A/N: Yeah, it was real tough being forced to watch Wimbledon whilst recuperating, honest! Lol! But, it got me thinking that with Saras height she would make an excellent serve/volleyer. And Jessica would be great as a baseline player. So, couldn't resist! Usual disclaimer apply. I own nothing. And this is just fluff, saving my dramatic streaks for the sequel to Unexpected! Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it! AND am still working on the AU I was challenged to write, will start posting that soon…but this one is nearly complete, and I couldn't resist! Hope you like it!
"Ok, seriously, you have to listen to me! You hired me to be your coach, you know you can trust me. So. Listen to me. You have had nearly nine months off the tour with your injury. You have played just two invitational matches, and ok so you won them both easily, but you were tired. If they had gone to three sets, that fatigue could have cost you. You NEED more match practice, sharpen your reflexes, but, don't think it's a good idea to play too many singles tournaments until you are 100% match fit…"
"I am match fit!" the tall brunette hissed back as the slender blonde woman sighed in frustration. "My surgeons, my phsio, they all said I was good to go, they cleared me to play. Otherwise I wouldn't have been on that court last night kicking ass!"
Teddy Altman tugged her pony tail tighter as she pondered on how to phrase her next argument. "Callie, you are fit, no arguments here! And your recovery has been nothing short of a miraculous"
"But?"
"There's fit, match fit….and Calliope Torres fit. Honey. You were world number one for two straight years, that's almost unheard of. You were unstoppable, and then…"
"And then my car wreck" The brunette whispered
"And then your car wreck" Teddy nodded as she sat down next to her friend and took her hand. "You were lucky Cal, you know that. You came so close to never walking again, hell you came close to being dead! To see you now, just nine months later, back on court, and winning. Honey, I don't mind telling ya, I cried! But people will soon forget how much of a fight you've had to get back here. When they see your name on that play list, they'll expect to see the world number one in action again, and you know yourself, you're not back yet!"
"So playing more is your answer? I would have thought it was rest more!"
Teddy chuckled. "Like I could ever get you to rest! It's all I can do to drag you off the practice courts when you've been out there for hours!"
Callie gave a slight shrug. "I find it great stress relief, just me, the racquet and the, the control" She sighed and rubbed at her temple as she softly added. "I have so little control over everything else!"
"Callie" Teddy muttered as she hugged the taller woman. "He wouldn't want you to shut everyone out. He knew you loved him, but he wouldn't want you to shut out everything except tennis. He would want you to live!"
"Don't tell me what he'd want!" Callie suddenly hissed and glared at the older woman. "Don't you dare. He died, my fiancé died. And all my future died with him. Our life together, my retirement from the game to have our kids. The whole life we had planned out together died with him in that wreck, so all I have left Teddy, ALL I have left, is tennis. It's all I have. So, so I have to win, I have to control it, and I have to win"
Teddy nodded and swallowed back the lump in her throat. She wanted to say so much, to tell her friend how much was still waiting out there for her. But it wasn't just Callies back that had been hurt and broken in the car wreck. It was her heart. Her soul. Her fiancé, Mark Sloan, had been driving. They had both just won Wimbledon, and after flying back to the US had finally set off on a long overdue holiday, driving to Floridas Key West before picking up a cruise ship. Mark was a risk taker on court and in life, he like speed, fast cars, life in the fast lane. He had only just picked up the brand new Maserati, sleek and shiny…Callie had hated it but laughed when he pulled up outside their hotel to collect her. Teddy had waved them off, little knowing that just two hours later she would receive a phone call plunging her into a nightmare. Mark had lost control of the new car, and plunged off the road, rolling the car twice. Callie had been thrown clear when her seat belt snapped and the door had cracked open. Mark had not been so fortunate, still locked in place when the sports car smacked into the ditch, and exploded into a fire ball. By the time Teddy had reached the hospital, Callie was already in surgery, the doctors had detected two small breaks in her lower back, the swelling putting pressure on the whole of her spinal column. Her shoulder had been dislocated, and the whole of her ride side had deep gashes and lacerations from being thrown out of a moving vehicle. The doctors grimly warned that the prognosis was dire. If she lived, if, there was a possibility that she would not regain any useful function in any of her limbs.
Nobody had told Callie of the diagnosis. Preferring to constantly reassure her that the loss of feeling and movement was temporary, and would be back to normal after the swelling had reduced. Everyone told her that, nobody really believed it, and nobody wanted to tell her the truth. For the first week after her surgery, Callie had been too drugged and dazed to fully comprehend what had happened. Easily distracted when she asked for Mark. But then, Teddy had walked in one evening to find clear brown eyes staring back at her. "Marks dead, isn't he?" She had asked softly. Merely nodding when Teddy had mumbled "Yes" . "And my back, it isn't just swollen?" had been Callies next question. "No" Teddy had simply replied. Callie had closed her eyes and remained silent for several minutes before looking up at Teddy and determinedly telling her. "Whatever the doctors think, whatever they say… I WILL walk again, not only that …I'm going to play tennis again, I will be back on court within a year. Guarantee it. Guarantee it"
And, here they were. Nine months later. Sitting in the changing rooms of Madison Square Gardens. Having just seen Callie play an exhibition match against her own personal heroine, Helga Graf. Teddy hadn't been lying when she said she had been crying. Watching Callie walk on that court again, watching the crowd give her a standing ovation before a single point was played, then watching as the tall athletic Latina took a deep breath, and served the first point of the match. Nine months. Just nine. And Callie had won. The match had been relaxed, with both women teasing each other and laughing all the way through. As the last point had been played, and Callie had hit one of her favourite backhands down the line, Helga had been the first to cheer….racing to the net to hug the younger woman and wish her all the luck for the rest of her career.
As emotional as it had been, Teddy was also a tennis coach. It was her job to spot weaknesses, spot the areas to work on. And Callies game over all, whilst technically as good as ever, lacked, edge! The killer instinct, the timing. Teddy knew what was needed, more match practice. But she didn't want to push Callie too much, tire her out. So, the reason for this current discussion. Her solution? "So, do you agree, French Open is on the horizon, and this year, we find you a doubles partner, yes?"
Callie sighed and shook her head a fraction. "Fine!" she muttered. "But, they'd better be good! If I'm in, I'm in to win!"
Teddy grinned. "Oh, the player I have in mind is good. Excellent in fact. Though, she may take a little persuading to play doubles with you!"
Callie narrowed her eyes and scowled. "Teddy?"
Teddy merely smiled brightly and stood up. "Go and shower, you stink1 And Steffi and Andre are waiting to take us to supper!"
"Teddy?!" Callie called out as she watched her coach skip out of the locker room
[xx]
"You cannot be serious!" the blonde woman huffed as she looked up at the umpire. "The ball was like, a MILE out!"
"Miss Robbins, the ball was in, chalk flew up. The score is 30-15, please resume play" the official calmly stared down at her and the young blonde could feel her blood pressure rise
"Chalk flew my ass!" she muttered to herself as she walked back to the baseline. "It was dust, not chalk. They hiring line judges from the retirement homes nowadays?" She looked at the nervous ballgirl and signalled to pass her the balls. Selecting two she gently tapped the 3rd one back to the youngster and took a deep breath. "Don't get rattled!" she muttered to herself. "Just show them what a ball looks like when it is in!" she bounced the ball three times after acknowledging her opponent was ready, took another deep breath and tossed the ball high, loving the feel as she swung her arm up and connected, firing the ball hard and fast into the corner of the box. Ce. And she gave small smirk to herself as the score was called out. Two match and championship points, she gave a small laugh, if I can close this out it's my quickest match yet. Bouncing the ball again, she noticed her opponent move to the far edge of the court, anticipating another swinging serve. "Hmm," Arizona thought as she bounced the ball again. "How does that song go…straight down the middle, or something!" And with that thought she tossed the ball high, and fired a perfect serve, straight down the middle line, landing perfectly inside the box before skimming up and swerving away from her racing opponent. "Oh yeah!" Arizona yelled a she gave as small fist pump….forty minutes and only one game lost. Baby got her groove back!"
An hour later and having just finished the obligatory press conference, Arizona found herself sat facing the intimidating glare of her coach. Miranda Bailey. "You lost your temper again!" she said softly
"I know!" the blonde muttered back. "Sorry"
"It was clearly in, yet you challenged it, and on such a key game!"
"I said sorry!" the young woman tried to smile sweetly, but it had no effect on the now pacing older woman
"You are coming through the ranks too quickly, your lack of experience is showing when you let yourself get rattled like that…"
"I didn't get rattled, they missed several key calls and…."
"And nothing! You didn't challenge any KEY calls because you were comfortable, but when you sensed you were winning, when you were ready to serve out, your nerves crept in. This time you got lucky, you only had two points to lay and you pulled up an ace. But we both know, we KNOW, that if you had missed that serve, if you had lost a point, your game would have collapsed. Arizona honey, you are one of the most talented players I have ever seen, a natural. There isn't anyone out there right now who can beat you, except you!"
"Huh?"
Miranda sighed as she shook her head. "You let your nerves over take you. You start to over think your game and doubt creeps in. You held it together today because you wanted a short match, and I don't really think that you were too focused on anything except winning the next point, which is how it should be. But your last opponent, Krista? You were beating her 1 set to love and 4 games to love, when she hit a rocket of a backhand passed you, and then a volley. Two shots, and doubt crept in to your mind. You only just scraped a win, 10-8 in the final set. SHE didn't get back in the match, she wasn't suddenly playing better, it was all you honey. You tensed up, you second guessed, and you made mistakes. Your inexperience in the big arenas showed. And this tournament just got you a ticket to the French Open honey. That isn't just a big arena, it's a Grand Slam event! Your game, your skills? You could go all the way. But your nerves? I can't help you with that. But, I know who can. What can. You need some extra match experience, you need an anchor. Arizona, you need to play doubles!"
"Ha! No! No way! Last time I played doubles I did all the work and my partner got all the glory! No, I am a singles player, my game suits single…I'm not a smash and lob kinda girl!"
"Well you should be! See, double will help sharpen some of your net skills, quicken your reflexes, help you move around the court…"
"I am one of the fastest players out there!" the blonde huffed indignantly
"And you have to be, cos you don't always read the ball early enough. But doubles will help that to. No arguing. I know best and you don't get to argue with me. You're playing doubles. Deal with it!"
"It's too late to get a partner. The tournament starts in four weeks!" Ariaona smirked
Miranda smiled back. "We'll see!"
The blonde tilted her head a fraction. "Miranda?"
The smaller woman merely smiled again and picked up her jacket. "Go and get dressed, my parents are here to take us out to dinner!"
Arizona narrowed her eyes and yelled. "Miranda!" as she watched her coach disappear out of the locker room
