Under The Influence

"Oh, honey, you took a beating." Alexx said as she gingerly moved the young woman's head. She had apparently been hit by a bus, but it looked more like a train had stuck.

"Can you tell us anything, Alexx?" Horatio asked, tipping up his sunglasses.

"Poor dear didn't see it coming. Multiple contusions and bruising, bones broken and out of place—and she was beautiful."

"She still is Alexx, she still is. Eric?" Horatio called.

"No one saw anything." Eric said, standing with a hand on his hip.

"And since there are no cameras on this street—"Horatio turned at the voice of a young police officer.

"Sir? I noticed that there were no security cameras so I interviewed all the witnesses and collected video cameras, cell phones and cameras." The officer said. Horatio looked at the officer's name tag.

"Thank you Officer Wolfe." Horatio said, and accepted the bag of photo devices the officer handed him. Horatio exchanged a look with Alexx.

"He's thorough." Alexx said meaningfully. Horatio's head snapped up at shouting, and he turned to see Detective Tripp take out a man who had been trying to leave the scene. Horatio jogged over and watched Tripp haul the man to his feet.

"Hey, dude, I wasn't doing anything—"

"Yeah, but you just don't look the type to be carrying a Chanel wallet. Particularly a women's Chanel wallet."

"This belongs to our victim." Horatio said with certainty, looking at the ID inside. "Katrina Hannagan." Horatio murmured. "Katrina. Take him down for robbery, Tripp. He is just a pickpocket—he doesn't have the stomach to kill."

Horatio came from interrogating the man who had taken Katrina Hannagan's wallet when he crossed paths with Yelina Salas.

"How are you?" Horatio asked. Yelina smiled and shrugged a shoulder.

"Good." Horatio caught a glimpse of the young officer who had been so ready and through at the crime scene.

"That's the officer from Katrina Hannagan, isn't it?" Horatio asked.

"Ryan Wolfe. He wants the open CSI position. Asked that I put in a good word. He has a Bachelor's in Chemistry and is working on a Master's in Genetics. He's working patrol until he can get the Master's."

"Okay." Horatio said, pocketing his sunglasses and strolling to the fidgeting cop.

Calleigh Duquesne was walking back to Trace with evidence when she was stopped.

"Your dad's here." Calleigh kept her feelings to herself on that point. She deposited the evidence with Trace, and walked to the front.

"Dad!" she said. Her dad came up to her and hugged her. He reeked of booze.

"Hey Lambchop. I need to talk to you."

"Okay Dad." Calleigh said.

"I think I killed someone."

"Officer Wolfe?" Horatio asked and the young man leapt to his feet.

"Lieutenant Caine." Ryan said, offering a hand.

Tim Speedle walked into the Miami Dade Crime Lab, grateful that Horatio had had someone pick him up and needled that he needed that at all. He cradled his wounded shoulder, and walked to Horatio's office, to present himself and ask his duties. Lab duty. He, who had been working in the field since before he could remember, was back on lab duty, like some rookie. He was turning the corner to knock on H's door when he saw Horatio standing outside his office, speaking with an officer. He knew he shouldn't, but he stayed.

"So, I hear you're thinking of a career change." Horatio said, looking into the kid's earnest eyes.

"Yes. But only if I can be a criminalist." He took a deep breath, as if he was getting ready for something. "I've done a dozen ride alongs with homicide, ace quantitative analysis, hit all the seminars, I'm ready. I want this."

"Okay, so no more patrol." Horatio laughed.

"No sir. Patrol's great, but there's no follow-through. Dispatch calls, and you move on. CSI—you stay until the case is solved, and the victim is buried." Horatio pondered that.

"Let me see your service pistol." He suddenly asked. Ryan reached down, but hesitated.

"Sir?"

"Your weapon. Let me see it." Horatio said, and Wolfe handed over his pistol. Horatio released the safety and checked the inside. It was spotless, as if the weapon had never been fired. "Clean this every week, Officer?"

"More than that. I'm a little OCD." Ryan shrugged self-consciously. "Drives my watch commander crazy."

"Let me see your back up." Horatio asked next, and Ryan handed it over this time without hesitation.

"That is quite the case of OCD you have there Wolfe." Horatio said as he found the same meticulous care in the weapon as Officer Wolfe's service pistol. Wolfe sighed as if he'd just been denied something.

"Did I just lose this job?"

"You know what? Let me think about it. Sit over there, please."

Tim felt like he'd been punched. He'd known that there would have to be a replacement—he had a busted shoulder, and no CSI could work with one arm. But to hear H praise someone like that—Tim felt as if he'd failed Horatio somehow.

"Horatio?" Calleigh came up to her boss, and felt like fidgeting, like the young man on the bench near her was doing. Whatever he was waiting for, she felt like he did.

"Calleigh. What can I do for you?" Horatio asked. Tersely, Calleigh explained.

"Wolfe!" Ryan jumped to his feet and came to Calleigh and Horatio.

"Go with Calleigh. You're on the job." Horatio said. Horatio stayed Calleigh with a hand on her arm.

"What?"

"You need to stay hands off on this. You know what IAB would say. Let the kid lead."

"A newbie?" Calleigh asked.

"Calleigh."

"All right. Okay." She said.

"Speed! When did you get here?" Tim turned at the first welcome sound he'd heard all day. Eric Delko.

"About ten minutes ago." Speed said.

"I heard. You know. About lab duty. Harsh." Eric said.

"Yeah. But it's that or stay at home." Speed said.

"Tim—"

"Eric. I know. Calleigh's given me her information, and I get it. It won't happen again."

"You could have died."

"But I didn't."

Ryan was inspecting Kenwall Duquesne's car when Calleigh Duquesne came in, hands out. Ryan stood.

"Hey, whoa. Hands." Calleigh stopped. "Can you put them in your pockets? And stay at least ten feet away? I don't want the evidence contaminated."

"I've been CSI for a while, Wolfe." Calleigh said.

"Touché." Ryan said, tipping a pair of tweezers at her.

"So, what've you got?"

"Orange paint. Reflective orange paint, like from construction signs, so that they glow in the dark."

"Construction site." Calleigh said.

"Let's go find us some buildin' " Ryan joked.

Horatio stood with Alexx Woods in the medical lab.

"Look at this Horatio." She said, tipping the body and showing a huge bruise on the victim's back.

"She was shoved in front of the bus." Horatio said.

"Without a doubt. And she had bruises and healed breaks from before the accident. I'd say she'd been someone's punching bag for a while."

"And I know just the man to talk to." Horatio said.

Before he could get to interrogation where Jay Seaver was being held, he got a call about a second body. He went in search of Eric.

"We've got a second body conveniently at Katrina Hannagan's boyfriend's place of work." Horatio said to Eric, who crooked an eyebrow.

"All right then. Let me collect my case and we'll get going. How'd he die?" Eric asked.

"Now that was not what I expected." Eric said as he looked down on the body.

"Shoved down an elevator shaft." Horatio said.

Tim finally got a close up look of his replacement when Ryan Wolfe came in to deliver evidence to Trace.

"I'd like that as soon as possible. It's priority." Wolfe said, and Tim wanted to punch him. Kid looked like a damned Boy Scout. Was he old enough to work in criminology?

"I'm backlogged. I'll get it out as soon as possible." Speed managed out between clenched teeth, and even managed a polite tone. He thought that was his quota for the day.

"Sorry. Ryan Wolfe." Ryan said, offering a hand.

"Tim Speedle." Speed said, accepting the handshake and maybe shaking a little harder than he needed to. Ryan grimaced a little and shook off the effects.

"Thanks Speedle." Ryan said. Speed gave a mock salute.

"Hey Speed. Got my results yet?" Eric asked. Speed, looking through a microscope, looked up.

"Yeah, got it done as soon as I got it. It's fiber pulp composite used in high-strength polyester; most commonly used in uniforms. And, if you'll look at this," Speed grabbed a paper and handed it to Eric.

"Limonene? What is limonene?" Eric asked.

"I didn't know either, so I had to look it up. It's a leaf shining spray." Speed said.

"So whoever did this had—"Eric was interrupted by the door opening and Ryan Wolfe walking in.

"Have my trace?" Ryan asked.

"Almost. I got something that was higher priority. It'll be done within the hour." Speed said. Ryan looked at Speed with an eye that Speed didn't like.

"Fine." Wolfe bit out.

"Hurting on the rookie, Speed?" Eric asked.

"Only a little." Speed said.

Ryan wasn't exactly happy. He didn't know what the man in Trace had against him: he'd followed procedure, he'd tagged and bagged it correctly—there was no reason his evidence had been bumped down the line.

"Hey Ryan, what's wrong? You look angry enough to chop wood with your teeth." Calleigh said.

"My evidence—our evidence—was bumped down the line by some…some…Trace analyst who said he'd gotten higher priority evidence."

"Really?" Calleigh asked, having a sneaking suspicion who'd done that.

"I didn't do anything wrong, I swear it, Calleigh." Ryan said.

"No, I'm sure you didn't." Calleigh said. "You know what? Let me go check on it. Maybe I'll get it 'speeded' up a little." Calleigh said, and Ryan wondered what that play on words meant.

"Timothy Speedle! Just who made you God of the crime lab?" Calleigh asked as she blazed her way into Trace, snapping her gloves into place.

"Oh, hello Calleigh." Speed said, glancing up from the material he was meticulously cutting.

"You bumped Ryan Wolfe's evidence. Evidence I was there to see collected. Why?" Calleigh asked.

"Eric and H brought something in, said it was top priority. Besides, he could wait an hour." Speed said.

"Yeah, maybe. But my dad can't." Calleigh said.

"It had to do with your dad? Shit, Calleigh, I didn't know. Here—"He said, handing her a sheet. "It was definitely human blood on the bumper."

"Back to searching construction sites, then." Calleigh said. She turned away, but Speed stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Hey, Calleigh. Sorry. I didn't know. I hope everything turns out okay for your dad." Calleigh took his hand and squeezed it.

"So do I." she said.

Ryan was understandably angry when he realized Calleigh had been given his evidence, and not to mention the fact that Tim Speedle hadn't called him with the results. He decided a chat was in order.

"So, Katrina Hannagan's boyfriend had her killed, along with Patrick Wakefield, and he himself killed Martin Perlman. Dude had some problems." Eric said to Horatio.

"That he did, Eric. That he did."

"And it turns out Calleigh's dad didn't kill that guy, Travis Madison. He'd already been dead." Eric said.

"Yes. Wolfe did a good job."

"He did." Eric admitted begrudgingly. Horatio was going to say something else when he heard shouting and cursing. In the Miami Dade Crime Lab.

"Hey, Speedle! I want to talk to you." Ryan called as Tim Speedle came out of Trace.

"Yeah, what?" he asked.

"Is there some reason you don't like me?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. Your punk attitude." Speed shot back.

"Excuse me? You're the ass who couldn't process evidence—"Ryan didn't get to finish, because Speed, even with one arm in a sling, took a swing at Ryan. Ryan blocked it, easily, and pushed Speed back.

Calleigh was just coming from the Ballistics lab, feeling very happy about the conclusion of her father's case when she heard shouting.

"What the--?" she murmured. A lab technician came scrambling around the corner.

"Duquesne, it's Speedle and Wolfe." Calleigh's mouth set in an angry line and she ran down the hall.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Calleigh shouted, throwing herself between the two as Eric and Horatio came around the corner.

"Can I ask what's going on? Since when did the Miami Dade Crime Lab become the WWF?" Horatio asked. Both men were breathing hard and Speed's arm was bleeding profusely. Calleigh took off her jacket and placed it on the wound.

"Nice job." She hissed.

"H—"

"Speed, we'll discuss this later. Wolfe—this is your only warning." Horatio said.

"Are we having problems in the lab, Caine?" Horatio turned at the familiar voice.

"Nice to see you, Stetler. Can I help you with anything?" He asked. CSIs Duquesne, Delko, and Speedle ranged themselves behind Lieutenant Caine as new CSI Wolfe waited, believing he would lose his new job.

Now this is Under the Influence, thanks to my sister who wanted to help me out since she knew I was doing almost all of Season 3 through Season 5. This is her handy work. Now, I just want everyone to know that this is a character driven story, not a case driven story, so I don't want any reviews telling me I'm forgetting stuff. No I'm not I just don't think we need a rehashing of the show. If you want to know what happened watch the show. Get the DVDs, they are awesome and no commercials. I'll post Legal Sunday or Monday. Thanks to Phoenix036—Boa Vista is just not believable as a criminalist, plus she needs someone else to dress her and do her hair.