CSI: Miami: Catastrophe
By Munch'sGunAngel
Chapter1: The Beginning
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: Miami. All of the characters accept one belong to Anthony E. Zuker. The character that I do own is Angel McLadden. Any use of this character without my permission will end in serious repercussions on your part. Other than that, please enjoy my CSI: Miami fic. Reviews and critiques welcome. Flames are welcome but I respectfully request that you don't send them. I already have enough scorch marks on my desk from unopened Howlers (hee hee!). Onto the story!
Horatio Caine groaned as he rolled over to answer his phone. Cain's eyes just barely registered that the luminous clock read two A.M. It had been a rough day for him and sleep was a little elusive.
"Caine," he said into the receiver.
"CSI's are required at the scene of a kidnapping. Be advised that the kidnapped is one of ours," came the voice of a dispatcher. This was how most of Horatio Caine's chaotic workday's began.
After he copied down the full address, he proceeded to get dressed. Horatio donned his ever-perfect black suit. He, then, went to the bathroom and meticulously combed his fiery red hair. On his way back through his bedroom, Caine stopped at the bedside table to scoop up items including his badge and gun.
Horatio went outside and jumped in the department issue gray Hummer with the Miami PD badge on the side that was parked in the driveway. After forcing the engine to turn over and double-checking that his kit was in the backseat (he's very good at keeping his kit stocked before a case comes up), Caine pulled out of the driveway. He turned the siren on as he roared down the street.
Twenty minuets later Horatio arrived in front of an apartment complex swarming with paparazzi. He wondered, as he got out and grabbed his kit, why this case was such a media circus compared to some of his past cases.
Detective Tripp was waiting for Horatio at the door of the complex. He gave Caine a nod and led him in. Tripp preferred to brief the CSI/Detective beyond the prying eyes of news crews, so he didn't say a word until they stopped in front of a cordoned off apartment thirteen.
"This is the apartment of Angel McLadden. You might know her better under the title Detective McLadden, the Transfer from Chicago," Tripp said.
(FLASHBACK: Horatio)
Horatio was back in his academy days. Angel sat across a library table from him. She was a lanky brunette with brown eyes. McLadden wore a shirt with a biohazard symbol on it and jeans. Horatio wore, believe it or not, a Kiss concert tee shirt and jeans. They were supposed to be studying for a Chemistry test the next day but they were rather more interested in the conversation they were having.
"Where do you plan on going after school?" Horatio asked
"Where ever the job takes me. And you?" Angel retaliated.
"Same I guess," Caine replied.
"Well, I hope our paths cross again some time in the near future. I've always enjoyed your company. You've always made finding answers simple. Even the professor thinks we make good…no, unstoppable investigative team," McLadden intoned.
They stayed in touch for many years until she found the chance to be transferred to his team.
(Authoress Note: This is all FICTIONAL. It is the figment of MY imagination.)
(END FLASHBACK)
"What happened?" Horatio asked with a small hint emotion in his voice.
"We're not sure. The call came in as shots fired at this residence and this is what we found," Tripp replied gesturing to the apartment.
The threshold gave way to what seemed to be contained chaos. Nothing went beyond the apartment. The lamps were smashed, her clothes were thrown all over the place, and there was blood on a few of the walls.
"This is going to take some time to process," Horatio said. "Did we get her file from Chicago PD yet?"
"They said it should arrive any time now," Tripp said in response.
As soon as Tripp left to interview the neighbors Horatio started taking pictures and making hypotheses. Obviously he couldn't verify any of them without a more detailed inspection besides the fact that she had struggled like hell to impede him getting to her. Caine slowly picked his way across the room. When Eric approached the door, Horatio was closely examining the wall directly across from the threshold.
Eric, finding Horatio's behavior normal, set out to evidence collecting (Since Horatio was already collecting he could make the assumption that he had already taken photograph's of everything. He was a stickler about that.).
Horatio pulled a bloody bullet from the wall with a pair of tweezers. He carefully placed it in an evidence bag in his other hand and placed it in his kit for later processing by ballistics.
Eric started to clean up the chaos to see what was beneath it.
"Eric," Horatio said, " if you would be so kind as to finish up in here, I'll start in the bedroom."
"Sure boss," Eric replied. This never really bothered Eric because he liked to stay close to the crime, get into the perpetrator's head. "Who is she?"
"The new girl, Detective McLadden," Horatio replied.
"When did she get into town?" Eric asked.
"Late last night, early this morning," Horatio called from the bedroom.
"I guess," Eric said, "Miami didn't give her a good first impression."
"This wasn't her first time in Miami," Horatio said, " She grew up here."
"She may not appreciate her new boss going through her lingerie drawer," Eric said
"McLadden feels safer with me going through her lingerie drawer than you," Caine replied.
"How would you know?" Eric inquired with a little indignation.
"I've already been through her lingerie drawer once for a class. And she's been through mine," Horatio said, "We were assigned to find out as much about our partner by going through their personal effects."
"Well she has eccentric taste in reading," Eric said as he placed a book in an evidence bag.
"That's just a small, small portion of her collection, believe me," Horatio replied.
"How do you know?" Eric asked.
"I have a picture of the whole thing on my computer," Horatio said, "besides, her taste in music is even more eccentric."
"We need to get all of this evidence back to the lab for processing," Eric said
"Yes," Horatio said as he picked up a picture off the dresser. It was of McLadden and her mother. He would have to contact her when he got back to the office.