A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!

She woke up in a cold sweat and breathing hard. Don't throw up. She wouldn't throw up. She half expected to see Justice standing there, but when she stopped and calmed her own breathing, she realized that Justice had been in the throws of her own nightmare.

She walked into her bedroom and grabbed the girls shoulder. "Justice?"

"No...you can't do this to me again. I'm eighteen now. He said...he said I could make my own choice. It's my choice!"

It was easy to tell she was pleading with everything she had in the dream. "Justice!" she said louder. "Wake up! It's just a nightmare." then she shook her a little harder. "Justice!"

"No!" she said, sitting straight up.

"Easy. It's just a dream."

Her breathing was erratic as she looked around the room. "Where am I?"

"You're at my house. In my bedroom. Do you remember getting here?"

Still panting she looked around again and nodded slowly.

"Hang on. I'll get you some water."

She had turned herself and had her feet on the floor when Charli got back. "Thanks."

"You want to talk about it?"

Her shoulders rose and fell. "My mom had another guy. I was supposed to...I was supposed to..."

Charli noticed her shaking. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

"No, it's just...hard to get out. I did so many things, that I..."

"Look, we all do things we regret. The key, is picking yourself by the boot straps and carrying on, no matter what."

She stared at her for a long moment.

"What is it?"

"I want to hug you, but you don't seem like the hugging type and I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Giving in, she leaned in and hugged the girl and noticed how tightly she held on. "It's going to be okay Justice. Horatio wont let anything happen to you, and neither will I." Boy had she come full circle. She felt like Natalia suddenly. She pulled back, scared to know that she was getting attached so quickly. "Well, I'll let you get back to sleep. Are you alright?"

She stared at her for a long moment, then nodded her head. Sometimes she hated the way she had been raised. A part of her yearned for that connection, and then another part didn't want to be coddled, much less touched, by anyone. But there was something about Charli that made her comfortable, if she could even call it that.

Leaning back, she heard her lay down on the couch after getting a glass of water for herself. She wondered if she would ever learn about whatever was keeping her so closed off. Though it wasn't like she was really one to talk. She was quiet too and she didn't know if she would ever get over what happened and be able to move on. She could only go up from here though, right? It's not like she could start her life over again, but she could make her own decisions now. She could move away from everything that she had been, and try to do something.

She finally drifted off to sleep, and woke the next morning to the smell of coffee drifting to her nose. She glanced at the clock. It was six thirty. Admittedly, she was a little surprised she slept that long. Hell she was shocked she even fell asleep after the nightmare.

Stepping timidly out of the bedroom she noticed the bathroom door closed and figured she would go ahead and get a cup of coffee. There was a cup on the table that was half full and the remote to the television next to it, with The Weather Channel on the screen.

Grabbing a cup for herself and sitting down where she'd set the night before to eat, she looked at the coffee mug that had already been half drank. She read the card that was tucked inside and almost smiled.

Charli appeared from around the corner and she sat up straight, like she was scared to get in trouble for looking. She smiled to her gently, grabbing her cup and taking a drink. Her hair was still dripping from where she'd brushed it back after getting out of the shower. "Horatio gave me that card the first day I met him."

"He seems to be more than a mentor."

She shrugged. "He's become more of a friend and father figure than anything. Poor guy had no idea what he was getting into giving me this stupid card."

"Why do you say that?"

She half laughed sadly. "I am not the easiest person on this Earth to get along with. I'll fight tooth and nail and push every chance I get. I can't help it. It's who I am. But they've never changed."

"They?"

"My team. My family." she said softly.

"Is that the picture you have on your wall?"

She nodded. "That's them. Horatio, Natalia, Calleigh, Ryan, Eric and Walter."

"Who is the girl in the photo in the living room?"

The room fell silent as she tried to find the right words to explain. "That...that was Sky."

"I...I'm sorry. It's none of my business."

"It's not that. It's just, still raw." She stared into her coffee then looked up. "H hit her in the truck when she was running away from someone who had kidnapped her. I insisted on keeping her here through the trial for protection and she stayed. When it was over she went back home to Mississippi and within six months, committed suicide."

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. That must have been what he was talking about."

"What who was talking about?"

"Horatio. After you walked out yesterday, I asked him if you didn't like me." then she shrugged and looked at the table. "I'm not the easiest person to live with either, and I wouldn't blame anyone for not liking me, doing what I've done in my past." Still not looking up, she shrugged again. "Anyway, he said it was complicated, and that it wasn't his story to tell but that it wasn't me and that it would get better."

Charli nodded and instantly felt so much regret for the way she'd treated both Justice, and Horatio in the last day. She leaned forward. "First off, it's my fault for being so standoffish, not yours. He was right, it's very complicated and it's not you, and I should have given you a fair chance instead of instantly thinking you were going to turn into Sky." and then she cleared her throat. "She addressed her suicide note to me and cut herself, bleeding out on the beach where we used to go. It was her favorite spot while she was here and we did a lot of talking there. I still haven't gotten over it." she admitted, whispering the last part.

"You think it was your fault?"

Staring into her cup for a long moment she finally nodded. She hadn't even admitted that to H yet. "There were a lot of signs and I was too busy in my own world to stop her."

"Have you always been dedicated to work?"

She looked at her for a long moment. "My work and my school was really important to me." then she stopped. "Is really important to me." she corrected. "She knew it."

"So then, she exploited it."

"What?" she asked, trying not to get defensive at what the girl was trying to say.

"Think about it. If she knew you were dedicated to your work and school, then she used that knowledge to do what she did."

"Why would you think..."

"Look, Lord only knows I've considered suicide more times than my fair share in my life. I've admittedly never had the balls to do it, but it's been at the forefront of a lot of my sleepless nights. So I know what I would do when it came down to it, especially if I was trying to keep from someone stopping me, like she obviously was you. I would exploit every possible fact I knew about you to make sure that you didn't find me until after it was done."

Damn this girl had put too much thought into this. But she was also right. She stared at her for a long time before finally looking away. "You're right. You have considered it more than your share. It should never cross a persons mind and frankly, I think I'm really glad you 'never had the balls'." Then she stopped. Had she really just said that? Standing up, she got a cup of coffee then turned when a knock sounded on her door.

Stepping around she opened it up and saw familiar brown eyes staring back at her. "Natalia!" she almost shouted from excitement.

Smiling big she walked into the apartment. "I didn't get to see you yesterday because I was in the field, so I figured I'd stop by for some coffee on the way in."

Closing the door she turned and caught her in a big hug. "Oh my gosh I missed you so much."

"I missed you too kid." she said back while hugging her.

She straightened up and smiled. "Come on in, grab a cup!" then she glanced at the girl at the table. "Natalia, this is Justice Cartwright."

"Nice to meet you."

Justice half smiled and waved a little.

"She's quiet like I am." Charli said. "So what are you guys working on at the lab?"

"This, that and everything else. You called it yesterday on that trace by the way. It was nail polish."

"Hah! Walter owes me twenty bucks!"

"Do you two always bet?"

"Yup! It's what we do." and she giggled remembering Walter had said that to Horatio a long time ago when he'd asked that same question. She handed the steaming mug to her and noticed her inhale the aroma.

Taking a long drink, she set the cup down on the table, grabbing one of the chairs herself and sighed heavily. "Good grief I've missed your coffee." then she laughed. "Wait til I tell Ryan I had some. He's going to be so jealous."

That made her laugh out. She had missed everyone so much. It was so good just to be able to lay eyes on them again. They talked for another hour before she got up to head into the lab.

Her phone rang a few minutes later. "What's up boss?"

"How are things?"

"They're okay. Justice had a nightmare last night but I was able to bring her out of it."

"Good. And how did you sleep?"

"Not bad I guess."

"You guess?"

Avoiding his question she took a deep breath. "Anyway, what have we got this morning on it?"

"Nothing much. Hey I'm coming over in a few minutes, I need to ask Justice a few questions about her mom's cooking."

"Alright. See you soon then." and she hung up. Looking back at the girl, she nodded. "You need a shower?"

A shower did sound good and she nodded. "I won't be long."

"Take your time." and she grabbed her coffee and wandered over to the couch.