A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter III

Boogy Man

She woke with a start and looked at the man sitting beside her bed. Panicking she backed herself against the head board and almost screamed.

"Easy." he said softly.

Taking a few deep quick gulps of air in, she looked at him closer. "Lincoln? What the hell are you doing in here?"

The confusion was as plain as day in her face. "You were having a nightmare."

"So?"

He stared at her for a long moment. "No one has ever comforted you after a nightmare?"

"Why would they?"

She had been so serious when she asked him that question. "Sometimes people find comfort in being able to talk to someone about their dreams, or their fears."

"Why? I mean...why do you care what my dreams or fears are?"

Not sure how to begin, he shook his head. "I don't know how to answer you. It's been a long time since someone asked me why I cared."

"I just don't get it. I never had it before. Why would I need it now?"

"A lot of times, it doesn't come down to need. It comes down to want. And sometimes, it comes down to needing it even if you don't realize you do."

She thought about that for a long moment before relaxing and wrapping her arms around her knees. "You're very attentive to people. I'm not sure I like it."

He nodded. "I try to be. I've been hurt in the past and I try not to let it cloud my judgment or actions sometimes. Sometimes I'm successful at it. Others, not so much."

"I'm going to be honest with you, I don't trust anyone. But something about you makes me want to trust you. And I'm really not sure I like that."

He couldn't help but smile. "I would say I'm sorry, but it makes it easier to do my job when someone trusts me so I try to never look a gift horse in the mouth. I'll take what I can get."

"Even if it's short lived?"

"Even if it's short lived." he repeated solemnly.

She studied him. "I believe you."

"Good." then leaning back a little bit to stand, she took a breath.

"I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I panicked you when you first woke up."

Taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes. "Rodrigo told me when I was growing up..." and she stopped. She wouldn't cry. Looking away from him, she swallowed hard. "Never mind. I'm...I'm sorry I woke you up."

She wasn't going to open up to him. And he knew that if he pushed now, she never would. Standing softly, he smiled. "Never be sorry for a nightmare. It's something that no one can help. I'll try not to intrude next time."

"It's okay. I don't think I minded. Well, once I knew you weren't the boogy man beside me."

Unable to stop from laughing lightly at that, he shook his head. "I've been called a lot of things, but a boogy man has never been one of them."

"Until now."

Nodding, he smiled before ducking out. "Until now. Goodnight sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

"Hey Lincoln?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Waking up softly this time, she looked around the room that she hadn't truly paid attention to the first time around. Everything was a very soft gray, and was surprisingly bright with the sun pouring through the sheer drapes on the window.

Raising quickly, she went into the kitchen where Horatio was already dressed in a suit and tie like he had been when he showed up in Texas. Had that really only been a few hours ago?

Clearing her throat, he looked up, irritation furrowing his brow. "What? What's wrong? Did I do something?"

Stepping around, she backed up as he got closer. "Easy, I was just going to look at your cheek. It looks really painful right now."

She didn't make a move as he inched closer again. "Why do you care so much? It's just a bruise."

That was the second time in less than twelve hours that she'd asked him that question. "Because, it bothers me."

Simple answer, but so hard to understand. "It's strange to me. The only one that ever was bothered by bruising was Maria and she...shit! I have to call her! She's liable to be worried sick! Can I use your phone?"

"Of course." and he handed it to her.

Dialing the number quick, she noticed the steely demeanor in which the woman answered her phone. "Maria's?"

"Maria? Just answer yes or no. Is he there?"

"Si. I am open until nine most nights."

"Does he know where I am?"

"Certainly not, no. However I will on occasion come in early."

"Thanks Maria. I'm safe. Are you okay?"

"Oh si! I am here every day from six to nine. Why don't you come fill out an application?"

"I love you."

"Very good. You stay home, come in when you feel better. I'm not going anywhere." then she paused. "I will see you later then. Adios!"

She hung up the phone and looked at him. "He's there and he's pissed."

He could hear the fear in her voice, even if it wasn't outward. "Hey." he said softly. "It's okay. Do you want to go back?"

The question had been so innocent. She shook her head. "She told me to stay home." then she shook her head. "What the hell did she mean by that?"

"I can probably answer that. Yesterday, when we were waiting for you she asked us what we wanted with you. I told her that we may know something about your family and wanted you to come back to Miami. She told us to bring you home."

"She said that?"

He nodded.

"What does she know?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Is my family here in Miami? How would she know? Dammit! None of this makes sense! I'll have to call her next week when things calm down."

Then he saw her eyes cloud. "What's wrong?"

"What if he kills her before next week?"

"Do you want me to send someone to get her?"

"What about her restaurant? She loves that place. She's given everything to making it work. I can't...she can't..."

"Okay hold on. Why don't we see how today goes, and go from there."

She glanced down at her clothes, glad she'd changed before leaving and nodded. "I need to stop and get a change of clothes."

He nodded. "Speaking of, I have an extra toothbrush. It's not clothes, but..."

She half way smiled. "Thanks. Give me five minutes?"

"Take your time." then he looked around his kitchen. "I don't have much in the lines of breakfast so we can stop somewhere on the way if you'd like?"

"I usually drink a cup of coffee for breakfast so anything is fine."

"You don't eat in the morning?"

She shrugged, stepping out of the bathroom, ready to go. "Rodrigo usually buys the groceries. I've never been one to eat much anyway."

That was apparent. She had muscle build but she was skin and bones, which told him she ate a lot of protein, but not much else.

"Um...I hate to ask this...and I wouldn't, but I couldn't pack a bag so..."

"What is it sweetheart? Anything you need."

She took a deep breath and studied him. Would he think her weak for asking? She didn't want to, but damn her hand was throbbing. "Do you have any Ibuprofen?"

"I do. Is your hand hurting?"

"N...no, it's just a little swollen, and I...it's okay. It'll be better later."

"It's not a problem. It does look a little better than it did yesterday. Hard to hold a tooth brush huh?"

She looked up at him and nodded without really saying anything.

The kid would not let on to anything. "How many do you want?"

"Three?"

"Okay." and he smiled gently, handing her the pills with a small glass of water. "If you're ready, we can get going?"

"Sure. So...where are we going? After the thrift shop I mean?"

"We, are going to my lab. I need to run a blood test to make sure I'm right, though I'm fairly positive without it, so that I can give you some information about who you are."

She inhaled shakily, not realizing she'd been holding her breath.

"You okay?"

Nodding, she said nothing as they headed to the store and to the lab. When she got out of the Hummer, she stopped where she was and stood there outside the steps. Walking around the front of the vehicle, Horatio stopped near her and held his hand out. "Are you ready?"

"No." she said softly. "Let's go." and she took his hand.

He could feel her shaking and wondered how she was going to react when he showed her the paperwork that did indeed prove she was his child. Squeezing gently he smiled, trying to offer some type of comfort. "You're going to be okay, no matter what happens in there today. Alright?"

"How do you know?" she whispered.

Still smiling, he let out his breath. "I just know."

She was still just a kid. Still dealing with her own demons and still not willing to let anyone in. And obviously unsure of her own securities, if any.

She took a deep breath as he lead her into the building and up to the fourth floor. "This is Natalia. She's going to stick your finger and then we can wait in my office."

Not saying a word, she looked at the woman grinning hesitantly and reached her hand out to the woman. "Hi. You must be Cainey."

"Yeah. How...how did you..."

"Eric was talking about you this morning."

"Me?"

"Well, I was being nosy and wondered where the guys had escaped to."

"Oh."

She talked so softly. Looking at her, she could immediately see the resemblance. She stuck her finger, then squeezed lightly as it started bleeding quickly. Dropping the blood into a small vial, she started running tests. "Alright, that's all I need. Give it just a few minutes and we'll have something."

Nodding, she followed Horatio out of the lab and into his office. There was a couch and a desk with a chair and that was about it. Definitely not one for showing off anything. That was something she could definitely relate to, though she was sure that his reasons for it were different from her own.

She stayed standing for the few moments they were alone until the door knocked.

She held her breath as the redhead opened the door and the dark haired woman gave him a folder and nodded her head. He told her thanks, turned and then looked at his daughter. "Cainey, can you sit down sweetheart? I need to tell you something."

Staring at him for a long moment, she shook her head. "I think I'll stand."

Taking a deep breath, he nodded. "Fair enough. These results came back to a familial match for both your mother and your father."

She stood there, not saying anything for a long moment. He didn't make a move toward her either which made her wonder, and worry. The man was just standing there, with the papers in his hand and she was scared. She was sure he knew that little tidbit, and she hated that, but it didn't change the fact. She - was - scared. For going her entire life being told that for all intensive purposes she was an orphan, she was about to find out the truth. A truth that she'd never questioned before those two men walked into her life twenty four hours before.

Taking the papers, she read them over real quick and stood there. Staring at the results, she froze in place, not really breathing.

"Are you okay?"

"No." she said softly. She looked up at him, almost unable to stop the tears. Part of what Rodrigo had told her was true. Her mother's name had been Marisol. But her last name had been Delko-Caine. Not Sanchez. And father listed had been Horatio Caine. "I need to sit down." she said lowly, unsure of what was wrong with her. She felt light headed and wasn't sure if she could stand.

He stepped toward her in time for her to collapse in his arms. Placing her on the couch, he stayed sitting beside her, hoping she would only be down for a few moments. Thankfully, he'd been right, she had only been down a few seconds before she started coming around. "Easy."

She slowly opened her eyes and studied him. Sitting up embarrassed that it had even happened, she threw her feet to the floor.

"Not so fast. Make sure you're steady."

His touch was soft and supportive. Not hard, not cold, not looking to instill fear or intimidation. "You knew." she said breathing out.

"I suspected. That's why I wanted to bring you back here in case it was true."

"Is...is my mother...is she still alive?"

"No, sweetheart. She's not alive."

"So it's true. I did kill her when I was born."

She'd said it so softly he wasn't sure at first he'd heard her correctly. "No Cainey. You didn't kill her when you were born. She died after you were born when the people who took you, threw her into the jungle near Rio."

This time, she didn't stop the tears. She let them escape down her cheeks, not worried about how it looked to anyone. "He told me..." she started, then took a breath, not looking at him but staring at the floor. "He told me I killed my mother and that my father never wanted me, which is why he raised me as his own, and that I needed to be grateful that he hadn't let me become award of any local government because they would just abuse me." then she looked up into his blue eyes, that she realized dully, matched her own. "Did you know about me?"

He shook his head. "Your mother and I were very much in love. She was kidnapped by a group who call themselves the Mala Noches. She was pregnant and I didn't know it. She was going to tell me that night. She was taken to Rio and when we finally did find her, she was suffering from complications of delivery. They basically made her have you, and instead of helping her when she started having complications after you were born, they told her you were dead and they discarded her. She was out in the jungle for almost eighteen hours before we found her, and by the time we did, she had bled out and was dying. She told me that you had been stillborn and that she loved me and..." and he choked up himself.

"Have you been looking for me ever since?" she asked, almost hopeful to know that someone cared enough to do that for her.

He nodded. "I always knew there was a possibility. I have had a private investigator looking into the Mala Noches for several years now. She found the mechanics shop three days ago and called me and told me that you were there. That's when Eric and I hopped a plane."

It was so much to take in. Part of her rejected all thoughts that came down to her being his child, but she could tell now that it was true. He wasn't lying to her. And he hadn't since it all started she realized. He had been honest since he showed up. Not giving into something he was unsure of, but he hadn't lied. "Maria knew, didn't she?"

He nodded. "After you left the restaurant, she walked up to our table and said that you had my eyes and Eric's facial structure. That's why she told us to take you home. She said that a woman had been in there the day before asking a bunch of questions about you so when we showed up, she put two and two together."

"Eric, he's my uncle?"

"He is."

"Do I have any other family out there?"

Smiling softly, he nodded. "You have two other aunts on Eric's side, grandparents on his side, and I'm afraid all I can offer is a half brother on my side."

"I...I have a...brother?"

Nodding again, he pulled his wallet out, grabbing the sleeve for photographs. "This is Kyle. He's twenty two and in the Army." and then he found another one. "This is your mother."

She took the picture with a shaking hand and stared at it for a long time. Could she do this? Could she be this long lost daughter?

He could see the questions in her eyes. "Do you need time to think?"

Looking up at him, she let a long breath out. "All my life, I've known that I was alone. I never questioned what I was being told. I just accepted what was. And it's all wrong. My whole life has been one big lie. And I don't even understand why. I'm not even someone special."

"On the contrary, you're going to find that you're very special to quite a few people."

"My name. It was given to me, to rub it in your face, wasn't it? I've been used my whole life. As nothing more than a pawn in a big chess game that's been going since before I was born."

Taking a breath at how simple she'd made everything, he let it out slowly. "Let's get you back to the house. Give you a little space instead of being cooped up in this office."

Nodding softly, she stood on none too steady legs. Looking up at him as he reached for her, she suddenly realized she wanted to know everything there was to know about this man, and his wife, and her new family.