The Places You've Been - 15 Callie/Arizona Drabbles

1. Season 5: The first time Callie kissed her in public, it made Arizona's head spin.

Three weeks in and Arizona was already smitten.

It didn't matter that Callie was still cautious at work; Arizona wasn't looking to put on a show. She liked her privacy and Callie's desire for the same suited her just fine.

But when a regular Tuesday lunch ended with Callie planting a quick 'goodbye' kiss on her lips for all to see, Arizona was stunned. Callie knew it, too, because she pulled back with that irresistible little half-smirk of hers and sauntered away looking all proud of herself.

Arizona felt a giddy smile begin to form. Yes, she was very smitten indeed.

2. 6x14: Arizona had always made fun of people that bought matching jewelry and yet here she was, excited by the very prospect of sharing this with her girlfriend.

"We're a total cheesy cliche right now, aren't we?" Arizona made a face and slipped her arms around Callie's bicep, resting a cheek against her shoulder.

"Oh totally," Callie agreed, completely unperturbed. "But they're beautiful, look at them!"

Arizona's eyes sparkled almost as much as the silver chain the clerk held up for them to see, the tiny white-gold heart twirling back and forth. "They really are." She lifted her head to plant a loving kiss against her girlfriend's cheek. "Just like you."

It was Callie's turn to roll her eyes, grinning nonetheless. "Now who's the cheesy one?"

3. 6x16: "Why couldn't we go dancing?"

"You missed out tonight."

Callie looks up from unlocking the car to find Arizona right beside her. "Hm?"

"We should've gone dancing," Arizona says coyly, trailing a finger down the center of Callie's chest.

Callie's mouth suddenly runs dry as Arizona very purposefully rubs up against her. "Oh?"

"I'm a really, really good dancer." Arizona smiles sweetly and presses a sensual kiss to the brunette's pulse point, grinding her hips into Callie's ass. "Just saying - you missed out."

Callie feels cold the moment Arizona pulls away and gets into the passenger's seat.

Next time, she is definitely taking her up on that offer.

4. 6x20: Don't.

The elephant in the room was the size of Jupiter but neither of them were willing to talk about it.

Arizona curled protectively around Callie, convinced that the tighter she held on, the longer she could stave off the inevitable. The sex was angry, passionate, desperate, sad; nothing like it had ever been before.

Callie tensed every time Arizona shifted behind her, wondering when she would pull away forever. She woke up expecting her to be gone, instead finding both Arizona and the elephant still present.

So they talked about breakfast, work, the weather. Callie let it go - the elephant could wait.

5. 7x01: "I want you to have a whole dresser and a whole...blow-dryer. Or something more romantic than that."

"Holy crap, how much clothing do you have?"

Arizona looks over her shoulder as she unloads a box in their newly shared closet. "You're the one that asked me to move in, remember, drunken sailor?"

"I know," Callie replies, "it's just...I thought most of your stuff was ialready/i here. I didn't realize I was dating Cristina." Arizona scoffs and Callie quickly sidles up to make peace. "But I'm glad you're here. Really, really glad," she points out, leaning over and accentuating each 'really' with a kiss.

Arizona smiles innocently. "There's more in the car. Make yourself useful?"

6. 7x18: Robbins looked so out of it that he was positive her brain was bleeding.

The only way Alex could get her to leave the gallery was to take her by the arm and force her. He thought it was weird how she didn't resist or try to hit him. She looked so out of it that he was sure her brain was bleeding, only a CAT-scan told him otherwise. He stitched her up, got her some scrubs, and even tried to make her eat something.

It was only when they were behind the glass panel again that he felt something on his arm. Arizona couldn't even make eye contact, but he could feel the question in her touch.

"She'll be fine." He heard the lie as it came out of his mouth but he didn't know what else to say.

Arizona nodded wordlessly and let him go, knowing that when it came time to help their baby, there was no one else she'd rather have in that OR.

7. 7x20: Callie never looked more perfect than she did in her wedding dress, but Arizona secretly couldn't wait to get her out of it.

The train of her dress nearly caught in the door as they stumbled through it, lips mingling, hands tugging at fabric they were both wary of destroying. Arizona pulled back with a hot breath and smoothed her palms up Callie's torso.

She knew her wife still felt reserved; that the remnants of the accident still made her self-conscious at times. Arizona was meticulous in working the dress down her body, immediately ducking down to press a solid kiss to the center of her chest, across the thin line marring otherwise perfect skin.

Callie seemed to forget it all in that instant. She pulled Arizona to her lips once more and guided her towards the bedroom. This was a night just for them and she planned on taking full advantage.

8. 8x05: "I'm the only one that can get her to go back to sleep at night."

Mark opens the door after one knock and it doesn't take a genius to see that he's unhappy. "She's in the nursery."

Arizona doesn't have the energy for his pouting and pushes her way inside. She pads barefoot down the hall, Sofia's wails acting as her trail of breadcrumbs, and she can't help but grimace when she hoists the baby into her arms. For a twenty-three weeker at birth, Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres has lungs of steel.

It can't be easy for Mark; this is the fourth time he's had to call her in for backup in the last few weeks. It's not his fault, Sofia's just a fussy sleeper and Arizona handles babies for a living. It does give her a sense of satisfaction, though. Sofia trusts her and no piece of paper could ever mean more than that.

"You're mine, you know," Arizona whispers, holding her closely and breathing in that heavenly newborn scent she somehow still possesses. "You're all I've ever wanted, even if I didn't know it yet."

Sofia roots against her shoulder and gurgles in reply, and it's music to Arizona's ears because she knows she just heard the six-month-old's version of 'Mama'.

9. 8x06: "I'm going to eat pizza and drink beer in bed with my wife, and then we're gonna have lots and lots of sex."

"Tell me why we don't do this more often," Arizona says around a mouthful of pineapple.

Callie heaves herself across Arizona's naked and prone body, reaching for another slice on the night stand. "Because somebody has a 'no food in bed' rule."

Arizona hums and twines one leg with Callie's under the covers. "You should tell that person to stuff it. Pizza, beer and sex are a match made in heaven."

Callie's hand changes course and she reaches into their 'secret' bedside drawer instead. "Speaking of things you can stuff—"

Arizona groans and feels a rush of arousal at the implication. "I love you."

10. 8x11: Her wife is always an adorable control freak but even Callie was surprised at the level of crazy displayed during the twins' surgery.

"I've never seen you like that before."

Arizona lifts her head from Callie's stomach, drawing idle circles around her partner's navel. "Like what?"

"That…fierce." Callie's post-orgasmic haze has only just lifted but she musters enough energy to smile. "To put it nicely."

Arizona shrugs and settles back in. "I was there when they were born. Saw them struggle, saw them fight to survive. They weren't supposed to make it this far, so yeah, I wanted to fight for them."

"You scared people today." Callie tugs playfully on a lock of hair.

Arizona smirks. "I told you – peds surgeons are hardcore."

11. 8x14: This is much, much better than camping.

It's only when the second thermal is pulled over Arizona's shoulders that Callie releases an exasperated growl, tugging at the material impatiently. "How many layers are you iwearing?/i"

Arizona leans forward, fingers twisting into dark curls, urging the horndog that is her wife to step closer. "I thought we were camping," she argues, nibbling at that tease of a bottom lip.

"You're ridiculous." Callie sounds somewhere between annoyed and amused, and Arizona just hopes she'll stick with the latter.

Because when she gets to her pants, there are two more sets of long underwear and some wool socks to go.

12. 8x19: "I'm gonna go home to my wife because I am sick of pushing this baby around this park every morning at the buttcrack of dawn."

The fact that Callie isn't a morning person is what impresses Arizona most about this deal with Meredith Grey. That, and how Callie has taken the high road with someone that once treated her like crap.

But the day Callie walks in, Sofia in tow, and announces that her protege's training is complete, she feels an enormous sense of relief that their alarm will stop going off at 3:30 every morning.

"Does this mean that I have my wife back?" Arizona circles both arms around her partner's shoulders.

Callie gathers her close and answers with a meaningful kiss. "God, I hope so."

13. 8x19: If there was an upside to Mark being Chief for a day, Callie had just eaten it.

Arizona looks like she's been slapped in the face. "They're gone? All of them?"

Callie grimaces and eyes the empty tray between them. "Uh—"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince 'Chief Sloan' to give me the extra jelly filled?" Arizona leans across the kitchen counter. "I flirted with him, Callie."

"It was my day off," Callie protests. "And I got sucked into watching 'Dance Moms'. You know how I eat when I'm stressed."

Arizona sets the container in the trash, exhaling a breath of defeat. "I really wanted a donut for dinner."

Callie smiles weakly. "Oops."

14. 8x23: She could get on the plane to Boise, or she could stay at home and take a much-needed nap with her wife.

"You don't have to go. We can go home, run a hot bath…you can stay."

Callie's holding her by the shoulders, looking at her like she's begging her to agree, but she can't. Not tonight. Nick is dying, Alex is leaving, and the universe is just really fucking unfair. She needs to leave before the ungrateful chip on her shoulder falls onto her wife and daughter.

"Tomorrow," she promises, sealing the deal with a soft kiss, "I'll be back tomorrow." She leaves without looking back, unable to take the worry lines creasing Callie's brow, knowing she put them there.

15. The plane crash took more than her leg; it took her dignity and it took her freedom. What it didn't take was her love for her wife and daughter, no matter how hard it was to get up in the morning some days.

Arizona was in tears before Callie even finished removing the wrap that hid the amputation site from view. She sucked in a sharp breath as the glaring reminder of the crash, scarred and still freshly pink, stared them both in the face.

"It's just me here," Callie reminded her gently, placing a hand very carefully on the portion of Arizona's thigh that was visible beneath her shorts. It gained her the same flinching reaction as it always did, only this time she refused to let go.

"Callie," Arizona breathed, refusing to make eye contact as her voice broke with humiliation.

"I'm not going anywhere," Callie stated for the thousandth time. She would repeat herself until she was blue in the face if that's what it took for Arizona to listen. This was no monstrosity to her; this was her wife and the mother of her child. Losing a part of her physical self hadn't changed that.

She gave Arizona thirty seconds to gather herself, then stood up and slipped a supportive arm around her shoulders. In a move they had synchronized over the last few months, she got her standing and fixed with a crutch on her opposite side. Thirteen steps to the bathroom, three more to the tub, and two easy motions before Arizona was submerged in warm bubbles.

Callie wanted to be in there with her so badly she could barely breathe. "Can I stay?"

She knew the answer before it even left her wife's mouth. "It's okay," she rushes to continue, smiling politely to hide her aching disappointment.

"Next time?"

This causes Callie to stop in her tracks. The offer is meek and spoken so quietly that she almost thought she imagined it. "Really?"

Arizona's smile is faint, but it's there and there's a modest bravado underneath that reads how hard she is trying. "Yeah."

Callie feels a flutter of hope at the first signs of life she's seen in months. "Okay. Next time."