Chapter Text
It was a mess, really, among the three of them. There was the ‘Teddy and Owen’ thing which had run its course and now was just driving the wedge between the former best friends further. There was the ‘Cristina and Owen’ thing which Teddy really did not want to think about since it only ignited the ugly, unsettling feeling in her stomach whenever the man tried to mark his possession on Cristina. It was nauseating.
Then, there was the ‘Teddy and Cristina’ thing which Teddy would like to look the other way, to ignore that pesky little spark whenever they seemed to touch. To ignore the ease in the air when the two of them work together. To ignore the hint of blush on Cristina’s cheeks when Teddy complimented her, and how it made Teddy’s heart skip in turn.
But now as Avery informed them there was a shooter in the building, Teddy let the demise of their mess rest on Owen’s decision. It was stupid, but at least its consequences wouldn’t belay her.
“You’ve got to choose,” Teddy pressed as they slowly wheeled the gurney.
“No one, okay? I choose no one.”
Owen might have chosen no one, but Teddy knew who she would have chosen in his place.
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They managed to get out of the building unscathed, but when she overheard the officers informing the Chief that they hadn’t gotten any of the other staff out, her mind leaped to Cristina. The urge to run inside was quickly overwhelming her.
She wasn't going to lose another person she.. cared about in a tragedy.
“This is a secure area. We need to move you to holding,” the cop said, patting her down first, then Owen.
Teddy took it back. She would decide the demise of their mess. She was making her choice, now.
Recalling her military training, she gauged the route to get inside of the hospital again. The entrance was unguarded as long as she could break free from the current group of officers.
“Teddy,” Owen started.
“This is stupid, you know. This stupid triangle. And, I really would like to hash it out with you right now once and for all but, for all we know, Cristina is still in there and-” Teddy pleaded with her eyes. They used to be combat pairs, for God’s sake. After these dramas, she hoped they could still silently communicate.
When Owen nodded, Teddy nearly threw out a ‘thank you.’ She mentally counted to three before taking off. Officers were yelling their protests behind her, she was faster and leaner. Within a beat, she was already in.
Sending a prayer, Teddy slipped into the halls of the empty hospital and hoped for the best.
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Teddy wasn’t much of a gambler; but, she was willing to take a blind guess and started by going through the ORs first. She got lucky when she was faced with two familiar faces inside the scrub room of OR 1.
“Dr. Altman! Thank god you’re here. Cristina wanted to find you,” Grey quickly said. “Derek has been shot. We didn't know what to do. Cristina's in there. She told me not to look, but she might need help.”
Teddy parted the blinds to take a look.
Shit.
She kept her face impassive. Having a panicked Grey and Kepner would only worsen the situation. “Uhh, she seems to be doing okay.” Teddy hoped it sounded convincing enough.
Cristina sure as hell wasn’t doing okay with a gun to her head.
“But, uh, I'll head in to see what I can help.” Teddy offered Meredith a tight smile, grabbing a surgical mask. She needed a tactical plan. She couldn’t enter the OR discreetly, so a successful takedown would be difficult. She might be forced to negotiate instead, which admittedly wasn’t her strong suit. But, it really had to do when Gary Clark pressed the end of the barrel harshly behind Cristina's ear.
“You’re not scrubbing in?” Meredith asked, panicked.
“I'll.. assess first. Cristina already has her hands in. If she needs another set, I’ll scrub in.” Teddy hoped it sounded reassuring enough. “Cristina's right. You should stay down. Don’t look.”
The former Army Major took a deep breath, bracing herself for the battle, as she grabbed the door handle.
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When Teddy stepped inside the OR, she was running on pure Army instinct. As soon as her presence was known, the end of the gun was aimed at her instead of Cristina's head. For a second, she was relieved.
“Whoa, whoa. Just calm down. Calm down.” Teddy kept her hand raised. The gunman was obviously agitated.
Cristina seemed to have sagged despite her entire body shaking.
She took a mental count of people in the room, Cristina, Avery, BokHee, and herself. Grey and Kepner were in the scrub room, so Teddy wouldn’t have to worry about them for now. At least, she hoped.
“Teddy..” Cristina's voice broke. Teddy would gladly do anything to get her out to safety.
“I'm here,” she wanted to reassure Cristina more, but none would be truthful.
“Teddy,” Cristina cried out. It squeezed at Teddy’s heart. She wanted to wrap her arms around Cristina, to say that she wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. She wanted to kill the gunman herself. Do no harm, Teddy reminded herself.
The gunman turned towards Cristina, resuming his previous stance. When Cristina’s sobs intensified, Teddy’s heart shattered too. She needed the gun away from Cristina, and the gunman’s finger off of the trigger.
“Hey, hold on. Talk to me.” If she could keep his attention to her-
“Stop fixing him,” the gunman demanded. “Let him die.”
At Cristina's persistence, which Teddy expected no less, he became more agitated. “Let him lie there, and die .”
Cristina's hands never left Shepherd’s chest. A part of Teddy wanted Cristina to comply for her safety, but she knew Cristina could never let a life slip away. Especially, her best friend’s husband’s life where said best friend was less than three feet away.
“Do you want me to shoot you? Stop fixing him!”
“No,” Cristina forced out through her tears. “Jackson, clamp the hilum so you can get control of the hemorrhage and I can get better visualization.”
“Don't you dare,” the gunman threatened Avery.
At Avery’s hesitation, Cristina pressed. “Clamp the hilum so I can see.”
Teddy used the window of opportunity to slowly move closer for a better tackle angle. It wasn’t enough, and the gunman already saw through her.
“You step back,” he warned Avery, then turned his attention back to her. “You.. stay back.”
“Teddy, I can't stop. I have to keep going.”
“I know. I know. Just keep going.” Teddy tried her best to keep her tone calm and strong.
“You stop or I will shoot you in the head.”
There was a reason why in the desert she was the surgeon and not the hostage negotiator. She wasn’t the coolest and most collected person.
The threat brought out something primal in her. The thought of Cristina hurt was unbearable.
“If you so much as touches her, I will kill you. I swear, I will kill you.”
Which wasn’t the best thing to say in their predicament. Logical Teddy knew this. Major Altman knew this. But, human Teddy didn’t care.
The gunman contemplated her threat, exhaling deeply. “Maybe I shoot you first.”
“I shoot you, and then I shoot her and then I shoot Shepherd. Is that what you want?”
It provided enough distraction for Cristina and Avery to get the suction in place and to reach for another clamp. Teddy would take any opportunity to have the gun pointed at her rather than Cristina.
When Meredith came in, telling Clark to shoot her for an eye for an eye, Teddy thought the situation really couldn’t have gone any worse. Cristina was now breaking at each request of Meredith to be shot.
For a split second, Teddy saw Clark hesitated, distracted enough. It was such an awkward angle but they had nothing to lose now. She leaped from her position.
A loud bang rang out with a flash of light. The last thing Teddy knew was the explosive pain in shoulder before she hit the ground and the world slowly turned dim.
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In hindsight, it was rather rash. Not her finest moment. And, it really hurt. But, Teddy was still conscious-ish, barely hanging on with adrenaline and the instinct to protect.
The shooter was gone now. The only sound that pierced through the ringing in her ear was Cristina's desperate pleas for the screaming Grey to check on her. Teddy wanted to say she was fine, to pick herself up and show Cristina that she was okay. However, the pain was consuming her. It was somewhere in her shoulder, but the agonizing sensation was spreading to her arm and torso.
She could hear Cristina freaking out in the background which eventually subsided once Teddy felt a form taking her arm, wing carrying her outside. She wanted to yell how stupid this move was, going outside where the shooter had just gone, but she really couldn’t do anything other than a grunt.
As Teddy let herself be half-dragged, half carried into the other OR, she made a note to bring up crisis training with HR after this mess.