Rickie was shaking violently as Tuco pressed the cold steel of his gun even harder into her temple. She tried to stay strong, she wouldn't cry, she wouldn't give this bastard the satisfaction. She glared back up at him as he smiled at her.
"Listen up you little putana, if you want you and your little boyfriend and the old man to get out of here you're going to do exactly what Tuco tells you."
"Don't listen to him Rickie!" Jesse tried, but a smack from Tuco's gun had him sprawled out on the floor.
"Jesse!" Rickie cried, "Jesse, please answer me." She whispered. He emitted a small groan and Rickie let out the breath she'd been holding as he slowly sat back up. The small bell rang out from the kitchen and Tuco wandered off, leaving Rickie, Jesse, and an unconscious Walt alone in the living room. Jesse turned to Rickie. He could see her hands shaking and tried to calm her down.
"Hey." He said; she turned to him. "Don't listen to him Rickie, we're going to get out of this." He whispered to her. "I promise."
"Jesse…if we don't get out of here-" She started.
"Don't say that." He objected. "Rickie we're going to get out of here." She looked at Jesse, his beautiful eyes that reminded her of the ocean, so deep and blue, but also so shallow and full of shit. She looked into those beautiful, lying eyes and saw the fear he was trying to hide.
"But if we don't get out…" She bit her lip, scared to say the words. "I…I'm still glad I met you." She finally spat out. He looked at her for a long time before smiling weakly.
"I'm glad I met you too." They both looked up as Tuco walked back into the room, muttering angrily in Spanish. He took the gun and pointed it right in Rickie's face.
"Now like I was saying, you do was Tuco tells you, you come out of this alive…Miss CSI." He spat the letters at her like they were some kind of disease. Rickie glared him back down. She was glad her hands were tied behind her back, because they were shaking violently. Jesse had been moving closer to her until he was almost pressing his back into her shoulder, he maneuvered his hands the last few inches until they held hers, stopping her trembling. Rickie looked over at him, surprised. He just nodded to her, telling her they were going to get through this. She turned and glared back at Tuco.
"Go to Hell you old pervert." She growled. Tuco's eyes got huge as he pulled back the gun and smacked her in the face, causing her world to go black.
Jesse…
~Rickie~
I looked at the dead body rotting away at my feet. I was a woman, or at least, had been at some point. She was skinny and had almost no hair left on her head, what she did have was wild and untamed. Her face was littered with scabs and scars; I assumed meth immediately as I squatted over her, taking more photos. I heard gagging behind me and turned to see one of our interns looking like he was going to blow his lunch all over my crime scene.
"Hey." I snapped. He looked up at me, terrified. I sighed, I remembered being in his shoes, seeing a dead body for the first time. I stood and walked away from the body, ushering him to the other side of the crime tape.
"I'm sorry-" He started, but I held up my hands.
"I understand." I said, he looked at me with huge eyes.
"Really?"
"Yep. Everyone's been there kid, you never forget your first body."
"Who was your first?" He asked. His face got bright red. "B-body, I mean?" I sighed.
"Ryan Jones, Two years, six months and ten days old when he died. His mom had let him drown in the bathtub because she was so high she didn't even know where she was, let alone that her little kid was in water over his head. I remember he had the most beautiful little eyes." I sighed, that case had also been the first one I solved, mostly because everything had been handed to me by the mom on a silver platter.
"Jesus." He muttered. "How do you do it?" I turned to him.
"Find the bastard who did it." I answered simply.
"Haddock!" I turned and sighed as I saw my least favorite person on the planet. Hank Schrader, one of the DEA agents who was constantly taking my crime scenes, and just using my victims in his little drug chess game. He also was always making crude jokes and was loud and obnoxious. He had never solved a single one of my cases that he took, ever. I despised him with all I had, and I wasn't the only one. Everyone in the Crime Scene Unit called him DEA orangutan behind his back. I walked over to him; he was getting his dirty footprints all over my crime scene as he ducked under the tape.
"I didn't know the DEA was handling dead junkies under bridges now." I shot at him. He smirked at me.
"Well, junkies mean drugs, and I do work for the Drug Enforcement Agency Miss Haddock."
"Really? Because you've never cared about them before."
"Well they didn't overdose with my premium meth before now did they?"
"How do you know that?"
"Feds know everything. This is my crime scene now."
"This is my crime scene you bald gorilla!"
"Oh, a bald joke, never heard that one before." He muttered. "Have you heard the one where you slept your way into being a CSI?"
"Yep, but at least I know that's not actually the case." I said, holding my ground as I glared at him. "Now get out of my crime scene, you're contaminating my evidence."
"I don't think you heard me. This is a DEA matter now, so how about you stop contaminating my crime scene?" I was about to really go for the throat when my captain, Louis Ross, walked over.
"Haddock, come on, there's nothing we can do." He said. I sighed and walked off, making sure to glare down that ugly cue ball blowhard one last time.
"That's the third case they've taken this week." I muttered as I hopped into the van. "How can I do my job if they keep taking all my cases?"
"Look, I don't like it either Haddock, but they're higher up then us. If they want a case we've got to give it to them." Ross said. "And you calling him a gorilla probably didn't help."
"It's true." I said.
"I know, but still, most CSI's would be stoked to have half their cases taken from them."
"Except they're not going to even try to solve them. They're just going to take the drugs and put her down as a Jane Doe. Jesus Ross I bet they're not even going to run her through CODIS."
"It's not our problem now." He said. "I'm sorry Haddock, I really am, but our hands are tied." I sighed.
"I just can't wait to get my hands on whoever is making that damn meth. It's all the DEA cares about, this stupid super pure meth."
"Well they do enforce drugs." Ross said as we pulled into the station. "Look, just forget this junkie, you still got your double homicide on West and Mason, the suicide in that new residential area, and two more dead junkies just outside the city to deal with first thing in the morning."
"Joy." I said. "God why can't all these junkies and drug lords just kill each other and be done with it?"
"Because then we'd be out of a job." Ross said, patting my back. "You should go home, you've got a long day tomorrow."
"Night Ross."
"Goodnight; and Haddock?"
"Yes?"
"Forget the junkie."
But I couldn't forget her. All of my junkie cases had been the same since this new meth came out, people who were so used to it being watered down or cut with something else that they took too much and dropped dead. I'd had twice as many dead junkies as I usually did, and that was saying something. I let out a long sigh as I opened the door to my apartment, tossing my keys on the side table.
I flopped down on the bed, I couldn't get her hollow eyes to leave me as she stared, begging me to find the bastard who did this to her. I pressed my hands to my face. I had to find whoever this was and take them out, DEA or no DEA.
I decided to get some sleep and hopped into the shower, but she still wouldn't leave me, even as I changed and crawled into bed she was still there, begging me to help. I sighed, I was almost never this caught up in a case, why her? Why this junkie?
It's not the junkie. My brain promised me. It's the place. I pushed the thought out of my mind as I pulled the covers over my head, desperate for sleep to take me away from those memories. Finally sleep came, but it was not the escape I'd been hoping for as I remembered that night…
"Why were you so stupid?!" I yelled at myself, gripping the wheel so hard my knuckles were a ghostly white. "How could you trust that bastard?!" I couldn't keep the hot, angry tears from running down my face as I started to cry. "How could you trust him?" I whispered again. I couldn't get those beautiful eyes out of my head, they'd lied to me, they'd said they cared about me. Like how I had cared about him… I pressed my face into the steering wheel, it wasn't fair, how could he do this to me? After everything…The first thing I felt was the drop as my car went through the guardrail and I plummeted down, down into Hell and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. I could feel the weightlessness you get through your body as my life flashed before my eyes, leading me back to this, my inevitable end as I hit the water and everything went black.
I shot up; a thin layer of sweat had formed on my skin as I felt a shiver creep through me. I swallowed nervously at the cold, haunting memory before halfheartedly brushing my hair out of my face and getting up. I knew there was no way I would be able to get back to sleep now. I went into the bathroom and leaned down, pressing cold water to my face, trying to wash away my nightmare. I looked up in the mirror and I saw her, the junkie, staring right back at me. I shivered at her hollow eyes, pleading with me to find whoever had made the meth that had killed her. Let her family know what had happened, find her next of kin, let her be buried with a name. Then I blinked and she was gone.
I stared into the mirror for a long time. I hadn't slept since all these junkies had started dropping like flies and the DEA had just shoved them into the "victims" folder on their computer. Dammit, they were people and deserved to be treated like people, not just pieces on a chess board. I looked down at my tattoo, tracing my fingers over the Latin script at the base of the skeleton and whispered the words.
"Hoc etiam transibit." This too shall pass. I shook my head. There was no way I was just going to let all this shit with Schrader and the DEA pass, because it never would. I quickly ran to my closet and was about to get dressed when my phone rang. I sighed, it was probably work. I picked up the phone and answered before looking.
"CSI Haddock."
"Rickie? Rickie Haddock?" I knew the voice, but I couldn't place it.
"Yes, may I ask who's calling?"
"It's Walter." I smiled.
"Walter!" I gushed. "It's so nice to hear from you! How's junior?"
"He's great."
"And Skyler?"
"She's doing great too, listen, I need to talk to you, it's really important, are you busy right now?"
"No, what's up? Need me to take junior to homecoming or something?" He chuckled nervously.
"I just… I need to talk to you; can you meet me in twenty minutes at this address?" He spouted off numbers as I rushed to find a pen. I told him I would be there as soon as I could as I threw my hair into a braid and quickly got dressed. I snatched my keys and jogged out the door, hopping onto my bike as I raced off towards the address.
As I pulled up I was a little surprised to see a gated house, which I knew wasn't Walters. I dismounted, setting my helmet in the bag as I reached back; making sure my gun was still tucked into the back of my jeans. I pushed the gate open to see Walter, smiling at me.
"Rickie! It's so nice to see you." He said, but I could tell something was seriously up.
"What's going on Walter?" I asked, starting to reach back for my gun.
"Yo, Mr. White where is this bit-?" I stopped as I heard the voice. The one that haunted me every night for all these years. I snapped my head over to see him.
Jesse Pinkman.
He had the same look on his face as I'm sure I had on mine, pure shock. Then I pressed my face into my hands. "Fuck me." I muttered.
"Oh please tell me that's an invitation!" Jesse said, hopping down the steps and swaggering over to me. "Damn Rickie, when did you get hot?"
"A few days after you ruined my life." I shot. I turned to Walter. "What the Hell is this asshole doing here?"
"Ruined your life?" Jesse asked, and then his eyes got big. "Ooh, are you still mad about that?"
"Yes I am still mad about that." I growled in his face. I heard Walter sigh.
"We should get inside." He said.
"Why?" I demanded.
"You'll see, just, please Rickie." I looked at him for a long time before I let out a quick sigh.
"Alright, but I swear, he tries anything," I pointed to Jesse, "I call for backup."
"Jesus, Walt, are you sure you don't know anyone else?" Jesse grumbled as we walked inside. "She's not going to help, she hates me." As soon as he shut the door I slammed him into it.
"You're damn right I hate you. But I owe Walt, so just stay the Hell out of my way." I let go and he stumbled forward, a look of awe and fear in his eyes.
"God damn Rickie, please tell me you don't have a boyfriend." He said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Not even in your dreams." I snapped. I turned back to Walt. "So, what's so important?" He looked at me for a long time and I could see that something had him worried sick. I felt all my anger at Jesse wash away at the look in his eyes. He turned to Pinkman.
"Can we have a moment?" Jesse scoffed at him.
"Why?"
"Just…" He let out a long sigh. "Just wait in the R.V." Jesse shrugged.
"Whatever." He walked by me, stopping just before leaving the room to look back. "Hey Rickie, if you ever get lonely one night, give me a call."
"Get out." I snapped. He smirked at me before finally closing the door. I shook my head, man that kid had some nerve. My eyes snapped back to Walt. "So why are you hanging around with that loser?"
"It's a long story." He said sadly. "Rickie, listen, do you remember when I saved you, and you promised you'd do anything for me, that you were my man? Well, woman, but you get my point."
"How could I forget?"
"Well, it's time to repay that debt." I felt my blood run cold.
"Are we going to kill Jesse?" I asked, feeling my stomach turn to lead. Why else would Pinkman be here?
"No, no, no. Nothing like that. I…we…" He was struggling for the words.
"What? Walter just tell me."
"Follow me." I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I followed him outside. Jesse looked at Walt with huge eyes.
"You're kidding right, Mr. White-" He grabbed Walter by the shoulder and led him a few feet away. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but I could tell by their tones and faces that whatever it was it wasn't good. Finally Walt said something and Jesse gave up. "Fine." He snapped. Walter came back over to me and led me to the R.V.
"Now Rickie, remember, you owe me."
"Walter, what's going on?" I felt sick to my stomach as he stayed silent, his face ashen as he finally opened the door to the R.V. I stepped inside and was immediately overwhelmed by the stench of death. I knew what had happened now as I stepped further inside, hearing Walter and Jesse step inside behind me and the door shut. I finally looked on the floor and gasped.
There were two dead bodies sprawled out on the floor. I started to back up; there was no way, not Walter. Not the man who saved my life, my timid, quiet chemistry teacher. He couldn't have-
Pinkman.
I turned back to see them both staring at me. I started to reach back for my gun, but Jesse grabbed my arm and got to it first, tucking it into his own jeans as he pinned my arms painfully behind my back.
"What the Hell happened?!" I demanded.
"We need to get rid of these bodies and we can't get caught by the police."
"I AM THE POLICE! You just told the police that you killed someone!" I roared, Jesse smacked his hand over my mouth.
"Rickie, listen to me. You have to help us." I fought away Jesse's hand.
"And why's that?" I hissed.
"Because if you don't, I tell the police what really happened." My heart stopped. No, he promised me that he'd never say anything. That could never get out, it would destroy me. I'd go to jail and I'd lose my job, my home, not to mention there were a lot of women in prison who were just itching to get their hands on me. I bit my lip; I knew know that I was helpless.
"Alright."