Author's Note: This'll pretty much be about what I'm hoping will happen next season as far as Natalia and Natalia/Eric go. (Well... Not all of it. I'll probably throw in a little more drama than I'd actually like.)

Uphill Battle
Chapter One

Natalia Boa Vista almost broke her ankle as she made a mad dash down the back stairwell of the Miami Dade building. Her workday was over and, because of the events that had happened earlier that day, she had a feeling that her job at Miami Dade as a DNA analyst was over too.

The feds had finally swept into the CSI lab after receiving a "blind tip" that recent evidence had been tampered with. Even Natalia was surprised at their arrival and completely unaware of why they were there. Maxine Valera, a woman she worked with in the DNA lab, was the first to be interrogated by the feds and filled Natalia in on everything when she returned. Natalia had been completely unaware that the feds were coming in today and was in the dark just as everyone else was.

Yes, she was the mole the feds had planted in the department, but she knew nothing of any tampered evidence and obviously had never called it in. In fact, she had never reported anything to the feds that could get the lab in trouble. She had taken a liking to all of her coworkers—to Calleigh, Horatio, Alexx, Maxine, Ryan, and especially Eric—and would be heartbroken if any of them ever lost their jobs because she reported bad information on them.

She had never been more anxious to leave the lab than she was today, after it was finally revealed that she was the mole. She had told Eric after bumping into him in the hall, which was at this point one of the biggest regrets of her life. She could have just agreed with him, she could have said to him "Yeah, I'm sure the feds will get to me later," but she just had to follow her heart and tell him that the feds wouldn't interrogate her.

The truth was she still loved and cared for Eric. They had dated on and off for the past year and she had recently called it quits, first after a pregnancy scare and then made it final after she discovered that Eric had given permission to Ryan to ask her out, telling him that she was "cleared for landing." This had hurt her almost as much as some past events in her life had.

Even though Natalia had gone on that date with Ryan, she knew, and still does know, that she could never love Ryan the way she had, and still does, love Eric. Ryan was a great guy, but it was Eric who had her heart from the beginning and even now, after everything, still does.

Who knows why she went on that date with Ryan… Not even she knew. Perhaps it was because she was so furious with Eric at the time that she wanted to get back at him. Maybe it was because Eric was the first one she not only loved, but took the chance having a relationship with since… well… him. When she had heard that Eric had handed her off to Ryan that easily, what he said, she had been so hurt, so heartbroken and feeling so vulnerable that she had needed someone else she trusted to cling to until she could get herself sorted out. Or maybe it was a mixture of both, the wanting to get back at him and her needing to be near someone until she could recover from the hurt Eric caused her.

But she had gone on that date with Ryan, which had turned out to be much more fun than it was romantic, if it had been romantic at all. In Natalia's opinion, it couldn't have gone any better because she wasn't looking for a relationship and their date hadn't even hinted at anything of the sort.

They had gone on a second date, dinner at a very nice, very expensive restaurant, but that was when Natalia had to draw the line. She had told Ryan in the least hurtful way that she wasn't sure if she could continue the possible relationship, and to her relief, he took it really well.

With the help of Hannah, a very good friend of hers, she was able to take her heart off her sleeve and put it back in its place. She was very thankful to have Hannah in her life, as well as all of the other women in the Miami area who would come to the meetings Hannah held once a month.

Natalia was part of an underground network for abused women and Hannah was the woman responsible for the network in the Miami area. Hannah, also a survivor of abuse, held monthly meetings at her home where the women would get together and just talk—talk about their current lives, the good and the bad in them, talk about their fears, worries, and concerns, talk about their hopes and dreams for the future, and sometimes even their past, but it was rare because it was very triggering to a lot of the women. You could call it group therapy with coffee and doughnuts on the side.

Now Natalia, after tripping down the last several stairs but catching herself before she hit the ground, left the back stairwell and was nearly jogging to her car in the parking lot, trying to get as far away from the Miami Dade building as possible. She had to get away from the Miami Dade building.

After she had confessed to Eric that she was the mole, word quickly spread through the department and no one would even do so much as to say one word to her, though they didn't seem to have a problem glaring at her as she'd pass by.

She wished that she had been able to explain herself to everyone, to explain that she had only told the feds good things about the lab, but Calleigh was the only one who would listen. Calleigh was the only one in the entire department who had tolerated her. While the 'bullet girl' was still furious, she spoke with her. For a second there, it seemed like nothing was wrong, like it was just another day at the lab.

Natalia was trembling when she got into her car and locked the door. It took her two or three tries to get her key in the ignition because her hand was so shaky, but she finally managed to start her car. She buckled her seatbelt, threw the car into reverse to pull out of the parking spot, and ignored the twenty-five miles per hour speed limit sign as she went flying out of the parking lot and down the street at forty miles an hour.

When she stopped at her first traffic light, Natalia reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She was flipping through her contacts list when she saw Eric's number on there and found herself dying to call him, dying to explain. The traffic light had turned green but she was too focused on her phone and the thought of calling Eric to notice. An impatient driver honked at her and she resumed driving, completely oblivious to her speed of forty while she was still in a twenty-five mile area.

She was only half paying attention to the road when shedecided against calling Eric and instead continued to flip through her contacts until she came upon Hannah's number. She turned onto a side street, her tires squealing from the speed of the car, and pressed the 'send' button on her phone.

"Please, please be home, Hannah," Natalia pleaded in her mind. She didn't know what she'd do if the woman wasn't.

Hannah picked up. "Hey, Natalia," she said, her voice cool and calm.

"Hannah," Natalia replied. She paused for a momentwhen she slammed on her breaks as a red ball bounced into the middle of the road. It was a good thing that she had because sure enough, a child was not too far behind it. Her car jerked to a stop and she sat in silence for a few moments. "I... I need to talk to you."

The woman noticed a tremor in Natalia's voice, and was immediately worried. "Of course you can come over, hon. You're always welcomed here, you know that," Hannah answered, the cool and calm gone from her voice. "What's wrong?"

"I…I…" Natalia wasn't sure what to tell her friend. She resumed driving when the child was back on the sidewalk, now running to a mother that was scolding him for running into the street.

Hannah frowned at the silence on the other end of the phone. "I'll see you shortly, sweetie, okay?"

"Kay," Natalia answered shortly.

"Okay. Drive carefully."

The two women hung up and Natalia tossed her phone up on the dashboard. She resumed her speed of forty and nearly had to slam on her breaks again to get back down to twenty-five when a police officer drove by.

When the officer was out of sight, she resumed her speed. She needed to get to Hannah's house before she had a major panic attack on the road.