Still in 4x09. But after this and two more chapters, I will be diving into 4x15. I may have exaggerated how dangerous some of these characters can be, but judging how some of them were on the show, I think I've done them justice.

Natalia looked at Eric, her heart in her throat. "What is this about?" She asked, her voice faltering a little. She could feel her heart beating in her ears. Monica wordlessly withdrew a manila folder from her bag and handed it to Eric.

"I think the two of you need to see this." She said simply, keeping her arms folded across her chest. Natalia took the folder from Eric before he could get it and opened it, her jaw dropping at what she saw. Someone had managed to snap a photo of both her and Eric together in, from what she could see, in her living room on her couch amid a passionate kiss. She showed it to Eric, her eyes beginning to water. She looked away, dreading where she knew the conversation was going to head.

"When was this taken?" She asked, spying a look at Eric. He had two hands on the photo, his eyes almost glued to it. His night, which he had planned on ending with him giving Natalia her own key to his place, was certainly not heading where he thought it would. Horatio joined the group, looking towards the break room.

"What matters is what it shows. A Federal Agent and a CSI in a relationship that obviously neither of your bosses were made aware of? That's low for even you, Horatio." Monica smirked. She had put two and two together; she saw how the two Latina's before exchanged looks, and the small smiles. To put the cream on top of this evidence pie, she had lost count of how many times she had seen Natalia come to work in the same clothes she had worn the day before and the same excuses seemed to be on a loop. "Lieutenant?" She turned to Horatio, who was looking between the two of them. "Do you have anything to add to this?" She asked. Even if she didn't have the evidence to shut this lab down, she had more than enough to discredit the two of them and possibly even get one of them fired. If not both.

"Miss West, I don't think this is any of our concern. Both Eric and Natalia have been able to work together in a civilised manner since beginning this relationship and I don't see how this will affect them going into the future." He turned to them both, regarding them with a soft smile. "Just how serious is this, Eric?" He asked. Natalia and Eric looked at one another, Eric wordlessly slipping his hand into Natalia's and giving it a squeeze.

"I love her." He confessed. Natalia smiled, looked down and bit her lip. She had heard Eric say he loved her before, but this was the first time he had said it in front of anyone in public. She had to admit, it felt rather nice.

"And you, Miss Boa Vista?" Horatio asked, a knowing smile being shown to both of them. Natalia reciprocated the hand squeeze wordlessly. He turned his attention to Monica, who still had her arms folded across her chest and her expression had soured considerably. He knew what she was trying to do; and if he had anything to say about it, Monica would be leaving this lab without the information and the victory of tainting them that she had obviously come here to achieve. "Miss West," He pressed the 'down' button on the elevator, almost pushing her towards it as they opened. "I think you have got all that you need from this lab for now."

"This isn't over, Lieutenant!" Monica warned as the doors closed.

"It is for now." He said as he saw the lights for the floors illuminate. Both Eric and Natalia sighed heavily and turned back to Horatio, who wore a rather amused smile on his face. "So…" He let out a small chuckle. "How long has this been happening?" He asked. Natalia and Eric looked at each other, Eric being the first one to answer.

"Just over two months. It was just after she started at the lab." He explained, the grip on Natalia's hand tightening as he gave it a reassuring squeeze. Natalia smiled softly, relieved that she had, for now, dodged the 'mole' bullet but as she realised, it would be harder and harder to dodge the longer she kept this façade up. She sighed, not having the energy to tell Eric about it at this point in time.

"Well…" Horatio let out a chuckle. "I guess congratulations are in order." He smiled, shaking Eric's hand and giving Natalia a kiss on the cheek. "Just no secret rendezvous in the labs. Glass walls, you know." He laughed, causing Natalia and Eric to laugh as well. When she calmed, she remembered her reason for coming back up to the lab in the first place.

"Horatio… we were outside before, and we heard something that sounded like breaking glass and metal being dragged along the ground. There were no other cars around, so it couldn't have been someone hitting something, so we wanted to- "

"We can look at the security tapes. The cameras were upgraded last week." He announced, not noticing the look exchanged between both Eric and Natalia at that suggestion. He began to rethink the other option. "Or… I could go out there with you to have a look around?" Natalia nodded, her cheeks turning crimson. Eric's looked no better, his eyes not even being able to meet with Horatio's. "Ok well… Let me get my kit." As he left reception and headed back towards his office, Natalia turned to Eric and started to laugh. She didn't know how else to react to almost having her ass handed to her and all she could do was laugh as she felt Eric's arms wrap around her. As soon as he pulled her close to him, the laughing stopped and was replaced instead with soft sobs.

"Hey…" Eric kissed her temple, feeling a sense of relief that he could do this in public without having to look over his shoulder at who was watching them. "What's wrong?" He asked. She looked into his eyes, her orbs glistening with unshed tears.

"Someone found out about us… they caught us." She lifted the picture for him to be able to see clearly. "We were this close to losing our jobs…" She whispered, "Whoever took this could be up to something else bigger."

CSIMIAMICSIMIAMICSIMIAMI

Feeling an odd sense of dejavu, Eric, Natalia and Horatio descended the elevator to the parking lot. Natalia could not look either man in the eye as they got lower and lower. Her boss, the man she was trying her hardest to impress and prove that she was a capable agent and possibly a CSI, had let her guard down and allowed her secret to be exposed. Hopefully, she thought, this would be the only instance of her personal life being on full display. As the doors opened and she saw her car, however, she knew that would not be the case. Exiting the doors, she stopped just shy at her car and gasped in shock. All four windows and the back window had been smashed, an envelope stuck on the front windshield and her purse and phone missing.

"Oh, my god!" She was both shocked and angry. Someone was messing with her, and she had inking suspicion on who could be helping him out. She went to take the envelope off the windshield, but a gloved hand stopped her.

"You can't." It was Horatio, already reaching for the envelope in her shaking hand. Reluctantly, she handed it over and walked around her car, inspecting the damage. She heard the paper tearing and an audible gasp from Horatio as he withdrew the contents.

"What is it?" Eric asked, looking at his boss. With a look like Horatio's, he took the papers and photos out, slowly flicking through them. Each one made his heart rise into his throat; inside, photos of Natalia from her last hospital admission at Nick's hands were placed in-between transcripts of Nicks trial as well as a picture of Natalia at Sutton's birthday, walking in and out of the lab, at her house and most terrifying, another one of her and Eric kissing. This time, from what Natalia could guess, from the first night they met. On six of the photos, when lay out next to one another was the message 'you can't get away that easily.' "H…" Both men turned their attention to Natalia, her eyes widening at the message it read. That's when she knew.

"He's going to kill me." Her realisation was a whisper as her hands went to her face, hiding her eyes as she began to cry. Eric, unsure on how else to offer comfort, opened his arms to her and embraced her as Horatio bagged the photos and envelope.

"I think we need the whole team here for this." He nodded to both of them, Horatio turning back to the elevator to log this evidence and call the rest of the team. "We will keep you safe, Miss Boa Vista." His words were soon proven false, however. As soon as his back was turned, Eric heard something 'whoosh' past him followed by more loud pops. Acting quickly, he grabbed Natalia by the waist and pulled her to the ground, apologising as she cried out upon hitting the concrete.

"Stay down!" Eric ordered, taking cover behind another parked car as he and Horatio, behind a car two spaces from Eric, shot towards the direction of the gunfire. After about five minutes, the three of them heard the screeching of tyres and smelt smoke, indicating their hidden assailant had escaped. "Are you alright?" He asked, tuning to Horatio. He nodded, re-holstering his gun. The two men looked around the parking garage, Eric's heart in his throat as he saw red on the ground and a rather still Natalia laying on her left side, covered slightly by a tyre of an SUV. "NATALIA!"