Madison's darkness
Little girl
Suzie watched her daughter from the door to the girl's bedroom. Suzie had always thought that it was too dull, especially for Madison, whose personality was much brighter then the dull, dark walls of the room let on. But for some reason Maddy loved it. Today the dark walls seemed to be a reflection of Madison's spirit. Broken
"Maddy I'm going out for a little while I'll be back ok"
"Ok Momma" the girl replied not turning around
"Horatio" Suzie's voice echoed through the reception area of his lab and almost seemed to bounce down the halls. "Suzie is everything ok?"
"No. I've never seen her like this Horatio she's so upset… the worst thing is she won't talk to me…" Suzie talked so fast that he could barely understand "Ok Suzie I need you to calm down ok what's wrong?"
"Maddy… She came home from school today and shut herself in her room and started crying. When I asked what's wrong she said nothing… Then I found blood in the sink in the bathroom after she was in it and on a razor blade" Suzie sobbed slightly "I don't know what to do"
He looked at Suzie "Any sign of the leukaemia?"
"we found some bruising under her arm they're doing a blood test at the moment"
"Maybe, she's just scared about that"
"Its more then that. Come and see her and you'll see"
"Ok"
Horatio saw what Suzie meant, when he came to visit Madison a few days later. The music was loud, as she opened the door.
Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real
"Oh, Hey Uncle Horatio…Momma's not home right now" Madison said
"That's ok…I'm here to see you"
"Really?" Madison asked, walking over to the radio, turning it down a little.
There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming Confusing
This lack of self control I fear is never ending
Controlling I can't seem
To find myself again my walls are closing in
(Without the sense of confidence I'm convinced there's too much pressure to take)
I've felt this way before so insecure
"Really" Horatio told her. "Are you alright?" He saw marks on her wrists, and when she noticed him looking at them she pulled the sleeves down her arms, so the marks disappeared. "I'm fine Uncle Horatio" She muttered
Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real
Horatio looked at her, not knowing if she was lying, or hiding something from him. It was strange for him not to be able to read someone, and Madison was one of the only people who fitted into that category. "Madison, if there was something bothering you know you can tell me, right?"
Discomfort in this seat has pulled itself upon me
Distracting, Reacting
Against my will I stand inside my own reflection
It's haunting how I can't seem
To find myself again my walls are closing in
(Without the sense of confidence I'm convinced there's too much pressure to take)
I've felt this way before so insecure
"I know" Madison said. She looked at him, for the first time. "You want a drink or something?"
"No thank you" Horatio replied, knowing she was trying to hide.
"There's nothing wrong Horatio" Madison told him
"Your mother told me that you're getting tested to see if you're still in remission"
"Came back yesterday, Negative"
"good to hear" Horatio said seriously relieved. He wasn't sure how he would cope if Madison's leukaemia had returned.
Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real
Madison grinned at that "Your weird, you know that?"
"I've been told… I also know it runs in my family"
"Hey!" Madison exclaimed, hitting him lightly
"You sure you're ok?"
"Absolutely sure" Madison said, giving him the smile he needed to see.
"Ok… I have to get back to work"
"I'll see ya Uncle Horatio" Madison said walking him to the door
"See you Madison" Horatio sensed Madison watch him all the way down the hall, then when he walked to the Hummer outside the building
Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing
Confusing what is real
(There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming Confusing)
Confusing what is real
(This lack of self control I fear is never ending)
Confusing what is real
A few hours later Madison was waiting at the airport for her brother. "You shouldn't of come" she scolded as he walked up to her
"Don't start on me Ok Maddy I'm not here for a lecture" Ray said to her "You need me here so I came. If anyone has a problem with that then they can take it up with me I'm fine with it"
"It hasn't been a good week" Maddy said "I'm sorry"
"It's alright" Ray grinned at her. His face quickly fell as he looked behind her Maddy turned and faced her uncle. "You followed me?" She accused him angrily
"I was worried about you"
"I told you I'm fine so why can't you just leave me the hell alone" She stormed off
"What do you know" Horatio asked Ray
"Not all that much" Ray replied "some kids have been giving her crap at school… but that's all I know" He shrugged "She seemed upset so I came to check on her… Mum knows"
"Ok" Horatio said "You better find her"
"yeah I better" Ray picked up his bag "Hey Uncle Horatio"
"yeah?"
"I think she'll be alright"
"Me too" Horatio gave his nephew a encouraging smile and Ray smiled back before running after his little sister "I hope" Horatio muttered as he followed them
They seemed to sense her when she was at her weakest finding her when she was the most vulnerable, the hurt too bad to fight. "Hi Madison" Rebecca Hill was the meanest girl in the school and never missed an opportunity to abuse Madison. "Rebecca I'm not in the mood get lost" Maddy said leaning against the trunk of the tree that she'd claimed as her own since arriving at this school. "Well that's to bad, cause I am in the mood, so come on" Her two 'lackies' pulled Maddy up off the ground. She screamed but they ignored her.
"Late again Miss Keyton" Mr Goad, Maddy's English teacher was her favourite teacher.
"Yes sir, sorry sir" Maddy replied darkly sitting on her chair and pulling her books out of her bag. "I want you to stay behind today please." Mr Goad told her.
"But sir, my brother's visiting from Brazil"
"I'm sorry Miss Keyton" Mr Goad said "But we have to deal with this"
"Ok" Maddy answered unhappily
"Uncle Horatio what are you doin' here?" Madison asked as her uncle strode into the room "Your mother couldn't be reached so I came"
"Oh" Maddy sunk back into the chair Mr Goad had told her to sit in "Great"
"Madison" Mr Goad came out of his office "I'm ready to talk to you now"
"Ok" Maddy answered standing up and following the teacher into his office. "I wanted to talk to you about Rebecca Hill"
"Why?" Maddy's defences were up as soon as that name was mentioned and Horatio noticed it "I heard that she's been giving you a hard time" Mr Goad said gentley
"Understatement of the century" Maddy muttered
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"What's the point" Maddy asked
"If you tell me then I may be able to stop it" Mr Goad said to her gently "I realise that things are tough for you right now, so maybe"
"Don't even try sending me to that psycho councillor bic…person" Madison said angry. Horatio leaned and whispered something to her Maddy nodded and walked out.
"She was about to lose it" Horatio explained quietly to the teacher who nodded.
"I would appreciate if you could try to get her to talk Lt." Mr Goad said "It worries me that she's so silent about what's going on"
Horatio walked out of the office to find Madison on the ground, unconscious.
Madison's eyes opened slowly, and the fear of the unknown swept over her for a moment. She quickly realised she was in her uncle's spare bedroom, where she stayed when her mother had something on at night. Then the pain hit her. Moaning she held her head as it began to thump. "Maddy?" Horatio asked softly walking into the room. She didn't answer, but tried to curl into more of a ball. Horatio sat down at the end of the bed and looked at her she looked back, the look telling him everything he needed to know "Come on" he said standing again "lets fix this headache"
As she followed him through the kitchen she couldn't help but notice the boxes all over. She knew what they were, whose they were, of course, but wondered silently why he would keep them, knowing all they'll ever do was stay in the boxes. She stopped at one of the photos sitting on the table. It was from the wedding, Madison picked up and looked at her aunt. A large part of her missed Marisol terribly and she knew her uncle was hurting a lot more then she was. Not that he'd ever admit it. Madison had skipped school on the day of the funeral, to be there. He wasn't happy with the fact that she'd skipped school, the word 'disappointed' coming up a few times, but she knew he was grateful she was there. She put the picture down and looked into the kitchen. "You ok?" Horatio asked
"Yeah just browsing" Maddy replied "So why aren't I at home"
"Your mother's still missing" He said passing her the painkiller. Maddy made a face at the pill and quickly swallowed it "yuck" she gagged at the after-taste Horatio couldn't help but smile at her reaction. "When did you see your mother last? I'm starting to worry" Horatio asked her gently
"She went out a few days ago... to talk to you I suppose haven't seen her since then"
"A few days? Madison…"
"Ray was with me" She defended her self quickly
"It's not safe for you to be on your own" Horatio told her
"I wasn't on my own Horatio, and besides I've looked after myself for most of my life you think I can't handle a few days on my own?"
Horatio looked at the stubborn look on her face. He was pretty sure it mirrored his own which worried him "I'm worried about you and your mother Maddy, I don't wanna see you hurt"
"I'm alright" she said "Sometimes you just gotta be alright"
"I know" Horatio said "but it's ok for you to ask for help, if you want it"
Madison nodded and looked out the window for a moment "Uncle Horatio?"
Horatio looked at her "Thanks" she said
"Your welcome" He smiled gently Maddy grinned back and gave him a hug.
Madison had fallen asleep again, in her uncle's arms as they had watched a movie on TV. If Horatio had been completely honest, he hadn't payed any attention to the screen happy just to have the little girl smiling. She'd talked to him telling him about how she'd been bullied at school and how she was scared about the results of the test. He didn't speak, just listened and was surprised when she'd asked him why he hadn't taken her to the hospital when she passed out
"Umm I guess I thought it'd be easier for you, since you hate hospitals so much" He said, coming up with an excuse. Madison seemed happy enough with that, and ate the pasta he'd cooked for the two of them without complaint. Now she was asleep, and Horatio had let his thoughts wander, for the first time since he'd been confronted with the news of Madison's darkness. He gently picked up Madison, and put her back into the spare bedroom, and then walked into the kitchen, cleaning the dishes from dinner.
After trying Suzie's mobile again, with no answer he called the lab to check on things. The case, involving a woman who had been raped, mutilated, and shot in her own home, according to Eric was going well. "Everything Ok with you H?" Eric asked cautiously
"Everything… Everything is fine Eric thank you"
"Which reminds me my mother wants you to come for dinner tomorrow night… big family thing for some reason…"
"I'll think about it and let you know… My niece is staying with me at the moment"
"Madison right? Mari brought her around once; she was a hit with my parents"
"I'll be coming in early tomorrow, Alright Eric, anything major happen call me"
"Will do H" Eric said realising he'd gone to deep into his bosses private life "See ya tomorrow"
Horatio closed his phone and thought for a moment. When did Marisol take Madison to see her parents? He wondered. He heard Madison cry out, and quickly went to her room, forgetting about the news he'd been given. The little girl was tossing and turning in her sleep, her hands fighting an invisible attacker. Horatio sat next to her and shook her gently "Honey wake up, Madison, it's alright, it's a dream wake up little one"
"huh? What? Horatio?" Madison woke scared, her eyes darting around the room.
"Its ok Maddy it was a dream"
"dream…"
"Yeah, you ok?"
'I think so" She answered her brain finally catching up with the rest of her. She grinned at him. "I'm good"
"Honey can I ask you something?" Horatio asked
"Sure what's up?"
"Did you ever meet Marisol's parents"
"Mrs and Mr Delko? Yeah they're cool. I don't know much Spanish, and they didn't know much English, so we got on great"
Horatio smiled "You did huh?"
"Are we going to see them?"
"We were invited to go to dinner there tomorrow, so maybe…"
"Please?" She gave the puppy dog eyes a look long perfected, and it worked well against him. To make it worse, she knew it did. Horatio sighed "We'll see… I'll talk to Eric about it tomorrow"
"Tomorrow…Saturday" Madison yawned. She was falling back asleep now
"Tomorrow's a Saturday?" Horatio said, surprised. Madison didn't answer, she was already asleep.
Horatio had, after a night of little sleep, decided that Madison would come to work with him the next day. He'd laid down the law with her though, No going down to the morgue, or out of the lab, or into any of the labs without supervision. "I'll be fine Uncle Horatio" Madison said with a sigh "You could just let me do my own thing you know"
"Not gunna happen" He told her as his pager went off and he sighed, looking at it. "Guess your coming with me to the crime scene" He told her
"Yay" Madison said sarcastically
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you honey" Horatio informed his niece seriously, making Madison laugh.
"Horatio…Madison how are you little girl"
"Ok Mrs Delko thank you how are you?"
"Tired, but glad to see you little one… How are you Horatio?"
"Ok" Horatio said quietly. He liked the Delkos they were nice, but coming to these dinners reminded him too much of what he'd lost. Madison noticed that her uncle was sad, and she slipped her hand in his and gave him a lopsided grin, making Horatio smile. "I'm ok" he whispered to her
"Liar" Madison whispered back pulling her hand back. "Kelly" she yelled suddenly running off to talk to one of Eric's nieces. Eric appeared at that moment "Hey H"
"Hello Eric… My niece really is a hit with your parents"
"Told ya" Eric smirked. He'd gotten used to having Horatio at these family dinners, even though this was the first time since Marisol had died. "My mother said that she was perfectly behaved when Marisol brought her over a few days before…" Eric trailed off not needing to finish his sentence Horatio studied his niece for a moment "Madison and Marisol were close, for the little while they knew each other… I introduced her a few weeks before the wedding"
Eric nodded "Madison's a good kid H"
"She is, and she deserves to be happy and a family"
"She's not the only one" Eric said, moving away from Horatio before he processed the words.
"Hi Horatio" Suzie said. It had been 3 weeks since she'd disappeared, and she was looking more then a little worse for wear, Horatio noticed as he asked her where she'd been. "Around" Suzie answered quietly "Is Madison here?"
"She's at school" Horatio replied "Why did you disappear like that?"
"Horatio I don't wanna argue ok… Just give me any of Madison's stuff that's here and I'll go"
"Madison will stay until you tell me where the hell you've been" Horatio said "I'm not risking her safety because you've run off again"
Suzie looked away from Horatio for a moment, and that told him everything he needed to know "Meth" he said quietly
"I told you" She said quietly "I didn't want Madison, or you, to know about it Horatio so I took off…"
"for weeks and weeks at a time" Horatio muttered
"Yeah" Suzie said, not realising what Horatio meant. Horatio looked at her and slowly told her "You know what this means right"
Suzie nodded "She's not coming back with me"
"Not, Not until you clean up again Suzie and stay that way"
Suzie nodded "I know its for the best… Can I say goodbye?"
"I think it will be easier on both of you if you didn't" Horatio informed her
"Ok" Suzie walked back to the elevator, and waited for the doors to open. Horatio kept watching her until she left.
"Heya Eric" Madison said leaning on the doorway to the lab Eric was working in
"Hey little girl how's it going?" Eric replied. "Mrs Mac gave us homework… I have to write a story about someone important to me"
"Who you going to write about?"
"I'm not sure yet… Can you help me with something?" Madison gave him a puppy dog look and Eric laughed "What do you need?"
"I wanted to do some research on my dad, Ray, but the only thing I found on the internet was old newspaper articles"
"You know Calliegh was around when he died" Eric told Madison
"She was?"
"Yeah, but if you want we could go down to where the Cold cases are kept see what we can find out"
"Will we get in trouble?"
"No just say were doing research" Eric said "Come on"
It took them about half an hour to locate Ray's case "It's amazing how well this was done" Madison said "Since it was just a set up"
"You knew about that"
"My brother was taken to Brazil remember. Horatio decided just to come out with it rather then lie. He learned his lesson about keeping secrets to protect people" Madison said, rummaging through the box she pulled out her father's badge "Cool" she said quietly looking at it. Eric watched her rub her fingers along it. She looked up and gave him a grin "Sorry"
"It's ok" Eric said quietly "I get it" Eric's phone began ringing. "Hey"
"Eric where are you?" Natalia asked "We need you"
"I'm busy right now Nat, can it wait?"
"No… We found our missing car and we need you to process it"
Eric sighed "Ok I'm coming give me 10 ok"
"ok" Natalia hung up, and Eric looked at Madison "We're going to have to cut it short, I'm afraid"
"It's ok, I decided I'm not going to do him anyway" Madison said placing the lid back on the box "I can't lift it back up though"
"Here" Eric took the box and placed it carefully back on the shelf "Find anything interesting?"
"I found out about my father" Madison said simply "That's enough"
"What have we got?" Horatio asked walking into the garage
"Not much so far" Eric said
"Since you just got here" Natalia grumbled
"And there was no way you couldn't have started processing on your own?" Eric snapped back. "Guys" Horatio warned
"Sorry H" Eric sighed
"Yeah sorry Horatio" Natalia said
"Hey Eric look at this" Madison said her head appearing from the back of the car.
"What have you found Madison?" Eric asked coming around.
"Paint except it's not the same colour as the car" Madison said pointing.
"Go Maddy" Eric said taking a sample.
"Nice work" Horaito said looking at his niece
"Thank you" She said pleased to have made her uncle happy. Well happy for him at least she thought. "If you decide to follow your uncle, you will defiantly be one of the best" Eric said to her
"Anything but Narco right Uncle Horatio" Madison said with a laugh
"Got that right… Keep up the good work"
Maddy watched Horatio leave, disappointment in her eyes Eric noted "You ok little one?" He asked
"It's fine" Madison replied. Her phone, a present from her older brother that no one knew about started buzzing and she sighed. "Be back later"
"Ray please don't tell me your in trouble"
"Nope"
"Really?" Madison asked, sounding surprised.
"No I'm calling to say goodbye"
"Back to Rio?"
"Back to Rio" Ray confirmed, making Madison sigh
"See ya then"
"See ya" Ray hung up, and Madison went to explore more of the lab
