Title: A Beautiful Mess
Author: Little Horatio
Warning, filled with: Angst, Tragedy, Comfort, Sacrifice, Friendship
Summary: Proving that she'll do anything to save a dear friend, Calleigh made a deal that would cost her everything, including her own soul. It takes one sacrifice to save three lives. Who will it be? E/C. DuCaine. HandS, friendship.
Disclaimer: Like you, I don't own CSI: Miami, even though I wish I did. If only it rained money, I would've owned them by now.
Note: Hey, guys. This is my second attempt at DuCaine so, please, be gentle. And also, this is my first attempt at E/C so...do the same, okay? And, of course, my pal, Rick Stetler, has a part on this, too. Believe it or not, Horatio and Rick are friends in this new fic of mine. Yup. You heard right. They're friends. You know, like, they actually like each other's company. It's not that unusual, right? What? I like Rick. What's so wrong with that? The IAB brunette and the redheaded CSI always go well together. Well, in my fics, they do.
Oh, yeah, almost forgot. There are some details here that may confuse you. I changed some of our CSIs' history so...don't worry, everything will make sense.
Anyway, I hope you guys will like it.
Main characters: Horatio Caine, Calleigh Duquesne, Eric Delko, Rick Stetler and Seth
Chapter 1
The breeze was cold but felt good on the skin. The sun was high up in the blue sky, partly covered by magnificent white clouds that were in different sizes and shapes. One looked like a baby rabbit.
Birds were chirping and colourful butterflies were circling by the flowerbeds, ready to sip some delectable nectar. Not a single noise was to be perceived other than Mother Nature herself; and no other people but the two were to enjoy the pleasant scenery. Indeed, it was truly a beautiful day.
Too bad it didn't make any difference.
He was still going to die.
They were at the park, sitting on the grass, appreciating the shade from a very old tree. And as always, they were alone.
"You should fix that, you know."
Calleigh looked up at her friend, not getting what he meant. He gave her a weary smile and reached out, getting her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear.
"Oh," she said, fixing her hair so that it wouldn't block her features. "Thanks."
"No problem," Andy replied, gently smiling at her. "Besides, you look more beautiful that way." They gazed at each other, blue to green. "Especially when you show your eyes."
"Stop it, you're makin' me blush," Calleigh told him, looking away, her cheeks turning red.
Andy raised his eyebrows. "That was the idea."
They laughed.
Calleigh gazed at him. Andy was a lanky, fair-haired teenager with blue eyes that reflected the clear sky, while she was a petite but tough blonde with green ones. She was sixteen, and Andy was only a year older.
The two of them had been friends for so long that they didn't even remember exactly when they first met. They didn't really care. They just enjoyed each other's company very much.
Andy brought a knee up and leaned using his elbow as he watched the sky slowly move. He was unaware of Calleigh watching him, her eyes trailing all over his body. What she saw made her very depressed.
Not long ago did she find out that her best friend had a severe condition. His mother told her. It was cancer. Incurable, she said. And he only had months to live.
She couldn't stop herself from crying.
Calleigh sighed inwardly. It explained many things, including his sudden change during the last few months. He went thinner, paler, weaker. He quit the basketball team. He barely got out. And he almost never smiled.
She hated herself, for not knowing. What kind of friend was she, being so blind? She couldn't even figure out what was wrong with him until his mother had told her. It made her angry, not being able to do anything.
She brought up her knees and hugged them tightly, thinking of a way to sort things out.
"Uh, Cal," Andy uttered, looking at her, confused. "You okay?"
"Huh-what?" she stammered, coming back to reality. "I-I'm fine."
"You sure?" he said. "Looked like you had the world's weight on your shoulders."
"I'm fine." She smiled for effect. Andy didn't know that she knew about his condition.
"This about the competition tomorrow?"
"Uh, kinda."
"I told you, don't worry about it." He raised both his arms, and pretended to hold a gun. "You're the best there is and you're the youngest contender." He brought his arms down and looked at her. "You're too good at it to lose."
Calleigh merely shrugged. She joined the shooting competition and was not surprised to find out that she was the youngest and only female who signed up. The youngest male was nineteen years old.
"You know," Andy began, "I still have no idea why you chose to shoot guns as a hobby."
"Hey, I don't just pick up a gun an' pull the trigger," she said, trying to sound offended. "I assemble 'em too."
Andy laughed weakly. "You know, you're tougher than most of the guys I know."
Calleigh smiled. "I'm not tough," she said. "I'm resilient."
"Wow, that made a lot of difference." He saw Calleigh stare at him. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just that, well—" How would she put it? "—you keep saying how beautiful my eyes are when I'm sitting here jealous about your blue ones."
"What's to be jealous about?" he asked. "I like your green ones better."
"Well, I like blue better than any colour."
Andy gave her a look, before turning away mockingly. "Just make sure you do your best tomorrow. I don't want to walk around school with a loser next to me."
"Gonna be there?"
"Of course," he answered, making himself sound hurt. "Moral support, you know."
Calleigh giggled and gently pushed him. She glanced at her watch right after.
"Well, gotta go," she said with a sigh. She stood up and patted the grass off her clothes. "Have to get ready for tomorrow."
"Okay," getting up himself. "Good luck tomorrow. Don't disappoint me."
Calleigh smiled. "I have no reason to."
They bade each other goodbye and went their separate ways. After walking a couple of feet from where they separated, Calleigh couldn't help but sit down on the near-by park bench and just let despair drown her.
What will she do, to help a dear friend?
Everything.
But how?
She sighed heavily, and was surprised to see her own breath in the air. She then realized that it was suddenly cold. At this time of year? Impossible.
And, at that moment, somebody sat beside her, which made her look up.
"Mind if I sit here?" the stranger said, giving her a smile.
Calleigh could only nod as she stared at him. The man—no, the teenager—had snow white hair...that was long enough to cover his eyes, his golden catlike eyes. 'Can such a thing exist?' she thought dauntingly. She had no idea.
She looked down at the rest of his body, which was incredibly pale, marble white, flawless. He was wearing all white; a white sleeveless shirt with the collars standing up, white denims that were torn on one pant-leg, and white footwear. He had a tattoo in black that ran down from the inside of his elbow to his wrist that she couldn't quite make out. And he had a little black, metallic pendant hanging from his neck.
It was a cross. Calleigh looked again, carefully, to make sure. It was an inverted cross.
She looked away, not wanting to think about what she just saw, or the teenager beside her. She had others things in mind right now, important things.
"Calleigh Duquesne," the stranger suddenly uttered. He turned to her, a thin smile on his face. "Right?"
To answer the southern blonde's questioning look that was mixed with bewilderment, he added, "Saw you at the old man Trenton's shooting range." He smiled, more to himself. "Name's Seth, by the way." He offered a handshake.
Calleigh nodded as she shook it. Why was his hand so cold?
"You're pretty good, Calleigh," he said in a refined voice, "at what you do."
"Thanks." Calleigh was beginning to feel more than uncomfortable.
She turned away, looking far at the opposite side, hoping that that was all the strange teenager had wanted.
"What's the matter?" Seth continued, sounding concerned. He tilted his head. "Worried about Andy?"
Calleigh's jaw dropped. "H-how..?"
"Like I said, I saw you at the shooting range." Andy was always with her whenever she practiced. "Besides, a blind man could see he's sick, Calleigh," Seth answered simply, as if it explained everything. "What is it?"
"Cancer," she said, as soft as a whisper. It was the first time she said the cursed word out loud.
"I'm sorry," Seth said with genuine concern. "Of course, the worse part about cancer is the time it takes...the toll on the loved ones."
Was this guy reading her mind? She didn't want to know.
"Lives are altered," he went on. "Everything changes..."
Calleigh looked away, her head drooping. She and Andy have been through so much together. Ever since they were kids, it's been just the two of them. They grew up together, succeeded together, failed together. All those wonderful times...coming to an end because of some stupid sickness.
She had to do something. Anything.
Seth studied her expression. His lips curled. She didn't see him. She was too busy thinking how helpless the situation Andy was in right now, which made things all the more better for him.
"Hey," he called for her attention, showing sympathy in those feline eyes of his, "what if I could help Andy?"
"Really?"
Did he know some kind of doctor who specializes in treating Andy's kind of disease? Did he have some kind of foreign medicine? Maybe there was still hope after all.
On second thought, what if this guy was just pulling her leg? Messing with her? They just met, why would he help some stranger like her?
"How?" Calleigh finally said, thoughts jumbling in her mind.
"How's not important." He let a small smile show. "If I could make him feel better..."
Calleigh swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Bring back his health..."
Seth's golden eyes glimmered as he tilted his head, again, to the other side.
"Would you be willing to make a deal?"
A cold breeze hit Calleigh's face, making her hair sway furiously to one side. She shivered involuntarily.
She wanted to believe the stranger—Seth's every word. She really did, but something inside her mind forbade such a thing. What if this was just some sick joke?
What if it wasn't?
Calleigh's hands balled into fists.
"Name your price."
Seth smiled, obviously pleased with her answer. Ah, humans...so many flaws to take advantage of. He laughed inside. And I have all the time in the world.
"How about..." Seth gazed into her eyes, his golden eyes burning through Calleigh's green ones. "...I take..." His eyes gleamed. "...your soul."
Calleigh's eyebrows furrowed. She was furious. What the hell what she thinking anyway? She actually believed him. She'd never felt so stupid in her life.
She stood up, and decided to just leave before any more wackos popped up.
Seth remained seated in the bench. "By sunrise, Andy will be as healthy as he was before," he called out, making the blonde teenager stop in her tracks. "Maybe, even more."
Calleigh couldn't help it. She looked over her shoulder to see Seth's face, whether or not he was enjoying this. The white-haired teenager got up gracefully, light on his feet. He was looking at her, smiling that smile of his again, so twisted. She couldn't help but get a creepy vibe from him.
Out of thin air—or maybe Calleigh just didn't see—Seth was suddenly holding a roll of ancient-looking scroll. He held it out for her, heavy, brown parchment crinkling as he unrolled it for her inspection.
"It's your choice."
Calleigh couldn't move as she warily eyed the expensive-looking piece of paper. Paragraphs of hand-written texts were inscribed, but she couldn't make out what it said.
Is that Latin?
Try as she might, it was hard not to take this peculiar negotiation seriously.
Slowly, she reached for the paper as if entranced by it. Her fingertips felt the rough surface, feeling how old it was. She grazed the edges, feeling it firmness as she examined. What resulted was a nasty paper-cut.
She jerked her hand away, hissing in pain. And, at that point, a drop of blood landed on the ancient parchment, coincidentally, right on where one would sign on the dotted line.
Calleigh looked down at her middle finger. The cut was deep, and blood was still coming out profusely.
"That'll do just fine," Seth said, drawing back the blood-speckled parchment. He smiled at her.
"Good luck tomorrow," he said with a grin and grazed his fingers on her cheeks.
"You'll need it..."
At that second, feeling imminent death, it jolted Calleigh—
--causing her to sit bolt upright in bed.
She gasped heavily; sweat trickling down from her forehead. She looked around. There were no more trees, no grass, no birds, no sun. And the stranger—Seth—was nowhere to be found. She was back in her room.
That was one hell of a dream, she thought, pressing her palm against her temple. She was beginning to have a headache.
"Damn…"
Something shifted beside her.
"You okay, Cal..?"
She looked at Eric Delko, beside her in bed, leaning on his elbows. He was looking back with sleepy, concerned eyes. He reached out, his fingers gently grazing her cheek.
"Bad dream?"
"Yeah…"
Calleigh forced herself to lie back down, trying to forget what she had seen in her sleep.
"Come 'ere," Eric said, letting her rest her head on his bare chest, embracing her with his strong arms under the covers. "This okay for you?"
"Just the thing I needed," she told him with a thankful smile, making herself comfortable.
Eric kissed the top of her head, and started to hum.
Calleigh felt the rumble as she lay on his chest, feeling superbly at ease. She closed her eyes, resting snugly on him, his chest rising and falling as he breathed.
And not for long, she drifted back to sleep, unconsciously hoping that her dream would not come back.
………………………………………………………………………
Little Horatio: That was interesting, was it not? You decide.
Tell me if I should continue.
Thank you for reading!
