Hey Guys, Welcome to my new fic, Working for the Enemy. Firstly I aren't one for word count cheating by posting ridiculous AN's at the beginning and end of every chapter, but I wanted to just explain a few things initially before we get down to business. So this fic is inspired by one of my favorite movies... I wont tell you which one, but points go to the first person to correctly guess. I will confess that i have taken the liberty of 'stealing' a lot of content from the movie, i have tried to modify it and make it my own, but some bits are just too damn good to change, so should you be reading and think "hey i know that line!" or "wait, I've heard this before!" you probably have... just not in a Calzona way! please don't be sending me hate mail for it, i am confessing openly that i have done this and I have spent a lot of time on this fic to make it my own and not a simple rip off of someone else's idea and comic genius.
Next i want to admit that the first two chapters I actually dislike... like dislike with a passion. I have written and rewritten them several times, and have reworked a dozen times what i have kept to try and improve them, but i just never seem to be happy with them, but i need them to stay put as they are the explanatory chapters that introduce first Arizona and her AU background, and then in chapter 2 Callie and her AU background. Hopefully i am being overly self critical, and you readers enjoy the first two chapters a lot more than i did when i re-read the finished pieces.
I have gotten the majority of this fic written, i wasn't planning on posting it until it was complete, but the anxiety i was getting over these first two chapters has been driving me nuts and so i have decided to just post them and get them out of the way and then we can just get into the good stuff. saying that, should you come up with any suggestions along the way, i am not against going back and rewriting some bits to improve the fic.
Things you should know before continuing... hmmm... well when it comes to me... Calzona will always be endgame, however this fic is a slow burn, so be prepared for that, but rest assured, these two knuckleheads will eventually find their way to each other, it's all about enjoying their journey and not just reaching their destination. There will be some OC along the line. there will also be a little drama, some angst, and some comedy... well what i define as comedy anyway... you however may not find it funny but i personally have laughed out loud several dozen times whilst proof reading! i will also admit that at one point i had myself sobbing at one chapter and wondered how it was possible to write a piece of fiction that made myself cry like a baby!
Anyways, enough with my rambling, here is the first chapter... meet Arizona Robbins...
-oOo-
Arizona Robbins esq. was a highly educated attorney who, following in the footsteps of her parents, had dedicated her entire education and career to saving historical America one demolition site at a time.
In a world where corporate giants bought out architectural gems of the country, only to rip them down to rubble and in their place build towering soulless structures that were designed and built purely with profit margins as the only consideration. Warriors like Arizona, who constantly put their safety on the line, were the only hope in retaining the culture from the wonder years.
Years when buildings were designed to be pleasing on the eye, to spark interest and intrigue in not only the buildings contents but the inspiration for the design. When buildings were designed to make the neighborhood look nicer and have character.
The thought of these buildings full of charm and character being ripped to the ground, only to be replaced by stock designed, cheaply erected and bland buildings broke Arizona's heart.
She longed for the day that she would reenact her own childhood and take her own babies on tours of the great New York and to tell them all about the origins of charming buildings that were full of historical and cultural information. She had loved those days herself, when school holidays would come and her mother or father would take a day off for the family city tour, and as the years passed, the tours changed into quizzes as her parents fought to find a question about any building in New York that a teenage Arizona couldn't answer.
And that's how she found herself one Saturday once again at a demolition site. Not for the first time koala hugging the wrecking ball of a bulldozer as she faced down the Torres Industries demolition crew, trying everything in her power to put a stop to their attempts at destroying a seventy five year old single stage theatre house, a building that was one a pillar of the community in downtown New York.
A building that one time housed all the great names that early to mid nineteen hundred broadway could offer. But now, due to it's 'run down' state and the owners not having the funds for the needed upgrades, the owners had decided it would be easier to just sell it on and use the money for their retirement. Which meant that she was now having to protest against yet another soul destroying, money making, heritage swallowing monster ripping it down.
"Get off the ball lady!"
"Put a stop to this demolition and I will happily get off the ball" Arizona argued, determined to not fail in saving the building like she had in practically every other protest she had organized with her best friend Teddy Altman, and more recently Teddy's fiance Henry. He was mainly here to spend more time with the woman he loved, and to make her happy by supporting her, but Arizona would take all the help she could get. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?
"Look lady, your working on my very last nerve" the site forman yelled, trying to show boredom and disinterest but the pulsing vein in his neck gave away how frustrated and angry he was getting, after all he was the one who would have to answer to Carlos Torres about the staffing hours the demo had taken, and no one wanted to come between Mr Torres and his money, regardless of how much of it je had to spare.
"This building has been here for seventy five years, that trumps your nerves!" Arizona scoffed. "the community deserves for this building to remain in place, it represents the ideals of it's time and it should be landmarked, not ripped down so Callie Torres can build yet another emotionless piece of crap building" Arizona could feel her voice getting louder as she tried to project her point not just for the work crew, but for the dozens of people that were now lined up alongside the protective barrier watching the scene unfold with fascination. Any press was good press right?
"This is your last warning lady, we've got a permit to take this shit heap down!" The site foreman called to her, careful to not project his voice too far for the general public to hear.
"And I have a permit that allows for me to gather for the purpose of expressing my constitutionally protected right to the freedom of speech!" Arizona mocked as she felt her arms begin to ache from supporting her body weight on the wrecking ball and nodded towards Teddy in a silent message to prepare the yoga mats that they had brought so that when they laid down and linked arms to stop any further movements, they wouldn't get gravel, broken glass and 65e likes sticking into their skin. Teddy motioned for Henry to follow her and help, leaving Arizona to climb from the wrecking ball in a very un ladylike manner.
"Are you trying to get killed lady?" The foreman scoffed, glancing to his friends who were watching the blonde woman struggle with amusement.
"Sir, according to city code section 245..." Arizona ignored the laughter being directed at her, she was used to being mocked after all, most of her weekends since the age of fourteen had been spent doing this exact same routine.
"Forget about your code... where the hell are you going!" The site foreman watched on in horror as the blonde moved to join her friends and laid down on their yoga mats right in front of the demolition site in a position that restricted them from starting. If they were to start they would absolutely cause an injury to one of the protesters who could then sue them, and that would NOT go down well with Mr Torres.
"According to city code section 245, if a landmarks committee..." Arizona attempted again only for the arrogant foreman to interrupt her once again.
"Lady, you're in violation here, the police are on their way!"
"Then let them come, we aren't breaking any laws... come on everyone, join us! Lie down in protest for this beautiful building being ripped down unnecessarily" Arizona yelled, her heart sinking when not a single person moved to join them.
"You're on your own lady... you had better get out of the way before the police arrive" the foreman scoffed as his workers burst out in laughter at the blondes failed attempt to rouse the crowd.
"We will prevail!" Arizona yelled loudly and proudly.
"you will go to jail!... Hey look, I'm a poet, it's a shame this playhouse isn't still open, I could have done a show of my own" the foreman called out, grinning when his crew and a few onlookers laughed.
"then stop the demolition and you can be their headliner" Arizona called, not finding his comment in the slightest amusing but willing to go to any lengths to save the architectural gem behind her.
"Here come the po po's lady, this is your last chance to move before you end up with a rap sheet" the foreman called teasingly.
"We are not doing anything that constitutes arrest sir, this is a peaceful protest and we will have the last laugh when they have to just stand beside you and watch" Arizona smirked despite the nerves running through her.
"It's your funeral lady!" He scoffed as a uniformed officer approached him.
-oOo-
"Thank you for bailing us out Mr and Mrs Robbins" Teddy offered embarrasedly, this was far from the first time Arizona's parents had come to help them out of the lock up but the feeling of shame and guilt never got any easier for her.
"Oh you're welcome dear, it's no problem at all" Barbara Robbins smiled warmly, nudging her husband with her elbow when he grunted in annoyance.
"We should head off Teds, we have that dinner with your Mom and her husband" Henry offered, unable to meet Daniel Robbins eyes, the man petrified him.
"Of course... I will speak to you tomorrow?" Teddy asked turning her attention to her best friend who looked drained.
"Sure, we have that sunrise yoga session at five, I will swing by your apartment and pick you up at four thirty" Arizona forced a smile as she pulled her best friend into a hug. "Thanks for today Ted's... you're the best… you and Henry"
"You know that I have your back Arizona, always... and please tell your parents I will work out a way to pay them back for all of the bail amount's... I would tell them myself but your Dad looks like he is ready to commit murder and I would rather be alive for my wedding day" Teddy giggled softly, not wanting to disrespect Arizona's parents by laughing in their faces after they had just done her a huge favor at a great expense… again.
"Yeah thanks for leaving me hanging! If I don't turn up for yoga… call the police and file a possible murder ok?" Arizona scoffed as she pulled away from the hug and waved her friends off before turning to her parents who were watching her with matching looks of annoyance and disappointment.
"I promise I will pay you back… I know I keep saying it… but I will" Arizona offered with a weak and nervous smile.
"What are parents for if not to bail their little princess and her idiot friends out of jail?" Daniel scoffed angrily.
"Did they knock it down?" Arizona asked her mother, ignoring her father for the time being until he had calmed down and would be a little more receptive to a discussion that didn't involve telling her again how much she was messing her life up when she should have followed her girlfriend Jo to work for Greenpeace. Arizona's shoulders slumped when her mother didn't give her any verbal answer but instead nodded with an empathic smile.
The three Robbins began their short walk back towards their home, Arizona having moved back in with her parents after Jo had quit her job to go volunteer for Greenpeace and her low salary at Legal Aid not being enough to cover a shanty in Africa, never mind a self contained one bedroom unit anywhere within fifty miles of the boundary of New York city.
"God! Why aren't I getting through to people? Everytime I try and save a landmark I end up behind bars and the building gets knocked down anyway! What am I doing wrong here? Why aren't people responding to me?" Arizona deflated, before Barbara pulled her into a comforting hug.
"Bug, Torres Industries are not people, they are a heartless profit machine that can't see past their own wallets to give a shit about anyone or anything else. They are damned terrorists to this country" Arizona gazed at her father from her mother's shoulder, it wasn't often he allowed his anger to show on the outside. "And as if that isn't bad enough, now they are moving into our neighborhood, the community meeting tonight announced that the devil himself Trump is bidding on the waterfront lots... they want to rip down the community center and put up condo's instead!"
"Wait... what? Our community center... no... oh no! I can't let that happen, it's our community center! You guys know that Tim and I practically grew up there, do you know how many happy memories I have of being there... I have to stop this from happening" Arizona felt the panic rising within her.
"Come on Honey, let's get home and we can discuss it over some dinner" Barbara smiled affectionately as she stroked her daughters hair gently, she wished her daughter would find something more stable and less dangerous to put her energy into, but she was nothing but proud of her determination and effort.
"You know what Mom... I think I'm just going to head straight to bed, it's been a long and eventful day I'm feeling a little pooped" Arizona offered as they approached their apartment complex and the end of their walk. Reaching the apartment she bid her farewell to her parents and entered her room, dropping her things unceremoniously on the floor.
Grabbing her cell from her bag, she powered it on and waited for it to load as she went into her small ensuite and began to strip for her shower, there was something about being locked up that always left her feeling all kinds of dirty and she needed a shower desperately.
She couldn't help but smile when she saw three missed calls from her girlfriend and a message warning that a voicemail had been left. Turning on the water and adjusting it's temperature she dialed her voicemail, excited to hear the voice that she missed so much and hoping that her girlfriend had been calling to confirm the flight details for tomorrow.
"Hi Zo... it's me Jo... I know i promised, and I hate to do this to you, but I'm not going to be able to make it back tomorrow, I know... I know... I promised and I'm letting you down, but we just got a new intake of interns and you wouldn't believe how bad they are... the Cap has cancelled all shore leave so we can get them up to scratch before we set sail at the weekend and they cause an injury or death at sea... I know it sucks and I know I promised, but I swear I will be thinking of you the whole day, and missing you... and wishing we were celebrating together... anyway I've gotta go, we are all heading out for drinks tonight to celebrate the captain's birthday and I promised I wouldn't be late... have a good birthday Zo... love you"
Arizona pulled the phone away from her ear and dropped it onto the vanity before glancing in the mirror and shaking her head in frustration at the tears that were now rolling down her face. As if this day couldn't get any worse, now her girlfriend was backing out on spending her birthday together, it had been a little over six months since Jo went away, it was only meant to be for three weeks, but something always came up that forced her to stay and she felt like a shit for being upset and angry about it, Jo was out there saving the world and here she was, crying like a mess. With one final shake of her head, she stepped into the shower to wash the shitty day off of her, determined to not be long and get into bed and asleep as soon as possible.
