Author Devylish
Title Tequila For Two
Chap 1 of 1
Fandom Grey's Anatomy
Pair Callie and Derek
Rating PG13
Words 2828
Summary tequila, Derek and callie.
Disclaimer All publicly recognizable characters, settings, plot, etc. are the property of the creators of the TV show Grey's Anatomy. Any original characters, settings and plots are the property of devylish. devylish is in no way associated with the TV show Grey's Anatomy and no copyright infringement is intended. This work is an amateur fan effort and no profit is being made.
AN Unbeta'd AN not positive that I'm happy with this.... but I wanted to write something Callie....

Tequila For For For For Two.

"You might want to back away 'now', Shepherd." Callie threw back the shot in her hand, swallowing it in a smooth slick fashion. She kept her head tilted back for a few seconds, reveling in the slight burn of the alcohol as it slid down her throat.

Derek ignored the 'friendly' warning and settled next to her on a stool at the bar. Raising two fingers in the direction of the bartender, he motioned for more of whatever liquor Torres was imbibing. Turning slightly so that he was facing Callie, he smiled at the blessed-out look on her face. He didn't know how many drinks she had in her, but he wanted that look, and he was going to do whatever he needed to do to get to that point.

"Did you hear me?" Callie looked at Derek, her eyes startlingly focused and clear. He wondered if she wasn't quite as far ahead in the drinking as he'd assumed.

"Yeah I did, you said something about me 'backing away'." He reached into his pocket and dropped a tip on the counter as their shots were delivered. Lifting his glass in Callie's direction, he angled his head back and welcomed the warmth of the tequila.

Callie studied Derek's throat as he swallowed. He has a nice Adams apple. A sexy Adams apple. And WOAH, what the fuck! There is NO sexy when we think about Shepherd. Shepherd equals anti-sexy. Reaching for the shot glass in front of her, she dipped the tip of her finger in her drink and then lifted her finger to her lips. Tequila was definitely created by God.

Derek watched Torres lift her finger to her mouth only realizing a second later that he was unconsciously licking his own lips. Clearing his throat he asked, "Why the warning? Or, do you just find me that offensive?"

"You're not offensive Shepherd, you're harmless. I'm actually trying to protect you."

"Harmless?!" Derek sputtered in an offended manner.

Callie chuckled and reached over to pat his arm placatingly. "I'm sure you're a dangerous, bad boy in your own way," her grin belied her soothing words. "But, honestly, you don't stand a chance against the dark power that is Callie Torres." She drew her hand back and fingered her drink again, turning the glass in slow circles along the bar top.

"'The dark power that is Callie Torres'?" Derek raised an eyebrow.

Callie pouted and shook her head sadly, drowning herself, not in the drinks she'd had, but in self-pity. She drowned herself, that is, until Derek's bark of laughter pulled her out of her morass.

She glared at him, "What the fuck are you laughing at?!"

"Yo-you!" Derek gasped as he slowed down to a mere chortle. He started up again though, when he raised his hands and mocked Torres, 'the dark power that is Callie Torres. Ooooooooh! Run away run away! Owwwwwwww!" He lifted his hand to rub the arm she'd just hit. He muttered under his voice, "you hit like a girl."

"I am a fucking girl." She finally took her drink into her hand and fixed her statement, "woman. I'm a fucking woman!"

"With dark powers." Derek valiantly fought the smile that crept across his face.

"When my darkness overwhelms you, don't say I didn't try and warn you." Callie mumbled and sipped at her shot.

Nodding his head in the direction of the bartender, Derek turned and faced Callie again. "So… what are these dark powers that I need to beware of?"

"I'm a black widow."

"You eat the head of your mate after you sleep with them? Oh, wait that's the Praying Mantis."

Callie shook her head slowly, "Black widows kill their mates too…. Sometimes."

Derek smiled, "So who have you mated with and killed recently?"

Callie groaned and dropped her head on to her arm as it lay on the counter. "Who haven't I mated and killed?"

Derek let his eyes take in Callie's thick fall of dark hair. A temptation to run his fingers through her hair hit him. It hit him hard. Shepherd, this is Torres. There will be no running your fingers through anything of hers. Ever. Redirecting his thoughts to safer ground he focused on their 'discussion'. "Okay, give me the list, who've you slept with and knocked off?"

Turning her head on her arm, Callie looked at Derek through a curtain of hair. Blowing at it impatiently a few times to get it out of the way so that she could answer him, Callie was getting more and more frustrated.

Then Derek did something unexpected, he reached across the bar and lifted the silky locks away from her face, tucking them behind her ear.

So much for not running my hands through her hair.

Callie cleared her throat nervously. "Umm, thank you."

"You're welcome." He took a deep breath, and then moved on to the new shot sitting in front of him. "You were saying?"

"I was?" He has a cute profile. Great hair. Maybe the hair is what gets all the staff to fall for him. "Oh, yeah," She blinked quickly,holding her free hand out she started clicking off her victims on her fingers. "George, Erica, Mark, Sadie…," looking intently at Derek she added, "I'm running out of fingers Shepherd!"

Leaning in toward Callie's reclined head, he smiled again. "Last time I looked, Torres: Sadie, Erica, George, and Mark, were all alive. You're not as deadly as you think you are."

It could be his smile. The smile is undeniably cute. It goes all the way up to his eyes. His cute sexy adorable bedroom – fuck! Calliope Torres! What the fuck!? She lifted her head, "I am deadly! Every relationship I get into ends badly, I either break them, or get broken by them, but someone fucking gets hurt."

"How'd you hurt Sadie?"

"Okay, she's a bad example, but… the others…. George, and Mark and Erica… and Mark." She groaned and dropped her head back down onto her arm.

"All of them are alive and kicking Callie."

"Well why can't I keep any of them?"

Derek raised his head and lifted one finger, indicating he wanted another drink. "Did you really want to keep Mark?"

"… I… I thought I did." She took another sip of Tequila. "He's a great friend."

"He is a great friend. He doesn't let a lot of people know that about him."

Callie raised her hand. "One of the few."

"The lucky few." Derek grinned then asked again, "So, did you really want to keep him?"

"Maybe. Sometimes. I don't know."

"And Hahn? I mean, I know you guys were, uhm, uhh, involved before she left, but I, um, didn't know how serious it was."

"You're kinda cute when you're embarrassed Dr. Shepherd." The words were only slightly slurred as they slid out of her mouth, but Callie was completely mortified as soon as she realized she'd said them out loud.

"You're not that bad looking when you blush either." Derek deadpanned back. Easing them away from their sudden mutual appreciation society, he continued. "What about Hahn?"

"Hahn? Hahn. Erica, um, yeah. I… I liked being wanted. By her… I mean…" Callie added quickly, "in a non physical way." She glanced down at her jeans, and silk shirt then grinned self depreciatingly at Derek, "Not that she didn't want me physically, because, um, hello, built like a brick house here."

Derek promptly let his eyes traverse Callie's curves before offering "I wouldn't even dare to disagree."

With a wider smile, Callie continued, "I liked Erica. She was a lot sweeter than she let on to most people."

"You seem to be drawn to those hard cases with hearts of gold."

"They're the only ones that will put up with my shit," she answered honestly.

"What about George. He wasn't a hard case."

"Yeah, and he also didn't really care about me. I was more or less a consolation prize for him. 'Can't have the one I want, I'll just love the one I'm with'. As soon as he COULD have the one he wanted… he was outta there."

"Did you really want him?"

Callie stared at Derek. "I thought I did. I don't know. I do know I was stupid. I put all of my eggs in one basket. A basket that wasn't mine. A basket that I KNEW didn't belong to me."

"And?"

"And he stole, dropped, and scrambled my eggs."

Derek smiled again.

It wasn't the hair… it was the smile. The smile was the deal clincher.

"So, so far, we've come to the agreement that Mark and Erica are nicer than they pretend to be. And that George was the wrong basket. You still haven't convinced me that you have a dark power that mutilates and kills all of those that come near you."

Callie's voice was so soft that Derek found himself leaning in again to hear her response. "Why can't I keep anyone? Why do they all leave and find something… someone better? I want to be someone's 'better'."

Derek dropped his voice to a level that matched Callie's. "Any man, or woman, who doesn't think you're 'better' than anyone they've had before, is either blind, or dumb. Or both."

Callie's chocolate eyes melted a bit as she stared into Derek's blues. "You're sweet AND cute?!" She flushed again when she realized she'd spoken out loud… again.

Derek grinned.

Even more attractive up close.

"Sweet, cute, and a dangerous bad boy. I'm the total package."

Callie stiffened suddenly. "Oh crap! Crap crap crap crap." She fumbled for her purse and slid off of her stool onto unsteady legs.

Derek reached out to stablize her, his arm at her elbow. "What's the matter?"

"You! You're the matter. Sweet, cute… a total package," she bent forward, steadying her body by placing one hand on his shoulder and one on his thigh. She whispered loudly in his ear, her breath warm against his skin. "I don't want you to fall for my dark power."

When he once again broke into peals of laughter, Callie pushed away from him with a frown. "Wha- What's so funny?"

"So any man or woman who finds you attractive, and funny, and intelligent, is doomed to, what? Die a horrible 'decapitating' death?"

"No, you, you… cute geek!" Callie poked her finger against his chest. A surprisingly firm chest. "Any man or woman who… who.. gets involved with me, leaves me! Finds someone better!"

Derek whistled and leaned back against the edge of the bar. "Someone really did a number on you, didn't they? Was it George? The George and Izzie thing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She dug fruitlessly through her purse looking for cash or a credt card to pay for her bill. Before she could pull the wallet that she'd finally found out of the purse, Derek had reached into his pocket and pulled cash out of his wallet.

He stood up, placing himself directly next to her. And she found herself thinking, He as a nice height. And really nice eyes. And… no! I will not do this again! I'm not going to go all goo goo gaga over someone that I can't have. That I shouldn't have.

Derek placed his hand under Callie's elbow again, gently steering her away from the bar and toward the door before she even knew she was moving. Struggling lightly, she asked him "What're you doing?"

"I'm taking you home."

"I don't live with Yang anymore. And I'm not telling you where I've moved to."

"Who said I was taking you to your home?" Derek offered as he pulled Callie Torres out of the bar.

Tequila For Two. For Two. For Two. For Two.b

Okay this is dumb. Derek chastised himself as he sat in the back seat of the taxicab.

"This is dumb, Shepherd!"

"Says the scared little girl."

She whacked Derek in the arm again. "I'm not a scared little girl. And I'm definitely not scared of YOU geek-boy."

"So why are you trying so hard to avoid… spending time with me."

"I already told you why." She mumbled.

Derek threw his arm over the back of the seat and faced Callie. "So tell me again."

"I'm done being the black hole of women. I'm done being the woman who is only good enough to rebound with, or as a consolation prize."

Derek placed his hand on Callie's chin and lifted her head "And again I say, anyone who doesn't think you're 'better' than anyone they've had before is blind and dumb."

"You're not getting into my pants Shepherd."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay." He slouched in the seat a bit, his eyes trained on the front window.

Okay?! "Besides, you and Grey – the elder – are 'epic' and 'meant to be' and … well, shit like that."

He smiled slightly. "I'm kind of tired of epic. It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Yeah, right."

"No. Really. Sometimes I just want to… to not have to think so much about every move I make. How it's going to be interpreted. It's tiring."

"It's called a relationship."

"Relationships are work. This… this thing that Meredith and I keep doing? It's hell."

"Did you two break up –"

"…again?"

"– again?"

He looked over at Callie with a smile. "About three weeks ago."

"You two have done three weeks before. You've done three months before." She smoothed her hands along her jean clad thighs. "You'll get back together."

Derek watched Callie's fingers pass over her legs, up and down, in a slow restless pattern. "We've done 3 weeks, and 3 months apart before, but the difference this time, is that I don't think I want to get back together with Mer."

"You're shitting me?!"

He laughed. "No shitting being done."

"But you… you and Grey! You're… you're Grey and Shepherd. Meredith and Derek. Grepherd. Merek!"

"I'm kind of sick of being Mer/Der." He looked down at Callie.

"Poor baby." Callie offered unconvincingly. "At least Grey is stuck to you like glue. She's not going to leave you and find something… someone new. She's not using you as a springboard to the next best thing. She – you -- are in it for the long haul."

"The long haul is only worth it with the right person." His voice was so soft and quiet Callie almost didn't hear him. "Mer is great, really great – wonderful even -- but… I don't think she's the one."

"Christ! What do we women have to do?!" Callie hit him again.

"Ouch!!! What. The. Fuck!?" Derek rubbed his pec tenderly.

"If someone as perfect as Meredith Grey can't keep you, what chance does –" she stopped abruptly. I was not about to say what I think I was just about to say. "Derek, let me out."

"Torres."

"Let me out damnit!"

"Torres," he grabbed her arm and pulled her against his frame. The frame that she'd previously thought to skinny. Too… unsubstantial.

She was surprised by his strength. And by his scent. Whatever cologne he had on… yeah, it worked.

"Torres?" Derek felt her stop struggling against him and he slowly relaxed his grip on her; still holding her, but loosely, more like a… caress. His head was inches from her hair, and he gave in to his desire to breathe in its fragrance. Vanilla, and… spice. Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Cloves. He found himself burrowing his nose through her dark web of hair. And within seconds he was lost. Lost in silken webs and delicate scent.

"Shepherd." Her voice was soft, raw… almost broken. "Shepherd?"

"Hmmmm?"

"We shouldn't… we can't fucking do this."

"One good reason?" His hands were now curving around her body and he found himself tracing the curves. A woman with curves! Okay, yeah, I HAVE been missing out on the good stuff.

"I refuse to be a consolation prize. Or rebound girl. Or, or… fuck it! You don't want me! I'm not good with boys. Or girls. I'm not svelte enough or Upper Eastside enough, or…."

He almost didn't hear her next words.

"I can't have my heart broken again." Even as she said the words, Callie placed one of her hands over Derek's as he cupped the underside of her breast.

Derek's lips brushed against Callie's ear ever so softly. "Did you ever think that maybe… maybe the reason why the others left you…, maybe the reason why Meredith and I just never seemed to stick is because you and I… we weren't with the right people?"

"So now you're Mr. Right?"

"Give me a shot."

"But –"

He whispered against her ear, "Give me a shot Callie."

Turning slightly in his arms, Callie looked him in the eyes. "If you hurt me Shepherd, I'll break you worse than Lexie broke Sloan."

Derek grinned, "Message received and understood."

Stupid sexy grin. Stupid sexy eyes. "So… are you going to kiss me, or what?"

"Your wish, my command."