Headstrong Chapter 1, a csi: miami fanfic

Chapter One: Punk Rock and Secret Chocolate

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Rain.

Rain on her first day of work at, supposedly, the nicest, warmest place on earth. Well, one of them. The sun didn't exactly count. Jessica Lucas resigned herself to the fact that she'd show up to Miami Dade looking like a drowned rat. She winced, thinking on the metaphor. Her next big trial was the fact that there were absolutely no taxis available. Giving up for the minute, she plopped herself down outside some fancy hotel. Then, she took her cell phone out of her bag and dialed Horatio Caine's number. It took three rings for him to pick up.

"Caine." Was his greeting.

"Hello, Horatio? Hey, this is CSI Lucas."

"Miss Lucas...how are you?"

"Uh, fine, I suppose." She sighed. "Picked an awful day to start work, didn't I?"

Horatio laughed, wryly. "Yes, you did. Where are you?"

"I'm at...I'm not actually sure, H. Hold on." Jessica stood up and checked the building behind her. "Aha! I'm at the Keckwick hotel. Oh! Taxi!" She hollered, probably deafening Horatio. "Excellent! Okay, be there in half an hour, H!"

"Bye."

Jessica finally arrived at the Miami Dade Police Department with a great, big smile plastered over her face. She carried her over-sized bag into the building and swanned up to Reception.

"CSI Jessica Lucas for Horatio Caine." She smiled, politely. The Receptionist motioned down the hall. "Thanks..." As she walked down the hall, an odd, nervy feeling came over her. She was prone to fainting and she decided that she really didn't want that to happen on her first day. She knocked on the break-room door and entered. She was greeted with three sets of eyes on her.

"CSI Lucas." Horatio smiled, standing up quickly. Jessica beamed and ran up to him.

"Horatio!" She hugged him lightly.

"How are you?" He pulled away. She knew he wasn't the touchy-feely type.

"Great, now." Jessica was a real punk-chick, with her layered, punk-style, long hair and her bright, tartan jacket or sometimes tartan trousers and Fall Out Boy tee...not exactly the type of person you would see Horatio Caine hanging around with. Now that she had officially gotten the CSI job, though, she knew that most of her wardrobe would have to be sorted out. Her hair was black, but it was natural. She had never even imagined dyeing it. Here eyes both held different colours...something she had apparently inherited from her mother. One green, one blue. She was kind, friendly and had the patience of a saint.

"Good to hear." Horatio smiled. He had known Jessica since she was eleven, around fourteen years ago. Her father had been murdered when she was four, and Horatio, new to Miami at the time, had solved the case. Ever since, Jessica has kept in close contact with him. She often thought on Horatio as her second dad.

"So..who are these two?" Jessica pointed to the two well-tanned men sitting at the table drinking their coffee. Horatio, slowly and laid-back as usual, turned to the two men. He pointed to a Puerto-Rican man with dark hair and an easy smile.

"This is Eric Delko. My left hand man."

Eric smiled and waved slightly, looking up quickly from his paper. "Hey. Good to meet you."

"Same to you." Jessica smiled, nervously digging her hands into her back pockets. Horatio nodded to the other man in the room. Now, Jessica liked the look of him. He was...unique. He stood up and walked over. He looked polite...dapper, she thought. Horatio let him introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Ryan." He extended his hand for Jessica to shake. She did the same. His hand was soft and nicely warm. "Ryan Wolfe."

"Hey. Jessica Lucas. Sorry!" She rolled her eyes, remembering something. "CSI Lucas."

Ryan smiled. Jessica really liked that smile. "Okay...nice to meet you, CSI Lucas."

Jessica laughed then turned to Horatio. "So, um...this all the team? Cause I gotta tell you, if it is...I'll be needing a raise."

Horatio kept his normal, tranquil expression. He was so laid back in everything he did. Even when he spoke, it was perfectly calm. "There are another two CSIs. I'm sure Ryan here will show you around." Horatio shot Ryan a look that meant something Jessica couldn't figure out. She squinted, but she still couldn't see it. That was her general way of making things clear; squint and the world becomes clearer, her mom used to say. Mostly, she was right. Although, now she wasn't getting anything. Ryan quickly got the hint.

"Course, H." He nodded and walked over the table to finish his coffee. He put the lid back on when he finished, then waltzed over to the bin, disposed of the cup and washed his hands, making sure to get a new paper towel to dry his hands on. It reminded Jessica of one of those double-fast silent movies. He came back over and stopped in front of Horatio. "Will you get grumpy over there to process my prints, please?"

"Mm-hm." Horatio nodded. "Show Miss Lucas around, then you two sort it out." The red-head motioned Jessica and Ryan to the door and they both smiled, glanced at each other and headed out.

Jessica and Ryan walked along the corridors of Miami Dade, chatting away to each other like old friends that hadn't seen each other in a lifetime. Ryan would occasionally tell her some random facts about the people and the building. Like his secrets stash of chocolate for bad days and even worse cases. He kept it in Horatio's locker. Jessica had to laugh at that one. Ryan stopped at one of the labs.

"Oh!" He opened the door for Jessica to go through. Like a perfect gentleman, she noted.

"Thanks."

"Now, this fine figure of a woman," He nodded to a short, fiery-looking blonde with a severe scowl. She looked up from work and glared. "Is Callie Duquesne."

"What do you want, Ryan?"

Ryan folded his arms. "This is Jessica Lucas, our new CSI."

"Hi." The short Texan answered curtly. Jessica smiled and held her hand out.

"Nice to meet you." She smiled, brightly. Callie only frowned in response.

"Sorry, but I'm knee-deep in victim blood here and I still have a bloody bullet to process. Hands are tied, I'm afraid." She clicked her tongue. Nervously, Jessica withdrew her hand.

"Sorry. If this is a bad time-"

"It kind of is." Callie muttered, hoping the two uber-cheery CSIs would get the hell out of her way. She had a bad day from the start when her stupid-male neighbour backed into her car, then had the audacity to blame her for leaving her car unattended. Of course, then she just wasn't in the mood for work, thus giving you Angry-Callie. Jessica nodded, heading back out into the corridor before Ryan followed shortly after.

"Sorry about her. She tends to...over-react."

"Mm. That's okay. Sure she has a reason, unless...is she always that way?" Cause if she is, Jessica forgot to add, there isn't any way on earth that she would be working with Callie.

"Not usually. Must be a bad case."

"So why did Horatio ask you to show me around instead of Delko?" Jessica asked, after a few minutes of peace and quiet. Ryan exhaled.

"Probably thinks I like you."

"What...you don't like me?" She teased. Ryan swallowed, slightly disgusted with Horatio for even pondering such a thing. If he even did think on it.

"No, he probably thinks I like you."

"Oh!" Jessica caught on. "Right. Sorry. Anyway, subject-changer, any more of this team I should meet?"

"Not really...me, Delko, Horatio, Callie...you. I suppose you've met the lab-techs, now."

"Great. Well, I'd better go and find Horatio now...ask him where I start." Jessica grinned, biting her lip. "Thanks for showing me around. You seem nice."

"Well, thank you! Nobody has ever told me that!" Ryan laughed. Jessica nodded and started off in search of a certain Mr. Caine.

A/N: Hi there!

So, I'm JauntyChick...I love writing OC stories and this is my first foray into CSI: Miami fiction. I can't help it, I'm an obsessive fan! So, stick with me cause this story will get better. All suggestions are welcome, please R&R!