Dinner Parties, Blue Dresses and Olive Juice

A/N: This is only my first proper Miami fic since the last one was a challenge and doesn't count lol. Umm hopefully this isn't too much like the CSI episode "Butterflied" at the start; it's not supposed to be. The concept has been used so many times before probably, but I don't care. This is going to be one of those fics which has like loads of sub plots rolled into one, but this chapter only hints on two. Ummm… what to say, what to say lol, oh yeah, this is a Horatio & Calleigh fic! ) Sorry this chapter is so short!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Dedicated To: Okay so she's had more fics dedicated to her than most people have had hot dinners, but hey, this one's dedicated to you Becs! This is because a.) You got me to being the HCR fan I am now, and b.) You are the best inspiration!

Also dedicated to Kerry because she's been sat here helping me for the past half hour lol and so she needs a mention.

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The room was cold. Not that this was unusual of the room he was in, but Horatio seemed to notice it more than usual as he watched Alexx collect finger prints from the dead girl who had not yet been identified. There was something strangely familiar about the blonde woman lying still on the metal table, her body blue from the cold. Horatio shrugged it away though, listening to Alexx explaining what she'd found, a million theories going over and over in his head. Theories were all he had.

"I pulled out several bullets; two from her chest and one from the wound on her thigh. She was shot in the leg first, probably to stop her running, and then twice in the chest and once in the head,"

"We found two bullets at the scene," Horatio said, still thinking.

Alexx shook her head slowly as she stepped back from the body, "Someone just didn't want you to have that baby did they, sugar? Damn it Horatio, who shoots someone who's less than a month away from having a baby?"

It was Horatio's turn to shake his head. His job was hard at the best of times, but it was cases like this one that really bothered him. It bothered him that he could be part of a race that could do something like that to another person. Now that he was close to the body, he could see the look of shock in her green eyes, the first thing he'd noticed when they'd found in her in the alleyway that morning.

"I don't know Alexx, but I intend to find out,"

Just as he was turning toward the door, a rather flustered looking Calleigh came in, her long blonde hair hanging loosely at her shoulders, a confused expression on her face, "Uh Horatio, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Would you excuse me for a moment Alexx?" His usual expression fixed firmly on his face; he followed Calleigh out to the corridor, "What can I do for you Calleigh?"

Quickly, she explained her situation to a curious Horatio, going into a panicked voice which made her accent stand out even more. She had been invited to a dinner party for her father's birthday party, but had been given absolutely no notice whatsoever, "So now I have to go to this thing, except I can't because I need to work, and we have a case and…"

"Go," Horatio silenced her for a moment.

"I can't go though! That's the point. I am meant to go with someone, and I have no one to take. If I show up alone, I'm going to look stupid, and well I'm going to have a huge space next to me aren't I. You don't get it, when he arranges things like this, he really arranges them properly, with the little place marks and everything. And he always expects everyone to bring someone,"

Horatio couldn't help but smile. Her father was a known alcoholic, though he had pretty much steered away from the drink for the past year or so, but it just seemed strange that he would be so organised when it came to parties. Calleigh certainly wasn't joking though, "When is it?"

"I'm his daughter, I…" The blonde stopped mid-sentence and it took a moment for his question to register, "Uh tonight,"

"When you say tonight, do you mean tonight or this evening?"

Calleigh ran a hand through her hair, "I have to be there at 8,"

"I'll pick you up at half seven then,"

"What!"

Horatio smiled, sensing the shock and confusion in her eyes, "You need someone to go with you, right? Well Speed and Delko have just finished on their case; they can take over ours for tonight, right?"

Before Calleigh had a chance to say anything, Horatio had gone through the door and had disappeared. Shaking her head, she started back down the corridor herself, heading for the locker room. I guess I need to go hunt for that blue dress after all.