Chapter One

A/N: They are not mine, they will never be mine. Blah blah fishpaste. Jo is mine though. Mwahahaha. For Buffy and Princess Kat, my marvellous betas. And for Chi.

Oh, P.S, I'm an Aussie, so this is set before Season 3. If I killed Speed, I too would be dead. And this is sorta H/C, not yet, well not in this story. But it's designed to be. Thanks muchly for reading, and please review. No flames though, bad children. If you hate it, tough noogies.

-/-/-

"...Your first appearance, he said to me, is the gauge by which you will be measured; try to manage that you may go beyond yourself in after times, but beware of ever doing less..." (Roseau)

-/-/-

"Welcome back listeners, that was Lou Reed with Walk on the Wild Side, and you're listening to an all request afternoon on WFLC 97.3: Your Music Key to the Beaches. On this cloudy September day, it's a hot one! Even at the current hour of 5 pm, it's still a balmy 80 degrees outside, so remember to keep cool this Monday night. Now playing is a dedication to one lucky listener Kate, from an unrequited love, someone who says that although you may have forgotten your anniversary, his flame for you still burns bright. Here's the Big O with 'Only You'..."

She switched the radio in her rental car off with a dejected sigh, pulling the car left, around the corner, edging her nearer to the motel. The groceries in the backseat rustled indignantly, as if hating her for shifting their centre of gravity.

She glanced in the rear-view mirror, judged traffic, and then pulled right into the parking lot, fronted by a glowing neon sign, buzzing the word 'Vacancies'. The motel was masquerading as a place of residence for her until she found something a little more permanent. 'Let's wait and see how your first day goes,' she thought, the brakes squealing as she stopped and put the car into park.

"Home sweet Home," she muttered to herself, turning off the ignition and unfastening her seatbelt. Exiting the car, she glanced around, judging her vehicle's proximity to the lines of her allotted parking space.

'Four years and I still can't bloody park their cars.' She thought offhandedly, as she collected her shopping and made for the door of her unit.

As she opened the door, she wiped her brow, displacing the beads of sweat gathered there. "Welcome to Miami," she said, as she dumped the bags and gazed around the room. "Your new home." A disparagingly empty 3 star motel room.

-/-/-

"Hey let me in man! I've been waiting in this line for over half an hour!" Scott said, pulling his date Rebecca closer, into his body.

She looked up, sighing deeply. 'Damn those chat rooms.' She thought, 'they really do get your hopes up, don't they?' This one sure was a live wire: aggressive and snappy.

'A real man.' 'As compared to what?' a snide voice in her head shot back. She blinked, the only outwards sign of the internal debate raging on inside her head. Turning back, she saw the bouncer lift the rope in front of them indicating their entrance into the club.

"Finally," Scott mumbled curtly as he escorted his 'date' inside.

Rebecca shot the bouncer an apologetic look from under her eyelashes, as they made their way through the doors of 'Beatbox', a newly opened dance hotspot on the Miami 'scene'. The multitude of people inside gyrated around wildly to the loud music, letting off the stresses of daily modern working life, in a mix of sweat and alcohol. Rebecca looked around, seeing if she could spot anyone else she knew.

"Hey babe?" a voice called her back. "Wanna drink?" She replied absently, feeling Scott pull his arm from around her and presumably head off towards the bar to order them... whatever.

After a few moments observing the dance floor, Rebecca gravitated to a table, placing her small purse and jacket upon it. She stood, watching, her hips and legs moving to the beat automatically. 'You can take a girl out of the music, but you can't take the music out of the girl.' She mused, biting the inside of her lip in thought. She felt him return a few minutes later, as he loudly placed their drinks on the table.

"Here babe, Gotcha a cocktail, one of those, 'Screaming Orgasm' things. Hope that's okay." She faced him, nodding her consent coupled with a small smile, as she lifted it and placed the straw to her lips. "Here's to making it a night of many 'screaming orgasms'." He said, whispering his suggestive toast into her ear.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, smiling falsely around her drink. At her look, he placed his hand boldly on her arse. She froze, tensing a little, keeping her eyes on the dance floor. Suddenly, someone caught her eye, heading out back, a familiar face.

She smiled softly and then placed her drink back down on the table.

She turned into him. "I'm just going to go freshen up in the ladies room." She said, batting her lashes innocently at him. He nodded, "Don't take too long."

She smiled. "Try not to," she replied as she picked up her purse and headed out back in the direction of the ladies bathroom. He watched her go, weaving her way through the bouncing party animals and gyrating drunkards towards the exit.

-/-/-

"Morning H."

A voice greeted Lieutenant Horatio Caine as he stepped from his Hummer into the early morning sun. A quarter of the new day had passed, and already the CSI's of the Miami Dade crime lab were needed.

Heading his team, Horatio's sense of justice and compassion always seemed to supersede the exhaustion and strain that tainted a job like theirs. Especially on mornings such as these: a multiple murder scene before the rest of Miami awoke for breakfast.

"Speed- what have you got?" He asked as he pulled his forensic case from the backseat, locked the doors and walked purposefully in the direction of his fellow criminalist.

Tim Speedle looked decidedly appropriate for the early hour of 6 am, with his semi- crumpled attire and only mildly tamed bed-head. He looked like he'd foregone the use of a razor, as usual, in lieu of being on time to the scene. Speed was standing behind the familiar crime scene tape that cornered off an alley, not an entirely uncommon location; camera slung around his neck.

As he approached, Horatio gazed steadily around the scene, his eyes hidden from view by his customary dark shades.

The alley was on the side of an old warehouse- newly refurbished and sold off to one of many profiteering Miami businessmen.

The younger man waited until his boss was within earshot to reply. "Two D.B's, apparent gunshot wounds." He said as H moved under the tape to step in beside him. "Both were found by a bartender, who was closing up for the night. They had come from inside the building, a new nightclub ah, 'Beatbox'. It's been open all of three days, been busy through word of mouth, not open quite long enough to be famous."

Speed reeled off steadily as Horatio took in the scene before them.

"But long enough to become infamous. Especially after today." Horatio said, as he moved towards the first body, setting down his kit and pulling out a pair of latex gloves.

"Yeah, great publicity." Speed replied as he walked over to join H by the victim, a young woman, lying on her stomach about 10 feet in from the street. Horatio leaned over to examine the back of the victim carefully.

"Bet the owner's happy." He murmured, gazing intently at the clothing on the victim. "Yeah, Tripp is talking with him now. Bartender called him, then us. Talk about priorities." Speed said, snapping off a few set shots as H placed the yellow evidence markers down for him and then stood up. "Speaking of which, have you called Alexx yet?"

Speed snapped off another shot, "She's on her way, Calleigh in tow. Wouldn't try to pass the ballistics by her." Horatio pulled a wry smile at the thought of their resident 'Bullet Girl' and what she would do to her friend had he tried. "Good call Speed. What else do you know?"

Speed paused, and glanced up at his boss.

"Ah, both died from single gun shot wounds, the first victim, one shot to the head, the second victim, single shot to the chest." He said, pointing to the other body lying further down the alley. "Alexx can tell you more. Haven't got any formal id's yet so I couldn't tell you if there is a link between the two victims- I didn't get a chance to finish the initial walk through before you got here. There's broken glass in the doorway there, can't tell whether it's got anything to do with the scene, but I'll bag it anyway. Also, there doesn't seem to be any additional shell casings other than a single casing for each victim, whether or not they were even killed with the same gun is up to Cal though, when she gets here. I also found some saliva next to the body of the victim here. Took a sample before it walked away on the bottom of someone's shoe."

He finished, glancing down to the body.

"Good call Speed," H said, standing up.

"Hello gentlemen." The soft voice of their resident M.E called to the two men who had paused at her greeting.

"Morning Alexx," Horatio replied, the trend of lost formalities continuing.

"Horatio, Speed, what have we got?" Alexx asked as she made her way towards them and crouched down in front of them, her eyes methodically sweeping the dead soul in front of her. She opened her kit and pulled on their compulsory latex gloves.

"Two bodies, both single gun shot wounds."

Alexx's gentle hand pressed lightly against the head of the young woman, slumped on the concrete. "Not a fun way to end a night, was it sugar?" She whispered gently. "Can I move her Speed?" She asked him, not wanting to disturb any evidence that he hadn't collected yet. "

Yeah, I'm done photographing her," He replied, gesturing to her to continue her examination. Alexx nodded at his consent, and pulled the body over onto it's back.

"All right, let's see what they did to you sugar," she waited as Speed snapped off a few more shots for the evidence log before pulling out a pair of tweezers. "Gun shot wound to the head, left temple. Stippling around the wound, close range shot," she gently felt around the wound area, "Judging by the degree of damage to the skull, it was probably point blank range. I'll know more after the prelim." She said as she moved back to her kit and removed an electronic thermometer and scalpel before turning back to the victim.

The guys watched as she made a small cut under the woman's ribcage before inserting the thermometer. "But I can tell you that she's been dead approximately..." she paused, waiting for the readout off the thermometer before making mental calculations, "4 hours, which places her time of death at about 2 am." She finished, pulling out the thermometer and turning back to the men, where Speed was jotting down notes.

"Alright, what about the other victim Alexx?" Horatio asked, indicating to the other body behind them. "Let's have a look, shall we?" Alexx said, as he helped her up and they moved towards the other woman's body lying 8 feet away from the first.

Speed took shots of the body, marking it before they moved it. Alexx stood over the body placing her kit back down to her right. "Okay sweetheart, let's have a look at you," she said, leaning over the girl. "Another gun shot wound, on the upper chest cavity, no stippling this time. The point of entry is larger, so I'd say that she was shot from further away. Calleigh can tell you more when she gets here."

"I'd say from about 6 feet away." They all turned around, startled slightly at the sudden appearance of their colleague. Calleigh was squatting down next to the first body, examining the head wound with her mag light. "What?" Speed said, confused. "The distance from which the second victim was shot. From what you said about the wound, I'd say that the shooter was standing about 6 feet away from the victim when they shot her." She stood up, smiling at them.

"How could you possibly tell that without seeing the wound?" Speed asked, astounded.

"I'm magic Speed. Didn't anybody tell you?" she said, shooting a wry look at Horatio as she sauntered past to join Alexx in examining the second victim.

"So what would you say was cause of death?" Horatio asked as Alexx and Calleigh moved to allow the coroner's assistants in to prepare the body for transportation.

Alexx glanced at the first body, then back to the second. "Initial assessment, first victim, could be suicide, but not entirely sure. Stippling makes it hard to get a proper look at the wound track, so it could be a homicide." Alexx said, looking back at Horatio. Speed frowned, "But if this was a suicide, who shot the other woman?"

"That's the question isn't it?" Horatio replied, placing his hands on his hips. "Who died first, and whether or not we should be looking for another possible suspect. Everything's equivocal here, so let's play this as a double homicide." He said, as he replaced his shades and looked down the alley to where the assistants were moving the first body into the van.

"Speed, finish up here. Calleigh, stay and comb for casings and fragments. If there are no bullets here, they must be in the victim so once you're done, follow Alexx back to the lab and start work on the wound tracks and any evidence you find during the prelim. I'll be back once I've talked with Tripp." He finished, moving towards the street to find the detective. "Will do H," Speed said, moving away to start photographing the back exit. "See you back at the lab Horatio," Calleigh called out as she moved across the alley to start searching for anything that might help their victims.

-/-/-

As Horatio ducked under the yellow tape and started towards the entrance of the club, Detective Frank Tripp came jogging up to him.

"Hey Lieutenant," he said, coming to stop beside the CSI leader.

"Detective," H said, glancing at the man from below his shades. "How'd you land this case?" He asked, a small smile crossing his features as they allowed a little joviality. "Apparently I was the only one on duty," Tripp scoffed casually, "More like I was the only one awake at this hour." Horatio smiled and glanced back towards the alley.

"Lucky you," he replied.

"Yeah, I'd say. Listen Horatio," the detective started, flipping open his notebook, "I've talked to the club owner, One Nelson Lamont, who's offered 'any and all assistance he can, if it assists in capturing the man who perpetrated this wholly unkind, and heinous act'. Quote, end quote." H cocked an eyebrow at the sardonic tone of the detective's voice.

"That's awfully co-operative of him," he said, placing his hands on his hips and watching the M.E's van pull away with the victim's inside.

Tripp glanced back down into his notes, a wry smile touching his face. "Yeah, you'd think for a minute that he actually cared."

Horatio looked back at the detective, "Did he mention anything about his security details or when we can talk to the barman who found the bodies?"

Tripp paused, "Ahh," he flipped a page in his notebook, "Lamont said that they have security cameras filming the entrances, the main bar room, the dance floor and the back entrance. He said that we can come by and get the tapes as soon as we want them."

Horatio nodded, dropping his gaze to the ground as he waited for the older detective to continue. "And as for the barman, a younger man by the name of James Mitchell. He gave his preliminary statement to the responding uniform, waited for the boss to show and then left. But I'll haul him in later to get a more detailed version of events." Tripp sighed and glanced up at the CSI, who looked up from deep in thought. "Good, call me when you do, I want a word with Mr Mitchell." Tripp nodded at H, anticipating seeing the poor schmuck being raked over the coals by the Lieutenant for leaving the scene.

"In the mean time, Calleigh and Speed are finishing up here and then heading back. I'll get Speed to grab those security tapes. Is the responding uniform still here?" H finished, glancing around until he spotted a uniform standing guard at the crime scene entrance. Both men were conscious of the protocol for scenes, and Horatio for the continuing safety of his colleagues. The uniform noticed his attention and shifted, his gaze straight ahead and focused, not wanting to appear lax or disinterested.

"Okay," H said, as he and Frank both glanced back to the street, as Miami started to move for the day. "I've got a meeting to attend. Page me when you bring in the barman." Tripp smiled as the criminalist started to move off.

"You got it. See you back at HQ Caine." He said as Horatio made his way off to gather his field kit and then head back to the lab, the mental checklist going through his mind as the rest of the crew started the move off, all eager to try and move away from the grisly scene before them and blend back into the fall morning.

-/-/-

The morgue doors greeted Horatio as he made his way towards the lab. He pushed the doors open with his shoulder, as he made a note in his palm pilot before tucking it away in his jacket pocket. "Sorry I'm late," he said, noting Alexx, Calleigh and Speed were all standing there, waiting patiently for his arrival.

"So, Alexx, what do we have?" He asked, his attention fully on the M.E and the tables in front of them.

She glanced up at him from the chart in front of her, noting he had automatically adopted his familiar stance of hands on hips, attentive, but guarded.

"Victim Number One," she started, lifting the white sheet away from the woman's face, smoothing back an errant hair gently. "Gun shot to the chest. I.D'd her from her driver's licence; Kate Shannyn O'Garr, age 27, a local, but so far there's no missing persons report and neither her fingerprints nor D.N.A are in the system." He nodded softly, cocking his head in thought.

"You got a cause of death yet?" He asked, glancing up at the M.E.

"Asphyxiation caused by exsanguination. One gunshot wound to the chest, no stippling or tattooing. Bullet entered the chest, took out one lung and a blood vessel. She bled out into her chest cavity, until she choked to death. I got some residual gun shot residue on her blouse, packed it up and it's ready for Trace."

Calleigh stepped in, next to Alexx, holding a little plastic evidence bag in her hand. "We got a 9mm bullet that Alexx pulled from the body. Luckily it's still intact, so I'll run it through IBIS, see if we get a match."

Horatio smiled gently at her, thankful for the tenacity and diligence that was Calleigh Duquesne. "Anything else Ladies?"

Alexx gently picked up the hand of the girl, holding it gently out to H. "Yeah, I found some oily residue on her hand. It looks like make-up, but the colour doesn't match her own. I've swabbed that too. See if it matches the other victim. Speaking of which," she said, dropping the arm and moving over to the next table to pull back the sheet. "You've got a surprise package here. She had no ID in her handbag, however," she said, picking up a bowl from the table next to the body, "You can trace her through these, her breast implants." She said, tipping the bowl to show the others.

"Well, that's not surprising Alexx. Women get plastic surgery here all the time." Calleigh said. Alexx shook her head, placing the bowl back down and heading to the feet of the victim.

"Oh, but that's nothing. I noticed a few abnormalities during the autopsy," She said, pulling back the sheet dramatically. "There were no internal reproductive organs, no ovaries or uterus. Nothing."

"So she may have had a hysterectomy?" Calleigh said, not knowing what was so extraordinary. Alexx shook her head.

"There's no scarring which would be consistent for an operation like that. But I did find evidence of another kind of operation. Try plastic surgery, gender reconstruction."

"A sex-change? Our victim's a guy?" Speed asked, a disbelieving look on his face that lifted his eyebrows towards his hairline.

"Used to be." Alexx said. "Did a blood sample just to be sure. From the scarring, I'd say she had the operation about a year ago."

Horatio nodded again, shifting to study the face of the victim. "Did you get any evidence from her?"

Alexx nodded, replacing the sheet, and picking up some bags and envelopes. "Pulled another 9mm from her head, impacted. That's what killed her, bullet went straight into the temporal lobe, ricocheted around her skull, severing the blood vessel. Also pulled some glass fragments from the cuts in her hand and got some saliva on her chest. It's all here ready to be processed." She finished, stopping for the ring tone belonging to Horatio Caine.

"Excuse me," Horatio said, pulling his protesting phone out of his pocket and stepping away to answer it.

"So Alexx," Calleigh said, turning back to the woman, "About the entry wound? Do you think that it was suicide or that there was a third party involved?"

Alexx sighed and probed the wound once more. "From the looks of it, I would say that it wasn't a suicide. But you're going to have to determine that for me." She said, glancing back up to the blonde.

"So, H, any news on when our new recruit will be getting here?" Speed asked, looking as his boss as Horatio deposited his phone back in his jacket pocket, and rejoined the group around the gurney.

The week before, Head Quarters had informed them that they would finally be filling the position that had been vacated by Megan Donner's departure over a year ago. Horatio had been in meetings ever since to try and ascertain why they felt the need to do so now, but had been brick-walled with budgetary and overtime excuses, and with promises that this didn't have any reflection on his current employee's performances. Nevertheless, it had still bothered the tight knit team.

"Right now. She's here." Horatio said, glancing up from his observation of the body to the surprise and shock on the face of his colleagues.

"Wow." Calleigh said, blinking, "that was fast. I'm surprised. They actually meant it when they said they were sending a replacement."

Speed nodded in agreement. "Yeah, with all the empty threats they've made, I was half expecting them to send a blow up doll."

At that comment, Calleigh turned to send an unimpressed look at Speed, her eyes narrowing at the man, who immediately shot off a hastened "Sorry."

Horatio cleared his throat and shot a bemused look at the two of them.

"Right, I had better get going before she thinks we don't want her here. Keep me posted Alexx." He said, moving off out of the morgue, towards his office, where Claudia had sent the newest addition to the Miami Dade Crime Lab.

Watching him as he left, the others glanced back to Alexx who was intently examining the hands of the 'woman' lying on her table.

"What is it Alexx?" Speed asked, glancing quickly at Calleigh.

"Looks like she has something under her fingernails. Can you hand me that wooden pick?" She asked, shifting her hand to the victim's wrist so she could get a better grip.

Speed glanced to the medical tray standing next to the table, picked up the wooden stick and an envelope and handed it to the M.E. Alexx muttered a "thanks" as she ran the tip underneath the nails of the victim, Calleigh and Speed watching in respectful silent.

"You wanna do her left hand for me?" She asked, her attention on her work as she scraped under the thumbnail.

Speed nodded and picking up another envelope and pick, followed suite. Calleigh watched them, chewing her lip impatiently, knowing that the evidence that was being scraped could open the case up definitively if the epitheliales didn't match either victim. Alexx stood up from over the body to close the envelope and then recorded the sample, waiting for Speed to finish. He stood and then glanced at the two women.

"I'll take this to DNA and then see how Eric's doing in court. See you later." He collected Alexx's envelope and then made his way out of the lab, leaving the women there.

"Now," Alexx said, "let's take another look at the entry wound." Calleigh smiled, her face brightening with the idea of doing something constructive. "And then we can try and map the trajectory." She said, moving towards the table to stand opposite Alexx.

-/-/-

Horatio walked up the stairs to his office, trying to centre his mind in the coming conversation. He was a little perturbed that he hadn't been able to 'handpick' the latest employee, unlike he had the others, but he was hopeful that those 'Higher Up' had made a good decision. Glancing at the file he had grabbed from reception, her credentials spoke for themselves, and the little personal information that was there was all glowing and encouraging and spoke volumes about her attitude.

But H was still wary; he was still to see her work or how she would work with the other members of the team. He sighed as he reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to his office.

He stopped inside the door as he spotted her, their newest criminalist as she rifled around in her shoulder bag, holding her left hand out, the tip of her left hand index finger extended and alone. Horatio took her momentary distraction to study her.

She was about Calleigh's height, maybe an inch or so taller, her dark brown hair, held off her face by her sunglasses, was cut short to her shoulders. She looked young, younger than the rest of the team, but held an air of strength and intelligence.

He shifted, moving his right hand to his hip, and then coughed softly, alerting her to his arrival. The woman turned around quickly, a startled look on her face. Her eyes studied him quickly before blinking and dropping his gaze.

"Hi," she said, moving towards Horatio, "You must be Lieutenant Caine. I'm sorry if I'm not meant to be in here, it's just the receptionist; Claudia, said this is where I could wait for you." She trailed off, a small apologetic smile on her lips.

Horatio nodded, shutting the office door and moving towards his desk. "It's fine, I assure you. I'm just sorry I kept you waiting, Ms..." he paused, stopping at the introductions.

"Adams," she jumped in, "Joselyn Adams, Jo." She said, holding out her right hand. "Lieutenant Horatio Caine." He said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"I know. I've heard a lot about you, Lieutenant." She said, sitting down as Horatio guided her to a chair in front of his desk. He noticed that her voice had a different accent, not American, flatter but it still had twinges that came from living permanently in America.

As he sat down, he placed her file on the desk, and watched her quietly put her handbag on the ground and pull up to face him, nursing her left hand in her lap. "Would you like a tissue?" He asked, pulling one from the box on his desk and reaching across to the woman opposite him.

"Thank you," She said, taking it from his extended hand. "What an introduction, hey." Jo mused quietly, keeping her eyes on the task of wrapping the white Kleenex around her bleeding finger. She glanced quickly up at Horatio who was reading her file. "Hi, I'm your new serologist, here's my blood."

Horatio smiled at her self-reproach, keeping his head down so she wouldn't see his smile. "So, how long have you been in America?" He asked, glancing up at the woman, to find her staring at him in surprise.

"Ah," she said, shaking her head in confusion. She paused, and Horatio saw a strange look speed quickly through her eyes. "Just over four years." She replied solemnly.

He nodded, a little confused at her reaction, and then cleared his throat. "And how long have you been studying serology?" She smiled, apparently happy to talk shop.

"Over eight years. I did three years of a B.S Molecular Biology degree back home in Australia at Sydney University, then transferred over on exchange to NYU to do my post-grad and masters. I completed my B.S and M.S. whilst studying American Law, which took two years. And while I was studying, I was also doing practicum work at a pathology lab in New York to pay the bills. I've spent the last two years as a serologist and full time field agent for the Passaic County Sheriff's office in Paterson, New Jersey. And now I'm here." She said, smiling flippantly. Horatio nodded softly, keeping his gaze on the file for a moment.

"Well, it'll be good to have another member on our team Joselyn. I'm sure that you'll do well here." He said, moving up to observe her.

"Thank you. I hope so Lieutenant. I'm glad to be here."

Horatio smiled. "Well, then," he said, closing the file and setting it down gently on the desk. "Let's show you around the lab, and introduce you to the rest of the team." He stood up and moved to the door, waiting for her to follow him.

She joined him at the door and looked below to the bustling lab technicians and beeping machines. Horatio smiled gently at the nervous look that flew across her face. He pulled open the door and gestured to her to exit.

"Welcome to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab." Her light brown eyes moved quickly to study him before looking back out to the soon-to-be familiar labs.

"Let's hope so." She murmured, as she headed down the stairs in front of her new boss. "Let's hope so."

TBC