A/N: This is my last archive chapter. Thanks for all your PMs and reviews. I'm glad you like the story so far! I promise to bring a little levity back to it soon :)

Chapter 7

The Duquesne men didn't quite know what to think when Calleigh and Eric walked through the door, and it showed on their faces.

Calleigh was their constant, the one person who Kenwall, Derek, and J.J. always knew they could count on no matter how badly they screwed up. And between the three of them, they screwed up a lot. Saying that her behavior over the last twenty-four hours shocked and frightened them would be tantamount to calling the Pacific Ocean a puddle.

Quiet and caring by nature, J.J. probably handled it the best. He'd learned from his older siblings how to be persuasive, even forceful if need be, but the innate calm about his character never betrayed the power within. He could steamroll right over people without them ever noticing. They'd even thank him afterward.

Calleigh could never figure out how someone so restless, someone who never stayed in one place or even one country for very long, could possess such peace of spirit. J.J. was always so sure of himself, so laid-back, that Cal wondered more than once if he was adopted. He sat patiently on the couch in the drawing room, waiting for Calleigh to make the first move.

Derek, on the other hand, fell to the complete opposite end of the spectrum. As soon as his sister entered the room, he fought the automatic urge to bombard her with questions. If he hadn't known J.J. would object, or how badly Calleigh was hurting at the moment, he wouldn't have bothered to keep himself in check. Calleigh sent him an appreciative glance for the restraint she knew he was struggling to maintain.

Then there was Kenwall. The same apprehension that etched her brothers' faces showed on her father's, along with something else that Calleigh could never quite pinpoint. 'Regret' was the closest she'd ever come to defining that emotion she saw so frequently in his expression. Maybe 'guilt.' Either way, it was a look he only ever gave her.

She was his baby girl. If Duke was honest with his daughter, he would admit that his unconditional love for her would always be painted by a kind of sorrow—sorrow for all the times he felt he let her down, all the ways he managed to hurt her over the years, all the moments he knew he failed as a father.

Because of all his children, Kenwall Duquesne knew that Calleigh felt everything the keenest and hid her pain the best. Not only had she stepped in on occasion to help raise Derek and J.J., she'd acted the parent to both he and Caroline more times than Duke wished to count.

Whatever his baby was going through at the moment, he knew she would pull through—not because of anything he taught her over the years, but out of her own strength and fortitude. That fact killed him. Seeing Calleigh hurting killed him.

These were the faces which greeted Eric and Calleigh: J.J.'s compassionate resolve, Derek's restraint, and Duke's unmitigated love and concern.

No one knew what to say once they were all together in the same room, but Eric—much to everyone's relief—found a way to break the ice. Gently releasing Calleigh's fingers, he covered the few feet to where J.J. sat and stretched out his hand.

"Eric Delko." He introduced himself so easily, so gracefully, that J.J. couldn't help but like him at once.

With a grin to match Eric's, J.J. stood up and grasped the man's hand in a firm shake. "J.J. Duquesne." He chanced a mischievous peek at his sister and added, "I sure am glad you're here. Derek can't afford another black eye."

Eric fought the urge to laugh for Calleigh's sake, not sure if she'd fully appreciate her brother's humor at the moment. She surprised him, however, by responding with a mock-threat: "You watch yourself, John Jamison, or you'll be the one with the black eye."

At that, everyone laughed. The awkwardness continued to linger in the air, but at least the heavy tension was gone. Calleigh came to stand by Eric's side and hooked her hand in his elbow, leaning against him slightly.

"How long were you watching?" she asked in a deceptively light tone.

"Long enough," J.J. answered evenly.

"Long enough," Calleigh muttered to herself in anger. "I swear, you three are—"

"Hey!" Derek interjected. "It's not like we set out to spy on you. We were just…worried."

He faltered on the last word and all the anger left Calleigh in a great rush. "C'mon," she sighed. "Let's get comfy and I'll try to explain."

The five of them left the drawing room and headed into another, larger room filled with overstuffed furniture, a well-loved rocking chair, and shelf upon shelf of books and pictures. Eric looked around him with great curiosity; not quite a library, not quite a living room, he discovered himself in the heart of Calleigh's home. This was obviously where they spent the most time together as a family, talking or reading or sipping coffee after supper—this last conjecture based on 1) the lack of a television and 2) J.J.'s voice calling from the kitchen asking what they'd all like to drink.

Soon they were all settled comfortably with hot mugs in their hands, staring at each other and wondering who should start first. Calleigh hadn't seemed to find the right words yet. She'd kicked off her shoes and curled her legs up on the couch, sitting close enough to Eric to take comfort from the heat of his body, but just far enough away to think clearly.

Derek watched her wheels turning as she thought about what to say. "Cal, you don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to. We just—we just want to know you're okay."

Calleigh smiled appreciatively but shook her head. "Thanks Der, but you guys deserve some kind of explanation. I just don't know where to start."

"How about starting with why you turned Mike Tyson on me today," Derek suggested with a scowl, although there was no malice in his voice.

If he'd expected his sister to parry back like she did earlier with J.J., he was wrong. Instead, Calleigh bit her lip and looked away. He swore he could see tears in her eyes, but when she looked back at him a moment later there was no sign of moisture there. He must have imagined it.

"I'm not really sure that's…" she trailed off uncertainly and looked to the man beside her for help. "Eric—"

Eric took up the torch, laying an inconspicuous hand on Calleigh's knee in silent support. "Duke," he said, turning to the patriarch sitting a few feet away. "Did you ever meet a guy at the lab named Dan Cooper?"

Duke nodded, "Yeah, scrawny sort. He's one of the technicians, right?"

"He was," Eric corrected. "Last fall Calleigh and I caught Cooper using Sp-well, we caught him in credit card fraud. The department fired him. We didn't hear another word from him until about three weeks ago.

"I think," Eric settled his gaze back on Calleigh, "that's where Cal ought to start."

She looked up at him and took a deep breath. A grandfather clock chimed in the background. One-thirty.

Finally, Calleigh opened her mouth to speak and her tale began to unfold.

"First," she said slowly, "do you remember what I told you about Horatio's son, Kyle?" Three nods answered her; she took another deep breath.

"Three weeks ago, the day of Kyle's trial, we found the prosecution's star witness dead in a canal. Eric and I went to process the scene. When I got back to the lab and tried to upload my crime scene photos, I realized they weren't there."

Duke, J.J., and Derek sat listening in rapt silence, despite the fact that they had no idea why all of this was relevant to her current circumstances.

"Someone had switched out the memory card in my camera at the scene. A few minutes after I saw they were missing, literally minutes, Ryan—he was with me—got an email with a link to a website."

She stopped and took a long, burdened sip of her tea. Eric took the opportunity to continue the plot. "Ryan wasn't the only one who got the email," he explained. "We all did—everyone in the lab. Anonymous sender, no subject line, and a single link to a website called 'Solve a Crime with Calleigh.'"

No one missed the anger with which he uttered the name.

"Wait, back up a minute," Duke said. "What does this have to do with the Cooper fellow, or with the kid?"

"We'll get there," Calleigh said patiently. "The website was…"

"The site made it look like Calleigh didn't know how to do her job," Eric concluded for her, feeling her tense up next to him. "It's not really all that important. What's important is that Cal saw the crime scene photos she took that morning on the web site."

"So whoever stole the photos published the site," J.J. said.

Calleigh nodded. "Exactly. It kept updating throughout the day, slandering me and following my progress on the case, and...yeah. The guy even posted my phone number and address. Pretty soon the whole thing went viral. I had to change my number, we were chasing leads all over the place, trying to find the person behind the website and trying to work our case.

"Long story short, our murder investigation led to Kyle's mother and her boyfriend as suspects. Julia wanted Horatio to back off, he wouldn't, so she pulled some strings, and before we know it Horatio is being extradited to Brazil on a trumped up murder charge."

Calleigh felt Eric shift beside her; they both knew the charge was, in fact, justifiable, even if the Brazilian legal system's version of justice was not. Her family didn't need to hear the gritty details, though, and she wasn't about to recount the story of Eric and Horatio's trip to Rio. This one was trying enough.

"Still following?" she asked before forging on.

"Let me get this straight," Derek said. "Kyle is on trial, but the witness turns up dead. You investigate the murder, but your photos are stolen and wind up on a website. Now, your boss is sent off to Brazil, you don't know who killed the witness, and you don't know who started the website."

"Right."

"So…"

Normally Calleigh would have responded with some comment about how she would explain if Derek would just let her talk, but at the moment her instincts for self-preservation were kicking into high gear: the next part of the story would be the hardest. She unconsciously moved closer to Eric, who wrapped his arm firmly around her shoulder without a second thought.

"You don't have to tell them everything," Eric breathed in her ear so only she could hear him.

Calleigh shut her eyes and leaned into his touch, completely oblivious to the three men she'd left hanging in suspense and who were now eyeing both she and Eric with more concern and confusion than ever. Her eyes remained closed for a few moments as she began again, her voice quiet.

"Later that afternoon, I got a call-out to another crime scene. I stepped out of the Hummer to check the body in the road, and—and the next thing I know someone is grabbing me from behind."

"You were attacked?" Derek asked, dumbfounded. "Cal, why didn't you say anything?"

Both Duke and J.J. saw the flush burn Calleigh's cheeks and the tears spring to her eyes, and almost as one they turned to Derek and said, "Don't."

He looked scandalized. "She didn't—"

J.J. cut him off. "Maybe she didn't say anything because she didn't want to deal with all your damn questions. Ever think of that? Just shut up and listen."

"Thanks, J.J.," Calleigh said softly. "Derek, I had to go through this on my own. I wasn't just attacked. I don't…"

"Let me explain this part?" Eric interrupted with a gentle squeeze to her shoulder. When she nodded, he went on.

"The whole lab was in a frenzy. One thing kept happening after another, and you have to remember that by the time Cal responded to the call-out, Horatio was on his way to Brazil and couldn't help.

"We'd traced the website back to Dan Cooper. It was his sick way of getting back at Calleigh for having him fired. She'd asked him to shut it down but he said no…"

"…and that's when everything went to hell," Calleigh finished.

Eric sighed. "When Calleigh took the call-out, we didn't know Cooper had posted her new mobile number." He paused for a moment in an attempt to control the rage building in his chest, although some of it still managed to creep into his voice. "It was an ambush."

Calleigh set her mug on the coffee table and brought her knees to her chest, content to let Eric talk for now.

"We tried to call her, but she never answered. We couldn't locate the Hummer's GPS, either. A couple hours later a patrol unit found the truck. Calleigh was gone."

Duke's eyes grew huge. "What do you mean 'gone?'"

"As in missing, Dad," Calleigh said tiredly, her voice thick. "I woke up in a warehouse bound and gagged. The first thing I saw was a guy with a gun in my face."

"Why would someone kidnap you, Cal?" J.J. asked quietly.

She shrugged. "The website. They'd murdered someone and wanted me to clean up the scene."

"I heard you screaming last night," Derek argued, an apologetic look in his eye. "So what are you not telling us?"

Calleigh shook her head and swiped at a renegade tear. "I'm not ready to talk about it all. I know—I know you want answers, but…I'm sorry. Suffice it to say I made a pretty good punching bag."

She wiped away another tear and swallowed hard. Meanwhile, Eric casually swept the hair off her shoulder and finished the story. "Calleigh—being Calleigh," he grinned, "left clues telling us how to find her. She even talked one of her kidnappers into giving himself up. Eventually, we got her back."

"But not until I'd already spent thirty-nine hours as a hostage," she murmured. "I've been jumpy, and distant, and I haven't slept much since then. And then momma…" New tears began to fall. "I just…I need some time."

"And lots of love," J.J. added. His eyes darted to Eric and narrowed. "Although from what I can tell, sis, you're not lacking in that department."

Calleigh couldn't help but laugh through her tears. "No, not lately." She peeked up at the man beside her. "But that's another story…Dad?"

Sitting across from her, Kenwall Duquesne looked like his world had just crashed down on his head. Derek looked only slightly better. Both of them were clearly still digesting everything Calleigh had told them.

"Guys, listen to me," she demanded and scooted out of Eric's embrace to the edge of the couch. "I've been a mess. I admit it. But talking to Eric, talking to the three of you, it's helped. You have to believe that.

"I don't need you to worry about me, or walk on eggshells around me. Just," she looked at Derek and smiled, "don't sneak up on me suddenly. And understand that I'm working through some hard things right now. I need your patience."

J.J. stood up and crossed the short distance to his sister and knelt in front of her, leaving about a foot of space between them. "Is it OK if I hug you, Sis?"

Cal saw the look in his eye, and she knew he knew. J.J. dated a woman a few years ago who was an abuse survivor. He didn't have to ask Calleigh what happened. He also understood boundaries better than most men and would only ask her for as much as she could give, something Calleigh greatly appreciated in the moment.

She released a choked laugh and opened her arms to her baby brother. He eliminated the space between them and carefully wrapped his arms around her.

"You'll make it through this, Cal," J.J. whispered in her ear.

Calleigh burrowed her nose in his shoulder as the lump continued to grow in her throat.

"Love you," she murmured.

"Love you more," he responded. He pulled back from her, stood and turned to Duke and Derek.

"That's enough for tonight," he stated in a way only J.J. could.

The two older men clearly had more questions, but at the tone in his voice, they simply nodded.

Eric just witnessed what Calleigh called the "J.J. Effect." That sway over others that gave him a quiet, automatic authority. J.J. wasn't the family decisionmaker—that was Calleigh—but he was the peacemaker. A very good one, Eric could see.

As he watched the scene unfold between brother and sister, Eric observed that, just as Derek's impulsiveness balanced Calleigh's systematic nature, J.J.'s centered spirit evened out her tendency to worry.

The clock chimed 2 a.m. and they all fought yawns.

Next to him, Calleigh stirred and lifted herself from the couch. She reached for his hand and pulled him to his feet, wrapping an arm around his waist once he was steady.

"We all need sleep. And there's not much more I can say right now," she sighed. J.J. caught her eye and sent her the tiniest of nods, and she felt Eric's body lean into hers in support.

"Then I say it's bedtime," Duke said. He still sounded reluctant, but he recognized his daughter was exhausted.

They all said their good night's, Derek and Duke cautiously approaching Cal for hugs and a kiss on the cheek.

When they were gone, Calleigh's fingers found Eric's once more and she tugged him to follow her toward the main staircase. A faint smile graced her features as she looked him in the eyes.

"My room's on the second floor. You're with me tonight," she declared. Her look held a tentative, 'please.'

But her plea was unnecessary. Eric had no intention of objecting and he pressed a long kiss to her cheek to let her know.

"Lead the way," he said, and she smiled in thanks.

Together they headed upstairs toward what they both hoped would be a full night of sleep, free from pain and nightmares for the first time in weeks.