Lara got the folder from Ali and the information she had printed from Cliff’s bank account supported Lara’s theory. There had been a noticeable increase of ATM cash withdrawal over the past few months with the amounts progressively increasing.

The information proved to Lara that her theory was valid, now she had to find the evidence to prove that it was correct, so she sat down and went through Cliff’s account and his business account with a fine-tooth comb. Lara establish and compiled a list of the names of the people who had used Cliff’s marine services and how much they had paid, including Gavin the disco owner...and Ali’s victim, just 3 days before he became another case for the FBI.

Lara explained her theory to Horatio and showed him the account info that supported it. He told her to share her theory and the info she had found with the feds before she went to question Cliff about it, as they had literally noted they had more jurisdiction on the case.

Lara called Ali once again, she thanked her for the info and told her what she had found, she then went on to tell Ali what she was thinking, “I think that Cliff is making regular and increasingly larger payments to the gang. The ATM withdrawal patterns from his account holds up the idea, but it can’t prove it as the money is not being paid directly into another account from Cliff’s account.” She said. Lara told Ali about the payments her victim had made to Cliff‘s business proving that Cliff and the victim had met, “I think that the gang are responsible for your victim but that they are somehow using it to extort the money from Cliff, and they are bleeding him dry. I’m not sure how Cliff is connected but I’m just on my way to ask him about it. Why don’t you follow the lead your end and let me know what you find." Lara suggested. Lara knew that this information would help Ali in her investigation and that it was the key to solving both Ali’s case and her own.

After discussing the details with Ali, Lara made her was into the interview room. She took a second to prepared herself for round two with Cliff before she pushed open the door and walked in.

After Ali had gotten off the phone with Lara, she informed her boss on wht new information Lara had found out and this was a major break in the case for the FBI but only Ali went deeper with the case and  she found some other information about the gang that Cliff had been paying money to and she found that it ran much much deeper than that.

She went to meet her source who would give her some details of the gang but, what Ali didn't know was that they were planning another attack only this time she would end up being the next target as the gang made a grab for her, bundling her into a white van, running on false plates, and took her to an old warehouse, where they attacked her to within an inch of her life, she was then cuffed to an old pipe on an old mattress and she was denied food and drink, the gang then took a snap before sending it to both the FBI and CSI with a warning - if they wanted to see her alive, they had to give up in order to get her back alive.

Ali tried not to be scared but it was proving hard as they taunted her, they taunted her so much and she tried to resist being hurt but, they injected her with a dose of Methamphetamine, aka crystal meth and they dosed her twice with it.

Once Lara had found out what happened to Ali, she realised that they had to work with the FBI in order to find Ali alive before it was too late, meanwhile Ali was feeling the effects of the drugs as they were causing a whole lot of trouble to her system and she had chucked up, they injected her with a third dose and this dose made her fall back and was now unconscious with no signs of life.

Word Count: 323

Lara felt a horrible but fleeting feeling in the pit of her stomach the initial moment she saw Cliff and breathed in his sent as she stepped into the interview room. It was not a sense of fear or trepidation but more like the knee-jerk feeling of repulsion one would get seeing mangled road kill by the roadside.

Cliff watched as Lara silently walked over and placed a sheet of paper on the table. Cliff leaned forwards and looked at the paper while Lara took her seat, “What’s this?” Cliff asked. “You’re bank statements Mr. Breton.” Lara said coolly leaning forwards and resting her clasped hands on the table, “It shows that you received payment from this man.” Lara said sliding Cliffs bank statements aside to reveal a photo of Ali’s victim, “Just a few days before he became a homicide victim.” Cliff frowned, “I had nothing to do with that.” He replied. “Maybe not, but the Fers Coterie gang did. And your cousin Jack is a known member of that gang and he is also the FBI’s primary suspect in the case.” Cliff frowned and began to rub his chin uneasily, subconscious body language that told Lara she was on the right lines. “What do you know about that?” she asked. “Nothing.” Cliff replied nonchalantly, his unconscious agitation indicating deception and a hint of alarm. “Are you sure? I noticed an unusual pattern of cash withdrawals from your account beginning around the time the homicide was reported.” Cliff looked across the table at Lara, his frown deepened as he listened to her talk, “Now I think that money is going to the gang, isn’t it?” Cliff didn’t say a word, a twitch in his expression silently answered the question, “That’s why you where trying to extort your friend Gavin. The gang are extorting you and you needed the money.” She told him, showing she had figured out his motive for vandalising the disco. “Now we have proof that you vandalized the disco and assaulted Gavin, so you’re going down for that.” Lara informed him unable to completely prevent her sense of satisfaction from coming across, “But if you tell us what you know about the gang and the homicide and your cousin’s connection, it could make things a lot easier for you.”

“I know nothing about it.” Cliff replied gruffly. Then for the first time in her life Lara saw and recognized it in Cliff’s eyes: Fear. Lara squinted slightly as she looked deep in Cliff’s eyes, “Your scared of them aren’t you?” She asked with a hint of surprise, Cliff’s silence and expression once again answering the question. Lara could not help herself, “It’s not nice this side of the fence is it?” She said with some coldness.

Lara exhaled then proceeded to make Cliff an unenthusiastic offer, “Tell us what you know and we could help you. Offer you some protection, maybe even get them off you’re back for good.”

Cliff looked at Lara as he considered her offer. He was about to reject it when Eric came into the room to inform Lara about Ali’s abduction and he used his phone to show her the photo of Ali that had been sent to the lab. “H and Tripp are out in the field with the FBI right now trying to locate her.” Eric informed Lara.

Lara turned to Cliff and showed him the photo on the phone, “Where is this?” She demanded in an angry tone. “I don’t know.” Cliff answered honestly not recognizing the location, “Then tell me what you do know.” Lara said authoritatively. “The Fers Coteries don’t have much grace for snitches, if I talk I‘ll end up like your little friend there.” Cliff retorted, “And If I release you right now the Fers Coteries will think that you talked.” Lara said implying the threat, “You can either stay here and cooperate or I can through you out of the door right now and...well.” Lara said as she put the phone down on the table to let the photo of Ali make her point for her.

Ali laid motionless on the floor and she was not breathing, as the picture was enlarged and it showed a logo to where Ali was being held and as she was still no closer to being found, when the place where she was being held, was set alight and the gang was intent on killing her once and for all, she didn't know if she would get out alive.

The call came into MDPD about a fire over in the Everglades that had been desserted and as Lara heard about the fire and it dawned on her that she had to go up there to get Ali out alive before the fire killed her.

Ali was slowly coming around but she could not move as the chains were on way too tight and she tried not to breathe in the smoke but that was not easy.

She was scared of not being found alive but had to hope that she would be anyway, she had so much to live for and she could only hope that her friend Lara would be able to find her and save her from the perils of this deadly inferno.

Walter was in the lab manipulating and enhancing the photo of Ali while Lara and Eric grilled Cliff for information in the interview room.

Cliff looked at the photo of Ali on Eric’s phone and considered what Lara was implying. He exhaled through his nose exasperated, “Alright. I was out having a drink in a little place near my boat.” He began reluctantly. “As the night went on some half drunk, stuck up suit, who I had taken out on my boat once, kept running his mouth and insulting everyone. He though he was better than everybody in the place, including me and my ‘little dingy business’ as he called it. He finally got the boot and he was still hanging around outside when I left. We ended up having an argument, we shoved each other back and forth then he went down and cut his lip on the curb. He starts spouting off that he’s friends with the chief commissioner and that he’s going to press charges on me in the morning.” Cliff explained, “I had a suspended sentence at the time and I couldn’t afford to be arrested so the next morning my cousin Jack said that he would take care of it. The next thing I know the guy’s...I don’t know which one of the gang did it, if it was Jack or not, but I never asked them to” Cliff said with no signs of lying, “That’s when the gang started pressing me for the money. So you see I’m not a part of the gang and I don‘t know what they have done with your friend.”

“Well think. Did Jack ever talk about the gang, mention any hideouts or places they meet or do business?” Lara asked, then Cliff told her about the workshop Jack worked at that Horatio had already been to earlier. “We already know about that place, can you think of anywhere else?” Lara pressed. “No.” Cliff answered after thinking about it. “Then you’re of no use to me. Book him for vandalism, assault and attempted extortion.” Lara said coldly. Cliff was shocked by her brazen and commanding demeanour and it showed on his face. Lara was now the one in the power seat and she knew it, not that she cared about that right now, all she was worried about was saving her friend.

Lara went to Walter and he showed her the logo he had found, “It’s from a place in the Everglades. I’ve already told H, he’s on his way there now.” Walter informed her. “Okay.” Lara said taking the address from Walter’s hand before leaving to rush to Ali’s rescue.

Lara tore down the road with sirens blaring. She arrived to the burning building just in time.

She entered the building and through the sound of the burning, crackling flames she faintly heard Ali struggling to get free. Then Lara saw Ali through the cloud of smock, she rushed towards her but a part of the ceiling collapsed blocking her way. Lara grabbed the part burned beam and tried to move it out of the way, painfully scorching her palm in the process. But she was not strong enough to do it herself, she groaned and began to inhale smoke as she continued to strain herself trying to move the beam. Suddenly amides the smoke and flames Horatio appeared and grabbed the beam with her, the pair lifted together and managed to flip the beam out of the way with great effort.

Lara ran to Ali who was barely breathing and gently stroked her face to let her know that she was there, “It’s okay, we‘re gonna get you out of here.” Lara assured Ali as she freed her. Lara placed her jacket over Ali’s head to try and prevent her from inhaling more smoke then Horatio carried her out of the blazing inferno with Lara leading the way through the ever thickening smoke and flames.

An ambulance was standing by outside and paramedics immediately attended to Ali. Then to Lara and Horatio,“Is she okay?” Lara asked more concerned about Ali than about getting medical treatment herself.

Then Ali’s boss ripped onto the scene moments later and hurried to Ali to see if she was still breathing.

Ali's boss was worried about Ali and she was in quite a fragile state after the inferno, she was barely breathing as it is and the paramedics dispatched to take her to the Miami Valley Hospital (MVH) Burn Center for the treatment that she would need for her burns and also to treat her.

Once Ali arrived at the Miami Valley Hospital, she was taken straight for urgent treatment and also her condition was assessed and it was quite severe with her burns and she was in a critical condition, her boss was informed of this and then he informed the CSI team about Ali's condition and the next 24 hours were gonna be touch and go to see whether Ali pulls through from this or not.

Her injuries were really bad and she was now fighting for her life, all her closest friends were worried about her, they had to hope that she was gonna pull through from this and it was all they could do but hope that Ali finds the strength to fight and win this battle.

As she laid in her hospital bed, connected to various machines which were helping her and she was not given a certain med as it was in her files that she was allergic to, even now as she struggled to survive, she knew that she had fight for her life as she had so much to live for.

Ali's FBI boss, Aaron Rossi was worried about and she was like a daughter to him, he knew that the team back at FBI HQ were concerned for her and they wanted her to pull through, they needed her to win this battle, they knew that she would not give up without a fight.

The CSI team were finally allowed inside the charred remains of the building and seeing the destruction left behind from Ali's attack made them feel sick and Horatio got a call telling him that they had to pump out crystal meth from Ali's system due to the fact that she had been drugged and now they were playing the waiting game to see whether or not Ali pulls through.

Now time ticked ever so slow while Ali fought for her life, it dawned on Lara that she too needed Ali to survive this as she should be able to give details about what went down before it turned into a burning inferno, Ali and Lara's friendship meant a lot to both Ali and Lara but right now it was just a waiting game to see whether or not Ali survives this horrible ordeal and be able to tell what she remembers about her savage attack.

Word Count: 447

“Too soon to tell.” Was the answer one of the paramedic gave to Lara’s question as he worked hard to keep Ali alive. The words were hard for Lara to hear. Distraught she put a hand to her mouth and her eyes misted up as she watched the paramedics place her friend into the back of the ambulance and shut the doors. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.” Horatio told Lara putting a comforting arm around her.

The ambulance hurried away with the sirens sounding, leaving Lara standing there watching unable to do anymore to help her friend, “You should get that hand looked at. Come on.” Her boss said in a gentle voice as he lead her over to another ambulance so they could both get checked out and treated on site.

Once they had been treated Lara and Lt. Caine began processing the scorched crime scene with Eric. As they where processing H got the call from the hospital saying it was a wait and see situation with Ali, “Why don’t you go over to the hospital and be with your friend. Eric and I can handle this.” Horatio offered, “Thanks, but I can do more here.” Lara replied almost a little emotionless before she proceeded to stoop down with her kit and continue processing the scene noticeably more quiet and withdrawn than usual.

“I've got something here.” Lara said picking up a white object with a pair of tweezers, “Looks like a tooth.” She said holding it up to the light and inspecting it.

The CSI’s finally finished processing the scene but there was not a lot left to find because of the fire and the efforts used to extinguish it. About the only piece of usable evidence they found was the tooth that they matched to the informant that had set Ali up and they tracked his location.

Lara and her boss went to the location, they found the man and sprung up on him with their weapons drawn. “MDPD.” Lara said officially identifying herself. “Hands up.” Horatio said sternly, training his gun at the man who looked like he would have made a dash for it otherwise.

Lara was not playing, right now anger and emotion was bubbling inside of her. She shoved the man against a chain link fence in a scarily cold manor, with a dark scowled across her face that was not a good sign.

Lara and Horatio played hardball as they pressed the man, pumping the information they needed from him. The man said that he did not know the names of the three men who had ambushed Ali, but he described the tattoos they had.

The CSI’s returned to the lab to begin searching the data base for the tattoos and Lara’s boss once again offered her the opportunity to visit Ali at the hospital, but Lara once again turned the offer down to continue with the case as she was determined to find whoever had done this to her friend.

Lara knew that she should be at Ali’s side right now instead of at the lab with the others, scouring through the seemingly endless data base of tattoos and the people who’s skin they where on for hours, but the truth was that Lara did not want to be at the hospital, she knew that Ali was fighting for her life and Lara was not ready to say good by just yet if it came to that.

Lara knew that Ali had a lot of people around her hospital bed already, so it was not like Ali was alone, she had enough people to tell her to fight while she was unconscious, and enough people to comfort her when and IF she woke up.

The team finally finished finding and printing off photos of tattoos that matched the descriptions they had. There where quite a few and they knew it would help immensely if Ali could take a look and pick out her three attackers from the pile.

Lara knew that she could not put it off any more, she went to visit Ali and she took the photos with her.

Lara sat beside Ali who had still not come to yet. “This is familiar.” Lara said to Ali referring to the time she had been in hospital after a previous attack, “Doctor said you’re doing better, he’s very hopeful.” Lara encouraged her unconscious friend, but she was not entirely convinced herself. “We have a list of suspect who did this to you, the team are out in the field questioning them and narrowing down the list, but it would really help if you could identify them. So try to wake up, okay?” Lara said with a despondent undertone, “...Just wake up anyway.” She said with grief, before placing the ID photos on the nightstand and leaving Ali so that she would not succumb to breaking down.

Lara went to the waiting room and got a cup of water even though she was not thirsty, she then just wandered around the hospital solemnly waiting for Ali to wake up...or give up.

Ali had been fighting for her life now ever since she was brought in, even as the doctors had said that it was too early to tell on Ali's current condition, it was made more aware when after a few hours there was a slight change in Ali's medical status as her condition went from critical to stable, it meant that she was gradully getting stronger but not by much at this present time.

This was the biggest fight that Ali had faced compared to an attack before by her ex Dean Collins this happened before she got involved with Mac Taylor, fighting tooth and nail for her life is what the team needed Ali to do, thus including her FBI teammates as well, it all appeared rather touch and go quite a few times over the past few hours, until an hour ago when that all changed.

Despite the savage attack that Ali had been subjected to, it was the most evil and now fighting hard because her life depended on it and so much more needed to be done, she sure as heck was not gonna let her attackers get away with this, not by a damn long shot.

Causing her to be this close to death's door was not a pretty sight and she had been able to hear Lara at her bedside telling her to fight through this and be able to ID the sicks twerps who did this nasty, savage attack on someone close to her and it was beyond a reasonable doubt that Ali was still not out of the woods just yet.

This battle had to be something that Ali was not gonna lose, she had to fight for her life and knew that it was the only way, it also meant that her attackers would be put in the slammer for the attack on a Federal Agent which carries a huge jail sentence, it had to be done right and if so, Ali would have to survive this ordeal in order for that to come into effect.

As night fell on the streets of Miami, inside Ali's hospital room, her hand moved, it was the first sign that she was slowly coming around from her savage attack and she had no idea just how badly hurt she was, her eyes were still closed, as the CSI team hoped that Ali would pull through, the same went for the FBI as well as Ali was a good member of their team and one that would be hard to replace if the worst happened to their close friend.

Keeping a watch on Ali, the nurse had noticed a second hand movement and quickly informed Lara of this new sign and it might be the first of many that Ali was trying to come around and to wake up, her eyes were still shut but for now she was making the good signs that she was starting to come around from the savage attack that had almost cost Ali her life.

Word Count: 506

The nurse informed the doctor and then Lara of Ali’s movements. The doctor ran some tests on Ali before injecting her IV with a cocktail of medication that would boost and strengthen her system as well as help wake her up.

Lara watched from the back of the room as the doctor did his work. It only took a few minutes for the drugs to bring Ali around and once she was awake the doctor explained to her what had happened and what treatment she had been given, he then told her that the officers needed to ask her some questions, “You’ve been through a lot so take it slow.” He advised “Call if you have any more questions.” He said before he left to give them some privacy.

Lara walked over to Ali , “Hey.” She said softly with a light smile on her face, though the smile was purely for Ali’s sake, “It’s good to see you awake. You scared us there for a while.”

Lara stood next to Ali’s bed and rested her hand on the guardrail. The soot and smudges had now been cleaned off Lara’s face and her injured palm sporting a pristine white bandage, though her clothes where still mugged and singed and smelt a little of smoke, “How do you feel?” Lara enquired. “I was hoping you could take a look at some ID photos and tell me if any are the men who attacked you. Do you feel up to that?” Lara asked sensitively, she knew how much Ali had been through and she did not want to push her.

Ali softly sighed, she was feeling dog rough and she looked to Lara, she wondered if she was ready and she was so scared to admit just how shaken she truly was by the savage attack and it left her fearing the outside world, even as she was bed-ridden and she was scared to tell Lara what had went down in the warehouse before it was set alight, almost killing her, but here right now, she felt rather wary of allowing herself to talk about it and she thought of a better idea of typing it up on a laptop maybe as then she could remember it word for word, she had been broken but this was seriously twisted and nasty to even think of a worse one than that.

As she was handed the ID photos to see if they were her attackers, she flinched as one of the photos triggered a memory about her savage, near death attack and she was so shell-shocked about what she had been put through in that warehouse and parts of what happened to her were blocked as there was some that she couldn't remember and it left her feeling so stupid.

"Most of what happened, I can't remember", Ali said, feeling down for that and she didn't know how exactly she was gonna remember the one part that she couldn't and that had never happened before - until now and this made her feel a little uneasy about the whole thing and it was trying to shake her tree and so far it had, but Ali had to figure out a way to remember what the hell happened to her within that time frame and she tried to remember but alas it was proving to have no such luck.

Feeling the most pain from her wounds was something that Ali was not used to as of now it was so sore and she felt like crap in more ways than one if she was to be honest right about now, although she would not tell anyone, apart from her own doctor these feelings and it bugged her that she could not remember pieces of the attack and she was scared that she might have aphasia or something along those lines about her memory, even as one of the pics made her flinch like there was no tomorrow and that was the worst feeling in the world right now according to Ali.

Feeling like this was scary and Ali didn't know if she could even trust herself to feel safe again and this had really knocked her for six in the most horrible way in the world and it had also made her wary of trusting those around her, not knowing how to feel or if the attackers would resurface and finish what they started with her was something that now went through Ali's mind at the speed of a race car out at Daytona and that just out right scared Ali into being more of a recluse that ths had happened to her and now she had survived it but there was for a short time that she thought that she would perish in amongst the fire and that seemed to strike a nerve that Ali had never felt before, she just put the blankets of her bed around her more as it suddenly became clear that she was frightened for certain, more now than ever before.

This scared Ali more than she would care to admit right now, she just was not ready to admit how scared she was after what had went down and as she was meant to be a strong person, that just wasn't happening right now, she could only think how to keep on the sunny side of life.

Word Count: 631

Ali said that she could not remember a lot of what had happened to her, “That is perfectly normal, you’ve been through a lot.” Lara said to reassure her, “The doctor said it might take a while of you to remember what happened because of the trauma you’ve been through, but you will remember. So don‘t try and force anything, it will come back to you.”

Lara saw how Ali reacted to one of the ID photos and she knew he was defiantly one of the perps who had attacked her.

Lara touched Ali’s arm comfortingly, “It’s okay. Your safe now. It’s okay.” She kept reassuring her in a comforting tone that helped sooth Ali and calm her down.

Lara took the photos away from Ali so that she would not continue to be up set by them, “You don’t have to look at them right now. Just take it easy.” Lara said as Ali pulled the blankets over herself, obviously traumatized.

Lara pulled out her phone and called her boss to give him the name of the perp from the ID photo that had set Ali off.

Lara hated seeing Ali this way and she just wanted to make everything better somehow, but she know there was no magic wand that she could wave. It would take time and all Lara could do was give some support while Ali worked through this herself, “Is there anything I can do?” She asked.

Ali softly sighed and she took the blankets down as she felt like hell right now and she decided that she wanted her Ipod, then she said to Lara, "I'd like my Ipod if I am allowed to have it in here after what happened.", Ali was a former shell of herself and she had a peek at her injuries from the inferno, they made her feel and she knew that it hurt to touch, she was scared to be left alone. as this whole attack had really done a number on her.

She felt that she was lucky to survive, despite knowing that while she was trapped inside that burning inferno for what seemed like hours, now as she was in hoospital, she had not seen her boss since she was taken to hospital and she was considering herself very lucky to be alive, it was more than luck for her to count her lucky stars, she was very lucky that she had made it out alive.

Ali saw the bandages which were covering up her injuries, she didn't know how bad it was and she felt somewhat more scared to be left alone.

She felt wary of being alone and had shivered a few times and now as she face a long road to recover, she just hoped that she would not have to do it alone. it scared her like a speeding missile going flat out with not stopping power.

Word Count: 243

“Sure.” Lara said forcing a light smile so as to not let Ali see just how difficult it was for her to see her friend in this state. Lara got Ali’s Ipod and handed it to her, “Here you go.”

“You’re boss and quite a few other people are lining up outside the door waiting to see you. ” Lara said figuratively speaking as she leaned on Ali’s bed rail once again, “You know you’re very well loved. The waiting room has been filled with worried faces all day.” She told her warmly, “Do you feel up to having some more visitors?” She finished.

Lara knew a sea of smiling well-wisher doting their affections would either do Ali the world of good and boost her spirits, or it would just be a little too overwhelming right now.

Lara hoped that Ali would be up to seeing her friends now, it would be a good sign in regards to her emotional state, and Lara knew it would also be a good opportunity for her to sneak away and deal with her own emotional state. After all it had been a very, very tough day.

As Ali recieved her dark red Ipod, she knew that she would listen to it later once everything was much more calmer and she looked to Lara, and telling her, "I'd like to see them", as she wrapped the blanket around her for warmth as she wondered what her boss would say to her once he got into her room, Ali had another look at her bandaged wrist and knew that it looked painful and she was even on strong meds for it too, which were helping at times and she didn't know when she was gonna be allowed out of hospital either.

Ali's boss came into the room first after Lara had told him that Ali wanted to see him first then the others, she had no idea what her boss was gonna tell her or even ask her about the savage attack and he saw just how scared she was after what she had been through and it was sure gonna be a helluva long road ahead to recover but she wondered if she could ever feel safe again after what she was put through out in the Everglades.

She felt so alone and she felt scared to be alone right now and she just hoped that maybe in time, she would be able to bounce back from this and try to move on but again ot knowing how hard it was gonna be for her and then again, she might have to re-tell what she remembered to her own boss and even a statement about it too and that scared her too.

Now as her boss walked into her room, Ali felt tense as she had no way of knowing what he would tell her or if he would be nice about it either for that matter.

Word Count: 300

Lara told Ali’s boss that she was ready to see him first. Lara then took a seat in the waiting room so that Ali and her boss cold have a few minutes alone before she and all of the other visitors went in to be with Ali as well.

Ali’s boss walked into the room, he was glad that Ali had pulled through, she was one of his very best agents and he also cared about her as a friend too. He smiled as he saw her and handed her the flowers he had brought as a get well wish.

“We have arrested the man you identified from the photos and have began pressing charges. He’s going away for a long time on this one.” He informed Ali, “And I have just gotten off the phone with Lt. Caine, he said that he personally interrogated him and got the names of the other men who did this and they are on their way to apprehend the men right now.” He reassured Ali, hoping the news would allow her to feel safer, knowing the men who did this to her would soon be behind bars for a long time.

“We will need you to give a statement and tell us what happened, but when you are ready okay?” He said understandingly.
Ali’s boss talked with her for a little while and when she was ready everyone from the waiting room came in and joined them, and more flowers and a couple of cards followed.

Lara watched as everyone greeted Ali and displayed their affections with hugs and warm sentiment. “I’m gonna go. Call me if you need anything.” Lara said to Ali, subtly leave in the distracting height of the fuss.

Lara knew that Ali had a lot of people around her, so she did not feel too guilty when she decided that she was not going to be on the frontlines to support Ali like she had been last time. No she was going to take a back seat this time and leave the emotional support to Ali’s many friends unless Ali calls her directly. A sure sign that Lara was withdrawing back into herself once again.

Lara walked out of the hospital and got into her car. She drove home with the radio off and despite the sunny, blue Miami sky above, it felt like there was a big cloud hanging over her head.

Lara got home and found herself sitting alone on her empty settee once again, a scene that was becoming all too familiar to her.
Yes, It had been a very hard day emotionally and handling emotional pain was not one of Lara’s strongest points. She sat in silence as she thought over the day not knowing how to cope with the pain currently swirling around deep inside of her.

It was ironic really, the day had begun with Cliff appearing out of the woodworks and opening up some deep wounds and feelings of inadequacies that pushed Lara to begin to finally open up with Ali in a way that she never had before. Even lowering her guard and opening up enough to cry in front of Ali was a huge milestone. But it had all ended with the fear of loosing Ali...yet again. And that would be a loss too painful for Lara to handle, so she would now pull away and close herself off from Ali more than ever because of it. Distancing herself from people was a defence mechanism that Lara had developed over the years in order to avoid getting hurt again, sometimes it was intentional and other times it was an unconscious act.

The day had knocked Lara down rather hard and as she sat there in torturous silence and mostly self-inflicted isolation, she realized just how deeply lonely she felt right now, and that she didn’t have anyone here in Miami that she felt she could turn to. For a moment a part of her toyed with the Idea of moving back to England so that she could be with her adoptive family again, the only people she had really ever let into her life completely.

But pushing that thought aside, for now at least, Lara picked up her landline and phoned home.
“Daddy?” She said with a near sob, “Lara. What’s wrong baby?” Her father replied with a loving and sympathetic tone. Lara told him everything that had happened that day. she eventually went on to talk about Cliff and just how much he had gotten to her, she confide in her father some very deep and personal feelings in a was she would have confided in Ali, if the day had not gone how it had.

Ali had been glad to have her closest friends around as she recovered from her attack and after about a week, Ali was up and about but she was still in hospital as the doctors wanted to make sure that she was ready to leave and she had her wounds covered up still and had her meds with her as she left the hospital to head home again.

Once back home, Ali got settled into her apartment again, she kept her door locked as she was wary of unknown people who would be at her door and right now she kept her cell phone on as it might buzz with a message or maybe a phone call, she had known that she would have to give a statement to her boss but when she was ready to as her boss had already told her while she had been in hospital and now she was back home and she curled up on the sofa with her hot water bottle and had a think about what she could remember about her attack.

Even as she started to have fractions of what happened slowly return, it did scare her a little bit and now, she decided to write what she remembered down on paper so she could hand it to her boss when he would see her next and finally read the harrowing details of the attack that almost took Ali's life away from her in that inferno.

Knowing how close she came to sudden death and seeing the mug shots of the gang who had done this to her, it really freaked her out and her reaction was quite clear about who had done this and that fire had been an attempt to silence Ali for good but it had been thwarted by the CSI and FBI teams and now as she wrote all this down for her boss, she just had to hope that it was gonna be enough to put the gang behind bars for life after what they did to Ali.

Word Count: 342

Lara returned to work the next morning and she was still emotionally dazed from her encounter with Cliff and the things he had said to successfully push her buttons, undermine her self-confidence and get in her head. Along with the added traumas of almost losing her friend and having to pull her out of a burning building.

Lara was quieter than usual as she worked the crime scenes and processed evidence and she was twice as reticent with the team than usual, politely turning down all of their invites to hang out after work. In fact Lara remained more withdrawn than usual all week and she kept her contact and visits with Ali to a polite minimum as Ali recovered in hospital with the support of all her other friends. Lara was gradually but steadily pulling further and further away from Ali emotionally, always busy with work and the like, and weather Ali had noticed or not, their relationship had fading back into a friendly-acquaintance status rather than an intimate friendship.

Something that Ali would probably be too distracted to notice as she focused on recovering from her ordeal and what she needed to do to send the perps responsible to prison.

Lara gave Ali a quick call to check up on her, knowing that the doctors were organizing her discharge from hospital and that one of her friends were taking her home, “Hey. How are you? I bet your glad to be going home at last.”

"Hey, just wanna be home and able to have a comfy bed for a change than the ones in the hospital and gotta talk to my boss in a couple days once I settle back in home again, I just wanted to say thanks for saving my life." Ali told her over the phone.

As Ali settled back into her home, she decided to have an early night and feel the comforts of her own bed after being in hospital and to her, it felt so good to be back in her own bed once again and she sure had missed it after what she had been subjected to in that inferno and now she was to lucky to survive with her life and she owed that to Lara, even as she settled back home, she was still on strong meds to help her pain and it would take a while for her own doctor to clear her so she could get back to her job and she would find something to keep her busy in the meantime at least.

As she took her meds and went to bed after putting her phone onto silent, she didn't wanna be distrubed and now this was her time to heal and take it one step at a time, she knew that it was gonna such a long road ahead and one that she would have to take, so she could be at full health again, like a marine sub underwater.

Even as she recovered from her ordeal which had almost cost her to lose her life, she was glad to still be around and she owed that to Lara and the CSI team too, she was lucky to survive even as it was touch and go for a while and now she won that battle but her biggest one was yet to come with the perps who had done to her and it only spurred her on to get justice for the ordeal they put her through and now she need closure to be able to move and three months had passed and the perps had been sentenced to life without parole for the savage attack, Ali finally had closure and was able to move on with her life, but it would take time.....

The End.

Word Count: 385