Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to update… I'm hoping that my future updates won't take as long as this one did, but I can't promise anything. I also apologize if this chapter turns out to be horribly written. I'm lacking in the motivation department and am also battling an annoying case of writer's block. On another note, thank you to JacobedRose and Rainbow Stevie for your reviews! They're greatly appreciated!

Uphill Battle
Chapter Two

After narrowly avoiding two car accidents on her way over, Natalia arrived at Hannah's house just four minutes after the women had ended their phone conversation. Because she was so upset over the day's events, she could barely focus on the road, which resulted in some reckless driving. Everything that had happened earlier today was etched into her mind and she found herself with a whole list of questions she was dying to know the answers to, but didn't know who to ask them to.

What now? What's to become of her grant? Her friendships with the other CSIs? What will Miami Dade do to her? What about the feds? What happens now?

She pulled up close to the curb in front of Hannah's house, parked the car, and turned off the engine. Instead of getting out, she sat in the driver's seat for a minute, desperately trying to keep herself together. The last thing she needed was to have a panic attack.

She hadn't had a panic attack in almost three years and never wanted one again. Her attacks are always horrible; her body shakes uncontrollably and she hyperventilates, sometimes to a point where she passes out. The shaking is almost as bad as that of a seizure, and the hyperventilating leaves her throat and diaphragm sore for days.

So here she was, sitting in her car and trying her hardest to hold herself together, just as she had done that day at work in the evidence locker when she had been held at gunpoint. She saw movement from the corner of her eye and looked over to see Hannah jogging down her walkway to the car.

Natalia unlocked the door and unbuckled her seatbelt as Hannah came up along the driver's side. She opened the door and looked down at Natalia, her eyes filled with concern. "What's wrong, Nat?" she asked.

Natalia got out of the car, closed the door, and locked it up. "Bad day at work," she answered, her brown eyes avoiding Hannah's.

Hannah frowned, noticing how anxious and worried Natalia seemed. She gently placed her hand on her back. "Let's go inside and you can tell me everything."

The two women made their way up the walk and into Hannah's house. They went into the kitchen where Natalia took a seat at the table and Hannah pulled out a can of coffee grinds. "Coffee?" she asked.

Natalia shook her head. She was still too shaken up from the day's events to eat or drink anything. She was devastated that she lost the entire department's trust, that she probably lost her grant, and most importantly, Eric… she just couldn't get out of her mind the disappointment and anger she had seen in his eyes. Their last interaction continued to replay over and over again, everything he said…

"You're the mole. … That was your heads up? …You've known me a year and you wait until the day that the feds swoop in to tell us you've been reporting on the lab? … Save it, Natalia. … I don't care. …Look, I've gotta go. …I've gotta take these to A.V. …No. …Don't touch anything."

Thinking about Eric made her want to cry. She had to blink every second to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Hannah abandoned the coffee grinds and took a seat at the table opposite Natalia. "You want to tell me what happened?" She waited patiently for a response.

"I…" Where should she start? Natalia tapped her fingers on the wooden table as she tried to think of a good place to begin. After a moment, she continued. "…Do you remember when I told the girls that the feds had granted me the DNA lab for cold cases?"

The memory brought a smile to Hannah's face. "I do," she said and nodded her head. "You were thrilled." She paused, remembering how giddy Natalia had been that night. They had all been so happy for her and she had left the meeting with the widest smile Hannah had ever seen.

"Well…" Natalia stopped tapping and looked up at Hannah. "When the feds granted my request, they told me they thought the CSI lab was a rogue one and that I should report any suspicious activity to them." She waited for Hannah to say something, but when she didn't, Natalia continued. "I agreed, but it was only because I was afraid that they'd take back the grant if I didn't."

Natalia placed her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. "So I accepted… They told me I should call them every week to give them an update, and I did—But never once did I say anything bad about the lab. For the first couple weeks I was so thrilled with my grant that I didn't pay much attention to anything besides the cold cases. I'd just tell the feds that things looked good.

"When the initial excitement of the grant died down, I started to involve myself in the current cases that the CSIs were working on. The feds were unhappy that I had only been giving them good information and I was afraid they'd take back the grant if I didn't start looking for the bad." She took her elbows off the table and rested her hands in her lap.

"It's a good thing that I never decided to be an undercover cop… I couldn't find one thing wrong with the CSIs' handling of their cases. I was also beginning to develop friendships with them… Finding nothing wrong was discouraging, and the relationships I was forming with the CSIs… I didn't want to be the feds' little mole anymore. I loved the department and everyone in it."

Hannah smiled. Natalia raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "What?"

"Nothing."

"No, tell me."

"It's nothing major…" Hannah started. "You said you loved everyone in the department. It made me think of Eric."

Natalia blushed. She had mentioned Eric at many past meetings. While the women, including Hannah, were aware that the two had stopped seeing each other, it was obvious that Natalia still had a thing for him.

If Natalia had been sitting close enough, she would have playfully whacked Hannah. "Oh," she said and rolled her eyes. There was a slight pause before Natalia nodded her head. "Well… Yeah, he played a large part in me not telling the feds anything bad."

Hannah nodded, satisfied with what Natalia said, and then resumed listening. "So anyway, I went back to focusing on my cold cases," Natalia started up again. The feds were probably getting tired with me because I had no useful information for them, but I redeemed myself when I solved that one case I told you about."

"The rape case," Hannah said, remembering the meeting where they had all watched Natalia on the news, speaking at a press conference about the originally accused man's exoneration.

It was that day when Hannah realized Natalia was no longer the frightened, weak woman she had been when she first joined. In a matter of only a couple years, Natalia had grown to be a very strong, outgoing, and successful woman. She was a true inspiration to all of the women in the organization.

"That's the one." Natalia nodded. She began to absentmindedly pick at her nails as she continued talking. "Since that day, the feds stopped giving me a hard time. I felt this great weight taken off of my shoulders because I felt like I didn't have to worry about having to spy on the lab anymore. Now that the feds saw that I was putting the grant to use, they'd never take it back."

Hannah smiled and leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "Uh-huh."

"Well… that weight came back today," Natalia started. Hannah looked at Natalia, slightly confused and slightly concerned.

Natalia went on. "The feds stormed the lab this morning. I had no knowledge of this and was just as nervous as the others were. …To make a long story short, the feds had gotten word from some blind tip that the lab had mishandled monetary evidence from a recent crime scene, and the feds were there to figure out who was responsible for it. They spent the entire day questioning everyone in the department that could have possibly had access to it."

That part of the explanation was over, but that was the easy part. It was what she explained next that brought tears to her eyes.

"I knew they wouldn't interrogate me because I worked for them…" Now it was becoming difficult to speak, and she had to force herself to spit out the words. They all came out very, very quickly. "I ran into Eric sometime around noon and he asked me if they had questioned me yet and I told him that they didn't and then he said that they'd get to me soon and I said that they wouldn't…" Natalia was beginning to choke up. "Then he put two and two together, and…" Her bottom lip trembled as she relived the scene again. "Hannah… The anger in his eyes… The disappointment and the frustration…"

There were too many tears at this point to blink back, so they began to flow freely down her cheeks. "It felt like only a couple of seconds had gone by before the entire department knew. When everyone found out I was the mole… Calleigh was the only one who would talk to me… I… I don't know what to do, Hannah."

Natalia wiped her eyes, not caring that her mascara was now smeared across her face and hands. "I don't want to go back tomorrow," she said, shaking her head. "I can't go back tomorrow…" Her voice trailed off.

"Hon," Hannah started, "You don't have to go to work tomorrow. I'm sure they'll let you take a day or two off. And I'll see to it that they do. You deserve it." She stood up and walked around the table to Natalia, where she gently rubbed her back as Natalia did her best to keep herself together.

After several moments, Natalia nodded her head and looked up at Hannah. "Thanks, Hannah," she said, very thankful and grateful to have someone like her in her life.

Hannah smiled. "Anytime, girl. Now give me a hug." She removed her hand from Natalia's back and held her arms out.

Natalia stood up and both women embraced. The hug was cut short by Hannah's home phone. Someone was calling, and the ringing made both women jump.

Hannah walked across the kitchen to where her cordless phone hung on the wall. She picked it up and rested it on her shoulder. "Hello?" she answered.

A minute or two passed before Hannah hung up the phone. Natalia looked over at her, a questioning expression on her face.

"That was Kathryn," Hannah told her. Kathryn was the newest member of the organization and quick to open up, even though it was obvious that she was scared to death. She had reason to be because unlike Natalia, Kathryn hadn't taken her abuser to court, and she instead decided to run, from Key West to Ft. Lauderdale. She had recently gotten word from a friend back home that he had set out to find her.

It was obvious that Kathryn was in a crisis. "She's coming over?" Natalia asked. Hannah's response was a nod. "I should get going, then."

"Why don't you go clean yourself up in the bathroom first," Hannah suggested. "I don't think smeared mascara is in style yet."

This got a chuckle out of Natalia, and she left for the bathroom to freshen up before heading home, where she'd be all alone.

This was going to be a long night.