AN: Thanks for the reviews, sorry about the long wait.

Chapter 16: An unexpected turn of events

1 year later

Late June 2007

While Calleigh and Horatio were as committed than ever on being crime scene investigators, there was no doubt that their priorities had shifted slightly when their daughter was born a little over a year ago, as it should be. They even made sure to have a least one day off each week so they could spend time together as a family, and everyone on the team understood that, so there had been no complaints from them when they had to work a little more when they weren't there. But Calleigh and Horatio think Eric likes it a little more when they aren't there anyways because he gets to be boss for the day.

And today was one of those days, they just didn't know that a random act of violence to someone was going to change multiple lives in a very unexpected way.

After waking up that morning, the Caine family got up, had breakfast, took their time getting ready for the day, then around noon, Calleigh packed them a lunch before the three of them left the house and headed for the park.

When they got there, they got out of the vehicle, they grabbed their daughter, her things like the stroller and diaper bag, then the picnic basket and blanket.

They weren't on the walk/bike pathway very long before they heard a pop from a gunshot then a little girl screaming.

They both stopped instantly and scanned the area, seeing someone running away in the distance, then their eyes followed the line of sight of where the person ran from and saw a little girl, which from the distance they could only guess she didn't look older than 10, kneeling next to what looked like a young boy

Horatio immediately looked at his wife, who was already dialing 911, before he dropped the picnic basket and blanket and started running towards the little girl and young boy.

When Horatio was close, the little girl with dark brown hair, started speaking with tears going down her cheeks. "Please help him, mister."

Horatio nodded as he kneeled down, placing his hands on the wound that was on the young boy, which Horatio could definitely see he was in his mid-teens.

"I will certainly try. The ambulance should be here very soon. Can you tell me yours and his name?"

Although the little girl didn't feel no threat towards Horatio since it was obvious he was trying to help, he was still a stranger and she was always taught not tell strangers her name, so she sniffled while replying. "I'm not supposed to tell strangers that."

Horatio nodded with a smile. "That's a good lesson to learn and I don't blame you, but I do work with cops, so it's alright to tell me, if you want. My name is Horatio Caine."

As the little girl, who was still kneeled, thought about what Horatio said, Horatio turned his attention to the teen boy, and while his eyes were closed, something about his face looked familiar. No, he never met this boy before but there was just something so familiar to him that in his gut he couldn't shake.

The sirens then the little girl's voice got his attention away from the boy. "My name is Cynthia. Is Kyle going to be ok?"

Horatio gave the little girl a comforting smile. "The paramedics and doctors are going to do everything that they can."

Horatio gets up and moved when the medics came and got to work.

Eventually they got Kyle on the stretcher and started rushing them towards the ambulance, the little girl following, which she had asked if Horatio could come too once they all made it to the ambulance.

He had to admit that a huge part of him wanted to go, but he didn't feel right leaving his wife and daughter, so he was going to say that, but Calleigh, who was now near the ambulance, spoke for him. "He'll meet you at the hospital, sweetheart."

The little girl sniffled. "Promise?"

Calleigh nodded with a smile. "You betcha."

The paramedics urged Cynthia to get in before they drove away, and while the vehicle was off, Horatio looked at Calleigh and started to speak, but she did before he could. "Go, you and I both know you're not going to let this go until you find out if that boy will be ok. We'll be fine, I'll call Eric to investigate the scene then I'll call Natalia to take us home. Just keep me updated, ok?"

He sighed, still torn, but asked. "You sure?"

She nodded with a smile as she cupped as cheek. "Yes handsome, I love you."

"I love you too."

They kiss softly before he kneels down so he was eye-level with his daughter and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Daddy loves you too, honey."

As he was pulling back, Beverly was reaching for him, but as much as he wanted to stay, the desire to go was just as strong, something inside of him told him that he had to be at that hospital, so he gets up, shares a loving look with his wife before he takes off to the vehicle.

Moments later, after seeing Horatio drive off, Calleigh grabs her phone from her purse, hits speed dial number 3 and lifted it up to her ear as she heard. "Delko."

"Hey Eric. I hope you didn't get a new case in today."

"Hey Cal, I thought you had the day off? What's going on, did someone call you for a case?"

"No, I guess you can say Horatio and I kind of stumbled into one."

Now Eric was getting worried. "What's wrong, are you guys ok? Is Beverly ok?"

"Yes, we are all fine, but can you come to the park. I'll tell you more when you get here."

"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Bye."

"Bye."

After they hung up, Calleigh dialed Natalia's number.

When Horatio made it to the hospital, he parked his vehicle in the first parking spot he could find, got out and rushed into the building, where he saw Cynthia sitting in a chair in the waiting area with a nurse next to her.

The moment Cynthia saw Horatio, she gets up from the chair and ran to him. "You came!"

As the little girl wrapped her arms around Horatio's waist, the mid-twenties, blond haired, blue eyed, nurse walked up to them and asked. "Excuse me sir, are you this girl's father?"

Horatio shook his head. "No. In fact, we just met today."

The nurse's eyes went to the hands of Horatio's, where they were still red from the young boy's blood, while Cynthia finally spoke to the nurse. "He's the man that tried to save my brother. Well technically he is my foster brother."

Since the nurse had been trying to get information from the little, she looked a little surprised that she finally got something out of her, and she was about to speak, but Horatio did it first, getting into detective mode. "So, you live in a foster house?"

Cynthia turned her attention back to Horatio. "Yes."

"And what about your foster parents?"

Cynthia gets a little sad as she replied. "Just my foster mom. We lost our foster dad a few months ago."

Horatio looks at her with sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear that, Cynthia. What's your foster's mom's name?"

Feeling she could trust him now, she replied. "Laura Reynolds."

"Ok, now can you tell the nurse your home phone number so she can let your foster mother know what's going on?"

Cynthia nodded before asking. "Are you leaving?"

Horatio shook his head with a smile as he kneeled down so he as eye-level to the little girl. "No, but I do want to get cleaned up. I'll be right back."

After the little girl nodded, she turned her attention to the nurse and told her what she wanted to know while Horatio headed to the restroom so he could wash his hands, and once they were cleaned, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial number 3, placed it up to his ear while he walked out of the restroom, but didn't go much further than that as Eric answered his phone.

"Hey boss, what can I do for you?"

"Eric, you at the park yet?"

"Yes. I'm putting you on speaker now, I have Cal and Natalia here with me."

Before Horatio could speak, Calleigh's voice was heard next. "Have you heard anything yet?"

"Not about the boy, but the little girl, Cynthia, told me they live in a foster home, so Eric, can you or someone else get all the information there is on a Laura Reynolds, she's the foster mom."

"You got it, boss. Anything else?"

"Yes, please keep me updated on the case."

"I will." Eric then smirked a little. "So much for your day off, huh?"

"Yeah."

After they said goodbye, he headed in the direction of the waiting area.

About 15 minutes after the nurse phoned Cynthia's foster mom, a woman in her early forties, who looked slim with dark brown hair that was in a messy bun also looked very panicked, her hazel eyes wide with worry.

Cynthia saw her first, so she got up from the chair and ran towards her foster mom.

"Laura!"

The woman kneeled down and hugged the little girl while asking if she was alright, concern evident in her tone of voice.

Cynthia sniffled as she replied. "I'm ok, but Kyle got hurt really bad."

After they pulled back, Laura checked the girl over to make sure she didn't see any marks or anything on her before she asked. "What happened sweetheart?"

Horatio cleared his throat before speaking. "I would also like to know that."

Laura finally registered Horatio's presence, and she narrowed her eyes at him while standing up, placing Cynthia behind her, to protect her before asking in a somewhat hard tone. "Who are you?"

Before Horatio could speak, Cynthia did it first. "That's Horatio, he's the first one to try and help Kyle."

Horatio, who had his badge in the vehicle, pulled it out of his pocket so Laura could see his ID as he finally spoke. "I'm Horatio Caine, I'm a CSI. I heard a gunshot at the park before hearing Cynthia yelling as I saw someone in the distance running from them. I was the first one to Kyle."

After seeing the badge, Laura nodded in understanding before looking right into Horatio's eyes and asked. "Are you going to get the person who is responsible?"

Horatio gave the woman a nod while speaking. "My team and I are certainly going to try, but we are going to need help. I need to ask both of you a few questions."

They both nodded before they moved to the waiting area so they could sit down, then Horatio asked Cynthia first. "The person who did this, did you recognize him or her?"

Cynthia cleared her throat before replying. "It was a him, and no I didn't recognize him. He looked older than a boy since he had a beard, but it didn't look very clean. He was wearing a hat so I couldn't see the color of it, I'm sorry."

Horatio gave the girl a comforting smile. "It's ok Cynthia, you're doing good. Is there anything else you can tell me about him? Do you know what made him attack?"

The little girl spoke again after a moment. "He looked...Can you stand up please?" Horatio stood up while Cynthia studied him, then continued while Horatio sat back down. "A little shorter than you, he was slim, like he hadn't eaten anything in a while. In fact, his clothes looked dirty as well. He wanted money and Kyle wouldn't give him any, so he got angry and..."

Cynthia trailed off as she looked down with a sniffle, Laura wrapped her arms around the little girl while Horatio spoke again. "Good job Cynthia, you were very helpful." Cynthia just nodded before Horatio turned his attention to Laura. "Now Mrs. Reynolds..."

Laura cuts him off. "Please, just Laura."

Horatio nodded with a smile. "Ok, Laura. Do you know if Kyle would have any enemies or would know someone Cynthia described?"

Laura shook her head. "No to both questions. In the five years he's been in my care, Kyle has been nothing but friendly to everyone he meets. He's also very protective, especially to the other kids in the house, particularly Cynthia." She then sniffled as she continued. "I just don't understand why he wouldn't just give up the money, it's not worth risking your..."

Cynthia spoke softly. "He was doing it for us, Laura."

Laura looked at Cynthia in surprise. "What?"

"He knew how much we've been struggling since Aaron (Her husband) died."

Now this seemed to make Laura even more emotional, and she shook her head. "That's very sweet of him, but it's not his job to take of us, it's mine to take care of you guys."

"He still wanted to help."

As Laura was dabbing away her tears, Horatio asked. "So, Kyle has a job?"

Laura nodded, turning her attention back to Horatio. "Just for a few hours after school, he just started not along before my husband unexpectedly died."

Horatio looked at Laura with sympathy. "I'm sorry about your husband."

"Thank you. I miss him terribly, and I admit it hasn't been easy on any of us."

Before Horatio could speak again, Cynthia spoke softly. "Laura, I'm hungry."

The older woman nodded with a smile. "Ok, let's go down to the cafeteria so we don't have to leave the hospital."

Horatio nodded as he stood up. "And I'll be happy to escort you two down there, if you don't mind."

Laura shook her head with another smile. "Mr. Caine, that's not…"

Horatio cuts her off with a warm tone. "I would like to be with you when you get an update on Kyle's condition."

Even though he did need to talk to Kyle when he woke up to get his account on what happened, he could very well have her call him when he did wake up. But once again he had this feeling inside that he should be here, he just couldn't explain it.

Seeing it was genuine care and not just something he had to do for his job, she nodded with a smile. "Ok. Then lead the way."

Horatio nodded with a smile, then after telling the head nurse where they'll be just in case the doctor came looking for them, the three of them headed down to the cafeteria, where Horatio paid for their lunch, even though Laura tried to stop him, but he was very insistent.

When they sat down at a table, Horatio asked Laura how many more kids were in the home and she told them four others, who ranged from 9-3, which made Kyle the oldest. She also told him how hard it's been since her husband had died, not only financially but emotionally as well and she was doing the best she could, which Horatio had no doubt, those kids seem lucky to have someone who genuinely cared for them, when he heard about a lot of foster homes weren't the greatest.

After she told him her story, she asked him with a small smile as she saw the wedding ring on his finger. "How long have you been married? And do you two have any kids?"

Horatio smiled as he looked at his wedding ring. "Calleigh and I have been married 4 years. In fact, last month was our anniversary. And we have a daughter who turned one a few months ago."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

After finding out a little more about one another while eating their lunch, they headed to the waiting room, where there were items to keep kids occupied, like puzzles, coloring and reading books, so Cynthia sat at the table and started on a puzzle, while Horatio and Laura sat in the chairs.

A few minutes went by before Horatio started asking questions about Kyle, and he found it a little interesting that he didn't want to know for the case, he was genuinely curious.

"Earlier you said Kyle has been in your care for the last five years, so how did he get to become in your care?"

Thinking this was just part of his investigation, she replied without thinking too much of it. "He was in the care of his grandmother before she died."

"What about his biological parents?"

She shook her head as she continued. "There was no mention of a father ever being in the picture, although his name is on the birth certificate. And his mother unfortunately died in a vehicle accident when he was just four years old."

He sighed and shook his head. "That's unfortunate, he's already lost so much."

She nodded her head while wiping a few tears off her cheeks. "I know, and yet, despite the losses in his life, it hasn't hardened him at all. He is honestly a sweet boy, one of the best that has ever been in my care."

Horatio gave her a small smile before asking. "And can you tell me what his mother's name was?"

Even though she wasn't sure what Kyle's mother's name had to do with the case, she told him anyways. "Julia Eberly."

AN: Thanks for reading and please review. Like I said on top of the page, sorry about the wait, but I had to put this story on the backburner while I finished another story, my free time lately just felt nonexistent. But now I'm back, and hopefully my updates will be back to normal, or at least the new normal it has been this last year, until this is done. Thanks for your patience and I hope you'll continue to stay turned.