Title: Club Descent: The Meeting

Author: Aeon Cole

Rating: FRM

Genre: AU, angst, hurt/comfort

Warning: Slash

Fandom: CSI Miami

Pairing: Horatio/Speed

Challenge: Lover100

Table: table-c

Prompt: #31 Wrong

Word Count: 2000

Summary: A chance meeting at a club does not work out as he'd hoped.

Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me and I am making no money from this.

Author's Note: This is NOT part of my H/Speed universe. This is my first AU. I have plans to turn this into a limited series.

Dr. Timothy Speedle paced around his lab at Miami University with the letter in his hand. Every time he looked at it his temper flared again until he could take it no longer. He let out a loud growl and furiously swiped his arm over one of the lab tables, scattering beakers and test tubes to the floor. The sound of breaking glass alerted his lab assistant, Jessica, to yet another temper tantrum from her boss. He had become more temperamental and moody of late and she was becoming worried. She had even gone so far as to tell him that he needed to find some guy to screw him senseless for a weekend and that maybe that would mellow him out a bit.

She'd been working for the Chemistry Department for almost a year and she remembered how excited she had been to be assigned to work with the renowned bio-chemist. He was tops in his field, young and good looking. Of course later on she'd found out he was also gay. And even though his research was controversial, she was still eager to work with him. Unfortunately, because what he did involved stem cells, he was restricted to animal testing only. But his work on spinal cord regeneration looked promising, if only his hands weren't tied by a short sighted administration.

She slowly pushed the door to the lab open and saw her boss down on the floor beginning to clean up the mess he'd made. She sighed and shook her head then knelt down next to him.

"Let me help you with that," she said. She glanced at him sideways but he didn't meet her eyes. "What was it this time?" she asked.

Without looking at her, he stood then strode over to the trash can and tossed out the broken glass he'd collected. Turning back to her, he grabbed the letter he'd tossed onto the lab table and thrust it in her direction. She took the letter from him and read it.

"I don't need this right now, you know," Tim said in frustration.

She looked up from the letter and said, "But you get one of these every couple of months. I don't see what the big deal is this time."

"I don't know why they have to persecute my work like this," he said as he began pacing again. He ran his fingers through his already ruffled hair. "They're threatening to take my grant away again, Jess."

She walked over and placed a hand on his arm. "This is routine, Tim. Every time a big-wig from Washington comes down here, the admins freak out and worry about their federal funding. This will blow over."

"I'm making progress, Jess. I really am. I know it's slow, but any step forward is progress." He shook his head. "You, of all people, know how important this is to me."

Jess nodded. She knew very well just how important the idea of being able to regenerate a damaged spinal cord was to Tim. Several months after she had started working for him and after another one of those letters, he had taken off without saying a word to anyone. Everyone in the department had told her to just let him be, that he did this all the time, but she wasn't the sort of person to simply ignore a situation like that. She'd found him at his apartment with a bottle of scotch. That night he'd told her about Andrew, the accident, and the ensuing year prior to his death. And he'd told her about their life together before the accident. She had had a much better idea of what drove her boss after that night and they had quickly become friends.

Jess looked up at him. She wished she could look at him eye to eye but she was a head shorter than he was so she had to rely on his willingness to look her in the eye. He stared over her head for a moment before meeting her gaze. She recognized that look. He was thinking of running off again.

Confirming her suspicion, he finally said, "I need to get out of here for a while." He took off his lab coat and tossed it onto one of the tables, then he grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door.

Jess called after him, "Wait a minute. What about your class this afternoon?" It was almost a rhetorical question. She knew what he was going to say.

As he donned his jacket he said, "You teach it."

She rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm not your slave, you know."

Tim turned to face her with a smirk. "Sorry but you're not my type," he retorted.

It was then that she realized where he was running off to. "You're going to that club again, aren't you?"

Tim walked back over to her. "What difference does it make to you where I'm going?" he asked.

Jess shook her head and said, "I care what happens to you. And you're just going to go off and lose yourself in some freako fetish club, find some anonymous guy to screw and think it's going to make everything else go away?"

"I'm sorry but aren't you the one who told me to do exactly that a few weeks back?"

"That's not what I meant," she said. "You need a relationship, stability, not a quick fuck."

"I think I know what I need, Jess," Tim retorted. "And I promise you, it won't be quick." He saw a slight blush rise on her neck and he softened his voice. "Just do my class for me today. I promise I'll make it up to you."

Jess stared into his puppy dog eyes. He always seemed to have this way of getting what he wanted from her. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it," she said.

He shot her a smile and headed back to the door. "Thanks, and I'll see you Monday," he called over his shoulder.

She turned back to the lab table to continue with some work when what he'd just said hit her brain. "Monday," she muttered. Then she called to him, "But it's only Thursday."

"Callin' in sick," she heard him say as the lab door closed.

With a sigh she muttered, "Why does that not surprise me."

888

Outside Club Descent, Horatio Caine sat in his car contemplating his next move. It had been a long and difficult week. There were too many cases to work and not enough people to work them. It had been especially difficult since Megan had left. He needed a break, a distraction. He'd never been to this particular club before, but it was far enough outside of Miami proper so that he was fairly certain that no one would recognize him. After all it wouldn't look good to have the head of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab caught in a gay fetish club hooking up with some random guy for some D and S play. Once he was convinced that nobody had followed him, he exited his car and walked to the front entrance of the club. He had changed out of his trademark suit and into a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. Never having been here before he hoped that he would not stand out too much.

Tim sat at the bar surrounded by young men. He was a regular at Club Descent and everyone there knew him. He had changed from his fairly straight-laced professor clothes into something more suitable to his current environment, skin-tight black leather pants and a purple silk shirt, which he kept unbuttoned. He knew what he was looking for and he knew exactly how to attract it. After all he was still young and with his scruffy good looks he rarely ever had trouble picking up a partner for a weekend.

The front door to the club opened and the new patron strode up to the bar and took a seat. Tim glanced over at him and was immediately taken. The man was tall and a bit older than the club kids he usually saw there. He had bright red hair which made him stand out from the others and he had an air of authority about him. Tim couldn't help staring and this didn't go unnoticed by his young entourage. One of the boys tried placing his arm around Tim's waist, a move designed to stake his claim, but Tim quickly brushed him off and made his way over to the new stranger.

He took a seat next to him and ordered another scotch. Horatio looked up at the bartender and said, "Make that two, please."

Tim looked over at him and said, "I've never seen you here before. First time?"

"In this club, yes," Horatio answered.

Then he looked over at the young man who'd addressed him. They locked eyes and for a moment Horatio was lost. He thought that the young man in front of him was absolutely beautiful. He was tall and thin, but not too thin. This muscular chest was visible through his open shirt and covered in a pelt of black hair. He carried a five o'clock shadow that seemed to suit him perfectly and head of curly black hair that looked like it had never seen a comb. And his eyes were a deep chocolate brown and carried a sadness that just made Horatio want to pull him into his arms. The total affect was stunning and he felt an instant connection with the young man that scared the crap out of him. This wasn't what he'd come here looking for.

After a few moments Horatio became aware that he was staring and that he hadn't said anything. The problem was that he was suddenly very nervous and when he got nervous he tended to lose track of his thoughts. But Tim was also lost and hadn't even noticed the glaring silence that was passing between them. He was staring into the most beautiful crystal blue eyes he'd ever seen. The moment was only broken when the bartender set their drinks down in front of them. Horatio suddenly looked away, embarrassed that he'd been staring. He picked up his drink and took a swig, trying to steady his nerves.

Tim did the same before he asked, "So, what's your name?"

Not sure whether or not to lie, Horatio was silent for a moment before he said, "Horatio. What's yours?"

"Tim," Tim answered.

"You a regular here," Horatio asked a bit hesitantly.

Tim shrugged. "You could say that." They lapsed into silence again before Tim asked, "So, what are you into?"

Horatio's heart started pounding and he was starting to feel claustrophobic. He was beginning to think that it was a mistake to come here. He didn't know why this young man was getting under his skin and he wasn't looking for a relationship. But something about Tim just screamed at him that if he got involved, it wouldn't be just a one night stand. He downed the rest of his drink before turning back to his companion.

"Look, I um, I think,… this is um, I mean…" He hated when he got tongue tied like that. He couldn't form any coherent thoughts while he was looking into those eyes.

Tim didn't know where the impulse came from, but he reached out and placed one hand at the back of Horatio's neck and before either man knew what was happening, their lips met. Unconsciously, Horatio opened his mouth and the kiss very quickly grew heated causing both men to moan. Then just a suddenly as it had begun, Horatio pulled away. He stood up from the bar stool and took a step back.

"I've um,… I'm sorry. I've gotta go," he said quickly and disappeared through the front door leaving Tim standing there wondering what had just happened.

TBC