Author's Notes: This idea has been floating around in my head for a long time. It was inspired by the season six premier promo in which there is a quick shot of Horatio shoving Rick Bates' face onto a table. I really wish I could have seen that scene and the dialogue that went along with it, but they cut it from the episode, so I decided to write it out myself. I think this scene or something like it probably went in the episode "Dangerous Son" in between when Valera confirmed Kyle as Horatio's son by DNA, and when Horatio talked to Yelina in the hallway.
Disclaimer: CSI Miami belongs to CBS.
Horatio's Shock
by OkieBeth05
Horatio has just confirmed by DNA that the 16 year old boy Eric brought in for questioning earlier in the day, who was suspected of kidnapping Kathleen Newberry, Kyle Harmon, is in fact his own son.
Needless to say, Horatio was furious. A split second flash back had him thinking about Julia Eberly, the boy's mother. It had been such a long time ago that it seemed almost unreal. He hadn't thought of her in years. When she'd left him all those years ago she had broken his heart, but over time he had moved on, even to the point of being able to forget about her.
Then he heard Valera's voice: "Orders on the kidnapper are shoot to kill. What are you gonna do?"
Horatio pulled himself together and thought about the question for a moment. He looked at Valera: "Find Him."
As Horatio left the DNA lab a million different thoughts were racing through his head: How could she have lied to him like this? How could he have let it happen? Why hadn't he seen this coming? What would everyone think? What did his son think? It didn't seem real, nothing about this situation made any sense. How could he have a child and not even know about him? And yet the fact was that Kyle Harmon was his son. It was a truth hidden within the boys DNA. Nothing could change that. And nothing could change the past sixteen years.
Sixteen years old? His little boy was sixteen years old and in some serious trouble. Why was he only just finding out about him now, and like this, completely by accident? Thinking about that question made Horatio furious. Julia had intentionally forced him to abandon and ignore his own child for the boy's first 16 years of life, and if it had been up to her, he would have never found him. Who knows what might have happened to Kyle, what still might? Horatio didn't know what he would do if he ever saw Julia again.
As he was contemplating this, he noticed Natalia heading his way. "Rick just confessed," she said, "he's writing his statement out now. Calleigh's in there with him. H, it seems that Rick blackmailed the kid, Kyle, into kidnapping the prison guard's wife for him, by threatening to tell us that Kyle was the one who killed their Parole Officer. I guess the boy felt he had no where to turn. Horatio…Horatio…can you hear me, Horatio?"
Horatio was no longer listening to Natalia. He could see Rick Bates in the interrogation room wearing a look of smug passivity, despite the fact he would be going back to prison. It was almost as though he didn't care that that day he had murdered someone, and turned a little boy, his little boy's, life into a living nightmare.
The more Horatio thought about this the more his rage threatened to boil over. His mind raced with images and thoughts, the image of his son and all the things he would never be able to do. He needed a release. He needed someone to blame. And as Horatio continued to watch Rick in the interrogation room, in the deep irrational part of his mind, Rick became the reason he had never held his child as a baby, the reason he would never be able to hear his son call out "Daddy" or watch him take his first step. The image of Rick the murderer and the idea of that little boy whom Horatio would never be able to hold, blurred as one. And Rick became the focal point of his hatred.
Horatio believed without a shadow of a doubt that Rick knew where Kyle was, and what had happened to him after he'd left the woman Kathleen. Which meant Rick alone stood between Horatio and his child. Horatio may have only just found out about his son, but if nothing else, he knew one thing, he would rather die than lose him now. No one would come between Horatio and his child ever again, if they knew what was good for them. Not Rick, not anyone. Forgetting all about Natalia, IAB, and the fact he was in the crime lab open for the world to watch, even before he realized what he was doing, Horatio found himself marching to the interrogation room. If the door hadn't been propped open already, he would have burst through it. "Where is he?" He practically screamed startling both Calleigh and Rick. They both looked at him simultaneously. "Where is he?" He stressed again, but quieter this time, narrowing his eyes at Rick.
"Where is who?" Rick said sarcastically, pretending not to understand. After his initial startled reaction, Rick had quickly resorted to his smug, arrogant attitude. He was sitting at the table with the pin in his hand ignoring Horatio's obvious anger.
Horatio took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "You know exactly who I'm talking about, Rick. What did you say to him when he came to you without the money? Did you frighten him some more? Did you threaten him again? What was it? If anything happens to him, Rick, I will haunt you forever.
"Oh, you mean the kid?"
"Yes Rick, I mean the kid," Horatio said, trying desperately to remain calm, "now where is he?"
"I don't know," Rick mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. "Why does it even matter? He's just some stupid foster kid. It's not like anybody's going to miss him or anything."
Rick's unashamed stupidity irritated Horatio. "Rick…I'm going to give you thirty seconds to tell me what you did to him…."
"Look, not even his own mother wanted him. Why do you care?"
"That, is none of your concern."
"Look dude, he's probably just the accidental spawn of a prostitute with some corrupt politician, who doesn't even know he exists." At that statement Horatio cringed, but Rick didn't notice. Rick continued, obviously too caught up in hearing himself talk to notice his audiences' disapproval, "All right, you want to know what happened, I'll tell you. That nit wit boy couldn't do one thing right to save his skin. I asked simply for him to kidnap the lady and scare her a little, so Newberry would give me the money. I even gave him my sweater so he could disguise himself, and still he blew it. I told him to meet me by the Biscayne Bay docks when he'd got the job done. Idiot was supposed to come tell me where to pick the money up instead he came to me practically bawling like a baby. Saying something about how the cops had found him out and were sure to track him down."
"Rick I didn't get it, the husband had this really strange cop I'd spoken to earlier today with him on the phone when I called. He recognized me, and now the cops are after me. I told you this would happen" What am I supposed to do now?
"What did you do with the lady?"
"I left her at the old boat arena."
"Idiot, why'd you come here, do you want me to get caught? There's nothing I can do for you? You kidnapped the lady, not me. Now get away from me before the cops come."
"But…this was all your idea? If the cops take me down you are coming down with me."
"That isn't going to happen, kid. I shot our PO, don't think for one second I'd hesitate to kill you." Rick said making his hand into the shape of a gun and pointing his finger at Kyle's forehead. "You remember that gun I had this morning? I always know where I can find it again, if I need it, you catch my drift. You're nothing but a pathetic little worm. Why don't you just crawl in a hole and die somewhere? I don't care, as long as you get away from me."
Meanwhile, Calleigh had made her way to the door. She could tell Horatio wasn't in a very good mood, but she didn't understand what his problem was. She didn't know how she knew this, but she had a feeling this would not end well. She'd decided to go get some of the guys to help just in case Horatio became violent. She'd never seen her boss this angry before. Yes, their had been times he'd come close, but this time it felt like he really would blow his top any second, especially with the way Rick kept goading him on. "I'd better hurry," she thought to herself as she left the room. She saw Frank on the other side of the hallway. "Frank" she yelled out.
Frank thought he heard someone calling his name and when he turned around he saw Calleigh running across the hallway towards him. Something had gotten her excited, he could tell. Whatever it is, it must be important for Calleigh to be making such a scene, he thought to himself, so he stopped to listen to her. "What is it?"
"Frank, its Horatio, I'm afraid he's going to do something stupid. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's really acting strange."
"Alright, where is he and what is he doing." Frank said, not really believing her.
"He's in the interrogation room with Rick Bates. Over there, see." She said, pointing across the hallway towards the interrogation room, where they could see Horatio and Rick through the glass. "I don't know what's got into him, but he just burst into my interrogation with Rick a few minutes ago and started demanding Rick tell him where the kid Kyle is. I didn't know what to do.
By this time Calleigh had drawn the attention of Eric and Natalia, as well as a few of the lab techs, including Valera. When she noticed everyone staring at her, she suddenly felt uncomfortable, but she didn't have time to dwell on the emotion as all of a sudden things started happening inside the interrogation room. Rick made a move to stand up, but before he could get all the way up Horatio, who had been standing behind him at an angle, wrapped his left arm around Ricks abdomen and knocked his right fist into the back of Ricks' head, slamming Ricks body down onto the table. It stunned everybody speechless. They could not believe what they were witnessing, Lieutenant Horatio Caine beating up a suspect?
Horatio continued to hold Rick pinned down to the table. He grabbed a hold of Ricks' pony tail and pulled it back; bringing his face up to Ricks' ear, but everyone could hear Horatio's words as he made no attempt to conceal them. "You're the pathetic little worm, Rick. Where's Kyle Harmon? I don't care what happens to me, if anything has happened to that boy, you will never…
Frank and Eric sprang into action. They had to stop this before Horatio did something that would jeopardize the case and give Rick a case for police brutality. They sprinted into the interrogation room and attempted to pry Horatio off Rick.
By this time a large crowd of lab techs and other lab personnel began congregating outside the glass enclosed room, watching the spectacle inside. They whispered amongst themselves.
"What do you suppose is wrong with H?" One whispered to the man standing next to her.
"I don't know. Who's Kyle Harmon anyway?" He whispered back.
"Isn't he one of the suspects from the murder case this morning?
The man turned to Valera, "I saw you talking to H just a few minutes ago. Do you have any idea what is going on?"
"So, do you know what's wrong with him," Natalia interjected, coming up behind Valera. "Is it something important that we should know about?"
Valera looked at Horatio through the glass and gulped. "I…I think you'd better just wait and let Horatio tell us himself."
Having gone to the reception desk to get her visitor's pass, Yelina Salas made her way to see Horatio. Something about today just didn't add up. His attitude regarding Kyle Harmon, and his unexplained knowledge of the boy's parentage, just kept bugging her. Why had Horatio asked her to delve into Kyle's background in the first place? She was convinced he knew more than he had let on, she would force him to explain himself. Getting off the elevator, Yelina saw a crowd gathering in the hallway so she went over to investigate.
Frank managed to pull Horatio off Rick, while Eric grabbed Rick and took him to another corner of the room. "What is going on Horatio?" Frank asked, "Have you lost your mind, or do you want IAB all over you, all over this lab?" But Horatio ignored him, and kept right on staring Rick down. "Horatio listen to me, whatever is going on, is it worth losing your job over it?"
Horatio blinked and looked at Frank as if coming out of a trance. "Frank, I…I…I just want to know where Kyle Harmon is, that's all.
Rick suddenly spoke up. "I aught to press charges against you for assault old man, you all are witnesses, this man assaulted me and threatened to kill me." Rick said pointing at everyone and no one in particular. "You stupid cop, I'll have your but fired, you'll lose your job, be stripped of your rank, and publicly humiliated, and I'll never see the inside of a jail again. Do you catch my drift?"
Frank turned towards Rick. "You know what Rick, there was no assault here. Nothing happened. None of us saw a thing except, maybe, that a criminal attempted to attack a high ranking and highly respected police officer. Do you get my drift?" Frank made sure everyone heard him. And they all nodded their heads. "Now, I suggest you answer the man's question."
"I, uhh, I," Rick stuttered. "The last time I saw him, he took off in a boat called the Donzi on Biscayne Bay. I told him he might as well be dead, might as well let the cops shoot him, because he wasn't worth anything, and when he got caught his life was over anyway.
"OK!" Frank said exasperated. He then turned to a couple of uniform officers who had just arrived to take Rick to booking. "Get him out of here." He ordered. When they had left, Frank shifted his attention back to Horatio. "Now, would you mind telling me what this is all about?"
Horatio ignored Frank for a minute and turned to Eric. "Eric, alert the coast guard. Kyle is out there somewhere; I want him found, now. I want to know the second He is found. Do you understand?" Horatio sank heavily down into a chair, exhausted.
"Well, Horatio," Frank tried again to get Horatio's attention.
Horatio looked up at Frank "Frank… He's my son."
"Who's your what…?" And then it hit him. "Oh! He's your… Oh! Your SON?" Whatever he'd expected to hear, that wasn't it
"He's my son," Horatio repeated so that everyone could hear him. Standing up once again, he turned to Eric (who still hadn't left), "What are you still doing here? Go!" Eric, wide eyed and curious to find out more, looked at his boss one last time. He had a ton of questions, but he knew better than to test Horatio when he was like this, so he left to do as ordered.
A shocked gasp traveled around the crowd as the truth dawned on them. And then Frank interjected. "All right people, the excitement's over, and you all have jobs to do. Get back to work."
The crowd began to scatter, but Yelina remained out in the hallway. "Well, I guess that answers one question," she thought "but I am still going to talk to him. I guess I'll just have to wait until everything calms down around here." She could see that Frank, Natalia, and Calleigh were cornering Horatio in his office to talk to him, so she decided to wait until they were done. She waited around in the hallway for a good 30 minutes before the team left and Horatio came out of his office looking extremely exhausted and worried. "Horatio," she called out to him. He froze. "Horatio, can I speak to you?"
Horatio turned around and faced her, "Yelina."
She studied his face. "I heard." He didn't answer. "Are you sure the boy is your son?"
"I am." ………
A/N: This ends where the Horatio/Yelina conversation picks up in "Dangerous Son".
