center b I-95 South /b

By starchaser

Disclaimer: Yeah. Not mine. Don't sue me.

Author's Note: This takes place somewhere after Mourning Innocence. NCIS/CSIM crossover, Gibbs/Kate, Calleigh/Eric. I tried to stay with canon history but it's my own interpretation.

Dedicated to my person. You will never know what you mean to me.

Chapter 1

i Someday these walls will speak, The floor beneath you creak

To call my name

Here in my web of dreams, My whispers turn to screams

And place the blame /i /center

Leaning against this particular wall usually caused all manner of bruising from edges, hinges, and latches, but this time she didn't feel a thing. She'd managed to hide how easily her skin bruised in order to be accepted into the profession that had chosen her, just like she had hidden away anything else that had the potential to make her seem anything less than a consummate capable professional. Sure there had been cracks in her armor before; she wasn't as good at hiding as her big sister, though it made sense really. She hadn't had to deal with quite as much. This, though... This was more than she could ever have imagined.

"Suicide by cop, get over it." In her mind, it wasn't that simple. The kid had tricked her into doing what he couldn't. Either way, though, it amounted to the same thing: a life that should not have ended. Suddenly, she couldn't stand it anymore. Fumbling in her haste, she pushed the slab back in and shut the door before she ran, barely making it out to her car before the tears came. For once in her life she let them come; she didn't need to see to get where she was going. Not bothering to stop at her house, which was out of the way anyway, she jumped on the Beltway and headed south. With any luck, traffic wouldn't impede her; she wasn't in the mindset to worry about possible consequences of speeding for several hours straight. The only thought in her mind was getting to her big sister, the one person in the world who could possibly understand. She paused briefly once, to get coffee and send a fast email to Gibbs from her PDA, but otherwise just kept going, as fast as her car would go.

center i Tell me no more stories and I'll tell you no lies

No one wants to hurt me but everybody tries

And if you think that I've been waiting for my planets to align

It's time you go on, get your things, get up, get out

I'm doing fine /i /center

Calleigh bolted upright, grabbing for her gun before realizing that it was her doorbell that had woken her. The tiny kitten that had been curled up on her stomach bolted into the closet to hide. She kept the gun in her hand, comforted by its familiar weight as she went to answer the door. She wasn't expecting anyone at this hour, especially having gotten home only an hour before.

"Yes?"

"Cal?"

"Oh my God, Katie?" Calleigh threw open the door and threw her arms around her sister. The hug was all it took for Kate to completely lose it again. It scared Calleigh; Kate didn't cry often, and when she did, something major was wrong. Calleigh glanced around Kate's arm to see the car parked messily in the driveway, and gently guided her baby sister into the living room. Door relocked, Calleigh finally stopped to take a close look at the taller woman. Burgundy turtleneck sweater, black pants, earrings that matched her own; Kate had always had impeccable taste and even more style, but when she looked up at her face it scared her. Kate's makeup was all over the place, and her hair was falling out of the ponytail, but the worst part was the blank, faraway look in her eyes. "Katie?" Calleigh spoke softly. "What happened?"

Kate looked down, startled, almost as if she had forgotten that Calleigh was there. Her dark eyes locked onto Calleigh's pure emerald ones, and she almost started crying again. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, and it wasn't a happy one. She fingered the gun that Calleigh still held. "Suicide by cop."

"Sui- oh God, Katie. You...?"

Kate nodded. "We were going after him for the murder of a Naval officer. Gibbs and I found him ready to commit suicide in his high school next to the pool. He got Gibbs to put his weapon down, but I was covering him. Gibbs tried to get him to talk, but he went for Gibbs and I took him out." She laughed bitterly. "Turns out the kid was innocent. I shot an innocent man." This time she let the tears come, turning and all but collapsing on Calleigh's couch.

"Oh, Katie!" She went to sit next to her, finally putting her gun down on the coffee table. She gently reached behind Kate and took her holster from the small of her back so it wouldn't dig into her, laying it with her own.

"Thanks, Cal." Finally calming a little, Kate looked over at her sister. She very obviously had been sleeping; her eyes weren't quite open all the way, and she had a mark on her cheek. She was wearing red plaid pajama pants and a black tank top that was riding up, showing off her flat stomach. Her blond hair was loose and flowing, much longer than it had been the last time Kate had seen her. "I woke you."

"It's okay, really. I haven't been home long." She sighed. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

Kate reached out, tucking a strand of liquid sunshine behind Calleigh's ear. "Gibbs said get over it."

Instantly fire flashed in Calleigh's eyes. "I'm gonna shoot him!"

Kate smiled, a real smile this time. "I keep threatening. But seriously? I came because I knew you were the only one that would understand."

"I do. Of course I do, Katie." She sat for a second, working something out. "Sweet Lord how fast did you drive?"

"I shaved about 6 hours off usual. I just had to get away from there, and the only thing I could think of was getting to you."

"I'm always here, kid. But you're gonna want to wear something a little less wooly."

"You still got my stash?"

"In the closet. You hungry?"

"Right now I need sleep, but every time I close my eyes I see him go down."

Calleigh stood up and pulled Kate to her feet. "I'll keep him away from you. C'mon." They both reached for their guns at the same time, laughing when they realized it, and Calleigh led the way up the stairs to her bedroom. Kate grabbed pajamas from her pile of clothes in the corner of Calleigh's closet, and went to the bathroom to change. Calleigh opened the sliding glass door a little wider to let in the breeze, and angled the blinds so they could see the ocean but not be blinded by the rising sun. She knew Kate would want to look out. That done, she laid back down as Kate came back and took the side by the balcony. "Katie, I really hate to bring it up, but don't you have to work today? Or are you..." she trailed off, suddenly not sure if her little sister still had a job.

"Gibbs said nothing's gonna happen. I sent him an email from a rest stop in North Carolina. The last time I took off was last time I came down. I've got the time."

"I really appreciated you coming down for Tim's funeral, Katie."

"Hey," Kate rolled over and hugged her. "You needed me. There was no question."

"You do realize that Bullet Girl Junior is gonna call me when you don't show up tomorrow."

"Yeah. You were her mentor, Cal."

"I wasn't even a CSI yet, but we sure did have fun together. Just wish you could have been there, California girl."

"Hey, I had to get a Cali into my name somehow!" She loved making her big sister laugh.

"Well, what should I tell her?"

"I'm sure Ducky will tell her."

"Which will mean that you're gonna have to go visit Alexx for him. I take it you're coming to work with me?"

"Well if I wanna see you at all I have to." Kate hugged Calleigh tighter. "I can help with crime scene sketches."

"That you can do."

"So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" Kate felt Calleigh's smile.

"How did you know?"

"You're my big sister. It's my job."

"IAB's after Horatio. And there was this thing with my Dad. And just some really rough cases lately. And Ryan's great, but I really miss Tim. And I've been thinking about Janet a lot lately. Just stuff." Calleigh yawned. "Lately it seems like I'm tired all the time too."

"Well me showing up at your door at 4am didn't help much with that. I want to hear all about it, but first I should let you get some sleep." Kate smiled, realizing that Calleigh hadn't heard a word of her last sentence. Pulling the quilt tighter around her big sister, she joined Calleigh in sleep.