Summary: What happens when something horrible brings two of Miami Dade's brightest mind together.
Note: Alright folks... found a new show to obsess over... I seem to have a thing for these crime dramas. Anyway... enjoy
Rating: Uhm... Pg-13 for this chappy
She was asleep, completely unaware of the man standing at the foot of her bed. She remained unaware of this intruder even as he crawled into her bed behind her. It had been a long week filled with late nights and early mornings at work. And of course, this man did not belong here. The last man to set foot in Calleigh Duquesne's apartment was her father. She didn't even know this man was here, let alone who he was or what he wanted.
"Calleigh," a masculine voice called softly, directly into her ear. Only then did she become aware of this man.
Before Calleigh could even think to fight, the two-hundred-plus-pound man was lying on top of her. This, of course, did not stop the ever-feisty Calleigh from trying. At work, she could have easily taken down this man, but now she was about as helpless as any normal person. The man, whoever he was, was pinning her, lying completely on top of her, almost in a spread eagle position. But as she had expected, even though she thrashed slightly, he had to ease off pressure to make a grab for her nightgown. This was a giant mistake on his part; within seconds Calleigh's knee made contact with his groin. As he howled with pain, Calleigh took her opportunity and shoved him off of her. Making a break for it, she tore down the hallway. She wasn't stupid; she knew he'd followed… probably more pissed off than before. Judging by the pounding footsteps, he had indeed followed her rather quickly after she ran. The kitchen, she needed to make it into the kitchen—in a drawer, hidden under some hand towels was a gun. But no sooner had she reached the doorway than did she feel two boa-thick arms wrap around her waist. He pulled back, lifting her clear off the ground. Fighting once more, she managed to throw her head back, directly into her attacker's face. This was retaliated by slamming her face into the doorframe and then dropping her to the floor. Calleigh only risked a short look behind her—she broken his nose—but she could feel her own blood dripping from the top of her head. He was after within seconds, but this time before he grabbed her, she had time to yank open the drawer and grab the gun. As she crawled forward to get distance between her and the guy, she felt the back of her nightgown tearing as he grabbed for it and her, the straps snapped off. She flipped over but what she wasn't expecting was this man preparing to kick, and kick he did. Her gun flew across the room, under the table. Her eyes began to get heavy, the kick had done some serious damage, but she needed to stay awake. Thing that forced her into alertness was something sharp and cold pressed to her throat. It was one of her knives from a set she kept on the island. This forced her to struggle even more. Freeing an arm by some unknown measure, she had managed to knock the knife out of his hand. She pushed up, but for the second time she wasn't strong enough and his thick hand wrapped around her throat. She couldn't breathe and she couldn't get his hands off of her. It seemed like minutes, probably closer to seconds though, and her vision began to blur out. But even as it did this, she spotted the silver glint of the knife. Suddenly, she began to struggle more, reaching over she managed to grab the handle of the knife. She plunged the knife into his back and he screamed and flipped off of her. Knife still in hand, she made her way to the phone. Just as she reached the phone, she was pulled back down onto the floor. Flipping around, she saw her own gun pointed in her face. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled the knife down as hard and fast as she could. Opening her eyes, she saw only the handle of her knife sticking out of his skull. He was dead; she didn't need all of her training to know that. Finally, Calleigh reached the phone.
"911. What is your emergency?" a female voice asked.
"My name is Calleigh Duquesne, a man broke into my house and… he's dead." Through all of these words, she managed to stay calm but as soon as she put the phone back, she collapsed on the ground and tears began to flow.
"Eric," Horatio's voice called into the lab room.
"Yeah, H?" Eric responded, looking up from the microscope he had been bent over for a good two hours.
"We have a body to go get," Horatio said with the weird smile he usually had.
"Alright, I'll drive." Eric nodded, pulling off his lab coat.
As the two men reached the Hummer, Eric spotted Ryan's Hummer pulling out. "So where exactly are we headed?" he asked looking over at Horatio.
"257 Magnolia's Crest," Horatio informed him as he pointed down the first road he should take.
"Sounds… familiar," Eric mused, trying to figure out where he had heard that address before.
"Yes, I know," Horatio agreed, managing to elude an answer.
Eric rolled his eyes and continued to drive. After about twenty minutes of driving, the two finally managed to reach the apartment building. The dead give away was the ten or so squad cars out in front. All they had to do was follow a couple uniforms up to the apartment.
"So, what do we have?" Horatio asked.
"Male, late 30s, DOA appears to have been stabbed to death. Poor girl who did it is still in the kitchen. Kept flinching away from people touching her. Judging by her state, I'm saying self defense," the cop said.
Eric nodded and walked towards the kitchen, but as soon as he got to the doorframe, Horatio's arm stopped him from entering immediately, and he saw why. The "poor girl" wasn't just any girl, but their own Calleigh Duquesne. The sight of her was enough to break Eric's heart. There where bruises covering her face and body. Her normally blond hair was stained with blood from a nasty gash on her forehead. The silk nightgown she was wearing was stained in blood and torn in too many places to count. The blood of the man was pooling around her feet. He couldn't stand watching her sitting there like a zombie, just staring blankly into space. He shoved past Horatio, dropping his things at the door and made his way to Calleigh. He reached down to touch her arm she jerked it away, the force causing her to slam her body into the cupboards she was sitting next to.
"Calleigh?" Eric asked, crouching down so he was just a bit taller than eye level to her.
When Calleigh looked up, Eric had to physically refrain from flinching. It was worse than the top view. It felt like his heart shattered in his chest. The pretty, strong willed southern belle he knew seemed to have disappeared. There where tears running down her face; she seemed unaware of this fact. Her face itself was cut and bruised, in what appeared to be a footprint shape. Then there were bruises on her neck, almost perfect handprints. To make that much damage, her attacker must have been choking her extremely hard. And worst of all, she was shaking and looked scared, something he had never seen on Calleigh even in the worst of situations.
"Calleigh?" he repeated, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
Once his hand made contact, that was all it took. She flung herself onto him. He had to keep his entire mind on not falling backwards onto the body. She was sobbing freely now into his shoulder, muttering words he couldn't understand. He didn't even try, but instead stood up, pulling Calleigh with him, he started carrying her towards the doorway.
"He-he was on-on top of me th-th-then," Calleigh began to sob out.
"Shh… later," Eric said softly before glancing at Horatio, "I'm taking her down to the paramedics." As the two left Alexx and Ryan stood, watching dumbfounded.