A/N: I'd like to take a moment to thank all the nice reviewers I've had thus far. I really appreciate your input. And the idea of this fic was 'one night' for a reason. However I have made a bit of a split second decision about this. Actually, two. One, there will be the ending I warned about. The plot bunnies are evil. Second, the ending I warned about will be a bit different. Not specific, sorry. Don't want to spoil you all.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, certain characters would have never died and certain others would have that probably should have by now. (Vague, aren't I?)

Warnings: Paranoia, chasing, and general reckless driving.

Chapter Nine: Corriendo (Running)

As Calleigh left she fiddled nervously with her keys, the dark night giving her little but shape to go by. Even the street lamp seemed to do little to assist her. She finally found her car key among the jumbled mess, opening the door to which it was assigned. She wondered to herself what half the keys in the collection even belonged to. Most of the answers had the word 'work' beforehand. She grumbled at that distain-filled word. As if reality itself was avoidable.

The heavy feeling of guilt mixed with the omnipresent feeling of dread at the idea of returning there without him beside her. That is what she feared most, being without him. But she wasn't truly without him in the sense that she could never speak to him again. But he was nearly as unreachable since he had ostracized himself from his own team.

She felt her hands tense around the keys as she started the engine, the soft grumbling-purr of the vehicle reminding her that she did have to drive home. Not like it was that far, really, but at night driving was a whole other beast. There were certain places in Miami one did not want to be alone, even during the day, and the night made those places more numerous. She checked her rear-view mirror before backing away, seeing the light from inside the windows as she pulled away. The easiest way back towards her home was the central roads, well-lit enough that she could see her way.

As neighborhood became road and road became street, her guilt became nervous-tiredness. What would Horatio say if he were to find out about her escapade? What was there to be said? After all, it's not like the man's opinion would change what happened tonight. She could care less what Wolfe said; she couldn't really blame him for saying something if the subject were brought up; but the contents would be falling upon deaf ears.

They all deserved what she had just had, wanted it, a single day to be free of it all. To be able to escape the job, the pressure, the instinct of it all. Wouldn't it be running from their own inner nature to do so? The idea of inner nature was sometimes a complicated concept. With the team it was sometimes even more confusing, seeing as they normally hid themselves among their work so much that their feelings became moot.

The streets seemed almost as a ghost town this time of night, adding a creepy element. City lights twinkled in and out of existence as she passed by. A changing stop-light gained her attention just ahead. Her vehicle slowed to a stop at the intersection, her natural instinct checking the corners around her. Another vehicle was stopped at the stoplight to her right and as the respective green was given, it went on its way. She let her instinct rest for awhile as she herself drove away from the stop. Perhaps she was just being overly sensitive.

She took a deep breath to remove herself from the natural cop's mind-set. It wasn't as if she wanted to be free entirely from it, just temporarily- enough to get her home safely. In her rear-view she could see the reflection of the city lights but two central lights gained her attention. She saw headlights behind her, all the instinct in the world came back in one flash. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel but continued forward. She wasn't going to take an alternate route to challenge any followers, even if she were afraid of them. Showing fear did more harm than good, she knew this well. Each turn seemed to find her still with the headlights in her rear-view.

Eventually she began to question if she was indeed being trailed, and not just that they happened to be going in the same direction. It had been the same vehicle the whole time, she realized. The bouncing questions in her mind didn't reflect in her face, which was more tired than anything. She normally had all the answers, it seemed so natural. Now it seemed like she was running from her own inner nature. She wanted so badly to understand it all, especially with Eric, but couldn't grasp it.

One set of headlights had become two as she had been analyzing things. Was this an unlucky day after everything she'd been through? Didn't she deserve a single day without being threatened in one way or another? She was a cop, she accepted it as part of the job, but she wanted just one day without having to. Was that what Eric had wanted as well, one day without having to worry so much? Her eyes reflected her own recollection of the evening. He always had a way of reading her but she couldn't seem to see what he wanted most.

The more she drove, the closer her followers seemed to get to her. No matter how many turns she took on her journey home they seemed to stay on her trail. Even after she had begun to speed up a bit in her inner-reflective moment. She felt as if she was running from time itself more than her followers, after all, it was nearly midnight. She was trying to stay awake in spite of her own early-bird mentality.

A/N: Shorter than the other chapters, sorry. Leading up to the finale soon, I promise.