The New Recruits: Cha- Cha- changes

Chapter 6

Eric stood outside the trace lab, waiting for his daughter to come out. She had been regulated to find trace on Shannon's clothes and personal items as soon as they returned to the field. He looked at his watch and sighed inwardly. It was close to the end of shift and he hadn't had a free moment to talk to her since the call out. Her words floated through his mind, as well as the demeanor she held. That was not the same Jennifer Delko that he had seen , ever. That was some one else. He peered into the lab, not seeing anyone, but then she could be running some errands to DNA or QD. He started to walk away when he heard the door open. He stopped and spun on his heels , coming face to face with another trace tech, Belmontes.

" Sam, is Jen in there?" Eric asked as he glanced inside the lab once more.

" Um, no, it was only me. Speedle stepped out to go to the morgue," Sam replied as he flipped through a file.

" Have you seen her?"

"No, not since this morning," Belmontes answered.

" This morning? She was supposed to be working the trace off of the vic's clothing."

" I just finished up on that, I got the file right here and I was going to show it to Speedle. That is if I could find him."

Eric barely responded , his mind racing with thoughts. With that kind of sadness , there was no telling where she would be. Eric thought to call Max, but then he rethought it ,knowing that she would be out of the lab in a flash, and he needed for things to stay calm. Maybe she went somewhere to clear her head, he thought as he turned away from Belmontes. Sam took his leave as Eric glanced at his watch, then pulled the cell from his side. He flipped it open and dialed her number.

" Hi, this is Jen Delko, you've reached me at a bad time, so I'll call you back. Name and number please", came the perky voice at the other end of the phone. Eric smiled faintly as he felt the tears coming to his eyes. That was the Jen that he was used to . Happy.

" Jen, it's Dad. Give me a call when you get this,"he said into his phone, trying to sound calm. He flipped the phone down and sighed heavily, walking back to fingerprinting.

TNR

Jen drove until she could find no reason to keep going. She wasn't about to fill up the tank on her car and she just felt tired. Seeing an isolated stretch of beach, she pulled over quickly and parked the car, feeling the intense need to feel the air around her. Every since RJ had died, she had been unable to feel anything. The disconnected feeling had been heavy, and she found herself unable to concentrate on anything, and her desires dried up. Including being what she had always wanted to be, a CSI. It seemed as if nothing else mattered to her. There was nothing worth living for, it was as if RJ had taken her along with him.

She ran to the edge of the sea, letting the cool Atlantic water rush over her shoes. She closed her eyes and felt the tears as they made their way down her face. The peace that she was experiencing at that moment was unnerving, being that she was always in turmoil. The soft breeze blew through her hair ,ruffling it and she breathed inwardly as she shrugged off her jacket. Letting the jacket slide down , she continued to walk into the ocean, staring at the horizon. The possibilities had been endless for her; she was smart, funny ,and not entirely too bad looking, but something had happened along the way. Something had jammed up the works. She placed her hand on her sidearm, and looked down at it. Pulling it out of it's holster, she held it in her hand , gazing at it in contempt. It was the same thing that took her best friend away from her, and now she was contemplating using it on herself to end this pain. She dropped the gun to her side and un clipped the phone from her side. Flipping it open, she saw the voice mail icon. She smiled to herself as she knew who it was. The only one who she could depend on always being there for her. It hurt her to think that she would leave him with a gaping hole in his heart, but she couldn't fathom another moment carrying this around with her.

" Jen, it's Dad. Give me a call when you get this," she heard on the other end. His voice already sounded full of worry and sorrow as if he knew what was going on in her mind. The salty streams traveled fast down her face as she closed her eyes, debating whether to say goodbye to him. When she couldn't make up her mind , she screamed into the heavens, crying at full tilt. She just wanted it to stop. Gathering herself as much as she could, Jen dialed his number and waited. He picked up on the second ring.

" Jen? Baby, where are you?" he asked, his voice frantic. She smiled through the tears as she remembered the times together.

"Daddy,..." she choked out through the next round of tears, " I'm sorry for this."

"What are you talking about ? You have nothing to be sorry about, Jen. Where are you?"

" I'm safe, daddy."

" Jen," he said as he heard her crying softly. It tore his heart out to hear her in so much despair.

"Daddy, I'm sorry,..." Jen said as she put the gun to her head. She dropped the phone to her side, letting it slip out of her hand, it tumbling to the sand. Eric heard the roaring of the surf clearer and he knew, he knew that instant that he was going to lose her. He heard the faint popping in the back and screamed into his cell phone, startling someone who was passing by .

"Jen! Jennifer... No , don't..." he said as he felt the pain tighten in his chest. He grasped on to the table trying to hold on , but it slipped and he carried a laptop with him as he crumpled on to the ground.

TNR

Maddison sat at her desk , staring at the pictures that were populated in between the case files and paperwork. This had been a trying month , and by the looks of things, it didn't seem as if they were going to get any better. She had not heard from Horatio since RJ's funeral, and she worried about him. It was usual for him to retreat into himself, but this had gone extreme. No one had heard from him, not even Speed. She had tried calling him, going by his house, calling his cell, but nothing had worked. It was as if he had simply disappeared.

" Where are you , Horatio?" Maddison asked out loud when she heard a commotion. She got up to see what it was, pulling up the blinds. Seeing the scene unfold, she rushed down to the lab.

TNR

He had found this little stretch of beach when he had heard about his brother's death. It gave him solace to come here and think clearly about things. Even when a case got heavy he could always retreat to his hidden sanctuary. In this case, he had taken a bag of his belongings and stayed in a quaint little breakfast inn just five miles down the long deserted road. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why someone would've wanted to build a inn there, but he was happy that it was there. What he needed was solitude , and this place provided it for him.

He stood outside his balcony peering into the light blue horizon, in thought about those he couldn't protect. Yelina, his love, had paid the price for him, and RJ , his 'grandson' died trying to save him. It was very hard not to blame himself for this, and he felt less than a friend for his part in it. Sighing heavily, he decided that he needed to be closer to the water today, so he returned into his bungalow , and grabbed his keys.

The drive to his spot was less than ten minutes and he took that time to reflect on his pain. The pain of standing by as two people in his life were laid to rest. The pain of not being able to reconcile with it. The huge cloud of guilt that fixed itself permanently over him. Shaking it off, he turned off the road and brought the Hummer to rest on the shoulder. A couple of feet away, he saw another vehicle parked haphazardly on the shoulder. He glanced down to see a woman at the edge of the surf, with a gun in her hand. He looked back at the vehicle and then back at the woman, now knowing who she was. He started to walk to her as he saw her put the gun up to her head and drop the phone. His paced quickened and he was beside her in a matter of seconds, his hands going straight for the gun. Shocked, she squeezed the trigger, the bullet finding the ocean. Horatio slipped the gun out of her hands and she looked at him with her eyes full of pain and sorrow.

" I want to die, Horatio," she screamed as she wept heavily, " I want to die!"

" Shh, Jen ,it's okay," Horatio said as he slid down on to the sand with her, holding her tightly. His sadness dwindling at the sight of her need, " I'm here."

She continued to weep as Horatio looked into the horizon, holding her. The thought that ran through his mind was to get her to a hospital, but he remained still, helping her gain control. He could feel her squeezing her arms around him , as if anchoring herself to him. Horatio dropped his head and smiled lightly to himself. His reason for being here was solidified.

After a few more minutes, Horatio pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. The pain remained , but there was control.

" Jennifer, I'm going to take you to the hospital. I want you to rest , safely."

" I don't need a hospital to rest , Horatio," Jen said lowly, " I just wanted peace."

" In searching for peace , do you know how close you came to death?"

" Isn't that the point?" Jen asked as she started to stand. " Not to deal with this anymore?"

" Seems easy. But did you ever think about the lives you would leave? The pain that they would suffer? The hurt , the guilt that they would have for not being able to help you?"

" No one can help me, Horatio."

" Everyone can be helped, Jennifer," Horatio replied as he took her arm. " Now , we are going to the hospital and you are going to get some rest and talk to some body. And it's not up for discussion."

" What about my car?" Jen asked as she glanced back at the scene that they were leaving. She could feel the deep despair that clung to the place that she was standing and shuddered. Horatio rubbed her arms and knelt down, grabbing her gun and cell phone.

" We can get it later. I'll take this," he said as he slipped the gun behind him, " and you call your dad. He's probably sick with worry."

TNR

Speed glanced into the fingerprinting lab to ask Delko something when he saw that his friend wasn't there. He started to leave, but then he saw the mess of papers on the floor, instantly throwing him into an intense curious mode. Turning the corner, he could see Eric as he laid on the floor , obviously unconscious. He dropped his file and ran to him, kneeling down, practically yelling his name.

" Delko! Delko!" Speed said as he shook him. When he didn't get a response, he turned him over and started CPR. He was in the rhythm of it when the doors opened again, and Calleigh stood with Maxine , their eyes wide as silver dollars.

" Oh my God!" Maxine cried out as she put a hand to her mouth. " Eric!"

Speed continued CPR as Calleigh knelt beside him, readying herself to take over for him, " Tim , I got it."

Speed nodded as he moved back and let Calleigh take over. As he gathered his breath, he quickly un hooked his cell from his side and called for the paramedics. Soon, more personnel filtered into the fingerprinting lab as Calleigh continued to give CPR steadily, breathing for her friend. Speed stood up and gestured for them to back away.

" Give us some room!"

"Speed ! What happened here?" a voice said from inside the group. Speed looked over to her as she pushed through the people to see Eric on the floor, and Calleigh tiring.

" Delko was on the floor when I came in, he wasn't breathing," Speed said as he eyed Calleigh. He would jump in when he saw her faltering.

" What's his status?" Maddison asked.

Calleigh stopped for a second to listen and check his pulse. She smiled faintly as she found a weak one, " I've got a pulse, but he needs to get to a hospital."

In seconds , the crowd parted with the arrival of the paramedics , Alexx trailing behind. She looked frantically around, fearing that some one was hurt. When she saw Speed and Calleigh she raced over to them , giving them a hug. She then noticed Eric as they strapped him to a Gurney and started transporting. She grabbed the Cuban's hand and squeezed it. Letting it go ,she glanced over to Maxine who was now following them out of the lab, with tears in her eyes. She couldn't loose her husband.

" What happened?" Alexx asked as she turned to Speed. She was relieved that it wasn't him, but at the same time, her heart ached for Eric. They were equally important to her.

" He was just lying on the floor," Speed said as he stood back, gathering himself. " I did what I could..."

"Timmy, you did fine," Alexx said as she gave him a hug again.

Maddison turned to the gathering crowd and started to gesture them out of the lab, then turned to the three that remained. She knew that they were all on their way to the hospital, so she just nodded and they departed silently. She would join them momentarily, with the prayer that she wasn't losing yet another part of her 'family'.

TBC...

A/N: I know it seems like they can't catch a break, but it will get better...