Arizona Robbins walked into the bar and looked around for her friends. The doctors of Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital had just received the results for their boards and were out celebrating. She had to check on her post-ops and had told them all to go ahead. A waving hand caught her eye and she turned to see Alex beckoning her over to the table. Sitting with him was Teddy, Cristina, Jackson, Meredith and April; the usual crowd. Arizona smiled at them as she approached and they all yelled her name as she took a seat next to Alex. A shot of Tequila was immediately slammed in front of her and Arizona downed it, shuddering at the after taste. A glass of what looked like Vodka and lemonade was sent her way and she raised it in the air.
"Here's to passing our boards!" she yelled.
The others all raised their glasses, cheering and whistling loudly.
"Here's to handing all the scut to the interns!" Cristina shouted.
More cheers as they clinked their glasses and took a drink. Arizona's had been made extremely strong and she pulled a face as she drank. Alex laughed and patted her on the back.
"No holding back tonight," he yelled into her ear, "we're going to get insanely drunk, and then you can help me find a woman to take home."
Arizona laughed and shook her head.
"Haven't you noticed how they're never interested in sleeping with you until I soften them up for you?" she replied.
"That's why I'm asking for your help," Alex said and sent her a wink. She shook her head in mock shame before taking another sip of her drink. Cristina appeared next to Arizona, forcing a shot into her hand and passing the rest around. Arizona downed it and felt her head starting to spin a little. She wasn't a big drinker and didn't really see the point in it. She knew people drank to give themselves confidence to talk to hot strangers; a department Arizona Robbins did not need help in.
But she continued to drink with her friends until she could feel her eye lids starting to droop as the alcohol took a heavy effect on her brain. She smiled lazily at Alex when he asked her to talk to a girl for him, not processing his words properly. Eventually he gave up trying to talk to her and rose from his chair. She watched as he walked confidently over to a hot brunette. Wait, a really hot brunette. Arizona felt her mouth open slightly as she took in her features.
She had raven coloured hair that fell over her shoulders, caramel skin that seemed to shine in the dim bar and an ass that would put Beyonce to shame. She wore tight jeans and a loose blue top that fell over her curves in all the right ways. There was no way she was going to let Alex have this one.
Arizona stood up, swaying slightly as she realized how drunk she really was. Alcohol clouded her brain and she took a moment focus on not throwing up. She let out a deep breath and walked over to Alex and the gorgeous woman he was talking too. She put an arm around his shoulder and he turned to her, frowning. The woman looked at her and smiled quizzically.
"I'm sorry if my friend is bothering you," Arizona said, "he can't help himself around beautiful woman."
The woman laughed, a dazzling smile that could match Arizona's dimpled one any day.
"He wasn't," she replied, "I know he wants to get laid and I was just telling him that I wasn't interested."
Arizona grinned, popping the dimples that most women melted for. A look of anger crossed Alex's face and he pulled Arizona away, whispering into her ear furiously.
"What the hell are you doing? We were getting along fine and then you come over and ruin it!"
"Obviously not that well since she wants you to go away and me to stay."
"She never said she wanted you to stay."
"Give her a few minutes."
Arizona winked at him and proceeded to walk back over to the woman, only to be wrenched back by Alex. She scowled at him and rubbed her shoulder as he hissed at her.
"Come on Robbins, don't be a bitch, that girl's gorgeous. Plus, she's as straight as a nail, I'm sure of it."
"Nails are straight until you bang 'em Karev."
Alex's head dropped in defeat and she smirked, turning and walking back to where the girl was standing alone, holding a glass filled with black liquid.
"Sorry about him. Can I get you a drink?" Arizona asked. The woman shook her head holding up her glass. Arizona silently chastised herself; her drunken brain was making bad decisions. She could usually smooth talk anyone into bed with her, but after the amount of alcohol she had consumed tonight she was starting to doubt her abilities. Arizona backtracked and went back to the basics.
"What's your name?"
The girl opened her mouth to reply when-
"Torres! There you are! Sorry we got held up at the hospital, first rounds on me!"
Arizona spun round looking for the source of the voice and felt her heart sink. Mark Sloan and Addison Montgomery were walking towards them, both smiling at the goddess in front of her. The girl, Torres, smiled and hugged Addison. She sent Arizona an apologetic smile as Mark turned to her.
"What the hell are you looking at Robbins? Beat it."
"I was just talking to my new friend here, before you so rudely interrupted," she replied coolly. Mark looked between them and let out a laugh.
"What, Torres? You're out of luck, she's not gay. Well, at least I think she's not, we've only just met and she doesn't give off the vibe."
"Because us lesbians give off a scent, right?"
"Only you, Robbins. Go away, I don't associate with residents."
"I'm a fellow now."
"Am I supposed to care?"
Arizona scowled and spun on her heel, heading back to the table where Meredith and Cristina were having a chugging competition. She sat next to Alex and he opened his mouth, smirking.
"Oh shut up Karev," she said before he could speak and poured herself a beer from a jug on the table. She stared as Torres laughed loudly at something that stupid Sloan had said. Probably told her the size of his penis, she thought sullenly.
"What's her name?" Alex asked. Arizona shrugged.
"Dunno, last name's Torres though."
"Torres. Sounds familiar."
"It's a common name Alex. Come on let's get more shots, I'm buying."
They walked up to the bar, Arizona watching the girl out of the corner of her eye. God, she was beautiful, and she wasn't just thinking that because she was drunk. She could see a number of patrons glancing her way at this new woman no one had seen before.
Arizona and Alex sat at the bar, drinking until the place began to look empty. They talked and joked until she could barely keep her eyes open. She noticed a certain brunette walk towards the door and jumped out of her seat. Alex shook his head as she ran out the door after Torres.
The girl was waiting just outside, arms crossed against the chill of the evening. Arizona walked up to her and smiled.
"Are you alright? It's not really safe to stand out here alone, especially someone as beautiful as you."
The girls chocolate eyes focused on her blue and she felt her breath hitch.
"I'm fine," she replied, "Just ready to go to bed that's all."
"I can help with that," Arizona replied, winking as the girl tutted in mock disapproval.
"You are an extremely confident woman, Robbins."
"How do you know my name?"
"Mark said it."
"Oh."
"And you would be my type if I were gay, but sorry I'm not interested."
"Give me ten minutes."
Torres laughed and Arizona followed suit. She knew this girl was a lost cause but she liked talking to her anyway. They chatted lightly for a few minutes, Arizona receiving the subtle hint that this was all she was going to get from this gorgeous woman tonight. She couldn't keep the smile off her face; until Mark walked out of the bar and threw an arm around Torres.
"Bad luck Robbins, she's coming home with me tonight."
Arizona gaped as he lead her into a cab across the street. Torres sent her an apologetic smile as she opened the door and Arizona couldn't help herself.
"What's your name?" she called out.
"Callie. What's yo-"But she was cut off as Mark shut the door. She pulled the finger at him as he smirked, climbing into the front seat and slamming the door. The taxi drove away and Arizona watched until the taillights faded away.
Callie Torres. She was certain she was going to remember that name.
"I'm dead. That's the only explanation for this. It was really nice knowing you guys."
Arizona croaked out these words as Teddy and Alex woke slowly. They had staggered home from the bar together, Arizona raving wildly about how much she hated Mark Sloan. They were all roommates, moving in together in order to study for the boards but enjoying each other's company so much that no one wanted to move out. They sat talking in Arizona's bed until all three of them had passed out, resulting in them sleeping in a squished fashion. Alex leant over the side and vomited. The two girls screeched and then covered their ears as their own voices drilled at their headaches.
"Clean it up, Alex! We have that stupid meeting to go to at 3PM and I'm not coming home to a floor covered in sick."
Alex grumbled as Arizona reluctantly climbed out of bed, fetching two aspirin and a big glass of water. Her head was pounding and she could barely remember anything. Except for Callie Torres. There was no forgetting Callie Torres.
The three roommates sat around the house, eating mince on toast and watermelon and watching crappy reality TV until 2.30M came around. They piled into Teddy's SUV and drove in silence to the hospital. None of them were on call today but Chief Webber had said there was a compulsory meeting for all staff to attend in the lecture hall.
They arrived at SGMW and trudged slowly through the doors, nodding as an extremely pale Meredith walked past them clutching Derek's hand as if her life depended on it. They found three seats towards the back of the hall and sat. Alex closed his eyes immediately as the Chief began to speak. Arizona felt her eyes start to droop as he spoke about rules and protocols and other boring things. They had to come in on their day of for this?
"And finally," the Chief said, "I would like to introduce you all to a new member of our staff. We are all very excited about having her here and ask you to make her as welcome as possible. She won the Harper Avery last year for her outstanding work in cartilage research and will be our new Head of Orthopaedics. Please welcome, Doctor Calliope Torres."
Both Arizona and Alex's eyes snapped open as Callie stood up from her seat, waving nervously as her fellow doctors applauded. Alex elbowed her hard and Arizona shoved him back.
"She's mine, Robbins."
"She's not an item Karev, she's fair game."
"She's not gay, she even told you that!"
"Yeah, well, people can change their minds."
"You're dreaming. Why would she go for you when she could have me?"
"You really want me to answer that?"
"You're so arrogant dude. Since you're so sure of yourself, let's make this fun."
Arizona looked at him quizzically as he smirked.
"You think you're such a catch," he continued, "let's have a bet. If you can bed her in under a month you win, if you don't, I win."
Arizona pondered his proposition. A month would be pushing it for a straight girl. She really wanted to get to know Callie in both a sexual and non-sexual way, but Alex's cocky grin was stirring the competitive monster inside of her. She narrowed her eyes.
"What do I get when I win?"
"If you win, I'll personally take all the kids that come in with bowel obstructions and search through their shit to see if it's passed. No interns."
Arizona laughed, causing a particularly grumpy nurse to turn around and shush her. She covered her mouth but continued to shake silently. They were both Ped's fellows, so she could make sure he was holding his part of the deal.
"But if I win," he continued, "you have to set me up with her. Persuade her to go out with me. Deal?"
Arizona stopped laughing and stared at Alex. Setting someone as gorgeous as Callie up with Alex Karev was surely a sin. But she was Arizona Robbins; there was no way she was going to lose this bet. Straight girls fell for her all the time. Finally she held out her hand and shook his.
"Let the games begin, loser."