Title: Cause and Effect (2/?)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters (including Maria. She's made it quite clear that she owns her own damn self, thank you very much.) I'm just borrowing them and will return them when I've had my fun, somewhat dazed and disheveled, but otherwise in their original condition. Also, Maria and I have decided to keep Eric for a while, and we're sending Tim to Yana...
Rating: NC-17. Didn't I tell ya that was gonna happen now and then?
Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, John/Yelina, Horatio/Adele
Feedback: Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking to you! You're reading this, right? Well then review it! Come on, pretty pleeeeeease? It only takes a minute or two, and it makes my day. Besides, we both know you've got the time. What else are you going to do, work?
Dedication: Yana, for, as always, putting up with my crazy self. Jackie, Tina, Mel, Annie, Dorothy, Nonnie, and all my other loyal reviewers, what would I do without ya'll? I'll tell ya what; I'd stop writing! And that would suck. So, thanks!
Extra dedication: To Yana, again, cause it's her birthday! Yay! Happy twentieth, sweetie!
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No one ever questioned why Alexx talked to the cadavers as though they were still alive. That didn't really surprise her, they were intelligent people. They understood that she wanted to remember that the bodies she worked on were still people, not just slabs of meat. She wanted to treat them with dignity and respect.
Most of the time, anyway.
Adam Charles Grant, however, was another matter. When she had taken over for Jones an hour earlier, Alexx hadn't even hesitated to begin cutting his cold body apart. It wasn't that she was enjoying slicing him up, but she also wasn't feeling any need to remember his humanity. Hell, she wasn't sure he had any. She couldn't help but think of Maria. It was simply unfathomable how anyone could treat such a sweet young woman so hideously.
"What did he have in him?" Maria's voice almost startled the M.E, but she recovered quickly.
"Pills, probably Ecstasy." Alexx replied. She looked up at Maria, who was practically cowering by the door. "Honey, you shouldn't be in here."
"No, I'm okay, really." Maria insisted. "I mean, I don't wanna sound like a bitch, but seeing him like that kinda helps."
"That's not what I meant." Alexx told her. "It's not safe for a pregnant woman to be in here."
Maria's eyes widened. "What?" She stammered. "Oh God, did Valera run her mouth? Or Tim? I'll kill them both-"
"You've been throwing up in the bathroom at least once every day for the past week." Alexx said. "I haven't seen you with a cup of coffee in a few days. I've been pregnant twice, I can spot it a mile away."
"Lucky for me, you're the only one." Maria sighed. "So far, anyway."
Alexx peeled off her gloves and went over to the door, laying one hand on Maria's arm. "How long have you known?"
"Well, I got it confirmed yesterday." Maria said. "But I think I've known for at least a week, and just been in denial."
"How are you doing so far?" Alexx asked.
"Physically?" Maria winced. "Horrible. I'm throwing up constantly, my back is fucking killing me, but I can't take anything for it, and I keep getting these really bad headaches. I've just been telling Eric that I'm stressed, but I can't keep that up much longer before he gets really worried. And...mentally, I just...I don't know. After I found out I couldn't get pregnant, I started thinking I really did want to. And now that I am, I don't want it." She started shaking furiously as the tears she had been holding back got the better of her. "I don't want it, Alexx."
"Come here." Alexx embraced the younger woman.
"I'm so scared." Maria sobbed. "I can't do this. Maybe...God, maybe I should just get rid of it, and not tell Eric. He would never understand, but he'd never have to know."
"Maria, you know you can't do that." Alexx told her. "He'd never know, but you would."
"I know." Maria sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I know, I have to tell him. I guess I need to just get it over with."
Alexx nodded, rubbing her back gently. "That's probably a good idea. And if you need anything, I'm here."
"Thank you, Alexx." Maria said softly. "Because honestly, I've never been so scared in my life. I can picture Eric as a father, easily. But I can't picture myself as a mother. Not as a good one, anyway."
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"Hey." Tim wasn't even a little surprised to see Eric in the locker room. He noticed that his friend was staring at a picture of Maria that was taped to the inside of his locker door. "That's a nice shot of her."
"Yeah, that's what she said." Eric replied. "Thing is, though, she said it like it was a surprise. Like she's ever anything other than gorgeous."
"She's got a lot of demons." Tim pointed out.
Eric nodded. "Tyler said he saw you two talking earlier. Said she looked upset."
Tim shrugged. "We were talking about the case."
"Okay." Eric said, but he had a skeptical look on his face. "I don't know, maybe I'm just strung out from everything that's been going on, but I can't shake this feeling that she's hiding something. And that worries me, because we don't keep secrets from each other any more."
"Yeah, well, I guess you should talk to her about that." Tim said, trying to appear casual, even though he suddenly wanted to end their conversation. "Meanwhile, shouldn't you guys be getting some rest? And you need to shave, man. You're starting to look like me."
"You should be so lucky." Eric laughed. "Yeah, I know, but she wanted to know what was going on with the case. Speaking of which, what do you know about it?"
"Not much." Tim lied.
"Speed." Eric gave him a look. "You can't lie worth a damn, you know that."
"Fine." Tim said. "It doesn't look good for Aimee. Graveyard went over that room, top to bottom. From what I've been told, there is no evidence of any kind of struggle, nothing that points to self-defense."
"And you believe that?" Eric asked.
Tim shook his head, frustrated. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense. But she's saying he never laid a hand on her. Unless she changes her story, or something turns up that contradicts her-"
"No bruises, no signs of assault?" Eric interrupted.
"She's got bruises." Tim said. "And a logical sounding explanation for each one."
"I gotta find Maria." Eric said, closing his locker. "She's going to hear about this soon."
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"Absolutely not." Horatio didn't exactly know why he was bothering. He had figured out some time ago that Maria was going to do what she felt was right, and that was the end of it. Of course, that level of tenacity was one of the things that made her so good at her job. He stopped outside the interview room and turned to face the young woman, who had been following him since he had left his office. "I can't assign you to this case, Maria. It's a conflict of interests."
"I'm not asking you to assign me to the case." Maria persisted. "I'm telling you that I need to talk to Aimee, one victim to another. Maybe if I talk to her about the things he did to me, she'll open up about what he was doing to her. Why not just make it a little easier on all of us and let me in there now? Come on, you know I'm going to find a way to talk to her whether you want me to or not."
"Are you telling me that you have no intention of following a direct order?" Horatio asked. As if he didn't know.
Maria leveled her gaze at him, crossing her arms under her chest. "I'm telling you that if you so much think of pulling rank on me about this, I will staple an American flag to your butt and mail you to Somalia."
Horatio suppressed a smirk. He had to give her points for creativity. "That's a yes. All right, but you're not going to talk to her alone. I'm going in there with you."
"Fine, whatever." Maria sighed. She followed her boss into the room. Once inside, she hesitated for a moment, then approached the table.
The girl seated on the opposite side of the table from her had been cleaned up, but she was still a mess. Her shoulder-length, light brown hair hung limply around her face. Even under the bright orange jumpsuit she was wearing, Maria could see the bones in her shoulders sticking out. She shuddered as she realized she was basically staring at herself three years ago. Glancing at Horatio, she saw that even he couldn't completely hide how spooked he was by the resemblance.
"It's you." Aimee said impassively.
"Yeah, it's me." Maria replied. "And it's you."
"You're prettier than he said you were." Aimee continued. "Prettier than all those pictures and tapes he had. Prettier than me."
"I'm sure you were just as pretty as I am before he did all that shit to you." Maria said gently.
"He never laid a hand on me." Aimee scoffed, leaning back in her chair. "I mean, literally. Dumb bastard was a Viagra case. Exceptin' he couldn't afford Viagra, spent all his money on crack. Or heroin. Or...paint thinner. Whatever he could get his hands on."
"You never joined in?" Maria asked.
"Nah, I never really found any of that shit too interesting." Aimee shrugged. "He'd do some of it, pass out, or just be lying there laughing at the ceiling. I'd grab one of his friends, there was always a few of them around. Last night, he woke up and caught us, smacked his buddy around, then called me a whore and told me to get out. Then he went and took a shower, and I got the gun, went into the bathroom, and I shot him."
"You're lying to me, Aimee." Maria said. "Why are you protecting him?"
"He didn't do anything to me!" Aimee repeated, more forcefully. "He loved me. I'm sorry for what he did to you, but he never hurt me."
"Anyone who can verify that?" Maria asked. "Maybe his 'buddy' he caught you with?"
"Didn't catch his name." Aimee replied.
Horatio caught himself looking back and forth between the two women as though he was watching a tennis match. Aimee was younger and weaker than Maria, but she still held her own, blocking Maria's every attempt to get through to her.
"Why didn't you want to go to the hospital?" Maria pressed. "What are you hiding?"
"I shot him, okay?" Aimee made a gun with her fingers. "Bang. Three times. But I still got my rights, don't I? I don't have to go to the hospital if I don't want to, and I don't have to explain myself to you."
"Fine." Maria pushed her chair away from the table and stood up quickly, then leaned on the table with both hands, closing her eyes to ward of a sudden dizzy spell. She forced herself to regain her balance. "I'm trying to help you, Aimee. But if you won't let me, there's nothing I can do." She gritted her teeth as she left the room, with Horatio close behind her. "She's lying, H, you have to believe that."
"I want to believe it." Horatio admitted. "But Maria, you have to understand that without her saying that he was abusing her, and without any evidence suggesting that she killed him in self defense, my hands are tied."
Maria grimaced as she leaned against the wall, pressing one hand to her forehead.
"Are you all right?" Horatio asked, not attempting to mask his concern. As far as he knew, she was going on only a few hours of sleep in the past few days, to say nothing of the trauma she had endured at the same time.
"I'm fine." Maria said a little shortly, but didn't look at him as she replied. Instead, she looked down the corridor, brightening considerably when she saw Eric approaching. "Hey."
"Hey." Eric's tired, forced smile matched Maria's as he put his arms loosely around her waist and kissed her forehead. "Did you talk to her?"
"I did." Maria confirmed. "And she lied like a rug the whole time. Get this, she was looking left. Not at me, and not to the right. People look to the left when they're lying."
"That's usually true, but it's not enough to conclusively prove that someone is lying." Horatio pointed out.
"She's lying." Maria snapped. "If I gotta repeat that one more time, so help me...I know that he was abusing her."
"I know you think that." Horatio said. "But you have no proof."
Maria glared at him. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." She quoted before turning on her heel and walking away.
"Wow. Shakespearean smack talk." Eric joked. "She went totally sixteenth century on your ass." Horatio gave him a look, and he shrugged. "Don't look at me, you're the one who gave her the Complete Works of Shakespeare for her birthday." He went after Maria, catching up to her just around the corner. "Where are you going?"
"Back to your apartment." Maria replied. "Are you staying here?"
"I was going to help Calleigh and Tyler out with some videos that were found in the hotel room, but they can manage without me."
"No, stay here." Maria told him. "Trust me, I'll be fine. In fact, I think I could use some time to myself, just to clear my head a little."
"You sure?" Eric asked, touching her face as he leaned in to kiss her.
"Yeah." Maria sighed against his lips. "I'll go home, get some rest, and make dinner. And when you get home, we can talk about...well, a lot of things."
Eric nodded. "Absolutely. Okay, you just take it easy, try not to set my apartment on fire."
"Jerk!" Maria giggled, swatting him across the chest. "I'll see you soon?" She asked, kissing him once more.
"Not soon enough." Eric groaned as she pulled away.
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"Maria left?" Calleigh asked as Eric joined her in the AV lab.
"Yeah, she's gonna go back to my place and get some rest." Eric replied. "And then she's going to cook dinner, and when I get home, she says we need to talk." He looked at Calleigh, then Tim, trying to guess if either of them knew what it was Maria wanted to talk about. "Think I should be worried?"
"About the talk, or about Maria's cooking?" Tim shot back.
"Oh, let that go already." Calleigh told him. "What's the big deal, your eyebrows grew back, didn't they?" She gave him a playful shove.
"Okay, so what about these videos?" Eric asked, rolling his eyes and smiling at his friends' behavior. They were acting more like a married couple all the time.
"There's a couple dozen of them, all found in the hotel room." Tyler explained.
"I shudder to think what might be on them." Calleigh added. "But we do need to know."
The room fell silent as the image on the screen became clear. It was a video of Grant, on top of a frightened looking young woman. Everyone in the room recoiled slightly as they realized that he was raping her.
"Holy shit." Tim groaned as he looked away from the screen. "Well, there's the proof that he was abusing Aimee."
"No." Eric said quietly, staring in horror at the screen. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the images. "Turn it off, now!" He demanded. "Look at the tattoo on her hip. That's not Aimee."
"Oh God." Calleigh gasped out as she realized that Eric was right. "Oh my God."
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As nervous as she was, Maria couldn't help but giggle as she removed her top, then her jeans, and finally her underwear.
'Well, at least it's less cliché than greeting him at the door wearing plastic wrap.' She said to herself as she put on an apron and went into the kitchen. The way she saw it, talking to Eric about her pregnancy would be a lot easier if they were both...relaxed.
Standing in the kitchen, randomly moving dishes and pans around to appear busy, she felt exposed, and a little silly. She also felt wet, and her breath was coming in short gasps as she watched the clock. He'd be home soon.
She finally decided to try and actually cook something, figuring she couldn't mess pasta up too badly.
Mere minutes later, the smoke detector above the stove seemed to be telling her otherwise.
"Everyone's a critic." She groused as she pulled the pot off the burner, placed it in the sink, and ran cold water over it. Then she grabbed a dishtowel and waved it in front of the smoke detector, silencing it. Just in time to hear the unmistakable sound of a key in the front door.
Taking a deep breath, she turned so her naked back was to the kitchen door, bracing herself for his reaction. Not that she expected it to be anything other than positive. She just figured she would want to be prepared to be swept off her feet and fucked against the nearest wall.
She counted his footsteps from the front door, then looked over her shoulder when she heard him stop. He was standing in the doorway, staring at her with a look of absolute shock.
"Jesus fucking Christ." He groaned softly. Not exactly the passionate response she had expected, but she could see that he was aroused, and that was good enough.
"Hey." She smiled as she turned to face him, casually leaning on the counter. "How'd it go?"
"Fine." Eric replied.
"Liar." Maria sighed, stepping closer to him and reaching around to pull at the ties of the apron behind her back and neck. "What's wrong?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Eric asked. He stared blatantly as the apron began to slide away, but still made no move.
Maria pouted as she held the fabric in front of her body. "Well, you walked in and found me like this a full ten seconds ago, and you're still talking."
Eric managed to smile. "Okay, that's fair enough."
"So, what's the problem?" Maria asked, re-tying the apron strings. "Is it about Aimee?"
"Not exactly." Eric winced. "It's...uh, it's those tapes they found in the motel room. It turns out they're tapes of Grant raping a girl who we thought was Aimee, but..."
"It's me?" Maria finished for him. "That actually doesn't surprise me too much. He always did have some kind of video fetish, even in high school. Oh, Eric, I'm so sorry you had to see that."
"What he did to you..." Eric said shakily. "I mean, having a nightmare about it is one thing, but actually seeing it...it was so brutal."
"It's in the past." Maria reminded him, gently cupping his face in her hands.
"It's like it's permanently burned into the backs of my eyelids." Eric admitted. "Seeing you in so much pain, so scared-"
He was cut off as Maria threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, pushing her lips urgently against his. "You've seen me like that once." She panted as they broke apart. "You've seen me a lot more than once, going out of my mind and screaming with pleasure. Because of you." Never breaking eye contact with him, she pulled frantically at the apron strings again, this time letting it fall to her feet and kicking it aside. Then she kissed him again, unbuttoning his shirt as he finally reacted and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up.
"We should move this into the bedroom." He suggested, calling on every ounce of strength he had to hold off for her sake.
Maria shook her head and gestured blindly to the kitchen table. "Right here. Now. Please." She gasped out, pushing his shirt off of his shoulders. He let it drop to the floor as he set her on the edge of the table, too far gone to deny her anything she wanted. "Keep your eyes open." She said breathlessly as she slid off the table and knelt in front of him. Placing her hands on his hips, she pushed him so he was against the table, then unzipped his jeans, licking her lips as she slipped her hand in and brushed her fingers against his hard, throbbing flesh.
"Maria." Eric groaned, grasping the edge of the table as he felt her warm, moist breath on his skin. "Baby, you don't have to..." The first touch of her tongue to his shaft knocked the air out of his lungs, and he unconsciously thrust against her as she took him in as far as she could. She moaned as if she was enjoying her actions as much as he was, and he couldn't look away from her eyes as she began sucking harder and moving up and down faster.
After only a minute, he grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up, setting her back on the table and moving so he was between her legs. Their lips met in a deep kiss as he thrust two fingers into her, working her until she cried out and bucked frantically against him.
"Eric, now..." She gasped, leaning back on her hands and spreading her thighs further apart.
"I love you." Eric said. He fought to keep his eyes open and maintain eye contact with her as he pushed into her slick, tight passage. He caught her as her arms gave out, and carefully lay her back on the table.
Maria moaned as he leaned over her, bracing himself with his hands on either side of her head. "I love you, too." She managed to reply, writhing against him impatiently. "Eric...please..." Her plea was silenced by his lips covering hers as he began to thrust, fast and deep. Already, the memories of what he had seen on the video were fading away, replaced by the sight of her, panting and moaning his name as he pushed her closer to the edge.
Her legs tightened around him and her nails dug deeper into his back with every stroke, until she pulled him down so his chest was pressing against hers. He slid his hands under her back, shifting her hips so that he was hitting her spot directly.
"Oh God, Eric!" Maria whispered as she came, sobbing from the sheer intensity of their lovemaking. He cried out, burying himself deep inside her as his own climax took hold and he erupted into her before collapsing.
Exhausted, Eric stood up with Maria still wrapped in his arms, and slumped into a chair, kissing the top of her head and brushing her hair off of her damp, flushed face.
"Feel better?" She giggled breathlessly after a minute.
"So this is how it's going to be? Something upsets me, and you fuck me until I forget all about it?" Eric teased, still running his hands over her back, her arms, her breasts. He felt like he couldn't stop touching her, even for a second.
Maria shrugged. "Basically."
"You are the best girlfriend ever." Eric chuckled. "I mean it, you are amazing."
"And amazingly tired." Maria sighed, laying her head on his chest.
"Then why don't you get in bed?" Eric suggested, even though the last thing he wanted was to let go of her. "I'll take care of dinner."
"Oh, shit." Maria gasped. "It's still Christmas Eve, isn't it? I haven't even called my parents or anything..."
"Hey, they'll understand." Eric assured her. "You've been through so much hell. And, might I add, you have been unbelievably strong."
"I'm tired of being strong." Maria admitted.
Eric felt a sharp pang in his heart. "I know, baby, I know you are. And I promise, next year is going to be completely different. I'm going to take you away somewhere peaceful, where it can just be the two of us."
Realizing that an opportunity had finally presented itself, Maria took a deep breath and told herself to just blurt it out and get it over with. "What if there were three of us?" She asked. He gave her a confused look, and she trembled a little as she took his hand and guided it to her abdomen. "Eric, I...I'm pregnant."
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TBC...
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters (including Maria. She's made it quite clear that she owns her own damn self, thank you very much.) I'm just borrowing them and will return them when I've had my fun, somewhat dazed and disheveled, but otherwise in their original condition. Also, Maria and I have decided to keep Eric for a while, and we're sending Tim to Yana...
Rating: NC-17. Didn't I tell ya that was gonna happen now and then?
Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, John/Yelina, Horatio/Adele
Feedback: Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking to you! You're reading this, right? Well then review it! Come on, pretty pleeeeeease? It only takes a minute or two, and it makes my day. Besides, we both know you've got the time. What else are you going to do, work?
Dedication: Yana, for, as always, putting up with my crazy self. Jackie, Tina, Mel, Annie, Dorothy, Nonnie, and all my other loyal reviewers, what would I do without ya'll? I'll tell ya what; I'd stop writing! And that would suck. So, thanks!
Extra dedication: To Yana, again, cause it's her birthday! Yay! Happy twentieth, sweetie!
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No one ever questioned why Alexx talked to the cadavers as though they were still alive. That didn't really surprise her, they were intelligent people. They understood that she wanted to remember that the bodies she worked on were still people, not just slabs of meat. She wanted to treat them with dignity and respect.
Most of the time, anyway.
Adam Charles Grant, however, was another matter. When she had taken over for Jones an hour earlier, Alexx hadn't even hesitated to begin cutting his cold body apart. It wasn't that she was enjoying slicing him up, but she also wasn't feeling any need to remember his humanity. Hell, she wasn't sure he had any. She couldn't help but think of Maria. It was simply unfathomable how anyone could treat such a sweet young woman so hideously.
"What did he have in him?" Maria's voice almost startled the M.E, but she recovered quickly.
"Pills, probably Ecstasy." Alexx replied. She looked up at Maria, who was practically cowering by the door. "Honey, you shouldn't be in here."
"No, I'm okay, really." Maria insisted. "I mean, I don't wanna sound like a bitch, but seeing him like that kinda helps."
"That's not what I meant." Alexx told her. "It's not safe for a pregnant woman to be in here."
Maria's eyes widened. "What?" She stammered. "Oh God, did Valera run her mouth? Or Tim? I'll kill them both-"
"You've been throwing up in the bathroom at least once every day for the past week." Alexx said. "I haven't seen you with a cup of coffee in a few days. I've been pregnant twice, I can spot it a mile away."
"Lucky for me, you're the only one." Maria sighed. "So far, anyway."
Alexx peeled off her gloves and went over to the door, laying one hand on Maria's arm. "How long have you known?"
"Well, I got it confirmed yesterday." Maria said. "But I think I've known for at least a week, and just been in denial."
"How are you doing so far?" Alexx asked.
"Physically?" Maria winced. "Horrible. I'm throwing up constantly, my back is fucking killing me, but I can't take anything for it, and I keep getting these really bad headaches. I've just been telling Eric that I'm stressed, but I can't keep that up much longer before he gets really worried. And...mentally, I just...I don't know. After I found out I couldn't get pregnant, I started thinking I really did want to. And now that I am, I don't want it." She started shaking furiously as the tears she had been holding back got the better of her. "I don't want it, Alexx."
"Come here." Alexx embraced the younger woman.
"I'm so scared." Maria sobbed. "I can't do this. Maybe...God, maybe I should just get rid of it, and not tell Eric. He would never understand, but he'd never have to know."
"Maria, you know you can't do that." Alexx told her. "He'd never know, but you would."
"I know." Maria sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I know, I have to tell him. I guess I need to just get it over with."
Alexx nodded, rubbing her back gently. "That's probably a good idea. And if you need anything, I'm here."
"Thank you, Alexx." Maria said softly. "Because honestly, I've never been so scared in my life. I can picture Eric as a father, easily. But I can't picture myself as a mother. Not as a good one, anyway."
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"Hey." Tim wasn't even a little surprised to see Eric in the locker room. He noticed that his friend was staring at a picture of Maria that was taped to the inside of his locker door. "That's a nice shot of her."
"Yeah, that's what she said." Eric replied. "Thing is, though, she said it like it was a surprise. Like she's ever anything other than gorgeous."
"She's got a lot of demons." Tim pointed out.
Eric nodded. "Tyler said he saw you two talking earlier. Said she looked upset."
Tim shrugged. "We were talking about the case."
"Okay." Eric said, but he had a skeptical look on his face. "I don't know, maybe I'm just strung out from everything that's been going on, but I can't shake this feeling that she's hiding something. And that worries me, because we don't keep secrets from each other any more."
"Yeah, well, I guess you should talk to her about that." Tim said, trying to appear casual, even though he suddenly wanted to end their conversation. "Meanwhile, shouldn't you guys be getting some rest? And you need to shave, man. You're starting to look like me."
"You should be so lucky." Eric laughed. "Yeah, I know, but she wanted to know what was going on with the case. Speaking of which, what do you know about it?"
"Not much." Tim lied.
"Speed." Eric gave him a look. "You can't lie worth a damn, you know that."
"Fine." Tim said. "It doesn't look good for Aimee. Graveyard went over that room, top to bottom. From what I've been told, there is no evidence of any kind of struggle, nothing that points to self-defense."
"And you believe that?" Eric asked.
Tim shook his head, frustrated. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense. But she's saying he never laid a hand on her. Unless she changes her story, or something turns up that contradicts her-"
"No bruises, no signs of assault?" Eric interrupted.
"She's got bruises." Tim said. "And a logical sounding explanation for each one."
"I gotta find Maria." Eric said, closing his locker. "She's going to hear about this soon."
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"Absolutely not." Horatio didn't exactly know why he was bothering. He had figured out some time ago that Maria was going to do what she felt was right, and that was the end of it. Of course, that level of tenacity was one of the things that made her so good at her job. He stopped outside the interview room and turned to face the young woman, who had been following him since he had left his office. "I can't assign you to this case, Maria. It's a conflict of interests."
"I'm not asking you to assign me to the case." Maria persisted. "I'm telling you that I need to talk to Aimee, one victim to another. Maybe if I talk to her about the things he did to me, she'll open up about what he was doing to her. Why not just make it a little easier on all of us and let me in there now? Come on, you know I'm going to find a way to talk to her whether you want me to or not."
"Are you telling me that you have no intention of following a direct order?" Horatio asked. As if he didn't know.
Maria leveled her gaze at him, crossing her arms under her chest. "I'm telling you that if you so much think of pulling rank on me about this, I will staple an American flag to your butt and mail you to Somalia."
Horatio suppressed a smirk. He had to give her points for creativity. "That's a yes. All right, but you're not going to talk to her alone. I'm going in there with you."
"Fine, whatever." Maria sighed. She followed her boss into the room. Once inside, she hesitated for a moment, then approached the table.
The girl seated on the opposite side of the table from her had been cleaned up, but she was still a mess. Her shoulder-length, light brown hair hung limply around her face. Even under the bright orange jumpsuit she was wearing, Maria could see the bones in her shoulders sticking out. She shuddered as she realized she was basically staring at herself three years ago. Glancing at Horatio, she saw that even he couldn't completely hide how spooked he was by the resemblance.
"It's you." Aimee said impassively.
"Yeah, it's me." Maria replied. "And it's you."
"You're prettier than he said you were." Aimee continued. "Prettier than all those pictures and tapes he had. Prettier than me."
"I'm sure you were just as pretty as I am before he did all that shit to you." Maria said gently.
"He never laid a hand on me." Aimee scoffed, leaning back in her chair. "I mean, literally. Dumb bastard was a Viagra case. Exceptin' he couldn't afford Viagra, spent all his money on crack. Or heroin. Or...paint thinner. Whatever he could get his hands on."
"You never joined in?" Maria asked.
"Nah, I never really found any of that shit too interesting." Aimee shrugged. "He'd do some of it, pass out, or just be lying there laughing at the ceiling. I'd grab one of his friends, there was always a few of them around. Last night, he woke up and caught us, smacked his buddy around, then called me a whore and told me to get out. Then he went and took a shower, and I got the gun, went into the bathroom, and I shot him."
"You're lying to me, Aimee." Maria said. "Why are you protecting him?"
"He didn't do anything to me!" Aimee repeated, more forcefully. "He loved me. I'm sorry for what he did to you, but he never hurt me."
"Anyone who can verify that?" Maria asked. "Maybe his 'buddy' he caught you with?"
"Didn't catch his name." Aimee replied.
Horatio caught himself looking back and forth between the two women as though he was watching a tennis match. Aimee was younger and weaker than Maria, but she still held her own, blocking Maria's every attempt to get through to her.
"Why didn't you want to go to the hospital?" Maria pressed. "What are you hiding?"
"I shot him, okay?" Aimee made a gun with her fingers. "Bang. Three times. But I still got my rights, don't I? I don't have to go to the hospital if I don't want to, and I don't have to explain myself to you."
"Fine." Maria pushed her chair away from the table and stood up quickly, then leaned on the table with both hands, closing her eyes to ward of a sudden dizzy spell. She forced herself to regain her balance. "I'm trying to help you, Aimee. But if you won't let me, there's nothing I can do." She gritted her teeth as she left the room, with Horatio close behind her. "She's lying, H, you have to believe that."
"I want to believe it." Horatio admitted. "But Maria, you have to understand that without her saying that he was abusing her, and without any evidence suggesting that she killed him in self defense, my hands are tied."
Maria grimaced as she leaned against the wall, pressing one hand to her forehead.
"Are you all right?" Horatio asked, not attempting to mask his concern. As far as he knew, she was going on only a few hours of sleep in the past few days, to say nothing of the trauma she had endured at the same time.
"I'm fine." Maria said a little shortly, but didn't look at him as she replied. Instead, she looked down the corridor, brightening considerably when she saw Eric approaching. "Hey."
"Hey." Eric's tired, forced smile matched Maria's as he put his arms loosely around her waist and kissed her forehead. "Did you talk to her?"
"I did." Maria confirmed. "And she lied like a rug the whole time. Get this, she was looking left. Not at me, and not to the right. People look to the left when they're lying."
"That's usually true, but it's not enough to conclusively prove that someone is lying." Horatio pointed out.
"She's lying." Maria snapped. "If I gotta repeat that one more time, so help me...I know that he was abusing her."
"I know you think that." Horatio said. "But you have no proof."
Maria glared at him. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." She quoted before turning on her heel and walking away.
"Wow. Shakespearean smack talk." Eric joked. "She went totally sixteenth century on your ass." Horatio gave him a look, and he shrugged. "Don't look at me, you're the one who gave her the Complete Works of Shakespeare for her birthday." He went after Maria, catching up to her just around the corner. "Where are you going?"
"Back to your apartment." Maria replied. "Are you staying here?"
"I was going to help Calleigh and Tyler out with some videos that were found in the hotel room, but they can manage without me."
"No, stay here." Maria told him. "Trust me, I'll be fine. In fact, I think I could use some time to myself, just to clear my head a little."
"You sure?" Eric asked, touching her face as he leaned in to kiss her.
"Yeah." Maria sighed against his lips. "I'll go home, get some rest, and make dinner. And when you get home, we can talk about...well, a lot of things."
Eric nodded. "Absolutely. Okay, you just take it easy, try not to set my apartment on fire."
"Jerk!" Maria giggled, swatting him across the chest. "I'll see you soon?" She asked, kissing him once more.
"Not soon enough." Eric groaned as she pulled away.
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"Maria left?" Calleigh asked as Eric joined her in the AV lab.
"Yeah, she's gonna go back to my place and get some rest." Eric replied. "And then she's going to cook dinner, and when I get home, she says we need to talk." He looked at Calleigh, then Tim, trying to guess if either of them knew what it was Maria wanted to talk about. "Think I should be worried?"
"About the talk, or about Maria's cooking?" Tim shot back.
"Oh, let that go already." Calleigh told him. "What's the big deal, your eyebrows grew back, didn't they?" She gave him a playful shove.
"Okay, so what about these videos?" Eric asked, rolling his eyes and smiling at his friends' behavior. They were acting more like a married couple all the time.
"There's a couple dozen of them, all found in the hotel room." Tyler explained.
"I shudder to think what might be on them." Calleigh added. "But we do need to know."
The room fell silent as the image on the screen became clear. It was a video of Grant, on top of a frightened looking young woman. Everyone in the room recoiled slightly as they realized that he was raping her.
"Holy shit." Tim groaned as he looked away from the screen. "Well, there's the proof that he was abusing Aimee."
"No." Eric said quietly, staring in horror at the screen. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the images. "Turn it off, now!" He demanded. "Look at the tattoo on her hip. That's not Aimee."
"Oh God." Calleigh gasped out as she realized that Eric was right. "Oh my God."
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As nervous as she was, Maria couldn't help but giggle as she removed her top, then her jeans, and finally her underwear.
'Well, at least it's less cliché than greeting him at the door wearing plastic wrap.' She said to herself as she put on an apron and went into the kitchen. The way she saw it, talking to Eric about her pregnancy would be a lot easier if they were both...relaxed.
Standing in the kitchen, randomly moving dishes and pans around to appear busy, she felt exposed, and a little silly. She also felt wet, and her breath was coming in short gasps as she watched the clock. He'd be home soon.
She finally decided to try and actually cook something, figuring she couldn't mess pasta up too badly.
Mere minutes later, the smoke detector above the stove seemed to be telling her otherwise.
"Everyone's a critic." She groused as she pulled the pot off the burner, placed it in the sink, and ran cold water over it. Then she grabbed a dishtowel and waved it in front of the smoke detector, silencing it. Just in time to hear the unmistakable sound of a key in the front door.
Taking a deep breath, she turned so her naked back was to the kitchen door, bracing herself for his reaction. Not that she expected it to be anything other than positive. She just figured she would want to be prepared to be swept off her feet and fucked against the nearest wall.
She counted his footsteps from the front door, then looked over her shoulder when she heard him stop. He was standing in the doorway, staring at her with a look of absolute shock.
"Jesus fucking Christ." He groaned softly. Not exactly the passionate response she had expected, but she could see that he was aroused, and that was good enough.
"Hey." She smiled as she turned to face him, casually leaning on the counter. "How'd it go?"
"Fine." Eric replied.
"Liar." Maria sighed, stepping closer to him and reaching around to pull at the ties of the apron behind her back and neck. "What's wrong?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Eric asked. He stared blatantly as the apron began to slide away, but still made no move.
Maria pouted as she held the fabric in front of her body. "Well, you walked in and found me like this a full ten seconds ago, and you're still talking."
Eric managed to smile. "Okay, that's fair enough."
"So, what's the problem?" Maria asked, re-tying the apron strings. "Is it about Aimee?"
"Not exactly." Eric winced. "It's...uh, it's those tapes they found in the motel room. It turns out they're tapes of Grant raping a girl who we thought was Aimee, but..."
"It's me?" Maria finished for him. "That actually doesn't surprise me too much. He always did have some kind of video fetish, even in high school. Oh, Eric, I'm so sorry you had to see that."
"What he did to you..." Eric said shakily. "I mean, having a nightmare about it is one thing, but actually seeing it...it was so brutal."
"It's in the past." Maria reminded him, gently cupping his face in her hands.
"It's like it's permanently burned into the backs of my eyelids." Eric admitted. "Seeing you in so much pain, so scared-"
He was cut off as Maria threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, pushing her lips urgently against his. "You've seen me like that once." She panted as they broke apart. "You've seen me a lot more than once, going out of my mind and screaming with pleasure. Because of you." Never breaking eye contact with him, she pulled frantically at the apron strings again, this time letting it fall to her feet and kicking it aside. Then she kissed him again, unbuttoning his shirt as he finally reacted and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up.
"We should move this into the bedroom." He suggested, calling on every ounce of strength he had to hold off for her sake.
Maria shook her head and gestured blindly to the kitchen table. "Right here. Now. Please." She gasped out, pushing his shirt off of his shoulders. He let it drop to the floor as he set her on the edge of the table, too far gone to deny her anything she wanted. "Keep your eyes open." She said breathlessly as she slid off the table and knelt in front of him. Placing her hands on his hips, she pushed him so he was against the table, then unzipped his jeans, licking her lips as she slipped her hand in and brushed her fingers against his hard, throbbing flesh.
"Maria." Eric groaned, grasping the edge of the table as he felt her warm, moist breath on his skin. "Baby, you don't have to..." The first touch of her tongue to his shaft knocked the air out of his lungs, and he unconsciously thrust against her as she took him in as far as she could. She moaned as if she was enjoying her actions as much as he was, and he couldn't look away from her eyes as she began sucking harder and moving up and down faster.
After only a minute, he grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up, setting her back on the table and moving so he was between her legs. Their lips met in a deep kiss as he thrust two fingers into her, working her until she cried out and bucked frantically against him.
"Eric, now..." She gasped, leaning back on her hands and spreading her thighs further apart.
"I love you." Eric said. He fought to keep his eyes open and maintain eye contact with her as he pushed into her slick, tight passage. He caught her as her arms gave out, and carefully lay her back on the table.
Maria moaned as he leaned over her, bracing himself with his hands on either side of her head. "I love you, too." She managed to reply, writhing against him impatiently. "Eric...please..." Her plea was silenced by his lips covering hers as he began to thrust, fast and deep. Already, the memories of what he had seen on the video were fading away, replaced by the sight of her, panting and moaning his name as he pushed her closer to the edge.
Her legs tightened around him and her nails dug deeper into his back with every stroke, until she pulled him down so his chest was pressing against hers. He slid his hands under her back, shifting her hips so that he was hitting her spot directly.
"Oh God, Eric!" Maria whispered as she came, sobbing from the sheer intensity of their lovemaking. He cried out, burying himself deep inside her as his own climax took hold and he erupted into her before collapsing.
Exhausted, Eric stood up with Maria still wrapped in his arms, and slumped into a chair, kissing the top of her head and brushing her hair off of her damp, flushed face.
"Feel better?" She giggled breathlessly after a minute.
"So this is how it's going to be? Something upsets me, and you fuck me until I forget all about it?" Eric teased, still running his hands over her back, her arms, her breasts. He felt like he couldn't stop touching her, even for a second.
Maria shrugged. "Basically."
"You are the best girlfriend ever." Eric chuckled. "I mean it, you are amazing."
"And amazingly tired." Maria sighed, laying her head on his chest.
"Then why don't you get in bed?" Eric suggested, even though the last thing he wanted was to let go of her. "I'll take care of dinner."
"Oh, shit." Maria gasped. "It's still Christmas Eve, isn't it? I haven't even called my parents or anything..."
"Hey, they'll understand." Eric assured her. "You've been through so much hell. And, might I add, you have been unbelievably strong."
"I'm tired of being strong." Maria admitted.
Eric felt a sharp pang in his heart. "I know, baby, I know you are. And I promise, next year is going to be completely different. I'm going to take you away somewhere peaceful, where it can just be the two of us."
Realizing that an opportunity had finally presented itself, Maria took a deep breath and told herself to just blurt it out and get it over with. "What if there were three of us?" She asked. He gave her a confused look, and she trembled a little as she took his hand and guided it to her abdomen. "Eric, I...I'm pregnant."
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TBC...