A/N. This first part contains a bit of child abuse, so if that bugs you, close your eyes and scroll down to the happier parts. If not, this does help some little loose ends (aka random things I put in there that you might not think have a purpose, but really do) in a couple of chapters get tied up, so..
Part 10: Nightmares and Dreams
Inch by painful inch, she managed to drag herself up the concrete wall. Though she was a good athlete, she was only seventeen and not very used to dangling from a wall by only her fingertips. She'd been out with her best friend for a few hours and she was supposed to be home. When she got to the top. Two very unfriendly, yet very familiar, faces were waiting on her. Hands grabbed her and dragged her over the top of the wall and she went limp, not fighting back because she knew it would make things worse.
She felt the sting of the belt in her back. Desperately, she tried to crawl into the corner to try to get some relief from the belt's bitter bite. She winced as she felt it again and again, cutting into her already bloody back.
She was torn: Stay or get away and protect myself but have to watch the same thing happen to Luke. Making her choice she stayed, but curled up into a ball.
That was when they started kicking her. She could feel each blow, but it was like someone else was receiving them and she was just watching. The feeling was nothing new; for a long time, her parents had been finding new ways to hurt her. As the pain got worse, she would almost become an onlooker to her own torture.
It was different with Luke; they loved him. Just because he was born ten minutes before me, they love him and hate me. Yet, I'm the one that protects him. I'm the one that tries to keep them all safe. I have been trying ever since I was born. As long as they're okay, I can deal with the pain.
That was when the real blow hit. "You'll never be as good as your brother!" the mother screamed in her face and that hurt worse that all of the abuse she had suffered for the past thirteen years.
She closed her eyes and pretended not to hear it. As long as they're okay, I can deal with the pain. But she didn't cry; she never cried.
As she received a particularly violent kick to the side, Leah woke up. Breathing hard, she looked around in a panic when she saw a room she had never been in: sterile, clean, and white. It smelled like antiseptic. Leah hated that smell.
She tried to prop herself up on her elbows, but the pain in her side was far too great to allow that. "Stay down for now." A nurse was looking at her with concern. Leah ignored her and tried again, successful this time though her side screamed in protest. Now that she could look around, she knew where she was: in the hospital.
"CSI Wilson, I presume?" A doctor entered.
"Unless I'm the doctor and you're the one in the hospital bed, I'd say you're right." Leah was in no mood for manners.
The doctor seemed unperturbed by her jab. "You heart rate increased dramatically a few minutes ago. We needed to make sure that you're alright."
"I'm fine, when can I get out of here?"
"It will be several days. You lost a lot of blood."
"I know all that medical junk."
"Also, I think that there is something we need to discuss."
"What?" she asked, venom dripping from her voice.
"Your brother needs to be here for this." The nurse left and went to get Luke. A few moments later, he was in Leah's hospital room. Both looked happy to see the other.
"Now he's here. What do you want to discuss so badly?"
"Those scars on your back and stomach."
Leah stiffened immediately. She had never told anyone, not even Luke or Kyle, about how badly she had been beaten. Telling about it was one of her worst nightmares (though she had quite a few, given her family).
"What scars?" Luke asked, looking surprised.
"I can't tell you," Leah said, looking down at the floor. "It still hurts too much."
"What scars? Leah, you've got to tell me."
"No."
"Tell me Leah."
Leah looked up, surprised at the tone of her brother's voice. "Sarah and Richard beat me. I think most of the scars are from a belt."
Luke froze for a second, registering everything she had just said. "Leah, why did you never tell me?"
"Everything I did in that house was to protect you, Michael, Katie, and Amy. They told me that if you found out, they'd do it to you and the kids, too. I wasn't about to let that happen."
"Why would they do that to you?"
Leah looked at the doctor and nurses and then cast a very meaningful glance at the door. Luckily, they took the hint and left. "They never liked me. You were always the favorite. Everything I did was wrong. Why do you think I always worked so hard? I spent all of high school honing myself into the best female athlete in the state, but they were always convinced you were better. But I have always made sure that you were kept safe."
"I never knew." Luke looked guilty.
"This is not your fault. I never told you."
"You're my little sister; I'm supposed to be the one protecting you."
"You were there for me when it counted."
"What if…"
"If you keep asking 'what if' about everything, you never move forward. Luke, that was a long time ago. It doesn't do you any good to second guess yourself after all these years."
"But I-"
"Luke, forget it. It was five years ago. I'm past it." Leah knew that the last part was a lie, but Luke believed it. "And they're dead now. We are free forever. If I want to go outside and scream 'My name is Victoria Jade Harrison,' I can without fear of someone finding us."
"We're not the same anymore, are we?" Luke asked. "We aren't the same twins that ran away from home."
"When I suggested that we become the Wilsons, I did it for more than one reason. I wanted to make sure that we wouldn't be found. But, I also wanted to leave my old life behind me. We broke free, and we changed. You're right, we did change, but I think it's good. We've given Michael, Katie, and Amy a chance to start over. Don't you think Michael deserves that? He was on the same path we were. Besides that, if I left, they would've started on Michael. He's just too much like me. Anyway, they're good kids, but we've all been dealt a bad hand. We have the rare chance to start over. I think that we should take it."
A knock on the door prevented their conversation from going any further. "Come in." She said.
Ryan Wolfe walked in with Eric and Natalia behind him. "I hope we're not interrupting anything."
"We were pretty much done anyway." Luke said.
"How are you doing?" Leah asked.
"I feel like I got shot, but I've been worse. How about you two?"
"I feel like I got hit by a steamroller." Leah commented.
"Pretty much the same here. How's Horatio?" Luke added.
"He has a major concussion, but he should be able to come back to work in a few weeks. Frank and Calleigh are talking to him now. They'll be over later."
The twins nodded.
"We're glad to see that you two are okay." Natalia said.
"And..." Eric walked to the door. "We have something for you."
The door opened and Jesse and Walter pushed a trolley containing a huge chocolate fudge birthday cake into the room. "Happy Birthday!" the team yelled.
Leah smiled. "I guess we forgot. Today is our birthday. How does it feel to be twenty-four and completely free?" She asked Luke.
"It feels pretty good."
"Is that from Cakes by Neide?" Leah asked.
"Sure is." Jesse said with a smile. "We were afraid you wouldn't wake up in time to enjoy it."
"There are some more people that really want to see you." Walter said, opening the door for Michael, Katie, Amy, and Kyle. Michael and Luke bumped fists while Katie and Amy ran to hug Leah.
"Careful," Leah grunted. "I don't need my stitches busting."
"Sorry, Leah," Katie said, backing off a little.
"I didn't want you to leave. Can I get a hug around the neck?"
Katie obliged happily. "I'm so glad you're okay. Amy and I were so scared, but Michael took good care of us."
Leah wrapped her arms around both her sisters. "We're all safe."
Katie and Amy disentangled themselves from their sister and went to hug Luke. Leah turned to Michael, who was standing behind Luke's wheelchair. "Don't tell me that you're too cool to give me a hug."
Michael walked over and wrapped his arms around his older sister. Leah could feel him crying on her shoulder. "We're free?" he whispered into her ear, almost as if he couldn't believe it.
"We're free." she repeated. "Michael, I am so proud of you. You did what I told you to do no matter how bad you wanted to come with us. Thank you."
Michael didn't say anything, but he stood up and discreetly wiped his eyes by pretending to run his hand through his tousled brown hair. He nodded, sapphire eyes dancing with light.
Katie and Amy came back and sat at the end of Leah's hospital bed. Kyle came over next and sat on the bed as well. He took Leah's hand in his own and began stroking it. "You had me scared."
"I'm sorry. It had to be done."
"I know, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it."
"I love you, Kyle."
He nodded and wrapped her in a hug. "I love you, too," he whispered into her ear. "Don't ever forget it."
"I won't forget."
Kyle straightened and sat down on the bed next to Leah.
"Let's have some cake," Natalia said producing plates and forks from behind the cake.
"Yeah," Leah said, a huge smile on her face and lights dancing in her eyes just at the thought of the cake.
It was fun to see, really, more than a half dozen normally serious Crime Scene Investigators digging into a chocolate cake like there was no tomorrow. Natalia and Eric had chocolate all over their upper lips; Walter was trying to get it out of his shirt, but not bothering with the copious quantity on his face; Ryan was being careful, but even he got some on his nose; Jesse had a chocolate mustache and beard. Luke and Leah weren't eating a lot, but they was eating with relish. The kids weren't even trying to be neat or careful; they had learned that when it came to competing with Walter for food, food came first and forks were an afterthought. Eric had tricked Kyle into putting his face near his plate and getting a face full of cake. That had made everyone laugh, even Leah, as she cleaned the chocolate off her boyfriend's face.
"What do you want for your birthday?" Kyle asked.
"I have everything I want right here," Leah replied and meant it with every fiber of her being. "I have my family together and safe, I have my friends, covered in cake they may be, and I have my boyfriend here with me. What more could I ask for?"
"How about a promotion?" Calleigh asked as she entered the room.
"Promotion?" Leah asked.
"You and Luke have received a promotion to CSI Level 2. Apparently, the powers that be are happy with you."
"Why?" Luke asked.
"Between the two of you, you took a pair of serial killers with a rap sheet of at least 75 murders off the streets. Walter and Eric finished cross-referencing the list this morning, so unless they deviated from their MO, we have brought closure to 75 families. The brass likes that."
"The fact they were our parents didn't make it's way into the report, did it?"
"No, that definitely stayed out of the report."
"Well, in that case, we're more than happy to accept the promotion," CSI Level 2 Luke Wilson replied.
"Is there any cake left?" Walter piqued up from the corner.
"I think there might still be some on your face," Jesse commented.
For the first time in their twenty-four years, Luke and Leah laughed three times within the space of five minutes.
A/N. That was fast cause I've had most of it typed up for months. So, a wee bit more comes out. There should only be two or three chapters left, so please review so that this happy writer can hopefully make the rest of you happy with the ending.