Title. Better Angels.
Author: Samantha.
With great thanks to: Sammie (not me you twat the other one) Ruth, Cath and the other Ruth (oh my god two Samanthas and two Ruths...jesus)
Part: Eight of about fifteen.
Pairing: H/C baby!
Spoilers: 3.01 - Lost Son
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own CSI:Miami the people who own them do. Trust me when I say this (along with ruth aka quarryquest) we would treat them so much more better than you arsewipes. (DONT SUE!)
Summary: Sometimes we all need to open up...but will Horatio learn his lesson before he loses his daughter and wife

Chapter Eight

"It is understood the three teens, including Lieutenant Horatio Caine's daughter were abducted from a bus stop outside the American Airliners Arena. The three teens were found safe and well yesterday afternoon, and Millicent Caine was released from hospital this morning. At this point there is no statement from any of the families involved or the Police Department." Millie frowned at the T.V

"Fucking arseholes." she hissed as she flipped the channel.

"Millicent Caine and her two friends Heather King and Lisa Richmond were abducted on Saturday night around eleven o'clock after attending a concert at the American Airliners Arena. They were recovered yesterday after a police operation. It is understood that Millicent Caine was released from hospital this morning after spending the night in observation. Presently there is no statement from any of the involved." flipping the channel after channel they were all covering the same story. Her story, looking up from the T.V she spotted her father.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Millie said with a fake smile. "Its amazing how stupid these people are." She told him flatly as she continued to flick though channels. "Oh my god! The woman has like mossy green hair!" Millie cried with laughter as she burst out in hysterics. "Imagine how the poor child got the piss ripped out her at school!"

"Millie stop pretending your okay. You know you can talk to me right."

"Yeah. Dad honestly I'm okay." she told him sincerely as he sat down beside her. "Don't worry about me I'll be fine. Like I said. It isn't worth getting all down about it. Shit happens."

"Not like this Millie."

"Well what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right. Its in the past already. It happened big deal I can't change that. All I can do is deal with it and move on. I will not waist my life wallowing in self pity and blaming that twat for screwing my life up. It just sort of made me realised that I might have screwed up a bit this year." Millie said smiling.

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

"You coming for lunch?"

"As long as it doesn't have courgettes in it." Horatio smiled.

"No. No courgettes."

"Oh thank god!" and with that Millie switched of the T.V and prepared to eat a meal that she really didn't feel like having. She ate it anyway. Knowing it would keep her parents off her back for a while, that sick feeling built up inside her as she sat watching some mind numbingly boring documentary on how paper is made. Millie suppressed the urge throw her lunch back up and managed to get away with declining dinner after claiming she was still full from lunch.

The next week passed similarly with the press relentlessly picking for every scrap that they could as Horatio battled to keep the full details of the abduction from entering the media circle. The familiar alarm clock work Millie from her already disturbed slumber. Signalling the beginning of the working week. She dragged herself up and after a shower and some bonding time with her hair straighteners she waltzed down the stairs in her uniform which was responsible for numerous arguments. The red blazer with the school crest in gold. Her black zip up hooded jumper which covered the white shirt and not to mention the damn gold and red striped tie which Millie had tried to sneak in the bin several times. The black, white and grey tartan kilt which she had vowed to burn on her graduation day after crying for half an hour in the shop at disgust for the aforementioned garment and instead of the customary shoes she had managed to sneak one of her four pairs of converse on her feet. She bid goodbye to her parents as Heather arrived and they set off.

"Jesus, your mom and dad were okay about it. Mine went ape shit at me! I am grounded for the rest of the month!"

"Yeah surprisingly enough they didn't flip when they found out I was drunk at the time." Millie explained.

"I think they were just glad to have you back. My mom on the other hand is still flipping!" Heather explained as they walked past the sign reading 'St. Andrews Predatory School.' The hell hole in which Heather and herself were stuck in. She cursed Lisa who had the privilege of going to a normal school.

Millie began to go though the rituals of getting ready for class. Collecting books from her locker and reporting to homeroom. The enviable began as Millie moved from class to class. The whispers and stairs of other pupils as they moved past her. Millie took her better judgement and reminded herself she was over the whole thing completely already and she was above these people, 'I do not need to hit them to feel better.' The whole day passed extremely slowly for her as she grew bored of her teachers constant talking and the stairs from her classmates. Instead of the usual constant chattering, winding everyone else up and taking the piss out of the people she felt below her. She watched the clouds drift out the window and sighed.

After getting home Millie spent the majority of the night sitting on the living room floor in front of the T.V writing a Biology paper she had been landed with.

'DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid.) is formed from a series of bases on a back bone, which contain the basic instructions for the syntheses of proteins in living organisms. These polymer proteins are formed from monomers of amino acids, which in a condensation polymerisation reaction form proteins. These proteins are essential as they control all functions of the body from hair and skin colour to respiration.'

Millie cried in frustration again as she hit the backspace button deleting her work.

"Dad!" she whined loudly.

"Yeah..."

"I'm stuck! Come and help me!"

"What are you doing?" He asked standing behind her.

"Stupid Biology paper! I have to write a lab report….I don't know how to!" Millie explained frustrated. I cant even get the damn introduction right! I'm never going to get this finished."

"What are you writing it on?"

"Some experiment we did a couple of months back. We got to isolate DNA from an onion….it was quite cool actually…I did so not just say that." Millie slapped her hand to her forehead. "Please help."

"Okay." Horatio sat on the floor beside his daughter and smiled. He'd missed this. "Right what you got then."

"Um….a blank page." Millie said sheepishly. "It keeps sounds too, well, stupid. I need to get an A on this to make up for the F…that way I might be able to scrape a B by the end of the year!"

"Okay. So explain to me how this works."

"I don't know…eh…I suppose it eh…well, it has something to with cells and stuff." Horatio simply blinked.

"Anything else?" he asked flatly.

"Well its in a cell."

"I suppose we better start from there then." He sighed pulling the textbooks over to view them. He paused, reading the information and condensing it down to a level that Millie would understand.

"Right DNA is in the cells nucleus. it's a code." Millie nodded. "Which is made up of things called bases. There's four of them and they tell the cell what proteins to make."

"See I lost you right there. That is way beyond me."

Horatio sighed and began again. Twenty minutes later he left a happy Millie who was furiously typing away. He smiled to himself, this only reminded him of the time he had spent with her when she was younger. The way she would get frustrated and angry at herself because she was always just the bit behind everyone else at catching on. Then there were the days her dyslexia got the better of her and she gave up altogether. It masked the fact the Millie was an intelligent girl who could understand complex ideals but found the easier ones harder to process. He watched her for a few minutes as she riffled though notebooks as her report began to take shape. She picked up the laptop and carried it in to the kitchen where her mother and father were making dinner. She informed them she'd finished it and read it out to them. She beamed in the praise she received. Happy to feel the way she used to. Even with her dyslexia Millie was a grade A student who impressed her teachers with her determination, drive and dedication to getting the grades that would impress her father. Even though Millie wasn't really interested in it she gave it everything she had in the hope her parents would be proud of her.