A/N: I would've had this possibly YelinaStetler, but that would be just wrong in its own right. And no one gets poor Ray Jr.'s side in the whole thing besides possibly "Hell Night." And these are in no particular order.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned CSI: Miami, Stetler's head would be through a brick wall right now.

He Saw Him Hitting His Mother

Raymond Caine, Jr. knew from the day he met Rick Stetler that he was a bad man. It didn't take a genius to figure this out, but Ray was a kid. Only seven or eight, maybe. Innocent, sweet, and everything in between. He didn't have a current father, one he didn't know was alive. Actually, he thought he was dead, considering the fact that he attended Raymond Caine's funeral. The flowers, the casket, and all the people crying.

Including his mom and Uncle Horatio.

This Stetler man wanted Ray to think of him as a new father, so to speak. That wasn't going to happen, though. He never did anything with Ray, constantly snapped at him to do things around the house, and always talked bad about his uncle under his breath.

Talking bad got a whole new meaning, though, one Tuesday night.

Ray was busy studying his Spelling words for a test the next day and thought he heard yelling coming from the downstairs living room. Sounded like his mom and Rick were having another argument. He was used to it but he still wanted to see what was happening this time. He shut his book and went to the top of the stairs, watching from the rafters.

Rick glared at Yelina. "Oh, my god, Yelina. What do I have to do to make you convince him that we're in love?"

She was in tears. "I don't know. He's always trying to convince me to go to Horatio's, and I keep bringing him over to make him happy. Why is that a problem?"

"He loves his uncle more than me," he growled. "Horatio isn't his father."

"And neither are you!" she screamed back. "Stop trying to convince him that you are! Maybe he'll learn, then."

Ray couldn't believe his ears. The two were arguing over him.

The next thing he saw, he wanted to erase from his memory forever.

Rick brought his hand hard across Yelina's cheek. "Shut, up," he whispered in a deadly tone. "I will not listen to you raise your voice at me like that. You will listen to me and not take him over to Horatio's house as long as I'm here. Have I made myself clear?"

She stared at him, tears in her eyes, her face swelling. "Yes," she murmured.

Ray crept back into his room and threw himself onto the bed. He planted his face into the covers and began sobbing hard. This man, this creature, was acting like they were just toys to be messed with. Rick had just hit his mother.

The thought of it made him shudder. He reached over for the phone and dialed in a number. A ringing was heard and a calm voice answered. "Caine."

"Uncle Horatio?" Ray's voice quavered.