Title: Blood Ties (1/?)

Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with CSI: Miami, and all you'd get if you sued me is a laptop and a couple pairs of really nice shoes. Hardly seems worth it, right?

Rating: R (for language, violence. Rating WILL go up in later chapters)

Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC)

Note: Yes, there's an OC in this fic. But I promise, I'm going to keep this as far from Mary Sue territory as possible. Think of Maria as the anti-Sue.



Feedback: Yes, Please! But be nice. If I wanted to be criticized, I'd call my sister ;)

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"So, you said that you found him at around ten-thirty." The young woman leaned closer to the dark-haired teenager across the table.

"Detective Santiago-" The girl's voice was trembling.

"Maria." The woman corrected her. "Roberta, I'm trying to help you. I believe you when you say that you didn't kill that guy. But if you want the other officers to believe it, too, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

"I...I hadn't been with anyone yet that night, not too many cars were going by me." Roberta began. "So I thought I would move to a different street. I was only there for a few minutes when I saw something in the back of the alley. I went to look and it was him, there was blood everywhere. I tried to see if his heart was beating and the blood got on my hands. He was dead, so I started screaming for help." Roberta broke down then, burying her face in her hand and sobbing. "I didn't hurt him. I didn't even know who he was. Please, I didn't hurt anyone."

Maria reached across the table and took the girl's hand. "I believe you, Roberta, I do. I'm going to do whatever I can to help you." She heard a knock on the plate glass window and looked up. "Excuse me a minute."

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"She's good." The young man said, watching as Maria took the suspect's hand.

"She's the best undercover vice officer I've seen in a long time." The older man said. "And she may be better at getting information out of witnesses and suspects than anyone I've ever seen." He knocked on the window and beckoned to the young woman. "Which is why it's such a shame we're losing her."

"What?" Sanford looked up.

"I'm cutting her loose." Maria announced as she closed the door to the interrogation room.

"Maria, she's the only witness in a murder case, and at this moment our only suspect." Brody protested.

"She didn't do anything." Maria snapped, glaring at her boss. "She didn't see anything, and she doesn't know anything. And I'll bet anything that what Christopher is holding," she gestured to Sanford. "is the results of her polygraph, confirming what I just said."

"She's right, Jake." Christopher said. "This girl's no use to us. Might as well drop her off back at her corner."

"Uh-uh." Maria shook her head. "First you tear apart the last nerve this eighteen-year-old kid's got left, then you just dump her back on the corner where you picked her up? No. Jake, I want you to get her in touch with some private detectives and adoption agencies, can you do that?"

"She's looking for birth parents?" Detective Brody asked.

"That's right, and all she knows is that their last name is Lopez and they live here in Miami." Maria said.

"Ouch." Brody said, chuckling.

"Yeah. She was working the streets to try and raise some money to hire a detective herself." Maria bit her lower lip slightly. "What do you say, Jake? Can you help her out and have one less girl that we gotta keep an eye on out there?"

Brody considered it for a minute, then nodded. "All right. For you, Maria." He turned sharply and walked down the hall.

Maria exhaled and smiled, savoring her victory for a brief moment before Christopher interrupted, clapping his hands slowly.

"Nice work, Officer Santiago." He smirked. "You know, you've been spending so much time out there dressed like a hooker I sometimes wonder if you've started to sympathize with them."

Maria turned toward him, her green eyes flashing. "Why shouldn't I? I know it's probably escaped a tiny little mind like yours, but those girls out there are human beings."

"Human beings who are breaking all sorts of laws." Christopher reminded her.

"And very rarely because they like what they're doing." Maria said. "That girl in there? A straight A student, former class president, ballet dancer, and a virgin when she came here to Miami, trying to find that one missing piece of herself, trying to figure out where she belongs."

"Uh-huh, there we go." Christopher said. "The search for a place to belong. That one gets you every time, doesn't it?"

"Fuck you." Maria spat. She started to walk away, then turned around. "You know what? Maybe I am trying to figure out where I belong. But I can tell you this much, it ain't here."

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"Anything new on the John Doe in the alley?" Eric asked as he poured a cup of coffee.

"Not yet." Horatio replied. "That could change pretty soon, though. We've got a guy from vice coming over, a Mario Santiago. Apparently he's transferring. Could have some news for us."

Eric nodded. "All right. Meanwhile, I'm gonna see if DNA's got anything for us yet." As soon as he left the break room, he saw a young woman with green eyes and honey-colored hair standing in the corrider, looking lost. "Can I help you?"

"Hope so." She said. "I'm looking for Horatio Caine."

"Oh, he's right-" Eric turned around and saw through the open door that the break room was empty. "Well, he was right there. Uh, you might check his office. Fourth door on the left."

The woman smiled. "Thanks." She put out her hand. "Maria Santiago."

"Eric Delko." Eric shook her hand. "Wait a minute, Maria Santiago?"

"Yeah." Maria looked puzzled.

"Never mind." Eric said. "It was nice to meet you."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "You too."

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Horatio squinted at the memo. "Well, whoever wrote this has pretty strange handwriting...that really does look like an o." He set the slip of paper aside. "Sorry about the mix-up."

"It's not a problem, really." Maria said. "Hell, it's kind of funny."

There was a knock on the door, and Calleigh peered in, Tim, Alexx, and Eric behind her. "You called?"

"I did." Horatio stood up. "Come on in. We've got a new CSI joining us. This is Maria Santiago. Maria, this is Calleigh Duquesne, Tim Speedle, Alexx Woods, and Eric Delko."

"We've met." Eric said. "How's it going, Mario?"

Maria laughed. "Oh, hell. That's gonna stick with me, isn't it?"

Horatio cleared his throat. "Maria, I believe you have some news for us?"

"I got a call from Detective Brody on the way over here." Maria said. "We've got an I.D, not only on our John Doe, but also his killer. The vic's name was Dennis Tate. Around one this morning, a guy called 911 from a motel room, saying he'd picked up a girl and brought her to the motel, and she'd 'started freaking out' on him. She was picked up and brought in for questioning, and after speaking to a lawyer, turned in a signed confession about an hour ago."

"Case closed?" Calleigh asked.

"Looks that way." Maria replied. She grinned. "So, what do we do for fun around here?"

At that moment, the phone on Horatio's desk rang, and he picked it up.

"So, you were in vice?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. Vice. Right here in Miami." Maria said. "And for the record, I'm anticpating every joke you could possibly make right now, and not finding any of them particularly funny."

"Really? Not even-"

Maria shook her head. "Nope. Sorry."

Horatio hung up the phone. "Looks like celebrations will have to wait, ladies and gentlemen."

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TBC...