Title: Two Lives

Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab)

Summary: Calleigh Duquesne is kidnapped and isolated from the world. She's trapped between trying to escape and protecting what she treasures most. Crossover with CSI.

Category: Crossover – Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio

Genres: Established Relationship, Suspense

Characters: Horatio Caine, Alexx Woods, Calleigh Duquesne, Jim Brass, Original Character

Warnings: none

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 8 "Hello Handsome"

Author's Notes: Thank you to Opal and Riley for beta-ing! More to come still!!!!!!

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The darkness was making too much noise. The constant beeping was starting to make her head ache more than it had been before. Someone really needed to turn off the alarm, she thought, it was irritating and she knew it wasn't her alarm. Opening her eyes slowly, she found herself in a bed that was not her own…and then she realized she wasn't where she thought she was…and perhaps that was why it had taken her so long to get her eyes open and to comprehend where she was. It was a hospital she immediately knew from all the white and the monitor that was beeping only a couple feet away. She could see the IV stand and two people fast asleep in chairs at her bedside.

A smile crossed her lips as she tried to slowly move, rustling the bed sheets a bit. She stopped when she saw Alexx and Horatio start to stir. She didn't want either of them to wake just yet, she was sure that they had been at her side through everything that had happened to her since she had blacked out. They deserved sleep; especially since outside looked late…she wasn't sure if it was seven at night or three in the morning. She saw Horatio's eyes start to open and her smile brightened. Reaching out, she held her hand towards him, "Hi Handsome," she whispered a bit weakly and tried to roll on her side, so she could see him better.

Horatio smiled brightly at her and moved forward to stop her from moving so much, "It's okay… I don't want you to hurt yourself…"

Calleigh smiled, "I'm just stiff." She managed to get onto her side anyways, and felt a surge of comfort when Horatio squeezed her hand.

"You've been sleeping for a while now."

"How long?" she asked, as a wave of worry washed through her.

"Days…" he told her and gave her a smile. "Don't worry…you haven't lost too much time."

"Two years," she told him. Closing her eyes and forcing the tears that had surfaced down her cheeks. Sure, she hadn't been asleep for that long, but she would have much rather have slept through it all than have experienced it. She had missed out on so much of the life she had been so used to. Calleigh didn't even think she remembered how to handle a gun, let alone how to take one apart and put it back together again.

Horatio frowned and ran his free hand through her hair, "You were in a coma for five days…" He watched her concerned look and saw more worry coarse through her face, "Don't worry about Lilith…she's safe, and she's okay. The doctors checked her out and said that she's a lucky little girl."

"I'm surprised we don't have some virus or something," Calleigh mumbled. She closed her eyes for a minute before opening them again, "It's sort of a relief to be in a hospital… Lilith's never seen a doctor and I haven't since Miami…"

"Well, the doctor said you are both going to be fine," he told her as he brushed some stray blonde strands from her face. He smiled, "Alexx and I have been taking care of Lilith for most of her waking hours, so that she's not in the nursery."

Calleigh smiled, "Thank you."

"Where did you get the name Lilith from?" Horatio asked. "I've been wondering."

Sighing, she looked down at their entwined hands for a minute before she started, "Miller named her. I wasn't allowed to. Abigail isn't allowed to do anything, but clean and cook. I don't know why he wanted to name her that…why would anyone name their child a name that means ghost?"

He could see the anger and upset in her eyes. "So, why don't we name her something else? Something that we like…"

"It doesn't seem right."

"What if I told you that Miller Lewis isn't Lilith's father?" Horatio said trying to gauge her reaction. He still wasn't sure if she knew…it was possible that Miller had brought in other men to try to get Calleigh pregnant, they just weren't sure. The only one who could tell them that was Calleigh.

Calleigh stared at Horatio for some time before tears started to form. Did she forget something? Who else could be the father? "Horatio, that's not possible. Miller…Miller raped me several times after he brought me to Nevada…and I haven't been with anyone else…" Confusion went wild through her brain as she waited to see if Horatio was keeping more information from her.

"We were together," Horatio told her. "Before he took you…"

Blinking, Calleigh shook her head. "It's not possible… I mean, he kept me in the closet with little breaks and no food for some time. Plus, I was in the car accident… Horatio, I would have miscarried…" She didn't understand why Horatio was doing this, if Miller wasn't the father of her baby, then who was?

"They ran your DNA and Miller Lewis as biological parents of Lilith. Your DNA matched," Horatio told her, but was interrupted before he could continue.

"Well, I'd hope so…I did give birth to her…I remember the pain and the long labor vividly and screamin' and beggin' for a doctor…"

Horatio frowned wishing that her memories of having their child were a better. "They ran the DNA against everyone we have on file. She is my daughter, Calleigh. They tested it several times…" He gave her hand a squeeze. "Lilith is ours…and we can name her anything we want…"

Tears rushed to her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She couldn't believe what he was saying. She knew that she seemed…different, but she had never been able to place why… She thought about it as she pulled her hand from Horatio's and hugged herself. Her daughter…her daughter had his eyes, she finally thought. Calleigh squeezed her eyes shut, and just let the tears fall.

"Isn't that cruel?" Calleigh finally asked after several minutes of just crying. Horatio had given her space and she had been grateful. Everything was so confusing and she didn't feel like she had any kind of safety… "I've been calling her that for over a year now, her birthday was in October…"

Horatio smiled down at her and gently stroked her hair, "She's beautiful…just like her mother," he told her gently, trying to calm her down by changing the subject for just a second. "I think she'd get used to a new name…she's still very young, Calleigh…"

A small smile came to her lips and she started to wipe her tears away, and Horatio caught the rest. She had missed him, and how he was able to comfort her so easily. Sniffling a bit, she told herself she needed to calm down. Taking in a few breaths and then letting them out, Calleigh was able to calm down quite a bit. "Maybe… Can I see her?" she asked.

"We better let the doctor look you over first, Honey," Alexx said sleepily. The crying had woken her, and she had been nicely surprised to see her friend conscious. "I see Horatio didn't feel the need to wake me…" she teased and reached out and grasped Calleigh's hand, "It's good to see you awake…" She had been starting to wonder when Calleigh was going to come around. They had already been in Nevada for so long now, far longer than they had planned. She wanted to be there for her friend, but she did miss her kids and her husband. It had been hurting her a lot when she phoned her family and her kids wanted to know when she'd be home and she couldn't give them a day. She got up and gave Calleigh a smile before letting go of her hand and heading out to find a doctor.

"He can't take her away…right?" Calleigh asked thinking about Miller and how he was. She needed to know that she and her daughter would be safe from him.

Horatio put her hand between his two, "Calleigh…he's going to jail… I am going to take you and our baby home to Miami and he is never going to come near either of you again…" Family was something that he cherished and so far in life it hadn't been directly his save for Marisol…but a child… He had always wanted a child, but had only had a niece and nephew. There was no way in the world that he would let his family he had come to harm. "It's going to be okay, Sweetheart, I'm going to take care of you and Lilith."

"New name," Calleigh told him quietly, her eyes sliding halfway shut. She was tired; all the crying had worn her out. She felt the need to sleep, but knowing she had been unconscious for five days she felt it was wrong to be tired so quickly.

He nodded, "Okay…" He looked up when he heard the door open and saw Alexx there with Calleigh's doctor. "You rest, Sweetheart. When the doctor's done, we'll bring the baby in, okay?" When he got a small smile and a nod, he felt better…enough so that he felt he could leave with Alexx while the doctor looked Calleigh over.

………………………………………

"You sure about this, Honey?" Alexx asked as they got out of the rental car at the Las Vegas Police Department. Calleigh had insisted on seeing that they had Miller Lewis for herself. Alexx hadn't thought it was a good idea, but Horatio insisted on letting Calleigh needed to do in order to be okay.

Calleigh got out of the backseat of the car and then leaned back in and started to unbuckle her daughter from the car seat. She and Horatio hadn't had the time quite yet to think up a name that they liked, but she wanted to get a birth certificate issued…but with the new name and with the correct parents. Lilith didn't have one, so it didn't complicate the issue much. "I need to do this, Alexx… Just a couple minutes." She carefully removed her daughter and held her close, her little head falling to her shoulder.

Horatio stood there quietly watching the two women, before he finally spoke up. "We have a plane to catch… I talked to Captain Brass, who has assured me that he already has all the paperwork we'll need and that he'll see to it that things are taken care of. Now, they're about ready to transport Mr. Lewis to lock up anyways, so it will be quick." He watched as Calleigh changed how she was carrying their daughter, she was nervous and he was starting to wonder if she would be able to go through with it. "Why don't you let me carry her?" Horatio asked gently.

"No," she said quietly not looking at him. She bounced her daughter in her arms lightly for a minute and then kissed the top of her head. Maybe she couldn't do it…she wasn't sure…

"Horatio," Alexx said as she laid her arms across the top of the car and leaned there, watching Calleigh. She didn't think it was a good idea at all and didn't see why Horatio was letting Calleigh go through with it when she was so obviously terrified.

Sighing, he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Calleigh. "It's okay, Sweetheart. You don't have anything to prove…" he whispered into her ear.

Tears fell down her face, and she just shook her head lightly as she kept her eyes down towards her daughter. "I have to see it for myself… I have to know that he won't be able to find us…"

Pulling back, Horatio gently removed their daughter from Calleigh's arms and found Alexx at his side, taking his child from him. Alexx was right, if they were going to do this, he needed to be there for Calleigh. Gently, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Just a minute, and then the airport, okay?" He wanted there to be a limit, that way Calleigh couldn't linger there for long and dwell on what Horatio wanted to put far into her past.

They headed up the stairs and into the building and she just let him lead her. She kept her pace so that she could see Alexx out of the corner of her eye. She hated letting her little girl out of her sight. "Emma," she whispered, and she found herself stopping as she stared at her little girl.

"I like Emma," Horatio told her and watched a smile spread across her face. "Emma Duquesne."

Calleigh was going to go and retrieve her baby from Alexx when she heard Horatio add on her surname, "Now, are we really going to do that to her? In a couple years she'll start school, can you imagine how her teachers will slaughter that name? Let alone learning to spell it." She looked at him with her smile still intact, "Emma Caine…if you think it fits."

"Do I get a vote?" Alexx asked amused.

"I think Emma is beautiful…" Horatio told Calleigh, before looking over at Alexx. "What do you think, Alexx?" he asked their friend.

Alexx just smiled and looked down at the girl in her arms, "I think Emma suits her perfectly. So, now that you two have come up with the first and last name…you just need to figure out the middle one. That is unless you don't believe in middle names."

"I think a middle name is in order," Horatio said pulling Calleigh close again feeling a bit relieved that she wasn't so stiff and nervous as they headed deeper into the department. Brass met them part of the way, so that they didn't have to wait around too much.

"You sure about this?" Brass asked them, but mostly to Calleigh.

She pulled away from Horatio and rubbed her temple, "Can I have a minute, first?"

"Sure," Brass said turning and walking away to talk to one of his men.

"You don't have to do this, Calleigh…"

Her smile returned and she looked up and over at him, "I do… I thought he killed Calleigh Duquesne… I'm still wondering…" she told him. "But even if Calleigh is gone, I can't be Abigail either…"

"Calleigh isn't dead," Horatio told her. "But Abigail is gone…" He brushed the long strands from her face, "I think you just need to be reminded and taken back home… Your father is going to be there when we land… I'm sure he'll want to see Calleigh."

"Daddy's gonna be there?" she asked, a bit surprised. She hadn't thought Horatio would keep tabs on her father, let alone carry his number and arrange for him to be there when they returned.

Horatio saw that her smile had brightened quite a bit and could see a sparkle in her eyes that he had feared had been dulled. "We could head to the airport now," he offered.

It was tempting, but she was far too afraid that she would regret this chance if she passed it up. "I'll be okay… I'll be out in a minute."

"Don't you want someone to go with you, Honey?" Alexx asked swaying back and forth to keep Emma calm. She was worried about her friend and concerned that she wasn't quite as strong as she had been.

"No, no…I'll be okay." Calleigh gave Horatio a smile and then passed it to Alexx before looking over at the captain and signaling that she was ready.

Brass escorted her into the cell area and to Miller Lewis' cell. He waited, not sure what the woman wanted from the man or what she expected. He took a step back trying to give her space, but not sure that it was smart to leave her alone.

"Abigail!"

Calleigh just stared at him for a moment watching as he got up from the cot and neared the bars. She unconsciously took a step back, and continued to stand there. "My name is Calleigh Duquesne." She could see his disappointment, but she didn't care. He couldn't hurt her, not anymore. "I just wanted to tell you that—" Her voice trailed off and she suddenly felt terrified to be there with him, but the gentle hand on her shoulder helped her feel stronger again. "That you didn't kill me…and that you will never see my daughter ever again."

"Abigail…don't say that! Let me see Lilith…at least one more time."

"She's not yours, Miller… You're not her father, and her name isn't Lilith," she said coldly before heading out with Brass. She heard his screaming that she was lying and that she had been corrupted again, but she didn't keep anything he said. She just let it fade away.

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TBC…