Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami.
A/N: This is my first CSI: Miami fic. It takes place some time after the season six finale "Going Ballistic."
Déjà Vu
Eric Delko and Ryan Wolfe showed up to process the latest crime scene. Wolfe had a camera and was in charge of taking pictures while Delko was responsible for collecting the evidence.
The first thing they noticed was a broken living room window. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be a sticky, crimson substance on some of the shards of glass. That could only be one thing—blood. Not only that, but there was also evidence of some epithelials on some of the broken glass.
"It looks like this was the point of entry. There appears to be some blood here. Probably from the intruder," Eric commented.
A trail of blood led the two CSIs into the kitchen. At the trail's end was a massive pool of blood. There were also signs of spatter on the nearby cupboards.
"Did the M.E. say what the COD was?" Ryan asked.
"He said, 'Let me worry about that. You just collect the evidence.' I can't stand that guy!" Eric replied.
"Tell me about it. I miss Alexx."
On the granite counter, there was a knife missing from the cutlery set. It just so happened to be the largest knife of the set that was missing.
"Well, my guess is that a knife was the murder weapon," Ryan stated.
"Yeah, and not the only one. I found a casing on the floor. It looks like a 9 mm," Eric said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wolfe saw a silhouette of a figure dash down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. He removed his gun from its holster and held it out in front of him.
"Did you see that?" Ryan inquired.
"See what?" Delko replied.
"We're not alone. Someone just ran down that hallway."
Eric readied his gun as well and followed Ryan as he led the way down the hallway. The hallway led to the only three bedrooms in the house. The two CSIs split up. Ryan checked one bedroom while Eric checked the one across from it.
The bedroom Eric was in was completely vacant. He walked over to the closet and put his hand on the knob. With his gun poised, he pulled the door open only to reveal a closet full of clothes.
"This bedroom's clear," Delko called out.
Across the way, the bedroom Ryan was in had no one in it either. Like Eric had done, Wolfe opened the closet door only to find nothing out of the ordinary. Then, there was the sound of a window opening coming from the third and final bedroom.
"Miami Dade P.D. Identify yourself!" Eric shouted as he and Ryan made a beeline for the third bedroom.
It was hard to determine whether the window was opened so someone could get in or so that someone could get out. At any rate, it was left open, and no one was around other than the two CSIs.
Ryan opened the closet door in this bedroom while Eric was ready to provide cover fire if need be. Unlike the previous two closets, this closet wasn't empty. On the floor, in almost a fetal position was a young boy laying in a pool of his own blood. His body was mutilated by countless knife wounds.
The two CSIs were horrified by the sight before them. The boy couldn't be any older than six years old based on his appearance.
"It looks like we have a second DB," Ryan said sadly.
The sound of a creaking floor board was heard from one of the other bedrooms. Eric led the way and they checked the two other bedrooms yet again for the sign of an intruder, but there was no sign of an intruder.
The CSIs couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them; someone was following them. Their adrenaline was flowing and their heart rates increased drastically.
When they reached the living room, they saw that the front door was ajar. Last they checked, they didn't leave it open. It sounded as though a glass was dropped on the kitchen floor. Eric and Ryan went to investigate.
Sure enough, there was a broken glass in the middle of the kitchen floor. As they were about to find out, this was only a diversion. The intruder had managed to sneak up behind the CSIs. A gunshot echoed throughout the house. Wolfe fell to the floor having received a bullet just beneath his left scapula. Blood oozed out of the wound and started to accumulate beneath his prone form.
Eric got in a couple of shots that just narrowly missed the intruder. He could hear the intruder running away, and he was torn. Should he pursue the shooter or should he tend to his fallen comrade?
One thing was for certain though. This was eerily reminiscent of a couple years ago when Eric found Ryan lying on the floor of an on-site construction office after having been impaled in the eye with a nail gun. Despite Wolfe insisting it wasn't Delko's fault, Eric to this day still felt like it was.
Eric crouched down beside Ryan, and rolled him onto his back. He cradled his head in his lap and covered the bullet wound with his right hand. Wolfe's blood seeped through Delko's fingers nevertheless. Ryan's hazel eyes were starting to roll to the back of his head.
"Wolfe! You hang in there, Wolfe! Stay with me!" Eric shouted.
Eric knew that Ryan needed medical attention and fast. It would be no good to call for an ambulance. Ryan would be much better off if Eric rushed him to the emergency room himself. He draped one of Ryan's arms around his shoulder, and helped him to his feet. The younger CSI's body had gone limp, and the dead weight made the task all the more difficult. Once in his hummer, Eric called dispatch.
"I need a trauma team ready at the ER parking lot. I have an officer down! I repeat officer down!" Delko announced.
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Natalia Boa Vista entered the ER waiting room and saw Calleigh Duquesne talking to a receptionist.
"Calleigh! How's Ryan? Have you heard anything?" she asked.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out, but the staff here isn't cooperating with me!" Calleigh replied.
Natalia grabbed a retreating nurse by the arm surprising both herself and Calleigh by her actions.
"Is there any word on a Ryan Wolfe?" Natalia inquired.
"They've been trying to resuscitate him for the past ten minutes. If they can't revive him in the next five minutes, they're going to take down the TOD," the cowering female nurse answered.
Miss Boa Vista released the nurse's arm and backed up a couple of steps. Both her jaw and Calleigh's jaw had dropped after receiving that bombshell.
It was like déjà vu to them. About a year ago, they almost lost Eric Delko after he was shot in the line of duty. It was bad enough that Horatio was still missing, but now they might lose another member of their team.
Losing a member of their team was not an unfamiliar subject to the CSIs. A little over three years ago, Tim Speedle was killed in the line of duty. In a cruel twist of fate, Speedle's replacement was now knocking at death's door.
As it was, Ryan had already been having a bad couple of years. He assaulted a police officer, leaked information to his ex-girlfriend, Erica Sikes, gambled on the job, been fired, and after taking several different jobs—some of which put him at odds with his former colleagues—was eventually rehired as a CSI.
A downcast Eric Delko entered the waiting room. He felt so guilty about what had transpired that he couldn't even bear to look his teammates in the face. Instead, he picked a spot on the floor and fixated his gaze on it.
Calleigh plopped down on one of the chairs in the waiting room. She put her face in her hands and sighed deeply.
"This is my fault! If I had gone to the crime scene instead of Ryan, he wouldn't have been shot!" she stated.
"If anyone's to blame, it's me. I should've been more aware of my surroundings. I was there and I was supposed to have his back, but he still got shot," Eric said dejectedly.
"No! It's my fault, Eric! With Horatio missing, I'm the one who's in charge. I'm the one who decided to send you and Ryan to the crime scene!"
Natalia felt absolutely horrible about the situation they were currently in. Her relationship with Ryan certainly had its share of ups and downs. They even dated once. Then, there was the time where Ryan betrayed Natalia's trust back when he was an expert witness for the defense and challenged her protocol. Sure she forgave him, but she hasn't forgotten. Even now, a part of her still feels like Ryan set her up. Still though, she would never wish for something like this to happen to him.
After what felt like an eternity, but in actuality, was only a matter of minutes, Ryan's doctor entered the waiting room.
"We were able to revive him, but he's still in critical condition. The bullet literally missed his heart by an inch. He's in his own room now if you want to go and see him, but visiting hours conclude at eight o'clock tonight," the doctor said.
Soon enough, they were in Ryan's hospital room. It was unsettling to see the various machines that Ryan was hooked up to. His skin had an extremely pale complexion probably due to the sheer amount of blood that he lost. Wolfe may not be the newest member of the team, but he was the youngest.
Eric and Calleigh stood on one side of Ryan's bed while Natalia stood on the other side. Calleigh had taken Ryan's hand in hers and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.
"I swear to you Ryan. We are going to find the lowlife that did this to you and make him pay," Calleigh said struggling to keep her composure.
Eric put a hand on Calleigh's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Like Natalia, his relationship with Ryan resembled more of a roller coaster than anything else. When Ryan first became a CSI, Eric resented him for replacing Speedle. Eric and Speedle had been really close friends. It took awhile, but eventually Eric warmed up to Ryan and considered him a friend. There was an underlying camaraderie between the two. When Eric had been shot, both Ryan and Calleigh were willing to donate their blood to help with the blood transfusion. Even when Ryan was on someone else's payroll, Eric was one of the few who weren't pissed off at Wolfe.
"Come on, Wolverine. If you can survive a nail to the eye, then you can survive this," Eric said in a voice that was barely audible.
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Due to Eric's not taking the crime scene evidence straight to the lab, the CSIs had to return to the crime scene to recollect evidence. The previous evidence, in addition to being compromised, was left at the crime scene. In Eric's rush to get Wolfe to the hospital, he failed to take the evidence with him.
This time around, Calleigh went with Eric to the crime scene. They had a hunch that whoever was responsible for the two murders of the mother and boy was also behind the attempted murder of Ryan. Calleigh and Eric had a good feeling they would catch the suspect because there were all kinds of prints on the front door, the window to the third bedroom, and the broken glass in the kitchen.
Eric was in charge of taking pictures and making sketches of the crime scene. Calleigh's role was to collect the evidence. They started with the front door. After a little dusting, there were clear fingerprints on the doorknob. Lucky for them, there was a decent amount of ridge detail. That should be good enough to ID the suspect.
Despite the kitchen being closer, the two CSIs opted to go to the third bedroom first. They wanted to delay seeing a pool of their comrade's blood, at least for the time being. The closet door was open, and the boy's corpse had been removed since their last visit.
After collecting prints form the window and window sill, the two CSIs returned to the kitchen. Amassed on the kitchen tile was the blood of their friend and colleague. It was a miracle Ryan was even still alive based on the amount of blood on the floor. Eric had washed his hands since then, but he could still detect the faintest scent of blood on his hands.
The glass contained prints. Some of the prints didn't really have all that much in terms of ridge detail, but there were some good prints on the fragments of broken glass.
"It looks like we have a hair here. It's long, and brown. Perhaps it belongs to a female," Calleigh said.
"The question is does the hair belong to a victim or the killer?" Eric replied.
"It couldn't be any of the victims. The mother had blonde hair, and so did the boy. Ryan's hair is brown, but it's not long."
"That means it belongs to the killer."
The hair was found several feet away from the broken glass. Perhaps the killer had his/her back pressed against the wall when he/she threw the glass. Unbeknownst to the killer, some of his/her hair was sloughed off when he/she was up against the wall. The only reason the glass was thrown had to have been to create a diversion.
After collecting all the evidence, that only left analyzing it back at the CSI lab. Eric and Calleigh left the scene of the crime one step closer to finding the person responsible for the attempted murder of Ryan.
CSI: Miami-CSI: Miami-CSI: Miami
Eric walked into the DNA lab, and found Maxine Valera just pulling test results out of a printer.
"Did you find out who the prints belong to?" Eric asked.
"Yes. They belong to a Steven Robbins. Look at his rap sheet. There are several charges of sexual assault. It says here that his ex-wife, one of our victims, Emily Robbins, had a TRO filed against him six months ago," Valera stated.
"Did you find anything that links him to shooting Ryan?"
"Not exactly. The long, brown hair you found at the crime scene is his though. That places him at the scene of the crime. We just don't know whether or not he was the one who shot Ryan."
Eric wanted to blame Mr. Robbins for shooting Wolfe. He needed to blame somebody. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that Mr. Robbins wasn't the shooter. Murder, even attempted murder doesn't seem to be his M.O.
"Well, I think it's time we have a little chat with Steven," Eric said.
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Calleigh had just returned from the hospital. She went to retrieve the bullet the doctors had removed from Ryan. Frank Tripp had managed to obtain a search warrant for Mr. Robbins' car, and in it he found a 9 mm gun.
Calleigh put on headphones and eye protection, and fired off some rounds using Steven's firearm in the department firing range. She then went to retrieve them and compare them to the striations of the bullet that was embedded in Ryan.
The ballistics expert put the bullet that had been used to shoot Ryan under the microscope first. After fiddling with the knobs on the side of the microscope, she got a clear image of the bullet's striations.
She repeated the process with one of the bullets she had fired from the gun found in Steven Robbins' car. Calleigh put the two bullets side by side and the striations were a match.
She knew that Steven was being brought in for interrogation. Calleigh was livid. She wanted to be one of the ones interrogating him. No doubt once Eric was informed of her findings, he would want to be the other individual interrogating Steven.
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Steven looked very nonchalant as he sat in a chair across from Eric and Calleigh. He had his arms folded across his chest, and the corners of his lips were bent upwards in an ever so slight smirk.
"So Mr. Robbins, we have evidence that places you at the scene of the crime," Calleigh said placing photos before Steven of his prints and blood.
"You're kidding, right? Why would I go there? She has a restraining order against me," Mr. Robbins remarked.
Eric was trying his best to keep his cool. Before the interrogation, Calleigh had told Eric that Steven Robbins was in fact responsible for the murders of his wife and son. Not only that, but he was also the culprit responsible for putting a bullet in Wolfe's back.
Just looking at the man made Delko want to grab him around the neck and throttle him. The way he saw it, you can't say Steven doesn't deserve it.
"It never stopped you before. There's record of you violating your ex-wife's restraining order on more than one occasion," Eric stated.
"Fine I did it. I killed my wife and kid. We were fighting over custody of our son, Nathan. Legally, my ex-wife, Emily, had custody of him. I never got to see him. Weekdays, weekends, holidays, he was always with her. He's my son too!" Steven exclaimed.
"And you shot him," Calleigh said.
"He witnessed the murder of his mother. I couldn't allow there to be any witnesses, so I stabbed him to death with a knife," Steven stated his voice completely void of emotion.
Eric slammed down on the table photos of Steven's gun and bullets from his weapon, one of which was the one that had been used to shoot Ryan.
"That's not all you did. Is it?" Eric asked.
"What is this?" Steven asked.
"This is proof that you shot a CSI," Calleigh replied.
Mr. Robbins held his hands up in defense. "I don't know anything about shooting a CSI!"
Eric made a beeline for Steven. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hauled him to his feet. Delko was pulling so tightly on the collar of his shirt that he was starting to strangle the man.
"You no good piece of—"
"Eric! That's enough!" Calleigh shouted rising from her chair.
Steven dusted himself off before an officer came in and took Mr. Robbins away. Calleigh saw Eric's nostrils were flaring at his fists were still clenched.
"Come on, Eric. Let's go see Ryan. Visiting hours end in forty-five minutes," Calleigh said putting a hand on his shoulder.
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Eric, Calleigh, and Natalia were in Ryan's hospital room. He was still quite groggy, but his eyes were open.
"Well, well. Look who's finally awake." Calleigh said.
"Hey guys," Ryan said his voice raspy.
"You gave us quite a scare, Wolfe," Eric said.
"I'm glad you're okay," Natalia added.
The four of them settled into a comfortable silence. The only sound that could be heard was that of Ryan's beeping heart monitor.
"We got the guy who did this to you," Eric said breaking the silence.
"H?" they heard Ryan say.
"Honey, H is still missing," Calleigh said.
"No. There's something you should know. H isn't missing. He's alive," Ryan stated.
Eric, Calleigh, and Natalia all had bewildered expressions on their facial features. They must've not have heard Ryan correctly.
"What are you talking about?" Calleigh inquired.
"Horatio is alive," Ryan repeated.
"How do you know?" Natalia asked.
"Because I helped him stage his death," Ryan answered.
Wolfe let his teammates process that information. To the best of their knowledge, Horatio had been missing for days. They found a pool of his blood at an airport. H was their leader, and the team was starting to give up hope. The team was starting to believe that they lost their leader. If what Ryan said was true, all hope was not lost. Their leader was somewhere out there alive.
The End