Author's Note: Now I understand why everyone always says "read and review!" Reviews are pretty awesome, aren't they? Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far. …On another note, this chapter contains possible spoilers for the first episode of season five.

Uphill Battle
Chapter 4

"What the hell am I doing?" Natalia asked herself as she drove away from her house, the steering wheel in one hand and directions from MapQuest in the other.

Ryan Wolfe had called her up about twenty minutes ago, asking for her assistance at a crime scene. Horatio left Calleigh in charge of the entire lab while him and Eric went off to Brazil, leaving the team several CSIs short. Ryan didn't seem to care that Natalia had never gone through the training necessary to become a CSI; however, she had helped process with him at a crime scene once, so that was good enough for him.

Natalia wasn't sure why she had agreed to go down and help out. She had no desire to see anyone from Miami Dade, and she was positive that no one there wanted to see her, either. When he had called before, Ryan's cold, bitter voice confirmed that. It was more than obvious to Natalia that she was the last person he wanted to talk to.

It took about twenty-five minutes to get to the crime scene, and that was only because she chose to take the long route to the location. As she turned onto the street where the crime scene was located, she decided that her long route just wasn't long enough.

She had to park a little ways up the street, due to the fact that the all-too-familiar Hummers and police cars took up most of the road near the actual crime scene. As she made her way towards the house that was marked off with the yellow crime tape, she could make out Ryan and Frank Tripp talking to a man, who she assumed was a witness.

Frank was the first to notice her as she signed in with a MDPD officer, and the expression on his face was anything but welcoming. Ryan was quick to spot Natalia after following Frank's gaze, and even quicker to make his way over to her to give her a kit and explain the situation. She smiled and began to say hello when he interrupted her.

"You need a kit," Ryan said as he approached Natalia. He passed her and continued to one of the Hummers, where several spare kits sat in the back of the trunk.

"Okay," she said, nodding her head as she followed him to the vehicle. She watched quietly as he reached into the trunk and pulled out a kit.

As soon as she took the kit from him, Ryan immediately started back towards the house. Once again, Natalia followed after him, and he began filling her in: "The vic is Hilary Silvers. Thirty-six year old female, beaten to death." Ryan started. "No C.O.D. yet. Alexx didn't find any noticeable markings on the body to suggest a weapon was used, but keep an eye out for one anyway."

Natalia tensed up when Ryan began explaining the situation to her. A woman. Beaten to death.

The two went up the walkway and into the house, passing the man and Frank, who was still shooting daggers at Natalia. When they were in the house and out of earshot of the two men, Natalia questioned Ryan. "Who's the man with Frank?"

Ryan's pace didn't slow up, and he didn't turn to look at Natalia, either. "Carl Silvers. Vic's husband. Said he came home and found her dead, but that was before we pointed out the blood spatter on his shirt."

A woman. Beaten to death. Blood spatter on husband's shirt. Natalia suddenly wasn't feeling too well.

"What did he say then?" she asked.

Ryan shrugged as he turned the corner of the hallway and stopped in the living room where Alexx Woods, Miami Dade's medical examiner, was assessing Hilary Silver's body. "Said she was still alive when he got home, but didn't admit to killing her."

Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie. That was the only thing going through Natalia's head. Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie. If it were up to her, she would have already thrown the husband in jail, but that was only because she was letting her emotions and past get to her.

Natalia nodded as she tried to push past her emotions and look at the crime scene from another viewpoint. The scene in front of her made her very uncomfortable. Hilary lay sprawled out in the middle of the floor, covered in bruises and blood, most of which was beginning to dry or had already dried. As far as the room went, nothing was disheveled, knocked over, or broken to indicate any sign of a struggle.

The hardest thing for her to look at was the body, which brought back a lot of painful memories. "That part of your life is over, Natalia. You're okay now," she told herself. In a desperate attempt to take her mind off of the body, her eyes fell on what was closest to it, Alexx. She smiled. "Hey, Alexx," she said.

Alexx didn't give much of a response, besides hello and a quick glance up. Her voice differed from Ryan's. It was much kinder, but you could hear the disappointment.

Natalia looked back over at Ryan, who began to open his kit and put on his gloves. She did the same and crouched down, set her kit on the carpet, opened it up, and pulled out the gloves the CSIs were required to wear when at a crime scene or processing evidence at the lab. She took another look around the room as she pulled on her gloves, and then reached back into her kit to take out a cotton swab.

"Try not to step on any evidence this time," Ryan said to Natalia as she stood up, his voice still bitter and cold. She glanced back at him, but he was already focused on the room. She sighed, and then continued over towards the coffee table, where she noticed smeared blood along the side of it.

She grabbed the camera that sat in the middle of the floor and then looked through the lens. Once she focused in on the blood, she snapped a picture, then a second one, just in case the first picture doesn't develop properly.

Once she put down the camera, she took the cotton swab, opened the small, orange, plastic container that covered the top of the swab, and pushed the swab up, away from the container. She then bent down and ran the cotton tip through the blood, stopping when she got just enough for DNA testing. When she was satisfied, she pulled the swab back down so the cotton tip was back inside the container. She closed the lid to the container and made her way back to her kit, where she crouched down next to it and began searching through it for labels.

She found a sheet of small, white labels and used a permanent black marker to label the blood sample on the swab. As she wrote down where she found the sample of blood from, she decided to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled over the room.

"So how's Eric holding up?" she asked, looking up from the swab for a moment to focus on Ryan. "And Horatio?"

Ryan didn't look up from his work. "What's it to you?" he asked.

Natalia shrugged. "I was just wondering… I'm concerned—"

Some sort of noise between a laugh and a snort came out of Ryan, cutting her off. He stood up and glared at her. "You were the feds' little mole, Natalia. The only person you're concerned about is yourself."

Natalia grew very angry at Ryan's comment and her voice showed it. "That's not fair, Ryan! You know I didn't want the job nor did I ever say…" Her voice faded as she watched Ryan leave the room. She sighed and then shook her head once he was out of sight. She looked over at Alexx, who was still in the room, although getting ready to transport the body to the morgue.

Alexx looked at Natalia and shook her head. "Don't look at me, baby," she said. "You brought this on yourself."