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 the comments folks. They are good encouragement, but I can always use more (hint, hint).

This one's a little short. But that's about all the Erica I could handle for now!


Chapter 29

Callie stared down at Addison's son and smiled. "You're a fighter, Brian. Yes you are," she whispered to him. Most babies born with the ventricular defect that he had would probably have died before they were an hour old if they had even made it through the birth. But he'd made it through the first six hours and seemed stronger with every hour, although she knew better than most that that could not continue for much longer. Strength could only go so far. He would need surgery in the next day or two at the latest, and they needed to start planning it if they were going to be ready. Where the hell are you Arizona? We need to get started. I don't want to have to tell Sloan and Addie that their son died because the chief called you into her office for some petty bullshit. She remembered thinking it was strange when Mark had come in and told her that Arizona had been paged 911 to Chief Grey's office, but with Ellis you just never knew what she was up to. But still the chief should know that they needed to get a move on with the planning.

As if she could hear her, Arizona walked back into the NICU with a rather sour look on her face, followed by Meredith Webber, who sported a bright smile. Callie frowned at the two of them but then focused on Arizona as they approached. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you? Webber will keep an eye on him."

Callie didn't like the flat tone of her voice or the way she barely made eye contact, but she had no choice but to nod. "He's pretty stable, Webber, but keep an eye on his BP. If it drops at all, page us immediately." She then turned her attention back to Arizona. "After you," she said with a motion of her hand to the door.

When they got outside, Arizona took a deep breath and looked down at her feet. "Callie, I had to go see the chief," she began in a voice that dripped with regret.

"Mark told me. Is that why Webber is on the case? She's been pulling strings to get her into surgeries lately. I mean I guess I can understand since the boards are coming up, but still—"

"Callie, no, that's not it," Arizona cut in.

"No?"

Arizona swallowed visibly before she looked up at Callie. "The chief wanted to let me know who I would be working with on the case."

"Who? I'm the head of cardio. There's no one better at this hospital for this case." Callie didn't understand why the chief had to tell Arizona who she would be working with.

"Calliope, the chief wants someone else on the case."

Callie started to speak but then stopped as Arizona's words sunk in. "Someone else?"

"Erica Hahn."

Callie blinked as she felt like the breath had been knocked out of her lungs. "Hahn? She doesn't even work…" Realization hit her before she could finish the sentence. "Oh," she let out on a heavy exhale. "I guess Erica is my new boss, huh?"

"No, no," Arizona said as she quickly reached over to grab Callie's forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "The chief hasn't made any decisions as far as I know."

"Oh, is that supposed to make me feel better?" Callie pulled her arm free from Arizona's grasp and started to pace. "This is a tryout, right? And as soon as she goes all Erica Fucking Hahn and is brilliant at whatever it is she does then I'm out on my ass. You were worried about having to find a new job somewhere else, right? Now it looks like I'll be the one looking for something new. And what do I do with the kids then? I don't want to leave Seattle. But what choice will I have? I can't stay here and be humiliated like that." She felt anger and fear boil in her, leading to hot tears stinging her eyes. "I don't want to take them from Owen. And even more so I don't want to leave you." She walked over to Arizona and felt tears welling in her eyes. "What do I do?"

Arizona grabbed Callie's arm more forcefully this time and dragged her down the hall and into her office. Once inside, Arizona locked the door and pointed to her couch. "Sit down."

Callie had followed along more out of shock than anything, but now that Arizona was telling her what to do, the anger came back. "What are you going to do? Give me a hug and send me on my way? What the fuck, Arizona?"

"No, I'm not," Arizona said in a harsh clipped tone. "Now just sit down, Calliope."

Callie had never heard Arizona raise her voice to anyone and this surprised her enough to make her do what the peds surgeon asked. Once she was seated, she looked up at Arizona, who quickly sat down onto the couch with a loud sigh. Arizona then took Callie's hands in her own. "First of all, I know this sucks for you. I'm not happy about it either. The chief has really crossed the line here."

"But we can't do anything about it. You don't cross Ellis Grey if you want to keep your career." Callie knew that, was resigned to it in fact. She had seen it just recently when the chief had let Bailey go for something she wasn't even really guilty of, just to save her own face. Going to her and telling her that this was all bullshit would certainly mean the end of her career. No one in their right mind would hire someone that Ellis Grey had fired for insubordination. "I just feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, Arizona. She's so hard to read and I don't know what she's trying to tell me with this. Does she want to see me fight for it or does she want to see if I'm a good follower? What do I do? What would you do?"

Arizona took a deep breath and seemed like she was going to start talking but then stopped and got this thoughtful look on her face. Finally she looked at Callie and there was such empathy playing in her blue eyes that it disheartened Callie. "I'd probably be the good follower, but that's me. I don't ruffle feathers. But you're not me."

Callie's head fell back against the couch and she groaned loudly in frustration. "I don't know. I don't even know how I would fight this if I wanted to. I mean do I storm into the OR and force her to give me the scalpel? I have to think about that little boy, too." She closed her eyes, realizing what she needed to do. "I need to think about Brian. He needs a dedicated team without conflict tearing it apart. I'll keep my mouth shut and work hard for the other cardio patients we have here. You and Erica do what you can for him. His life is way more important than my job."

Arizona smiled, although it was a little sad. "I think that's probably the best idea. Can you maybe help out by staying with Mark and Addie during the surgery? Neither of them has the cardio knowledge to know all the nitty gritty details of what we'll be doing. You can maybe help them understand. We are going to be in OR 5 so there won't be a balcony for you all to sit in and watch, but I'll make sure we send out updates regularly so you know what's going on."

Callie took a deep breath and tried hard to let the anger dissipate now that she had made her decision. She looked into the calming blue eyes across from her and smiled. "I'll be happy to do that. You just make sure you save that little guy, okay?"

"I promise you, we'll do everything we can. I won't give up on him. And as much as Erica can be a real bitch, she's a stubborn fighter for her patients, so I'm sure she won't either." Arizona reached out and cupped Callie's face. "I know this is hard, but I do believe you are better for the department head job than Erica. And I'm not just saying that because we're seeing one another. You are a far better communicator and teacher and I bet you're better at all the crappy paperwork, too. Erica is a great surgeon, sure, but so are you. You're amazing in fact. I really believe once Ellis looks at all the factors, she'll pick you. Having Erica here may actually help you out. She'll get to see how confrontational Erica can be up close and personal."

Callie closed her eyes and nodded. She then felt Arizona draw her into her embrace and smiled as she took a moment to just enjoy the feel of being in the arms of the woman she loved. "Thanks."

Arizona kissed her forehead gently. "No problem. Any time you need support or someone to beat through things with, I'm your girl."

Callie nodded and wrapped her arms around Arizona tightly. "You're my girl for more than that." She then turned her head up and gave Arizona a light kiss. "Now, you better get back to work on Brian's case."

Arizona nodded with just enough of a smile that one of her dimples made an appearance. "I'll text you to let you know when we have things scheduled. And when this is all over with, we'll spend some time alone to make up for that evening together we didn't get to have."

Callie smiled brightly and gave Arizona another kiss, this time on her cheek. "I'm going to hold you to that."


Arizona stood at the scrub sink and kept looking from scrubbing at her fingers and into the OR where the team was prepping the room for the surgery. It could be a pretty long surgery with a number of potential pitfalls so she was trying to get herself in the right mindset to handle the long stresses they were bound to see. She was just glad that the chief had ordered that the surgery would be in one of the ORs without a balcony. The last thing she wanted was to have an audience for this when there was a real chance they would lose little Brian. Operating on a family member of the staff was always stressful enough without the peanut gallery who would later play second guessing games with every decision you made.

The door to the scrub room opened and Erica walked in, tying her surgical mask over her mouth. "You ready for this Robbins?"

Arizona took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for dealing with her friend, if she could even really call her that anymore. "Of course I'm ready. I'm always ready."

"For surgery at least," Erica said under her breath.

Arizona stopped scrubbing her fingernails and turned angrily toward Erica. "What the hell does that mean?"

Erica grabbed a scrub pack and walked over to the next faucet, kicking it on with the foot pedal. "Nothing. Look, can we just get through this. We're friends, right? Why are we bickering?"

Arizona took a deep breath and tried hard to quell the anger stirring in her. It didn't work. "Because you seem to want to throw a wrench in my private life. And now you're here and you're stepping into a surgery that my—" She stopped short, just as much because she wasn't sure how to label Callie as she was unwilling to give Erica the power of knowing more about her relationship.

"Your girlfriend? Is that what she is? I mean, it sounds to me like she's pussy blocking you to be honest. What did you say? No sex until after the divorce? The old Robbins would have never agreed to that shit." Erica's steel blue eyes were cold, mean even.

"She's not pussy blocking me and maybe I've changed," Arizona bit back. This wasn't the time to let her emotions get the better of her and getting in a fight with the woman she would be working with to save little Brian's life was far from the best way to stay even-keeled. She took a deep breath and focused on her hands as she ran them under the water. "Let's just drop this until after the surgery."

"Look, Arizona," Erica said, her voice softer now, "I don't want to fight with you. I want you to be happy and I'm happy you're trying to have a real relationship for a change. I want this to work out for you. But I also want this job when the merger happens, so I have to look out for me. I've got a relationship to worry about too, and it's been going on far longer than your dalliance with Callie Torres. I'll be sorry for you if I win and she has to move to find another job, but I won't cry over it."

Arizona kicked the water off and shook her hands free from excess water. "Damn, Erica, I used to think you were just a little socially inept. But now I know that you're just a bitch." She shook her head at the woman and then backed through the glass door into OR. So much for that friendship. Oh well, don't dwell on it now. Let's just do the best job you can for Brian and his parents. That's the only thing that's important right now. The only thing.

TBC...