Whoops, typo. Okay, so in chapter 24 I wrote that Calleigh said the little boy was 6-years-old. He's not, he's four. It's been updated now but apologies if you're reading it and thinking a little bit along the lines of - "WTF?"

There is no better heart to understand the depth of a mother's love, than that of another mother.
~ Anonymous

Carefully climbing down from the Hummer, Calleigh smiled at Tripp as he was making his way towards her from where his car was parked against the edge of the curb. Stepping up to her, he held her hand unneccessarily and helped her down the final step to the ground below, smirking at the awkward way she tugged at her jacket even though he wasn't aware that getting back into the Hummer, was what was going to pose a problem for her. She'd dashed home as soon as Horatio had called, doing her best to find appropriate clothes to wear to the scene but it had been getting progressively harder for her work clothes to fit. The only pair of pants that she could find, were a pair of black slacks that matched a jacket she knew was now too small to do up over her belly and she'd hastily grabbed a magnolia coloured maternity blouse Carmen had given her that pulled tight just below her breasts but flowed down around her bump gently. She was happy with what she'd found, but had made a mental note to move her plans to go shopping with her mother, up a couple of weeks.

She blinked, smirking with her lips pressed into a thin line as Frank reached over her and grabbed her kit from the passenger seat, closing the door of the Hummer for her. She would have said something, had he not already begun guiding her up the front walk to the door. "Horatio's inside," He said, gesturing for her to go first past the officer standing in the door and she rolled her eyes at the low hanging crime-scene tape across the threshold.

With Frank holding the tape up for her, she ducked under it and while that wasn't all that difficult, she knew it was only going to keep getting harder.

She watched him as he made his way across the living-room, greeting Horatio and indicating her standing by the door, just off the kitchen and she smiled softly when Horatio met her eyes. She studied the room laid out around her, there were uniformed officer's going in and out, she caught a glimpse of Ryan's maroon jacket down the hall and she could see the small evidence markers lining the carpet to the room he was in. The kitchen counter was decked out with an array of call tracing equipment and she had to take a deep breath, not even noticing the hand she pressed to the top of her belly, as she turned her eyes to the small family sitting bunched together on the couch.

The woman was small, with dark hair and dark eyes. Her husband was taller, Calleigh could tell by the way his feet were stretched out under the coffee-table. Sitting between them, with a hand on each of their knees was a small girl, no older than five, with her face buried in her father's shirt. "Mrs Fuller, Mr Fuller, this is Officer Duquesne," He gestured her over and upon hearing her name, she kindly inclined her head and took the two small steps down into the room, with a careful stride.

"I'm so sorry for what you're going through." She placated, trying to offer her condolences with a kind, if strained expression and the woman seemed to acknowledge her, looking her way, but the husband just kept running his fingers through his daughter's hair, watching the officers moving about their home.

"Officer Duquesne is going to take some exclusion samples from you and if you need anything, you just ask her, alright?"

Mrs Fuller nodded her head in Horatio's direction, glancing at Calleigh again before attempting to sit her daugther up. Calleigh nodded to Horatio as he and Tripp disappeared down the hall and she thanked Tripp quietly as he handed her kit back to her, before doing so. "My name is Angela," The woman spoke up with a raspy voice. And meeting her eyes, Calleigh could see that she'd been crying.

"I'm Calleigh." She smiled softly, slipping her gloves on as she took three swabs from her kit and opened the first.

"What are you going to do with those?" The husband asked, finally acknowledging that she'd taken a seat on the sofa, just beside him as he turned to her.

"Well, Mr Fuller, it's necessary for us to take samples from you and your family so that we can rule you out as quickly as possible. It's protocol, so we can exclude you from any involvement in your son's kidnapping." She hadn't wanted to say the words out loud, and if the mother's sharp intake of breath was any indication, she knew she probably shouldn't have, but he'd asked and Calleigh had a terrible habit of refusing to lie to those who were hurting.

"I just need you to open your mouth, sweetheart." Calleigh smiled down at the little girl who'd shuffled further into her father's lap, looking up at her with wide brown eyes behind a curtain of mousy-brown bangs. The little girl did as asked, not even squirming when Calleigh ran the swab along the inside of her cheek. She just watched her, studying her face as she placed the swab back in it's box and wrote the little girl's name on the outside.

"Mr Fuller," Horatio's voice from behind her caused her to turn just as she was putting away the last of her swabs. "may I speak with you a moment?" The man stood, placing his daughter down on the couch next to his wife as he tentatively stood to follow the man. Calleigh met Horatio's eyes over the man's shoulder, immediately wondering what was going on before they once again disappeared down the hall and the two women were left alone on the couch.

"I know that it must be difficult," Calleigh started, feeling that if perhaps she could get the woman to open up to her, they could possibly work out why this had happened to them. But the woman cut her off more aggressively than she had expected and didn't even seem to care that her small daughter was sitting back in the couch, just between them.

"You couldn't possibly. How could you? Your baby is perfectly safe with you and I bet you don't even care."

Calleigh arched back a little, blinking at the sudden severity of her words and she faught the immediate urge to press her palm to her belly. "Excuse me? Mrs Fuller, I-"

"I bet this is your first, right?" She seemed to have calmed just slightly, but her tone was still accusatory. And Calleigh nodded, testing the waters. "Then you couldn't possibly understand, you couldn't possibly fathom what I'm going through. My son is missing, Miss Duquesne, he's missing. Someone has taken my baby boy and you have the gall to sit there and say that you understand. What?" She scoffed. "They brought you in here to soften me? Bring in the pregnant cop to show you're sympathetic? You have no idea what I'm going through!"

"No," Calleigh choked and the woman stared at her, breathing heavily. "I don't know what it's like to know my baby's out there in the world all alone. But you know what, I know that you're completely aware of what I'm going through. You've had two children Mrs Fuller and you know very well, what I'm feeling. I may not understand what it feels like for your child to go missing, but you know I understand how it feels to love them so much you're willing to do anything in your power to get them back." Calleigh reached over, taking the other woman's hand into hers as tears burst from her eyes. Calleigh's own eyes started to glisten as she reached her other hand over, using both to ground the other woman. "You know that I understand that, if nothing else."

She wasn't going to lie. She didn't know what it felt like for your baby to be torn away from you and she hoped against hope that she'd never have to know. But she had seen greiving mothers who'd never seen their children return. She'd held their hands and let them cry and she'd been there, when Horatio placed a rose on a tiny coffin, she'd held a stranger's hand as he buried his neice and she remembered the day so many years ago when she'd stood by Eric's side in a crowd where she was so different and they tossed white flowers into the water for the memory of one forgotten little girl.

"I do understand that." She reiterated, not even caring for the sound of tears on her voice as the woman finally, reluctantly, looked up into her eyes.

Mrs Fuller studied her intently, carefully watching her eyes that didn't sway from her, studying the way she kept her lips firm and still and noticed how her blouse seemed to draw attention to her pregnancy, as opposed to covering it up. She had passion in her eyes and while Angela was grateful that that passion was being used in the pursuit of her son, her baby, she knew that at heart, it was meant for the small child growing in the young officer's belly."You do, don't you?" She asked, as if the revelation was all of a sudden and Calleigh let out a deep breath.

"They didn't call me here to soften you, Mrs Fuller," She tried to smile, doing everything she could to reassure Angela even though she knew that now was not a time for smiling. "Lieutenant Caine asked me to come here because, like him, I want nothing more than to find your son."

Angela smiled around her tears. It was a thankful smile, completely lacking joy and Calleigh understood that. It was a silent show of appreciation for having the hands to hold of someone that felt as deeply as she did, for the life of her son. And suddenly, she was grateful that Calleigh was there, gripping her hands tighter as though she'd just been thrown a lifeline and she flinched when the shrill sound of the phone reached their ears. Calleigh edged closer to her, not even requesting that she let go of her hands as Horatio and Mr Fuller returned.

"Now, sir, we're going to be monitoring the call." Horatio spoke and while he was speaking to Mr Fuller, everyone listened. "I want you to stay calm and answer all of their questions. I just want you to try and stay on the line long enough for us to trace the call's origin." Horatio inclined his head and Mr Fuller slowly picked up the reciever, moving it to his ear.

Calleigh and Angela shared a glance as they listened closely to the call and Calleigh turned to look up at Ryan as she felt his presence beside her. When the call ended abruptly, the room was in a frenzy as the techs attempted to decipher the information they'd managed to get from the muffled call requesting One Hundred Thousand dollars from the Fullers in exchange for the four year old.

"Calleigh, I need you to come and look at something." Ryan requested quietly and Calleigh cooed gently when Mrse Fuller gripped her hands desperately.

"I'll just be a moment," She smiled, patting the woman's hand and was grateful when Ryan helped her to her feet and Mr Fuller immediately wrapped his arms around his wife, taking Calleigh's place.

"What is it you found, Ryan?" She asked, following him into what appeared to be the boy's room. It was then that she noticed the small evidence markers were showing a trail of blood-drops that lead into the room and with a hand at her lower back, Ryan ushered her over to the back corner of the room, past the toys that were still in disarray and over to where a small chunk of plaster had been gouged out of the wall.

"That's a bullet hole, right?" He questioned and she nodded, giving him a look.

"You're expecting me to collect that?" She asked, incredulously and he blinked at her, completely oblivious.

"You're the ballisitcs expert, you always get angry with me when I collect ballistics evidence wrong."

Calleigh stared at him. "Ryan," She set her hands on her hips, subtly holding her jacket back behind her wrists. "how am I supposed to get down there?" The hole was barely three inches from the base-board.

He blinked again.

"I can't even pick up my car-keys when I drop them." She rolled her eyes and finally, after glancing down at her belly, Ryan's brilliant yet slow brain, clicked in.

"Oh, sorry," He laughed at himself and Calleigh rolled her eyes again, rather thankful for the way his oblivious moments never failed to lighten her mood. And her mood certainly needed lightening, because she hadn't expected her day to have turned out quite like this. She'd been looking forward to a day off, spending a few hours with Eric on the boat and then going home to relax on the sofa with a movie and a pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around her. She hadn't expected the emotional upheval of a mother desraught and the feeling of her hormones about ready to rip her apart at any moment. She was so choked up, she could have burst into tears right then and there and not have felt any better for it. So she kept her emotions in check, desperately clinging to the rigidly detached Calleigh she'd managed to be before she was pregnant. That strong, professional woman whose heart only ever broke on the inside, not out on her sleeve where everyone could see that every single case touched her on a deeper level than she let on.

"Is that Ryan's bullet?" Natalia's voice drew her attention and Calleigh looked up from her scope with a smirk.

"I watched him collect it and would have done it myself were it not embedded in the wall so close to the ground," She quipped, holding the subject of discussion up between a pair of small tongs. "my bullet."

Natalia chuckled and rounded the table. "Fair enough, so," She smirked. "have you gotten anything off of it?"

"Unfortunately," Calleigh grumbled, setting it back in her scope and inspecting it again. "the striations don't match any outstanding cases and without a weapon, I can't match it."

"Damn. Anyway, so I heard Horatio pulled you away from a pretty nice day on the water."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but you know what, I'm really not upset. I mean, it would have been nice to spend the day out there but I'm much more useful here, you know? Eric works fine without me and I'd just get in the way, considering the number one boating rule he seems to be fixated on at the moment is, Calleigh goes nowhere on the boat without an armed escort." She chuckled and Natalia laughed heartily.

"Oh, well, at least you know he cares."

Calleigh's expression mellowed and she smiled sweetly, lowering her voice. "Yeah, he really does."

"We're going to find this kid, you know that, right?" Natalia questioned, catching a glimpse of something in Calleigh's eyes that troubled her just a little. It was an expression that came over her face more often these days, when a case involved children or anything too distinctly horrific. Calleigh wasn't one to normally be shaken and after everything she'd been through - and Natalia had an intimate understanding of spending afternoons trying to soothe her in the ladies room the day after a round of Chemo - she was still so tough. But since the baby and the idea that one day soon, there was going to be a little child completely dependant on her, Calleigh's whole demeaner seemed to have changed in the most subtle ways. She stared longer at victims and breathed deeper in the locker room when she'd disappear in there to gather her thoughts. She just seemed so much more affected than she ever had before and Natalia wasn't quite sure yet if that was a good thing, or bad.

"Yeah, I know." Calleigh whispered, in that resigned, matter-of-fact tone. Because in her mind, there really was no other possible outcome.

Calleigh hadn't even realised that she'd fallen asleep at her workbench when she felt the vibration of her phone at the small of her back. Sitting up quickly, she brushed her hair out of her eyes and grabbed her phone, flipping it open and not even reading who the caller was before she answered with - "Duquesne."

"Hey, Calleigh, It's Natalia,"

"Nat, what's up?" She questioned, fighting a yawn as she checked her watch. With wide eyes she realised that she'd slept for over two hours, hunched over her bench and immediately she wondered why no one had woken her. Natalia was speaking in her ear and she didn't voice her sudden realisation, but tried her best to tune back in to what the woman was saying.

"We think we might have a lead on the boy, Horatio's going in now but I wanted to call and see if you wanted to be here, when they bring him out?"

"Yeah, sure," Calleigh grabbed a pen and paper. "where is it?"

Natalia gave her the location and Calleigh jotted it down, pulling her lab-coat off quickly and tossing it over the rack as she flipped her phone shut and made her way as quickly as she could out of the room.

When she pulled up outside the old abandoned warehouse, SWAT was already making their way outside with two tall men in hand-cuffs and one following closely behind, wrapped in a black bag and perched on the top of a gurney. She winced at the sight, though felt as little sympathy as she could for the life lost. Men who could kidnap and terrorize a child were, in her opinion, the lowest form of creature. But it was a life wasted and that, she did feel for, on some level.

She pulled up beside Horatio's Hummer, jumping down carefully and heading straight over to the boy curled tightly in the arms of the red-haired man, sitting at the back of the Ambulance. "Hey," She said softly and Horatio looked up at her, smiling.

"Timmy, this is my friend Calleigh." Horatio pointed to her and it wasn't lost on either her or her older friend, the significance of the name on the small, dark-haired little boy with large, dark eyes and a solemn expression. She felt like she was looking into the eyes of a ghost, though she wasn't afraid. All she felt was a profound connection to the boy and a sudden adoration for him as he tucked his chubby fingers beneath his chin. "She's a police officer too." Horatio smiled down at him and Timmy held out his little hand, running his fingers along the soft fabric of her shirt, facinated by it for a moment. Though, it was when his little hand pressed to the firm round of her belly that she sucked in a breath.

"Baby in there." He said, watching his own hand and Calleigh's voice shook on a breath. She didn't quite know what to do. She wasn't sure if she should move or stop him and Horatio didn't quite seem to know either. Instead, she just stood there and let him touch her, hoping that it could somehow calm the boy's frayed nerves. And it seemed to be working, if by the way he crawled away from Horatio's arms and held his hands up for her, was any indication at all. Immediately, Calleigh allowed him into her embrace, lifting him up onto her hip and smiling at Horatio when he buried his face in her neck.

"Yeah," She breathed. "there's a baby in there."

"I think you might just be a natural," The older man quipped and where Calleigh would have normally rolled her eyes, she was still blinking in surprise that the boy had taken to her so quickly.

"I want mommy." Timmy whimpered and Calleigh gently rocked on the spot, doing her best to soothe him. She eyed Horatio and he nodded, heading back for his Hummer. He drove the three of them back to the Fuller house and though Calleigh tried to hang back and let Horatio take Timmy back to his parents, the boy refused to let go of her neck. So she was forced to carry him, still wrapped around her, back up to the front door where his mother was barely holding herself standing as tears poured down her face. She smiled broadly, handing Timmy over and when he waved, telling his mother that Calleigh was his new friend, she felt a few tears trickle down her face. She didn't want to take the credit for saving Timmy, because she knew that Horatio had most definately exhausted every resource to save the boy whilst she'd fallen asleep at her desk. But in her heart, she knew that it wasn't his rescue she was specifically being embraced for as Angela took her into her arms. It was something deeper, something unsaid and difficult to understand. Something Horatio hadn't been capable of and when she smiled and bid her farewells, walking side by side with Horatio back to the Hummer, she met his eyes and realised that he'd known it all along.

She'd given that mother something she hadn't known she was capable of. And Horatio had taught her yet another lesson she hadn't known she needed to learn.

And even with tears in her eyes and a desperate want to be home in Eric's arms as the sun went down, she was grateful.

TBC.