Disclaimer: I claim no rights to CSI: Miami… XP

A/N: Thank you ngtabowlr and LTCoolNY for helping me figure out what a heart beat is supposed to sound like. The weird, random RaVe scene was inspired by floofymiko's randomness one day in school (I think it had something to do with Zutara… XD)

Teehee. It's oddly cute. XD

And creepy.

Heh.

Chapter 18:

"C'mon…dance with me!" She shrieked with laughter, a sound quickly drowned out by the noise that surrounded them.

"No, thanks." This is her idea of fun?

"What? No? You're not drunk enough!"

The thing was, was that he'd actually been drinking shots of tequila and tonic all night, but his mind was clear enough to know that he did NOT want to dance. "Nope! That's okay!"

"Oh c'mon, we didn't come here for you to sit around and drink…" He gave her a look. "Well, we did, but you're going to have to dance…or you can't leave! Cuz I didn't drink anything…so therefore I am the designated driver."

"I'm not drunk." He stood up to prove himself, but stumbled.

"Mm-hmm! C'mon dance with me." She turned around and did a funky dance, sporadically moving her arms and hips and swaying her head from side to side.

He laughed. She's not drunk? I find that hard to believe…there's no way she's driving me home. He closed his eyes and made a final decision as he swallowed his seventh shot and joined her on the dance floor. I must be really drunk…I can't believe that I'm actually doing this.

Valera was in hysterics. Ryan hadn't a clue on how to dance, not that she was much better, but they made a cute dance couple, bruised feet and all.

"Where's all the food?" The little five-year old was shocked to find that the refrigerator was completely empty.

"Hmm? Oh, right. I've been meaning to go to the supermarket and restock." Eric smiled sheepishly as Natalia rummaged through the cabinets and found that they too were sparse. Oooh…Cheerios! Wait…

"Eric…" She handed the box to him. "These expired two years ago."

"Ew." Jem called from the bathroom as he exited. He was playing with the gap between his teeth with his tongue. The blood had stopped oozing out a while ago. "They're probably soft and not crunchy."

He came out with Eric's flannel shirt on, matching his sister. The two children yawned; normally, they'd run around and play games and the like, but tonight, due to the day's events, they were completely pooped. They didn't even want to bother finishing their previous meal.

"Okay, let's get you two to bed." Their mother had come out of the shower an hour ago, but due to a lack of a hair-dryer, her hair was a mass of loose damp waviness. She was, to Eric's delight, wearing his flannel pajamas with the sleeves rolled up.

"AWW!" The children whined and pouted in a chorus. "We're not sleepy! We wanna stay up late with you guys too!"

"Mamí and Papí are sleepy, though," Eric informed them. He gave Natalia the smallest of smiles. I like the sound of that… Natalia returned the expression, beaming a bit. I guess this is all practice for the real thing, she thought to herself.

"Awww…fine…" Ella grabbed JoJo off the kitchen counter and waited by her brother for further directions as to where exactly they were all going to sleep.

"Uh…bedroom's this way." He walked alongside Natalia with the children's scrambling excitedly behind them. They loved 'new places' because it was always an adventure. Natalia, on the other hand, was trying not to laugh. Technically, the last time she was walking down these halls, she wasn't really walking; she had been a bit preoccupied. I never noticed how blue these walls are… Somehow, Eric seemed to know what she was thinking about because he smiled quirkily.

"Ooh...are we all sleeping together!" Ella giggled. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Just don't snore," Jem stated.

"I don't snore!"

"Yeah, you do."

"No, you do!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"Nu-"

"That's enough! You two take the bed… We're sleeping on the couch." Eric's tone was disciplinary, but still, at the same time, filled with love and warmth. More like…they take the bed…Nat'll take the couch…and I'll take the floor…or a chair…floor may be more comfortable…

"How come we can't all sleep together?" Ella's eyes were wide and shiny.

"Probably cuz they're fighting." Jem said thoughtfully. "Either that or they want some alone time. Ew." The two CSIs coughed to cover up their extreme desire to laugh out loud.

"Well, I'm not sleeping until mommy and daddy sleep together in the same bed with us." Ella stomped her foot in determination.

"Yeah! We can stay up all night playing DDR!" Jem became much more awakened at the anticipation of a semi-formulated plan.

"No…no DDR…I can't reach the arrows on the pad." The five-year old pouted; her parents looked like they were crying, they were trying so hard to keep their amusement inside. She's just too cute!

"Do you promise to go to sleep if we tuck you in with us?" Natalia inquired and received quite a positive response from her children. This is truly an amazing and awarding experience. It's like I get to try out what it's like to be a real parent before I actually become one… The man beside her shared a similar thought process.

"Okay, so what are you waiting for? To be tickled?" Eric teased him children, whom upon hearing so, shrieked and ran for the bed.

The four of them adjusted themselves in the full-size bed and once finding a comfortable position, the two children immediately fell asleep between their parents. Eric and Natalia stayed sitting up, with the lamp from the bedside still burning on. The last time they were in this bed, they had not been sleeping.

They continued to keep silent as they unconsciously began to adore the angelic faces of their children. Eric grinned at how innocent and pure they looked in Dream-Land and Natalia smoothed back Ella's baby-soft hair. She slowly began to take in her situation and the whole day's ordeal in its entirety.

"Eric," she began softly.

"Hmm?" He turned to look at her and saw how distressed she had become. "You okay?" Dumb question, Eric…really dumb question… He was worried about her safety; he knew Horatio didn't just have anyone get protective detail, this Luke guy had some potential danger. And the baby's safety…I hope Natalia's holding up okay…

"Why are you doing this?" Her expression became troubled. "I mean," she stammered, "I know why, but…why?" She hoped she was somehow getting her point across.

With an arm, he held her close to him, a difficult feat, since the children were between them, sleeping peacefully. She pressed the side of her face into his chest, and through his pajama shirt, she could hear his heartbeat. It served as a comfort to her, a steady continuous pulse. Buh-bump. Buh-bump. Buh-bump.

She was making him nervous, like when he first started dating. It's like a weird strange feeling… I want her to like me… Now, I sound like I'm two… He understood perfectly what she was inquiring, as if there was a simple connection linking the two of them together, but still, he took his time answering. Why am I so open and willing to help her out… Is it something more than the fact that's she's pregnant with my-our baby? Is it because she needs to be protected? Shouldn't I be upset with her for lying not just to the lab… but to me, that she didn't, couldn't trust me… And-and I did stuff too… Something, a feeling, hit him, making his heart beat faster than it already was. Maybe it's because… He stopped thinking and began to speak softly.

"I think…maybe… it's because…I think I…I think I love you." He drew out a shaky breath. Wow…that's kind of strange… I feel kind of better, like I lifted a weight off of my chest. He looked down to see what the reaction of the woman against him was, but found, to his slight amusement and disappointment, that she had been lulled to sleep. With a half smile, he climbed out of the bed and proceeded to the other side where he properly tucked her in, so that she was completely comfortable. Before turning out the bedside lamp and returning to the warmth of the bed, he momentarily reveled in the beauty of his family. I can pretend can't I? He sighed. I wonder if she heard me. She must have fallen asleep beforehand; I guess it's better this way. Upon laying his head on the pillow, all of the day's wearies penetrated his body and he gratefully welcomed sleep with open arms.

They watched through the window as the single bright yellow square became as black as the rest of its surroundings.

"So, now we have to wait a couple of hours." Luke was finding it difficult to find room for patience. He was so excited and prayed that everything would go as planned. There would be no room for mistakes, they would see to that. Well considering that this guy, really me, is from the future, he knows how to avoid mistakes…which is precisely why we got rid of Larry. He shuddered. He still couldn't understand how it was possible for someone to come from the future to alter the past. It was fascinating, yet unsettling at the same time.

"Yep." The other man was fiddling with the Jack-in-the-box. Less fiddling, more drowning poor Jack in a bath of crimson red that was being emptied out of a small vial. He left it out on the asphalt to air-dry in the cool night air.

"What is that stuff? Blood?" Even with the car's lamp on, it was still somewhat difficult to make out what the nauseatingly sweet scented components were. "Larry's blood?" That's sickening…yet strangely…humorous. He received a chuckle for a reply. "Gotta question about something, though."

"Shoot." How to kill a man?

"What was the point of buying that CD? I know you told me, but why did you need to go to that guy to scratch it up?" It makes no sense.

"Simple. Maxi McGraw's got special techniques when it comes to scratching CDs." He grinned mostly to himself.

"Really?"

"Nah. I met him a couple of years ago in the joint." He paused and coughed. Well, I guess since I'm technically changing the past, he'll never meet him. "The guy's been in and out of jail. He mostly deals, but he's got other side jobs."

"Scratching CDs?"

"I've got to somehow stay connected."

"True."

"The CD's gonna bounce about and continuously repeat the chorus, which is perfect."

"Cuz it's loud?"

"Oh yeah. Jus pop it into any drive that accepts altered music files…and BAM… everything will just fall into place."

Luke laughed. "Wait, so tonight we hang out here? And tomorrow-"

"-Tonight we hang out for a couple of hours and drop off that," he pointed to the drying little box with a maimed Jack sticking out, "and tomorrow, bright and early, we're heading over to my-our apartment and staking out there. Maybe we'll grab a bite first, but hopefully, nothing's ahead of schedule."

"Then what?" More murders? Sweet. His future self smiled approvingly, as if reading the criminal's thoughts.

"Oh, I need paper and pen."

"Napkin's okay?" Luke grabbed a napkin from the deli they had gone to earlier in the day. Wow, kinda feels like that was eons ago.

"Yeah, yeah."

He bent over and as he ran his hand along the filthy car mats, he came across a writing utensil. "Here ya go."

"Okay, good. Now I gotta give them all a big fright." He began to quickly scribble something.

Luke smiled with an incredible amount of malevolence. "Don't aim it toward Natalia. She's a heavy sleeper. That man may sleep lighter…aim it towards him."

"I like the way you think." The two men nearly cackled. There's room for one man in her life, thought the older man, and it's not that…mutt.

A/N: O.o;; I hate that word, and yet I used it. It's Luke/Nick, but .

Next chapter: Really random… and a MarisH scene! XD