Perhaps bringing the infant with her wasn't such a good idea, after all. People she passed in the hallways on her way to her lab were curious, and for good reason. It wasn't exactly normal to see Calleigh carrying a baby around, especially at such a work environment.

Calleigh made a mental vow to punch the next person to ask whom she was babysitting for.

The infant seemed to be enjoying the change of scene, however, despite not having many comforts. If there at all, the child's diaper bag had been cleverly hidden at the crime scene, just like the baby. She would have to go without whatever her mother had stashed in there, until Calleigh – or anyone, really – got around to supplying a new one. This development didn't seem to really phase her, though. She seemed content how she was, chewing happily on her teething ring (light blue and speckled with small penguin characters) and babbling incomprehensibly. Typical baby behavior that even Calleigh couldn't help but crack a smile towards.

Once she reached the lab, however… the smile faltered. How in the world was she going to keep a baby in the ballistics lab?

Maybe somebody else would be willing to watch her – but who? The first person Calleigh thought of was Alexx, but the coroner's work area wasn't exactly any more baby-friendly than Calleigh's. Ryan? No, he would be even more clueless than she was. Eric might do all right with her – heck, maybe even Horatio would take her. Thinking of him – the head honcho, as it were – made her realize a new challenge: how would she tell Horatio 'oh, yeah, Wolfe found a baby at the crime scene so I brought her with me!'?

Yeah, this definitely wasn't such a good idea as originally thought.

The lab was empty, to Calleigh's relief. She had a little more time to try to figure out how to explain the situation, which was good. The handle of the baby carrier was still on her arm as she walked to the table farthest from the door, and set the plastic seat down. The questions began to stir in her mind again while her eyes focused on the tiny human before her. What was her name? Had her life so far always been this hectic? Was that her mother who had been murdered? Come to think of it, the woman hadn't been identified yet, and this was part of the CSI lab… If the baby was related to the victim, Calleigh could get answers to.

"Hi there," Miss Duquesne murmured to the little one, with a smile. On the way back, the baby had slept, so this was the first time Calleigh actually spoke to her. At the sound of the woman's voice, the child finally looked away from that precious chewy, blue eyes locking onto Calleigh's face – and she broke into a big, toothless grin, that only a baby could produce.

Calleigh Duquesne, for some reason, was absolutely thrilled.

Something was missing at this crime scene. It wasn't necessarily any evidence or typical crime scene characteristics… It was a person. The shades he always wore were removed as he turned toward a fellow officer, Ryan Wolfe. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Ryan seemed to be doing double-duty.

"Mr. Wolfe, where is Calleigh?"

Ryan was a bit startled to hear the voice. He'd never realized how much stuff Calleigh's camera could do, and he was having fun with it – while sticking to the task at hand, of course. He couldn't help cracking a small smile as he shook his head slightly.

"You never miss a beat, do you, Horatio?" Horatio smiled just slightly, like always, and shrugged his shoulders. "Went back to the lab." The younger man swallowed a bit as he wondered how to explain the reason.

Horatio lived up to Wolfe's comment. It was too soon for Calleigh to have any tests to run, and most tests could certainly wait. Whatever had compelled her to leave the crime scene early had to be fairly important – not only to her, but to Wolfe, for him to have agreed with her.

"We found a baby underneath some blankets. Calleigh took her with her," Ryan explained. Hopefully it was okay for her to have done so; by agreeing to take over her part of the investigation, for now, he hadn't meant to put her job in any sort of jeopardy. Then again, would Calleigh have chosen to do so if it could've resulted in such? Probably not.

Horatio was quiet for a few seconds – thinking. There were plenty of people around who could've kept an eye on the child. Why had the discovery of a baby caused Calleigh Duquesne, of all women, to leave?… Because the scene of a murder was inappropriate for a child, and she knew that.

"Hold down the fort here. You're doing a good job so far." The sunglasses took their place once more, as Horatio walked out of the building and back to the hummer. Calleigh, evidently, hadn't been the only thing missing from the scene.

Babies weren't too difficult to take care of, until they started crying. Calleigh was learning that a little too late. To make matters worse, she really didn't have a clue what to do. Was she hungry? Was she bored? Did she need a diaper change? Did she want something else entirely? Ugh…

"Shh, shh," Calleigh murmured to her, as she patted and rubbed her back and ignored the tiny fists beating on her shoulder, and the wet spots forming on her shirt where the baby's tears – real tears, which made Calleigh feel terrible – landed. "Shhhh…"

Had she been this difficult as an infant? Calleigh certainly hoped not. If she had, then she certainly felt for her mother, right about now. But if she had been such a cantankerous baby, Calleigh wondered just what her own mother would've done to calm her down – and thought over the situation, to try to determine just what the little girl needed. It was hard to say how long she had been incognito under the blankets. Had she done her business, then? A quick sniff, and no, that wasn't it. Was she tired? Probably not. Calleigh remembered Wolfe saying something about her being asleep when the blankets were rudely tossed aside, not to mention how she'd slept on the ride to the lab. Hungry? That seemed like the most probable cause of all this fussing. But, alas… Calleigh had no bottles, let alone any formula or milk, or plain baby food.

"It's all right, shh shhh," the woman murmured once more, and walked to her phone. She pressed the button that would call up Natalia – her first thought was Alexx, but she was more than likely busy with the latest body. As far as Calleigh knew, Natalia wouldn't be too busy, and could hopefully help her out.

"Natalia? I need a favor…"