Broken Illusions

Author: Alicia

Category: Drama

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Yelina gets a bit of a reality check.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did, would I still be teaching high school? (I don't think so. Actually after the last couple of days, I know so!)

A/N: I do kind of like Yelina. That having been said, at times she reminds me of a social worker I once worked with: extremely naive in her view of the world. This story address that side of Yelina.

Feedback: Sure if I get enough people who are interested I'll continue this but if I do it'll end up being H/C.

Horatio's House

6:50 am

Ring, Ring, Ring

"Caine." Horatio reaches out, grabs the phone and answers it without ever opening his eyes.

"Mr. Caine, this is Laurie I live next door to Susie and Madison."

"I know how you are. What can I do for you?"

"I baby-sat Madison for Susie last night and um, well, Susie never came home. I need to leave for work in half an hour and I have no idea what to do with Madison."

"I'll come get her. I'll be there as fast as I can." Horatio quickly gets out of bed and begins to get dressed.

"Thank you! I'll be waiting." Laurie says as the connection is severed.

Five minutes later Horatio is dressed and out the door and pointing his Hummer in the direction of Susie's apartment. Fortunately traffic is light and he arrives at the building with five minutes to spare before Laurie needs to leave.

As he climbs the stairs to Susie's apartment it dawns on him he has no idea what apartment Laurie and Madison are in. He knows Laurie's on the same floor but there are a total of 8 apartments on that floor. Stepping out onto the floor he's relieved to see Madison looking out a door and waving at him.

"Uncle Horatio!" Madison comes running out down the hallway to give him a hug.

"Hi, Madison." Horatio responds picking Madison up so she can hug him and not just is knees.

"What are you doing here?" Trust Madison to get right to the point. It must be a Caine thing Ray Junior is the same way.

"You're mommy got a little delayed in getting back and Laurie needs to go to work so I thought I'd buy you breakfast and then you could go to work with me. What to do you think of that idea?"

"Yeah! Can we go to McDonald's?"

"I don't see why not. Go get your stuff." Horatio sets Madison down and she runs back to the apartment to get her blanket and stuffed bear dragging Horatio behind her.

"Horatio!"

"Hi Laurie."

"Thank you for coming to get her. I didn't know who else to call."

"Don't worry about it, you did the right thing. Any idea where Susie went?"

"None. She just asked me if I could keep Madison and she'd pick her up between no later than 6 am so I could get to work." Laurie shrugs.

"I'm ready Uncle Horatio." Madison comes back into the room her bear under one are and dragging her blanket behind her.

"Well then let's go. Do you want me to carry your blanket?"

"Yes, please."

Horatio takes the blanket from her and then takes her hand after excepting the backpack of clothes that Laurie offers him.

CSI Parking lot

9 am

Calleigh pulls into the parking lot as Horatio is helping Madison out of the car.

"Morning, H. And who is this with you?"

"Morning, Cal. This is my niece Madison." Calleigh's eyebrow shoot up to her hairline at the introduction but she recovers quickly.

"Good morning, Madison. Are you coming to work with us today."

"Yeah." Madison says shyly from partway behind Horatio.

"Sounds like fun. And who's your friend?" Calleigh asks pointing to Madison's bear while crouching down to her level.

"CC."

"CC?"

"Short for Chocolate Chip." Horatio supplies.

"Pleased to meet you CC." Calleigh says reaching out to shake the bear's paw causing Madison to smile.

Madison smiles back and comes out from behind Horatio so that the trio can proceed into the building. Once inside the building Calleigh takes Madison to the bathroom and then follows the duo up to Horatio's office.

Horatio and Calleigh step outside the office after settling Madison down on the floor with her bear some papers and some markers Horatio had found in Madison's backpack.

"Where's her mother?" Calleigh asks once the door is closed.

"She left Madison with a neighbor and never came home. Can you get in touch with Frank and see if he can find out anything about her?"

"Of course I can. What's her mom's name?" Calleigh smiles pleased Horatio is trusting her with all this.

"Susie. Frank knows all about her."

"I'll get right on it. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you."

"We'll be fine."

Horatio's office

3:20 pm

Madison lies sleeping on the floor curled up with her blanket and bear. Horatio sits nearby going over some of the never ending paper work that comes with his job.

"Horatio."

Horatio's head snaps up at the voice. Yelina is standing in his doorway.

"What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering why you weren't around today. I expected to see you."

"I've been kind of busy with stuff." His eyes shoot to the figure sleeping on his floor and Yelina turns her head to see what he's looking at. She looks at Horatio in shock.

"Her mother didn't come home last night so she's going to stay with me for a couple of days." Horatio could explain more but since he knows Yelina thinks Madison is his, he figures this is a good enough explanation.

"That's why you asked Frank to see what he could find out." Yelina says with sudden understanding.

At this point Madison interrupts the conversation.

"Uncle Horatio!" She cries.

Horatio turns his attention to Madison and goes to her to calm her down.

"Did you have a nice nap?" He asks sitting down next to her.

"Yes. Who's she?" Madison points to Yelina.

"A friend of mine."

"Oh."

"She called you uncle." Yelina stammers in shock.

"Yes, she does." Horatio replies before turning his attention back to Madison.

"I need t talk to Yelina for a little bit would it be okay if Donna took you down to see Calleigh for a little bit?"

"Okay!" Madison jumps on the idea quiet enthusiatically.

It takes a couple of minutes to get Madison and CC on their way. Once that's done Horatio turns his full attention back to Yelina.

"You're not her father?" The statement is only partly a question.

"No, I'm not."

"I could have sworn she was a Caine."

"She is." Horatio says, waiting for Yelina to draw the right conclusion.

"But she's not yours?" Yelina asks again in a very quiet voice.

"No." Horatio confirms.

"Oh, my god." Yelina turns very pale and looks like she might pass out. Horatio jumps up and steers Yelina to a nearby chair.

"Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Yelina asks. "I just found out my late husband was unfaithful. I'm stunned. I'm shocked and angry but I'm definitely not okay. How did he meet her?"

"Yelina."

"Horatio, answer the question. How did he meet her?"

"She was an informant of his."

Yelina just stairs at him for a minute.

"Was she a junkie?"

"Yes." Horatio doesn't want to tell her all this but knows that if he doesn't answer the questions Yelina will just find out on her own what the situation was. There are sure to be other cops that know Susie.

"Was Ray doing drugs?"

"Yelina. . ."

"Answer the question Horatio!"

"According to Susie and a couple of other junkies yes he was."

Yelina gets up and slowly walks to the door.

"Thank you for telling me the truth. I'm going to go. I need some time to think."

"Yelina, let me help you."

"No, there's really nothing anyone can do."

Tbc??

If anyone is interested.