Author's Note: This story sort of came to life while I was at work. I am not a lawyer (yet), but I work for a Judge, so that's the extent of my legal knowledge. I also am not a surgeon, though my dad is, so that's the extent of my medical knowledge. With that being said, please excuse any glaring legal or medical inaccuracies. Corrections and suggestions are welcome. Please review and let me know what you think!


"If there's ever been a case where everything that possibly could go wrong does, it's this one," Arizona Robbins, Head of Pediatric and Fetal Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital nervously explains. The perky, blue-eyed blonde is seated at the head of the conference table before the Chief of Surgery and a dozen or so stern-faced men and women in dark suits. This was an amalgamation of her worst fears: facing the dreaded board of directors for the hospital. She was praying that her authority issues wouldn't get the best of her, and she could leave the room before bursting into tears.

Arizona looked down at the stack of papers before her. Her type-A organization skills compelled the blonde to bring printed copies of every document the board could possibly want to see, including school transcripts indicating the lack of disciplinary history in the blonde's distant past. Arizona was always a strict rule-follower, and only made exceptions in cases of sick children whose parents could not afford proper medical care.

She was called to this meeting to explain the details of the case that necessitated the disciplinary review, which she managed to do gracefully, just squeaking through the doorway before the tears began to fall. Now she sat in the empty office of the Chief of Surgery, waiting for the decision to be released. After a few minutes a tall man in a dark grey suit with jet-black hair came into the room. Arizona recognized him to be the board representative with whom she had been communicating regarding her preparation for the meeting. He handed her a piece of paper wordlessly, his expression stone-cold indifference, belying the result.

The Board of Directors and Chief of Surgery of Seattle Grace Hospital, after careful consideration of the facts, have come to the decision that, regrettably, we are unable to officially support or assist Dr. Arizona Robbins in any legal proceedings regarding her treatment of Abigail Samuels (patient no. 23164903). Due to the fact that the patient's case was not filed through the proper hospital channels, and therefore was not subject to the required oversight and approval, the actions and decisions made fall solely under the responsibility of Dr. Robbins, and are beyond the purview of the hospital. In order to avoid any further implications in this case, the hospital must, lamentably, temporarily relieve Dr. Robbins of her duties as the Head of Pediatric Surgery and Head of Fetal Surgery, as well as suspend any privileges, surgical or otherwise, extended to her by Seattle Grace Hospital pending the outcome of the cases at hand. With that being said, The Board feels great sympathy towards Dr. Robbins at this time, and will attest to her good character and noble intentions in any capacity necessary. We wish Dr. Robbins the best of luck regarding these proceedings and sincerely hope to welcome her back to Seattle Grace Hospital in the future.

Tears fell from the blonde's face before she could stop them, and when she set the paper on the desk before her, the dark-haired man met her gaze. "We're very sorry, Arizona," he said, walking towards the door. "You should empty your office for the time being," and with that he left the double-board certified pediatric legend to absorb the shock of what just transpired.

Once she was able to confidently stand without her legs buckling beneath her, Arizona shamefully made her way to her own office, where a few of her closest work friends sat waiting. Arizona knew that the whole hospital would know about her meeting with the board soon enough, given the alarming rate at which gossip spreads at the hospital, but opted only to tell April Kepner, Amelia Shepherd, and Addison Montgomery beforehand. Upon her arrival, Arizona offered the printed formal report she'd been given so it could be passed through the room, though there was no doubt of the outcome, it was visible on her face. Her friends scooted over so the middle seat was vacated on her office couch. Arizona fell into it, pulling her face into her hands as she began sobbing. Amelia immediately pulled her longtime friend into her arms, never seeing Arizona look so shell-shocked, even through their residency at Johns Hopkins. April offered a hesitant hand on the blonde's arm from her other side, trying her best to be of comfort.

After a few minutes, it was Addison Montgomery who broke the silence. "Do you have a good lawyer?

Arizona didn't move her face from her hands as she shook her head.

The redhead reached for her phone, and scrolled through her contacts. "I'm calling Callie Torres."

XXX

After a fitful night, which amounted to very little sleep, Arizona found herself in the over-decorated, gaudy conference room of the overpriced Archfield Hotel at some ungodly hour of the morning, seated beside Addison Montgomery, who looked just as polished and elegant as always. The blonde wondered if she somehow slept in fitted designer dresses and overpriced heels, with her hair perfectly manicured. There was no way she could look so put-together at this hour, otherwise. The blonde had just managed to squeeze into fitted black jeans and a bright blue blouse, hoping she looked remotely professional.

"You didn't have to come," Arizona said, clearly grumpy. The juxtaposition between the two women in mood would have been amusing if Arizona weren't so tired and angry at the world.

Either Addison didn't detect the annoyance in the blonde's words, or she simply chose to ignore it. "I wanted to be here for you." She replied, smiling gently at Arizona, who couldn't stifle her eye-roll. "Plus, I haven't seen Callie in ages. She's a hard woman to pin-down."

"Who is she again?" The blonde asked, pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes closed, trying to scare off her headache.

"I seriously can't believe you've never heard of her. She's one of the most in-demand attorneys in the country, and an old friend of mine. She's known for defending medical malpractice cases, especially. Her winning streak is unsurpassable." The redhead said, disbelieving that somehow Arizona could have never heard of Callie Torres.

"Rings no bells," the blonde grumbled.

"She's all over the news and papers. You should get out more," Addison replied, chuckling and prodding the blonde's side playfully. The redhead's admiration for her friend was clear in her voice. Arizona, for the life of her, couldn't understand why.

She reached into her purse to find her phone. It was 5:30 in the morning, which made the mysterious woman thirty minutes late. "Any idea of when she'll grace us with her presence?" Arizona snarked.

As if on cue, the big wooden door to the conference room opened before Addison could reply. In strode a tall, tan, tastefully curvy woman with endless waves of dark hair cascading down her back, staring intently at her phone. She came with an entourage of immaculately well-dressed young people, one holding her tablet, another her purse, and the third the door. Her sky-high black slingbacks barely made a sound as they hit the floor, and Arizona could swear she glided into the room. Her stocking-covered legs went on for miles, and she wore a black and white patterned blouse tucked into a tight grey pencil skirt, which ended right at her knee. When she finally looked up from her phone, and her big brown eyes and unbelievably perfect smile met the both the surgeons' gaze, Arizona's throat suddenly went very dry. This woman was unbelievably stunning. Callie Torres was so elegant and flawless that she made Addison look unkempt in contrast, and that was a feat Arizona couldn't imagine any mortal achieving.

Addison noticed that Arizona was all but drooling, her mouth gaping slightly, and she nudged the blonde back to reality, where she found Callie seated across the table from her. The brunette's presence was simply overwhelming.

Arizona faintly registered that there must have been some sort of an exchange between the two women because a light laugh fell from full lips painted a dark red. When the brunette's pearly white teeth pulled that perfect bottom lip between them, Arizona felt like she couldn't breathe. Addison nudged her again, harder this time. Arizona jolted upright.

"Sorry, Cal. I think she's tired and probably overwhelmed with …well, everything." Addison supplied, trying to pull Arizona back to earth.

When the melodious light laugh returned, Arizona's heart started beating alarmingly quickly. "It's completely understandable," Callie supplied, reaching across the table to cover Arizona's hand with her own, giving a reassuring smile Arizona didn't quite catch because the gesture also supplied the blonde with a direct view of some unbelievable cleavage. "I'm here to help." The blonde's heart leapt at the physical contact and she had to peel her eyes away from the lawyer's chest with all of the willpower she could muster.

Arizona had never felt quite so flustered in her entire life. Usually she was the one causing the flustering. While she was no lesbian-edition of Mark Sloan, she'd certainly earned herself a reputation with the ladies of Seattle Grace. To put it bluntly, Arizona had positively no trouble finding herself a companion when the mood struck. So she had never found herself awkwardly floundering like this ever before. She didn't like it. She didn't like how out-of-control she felt around this magnetic woman.

Callie pulled her hand away, and leaned back into the wheeled leather armchair, crossing one shapely leg over the other. All of a sudden, the blonde missed the simple, stupid contact on her hand. Arizona hated what this woman's presence was doing to her.

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Robbins. I've been briefed on your case during the ride over. I also took the liberty to call your insurance company and apprise them of the situation. Your malpractice insurance isn't going to cover you in criminal or civil court, I'm afraid," the brunette said, speaking disconcertingly quickly, almost sounding rehearsed. "I apologize for the hour, but I have to be in Los Angeles by nine for a motions hearing. When Addie called," the brunette raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow towards the woman in question, "I made sure to make time to stop by as soon as I could."

Arizona opened her mouth, but it took a second for her voice to catch up with her lips. "It's fine," she croaked, before clearing her throat, thankful her voice returned to normal. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

Callie nodded and smiled tightly. "Here's what you should know about me. I'm very busy, but I promise I will dedicate more than enough time and energy to your case. I know what I can handle, and I wouldn't take your case if I weren't certain I could knock it out of the park. Which brings us to the next thing you should know, I don't lose," the brunette supplied, annoyingly confident. "Oh, and for future reference, I always keep my schedule on east coast time to simplify all of the travel. You'll get used to it. Now, your only job is to tell me everything, and I mean absolutely everything, because I won't stand for not knowing something and having that used against me in court. Otherwise, sit back and let me get you your job and reputation back." The brunette wore a disgustingly cocky, but no less beautiful smile.

"I told you she's the best," Addison said, laughing lightly. "I've missed you, Cal."

Arizona looked over and found her friend beaming at the attorney. She'd never seen Addison beam at anyone, especially not like this, a strange combination of enthralled and proud written all over her face.

"Likewise. We've got to find some time to see each other while I'm here. I'd love to see the rest of the gang, too," Callie said with a soft voice and a smile that Arizona could swear was masking something distinctly sad.

Before she could question who the gang was and how they all knew each other, the assistant holding her purse tapped Callie's shoulder and the brunette nodded towards her. "Unfortunately, I only have half an hour before I'm off to LA. We could make that work, or, if you're up for it, you can come with me and we'll discuss it over breakfast on the plane?" The brunette offered.

Arizona looked over at Addison, meeting locking eyes before they both nodded, following the brunette to their feet. As they walked out of the conference room, an impeccably manicured hand with sexy red nail polish tapped Arizona's shoulder. She turned to find the culprit.

"I think I forgot to introduce myself," Callie said, holding out her hand. A paler, shaky one met it, surprised by the attorney's strong grip. "I'm Callie Torres." The blonde's knees all but gave at the dazzling smile that accompanied.