Title: Damaged Goods (1/?)
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!
Rating: PG-13 (Rating will go up to an R, at least, in later chapters.)
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.
Note: I better make it clear right off the bat that this is going to be a DARK fic. Several chapters will contain semi-graphic rape scenes, and the fic itself deals with some fairly adult themes (abuse, date-rape drugs, etc.) I know some people are upset or offended by violence of that nature, so I'll be sure and post clear warnings in chapters that contain such scenes.
Dedication: To Yana, because she helped me choose the title, and without her, I might STILL be looking at a blank screen, trying to figure out how the hell to start this mutha. Most of the credit for the first scene goes to her.
Soundtrack: "Rest In Pieces" by Saliva and "Wild Horses" by the Sundays.
____________________________
"Eric, come on, please?" Calleigh begged, tugging impatiently at her friend's arm. "Please?"
Scowling, Eric shook her off and turned to Tim. "Jesus, Speed, doesn't she get annoying in bed?"
"Hey!" Calleigh gasped indignantly, slapping him on the shoulder as her cheeks turned beet red. "At least I don't moan like some kind of fucking barnyard animal in heat."
"How the fuck would you know that?" Eric asked. He didn't exactly deny her accusation, as he remembered almost immediately how she would have known. He turned back to the evidence cabinet, trying not to think about it.
Calleigh sighed and shook her head. "Fine, be miserable!" She turned to the two men behind her, beseeching them silently to help her out.
"Delko, you're going with us whether you like it or not." Hagen spoke up. "We're dragging you out of this damn hole you've dug yourself into."
"Why do you care?" Eric snapped.
"I don't." Hagen replied. "You're just really starting to annoy me. Not to mention these two won't stop whining about how depressed you are."
"Come on, man." Tim added. "If not for your own sake, then for ours. Hagen's face is screwed up enough as it is, without that retarded frown."
Calleigh stifled a laugh, and Eric managed a smile. Hagen just rolled his eyes and muttered something about actually shaving, unlike some people.
"All right, fine, I'll go." Eric threw his hands up in defeat. The three of them were only going to get more annoying if he kept refusing. "On one condition."
"Maria's not coming with us." Calleigh assured him. Hagen started to say something, and Calleigh stomped on his foot. "Shut up!" She hissed.
Eric had already suspected she was lying, and that just confirmed it. But amazingly enough, he didn't care. "All right, whatever, let's just get this over with."
_____________________
Look at me
My depth perception must be off again
Cause this hurts deeper than I thought it did
It has not healed with time
It just shot down my spine
You look so beautiful tonight
Reminds me how you lay us down
And gently smiled
Before you destroyed my life
Could you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces?
________________________
"Henry, gimme another Screaming Orgasm." Maria said to the bartender.
"I don't know, Maria, I don't think my wife would appreciate that." The thirtysomething man replied, winking at her as he mixed the drink.
"That joke gets funnier every time I order that goddamn drink." Maria rolled her eyes.
"This is just your second one, right?" Henry asked, eying the young woman suspiciously.
"Yeah." Maria said. "I'm going to need a lot more, after the day I've had." She stuck her arm under Henry's nose. "Smell this! I swear to God, my job makes me fucking reek of death!"
"What I meant was, you're not holding it as well as you usually do." Henry continued, unphased.
"Well, I haven't eaten all day." Maria shrugged. "You try doing my job and having any kind of appetite." Pouting, she turned away from the bar, just in time to see some familiar faces by the door. "Hey!" She called, springing off of the stool she was sitting on and darting through the crowd on the dance floor to greet her friends.
Eric shot a look at Calleigh, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hey, I said she wasn't coming with us." She said. "You didn't ask if she was going to meet us here."
"Jesus Christ, I thought I was gonna have to send out a search party." Maria exclaimed as she reached the group.
"We had a straggler." Calleigh replied. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Besides, judging from your breath, you had no trouble occupying yourself while you waited."
"Bite me, I've only had one drink." Maria said defensively. "Hey Speed." She greeted Tim, then grabbed Hagen's tie and started to pull him towards the dance floor. "Come on, I love this song."
"Baby, you know I can't dance for shit when I'm sober." Hagen complained. His protests were ignored, however.
"You saw that, right?" Eric asked Calleigh and Tim. "I'm not invisible, right?"
"Well, you didn't exactly go out of your way to acknowledge her." Calleigh pointed out.
"And did he just call her 'baby?'" Eric continued, ignoring Calleigh's reply.
"I didn't hear that." Tim said quickly. Too quickly.
"Yeah, me neither." Calleigh agreed. "Come on, let's get some drinks."
_________________________
Look at me
My depth perception must be off again
You got much closer than I thought you did
I'm in your reach
You held me in your hands
Could you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces?
Could you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces?
_________________________
"You know, we should invite Horatio along sometime." Eric suggested. He and Tim exchanged looks, then burst out laughing.
"Yeah, H would have a great time with this crowd." Tim said sarcastically. He looked around at the seemingly endless mass of writhing, grinding, barely clad young bodies on the dance floor. The bar opened out onto the beach, where a number of couples had sought a private spot behind a dune or a bush to fool around. Off to one side, two bodies in particular caught his eye.
"What are you gawking at, man?" Eric asked. "Oh, holy shit."
Tim tried to think of something to say, anything to distract his friend.
"Holy shit." Eric repeated, watching Maria and Hagen making out in a dark corner of the bar. "How long has that been going on?"
"What, you mean those two?" Tim feigned ignorance. "That's nothing, man, they're both wasted. Probably won't even remember it tomorrow. Too bad we don't have a camera, that's some great backmail material."
Eric rolled his eyes. "You know, Speed, you're a really pathetic liar when you've been drinking."
"Fine, you want to know the truth?" Tim groaned. "She's been sleeping with him for a week. There, happy now?"
"So, two weeks after we broke up, she moved on to her next victim." Eric said. "Whatever, it's not like I give a fuck."
"Now who's the pathetic liar?" Tim said.
"I swear to God, I think I saw a woman get pregnant, carry her baby to full term, and give birth while I was waiting in that bathroom line!" Calleigh exclaimed as she returned to her spot at the bar. "You can always tell when a place like this wasn't designed by a woman." She noticed that neither of the men seemed to have heard her. Then she saw why. "Oh my God, Eric, listen-"
"Don't bother." Eric cut her off. "I already know."
"Tim!" Calleigh groaned, casting an accusing look at her boyfriend.
"Cal, I swear, he tortured me." Tim defended himself. "Besides, you know how honest I get after a couple of beers."
"True." Calleigh sighed. She turned to Eric. "It's nothing, it's just a fling. That's why we didn't tell you."
"Hey, I don't really care." Eric insisted. "Whatever the hell it was between us is over, she can fuck whoever she wants."
Calleigh and Tim exchanged looks.
Looks that said 'He's only fooling himself.'
_________________________
Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady, you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
_________________________
"Delko, if you don't stop trying to look up my skirt, so help me..." Maria warned.
"Well, maybe if you weren't dancing on the bar directly in front of me!" Eric shot back. "Besides, it's not like there's anything up there that I haven't seen, up close and personal."
"God, you are a-" Maria's insult stopped abruptly as she toppled forward.
Eric caught her instinctively. Glancing around, he saw Calleigh and Tim kissing in the same dark corner where Maria and Hagen had been only about an hour earlier. Hagen was nowhere to be seen, and no one else seemed to have noticed, so he kept one arm wrapped protectively around her as he made his way through the crowd and out onto the beach. He gently set her down on a bench, and crouched in front of her as she winced and placed one hand against her stomach.
"Hey, take it easy." He said, brushing her hair aside and scanning her face. Aside from being completely hammered, she looked all right.
He had to admit to himself that even in her inebriated state, she still looked better than all right to him. Her honey blonde hair, which had been pulled into a loose ponytail during the day, was loose and slightly wavy around her face and down her back. She had changed before coming to the bar, and her short denim skirt showed off the light tan on her legs, while her lacy, cream colored silk top flowed over her upper body, exposing just enough of her breasts to entice him. Her full lips were painted a deep, dramatic red, and it took every ounce of willpower he had not to lean in and capture those lips in a searing kiss.
His inability to see her as anything other than gorgeous had been his main motive for avoiding her as much as possible in the past three weeks. He acted indifferent, claimed to anyone who would listen that he was only giving her the cold shoulder because that was what she was doing to him. He had a feeling, however, that it was written all over his face that he couldn't look at Maria without remembering what it felt like to be inside of her, couldn't brush against her accidentally without imagining her writhing and thrashing with pleasure in his arms, couldn't hear her speak without remembering the way she would scream his name.
"What the fuck?" Maria's hoarse voice jolted him back into reality, and he put one hand on her back to steady her as she tilted her head back, pressing her hand against her eyes.
"You fell right off the bar." Eric told her. "Did you black out or something?"
"I don't think so." Maria replied, shaking her head and blinking a few times. "No, I think one of my heels caught on something."
She stretched her legs out, pointing to her red ankle-wrap stiletto sandals. Eric sucked in a breath as an image of her wearing nothing but those shoes flashed into his mind. He forced those thoughts away. He didn't feel like he had the right to think about her like that anymore.
"I'm fine, come on, let's get back inside before the others start wondering where we went." Maria said. She stood up, then promptly sagged back onto the bench.
"Clearly, you're not fine." Eric insisted. "And what? Suddenly you're concerned about what the others think if we disappear for five minutes? Or maybe you're just concerned about what Hagen might think." Maria looked up at him, and he shrugged. "Didn't think I would find out, huh?"
"It's not what you think." Maria said lamely.
"So you're not sleeping with him?" Eric scoffed.
"What do you want me to say, Eric?" Maria snapped. "Yes, I'm sleeping with John, okay? It's different, it's not like it was with us. When I tell him that it's just sex, he actually listens."
"Well, I'm happy for you." Eric told her. "You two deserve each other."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Maria demanded. "Know what? Never mind. You want to be a jealous little boy, go right ahead." She stood up again, closing her eyes and leaning on the bench.
"I just want to know why." Eric said, his tone softer. "Why it's so impossible for you to accept how I feel about you. Why you can't admit that you might actually feel something for me."
Maria's eyes welled up and she bit her lower lip. "I...I don't know, okay? I don't!" With that, she turned on her heel and walked back into the bar.
"Fuck." Eric muttered under his breath. He sat down on the bench and ran one hand through his hair. That girl was going to drive him crazy.
Or maybe she already had.
________________________
I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Can make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
________________________
"Okay, Delko, it's your turn." Calleigh announced, cuddling a little closer to Tim in the booth the five of them occupied. "What's the weirdest place you and Maria ever did dirty?"
Eric almost choked on his beer. He glanced at Maria, who was finishing her third drink, seeming completely unaffected by the question. "You know, Cal, I don't think I'm drunk enough to answer that."
"I bet Maria is." Hagen laughed. "How about it, babe?"
Maria giggled, completely out of it. "Hmm...okay...the dressing room at the La Perla boutique in Coral Gables." She admitted. "What? I'd been dragging him around every shop in town all day, and then made him wait for half an hour while I tried on underwear, I figured he'd earned it."
"It was worth it." Eric said. He hated that he and Maria had to be drunk before they could be civil to one another, but he decided he would take whatever he could get. "But that wasn't the weirdest."
"Eric Delko, don't you fucking dare tell them that." Maria warned.
"Uh-oh, I think we need to hear this one." Tim said. "Come on, Delko, spill."
"All right." Eric said. "Remember last month, when H called Maria in on her day off? And the two of them got into it over a suspect that she thought was innocent? Well, after he'd left, and there weren't too many folks around, she was still pretty pissed, so we talked one of the guards into unlocking his office, saying she'd left something in there..."
"Holy shit." Calleigh gasped. "You didn't." Maria was the more rebellious member of the team, and despite her respect for Horatio, she did clash with him occasionally, but this was unbelievable.
"On the desk." Eric confessed. "And in the chair. Hey, it wasn't my idea, but I wasn't about to say no. She's pretty hot when she's mad, what can I say?"
"I cannot fucking believe you." Maria moaned, letting her head drop to the table. "I swear to God, if I had any depth perception whatsoever, you'd be missing a few appendages by now."
"Relax, none of them are going to remember this by tomorrow morning." Eric replied.
"Hey, I am not drunk!" Calleigh protested. "Okay, maybe I'm a little tipsy, but that's it. I came here to unwind, not get shitfaced. Besides, unlike some people, I know what my limits are."
Maria pouted. "So do I! Three cocktails, and a lot of water, and I'll wake up tomorrow without even a hint of a hangover."
"I don't know what was in those three drinks." Calleigh pressed. "But this is the most wasted I've ever seen you."
"I'm fine." Maria said. "Just tired. Maybe it's time to call it a night."
"Like any of us are in any shape to drive?" Tim pointed out.
"We'll call a cab." Maria shrugged.
"We'll need more than one." Hagen added.
"Now where's the fun in that?" Maria asked. "Come on, if I can fit four Kennedys, two Hamiltons, and a Hilton sister into one BMW Cooper at my twenty-fourth birthday party, this should be a snap."
"Okay, next time you're drunk," Tim said as the four of them followed her out of the bar. "We're going to need to hear that story."
___________________________
"Hey, Cal, wake up."
Sighing, Calleigh turned over, pretending to still be asleep. She had to admit, of all the ways to wake up, the sound of Tim's voice was her favorite.
His apartment had been chosen as the place for everyone to crash, being equally close to the bar, and to the crime lab. With their friends racked out in the living room, he and Calleigh had snuck off to his bedroom. They'd been too tired to do anything more than kiss and hold each other until they fell asleep, but sometimes even that was enough.
Besides, she was already planning for them to make up for it later.
"Come on, I know you're awake." His voice was followed seconds later by his fingers gently tracing her spine. He tickled the back of her neck slightly, and she giggled.
"No fair!" She said, sitting up and beaning him over the head with a pillow. "You know that's my one ticklish spot!"
"I've found a few others." He replied, pulling her close for a kiss. "Good morning."
"Mmm." She sighed against his lips. "It sure is."
"Come on, I made coffee." Tim said, taking her by the hand and leading her out to the hallway. "And you have got to see the scene in the living room."
Hagen was sprawled out on his side on the couch, facing towards the back of it with his lower body on the ground. Next to him, Eric had ended up with his legs over the opposite arm of the couch, and his arm over the back. Both of them were snoring like buzz saws.
In the armchair across from the couch, Maria was sleeping soundly. Her jacket, purse, and one stiletto had ended up between the door and the chair. One foot, the one that still had a shoe on it, was on the coffee table. The other leg was bent and splayed over the back of the chair, and her head was hanging off the side, her mouth slightly open.
"Well, this is a charming bunch." Calleigh laughed. She looked at Tim. "You know, as a group, we're not the coolest."
"Definitely not." Tim agreed. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
"Aw, mom...five more minutes...fifteen...just another hour or two..." Eric muttered under his breath.
Hagen sat up slightly, opened his eyes, then winced and fell back against the couch.
"Coffee?" Tim asked, amused.
"Yes, please." The detective managed to groan as he pulled himself up.
"Just put it in an IV and hook it up to my arm." Eric said, not opening his eyes.
"Nope, up and at 'em." Calleigh said, walking over to the couch and grabbing his arm to pull him up.
"Ow! All right, all right, I'm up." Eric protested. "Just quit manhandling me." He sat up and rubbed his arm. "Geez, you've got a grip. Hey Speed, glad I'm not you."
"Funny!" Calleigh sighed. As the men stumbled into the kitchen, she regarded her sleeping roommate and shook her head. "You can sleep through all of that, but when Tim and I try to fool around with you in the next room, we're keeping you awake." She shook Maria's arm gently, then not as gently. "Maria, come on, this isn't funny. Maria!" She placed her hand on the other woman's chest and felt her breathing in very slow, shallow gasps. "You guys! Get in here!"
The three men came back quickly, moved by the urgency in Calleigh's voice. "What's wrong?" Tim asked.
"I don't know!" Calleigh said. "Something's wrong with her, I can't wake her up."
"Maria? Can you hear me?" Hagen knelt down beside Maria and checked her pulse. "Delko, call an ambulance."
"Oh my God." Calleigh breathed. Tim put his arms around her to steady her, and she leaned into him, not taking her eyes off of Maria for a second.
__________________
TBC…
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!
Rating: PG-13 (Rating will go up to an R, at least, in later chapters.)
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.
Note: I better make it clear right off the bat that this is going to be a DARK fic. Several chapters will contain semi-graphic rape scenes, and the fic itself deals with some fairly adult themes (abuse, date-rape drugs, etc.) I know some people are upset or offended by violence of that nature, so I'll be sure and post clear warnings in chapters that contain such scenes.
Dedication: To Yana, because she helped me choose the title, and without her, I might STILL be looking at a blank screen, trying to figure out how the hell to start this mutha. Most of the credit for the first scene goes to her.
Soundtrack: "Rest In Pieces" by Saliva and "Wild Horses" by the Sundays.
____________________________
"Eric, come on, please?" Calleigh begged, tugging impatiently at her friend's arm. "Please?"
Scowling, Eric shook her off and turned to Tim. "Jesus, Speed, doesn't she get annoying in bed?"
"Hey!" Calleigh gasped indignantly, slapping him on the shoulder as her cheeks turned beet red. "At least I don't moan like some kind of fucking barnyard animal in heat."
"How the fuck would you know that?" Eric asked. He didn't exactly deny her accusation, as he remembered almost immediately how she would have known. He turned back to the evidence cabinet, trying not to think about it.
Calleigh sighed and shook her head. "Fine, be miserable!" She turned to the two men behind her, beseeching them silently to help her out.
"Delko, you're going with us whether you like it or not." Hagen spoke up. "We're dragging you out of this damn hole you've dug yourself into."
"Why do you care?" Eric snapped.
"I don't." Hagen replied. "You're just really starting to annoy me. Not to mention these two won't stop whining about how depressed you are."
"Come on, man." Tim added. "If not for your own sake, then for ours. Hagen's face is screwed up enough as it is, without that retarded frown."
Calleigh stifled a laugh, and Eric managed a smile. Hagen just rolled his eyes and muttered something about actually shaving, unlike some people.
"All right, fine, I'll go." Eric threw his hands up in defeat. The three of them were only going to get more annoying if he kept refusing. "On one condition."
"Maria's not coming with us." Calleigh assured him. Hagen started to say something, and Calleigh stomped on his foot. "Shut up!" She hissed.
Eric had already suspected she was lying, and that just confirmed it. But amazingly enough, he didn't care. "All right, whatever, let's just get this over with."
_____________________
Look at me
My depth perception must be off again
Cause this hurts deeper than I thought it did
It has not healed with time
It just shot down my spine
You look so beautiful tonight
Reminds me how you lay us down
And gently smiled
Before you destroyed my life
Could you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces?
________________________
"Henry, gimme another Screaming Orgasm." Maria said to the bartender.
"I don't know, Maria, I don't think my wife would appreciate that." The thirtysomething man replied, winking at her as he mixed the drink.
"That joke gets funnier every time I order that goddamn drink." Maria rolled her eyes.
"This is just your second one, right?" Henry asked, eying the young woman suspiciously.
"Yeah." Maria said. "I'm going to need a lot more, after the day I've had." She stuck her arm under Henry's nose. "Smell this! I swear to God, my job makes me fucking reek of death!"
"What I meant was, you're not holding it as well as you usually do." Henry continued, unphased.
"Well, I haven't eaten all day." Maria shrugged. "You try doing my job and having any kind of appetite." Pouting, she turned away from the bar, just in time to see some familiar faces by the door. "Hey!" She called, springing off of the stool she was sitting on and darting through the crowd on the dance floor to greet her friends.
Eric shot a look at Calleigh, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hey, I said she wasn't coming with us." She said. "You didn't ask if she was going to meet us here."
"Jesus Christ, I thought I was gonna have to send out a search party." Maria exclaimed as she reached the group.
"We had a straggler." Calleigh replied. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Besides, judging from your breath, you had no trouble occupying yourself while you waited."
"Bite me, I've only had one drink." Maria said defensively. "Hey Speed." She greeted Tim, then grabbed Hagen's tie and started to pull him towards the dance floor. "Come on, I love this song."
"Baby, you know I can't dance for shit when I'm sober." Hagen complained. His protests were ignored, however.
"You saw that, right?" Eric asked Calleigh and Tim. "I'm not invisible, right?"
"Well, you didn't exactly go out of your way to acknowledge her." Calleigh pointed out.
"And did he just call her 'baby?'" Eric continued, ignoring Calleigh's reply.
"I didn't hear that." Tim said quickly. Too quickly.
"Yeah, me neither." Calleigh agreed. "Come on, let's get some drinks."
_________________________
Look at me
My depth perception must be off again
You got much closer than I thought you did
I'm in your reach
You held me in your hands
Could you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces?
Could you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces?
_________________________
"You know, we should invite Horatio along sometime." Eric suggested. He and Tim exchanged looks, then burst out laughing.
"Yeah, H would have a great time with this crowd." Tim said sarcastically. He looked around at the seemingly endless mass of writhing, grinding, barely clad young bodies on the dance floor. The bar opened out onto the beach, where a number of couples had sought a private spot behind a dune or a bush to fool around. Off to one side, two bodies in particular caught his eye.
"What are you gawking at, man?" Eric asked. "Oh, holy shit."
Tim tried to think of something to say, anything to distract his friend.
"Holy shit." Eric repeated, watching Maria and Hagen making out in a dark corner of the bar. "How long has that been going on?"
"What, you mean those two?" Tim feigned ignorance. "That's nothing, man, they're both wasted. Probably won't even remember it tomorrow. Too bad we don't have a camera, that's some great backmail material."
Eric rolled his eyes. "You know, Speed, you're a really pathetic liar when you've been drinking."
"Fine, you want to know the truth?" Tim groaned. "She's been sleeping with him for a week. There, happy now?"
"So, two weeks after we broke up, she moved on to her next victim." Eric said. "Whatever, it's not like I give a fuck."
"Now who's the pathetic liar?" Tim said.
"I swear to God, I think I saw a woman get pregnant, carry her baby to full term, and give birth while I was waiting in that bathroom line!" Calleigh exclaimed as she returned to her spot at the bar. "You can always tell when a place like this wasn't designed by a woman." She noticed that neither of the men seemed to have heard her. Then she saw why. "Oh my God, Eric, listen-"
"Don't bother." Eric cut her off. "I already know."
"Tim!" Calleigh groaned, casting an accusing look at her boyfriend.
"Cal, I swear, he tortured me." Tim defended himself. "Besides, you know how honest I get after a couple of beers."
"True." Calleigh sighed. She turned to Eric. "It's nothing, it's just a fling. That's why we didn't tell you."
"Hey, I don't really care." Eric insisted. "Whatever the hell it was between us is over, she can fuck whoever she wants."
Calleigh and Tim exchanged looks.
Looks that said 'He's only fooling himself.'
_________________________
Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady, you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
_________________________
"Delko, if you don't stop trying to look up my skirt, so help me..." Maria warned.
"Well, maybe if you weren't dancing on the bar directly in front of me!" Eric shot back. "Besides, it's not like there's anything up there that I haven't seen, up close and personal."
"God, you are a-" Maria's insult stopped abruptly as she toppled forward.
Eric caught her instinctively. Glancing around, he saw Calleigh and Tim kissing in the same dark corner where Maria and Hagen had been only about an hour earlier. Hagen was nowhere to be seen, and no one else seemed to have noticed, so he kept one arm wrapped protectively around her as he made his way through the crowd and out onto the beach. He gently set her down on a bench, and crouched in front of her as she winced and placed one hand against her stomach.
"Hey, take it easy." He said, brushing her hair aside and scanning her face. Aside from being completely hammered, she looked all right.
He had to admit to himself that even in her inebriated state, she still looked better than all right to him. Her honey blonde hair, which had been pulled into a loose ponytail during the day, was loose and slightly wavy around her face and down her back. She had changed before coming to the bar, and her short denim skirt showed off the light tan on her legs, while her lacy, cream colored silk top flowed over her upper body, exposing just enough of her breasts to entice him. Her full lips were painted a deep, dramatic red, and it took every ounce of willpower he had not to lean in and capture those lips in a searing kiss.
His inability to see her as anything other than gorgeous had been his main motive for avoiding her as much as possible in the past three weeks. He acted indifferent, claimed to anyone who would listen that he was only giving her the cold shoulder because that was what she was doing to him. He had a feeling, however, that it was written all over his face that he couldn't look at Maria without remembering what it felt like to be inside of her, couldn't brush against her accidentally without imagining her writhing and thrashing with pleasure in his arms, couldn't hear her speak without remembering the way she would scream his name.
"What the fuck?" Maria's hoarse voice jolted him back into reality, and he put one hand on her back to steady her as she tilted her head back, pressing her hand against her eyes.
"You fell right off the bar." Eric told her. "Did you black out or something?"
"I don't think so." Maria replied, shaking her head and blinking a few times. "No, I think one of my heels caught on something."
She stretched her legs out, pointing to her red ankle-wrap stiletto sandals. Eric sucked in a breath as an image of her wearing nothing but those shoes flashed into his mind. He forced those thoughts away. He didn't feel like he had the right to think about her like that anymore.
"I'm fine, come on, let's get back inside before the others start wondering where we went." Maria said. She stood up, then promptly sagged back onto the bench.
"Clearly, you're not fine." Eric insisted. "And what? Suddenly you're concerned about what the others think if we disappear for five minutes? Or maybe you're just concerned about what Hagen might think." Maria looked up at him, and he shrugged. "Didn't think I would find out, huh?"
"It's not what you think." Maria said lamely.
"So you're not sleeping with him?" Eric scoffed.
"What do you want me to say, Eric?" Maria snapped. "Yes, I'm sleeping with John, okay? It's different, it's not like it was with us. When I tell him that it's just sex, he actually listens."
"Well, I'm happy for you." Eric told her. "You two deserve each other."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Maria demanded. "Know what? Never mind. You want to be a jealous little boy, go right ahead." She stood up again, closing her eyes and leaning on the bench.
"I just want to know why." Eric said, his tone softer. "Why it's so impossible for you to accept how I feel about you. Why you can't admit that you might actually feel something for me."
Maria's eyes welled up and she bit her lower lip. "I...I don't know, okay? I don't!" With that, she turned on her heel and walked back into the bar.
"Fuck." Eric muttered under his breath. He sat down on the bench and ran one hand through his hair. That girl was going to drive him crazy.
Or maybe she already had.
________________________
I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Can make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild Horses
Couldn't drag me away
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"Okay, Delko, it's your turn." Calleigh announced, cuddling a little closer to Tim in the booth the five of them occupied. "What's the weirdest place you and Maria ever did dirty?"
Eric almost choked on his beer. He glanced at Maria, who was finishing her third drink, seeming completely unaffected by the question. "You know, Cal, I don't think I'm drunk enough to answer that."
"I bet Maria is." Hagen laughed. "How about it, babe?"
Maria giggled, completely out of it. "Hmm...okay...the dressing room at the La Perla boutique in Coral Gables." She admitted. "What? I'd been dragging him around every shop in town all day, and then made him wait for half an hour while I tried on underwear, I figured he'd earned it."
"It was worth it." Eric said. He hated that he and Maria had to be drunk before they could be civil to one another, but he decided he would take whatever he could get. "But that wasn't the weirdest."
"Eric Delko, don't you fucking dare tell them that." Maria warned.
"Uh-oh, I think we need to hear this one." Tim said. "Come on, Delko, spill."
"All right." Eric said. "Remember last month, when H called Maria in on her day off? And the two of them got into it over a suspect that she thought was innocent? Well, after he'd left, and there weren't too many folks around, she was still pretty pissed, so we talked one of the guards into unlocking his office, saying she'd left something in there..."
"Holy shit." Calleigh gasped. "You didn't." Maria was the more rebellious member of the team, and despite her respect for Horatio, she did clash with him occasionally, but this was unbelievable.
"On the desk." Eric confessed. "And in the chair. Hey, it wasn't my idea, but I wasn't about to say no. She's pretty hot when she's mad, what can I say?"
"I cannot fucking believe you." Maria moaned, letting her head drop to the table. "I swear to God, if I had any depth perception whatsoever, you'd be missing a few appendages by now."
"Relax, none of them are going to remember this by tomorrow morning." Eric replied.
"Hey, I am not drunk!" Calleigh protested. "Okay, maybe I'm a little tipsy, but that's it. I came here to unwind, not get shitfaced. Besides, unlike some people, I know what my limits are."
Maria pouted. "So do I! Three cocktails, and a lot of water, and I'll wake up tomorrow without even a hint of a hangover."
"I don't know what was in those three drinks." Calleigh pressed. "But this is the most wasted I've ever seen you."
"I'm fine." Maria said. "Just tired. Maybe it's time to call it a night."
"Like any of us are in any shape to drive?" Tim pointed out.
"We'll call a cab." Maria shrugged.
"We'll need more than one." Hagen added.
"Now where's the fun in that?" Maria asked. "Come on, if I can fit four Kennedys, two Hamiltons, and a Hilton sister into one BMW Cooper at my twenty-fourth birthday party, this should be a snap."
"Okay, next time you're drunk," Tim said as the four of them followed her out of the bar. "We're going to need to hear that story."
___________________________
"Hey, Cal, wake up."
Sighing, Calleigh turned over, pretending to still be asleep. She had to admit, of all the ways to wake up, the sound of Tim's voice was her favorite.
His apartment had been chosen as the place for everyone to crash, being equally close to the bar, and to the crime lab. With their friends racked out in the living room, he and Calleigh had snuck off to his bedroom. They'd been too tired to do anything more than kiss and hold each other until they fell asleep, but sometimes even that was enough.
Besides, she was already planning for them to make up for it later.
"Come on, I know you're awake." His voice was followed seconds later by his fingers gently tracing her spine. He tickled the back of her neck slightly, and she giggled.
"No fair!" She said, sitting up and beaning him over the head with a pillow. "You know that's my one ticklish spot!"
"I've found a few others." He replied, pulling her close for a kiss. "Good morning."
"Mmm." She sighed against his lips. "It sure is."
"Come on, I made coffee." Tim said, taking her by the hand and leading her out to the hallway. "And you have got to see the scene in the living room."
Hagen was sprawled out on his side on the couch, facing towards the back of it with his lower body on the ground. Next to him, Eric had ended up with his legs over the opposite arm of the couch, and his arm over the back. Both of them were snoring like buzz saws.
In the armchair across from the couch, Maria was sleeping soundly. Her jacket, purse, and one stiletto had ended up between the door and the chair. One foot, the one that still had a shoe on it, was on the coffee table. The other leg was bent and splayed over the back of the chair, and her head was hanging off the side, her mouth slightly open.
"Well, this is a charming bunch." Calleigh laughed. She looked at Tim. "You know, as a group, we're not the coolest."
"Definitely not." Tim agreed. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
"Aw, mom...five more minutes...fifteen...just another hour or two..." Eric muttered under his breath.
Hagen sat up slightly, opened his eyes, then winced and fell back against the couch.
"Coffee?" Tim asked, amused.
"Yes, please." The detective managed to groan as he pulled himself up.
"Just put it in an IV and hook it up to my arm." Eric said, not opening his eyes.
"Nope, up and at 'em." Calleigh said, walking over to the couch and grabbing his arm to pull him up.
"Ow! All right, all right, I'm up." Eric protested. "Just quit manhandling me." He sat up and rubbed his arm. "Geez, you've got a grip. Hey Speed, glad I'm not you."
"Funny!" Calleigh sighed. As the men stumbled into the kitchen, she regarded her sleeping roommate and shook her head. "You can sleep through all of that, but when Tim and I try to fool around with you in the next room, we're keeping you awake." She shook Maria's arm gently, then not as gently. "Maria, come on, this isn't funny. Maria!" She placed her hand on the other woman's chest and felt her breathing in very slow, shallow gasps. "You guys! Get in here!"
The three men came back quickly, moved by the urgency in Calleigh's voice. "What's wrong?" Tim asked.
"I don't know!" Calleigh said. "Something's wrong with her, I can't wake her up."
"Maria? Can you hear me?" Hagen knelt down beside Maria and checked her pulse. "Delko, call an ambulance."
"Oh my God." Calleigh breathed. Tim put his arms around her to steady her, and she leaned into him, not taking her eyes off of Maria for a second.
__________________
TBC…