A/N: Some of you must've noticed that when i have problems with my other Fictions I write a OneShot instead. And this isn't an exeption. This time it's no parings (Believe it or not - there's no Horatio/Yelina hints in this - but that doesn't mean i'm not a H/Y shipper. Cos i am - through and through..) So this fic is for Horatio, Ray is the main character though... Read, Review and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer. It's not mine, and i'm not trying to pretend it is. I'm just borrowing them.

My Hero

"Okay everybody - before we end this lesson, I have some homework for you to do. To be handed in on Monday," said Mrs Johnston.

The class went silent. It was Friday afternoon, and it was the last lesson of the week.

"I have a little project for you over the weekend. I want you all to read an report aloud for the class. It can be an report about your dog, a country, your best friend, how to build a chair, the biggest river in the world, or whatever you like. I just want you to write something to read out loud. You have the weekend to think of and idea and write it down, so we all can hear it on Monday morning. Now, good afternoon class."

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Johnston," the class replied.

Raymond Caine Junior left the classroom together with his friends, and after talking a little with them he left and headed back home. He had no idea what he was going to write about; it seemed that all of his friends had an idea about what to write, it didn't make him feel any better. Patrick was, of course, going to write about the puppy he got for his birthday, only a week ago. John would probably write about some car or the other – they were all he cared about anyway. Eric would probably write about some basketball player, and Rex about Harry Potter.

But Ray hadn't got a dog, and he didn't care for cars or Harry Potter. And yes, he liked basketball; he sometimes played it with his friends, but to write an report about it? Never. He just liked to play and watch it. He couldn't write a whole report about a team or a player – he didn't know that much about it, apart from the basics. So what could he write about? What did he care most about?

He didn't know. He had no big interest, not something he could write about, let alone talk about…

He grumbled to himself all the way home, but still hadn't made any progress. Asking Yelina for advice didn't help him either – she had no ideas that were good enough in Ray's opinion.

He really wanted to do a good job with this report, and the fact that he was going to be forced to read it out loud didn't make him feel any better.

For another hour he just sat in the kitchen, brainstorming. He was, however, interrupted at a quarter to five by the doorbell.

"I'll get it," he called to Yelina, who was sitting with some paperwork in her office.

"Uncle Horatio!" Ray yelled as he saw who was standing on the doorstep.

"Hey buddy!" said Horatio Caine and gave his nephew a bear hug.

"Mom, Horatio's here!" Rat called, but it wasn't necessary; she was already on her way into the hall.

"Hey," she said and gave Horatio a quick hug.

"Hey," he replied.

"Come in!" She said and moved so he could get through the door.

"I was…I was wondering if I could take Ray Junior on a fishing trip this weekend?" Horatio asked as they sat down around the kitchen table. "If you don't mind," he added, looking at Yelina.

"Oh, please mom, let me go fishing with uncle Horatio!" Ray begged.

Before Yelina could answer, Horatio spoke again; "I know you have a lot of paperwork to do this weekend, and if I took Ray fishing you could get those things done."

"But you must have a lot of paperwork too, Horatio! It wasn't 'a little paperwork' that this case brought us!"

"And I feel that I need a rest from all of this paperwork. A fishing trip with Ray would certainly make me think of things other than paperwork."

"I don't know, Horatio… Ray has an report to finish this weekend, and he hasn't even started yet."

"But mom, I've been thinking of it all day! I'm out of ideas at the moment! All I can do now is to hope for a brainwave – and I could just as easily get that while fishing." He looked hopefully at his mother.

"Oh, alright!" said Yelina, exasperatedly, not quite willing to have two Caine males gang up on her.

"Yay!" Ray said and jumped with happiness. Horatio smiled his thanks to her. It had been a long week and he really needed a break from work. He just needed to get away from everything.

"Why don't you stay for dinner Horatio? And then you two will be able to leave early in the morning."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," he replied smiling at her again.

The two Caines left early the following day, and fished to their hearts' content the whole of Saturday. They arrived home on Sunday evening. Ray had –of course—forgotten everything that had anything to do with school and the words 'report' and 'homework' hadn't been mentioned once since they had left on Saturday morning. When they finally got back on Sunday evening, happy and with new things to remember and tell Yelina about, Ray still had no idea what his report was going to be about. The three of them were sitting in the living room when Yelina first mentioned it, and Ray told her that he was going to start writing in a minute. So he had no choice but to leave Yelina and Horatio on the sofas and go up to his room and start with his homework.

Sitting down on his chair behind his desk, he looked down at the blank paper. The only thing he could think of to write about was his weekend, and how fun would that be talk about out loud?

Not that much fun.

So he sat there thinking… What did matter the most to him? What on earth did he care the most about? What could he write about? Deciding that he had no choice but to write about this weekend, he bent over the paper and wrote;

This weekend, my uncle Horatio and I went on a fishing trip. Horatio and I sometimes do that, it is really fun because we always talk and have a lot of fun…

But there he stopped. He had just gotten a much better idea. So he cancelled out what he had written and bent down over the paper again.

The report took more than an hour and a half to write, and when he had finished his work, he leaned back and re-read what he had written. He was proud of it. He had really written something he was proud of, and he couldn't wait for tomorrow morning now, when he'd get the chance to read it to the class.

A knock on the door interrupted him in his thoughts, and Yelina entered the room.

"How's it going?" She asked.

"I just finished it."

"But that's great Ray!" she said and smiled. "Horatio is just about to leave, I thought you'd like to say goodbye."

Without answering the eleven year old boy ran out of the room and down the stairs.

Yelina looked at the paper on the desk. She picked it up and started to read.

A few minutes later, she came down the stairs and heard her son say "Thank you so much uncle Horatio, it was awesome!"

"You're welcome buddy, thank you for wanting to come." The boy smiled. "So did you finish the report?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah."

"What's it about?"

"That's a secret, you'll find out later," he answered.

Yelina watched her son look up at his uncle. She was very impressed with what she had read. And she couldn't help notice the way Ray looked at Horatio was… there was something special.

The following morning Yelina had no problem waking Ray up; he almost jumped out of the bed, and was ready for school fifteen minutes earlier than he normally was.

When he arrived at school, everyone was discussing their reports and what they had written about. But when someone asked Ray about his report, he just shook his head and said; "You'll see."

So when Mrs. Johnston came in from the corridor and entered the classroom, she was surprised at how fast they all went to they places and became quiet.

"Good morning everybody," she said.

"Good morning, Mrs. Johnston."

"I hope you all have finished your reports, because you all are going to read it out loud this lesson. We have two hours, and for those who don't have time to do it this time, they will hand the papers to me and I'll keep them until next time we meet.

So who wants to begin?"

To her utter surprise everyone's hands were in the air. This was very unusual, especially when it was about reading something out loud. There weren't many who liked to read things in front of the class, but today all of them had their hands in the air! All of them were hoping they would be the one who was going to read.

"Rex, you can begin," she said and Rex rose from his chair. Ray had been right about Rex; he had written about Harry Potter. And after him came Alexandra, who had, of course, written about her horse.

And then, finally, she said his name. "Raymond, you're next."

Raymond rose from his chair and cleared his throat. Looking down at his paper, he started to read;

"What is a hero? I ask myself. What is it that makes a hero? And what kinds of heroes are there?

To answer my last question: there are many kinds of heroes. Your hero can be an idol; a singer, an actor, a basketball player," (as he said this he looked up at Eric), "or an author. A hero can be a character in a film, like James Bond. Or a character in a book, like Harry Potter." (When he said this he looked directly at Rex) "It can be a person in a magazine, like Superman. But a hero can also be a person you know, like a friend or someone in the family. In other words; a hero can be almost anything or anyone.

And then we come to another of my questions: What is a hero?

Well, I think the answers changes, depending on who you are asking. After thinking about it, I've decided that a true hero – in my eyes- is a person with a goal in his life. A real goal. And a person who knows what he wants. A person who has a good goal he wants to reach. I also think a hero is a person who cares for other people and wants peace in the world. A person who cares for others as much as himself.

And now we come down to a new question.

Do I know anyone who is, in my eyes, a hero? Do I have a hero?

And at this question I don't have to think long. Yes, I know someone who is a true hero. This person cares more for other people than for himself. He wants nothing more than peace and he does anything to help those he loves and those who need his help.

This person is my uncle. Horatio Caine, Lieutenant of the Miami-Dade Crime lab.

What is a hero, if not a person who gives his life for others? He helps those who cannot be helped by anyone else;

The victims.

And what is a hero, if not a person who spends each day catching murderers and making Miami a safer place to live in?

My uncle has a goal in his life: to help those who cannot be helped by anyone else. To speak for those who cannot speak for themselves anymore.

The victims.

And to make Miami a safer place to live in. "So now I've found my hero;
Lieutenant Horatio Caine." He took a new breath and looked up at the class.
"I hope you all find your hero, because sometimes it's good to have someone to look up to, just so you don't forget to keep trying to reach your own goal."

First no one moved or said anything. It seemed like the whole class was
holding their breath. But then Mrs. Johnston rose, and clapped her hands. His class-mates followed her example, and soon the whole class was clapping. Ray turned his head and looked at Mrs. Johnston; her eyes looked moist, but she beamed at him and kept clapping her hands.

"Well done Raymond. Well done."

A couple of hours later school was over, and Ray went out of the school-building. Just as Horatio had promised, he was waiting outside in his car. Horatio had promised Ray that he could spend the afternoon at the lab, so Ray jumped into the car, and they drove off to the lab. As they approached the parking outside the Miami Dade Police Department, Horatio asked;
"So are you going to tell me what your report was about? What was the secret?" They jumped out of the hummer.

"I wrote about what a hero is and who my hero is. That's you Uncle Horatio." Horatio stopped abruptly outside the entrance and looked down at his nephew. He was at a loss for words, his mind trying to think of an answer.

"Thank… Thank-you Ray… It means a lot to me."

The boy took a step closer his uncle and hugged him.
"You sure are my hero, Uncle Horatio."

The end.

Hope you liked it! - And don't forget to send me a review!

Cheers!