Horatio had had a soft spot in his heart for Natalia ever since she revealed her past as a battered wife to help with a case.
He'd felt her quietly coming up behind him, looking at the little boy through the glass wall, and had instinctively known that she knew what she was talking about.
He'd secretly done some research, and looking at the photos in her closed court files had filled his entire chest with anger. He'd looked at the bruises and her broken arm but the worst part was that totally lost look in her eyes, like she had no hope and no future, consumed by sadness and fear.
He also knew that she felt deep respect and trust for him, talking to him about her past had been painfully difficult and had only been possible because she felt completely safe in his company. Even so she'd only provided the minimum details, but he felt reassured when she told him she was working on things with a psychologist.
When he'd first started to suspect that she had something to do with the information leaks, he'd been debating with himself wether or not to call her into his office and confront her. He had decided to do so, but then the marriage to Marisol and her death had held him up.
Now he wished dearly he'd taken the time to talk to her, but now the only thing he could do was some damage control.
As soon as Calleigh had informed him that Monica West had been arrested and that they had her confession on tape, he sent a message to Natalia to come and see him immediately.
She knocked on the door to his office, he'd already drawn all the blinds to assure them some privacy.
"Come in!", he called, "and please close the door, thank you."
Natalia stepped into his office reluctantly and even though she was staring intensely at the floor he could see that she'd been crying.
"Have a seat Natalia", he said quietly.
Natalia sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk, and he observed her red eyes from crying, slumping shoulders and hand in her lap nervously playing with the hem of her blue shirt.
When he didn't say anything else, she slowly looked up at him, and he saw shame and sorrow expressed in her eyes, but he also saw that she had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.
Now why hadn't he noticed those before?
He stood up, walked around to her and sat down on the edge of the desk.
"Please tell me why you felt that you couldn't confide in me about this, Natalia?" He sounded sad and tired.
He'd thought she'd try to defend herself, come up with some excuse for her behavior, but instead the burst into a storm flood of tears.
He gave her his handkerchief and sat down in the chair next to hers, reaching out and carefully putting one hand on her back to calm her down. After a while the tears subsided, and Natalia took a couple of shaky breaths.
"I'm so sorry Horatio. I'm so sorry." She hugged herself.
"When the Feds told me the lab was rouge, it was so easy to believe. The time I called the police on my husband, this very lab mishandled most of the evidence and Nick got away with a much lighter sentence than he would have. I wanted to see for myself, but then by the time I realized that most of the work here is done meticulously, the feds just would not let me of the hook, they threatened to tell you, to revoke my grant, to have me fired. I just told them the truth about what I saw, and that the lab was following all rules and laws correctly. I'm paying for my sister's college education and I'm trying to re build my life, I was scared to loose my job and I just didn't know what to do. I'll pack my things and pick up my belongings tomorrow, the second the feds realized they had no use for me at all in this story, they had my grant revoked and now not only does everyone hate me but I'm also out of a job I really loved. And I don't even want to know who messed up my evidence anymore, I just wish all this would go away."
Tears were falling down her cheeks again.
Horatio took a deep breath. Natalia had betrayed his trust to some degree, but he had to admit that she had talent and follow through and actually had all the qualifications of making an excellent CSI in a short period of time. He'd been thinking of offering her a training position when her grant expired, and after listening to her, he'd made up his mind.
"Natalia, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm disappointed and sad that you didn't confide in me but I'm willing to give you another chance."
Natalia looked up at him with a small glimmer of hope shining through the sadness.
"I'll put you on probation for a year, and you, I and Calleigh will be the only ones to know about this arrangement. You will train as a CSI here with us, and in a years time we'll have another meeting with Calleigh, and see how you've developed. That is, of course if you're willing to accept the challenge, because the easy thing to do is actually to walk out of here and not see anyone again. Confronting everyone in the lab will not be easy."
Natalia looked at him, speechless. Then she nodded.
"Thank you so much Horatio. I wish I had come to you earlier, I really wish."
He patted her shoulder and stood up. She stood up with him and put his handkerchief in his pocket.
"I'll wash it for you ok? She said shyly.
"I want you to keep it. To remember that you can always talk to me, ok, Miss Boa Vista?" he smiled at her softy.
She nodded and gave him a small smile back.
They stepped out of the office and Horatio walked her to her car, amid some very surprised glances from their collegues and co workers.