Get What You Came For

Ch. 1- Train Wreck

Pretend you haven't just met me, formalities put me to sleep, don't make me take this nice and slow, I wanna know what they don't know.

Seattle was uncharacteristically dry when Arizona stepped out into the air from the hotel she had spent the night at. She had arrived in the city late and had decided against bothering any of her old friends in the area with picking her up and letting her crash somewhere. Now it was bright and early, nearly the afternoon actually, but Arizona felt personally accomplished at being on her feet so soon after such a long flight and the change in time. It was mostly due to excitement, she expected. After a quick stop at the hospital to sign some papers she would once again be a doctor in America.

Africa had been…perfect really. The work was challenging and the lack of certain company even more so. The blonde had a singularly difficult beginning. She had cried everyday for months, but hearing no word from her former lover in that time she began to throw herself into the work. The children needed her and a poor attitude would do nothing for them. Also, the lack of contact from Calliope made her think that they really were over.

Arizona sighed thinking about those long months. She had held on to some hope at the very beginning that Calliope would just show up at the clinic one day holding a suitcase and a bouquet and they would have a moment of staring longingly across the room at each other before running into each other's arms, followed, naturally, by kisses and gay love.

The blonde sighed and shook her head to dispel the thoughts. It hadn't happened and in the past three years Arizona had not only given up, but moved on with her life. And she legitimately hoped (even though the thought made her sick inside, but she hid that well) that Calliope had moved on to and found someone that she could be happy with.

The hotel she had stayed at wasn't far from the hospital so she decided against any form of transportation except her feet. A walk would do her good. She'd gotten very used to walking long distances in Africa and even grew to like it. Just because she was back in the states where clean water was available in the kitchen instead of five kilometers away didn't mean she had to get lazy.

Fixing a perky smile on her face, the blonde surgeon started down the sidewalk in the direction of the hospital.

Derek Shepherd, Arizona decided, looked much the same as last she had seen him. He was a little greyer around the temples, but his eyes were merry and he had laugh lines. She smiled immediately upon seeing him. "Morning Chief!" she greeted as she entered his office.

"Dr. Robbins, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow, but it's far from morning," Derek replied, standing to great the pediatric surgeon with a firm handshake. Arizona gave as good as she got and then took a seat in the chair across from Derek.

"Well I just woke up," she confessed happily, "so I hope you'll forgive the mix-up."

"Of course, I have all the paper work here if you'd like to read over it. I just need a signature on a few pages. The ethics code and trauma protocol have been updated since you left so you'll need to re-familiarize yourself with those."

Arizona accepted the documents and manuals and quickly got to work on read through everything. Derek went back to his paperwork as well and they worked in relative silence for several minutes before the door burst open and the head nurse informed Derek that his wife was on line one.

Derek answered the phone and Arizona smiled at hearing his tone when speaking to Meredith. She was glad to know that they were together and doing well. She felt a little pained at thoughts that she and Callie could be like that still if she hadn't left, but she shook it off. She had done good work in Africa and it was definitely nothing to be ashamed of.

When she was finished with the paper work she was offered another warm handshake from Derek and his welcome back to the team. Arizona thanked him and left, eager to get to her floor and into her work.

Getting reacquainted with her staff was mostly easy. It was nice to see familiar faces on her floor. There were some new interns and nurses that she would have to get to know before she ended up in surgery with them, and then there was catching up on her new patients. Arizona liked to know the name of every child in her care, and more than a few personal details about them. The relationship was important. She wanted to be invested in their care as wholly as possible.

Therefore, she spent several hours going over charts in her old office and taking notes over the children and their conditions. After she looked over each chart thoroughly she would stop in to visit with the child if he or she was awake and with the parents if they were available.

She met little Andrew Bennet who had been having trouble breathing over the last few weeks. He was eight and loved boats and the sea and wanted to be in the Navy like his father when he grew up.

There was Madi Seville, a pretty little five-year-old that was a big fan of the color yellow and ducks. She had an advanced case of pneumonia and wasn't getting better for some reason.

Oliver Harold Clark was twelve and insisted on being called by his full name ("It's Oliver, not Ollie!"). He was going to be a firefighter, he told her solemnly, or a marine biologist, once he got finished with all his chemotherapy.

Mercy Henderson-Jones was fresh from China and had a cleft palate. Her fathers were so proud to have her that the emotion nearly rolled off of them.

There were many more, but Arizona needed a quick lunch before she made more rounds. She passed off the charts she was finished with at the nurses' station and was about to head to the cafeteria, but was delayed by questions about her time in Africa. She regaled the nurses and a few interns with one of her more exciting stories for a moment. Arizona took pride in her work and it was clear to her that her new coworkers (and some old) looked up to her standards and appreciated her labors.

This story led to another which led to a story from one of the nurses and that went into some jokes. Arizona found herself caught up in the stories and jokes and was having a great time.

She had thought before that she was perfectly happy, but now, standing back in her hospital with these people, she finally felt like she was home.

Arizona's laughter cut off when she felt an insistent tug on the leg of her scrub pants. She looked down, startled by the sudden jerk, and found herself gazing at a pair of big brown eyes set in a little tan face.

"Can I help you little one?" she asked, taking in the child's appearance.

She looked to be between 24 and 36 months and of Hispanic origin. She had thick dark curls and deep eyes that struck Arizona as somewhat familiar. Her face was round and healthy, but she looked tired and possibly feverish. She was wearing pajamas that would typically be seen on a little boy, as they had the Batman logo all over them, and she was dragging a stuffed puppy around in her other hand.

The girl didn't answer with words, possibly due to her age, but mostly because of the pacifier she was sucking on. She nodded though and looked up imploringly at the blonde.

"Are you lost?" The little girl nodded and held tighter to Arizona's pant leg, moving closer to her.

The nurse that Arizona had been speaking to previously looked over the edge of the counter. "Oh, Robbie, what are you doing out? Did Dr. Tate let you get away again?" She turned back to Arizona. "Sorry Dr. Robbins, little Robbie is a hospital baby. Both of her parents are working today and she has a cold so she can't stay at the daycare. Dr. Tate was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but Robbie's a little escape artist."

"Is that so?" Arizona asked Robbie. The little girl grinned around her pacifier but refused to comment. "Well let's go find Dr. Tate so no one gets worried."

Before she could lead the girl down the hall a rather harried doctor rounded the corner at as swift walk. She was young and blonde and wearing the light blue scrubs of an intern or resident. Her frantic expression calmed upon seeing the little girl and Arizona assumed that this was Dr. Tate. "Piernas, do you want your parents to kill me or something? You sure are sneaky for such a cute thing."

Robbie jumped in place a few times, not letting go of Arizona's pants, then moved behind the blonde's legs so she was hidden from view. Arizona laughed lightly and Dr. Tate rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Hi, Shelby Tate, third year resident, you must be Dr. Robbins. I've heard a lot about you." Shelby offered her hand in a shake and Arizona accepted.

"All good I'm sure," Arizona quipped with a grin. Shelby bowed her head in concurrence, a wry grin on her lips. "I don't think she wants to go back to her room right now," Arizona whispered, indicating the way the little girl was trying to conceal herself.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to tell her Mami that she ran away and was bad all day," Shelby stage whispered.

Robbie peered around Arizona's legs, her brow collapsed in worry. Shelby cocked her head at the little girl and she inched out of her hiding place.

"Vamos, su mami se terminará pronto," Shelby said, holding out her hand for the girl to take. Robbie seemed very excited at this and eagerly grasped the other woman's hand, leaving Arizona's side for the first time. "Are you going to say goodbye to Dr. Robbins?"

Robbie blinked at Shelby and then at Arizona. Then she hitched her puppy up higher in her grip and turned to try and pull Shelby down the hall.

"Sorry about that Dr. Robbins, she doesn't talk yet." Shelby stopped the girl and picked her up.

"Really?" Arizona was surprised by this revelation. "How old is she?"

"Just turned two a few months ago I think," was the reply. "She's not lagging developmentally, if that's why you ask. Anyway, Dr. Torres doesn't seem worried."

The casual mention of that name stopped Arizona's heart cold. "Dr. Torres?" she asked, praying with everything she had that there had been a new Torres added to staff. Torres wasn't exactly an uncommon name.

"Yeah, her mom, Callie Torres in Ortho."

Arizona felt nauseous. She looked up at the little girl and suddenly saw that she was every inch Calliope's child.

"You ok there, doctor?" Shelby asked. Arizona moved her gaze to the other blonde. Shelby was watching her carefully, vaguely concerned, but there was something in her eyes that put Arizona off, like she knew exactly what her words had done.

Arizona forced a grin. "I'm fine, thanks for asking. I haven't had lunch yet, so I think I'll go do that now. Nice meeting you Dr. Tate."

"And you, Dr. Robbins."

Arizona fled from the situation, as she was wont to do and bolted for the elevators. The motion of the machine did little for her nausea and she only made it two floors before the doors opened for more people to get in. She exited and barely made it to the ladies' room before she emptied the contents of her stomach.

We stripped it all down to the bone, your skeletons are not alone, I let them out to roam and they met mine, I think they danced all night.

Review please.

EDIT 1-25-12:

If I get one more review telling me that "gay love" is a faux pas, I'm going to hurt someone.

"kisses and gay love" is a motherfucking Buffy reference, you uncultured swine.

Enjoy the fic.