No Matter of Chance
By AmboDriver
Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just playing around with these "If/Then" alternative versions of characters that I adore. They are owned by Shondaland, ABC, and probably a lot of other really rich folks.
A/N: Thanks for all the comments (yes, even you, draggy guest). I'm glad most of you seem to really be enjoying the slow build. And I promise it won't be 110 chapters…not even half that many (although very close). This is my one and only chance to write a first time story for Calzona since I only write canon-based stories, so I'm going to enjoy it for all it's worth.
Here's a bit of a short one, which is why it was posted so quickly. My goal for the next few weeks is to get something out every 2-3 days, although no promises. But I think I can generally do that as long as I don't hit writer's block. We'll see...
Chapter 25
Arizona sat in the prosecutor's office and regretted telling Callie she could do this alone. It had only been three days since the attack, after all. But being buoyed by the safety of having Callie there in her life had perhaps made her more confident than she really was outside of those strong arms and reassuring whispers. And now that she sat here with just the lawyer she had just hired and the prosecutor, she wished she had told Callie to come with her instead of running into work to check on some patients.
"So, Dr. Robbins, are you ready to begin?" The prosecutor, Kurt Matthews, seemed like a nice man, but there was something in the way he played with his pen that unnerved Arizona.
She swallowed hard and looked over at the lawyer next to her. Rachel Young had come highly recommended by Callie's own lawyer. While it was still strange to think that Callie had the money to actually have a lawyer on retainer, she was glad to know that she had someone to help her through the craziness that was sure to come, and if she happened to have money and connections, then all the better. Rachel smiled over at Arizona and gave her the slightest of nods, which helped settle the gnawing worry in her gut. "I guess so," Arizona answered as she turned back to Matthews.
"Okay, well I just wanted to bring you in here and let you know where we stand." He opened the file sitting on his desk and scanned over it. "Jordan McDaniels is the defendant. From what I have heard, she's stating that she came to your apartment to speak with you and an argument ensued. Then she claims you pushed her into the end table and you started fighting."
Arizona barked out a spat of laughter. "Really? She's claiming that I started it? She hit me over the head with a bottle. She strangled me until I passed out. How the hell does that happen if we were having a little girl fight?" Arizona rolled her eyes and looked over to her lawyer. "Is she for real?"
Rachel shrugged. "She really has no defense unless she makes something up."
"And she's going to bank on the fact that she's a police officer," the prosecutor added. He sighed quietly. "I hate to say it, but if her lawyer does a good job and gets a jury that is more likely to think that cops are good people, there's a chance this could work. The real problem for us is that the cops couldn't find how she got into your apartment. There was no evidence of a break in. So, the fact she was lying in wait is going to be hard to prove because it's your word against hers."
Now Arizona was angry, furious even. "So, the word of a world class surgeon isn't worth anything? There have got to be people who can testify that she's a nut job. Just because she's a cop doesn't mean she's mentally stable. Anyone can break."
He looked down at his hands before meeting her eyes with just the hint of hesitation. "She's saying the same thing about you. She's claiming that you went nuts when she came over to warn you about the woman you were seeing, Heather Williams. That's going to be her defense." He took a deep breath and then said, "So far I think it might be working."
"What do you mean?"
"She made bail. She walked out of jail this morning."
Arizona's heart instantly started to pound and she broke out into a cold sweat. "She's out? Oh, God, what the hell am I going to do?"
"We're going to get a restraining order the second we leave here," Rachel said as she gently put her hand on Arizona's arm.
"And what the hell will that do? Do you know how many times we see women in the ER who had restraining orders against their boyfriend or husband and yet he didn't care? It's not a bulletproof vest; it's a piece of paper." Arizona felt like she just wanted to get up and run, run far away and never look back.
"It's okay," Rachel said as she reached out with both hands to grab Arizona's biceps. Her steel grey eyes were intent and they helped calm Arizona down. "Her whole defense depends on pretending she's innocent, right? If she comes after you, especially when you have a restraining order, she won't have a leg to stand on. I've worked on a number of cases like this and trust me, if she's lucid enough to come up with a defense like this, then she's lucid enough to realize what a colossally bad idea it would be to come after you."
Arizona nodded, but couldn't trust herself to say anything in return. While it logically made sense, still the fear of having Jordan pop up at any time, in any place, was so real it made her heart continue to pound. She was having a hard time thinking and following what was going on around her in the meeting, because she kept remembering the feel of Jordan's fingers around her throat, squeezing tighter and tighter. Finally, Arizona looked up and took a deep breath. "Can we take a break? I need to use the rest room."
"Sure," Matthews said, as he sat back in his chair. "It's just down the hall on the left."
She grabbed her purse and hurried out into the hallway. Once out there, she looked around at the various people wandering up and down the hallway, and she realized she was vulnerable. Jordan could be anywhere, just waiting to get her. In fact, the rest room seemed all too dangerous, what with the stalls for her to hide in, so Arizona instead moved down toward the lobby, where there were a number of people and more importantly, the guards that checked all visitors were nearby. Once there in the safety of all those strangers, she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, hitting the quick dial for Callie's office phone as she did.
"Dr. Torres," said the familiar voice on the other side.
"Callie, I need you," Arizona said quietly.
"Arizona, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Please, can you just come down here? I…" She took a deep breath as she felt the tears burning in her eyes. "They gave her bail, Callie. She's out there somewhere."
"Okay, I'm on my way, baby," Callie said a little breathlessly as she was obviously quickly scrambling around to get her stuff together. "I'll be there in twenty minutes tops."
"Okay," Arizona answered, her voice quavering. "If I don't text you, we're in Kurt Matthews' office. It's on the second floor. Just ask at the information desk."
"Okay, I've got my keys and I'm leaving right now," Callie said and Arizona could hear a door shut in the background. "You go back to his office and stay with your lawyer, okay? They'll make sure you're safe."
"Thank you," Arizona whispered into the phone as she let out a huge sigh of relief. Having Callie there would make everything much better. "See you in a few."
"Okay, see you then," Callie said before the line went dead.
Arizona took another deep breath and looked around at everyone milling around the lobby area. They all seemed to so normal, so calm, and Arizona had a hard time just then remembering what that was like. Just hold on til she gets here. She'll make sure you're okay. Just the thought of Callie being there for her really helped calm her down and she smiled at the thought of having those strong arms around her, making her forget all the scary thoughts of Jordan. "Okay, just go back upstairs and get this over with," she told herself quietly as she felt some control come back. "You can do this."
With a final deep breath she went back upstairs to finish the meeting with the prosecutor and her lawyer. She was only a few steps from the door when she stopped and a goofy grin suddenly shot onto her lips. "She called me baby." She bit at her lip as the butterflies raged through her stomach and she just stood and enjoyed the flush of warmth the thought brought to her. She was enveloped in that warmth and it was like she had put on a Teflon shield that kept everything else at bay, even Jordan and her insanity. Callie had called her baby and right then, right there that was all that mattered.
Callie walked up to the information desk and waited impatiently for the woman to look up at her. "I'm looking for Kurt Matthews. Can you tell me where his office is?"
Just as the receptionist was about to answer, she saw a flash of blonde hair up on the second floor landing and looked up. Arizona was walking along with another woman with red hair. Arizona had her head down and she was obviously doing something with her phone. As if on cue, Callie's phone beeped with a text message. "Never mind," she said to the woman as she quickly jogged off to the stairs that would take her to the second floor while grabbing for her phone.
We're headed to Judge Esteban's chambers for the restraining order. Meet me there. You'll have to ask for the room number.
Callie smiled as her feet rapidly flew up the steps, not wanting to give Arizona a chance to disappear out of sight before she could get to her. She was almost out of breath by the time she practically sprinted to the top of the steps and scurried down the hallway, her eyes constantly seeking out the blonde hair as it appeared and disappeared among the throngs of people in the hallway. "Arizona," she called out when she was close and she smiled broadly when the blonde turned around to her.
"Calliope," Arizona called back as she quickly moved through the people until she was falling into Callie's arms. "Thank you for coming," she said quietly as Callie pulled her in tightly and wrapped her hand into the soft hair so that she could hold her against her shoulder.
"I'll always come for you, okay?" She placed a kiss on her forehead and then released her grip so that Arizona could stand up straight. "You okay?"
"Now that you're here." Arizona smiled gently and Callie could practically see the tension dissolving off her face. "We were just headed to get the restraining order filed."
"Then I got here just in time." She reached down and took Arizona's hand, noticing the slightly raised eyebrow that got her. "What?"
Arizona's lips turned into a smile and there was a hint of color to her cheeks that wasn't there before. "First you call me baby on the phone and now you're holding my hand in public. I'm just feeling good right now is all. I needed that."
The world disappeared for Callie in that moment and she forgot they were standing in the hallway of the municipal building with strangers and Arizona's lawyer around them. Instead she just smiled at Arizona and enjoyed the fact that she could make Arizona feel good in the middle of all the shit in her life with just a simple word and touch. She couldn't help herself as she leaned down to place a quick kiss on her lips and then laugh lightly. "I didn't even realize I called you that."
Arizona's eyes were wide after the kiss. "And now a kiss in public."
Callie looked up at the lawyer quickly. "Do we have a minute?"
The woman nodded. "Sure, our appointment with the judge isn't for ten minutes and it's just down the hall."
"Then we'll be right back," Callie said as she took Arizona's hand and dragged her toward the nearest handicapped rest room. She opened the door and was relieved that it was a single bathroom and it was empty. "Come in here for a second."
"What if someone needs it?" Arizona's voice was ever so slightly amused.
"We need it. Come in here," she repeated as she tugged on Arizona's hand and pulled her into the bathroom, turning the light on with her other hand as she did. When the door shut, she locked it and then turned to look at Arizona. "Did you really think I wouldn't hold your hand or kiss you in public?"
"Well," Arizona began as she looked down at the floor. "I mean, this is all new to you." She looked up then, a hesitation playing in her blue eyes. "You don't have to do that to prove anything to me, you know."
"Prove anything to you? I'm not trying to prove anything to you." She let out an exasperated sigh. "That's just me, Arizona. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. Outside of work, I'm pretty naturally affectionate with the people I want to be affectionate with. Sure, at work, we all have to play Ellis' game and conform to the image she wants us all to portray. And when I'm unsure of things, I can be cautious and maybe seem reserved or cold. But once I'm sure, I'm sure. And, okay I'm still a little confused and scared, but I'm sure. I know that might not make total sense, but I am."
Arizona's lips turned up just a little in an amused smile. "Are you sure you're sure?"
"Yes," Callie answered with a melodramatic huff. "Let me prove it to you." She took Arizona's good hand and whirled her around so that her back was to the door. Without giving her a chance to move, Callie instantly pressed herself against her, pinning her to the door with her hips and placing both arms on either side of Arizona's head. "I'm sure," she whispered before smashing her lips against Arizona's.
This kiss reminded Callie of the one in Arizona's office, when Callie was trying desperately to convince the peds surgeon that they could work. Only this time, Arizona was instantly an active participant and there was no chance she was going to push Callie away and say no. Instead Arizona grabbed at Callie's waist, pulling their bodies tightly together, before her hand went up under the back of Callie's shirt and began lightly stroking the skin at the small of her back. The touch made Callie jump in a mixture of surprise and excitement as Arizona's hand traced a line of fire across her skin.
When she finally needed air, Callie pulled back just enough to gasp in pants for oxygen. "Believe me now?" she managed to get out through breaths.
Arizona's hand continued to run her fingers in light circles along Callie's spine. "I'm still not really sure," she said with a mischievous smile.
Callie's eyes went from Arizona's lips to her blue irises and back to her lips. She wanted nothing more than to continue this, but she knew they didn't have the time and this was definitely not the place, so she let her head fall to Arizona's shoulder and she swallowed. "We need to get this restraining order done, but I promise you after we do that and go get your shoulder checked on, we'll go home and continue this, okay?"
"And if I need a lot of reassurance?" Arizona whispered into Callie's ear.
"I'll make sure you're reassured." She tilted her head and kissed her lightly under the edge of her jaw. "Even if it takes all night."
She could hear Arizona swallow hard at that. "Oh, it'll take all night, I think."
Callie lifted her head and looked Arizona in the eyes. "You think?"
Arizona moved her hand from Callie's back up to the side of her face before sliding it around to pull her in for one final searing kiss. "I know," she said breathlessly when she let Callie go.
Callie backpedalled two steps to give them some space so she could catch her breath and hope that the pounding of her heart would slow. "Okay, so I guess we've got plans this evening then, huh?" She laughed as she pulled her shirt down and smoothed it over her skirt.
Arizona stood up from the wall and seemed just a little unsteady for a moment before she took a deep breath and ran her hand through her blonde locks. "I would say so," she said with a slightly nervous laugh.
"Well, then the faster we get this restraining order, the faster we can go see Chang and the faster we can get home."
Arizona went over and unlocked the bathroom door, her hand on the handle as she looked back over her shoulder. "Not fast enough," she said as she opened the door and went through.
Callie swallowed hard. "Definitely not fast enough," she said as she quickly followed Arizona.
TBC…