Summary: Horatio gets seriously injured in a home invasion from a stalker he had no idea he had. While the team works to protect him and Kyle, he bonds deeper with his son as secrets from the past are revealed. Horatio also finds himself falling for a certain someone. But his stalker remains hidden and dangerous...

Author's Note: Yelina and Ray Jr do not exist and never have existed in this story.

-I-

Horatio was very much a workaholic. Something those around him often pointed out. They often tried to get him to leave work early, but very seldom did they actually manage to make him do so. It's not that he couldn't stop and go home at the usual time like most people. He didn't particularly like staying late with paperwork. However, not only was the paperwork part of his job that he had to do and it was easier to do once most people had gone home. But it was also a way of not going home to an empty house. Horatio tried to deny it both to himself and others, but the truth was that he felt lonely in his beach house that he had only to himself.

Sure sometimes Kyle would stay over, but the boy was in Afghanistan and wouldn't be home for a while again. So Horatio was alone. He didn't' like being alone. But it wasn't likely to change anytime soon. He wasn't one for dating, finding it hard to find women he could trust not to break his heart and accept the hours he worked. Not to mention he didn't want what happened to Marisol to happen to someone else. His brother-in-law in particular had tried talking to Horatio about dating again. Horatio couldn't do it. He didn't feel ready. He still missed Marisol and still felt guilty about her death.

So once again, he was in his office after hours and reading through a case-file. The last two weeks had been quite slow and he had had a chance to catch up on some administrative tasks, so he knew he was soon likely going to run out of the excuse that he had a pile of files to read on his desk and that's why he stayed late. The once big pile of paperwork was getting very small.

A knock on the door interrupted him and he looked up to see his brother-in-law Eric poke his head through the door.

"H?" Eric asked.

"Yes?"

"You haven't told me that you got an admirer." Eric smirked.

"A what?" Horatio asked confused.

Sometimes he thought Eric made things up just to see how he would react.

"Yeah, you got an admirer." Eric said, "Someone dropped off a box of chocolate just for you at the reception."

Horatio frowned and got up from his chair. He followed a grinning Eric to the reception area and there on the desk was a box of chocolates. There was an enveloped as well addressed to him and Horatio opened it to find a note inside:

To a true hero that I love

Eric peeked inside the box and grabbed a chocolate. Horatio took it out his hand.

"Don't. Could be bad." Horatio said, "I have no idea who they're from."

"You're right. Sorry." Eric said, "No idea, huh?"

"No." Horatio frowned, "I should have this envelope and note printed tomorrow."

"Don't you get fan-mail all the time?" Eric asked.

"No. Never like this." Horatio said.

Eric frowned as well. Usually someone knew from whom they had received a gift, but his redheaded friend and brother seemed genuinely surprised. And this was the first time it had happened. No one had ever received a gift before from someone outside. Those things were frowned upon and could potentially be quite dangerous if someone wanted to hurt the team.

"I need to get rid of it." Horatio sighed.

"Wait, until tomorrow and let's test it." Eric said.

Horatio nodded and grabbed the box. He walked back to his office and left if there. He decided it was time to go home for the night. Eric was waiting for him and they left together. While they were waiting for the elevator to take them to the garage Eric kept wondering if someone they had met recently had an extra strong reason to be after Horatio. His beloved brother-in-law had no shortage of enemies, but they hadn't done anything recently to anger anyone in particular. So why now? Hopefully it was just someone that was truly grateful for the team and Horatio's help and wanted to thank them. But what if it wasn't?

"Good night, Eric." Horatio said and made Eric snap out of his thoughts.

"Night, H." He said.

They left in their separate cars, going different ways. None of them aware that they were being watched.

-I-

When he got home Horatio realized that he was hungry, he made a quick sandwich and ate it while watching the news. He flipped through some channels once the news was over but couldn't find anything interesting to watch. He looked out as it started to rain and with a sigh knew that it wouldn't be a good choice going to the beach tonight. It always made him relax to sit on his beach and hear the ocean. It was also the place where he did a lot of thinking, as he found it difficult to do in the house with so many memories in it.

Admitting to himself that he wasn't going to get much done tonight he got undressed and headed for bed. His old bones creaked as he laid down under the covers. He knew sleep wouldn't come easily for him tonight, as was the case most nights. So he just laid in bed and listened to the rain beat down on his windows and back porch. Eventually his eyelids got heavy and he fell asleep. Albeit an uneasy sleep.

During the night he was unaware that he was being watched. A figure stood, very well shielded in his backyard and watched him with binoculars. It was the first time the figure had dared to come so close, but the unyielding desire to be as close to Horatio as possible made it impossible to just continue watching from the car. The figure had been following Horatio for weeks and the redhead had no idea, because the figure had made sure never to been noticed. It was too soon. Their time would come, but it wasn't time just yet. Soon they would be together.

To be continued...