Disclaimer- I own zip, zero, zilch, nada, nothing. Ho hum. No wait! I own the new Lieutenant.
A/N- Major character death, I know, there are lots, but they're fun to play around with. And Horatio seems like Miami's Golden Boy… I just wanted to see what might happen if he was… well, gone.
Slight love interest… not much.
Warnings- A bit of swearing, and some violence.
Characters- Calleigh, Eric, Speed, Alexx, Frank Tripp, and Lt. Jamie Harrow.
When a Lieutenant Falls
Horatio Caine was dead. Gone. Shot.
Never again would any of the CSI's see his blue eyes and red hair out in the corridor, or anywhere, for that matter.
It had hit no-one as hard as it had hit Calleigh. She had no idea why.
It had been sudden, yes, and none of them had been with him. They all felt bad and it was worse for Delko, he had meant to go with H, but he had made some lame-ass excuse that he had some paper work to do.
Delko? Paperwork? Those two words were not compatible.
But still, Calleigh felt terrible, like she had lost part of herself. Okay, fair enough they had been close, all of them had been close to Horatio, but that still didn't explain her feelings.
The though that she had loved him had crossed her mind. But she can't have loved Horatio… She had a boyfriend, and Horatio was, well… old.
But the thought still haunted her subconscious.
-------S/C-------
The CSI Labs had been empty for three weeks; all had taken a much-needed holiday.
Horatio's death had affected many; he was just that kind of person.
Calleigh had struggled with the thought of work without him… It just wouldn't be the same.
Cases without his dry wit… Sunsets without his Sunglasses peering back at her… It would never be the same.
It was a Monday, and strangely enough, it felt odd to be back in the Miami Police Department.
Calleigh walked in with her bag slung over her shoulder, blonde locks spilling onto her back.
She saw Speed coming out of administration, and smiled at him. She opened her mouth to say 'Have you seen Horatio the 'smorning?' and hastily bit back her words.
She could almost have cried. It was just that every-day habit.
Speed looked at her quizzically, then said, "Morning. Don't stand their like that Call, or you'll catch flies. Oh, and Frank wants us in the Break room in an hour to meet the new…" he trailed off, his face falling.
Calleigh new what was coming, none of them had wanted Horatio's job... it would be to hard… She had a call during her holidays about it… she was sure they all had.
Speed gulped. "Lieutenant."
She could see he was struggling with memories also. She gave him a quick hug.
"Be strong Speed. He wouldn't have taken no shit from nobody. It woulda' been straight back to work on the first case that landed on his desk."
She blinked back the tears that threatened, and walked on up the corridor.
"See you later." She called quietly, and made her way to the locker room.
She turned left down the hall, and walked past Horatio's office.
With a jolt, she noticed the desk was clean, no trace of a red-haired inhabitant remained.
She gave a sad smile at what she had just thought, remembering where she was…
No trace…
She walked into the locker room, seeing Eric talking with Alexx, and nodded towards them.
They returned the gesture, and continued in lowered tones. Calleigh put her hand to her locker, 'Duquesne, Calleigh' on the door.
She looked to her left, and her stomach dropped.
The door that for years had had the name 'Caine, Horatio' on it, was empty, and no label was on the door.
Calleigh new Horatio had barley used it, but it was part of her everyday, seeing his name there. Just the same as 'Delko, Eric' to her right, 'Speedle, Tim' after that, and 'Woods, Alexx' to the right again, were there also.
Her lip quivered, and the tears finally escaped.
Her mascara ran, which she quickly cleaned away. Alexx embraced her in the hug she needed so badly.
Calleigh looked over Alexx's shoulder to Delko and he said, "Yeah, it ruffled me, too."
She felt better, and removed herself from Alexx's arms. "Did you hear we have to meet Frank to meet our new… Lieutenant?" She wiped at her cheek again.
"Yeah, we heard, oh, boy did we hear." She rolled her eyes, handing Calleigh a tissue. "Apparently he's a New Yorker, and he's 'fantastic'" Delko muttered something about New York, and left the room.
"Ok, I'll see you then. There's something I have to do." Calleigh walked out, and went deeper into Miami PD.
She was on a Bee-line for the Firing Range. She had missed it so.
Sometimes she worried herself, missing her guns. She smiled as she waltzed in, un-locking the door.
She breathed in the familiar scent on gunpowder; it reminded her of the so many times before that Horatio stood watching her shoot, most of the time she did not even notice him.
She took out a .44 from the gun vault, loaded it and put on her safety gear.
She took aim, and looked behind her, making sure the Blue eyes weren't still their watching her.
Taking aim, she let a bullet fly. It struck the dead centre of the target.
That was for the Bastards who shot him, she thought.
Taking aim again, she shot, and heard metal on metal. She gasped and gapped at the target. The second bullet lay on the ground; it had hit the end of the first bullet.
And that was just freaky, she thought. After that, she fired round after round, her anger was raw.
She looked at her watch. Quarter to nine. "Damit," she said as she hurriedly removed her goggles and earmuffs, put away the gun, and ran to the break room.
They were all their waiting for her, "Nice to see you could drop by," Said Speed as she skidded in the door. Calleigh cuffed him over the head, and sat down.
Speedle mouthed an 'Ow' and they all fell silent as Frank and a stranger entered the room.
He had dark hair and fair skin, brown eyes, and thick eyebrows. He can't have been much older that Delko, she thought.
He wore a suit without a tie, a badge and pistol holstered on his belt. His suit matched his shirt, and not a hair was out of place. He had a sly look about him.
Frank addressed the CSI's. "This, is you new lieutenant, Mr. Jamie Harrow." Harrow inclined his head in the slightest way.
"Can we call you J?" asked Speed and Eric together.
Harrow gave them an incredulous look, and the two smiled. "Most certainly not, my name is Lt. Jamie Harrow, and that is what I will be called."
Speedle and Delko recoiled visibly. All of them were surprised by the harsh remark.
"Right..." Frank, wanting to break the apparent tension, "This is Alexx Woods, Eric Delko, Calleigh Duquesne, and Tim Speedle." Each stood up and shook hand as their name was mentioned, Eric and Speed did so, if a little grudgingly.
"Call me Speed," Added Tim as he stood up. The new Lieutenant did not even acknowledge the remark.
"Thank you Frank," said Harrow, dismissing the man.
Frank nodded to the rest, and left.
"Okay all," he said, taking a case file out from under his arm, "There has been a Homicide at the beach, and the police want us their ASAP. The murder weapon was found at the site."
"Geez, we just get this place cleaned up, and it goes and gets all messy again. I think were gonna have to start chaining Miami up." Eric muttered.
Speed snorted, and Harrow glared at him.
"I feel like a naughty schoolboy." Speed murmured back, and in answer, Harrow mumbled, "Spot On."
Calleigh caught the snide remark, and felt a wave of hatred towards him.
This wasn't good. This man was their new lieutenant, and had been for what? Five minutes? And she had a feeling that they all already disliked him.
"Alexx, Tim, Calleigh, you come with me, Eric, stay here and have the fingerprint Computer up-and-running. This is going to be the fastest case ever solved at the Miami PD."
He left the room, walking towards the door. The three followed while Eric headed off to the Lab.
She had never heard Speed called 'Tim' in conversation, or in the assignment of tasks. It had always been "Speed' this, and 'Speed' that.
She shrugged. It wasn't… H they were talking about anymore. It was Jamie Harrow.
----------S/C----------
Really, if Calleigh was being honest, they hadn't really needed her at the beach.
The murder weapon was a bloody gun, nothing Speed couldn't have taken care of.
They had been at the scene yesterday, and it had been nothing new. Young girl, dead on the beach, shot wound to the chest, careless killer just threw away the gun, with his blood all over it. It seemed the girl had put up a fight.
When they got back to the lab, and Harrow had given the gun to Delko to put through the computer, and when Delko didn't match the print with an owner with the first photo, Harrow had criticized him.
"Incapable," harrow had stated simply, "This is just a show of lack of skill." He had finished, and walked away.
"Tell me when you do find the right print." He had called as he left.
Then later the same day, as Alexx was examining the body of the girl, Jamie and Frank had walked past the Autopsy observation window. He had caught quiet snippets of Alexx's conversation with the corpse.
Then in plain hearing range of her, he had said quiet loudly, "Frank, I think we need a new coroner, this one's going a little crazy."
Alexx had fumed at him all break, mumbling insults, which was a huge thing for her.
----------S/C----------
Late that night, Calleigh was walking towards the locker room, completely exhausted, and she had heard the loud, rough voice of Harrow calling to her, "Calleigh, if those Ballistics reports aren't on my desk by tomorrow lunch-time, it's your job on the line."
Calleigh rounded on the dark haired lieutenant, but he was nowhere to be seen.
She had been working on them all day, they were a lot of work and she was tired.
She had considered asking for an extension, but that remark had made her determined to get them done.
She made a sharp turn back towards her workplace, and looked grim.
She would get them done, and they would be on his stupid desk tonight.
----------S/C----------
The next morning she walked in to the labs, and immediately Alexx said, "Calleigh, baby, you look terrible!"
"Yeah, I know. I was up 'till 2am finishing the reports."
"You shouldn't push yourself that hard. Especially for him." The dislike was evident in her face.
At that moment, Harrow swung his tall frame in the door and said, "Calleigh, I'm impressed with your diligence. Well done on the reports."
When he had left, Calleigh mocked a vomit.
They all sniggered, and went their separate ways.
----------S/C----------
Two weeks, and many sarcastic and unkind remarks later, Calleigh had had enough. She didn't think she had ever hated a person more.
Although, she had caught Harrow staring at her over the break room, and giving her odd looks across the computer screens.
She passed it off as nothing, and overlooked his compliments.
Why wasn't he getting her vibes? Did he not understand she detested him?
And the case of the dead teenager had been solved in nothing but average time.
Also, she had to admit Horatio had done the job much more gracefully.
Calleigh could not help but compare Harrow's every move to Horatio.
She knew he was a wonderful CSI, and Harrow compared to him was somewhat of a Rookie, but she had enjoyed watching Horatio solve the cases, but now, work at the PD was nothing but a job.
Harrow had blamed the slow case-cracking on an in experienced team; Calleigh had overheard him talking to Tripp one day.
She had not missed the look of deep disapproval on Frank's face.
----------S/C----------
It was the end of another day on the case, and Calleigh was looking forward to going home and going to sleep, but as she was walking out into one more Miami sunset, she heard someone else following her.
She turned, around with a smile, thinking it was Speed or Delko saying goodbye, but her smile was wiped from her face when she saw it was Harrow.
"Listen, I was thinking…" he began, for the first time since she had known him, he was hesitating, "I wanted to know if you wanted to go and get a coffee… or something…"
Calleigh gazed at him, lost for words. He was asking hr out? After all he had said and done?
"You've just been a complete…" she faltered, her rage boiling over, "-Ass to my good friend, you've been an ass to all of us in fact! Numerous times in fact! And you still have the nerve to ask me out?" she stood in and angered silence.
"Awww… come on…" he whined, and pulled a pair of shades form his pocket.
He placed them on, exactly as Horatio had done, (in fact, the glasses were identical,) then put his hands on his hips, pulling back his jacket.
"How about now?" he asked, a nasty smile on his lips.
Calleigh shivered at how much it reminded her of the red-haired lieutenant, and furious, walked hastily from the building.
----------S/C----------
The following morning had a tense atmosphere, an air to it that spoke of untold feelings.
Something big was going to happen.
It was yet another double-homicide on the cards for the day, this time there was actual ballistics work needed.
She made a point to avoid eye contact with Harrow all day, and was pleased with herself.
But, as was his nature, he could not go a day without insulting them.
His target again was Delko. He had a particular dislike for him, with no apparent reason.
This time, Delko was scouring a section of the riverbed particularly close to the murder site.
He came up, breathing heavy, with nothing to report.
"Oh, come on, a blind hippopotamus could search better than you. We're sure the gun is down their, or why would…" but he never got to finish his sentence.
Delko had dived furiously, splashing the lieutenant in filthy river water.
He had looked disgusted, and walked off angrily.
Calleigh admired Eric then for just not throwing in the towel, and leaving.
----------S/C---------
In the locker room at the end of the day, she was packing away her things.
She looked to her left, and saw that the locker with 'Harrow, Jamie," was completely empty.
She couldn't explain her hate for the man.
Her feelings were all messed up, at times she felt happy, and forgot all about the incident, and then at times it came flooding back, the fact that she would never see her real lieutenant again.
It hit her extra hard, and she just wanted to break down into tears.
But she was strong, she was Bullet Girl, and she sustained her composure.
Footsteps echoed on the floor, sounding cold and alone.
She was chillingly reminded of the night before, as Jamie opened the door.
He came straight towards her, and asked, "Aren't you going to say hello to your new lieutenant?"
"You will never even be half the CSI Horatio was," she said in reply turning back to her bag.
Before she could, Harrow pinned her to the lockers, pulling her close.
She recoiled, but her held her tight, she was about to scream, when he leant his lips towards her.
She turned away, and he looked at her with his intense dark eyes.
"Awww… come on, you can't say you've never snogged Horatio before…" he leant in for another kiss, his eyes closed.
That was the last straw, something inside her snapped.
She pulled her pistol from its holster, hanging by her side, feeling the cool metal barrel under her fingers.
Then she closed her own eyes.
She gripped it tight, and raised it to the Harrow's forehead.
She placed it their firmly, and pulled the trigger.
And that was for Horatio, she thought, as Lieutenant Jamie Harrow's lifeless body slipped from her arms.
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A/N- Sorry, tyeah I know, lots of short chapter-type things, but that's what it needed…
Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review! I love feedback.