Shatter Me

Tell It To The Judge👩🏻‍⚖️

Zariah goes to the courthouse with Horatio and takes Caine with her she watches as the young girl she saw in the photograph ad runs inside the courthouse and she follows taking Caine with her "hi"  Zariah says softly when she sees the young lady a few paces away from her "hi"  the little girl says softly "I'm Zariah and this is Caine we're friends with Lieutenant Horatio Caine do you mind if we walk with you?! we get lost easily!"  Zariah asks the little girl chuckles then replies "sure!"  Zariah asks "so what's your name?!"  the little girl replies "Amy"  Zariah says "it's nice to meet you Amy.... it's ok to pet him he likes being scratched behind the ears"  Amy smiles then cautiously walks over to the waiting pup and pets him gently scratching behind his ear "see!"  Zariah says Amy smiles Zariah turns when she hears a gunshot go off then turns her attention back to the young lady at her side and strikes up a conversation with her distracting her from whatever is going on outside that is until Horatio calls her and asks her to bring Amy outside with her and Caine "Horatio wants to check up on us so why don't we go outside?! he likes to worry a little too much about too many things and don't worry Caine goes where I go!"  Zariah asks Amy who chuckles then replies with a smile "ok!"  she takes Zariah's hand and they walk outside with Caine walking inbetween them once outside they walk over to a Horatio who was talking to the paramedic who was taking care of the mother who got shot in the arm "made a new friend already I see!"  Horatio says when he sees them "she just didn't want to get lost!"  Zariah replies looking down at her and Amy's entwined hands Amy chuckles Horatio smiles "god it hurts"  Cheri says as she holds her now wrapped bleeding arm "get used to it I'm going to have to extract that bullet for evidence"  Horatio replies turning his attention to Amy's mother "thank you for saving my life"  Cheri says looking into Horatio's eyes "my only concern is your daughter right now"  Horatio replies then he says "officer...."  a dark skinned police officer walks over to him "can you bring her to the hospital please?"  Cheri asks Amy squeezes Zariah's hand as the officer replies "yes ma'am"  then the paramedics pull the stretcher Cheri was on toward the ambulance "the little girl stays with us you understand?"  Horatio says to the officer as soon as Cheri was out of range the officer nods "we'll take care of her Calvin"  Zariah promises the officer smiles at her then says "of that I have no doubt Miss Tempest!"  Horatio smiles.... Horatio works it so that Zariah becomes temporary caretaker of Amy which made the young lady very happy Zariah and Caine took Amy everywhere a child her age would find fun even the ones Amy suggested she also introduced Amy to her siblings and their pups which Amy seemed to love the most for she had someone to play with and even learned some sign language which Olivia let her test out on her making both girls laugh especially when Amy got something wrong Horatio of course called and checked up on them and smiled when he heard laughter coming from the other end of his phone "she's doing horribly!"  Zariah teases Horatio chuckles then replies with a smile in his tone "I can tell!"  she tells him "I did my usual introduced her to children close to her age then took them out to the Seaquarium, Flamingo Park, Jungle Island, Safari Adventure places she wanted to see but never got a chance too.... I know I gotta stop spoiling them or I'm never going to get rid of them!"  he chuckles "I have to give her back don't I?!"  she asks softly "unfortunately"  he replies she sighs then says "let me know when!"  he replies "will do!"  she says softly "I love you Ratio"  he replies with a smile in his tone "I love you too"  then they hang up the fact that she asked the same question she did when she took care of Erin told Horatio that she didn't trust Amy's mother either and he hated the fact that Amy had to go back to her fake uncaring mother as much as Zariah and Calleigh did.... Zariah and Caine take Amy to the Crime Lab to meet Duke which Calleigh was not expecting "I figured it would be better if she met the man who might join the brigade that's trying to help her live a better life than she's had! I'm betting trust comes just as easy for her as it does for me luckily she's young enough that she can learn to trust again much sooner than I ever had! redheads with a badge are one thing but every other adult.... not so much!"  Zariah explains Calleigh smiles "um.... it looks like Ry has something hopefully work related so we'll be stealing your dad and taking him for ice cream.... if that's alright with you!"  Zariah says when she sees Ryan walk towards them Calleigh chuckles then replies with a smile "yeah that's fine y'all have fun"  Zariah teases "we'd bring some back for you but it might become a puddle of ooey gooey sticky goodness by the time we got here!"  Calleigh chuckles then waves the small group away as Ryan gets closer and Duke, Zariah, Amy and Caine walk towards the elevator climb on and ride down to the lobby then out the door to Zariah's car, climb in, buckle up then drive off.... Horatio never called to inform Zariah when it was time to hand Amy back over to her mother and Cheri and Child Services couldn't find them because Zariah gave them a non existent number to call if they needed her for anything while Amy was out with Duke and Zariah Zariah had her take Caine out onto the beach to swim and play which she did excitedly without question "just stay where we can see you"  Zariah tells her Amy nods with a grin on her face then hugs her and rushes towards the beach and Caine follows with an excited gait Duke looks at her oddly "I know I have to give her to the State soon but I thought that you and I could look up some families for her, I would rather know that she will be safe wherever she gets placed and no she can't stay with me and Horatio! I would not want to put her in anymore danger and with his job she will be placed in the center of it! and I'm not ready to be a full blown mother which would not be fair to her! she deserves the world and instead was raised in a small version of hell so....!"  Zariah tells him then she takes her laptop out of her canvas bag and they look through all the family's who want to adopt and find a few good candidates "I wish I could take it a step further and have her meet them but I don't want to get her hopes up if she finds one she likes"  she tells him as soon as they finish he nods "we should get her some dinner before sending her back to the MDPD"  she says he nods then she calls Amy over and Amy and Caine rush over then they all head back to the Miami-Dade Police Department just in time for Duke to meet Amy's mother and Zariah gives the Social Worker the information on the family's she and Duke believe would be a good choice for Amy the Social Worker seemed shocked that Zariah did that but Horatio smiled when he was told what she had done.... Amy of course HAD to say goodbye to Zariah, Horatio and Caine before she was taken to meet one of the family's Duke and Zariah had picked for her "I thought so!"  Amy says when she sees Horatio's hand in Zariah's Zariah chuckles then kneels down and gives her a hug "stay brave ok?!"  Zariah whispers into her ear "I will!"  Amy replies then she hugs her just a little tighter once she lets go Zariah stands up and watches as Amy hands Horatio her crocheted sunflower bookmark "you lost your place"  Horatio says as he holds it carefully in his hands "I can find it"  Amy replies with a smile she scratches Caine behind his ear then walks back over to the Social Worker who stands by her car waiting for her with Duke at her side Zariah waves at Duke with a smile and Duke waves back with a smile then he along with the Social Worker and Amy climb into the car and drive away "yeah you can"  Horatio says as he watches the car leave the parking lot Zariah chuckles softly he smiles then kisses her lips....