A/N. Still in Past tense.

Disclaimer: I think we all know that I don't own CSI: Miami or any of the characters or places one might recognize.

Part 2: The Job

The next morning, Leah walked in to the Crime Lab feeling like she was on top of the world. She had gotten her dream job, was working with some great people, and the pay would be more than enough to pay the bills. The day got even better when she saw someone familiar heading towards the elevator.

"Kyle?" Leah said.

"Leah, is that you?" Kyle Harmon asked, a little startled to hear her voice.

"Yeah, it's me." Leah had covered the rest of the ground between them.

"It's been what, two years?"

"18 months." Leah said as she hugged Kyle. "I've missed you."

"And I you. Why are you here?"

"I work here. I was a ballistics expert, but I just got promoted to CSI Level 1."

"Well, congratulations."

"Thanks. Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I work here, too. I am the ME's assistant."

"Cool. Do you want to meet up for coffee after work? I can tell we have a lot to catch up on."

"Sure, what time do you get off?"

"5:30, as long as there are no call outs."

"So do I. I'll meet you up in the lobby right after work and we can go."

"Great. See you then."

"Later."

Leah walked over to the desk and checked in and the receptionist handed Leah her CSI credentials. "This day keeps getting better". Leah thought.

"Wow, you look amazing." Natalia said as Leah walked into the briefing room. Leah blushed slightly. She had taken great pains the night before with her outfit; the brown boots with a slight heel, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a black button-up blouse, and a chocolate blazer had been her final decision. Her only accessories would be her tote bag/purse and, of course, her baby: a 9 mil pistol resting in its holster on her hip.

"As soon as Eric arrives, we'll get started." Horatio said just as a very disheveled and tired looking Eric dragged himself through the door.

"I'm here, H."

"Then let's begin. We have a murder that was made to look like a suicide. Miranda Carson, age 27, killed by one bullet the head. The catch is that there is evidence of Chloroform in her system, so Tom thinks that this case is not all that it appears to be. Eric and Natalia, I need you two to interview the victim's mother. Frank and I will take a look at the original Crime scene. Calleigh, I need you processing the bullet. Leah and Ryan, the girl left a suicide note, I want you two to get on it. Compare the handwriting from the note to the handwriting from the girl's journal and look for hidden meanings, codes, anything.

"Walter and Jesse are both taking a personal day, so they will not be here."

The team split up and went about their separate tasks. On their way out the door, Ryan took another glance at Eric and said "What happened to you?"

"Long night." Eric replied.

Ryan just raised his eyebrows and walked away with Leah. As they walked to Leah's lab, she asked "Who is Tom?"

"Tom Loman is the Medical Examiner. He is a good friend to us; we'll probably have to go meet him later."

"I know someone who probably knows him."

"Really? Who?"

"Kyle Harmon. He and I were taking classes at Dade U together."

"Did you know that Kyle is Horatio's son?"

"No way!" Leah exclaimed. "I can't believe I didn't see the resemblance. They have the exact same eyes. Kyle told me that his dad was a cop, but I never thought that it could be Horatio. I guess I put 2 and 2 together and came up with 29."

"It's the last names that throw everyone off. Most people don't really connect them unless the two are standing side by side."

They were now at the lab where they both threw on their coats and grabbed a pair of gloves. "Hey, Jane, have the journal and the note from the Carson case come in yet?" Leah asked her assistant.

"Yeah, they were just brought in." Jane replied.

"Great." Leah turned to Ryan. "Now, I get to show you where the real fun is."

The two spent the next several hours going over the "suicide" note looking for the psychological notes that would make the lettering unique. "Look for any points of unusual pressure or extra slant." Leah said. "If you find any, let me know."

"Here." Ryan said and pointed to the section of paper that had both more pressure and slant. Leah walked over and looked at it. There was indeed extra pressure and slant added where the note said 'This is my choice, to take my own life, and I don't regret it.'

"Let's see, if extra pressure and slant were added here, at the most crucial part of the note where it talks about killing herself, I would say it's safe to assume that she most certainly was forced, probably at gunpoint, to write that part." Leah said, half to Ryan, half thinking to herself.

"I don't understand how you can tell all that from handwriting."

"When we are under stress, like writing a suicide note at gunpoint, extra pressure is added to our writing. It's like an unconscious plea for help to those who can understand."

"And you can tell that much from a suicide note?" Ryan replied skeptically.

"I can tell you a lot about your personality from a signature."

"What about the 'at gunpoint' part?"

"I tested the paper for GSR and it came up positive."

"Wow."

"Yeah. I…" Leah paused. "Ryan, I need to see the crime scene photo of how Leah was found. Namely which hand held the gun."

Ryan hurried back to the photo lab and grabbed a few pictures. Then, he brought them back to Leah. "Why do you need these?"

"Miranda Carson was found holding a .22 revolver in her left hand."

"Yeah, so…"

"She was right handed, so I can tell from her writing. A person doing such a thing would always use their dominant hand."

"So, we're looking for a person who is left handed as our suspect."

Ryan pulled out his phone. "H, we're looking for someone who is left handed."

"Ryan, now that Eric and Natalia are done interviewing the victim's mother, why don't we go talk to her? I want to see if this is the way Miranda normally wrote. This really doesn't look like a girl who would take her own life." Leah suggested

"How can you tell that?"

"I analyzed the handwriting in her journal while you were gone."

"That was fast. What can you tell about her?"

"She's meticulous, shy, somewhat paranoid, and very intelligent."

"How do you know that?"

"It would take too long to explain."

"Okay."

Ryan and Leah met Natalia and Eric outside the interview room. "What questions have you asked her?" Leah asked.

"Just the usual." Eric replied.

"Okay. Ryan and I are going to ask some questions, some probably about the note."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Natalia asked.

"I think it is the best option we have. If she was forced to write that note, there will be some discrepancies between her writing something like that and how she would normally write. I can tell a lot by her journal, but the journal doesn't tell my everything."

"If you're sure."

Leah and Ryan walked in and began questioning the victim's mother.

Twenty minutes later, Leah said "I would say that we have a suspect. Call Miranda's ex-boyfriend, John, and have him come in. He sounds like our best bet."

While they were waiting, Ryan took Leah down to meet Tom. "Tom, meet our newest CSI."

"Ah, you're Leah Wilson, you're already famous for the logarithm business."

"I guess that makes you the infamous Tom Loman. With your fame at Dade U, I'm surprised I've never met you."

Tom smiled.

Just then, Leah thought of something. "Tom, have you tested her hands for GSR?"

Tom looked like he had just been whopped over the head. "Of course. That would prove no suicide." He quickly tested the victim's hands. "Negative."

"So it was definitely murder."

"Just one more think we can hit the boyfriend with." Ryan said.

John came in about an hour later and looked about as defiant and rebellious as a body could look. "Bring me the sign-in list for the questioning." Leah said to the officer in the room with her and Ryan.. When the officer brought back the list, she said "Well, John, its good to see you in here."

"You ain't got nothing on me. Now, let me leave."

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" Leah continued, not about to let the suspect faze her.

"There's nothing to tell."

"Well, let me tell you what I know about you. You are John Cunningham, age 30, born 7/15/1982. You are left handed, meticulous, controlling, paranoid, and aggressive with slight hints of psychosis that you are just beginning to realize yourself."

"Stop!"

"What did you think when Miranda broke up with you? I bet you wanted to control her."

"STOP!"

"So you killed her, thinking that it would complete your vision of how someone breaking up with you should feel."

"YES, I did it. I killed Miranda. I couldn't take it anymore! She should never have done that! And I made her regret it in the last minutes of her life!"

"You make me sick." Ryan said.

"Get him out of here." Leah requested of the officer who had brought her the sign in sheet.

"That was amazing. You could tell that much about him just from his signature."

"Self knowledge is a powerful thing. I chose the strongest negative traits I could pick up on and turned them against him. The realization drove him to confess."

"I thought maybe I should get you to analyze my signature sometime. But, after hearing that, I don't think I would want to."

"I wouldn't do that to you. I only force that upon people like that. I probably wouldn't tell you things as forcefully as that anyway. Like I said, all I saw wasn't bad, but most of it was. The good to bad ratio usually has the good in the winning side."

"Whew, I feel better."

"Yeah. I've got to go clean up the my lab, then start on some of that paperwork."

"See you later. Hey do you want to go grab a drink with the rest of us after work?"

"Nah. I already have plans."

"Okay, later."

Leah met Kyle in the lobby right after work. "So, what's good for coffee around here?" She asked.

"I'm thinking Underground. It's only about 5 minutes from here."

"Okay, let's go." Leah smiled happily.

"I'll drive there, then I can bring you back to pick up your car." Kyle offered. Leah nodded her approval.

The two college friends spent about an hour and a half in the coffee shop talking, laughing, and catching up.

"Leah, I had an amazing time." Kyle said as they drove back to the lab to pick up Leah's car.

"I did, too."

Kyle paused for a moment, gathering his courage. "Would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"Like on a date?"

"Yes." Kyle said, afraid he was about to get shot down.

"Sure."

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. "Awesome. You want to meet up after work again tomorrow?"

"Sounds great." Leah stepped out of the car since they had reached the lab. "See you then."

"Bye."

The two had an amazing dinner the next night and started dating as a result.