Author's note: I was reviewing old stories and something wasn't sitting right with me with this one. I decided to go back and work on it. So, this is the new and improved Steel Magnolia.

Steel Magnolia

Chapter 1

The house had been nearly burnt to the ground. Even thought the fire department had declared the building safe for the CSI team to enter, they still kept a watchful eye on the ruins of the single family home. It was an early Saturday afternoon, the sun shining; a perfect South Florida autumn day. Perfect if you normally had Saturdays off, which Calleigh Duquesne normally did; her earlier morning activity not affected.

With a sigh of annoyance Calleigh tugged on a large piece of siding that she had been examining. There was a distinct pour pattern from accelerant across it. Unfortunately, it was also partially buried under a huge pile of rubble from when the home collapsed. She tugged on the siding with all of her strength and it slid toward her before catching on something unseen beneath the rubble, the sudden lack of motion nearly dumping her on her rear end. She shifted her grip and pulled again, digging her heels into the pliant ground. It refused to move. She pulled again and again until she could feel the strain in her already aching shoulders and back. With a resigned huff of air she looked around for a little muscle.

"Hey Eric, can you give me a hand? My evidence is stuck," she asked.

Eric trotted over, camera in hand. "Yeah, sure. What's stuck?"

She gestured to the charred siding. "This section of siding. See the pour pattern? It's charred but I don't understand why it didn't go up like a matchstick. It's got accelerant all over it. I need to look at this more closely."

Eric walked around the piece of evidence as best he could, his curiosity peaking. "Yeah, I see that. I wonder why it didn't. What's it stuck on?"

She stretched her aching and sore muscles a little before replying in a slightly irritated tone. The evening was going to be a painful one. "If I knew that I wouldn't be asking for help, would I?"

She wasn't used to being called in on a Saturday and was beginning to feel the effects of the pounding she took just few hours earlier. Her back ached and her left hip was beginning to seriously distract her with the growing pain. She knew her discomfort would only grow throughout the day. She just wanted to be able to concentrate on processing the evidence so she could forget about how much she hurt or how bad a beating she took. Right then it was all she could do to suppress sounds of pain. Keeping her mind busy always helped.

"Yeah, I hear you. I'm not happy giving my Saturday up, either," Eric replied, misunderstanding her irritation. He returned to her side and wiggled the siding a bit. "Maybe if we pull toward you we can get it loose."

Anything to get her mind off her aching body. Calleigh grabbed her end. "Alright, on three..."

They counted off and gave a hard pull. As predicted, the siding popped free, sending Eric careening into Calleigh, hips connecting with a jarring force, knocking her to the ground. As she landed on her bruised hip, a soft, involuntary cry of pain escaped her lips before she could bite it back. She blinked back the tears that sprang to her eyes. Calleigh just hoped that Eric hadn't heard and he hadn't seen.

He had. "Cal, are you ok?" He asked, giving her a hand up, worry for her gnawing at him. Were there a glimmer of tears in her eyes?

"Yeah, I'm fine; no worries," she said quickly, brushing him and his concern for her off. She focused her attention on surveying the now completely visible evidence. She squat down next to it, suppressing a wince as her aching muscles protested loudly and the pain in her hip flared. She knew her left hip was going to be sporting a lovely, livid bruise later in the day and it didn't help that her trouser seam seemed to be irritating it every time she squat down. "Look at the pour pattern! Thanks for helping me get this out. I need to get it back to the lab."

Eric eyed her carefully. She said she was fine, but she moved like she wasn't and he was afraid that he had hurt her when they crashed. He was sure he saw tears in her eyes just a few moments ago. It was hard to remember sometimes, because her presence was huge, but she was a lot smaller than she seemed. "Are you sure you're ok? I mean I-"

"I said I'm fine, Eric. I'm not made of candy glass and you didn't hit me all that hard. I've tackled suspects just like you have. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get this documented and you're in my light." Calleigh picked up her camera and started snapping photos.

"Hey H, I need to talk to you about something," Eric called as he jogged up to his boss in the main corridor of the Lab.

Horatio cocked his head to one side. "What's on your mind, Eric?"

"It's Calleigh; I'm worried about her. I think I might have accidentally hurt her. I was helping her move this piece of siding at the crime scene and it got stuck. When we got it free it caught us off guard and I slammed into her pretty hard," Eric explained.

"How hard?"

Eric shook his head, feeling terribly guilty. His parents raised him to be a gentleman. Even when his sisters used to whack him for some transgression, he never once raised a hand to them. To think that he had hurt Calleigh was doing all sorts of traumatic things to him on the inside, even if it was only by accident. He was sure that she had tears in her eyes. He had hurt her and it was killing him. "Hard enough to knock her to the ground. Like I said, I think I might of hurt her. I asked if she was hurt, but she just brushed me off. I'd take it at face value, but she's not moving right."

"I'll talk to her and see what I can find out," Horatio said, concern for his ballistics expert growing. He knew that short of a severe enough injury requiring a trip to the Emergency Room, she would brush off any concern and continue to suffer in silence. Case in point: The previous fall when she had been run off the road and her Hummer went into the canal nearly killing her. Rescue checked her out, declared her unharmed but sent her home as a precaution. She returned to the Lab to work, even though she had been hurting enough that she took a cab home that night because, though it was like pulling teeth for her to admit it, she was in too much pain to drive. He never reprimanded her, though. Her body did it for him.

x-x-x-x-x

Horatio stood in the doorway of the firing range and watched what he always thought of as poetry in motion: Calleigh firing a gun. He watched contentedly as she squeezed off a few rounds, her stance solid, her grip firm and her aim lethal. She put the weapon down, took off her goggles and ear protectors, picked up her clipboard and moved off to take measurements. That's when he saw what Eric was talking about. Her movements were slow and slightly stiff, her hand drifting behind her to rub small circles on her lower back; she was limping ever-so-slightly. She had also changed clothes since returning to the Lab. She now wore soft cotton jogging pants and long sleeved top. That, in itself was unusual. She never dressed casually while in the Lab. Calleigh was always a model of professionalism from her manner and attitude to her clothing choices.

Horatio watched her a good long time before coming to the same conclusion as Eric. Something was wrong. He cleared his throat.

Calleigh looked up from the gel block, giving him a bright smile. "Hey, Horatio; to what do I owe this honor?"

He smiled slightly. "No reason, really. I know it's too early to have any ballistics results yet."

Calleigh straightened up gently and slowly, taking her spent bullets with her. "There has to be a reason since you're not in the habit of just dropping by."

"You're right," he admitted. "Eric told me about the accident at the crime scene. He's concerned that he hurt you."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "He didn't hit me all that hard; I was already off balance. I'm fine."

He gave her his best interrogation look. "No, you're not. I didn't just get in here. I've been watching since you were test firing. You're hurting."

"Listen Horatio, other than being hungry beyond hungry from missing lunch, I'm fine. There is nothing wrong with me and Eric didn't hurt me at all. Now, is there anything else?" Calleigh said sharply, irritation dripping from every word.

"I'm not finished."

"I am," Calleigh said, cutting him off, her tone bordering on insubordination. "If you won't believe me that's your business. My own welfare is mine. I'm fine. I have bullets to compare."

As she moved past him, he deliberately bumped her hip, not hard, but he made solid contact. The sharp intake of breath and her stiffened posture told him what she wouldn't. She was in serious pain.

"If you're fine, then why did you have that reaction?" he persisted, following her into the lab area.

Calleigh put her comparison tray down on the table and sighed. She found his concern for her well-being touching, but she really didn't want it or need it right then. The fact that she was feeling very much like she was hit by a freight train was entirely her own doing and she would suffer the consequences all on her own. She didn't need his tea and sympathy. "Alright; fine. I fell and took a little tumble this morning and I'm a little sore; that's all. It's no big deal."

Horatio frowned in concern. Clumsy was the last word that he'd ever use to describe Calleigh. He had never known her to fall, or fall hard enough to leave lasting aches. The terrible thought flashed across his mind that she sounded like so many abuse victims. He stepped closer to her. "Do you need someone to check you out?" he asked quietly.

"No, I've taken-had worse before. It's just a little bump and bruise. A good meal and a hot bath will go a long way," Calleigh said, mentally cursing herself for nearly causing more questions to be asked. She really had no desire for anyone in the Lab to know what went on that morning. It was her own business.

Horatio regarded her carefully before speaking. She had nearly let something slip. "Well, since you missed lunch, why don't you go and get that good meal then? I'll run the comparison for you until you get back. Take your time, too. No inhaling your meal."