Title: Whoever Fights Monsters

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: This chapter is a hard R for sexual themes. The rest of the fic will be rated R for violence and subject matter. Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, John/Yelina, Horatio/Adele

Summary: The suspicious death of a student at a boarding school for troubled teenagers leads the CSIs into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the prime suspect.

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!

Note: A few people have asked me about the stories that removed. muttermuttergrumble They aren't currently posted anywhere, but if you're interested in reading them (which I'd recommend since they are part of a series) my email can be found in my profile. Do keep in mind, they do contain graphic sex scenes, so let me know if you'd prefer to read an "edited" version.

Other Note: Okay, the first chapter of this story may be confusing, since it switches settings/time and place right in the middle, but just go with it, okay?

Other Other Note: Just got done watching the season premiere. Still sniffling. It shoulda been Horatio, dammit! Anyhoo, I can't guarentee that this fic will be any happier. I can, however, guarentee that Tim is alive, and is going to stay that way, dammit.

"What have we got?" One of the nurses shouted, running for a trauma room.

"Male gunshot victim, twenty-seven." A paramedic replied. "Shot in the chest, no exit wound. He's been in and out."

"He was in here before." One of the nurses observed. "He came in to see a patient who was taken upstairs, a young pregnant woman."

"Calleigh!" A young man pushed past the nurses, toward a young woman who had just come through the doors, followed by another man.

"Oh my God, Tim." Calleigh gasped out, falling against him. "Did you see him?"

"Yeah, as they were bringing him in." Tim said. "He was conscious, at least I think he was."

"He was when they put him in the ambulance." Hagen spoke up.

"Excuse me?" A nurse interrupted. "You're Eric Delko's colleagues? He's asking to see you before we take him to surgery." She led them into the trauma room.

"Hey." Eric managed to say when he saw his friends. "How's Maria?"

"She's...she's okay." Tim said. It was a flat-out lie, but in his present state, Eric didn't seem to notice. "She was asleep when I left her."

"Tell her..." Eric's voice trailed off.

"Don't worry." Calleigh said soothingly. She leaned in and stroked his hair gently. "Anything you have to say to Maria, she can wait a few hours and hear it from you."

"Tell her I love her and the baby." Eric insisted. "Tell her everything's going to be okay."

"We'll tell her." Tim promised. He tried to seem calm, but he couldn't ignore the fact that there was something in his friend's eyes that he had never seen there before. Fear.

Eric reached for Calleigh's hand. "This could be the last time I see you guys."

"God, would you shut up?" Hagen said. "Haven't you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?"

"You're gonna be fine, man." Tim added. "Just keep thinking about Maria and the baby."

"Eric, I need to ask you some questions before we take you upstairs." A nurse said. "Do you have any medical conditions?"

"Well, I've been shot." Eric replied.

The nurse ignored the joke. "How about allergies?"

"Yeah." Eric said. "Bullets. So how about fishing this thing outta me?"

Calleigh couldn't help but smile. "Eric, what the hell are you doing?"

"I want you guys to tell Maria that I was being brave and joking around." Eric said.

"You want us to lie to her at a time like this?" Hagen replied. "Man, that's twisted."

Eric managed a brief smile, and looked like he was about to respond, but his eyes closed suddenly and his head dropped to one side, just as one of the machines he was hooked up to began to beep rapidly.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait outside." The same nurse gently but insistently nudged the three cops out of the room, as a handful of doctors and other nurses surrounded Eric.

"Oh my God." Calleigh winced, burying her head against Tim's shoulder.

"Try to stay calm." Hagen said, placing his hand on her arm.

"Stay calm?" Calleigh repeated. "He could die! Maria is still critical!"

Tim pulled her tighter against him, stroking her hair as she started to sob. "Jesus Christ." He muttered, glancing behind them at the scene in the trauma room. "How the hell did it come to this?"

Three days earlier...

At first, Eric thought the sound that was invading a particularly pleasant dream was his alarm clock. But when he rolled over and hit the snooze button on the offending object, the loud beeping continued, and under it, he could now hear a faint voice cursing. Smirking, he rolled out of the bed and made his way down the hall into the kitchen.

Maria looked up sheepishly when he came into the room. "I was trying not to wake you up." She confessed, smiling when she saw that he was wearing nothing but a pair of white cotton boxer shorts.

"Yeah, well, smoke detectors tend to have that effect." Eric teased. He crossed the room and slid his arms around her from behind. "Welcome home."

"Mmm." Maria sighed, leaning back into him. "Did you miss us?"

Eric kissed the back of her neck as his hands came to rest on the slight swell of her stomach. "Two days felt like a damn lifetime. How's Yolanda?"

"She's okay." Maria replied. After taking some time to recover from the shock of learning that her father and birth mother had never been married, Maria was slowing beginning the process of reconciling with her family, and had spent the weekend in Washington D.C with Yolanda, who was there while the Senate was in session. "She said to tell you hello."

"What were you trying to make?" Eric asked, looking at the mess on the stove.

"Eggs." Maria sighed. "Didn't think I could fuck those up too bad. Sorry about the mess."

"Don't worry about it." Eric insisted, already distracted by the fact that Maria was clad only in a pair of denim cutoffs that barely fit her changing figure, and a blue lace bra.

"I missed you." Maria said softly, leaning against him again and inhaling sharply when she felt him pressed against her lower back. "Missed that, too." She unconsciously moved her hips in slow, languid circles.

Eric chuckled and reached to unhook her bra. "And apparently, it missed you."

Maria swatted his hands away. "Not now, I've gotta fix this. You keep distracting me like that and I'll burn our breakfast again."

"You'll burn it anyway." Eric pointed out. He succeeded in slipping her bra off, but she stubbornly gripped the counter in front of her, not letting it come off completely. "Might as well be for a good reason."

"Oh, wow, you do know how to sweet-talk a gal." Maria said sarcastically. Then Eric's hands were on her breasts, which had become larger and more sensitive in the past month, much to his obvious delight. His fingers circled one nipple and pinched it lightly, and she felt an immediate response between her thighs. "That's cheating."

"You really want me to stop?" Eric whispered in her ear, grinding against her back.

"Don't even think about it." Maria hissed. She managed to reach back and slip her hand between their bodies. "Unless you don't want me to do this." With that, she began cupping and stroking him through the thin cotton of his shorts.

"Witch." Eric said gruffly, moaning as he felt her hand slip into his shorts. Determined not to let her take over, he moved one hand down to unfasten her cutoffs and push them down. After helping her remove his boxers, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him.

After they made love, they clung to each other, both leaning hard against the counter as they managed to catch their breath. Then Eric picked Maria up, holding her tightly against his chest, and carried her into the bedroom. He lay her down in the center of the bed and stretched out beside her, running his hands over her body and placing soft kisses on her shoulder.

"Damn, woman..." He whispered. "If you ever leave me, you'd better kill me first."

"Don't worry about that." Maria laughed softly, caressing his cheek and sliding her other hand through his damp hair. "I wouldn't be able to live for one day without you."

Eric smiled and turned onto his side to take in the sight next to him. Her long hair was tousled and wild, her green eyes were bright and shining with unshed tears of joy. Then his gaze traveled lower, to the small, round bump in her abdomen. He reached out and lay his hand across it. "I think he got bigger over the weekend."

"Wouldn't be surprised." Maria said, placing her hand over his and gently stroking his fingers. "Every time I turned around, Yolanda was shoving more food at me. 'Eat more, Maria.' 'You're not eating enough, Maria.' 'Remember, Maria, you're eating for two now.' And so on. Like the baby doesn't remind me to eat every two hours." She gave Eric a playful nudge on his shoulder. "And stop saying 'he,' we won't know anything for sure until my appointment on Friday."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that." Eric said. "Maybe we should wait to find out about the sex. It's only five more months."

"Are you kidding?" Maria asked. "Come on, you know I hate waiting. Besides, we need to know what it is so we can paint the spare bedroom, and how would we know kind of clothes to buy, and-"

Eric cut her off with a soft kiss. "Yeah, I know. I was testing you, just wanted to know that you hadn't changed your mind."

Maria laughed and shoved him again. "You couldn't have just asked me? God, you are such a dope." She sighed happily and leaned over to kiss him. "I love you, ya big dope."

"I love you, too." Eric said as he pulled her close and carefully turned her onto her back. He brushed his lips across hers, then kissed her deeply and took her again slowly, carefully, feeling her body yield to him as she moaned into his mouth.

"You sure...we have time...for this?" She asked as he began to move.

"There's always time." Eric chuckled, then covered her mouth with his again and focused entirely on making love to her, at a gentler, more leisurely pace this time. They probably would be late, and they would probably get some grief from Horatio at a result, but he couldn't have cared less.

"Well, look at that." Calleigh said cheerfully. "Maria's home. Now, how did we know that?"

"Hmm." Tim grunted, looking pointedly at his watch, then at Eric and Maria. "I don't know, baby. Maybe we're psychic."

"Bite my ever-expanding ass." Maria replied, sticking out her tongue. "Nice to see you guys, too."

"Yeah, we're only ten minutes late." Eric added. "Besides, judging from those smudges on your neck, you found a way to keep busy."

Tim muttered something under his breath as he wiped a spot of Calleigh's lipstick off his skin.

"Maria!" A voice behind the group caught their attention.

"Hey, it's the Honeymooners!" Maria said, turning to see Hagen and Yelina. "How was Jamaica?"

"Amazing." Yelina sighed, embracing her friend. "You were absolutely right, the culture and history there are so fascinating."

"Yeah, sure.." Maria smirked. "And what did you guys actually do?"

"The hotel had a bar in the pool, literally in it." Hagen spoke up. "Drunk is the only way to swim."

"Okay, do not mention booze to me." Maria groaned. "I've still got five months to go, and then nursing after that."

"Hey, that reminds me." Eric said. "While you were away, I took all the beer and liquor in the apartment and dumped it down the sink, the place is totally dry. I'm not touching a drop of alcohol until you can."

"Really?" Maria asked. "Oh, baby, that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"You're a strange woman, Maria." Calleigh said.

Maria grinned. "Pretty much full time."

"By the way, Horatio wanted to see both of you in his office as soon as you got here." Tim said to Eric.

"You couldn't have mentioned that, I don't know, as soon as we got here?" Eric asked.

"I could have." Tim admitted. "But hey, I was keeping busy."

"You wanted to see us?" Maria asked.

"Yes, I did." Horatio glanced up from the newspaper he was reading. "Come on in."

"Uh, H, we're really sorry we were late." Eric said sheepishly. "You know how traffic can be on Macarthur."

"Right, traffic." Horatio said. "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. Have a seat."

As they stepped into the office, Maria noticed a duffel bag next to the desk, and a pillow and blanket on the couch. "Did you...did you sleep here last night?"

After a moment, Horatio nodded. "Uh, yes. Adele...locked me out."

"Of your own house?" Eric said incredulously.

Maria laughed, shocked. "Damn, what did you do?"

Horatio started to protest, then nodded, knowing that there was no point in lying to Maria. "I may have...accidentally implied that her job isn't as important as mine."

"No!" Maria said, grabbing the newspaper from him. She rolled it up and waved it at him threateningly. "No! Bad! That's a bad Horatio!"

"I'd rather not discuss this." Horatio said, taking the paper back from her. "The reason I wanted to see you two is that Taylor Walsh came to see me this morning."

"Okay, if this is about Mark Bergeron, I swear, he kicked himself in the ass." Maria insisted.

"The man lacks the coordination necessary to walk and chew gum, and you expect me to believe he could kick himself?" Horatio asked.

"Sure." Maria said with a shrug.

"Actually, the reason Taylor came to see me is that she needs our help with a case. A potential case, at least." Horatio explained. "She'd like you two to meet her at the Dade Center."

"The Dade Center?" Maria repeated. She knew about the place, it was a residential college prep program for 'troubled' young adults. "Isn't Cassie there?"

"Yes, she is." Horatio said. "And apparently, something happened to her roommate over the weekend."

"So, why did you kick Mark, anyway?" Eric asked as he opened the passenger side door of the Hummer and helped Maria out.

"He called me short." Maria said.

"Okay, well, don't kick me or anything, but you are short." Eric told her.

"Uh, yeah, I know that." Maria sighed. "So I don't really need to have it pointed out to me. It's like when guys tell me I have big breasts."

"Well, you-" "Don't." Maria interrupted. She groaned and tugged at her bra. "They're beyond big now, they're fucking ridiculous."

"I hadn't noticed." Eric said.

Maria playful grabbed his chin. "I'm up here, honey."

"Eric, Maria." Jake Brody spotted the couple and jogged over to them. "Maria, you look beautiful. You're glowing."

"I'm sweating, Jake." Maria said. "I've been barfing all morning. Where's Taylor?"

"With our daughter, inside." Jake replied. "One of Cassie's roommates died last night, of an apparent allergic reaction. Cass came home from the movies, found her on the bathroom floor, in anaphylactic shock. Paramedics were called in, but the girl was gone by the time they arrived."

"Oh my God." Maria gasped. "That's awful. Poor Cassie."

"Roommate's name was Mackenzie Matthews, she was twenty." Jake added. "Anything else, I guess you can get from Cass."

"Yeah, thanks." Eric said. He turned to Maria and took her hand. "Let's go talk to Cassie."

"Taylor?" Jake said. "Darlin', Maria and Eric are here to talk to Cass about Mackenzie."

"Thanks, honey." Taylor said, standing up from the couch. As she passed by her husband, she placed her hand on his arm, as if to steady herself. Then she knocked on the closed door in front of her. "Cassie, you gotta come out now, sweetheart. Maria's here."

The door opened after a minute, and Cassandra Brody stepped out. She was a small, thin young woman, with her mother's blonde hair and her father's light brown eyes. In a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, and with her eyes swollen and red from crying, she looked much younger than her nineteen years.

"Hey, Cassie." Maria said. "We're so sorry about your friend. How about you sit down with us and tell us what happened?"

Cassandra nodded and stepped over to the couch.

"We'll be right outside if you need anything, angel." Jake said to his daughter as he put his arm around Taylor's shoulders and guided her away.

"Thanks, Daddy." Cassandra said softly, listlessly. She looked up at Eric and Maria. "Sorry the place is such a mess. Today was gonna be Mack's turn to clean up."

"I'm sorry." Maria repeated.

"It wasn't an accident." Cassandra said, choking back a sob. "I don't think it was, anyway. I think Mackenzie was murdered."

TBC...