Title: Taking Over Me

Author: Melanie-Anne (melsie04hotmail.com)

Rating: R

Archive: If you want it, it's yours, just let me know where it's going.

Pairing: Sam/Jack, Sam/other, Horatio/Calleigh, Horatio/other

Timeline: Summer 2003. Post Body Count, but before Fallout.

Disclaimer: Neither the characters of CSI: Miami or Without A Trace belong to me. I'm just playing in someone else's sandbox.

Summary: After Calleigh goes missing in New York, Jack and the team have to find her before it's too late, and Horatio wonders just how well he knows his colleague.

Notes at end.


Horatio Caine loved to watch people. As head of the Miami-Dade crime lab, it was an invaluable habit. Often, he reflected, you could tell more about a person by watching them than talking to them. Now, as he sat in the arrivals lounge of Miami International Airport, he indulged himself and studied the people around him. Like himself, they were all waiting for someone. A friend, a colleague, perhaps a lover. Perhaps, like him, a mixture of the three.

He smiled as he watched a young woman throw her arms around a man's neck and press her lips to his, and wondered what would happen if he gave his ballistics expert a welcome like that.

Calleigh Duquesne, the southern blonde who had somehow charmed her way into his heart, was due to arrive any minute from a conference in New York. She had been gone for a week, and Horatio wasn't the only CSI who missed the sunshine she brought to the lab.

A pleasant female voice echoed through the building, announcing that Calleigh's plane had landed. Horatio quickly cast aside all non-professional thoughts about Calleigh. He was here to pick her up as a friendly favor. Their relationship existed in subtle flirting. Neither of them dared cross the invisible line between more-than-just-colleagues and actual romantic involvement. Horatio was unwilling to risk ruining things.

He had never entertained the possibility of no longer having her in his life.

He stood and waited for her to walk through the gate, his breath held in anticipation. All around him, people came and went, but he didn't see Calleigh. Another announcement was made, more flights landed, more flights left, but there was still no Calleigh.

Horatio knew he hadn't missed her – he missed nothing. In his job, he couldn't afford to. He glanced at his watch; twenty minutes since Calleigh had landed.

He refused to panic, believing in his heart that there was a simple explanation. She could have just missed the flight. She could have decided to stay longer in New York. She could have been held up getting her luggage.

But it was in his nature to worry about her, and he had seen enough to know that the world was a horrible place where bad things happened to good people.

Keeping his eyes on the gate, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number from memory. When he got her voicemail – "You've reached Calleigh Duquesne, please leave a message," the lilt of her accent betraying that she'd smiled when she'd recorded it – he hung up and headed for the terminal. The combination of his badge and the intense look in his eyes was enough for the attendant to grant him access to the passenger manifest.

Calleigh had not been on the flight.


Samantha Spade was on her way to work when she got a call to go to the Marriott Hotel. With a sigh, she changed direction and navigated her way through New York rush hour traffic. Jack hadn't said much about the case, only that a cop from Miami was missing. Caught at a red light, Samantha applied a light coat of lip-gloss and wondered what a Miami cop was doing all the way up here.

Jack was waiting for her in the lobby of the hotel, wearing his trademark coat and a frown. Samantha's own eyes narrowed; Jack was frowning a lot lately. She hoped Marie wasn't the cause, then thought about herself, and decided it was probably better if it was Marie.

Jack smiled when he saw her and Samantha pushed all thoughts of his wife aside.

"Sorry I'm late," Samantha began but Jack held up his hand to stop her.

"Detective Calleigh Duquesne from the Miami-Dade crime lab was in New York for a forensics conference. She was due back in Miami this morning, only she never got on the plane."

Samantha nodded. "Okay. She was staying here?"

"Yes. I've got Danny calling the hospitals and morgues. Martin's checking manifests of other flights and Viv is running background."

Samantha bit back her smile. She loved working with Jack, preferred it, in fact, to working with any of the others. Not because she had anything against them, but because Jack was . . . well, Jack.

A short, slightly balding man approached the agents and introduced himself as the manager. Jack shook his hand and held out his badge. "Jack Malone and Samantha Spade. We're with the FBI."

Richard Thomas' eyes widened. "FBI? Is something the matter?"

"We believe Calleigh Duquesne was staying here this week. We'd like to see her room."

"I can't just let you—"

"She's missing. Now, I'm sure you have nothing to hide . . ."

"Of course not." Richard Thomas turned and headed for the desk. He sat behind the computer and tapped at the keyboard. After a minute, he nodded and stood. "Miss Duquesne was in room 302. She hasn't checked out yet. You'll need a card to get in."

Samantha smiled and accepted the card. "Thanks for your help."

In the elevator, she looked up at Jack. "What do we know about her so far?"

"Just what I've told you. Her boss is flying out later today."

Samantha noted the distaste in his voice. "Who's her boss?"

"Horatio Caine."

"You don't like him?"

"I just don't want him messing up the investigation."

The elevator doors slid open and they stepped out. "I'm sure he only wants to help."

Jack 'hmphed' and quickened his pace. He reached the room before Samantha and had to wait for her to unlock the door.

"Miss Duquesne? Detective?" he called as the door swung open.

There was no sound from within. The room was dark, the curtains keeping the sunlight out. Jack flicked the light switch.

A crème blazer was on the bed. One of the cupboard doors was slightly ajar. Samantha opened it to find clothes still hanging there. Jack moved to the bathroom to find it empty as well. Toiletries still littered the counter. He returned to the room. Samantha sat at the desk in front of a laptop.

"Find anything?"

She shook her head. "Just case reports and lecture notes for the conference. I guess she liked guns."

"Umm. I heard her speak."

Samantha looked up sharply. "You never told me that."

Jack shrugged. "Tuesday night. Barry Douglas, a friend from Quantico, organized the conference. He told me her lecture would be interesting. It was. Calleigh Duquesne is the best there is in ballistics."

Samantha bit her lip to keep quiet. Now that she knew Jack had a personal stake in the case, she understood his strange mood.

"Barry introduced me to her afterwards. I like her. I hope we find her." Jack tilted his head and looked at Samantha. "She reminded me of you a little."

Samantha turned back to the computer, unable to hide the flush in her cheeks. "We'll find her."


After only ten minutes in New York, Horatio already missed Miami. The FBI agents had given him a sincere, albeit wary, welcome. He understood their hesitance; after all, he was the outsider, the intruder. He had not come here to take over the investigation, but he was damned if he was going to stay in Miami and do nothing.

Apparently his reputation had preceded him because, on his arrival, he was informed he would be part of the team.

At the FBI headquarters, he stood in front of the white board and looked at Calleigh's smiling face. No one knew yet how long she had been missing.

"Hi, you must be Lieutenant Caine."

He turned and found himself looking down at a short black woman. Something in her tone reminded him of Alexx Woods, his ME back home, and he smiled and extended his hand. "Call me Horatio."

"I'm Vivian. Welcome to New York. Come this way and I'll brief you on how we're doing." She led him to a large table, pausing a few feet in front of it. "You want coffee or anything?"

He shook his head. He wanted to dive straight in. Every minute counted; he couldn't afford to waste a single second. Somewhere out there, Calleigh was alone and she needed him.

Samantha and Jack returned from a day of endless interviews – Barry Douglas, other speakers from the conference, chambermaids from the hotel, Richard Thomas, the night porter – knowing little more than they had when they'd begun. At least they had a time frame now, Samantha thought as she picked up a marker and updated the whiteboard. She glanced across the room and saw Vivian deep in conversation with a man she didn't recognize.

Though he was seated, Samantha could see the stranger was tall. He had striking red hair and his face was lined with worry. Samantha had done this job long enough to identify loss when she saw it. She looked at Calleigh's photograph; light blonde hair, blue eyes, a wide, easy smile. Calleigh had brought a man all the way from Miami to New York. She had made a lasting impression on another man from just a brief encounter. Samantha couldn't help feeling slightly jealous and wondered what it was about this woman that was so special.

"Where'd you go?" she murmured, half to herself. Lost in thought, she didn't hear Jack's approach and jumped when he spoke.

"Sam, this is Horatio Caine."

It was the red-haired stranger. She liked him immediately. "Samantha Spade," she said with a smile.

"I'd like to go back to the hotel," Horatio said, not quite meeting Samantha's eyes. She was a little taller than Calleigh and her accent was different, but she was blonde and beautiful and that was enough to cause Horatio's heart to constrict.

"There was no sign of a struggle in the room," Samantha said. "Her clothes, her laptop . . . nothing seemed to be missing."

"The room was processed by our own crime lab," Jack said, his tone almost challenging. "If there was something, they would have picked up on it."

"I'm not implying that they wouldn't. I just . . . I'm not used to this. I usually work with Calleigh. It's strange to be looking for her. It . . ." He trailed off, his shoulders sagging.

Samantha took pity on him. "How well do you know Calleigh?"

Horatio looked at the photograph, drawing strength from it. "She's worked for me for three years. We're friends."

"Did she know anyone in New York?"

"No. She was here for the conference. She was giving a lecture." He smiled, a distant look in his eyes as he remembered the days leading up to her departure. "She didn't want to speak – she doesn't enjoy things like that. Being out in the field or in the lab, that's where she's comfortable. And on the shooting range."

"I enjoyed her lecture," Jack said, warming slightly. Horatio Caine was different to what he'd been expecting. He knew if he were in Horatio's shoes, he would want to do everything in his power to find Samantha.

Then he realized he'd strayed into dangerous territory and turned his attention back to the conversation. Horatio was looking at him with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

"I spoke with her afterwards," Jack said. "She said she couldn't wait to get back to Miami."

Horatio didn't respond and looked at the board. The little they knew of Calleigh's week was set out in block letters. She'd been last seen leaving the hotel on Wednesday morning, dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket. The doorman, a man way past retirement age, remembered her having a bag slung over her shoulder. "Of course I remember her," he'd said. "Pretty girl like that, how could I not? Friendly too. Always said hello." What he couldn't remember was the direction she'd taken.

Three days ago, Calleigh Duquesne had vanished into thin air.

"I'll drive you to the hotel," Jack said. He realized he had more in common with Horatio than he'd thought: they both wanted someone they couldn't have.