A/N: I am sooooooo sorry this took so long. it's been a very hard year. I hope I can get back into the groove. I'm still not caught up so no spoilers. Also, very sorry, this one might be triggery for some people. If it's an issue, you can skip the last section, it will be recapped in the next fic. Which I hope to write soon.

Also, sorry, but please R&R. It encourages me to write and I just love hearing your guys' thoughts on my work.

Day 8

The minute Brody walked into the office, doubt about her ability to judge a good day set in. She had thought the day was going to be perfect when she woke up. The sun was out, the air not too cold or wet, and she did not feel tired at all. She had stopped at a nearby bakery she thought Pride might like and picked up a treat for the team. It was all going perfectly up until the point where she set foot inside the front door to her work space.

Everything looked normal enough at first glance, she could even hear Pride cooking. Though, sadly, the illusion shattered as her gaze fell on her partner's desk. She stiffened and a chill grabbed at her heart as she spotted LaSalle. He was sitting at his desk, slumped over with his face hidden in crossed arms. She almost thought he was napping but that hope broke with the shudder of his shoulders as faint sobs escaped him. Despite whatever pain he was in, he was deliberately keeping the sounds quiet so not to alert Pride. He seemed completely oblivious to Brody's presence all together.

She quickly dropped the box of sweets onto her desk and rushed over to him. She moved quickly to his side and wrapped an arm across his shoulders. He jerked in surprise but could not be bothered to look up from his sobs.

"LaSalle, Sweetie, what's wrong?" She was a little surprised when the term of endearment slipped out but recognized that it had appeared with her sudden sense of maternal protectiveness, "Did you and Pride have a fight?" She whispered the question in worry as her free hand began to lovingly stroke his hair. She knew very little could shake his strength enough to leave him like this and she was going to give their boss a good talking to if he had hurt LaSalle in any way. Though, she did feel a spike of relief when he sluggishly shook his head but worry set in when he refused to look up still. She blinked slowly when he suddenly mumbled something but she could not make it out.

"I didn't get that. What did you say?" She watched as his head shifted at this. He pressed his nose into the crook of his elbow, face still hidden, as he spoke clearer.

"Mah mother hates me." Her eyes widened at the revelation. Sadness flowed into her spirit before anger roared. She protectively hugged him to her and kissed his hair as she glared at the wall.

"Chris, I'm sure that's not true. What could you ever tell her that'd make her hate you?" At her question, he raised his head enough to stare at her meaningfully with a tear-stained eye. Her stomach twisted with nausea as she nuzzled his hair quickly, "Oh god, you told her..." Her voice was soft and pained. He nodded slowly and leaned into her for the sisterly comfort he had come to couple with her.

"Wha' was Ah gonna do? It was eatin' me up inside lyin' tah her and Laurel called me on it. Got mad at me for hurtin' Pride as well." Brody nodded slowly and sighed, resting her cheek against his hair. He huffed softly and sniffled pitifully. He whimpered softly as she gently stroked his hair as one of his hands linked fingers with her free one.

"You've done nothing wrong, Sweetie. She doesn't hate you, she loves you too much. She's just a bit shocked, she'll come through." She kissed his hair gently and squeezed him close. Chris shook his head and sluggishly pulled out of her grasp. Nausea rolled in his stomach as he shakily got to his feet. He swallowed convulsively, something not feeling quite right in him. He was shivering, a deep cold crawling up his insides until it settled into his heart. Tears still dripped down his cheeks as his perception of the world started to shrink until the world seemed dull and gray even though he could see all the colors in almost overly sharp detail.

"T-tell King A-ah'm sorry." He hiccuped weakly as he started towards the exit. Brody stood slowly and gently brushed his hand with her fingers.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Nowhere. J-jus' gonna go home. A-ah'll be no use here today." He hung his head and tried to even out his breathing. He could not let his love see him cry again, not so soon. He had to leave, had to escape. He pulled away from a worried Brody and shakily started towards his truck, "J-jus' gonna go sleep this off."

"What do you want me to tell Pride?"

"Tell him, I'll see him tonight." The normal spark was gone from his lovely Southern drawl.

~*~NCIS~*~

Pride hummed softly as he turned off the stove and surved the breakfast he had made into two plates. He smiled softly and picked up said plates, taking them over to the table. He set them down before reaching down to untie his apron. He slipped it off and folded it, laying it across the top of his chair before turning to go get his partner.

He strode into the main office, expecting to see the younger man already settled into his work. He was more than a little shocked to see Chris missing and instead found a very worried Brody sitting at her desk. He quickly made his way over to her and gently laid a hand upon her shoulder. He gave a reassuring squeeze as he slipped into dad-mode.

"Brody, are you awlright? What's wrong? Where's Chris?"

"He went home, King." She replied weakly, slowly looking up at him with wet eyes, "He was so sad. Said he wanted to be alone. Said he'd see you tonight." A certain type of fear and concern spiked in Dwayne's heart. He felt the need to go tohis partner and comfort him, the younger man had been pretty devastated the day before.

"Maybe Ah should go check on him." Dwayne replied absentmindedly as Brody leaned into his side. He was a bit shocked when she shook her head slightly.

"I think he wanted some time to himself to think. He said he'd be no help to us today. I think we should just let him work this through." Dwayne did not like the suggestion at all. It was unlike Chris to wander off to lick his wounds by himself but Brody was usually right. He knew that it would do Chris good if they could find the killer of Savanah's look-a-like.

"Awlright. We'll play it your way. I'm just going to leave him a message to let him know we're here if'n he needs us."

~*~NCIS~*~

The entirety of the workday later, a soft blanket of darkness had settled over the city. The bleakness was chased away from the majority of the streets by the bright night life. But within the reaches of a single residence the darkness engulfed the world uninhibited. The atmosphere was cold and dreary, distant and closed off.

Cade had never really been able to notice such things when his illness was in check and his mood was stable. He hummed happily as he headed up the steps to the home he shared with his brother. He had just returned from a lovely dinner with his mother and was feeling rather proud of himself. It had taken quite a bit of sly talking but he had been able to nudge his mother's views in the right direction. He knew she did not fully see the benefits of his little brother's new relationship but he was getting her there, and he could not wait to tell Chris.

He bounced on his toes as he unlocked the front door. He was unawear of the atmosphere in his home as he suspected his sibling was being treated to a wonderful dinner by Pride. His cheery illusion was shattered though as he stepped into the darkness and heard glass break beneath his foot. Fear and confusion shot through him as he hurriedly flicked the lights on.

Panic filled him as he looked down at his foot, he was stepping in a pool of alcohol and its shattered container. His pulse picked up as he raised his gaze only to spot vague bloody finger smears along the walls. His mouth felt dry, throat refusing to work, as he was filled with the need to cry out. He could see Chris' keys sitting on their table but that did little to comfort him. His younger brother being home with this mess only made his anxiety worse.

An anguished half-sobbed, half-strangled cry from deeper in the apartment made him jump. Any sense of self preservation and thoughts of possible break in were pushed from his mind as a sense of protectiveness overtook him. He rushed towards the horrid sounds, nearly skidding on bloody footprints on smooth surfaces as he searched for his sibling. His momentum slamming him into the doorjamb as he stumbled to a halt at the bathroom.

He panted heavily in exurtion and panic as he found his little brother. The younger man was sitting on their bathroom floor in front of their shower. He was rocking slightly, head down between his knees which were raised up to his chest as he sobbed loudly. His arms were covering his head, an almost fully empty bottle of whiskey in one bloody hand and his service weapon in the other. There were tiny puddles of blood pooled under his feet, showing he had stepped on the pieces of broken glass from before.

Cade felt sick, the urge to vomit almost uncontrolable. As a victim of bi-polar and severe depression, he knew a comtemplated suicide when he saw one. The facts of the past several days hit him like a ton of bricks. The case victim, his own fight with Chris, his brother's love of Pride, Pride getting stabbed, and finally their mother's rejection had been the last staw on his sibling's shattered heart. He was now faced with the ugly truth that his baby brother sat utterly broken before him.

"C-chris?" He swallowed thickly as he forced the words out of his dry throat. Tears started to form in his eyes as he took a shaky step into the room. This was all wrong, his big, strong baby brother was not supposed to switch places with him like this. Chris was never supposed to have to go through the torment that Cade suffered so many months out of the year.

"Chrissy?" He called again softly as he neared his brother. He dropped nearly silently to his knees on the soft bathroom carpet before the younger man, ignoring the pain that shot through him. He was only given another strangled sob in reply, "Chris, give me the gun, okay?" He coaxed softly, shakily easing the weapon from his sibling's quivering fingers. He placed it out of reach of either of them before working on get the bottle of dark liquid out of the other hand. His brother surrendered without a fight but that did nothing to ease his fear and anxiety.

"Can you hear me, Baby Brother? It's Cade." Still no responce as he shakily wrapped his arms around his younger sibling. He pulled him into his lap, rewarded with Chris desperately clinging to him like a lifeline but no other response. He embraced his sobbing sibling close, reaching into Chris' pocket to grab his phone. He whispered sweet endearments and pleas to the younger man as he quickly called the first number on his brother's speed dial.

"Chris?" He had never been more happy to hear Pride's voice than now as it came through the speaker of Chris' phone, "I was jus-!"

"A-agent Pride? I-it's C-cade. I-I need your help, there's something wrong with Chris...!"

~*~END~*~