Being part of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab for so long, Calleigh became more and more used to her colleagues being endangered on the job and more so, becoming hurt. She had learned to cope with the stress in various ways, her favorite being in the ballistics lab and shooting off a few rounds. However, something had changed since one team member joined the lab. Calleigh became more concerned and aware of this individual. She was concerned with this individual's well-being, especially when they were in danger.
Calleigh could probably learn to ignore the concern or focus it in a different way, but that became increasingly impossible. The individual she worried about was her best friend, Natalia. The mocha-skinned woman joined the team as a FBI informant and eventually as a permanent member of the lab. Through the mole fiasco, Calleigh had stuck by her side and made many attempts to become a better friend to the woman. Slowly, the two built a friendship together, but for Calleigh it became much more than a friendship.
She found herself watching Natalia in the DNA lab as she worked. Calleigh watched the way Natalia moved, talked to colleagues, or concentrated on her work. Calleigh's eyes often drifted around Natalia's body, taking in the wonderful features of her friend. Initially, Calleigh tried to stop herself before it went further. Natalia was her friend and that was it. Despite being in the bad relationships she had been in the past, Calleigh found herself more and more attracted to women like she had been in her college days. But this was no normal woman. This was Natalia and to keep her friendship intact she had to stop thinking about Natalia like this.
It became harder and harder for Calleigh to fight the feelings. She was often at Natalia's house. They cooked, talked, and watched movies together. They often went jogging to relieve some of the work stress. What Calleigh didn't know was that Natalia enjoyed their time together as much as Calleigh did.
Natalia had fallen helplessly for Calleigh the moment they met, when the team returned from their hiatus and the lab was redesigned. Natalia loved the southern accent of the blonde and often tried to find herself in Calleigh's company often. She was afraid to show her true feelings to her friend. Calleigh had dated Eric, Jake, and John. How could that southern beauty love a woman when she can have any man she wanted?
Natalia compromised by just being Calleigh's friend, offering her support, and spending time together when it was possible. She often turned away male companions who was interested in her because it didn't feel right. She only wanted Calleigh and anyone else would be a disappointment. She put all of these feelings into being a friend and coworker to Calleigh and secretly hoping one day her secret can come to light and be welcomed by the southern woman.
Today had been one of those crazy days at the lab. A man called in a murder, so naturally Horatio Caine was asked to come to the scene and Natalia willingly followed. They found the man who had called in the murder on the ground, digging at the earth. Before they realized what was occurring, a face appeared in the dirt. That had only seemed to open more questions than they had answered. And what was the man's excuse? He was dreaming.
Natalia was frustrated with the dreamscape excuse. Nick had used it as an excuse to hurting her. Gratefully, the judge saw over Nick's thin excuse and sentenced him to prison time. Now this man, Jason, was using the same excuse to cover up a murder he had committed. She was sure of it. They had the evidence to put him away, but Horatio wanted to continue investigating the things that Jason had mentioned. Jason claimed to be seeing a psychic healer, who was supposed to be helping him stay clean.
Natalia thought it was a joke. She vocally said it, both to the team and Horatio. She even volunteered to go undercover to prove how much of a joke this is. So what was she doing now? She had just pulled up to the psychic's office and was about to walk inside.
She knew from the moment she met Elena that she was a fake. She put on a mask, however, and followed Elena to a table and sat in the chair Elena motioned to. Within moments Elena saw the ear piece in her ear. She told Elena how Nick had caused damage to her ear. She wasn't lying, but the ear piece was in fact one from the crime lab with Ryan and Horatio on the other end. Elena motioned her to breathe into a candle she had lit and before she knew it, she was standing in the crime lab. Her shoes were gone and she left bloody footprints on her way through the lab. Low and behold, as she turned the corner she spotted Nick in the hall, mopping up blood.
"What do you mean she's disappeared?" Calleigh yelled on the phone. Ryan had just informed her Natalia had disappeared and they were not sure where she went. Her ear piece was found lying on the table next to her weapon.
"She's gone. We're looking up the coordinates on the car's GPS now." Ryan explained. Calleigh was furious. She knew this had not been a good idea. What if something happens to Natalia? She couldn't live with that. She was about to hang up and go find Natalia herself when Ryan shrieked.
"We've got her! We're on our way to get her." Ryan yelled in a hurry as he hung up. Calleigh wasn't relieved, however. Until she saw Natalia in front of her, she wasn't going to calm down. It was no use trying to find out where they had went, so she settled for pacing the room and staring down at her cell phone often, waiting for someone to call about Natalia.
Why was Nick here? He's dead!, Natalia thought to herself. She began to panic. She's alone with him. He could hurt her. She couldn't let that happen. As Nick looked up at her and began to take steps towards her, she pulled out her gun that she had found in the car and held it up to Nick.
"Stop! Stop! Don't move any closer!" Natalia yelled. Tears began to form in her eyes. She wished Calleigh was here to protect her. Bullet Girl would almost certainly shoot Nick if he tried to harm Natalia. Nick continued to step towards her. She tried to steady her hands as she clicked the safety off.
"I'm warning you! Nick! Stop!" She yelled with a cracked voice. He didn't listen, so Natalia took a couple of shots at him. Suddenly, there was two of him. Both Nicks were trying to approach her.
Oh my god. Calleigh, please help!, Natalia cried in her mind as she took turns aiming at both of them. Suddenly, the Nick to her right tackled her to the ground. She kicked and screamed, trying to get out of his grasp. He was going to hurt her, but she couldn't move out from him. Tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to struggle.
"Let me go! Stop! Please!" She begged. Both Nicks surrounded her and held her down as she began to weaken. Darkness overtook her quickly and her last thought was wondering where her heroin was at.
Calleigh had been waiting by Natalia's bedside while Natalia rested. Ryan and Horatio had to tackle her to the ground in order to protect everyone involved from being harmed. She had passed out during the struggle and they brought her to the hospital. She had been drugged by the psychic somehow, but none of that was an immediate concern of Calleigh's. She was just glad her friend was alright. She fought the tears in her eyes as she took Natalia's hand in hers and squeezed.
Natalia's eyes began to flicker a couple of hours later and Calleigh jumped at the movement. With her hand still holding Natalia's, she used her free hand to rub Natalia's arm as Natalia came to. Caramel eyes met with green eyes as Natalia took in her surroundings. She began to struggle a little in fright and Calleigh leaned up and kissed Natalia's forehead.
"Calm down, sweetie. It's alright. You're in the hospital. You were drugged." Calleigh informed Natalia. Natalia took a moment to register what Calleigh had said and relaxed back into the bed.
"Jason was right. He had no idea what he was doing." Natalia's scratchy voice spoke hurriedly. Calleigh nodded and gave Natalia a cup of water to sip on. Grateful, Natalia began sipping on the water as she continued to register what she remember. Had she really seen Nick? That can't be right.
"I saw Nick. He was there in the crime lab. He tried to attack me." She whispered to Calleigh. She nodded and squeezed Natalia's hand.
"It's alright. It was just a dream." Calleigh reassured her friend. A tear dropped from Natalia's eye as she sat the cup of water on the stand next to her.
"I'm so glad you're alright." Calleigh whispered. Although Natalia obviously wasn't physically harmed, she could have been. Natalia had not been aware of her surroundings, so the possibilities are endless. However, she tried not to think of that. Her friend was right here next to her, safe.
Natalia watched as different emotions appeared in Calleigh's expression. What was she seeing? Concern? Anger at her for being reckless on the undercover mission? Was that love? All of these questions ran through Natalia's thoughts as she felt Calleigh's thumb rub back and forth on her hand. If I don't do this now, I may never have the chance to tell her how much I love her, Natalia thought.
"Calleigh?" Natalia whispered. Calleigh's eyes focused on Natalia's as she waited for Natalia to speak. Natalia hesitated at first, fearing the rejection she would almost certainly receive. Then, she pushed herself to say something. "Will you have dinner with me tonight?"
"Yes." Calleigh answered with almost a shout before blushing and looking away from Natalia. She didn't want to seem too excited. Then again, Natalia could just be asking as a way of thanking her for being at her side when she woke up. As long as she was spending time with her Natalia, she was happy.
Natalia smiled at Calleigh's response. Asking her to dinner wasn't her actual response she wanted to make, but it was better than nothing. And if she was going to confess her love to this blonde beauty, she was going to do it right… over dinner, some wine, and candlelight. Well, maybe no candles. Just dinner and wine.
Natalia had been released from the hospital and after closing the case and finishing paperwork, Natalia carefully drove herself home to begin preparing her dinner for Calleigh. She was nervous. She had cooked dinner for Calleigh multiple times, but the intentions behind this dinner was absolutely different than before. She rushed to the store and arrived at her home with the groceries. She quickly began preparing the dinner as she picked out what she was going to wear. She was going to make one damn good impression on Calleigh tonight.
Calleigh was nervous about her dinner with Natalia. For some reason, this dinner felt different from the others. Natalia assured her not to bring anything, except for herself. However, Calleigh felt awkward doing just that. She stopped by the florist shop and picked up a beautiful flower arrangement for Natalia… her "I'm glad you're okay and well" gift. In reality, she just wanted to make Natalia smile that bright smile that always made her warm inside.
She spent way too much time picking out what she was going to wear to Natalia's that she was almost late getting out the door. She placed the flowers in the passenger seat and began her journey to her friend's home. She yearned to see her beautiful face again, if not just to remember her Natalia was okay.
Promptly at six, Natalia's doorbell rang. Her heart practically jumped out of her chest as she tried not to rush to the door. She didn't want to seem overly excited! She peeked through the peep hole and saw a small glimpse of the beautiful blonde standing at her door. She opened the door and was greeted with one of Calleigh's powerful smiles.
"Well, hello." Calleigh said in her southern drawl. Her southern accent always made Natalia's heart melt. Natalia took in what she was wearing. Calleigh wore a white blouse, which showed not enough cleavage. She wore black, leather pants and a pair of black leather-heeled boots. Hot mama! Natalia moaned in her head as she let her friend through the door.
"Hello to you too, gorgeous." Natalia replied. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped at the term of endearment she had just used on accident. Calleigh looked back at her with a smile and winked.
"Why thank you kind lady." She said with a heavy, southern accent. Natalia stifled a groan as she closed the door and followed Calleigh into the dining room.
"Dinner will be right out." Natalia informed Calleigh as she disappeared into the kitchen. Calleigh sat herself down at the table and poured herself a glass of red wine. Had Natalia really just call her gorgeous? Hmmm.
"Dinner is served!" Natalia exclaimed as she came through the door carrying two plates in her hands. She sat a plate down in front of Calleigh and offered her some bread she had baked. Calleigh graciously accepted the bread and smiled as she looked at the dinner in front of her.
"Natalia, you outdone yourself! Are you feeling okay since you left the lab?" Calleigh asked as they began eating the exquisite dinner. Natalia nodded.
"I'm glad you came over Cal." Natalia commented as she deliberately stared down at her plate. She rather just wanted to reach over and kiss Calleigh instead of eating dinner. She felt Calleigh's hand grasp her own and squeeze.
"There's nowhere else I want to be." Calleigh replied. Natalia's eyes darted up to meet Calleigh's and in her eyes is where Natalia found her answer. She found in love in Calleigh's eyes. She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her as she registered the emotion filling Calleigh's eyes. Natalia decided to jump off the cliff now and make her feelings known. She raised Calleigh's hand up to her lips and kissed her hand. Calleigh's eyes darkened with the touch of Natalia's lips on her hand and she let out a soft moan. It wasn't too soft that Natalia couldn't hear, especially with her hearing aid. Natalia stood up, pulling Calleigh up with her by her hand. Calleigh's hands wrapped around Natalia's waist and their lips met for the first time. It was a fleeting kiss, but one that instantly turned into raw hunger. Their tongues met for the first time and wrestled with each other as Natalia's one hand caressed Calleigh's back and the other firmly on the small of her back, pressing Calleigh to her. They both moaned at the sensation. After some moments of heated kissing, Calleigh wrapped her arms around Natalia and pulled Natalia into a tight embrace.
"Don't leave me." Natalia whispered into Calleigh's ear, Natalia's vulnerability being shown to Calleigh. Calleigh squeezed her new love tighter and kissed Natalia's cheek.
"Never." She promised Natalia. Neither could return to eating their dinner, so they settled with sitting on the couch with Natalia's arms wrapped around Calleigh and Calleigh's back pressed into Natalia's chest. They were both content to sit like this for the rest of the evening. There were so many promises that were being silently made at the beginning of this new relationship. Both secretly hoped they weren't dreaming and this was really true. And both hoped this would last.