It has been almost two years since I got to start a fresh story. One of my last stories took 7 years to finish and the most recent took 1. THIS TIME I plan on being dedicated to this story and I am so excited for it! I really want to involve you guys in the writing! I have my own plan of where this will go but I would love feedback and ideas! This one is really for you guys!
The past few weeks at Miami Dade had been slow. Slow by the definition of the CSI team that is. Though there had been many murders to investigate, robberies and attacks, there was nothing that really stood out. Surprisingly, and impressively for the team, nobody had been injured. It was nice, the team was able to spend more time catching up and relaxing for the most part.
"This is the first time in 4 years that I can say that I literally have nothing to do" Natalia said as she slumped down on the couch in the break room. Calleigh looked up from her magazine and smiled with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you dare jinx it, I like my free time" Calleigh said as she held up the cover of her "Gun Digest" magazine. Natalia laughed at the blondes obsession with guns even in her free time. Ryan and Eric both entered the room laughing about something previously.
"Hey Cal, you hear about the new RS21 model?" Ryan asked as he pointed at her magazine. Calleigh stared him down in mock irritation. Eric immediately burst into laugher at Calleigh's face. She went from a bright smile to and irritated frown. Eric hid behind Ryan as if to avoid the daggers she was shooting with her eyes.
"You know damn well that isn't a real gun" She said with her Southern drawl thicker than ever. It was always entertaining to see how her accent would come out when she was upset or angry. Ryan chuckled as he tried to hug the angry gun specialist as she cracked a smile at his innocent attempt to join her conversation.
"How was your case?" Calleigh asked as Ryan pulled a seat up next to her. Eric strode across the room to pour himself a cup of coffee when he realized the the pot was empty. He turned and looked at Calleigh who had a steaming cup directly in front of her. "Seriously?" Eric asked while holding up the empty pot. Calleigh replied with a toothy grin as she pushed her cup towards the empty space of the table. "It's all yours" Calleigh said as she leaned back. "Believe me, she does NOT need more caffeine" Natalia added while pulling a seat up at the break table so she could be closer to the conversation.
Eric rolled his eyes and sat with the other three while pulling the cup to him. "So your case?" Calleigh continued back to her initial conversation. Ryan rubbed his face as he began to think about it. "Exhausting." Ryan said flattly. Eric raised a mug of coffee to agree. "Everytime we interviewed someone they directed us to someone else with more information and on and on" Ryan explained. "Ended up being the first person we talked to" Ryan said annoyed.
"By the time we got back to her house she was in the backyard throwing everything that we could've used as evidence into a bonfire" Eric finished. Natalia giggled a little at the thought of the two irritated men trying to stop a psychotic housewife from lighting things on fire.
"Not funny, it was a long day" Ryan said while pointing a finger at Natalia who replied by putting her hands up in mock surrender. "What have you too been so hard at work over?" Eric asked while taking a long swig of his coffee. Calleigh looked at Natalia and smirked.
"Our guy confessed before we even started questioning" Natalia said proudly as she offered Calleigh a high five from across the table. The two men rolled their eyes. "The fact that we are running investigations separately is seriously sad" Ryan huffed as her crossed his arms and leant back in his chair.
"Oh did you miss working with us girls?" Calleigh mocked in a baby's voice while nudging him with her elbow. Ryan smiled and rolled his eyes. "I mean it's not terrible" he said plainly. Just as the words left his mouth Horatio entered the room with a stack of folders in his hands.
"We got something, and I need all of you on it" Horatio said simply. The four sat up in their chairs eager to hear what he had for them. "There's been a family that's gone missing, the house needs swept for evidence and we need to figure out where they've gone" Horatio said simply as he dropped the folders on the table. Calleigh raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"What exactly makes this a case for CSI, and why is it that we need the entire team?" Calleigh asked while flipping through the folder that contained photo's of the family members and their information. Natalia shot a look at Calleigh and cut in, "Not that we aren't glad to be working together". Horatio offered a small smile, he knew they were getting fed up with the small cases.
"There was blood found in the household about a week ago by the police department. We would've been involved earlier but after having searched the house they found that there was no trace of the family at which point it was released to us". Horatio explained. They sat for a little while longer flipping through the pages of the folder until they all were well covered in the scene. The four headed out after Horatio and headed toward the scene. Eric and Natalia rode together as Calleigh jumped in the Hummer with Ryan.
"So what do you think the deal is with this case, I win and you buy me drinks" Calleigh said playfully as she gnawed down on a twizzler that she pulled from Ryan's glove compartment. One of her main reasons for always choosing to ride with him was that she knew of his secret candy stash. She handed him one as he thought for a moment. "I win and you buy me drinks AND appetizers" Ryan said as he turned a corner while also biting off a piece of twizzler. "Deal! Okay, I think, one of the parents was cheating, one murdered the other and took off with the kids" Calleigh stated matter of factly. Ryan nodded in appreciation of her creativity. "Okay okay, I think that someone tried to rob the house, the family was home and fought back and the robber killed them in a panic and then had to take the bodies with him" Ryan explained, proud of his submission. Calleigh smiled and nodded while taking another bite off her rope of candy. "It's terrible to do this you know?" Calleigh said as she looked out the window.
"It's only terrible if it's true, realistically we're gonna save the whole day, and if they are already dead, then we will bring them justice" Ryan explained. Calleigh smiled as the two of them pulled up the the assumed scene behind Natalia, Eric, and Horatio. The property was huge. The five CSI's gathered on the front lawn and looked around.
"Ryan and Calleigh, I want you guys to start inside, Eric and Natalia I want you to sweep the exterior for anything. I'm going to run around back and see if I can find another entrance. The team all nodded and headed off on their ways. Calleigh and Ryan headed into the house. Calleigh turned around for a moment just long enough to catch Eric's gaze and his warming smile. She smiled back and quickly turned around before her blush could develop. Calleigh and Eric were close friends, bestfriends even. But there had always been an odd kind of spark between them. Eric would always get protective and jealous whenever there was another man in her life. Calleigh would always get nit picky over whatever female happened to be in his. They both knew it and they both refused to bring it up. So friends they remained.
Natalia stood back with her hands on her hips and smirked at Eric. Eric turned around with the same smile he had given Calleigh still lingering on his face until he saw Natalia's knowing eyes looking at him. "What?" Eric said with a laugh. Natalia rolled her eyes and began walking the yard. The yard itself was pretty ordinary, nothing out of the blue for them to card. Natalia took care to put evidence markers on even the slightest abnormality such as the missing patch of grass and even the plastic wrapper towards the front of the house. "This walk is going to take forever and a half" Natalia huffed. "Well, this house is pretty big, we could always finish up here and help them clear the inside?" Eric added to make the situation seem a little better. Natalia shrugged her shoulders. The two went on for another few minutes until Natalia noted that her side was clear and Eric agreed. Eric and Natalia walked around the back end of the house to meet with Horatio.
Ryan stood in the hallway of the first floor staring at Calleigh in irritation and anxiety. "Can't we start at the top of the house?" Ryan pleaded. Calleigh sighed and turned around to face him. "Ryan, it'll be easier to get out of the way first. Plus, it's just a basement!" Calleigh explained gesturing towards the door. "A basement that has a deadbolt on it!" Ryan exclaimed as he pointed the large lock at the top of the door. Caleigh smiled as she reached to the top of the lock with her arms raised and snapped the lock off with a pair of plyers. Ryan scooped the lock up off the ground with an evidence bag and immediately placed it back down as he labeled it and followed Calleigh as she had already opened the door. Calleigh smiled widely as she flicked on the lights and stepped down the carpeted stairs to what appeared to be a small, caged, gun collection.
"Why is that the cops didn't open this door in their search?" Ryan asked in a confused tone as he flipped through the initial report. Calleigh ignored him and approached the gated collection. There was only 6 guns in it but they were expensive models and all very well kept. Calleigh heard Ryan repeat himself as he hectically flipped through pages. "Ryan, maybe they didn't have the right to open anything that was locked. It wasn't considered to be a crime when they initially entered!" Calleigh explained. The two began to look around the plush basement for any type of clue that would explain what had happened. 30 minutes into it they had decided that they weren't having any luck and began to head upstairs when Ryan noted that the carpet near the bookcase had what seemed to be a footprint indentation. Calleigh approached the area with Ryan as they took photo's and measurements of the indent that didn't match Calleigh, nor Ryan's foot.
"That's odd, any footprint would have likely lifted after maybe an hour. This has to of been recent…" Ryan said with a shot of concern in his voice. Calleigh looked up from the footprint to the bookcase. She turned to Ryan who then pulled his gun from its holster and aimed it at the case. Calleigh grabbed hold of the bookcase and waited for Ryan's nod to pull it out as hard as she could. The two remained silent as the back side of the bookcase housed a small hallway with another door at the end. The hall was dark and almost impossible to see anything. Ryan took a step forward into the hallway leading the way. Calleigh stepped back and pulled out her walkie talkie "H, we got something in the basement" She spoke confidently and strongly. "On our way" She got back quickly. In the moment she spent trying to reclip her walkie talkie to her belt a dark figure darted out of the hall and knocked Ryan to the ground. When Calleigh looked up the man was right in front of her. As she went to reach for her weapon the man had already shoulder checked her to the ground. Calleigh got up quickly and removed her firearm and was up and after the man.
"Miami Dade PD" She yelled as she rushed after the man up the stairs.
Eric stopped for a second and looked to Horatio and Natalia to ensure that they had heard the same. Natalia looked wide eyed when she met his gaze. Horatio pulled out his gun.
"Natalia, head to the basement, Eric rush the front, I'm going back around to the entrance" Horatio planned quickly. The three nodded to each other and quickly re-entered the house. Natalia quickly turned the corner from the back entrance to get to the basement as Eric went forward down the marble floored hallway towards the front door with his gun drawn.
Calleigh was so close she could almost make the jump to tackle him but she couldn't risk missing. The man turned swiftly down another hallway before turning around completely which through Calleigh off. He raised an arm out horizontally which she ran directly into, hitting her collarbone. She reached out to grasp as the man but was only able to scratch his forearm. As she came into contact with his arm she felt the breath get knocked right out of her chest. He turned swiftly and darted out the front door. Calleigh raised her gun to try and take a shot before realizing he was out of view. "Damnit!" she cursed as she rubbed her collar and leaned against the wall.
"Calleigh?!" Eric called out in a strong voice. She turned to see him whipping around the corner with his gun drawn. He looked around the area just to be safe before holstering his weapon and approaching her with a concerned look in his eye. His gaze was drawn to her hand that was rubbing around her neck. "Are you okay?" He asked in his normal tone as he got closer. Calleigh nodded. "I was so close to catching him!" She cursed as she squinted her eyes shut. She paused for a moment as her eyes flew back open "Ryan.." She said quietly. Calleigh quickly turned back the way she came to come face to face with Ryan and Natalia. Calleigh sighed when she saw him and hugged him quickly. Ryan winced at her tight embrace which spread a quick smile across Eric's face. Horatio was quick to join the group as the sound of sirens could be heard in the background.
"This, is now a crime scene" He said simply. The rest of the team looked at each other silently wondering what on earth they had ahead of them.
GUYS! It being a new story almost makes me feel as though I haven't talked to you guys in a little while. I'm so very excited to write this new story and I'm even more excited to involve you guys in it! I'm really working on fleshing out the characters and developing a stronger story line! This will be EC with potential for NR? Not sure about the second part but Hiphugger fans all around, I promise, there will be some EC lovin somewhere down the line! Let me know what you guys think! R&R and as always, I can't wait to hear back!
