Choices 4D/?, CSI Miami, Calleigh/Natalia, NC-17
Title: Choices 4D/?
Pairing: Calleigh/Natalia
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I spend a lot of time with them. This is gonna get read dark folks, so consider yourselves forewarned. Archiving: P & P, DuVista, women_in_kevlar, all others please ask. Next in my series. Many thanks to Soul_Caged aka Complete_Machine for being my new writing partner. This is not beta’d so all mistakes are ours.
Earlier that day across town, Eric had sat in a chair at the motel room he had rented for the next few days, though he doubted he would actually stay entire time, as he wanted to keep on the move.
He leaned over, and flicked the television on. Leaning back against the headboard, he shoved down his disappointment about losing his duffel bag; the hell he had to go through to get those files was a nightmare. Finding the hacker, and then assuring him, he was in fact not going to arrest him from doing an illegal favor, had been hard enough. Pilfering the MDPD database had been no easy feat; that alone worried Eric, that someone would eventually find the duffel bag, and him.
He felt a cold sweat break out onto his brow as he watched the local news broadcast from the day before. He had missed the news the night before when he couldn’t decide where he wanted to stay. He stared in disbelief as the pre-recorded tape showed police swarmed onto the scene of a bank robbery. He recognized Natalia standing in the window, pointing a gun at a man who holding Calleigh in his arms, tightly with a gun to her head as well.
He screamed in rage, picked up a vase of the small tabletop, and threw it into the wall. Grabbing the phone, he dialed the news stations number quickly, as soon as he realized he was on the air, he started ranting. “It’s an outrage that things weren’t handled better? WHERE WAS SWAT?!” He screamed into the phone, how Natalia dare put Calleigh in this kind of danger, AGAIN. “WHERE WAS A HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR?!” he screamed again.
The woman on the other end of the phone, obviously the news anchor Sykes, had the call cut due to the rage and volume of his voice. In a fit of sheer rage, he threw the phone into the wall, and put his hands on his head. Screaming, pulling out his hair, and crying, holding his head in pain as another headache hit, causing a wave of nausea. He would find Natalia and he would make her pay.
~*~
Tucker Rains was sitting in the parking lot of a Motel 8. Cerano had told him to find this Eric Delko, but not to apprehend him. Apparently, he was borderline psycho with a gun. He knew the CSI would cover his tracks, but skill can always be beaten by sheer determination, he thought to himself. Cerano was a machine; she didn't stop, she didn't eat, she didn't sleep until she found you, and made you pay for what you had done.
Tucker heard a loud crash in the motel room above him, he wondered what that was about. He looked outside to see a black Ford Escape, the license plates weren't matching to the vehicle he was looking for though. He'd wait until he had evidence that was more concrete before calling Cerano. He didn't want to piss her off without her brother around.
~*~
Finally, after a comfortable ride back to her home, Calleigh had just closed her phone from talking with her wife. “Natalia will be home in about a half hour. She’s going by her sisters with Ryan for a few minutes. That should give us plenty of time for you to check out the house, and my ‘steel’ as you say.
Cerano nodded quietly, she swung the Rover into the driveway so getting Calleigh into the house would be easier. “May I have your keys to unlock the door, set the bags down, and then come and help you into the house?” was the quiet reply.
Smiling, Calleigh opened the door. “I can make it inside under my own steam. I would rather not let the neighbors have any more gossip than necessary, but thank you though. I’ll take it slow.”
Cerano never answered, instead climbing out of the SUV, and opening the cargo bay to pull out two black duffel bags, she then follow Calleigh up the front walkway, waiting patiently as she unlocked the door.
Unlocking the door, Calleigh immediately went into the kitchen, grabbed her medicine along with a glass of juice, and quickly downed two pills. Walking over to the sofa, she sat down heavily, and with a sigh. “Take a look around while I catch my breath, the spare bedroom is through there and there are clean towels in the guest bath.”
Cerano wordlessly slipped the a small gun out from the side pocket of the black duffel bag that contained her clothes, and set the pistol down on the couch next to the blondes right hand, slipping the safety off without a word. Then she walked into the guest bedroom, and shut the door quietly.
Slipping the safety back on, Calleigh pulled out her own gun from the back of her waistband and placed it next to the smaller gun. Muttering to herself, she couldn’t help but smile. “At least shesl always prepared.”
About fifteen minutes later, the door creaked open revealing a freshly showered and make up free Cerano. She looked every bit a young twenty something girl, freckles evident under the tan, not to mention several scars that were visible on her arms, midriff, chest, and face. Small, but noticeable seemed to be the theme with the year old marks. Cerano sat on the couch next to Calleigh in shredded blue jeans, Nike shoes, and a black famous stars and straps tank top looking at her silently. Her wet hair was slightly starting to turn into lazy waves reminiscent of Natalia’s own waves.
“Feeling better?” Calleigh asked. “Can I get you something to eat?”
“Yes and no, I can fix something myself.” Cerano wasn’t being rude, on the contrary, this was her version of nice. She did brash, wild, controlled fury, psycho, gangster, hard ass, top bitch but nice wasn’t really in her emotional dictionary. “I can fix you something too?” She let the question hang in the air.
“Whatever you fix will be fine. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen.”
Cerano climbed off the couch, returning minutes later with two roast beef sandwiches complete with strips of bacon and Swiss cheese over toasted wheat bread and two tall glasses of sweet tea. She set one down in front of Calleigh before returning into the kitchen cleaning, up the mess quickly and wiping down the counter. Finally sitting down, she looked at the blonde again.
Having waited on her guest to join her on the sofa, Calleigh finally took a bite of her sandwich, rolling her eyes. “Ah bacon, a food of the gods. This is perfect, thank you.”
Cerano smiled, but only grunted in response, beginning to devour her own food at a much quicker pace. In half the time, she had finished her meal, and was draining the glass of tea in record time.
Arching a golden eyebrow, Calleigh swallowed a bite of her sandwich before saying, “If you’re still hungry, you’re welcome to fix another.”
Cerano reached over the couch, and opened a duffel bag pocket producing two dark chocolate candy bars, handing one to Calleigh without a word, ripping her own open, and grunting quietly in satisfaction.
“Chocolate and bacon. What more can a person ask for? When you finish inhaling that, you can check out the security to see if it passes your muster.”
Cerano stood up once she finished the chocolate, then reached into the bag, pulling out a laptop and several very tiny cameras, and motion detectors. Wandering out through the back door, and returning through the front minutes later, she sat down the couch, and began opening up programs on the laptop without a word.
Watching her guest work, Calleigh finished her sandwich, then the chocolate bar before inquiring. “Well, what do you think?”
“It was okay before, it’s top of the line now.” She turned the laptop to face the blonde, showing several windows open with images moving across them. She’d set up a perimeter full of motion detectors, and camera’s. “Watch dog program, if someone’s around, you’ll know.” She leaned back against the couch cushions.
“Impressive. Is all of this of your own design?” Calleigh was very curious about the young woman.
“Yes.” was the only forth-coming reply that the younger woman presented. Her young cherubic features were as always masked in face of indifference and stoicism.
Calleigh waited for something more, but when none was forthcoming, all she could do was to lean back. “Mmkay, would you like to see what I can offer you as additional back up to what you have brought?”
“Yes.” still with the one word replies. Cerano wasn’t really too keen on opening up to the blonde, she was fine, but far from comfortable enough to even think about divulging any kind of personal information. Trust was a glacial highway with Cerano.
Slowly getting up off the sofa, Calleigh gratefully accepted the hand that Cerano held out to help her up, before moving into the third bedroom, and into the closet. Keying in the code for the gun safe, as soon the lock snickered open, she stepped aside to let Cerano look.
Cerano kept her hand behind Calleigh, natural instinct in her bodyguard nature. As soon as she was sure the blonde wouldn’t stumble, she examined the contents, pulling out a massive .338 sniper rifle. Cerano whistled in low appreciation, staring at the weapon in her hands, feeling like Da Vinci staring at his first canvas.
Inside there were two Sig Sauers pistols, the first being a P250, and the second was a P226 X5 Bianchi. Next were a Smith and Wesson SW1911 DK and the pistol that Natalia had bought her as a wedding gift. A Glock 35, then a Heckler & Koch USP Tactical and USP Expert finished off the pistols.
The sniper rifle that Cerano was drooling on was a .338 Lupua with Accuracy International folding stock, a Night Force NXS with a Zero Stop Optics and a Nights Armament Night and Vision mount. There was also a Winchester single bolt 22 rifle that used to be Calleigh’s grandfathers, a Remington 597 Magnum Rifle and two Rugers rifles; A SR 566 and a 10/22.
Calleigh was proud of her collection, as some of them had personal meanings while others were just because she wanted them.
“Damn, do you own your own range or something?” Was all Cerano muttered, her hands instantly flicking open the scope and lifting the large rifle to sight it, pulling it hard against her shoulder.
Chuckling, Calleigh answered. “No, but I do have an ex-flame that runs one in town that I frequent often.”
“Hmmm” was all that Cerano muttered, setting the rifle back down in its place. “With the .338 Lupua, I could have Delko’s skull for a hood ornament.” She murmured dryly before running her hands over the old Winchester rifle in admiration. The blonde had exquisite taste in firearms, not to mention cars, so she couldn’t be all that bad.
Reaching out, Calleigh grabbed the young woman by the arm, turning her to face her. “We do not want Eric killed. That has never been our intention. We want to get him help.”
Cerano arched a coal black eyebrow, her eyes resting on Calleigh’s hand until she removed it.
Calleigh crossed her arms, waiting on the woman to respond.
When the blonde finally removed the vice like grip from her arm, Cerano looked down at the floor. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s my natural instinct to track him down, and gut him like a fish.” She raised black glittering eyes to stare at Calleigh for a moment before looking back down, this was difficult to do even for her. “But if you want him alive, I can do that too.”
Closing her eyes briefly, Calleigh took a deep breath before reopening them. “My natural instinct whenever Natalia is threatened is to do the same thing, but I have known Eric for a long time, and this condition is not of his making. He was shot in the line of duty, and at the time, they couldn’t remove the bullet. So no, I don’t want him dead unless it comes down to him, or Natalia.”
“That’s what Wolfe said....” Cerano replied under her breath before shutting the gun vault, and walking out of the room towards the couch to sit down and rest, which she guess the blonde did too.
“Wait.” Calleigh stopped her before she took more than a few steps. “What did Ryan say to you?”
Cerano had the grace to blush, thinking foolishly that her voice had gone unheard. “Uh..”
“Uh?.... What?”
“Shit...” Cerano covered her face with a scarred hand, trying to shut the blonde out. “If it comes down to you and Natalia, or Eric, I was instructed to choose you.” She dropped the hand, leaving the bedroom and almost collapsing on the couch in exhaustion.
Calleigh dropped her head in more of a mental exhaustion that a physical one. Walking over to the sofa, she stood beside Cerano. “Yes, that is the choice that needs to be made. However, what you need to do right now is to go into the spare room and get some sleep. Your system will alert us if someone gets too close. Just make sure that it doesn’t go off when Natalia, and Ryan gets here. I’m going to lay down myself.”
Cerano grunted, lifting her protesting body, and made it to the spare bedroom. She eyed the blonde before shutting the door. She pulled a pistol out of her bag, and slipped it under her pillow before curling up in a ball and slipping into a light sleep.
Calleigh watched her go in, and shut the door. Slowly turning, Calleigh made her way to her and Natalia’s bedroom, but before she made it over to the bed, she detoured to their closet. Wanting to find Natalia’s photo album, she search high and low until she found one on the back shelf.
Slowly making her way over to the bed, she propped herself up with a couple of pillows, and began to thumb through the pictures. There were the standard pictures of Natalia and her sisters in the school pictures and their Easter best, but it was almost past the middle before she found what she was looking for. A picture of a very young Natalia in the kitchen with her mother, and her wife had flour all over her face. It was the woman that stood next to her laughing daughter that caught Calleigh’s attention. It was the same woman who had been in Cerano’s parents wedding picture.
Leaning her head back, Calleigh closed her eyes. Cerano and Natalia were related. They were complete opposites. One law abiding while the other was a lawbreaker. Calleigh had seen the drugs in Cerano’s gun vault, but choose to ignore as she hope that it was just for personal use, and not for distribution.
Calleigh realized that both women had to have an idea that they were related. Something had happened at Eric’s house that she had seen on both of their faces, something that struck a chord in both of them. Now Calleigh had to decide if she should bring it up to them or let it come out naturally.
Laying there, thinking about the choices, Calleigh slowly drifted off to sleep.
~*~
Ryan pulled up in front of Cristine’s house to see that Isabel and Eva playing in the front yard. As soon, as the girls saw their aunt, they squealed and ran towards the car.
“Tia Talia! Did you come to play with us?”
Opening the passenger door, Natalia exited the car, only to kneel down on the sidewalk with her arms open wide. “I just came by to get a hug from my favorite nieces.”
Isabel laughed. “We’re your only nieces, so we have to be your favorites.” Looking over Natalia’s shoulder, the young girl asked. “Where’s Tia Calleigh? Didn’t she come with you?”
Standing up and walking towards the house with the girls hands in hers. “No, not this time, but she told me to give her Izzy B a big kiss.”
Isabel abruptly stopped, tugging on her Aunt’s hand. “Then you had better give it to me now, before you forget.”
Natalia knelt down next to the smiling girl and proceeded to cover her face with kisses. “There.... That should be enough kisses to last you a while.”
Ryan leaned against the Crossfire after climbing out, watching Natalia’s nieces, mini figures of their aunt screaming across the front yard.
Eva patted Natalia’s shoulder, asking. “What about me?”
Looking very serious, Natalia answered. “Tia Calleigh told me that I should give you a butterfly kiss.”
“What a butterfly kiss?”
“This.” Natalia leaned close to her oldest niece, and fluttered her eyelash against the young girl’s cheek, making her giggle.
Cristine walked down the walkway towards her laughing children and sister. “Hey, you ok?”
Looking at up her sister, Natalia slowly go to her feet. “I am now. Just needed a kid hug.” Looking down at her nieces, she stated. “Hey girls, why don’t you go and play in the back yard. There’s too much traffic out today, and I don’t want you to accidently run out into the street.”
“Ok, Tia.”
Waiting until the girls were out of earshot, Natalia turned to Ryan, silently asking him for just a minute more. Turning back to her sister, she asked. “Did you see the news?”
“Yeah, and we heard what Eric said. What is he thinking?”
Shaking her head, Natalia wasn’t going to take the time to go into the detail. “Let’s just say that he’s not thinking clearly. Listen, I would like for you to keep the girls in the backyard if possible. Just humor me for awhile.”
Cristine bit her tongue on all of the questions that she had, knowing that Natalia and Calleigh’s job sometimes had repercussions towards their families. She knew that Natalia would only ask her to do this if things were getting serious. Instead, she asked about her sister-in-law. “How is Calleigh feeling?”
“She’s sore, and has a couple of cracked ribs, but she’s getting around. Listen, I just wanted to see you, and the girls real quick. I’m headed towards home, and I’ll call you later. Give the girls, and Andre a kiss for me.”
Kissing her sister good-bye, Natalia turned back, and got into the Crossfire, waiting for Ryan to get inside, and head for her home. In a few minutes, they were pulling into her garage, and the door was closing behind them. Getting out of the car, Natalia led the way into the kitchen, telling Ryan to help himself as she headed towards their bedroom.
Stopping right inside of the doorway, Natalia saw her wife sleeping peacefully on their bed, propped up by three pillows with a open book in her lap. After closing the door, she walked over to see that the book was her family album, and it was opened to a picture of her and her mother cooking in the kitchen. She had spent a lot of time there as a child, that had been their special time, just the two of them cooking.
Carefully she removed the album, placing it on the nightstand, before leaning over, and lightly brushing her lips against Calleigh’s.
Calleigh’s eyes fluttered open at the brush of lips against hers, moaning softly, she reached up tangling her hands in soft caramel hair, bringing her wife’s lips fuller against her own. Natalia’s hands were carefully placed on either side of the blondes head, and not around her waist like Natalia wanted them to be, leaning back she broke the kiss reluctantly.
Looking up at her wife, Calleigh smiled. “Hi there gorgeous. Come here often?”
With her eyes dark with need, Natalia huskily answered. “From time to time, I come quite often. How do you feel?”
Smirking, Calleigh couldn’t resist. “With my hands usually, but I have been known to use my tongue upon occasion.”
Natalia stifled a moan, looking at her wife spread out on their bed beneath her, now wasn’t the time or the place with Ryan in the living room, and Cerano asleep in the guest room. “I know babe.” She leaned down, and gave her another soft kiss before helping her sit up. “So tell me why you fell asleep thumbing through my childhood memories?”
Turning to grab the album, Calleigh winced as she reached for the book. Gratefully accepting Natalia’s help by picking it up. Point to the picture, she quietly asked. “Is this your mother?”
“Yes. I was maybe.. ten or eleven in this picture. We were trying to make a pie.” Natalia smiled warmly at the picture, tracing her fingers over the edges fondly, resting her head on Calleigh’s shoulder.
“Did you learn your Italian from your mother?”
“Yes, my mother was Italian, my father is Puerto Rican, I’m half and half I guess.” Natalia was curious where Calleigh was taking this. “Why do you ask babe?”
“Because we went by Cerano’s place for her to pick up some clothes, and while I was there, I saw a picture of Cerano’s family.” Pointing to Natalia’s mother, Calleigh continued. “Your mother was in it.”
Glancing up at her wife, Calleigh asked. “Have you ever met any of your mother’s family?”
Natalia’s impersonation of a fish out of water would have been amusing to anyone else. “N-n-no, she was disowned, my father told me, when I was young.”
“Do you know the reason why?”
“No, my father always kept it a secret from me. I get the impression that my mother’s side of the family wasn’t exactly law abiding....”she trailed off wondering to herself, could Cerano be related to her?
Taking a deep breath, Calleigh carefully watched her wife. “I believe that your cousin is asleep in one of our spare bedrooms.”
Natalia stared at the picture a moment longer, she always wanted to know what her mother’s side of the family had been like. If Cerano was really her cousin, then they needed to talk. She looked up at Calleigh, smiling. “What should I do?”
“I think that you should talk with her, but later. She needs to rest if she’s gonna be up all night again, and I don’t think that there will be anyway to stop her. It seems to me that once she set’s her mind to do something, it’s gonna take either hell or high water to stop her. Like someone else I know.”
Natalia smiled, cupping the blonde’s cheek, leaning over to steal a kiss, she murmured against her lips. “Must be the Italian in me....” was the only explanation she gave. After the kiss, she helped her wife up off the bed, and into the living room where Ryan was examining the laptop.
Calleigh cautioned. “Be careful with that. I wouldn’t want Cerano to hurt you if you messed something up.”
Ryan laughed. “Sadly your probably right.” He stood up facing them. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial level. “I have the impression that if I didn’t have a gun, I would be at her mercy....” He shook his head, he’d never been afraid of a woman, but there was a first time for everything.
Laughing, Calleigh retorted. “What makes you think that you having a gun doesn’t place you in the same position? I don’t think that it matters either way with her.”
Cerano opened the door to laughing, and smiled, leaning against it. “I have a feeling this joke is on me?”
She yawned behind her hand, coming to sit down the couch barefoot, looking at the trio of police officers.
Calleigh shook her head. “You didn’t get enough rest. You can go back, and get some more if you want.”
“No, I’m fine. I come from a long line of insomniacs. She said laughingly, missing that neither Calleigh, nor Natalia joined her in laughter.
Looking at her wife, Natalia went back into the bedroom to bring out the album, and to organize her thoughts, while Ryan stood up to say his good-byes. Calleigh thanked him for everything that he had done that day, and told him that they would give him a call in the morning if they needed him. By the time that Natalia returned, the young man had left.
Cerano was stretching on the sofa, trying to pop her back. Sitting up she flipped open the laptop. “Tell Wolfe-man to stop touching things.” She grumbled.
“I did.” Calleigh stated quietly, watching her wife walk into the room with the album, and sit between her and Cerano.
“Cerano.” Natalia softly asked. “Do you know who this person is?” Pointing to her mother.
Cerano stopped typing, looked around Natalia, and as soon as she saw the picture, she went completely still. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at the image. “That’s my aunt, she was disowned when I was six.” She looked up at Calleigh, and then Natalia. “Why are you asking me this? And where did you get that picture?” Her voice was curious, and a little bit wary.
“Why was she disowned? What did she do?”
Cerano slowly took her own time to answer, sweeping her messy, choppy hair up into a kind of ponytail. She crossed her arms, staring out at the reflective surface of the pool. “When my parents died, there was a huge argument about to whom we would go. My grandfather insisted on boarding school for my brother, Jordan and I. This woman obviously disagreed, and made it quite clear, my grandfather became so enraged with her interfering, and never staying in her own business that he disowned her. She didn’t agree with lifestyle she knew we would end up living.” Cerano looked down at the floor, scuffing it with her bare toe wondering if things would of been different for Jordan and herself growing up if they hadn’t lived with their grandfather.
Natalia got up off the sofa, and walked a few feet away before turning back. “This is my mother, and if you were six when your parents died, that would have made me in my early twenties, and I had never heard of my mother’s family. She didn’t talk about them. I always thought that they were gone.”
“Anytime I asked about her, my grandfather just ignored the question.” Cerano shrugged. She turned to look at Natalia, she saw everything that made her miss her mother. The eyes, the smile, the nose, everything, even the way she carried herself.
Natalia knelt in front of the young woman. “Me nor my sisters knew anything about you. Our mother never mentioned you at all. I don’t know why. Maybe she was trying to protect us from her family. I remember when she passed away, I was curious why no one showed up. Now I know.”
Cerano got up, walked out to the pool, and closed her eyes, pushing the feelings down; the feelings of relief at having someone else to talk to. It seemed that she had family. It wasn’t just Jordan anymore. She could have cried in relief, but still she held her own counsel. It didn’t change a damn thing, it was still just them, the twins, until they found that sorry fuck that butchered their parents.
Turning back to stare at Natalia, she was torn, to admit everything, the moving from city to city, trying to lure the murderer out of hiding long enough to chase them. She rebelled internally at even remotely sharing anything about her personal state of mind, how was she supposed to let this, cousin? in.
“I don’t blame her.” Was all she murmured, looking past her at the photo album sadly.
Natalia was still kneeling on the ground. “I remember one summer when I was in my twenties, mama went away for a short time, and when she came back, she was very sad, and quiet. She died soon after that so I never knew what had happened.”
Rising up, Natalia went over to the young woman. “I know that this is a lot to get used to, but you do have a family. Somewhere you can belong. Just want you to know that you will always be welcomed here.”
Cerano hesitated, and then placed her hands over Natalia’s, clasped them in her own, she looked down at the difference between their hands. Natalia’s were soft, slightly calloused, free of scars, no protruding bones from broken knuckles, or burns on the sides of her hands from fixing carburetors. Her own hands weren’t hideous, they just told a different story; hard work, pain, and loneliness mostly. Maybe one day, when she put an end to all this madness, she’d finally rest, but until then, it could never happen. “Thank you.” She gently dropped Natalia’s hands before walking towards the guest bedroom. If Natalia really was her cousin, then there was no question about what she had to do.
“Cerano, wait.” Natalia called out.
Cerano turned around and looked at Natalia, and Calleigh. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, and looked down at the floor. “Yes ma’am” she muttered respectfully.
Going to stand in front of her, Natalia waited until she looked up into her eyes. “I can’t change the past. I can only be concerned about now, and the future. I have two sisters and two nieces that would love to get to know you, not to mention Calleigh’s family. I don’t want to take over the role as your mother. I don’t have that right. The only thing that I can be is your friend, if you will let me. We all have our past, whether it be good or bad, it’s the past. So whatever has been done to you, or you have done is of no concern to me. Just from here on out, know that there is someone in your corner.”
Cerano looked at the Calleigh for a moment, then back at Natalia. “And there is someone in yours. I have to get ready to leave, if you’ll excuse me for a few moments, I’ll be right back.” Cerano disappeared into the bedroom, and quietly shut the door.
Natalia stared at the closed door for a few moments, before she turned back to her wife with tears in her eyes. “What kind of life has she had, Cal? What did that family put her though? There is so much pain in those eyes, and on that body, that it breaks my heart to look at her.”
All Calleigh could do was be there for them both.