"Newton's Law Revisited"
Summary: Alternate version of "Seeing Red". - "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".
Disclaimer: Not mine- the characters of CSI: Miami belong to CBS and their affiliates.
Author's note: This is an idea that has been stirring in my head since the finale aired. Just an idea of how things could have changed during the shoot out. It was difficult to write and I'm not exactly sure why…Oh, yeah… Character Death! Beware!
P.S. By the by, I noticed as I was writing this that it might seem like everything took very long to happen but I wrote this so it would happen pretty quickly- when you're reading, realize that the paramedics aren't hella slow, it's just that describing takes a bit so it just seems like Miami has the worst EMS crew ever. Oh yeah…Um… don't flame me.
Rating: T for language and a pretty heavy dose of violence.
"To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."- Newton's Third Law of Motion
Her day was hell- there was no denying that fact- and the headache that was currently invading her every sense was evidence of that. Between the way that it had started out- having a dangerous mob leader break out of jail and cause a fiery accident that was responsible for the death of one of their own was never a pleasant way to begin a morning- and the arguments that she'd had with her boyfriend because of his unfailing loyalty to his mysterious and dangerous father, her stress level was at its peak. And the day was far from over.
She hadn't talked to Eric since she had thrown accusations his way and while she felt badly about how they had left things, she knew that her anger and indignation at his stubbornness was borne out of concern and fear for his well-being. They hadn't said the words yet, either, but she knew that she loved him- loved him more than she probably should for only being with him for three months- and she was terrified that he was getting himself involved in something that could get him fired, or worse, killed for a man that had originally wanted to cause him harm…
But none of that mattered at that moment, she had decided, there was a job to be done and Eric and she could work out their problems when they weren't on the clock. Calleigh had made a promise to herself whenever she and Eric had gotten together and even if they were unraveling at that very moment she would keep her professionalism in check and sustain it until the case was closed and the criminals were punished.
Only after those requirements were fulfilled would she allow herself to collapse behind the closed door of her apartment and immerse herself in the very emotions that threatened to consume her.
She took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand- she was headed to the MDPD storage and seizure facility where the silent alarm had been tripped and from what she could gather from the hurried and somewhat panicked broadcast over the call system, the situation was escalating quickly. She realized that she was only a turn away from the building and readied herself for the scene, taking a moment to glance back at the three patrol cars following her, lights flashing and siren blaring. She mentally went through all of the procedurals of a situation like this and unconsciously brushed her hand against the gun and holster that sat on her hip. With a breath, she took the turn into the parking lot, spotting Ryan's vehicle immediately. She saw numerous marked cars and the officers that they belonged to firing their weapons at the large group of men who were shooting back as they attempted to rob the arsenal from the seizure facility. She pulled in next to Ryan and stopped the Hummer with a large screech, jumping out of the truck with little thought, not even bothering to close the door. She quickly noted that the window had just been shot out of her vehicle but ran to the back of it to shield herself, meeting Ryan there in the process. They exchanged a few words before shouting out their decision to go into the cross fire. He went to the right and she went to the left, taking her position behind the shattered glass window of her vehicle.
She aimed at the group of mobsters and squeezed the trigger three, four, five times and watched as multiple assailants fell to her gun. She didn't even regard it with any sort of emotion- no regret, no sympathy- these people were breaking the law and taking weapons that they would no doubt use to kill and maim multiple innocent citizens of the area they were supposed to protect. So focused was she on her task that she barely even registered the silver sedan that burst from the heart of the building and sped toward the exit until it came into her line of vision. She changed the focus of her assault, aiming at the driver of the car through the windshield. She saw two holes appear in the glass and got ready to fire a third when the vehicle suddenly changed paths, bringing the driver's side directly into her line of vision. Finger poised, she aimed and- froze.
One look, one glance changed everything.
She saw the man that she had been talking to not even two hours before, the man that she had been milling over on the way to the scene, before her, hands on the wheel, teeth clenched and brows furrowed, speeding off into the distance with his father in tow.
Time stood still as she stood there, finger still on the trigger, elbows still propped on the window, gun in hand. Her breath was gone, her mind blank as she met his eyes.
Green eyes met brown and she was shocked and fearful at the determination and guiltlessness she found there- there was nothing but a man- a man she loved- breaking the law and being unremorseful about it. She swallowed, followed his gaze for a few more seconds until he passed her completely.
She stood stock still, unable to move, unable to process anything except the vision of Eric speeding off in the car.
Shock, she had learned in the academy, was something you couldn't afford on the job, emotion as well. She was good at pretending like things didn't affect her, good at not getting too emotionally invested- but this… this socked her in the gut full force, leaving nowhere for her mind to go except to the vision that played on repeat through her head.
It was a rookie mistake, one that in her age shouldn't have happened. But it did, and it cost her dearly.
In her haze, she didn't see one of the men still left standing aim at her shocked and listless face, didn't hear the firing of the gun over the chaos that surrounded her- only felt the rush of the ground as it came to meet her back and felt the air escaping her lungs after the bullet entered the left side of her neck, lodged itself in her throat and choked her.
A thick spray of blood careened into the side of the Hummer and leftover spatter rained over Ryan, causing him to flip around and widen his eyes at the sight before him.
She heard him screech her name, felt his hands on her shoulders when he reached her even as her own legs floundered, the bottom of her high heeled boot scraping the concrete as her traumatized body clamored for some sense of balance within the chaos that was raging within her.
"Ryan," she puffed out, closing her eyes and laughing grimly, "Godammit!"
She tried to suck in as much air as she could but felt resistance- and liquid- in her throat. Felt it run out the side of her mouth and grimaced.
She didn't feel pain, only felt heat on her neck, and the blood bubbling out of the wound which felt oddly cold against her skin. She gasped, the sound registering in her ears as a wet gurgle, and brought a shaking hand up to quell the blood flow.
She didn't feel anything except for the blood as it slowly drained out of her- and the cold that was now starting to envelope her body. Her vision started to get hazy, her arms heavy, and her legs stopped movement all together as a sort of calm settled over her.
She heard Ryan above her, his hand now joining hers in an attempt to stop the bleeding as he alternately yelled her name and screamed for any kind of help. But the scene was too much, bullets were still flying, and all he could do was press his hand against her neck and look into her eyes and mutter words that he hoped were comforting.
This was it, she realized, this was how it was going to end- in the midst of chaos and gunfire, lying on tarmac, choking on her own blood.
His eyes left hers suddenly and when they did she brought her other hand around to grasp his wrist, pulling his eyes back to her own, feeling panic come over her. She wanted a familiar face, wanted someone there for her, even if it couldn't be the one that she desperately wanted to see before she blacked out completely.
He looked back down upon her and left her puzzled as a ghost of a smile came over his face and he left her vision completely. She reached blindly for him, tears springing up in her eyes for the first time, her hand craving something to hold onto and when it came into contact with a warm body, she clung on for dear life, drawing the mystery person in.
When she saw who it was above her, the tears slipped out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, pooling underneath her chin and mingling with her blood.
She spoke his name quietly, bringing a filthy hand to cup his cheek.
His face was shocked, his hands shaking as he covered her own with one of his, squeezing her hand and holding it harder against his face. He traced the fingers of his other hand over her cheek, tears swimming in his own eyes.
He had seen her standing, poised to shoot as he drove by, behind the door of the Hummer one second, and the next… He swallowed, remembering the rush of fear he felt when he looked in the rearview only to see the underside of her scrambling feet and one arm stretched beside her, bloody and limp. He had stopped the car at the grassy knoll where he had planned to escape and had jumped out of the vehicle, his feet running when he hit the ground.
He didn't remember running there, only the sound of his heart raging in his ears, and the look of shock and fear that was set upon her face as he had driven by. He didn't know how he evaded getting hit at all, but that didn't matter. Nothing did except running to her side, seeing her face.
When he reached her, Ryan had been covered in her blood, his fingers against and actually in her neck as he tried to get the blood to stop running, a panicked and helpless look on his all of a sudden too-young face. When his eyes had reached the man who he knew as Calleigh's other half, though, a look of relief and compassion replaced it and he moved out of her range of vision, still keeping his hand in its place, doing what little he could to preserve the life of his team mate and friend.
When she had blindly reached out to him, panic written on her face, it was all he could not do to wrap her in his arms and sob against the crook of her neck but he knew, this was how he was going to handle himself- he was going to be calm and wait for the help to come. Because it would come, it had to, there was no other option, and while they waited he was going to be strong for her.
He caressed her cheek with his fingertips, whispering to her that it was going to be alright, that the ambulance as on its way, that they would survive this, that he was sorry for disagreeing with her that day.
"We're doing things together now, right?" He asked, swallowing down the bile that rose in his throat at the hypocrisy his words carried after the actions he had attempted that day.
"You can't leave me if we're going to be a team," he whispered, allowing a lone tear to trace down his cheek, "Because then who will I…?" He trailed off, a sob catching in his throat. He closed his eyes, leaned into the touch of her clammy hand against his cheek.
She shook her head at his words, her eyes still bright contrary to the situation, and managed to choke out a strangled "Never…"
When he heard Ryan yell that an ambulance had arrived, he nodded in its direction and Ryan ran off, ducked underneath the gunfire to guide the vehicle as close to his fallen team mate as he could.
When Eric turned to look for the nearing vehicle, she added pressure to his face until he turned to look at her once more. She took a shuddering breath and looked at him with an incredible intensity that filled his stomach with dread.
"Hey," she whispered, smiling at him as best as she could, "Love you."
He swallowed, his breath bated for a second as he repeated the admission, and pushed the hair out her face that lay there.
The ambulance was getting closer, he could hear the sirens as the spattering of gun fire got quieter and quieter.
"Hold on, Cal," he told her, "Hold on. Just give it a few minutes more…"
She looked at him then, and all he saw was her- not her injury, not the blood- just Calleigh, and she gave him the look that he hated- the one that told him in just one glance that he was grasping at straws, that he had to accept the inevitable, that he couldn't delude himself when he knew the outcome of a situation. He had the evidence, it was staring at him straight in the face, and he was refusing to accept the result of the findings.
"No," he said, suddenly in a panic, "No, damn it, No! Cal! You will not leave me, not like this… I," His façade suddenly cracked and tears started to course down his face, lilted cries tearing from his lips. He buried his face in her hair, leaned down to talk into her ear.
"I can't lose you!" he whispered fiercely, and felt her tug at his face so he could look at her once more.
She shook her head again, her own tears tracking down her face, moving the hand that lay on his cheek down his chest.
Words not needed, she simply lay her hand over his heart, locking her eyes with his.
Seconds later, the hand felt away from his chest as she took one last shuddering breath, the light going out of her green eyes.
He said her name loudly then, patting her cheek to see if she would wake up. When she didn't, his voice increased in volume until he was screaming at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the silence following the gunfire and sirens.
Sometime during his time with Calleigh, the criminals had lost and the scene had been secured.
It was just him and the girl that he loved alone behind the Hummer as an ambulance drove to them, the rest of the officers busy arresting the men they had just battled against.
As Ryan came upon them, EMS personnel in town, he gathered her in arms, finally feeling the grief wash over him. He tucked her head underneath his chin as he had done so many other times when they had just been laying together in bed, and breathed in her scent, ran his fingers through her damp hair.
He took a deep breath and in that moment, felt something inside of him crack as tears ran in a torrent down his face.
He echoed her name again and again as he rocked her, calling over and over for her to come back to him.
When he reached them, Ryan halted in his tracks, unsure of what to do. He felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him, he couldn't believe the sight before him.
He took a knee behind his teammate and put a supportive hand on his shoulder, tears pricking his own eyes as he watched the man fall apart.
The rescue team simply stood there as well, unsure of what to do, knowing that the female officer the man held in his arms was already gone. As one of them neared the man to express his need to get the body back, Ryan turned a steely eye upon him, shaking his head fervently.
The EMS nodded resolutely and backed off, leaving the man to his grief. The two men went back to their vehicle, unsure of what to do except to wait until the woman was pried from his fingers- there was nothing left to do- that much blood, those conditions…
Ryan made no move, said no words, only kept his hand on Delko's shoulder as it shook, offering some of his strength to the man who had just lost everything, hoping to be some sort of comfort in his time of need.
The End
A/N (again): Okay, so there you go. This is it, no sequel or anything… I just felt like it was incredibly stupid for Calleigh to have just frozen up like that in the middle of a shoot out in the finale- it opened herself up to so much danger- and I just wanted to express that. I was actually waiting for her to take a bullet in that scene, as fleeting as the moment was. If you want to leave feedback, please do.