Lara was in the lab finishing her paperwork on a freshly closed case when the next case came in, alleged destruction of property followed by assault.

The team arrived at the small disco where the alleged incident took place at 11:26 that morning.

Horatio and Tripp talked to the victim/owner of the disco and he told them his version of events, “I go fishing and I pay this guy Cliff Breton to take me out on his boat right? While we’re out there we chat and fish and have a cold one or two and we have developed a little friendship you know, well a shallow one at least, we’re not really that close more like just drinking buddies you know? We slack off and recharge out on the water. Anyway he practically invites me out on his boat last week, then the next day not only does he give me a bill, he gives me a bill charging me for a bunch of, what? ‘Services’ that I didn’t even have. I say I don’t owe him anything and we’ve been disagreeing over it the past few days. Then this morning he breaks in here with a baseball bat demanding I give him his money, we argue, he starts breakin’ stuff and I try to stop him and then he attacked me.”

After hearing the victims story Lara and the team began processing the scene while H and Tripp went to go get Cliff’s version of events.

Lara had the unfortunate experience of knowing a Cliff Breton in her young years but she thought nothing of it. Little did she know that this case was going to bring up some pain from her past.

Ali, who had recovered from her attack was now back at work at the FBI, she had missed it a little bit and she was in her office just catching up on some files and checking her work emails and most of them were normal anyway, she had no idea that later on that day she would be talking to Lara and having a talk about a delicate matter.

Ali knew that Lara was a really good friend and they got on really well and looked out for each other..

Horatio and Tripp went to talk to Cliff who of course denied all of the allegations against him.
Lara and Walter worked the crime scene and Lara found some blood on a broken window pane, meanwhile Horatio had Eric check out Cliff’s alibi but it did not quite check out so Cliff was brought in for questioning.


While Cliff was being interviewed Lara, Ryan and Walter where in the lab processing all of the evidence collected from the disco and there was a lot to go through. The ruckus in the disco left a big mess to sift through including 3 buckets of broken glass that would need to be checked piece by piece for any blood or other type of evidence

Ali was working a case with the co.workers and she was easing herself back into thickness of work after her attack, she knew that it would be quite some time until she could do normal things, she was glad to have Lara as a really good friemd...

Cliff claimed that he had gone to talk to Gavin, the disco owner, that morning to ask for the money that WAS owed to him, but that he did not use a bat or start a fight, that he had a calm but firm chat about the debt then left.

While the interview was taking place, the bat in question had been found at the disco and had been brought back to the lab for processing. Lara went to the interview room to inform Horatio of the discovery when she saw Cliff through the glass.
Lara stopped unable to believe her eye’s, the colour in her face fade to a lighter shade and a deep frown grew as a sinking feeling developed in her stomach.

Lara caught Eric as he was about to pass her in the corridor, “Hey, could you give this to Lt. Caine for me?” Lara asked holding out photos of the bat, “I have to get back to 3 buckets of glass.” She said for an excuse. “Sure.” Eric replied taking the photos, “3 buckets, rather you than me.” He commented with a smirk. Thinking nothing of it Eric waltzed into the interview room and handed Horatio the photos, when Eric looked at Cliff he saw just another suspect, but when Lara looked at Cliff behind the glass she saw a monster.          

Rattled by the shock of seeing the worst foster parent from her past Lara slipped down the corridor and took a seat in the emptiest place she could find.
After a few minutes she pulled out her phone and called her parents back in England but there was no answer. She thought about calling her friend Jeremy back at LVPD, he had troubles of his own and would be able to relate, but he worked the night shift and would probably not be at the lab now. Lara was about to call her best friend Ruth but as her thumb hovered over the key pad she found herself calling Ali, the only other friend that she had in Miami. “Hi Ali its Lara. Um, how are you doing? You easing back to work alright?” She asked genuinely interested in how Ali’s day was going. Lara tried to sound fine but she had been rattled and it came through in her voice a little.

"Settling back in slowly and boss has been rather nice since the attack. You ok Lara?" Ali said as she leant back in her chair as she spoke to Lara..

“You ok Lara?”
Lara knew the answer to that question was no, but she did not want to say that. “Um...I...Uh...Actually I Just got a little rattled...but don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Lara’s eye’s misted a little as she spoke with Ali, she tried her best to sound normal but her voice was a little shaky as she spoke, “Well I just wanted to see how you are doing. I uh, I should probably go.” Lara finished, but she did not press the end call button, she hung on the line for a moment in silence. A tear found it’s way down her cheek, her slender fingers touching her own trembling lips.
Lara was torn, She wanted to talk but at the same time she did not. Lara was not one you could get to open up easily, and though they had been through a lot together Lara had still never really let her guards down with Ali or opened up to her, and she was not ready to do that yet, not over the phone like this at least.

"If you feel that you wanna talk about things, always know I'm here anytime alright?" Ali said, as she had noticed that something wasn't right with Lara....

Ali was checking her emails while on the phone to Lara.....

“Uh yeah, thanks.” Lara said appreciating Ali’s offer, “Well I just wanted to see how you where doing. I should get back to work. Bye.” With that Lara hung up. She took a breath, composed herself and returned to the lab.

Ali set her phone down on her desk and got back to work while working a case she had been assigned to but this case was gonna blow up a red flag when Ali found a link which had ties with a recent MDPD case and she sighed softly..

Lara began helping the team to process the evidence they had collected from the disco and it was not apparent that she had been shaken by the sight of a former fosterer just a few moments ago and that she was still a little shaken inside now.
After some intricate work Lara found a few samples and she took them to the trace lab to be analysed.

In the interview room Cliff had a plausible answer for everything that was being presented to him and there was not enough evidence against him right now, so after a while Horatio decided to release Cliff with instruction to stay in town.

Lara got the results back from the trace lab and as she was heading back to the lab Cliff was being escorted down the corridor. Lara stopped in her tracks, her face turned pale and the world around her seemed to slip into slow motion as she watched Cliff Breton sauntering towards her.

Cliff glanced to Lara and shot what she was only able to see as a repulsive smile.
Seeing Cliff in the flesh after all these year brought back so many horrible memories from the time spent in his “care.”
Lara’s heart sunk and her stomach tightened into what felt like a hundred knots the moment Cliff was guided straight past her. The time Lara had spent with Cliff had affected her so much, she had spent years dealing with or trying to suppress the harm he hade caused her. Where as Cliff had not had even one single thought about Lara or any of the other children that had been in his ‘care’. Nor did Cliff even recognize Lara now.

It was a good thing that another case had brought Ali to the PD. Whether Lara knew it or not she needed a friend to fall back on right now.

As Ali got into PD, she went straight to Stetler with the manila folder with a recent link to an open case and she spoke with him about it, he would contact Horatio and see what the best course of action would be taken and as Ali stayed quiet, she thought about things and wondered how Lara was after their phone call earlier.

Lara needed some air and time to collect herself so she quickly took the results to Horatio and asked if she could start her lunch break now seeing as it was that time of day.

Lara made her way through the building as quickly but as calmly as she could without drawing attention or showing that she was distressed. Lara got into the empty lift and pressed G and behind those closed shiny elevator doors Lara began to fidget uneasily on the spot.
The lift slowed to a stop and opened, Lara stepped out calm and controlled once again as she continued through the building. As Lara walked through the ground floor she was heading straight towards Ali who was standing by Stetler. Ali probably saw Lara coming towards her where as Lara was distracted and was focusing on holding it together long enough to get out of the building without letting anything show to the people she worked with.

Ali had already noticed Lara, she was a little worried about Lara after their phone call earlier, Ali told Stetler that the FBI would work with them in regards to the case.

Ali followed after Lara, wondered if she was ok. Ali got outside and saw her then went to her, then she asked "You alright Lara? You didn't sound like your normal self when we spoke on the phone earlier", she always had a trait when something wasn't quite sitting right with her.

Lara got out of the building and as she was walking to the sidewalk Ali approached from seemingly nowhere, “Ali, hi” Lara said a little surprised to see her here. Ali asked if she was alright, “Yeah.” Lara responded with a casual, dismissive tone trying brush it off as no big deal, but her body language was slightly off. Something a trained FBI agent or a friend would be able to notice.
Lara hoped that Ali had not come all the way over just to see how she was after that phone call, after all Ali had an important job to do and she had only recently returned back to work after her ordeal, “I’m just on my way to lunc. What are you doing here?” She asked hoping that there was another reason why Ali was here. Although the thought of having a friend that would take the time and effort to come and check-up was kind of nice.

Ali looked to Lara, she had wondered if everything was alright but decided not to pry into this unless Lara told her what was wrong herself. Ali replied "New case flagged a link with an unsolved case and I'm gonna be working the case with the MDPD"..

Ali had noticed how Lara's body language wasn't quite right and as she wondered what exactly was wrong but until she was told, then she just hoped that everything with Lara would be ok, Ali knew that she had told Lara if she ever wanted to talk then she'd be there for her..

“Oh okay.” Lara answered casually.
Lara took a step away then stopped again, “Um, I’m just on my way to a little restaurant up the road, did you want to grab a bite to eat?” Lara invited offhandedly, her body language was still a little off. Lara knew that Ali was here to work and was busy, but she thought that Ali might want to join her for something to eat seeing as it was lunch time after all.

A part of Lara did not wanted to be alone right now, She wanted Ali to come so that they could sit and talk. But another part of Lara, the guarded, closed off part wanted to be alone right now and hoped that Ali would say no. But as usual Lara did her best to keep casual and not let any of her emotions show while she waited for an answer.

Ali then said, "Sure, I was gonna get something to eat anyway", Ali wondered if Lara was really ok, she had a trait that had always been right on the nose so to speak. Ali put her phone onto silent, like she normally did when she took her lunch break.

Ali hoped that Lara knew that could always count on her for anything, Ali was glad to have Lara as a friend and they were good friends.

Ali and Lara walked up the road to the little restaurant in relative silence, only typical chat about the glorious weather.
Once they had chosen a table outside of the restaurant Lara ordered a glass of water and a light salad that she seemed to just gently poke at and push around the plate with her fork instead of actually eating it. Lara had not been hungry in the first place, she just wanted to step out for some air and lunch was really just a way to spend some time with Ali so that they could talk, not that there was a lot of that going on at the moment. Lara was not normally a chatterbox but she was being even quieter than usual, she seemed to be elsewhere in her thoughts and she was. Lara’s mind had wandered off thinking about the awful time spent with Cliff years ago and a sad frown develop.

Ali was worried about Lara, as theygot to where they decided to have lunch,Ali decided to have a chicken sandwich with a mayo dressing on brown bread and to drink, Ali decided to order a lemon Fanta, she set her phone on the table and kept it on silent.

Lara‘s mind gently came back to present.
She was aware that there had not been much talking going on and that the silence had almost certainly let Ali know by now that there was something distracting on her mind. By now Ali knew what a guarded person Lara tended to be but this length of silence was unusual, not to mention it was probably becoming a little awkward for Ali as well, “I’m sorry. My mind is elsewhere.” Lara apologized, the proper, English part of her thinking how rude it was to invite someone to lunch to sit there and not talk with them.
Lara took a sip of her ice water, “I-I uh ran into someone I used to know.” She elaborated, the downbeat tone of her voice made it clear that it had not been a good thing.

Ali looked over towards her, then replied "It's fine and who was this person that you used to know? If you wanna talk about anything, just let me know alright?", Ali just hoped that Lara would be ok within time and if she ever needed to unload personal stuff to, then she could always talk to her anytime she needed to.

Lara was grateful of Ali’s understanding and a very small smile just about creased her lips. Ali asked Lara who she had seen earlier and assured her that she could talk about anything if she wanted.
Lara was silent for a moment, she knew that Ali was a good friend and deep down Lara knew that she could trust Ali. It was just that Lara found it difficult to open up, a fact that Ali and everyone else Lara knew in Miami had to be well aware of by now. A lot of people found it frustrating but Lara felt that Ali had always been patient and understanding about it, She never seemed to push too hard or get annoyed over it. Lara looked at Ali and thought about what a good friend she was and how they had both saved each other from some bad situations, “It was someone I knew when I was a kid. Let’s just say he was not a pleasant man.” Lara said, “He, he is a suspect in one of my cases and he was brought in for an interview. When I saw him sitting there it just through me, you know? I haven’t seen him in so long and I had no idea he lives in Miami now. That was another life and it just came as shock to run into him like that without a heads up.” Granted Lara had still not told Ali all that much, but she was actually opening up and for Lara at least it was a big step in the pairs friendship. Just saying what she had said, being able to talk to Ali made Lara fell so much better and she was now over the initial shock of it all.

Ali nodded, she then asked "Take it was not good back when you were a kid with that guy huh? Gotta be tough, if you ever need any help to deal with it, my door's always open as is my phone, always know that." as she took a drink of her coffee.

“No it wasn’t good. I actually lived with him for a while.” Lara replied “A few of us did.” She added. “Thanks. My family and most of my friends are back home in England and It’s not always possible to talk to them when I need, so it’s nice to know I can talk to you about this kind of thing. You‘re a good friend.” She said sincerely.
Lara began to actually eat her food instead of just pushing it around the plate, “I was actually put in a care home for awhile when my parents died.” Lara told Ali for the first time. Lara had told Ali that she had been adopted but that was about as much as she had mentioned about it. This was the first time Lara had ever opened up to Ali about being in care. “I was placed in a number of temporary foster homes before I was adopted.” She said with a hint of sadness, “Cliff was one of people who fostered me for awhile, along with a few other kids as well. He didn‘t care about us at all, he just fostered us for the money and used us to do chores” She told Ali.
Lara was feeling better now that she had gotten some fresh air and was able to talk with her friend.