Arizona couldn't help but roll her eyes, she'd lost count of the amount of times she'd been asked the same question over and over again since their night out on Saturday. The night where everyone else had left and she'd stayed late to play pool - and flirt tlike hell with Callie Torres - and yet here she was, in her teams dressing room getting ready for the midweek game against Seattle City and she was still being hounded. Everyone apart from Teddy and Addison had lost interest by Sunday night but these two would just not let up. It was driving her crazy. Sure, she and Callie had arranged a date for two days time and they'd been texting a lot since Saturday but Arizona didn't see the point in telling her friends about a date before she knew something would actually come of it. And then her stomach dropped, what if nothing came of of it? She'd been so focused on soccer her entire life, she didn't have time for girlfriends or dating. Sure she'd been on dates but she'd never got to a point where she could call anyone a girlfriend. And then the accident had happened when she was nineteen, and after that she'd slept around... a lot. She'd been pictured numerous times throughout the years leaving bars or clubs with very attractive women and getting into awaiting cars and taking them home. It wasn't something she was proud of but it was her only way of coping.
Glancing down at her watch, Arizona noted the time - only fifteen minutes till kick off. Weeknight games kicked off at 7:45pm usually and it was currently 7:28pm. Bailey had already been in and had the team talk, the coach stating over and over how much this game was a must win. If they lost tonight, it would bring the point gap to only one and the Stormers had three considerably more difficult games left that City did so it was in their hands to lose. She heard her phone bleep from inside her gym bag, it was hard to keep the small grin from appearing on her face as she immediately knew who it was due to the personalised text tone.
Callie: Good luck tonight. I know you'll do great... not as great as me, but still great ;-)
Just as she was about to sit her phone back inside her bag, it bleeped again.
Callie: You're great.
Letting out a deep breath, Arizona quickly laced her boots before sending Callie a quick text asking her to meet her by the trophy cabinets for 2 minutes. She knew the press had no access to that area and City's dressing room was downstairs so the chances of any City players being upstairs was highly slim. They could get a quick two minute hello in before the game started.
Callie was admiring the trophy cabinet and wall of honour inside the Seattle Stormer Stadium. There were pictures aligning the walls of all the Stormers greatest players, both past and present. She stopped at a particular photo that caught her eye. It was one of an eighteen year old Arizona Robbins leaning over a table with a massive smile on her face, those dimples on full display. Callie couldn't help but grin at the sight of a teenage Arizona with braces, she couldn't remember Arizona looking that young or knowing her back then. It seemed like a lifetime ago but it was only five years for her, a year being the age gap between them. Looking in more detail, Callie noticed the blonde had a pen in hand and was stood next to Miranda Bailey, who was also smiling like a Cheshire cat. She was likely signing her contract, Callie thought.
"Could you maybe not look at that?" came a grimaced voice from behind Callie. And then Arizona was stood beside her, their shoulders brushing in a way that they both noticed but not enough it would draw any attention.
Racking her brain, Callie just couldn't remember.
"I don't remember you having braces."
"I only had them for around nine months, you probably just didn't see me during that time." They'd first came across each other in the junior leagues where Arizona played for Dakota North and Callie played for the Miami Sterling's. They weren't in the same league, however, and only met during friendlys in which their respected teams played. Callie played for the National U21 team but Arizona was chosen and the tender age of sixteen to play for the National team and then the Olympics the next year. She was one of the youngest players in any respected sport to represent their Country at such a high level. Callie remembered watching both events on TV and at the time felt irrationally jealous of the extremely talented blonde, at just sixteen Arizona was predicted by commentators and journalists worldwide to become one of the best Women's Soccer players in the world. And at the mere age of twenty-four, Arizona was already number four on that list; predicted to go to number one depending on the USA's World Cup performance. Twenty-four and Arizona wasn't even at her peak.
"Okay, I look awful," Arizona moaned, gently pulling Callie away from the terrible picture of herself at eighteen years old. "Please stop looking at that before it makes you change your mind about our date on Friday."
At the mention of the word date, Callie tilted her head with a sweet smile on her face. "Date, huh? There was me thinking it was just a casual dinner with a new friend."
Cheeks as red as the blood red part of her Soccer Jersey, Arizona looked away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry I just thought..."
"Relax, Robbins," Callie teased, playfully nudging the blondes shoulder as they began to lazily walk around the trophy room. "If you want a date so bad, I'll go on a date with you."
"Are you naturally annoying or do you save it for me?" Arizona quirked. She stopped and gently grabbed Callie's wrist, realising if they turned the corner the photographers in the tunnel would get a glimpse of them.
Callie pretended to mull over the question for a few seconds before responding, "I think my teasing these day is definitely reserved for you."
Arizona felt like a teenager with their first crush and then she rolled her eyes at herself, Callie Torres kind of was her first crush. Of course she'd been attracted to girls from a young age but Callie was the first girl she'd seen that had literally stopped her in her tracks. Playing against Seattle City was no doubt one of the hardest teams to play against in the league but every single time Arizona looked forward to it, just so she could see Callie Torres. It was quite twisted really, she thought to herself.
"Is that cause you've got a crush on me?" Arizona watched Callie's tanned cheeks went a deeper shade of red.
She had the date, she had the flirting, she had the late night texting. By this point, Callie was feeling pretty confident. And from said late night texting, Callie had found out that Arizona wasn't used to going on dates and that the blonde was nervous... which gave Callie the upper hand. "Arizona, I have a huge crush on you, which I'm sure you can tell." She watched those blue eyes widen in shock but Callie knew it was a good shock. Arizona might have won at pool a few nights ago but she was winning here. "Which is why on Friday night, I'm gonna bust out the big guns and take you out in my classic car that no one other than me gets to ride in. She's called Gerty," Callie proudly stated, like she was talking about a child.
Arizona sucked on her bottom lip. "So, I'm, uh... gonna get to ride on you... I mean with you?" That angelic husky laughter filled Arizona's ears and she did her best to not smile, she wanted to at least give Callie Torres as good as she got because at this point, the brunette was tanking her at flirting. Wait a minute, Arizona thought to herself. "Your cars called Gerty?"
Before Callie could get a chance to respond and boy did she have a good response, Miranda Bailey appeared from around the corner, beckoning Arizona, "Robbins get your ass back to that dressing room before I have to drag it back. We got 5 minutes before tunnel. Move it."
And then the Stormers Captain was gone, just as quickly as she appeared, both women let out a sigh of frustration. "I need to go put my boots on and get ready." Callie lightly squeezed the top of the blondes arm, right above her Captians badge. "I'll catch you out there?"
Arizona started to slowly walk backwards, her blue eyes still transfixed on Callie, who was also staring back just as hard. A massive grin broke over Arizona's face as she shook her head, something Callie found so arrogant yet so sexy at the same time. "Nobody catches me, Callie. You should know that by now."
And then she was gone, leaving Callie standing at the bottom of the staircase that led her to her dressing room. Those blue eyes, those perfect cheek dimples, the blush that arose on Arizona's perfect pale...
"Torres!" Miranda Baileys voice broke her out of her Arizona entranced day dream.
"Yeah?" was all that managed to come out of Callie's mouth. Had she been caught staring? "How are you always there?" The woman was a ghost, she literally came out of no where.
"I'm Miranda Bailey; I'm everywhere...all the time." Bailey just stared right through the woman in front of her, that glaring, intimidating look on her face that she used so well to get anything she wanted. "I want you to meet with me, Monday 12pm. I wanna talk contracts for next season. You in?"
A contract. A contract for her to play for the Stormers. Bailey had been nothing but serious on Saturday. Before she could even respond, Bailey had spoken for her, "Great, 12pm. Don't be late," the smaller woman demanded as she began to walk away. "My office is on the fourth floor. I'll see you Monday."
Callie stood at the bottom of the stairs in silence. What had just happened? Miranda Bailey wanted to talk contracts and she had a date with Arizona Robbins in two days time. She blinked her eyes rapidly to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
No, definitely not dreaming.
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Players lined the tunnel that led on to the pitch, slowly slipping out of their changing rooms one by one. Loud chants of the fans coming from inside the packed stadium could be heard in the background as they patiently awaited the arrival of both teams. The match between The Stormers and Seattle City has been highly anticipated in the soccer world for weeks. The Sports News spoke of it near enough every day. A paper couldn't be read without seeing a mention of the upcoming game. It had been described by the commentary as the most important match of the season.
And so it should be. The gap at the top of the table between the two teams was close- too close. And with only three games of the season left after tonight's game, a win for either team would hand them a huge advantage in winning the league. The odds before the game had given City a slight advantage due to their five game winning streak and the Stormers losing this past Saturday. Not only had City won their past five games but had managed to keep a clean sheet in every game, meaning no one had scored against them in at least a month.
Stepping out of the changing room and closing the door behind her, Callie took up position at the end of the line behind her midfielder Bernie Shields. Looking up, she smiled when she noticed who was standing next to her. Arizona was standing with her head down, eyes shut, mumbling incoherent words quietly, over and over again like a mantra.
It was adorable.
"You know, it's really cute that you whisper my name to yourself, even when I'm not here."
A smile tugged at the corners of the blonde's mouth when she heard the voice. Opening her eyes and lifting her head up, she turned to face Callie. "I get nervous at the start of every game," she admitted truthfully. She was keeping here eyes forward, they were staying forward at all times. She was not going to be looking at Callie's legs in those tight, white shorts. A professional athlete, Arizona reminded herself. Pull it together.
Callie gave an empathetic smile, "You certainly don't play like you're nervous."
"I'm fine once I get on the pitch, the build up just makes me nervy." Looking to the front of the line, she noticed the referee take up his position in front of the two teams.
"You've got nothing..."
A shoulder barged past both of them, Arizona taking the brunt of the knock. The cold voice of Erica Hahn filled the tunnel, "Enough chit chat, Torres, how many times have I told you not to speak to the opposition?"
Lowering her head, Callie couldn't even be bothered to look in Erica's direction. The woman was like a puppy, constantly needing everyone's attention. "Relax Erica, it's not like I'm telling her our game plan."
"Just shut up and stop talking to her." Erica snapped, giving Arizona a stare that could only be described as deathly.
Anger took over Arizona, she was sick of Erica Hahn being a bully and getting away with it. Looking at the brunette next to her, she could see Callie's jaw clenched in annoyance and in that moment she wondered if Erica's own team mates even liked her. "Hey, Erica. Do you remember that game, a couple years ago when I hit the ball really hard off your face and it bust your nose open?"
Dark blue eyes turned to the blonde. "Yeah. What about it?"
"Oh, nothing. I just thought it would be funny to bring it up." Arizona gave the sweetest smile she could, knowing exactly how much it would piss Erica off. She was mature, she took pride in it, she was a Captain after all, but Erica Hahn was the most insufferable human being she'd ever met. Cristina had played on the same team for Hahn a few years ago and had told stories of how Erica acted towards her team mates. It was despicable and Arizona didn't know how she was still getting away with it.
The team clad in black and red burst into laughter, and Callie had to bite her lip trying to stop herself from joining in.
A scowl on her face, Erica took a step towards the opposing striker, "You know what, Blondie, why don't you just shut the hell up before I make you, huh?"
Mirroring the taller blonde's movement, Arizona came within inches of the woman in front of her. "You're all talk, Hahn. How about you actually do something about it for once?"
"I'll do more than..."
"LADIES!" Announced the referee loudly. "How about you save all this attitude for the field?"
Erica gave the striker one last look up and down before making her way to the front of the line of players.
Seeing Arizona stand up to Erica made Callie's heart swell. And it kinda turned her on, angry Arizona Robbins was hot. Nobody really stood up to Erica, everyone she knew just mumbled in agreement when she was in one of her raging moods.
Callie turned to look at the blonde next to her, who now looked extremely focused and had her game face firmly on "You should just ignore her, she's a pain in the ass," Callie admitted, only loud enough that the both of them could hear. Half her team felt the same way she did about Erica but the other half were fiercely loyal to their Captain.
"You shouldn't have to deal with that crap." Arizona never spoke to her players like that, sure she could get fired up on the pitch and was known for her slight temper but she never took anything out on her team mates.
All the players turned their focus to the referee who bgean to lead both team out of the tunnel.
Walking out on to their home ground, with over 40,000 people screaming and cheering for her team gave Arizona a feeling she would never tire of. She'd done it hundreds of times before and she couldn't remember a single time where her body wasn't covered in goosebumps.
Both teams stood in one line, facing the tunnel, as the team line up's were read out to the fans. The stadium was filled with boos when the name Erica Hahn was announced. A wry smile crept its way on to the City Captains face. Everyone knew she loved to be hated. Her own fans loved her horrible attitude and dirty play, but everyone else detested it. She was known for her filthy challenges when the referees backs were turned and 90% of the time, she escaped with just a mere yellow card.
The boos turned into cheers, when the names of the home team were announced. The biggest cheer coming when the name Arizona Robbins was spoken. Callie found herself smiling. Arizona was definitely a fan favourite, the crowd were going wild for the striker. The referee made his way down the line to shake the home teams hand, the away team following behind him. Every player muttering a quick "Good game," to each other.
Arizona winced in pain, when Erica forcefully grabbed her hand, giving it a rough squeeze. Quickly retching her hand out of the blonde's grasp, and shaking her head in disgust at the childish move. Her hand was just as quickly taken into the extremely soft one of Callie Torres, she knew it was Callie's before she'd even had a chance to look up properly. That feeling was there again, just like it always was every time their bodies came near each other.
"Good luck," Callie wished sincerely, a tight smile on her lips. Hundreds of cameras were on them so she knew she had to hold herself together in a certain way.
"Yeah, good luck," Arizona responded back softly, her hand immediately missing the warmth of its companion as it was let go.
They reluctantly backed away from each other and made their way to their starting positions on the pitch, though there were stolen glances when they thought the other wasn't looking.
The away team won the coin toss and chose to start the game on the side of the pitch where the slight glare of sun wasn't facing. Every move was tactical, and it had to be. This game was massive. City had nothing to lose, they were going into the game with no pressure on them. The Stormers, on the other hand, had everything to lose. Defeat would cause just one point to separate the two teams; a position City hadn't been in at this stage of the season for over four years. The Seattle Stormers usually had the season won with at least eight games left but this season was different; injuries had plagued the team since the start of the season and they had rarely had a match where their original starting eleven players were available.
The whistle from the referee signalled the start of the game, the crowd going crazy when the home team kicked off and began the match. Women's Soccer had become huge the past few years, statistics showing it had a bigger following than Men's American Soccer
Half an hour passed. And the score was tied at 0-0.
Sweat was covering every single player. The sun was beaming down in full force on to the pitch. Usually Seattle wasn't the warmest place but it was mid May and the air was humid and muggy.
The ball was passed from Meredith to Lexie, the young brunette saw Arizona run into an open space behind the City defense, she launched the ball forward. It was picked up by the sprinting striker, who now had a clear shot at goal, she struck the ball as hard as she could and watched as it spun towards the top corner of the net. The crowd stood up as the ball was hit, every set of eyes in the ground watching the white object. Just as it looked like it was in- the City keeper flung herself across the goal and tipped it over the bar.
Arizona covered her eyes with her hands, and let out a frustrated groan. The crowd gasped and groaned along with their striker when they saw the away keeper had make the save.
Kepner jogged her way over to the edge of the pitch to take the corner.
Stormers players filled the box. City had the clear height advantage when it came to corners, all of their defenders were at least 5'6 or over and had cleared all of the previous three corners in the game with ease.
Standing in the middle of the box, Arizona felt a body press up behind her. She'd been marked thoroughly throughout the whole game, barely being able to tie her shoe laces without someone standing next to her. It had been expected. Everyone knew that if the Stormers were to score, Arizona Robbins would most likely be the one doing it.
"That was a nice shot," Callie said, bringing her lips as close to the blondes ear as she could manage.
Arizona shivered at the husky voice so close to her. She could virtually feel Callie's lips ghosting over the shell of her ear as she spoke. "Not nice enough apparently," pushing her back into the woman behind her.
Callie placed a hand on the blondes hip, "You're driving Erica crazy." Exhaling loudly, when she felt Arizona reach around and grab a fistful of her shirt, pulling their bodies impossibly closer together. "You've been running her in circles non-stop."
They were both thankful that every other player in the box was grabbing and pulling at the person they were marking. This stopped them from looking suspicious standing so close to one another.
Arizona shrugged. "Its a natural talent, what can I say."
The ball was whipped into the box before Callie had a chance to reply. It was heading straight for Arizona's head, using her strength and pushing in front of the blonde, Callie jumped up and headed the ball clear of the penalty box and the players sprinted out of the box chasing after it.
It was picked up by Karen Walters, the City striker. She attempted to dribble the ball past Addison, but failed when red head easily tackled it from her and passed it to Cristina, who then chipped it down the right wing to Meredith. The midfielder shuffled past Shields and was now in an open space at the edge of the box, Hahn slid towards her but the number 8 was too quick and shifted the ball to the side. Spotting Arizona standing alone unmarked she crossed the ball over, the blonde controlled it expertly with her left foot before bringing it over to her favoured right. Glancing up, she saw the City keeper standing at the left of her goal. Taking a touch and motioning forward, she hit the ball low and hard to the right side of the goal and it powered into the bottom corner of the net.
The crowd erupted into cheers, jumping up and down. The rest of the team were around their Captain in seconds, shouting and screaming in celebration.
Chants of "ROBBINS ROBBINS ROBBINS" echoed through the ground, and she couldn't stop the huge grin from forming on her face. This is what she lived for - scoring goals in crucial matches like this, fans screaming her name, team mates going crazy around her.
This was her life. And she loved every single minute of it.
Catching Erica's eye, she gave her a cocky smile. Chuckling to herself when the City Captain completely drew her eyes off her. Locking eyes with Callie, she smiles when a small nod of approval is sent in her direction. The next 15 minutes pass without any more goals. City had one decent chance; a free kick from just outside the edge of the box, but Teddy caught it at the last minute, sending it flying by the post.
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Stormer players listened in as Bailey gave them their half time team talk, telling them what they should keep doing and giving them pointers on what to improve on in the next half. Stating to Meredith to keep making her runs down the wing and crossing the ball in at every single chance she got. Instructing Arizona to keep going for goal and to continue running rings around Erica, knowing the blonde Captain would tire eventually; no one could keep up with the pace of Arizona Robbins. Her last piece of advice was to the defence; shut Callie Torres down as quick as possible. It was easier said than done, the midfielder had been making runs forward for the entirety of the first half and showed no signs of stopping any time soon.
"Now, keep your muscles warm and I'll see you on the field in 10," said the Coach and then left her players and made her way back to the field.
"Damn, Torres is good," sighed Teddy. "Is it just me, or does she get better every single time we play against her?"
"She's definitely improved since the last time. I didn't actually think it was possible for her to play any better," Addison admitted as she unscrewed the lid from a bottle of water. "Could you imagine how unstoppable we'd be if she played for us?" Taking a sip of the cold drink, "I mean, I know we're great, but she's just so..."
"Amazing?" Arizona stated dreamily, completely forgetting where she was. "I mean, she's an amazing player. We'd be lucky if she played for us."
This earned a raised eyebrow from Meredith but at a discrete shake of the head from her Captain, she re-focused on putting her boots back on.
"I think I've got the hots for Torres. Those legs are enough to turn anyone gay," Cristina proclaimed
Murmurs of agreement filled the dressing room. Arizona looked around, shock evident on her face, though no one was paying attention to her.
Lexie stood up, excusing herself, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll get you guys out there."
Leaving the changing room and walking the short distance to the bathroom a few doors down, she paused, when she heard raised voices coming from a small changing room where the door was slightly cracked open. She couldn't see faces but the voices were that of Callie Torres and Erica Hahn.
"She's running me in fucking circles, Callie. What the fuck am I meant to do?" Came the raging voice of Erica Hahn.
Callie's voice was just as angry. "What the hell do you expect me to do about it?"
"Take her out of the fucking game. Break her legs if you have to!" Lexie shivered when she heard the request of the City Captain. Erica was horrible but surely she couldn't be capable of this. "Everyone will think its an accident if it comes from you."
"You...You want me to deliberately hurt her?" Callie's reply was pure shock. There was no way in hell she'd do that to anyone, never mind Arizona.
"Callie, you're the nicest player on this team; the media loves you. The ref will think it's an accident, you'll be yellow carded, and that little bitch can cease to exist in this game!"
Lexie hears the shuffling of feet coming from inside the changing room but she stays firmly planted outside the door.
Callie's voice speaks up. "If you think I'm gonna purposely take another player out the game, then you're crazy, there's no way in hell I'm doing that. And neither are you!"
Relief washes over her as the midfielder puts Erica in her place. She knows Callie isn't the type of person who would ever intentionally hurt another player. The footsteps get closer to the door, and Lexie quickly moves away from it and steps into the bathroom across from the changing room.
Inside the room, Callie stands in utter shock at the words coming out of her Captains mouth. She knew Erica was a dirty player, but she didn't think the blonde would ever go this far. "What type of person are you?"
Erica scoffs, "I'm the type of person, that does whatever it takes to win, Cal, and apparently you're not!"
Callie was headed to the door, having heard enough. "And I'm the type of person who couldn't even dream of purposely physically hurting another person just so we can win a game!" she snapped, opening the door and then slamming it as hard as she could, walking down the tunnel and back out on to the pitch.
Home fans didn't even boo when they saw Torres walk out of the tunnel, she looked around her in amazement at the full stadium, finding herself wishing that she was wearing a red and black Stormer strip instead of her usual blue and white. She'd just been asked by her own Captain to purposely injure another player. It was a reportable offence, Callie knew that; she just didn't know what she was going to do about it yet.
The pitch quickly filled back up with bodies and the second half was about to get underway, Lexie was last on to the pitch and tried her best to get to speak to Arizona but the Referee blew his whistle, ordering the players into their starting positions. Twenty minutes in, City were pushing forward at every chance they got, putting pressure on the Stormer defence. Another five minutes had passed and Rosie Stirling currently had possession of the ball outside the home teams box, she struck the ball cleanly, and it headed straight into the hands of Teddy. The keeper quickly kicked the ball out field, and it landed at the feet of Cristina, who flicked it on to Arizona. The striker started running down the left wing with the ball, she took a glance up she saw Callie running towards her, she pushed the ball past the midfielder and chased it further down the wing. Callie chased it just as hard, shoulder to shoulder they both sprinted after the ball, the crowd were screaming at the shear intensity of the two. Falling behind ever so slightly, Callie knew her only option to put the ball out of play was to slide from behind; Arizona was still close enough that she could safely slide and get her right leg in front Arizona and put the ball out of play. And so she did just that, sliding with as much force as possible her right foot just managed to knock the ball out of the field.
The tackle caused both her and Arizona to fall from their feet but the tackle wasn't the problem, Callie's left leg landed awkwardly when she slid causing it to clip the back of Arizona's heel and the blonde fell full weight on to her right foot but her ankle buckled instead of landing flat causing excruciating pain to travel all the way up her entire leg.
The stadium descended into silence, fans and players watching on in horror. The only noise that could be heard was Arizona's screams of agony as she writhed around the grass clutching her injured knee.
Callie felt like she was going to vomit.
What the hell had she done?
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I don't own Grey's or any of it characters.
If anyone reading notices any differently spelled words, its because I'm from Scotland and I know we spell a good few words different from you guys reading from the US. I know this chapter was quite boring and uneventful but I guess that's us now set up for the rest of the story. If anyone has any advice or tips, I'm all ears; FF is all I've wrote since high school and I've been out of there for 10 years so I've really no experience, I really just do it for fun. Anyway, let me know what you think and if you want the story to carry on.
As always, stay safe.
DL.