Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or (almost) any of the FBI agents, yeah, Heather Landrey is a real character!
Summary: When you have a one night stand, it's almost impossible to have regrets. It was just a fling right? Then why the hell did something so beautiful come from something so simple?
Spoilers: up until One Of Our Own, and the end of Rio.
Sitting and Standing by Liv
Here's the very sorry song. Won't you help me and sing alongg?-Calvin
Bumbumbum- Hobbes
I blew it!-Calvin
He's sorry!- Hobbes
I knew it!...- Calvin
So sorry!- Hobbes
I'm very, very sorry that I took your precious flaaggg!- Calvin
Just don't do it anymore you scurvy scalawaaggg!- Hobbes
chapter 14: Unforgivable
Heather looked at herself in the mirror, watching her refection. Her dark green top making her brown eyes glitter. She shrugged on her blazer and flipped her hair over her shoulders as the phone rang.
Frowning, Heather reached over to grab the hotel's bathroom receiver andanswered.
"Ms. Landery, I'm soo sorry," Heather winced at the nasally voice on the other end of the phone.
"You're sick, Kelly. It's fine," So not fine.
"But I feel really bad! You were counting on me and-"
"You're 18 years old and you're apologizing to me for getting a cold?" so unbelievably bad.
"I'm sorry again, Ms. Landrey," said Kelly one last time before having a coughing fit and being forced to go to bed and sleep.
"Fuck," muttered Heather, bracing her hands against the bathroom counter top and dropping her head.
What was she supposed to do now that Abby's babysitter was sick? Bring her into her first day at Miami-Dade?
-x-
Heather wanted to cry. This was going to be horrific. She was bringing her daughter to her first day a the crime lab. Ryan worked at the crime lab.
So, so bad.
Ryan was going to know just by looking at her. Natalia had figured it out; she just wasn't saying anything.
Heather shook her head and concentrated on the road, tapping her fingers against the rental's steering wheel, glancing back at Abby in her car seat every now and then.
Heather ran her fingers through her hair as she pulled into the MDPD and parked her car in an available spot, near the entrance. She got out of the car and opened the back door to unbuckle Abby.
She wanted to crawl back into bed and die.
But instead she picked up Abby and walked across the parking lot and into the lab, walking into the elevator (which was empty...thank god) and waited.
"Mommy, where are we?"
Heather looked at the little girl in a long sleeved, green shirt and overalls that were almost too big for her, her dark brown hair pulled into pigtails near her ears.
"I have a new job now, so we're living in Miami for awhile. I told you that," Abby shrugged.
"I forgot," Heather shook her head, holding back an eye roll as the elevator doors opened. And just as her luck would have it Horatio was waiting on the other side. He raised his eyebrows at her, almost interestingly.
"Heather Landrey," he began, his voice coming out in almost a drawl, causing Heather to shiver. "What a surprise, though I was expecting Peter Elliott."
"I apparently have no life and was sent in his place."
"I understand you're upset, and who's this?" asked Horatio completely ignoring the situation, his demeanor taking on a softer note as he lead forward a bit to met eyes with Abby.
"I'm Abby," said Abby almost shyly. Horatio smiled at the girl and glanced down in a way Heather would expect him to and nodded his head.
"Well, Ms. Landrey, welcome back to Miami ."
"Thanks," said Heather, faltering over her words. She made her way past Horatio and towards the front desk, meeting none other than Calleigh Dughesne. Heather held back a groan and signed in her name.
"Hi," Heather's blood froze as Abby introduced herself to Calleigh. The blonde turned her head in surprise.
"Heather," she said, raising her eyebrows, Heather grinned at her, tight lipped and hoisted Abby higher up on her hip.
"Hey, Calleigh," Calleigh just stared at Abby for a moment before blinking, as her pager went off and she had to leave. Calleigh waved to Abby and gave Heather a curious look.
Now Ryan's boss and his best friend knew he had a daughter. And she hadn't even spoken more than three sentences. Bad couldn't even explain the situation. But maybe Calleigh didn't know about them sleeping together, maybe she was just confused.
I'd be confused if Ryan's female doppelganger walked into the crime lab.
"Heather!" Heather turned to see Natalia walking towards her quickly.
"Hey, Natalia-"
"I can't stay and chat, I've got a case, Ryan and Alexx are on there way back in and I've got to track a lead," Heather watched her walk past her, talking (or more like rambling) over her shoulder as she left Heather standing next to the front desk with her mouth hanging open.
"Bye then," she mumbled.
"Heather," Heather jumped as Horatio's voice drifted into her ears from behind her.
"Horatio, I thought you had a case."
"No. We need to talk, Heather," Horatio fingered the edges of his sunglasses, Heather groaned inwardly.
"Sure," said Heather, setting down Abby and following Horatio. "Abby, sit over there hon', okay?" Abby nodded and almost skipped over to the 'comforting corridor' to sit in the benches.
Horatio turned to look at Heather, his eyes slightly softened. Heather crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her feet guiltily.
"Heather," Horatio's voice was softer than Heather expected it to be, and her eyes filled with tears compulsively. "Heather, it's going to be alright. Heather," she broke down completely, dropping her head into her hands and sobbing.
Horatio placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning her into his chest and stroking her hair. "Heather, sweetheart, everything is going to be alright."
Heather uncovered her face and swallowed, whipping the tears off of her face.
"You knew just by looking at her didn't you?" asked Heather, not bothering to removed her head from Horatio's chest. She felt the vibrations in his chest as he chuckled at her.
"Yes I did," he said pulling her away from him and looking her in the face. "He's not going to make a scene."
"He wouldn't have to suppress the urge if my babysitter hadn't canceled on me," admitted Heather bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to look at Abby.
"I'll go as far to assume Mr. Wolfe nor anyone beside you and Mr. Elliot has any idea he's Abby's father?" Heather sputtered in surprise.
"How did you know Peter knew?" asked Heather looking at Horatio wildly. He gave her a small smile.
"It's a tiny bit obvious, Ms. Landrey," Heather choked back a laugh and began turning, with every attempt of taking Abby into her office and locking the door...forever.
"Ms. Landrey, perhaps you'd better catch Ryan before he spots you," said Horatio just loudly enough so that Heather heard him. Her heart stopped as she spotted Ryan walking out of the elevator with a very pretty black woman, who Heather recognized as the coroner.
"Oh god," muttered Heather, walking forward quickly.
"Mommy, Uncle Peter's here!" shouted Abby excitedly, jumping down from her seat and waving towards the elevator. Heather had just enough time to groan.
"Heather?" Her heart jumped into her throat as she heard Ryan call her name. She looked up at him, watching amazement sweep over his face. Behind him Peter had froze as well and stared at Ryan's back. His gaze slowly shifted to Heather's eyes until they locked with hers. Heather ignored Peter.
"Ryan," said Heather almost breathlessly, walking towards him. The boy looked like he was trying not to kiss her.
"Mommy?" both Heather and Ryan looked over at Abby, standing a few feet away from them, pulling at her stuffed lions ear. Heather glanced at Ryan who was still looking at Abby. Almost staring at her.
She backed up slowly, looking from Ryan to daughter and finally looking at Peter. She stopped walking at stared at him.
"I'm sorry, Heather," said Peter, walking forward. "I didn't mean for Ryan to find out this way, I was just trying to get you to take a step in the right direction-"
Peter froze as Ryan arm jutted out, blocking his advancement on Heather. Ryan didn't turn away from Abby immediately, instead, he closed his eyes and spoke softly.
"What did you just say?" asked Ryan, not caring that Peter was taller than he was, his voice not masking any of the venom that it held. Peter looked from Heather to Ryan.
"I'm sorry if I just fucked-"
"Peter!"
"-Sorry- screwed everything up, but I couldn't let you throw Abby's life away," said Peter, finishing quietly. Ryan's arm dropped and he looked at Heather, his eyes asking every single question she didn't want to answer, and his mouth not being able to form coherent words.
Peter walked forward, taking Heather's elbow and pulling her away from Ryan and Abby a good two yards until he stopped.
Ryan looked down at Abby again as she sighed dramatically and turned to sit back in her chair. Ryan sat next to her, looking at the beginnings of a ratty old lion in her arms.
"Hi," said Ryan, Abby looked at him and smiled. "What's his name?"
"Benji," said Abby hugging the animal closer to her chest. "What's yours?"
"My name's Ryan."
"I'm Abby," she said her hazel eyes locking on his.
"Abby," repeated Ryan, looking over at Heather, who was bitting her knuckles as she watched them. "That's a pretty name."
Abby just smiled at him, looking down at her lion and pulled on one of the whiskers on Benji's stuffed face. Ryan fought down the erg to brush Abby's hair from her face.
He licked his upper lip and looked down at his feet. He felt Abby's hand on his arm.
"Are you okay?" she asked him, her eyes looking at him with concern. Ryan pursed his lips together lightly and pressed his left hand against the side of Abby's face, letting his thumb brush her cheek.
"I'm fine," he said quietly an endearment catching in his throat. He blinked back tears and stood up, letting both his arms fall to his sides. He caught Heather's eye.
Walking up to her, he caught her elbow with his hand and led her away from both Peter and Abby's earshot.
"You lied to me, Heather," he said evenly, letting her go and crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to look at her. Heather took a step away from him.
"I did not-"
"I specifically asked you every time you answered the phone what was going on in your life. You had every opportunity-"
"I'm not obligated!"
"-To tell me I had fathered a child," finished Ryan, his eyes smoldering (and Heather was secretly intrigued).
"I'm sorry," said Heather, knowing that, that answer was probably the last one he wanted to ever hear from her. And just as she predicted, Ryan's mouth dropped.
"You're sorry?" he hissed, anger evaporating off of him, he looked away from her for a moment, running his hand over his mouth. "Why?" he asked, turning back to her.
"Because you're right. You had every right to know-"
"That's not what I meant," he said, leaning closer to her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't tell anybody," Heather admitted. Ryan shook his head.
"You told Peter," he said quietly, and Heather realized that was why he was mostly upset.
"I didn't tell him! He stole her fucking birth certificate and kept it to himself for three months! I didn't tell him a goddamned thing! He told me to tell you!"
"Then why didn't you?" At that it was Heather's turn to look away.
"Because I was scared," Ryan shook his head again, even before she began.
"No, no that doesn't work for me. You couldn't have been scared for three and a half years Heather. The fear ebbs away eventually, and I have never given you a reason to be afraid of me."
"You're scaring me now," Heather retorted, watching as Ryan's face softened a touch (most likely involuntarily).
"Tell me why," he asked again.
"I was afraid!" said Heather again, her voice rising. "I was scared about what you would say if I told you. Yeah, you're right, I had every opportunity to tell you, but I didn't. Every time I told myself to just call you, I would think of another reason why that would be a bad idea. I was afraid you would hang up and fly to Washington. Leave your life, your friends, your family- for me. I was afraid you would ask me-"
"Heather?" Ryan wasn't looking at her any more, his features slightly crestfallen.
"-To move to Miami-"
"Heather," Ryan was starring in Abby's direction, his face turning serious.
"-Because you know I would have said yes. You know I can't say 'no' to you Ryan-"
"Heather!" shouted Ryan, looking completely petrified.
"WHAT!?" Heather shouted back, obviously not even close to finishing her rant.
"Where is she?" he asked, taking a few steps towards where Abby was sitting.
"What?" Heather asked again. Where Abby had been sitting. Heather looked around her once, not seeing her in the CSI lobby. "Abby?"
Nothing.
"Heather, she doesn't leave this behind wherever she goes somewhere does she?" asked Ryan, pointing to the stuffed lion. Heather's hand drifted towards her open mouth and Ryan got the message. "Oh, god."
"Abby!" shouted Heather, startling a few of the lab tech.'s who had thought it safe to go back to work. "Abby!"
Heather spun around again, not seeing Peter anywhere either.
"Maybe Peter took her somewhere," suggested Ryan, appearing behind her and letting his hand drop to her shoulder comfortingly.
"I took who where?" asked Peter. Ryan and Heather turned to see Peter looking at them curiously. "What's going on?"
"Peter have you seen Abby?" asked Heather almost frantically. Peter shook his head.
"No, why? Where is she?"
"I'm going to go ask Paula if she's seen anything," said Ryan into Heather's ear, letting his hand fall off her shoulder.
"Heather what's going on?"
"Abby!" shouted Heather again, not answering Peter. He touched her elbow.
"Heather where's Abby?" she so wanted to say something cleaver back to him, something witty, like Perry would have if he was here. She opened her mouth to say something about playing hide and seek in a lab (very sarcastically of course) when she caught Ryan's eyes as he came into eyeshot.
Ryan looked at her and shook his head. "She's not here."
Heather let out a shuddering breath.
"I don't know," she said quietly, answering Peter's question. Ryan walked up to the two of them, pulling out his phone.
"I'm calling Horatio."
"I'll get your sister on the phone," said Peter, finding an excuse to get away from the two parents.
Heather didn't really hear them. Her eye had caught the stuffed animal on the chair, in the middle of the crime lab. She didn't notice when Ryan closed his phone and looked at her, leaning down a bit to catch her eyes.
"Horatio's checking the rest of the building to see if she got lost, and Tripp's looking outside."
"Who?" asked Heather, her breathing becoming hyperventilated as it dawned on her that Abby was missing.
"Detective Frank Tripp. He's looking outside for Abby."
"He doesn't know what she looks like," said Heather, pushing past Ryan and heading towards the seats where Abby had been sitting, only Ryan caught her arm before she could go far.
"I told him he'd know her when he saw her," said Ryan, giving Heather a weak smile. Heather's breathing was still very fast.
"Okay," she said nodding her head quickly, licking her lips and taking a deep breath then continuing her rapid breathing once more.
"Heather," began Ryan, only to look at her funny and place his hand on her arm. "Heather, we need to calm down," Heather spun around to look at him.
"We? We need to calm down? No, I need to calm down, you need to freak out a little more."
"Hey, Ryan, I didn't see anyone out front," said Frank his southern accent drifting around the hallway. His eyebrows furrowed as he spotted Heather. "Who exactly are you looking for?"
"Ryan, I got a print from the water gun-," Eric's voice faltered as he spotted Heather in the hallway with Ryan and Frank. "What did I just walk in on?" he asked taking Heather's appearance completely by surprise.
"Ryan, do you have the capability to freak out just a tiny bit more, just so that I know you care?"
"No," said Frank and Eric simultaneously, giving each other grins.
"Heather, if I freaked out I'd hurt somebody," said Ryan, turning her attention (and slack jaw) away from Frank and Eric.
"Who are you guys talking about?" asked Frank once more, still completely lost on the subject.
Ryan and Heather didn't listen to his question..
"Please Ryan, I need you to freak out," said Heather seriously. "For Abby's sake please freak out!"
"Hey, who's Abby?" asked Eric, tapping Ryan shoulder.
Ryan didn't answer him, he just kept looking at Heather. Finally he nodded. Heather, mouthed the words 'thank you' and wrapped her arms around his neck, burring her face in his shoulder. Frank and Eric looked at each other.
"What the hell is going on?" Frank asked. Eric shook his head.
"I seriously don't know."
"Ms. Landrey, Mr. Wolfe I heard we had a problem," said Horatio walking up to them. Heather suddenly became extremely annoyed with his tone. She broke away from Ryan and walked past Frank and Eric towards the redhead.
Not stopping to even consider the fact that this could be a very bad idea, Heather stopped short of plowing Horatio over and slapped him across the face.
Frank, Ryan, and Eric's mouths all dropped.
Nobody hit Horatio.
"Our daughter is missing and all you can say is ' we have a problem'?" shouted Heather, her face flushed. Horatio touched his jaw for a moment before nodding sincerely.
"I'm sorry," he said, touching Heather's face gently. Her lip quivered as she nodded back.
"I'm sorry too," she said, tears spilling out of her eyes.
"Ms. Landrey, everything is going to be alright."
"Wait, did you just say daughter?" asked Eric, he looked from Ryan to Heather, his eyes going wide. "Oh man, Wolfe."
"Heather!" the party turned to see Natalia walking towards them, her heels clicking against the floor. "Heather, where's Abby?"
"Frank, put out an Amber Alert on a three year old girl," said Horatio, letting his hands slip into his pockets.
"What's the name?" asked Frank, pulling out a note pad.
"Abigail Wolfe."
Hell yes! That is what I have been leading up to from the begging! Ryan got to meet Abby, and then whoosh she was taken right out from under him. If ya'll have been paying attention, you should know that in chapter 12 I mentioned a serial kidnapper. Don't worry, all will be explained, and accompanied by flashbacks. Review my beloved minions! Review and wait.
-x-liv
Next Time: "Anywhere specific...?" "Everywhere," Maxine looked up at him with her eyebrows raised. ..."I think we just got a clue."