This is a short idea that came to me one day. Enjoy!

Letting go of the Ghosts

Horatio smiled to himself as he watched his slightly disorganized daughter dig through boxes.

"Sorry Dad," Jessica said, shifting boxes on the shelf of a closet, "I know it's here somewhere."

Horatio chuckled and continued to watch her struggle. "You sure you don't need any help there, Bug?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Jessica said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not that much shorter than you. Oh shit!"

Two colorful photo boxes came tumbling out of the closet and hit Jessica in the shoulder. Pictures went scattering everywhere as they flew open. Jessica groaned and dropped to her knees and began picking up pictures.

"Great, just my luck," she quietly said.

"I thought you didn't believe in luck," Horatio chuckled as he knelt next to her to help clean up.

Jessica smiled and shook her head. "It's a figment of speech, lame brain."

Horatio chuckled again but stopped when he found three leather wallets amongst the pictures. He picked one up and read the credentials inside.

"Officer Jessica Stone-Johnson," he whispered, staring at the picture on the card and the shining Chicago Police Department badge.

Jessica sat there silently, staring at the floor.

Horatio opened another and found a younger version of himself staring back at him. He opened the third and stared at his long ago best friend. Lieutenant Brian Johnson looked straight at the camera, the pride still evident in his eyes.

"You kept these," Horatio whispered, unable to hide the emotion in his voice.

"Yeah," Jessica whispered, "I didn't want to get rid of them. My parents' badges were given to me when they died. I couldn't get rid of them."

"What about this one?" Horatio quietly asked, looking at his old badge and credentials from another life.

Jessica was silent for a long time before she spoke again. "I didn't want to be alone," she finally whispered.

"Alone?" Horatio quietly said.

"Yeah, when I left for Michigan I didn't want to be alone," Jessica explained, small tears forming in her eyes. "I thought if I took it with me it would be like having you there. I would have someone to protect me."

Horatio reached out and pulled his daughter into his arms. He held her close as she slowly began to cry.

"You would never be alone, Jessie," he whispered, "Not as long as we have each other."

"I know," she whispered. "I was scared though. I wanted you to come with me."

"If I could I would have," Horatio quietly said. "I had too many ties in Chicago, too many responsibilities and people who relied on me. I couldn't just leave them all."

"But you did," Jessica whispered against his shoulder. "You just got up one day and left. You ran off to Miami and didn't even tell me you were leaving."

"I hadn't planned on it. I received a call one day from the Sheriff in Miami offering me a job on the bomb squad. I didn't know how he got my number but I didn't care. I took the job. I had to leave Chicago. There were too many ghosts in my life."

"Like Izzy," Jessica whispered.

"Yes, and Brian and Jessica," Horatio whispered. "I couldn't do it anymore. My life seemed to be spiraling downward, out of control. I divorced my wife, my daughter was sent to jail, she moved to Michigan, and then I lost my damn badge. Loosing that goddamn badge was what did me in, though. I was sick of my life and I took loosing my badge as a sign it was time to move on to bigger and better things."

Jessica was silent as he held her in his arms. Horatio leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"You little sneak," he whispered with a slight chuckle. "You took my badge and that's how this all happened. You took that stupid badge and made me think I lost it. I searched all over my house for it and never found it. I shifted through my belongings for days and never once did I come across it. I couldn't even remember the last time I had it. You took my badge and that's why I moved to this god forsaken city. I left Chicago because I felt like I had finally lost everything in my life; the woman I loved, my daughter, and that fucking badge. And here you were, hiding it amongst old memories and pictures. What else of mine did you take?"

"Nothing of yours," Jessica whispered. "Just someone else."

She lifted the colorful, upturned box, relieving the contents within. There was a jewelry box that held a ladybug necklace and an old sorority pin. A gold man's watch, the crystal in the face cracked. A pocketknife with a light blue colored handle. A green bandana with ladybugs on it. The external until of a cochlear implant.

Horatio looked at the objects and felt sorrow fill his veins. He touched everything gently as tears formed in his eyes.

"I bought her this," he whispered, picking up the bandana. "We were walking around downtown Chicago when some weird hippy vendor approached us and tried to hustle us into buying something. I tried to get away but Jessabelle saw this and loved it. I bought it for her, paying probably triple what I would have paid anywhere else. But it was what she wanted."

Jessica continued to stare at the floor, still not speaking.

"You probably think I'm strange for keeping these things," she finally whispered. "Or you're pissed that I took them."

Horatio pulled her back into his arms and held her, as a small tear worked its way down his cheek.

"No," he whispered, "I'm not mad at all. These are the things you wanted to keep to remember your parents. There's nothing wrong with what you did."

"It's hard still," Jessica quietly said, "Living with the ghosts."

"It'll always be difficult trying to live while they're gone," Horatio quietly said to her. "They were such an important part of our lives."

"Sometimes it's hard to let go of our ghosts," Jessica whispered into his neck.

Horatio kissed her forehead and held her close. "Because they always stay with us," he whispered.