Hi, this is the first story I published here on FFN . I've been lurking for so long and I loved Calzona so much, I decided to finally share this story with you. I'm asking you to suspend your disbelief a little bit more with this story. I am not from the US and have no idea how the police system works over there. I will do some research but they will mostly be confined to wikipedia. I apologize for some mistakes and inconsistencies.
This story is inspired by the Taiwanese film So Close. It is entitled Even Closer as I would like to imagine it as a sequel to that awesome movie, only with different characters and a different setting. Also, over time, it may bear similarities to the Pepa/Silvia fanfiction Return to Sender. I authored that fic, with all intention of finishing, though I never got to because LJ purged my account for reasons. I don't have a back up of those files but I liked my plot so much that I might employ some used and unused elements from it, though I will try to avoid it as much as I could.
Finally, I may not be able to upload regularly and this fic might take years to finish, as I am a law student. I will appreciate any comments and criticisms. Happy reading :)
A tall brunette stood in front of the glass walls of the office, surveying the view below. The Seattle Police Department was erected in front of the Orchid Park. This park had a huge playground, which the kids frequented after school on the few occasions that the Mr. Sun decided to show himself in their city. It was one such afternoon, and the lady marveled at the few rays of the setting sun just barely kissing her mocha skin through the glass panels of the office. This rare warmth put a smile on her face. She spent a few moments just basking in the sunlight, when her reverie was cut short by the sound of the door opening.
"Hey, Calliope!" a deep voice of a man called from the other side of the room. "You're way early, Chief says he just got off the plane, but he is on his way to brief us, he wants us to wait. Tell you what, I don't know why he can't wait to tell us until tomorrow morning, but it excites me."
The man sat on the leather swivel chair behind the big desk when the lady turned to him.
"How many times have I told you not to call me Calliope, Mark?" Callie replied in a mock-irritated voice, which elicited a smile from her best friend. Mark put up his feet on the desk, with hands behind his head, and leaned back on the backrest.
"You really should stop doing that, Mark. If he catches you behind that desk, lord knows what he will do to you," Callie said, turning back towards the glass.
"The operative word is "if", Torres. And he will never catch me, he is behind this desk because he can no longer run to save his life," Mark replied. He barked his laughter throughout the room. Callie simply smiled without looking back. She continued watching the kids on the swings, and those on the slides. The Chief's office had the convenience of this view because it was located at the second floor of the building. Some of the children were already being picked up by their parents, the older ones were starting to walk home. Callie looked at the them with longing. She had always wanted to have a child ever since she first held her baby sister in her arms.
"Still baby watching, huh, Torres? If you would only take up my offer, you could have your own soon. We're not getting any younger, besides, we are compatible. I'm good for more than sex," Mark said.
Callie sighed. They had this conversation before. Mark was propositioning for them to settle down and create a family together. He was right, they were best friends. They have known each other for so long, it's hard to not be compatible. Mark would be a logical choice for a husband; he's smart, funny, and rather dashing. He is caring and protective; he was even good in bed, though they stopped with the casual sex four years ago. Most of all, he knew Callie inside and out. But logic and compatibility was not what Callie was looking for, however desperate she was to have a baby.
"I'm 31, Mark, I'm not that old to want to settle down. And yes, you're good for more than sex, so why would you want to settle for compatible, when you can have true love?" Callie replied.
Mark Sloan rolled his eyes. "Bullshit, there is no such thing. Your one true managed to keep out of our radar for three years after promising you she will return. Wake up, Torres. If she wanted to be with you, she would be in your apartment now, waiting for you with the dinner she cooked. Nothing is stopping her from returning, and the fact that she has not as much as sent you a friend request on Facebook means that she has no intention of being with you. She has moved on, and so should you."
Mark knew he was pulling a nerve here. Arizona was a rather sensitive topic for Callie. During the few times that her name was brought up, his friend would either pretend that she suddenly did not know how to speak, or she would yell at him, until he pretended to not know how to hear. But the man can't help but pity his best friend. Ever since Arizona left, promising to return, Callie had always been on the look out. Her heightened senses were always waiting for a sign; a hint of blonde hair, the smell of freesias, a smile, a pair of blue eyes that could belong to one Arizona Robbins. Mark knows no one deserved to live his life always waiting for a small sign, certainly not his best friend.
A muscle twitched in Callie's jaw. She was thinking of a retort, she was about to open her mouth when she saw a pair of the bluest eyes staring right at her own brown ones. Callie knew that the woman was not really staring at her. The glass panels were tinted from the outside, and she's just most likely staring at the building rather that at Callie. But from that room at the second floor of the building, she was sure that it was her. It was the same pair of blue eyes, albeit the darker circles surrounding it. She has visibly lost some weight, and now wore her blonde hair above her shoulders in messy waves, sticking out under the navy blue hoodie she sported. Yet the slight movement of her mouth leading to a pout, and the way she crossed her arms around herself when she felt the chill of dusk time breeze was distinctly Arizona. Callie touched the spot where she was standing at from behind the glass. She had hoped for this moment a thousand times. In her mind, she would run to Arizona, as fast as she could, and wrap her in her arms. Yet know that it was happening, she stood frozen inside the office of the Chief of Seattle Police department, with only a glass wall and a building storey separating her from Arizona Robbins.
"Torres, TORRES!" she was knocked out of her thoughts when she heard her name being called by two men. She turned to find the Chief already in his office. Droplets of tears were lining her eyes, threatening to fall.
"Are you okay, Torres?" Mark asked. By now he was standing next to the Chief, who was about to seat down. The elderly man gave Callie a concerned look, while stroking his beard.
"I-uhm, what?" Callie replied. The two men exchanged puzzled looks.
"You seemed distracted, Torres, should we be concerned?" Richard Webber asked. He took out two folders from the bag he carried.
Callie's mouth remained hanging, dry. The men were waiting for an answer, but the brunette turned her head away from them to look back at the spot where seconds ago, she saw the bluest eyes she has ever seen. There was no one there.
"I have to go, excuse me," Callie replied quickly, and sprinted from her spot by the wall to the door of the Chief's office. But Mark's hand closing in on her left wrist and Webber's booming voice stopped her in her tracks.
"No, you won't, Torres. I just went through a gruelling flight from Miami, and you know how much I hate flying, so you both better sit your sorry asses down while I brief you for your next assignments. No personal issues should get in the line of your duties, Torres, so unless you have a ticking timebomb shoved up your ass by a terrorist, by all means, leave my building, but be careful not to set it off in the park were the children are. If not, you better listen to me, and you listen to me good. Understood?" Webber's booming voice echoed through his office.
"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir," Callie replied. She sat down in front of the Chief's desk, with Mark next to her. She was confused. She wanted to go and start looking for Arizona, or for what seemed like her apparition, but she felt helpless under the judgmental gaze of the two men.
'Maybe I am going crazy,' Callie shuddered at the thought.
"Now that everything is in order, as I've said, I was in Miami, in a meeting with their police department. You both heard of the notorious breakout in their maximum sentence facility, of which, only two prisoners escaped, the father and son tandem of Luis and Gaspar Santos, the leader and right hand of the notorious Miami syndicate, El Tigre." the Chief started. A muscle in both Callie's and Mark's jaws twitched. They had personally brought those two people Webber just mentioned to justice. It still irks them to be reminded that they had been at large for five months.
"The department there had good reason to believe that the breakout was orchestrated from the outside, by nonetheless than the overlord of all the syndicates in Miami," Webber continued.
"Well, that was a decent inference, bravo, Miami police," Mark Sloan slow-clapped, but his hand hung mid-air when the Chief gave him a pointed look.
"There is more to it. The Miami police had good reason to believe that this overlord only revealed himself to the father and son when he helped them escaped. Even in the inside circles of the syndicate ring, only a few members know and have seen the face of this overlord. He, or she, is so guarded about his own identity that the members of the syndicate call him El Desaparecido."
"Wow, they sure have a thing with titles," Mark chuckled. By now, the Chief glared at him.
"Miami police thinks that El Desaparecido helped the father and son escape in order to enlist their assistance in finding the only known former member of the syndicate ring to still be living." the Chief continued. Callie gasped, knowing where this was headed.
"Miami police thinks he might be after Arizona Robbins because she has some valuable information, mostly about his identity," the Chief said.
"And they know this, because?" Callie asked.
"Miss Robbins was living with a lady friend for a year until she left her right after the father and son escaped. The Miami police were able to rescue the girl, specifically Alex Karev, you remember him from over there?" the Chief asked and both nodded in return.
"Well, Karev rescued Miss, uhm -," Webber paused for a moment to check the name in the file inside one of the folders. Callie's blood began to boil at the mention of lady friend. She was sure that had her skin been pale, her cheeks would now be visibly red. She was jealous. She did not know why. She knew she had no right. Still, she did not want to hear the name.
"Murphy, Leah. Yeah, she was abducted and was about to be taken out of the apartment she used to share with Miss Robbins. The police arrived just in the nick of time. They arrested the men. They all bore the brand of the Miami syndicate ring. Karev took Miss Murphy into questioning right after. Miss Murphy said that Miss Robbins told her she had an altercation with the law some years ago and that she owed some criminals some things and that they were after her. That she had some valuable information that could finally bring those criminals down, but she could not just talk to the police because she did not know who she could trust. Miss Robbins said that these criminals were not petty, they had an operation in almost every state and had moles everywhere." The Chief sighed after recounting the story, and then looked at Callie with concern.
"Finally, she said that there was only one cop she knew she could trust, but she was not sure if she was ready to meet her just yet," the Chief said.
"That's it?" Mark replied. "That's all that Karev got out of this girl.
"Yes. Miss Robbins told Miss Murphy enough to explain why she was leaving her, but obviously, not so much as to endanger her whereabouts. That's logical. That's what I would do," the Chief replied.
"And the only cop she trusted-," Callie began.
"Officer Karev and I had good reason to believe that it was you. Karev had leads and hints everywhere. Basically, Miss Robbins is on the run, transferring from state to state. Karev got a tip that she might finally be in Seattle right now, and ready to face you, Torres. That's why he flew me in to plan our agenda," the Chief replied.
"Which is?" Callie asked, a trimmed eyebrow raised.
"Well of course, to protect Miss Robbins, and to get that valuable information from her," the Chief replied. Callie sank down, her back touching the backrest of her chair.
"Well, how do we look for her? Do we even know she's alive? What if the reason why she's gone was not because she was on the run, but because El Desaparecido finally caught up with her? Can Karev even be trusted?" Mark said with a tone of disdain. He, Callie and Alex Karev, a young police officer for Miami, were in an operation together four years ago when they first encountered Arizona Robbins. During that time, Arizona had been framed to take the fall for El Tigre. It was Karev who had the hunch that Arizona was innocent, and it was he whom Chief Webber trusted. Even though he was proven to be right, Mark Sloan could not seem to forgive the Miami cop for earning the trust of the strict Chief after just one operation, when he had tried to earn the same for eleven years.
"We don't look for her. She will come to Torres. And when she does, we do our best to protect her. I trust Karev. It was he who called that Arizona Robbins was not the criminal during your last operation together. He had been right." the Chief talked with finality that signaled to Mark that Karev's competence was not up to discussion. While Callie felt sympathy for her partner, she knew that he couldn't be more wrong. Arizona was alive. She just saw her. Callie smiled. At least she was not going crazy.
"Here are your files," the Chief said, handing them the brown folders. "Review them overnight, and Callie, be prepared. She might come anytime."
"What will I do when she does?" Callie asked, suddenly with fear in her eyes.
"You will know what to do. You have to draw her in so..," the Chief studied Callie for a while. "You'd have to at least be friendly, yet professional."
Despite the smile he offered Callie, the brunette knew that last statement was loaded.
"That's it, you're both dismissed. Please get out of my office," the Chief said waving his right hand. Both Callie and Mark stood up to leave.
Later that night, bag on her shoulder, leather jacket around her and the brown folder clutched in her arm, Callie Torres walked along the brightly lit street towards her apartment building, with Mark Sloan by her side. It was their evening routine. Mark insisted on walking Callie to her building, even though that area was well lit and with tight security. Callie always found it sweet of her friend, but tonight, she found it extra comforting. They haven't talked since the 20-minute trek from the police department.
"He probably dismissed us so abruptly so that he could jack off," Mark Sloan started, trying to break the ice. Usually, those kinds of jokes would elicit a small chuckle from his best friend, followed by a light punch to his arm. But tonight, Callie was silent.
"Torres," Mark started. Callie stopped walking and looked at him
"Chief was right, she is still alive." Callie said. Mark looked visible hurt by those words.
"Look, I know you want her to be alive, I do, too, but I thought you would at least pretend to be on my side," Mark said, thinking that this was about his unspoken rivalry with Karev.
"No, there are no sides to take, Mark. I saw her, right by the park, in front of our building. That was why I was distracted when the Chief came. That was I was trying to leave the room. I saw her, and in a flash, she was gone," Callie narrated. "I saw her, Mark, and I did nothing, now I might not see her again."
Tears that were a while ago threatening to fall now flowed down her cheeks with liberty. Mark wrapped his arms around his best friend in a protective instinct.
"Shhhhh, the Chief is right. She will come to you. You will see her again, and then, you'll know what to do," Mark rubbed his best friend's back, reassuring her.
"Will I be able to nail this, Mark?" Callie looked up at her taller friend, worry etched on her face.
"You will figure it out, and some more. You are a rock star," Mark said. Callie finally smiled. The pair began their walk again, with Mark's arm now around Callie's shoulder.
From a safe distance, hiding behind a maple tree, a pair of blue eyes watched intently as a tall man and a brunette walked down the street arm in arm. Her blood began to boil. If it weren't nighttime, she was sure that her cheeks were now visibly red. She was jealous. She did not know why. She knew she had no right. Still, she had a sudden craving for cigarettes.