Title: Slipped Away
Author: LiLAqUaMaRiE
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairings/Characters: Horatio Caine and Natalia Boa Vista
Rating: PG-13/T/FRT
Genre: Tragedy, family
Spoilers: None.
Word Count: 1,252
Challenge Fic: #10
Challenge Word: #09 – Taste
Summary: All it took was one bullet and she slipped away from him.
Disclaimer: I don't own "CSI: Miami" or anything related to it. So don't sue me please!!!! I'm already poor as it is. Don't need a lawsuit to put me out on the street.
Note: This fic is a companion/prequel to Anni's fic that will soon arrive, entitled "Proof of Life".
Note #2: In case you didn't figure it out, this fic is for the prompt "taste" as in taste of blood.
Note #3: Horatio and Natalia are an established relationship. They're married and have a kid; now onto the story.

I miss you, miss you so bad.

I don't forget you, oh it's so sad.

I hope you can hear me, I remember it clearly.

The day you slipped away.

– "Slipped Away" by Avril Lavigne

SLIPPED AWAY

It had happened all too quickly.

They were in a middle of a crime scene, and a shot rang out. A gun shot that was aimed at him; he had seen it coming as if in slow motion. For a moment his life passed him by – his childhood, the moment he knew he wanted to be a cop, when he was made a lieutenant, the happy times he had with his teammates, his brother, Marisol, when he first realized he was in love with Natalia Boa Vista, their marriage, the birth of his first child…everything just flashed in an instant before his eyes. As if he was reliving it all in a quick second, but as he resigned his fate to death as the bullet came closer – something unexpected happened.

Someone pushed him out of the way, taking a bullet that was meant for him. The shooter had ran away as he attempted to register within his mind what had happened and as he started realize it, his eyes fell on the fallen victim before him. The moment his eyes fell on the wounded victim, he released a startled cry of horror and disbelief as he scrambled to the victim's side.

Natalia Boa Vista Caine lay wounded on the cement ground below.

His wife, his love, his partner was now fighting for her life and he couldn't do anything to help but just be there.

"Just hold on..." Horatio whispered as he pressed his bloody hands over the open wound before him. Natalia had a gunshot wound to the stomach and she was bleeding heavily. Horatio removed his suit jacket with the idea of using it to help cover the open wound as much as possible. So much blood had dripped out and it was covering them both.

Caine tried to soothe the fallen Natalia as he repeated his words like a mantra, "Just hold on…" However, he was having a harder time trying to focus on not freaking out.

In silence, Boa Vista stared upward at the sky above them; she gazed at the blue sky that seemed to beckon her with its heavenly blue color. Natalia started to breathe in slowly as possible, her body ached all over. It just hurt her to move even an inch, but she had to. As slowly as possible, she turned her face to the side to look at her husband once more. With a painful smile upon her lips, she spoke out to him even though her voice quivered slightly.

"The sky's really blue…" she said quietly as a small grimace of pain swept across her face as she spoke; quietly she stared at Horatio's worried face, "Horatio, are you religious?"

Horatio, who had been attempting to concentrate on the bloody wound, stared down at her, confused. "What?" he questioned.

Her lips cracked with a small smile as she continued, "Do you think I'll go to heaven?"

Caine shook his head immediately in retaliation to her sudden question. "Don't think about that now," he tried to dissuade her from her current thinking pattern. He gave her a small smile, "Just rest." He swallowed hard as he tried to be comforting, "You'll need your strength."

Natalia closed her eyes briefly as she tried to adjust to the pain she felt, "Horatio. Just go." She ordered softly. And yet, he shook his head in response. His tone of voice was serious as he spoke firmly towards her, "Don't talk crazy, and just rest Natalia. The others called for an ambulance, it is on its way."

A faint smile formed on her lips as she slowly spoke out, "Thanks for staying…" she swallowed with some difficulty, "Means a lot." She murmured out.

"I never left anyone behind and I won't start now with you."

Boa Vista felt him clasp her hand within his and she attempted to give his hand a soft squeeze but it made her body ache with any slight movements. "I know..." she whispered softly. Her eyes traveled upward once more, "But that's not it, that's not it..."

Horatio swallowed back the hard lump that formed within his throat. "No it's not." He squeezed her hand tightly, "I love you. I love you so much Natalia." With the other free hand he gently caressed her cheek, "I loved you since that moment when you cried in my arms over Nick's death." The hand that was at her face fell limply at his side.

A small laugh escaped her lips but she suddenly started to choke up on a bit of blood that escaped her lips. The sight of it made Caine freeze on the spot. He spoke out to her fiercely as he continued to hold onto her hand in a death grip, "Damn it, Natalia." His voice trembled with emotion, "Don't you dare die on me."

She glanced at him once more, unable to lift her hand to wipe away the blood that ran down her cheek, "I'm sorry." Her eyes fluttered slightly, "I'm just too tired..."

Horatio was now truly starting to freak out, as he watched his wife slowly start to slip away from him. "Please," Horatio pleaded, "don't leave me alone." Tears rolled down his face as he gazed down at her weak face, "I need you, our baby needs you..."

"Don't hate me…" Natalia whispered out with much difficulty, "h-had to take it." Tears shined in her eyes as she stared back up at him, "C-couldn't stand if…" her voice broke for a moment, "…you got hurt."

Caine continued to plead to his fallen wife, "Do you possibly think I could stand seeing you like this instead?" He shook his head as he continued to hold her hand tightly within his, "I can't. I just can't." His bottom lip trembled, "Don't do this…don't go away."

She attempted to shake her head but she was unable to, "Never." Her voice came out slowly, she was just too tired; her strength was leaving her at a terrible speed. "Always with…you and…Is-Isabel…" Her eyes drifted close with each word she spoke.

Horatio stared down at her frantically, "Natalia, open your eyes baby." He begged her, "Please. Just open them, look at me..." he tried pitifully to coax her into opening her eyes but it wasn't working.

Natalia tried to open her eyes for her husband but her body was getting weaker by the second, "Love…you…both…" she whispered out before she started to once again choke on her own blood. Soundlessly, she twitched a bit before she stopped moving completely. Her body lay limp on the ground next to the man who was now a widower. Horatio stared down in silence. He was in shock, his eyes traveled to the hand he held within his grasps and as he opened his hand slowly the hand he once held rolled off his limply as it fell next to the body on the cold ground below.

He tried to weakly call out to her in a chance of reawaking her but it was useless, "Natalia…" He tried once more, "Natalia…open your eyes, please." A sob almost escaped his lips as reality started to hit him, shattering his once happy world, "Oh god. No!"

Silently, he leaned down, his face now close to her and he slowly kissed her lips one last time before a sob broke through his lips. He cried out his immense pain as he gently cradled her body in his arms. She was gone and now he was alone; completely alone.

FIN.