Okay there might not be an update for quite a while because I have my exams this week, and then on saturday, it's my birthday! I'm going to be fourteen whoot! R+R thanks!

The team is on level ground now.

They all know what it's like to lose a member of their team.

My team, my old team all know.

And now, Ryan knows.

He knows how it feels.

One of the victims was one of patrol.

"Did you know Officer Insko?" Calleigh asked him as they arrived at the crime scene.

"I knew of him. He was a good cop."

I could see in Calleigh's face that she was sympathising with him.

When a cop is killed, everyone puts in as much effort as they can to find the killer.

Especially if it's one of their own team.

Ryan used to be on patrol. He knew the victim.

This is going to be a hard case for him.

It'll always be hard for any officer to work the case of another officer, we are all in the same boat after all, but when you know the officer, well, that makes it worse.

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Their job just got harder. They have found evidence of a seventeen year old ride along.

And he's missing.

I would have never taken a ride along if I had been offered one.

I hate kids and always have.

Much more Horatio's thing than mine.

But Ryan is good with children.

It's always useful to be a "kid person" in a job like this.

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"Girls are attracted to bad boys."

Ryan and Calleigh were working in a lab together later that day, talking about how a sixteen year old, high grade student, ended up dating a criminal.

Calleigh smirked at Ryan's comment.

"Do tell!"

"Ah come on! Don't tell me you haven't been tempted!"

I know Calleigh better than that.

Or at least, I thought I did.

Well, Peter Elliot might not be described as a "bad boy" exactly.

He's from the secret service and Calleigh has started seeing him.

I don't know if it's even allowed for them to be dating, but they did meet outside work, so I guess it's okay.

I hope it's okay. For Calleigh's sake.

I'd hate for her to get into trouble over this.

When I was alive, it was very rare for her to be in a relationship.

The only relationship she had was with John Hagen.

That I knew of.

I don't think anyone in the department knows about this yet.

Now that I think about it, she could easily have had many relationships without us knowing.

She's good at keeping secrets.

Of course she is.

If she doesn't want anyone to know how she is, or what she's thinking, there is no way for them to find out.

Sometimes I admire her for that ability and other times I hate it.

No one knows if she needs help or someone to talk to.

She hides away in her shell where no one can get to her.

I feel lucky, privileged even, that I sometimes see the softer side.

The side that no one sees.

The occasional second when she's alone and can drop her barriers.

Sometimes, I can tell that she's hurting inside, but why, I don't know.

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Yelina and Calleigh were interviewing an underage female suspect.

They shouldn't have been doing it because they don't have an attorney or the suspect's parents there, but they needed to find a missing person and that girl could have had the answer.

They haven't finished questioning her when the interview was cut short.

Rebecca Nevins arrived at the lab.

Rebecca Nevins is a lawyer.

She's also Horatio's girlfriend.

You could say that that causes tension between her and Yelina, but that would be a bit of an understatement.

Rebecca is lecturing Yelina and Calleigh about not waiting for her.

They both know that in a perfect world, they should have waited.

But the world isn't perfect, is it?

"Are you questioning my conduct?" Rebecca asked, stunned.

Yelina was quick to reply.

"Maybe it needs to be questioned. This is my case. I don't need you to tell me how to run it."

"Yours for now, but it's going to be mine later. Seems like there's a lot of that going around these days."

I had heard girls fight before, but I have never heard anything so spiteful.

I saw Calleigh's stunned face and realised she had never heard such a cruel insult either.

She was obviously talking about Horatio in her last comment.

Yelina and Horatio used to be happy together.

Even after Raymond, they had a bond stronger than that of sister in-law and brother in-law.

And Rebecca had the cheek to make that kind of comment, after seeing Horatio for a couple of months.

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Calleigh headed back to her house at the end of shift and met Peter Elliot there.

They were preparing to cook a meal together.

Calleigh was smiling and happy, Peter was grinning smugly.

Yeah, he should be smug.

A man like him is very lucky to get a girl like Calleigh.

I decided that I could leave Calleigh's apartment for a while; she would be alright.

Without even realising, I found myself heading back to work.

When I reached the front steps, I saw Horatio there, talking to Rebecca.

"So, dinner tonight, my place?" she asked. She, like Peter Elliot, was looking smug.

"I'm not going to be able to do that."

"Let me guess. You're visiting Insko's widow?"

"Yeah. I'm going to go see her and the kid."

"Okay, dessert, then. I'll just leave the door..."

She just won't quit, will she?

"That's not going to happen, either."

"What's going on? Is this about what I said to Yelina?"

"Um... no."

Horatio was a little slow in answering.

You didn't need to be an expert in body language to know that he was lying.

It's all about what Rebecca said to Yelina.

"Oh. So, it's the deal I made. I stand by my decision."

"And I stand by mine."

Well done Horatio. You deserve so much better than her anyway.

--------------------

I wonder who told Horatio about Rebecca's argument with Yelina.

I don't think it was Yelina.

It certainly wasn't Rebecca.

I don't think it's Calleigh's style either.

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After about an hour and a half of drifting around aimlessly, I headed back to Calleigh's apartment.

The lights were still on, but as I approached, they went out.

Elliot's presence had been making my job a lot harder.

I don't go into her apartment when he's there, in case I'm… you know… interrupting something.

I don't want to embarrass myself by seeing something I shouldn't, so I sat down outside her front door.

I'll know if someone's getting into her apartment, without actually having to be inside.

I know I'm paranoid, but that's the point, isn't it?