Title: Back at One
Author(s): y0ungalaska & BrennaAimee
Rating: Ranging from PG to M
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. We own nothing but our ideas.
Summary: "It's so incredible, the way things work themselves out and all emotional once you know what it's all about."
Chapter 8
"James, I was shopping with Callie and we got massages. My phone died. I didn't mean to worry you." Arizona stepped toward James to try to calm him down.
"Arizona, don't." James put his hand out to signal for her not to come closer. Arizona stopped in her tracks. She sat her purse down on the arm of the couch.
"James, I told you I was planning on spending a day with Callie and I really didn't expect you to be home when I got here or for you to call after lunch break."
"Yeah, things aren't always what you expect either." Arizona's bag fell and the contents spilled out on the couch including her lingerie bag. She grabbed the contents and tried to stuff them back in her purse quickly. James rose from his chair, placing the almost empty bottle of vodka down and walked over to her.
"What was that?"
"Something I got while shopping today."
"You carried everything else in on your arm, why was that different." He snatched her purse and pulled out the bag. He dumped the bag onto the couch and picked up the lingerie examining it carefully. "So you're hiding stuff?"
"No, I wasn't . . ."
"I don't want to hear it Arizona. You were hiding this from me. What were you planning on hiding this and then going out whoring with your new little friend the next time you two go out? Just because she is newly single doesn't mean you are. I thought we discussed this." Arizona's blood began to boil. Had he really just called her a whore? She knew she needed to keep him calm and not fight, but this was a new place, a new time. She made the decision she was going to stand up for herself.
"James! Stop, just stop. The fact that you would even call me a whore . . . I'm not even going there! I was raised to be a good man in a storm and that involves loyalty. I would never cheat on you and you know that. You need to calm down." Arizona pointed at James and he grabbed her arm and jerked her close hurting her forearm. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. She wasn't going to back down though, not this time. She could take a little pain. "Let go of me James." James dropped his hand and clutched his fist. "You can un-clutch those fists. I'm not doing this with you again James. You're . . . "
Before Arizona could even finish her sentence she felt the back of James hand collide with her face. She closed her eyes and her hand immediate cupped her face. She thought this was over everything had been fine. They had even had an actual conversation the other night without him getting mad. She thought they were progressing. The new house, the new town, the new friends . . . the new James, but that was also before the excessive drinking came into play again. She thought everything was going to be ok. She looked into James eyes and saw that blank stare he always got when he went into his rages.
"Or what, Arizona? What are you going to do if I don't?" He roughly took her by the arm, challenging her every word with a low tone that sent shivers through her body.
She stared him square in the eye before she mustered up just enough strength to yank her arm out of his grasp again. Bringing her free hand up, she rubbed her sore spot before standing up straight. "This," she grabbed for the bag, causing the contents to spill out onto the couch, "was for you. I was going to surprise you, like I used to do. I wanted to make a special night of it and I wanted it to be a surprise. You don't get to call me a cheating whore and expect me not to react to it. You promised me that when we moved here things would change."
"Oh bullshit," he nearly yelled into the air, "you don't think I know what this is?" Picking up the spilled contents, he shook them in the air. "You and your new best friend went out for a girl's day and you come home with this? How am I supposed to believe that…"
Arizona cut him off, "You are supposed to believe that because you are supposed to trust me. I have never, once showed any interest in cheating on you. And the fact that I went out for a girl's day with Calliope has nothing to do with anything! She just lost her husband, for goodness sakes! " Her voice raised an octave. She could see him getting madder and madder, but by this time, she couldn't stop herself. "I have never, in my life, felt as disrespected as I do right now. The man that I married, that I love, just blatantly called me a fucking whore to my face. How do you think that makes me feel, James? I did this for you!" She finished her statement by snatching the lingerie out of his hands.
As soon as her eyes met his, she could see the blank stare in his eyes. She was no longer Arizona, his wife. In this moment, she was his target. Thinking to herself that maybe she could make it to the bedroom and lock the door before the wrath began, she turned on her heels and walked towards the stairs. Before her foot could connect with the third stair, she felt his hands in her hair. She felt his fingers curling around the strands and could hear the snap of pieces as they tore. Before she knew it, she was being launched across the room and she could feel her body connecting with the glass coffee table that sat in the middle of the room. She felt the glass breaking as the connection was made, her body landing mangled on the wire railing that held the table together. Raising a hand to her head, she felt an immediate pounding and the warmth of a fresh, but small stream of blood starting to run down the side of her face. Looking up in horror, she could only watch as the man she loved stalked towards her in such a predatory way it would scare the hell out of anyone.
"Maybe that's it," he spoke as he walked towards her, "Maybe you two aren't whoring around; maybe you two are actually sleeping together."
Arizona snapped herself out of the momentary daze she was caught in long enough to gather her legs beneath her and rise to her feet. Looking left and then right, she tried to make an escape plan within moments, but her thoughts were stifled as she heard him mumbling incoherently. She blinked and took a step to the left, which did nothing but startle him.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, bitch?" He almost slurred as he took two long strides and proceeded to grab her by the back of the neck. He tightened his grip causing his fingertips to bear down into her pressure points.
"James, honey, I don't want to fight with you." Her voice cracked as she tried to hold back the tears, but it was no use. The pain in her head was getting stronger by the second. "Please, don't do this. Just let me go."
She looked up to him and he looked as though he had heard none of what she said. His grip tightened impossibly so around the back of her neck as he looked at her, "Going to see your new lesbian whore? I don't fucking think so! How could you do this to me?"
This is the way things worked between the two of them. The entire reason they left the life they knew and moved to a town where no one knew their background; a place where no one whispered about them behind their backs or tried to interfere with their relationship. In all honesty, that would only make it worse. A place where Arizona didn't have to wear turtlenecks and slacks in the summer; somewhere people were oblivious to her scars and bruises, to the wear and tear of her body.
"I promise you, I am not sleeping with Calliope." Arizona kept her voice level and calm. Sometimes, if she were lucky, she could coax him out of his blind rage. So many thoughts were running through her head in that moment, that she began to feel dizzy. She stayed because she thought that things had changed between them. She refused to listen to the people who she now realized, only cared for her well-being when they told her to get out when she could. She now understood that this was not only a phase and he, the man that she fell in love with, was no longer present. And he most likely never would be again. Now, she was married to a jealous, angry man who loved to drink and would occasionally beat the living hell out of her only to turn around and sob his 'I'm sorry's' and promise that it would never happen again.
They called it The Honeymoon Phase. And the reason they called it that was because it was a never-ending cycle. The abuser would a) Portray themselves as loving and caring and all of the things you could ever wish for. Then they would b) Turn the tables with the abuse, becoming angry and unwilling to communicate or listen. Followed by c) Apologizing with flowers or gifts and promises to never do it again. And then, it would begin again. The honeymoon phase.
He yanked harder on the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him so that they were almost face to face. His brown eyes bore into her usually bright blue eyes, "Calliope, Calliope, Calliope… that's all you ever fucking talk about!" Pulling back even harder, he spat again, "Do you know how fucking irritating it is to hear you speak her name?"
Callie sat around the house, mindlessly flipping through channels on the television. Her thoughts often wandered to her failed relationship with Javier and once she actually stopped flipping through the channels, she realized that The Notebook was on. Her eyes immediately began to water at the sight of the couple fighting outside of their dream house and finally, she gave up and clicked the television off all together.
This wasn't working.
Running her hands over her face a few times and then through her hair, she looked around at the empty space that surrounded her and sighed. "I can't do this."
Her emotions were getting the best of her and she needed something to take her mind off of the thoughts that plagued her. Grabbing her cell, she contemplated calling Arizona and James, but she remembered that Arizona and James were supposed to be having an amazing night. Sighing, she threw her cell to the other side of the couch and leaned back into the cushions. This night couldn't get any worse.
Twenty minutes passed and she found herself looking out the window and over to Arizona's house. As much as she didn't want to interrupt she thought that maybe, just maybe if she went over she wouldn't be interrupting. Something continually tugged at her and the thought of just making her way next door kept passing through her mind. Mindless wandering through empty space and ten minutes passed before she made up her mind; she was going to take the chance and make her way next door. The silence was all but killing her.
Making her way up to the front door, she knocked once. There was no answer. Looking around, she could see the lights in the house were on, blinds were drawn, but it was eerily quiet. Pursing her lips, she knocked again and waited almost impatiently. She didn't want to be a burden, but right now, she needed her friend. As she brought herself out of her own thoughts, she heard somewhat of a whimper from the other side of the door and immediately, she felt embarrassed. The two of them were probably having their amazing night together and she was interrupting.
She then made the decision that tonight she would have to tough it out alone. After all, she was Calliope Torres and she was a bad ass. Taking a deep breath, she turned on her heels and made her way down the steps, but before she could make it any further than the bushes lined along the house, she heard a terrifying scream. It was almost unreal and it sent the biggest wave of chills down her spine. Stopping dead in her tracks, she slowly turned to face the house again. 'Was that Arizona?' she asked herself and before she could answer, she heard it again. This time, it was stifled and she was almost positive that it was Arizona.
Three strides brought her back to the front door and this time, she pounded on the wooden door, yelling out, "Arizona?"
Again, there was no answer, "Arizona, are you okay?" She pounded with the most strength she could muster and then, everything went quiet. On first thought, she wanted to go around to the back of the house and scope it out, but before she knew it, her hand made its way to the door knob and she turned the cold, steel object without resistance. The door creped open.
"Arizona?" She called out as she made her way into the house, slowly, making sure to check her surroundings. The same chills that ran down her spine not five minutes ago were back and they were coming in waves. "Arizona?" she called out again.
"Don't say a fucking word." James whispered to Arizona as they stood by the wall and out of Calliope's sight. Tightening his hold slipping up on her neck, this was one of his favorite things; he learned how to make Arizona pass out without ever leaving a mark on her neck. He would V his thumb and the rest of his hand and push pressure up into her jugular. No marks, no handprints, and nothing to worry about, just Arizona lying lifeless on the floor as he rampaged through the house afterward. No one could ever know and that is why he did it. She whimpered a little louder than she expected and that was all it took for Callie to realize that she wasn't alone.
Turning the corner into the living area, Callie came face to face with shattered glass all over the floor. The television was turned on its side and pictures were thrown about. The horror of the situation finally struck her. Someone had broken in and hurt Arizona.
"Well, well, well. Look who came to join the party." James spat as he made himself known.
Callie turned and came face to face with James and Arizona, whom he had by the back of her neck. She could see the blood that had trickled its way down Arizona's face, staining her blonde hair. Her face was bruised, eyes puffy as though she had been crying and James stood tall above her as though he was the king of the world.
Suddenly, the true reality hit Callie like a MAC truck going seventy miles per hour with no brakes. It must have shown all over her features because James picked up on it immediately.
"I fucking knew it. I knew you were sleeping with her," He changed and tightened his grip on Arizona as he spat his words with pure anger. "Did you come to save your slut, Calliope?"
"James," Callie spoke with a calm voice, but never took her eyes off of Arizona, "let her go."
"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do with my wife? She is MY wife!" He pulled Arizona closer to his person and wrapped his free arm around her already battered torso, causing her to gasp at the air being forced from her lungs.
"I am not trying to take your wife," Callie tried to assure him, "I just don't want anyone to get hurt. Please, let her go." Callie could see Arizona pleading with her eyes, but she couldn't read what the actual message was. Damnit, she wished she were better at reading this woman.
Ten minutes of bantering back and forth with this man and Callie had been fed up. It was time to take action. As much as she knew that things could go wrong for her, she at least needed to do something that would get him to release his grip on Arizona and focus on her. She had taken a few self-defense classes and she wasn't at all afraid of defending herself. If she could only get him to…
"Let. Her. Go. James." Callie warned.
"Or what, bitch? What are you going to do? You don't think I'll beat your ass, too?" He sneered at her, but his focus was shifted. Her plan was working. She locked eyes with Arizona, trying to convey to her through only her eyes that as soon as he let her go, she needed to get out of the way.
"If you don't let her go, I'm going to be forced to hurt you. I don't want to do that, James, but do not test me." Callie took a step forward, making it clear that she wanted the confrontation.
James cocked his head to the side with an evil chuckle. He released his grip on Arizona, but not the way Callie had intended. Instead of just letting her go, he tossed her to the side causing her to slam back first into into the end table. Callie quickly averted her eyes to Arizona to make sure that she was okay before stepping back and placing all of her weight on her back foot. She recalled quickly back in college to her psychology class. The only way to excel in a confrontation is to be the one to remain calm and keep control of your actions, no dumb moves. If she was going to do this, she needed to be more than ready for any move that he was willing to make.
"Test you? Bitch, don't test me. I will ruin you." He spoke in such a low tone that Callie could feel the vibration reverberate throughout her body. This man was definitely insane.
"Callie, please," Arizona's voice broke through the thickened air, but Callie did not acknowledge her. She knew that once she took her eyes off him, he would pounce. He was a predator, that's what they did. "Please, Callie. I need you to leave. I don't want you hurt. You have to leave."
"Arizona," she spoke calmly, without looking at the blonde, "when I say go, go."
James took a step forward, "You come in my house uninvited and now you think you're calling shots?"
"Arizona, do you hear me?" Callie asked, ignoring James all together but never taking her eyes off him.
Arizona sobbed. She couldn't take the tension in the room; the anger that surrounded her and the throbbing in her head. The last thing she expected was for Callie to come through the front door. Not to say that she wasn't incredibly grateful, but now the fact remained that she too, could be hurt. "Callie, please. Just go. I can… I can handle him." Arizona spoke through her silent cries.
"No. I'm not going anywhere. When I say go, Arizona, you go. Do you hear me?" Callie took her stance as she waited, impatiently, for this man to make a move. He simply stood between them, never taking his eyes off of her.
"Arizona, if you move, I swear to god it will be the last time you ever walk." He threatened through gritted teeth.
"Don't listen to him," Callie started to speak but was cut off by Arizona's screams, "Calliope! Leave! I need you to leave!"
The fear in her voice broke the Latina's heart. She knew that she was only doing what she thought was best, but Callie could not simply walk out of that door knowing what she had just walked in on.
James, in his drunken haze, made the mistake of turning around to yell at his wife, "You stupid bitch, shut up!"
In that one second, in that small window of opportunity, Callie took the chance, taking two simple strides to the left she grabbed for the vase that sat on the mantle and before she knew it, she had smashed him over the head with it. He stumbled towards Arizona, the alcohol working in favor of the Latina causing the man to be easier to knock over than normal, and leaned himself against the wall. Grabbing a fire poker, she again took stance as she yelled, "Arizona, get out of here now!"
Arizona stood frozen in her spot as she watched James lean against the wall, now wearing a similar cut in the back of his head. Callie had split him open. She gasped, grabbing for her stomach, feeling like she could empty its contents any second.
"Arizona! Get. Out. Now!" Callie commanded as she watched the man fall to one knee. She knew there would only be a few seconds before he felt the need to regain his footing and whatever she had to do to him, she didn't want Arizona to witness. As she stood there, Arizona slowly moved around the couch, never taking her eyes off James. As she got closer to the Latina, Callie reached her arm out and pulled the blonde behind her and then pushed her towards the front door. Handing her cell over, she spoke without taking her eyes off of him, "Go outside, call 9-1-1. I'll be out in a minute."
"Calliope…" Arizona tried to protest, but Callie cut her off with a stern voice, "I said go outside, Arizona."
She waited until she thought Arizona was out of harm's way before making her way closer to the man who had regained his footing, but was still leaning on the wall.
"You stupid cunt, I'm going to kill you for this." He spat, placing a hand on his head to cover the cut. Callie didn't speak. Instead, she watched him from a safe distance, knuckles white from the death grip she held on the fire poker.
Standing up straight, he stumbled closer to her and laughed. "You think you've won? You can't stop me. And that woman out there, she loves me. She will always come back to me. But you? No one will be able to save you from the wrath of hell I unleash on you."
"You're all talk, big man. All bark and no bite. I promise you this," She spoke slow, her voice deep, "never again will you ever put your hands on Arizona or any woman for that matter."
"You think I'm afraid of you? I'll handle you just like I handled her."
"Try me, you bastard." Tightening her grip on the poker, she waited for him to make a move and as sure as the sky is blue on a perfect day in California, he rushed towards her. With everything in her, she swung the poker and connected with his temple. As she watched him fall, the sudden realization of the situation hit her and she froze for a moment.
The sudden sound of blaring sirens snapped her out of her haze. Dropping the poker, she backed out of the house slowly and made her way to Arizona's side.
"Are you okay?" She asked with pure concern, giving the blonde a once over. She wanted to comfort her in some way, but given the situation she was too scared to touch her in fear of hurting her. She didn't see one part of the blonde's body that wasn't either bloody or bruised. Arizona, around the black and blue bruises, was paler than usual probably due to blood loss. So Callie just stood near her helpless.
Arizona didn't speak, she didn't cry, she just stared blankly into the distance as the police arrived.
Cristina Yang stepped out of the all black Crown Victoria and made her way up to the house, gun drawn. "I'm Cristina Yang and this is my partner Officer Fields with the Brentwood Police Department. We received a call from a woman saying that there was an attack?"
Callie looked to her friend and then pointed to the house, "He's inside, Cris."
Cristina took a very brief second to eye Arizona and then Callie. Callie had blood on her hand, but otherwise looked spot free. The blonde on the other hand stood stoic as she looked past the flashing lights of the cop car, ignoring the world, lost in her own daze. This broke Cristina's usually stone cold heart. Cristina became an officer because usually situations didn't affect her, but cases like this got to her. She was honestly surprised the woman was even standing from the way she looked. Cristina called to her partner to walk Arizona to the ambulance, gave a nod to Callie and continued into the house.
A second police car pulled up and the officers followed Cristina in the home, drawing their guns as they went. Callie walked with Arizona and Cristina's partner to the ambulance wishing there was something she could do. Officer Fields temporarily relinquished control of the situation to the paramedics. They had Arizona sit down on the back of the truck as they examined her.
"Ma'am would you lift your shirt for us so we may examine your torso and check for cracked ribs and other injuries?" Arizona shifted out of her daze and looked at Callie who was studying her. He hands went to the hem of her shirt and Callie's eyes never left her battered body. Arizona was grateful for her rescue, but was still insecure about Calliope seeing her like this.
"Calliope," She managed to say and expressed with her eyes that she wanted her to look away. "Please?"
"Arizona," She started to protest. She wanted to make sure she was ok, but she knew this wasn't the time or place to fight with her. "I'm sorry, of course." As she turned away, she witnessed Cristina coming out of the house followed by the other two officers with James in tow.
"Ma'am we are going to have to take you to the hospital and get you stitched up. Some of these lacerations are pretty deep and we would like to get an Ortho consult, your ribs appear to be cracked." Callie overheard the paramedics offer to Arizona. The blonde sighed and Callie started to take a step away, heading toward Cristina.
"Calliope. . . " With that Callie stopped in her tracks and turned her immediate attention to the blonde calling her name. "Don't leave me here." Callie stepped back in between Arizona and the paramedic.
"I'm going to talk to Cristina and see what is going on." Arizona slid off the back of the truck to stand up but immediately sat back down feeling dizzy. Callie's body jerked out of reflex to make sure Arizona didn't fall. She stepped back when the blonde appeared stable and turned her head to see Cristina walking over to them.
"Officer, we need to take her in to get her examined. If you could follow us to the hospital you can do your questioning there." Cristina nodded at the paramedic and the other helped Arizona completely into the back of the truck.
"I'm not going without her." Arizona stated, nodding to Callie. The paramedic looked from Callie to Arizona and back again and granted her permission to get in.
The drive to the hospital was quick and when they entered the emergency room, Arizona's cuts were quickly taken care of, all seven of them. Arizona was then sent for x-rays. She had three cracked ribs, but luckily no organs were punctured. Cristina questioned the two women separately and got their take on what happened.
She walked in the room when she was done and handed Arizona a couple cards. "Mrs. Robbins, one is for a domestic violence group and the other is my personal card. I want you to call me if you have any questions or if you need anything at all. I will be handling every aspect of this case and I want you to inform me if you need anything." Arizona appreciated this gesture. She placed Cristina's personal card down on the table beside her and looked at the domestic violence group card and threw it near the trash, only being so mobile.
"Thank you officer Yang, I appreciate it."
"Callie, can I have a word with you?" Arizona looked at Callie questioningly. She realized every time Officer Yang spoke to her she was so informal and then she remembered Callie calling her 'Cris' on the scene. Callie caught her questioning look.
"Arizona, you remember at the party a couple of people were missing? This is Cristina Yang one of my closest friends."
"Nice to meet you, Arizona. Sorry about it being under these circumstances." Cristina nodded and headed out of the room. Callie glanced at Arizona and followed her out.
When she stepped outside, she saw the worry in Cristina's eyes.
"Callie, enough of business, I'm asking as your friend. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. I'm worried about Arizona. How could I not have known what was going on? Why didn't she tell me?"
"Torres you and I both know that isn't the kind of thing you talk about. She might have thought she could handle it. The only thing you can do is talk to her about it. Try to get her to talk. He is her husband and sad to say that no matter what, she loves him. Maybe she will press charges and we can issue a restraining order. But until then, it is nothing. See what you can do. I can tell you care about her."
"I don't want him to be in the position where he can do that again." Callie let out a heavy sigh.
"We are keeping him at the station and when he is released, if she files a restraining order or asks, and he goes back for his stuff, I will escort him personally. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure this scum bag gets taken care of."
"Thanks," Callie says staring off.
"Get in there and take care of her, kid. I can tell she needs you. Call me if you need me." With that Cristina turned and made her way out of the hospital.
Callie returned to the room and sat with Arizona until she was released. She called a cab and took Arizona her home. Arizona looked over to her house and back at Callie.
"I'll get you some clothes and you can sit in the car. You are staying at my place." She offered.
"I can face it, Callie. I've had to clean it up before." Arizona got out of the car and made her way over to her house. She walked in the front door and passed the damage not even looking down at it. She felt tears coming to her eyes, but she pushed them away. She was trying to not think about what happened, to not think about James like that. It wasn't him, it was just the alcohol. That wasn't her husband. In that moment he was temporarily gone. She paused on the stairs afraid she was going to break down. She felt a warm hand on hers and looked over at Calliope. This gave her strength as she continued up the stairs. She rummaged around and found some night clothes and some clothes for tomorrow.
They went to Callie's place and Callie helped Arizona get undressed so she could get in the shower. Callie could hear Arizona's whimpers as the water hit her battered body. She tried to erase the image of her bruises and cuts from her mind as she began readying the guest bedroom and making it more comfortable for her. Arizona came out holding onto her shirt with her towel covering her front.
"I really hate to ask this, but my ribs need to be wrapped and I can't manage to get my shirt on." Arizona finished, shyly looking down and slightly embarrassed at the simple tasks she couldn't perform.
Callie took the wrap and began wrapping Arizona's ribs slowly and gently. Arizona held her towel in place and as soon as Callie was done she reached for the shirt slowly pulling one arm through a sleeve then maneuvering it over her head and Arizona lifted her arm through the other sleeve.
"Thanks," She smiled at the Latina showing off a dimple. Callie walked over to the bed and pulled back the cover for Arizona. Arizona climbed into the bed carefully, trying not to groan in pain as she did so. Callie covered her up and asked if she needed anything before sitting the remote on the pillow beside her good side. She walked to the door and flipped the light. She heard a whisper come from the blonde.
"Calliope . . . I'm . . . scared . . . can you stay with me tonight?"
A/N: Ok everyone, we didn't want to put an author's note at the beginning of this chapter. We understand this may have been hard to read. It was hard for us to write. This was what my co-author had a dream about and this is how this story came into existence. This is a serious issue and even though fanfic is sometimes on a lighter side of things sometimes you have to get real. Statistics show:
One in four women (25%) has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime.
Between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence each year, and between 100,000 and 6 million men, depending on the type of survey used to obtain the data.
Nearly three out of four (74%) of Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence
On average, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners in this country every day.
You wouldn't want anyone you know going through this nor would you want anyone suffering worse consequences. If you know anyone in need of help or you yourself need help here is a national number to call. (For people in the US) 1−800−799−SAFE(7233) This chapter hits close to home. It may have been just a dream, but the reason we wrote like we did is because it hits close to home in the way it does. Thanks for reading. We hope you stick around.