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!

Chapter IV

She Was Beautiful

Glaring at the man sitting by himself at the table, she walked up to him. "Go home Rodrigo. You don't even like my food."

He'd been there for hours, waiting for that damn girl to show up. "Who took her Maria."

"She left with those local officers. They said they were FBI from the local field office, looking into a murder. They placed her under arrest and carried her out in handcuffs." she lied. She hoped if she told him that she'd been arrested, he'd be too scared to look into it and see if she'd been telling the truth. "I'm glad no one else was in here to see it. She would have been so embarrassed."

"I could give a shit about her being embarrassed Maria! You should have called me!"

"I don't have your number senor! How am I to call you in that event?"

Slamming his hand down on the table, he left a piece of paper with his digits. "If she shows back up, you call me."

"Si. I will do so." and she watched him leave, taking a breath that for the moment, had worked.

Walking back to the apartment he set up for her, he went through and ransacked her place. Things were all there. She hadn't packed anything, not even her tooth brush, which told him she had intentions of coming back. Unless...he ran to the drawer that he knew she kept all of her money in. It was gone. All of it. When he'd been there the day before, there had been almost a hundred dollars in her sock. Son of a bitch! She'd left. And there was no telling where she was or who these guys were. Was Maria telling him the truth? Was it really FBI from the local office? There was a chance she'd been going to run away and hadn't anticipated them being there to haul her off. Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit. How did he proceed now?

Juan had just told him they were cops. He needed to know what they looked like.

Staring out at the water, she wasn't sure how, or what, to think. She had a family. Not just a father, but a dad. He wasn't all powerful and didn't expect anything out of her. Every time she'd talked about how much she'd spent, he just shrugged his shoulders and said okay. He didn't make her work, and she had offered money for the room she was staying in, but he'd told her no.

She'd been too scared to really meet anyone and had asked him if she could just have some time to get used to the idea of family. She suddenly wanted to know everything there was to know about her mom, and her life prior to death. Everything. And the same with Horatio. She wanted to know about his family, about his parents, if he'd had any siblings...all of it. He had let her sit on the beach in back of his place for as long as she wanted to, and she'd gone over the course of three hours from a million questions, to just one. Why her?

Walking down and sitting beside her, she glanced at him. "You don't have to leave, I was just going to sit with you if that's alright."

She looked back out at the water and took a deep breath, not answering one way or another.

"I bought this place because of that right there." and he pointed to the horizon where dolphins were cresting the water.

Holding her breath, she watched as they played. "I've never seen anything like that in my life. That's so awesome." she said softly, sheer wonder in her voice. "Did you know that dolphins stay with their families forever? Orca's too. They never drift." then she swallowed and inhaled sharply. "Sometimes I think life would be so much easier for everyone around me if I hadn't been born."

Almost ready to scream and literally cry for the sheer sadness in her voice, he took a chance and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her to him gently. "Never feel like that. You were born for a reason. You were conceived in love, even if you haven't been raised to know that. You're an amazing person with an incredible personality."

"So why don't I feel like that?"

"Because you've been taught differently. You've been raised by a man who had no other intentions outside of hurting me. My bet is that once you were of age, he hoped you would grow to hate me, so he could rub that in my face too. And it's been very unfair to you."

She considered his words. "I'm too weak to hate anyone." she finally admitted softly. "I don't trust anyone and I'm convinced that the world is out to get me, but life isn't fair. It never has been and never will be."

So cynical to be so young. He was convinced that she hadn't had anything her entire life. And Maria had already told him that she didn't feel like she deserved to have anything either. And that bothered him to no end. He would do everything in his power to show her that there was life outside of Laredo Texas. Now...how to do it. How did you take a kid who has had nothing her entire life, and try to give her...anything? "Are you hungry?"

Shaking her head softly, she glanced up at him. "Not really, no. But admittedly most nights I have to make myself eat. Too much on my mind sometimes. Others I'm too upset because of a visit from Rodrigo."

"How long have you been emancipated?"

"Since my sixteenth birthday."

He'd known the date that everything had happened with finding Marisol. "Your birthday was April second, right?"

She nodded. "At least no one can call me a fool." she said, referring to not being born on April first.

"I don't think anyone could call you a fool anyway sweetheart."

"Yeah they could. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, and they just keep adding up." then she shrugged. "Now, I realize admittedly that most of that could be chocked up to Rodrigo, but I still made those mistakes regardless of the circumstances."

Not even wanting to delve into what she was talking about, he considered what she said, and squeezed again around her shoulders lightly. "Maybe we can change that together."

She shrugged and winced. Hoping he hadn't caught it, she realized too quickly, he had. "How is your hand?"

"It's okay." she lied. "I should have picked up some Ibuprofen while we were out and I forgot."

"It's alright. I have some. Does it hurt?"

"Only sometimes and not a lot." and she stared at him for a long moment as he stood and offered his hand. He'd been doing that lately. Offering his hand to her.

"I don't bite. I promise. I just wanted to doctor it and give you some medicine for it."

She stood and followed him into his house. "I'll pay you back for the..."

"No." he said softly. "Part of being a parent, is taking care of your child's needs. No matter what they are."

"I don't want you burdened with taking care of me."

He looked at her solemnly and studied her. "I've missed sixteen years of fevers, headaches, knee scrapes and boo-boos, including apparent stab wounds. A burden is the last thing I would consider this."

That almost brought her to tears. Rodrigo hadn't wanted to be bothered with her and had mostly pushed her off on other people when she was sick. She never talked about her pain or if she felt bad and certainly never ran to him when she pulled a muscle or sprained her knee. She simply pushed through it and dealt with the pain. "I...I'm not used to anyone taking care of, well, anything. It's very strange. I feel like I'm using you."

"Family takes care of family. That is what it's there for. You're not using me, hell you barely take something when I give it to you as it is. Believe me, that's strange to me."

"I don't understand that I guess. Maybe I never will." she admitted soberly. "I'm used to not being allowed to cry or show emotion because emotion was weakness and weakness wasn't tolerated in any situation. Didn't matter how bad it hurt, he made sure I knew I was a burden and he wouldn't tolerate that."

The more he heard, the more he was as grateful to have her with him now, as he was ready to kill the man who'd taken her. She didn't move as he changed the bandages and gave her some more Ibuprofen. "You must have a million questions about your family members or anything."

"I did at first. But when it came down to it, I only had one."

"Why you?" he said, almost reading her mind.

"How...do you know that?" she asked, almost meekly.

"Because after all you've been through, if it had been me, that would be the first question I asked."

"Is it because you're a cop?"

Considering her question carefully, he nodded. "Partly. Some of it has to do with the fact that I've been after the Mala Noche's since before they murdered your mother. I did a lot of toe stepping when they came to Miami and started distributing drugs to kids around here."

"They were selling to kids?"

He nodded. "They wanted to make it known that they owned Miami. When I started taking them down one by one, they started trying to take down my team, and then it was just me that they wanted. That's when they put a hit out on your mom."

"Just to hurt you." she whispered. "And thats the reason I was taken."

She'd said it so matter of fact, almost as if in understanding, and not an ounce of blame in anyone but the people that took her. Maria was right. She was very wise beyond her years. And it was really a shame. Looking up at him now, she took a short breath in. "What was my mom like?"

Sure that was coming but still not completely ready for the feelings it would bring, he sat down in the chair he was next to, gesturing for her to do the same thing. "She was incredible. When we first met..." and he went into the story about her battling cancer and overcoming it, about their getting married, and then about the brutal ending that befell her.

She looked at the picture that she hadn't noticed the day before on his television set. Standing up and walking over to the photo, she touched it lightly. "She was beautiful."

Walking up beside her, he smiled. "Yes she was. Both inside and out."

She hadn't realized she'd been crying until he reached up with his knuckle and wiped her face softly. She inhaled sharply and cleared her throat. Dropping her hand she turned, almost running into him. She backed up a step and took another breath. "I...I can't, I'm sorry...I can't do this. I don't...I don't know how to..." and she hurried away to the room she was staying in.

He stared after her, knowing what she was trying to say. "I know you don't sweetheart. But I'm willing to show you." he murmured softly. That was going to be her ticket there. Making sure that he didn't push, and that she didn't feel crowded in. If she felt enclosed, that would be when he lost her. And he'd be damned if he risked that now, after just finding her. Glancing up at the picture, he smiled. "She's got a long way to go Mari. I hope I'm strong enough."

She was so stupid. She couldn't do this. And she was lying to herself that she could. The man out there had been nothing but sweet and understanding, and she had simply run away. How ungrateful could she be?

All she knew how to do, was to hurt people. And she hated herself for it. They could tell her whatever they wanted, but the bottom line was, if she hadn't been born, her mother would still be alive today. If she hadn't been born, they wouldn't have taken her and made her father, and uncle and the whole rest of the family, suffer with the news and lies surrounding her existence.

He was wrong. She'd been a burden to him, and it never felt like it would go away. She would always be a burden. Sitting down in the floor, she took a deep breath to stop the crying. She felt so run down this afternoon. It was most likely because she'd taken in so much information. She'd learned about an entire group of people that surrounded her. Would they be mad that it was her and not their sibling, or daughter, that had lived? Would they be happy because at least now they had something of their little girl left? Would that be all she was? Remnants of a time long forgotten because of a mans need for revenge?

She felt like she was ready to be sick. So many thoughts and feelings that she wasn't ready to think about, much less discuss. Her dad out there, had looked so sad when he was talking about her mom. He really loved her, truly missed her. And she had been the one to extinguish the life force. It had all been her fault. Part of her felt like she needed to suck it up no matter how she felt, for the sheer fact that they deserved better than a sniveling idiot as a replacement. She owed it to them to be there, and stand in her mom's place. She owed them everything, and she wouldn't rest until she fixed it.

Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the bedroom and over to the man who was now sitting on the couch.

He lifted his head and appraised her. "You alright?"

She nodded. "Sorry. You know...for running out of here and stuff."

"It's alright. You know, you can talk to me about anything. I'm not going to make fun of you or make you feel bad for anything."

She stared at him for a long time before finally nodding her head. "Maybe one day I'll believe it." then she closed her eyes and shook her head. "That came out wrong. It's not you. It's just..."

"That you've been treated so different, for so long, it's going to take you time to get used to being cared about."

She opened her mouth, but then closed it again, finally nodding her head.

"We really should think about getting something to eat for the night and then I want you, to think about who you want to meet and when, if anyone."

Staring at him, she nodded.