A/N: First of all, I'm sorry it took me so long to update this story. I was one of the lucky ones that caught long Covid and for the best part of this year, I had the attention span of a baby monkey. Fortunately, I'm slowly getting better and I can finally write again. Hope you guys are still out there!
The title of the last chapter is the title of a song and an album by Linkin Park. The song itself means a lot to me and as a teenager, I LOVED Linkin Park. Still do, by the way.
Some of you already guessed Arizona is (part) Angel. Well done! I hope things will start to make more sense. Now we know more about the ladies themselves, let's dive into the world they live in.
Chapter 4: Sin never sleeps
Because of the shooting, the case against Lawrence Bishop had been postponed. The fifth floor of the courthouse had been completely ruined and had been closed for investigation and clean-up. It secretly was a blessing in disguise because it had given Callie time to figure out a way to deal with the Underground world.
After Lena had reached out to her, several others had also contacted her with concerns about the new Royal's plans to allow hunting again. It seemed it was not only the half-blood vampires that were worried. Some older vampires distinctly remembered the 'old days' and they were not as glorious as the Royals made them out to be. People liked living in peace and most of them were happy to compromise a little to keep that peace.
On the one hand, it was flattering that people reached out to her. It was proof of her father's influence and good reign. But on the other hand, what was she going to do? She had abdicated, she had no knowledge of the daily business behind the scenes. Her father had purposely kept her out of that, respecting her wish to live a normal, human life. This was the first time in her life that she wished she had chosen differently. Even though she had wanted nothing to do with it, she felt responsible for the community now.
So, instead of going back to the office, Callie had taken some personal days. She had stated she needed some time to recover from the shooting and that was not a complete lie. She might have been a badass, super strong woman, but that did not mean the things she had seen that day did not leave her unfazed. Unfortunately, she had other business to take care of before she could take the time for herself.
Callie had the full intention of getting into her father's study, but since she had already tried everything she knew, she thought it would be best to start in the library. Her father owned hundreds of books, some of them very valuable antiques. And in between the rows and rows of classics, he even had some old Vampire books.
Even though the Vampire world had the notoriety of being unruly chaos, it most definitely had an intricate system of laws and rules everyone had to abide by. And almost everyone did. Since law was her bread and butter, Callie decided that reading up on Vampire law could maybe help her fight Oscar and his father. She did not have the physical power to do so, so she had to be smart about it.
While nursing a cup of coffee, Callie trailed her finger over the weathered leather binds of the old books until she found the book she was looking for. She needed both hands to pick it up, so she put her cup down and carefully took the book off the shelve. It was almost like in the movies, where explorers would blow thick layers of dust off of old books. She sat down in her father's old Chesterfield wing chair and got comfortable while she started reading through the book.
It took her back to her childhood, where her father would teach her about the history of Vampires and the society they had formed today. It had almost been like a fairytale, although quite a bloody one. As a teenager, Callie had less than zero interest in learning about her ancestors, but she still humored her father when he tried to teach her. Now, she wished she had paid better attention. It could have helped her figure this out. But she was not one to give up and tenacity was her middle name. She would do this and she knew that her father, wherever he was, would agree that she was doing the right thing.
Before long, Callie was engulfed in the book. She had moved to her father's desk and had taken out other books that explained more about the history behind the law changes. It was almost like being back at University, where she would often go through all-night study sessions before an exam. She had lost all sense of time, but she was making headway.
She got up to get another book, one that she knew contained her father's personal notes. She took the book out of the shelve and when she opened it on her way back to the desk, a key wrapped in a piece of paper fell out. She put the book down and picked it up. The piece of paper had an address scribbled onto it in her father's handwriting.
Callie quickly fired up her laptop and looked up the address. While she waited, she examined the key she found. It looked just like any ordinary key, so it did not really get her anywhere. When she looked up the address, she found it belonged to an old building in the warehouse district, a couple of blocks from The Basement. The building was owned by her father's investment company. She wondered what this building had to do with all this and why the note was stuck in her father's notebook. Her gut told her it had to be significant and her inner Nancy Drew urged her to go check it out.
She got up and took one last sip from her lukewarm coffee before grabbing her car keys and rushing out the door. Her T-Bird was still at the courthouse, but for now, that only came in handy since her replacement car was a black Mercedes. It would help her blend in, in case Oscar was keeping an eye on her. She had had the suspicion that was the case earlier this week and it made sense. He did warn her to stay away, she would not put it past him to have people check up on her whereabouts.
It was a Thursday night and it was closing in on midnight, so the streets were relatively quiet. The warehouse district seemed especially deserted at this time of night, which made it harder for Callie to hide. She was hyper-aware of her surroundings and drove around the district a couple of times before heading to her destination. She was pretty sure she was alone when she parked her car across the street from the building and made her way over.
The idea of going to the building right away seemed like the right one. But now she was here and she was not sure what she was doing here or what she thought she would find. The front door was locked and the building looked abandoned. Just when she was about to pull the key out of her pocket to try it on the door, she heard people approaching in the distance. Her instinct immediately kicked in and had her on edge. Danger was approaching. "Now what?" Callie mumbled to herself as she looked around. She noticed an alley on the side of the building and quickly got into gear. She pushed herself against the wall of the alley, hiding in the darkness.
Two men walked past her while in a heated discussion. They turned towards the front door of the building and unlocked it.
"It's your turn this time, man, I'm tired of all this shit," one man said to the other.
"I did it last night, dude, you do it," the other man replied.
As they both entered, Callie could no longer hear what they were saying. She did hear them locking the door behind them. The two must have been Oscar's men and Callie was wondering what they were doing in a building belonging to her father. She decided to snoop around a little and continued her way into the alley. She saw light coming from one of the side windows, but it was too high to reach for her. A bit further into the alley stood an old dumpster. Callie thanked her lucky stars for wearing jeans and sneakers today before quietly climbing the dirty thing. If she tiptoed and leaned to the side, she could take a peek into the building.
She saw the two men she had seen earlier and by the looks of it, they were still arguing. The slamming of the front door startled the men and made Callie hold her breath. She watched as Henry Miller, Oscar's father, walked in. Seeing the man made her blood boil, but also made her extra vigilant. The tall, silver-haired man had an impressive appearance and was always groomed to perfection. He also was a seriously powerful vampire and if she got caught, she would be in a world of trouble.
What the hell were these men doing here? Since Henry was around, this was probably not some simple errand that was being run by a couple of buffoons. Did it have something to do with the ceremonial meeting this Sunday? It had to. But what? Callie decided that she would have to come back later. She could not do anything right now and it was too dangerous to stick around. She was not the only one around here with good senses. She quickly but quietly climbed down and made her way back to her car, driving off into the night as casually but fast as she could.
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Arizona and Pete had spent two full days in Arizona's cramped office, going over both their case files. They were so eager to find that connection, but so far they had come up with nothing. Without looking, the blonde grabbed her cup and drained it of the last bit of cold coffee.
"We need to learn more about Callie Torres," Pete said. "She's the only one that is linked to both Bishop and Carlos Torres. Maybe if we trail her, she might lead us right to it."
Arizona shook her head. "If there is a connection, and I'm saying if," she said while looking at her friend. "She's way too smart to lead us to it. You have no idea what she's like, she's…." her voice trailed off as her mind starting playing images of the times her path had crossed with the mysterious woman's.
"How do you know this?" Pete's green eyes met Arizona's blue, giving her his undivided attention.
"I've seen her work," Arizona said. "The day of the shooting wasn't the first time I was there. I observed the whole trial. She's smart and it's almost like she could anticipate the DA's moves. If she is involved in anything fishy, she'll know how to hide it."
"Hmmm, makes sense. So…what do we do?"
For the millionth time since Pete had given her Callie's business card, Arizona's eyes locked on the shiny card. It had only been a couple of days since she had gotten the card, but she had been tempted to call the number on it more than once. Which was a bad thing, because Callie was part of her investigation. She could simply not contact her, no matter how much she wanted to. She had had more than a few internal conversations with herself, trying to refute the voice inside her head coming up with very valid reason to give the woman a call.
Another idea popped into Arizona's head, something she could get on board with. "It's Friday," she said.
"Uh? I know?'
"I know where she'll be tonight." If Pete and her would go on a stakeout, that would be useful for the case. Plus, Arizona would get to see Callie. That was a win-win situation, what could go wrong?
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Pete's lips curled into a smirk as he seemed to catch on to the idea.
"You and I are going clubbing," Arizona answered with a matching smirk.
"I thought you'd never ask." The man's eyes started twinkling and he made a show of punching the air in victory. "Stakeout time!"
Arizona had of course done her research, but Callie was a known party girl, so she was not a very hard woman to find. Certainly not on a Friday night. Whether it was all the research or her grandmother telling her that Callie was bad for her, Arizona wanted to see the woman again.
Dressed to the nines and with Pete in tow, Arizona entered the club. Her heart was pounding steadily and the excitement she felt was not only caused by the adrenaline of doing her job. She immediately looked around to see if Callie was there, but it was of no use. She had already felt Callie was not around. There was a tinge of disappointment tainting her good mood, but she knew the night was still young. The two police officers got a table and Arizona bought the first round of alcohol-free beers. Just as predicted, Callie entered the club a little while later. Arizona felt the other woman's entrance before she could see it, she quickly turned towards the entrance. "Target acquired," she said while tapping Pete's shoulder to get his attention.
Their table was on a slightly raised plateau, giving Arizona and Pete a good vantage point to see the whole dancefloor. Arizona raised her eyebrow as she watched a pretty redhead follow Callie to the dancefloor. She had seen this woman around before and she was convinced she was a friend of Callie's. The blonde's eyes were trained on the dance floor as she absentmindedly grabbed her beer and sipped it. She almost choked on her beer as Callie's deep brown eyes locked with hers for a moment, temporarily knocking Arizona off her game. It was almost as if Callie looked right into her soul and it was unnerving. But on the other hand, the fact that this woman was constantly pushing her toward the edge of losing control was as exciting as it was unnerving.
She quickly regained her composure and flashed the dark-haired woman a polite smile of recognition. Arizona then turned to Pete to talk to him, trying to get Callie off her trail. She did not want the other woman to find out they were here to investigate her.
"That woman does not waste any time," Pete commented as he watched the lawyer claim a spot on the dancefloor. He motioned towards his empty beer. "You want another one?"
Arizona just nodded. "Thanks." Her eyes were still trained on the dancefloor, on Callie in particular. Pete was right, barely five minutes had passed from the moment Callie Torres had entered the club and she already owned the dancefloor. The way the lawyer swayed her hips to the beat was mesmerizing and Arizona allowed herself to get lost in the movement for a moment. The blonde frowned when she saw another woman approach Callie. The beautiful blonde swooped in like a vulture, put her hands on Callie's hips, and started moving with her. It was smooth and the dark-haired woman seemed to enjoy the attention she was getting from this woman. Did they know each other?
After a few songs, Pete returned with their beers. "Guess what?"
"What?" Arizona replied, her eyebrow slightly raised as she lifted her glass to toast with her friend.
"Just spoke to one of Bishop's lieutenants," the man said smugly.
"How do you know?" Arizona hardly believed people would just come out and say who they were, they would be fired on the spot.
"He doesn't know that I know," Pete replied. "And I think he was kind of hitting on me?"
The blonde chuckled and looked at her slightly flushed friend. "I guess that means you have to take one for the team, man," she teased.
"Hell no," Pete replied. "I'm loyal and committed to my job, but there are limits."
Arizona could not help but crack up. "I'll be sure to put that in my report."
Just as she focused her attention back on the dancefloor, she saw the pretty blonde whisper something in Callie's ear. The taller woman nodded and the blonde followed her off the dancefloor. Callie directed the both of them to the toilets and Arizona felt she needed to follow.
"I'll be right back," she said to Pete while she got up and made her way to where she saw Callie and the blonde disappear into the hallway.
The place was packed, as usual, and it took Arizona quite some time to make her way to the toilet area. Once she got there, Callie was nowhere to be seen, but she could just feel the woman was not far away. As her eyes scanned the area, she noticed the emergency exit door was just falling into its lock. Arizona knew the back alley was sometimes used as an extension of the club. When the weather in summer got really hot, the door would be open and the club would put an extra bar in the alley so people could enjoy the weather. It was not summer yet though, so not a lot of people would have a reason to go out there.
Arizona did feel that it had been Callie who had walked through that door. She stepped outside onto the top step of the fire escape, which was only three steps high. She descended the stairs and looked around. There was no one to be seen, which made Arizona wonder where Callie and the blonde had gone off to. She could have sworn they had come here. Had she been too focused on the wrong thing? Had it caused her to let her intuition be clouded?
Feeling a bit deflated and wondering why her senses had failed her, Arizona leaned against the wall of the club with a huff. She looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, re-centering herself. She knew full well her interest in Calliope Torres was turning into some sort of infatuation and she had to stop herself before it would turn into an obsession.
Suddenly, there was a presence. Callie was standing right in front of her, arms leaning against the wall on both sides of Arizona's head. She was not forceful, but she had Arizona pinned against the wall so she could not avoid her or her gaze. The woman's dark eyes were fully focused on Arizona's blue ones and her brows were furrowed. "Why are you following me?"
Arizona almost jumped out of her skin. No one, ever, had managed to surprise her like that. How did she not feel Callie coming? How did this woman appear out of nowhere like that? Her breath hitched in her throat and she suddenly felt the proximity of the other woman on a whole different level. She could feel the heat radiating from Callie's body and it was almost burning her.
If she would respond with 'I'm not following you', she would absolutely give herself away. Callie was too smart to buy that. Arizona knew she had to play it differently.
The taller woman tilted her head and looked at the blonde expectantly. "Well?" She asked, obviously getting impatient.
"I ah…." Arizona paused, feeling the pressure Callie was putting on her. She could not let Callie get the better of her. She licked her lips and stared straight into the other woman's eyes, mentally not backing down. Even if she had wanted to, for some reason whenever she looked at the other woman, she was almost compelled to look into her eyes. It almost felt like she could stare right into Callie's soul, but unfortunately, it made her none the wiser about the other woman's intentions. Although, right now, she looked quite feral.
Callie leaned in even closer, her face only inches from Arizona's. "Cat got your tongue?" Even though she was slightly annoyed that the police officer had disturbed her privacy, she was still teasing. Callie was loving the power she had over the situation right now. She had sensed the blonde following her into the alley and decided to play a little game.
Dammit. She was a damn cop, how had she gotten herself in this situation? Once the fog of the surprise lifted, Arizona's fast thinking returned. With a quick maneuver, Arizona managed to get out from under Callie's hold. She quickly turned around and pressed the dark-haired woman against the wall, pulling the taller woman's arm around her back to gain control. She was by no means rough with Callie, but she did assert her dominance over the situation. Two could play that game.
"Underestimating leads to outmaneuvering," she said, her lips close to the other woman's ear. Her lips then curled into a smile. She had gotten herself out of this pickle and she was enjoying it. Maybe a little too much.
Callie was being pressed against the wall with a loud 'oomph'. The blonde was smaller than her but was a lot stronger than she had expected. Arizona's words tickled against her ear, making goosebumps appear on her neck. A shiver went down her spine and she was feeling more than a little turned on by this, which was highly inappropriate. She was annoyed for crying out loud.
The proximity of the other woman's body and the position they were in, were causing a whole different emotion within the blonde. Her body was reacting to Callie on instinct and Arizona felt herself getting excited in a different way. Of course, she had eyes and the dark-haired woman was beautiful. She oozed sensuality, even a blind person could see that. But it was so inappropriate. Although that was probably also the reason why it felt extra exciting. Arizona figured that anything she would say right now would compromise the control she had over the situation. So, instead, she let go of Callie's arm and stepped back. She slowly backed down and retreated towards the emergency exit.
By now, Callie had turned around and was watching Arizona retreat, her eyes narrowed. She was trying to catch her breath while hiding the effect the blond was having on her. No one had ever surprised her like that and it was as exhilarating as it was disconcerting. She unconsciously licked her lips as her eyes bore into the other woman.
Just before Arizona reached the emergency exit door, she turned around and flashed Callie a bright smile. "And just for the record, I got here first tonight. So who is following who?" Satisfied that she had come out on top of this weird situation, she opened the door and returned to the club.
"Fuck," Callie muttered as the door fell into its lock. She fully realized she had lost this round. And Callie Torres did not lose. If only she had followed her instincts and had kissed Arizona when she had her trapped. That would have surely given her the upper hand. Why was this woman so exquisite and infuriating at the same time? And why the hell could she still not get a read on her?
She pushed herself off the wall and made her way back into the club like the woman on a mission she was. As soon as she returned to the club, she saw Arizona sitting with a man at one of the tables. Any sane person would have left the situation well alone, but Callie could not resist temptation. With laser focus, she made a beeline for their table and slid into the booth next to the blonde. She did not care she had not gotten an invitation to join them.
"Well, well," Callie said with a charming smile, "if it isn't Seattle's finest." She then turned to Arizona, acting like nothing had happened between them. "I never got to thank you for saving my life," she continued, "please let me buy you a drink." She paused for a moment and eyed both police officers. "Will that be a real drink or something non-alcoholic? You know, since you are on duty?" She was shamelessly fishing and she knew it, but seeing the two squirm was so incredibly gratifying.
The feeling of triumph Arizona felt, did not last long. She could have known Callie would not roll over and wave a white flag so easily. She exchanged a look with Pete and gave him a nod, she would handle this.
"While I appreciate the gesture, Calliope," Arizona started, she could not help herself from purposefully using the lawyer's full name to tick her off. "You do not have to thank me. I was just doing my job. My friend and I here," she pointed at Pete, "were just about to leave." When she finished speaking, an odd sense of pride washed over her. She had managed to control her body and mind and felt she was hiding her reaction to the other woman's proximity like a pro.
Callie pursed her lips, she was obviously not buying what Arizona was trying to sell her. She was also not one to stick around when there was no more fun to be had. "Alrighty, then," she said while getting up from the table. "Just don't say I didn't try to save you from death by boredom," she added with a wink before walking back to her friends on the dancefloor.
Pete chuckled and whistled through his teeth as he watched the lawyer saunter away. "She sure is a handful," he said before turning back to his friend and co-worker. "But, what the hell, Robbins? We just got here."
Arizona shrugged. "We've been made, if anything even were to happen tonight, we are surely not going to see it now." Her body and mind seemed to calm down a little now Callie was walking away, giving her a little more clarity.
"I guess that means the donuts are on you this time," Pete replied with a wink.
The blonde chuckled and shook her head. "I guess so."
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It was Sunday night, the evening of the ceremonial meeting and Callie could feel the buzz of excitement in the air. It was mixed with an eerie sense of tension, mirroring the emotions felt by the people in the Warehouse district. Even though she had a bad feeling about this, she had decided to go to the district anyway. She knew she could not get near The Basement or the adjoining warehouse tonight. But with everyone's focus there for the next couple of hours, she could take that time to revisit her father's building a couple of blocks away.
She had parked her car on the other side of the district and was now walking through the maze of dark alleyways to get to her father's building. The shooting last Monday felt like ages ago and so many things had happened this week that her mind could barely keep up. It took all her focus to push back her own feelings and let her instinct take over. If she wanted to get out of here alive, she needed her instinct.
Callie knew she was like David fighting Goliath, but she had to honor her father. He had taken care of her so well for all of her life and she felt obliged to try and do something in return. She was sure he was still alive somewhere, she could feel it. Not having him around had reminded her of how much she still needed her father and she had vowed to herself that she would do anything in her power to get him back. And this nightly adventure felt like a way of achieving that. Or at least, making sure the city did not go to shit in her father's absence. He would be back, she just had to believe that.
She stopped for a moment to scan her surroundings. Everything was quiet, apart from some people walking and driving down the streets. She made sure to stick to the shadows as much as she could as she slowly but deliberately made her way toward her destination. Just as she was about two blocks away from her father's building, the hairs in her neck stood up and she felt an all too familiar presence. Callie rolled her eyes and growled softly. Really? She turned a corner and hid in the shadows of the building next to her to see if her suspicions were correct.
Sure enough, Arizona stealthily walked into the alley. Callie wondered if the woman had a death wish. But at the same time, she knew she could not blame the police officer. She knew Arizona was investigating her father's disappearance and from all the not-so-casual encounters she had had with the blonde in the past week, she had deducted she was part of that investigation as well. That did not mean it was not dangerous out here. As much as she wanted to tear the blonde a new one for once again sticking her nose in Callie's business, she also wanted to protect her. And that was a new feeling.
When the tall blonde inched closer, Callie rushed towards her and grabbed the other woman by her wrist, pulling her into the shadows as well. "What the fuck?" the dark-haired woman hissed, looking around to make sure no one saw them.
The blonde yelped at the surprise. She did not get to answer for herself, because Callie already continued talking.
"What are you doing here?" Callie asked, her voice still hushed. The tall woman was obviously on edge because she kept looking around.
Arizona raised her eyebrow. "I might as well ask you the same thing. It seriously looks like you are doing something illegal."
Callie let out a sigh. She quickly figured that a calm explanation would get her what she wanted, but it was hard to stay calm right now. "Look, I understand you are probably just doing your job, although I seriously doubt you have any valid reason to be following me, but I need you to get out of here."
Arizona looked down at her arm, where Callie's hand was still wrapped around her wrist. The initial shock of surprise had subsided and was slowly being replaced by annoyance. Who the hell did Callie Torres think she was? She did not own this city. "You do realize I'm a cop, right? I could arrest you for this," she replied, her voice calm.
The taller woman chuckled. So far, Arizona had defied her every single time, and as annoying as it was, it only made Callie's infatuation with the woman grow. She did not have time to play a game of cat and mouse though, she needed Arizona to get out of here before anyone would see them. "You need to leave," she hissed, trying a different approach this time.
Unfortunately, this did not have the desired effect. "I'm on duty, Calliope, I will arrest you if you don't let me go and answer my question," Arizona replied, her voice less calm and gentle now. By the way Callie was acting, Arizona's suspicions were only being confirmed. Something was going on and that only proved to her that she was in the right place at the right time.
Callie slowly let go of Arizona and took a deep breath. "Officer Robbins, if you know what's good for you, just leave."
The blonde raised her eyebrow, fire sparking in her eyes. "Are you threatening a police officer now?"
"Arizona, please," Callie leaned closer and kept her voice low, "I will explain everything to you, but right now I need you to leave."
There was something in Callie's voice that changed Arizona's demeanor. Was it desperation she heard? For some reason, the blonde strongly felt she needed to listen to the other woman. She quickly reminded herself that not being able to read Callie's intentions, did not necessarily mean the woman had bad ones. There could be a very good explanation for why she was creeping around late at night. As crazy as that sounded.
Arizona felt herself get lost in the dark eyes of the taller woman and she momentarily averted her gaze to regain her composure. She bit her lip before looking back at Callie. She was about to give in when the other woman spoke up again.
"Please trust me, Arizona. I will come to the precinct tomorrow and explain everything." Well, she was never going to tell the blonde EVERYTHING, but she would give her a plausible explanation for all this. Right now, she would do pretty much everything to get Arizona to leave, she needed to keep her away from Oscar and his buffoons. She needed to keep her safe.
For a moment, they were at an impasse and both women stared at each other, their eyes trying to convey what words could not say.
It went against every principle she had, every vow she had made, but deep down Arizona knew Callie meant well. The whole vibe in the area had her on edge, but she was not really getting that same vibe from Callie. She once again broke eye contact and wetted her lips. She closed her eyes and told herself that for once, she would take a leap of faith. Oh, how she hoped it was not in vain. "Okay."
Callie could hardly believe the words she was hearing and her heart skipped a beat. The blonde was trusting her and it meant so much more to her than she could say right now. She had let her instinct take over and instead of saying 'thank you' like she had meant to, she leaned in a planted a soft kiss on Arizona's lips.
Their lips only connected for all of three seconds, but it had Callie's whole body standing at attention. She felt a surge of energy going through her and her instincts seemed to suddenly become extra strong. It all hit her like a ray of lighting and she almost jumped back.
"Ah, sorry…I didn't….shit….thank you," she rambled, momentarily at a loss for words. When she looked at Arizona, a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She noticed colored light flickering around the woman, where she usually just saw the bright white. Her eyes went wide and she squinted, trying to see more. Was she seeing the woman's aura?
Arizona had been equally as surprised by Callie's move and just stood there, staring at the taller woman. She was not sure what had just happened, but she suddenly felt extra sharp. "I…"
She did not get to finish her sentence. A group of people was approaching and they felt like bad news. Her whole being was being activated and that could only mean one thing. Her police officer side started taking over and she put her hand on the gun that was hidden under her leather jacket.
Callie stopped her by putting her hand on the blonde's arm. "Trust me," she whispered. It was meant as a statement but came out as more of a question. When Arizona nodded, a small smile graced the lawyer's lips. "I will distract them, I know who they are," she said quietly. "I promise you I will be at the precinct tomorrow with an explanation. But please, please, get out of here."
Arizona nodded and leaned against the wall while watching Callie get back onto the street. Her hand went up to touch her lips and, after taking a few seconds to savor the moment, she shook her head to force herself back into focus.
"If it isn't Callie Torres," she heard someone say. "Talking about a fallen Royal." The remark confused Arizona but seemed to cause some chuckles from people in the group.
"I prefer being a fallen Royal over a stupid drone any day of the week," came the quick reply from Callie. Arizona had to stop herself from chuckling, this woman had balls. She was clearly outnumbered and the group was clearly up to no good.
"You talk big now, Torres, but just you wait until the meeting is over. You'll change your tune."
Another voice in the group spoke up after letting out a laugh. "Torres isn't even invited, she has no idea."
"Oh, that's right, you have not been invited," the taunting voice continued. "In fact, I believe the order was to stop you from coming to the meeting at all cost."
That sounded bad and Arizona once again moved her hand towards her holster. She had promised Callie to leave the area, but she could not leave the woman on her own like this.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Callie replied. "Touch me?"
The woman did not seem the slightest bit scared and it baffled Arizona. Was she armed or something?
"Let's just pretend you have a brain and let's all just move along and go on with our merry lives, shall we?"
There was some scuffling after Callie spoke again, but the punches or other bodily harm Arizona feared she would hear did not follow. She took a slight peak and saw that the people of the group were moving along, all of them walking around Callie as if she was on fire or something. One person stayed behind, standing in front of the raven-haired woman. "This is not over," he spat at her before following the group.
"It's not worth it, Jonathan," Callie called after him, not being able to resist taunting him.
It then went quiet and when Arizona looked again, she did not see anyone. Callie had asked her to leave, but deep down she simply could not leave it alone. Something was definitely going on here. It might not be Callie who was doing illegal things, but something was going on and she needed to get to the bottom of it.
She decided to ignore the lawyer's pleas and decided to follow her further into the district. Arizona had not seen where she had gone, but she could feel Callie's presence somewhere in the distance. She knew in which general direction she needed to go.
As she made her way through the alleys, she could not help but replay the conversation she just heard in her head. Why did they refer to Callie as 'Royal'? She certainly would have known if the woman had blue blood or something, it would have come up in her investigation. There was nothing royal about Callie Torres. Apart from being a royal pain in her butt right now. For the past week, the beautiful woman had been making her do things she usually would not do. She was bad news, but kind of in a good way. Being around Callie had made her feel alive and that was not just because she was a little attracted to the other woman. There was something else.
Arizona was suddenly overwhelmed by the intentions of the people around her. For some reason, she could not control her gift and all kinds of emotions came flooding in. It made her stop in her tracks to catch her breath. From her spot in the shadows of the alley, she could see people flocking toward an old warehouse.
She looked around to familiarize herself with her environment. If only she could find a good vantage point to get a better overview. Her eye fell on an old fire escape on the building across the street, that would be the perfect spot. As casually as she possibly could, she crossed the street, away from the warehouse.
With a little help from an old, dirty dumpster, she had made her way up the fire escape. The building the escape belonged to seemed abandoned and empty, so she could easily maneuver to the other side to get to the best vantage point. Arizona made sure to stay close to the wall of the building to stay as hidden as possible. While she was up there, a little voice inside of her head started chastising her for not listening to Callie and for not at least calling for backup. What she was doing right now was all kinds of wrong, but on the other hand, there really was no way back. She felt she was in the middle of something big and she could not stop now.
She watched dozens of people go into the warehouse down the street. Some of them, she recognized as government officials and people from the business world. It made sense, they looked exactly like the kind of people Callie Torres would fraternize with. Maybe there was some kind of Rotary meeting or maybe Seattle had a secret Freemasons department or something.
Suddenly, a light went on in the building behind her, making Arizona almost jump out of her skin. She crouched down and managed to peer into the window. She could have sworn the building was abandoned, but apparently, she was wrong. The windows were badly isolated and old, so she could easily hear what was going on inside of the building.
"Don't worry, you're not the only one missing out on the meeting tonight," one voice said. She heard some muffled noises that sounded like groans.
"Thank you for your generous donation," another voice spoke, sounding far from grateful.
Arizona peered into the window and saw two men standing in front of something, with their back to her. "Don't worry, it won't be long…" the first voice spoke again, sounding quite ominous. With that, the light was turned back off and the voices retreated from the room. She did however still hear some of the groans, they sounded human. Was someone behind held captive there?
She almost held her breath while she waited. After a few minutes, she heard a slam of a door and muffled voices leaving the building. The two men were now visible on the street, walking towards the big warehouse. Arizona's heart was pounding in her chest. She took her gun out of its holster and closed her eyes while she used the back of her gun to break the glass of the window. With a loud shattering noise, the glass gave way and Arizona froze for a moment. She quietly waited to see if there was any reaction to the noise. When all she heard was silence, she got a little bolder and climbed through the window.
She was so glad one of her friends had made her try yoga class last year. Next to it helping out with controlling her gifts, it had also made her more agile, which was coming in very handy right now. She managed to avoid the glass shards and let her eyes adjust to the darkness in the room. She fished a small mac light out of her pocket and turned it on, taking in her surroundings.
The noise that had caught her attention came from the corner of the room, it was coming from a big wooden shipping crate. Arizona closed in on the crate, her heart pounding in her chest and blood rushing through her veins. She ran her fingers over the crate and noticed it had recently been nailed shut, keeping the lid firmly in place. The nails were not fully emerged into the wood, so if she could just find something hard, she could pull them out easily.
She was not sure what she would find inside the crate, or better yet, who, but she knew she had to act quickly. She looked around the room with her light and saw a claw hammer lying on one of the shelves. After grabbing it, she put the mac light between her teeth so she could use both hands to open the crate. "Seattle PD, I'm going to open the crate," she said before starting.
One by one, she pulled out the nails until she could remove the lid. By now, adrenaline was pumping so hard through her veins that she could feel her heartbeat everywhere in her body. She slowly inched up the lid and looked inside.
Nothing could have ever prepared her for what she saw. Arizona gasped and quickly slid the lid completely off the crate. "Oh my God." She put the claw hammer down and immediately put her fingers on the man's neck to make sure he was still alive. There was a faint heartbeat and as her cold fingers touched his skin, the man opened his eyes.
"My name is Arizona Robbins and I'm with Seattle PD," she said, her autopilot taking over because she could simply not comprehend what she had stumbled onto. "I'm going to try to get you out of here. Are you hurt?"
Arizona was staring into the weary, empty eyes of Carlos Torres.