Thanks, as always, to my wonderful beta: Scronkidile!
"Your roommate? Really?" Calliope crossed her arms. "You're going to drag your brand new roommate into a mob war? Because you know once she walks in that door, she's on our side."
Teddy waved her off as she held her phone up to her ear. "She'll be fine. She's an army brat."
"Growing up on an army base and actually getting shot at isn't the same thing. Don't drag this girl into some-"
"Hey! Arizona!" Teddy smirked at Calliope, "So, I kind of lied to you…No, it's not bad-"
Calliope barked out a laugh.
"I'm a doctor, that's true, just not at Seattle Presbyterian. I'm the Medic for La Femme Mafia…Yeah." Teddy winced. "I'm sorry, I mean, you're safe. You've never been in Calliope's home or to any of our claimed spots. L'Homme knows you're not affiliated with us."
Calliope coughed. When Teddy looked at her she gestured to her table where Izzie was still applying pressure to Heather's wound.
"Yeah, Arizona, that's actually why I'm calling…One of our girls got shot and I don't have my bag with me…yeah, the only thing is once you come in you'll be on our side and-oh, ok, I'll text you the address."
She shut the phone and turned back to Calliope. "Well? She's going to bring you your bag?"
Teddy shrugged. "Yeah, she's a badass peds doctor."
"Whatever. If she comes, she stays. I do not need the death of a civilian on my hands."
Teddy tied up her hair. "Ok, I'm going to need towels and a big bowl of water." She took over pressing on the wound from Izzie as she and Olivia ran about the house getting supplies.
There was a knock on the door.
Calliope shook her head. She just hoped this poor girl would be able to handle everything that was happening. It wasn't every day someone who was totally unaffiliated joined. The knock sounded again. She walked to the door and opened it. There stood a sweet-looking, but serious blonde. Her blue eyes were piercing as they met Calliope's. She was a little shorter, but her presence seemed to fill the doorway. Wearing dark jeans, boots and a loose marine's t-shirt, she was almost…cute? Calliope blinked and smiled.
"Come in, please."
Arizona broke eye contact and pushed past her. She stopped next to Teddy and handed her the bag. As she starts pulling her hair into a ponytail, she leans over Heather's face and smiles. Callie starts. Arizona had a super magic smile; even Heather slowly smiled back.
"Hi! My name is Arizona Robbins. I'm new to this mob war thing, but I'm no stranger to gunshot wounds." She looked over at Teddy who had pulled her own hair up and was starting to make an incision over the gun wound. "Okay, this is going to hurt a bit." Heather gasped loudly as tears filled her eyes. Arizona grabbed her hand tightly, and hovered above her face until she made eye contact again. "Hey, Can you tell me your name?" Heather opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out. "Hey, you gonna show me the pretty voice that goes with those pretty eyes?" Heather continued to gasp wetly without sound. Arizona cursed; they need to do a tracheotomy. She reached across Teddy to pick up a scalpel. She looked around for a moment before settling her eyes on Calliope. "Hey, this is your place, right? Do you have any straws?"
Calliope jumped when she realized she'd just been standing, staring at Arizona. "yeah, uh, yeah. I do." She hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a straw. As she handed it to Arizona, she was startled when Arizona yelled.
"Hey! Blondie! Don't elevate the feet of someone with a chest wound. You'll make the cavity fill with blood." She glared at Izzie until she blushed.
"Sorry. Right, Sorry."
Teddy held out her hand. "Here, give them to me." She began to use the towels to soak up some of the blood accumulating in Heather's chest. She shook her head. "Fuck. Arizona, can I get your hands in here? I think the bullet punctured a lung."
Arizona looked down at Heather's face; she'd passed out from the pain. Arizona grabbed a pair of gloves and looked up. "Calliope. Do you have any lamps we can put on the table? This would be easier with more light."
Callie blinked and realized she'd been staring again. Frowning, she spoke. "They're in my room. I'll get them. Sorry." She walked into her room and took a second to chastise herself. "Come on, Callie, you're in the middle of a mob war, Heather is dying on your table, and remember Erica." She nodded firmly and grabbed the lamp off her bedside table.
Walking back into the living room, she saw Arizona and Teddy frantically scooping blood out of Heather's chest onto the floor. Gasping, she put the lamp on the table and plugged it in. The light illuminated the blood and made it startlingly red against Calliope's hardwood floors.
Teddy sighed and puller her hands out of Heather's body. Arizona looked up at her before continuing to feel around in Heather's body. "No." She glared at Teddy. "Teddy, Come on! She's just a child! Teddy!" Teddy looked at the clock on the wall.
"Time of death: 13:47."
Arizona removed her hands from Heather and braced them on the table. "Fuck."
Calliope frowned and pulled out her cellphone. As she called Bailey, She kept an eye on Arizona. She had tried really hard to save Heather, even without being affiliated or even knowing her. Arizona had honor. If she agreed to sign on with La Femme she'd be a beneficial addition. "Hey, Bailey…Oh, hey, Tuck, is your mom there?...Can you wake her up?... Yeah, she is kinda scary isn't she?...Thanks." Calliope noticed Arizona staring at her. She looked away quickly as she snapped off her gloves. Callie watched her whisper to Teddy. "Hey, Bailey…I know you're "spending time" with Tuck, but we lost a girl… Heather – Izzie, what was her last name? – Brooks. Heather Brooks…Mousey? Really?...Oh, I'll tell her, yeah…Ok, Thanks…Yeah, my place…ok." Calliope hung up the phone.
She looked at Arizona who was staring at her, puzzled. "You didn't know her name?"
Calliope's eyebrows drew down. "Yeah, it's Heather."
"No, but you didn't know her full name?"
"It's in the ledger. I don't have every single person's name memorized. This is a big operation."
"But you make the decisions…"
"The major ones, yeah. I have department heads for a reason, though. I can't control this entire thing by myself." She gestures to the body on the table. "Heather was part of our Militia. Bailey hired her and Bailey knows her name. I'd never met her before."
Arizona frowned. "These people are willing to risk their lives for you and you don't even know their names."
Calliope crossed her arms. "What is your problem? Do you know the names of every police officer? Every fire fighter? Every soldier overseas? It's the same thing."
"You're not the president! You can't compare yourself to a world leader! You're a Crime Lord."
Calliope stalked toward her. "Hey, I don't know if you were listening to Teddy talk on the phone, but you're part of this now. You've put yourself in the middle of a mob war and I, Calliope Torres, am the one standing between you and them. This is my house. If you want to leave, you can, but you'd better find L'Homme and tell them you're not part of this situation. I don't know if they'd believe you though. You have spent an hour in my house, surrounded by my people. You have my blood on your hands."
Arizona's shoulders slumped. She looked defeated. "I'm sorry. I just – I grew up on Military bases. I've got a lot of heroes in my family. Losing patients always gets to me."
Calliope took a deep breath. "I understand. Really." She put her hand on Arizona's shoulder. "I hate losing people, too."
The shutting of a door drew them out of their moment. Bailey walked in followed by Olivia and Rose, her two flunkies. Bailey stopped next to Calliope and watched as Olivia and Rose unfolded a body bag.
"You know, I liked Mousey. She was kinda weird if you know what I mean. But she was a hard worker. Had reflexes like a fox." Bailey shifted her weight to her right foot. "I am not looking forward to the body count this is going to bring. It took me forever to train just these girls."
Calliope clicked her tongue. "Yeah, we should start recruiting again." She sighed. "I'll tell Cristina to put word out to the shelters."
Arizona frowned. "Shelters?"
"Youth shelters and Orphanages. For homeless teens and Juvie kids. We recruit a lot of members from places like that."
Arizona's hands clenched into fists. "Are you fucking kidding me? You recruit children? For a mob war?"
Calliope turned to face her fully. "Arizona, these kids are going nowhere. They're broke and starving to death and living 12 to a room. We take the older ones, the ones about to get kicked out of the system and give them a way to live. We give them food and clothing and homes."
Arizona spoke through clenched teeth. "You're leading them like pigs to slaughter."
"I am taking children who would starve to death or kill themselves and giving them a chance at life and a cause to live for. Yes, some of them die, but if you compare annual death rates of teens and orphans 15 years ago to now, you'll find that we are saving lives. We don't always live in the middle of a war zone. There's just been a recent event that's lead to some turmoil. That isn't my fault."
Arizona glared at her for a moment shoving past her and leaving. The door slammed shut.
Bailey just looked at her silently, her eyebrows raised. "Yup. You sure got a way with the ladies."
"Shut up."