A/N: Here's the chapter you've been waiting for. This takes place awhile after Walter joined the team and Molly stayed as a lab tech (I think her name was Molly).

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami. No Money is being made of this.

I heard that you're settled down. That you found a girl and you're married now. I heard that your dreams came true. Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you. Old friend, why are you so shy? Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light. I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited. But, I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it. I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded that for me, It isn't over. Never mind, I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don't forget me, I begged, I remember you said. Sometimes it lasts in love, but It hurts instead. You know how the times flies. Only yesterday was the time of our lives. We were born and raised in a summer haze. Bound by the surprise of our glory days.

16 years later

Allison took a deep breath as she continued to sit in her car starring at the building in front of her. She had never been so nervous about starting a new job, not even when she enlisted in the Navy. The officer wished that either Steve or Danny were there to reassure her that everything was going to alright, but she had not heard from Steve in a about a year and she had stopped hearing from Danny since he left Jersey six months ago.

She didn't know why she was so nervous about coming here. Granted she was a little skeptical to call Lieutenant Caine when she had decided to transfer in to the reserves and move to Miami. She really didn't know the man. All she knew was that he had been an old friend of her mother. Neither Abs or her father had known who he was nor had they seen him before, but something drew her to the older man like a magnet. She felt a certain connection that she couldn't explain to the Lieutenant.

"Quit being such a baby." Allison chastised herself.

Letting out one last deep breath she quickly got out of the car and locked it up. Breathing in the warm Miami air always made her remember that magical night on the beach where she had slept in Ryan's arms. She couldn't believe that it had been 16 years already. It seemed like it was just yesterday that she was here in this city.

Pushing all those beautiful memories to the back of her head she entered the elevator and took it to the 3rd floor. When she arrived onto the floor she let the officer at the desk know who she was.

"Please Ms. Cahill, take a seat. Lieutenant Caine will be right down to meet you."

Gratefully thanking the officer she took a seat and took in her surroundings. She was surprised that the lab was so big. She thought the glass walls gave it a touch of elegance. Allison started to feel a little more relaxed as she sat and waited. Everything was going to fine.

"It's so good to see you again Ms. Cahill."

Allison turned to see Horatio looking at her with his piercing blue eyes. "It's good to see you too Lieutenant. Please, call me Ali."

Horatio smiled at her. "Alright, only if you call me Horatio."

"Alright, it's a deal."

"Great, let's go so that you could meet the rest of the team."

She nodded in conformation and followed her new boss through the lab until they arrived in a room where she found a group of people gathered at a table talking quietly.

"Ladies, Gentlemen." Horatio greeted. "I'd like you all to meet Allison Cahill. She's the new CSI on our team."

A petite blond was the first to stand and introduce herself. "It's so great to finally meet you. My name's Calleigh, welcome to the team."

"Thank you."

"And I'm Natalia. Horatio has said many good things about you. It's good to have you with us."

Allison smiled at the brunette and turned to eye her boss. How did Horatio have good things to say about her if he barely knew her. All he knew was that she was in the Navy, nothing more.

"Hi, I'm Eric." A dark haired man greeted. "When Horatio mentioned you were a Junior Lieutenant in the Navy I was expecting this tough looking woman."

Ali snorted before taking the Latino's hand. "And I don't look tough to you?"

Panic quickly flashed across the CSI's face. "Uh, no! That's not...Um, I didn't mean.."

"It's alright, Eric. I know what you meant." Allison laughed.

"Excuse him, he tends to put his foot in his mouth quite often." The tall African American said, earning a glare from his co-worker. "I'm Walter. It's nice to meet you. And by the way, I think you look very tough." He said with a wink.

Allison let out a chuckle. This team was great. They seemed to get along well and it was obvious that they cared about each other like a family.

"Allison there is still one more member of the team for you to meet but right now he's in court. Meanwhile I'll give you a tour of the lab." Horatio said. "Eric have you ran the fingerprints that we found on the window in the Johnson house?"

"No H, but I'll get you those results as soon as I can." The CSI answered.

"Good. Ali, follow me."

Ali smiled at her boss and followed him out of the room. She was starting to feel more at ease. Everything was going to be alright.

~CSI~CSI~CSI~CSI~

A few hours later Ryan finally made it back to the crime lab after an excruciating 2 hours in court waiting to testify. He couldn't wait to dive into a new case. Coming off the elevator he saw Eric coming out of the fingerprint lab.

"Hey man, did I miss anything big?" Ryan asked.

"No not really. We did meet the new girl." Eric answered.

"Oh yeah, she was in the military right?"

"Yeah, and she's kinda cute man."

Ryan laughed at Eric's comment, always the ladies man. "Don't let Calleigh hear you say that, I think you want your man hood intact."

"You're probably right."

"So where's this kinda cute military newbie?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know. H, was giving her a tour of the lab. Oh look they're right over there." Eric said while pointing to the elevator.

Ryan turned to look in the direction Eric pointed to. All of a sudden it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. It couldn't be her? Could it? He was sure that he would never see her again. She looked so different.

"Allison?"

"You know her?" Eric asked.

"I did, a long time ago." The CSI answered before he started walking towards the person he thought was the love of his life.

His heart was pounding with each step that he took. This had to be a dream. This couldn't be real. "Allison?" He was greeted by the beautiful ocean blue eyes that he fell in love with 16 years ago.

Ali's heart stopped beating the moment her eyes met his. She felt like she couldn't breathe. He was standing right in front of her. This had to be some sort of a dream. "Ryan?"

They stood staring at each other in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. After 16 years neither of them had anything to say. Ryan desperately wanted to reach out and touch her, to pull her close to him and wrap her up in his arms. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to ask her why she left him the way she did.

"I see that you've become a cop like you've always wanted." Allison said, breaking the awkward silence.

This was definitely not the conversation he wanted to be having right now. He wanted to know why she hadn't shown up at the diner that summer so many years ago. Instead he decided that maybe it was a conversation that they should have in private, if they ever got the chance.

"Yeah, it took a lot of hard work, but I did it."

"Good, I'm really proud of you."

Allison was so surprised that she could have this discussion with him without her voice cracking. She was more surprised that she didn't just kiss him. After all these years she still loved him. She still loved him even after he left that fateful day of the most amazing summer of her life. Now was her chance to ask him why he never showed, if he ever loved her.

"Ry, why.."

At that moment she was interrupted by blond that walked up to them wrapping her arm around his. A surge of jealousy spiked through Allison's body.

"Hey Ryan, we still going out for lunch?" The blond asked.

Ryan slipped out his trance. "Yeah, um sure."

They fell into another awkward silence. All 3, starring at each other. Ryan finally caught on that the 2 women didn't know each other. "Um, Molly this is Allison Cahill, the new CSI on the team. Allison this is Molly she works in trace, um she's also my uh, my..."

Ali didn't miss the reaction that flickered across the lab tech's face at the mention of her name. There was no doubt that she had been spoken about to her. Curiosity fluttered in the CSI. She wondered what Ryan had told Molly about her.

The blond extended her hand to the new CSI. "I'm also his fiancé. It's nice to meet you."

If Allison didn't believe that her heart was broken before she knew that it was now. Now it was a reality that she had lost Ryan forever. Her eyes moved from Molly to Ryan for confirmation. He couldn't even look at her.

With built up courage Allison took the hand that was offered to her. "It's nice to meet you Molly. Congratulations on your engagement. I wish you two the best."

"Thank you." said Molly. "Ryan and I are so in love."

Allison smiled grimly at them. She needed to get out of there fast. She couldn't bear to be there one second more. At that moment she felt a sturdy hand on her shoulder.

"Allison, I see that you've met the last member of our team." Their boss stated.

"Yes Horatio I did."

"That's good. Well, how about you dip your toes into the water. Calleigh got a call out at Biscayne Bay. How 'bout you join her?"

"Of course Lieutenant." Allison turned to head towards the elevator.

"Allison." Horatio said.

The CSI turned to face her boss. "Yes Sir?"

"Please call me Horatio." The Lieutenant said with a smile.

Ali smiled at the older man. "Sorry Horatio, force of habit."

The brunette turned her gaze to the other CSI, making her heart ache. She swiftly turned and headed towards the elevator once again. The metal doors finished closing and all the emotions that Allison felt came pouring out as she started sobbing against the elevator wall. This is why she was feeling so nervous before she came here. She had felt something weird at the pit of her stomach and now she knew what that feeling was.

Never in a million years had she thought that she would see him again. As the elevator neared the first floor she began to wipe her tear streaked face. Taking a deep breath as the doors opened she carefully walked out into the lobby. She needed to do her job and not let these emotions get in the way. No matter how much it hurt she had to push everything she felt aside.

Ryan watched the double metal doors close. He had to get out of there. The CSI swiftly turned and headed towards the break room. He pressed his forehead against the cold wall in the room and let out a deep breath. Ryan felt so dizzy, everything was spinning around him.

"Are you ok?"

The brunette turned to find his fiancé looking at him with concern. "Yeah babe, I'm fine. Just felt a little dizzy for a second." Ryan responded running his hands through his hair.

"She's the Allison you told me about, isn't she?"

The man turned to look at his future wife and saw the fear of losing him in her eyes and if he was honest with himself he didn't know if she was going to keep him.

"She is Mol, but you don't have anything to worry about." Ryan said as he walked over to envelope her in his arms. "Her being here isn't going to change anything between us. I promise you."

The young woman nodded in confirmation and kissed her love on the lips. Ryan held his girlfriend tight, but all he could think about was the love he lost.

~CSI~CSI~CSI~CSI~CSI~CSI~CSI

The day was winding down to an end and Ryan was heading to the locker room to gather his belongings. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Allison all day. The officer was not even able to speak or even see her all day.

He swiftly turned the corner into the locker room but was stopped dead in his tracks. There was his angel slipping off her top shirt, leaving on only a camisole. Ryan took a step forward and reached out with one hand, intending to touch her but pulled back at the last second. Only when he pulled back he caught the glimpse of a tattoo on her right shoulder. A beautiful angel painted her skin and in one of the wings the name 'Sam' was visible.

Who the hell was Sam? Was it some guy that she considered to be her angel? It made him livid to think that someone was touching his girl. He needed to know who this Sam guy was. In that moment their co-worker entered the room.

"Hey man there you are. I was looking all over for you." The Cuban said by way of greeting as he clapped Ryan in the back.

Allison turned around startled by her intruders. "God, you guys scared me." She shrieked.

"Sorry Allison." Eric apologized. "I thought you Navy guys had no fear?"

"Us Navy guys? Wow you do put your foot in your mouth a lot."

Eric chuckled. "Yeah I guess I do. But, hey why don't you come and have a drink with us. According to Calleigh you've earned it today. And judging by that bandage on your hand, I'd say she's right."

Ali turned to look at Ryan who hadn't relinquished his gaze off of her. She would love more than anything to start bonding with her new co-workers but she really needed to get home.

"Thanks, but I think I'm gonna have to request a rain check for tonight." The Newbie responded as she slipped on a new shirt.

"Oh come on. What is the hubby at home waiting?"

"You're funny Eric. I'll see you guys later." With one last wave and one last glance over at Ryan, Allison grabbed her bag and exited the locker room.

She quickly made her way to the elevator. Once outside she got to her and got in driving off in the direction of home. The officer couldn't wait to get home. The one important person in her life was waiting for her to get home.

Allison made it in record time back to her house. She put her car in park and walked to her front door, putting in the key in the lock she quietly pushed the door open and walked in closing the door behind her.

"Sam honey I'm home. Where are you?"

"In the dining room." Came the response.

She followed the voice into the room and smiled when she saw her baby sitting at the table.

"Mom, what happened to your hand?" The teen asked making her way to where her mother was standing.

"It's nothing sweetheart. I just had a little run in with a perp that was yielding a knife is all."

"God you say it so casually. Like it happens every day."

"Well hopefully it doesn't." Allison said as she kissed her daughter on the head. "Now did you eat already?"

"Yeah, I left you a plate in the microwave. I made chicken alfredo." Sam said as she sat back down to resume doing her homework.

"Mmmm, sounds delicious and I'm starving."

Allison left her daughter to her studies and headed to the kitchen to heat up her dinner. As she stared at the plate rotating in the microwave she kept thinking on how she was going to keep Sam a secret from Ryan.

Ryan could not find out under any circumstances that he had a teenage daughter. She supposed that she could just tell him but then she would have to tell Sam that she had lied to her and father wasn't really dead.

"Why did I tell her that?" She asked herself.

The answer was simple. Allison had thought that Ryan had left her 16 years ago and she didn't not want to tell her daughter that her father abandoned her. If he didn't want to know about Allison back then, who's to say that he wanted to do anything with his daughter now.

The beeping of the microwave pulled Allison from her musings. Heaving out a sigh she collected her plate and headed back into the dining room. Ryan must never know about Sam.