-is beaten senseless- Why do I even try…?

Why is there even a disclaimer…?

Embrace

She sat on the bench, fingering her cell phone in an attempt to let time pass at it needed to. She had never felt so alone, so shut out from the world until that moment. She felt as if all she needed was a hug, and everything would be better. But for some reason, she knew that would never come. Sure, she hadn't gotten ones from Eric, but those were different from the ones the other men of the team would give her. His were of love, kindness, worry.

Ryan had a different way of hugging her. He would wrap his arms around her and cuddle her for a moment before becoming professional once more and turning back to his work. It was in those moments that there seemed to be a simple connection between them. A simple, but a sort of different connection. She liked it- his embraces seemed to embrace your body and your mind. Sort of the thing to show that he cared about you.

But the third man- he was something else entirely. She hadn't really ever received a hug from him. It was more like a smile, a nod- nothing intimate. He saved that for those who needed it most, and more often than not, that was for the victims.

She looked down at the tiled floor, watching her heeled shoe tap linoleum. She felt like a victim right then. With everything that had happened in the recent months, she felt as if she needed something more than a simple hug from Eric or Ryan. She wanted an embrace of compassion, of friendship, and of genuine desire to protect the innocent. She wiped her eyes and fingered the phone, hearing footsteps in the hallway.

She didn't bother looking up. It was probably Eric or Ryan coming to check up on her. He had probably sent one of them to do the duty.

A voice came from the body that stood next to her moments later, gentle and full of questions. "Is this seat taken?"

She looked up. He looked down at her with an inquiring look. His head was cocked sideways, a small smile trying to paste itself on his face. She gave a soft nod and moved over slightly, and he sat down, leaning forward as if he was talking to a victim. "You okay?"

"Does it seem like I'm okay?" she asked, a sharp edge to her voice, and immediately she regretted it.

He looked down at the floor as well, not able to say anything after this remark. He knew she wasn't okay. In fact, he knew better than anyone in the lab could have ever known- except maybe Eric. He had his hands clasped together, his voice still calm but with a twinge of sadness. "I'm sorry. I haven't been myself these days, have I?"

She kept her bitter tone. "No, you haven't. What the hell has happened to you? It's like you've taken a path down the dark side and you're just going deeper and deeper down that trail. I can't walk down that way with you, Horatio. I don't want to. No one wants to."

He let her vent, let her rant to him about everything wrong he had done, and not once did he flinch from her lashings. He sat there, taking them like he usually did and listening to her complain about his actions over the course of the last few months. There was no nodding, no shaking his head, nothing. He closed his eyes and heard her out, heard her anger pierce through his heart like a knife stabbing through the flesh repeatedly.

She thought he didn't care. But she was wrong.

She was so wrong.

There was a minute of silence after she finally finished speaking. He opened his eyes and kept looking towards the floor, his voice level. "It's my fault, and I take full blame for it. I've done a lot over the past couple of months that I shouldn't have done. And I've been moody around everyone, and it looks as if it's finally to the point where I can't just get a normal look from anyone anymore. I wish I could, but I don't know how to do that anymore."

He sounded pained. She wished she could do something, but she felt obliged to stay in her spot and simply put a hand on his knee. He stood up, though, and her hand slipped off.

She turned away and felt tears threatening to slide down her cheeks. "So what does this mean? Is this the beginning of something different from now on?"

"No."

She wiped her tears away slightly, blinking. He was looking down at her and holding out a hand. She stared at it for several seconds before finally reaching out and taking it. He pulled the blonde to her feet and took her other hand, looking her in the eyes. She stared back into them, trying to find a point of intersection, a point in which they could meet and find the same ground to walk on.

His voice was tender, full of warmth. "You've been a victim for so long. And I've been pushing everyone away from me for the longest time now."

She felt a shiver rush down her spine.

"Calleigh… my bullet girl…"

He embraced her tightly, as if he could have been hugging a victim. But she knew this was something different. This was not a hug he used with victims, with teammates, or with even friends after a long day at work. No, this embrace… he used for family.

He always hugged family like this. Tight, warm, a want to protect them from any harm that could have befall upon them at any given moment. He wanted them to feel safe.

He murmured in her ear, "The start of a new way in life is beautiful, isn't it, Calleigh?"

She nodded, finally wrapping his arms around him and embracing him back.

They weren't just friends anymore.

Suddenly, they were family.

I will forever be a hopeless sap. Simple as that. But you know what? It's okay. Because I'm pretty sure you all like that from me.