Year: 2171
Location: The Asteroid Belt/Mars
“Torres, where the hell are you?” Lt. Bailey’s voice crackled in her ear as Callie made her way across the tube connecting her ship to the wrecked one her crew was attempting to recover―as swiftly as she could in the minimal gravity, anyway. They were currently on the face of Gaspra, one of the largest asteroids in the Belt between Mars and Jupiter, where the gravity was even less than that of the Earth’s moon. They’d been on a routine resource-replenishment assignment, but fate had different plans for them. They were now, against all odds, on a rescue mission.
“I’m coming as fast as I can, Bailey. You forget, I’m a doctor, not an astronaut. I’m not used to these IEVAs.”
“Quit whining,” Alex grumbled. “Just jump and glide. Jump and glide. It’s not that hard.”
“Says you! This is my first mission off Mars. I’m not used to zero gravity.” Callie had lived her whole life in one the Mars colonies. The thriving colonies were climate controlled, and the artificial gravity was a perfect match for Earth’s. She lived was one of three anchor cities on Mars, with many smaller colonies amongst and in between. ‘New New York’ was the largest of the three, followed by ‘New Beijing’ and, finally, Callie’s home, and also the capital, ‘New Seattle.’
“Just remember your training,” Captain Hunt chimed in. “You’ll be fine.”
“I still don’t understand why you need me over there. According to my readings, your vitals are all fine.” Callie was the Medical Officer on mining ship designation GA-13Y-2MNY. The mining crafts didn’t receive official names beyond their designation, but this one was affectionately known as ‘The Pit.’ “What could you possibly need a doctor for in that antique hunk of historical junk?”
Bailey’s voice once again sounded in her earpiece, offering only: “You have to see it to believe it.”
Callie’s first assignment out of residency wasn’t the cushy ‘New Seattle Grace’ hospital position her parents had hoped she’d have. She hadn’t wanted to use the privilege that came with her family’s position in the colony, so to their dismay, she’d instead joined the Space Corps and requested to serve as Medical Officer on one of the burgeoning fleet of survey ships, like the new, technologically superior, ESS Yang, bound to explore the farther reaches of space. But, instead of one of the shiny new ships, she’d been matched to a lowly mining craft that wouldn’t even be leaving the solar system. She understood the importance of the resources that could be obtained from the titanium-rich space rocks floating in the Asteroid Belt, but mining bored her. The crew was relatively small, and there was never any actual doctoring for her to do.
They’d been on day forty-four of their mission when the communications officer, Lt. Bailey, had detected a faint signal transmission from the nearby asteroid Gaspra. Captain Hunt had wanted to ignore it, believing it to be random cosmic noise, but Bailey’s expertise and persistence had won out. The anomalous signal led them almost 600,000 miles off-course, but it payed off in the biggest way. The crew of the GA-12Y-2MNY were going to be famous: they’d solved a century-old mystery and recovered a ship that had been deemed lost in space before any of them even had been born: they’d found the original Mars Colony Dreamer.
A technological relic, the MC Dreamer was part of the original Colonization Fleet. It and its crew were considered ‘lost in space’ after communication went dark, just before falling into orbit around Mars in 2058. At first, people believed it to be a horrible accident, but with no evidence to prove otherwise, a fringe group of Earthers claimed responsibility, seizing the narrative, and changing the course of global space policy. The loss of the MC Dreamer and its crew, and the political firestorm that followed, set the Mars Colonization program back a good ten years.
Finally, after years of lobbying the United Earth Government to no avail, Maggie Pierce (brilliant astrophysicist and half-sister to one of the MC Dreamer’s lost crew members) got the program back on track via private funding from Avery Aeronautics and Torres Technologies. Now, because of her persistence, ingenuity, and superior new engine, humans had been comfortably living on Mars for more than 75 years.
Callie had learned about the ship’s crew in her history classes. ‘Mars History’ had been one of her favorite non-science courses while in grade school. You couldn’t have Mars pride without thinking of the sacrifice of the original McDreamers, as history had come to call them; Captain Derek Shepherd, Lt. Commander Mark Sloan, Chief Science Officer Arizona Robbins, Lt. Meredith Grey, Lt. Cristina Yang, and Medical Officer Lexie Grey had sacrificed their lives for humanity’s push to thrive beyond earth.
Callie ducked her head as she stepped through the airlock and into the old ship. Bailey and Alex were waiting, helmets off, big smiles on their faces. Callie lifted the facemask on her helmet and sniffed the stale air. After reconnecting the power couplings, Alex had managed to get the old compressors working. Now, breathable air was being pumped throughout the old ship. Not having to wear the IEVAs would make the recovery process much easier.
“Okay, I’m here,” Callie grumbled. “What’s the big deal?”
“Do you know how they used to cryofreeze for long space travel? Before the Pierce Drive?” a grinning Bailey asked.
“Yeah, but…this was a direct-to-Mars spaceship. Why would they need to cryofreeze?” Callie asked. “Even then, it was only a six month trip. Easily doable.”
“They wouldn’t need to,” Bailey answered. “Only the deep space expedition ships used it as standard procedure. But all ships were equipped with it. Even the Mars Colony Dreamers. The MC astronauts could sleep for long stretches of the trip, saving energy and resources.”
“Yeah…” Callie nodded, and her heart rate increased. She remembered now. It was outdated technology, but she’d learned about it in medical school. The Pierce Drive had changed the face of space travel: it no longer took months to travel to Mars; it could be done in a few weeks. But the thought that these people were still alive, frozen for more than a hundred years, was unthinkable. Or was it? “Are you saying…?”
“She’s saying some of the units are still active,” Alex interrupted. He pointed across the room to a row of six sleeping pods. One was empty. Two were completely dark, but three of them had faint blinking lights and seemed to be completely intact.
Callie’s mouth dropped open in shock. The people in those pods were historical figures. She knew their names and faces by heart. She knew where they were born, where they grew up, and even where they went to university. They were more than a mere footnote in Mars history--they were considered part of Mars Colony’s founding fathers and mothers. Even though they never made it the surface.
“Do you think you can wake them?”
“Get them over to The Pit,” Callie stated with authority, a boastful smile forming on her face. “I know I can.”
Callie managed to get the three surviving members of the MC Dreamer thawed and in regular stasis rather quickly. Her plan was to bring them each up to consciousness slowly, so as not to overwhelm their over-taxed nervous systems.
Callie was talking to the shipboard computer―an artificial intelligence known as IZZIE, as it utilized an Integrated Zircon Zettabyte Interface Engine―about her plans to wake the two healthy lieutenants, Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang, first.
“I’d like to wait on Robbins,” Callie said. “Her leg is in bad shape. I’ll need to take care of that first.”
“According to the logs, Chief Science Officer Arizona Robbins was put into the cryochamber almost immediately, as the damage to her leg was too severe for the remaining crew to handle without Medical Officer Lexie Grey, who was lost in the initial explosion,” IZZIE stated.
“The empty pod,” Callie surmised.
“Correct, Dr. Torres.” IZZIE’s disembodied voice went on to explain, “It appears as though Lt. Commander Mark Sloan was also put into the cryochamber at the same time as Chief Robbins, but due to the nature of his injuries, he didn’t survive the freezing process. It was a noble attempt to save him, but it wasn’t enough.”
“And Captain Shepherd? Were his injuries also life threatening?”
“No. As best as I can tell from analyzing the data, his pod malfunctioned 73 years ago.”
IZZIE ran through what data was available to piece together the last days of the MC Dreamer as best she could. Most of thedata had been wiped out when the survivors cannibalized the nonessential computer systems for parts. They’d known their chance of rescue before the supplies ran out were slim, so to increase the odds, they’d decided to cryofreeze everyone except Lt. Yang.
Cristina worked tirelessly, alone, while the others slept for months, attempting to fix the long range communications array. She was never able to get the comms up and running again, but she did manage to improvise the self-charging system that would keep the cryopods operating and keep sending a short range distress signal, long after the ship’s powercore was depleted. After completing that task, she activated her own chamber just days before she would have succumbed to dehydration and starvation.
Lt. Bailey and Science Officer Kepner came into the med bay in time to catch the end of IZZIE’s run-down of what happened on the MC Dreamer.
“Wow.” April looked at the three women with awe. “It’s a miracle that any of them are still alive.”
Bailey agreed. “That it is.”
“It wasn’t a miracle that kept them alive,” IZZIE stated, matter-of-factly. “It was Lt. Yang and the cryotechnology.”
Callie rolled her eyes at IZZIE. “Then it was a miracle that we found them after so long.”
“One hundred and thirteen years, two hundred and forty-five days, and six hours,” IZZIE supplied. “That’s how long they were lost.”
“Well, they aren’t lost anymore,” Callie smiled. “Let’s wake them up.”
There was a blast, but no fire. No smoke. Just the force of the air rushing as they tumbled further and further until they were twisted and turned and so far off course. Her body flung about until her leg got trapped in a bulkhead. She felt it bend and break with the force of the air being sucked into space. Pain. Screaming. Someone was screaming. Screaming into blackness.Then nothing. For so long, there was nothing.
Talking. Someone was talking. Talking to her. Saying her name.
Arizona’s eyes fluttered open. It took a moment for her to focus. When she did, a set of warm, inquisitive brown eyes stared back.
I’m dead, she thought, because surely the creature hovering above her was an angel.
She swallowed and opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, but the angel asked her not to. Not to strain herself. Did angels say such things? Maybe she wasn’t an angel.
She blinked her eyes again, trying to get a better look. To focus.
“Hi,” Arizona managed, her voice hoarse and shaky. “Are…you...an angel?”
“No,” the brunette answered, but the breathtaking smile on her face told Arizona otherwise.
She was most certainly looking into the face of an angel.
“Dude, why is she looking at you like that?” Alex Karev leaned over Callie’s shoulder, trying to get a good look at the woman in the bed.
Callie turned and looked directly at her crewmate, who shouldn’t have been anywhere near the med bay during Chief Robbins’ awakening.
“Karev, what the hell? Get out,” she gently pushed him back and led him toward the door. “Coming out of cryosleep is…private. Especially after such a long time. It’s like...coming down from a really weird high.”
“If she believes you’re an angel,” he teased, “Then I think she’s probably still high.”
“Okay, that’s enough…Get,” she pushed him. “Out.” Another push and he was through the door. “And don’t go bothering Bailey or Kepner while they sit with the others, either. Give these women some peace! They’ve been through a lot.”
“I’m going, I’m going…” Alex grumbled as the door slid shut in his face.
Callie walked back over to Arizona’s bedside. “Are you still with me?”
Arizona’s gaze shifted from the door that Alex had just exited, back to Callie, “He is no angel.”
“No,” Callie laughed. “He’s not.”
Over the next few hours, Arizona drifted in and out of consciousness as her brain adjusted to the sudden thawing. But this time, when she was out, her slumber wasn’t filled with the nothingness like before. Or with nightmares of the crash. This time, she dreamed of a beautiful angel helping her, holding her hand, sitting by her side. Whispering soft words of encouragement and giving her peace.
The next time Arizona woke up, she was fully conscious and aware. She lifted her head from the pillow and took in her surroundings. She could tell she was in a hospital or medical bay of some sort, and likely still in space. The recycled air in spaceships always had a certain distinct lack of odor.
She could see who she assumed was her doctor. The woman had long dark-brown hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail, wearing a white lab coat with the sleeves rolled up. The brunette had her back turned to her, so Arizona couldn’t make out her features, but she felt a certain sense of familiarity.
Arizona cleared her throat.
The woman turned to face her with the most magnificently stunning smile she’d ever seen. The kind of smile that made knees buckle and grown men and women swoon. The kind of smile that made Arizona way more nervous than the fact that she had no idea where she was or how long she’d been out. “Um…hi.”
“Hello, how are you feeling? Any pain?”
Arizona shook her head. “No. No pain.”
“Can you tell me your name?”
“Arizona Robbins, Chief Science Officer of the first Mars Colony Dreamer Class ship.”
“What do you remember?”
“Everything,” Arizona swallowed. “I remember it all. Up until Cristina froze me, then nothing, until…” she thought of her angel. The one she now knew bore a striking resemblance to her doctor. “You.”
Callie’s brow creased in sympathy, as the next part was going to be difficult for Arizona to hear.. “You’ve been in cryofreeze for quite some time. A lot has happened…” she paused, not wanting to say the next part. “I had to amputate your left leg before we could wake you. It was beyond repair. Even now.”
Arizona’s crystal blue eyes filled with tears.
“But don’t worry, you’re a perfect candidate for the regrowth process. The hospitals on Mars are second to none. You’ll be up and walking in few short weeks…”
“Wait. Hospitals on Mars?” Arizona grew concerned about more than just her leg. “How long was I in cryo?”
This is going to be more painful than the leg news, Callie thought. She was reluctant to say the words; she didn’t want to cause this woman any more pain.
“Long…” It came out as a whisper. “Years.”
“Years?”
Callie nodded.
“More than five?”
Callie nodded again, but this time she reached out and took Arizona’s hand in her own.
“Wait, more?” Arizona asked. She was growing desperate. “Ten years? Twenty?” Everyone she knew would be getting old or dying.
“Chief Robbins, I’m so sorry but…” Callie couldn’t imagine what the other woman must be feeling, but she had to tell her the truth. Rip off the bandaid. “It’s been one hundred and thirteen years.”
Arizona’s head flopped back on the pillow and she stared at the ceiling, her mind whirling with the revelation. Her mother, father, brother…all dead. Forget her freaking leg being gone―the life she’d known was gone.
After a few moments her eyes flicked back to woman at her bedside. She had so many questions. There was so much she needed to know, but not yet. She didn’t want to think about any of that stuff right now. Right now she needed to know only one thing. “What’s your name?”
“Uh…” Callie brow creased with worry. This wasn’t the response she expected. “I’m Dr. Calliope Torres, but you can call me-”
“Calliope,” Arizona tried out the name. “It’s a beautiful name. I like it.”
“Um, thanks.” Arizona’s reaction was perplexing. Callie was sure the she’d be grilling her for details, like the others had, not…musing about her name.
After a few moments, Arizona took a deep, shuddering breath. Callie just sat silent and let her process. Eventually, the blonde found her voice again. “The others?”
“Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang were the only other survivors. Mark Sloan and Derek…”
“I don’t….I don’t need the details. Not right now.”
The crew of The Pit and the survivors of the MC Dreamer decided to keep the news of their discovery quiet until they were almost back to Mars. It would take them a few days to navigate out of the Belt and return to Mars orbit.
Callie felt they all need the time to rest and recuperate, not answering questions from all the various entities that would be interested in their return: Space Corps Command, the Mars Provincial Government, or even the United Earth Government. Everyone was going to be interested. Callie knew once they returned to Mars, there would be no rest for the three. They had months of being hounded by the press to look forward to.
Cristina spent a lot of her free time on the bridge chatting with Captain Owen Hunt and IZZIE as they filled her in on the progress of space travel and technology over the past hundred years. Meredith mostly stayed in her recovery room, mourning the death of her sister and husband. It may have happened decades ago, but to her, the loss was fresh.
As their physician, Callie spent equal amounts of time with each of her patients, but on a personal note, she prefered the company of Arizona Robbins. She’d seen pictures of her from before, but in person….Callie just couldn’t take her eyes off her. She almost felt like it was bordering on inappropriate, but Arizona didn’t seem to mind. Callie assumed she’d chalked it up to the novelty of her fame.
All three of the survivors had trouble believing they were famous. Cristina Yang was beyond pleased that one of the newest long-range exploratory spaceships was named after her. Arizona seemed embarrassed, but proud, to know that Arizona Robbins Tech was one of the top universities in the science district of New Seattle, and Callie’s alma mater for undergrad.
The night before they were due to arrive back at Mars, Callie took Arizona for a short walk around the smallish mining ship, pushing her in a magnochair and showing her around. It was the first time she’d made it out of the med bay. After walking them in a full circle, Callie stopped in front of one of the large windows so Arizona could see both of moons, Deimos and Phobos, and then Mars in the distance, as they moved ever closer to their destination.
“Tell me more about Mars,” Arizona prompted. “The colony. Did you grow up there?”
“Born and raised,” Callie replied. “I’m a citizen of Mars, through and through.”
“Wait...” Arizona’s brow furrowed as a thought occurred to her. “Have you ever been to earth?”
“My parents visit all the time due to their position,” Callie paused. “Actually, they um…I think they’re on their way home from Earth now.”
Arizona sensed she was leaving something out, but figured if Callie wanted her to know, she’d tell her.
“Personally,” Callie continued, “I’ve never had a desire to go. My sister, Aria, went with them once, and she hated it. She said it was hot in some places and cold in others. And the atmosphere had a weird smell.”
“It sounds like Earth didn’t change much while I was sleeping,” the blonde joked. She reached over and grabbed Callie’s hand. “But…you…You live in such a different world than me…You grew up on Mars! You’re a Martian. I know I was part of a group coming to colonize, but to see it play out so successfully...I’m...I’m lucky. So, so lucky. But, where do I fit in this new world? I…I don’t know how I’m going to figure out the rest of my life. Where’s my home? Earth or Mars? Do I even have a home?”
Callie’s eyes softened at the other woman’s admission of her fears. She pulled up a nearby chair and sat directly in front of Arizona, taking both her hands and holding them, her thumbs rubbing over soft knuckles. “I think you’ll be able to live wherever you want. You’re Arizona Robbins.”
“Do you think I’ll like Mars?”
“You’ll love Mars. And you’ll make a new home. If not here, then back on Earth. Or…you can hop on the Yang and make the trip to Proxima b.”
“Please don’t say hop on the Yang. I know her as a person, not a ship.”
Callie laughed out loud at the sour look on Arizona’s face at the thought hoping on Yang. “Hey, I always thought you and Yang were a couple.”
Arizona eyes widened with shock. “You…you thought Yang and I were a couple?”
“Well, we know that Grey and Shepherd were married and that Little Grey―that’s…uh how we differentiated in history class, by the way. Anyway, Little Grey and Mark Sloan were a couple. And you were…so we all just assumed.”
“I can’t believe you were taught that in history!”
“Oh it wasn’t on our syllabus or anything. Professor Webber didn’t lecture on it. But it was speculated about. Especially in certain circles.”
“Circles that you were part of?”
Callie nodded. “I was definitely a part of the circles. But, now, I know better, because I think Yang is trying to hop on Captain Hunt.”
“Okay, I don’t want to talk about Yang’s… personal life, anymore. It’s inappropriate,” Arizona groaned, but the twinkle in her eyes let Callie know she hadn’t gone too far. “Tell me more about you. Where do you live?”
“When I’m not here, I live in New Seattle. Space Corps Headquarters is there, and it’s also the Capital. It’s way better than New New York. New Beijing is really nice, too, but I love my hometown. The best hospital on Mars is there: Seattle Grace. My parents were hoping I’d work there, but I chose the Space Corps. I needed to get away. Make it on my own. Without their help. If they had their choice, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Well,” Arizona dipped her head and looked Callie through her lashes, “I, for one, am glad you’re here.”
Callie gazed back into the depths of Arizona’s mesmerizing blue eyes, “Me, too.”
The corners of the blonde’s mouth quirked up in a smile, and butterflies took flight in Callie’s stomach.
Over the next few days, Arizona felt like she was stuck in a whirlwind of actions that were beyond her control. She was shuttled from the Mining Ship GA-13Y-2MNY to the Avery Orbiter, a mobile space station that orbited Mars. There, Space Corps debriefed the three survivors, scanned them for viruses, and administered various vaccinations; then, finally, they brought Robbins, Grey, and Yang to the planet's surface.
After finally touching down on the planet, Arizona was taken directly to Seattle Grace hospital to begin the regeneration process for her leg. She was amazed by the technology, which consisted of a combination of cellular cloning, 3-D printing, and nanites (microscopic robots) that helped facilitate connecting the nerves and stimulating tissue. She’d be walking without aid within a month. On her own new leg.
Callie’s right, Arizona thought, Mars is amazing. The only thing that would make it better would have been Callie’s company. She hadn’t seen her ‘angel’ since coming to the surface. She hoped that problem would be rectified at the scheduled dinner with the president of Mars Colony. The dinner was planned for the day after the president’s return from earth in a few week's time. She’d been asked if there was anyone she wanted to attend, and Arizona had jumped at the chance to invite Callie. The president’s chief of staff actually had the gall to laugh at the request, but Arizona didn’t care. She wanted Callie there. President Peña would have to deal.
The time went by slowly for Arizona, as she was still confined to Seattle Grace hospital. The growth and attachment of her leg required her to be bed bound for the duration. Meredith and Cristina visited a lot, but she only wanted to see one person. The only other person on Mars that she felt comfortable with. But Callie was still offworld, fulfilling her commitment to the Space Corps. They’d had a few video conversations, but Arizona missed seeing the woman in person.
The viewscreen on the wall in her private room at Seattle Grace lit up with an incoming call. Arizona’s dimpled when she saw it was from Callie and not another interview request. She smoothed her hair and accepted the call.
“Hey you,” Callie smiled into the camera. “How’s the leg?”
“I was able to walk to the bathroom and back on my own this morning. After this afternoon’s treatments, they said I’d be even steadier. And by the time I meet the president next week, I’ll be completely back to normal.”
“Arizona, that’s amazing! I can’t wait to see you walking.”
“Speaking of…seeing me...and meeting the president...I...uh...I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay,” Callie smiled, but it seemed forced. “Go ahead and ask.”
Arizona frowned, puzzled by Callie’s seemingly sudden discomfort. “Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah. Fine. I just…we’re really busy here. With the...mining.” Callie hated that Arizona noticed her flinch at the mention of the president. “I’m fine. Ask away.”
“Okay…” Arizona was suddenly reluctant. Maybe Callie wasn’t in the same place she was. Not that they were anywhere, really, except that Arizona knew she wanted to see Callie again. But maybe Callie didn’t. “Well, I...I was going to ask you to come to the Red House dinner with me. When I, uh...we...meet the president?”
Callie’s eyes widened with shock. She hadn’t expected that. Was Arizona asking her to be her date? Or…
At Callie’s shocked expression, Arizona tried to backtrack. “Not like...as my date or anything. Actually, I...wanted all of you to come. The whole crew of The Pit.” She was kicking herself for misreading Callie. She’d thought they’d had a connection, or at the very minimum a friendly rapport.
“Oh…” Callie was feeling lots of things in that moment: excitement at being asked, then disappointment that it wasn’t a date, but mostly a sense of dread at having to go to dinner with the president...while the rest of her crew was there. “I’ll uh…I’ll see if they want to.”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to, Callie. Or...if you guys can’t make it. I’ll understand.”
“Of course I want to, Arizona.” There was no way she was disappointing the blonde. “I would love to go with you.”
“Really?”
“I wouldn’t miss it. We wouldn’t. I’ll make it happen.”
The government transport shuttle was the most luxurious as any of the vehicles they’d been in yet. The inside was designed to resemble an old school early twenty-first century limo. Cristina and Meredith had already made use of the in-transport minibar.
They were all dressed in the latest Mars fashions: form fitting dresses with strappy heels. Cristina was eyeing Arizona’s spike heels.
“Why did you wear those?”
Arizona looked down at her shoes. She wore them because they were sexy, and she wanted to look nice for Callie, but she said, “We are going to dinner at the Red House. I wanted to look nice.”
“You just learned to walk a on that new leg of yours a week ago, and now you are wearing death-shoes to ‘look nice’?”
Meredith laughed sardonically, “Death shoes? How crappy would it be for you to have survived 113 years lost in space only to die tripping over your death-shoes.”
“I’m not going to trip, and I’m not going to die,” she replied. Meredith had been rather dark since their rescue, and with good reason. But Arizona wanted happiness. She didn’t want to think about the past. Even though the past was close for them, it was a long ways away. “I practiced all week. This leg is amazing.”
“The coloring is a little off,” Cristina commented.
“It’s new skin. It will eventually blend in.”
The intercom beeped and the automated driver spoke. “We’ll be arriving at the Red House in three minutes. Please finish your drinks and prepare to depart the transport.”
The three major cities on Mars and the smaller townships and farms in between were connected via traveling tubes of the same material that covered all the living area on the planet. Inside the diamond-like shell that protected the inhabitants from the harsh cold and uninhabitable atmosphere were complete biospheres. Arizona couldn’t wait to learn more about the material used to create the protective barrier. She was fascinated by everything that humanity had been able to achieve during the century of her long sleep.
The Red House was nothing like what Arizona expected. She’d imagined something similar to the White House back on earth, which was home to the President of the United States, but this was smaller, sleeker, and had trees and greenery growing on the roof. Most of the rooftops did. Every available space was used for food production and atmosphere creation.
Once inside, they were shown to a large stateroom, where a dinner table was set up on one side, and guests of the president mingled on the other. Cristina and Meredith immediately abandoned Arizona for the bar, but she didn’t care, because there, across the room, was the waiting crew of the GA-13Y-2MNY.
Callie had her hair pulled up in a professionally styled bun and was wearing a form-fitting formal black Space Corps uniform dress. It was the same uniform dress worn by Kepner and Bailey, but Arizona couldn’t help but think their looks paled in comparison to Callie.
When Callie turned and made eye contact with her through the crowd, gracing her with that breathtaking smile, Arizona swooned.
Callie noticed Arizona falter and mistakenly thought it was the leg causing the unsteadiness. She quickly made her way to the blonde and held out her arm for Arizona to grasp.
“You look stunning.” Callie licked her lips. “Absolutely amazing.”
Arizona allowed her eyes to roam Callie’s form. “So do you.” Suddenly shy, she bit her bottom lip, “I missed you. Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay, you don’t know anyone else,” Callie teased, “but I missed you too.”
“I want to show you something.” Arizona glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, then pulled up the hemline of her dress. “My new leg!”
Callie’s breath caught in her throat at the sight. Her gaze traveled from the strappy heels all the way up to where Arizona was showing just enough bare thigh to make Callie’s heart skip a beat. She wanted to run her hands across the smooth new skin, but she realized how inappropriate that thought was and silently scolded herself. Arizona didn’t want her drooling over her, she was just sharing her recovery. “It’s a very nice leg,” Callie swallowed. “Very...functional.”
“Functional?” Arizona’s face twisted with confusion. “Functional? Really? I grow a new leg and all you can say about it is that it’s ‘functional’?”
“Arizona...I’m sorry...I―” Callie stammered.
“Ladies and Gentleman, please find your places and prepare to greet the President of the Mars Colony, Lucia Torres Peña, and the first husband, Carlos Torres.”
Arizona turned to Callie, who looked like a deer caught in headlights, “Wait...Torres?”
“Chief Robbins, I’d like to thank you for inviting my daughter, along with her crew. She hasn’t graced us with her presence since she ran off and joined the Space Corps.” Callie and Arizona stood chatting with Callie’s parents. Arizona was still a little stunned that Callie’s mother was the president, but she was mostly put-off that Callie had neglected to mention it.
“To be fair, Mother, you’ve been on Earth for most of that time.”
“Details,” Lucia waved Callie’s reasoning off. “Your date looked surprised, Calliope. I take it she was unaware of our connection?”
Both Arizona and Callie stiffened at the word ‘date.’
Callie was about to correct her mother, but Lucia was already continuing, “You are my daughter. You need to embrace your position. None of your crewmates think differently of you. I don’t why you try to hide me. It’s your familial duty to serve Mars.”
“I’m not trying to hide you, Mother. And I do want to serve Mars…just not politically. I want to make my own way.”
Carlos cleared his throat to stop Lucia’s response. “You are doing a fine job of that, Calliope, and your mother and I are very proud. But this night is about celebrating the recovery of three national treasures.”
“You’re right, Daddy.” Callie lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Why don’t you take Ms. Robbins and get a drink? We’ll talk more at dinner.”
Callie grabbed Arizona’s hand and led her to the bar. She grabbed them two champagne flutes, and as she handed Arizona’s hers, she cringed at the narrowed blue eyes trained on her.
Callie sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“You couldn’t have mentioned that your mom was the president? Just, you know, a heads up? Anything? When I insisted you be invited, her chief of staff laughed at me. She laughed at me, Calliope.”
Callie tried not to smile, but the twinkle in her eyes gave her away.
“Are you laughing at me, too?” Arizona’s face broke into her own smile, no longer able to hold up the pretense of anger.
“I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Arizona grinned and downed her glass of champagne.
A few hours later, dinner and dessert finished, Callie was showing Arizona around the Red House.
“I’ve never lived here,” Callie explained as they strolled down the long elegant halls. “I was in university when mom won her first term.”
“Where’s your sister?”
“She is living on the moon, actually. She’s an immigration lawyer. The moon is like a transfer hub to Mars. It’s still part of the UEG, but people who’ve lived on earth their whole lives but want to make the move to Mars have to live on the moon for a year first. There are all these weird rules. I’m not really into the politics of it, as you may have guessed from earlier.”
“I find the whole thing fascinating. I can’t wait to learn about the future, I mean…history.”
Callie slid her hand into Arizona’s, offering a reassuring squeeze. “Come on. Let me show you the garden. It’s where I like to hang out when I’m here.”
The rooftop gardens on all the Martian buildings were Arizona’s favorite parts of the architecture and the city design. She’d been wanting to get up to see one, and the garden on the roof of the Red House didn’t disappoint.
On the roof, they were surrounded by small flowering trees and rows and rows of multicolored flowers. Off in the distance, the sun was setting behind Olympus Mons, giving the rooftop and everything in sight a warm, pink and orange glow.
“This is amazing, Callie. It’s beautiful.”
Callie appreciated the amazing view she knew by heart. But she couldn’t pull her eyes away from Arizona. “Really beautiful,” she breathed.
Arizona turned and faced the brunette, meeting those gorgeous brown eyes that were mere inches away. Callie was so close that Arizona could see the distant sun reflecting in her irises.
Callie leaned toward her, whispering, “Can I ask you a question?”
Arizona nodded, unable to speak. She felt her heart throbbing in her chest, overwhelmed by Callie’s closeness.
“When you originally asked me to come with you tonight, did you want this to be a date?”
“Did you want it to be?” Arizona asked carefully, cautious not to overstep any boundaries. She didn’t even know if the doctor liked women. But she was hoping...
Callie leaned impossibly closer, a hair's breadth away from Arizona’s soft pink mouth. Her voice breathy, she breathed, “I want it to be whatever lets this night end with a kiss.”
Arizona closed her eyes as warm breath whispered across her lips. She inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring as she breathe Callie in. Her tongue instinctively poked out, wetting her bottom lip. “If dates still end with a kiss, then this is definitely a date.”
Their lips met and, for the first time in over a hundred years, Arizona felt alive.