I do not own CSI Miami or any characters from the show; the wonderful people at CBS do. I just wanted to get the disclaimer out there. Thanks to everyone for the positive reviews; they are much appreciated. As aways enjoy...
Return to Work
Eric drove in silence. He wasn't sure, but he thought that he had just done something really stupid, something that would completely screw up his newfound happiness, and he was nervous to say the least. He had begged Calleigh to come with him to see Elizabeth, reasoning that she couldn't kill him if there were witnesses there. He sighed deeply and prayed, prayed she wouldn't run right back out of his life yet again.
Calleigh watched Eric from the corner of her eye. He had come to the ballistics lab and practically begged her to ride with him to see Elizabeth. She had hoped he would enlighten her as to why, but he had not said one word since they left the lab. He looked nervous and upset about something though, but until he was ready to share she couldn't do anything to help. After about twenty minutes of tension filled air, she finally tired of his silence and decided to ask why the hell he had wanted her to come along.
"Eric, what's going on here? Why did you need me to come with you to see your girlfriend?" She hadn't intended to let Eric know that the thought of seeing him with Elizabeth bothered her, but she realized that she sounded petulant.
"Calleigh, I think I did something really stupid," Eric replied oblivious to her discomfort.
"What! What did you do?" Now Calleigh was really concerned; what if he done something stupid, like get this woman pregnant?
"I told H that Beth would give us a profile on the Bay Strangler cases." He said it quickly in a rush so the words almost sounded like a jumble.
This was not something she was expecting to hear, so Calleigh's expression wouldn't have been any more surprised if Eric had told her he had just won the lottery. "Eric, why would you think she'd be able to give us a profile? What am I missing here?"
Eric took a deep breath and decided to get it over with. "Beth is a profiler for the FBI. She is on a leave of absence right now, but we really need some help with these strangler cases. We have nothing in the way of real evidence, so I asked H if I could show her the crime scene reports. The problem is that she was taking a break from profiling. She told me that getting inside the head of all of those monsters was eating away at her, and she needed a break before she burned out. I just don't know how she is going to react when I ask her to jump back in."
"Eric, how do you know all this about a woman you have only been seeing for a couple of weeks?" Calleigh looked at Eric completely mystified. He was exasperating at times and could be as deep as a puddle when it came to women. To top it all off, she knew for a fact that he rarely made any real effort to get to know anything about the woman he might be dating.
Cal, I've known her since college. We were…um…involved while we were in school." Eric glanced at her from the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction.
Calleigh looked at him, her eyes wide, her expression one of shock, "Oh," was her only comment.
"Well, since we have four victims already maybe she won't kill you until after the case is solved."
Eric's only reaction was to cough as he pulled the Hummer into the driveway of his oceanfront condo. Calleigh felt her stomach clinch and the jealousy rise into her throat as she realized that Elizabeth was staying at Eric's house. She followed Eric as he walked up to the door, but before he could turn the knob the door opened abruptly. There stood Elizabeth dressed in jeans, black boots, and a white cotton top. She had her Glock clipped to the waistband of her jeans and her FBI credentials around her neck.
"What…how…?" Eric sputtered before he was interrupted by Elizabeth's monotone
"It seems I've been officially invited into your case. I just got a call from Quantico. Strangely enough, it seems that your Lieutenant called them this morning. Let's get this show on the road. You can brief me on the way."
Elizabeth grabbed her keys and a backpack from inside the door. She brushed by Eric without making eye contact with him and walked down to the SUV. She climbed in the back-seat and waited for the two of them to catch up with her. Calleigh looked at Eric with raised eyebrows and went to join Elizabeth in the Hummer. He inhaled deeply to combat the butterflies in his stomach and followed suit.
The drive back to the lab was a quiet one. Elizabeth was reading case files and looking at crime scene photos. Occasionally she would ask a question, and either Eric or Calleigh would answer. She seemed to be focusing the majority of her attention on the photos. Eric watched her in the rear-view mirror as she ran a manicured fingernail down the side of one particularly gruesome picture.
Elizabeth pursed her lips in thought as she studied the pictures from the case files. These were certainly not the worst crime scene photos that she had ever seen, but she was still a little bit uncomfortable. This was the first time she and Eric had ever worked together professionally, and she was uncertain how he would react to what she was going to have to do before she could finish a profile. All of the neurotic habits she had picked up during her time with the BAU were going to rear their ugly heads again. Elizabeth looked up and her eyes met Eric's who was still watching her. He gave her a smile, and it was all she could do not to cry. She was not a person who cried in public, so Elizabeth just looked back down at the picture in her hand. "Insomnia here I come again." she thought to herself. "Oh well, it was nice sleeping while it lasted." Finally, she shook her head slightly as she mentally prepared herself. Going into the mind of a monster was never an appetizing prospect, but they needed her help, it was her job and she would do it no matter what it cost her emotionally.
Eric parked the Hummer in the parking lot of the crime lab. Calleigh climbed out and murmured something to him about having "things" to do. He walked around to the backseat and opened the door for Elizabeth. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.
"Beth, I didn't ask H to call your boss. I just wanted you to look at this and maybe point us in the right direction. I'm sorry…"
Elizabeth put her hand on Eric's cheek and caressed it. "It's OK Eric. It's probably better this way. I needed to think about going back to work at some time. I've had a nice break, and getting back in the saddle won't be so bad since I have you to come home to afterward. Just promise me one thing. When we're done today please find a gym so I can work out. Exercise is about the only way I 'm able to deal with the stress of my job."
"Done," was his reply. "I know a great place. Most of the team works out there after shift. You should have no trouble finding a cop or two to spar with."
Elizabeth gave him a real smile, her eyes lighting up. "Great. I love beating up on cops."
Eric laughed at her and escorted her inside the building. "We're going to Horatio's office. I know he wants to talk to you before we get into this too much."
"That's fine; I have a couple of things I need to tell him," she stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced Eric. She looked up at him and put her hand on his arm to emphasize her point, "Eric you need to understand something before I do this. What I'm going to do is unpleasant, and I sometimes don't react too well afterwards. You know about the insomnia I've had since I've been home, but when I work it gets worse." She looked into his dark eyes, willing him to accept what she was saying, "I just want you to be prepared." She paused and took a deep breath, "If you don't want to see me again after this I'll understand."
Eric gave her a wry smile, "Beth, I'm not going anywhere. I didn't realize how much I had missed us until you walked back in my life, and I haven't been this happy since you left me. I'll be here for you no matter what."
Elizabeth smiled, unshed tears swimming in her golden eyes. All the things she wanted to say but couldn't were mirrored in them. "Let's go see Lt. Caine," was her only comment.
Natalia and Ryan were walking down the hallway towards the trace lab when they passed Eric and Elizabeth entering Horatio's office. Ryan did a double take and looked at Natalia.
"Nat, who was that with Delko," he asked, looking over his shoulder at the couple who were now sitting in Horatio's office.
"I ran into Calleigh in the locker room, and she told me that Eric's friend is a profiler from the FBI. She's supposed to give us a profile of the Bay Strangler," Natalia replied as they continued down the hall to trace to check on samples from the latest Strangler case.
Horatio Caine did not know exactly what to make of Special Agent Elizabeth Finale. First of all she was extremely beautiful. Knowing Eric as he did, Horatio expected that, but her intelligence surprised him. It was obvious from her commentary on the case files that she knew what she was doing. Her SAC had been extremely complimentary of her profiling skills. His only request was for Horatio to keep an eye on her since she had been on leave. The BAU did not want to lose this particular agent to burn-out. Horatio studied Elizabeth as she described some of the cases she had worked on. Her intelligence shone from her expressive eyes. She was cool and efficient, but wonderfully expressive as she described exactly what she could bring to the case. Eric, who was sitting next to her, watched with rapt attention as she described the program at the BAU, her educational background and professional experience.
Elizabeth assessed the lean red-headed man sitting at the desk in front of her. She had heard about him from Eric and had seen Marisol's wedding picture in Eric's condo, but as a profiler she tended to make her own deductions about people. After sitting in the office with him for five minutes, Elizabeth decided that Horatio Caine was a man of deep convictions and even deeper emotions. He kept himself separate from his team, but he cared deeply for each one of them. He hadn't said anything about it, but she knew her SAC well enough to know that he had probably asked Horatio to watch out for her. Elizabeth decided to keep her mouth shut since Special Agent Mike Farris could be a stubborn son of a bitch and hadn't wanted to lose her.
"Lt. Caine…" Elizabeth began.
"Please call me Horatio," he interrupted her.
"OK, if you'll call me Elizabeth," she countered, her golden eyes probing his blue ones with an unwavering gaze.
Horatio nodded his assent, "Well Elizabeth, what can we do to assist you in getting started?"
"I need a place to work preferably with room to spread out the files and crime scene photos. I'll also need to see the bodies of each victim and speak with the police officers involved with each investigation."
Horatio had been nodding at each of her requests and finally responded, "Eric, let's set her up in layout. There is plenty of room for her to work. I'll arrange with Alexx for her to see each victim, and please make sure she speaks with Tripp" Horatio said.
"Sure thing H, I'll take care of all of that." Eric turned to Elizabeth, "Beth do you need anything else?"
"I also want to see the most recent crime scene. That is if it has not been completely cleared yet," Elizabeth said. She looked at each man in turn waiting for one of them to respond.
Horatio nodded in agreement, but the request disturbed Eric in a way he couldn't fathom. He grabbed her hand, "Beth why do you need to see that?"
"Eric, I need to see everything. I can't do as thorough a job if I can't go to the crime scene. I need to see and experience everything the UNSUB and his victim did."
Eric nodded and swallowed. He wasn't totally convinced. His expression was distressed but he gently squeezed her hand and said, "I'll take you."
