Title: Like A Dream
Timeline: 7x14 "Smoke Gets in Your CSI's"
Author: Quitethefangirl
Genre: Romance
Summary: After experiencing a traumatic event, Calleigh starts to look at life more seriously, she just might take Eric up on his offer "to settle down with her." Calleigh never dreamed the being Eric could great? But it not quite as real as she thinks.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Author Note: This story is based off one of my favorite CSI: Miami episodes "Smoke Gets in Your CSI's". Some of you will notice that a majority of this first chapter contains dialogue from that episode and I'm not claiming it as my own but thought is was necessary to include it in my story order to tell my story, so I hope you like it. Ciao
Chapter 1
Hot in Here
Calleigh turned and smiled at Ryan as he grabbed the side of the Hummer bracing himself, as she weaved through the morning traffic. He was so unnerved and tense, a little hint of worry danced in his eyes. Although they were in a police vehicle and he'd sped to urgent calls or was involved in chases many times, he'd had his sirens on, making his presents know others.
This was madness; she was blazing though the streets silently for a suspicious call. They could arrive and it could be a dozen dead cats, she could be risking his life for dead cats.
"Everything ok, Ryan?" She beamed at him, breaking him from his anxieties.
"Everything's great, Cal- um I think you're going a little bit- how fast are you going?" He laughed nervously, he was sure she was going 30 over whatever the speed limit was. She was zooming passed cars setting off a small orchestra of horns in her wake.
She just smiled at Ryan's remarks and slowed as she pulled onto a residential street, then stopped the Hummer in front of a large beige Spanish styled house, with a terra cotta roof and nicely maintained garden, she jumped out, kit in hand. Ryan followed, a little annoyed at her disregard for his safety, but who can stay upset with Calleigh?
"Do you realize you drive like a mad woman?" He remarked jokingly
"Well if you didn't like it, next time you drive" she teased as she started to walk to the door of the residence.
"So maybe I will" Ryan laughed "So-uh what is going on with you and Delko by the way?" he added smoothly, it was her turn to feel uncomfortable and nervous. "Payback"
"What are you talking about?" she said slightly quickening her pace to the door "I'm not even sure what it is"
"Um- what Calleigh? You know exactly what I'm talking about." He smiled, noticing her slight change in pace. "Got you"
"Oh please, give it a rest" She laughed. She moved in front of Ryan, quickly making her way to the door avoiding anymore talk regarding Delko and herself. She reached the door and announced herself.
"Miami-Dade PD, anyone home?" No one answered, she looked around, nothing. She spotted Ryan smirking in the corner of her eye. "Grow up" she thought to herself smiling.
She proceeded to open the door and continued through the house, Ryan in tail.
"Neighbor called 911; she thought she smelled something rotting" she said as she walked further into the house.
"Ahh, I love the smell of decomp in the morning" Ryan added sarcastically walking up behind her.
"You are terrible" Calleigh whispered, eyeing the room cautiously. It was her job to be observant, but something wasn't right, it put her more on edge.
Unlike the beautiful exterior, the interior was dark and gloomy. It was a house that looked like it was from a horror film, it creeped her out. She walked into the kitchen; Ryan stayed behind and observed another room which was like a diner/living room area.
"There's nobody in here" Calleigh called from the kitchen "Could just be a rodent"
"Or a dozen cats and we rushed over here of what?" Ryan thought. He walked around the room waving his flash light in every dark corner.
"You know, this place was foreclosed on over a month ago and has been vacant ever since. How long do you think someone or something would have been rotting in here?" Ryan asked the more experience CSI.
Calleigh calculated an answer and replied "While I would say with the heat and humidity lately, decomp could start in a couple of hours" she gave a thoughtful smile.
"That's good, I didn't want to have to deal with another bloater" Ryan sighed. Calleigh open the fridge, Ryan spotted a collapsible staircase that lead to an attic hidden inside the ceiling that someone forgot to close it, he started to climb the stairs. "This seems like a good place to check"
The smell was overwhelming.
"Calleigh, he's up here! He called down.
Calleigh gathered her kit and quickly followed Ryan to the attic, she was official creeped out. As she pulled herself up into the attic she stated her feelings. "This place is creepy" she said.
The attic was relatively large and dark; there were only a few small shuttered windows, which shone an eerie spotlight on Ryan and the body. The attic was generally empty, saw dust, spider webs and forgotten household items were the room's only décor.
"Yeah" Ryan mumbled, he was knelt over the body, pointing the flashlight in the dark areas to get a better light. The body was a white male, late 40's early 50's, about 6 feet something, weighting about 220-230 lbs with blonde hair; he was well dress obviously not a random drifter.
"Oh God" she said as the body came into view, she walked over to the body and knelt down beside Ryan.
"I'm not a doctor, but judging from the excess pool of blood over here, I'm guessing our friend here did not die of natural causes." Ryan stated as he pointed his light on the pool of blood that drenched the dirty cloth the man lay on.
Calleigh surveyed the area. "Did you see anything 'round here that could be used as a murder weapon?" she asked.
"Um-tu-ti-ti" Ryan moved around waved his flashlight, turning about the attic "OUCH" Ryan yanked his hand back and shined the flashlight on it, revealing it a small scratch and thin line of blood on palm of his hand.
"What you get a splinter?" Calleigh asked a hint of concern in her voice.
"No, cut my hand on a staple" Ryan put his palm to his mouth and sucked the blood up and continued to look at around, Calleigh looked around as well. The front door open then closed, at the sound Calleigh stiffened.
"What was that?" she asked with a frozen expression, her eyes moving back and forth rapidly.
"It's probably just backup" Ryan asked unconcerned, his attention still on his scarred palm.
Calleigh waited for a few seconds, her eyes still moving back and forth. She shook her head slightly, something was really wrong.
"They would have I.D. themselves." She stated in an icy tone.
Just then someone closed the attic door, Calleigh and Ryan jumped at the sound and turned to see someone had closed their only exit. Bullets started to shoot up into the attic tearing though the floor. Swiftly Calleigh and Ryan drew their weapons and aimed toward the ground and fired bullets, returning the favor.
The dead body in front of them convulsed as bullets entered it and the shooting continued. They tried their best to find the position of the shooter with lack of any visual, firing bullets hoping to hit their mark. Then shooting crease there was silence. The only sound was Calleigh and Ryan's heavy breathing, their guns still aimed at the ground. They both were tensed and alert, unsure if they hit their mark, seconds pass then Calleigh break the silence.
"You think we got him" She in a shaky breathless voice.
Ryan didn't reply, just lifted he gun and waited for more shoots, his eyes raced around his head. There were sounds of movement and then three electronic beep sounds come from room under them. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
"What is that?" Ryan panicked
"I don't know, but I didn't like it" Calleigh replied, she was scared she didn't know what to expect, she just know it wasn't good.
BOOM, an explosion shook the whole attic, knocking them both over. Ryan fell on his back; Calleigh caught herself on a wooden foundation of the attic.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Ryan yelled.
There were some electrical wires started to spark and the stairs caught on fire right in front of Calleigh.
"FIRE" She yelled.
"THE HEAT'S COMING FROM THE KITCHEN" Ryan frantically tried to find another exit; he stood up and started banging on the windows. It wasn't working.
Calleigh crawled away from the flames coughing, in search of other means of escape. Smoke slowly filled the room. Crawling, Coughing, she found a metal rod. "I'm not going out like this" she thought to herself.
She knew all the risks that law enforcement jobs entailed, but she never imagined she'd die because she was closed in an attic and couldn't escape, so she burned to die. No, that was not how she imagined it. She was going to get though this; she was not going to go like this.
"I'M GOING THROUGH THE FLOOR" she yelled over the noise. Pound, pound, it wasn't working; she put all her strength to it. Pound, pound, pound
"CAN'T GET THIS WINDOW OPEN" Ryan yelled in frustration. All his pounding was in vain, the window wouldn't budge. They continued both eager to escape. "This is hopeless" Ryan thought to himself. Behind him Calleigh was working herself into a sweat beating the floor board.
She wasn't sure if it was her natural strength or the adrenaline running through her veins, but she successful broken through the apart of the floor. "That's a start" She thought.
"I GOT IT" she yelled as the rod struck a hole in the floor.
Ryan turned his attention away from the windows, ran over and aided Calleigh as she tore a hole in the floor, after much pounding and tearing, she and Ryan managed to get a hole big enough to fit though. As Ryan broke away the last few pieces, Calleigh stopped in an attempt to catch her breath, Coughing and wheezing as the hot smoky air filled her lungs. Ryan finished and exited the attic first.
The ceiling was a little way down from the floor. His plan was to get out the attic, hopeful without incident and he'd catch Calleigh as she made her exit, helping her make it safety on her feet. She'd working herself up quite a bit pounding the hole in the floor. She had inhaled a lot of smoke and was coughing quite a bit.
She'd done her part; it was his turn to do his. He lowered himself through the hole much as he could, then let himself drop to the ground. "Great, made it, now for Calleigh."
He reached up, grabbed for her "CALLEIGH" He yelled up at her.
She looked down at him, coughing "I'M GOING BACK FOR THE BODY" she yelled down at him.
"COME ON, CALLEIGH WE HAVE TO GO NOW" He yelled at her "Why does she have to go way above and beyond, she most definitely is a mad woman"
"IT'S ALL THE EVINDENCE WE'VE GOT" yelled at him. Someone was going to great lengths to cover up this crime, she was determined to find out who was behind this and she just wasn't going to let them get away, not if she had anything to do with it.
Ryan used his better judgment, it would only waste time with to argue, plus he'd be talking to deaf ears anyways. Calleigh walk back into the attic to collect the body, Ryan looked around for something he could stand on so reach the body better. Catching a living breathing, 5'3", 100 something pound woman, who could control her descent was one thing, but a dead 6 ft-something, 200 something pound grown man, who would plunge aimless down at him was another.
He needed something to fill the gap as much as possible. He spotted the kitchen table and dragged it over to the hole.
In the attic Calleigh reached the body, she had no time crawl under the smoke, she braved through it. She reached the body and with all her might picked up the cloth that the body lay on and dragged it to the hole, it took all her strength, but she was determined. She reached the hole and lowered the body to Ryan who was now standing on a table. "Good thinking, Ryan" she thought to herself.
She dropped the body; it flipped a little as it fell into Ryan arms. She coughed a little and she stumbled out of the smoky attic and onto the table. Her lungs were starting to burn and she'd started to feel lightheaded. It was time to go. She needed air and she needed it now.
Ryan propped the dead body on his back and helped Calleigh off the table, they ran to the door and out of the house. Outside, Calleigh coughed out the smoky air that filled her lungs, her brain was screaming for oxygen, she bent over trying to catch her breath.
Ryan walked as far as he could from the house, Calleigh run after him and trying to help relieve him of the dead body. Ryan ran around a brick wall that separated one part of the lot from the other, for cover to protect from other explosions. He knelt down and placed the body down in front of him, Calleigh knelt down, too.
Trying her best to help before she succumbed to another fit of coughing, she braced herself on the ground and Ryan patted her on the back, looking around see if he could spot a perp, but they were nowhere to be found. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone and called it in.
Please review, it's depressing when I don't get reviews and I'm depressed I can't write and when I can't write I can't update and when I can't update, ok I think you get the point lol - Quitethefangirl