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 VI

Maybe - But I'm Not

Sitting low in the rental, he sunk down when someone pulled into the redhead's driveway. Where in the hell was he? That little brat was with him, and if he told her who she was, he would come after him for sure. He wasn't stupid enough to approach the tall black man, but damn if he didn't want to find out exactly what was going on.

He slammed his fist on the steering wheel pissed off that he hadn't seen it coming. She'd known when she left, who it was. She had to have. She lied to him. He'd been sure she wouldn't be that stupid.

And he had fallen for it. Which he was sure she had counted on. He'd been so stupid and he couldn't stand the fact that he'd fallen for it. Not again. Not next time. He was going to track them both down, and kill them for what they'd done. They'd made a fool of him. And he wouldn't stand for it.

When she woke up a few hours later, Eric was pacing her room. "Hannibal? What's wrong?"

"Hang on." he said softly, then screamed into his phone. "I don't care if you know where he's supposed to be! Find him!"

She sat up, in a bit of pain still, but not like it was. "What's going on? Who's missing?"

He looked at her. "Um...your dad. It looks like he was ambushed and...wait, what are you doing? Lay back down." and he was beside her in a second, trying to hold her.

"You can fight me on this, or you can hand me my clothes and go get the doctor to release me. I have to find him."

"Honey you don't know..."

"I know who has him. And it's all my fault."

"Who? And where?"

"Rodrigo, I'm sure of it. And I don't know where. But if you'll help me get out of here, I can find out. Please."

Closing his eyes and hoping he didn't regret it, he handed her the clothes that Horatio had brought at some point over the last couple of days and disappeared. Cainey got dressed quickly and when she realized she was alone, she slipped out of the hospital. Stopping only once to use a phone, she dialed Rodrigo.

"Where is he? What have you done with him?"

"Ah, my dear, you are alive. I'm so relieved to know."

"No you're not. And I don't care a rats ass about you. Where is he?"

Laughing softly she could hear him crack her dad across the head. "We're at the old quarry in the mine shaft. Come get me." and he hung up.

Glancing around, she spotted a map and asked the guy behind the counter if he knew where there was an old quarry. Nodding he told her how to get there and a man behind her in line said he was going by there. She jumped in the passenger seat of his truck, with only one thing on her mind. Saving her dad.

Eric grabbed his phone as soon as he stepped out of the hospital. "Calleigh, Cainey's missing."

"What?"

"She sent me to get the doctor and walked right out of the hospital. I'm going to ask around and see if anyone's seen her. Put out an APB."

"Alright. Keep me posted."

After looking and asking thirty people over the next hour going from place to place, he finally hit pay dirt when he walked into the gas station she'd stopped at. Walking in, he looked at the kid behind the counter. Long hair, piercing through his lip and one in his tongue.

"What's up man? What can I do for ya?"

"I'm looking for my niece. Would have been in here a little while ago if she'd been in here at all. Long dark hair, blue eyes, about five foot three, five foot four maybe."

"Awe yeah dawg. I saw her. That's your niece? She's hot!"

Sure he would have killed the kid if he hadn't been in a hurry, he nodded. "Yeah. And I'll kill you if anything happens to her. What was she in here for?"

"Chill out man! She used my phone then asked if I knew where the old quarry was. Then she hopped a ride with a guy that was in here and said he was going that way."

"Oh Jesus Cainey. What were you thinking?"

"I still got the number she called if you want it?"

"Yes." and he got it, calling Calleigh. "I'm going South."

"We'll have back up on the way."

As the car pulled along side the fencing she hopped out. "Thanks mister."

His old green eyes taking in the area. "You sure you're gonna be alright out here sweetie?"

So sweet. She put on her best smile. "Yeah my cousin's in there waiting for me. It's good."

"Alright." and he drove off. Walking through the gate and as far back as she could go, she found the mine he was talking about, and walked in cautiously. Taking a scant few steps in, she was hit across the middle by something hard, immediately doubling her over. Opening her eyes quickly, she saw her dad, hands and feet tied, backed against a wall. Then as if some strange force urged her forward, the fight was on.

Over the course of the next few minutes, she fought back, going blow for blow with the man who had raised her, to protect the man who loved her. He pulled out a gun and shot wildly trying to hit anything and everything and in a brief moment, not even sure why it caught her eye, she looked up and saw the top of mine shaft caving in. Using every last bit of strength she had, she pushed him hard against the corner of the wall where it was falling in and scrambled back against the opposite wall.

There was a huge rumble and the floor of the mine shaft shook wildly and somehow she was able to get to where her dad was now laying, and covered him to protect him from the falling ceiling. When it was done, it was deafeningly quiet in the shaft. There was no light at all and she was coughing from all of the dust and dirt that had been kicked up.

Feeling around the body that was underneath her, she felt first and found a strong pulse beating, then she felt another place where it was wet against his shoulder. Pulling her hand back, she could smell the copper smell and knew it was blood.

Putting all of her body weight on that spot, and covering him with herself once again to stop the bleeding and keep him warm, she settled down, hoping that someone would find them soon. "In case they don't find us in time...I love you too, Dad."

She felt a weak arm come around her and squeeze gently before the strength left him once more.

"Hang on for me. Please."

Things were blurring around her when she barely opened her eyes and saw light streaming from...somewhere. She was being moved. She closed her eyes tight when the light shined directly in them and she felt the warmth of her dad's body leave.

She took a deep breath in and heard a breath of a whisper in her ear. "Hang on Cainey. We've got you."

"No!" she said weakly. "My dad. Help...help my dad."

People were screaming around her. She felt a needle being stuck in her arm and a mask go over her face as she coughed. Then a cuff went around her upper arm.

Fighting, she pulled the mask off of her face and tried to sit up instantly meeting resistance. "Help...him! Not me! He's been shot! Help him!"

Eric was beside her again, pushing her shoulders back onto the stretcher. "Cainey! Stop! We're getting him. He's already on another stretcher."

"Save...him." she argued feebly before closing her eyes. It went black.

When he opened his eyes, he immediately tried to sit up, as realization hit, he was in a hospital. Catching resistance he heard "Jeez all Pete's! You can't tell she's your kid at all!"

Stopping, realizing it was Eric's voice beside him, he relaxed for a second. Then like being hit in the gut, he lifted himself off the top of the bed and tried throwing his feet to the floor. "Where is she."

"Stop! They're going to sedate you like they did her!" he said, nodding toward the bed that was beside his brother.

Horatio turned and looked at his child. "What happened?"

"You were ambushed by Rodrigo. He took you to a mine shaft at the old quarry. During some point in this, Cainey just walked out of the hospital after asking me to get a doctor to get out of here, and she called him and found out where you were."

He nodded. "She showed up."

Eric nodded this time. "You were shot, and there was a cave in. That's all we know. She hasn't regained consciousness since they sedated her."

"When was that?"

"Few hours ago."

"Why did they sedate her?"

"Because she wouldn't stop fighting them, insisting that you needed more help because you'd been shot."

"She wasn't?"

"No. She actually was covering you when the mine caved in. She saved your life by keeping anything from getting in the wound and keeping pressure on it. At the risk of herself."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She was already in a weakened state when she left the hospital. She inhaled a lot of dust when it caved in and she's having some problems breathing because of it. They're worried about pneumonia setting up because she covered you, but not herself. It was also cold in there, which dropped her body temperature, further complicating things as far as recovery is concerned. She's got a couple of broken ribs on the back side because of debris that fell on top of her from the ceiling of the mine shaft but thankfully nothing punctured and they were able to set them." and both men's attentions shifted when an alarm started sounding. "Her oxygen saturation just dropped again."

A young nurse stepped quickly into the room, turning off the alarm. She was thin, with black scrubs on, blond hair pulled back in a pony tail and he couldn't see her eye color. "Cainey, honey you need to breathe. Come on sweetie." then she squeezed her arm lightly just below her elbow when she noticed her take a deep breath in. "That's it." then she glanced up at Horatio. "You need to lay back and rest."

"She's my daughter." he said softly, his voice filled with worry. "What's wrong with her?"

She looked up at him. "Sometimes she forgets to breathe. Which is why this monitor is on her. It's not uncommon with some sorts of trauma."

"How bad is her condition?"

"Thankfully she's been on antibiotics for the appendix, and that's already working in our favor, but she's got a tough pull for the next few days. She's going to be pretty out of it. But she seems to be responding fairly well, and should be okay, if we can keep her breathing."

He walked around his bed, with Eric's help and touched her forehead, tucking her hair behind her ear. She breathed in sharply and breathed out the word "Dad." Putting his hand on the side of her face, he rubbed her cheek with his thumb lightly. "I'm here sweetheart."

She didn't wake up, but she called him Dad. He sat down in the seat that was beside the bed and the nurse gave him an almost upset look.

"Now look 'Dad', I can appreciate your need to look after your child, but you need to be in bed resting. What good are you going to do her if you're not at full capacity?"

He closed his eyes and smiled lightly. He didn't want to agree with what she was saying, but he knew she was right. "Just give me a few minutes."

She studied him closely. "I'll give you ten. You go any longer than that and I'll haul you into that bed myself."

Nodding, he conceded. The next time he woke, there was a flurry of people standing around his daughter's bed. Standing instantly he watched from the side as they were trying to get her heart started. "She's not coming back!"

"Come on Cainey!" One person screamed.

"Breathe!" another said loudly.

"She's crashing!"

"We're losing her."

Horatio made a way into the hoard of people and grabbed her hand. "Cainey!" he shouted loudly. "Don't you give up on me! Hang on for me. Please!" he said, repeating the words that he had heard when he was in the mine.

Something happened in that instant and all of her monitors popped and things started returning to normal. She started breathing again and after a few long moments, her eyes drifted open slightly.

Looking toward the man holding her hand, she blinked a long blink. "Mom...says..." she whispered softly and tapered off before she could finish, then closed her eyes.

Over the course of the next hour, all of the doctors and nurses left, leaving simply Horatio and Eric in the room with their daughter and niece. Sitting next to her, he didn't leave her side this time. Running a shaky hand through his hair, he turned to his brother in law. "Did you hear what she said?"

Eric nodded. "Yeah." he replied softly.

"What happened to Rodrigo?"

"He's in the morgue. Apparently he was crushed in the cave in."

"I pushed him." came a soft voice. "He was going to kill you."

Both men focused on her. "Hey sweetheart."

Tears filled her eyes and one rolled down. "Please don't be mad."

"Oh honey. Why would I be mad?"

"For coming after you. I know it was stupid. I couldn't help it. I couldn't let him hurt you."

"Cainey, I am a lot of things. But mad, is definitely not one of them."

She opened her eyes again after blinking. "Really?"

"You saved my life sweetheart. How could I be mad about that?"

Not able to argue with him and not sure she even wanted to, she nodded. "I couldn't let him hurt you." she repeated. "I just found you. I didn't even know I had lost you. I couldn't lose you again."

Not pushing anything, he reached up and brushed her hair back from her face. "Rest, sweetheart. Your Uncle Eric and I are not going anywhere." then he stood up and kissed her forehead as he'd done several times before. "I love you Cainey. Hang in there for me. Okay?"

She opened her eyes once more and looked at him, knowing instantly that this was where she belonged. This was home.

She opened her eyes and smiled. "Lincoln."

"Hey sweetheart." and he sat down on the bed.

"Happy Birthday."

He smiled. "How did you know?"

"Uncle Eric."

This time he chuckled.

She glanced at her window. "Guess I was having a nightmare huh?"

He nodded. "Rodrigo?"

She nodded this time. "Yeah."

"Bad?"

Shrugging, she looked at him. "The day of the cave in." then she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Sometimes I still can't believe he's actually gone. Sometimes, I still expect to wake up and be in Laredo. How stupid am I?"

Lifting her chin slightly so he could look into her eyes, he shook his head. "Not stupid at all. It's barely been three months since it happened. It's still pretty fresh. You put up with him for sixteen years. That's a long time and hard to overcome. But, that being said, I will be here every step of the way."

"I'm so glad you're my dad."

She said it so softly, he wondered at first if she'd actually said it. "I'm so glad I found you, sweetheart. You can't imagine how incredible it's been the last few months just being a part of your life. You saved my life."

Looking away she shrugged again. "I never had a dad before you. I wasn't going to give you up that easily."

He smiled. "I'm glad." then he looked curiously at her. "When you were in the hospital, when you first woke up, you started to say something."

"About mom." she said softly.

"Yeah."

"Mom says Hi." And she leaned back as she noticed his expression softened. "She told me it wasn't my time, and that you needed me." She closed her eyes as a tear escaped. "I think she was wrong though. I think I need you." Opening her eyes again she smiled sadly. "Then sometimes I wonder if it was just the drugs and I was out of my head."

He closed his hand over hers softly. "I don't think that's the case. Maybe we need each other."

"Maybe." she whispered softly. "It's still different."

"I know it is. But hopefully it's something you can get used to?"

She smiled. "I think I could."

"Good." and he leaned forward, hugging her close. It had taken all of about the full three months for her to even allow him close enough to hug, and now that he could do it without her waiting for the smack to the face, he was taking every opportunity he had, without crowding her out. "I love you Cainey. I'll see you in the morning. Remember, your grandparents are coming over tomorrow."

She hugged him back and took a deep breath, not letting go right away. "Do you think I can do it?" she asked innocently. This would officially be the first introduction. They were the only ones she hadn't met, and it was because of the fact that they weren't close, so it wasn't easy for them to simply drive over.

"Sweetheart, I know you can. And I'll be there if you get uncomfortable."

She shook her head. She was being stupid. "I just hope they like me."

Framing her face in both of his hands he held her gaze to his. "They're going to love you. Just like I do." and as he'd done a hundred times before, he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "You're a special girl Cainey. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. You're amazing in every way and I couldn't be prouder to know that you're my daughter."

A tired voice appeared from behind her door. "Not to mention an awesome sister. You never fight with me, and you always let me have the front seat."

Smiling Horatio turned. "Yeah, that's because you know she wont fight you and you exploit that. You should be ashamed."

Giggling, Kyle shrugged. "Maybe." Then in unison Kyle and Cainey both said "But I'm not."

Impossible not to laugh, he gave into the two of them and stood up. "I can't do a thing with the two of you, can I?"

They both said "No" in unison and he said goodnight and walked to his bedroom, listening to the two of them. Kyle had come home on leave and was leaving soon. He was glad that they had this chance to bond. Thankfully he was going to be stationed in the states and possibly even close, of that he had been grateful, as well as sure that decision had come after finding out he had a sister.

Kyle stood there for a few seconds after their dad went to his room. "You'll do great tomorrow."

She took a deep breath, laid down on her side facing him, and covered herself with the blanket. "You really think so?"

He shrugged. "What's not to love? You're a great person Cainey. Despite everything and all the picking I do, it's because I love ya. Just like they will."

She smiled. "Thanks." she whispered.

"Night sis. I'm glad you're here."

"G'night Kyle. I think I'm glad too."

He smiled. "Welcome to the family, kid."