you weren’t faithful to Derek."

"I slipped, but that doesn’t make me a horrible person!"

Callie nodded. "I know that. You’re a great person, an amazing friend, and kickass doctor, but you’re a shit wife. And George is a shit husband. Don’t defend him to me because it’s not possible." Callie put her ear bud back in and flipped through her Ipod again. "Tell George I hope the roaches are warmer than the dead carp he cheated on me with."

"I’m not your freakin’ telegraph service."

"But you’re his?" Callie could only shake her head. "This topic is officially off limits from this point on, Addy. I like you. I really like you and I love that we’re friends, but one more mention of George in anything other than a ‘let me help you hide the body’ capacity is going to seriously ruin what we have."

"Fine!" Addison snapped. She wanted to relish the anger she felt at Callie, but one look at the dark circles under her friend's eyes prevented it. Reaching out, she took the Ipod from Callie and yanked the earpiece from her. "I have something else to tell you."

Callie frowned a little. "What?"

"Izzie’s hair is green." The redhead smiled devilishly. "Does that help at all?"

"Green? How? Why?"

"She got into a hot tub at the spa and it did her in."

"So I guess she’s not a natural blond."

"She’s dumb enough to be."

"And mean enough."

"She was crying in the bathroom. Someone called her an elf or something."

Callie shook her head. "I wish that’s all I had to cry about."

"You wouldn’t cry if you didn’t still love him."

"Addison-" Callie warned.

"He also asked me to tell you that he misses you and he misses your infamous hotel bubble - whatever that means."

Wordlessly, Callie stood and tossed her water into the trash. Without a backward glance, she stalked away, ignoring Addison when she called her name.

*~*~*~*~*~

Alex heard someone crying in the resident’s lounge and paused outside the door. He was technically not supposed to trespass on sacred resident turf but who was he to comply with hospital policy. Quietly pushing the door open, he found the source of the noise and stepped inside. Callie was sitting on the window seat, her legs pulled up to her chest and her face was resting against her knees. She was crying hard enough to alarm him and he clenched his fists at his sides when he considered what could have brought on the onslaught. He still could not wrap his head around Izzie and George - no - it was nauseating to even contemplate it and he had just eaten.

He shut the door behind him and smiled apologetically when the loud click caused Callie to jump and look his way. "Hey," he said softly. "Are you okay?"

"No," she admitted, her voice trembling. "Addison has suddenly decided that she is George’s biggest fan and his personal mouthpiece and she won’t shut up about it."

"But on the plus side - Izzie has green hair."

"So I heard."

"It almost matches the still greenish bruise on her eye that you gave her." He pulled an apple from his jacket pocket and said, "Want half?"

"No."

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

"You want to put us all out of work?"

He shrugged, still holding it out. "Come on. Eat the apple."

"No, Satan. I have enough knowledge. Too much, actually."

Alex hopped onto the window seat next to her and smiled. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Sleeping? Drinking? Crying? Moping?" Callie watched as he polished the fruit and bit into it. She saw for the first time exactly what it was about him that kept Addison up all night. She watched with wide eyes as he licked a trickle of juice from the ripe, red skin and felt her toes curl in her shoes. No, she thought, don’t go there. Ever. It’s so wrong that wrong fears it. You're lonely and sad and broken and he's - forbidden. Forbidden fruit. That's why he's eating that. Metaphors. Signs. Read the signs, idiot.

As if he hadn’t just molested the apple, Alex continued the conversation. "Because they’re having two for one night at Vinnie’s Italian Bistro and I thought you could tag along."

"What’s the catch?"

"There’s a catch now?" Alex chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "I’m tired of eating alone. And I’m cheap as hell so if I can drag a friend with me and she can eat for free then who am I to deny her?"

"We’re friends now?"

"Aren’t we?"

"Is there alcohol at Vinnie’s Italian Bistro?"

"We can bring our own."

Callie thought of her very empty, very silent hotel room. The prospect of facing it any sooner than absolutely necessary was too much. "Fine. I’m in, but what’s in it for you?"

"The company?"

"Because we get along so well or something."

"Or something." He gave her a little smirk that caused a dimple to appear in his cheek. "Any more questions, Torres?"

"*Doctor* Torres, Karev," she corrected. "And I don’t have any more questions but I want to make something clear. We are not going to talk about George."

"Or Izzie," he replied.

"Or marriage."

"Or Addison," he said.

"Why not?" Callie asked. "I could tell her how much you want her."

"No," he shook his head. "That ship has sailed."

"And you’re not going down with it?"

"I’m too busy trying to stop you from going down with yours."

Callie shrugged. "I can swim."

"So can I."

"And I don’t want to be saved."

"I didn’t say that I wanted to save you. I said I wanted to stop you. From drowning. Which is what you’re doing."

"If I wanted to drown I’d be dead right now."

"You’re mostly dead."

"Oh my god. Did you actually just quote ‘The Princess Bride’?"

Alex shook his head. "Inconceivable! I’d never watch that!"

"Alex!"

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Callie laughed. She actually laughed from the gut and it shocked her. "You’re so weird."

"It’s a good movie!"

"Chick flick," she replied. "You like a chick flick."

"Well, Mr. Man, what’s your favorite movie?"

Without missing a beat, Callie said, "‘The Goonies’."

Alex lifted an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Chunk rocks. I see a lot of myself in that kid."

He snorted. "Yeah, right. Hot ortho doc or short, fat boy... parallels ... not so much."

"I’m fat. And that was so me as a kid - trying like hell to fit in. And my mouth gets me into trouble and -" She trailed off, then added. "George called me ‘curvy’. Right after he waxed poetic about how perfect Izzie is. Stacked, blond, supermodel Izzie."

"You *are* curvy, but believe me when I say that they’re in all the right places." He openly eyed her chest, not caring that it was so obvious. "And not for nothing, but Izzie is not all that. She has horrible flaws inside and out."

"Inside maybe. Outside -"

"Green hair," Alex told her.

"Can be bleached."

"Wonky European teeth. And her back gets zits."

"Oh heavens! An actual chink in the beautiful armor?"

"And did I mention the self-absorbed, self-involved cruelty thing she has going for her. You know there’s something wrong with a chick who starts all her sentences with ‘I’ and usually ends them with ‘me’. Plus, she falls in love with the wrong people every time she gets the chance. Denny, George-"

"So she’s in love with him? I knew it."

"What I don’t understand is why." Alex tossed the apple core into the trash and turned back to her. "How could O’Malley -"

"Please don’t question why Miss Wonderful would fall for him. Okay?"

"What I was going to say," he replied, "is how could O’Malley find love, actual love, with you and then toss it away for the bargain basement rebound thing that Izzie used him for. That’s all he is for her. A rebound. He’s a surrogate Denny. A surrogate Denny who doesn’t even want her."

That got Callie’s attention. "He’s not with her?"

"He won’t have anything to do with her. You had all of his things sent to Meredith’s and Izzie unpacked it all into her room and he repacked every last box that same night. He took a lot of it to his parent’s place. He’s staying at that dingy little motel called-"

"We’re not talking about George."

"Fine. We’re not talking about George."

Callie nodded. "Why isn’t he with her though?"

"Why would he trade for a Pinto when he’s had the Rolls Royce?"

"You don’t have to badmouth her for me, Karev. I know that you two had a thing and she’s your friend and-"

"Actually, I do have to badmouth her. She put me through hell for cheating on her with Olivia. She said that it hurt her more than she’s ever been hurt and she judged me, hated me, and made me miserable for a long time because of it. Now she’s a mistress and she’s trying really hard to smell like roses and be the victim, but she can’t."

"You were with Olivia, too? God, you and George like to run in the same sex circles, huh?"

"Maybe." Alex openly appraised her again. "But unlike George - I know a good thing when I see it."

"Are you attempting to flirt with me?"

"Why? Is it working?"

Her pager beeped loudly and she almost jumped out of her skin. She checked the number and made a face. "Emergency room. I guess we should go."

"As you wish."

She chuckled as she hopped down. "Are you on pit?"

"The pit of despair."

"Stop with ‘The Princess Bride’ quotes! Let’s go!"

"Hey, you rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."

"How many times have you seen that movie?!"

"Enough to know the sword fight step by step."

"Never, ever show me."

"But you should see my sword..."

"I didn’t hear that."

Alex followed after her.

She wasn’t crying anymore.

He really was a miracle worker.

-------

tbc???