Stuck With You

Chapter Eighteen

A/N: I guess Monday has become the new update day. Just couldn't finish any sooner! Sorry. As many of you predicted there is some action. Can't you smell it? Anyway, enough of my corny talk. Happy reading! Enjoy, and uh… please don't kill me


"Wait… so you're telling me your father expects you to pursue this crazy person on your own? To risk your job and possibly your life to save his own ass? That's bullshit!" Arizona fumed, shocked that Callie's father would pull such a thing.

They were now partially dressed, sitting on the couch. Arizona was wearing one of Callie's big Miami Dolphins T-shirts and Callie wore a tank top and night shorts. The brunette had just told Arizona the entire situation involving her father and Arizona was not happy with the news.

Callie ran hand through her hair and blew out a frustrated breath. "I know it is…" the brunette calmly agreed. She had already filtered and processed through her anger a day ago.

Arizona shook her head, still not believing the news. She knew her own father would never be so selfish in order to save face. And it pissed her off that Callie's father could be this low. However, in the recesses of her mind something suddenly clicked in her head. "So… you're related to the Torres Hotels, Torres?" she asked.

Callie had hoped Arizona would skip this part of the conversation, but she knew it was inevitable. She nodded solemnly. "Yeah…"

"Wow… that means you… your family is…"

"Loaded… yes…" the brunette sighed. "My father owns all the Torres Hotel chains internationally."

Arizona nodded, allowing the new information to sink in. This made her hesitant in asking her next question. "Then why… I mean…"

"Why am I slumming as a Seattle beat cop?" Callie asked, already knowing the question.

Arizona sheepishly nodded, not wanting to insult the Latina.

"I don't like people knowing I have money because they change or they treat me differently. I hate it. I got where I am today on my own steam and hard work. Not because my daddy paid my way. I was not going down that road. I earned my keep. I love my job and I love what I do."

Arizona nodded and looked at her girlfriend with new eyes. She felt proud. "I get that... and I respect that. I also find it really sexy."

Callie smiled lightly and blushed. Arizona smiled lightly at Callie's reaction. "Calliope, I don't care if you're rich or poor. It doesn't change how I feel. What I do want to know is what right your father has to put this on you?" Arizona questioned.

"None..." Callie replied. "My father has no right to spring this shit on me. Especially, after what happened between us." Callie looked into Arizona's caring blue eyes and took this as a sign to continue. She drew in a settle breath and slowly released it. "The thing is… my family and I used to be close. In fact, seeing you with your parents reminded me of how close we used to be. That all fell apart after I came out to my family… my parents did not take it well… especially my father. He gave me a good biblical lashing and pretty much exiled me from the family. And my mother… she could barely look at me, let alone speak to me. The only family I had left in Miami was my sister, Aria, who still speaks to me… and Mark. When my father showed up at the station… that was the first time I had seen or spoken to him in two years."

Arizona reached over and took Callie's hand in her own. "I'm sorry, Calliope. That must have been really hard on you… and then for you to see your father again under these conditions..."

"Yeah…" Callie mumbled, lowering her eyes.

"You're still going to help him… aren't you?" Arizona asked more as a statement then a question.

"Not him. I just don't want innocent people hurt if I had the chance to stop it."

"So, what's the plan?" Arizona carefully asked.

"Don't really have one yet. I guess after I get this person's location I'll go check it out."

The blonde shook her head. "You mean we will check it out. You're not doing this alone. I'll be with you one-hundred percent of the way."

"Thanks…" The brunette smiled lightly.

"We just have to tell the Captain to get a team together and…"

"No," Callie firmly stated, shaking her head.

"What?"

"No team. Arizona, this person may freak out or do something crazy if they see an entire police team coming at them. I don't want to risk the lives of other officers. This is my mission and we're doing it my way."

"Callie, this person may freak out just seeing us. We need a team for backup."

"No one else can be involved but you and me. Alone." Callie replied, sticking to her guns.

Arizona could not believe what she was hearing. "So, when we get this person's address, what are we going to do? Go in guns blazing and chase the person down ourselves?"

"Yeah, if we have to. We're dealing with a dangerous person and if they realize the cops are onto them… who knows what might happen. The less people that know about this, the less likely one of my father's Hotels go boom. This has to be done delicately."

"No shit. Which is why we have to go in with a team and extract this person."

"Arizona, we can't."

"Why not?" the blonde challenged.

Callie shook her head and stood from the couch. She placed some distance between herself and the blonde, standing near her end table. "You don't understand…"

"Try me. Because right now your plan sounds crazy, Callie."

"You think I don't know that? It is crazy… yes… but I have to protect my family… and despite what my father did to me and what he put me through, he still trusted me enough to handle this quietly."

"Callie, you owe him nothing."

The brunette sighed heavily. "I know… but he's still my father, no matter how cold his heart is… and he needs me."

Arizona lowered her eyes to her lap and sighed. There was silence between them for a moment. The tension was thick in the air. The blonde finally stood from the couch and walked over to Callie. She took the brunette's hands in her own and their eyes met. "You have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. That's part of the reason why I love you, Calliope. But this is too dangerous to handle with just the two of us."

"Arizona, please trust me on this… do this for me… I know it's a risk and I know it's crazy but… when you and I are together we can do anything… anything…" she repeated in a whisper. "So, I'm asking for your help. I need your help… are you with me?"

Arizona stared into the soulful brown eyes before her. She saw a mixture of pleading, fear, trust, and anticipation. But what she saw above all else was love. Arizona knew this was a decision that could change everything and in moments like this she always listened to her heart.

"I'm with you…" Arizona slowly spoke.

Relief washed over Callie and she felt as though she could breathe again. "Thank you..."

"But I don't like this at all, Callie. I'm only doing this so someone has your back. If anything ever happened to you…" Arizona's voice broke and her eyes began to tear up. "I'm with you," she firmly nodded.

Callie felt her own emotions coming to the surface as she heard and saw the sadness overwhelm Arizona. She moved closer to the blonde and pulled her into her arms. Arizona's arms went around Callie's neck and they held each other close. "We'll do this together… I love you, baby… thank you…" Callie whispered. She soothingly rubbed Arizona's back.

"I love you too."

That evening, the two of them curled up against each other in Callie's bed and went to sleep. The comfort of each other's bodies helped to calm the anxiety of what was to happen in the future.


Seattle Airport was bustling with people of all ages as Callie, Arizona, and Mark made their way towards Mark's gate. At the last minute, Mark had rearranged his flight to leave in the morning instead of night. He was needed back at the police department in Miami for an urgent matter. Callie agreed to still drop him off and Arizona decided to tag along.

"What's your gate number?" Callie asked as they looked at the various gate signs.

Mark glanced at his ticket. "37C… we're almost there. Thanks for taking me to the airport ladies, even though I changed times on you."

"Are you kidding me? I had to send you off properly. Especially, after you threw me the best birthday bash ever… against my will."

Mark chuckled and Arizona smiled at Callie's comment. "Hey, it was my pleasure."

As they reached the Gate, a ding came over the intercom. Flight 158 to Miami at Gate 37C is now boarding. Please listen to the following as we will be boarding by sections…" A woman's voice announced. People sitting at the Gate began to stand and head over to the line.

"Well, that's me," Mark said.

"Oh… bye, Marky," Callie cooed. She reached out her arms and was taken in the handsome man's strong embrace, held closely.

Arizona watched the six to seven second hug and thought it was a little too close for comfort. What was Callie's past with Mark anyway? She knew they were partners on the Miami police force, but were they ever more than that?

They soon broke the embrace and Callie looked towards her girlfriend. She noticed before those dimples made an appearance, Arizona's eyebrows were etched in that cute little way when she was wondering about something. Callie knew Arizona tried to hide it, but she had caught on.

Mark turned to Arizona. "Blondie… it was nice meeting you," he said with a nod, holding out his hand. Arizona shook Mark's hand and smiled politely. "Take care of our girl."

Arizona glanced at Callie and the brunette blushed shyly. "I will."

As Mark and Arizona exchanged a few more friendly words, Callie suddenly felt a buzzing in the back pocket of her jeans. "Oh, geez. Who's texting me at 8:30 in the morning?" she grumbled. She retrieved her phone and looked at the small screen.

This is the name and location of the man stalking me. I trust that you will help me, Calliope. –Papa

Roman Handerton

20302 Seattle, WA

Callie's face dropped and a cloak of gloom washed over her. It was from her father. The information she was waiting for was now right in front of her…shit just got real. She really had to do this.

Mark and Arizona had stopped talking and noticed the Latina's expression.

"Bad news?" Mark asked.

"Uh…" Callie closed her text and quickly pocketed her phone. "No, no… just some weird text from a stranger," she tried to cover.

Callie sent a look towards the blonde and judging by the expression she received, Arizona did not buy it.

Mark studied Callie and frowned slightly. "No, something's up. You have that deer caught in headlights look. What's going on?"

Should she tell him? Callie wanted to. From the depths of her troubled soul she wanted to. But she was not going to drag Mark into this dangerous game. It was already bad enough that Arizona was now involved. Callie gave Arizona a look of uncertainty. The blonde could only look back at her with a nonjudgmental expression. She was leaving this open for Callie to decide.

"Nothing, Mark. Everything is cool," she replied. "I just don't like getting stupid messages from strangers when I'm trying to say goodbye to you. Everything's fine really."

Mark glanced at Arizona and the blonde quickly threw him a smile.

"Final call for Flight 158 on route to Miami."

"Alright… if you say so, Callie," Mark replied, not completely believing the Latina. "I'm off ladies."

Callie placed her hand on Mark's arm. "Call me as soon as you land."

Mark winked at her. "You got it." He gave Arizona one last nod and then headed towards the line with other passengers. After the woman at the counter tore the stub off his boarding pass, Mark turned and gave Callie and Arizona one last wave. The two of them waved back with smiles and he was gone.

Arizona turned to Callie. "That wasn't a random text from a stranger, was it?"

Callie shook her head. "My father… he just sent me the name and location of the man we're after." The inside of her stomach was churning with nervousness, but she pushed aside her anxiety and blew out a heavy breath. "Okay… let's get on it," Callie stated, switching to cop mode.

The two of them made it to the police station in less than an hour, but since it was their day off, they went in through the back way to remain unseen. Once inside the building, they headed to Teddy's office to do their work more discreetly. Plus, it had a police computer they could access.

"I can't believe I'm breaking into my best friend's office…" Arizona muttered as she worked the lock-pick on Teddy's door.

"I love you?" Callie lamely replied.

Arizona gave her a deadpanned look before popping the door open. "We're in."

They entered the small office and Callie closed the door behind them. Arizona walked around Teddy's desk and jumped on the computer. Callie watched her girlfriend from the door for a moment, as Arizona began typing away on the keyboard. She loved how computer smart the blonde was and Callie had to admit it was a turn on.

"Okay… let's see what we can find on Roman Handerton. Maybe he has a record…" Arizona absentmindedly commented as she clicked here and there.

"Is it wrong to say you look really hot right now?" Callie asked.

Arizona pierced her lips together and gave Callie a look. The brunette sent her a cheeky smile and Arizona's lips curled into a smirk she could no longer contain. She knew Callie could not help but be a flirt and shook her head. "Oh, here we go," she said, looking at the screen.

Callie came over and stood behind Arizona's chair leaning over to take a look. She saw a mug shot of a man that looked to be in his early fifties. A white male with an angry looking face, goatee, intimidating eyes, and a tattoo on his neck. "This is the man threatening my father?" Callie stated incredulously. "A wild hog biker? Well, he looks crazy enough."

"Uh… there's only one problem…" Arizona warily replied.

"What?"

The blonde scrolled down further and pointed to the screen. "According to this he's been dead for three years."

"Huh?"

"Yeah… he was killed in a prison fight in Connell, Washington at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center."

"Fuck…" Callie growled. She turned away from the computer and blew out a breath, closing her eyes. She knew it could not have been that easy. "Well," she sighed, turning back around. "That means whoever we're really looking for must have been using that name as a cover."

"That's a possibility."

Callie placed her hands on her hips. "I wonder who the fuck we're really dealing with then."

"Let's check out that address." Arizona typed in the location. Soon something came across the screen and she read the info. "Hmm, it's some sort of old factory that's on the outskirts of the city. Like, in the middle of nowhere outskirts. That's not suspicious…" Arizona deadpanned.

"We have to check it out. This is all we have left to go on."

Arizona nodded and proceeded to logout of the computer. She could not say she was not worried about pursuing this man of mystery. The location of this factory was eerily out of their way and they had no idea what they were in for… without back up. But Arizona would do anything in her power to protect Callie and she knew the Latina would do the same.


During their ride up to the location, the women were silent. Both of them were thinking of the different scenarios that could possibly play out during their secret 'off-the-clock' mission. They had another twenty minutes before they would reach the building and Arizona decided to distract herself with something else other than their uneasiness.

"Promise me you won't get mad for me asking this."

Callie furrowed her brows and glanced away from the road at Arizona. "Uh… okay," she replied curiously.

"Like, really promise," Arizona firmly repeated. "I don't want this to turn into an argument."

Callie tightened her grip slightly on the steering wheel and nodded. "Fine, I promise. What do you want to ask?"

"Have you ever slept with Mark?"

The muscles in Callie's jaw tightened as she grit her teeth together. The blonde could see a bit of irritation bubbling to the surface. "Ari-"

"You promised not to get mad," Arizona quickly reaffirmed.

Callie sighed. "Okay… I'm not mad. And to answer your question… I can happily reply, no. I've never slept with Mark." She looked over at the blonde with a small smirk.

Arizona sighed with relief. "Thank God… because I kind of like Mark. And if I had to look at him every time and think, 'you've seen Callie naked,' it would have really sucked."

Callie chuckled lightly. "What made you ask this anyway?"

"Well, when you and Mark hugged each other at the airport, it was a super long hug so…"

"Is that what that face was about?"

Arizona bit her bottom lip. "You noticed that?"

Callie chuckled again. "Uh, yeah. I notice everything about you."

"Sorry," Arizona sheepishly replied.

"No, it's okay. I've always liked jealous Arizona. She's always hot."

"Shut-up, Calliope."

The distraction of the conversation helped to lighten the mood for a while, but soon they had arrived to their destination. Callie pulled the vehicle up a good distance away from the large building so they would remain out of sight. Arizona took out her binoculars and brought them to her eyes. The building was old, possibly built in the late 1950's. The outside was worn down from weather, as rust seemed to cling on every crevice of the building. Trash and junk swept up from past storms were cluttered in the front of the dirt and rock landscape. Some of the windows were shattered and the wood around the framing was splintered. The entire building looked dark and uninviting.

"Oh, yeah… this isn't creepy…" Arizona sarcastically commented. "I don't know, Calliope. It looks pretty deserted. No one has been here for a long time. What if this address is just as bogus as that name your Dad gave us?"

Callie took the binoculars that were handed to her and brought them to her eyes. "It might be. In fact, I hope it is. Then I can tell my father to piss off and not worry about his precious business… I don't see any movement." She lowered the binoculars and looked at Arizona. "Ready?"

The blonde gave a small smile and a nod. "I'm with you."

Callie reached over and gently took Arizona's hand in her own, giving it a small squeeze. She did not say anything. Callie only smiled lightly and nodded in return. They quietly exited the vehicle and headed up the small hill to reach the abandoned building.

As they reached the double doors of the factory, the sound of something being knocked over inside the building put them on alert. They both un-holstered their guns and looked at each other. Callie moved in first, carefully pushing open one of the rusty front doors. With her gun at the ready, she walked into the slightly darkened building. Arizona followed, making sure to cover the rear.

As soon as they entered, a long corridor greeted them with a door at the end. The only light provided for them were shining through holes in the walls and windows. They both remained silent but were equally creeped out by the situation. As they slowly proceeded, coming up on their right was another set of large double doors that were wide open. Callie approached with caution, peeking her head around the corner. She signaled for Arizona to move ahead of her. The blonde did so and Callie followed.

They had entered a large open space with high ceilings. It was the old factory floor. It was pretty much bare, save for a few dusty boxes and old equipment, but the room was huge. They walked further inside, eyes searching the dim space. No one was there. They slowly lowered their weapons.

"I think the place is empty," Arizona stated.

"Looks that way. I think I saw an office down the hall though. We should check there before we leave."

"Fine, but let's get out of her, Callie. I'm starting to feel like we're in an episode of Ghost Adventures."

"You watch that?" Callie asked dubiously.

"Hey. It's quality television, thank you."

Suddenly the sound of something rummaging near the boxes just a few feet away grabbed their attention.

"The fuck was that?" Callie hissed as they both jumped out of their skin and raised their weapons.

"I don't know…" Arizona breathed.

The brunette moved closer and one of the boxes on the floor, covered by a large sheet of plastic shook slightly. Callie quickly kicked it to the side and a faint Meow… was heard. They looked down and saw a kitten with reddish-orange fur, a white belly, white paws and green eyes staring up at them.

"Awe… it's a kitty…" Arizona cooed with a smile.

Callie rolled her eyes, hating that she got the shit scared out of her by a little cat. "Great…"

Arizona moved closer but the frighten kitten ran from them and hid under a table near the far corner.

"Well, it looks like it wants to stay here."

"Can't we take him?"

"Arizona, I'm not staying here all day chasing a cat around."

"Fine…" Arizona huffed in defeat, as she followed Callie out of the large space.

"Let's check out the office and then go." Callie said, as they entered the corridor once again.

They walked further down and were almost within arm's reach of the office door. Suddenly, Callie heard a faint noise coming from the room ahead of them. "Hang on." They stood still a moment. "Do you hear that?"

"What?"

Callie moved into the room stepping lightly. The sound became louder. It was a 'beeping' noise. BEEP…pause… BEEP… pause. Callie finally noticed where the sound was coming from. Fixed against the far wall was a small device with red, yellow, and blue wire all around it. Callie's heart jumped in her throat when she saw the glowing red digital numbers… counting down with every BEEP… 19, 18, 17, 16…

"Shit!" Callie yelled whipping herself around. "Move out! The place is gonna blow!"

Panic filled Arizona's entire being as Callie pushed her out of the room. Her legs began to propel her down the long corridor, towards the front of the building.

"Go! Go!" Callie shouted from behind her.

Arizona ran harder and faster like Callie told her. Soon she burst through the front doors of the factory and ran… ran with all her might. Arizona's breath was heaving and heart pounding as she gained distance between herself and the building.

Within seconds a deafening blast sounded behind her and the ground beneath her rumbled and shook. Suddenly, an incredibly powerful amount of force pushed at Arizona's back, knocking the blonde clean off her feet. Her body went crashing to the ground in a tumble.

A piercing shrill of a noise was in her ears and she could barely her anything around her. The blonde coughed several times as she slightly raised herself from the ground, trying to get her bearings. The wind had been knocked out of her but she was alive. Her thoughts quickly went to Callie. She looked on either side of her… no Callie. She looked behind her… no Callie. Her heart began to pound in sheer panic.

"Callie?" She called.

The blonde's frantic eyes shifted towards the obliterated building which was now a burning inferno of rumble and debris. Callie had to have made it. The brunette was right behind her. "Callie!" She shouted at the top of her lungs in desperation. Arizona was barely able to hear her own voice, which sounded like a mere whisper in her mind. The ringing in her ears had ceased to stop.

Arizona climbed shakily to her feet and looked around in a panic. "Callie! Where are you?"

Still nothing. Just the crackling fire blazing from the building and the sound of Arizona's heart pounding.


A/N: Remember… don't kill me.