Author's Note: This is my take on Beyonce's song 'Halo'. While not her biggest fan, there's something about this song that's got me hooked. It might be a little cliché (and very soppy!) but I thought it was perfect for this couple, if you try and desperately look past the disaster that was S4. Oh...and now that summer's here, I promise to get cracking on my 'Getting There' fic which will eventually....get there. Happy reading.

Disclaimer: CBS and own CSI:M. 'Halo' is owned by EMI Records and Beyonce.

THIS IS LITTLE FIC IS ESPECIALLY FOR LENI…FOR BEING A BRILLIANT STAR AND AN AMAZING FRIEND.

HALO

The beep of the alarm immediately woke him up. The poor clock radio barely had the chance to chirp again before a hand reached out and violently smacked the 'Snooze' button down.

The warmth of waking up beside her oozed, rather deliciously, through him and had him pulling the sleeping figure closer into him. He glanced down along the line of his chin and noticed that she was already fast asleep, one hand thrown carelessly across his waist, a leg curling around him under the sheets. He smiled, wondering how she fell asleep so quickly. Gazing up at the unfamiliar lemon coloured ceiling of her bedroom, he vaguely registered the strains of an unknown song filtering through the speaker.

Remember those walls I built

His concentration immediately snapped back to the song when he heard the opening lyrics. Yes, he remembered the walls he built. The ones that had come up after Yelina picked Raymond. The walls that failed miserably at keeping out their attraction for each other, but that never failed to remind him that she was his brother's wife…dead brother or resurrected, Yelina could never be his. Yes, the walls that were built to keep the pain out; where heartache simply could not exist as an option.

Well, baby they're tumbling down

Yes, walls that he wanted no other woman to break down. They had fallen the moment he saw her in his office.

And they didn't even put up a fight

Yes, and now he was getting himself involved in something much worse; where he had so much more to lose than he ever did with Yelina. Heart, Body and Soul.

They didn't even make a sound

Yes, he thought, his defences really hadn't stood a chance against her. He had felt the connection immediately. Hell, he had been embarrassed about his instinctive attraction towards her.

I found a way to let you in

Yes, he remembered standing on the pier, and then suddenly she was by his side asking him to dinner. He tried to refuse, but it was as pointless as trying to stop the ocean from lapping the beach beneath them.

But I never really had a doubt

Yes, even as he saw the mischievous sparkle in her hazel eyes and his mind came up with a hundred and one reasons why he should stick to 'No, thank you,' he knew that he didn't want to not know what it was like to be with this woman.

Standing in the light of your halo

Yes, there were times when he swore that she had been sent especially for him. His unanswered prayer of not having to roam the carnage in his life - to not destroy everything that he touched had, he thought, been miraculously answered.

I got my angel now

Yes, he now understood completely. She completed him. She perfected him. She was everything he had ever wanted.

It's like I've been awakened

Yes, he most certainly had been awakened. It was re-discovering the joy of seeing the beauty of every little thing around him. Yes, being awakened to the fact that life was a precious gift and that he had let his job jade his life too much.

Every rule I had you breakin'

Yes, he had her breaking every rule; personal and professional. He had felt a little swell of pride that she had called him instead of Eric when she was busted for buying marijuana. He had instinctively taken over her welfare. He had become so engrossed in thinking of a loophole to clear her that he had all but forgotten about Eric until he saw her awkward body language when Eric walked up to her at the front desk, asking if he had forgotten their lunch date.

It's the risk that I'm takin'

Yes, that had been a big risk at the time; his relationship with Eric had become tense from then. Really, when he thought about it, there was nothing risk-free or safe about their sudden relationship at all. A delicate, tightrope balance was all their relationship was about and that was the beauty; it kept them both beautifully suspended from their harsh realities.

I ain't never gonna shut you out

He remembered his first 'date' with her a.k.a "It's just dinner"; at the end of dinner, he remembered standing on the little ledge outside her apartment that served as a balcony. She joined him shortly bearing dessert and asked him what he was thinking. He had blushingly stammered that he had been thinking of her. To his surprise, upon hearing his response she had blushed too. Days later, when he asked why she had blushed she quite unabashedly replied that she had been surprised that she had got such an honest answer from the notoriously emotionally repressed (according to Eric that is, she had hastened to add) Horatio Caine.

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace

He remembered the first night they had spent together, not more than a week after their first date. He found himself using obscure muscles and doing things he had forgotten how to do. She had been able to take it all and yet she had still overwhelmed him on a scale that he had not thought possible.

Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

Yes, he had the chance to start again. To make life what he had dreamed of making it…and making it with her. He looked down at her again and pulled her a little closer towards his chest.

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face

Yes, she was all he needed. He remembered catching her looking at him when she thought he wasn't looking and he remembered her eyes; they had said everything he needed and wanted.

Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

Yes, he prayed it would not fade away because without her, he would fade away. He felt his gut clench in fear at the thought of her possible, impending doom of disease.

Hit me like a ray of sun

IF he could pick a line to describe her that would probably be it. She gave him strength in way that made him fall for her even more.

Burning through my darkest night

No, it was more like darkest nights. His insomnia affects them both. He remembers being held by her the first night in weeks since they had been together. She seemed to sense his absence from her side and automatically knew where to find him…at the lab. While she didn't know what drove his inner demons, he knew she trusted him enough. His greatest fear was driving her away if she truly knew what he was capable of. He could only hope that he was ready when she asked why.

You're the only one that I want

He had told her about Yelina and their history. She had been withdrawn after that, doubtful of feelings. He had never had such impetus to convince anyone to the contrary.

Think I'm addicted to your light

Addicted was probably the right word here he thought. Everything about her essence intoxicated and filled him. It was more extreme than being an addict.

I swore I'd never fall again

Yes, it really did all come back to those walls. Falling in love had never suited him. Each relationship had damaged him more than before, until finally, he hadn't even thought himself worth fixing for another person.

But this don't even feel like falling

He wondered who sang the song…there were too many parallels being drawn here. It made him uncomfortable to think that this could all be pegged down in a song.

Gravity can't forget

No, gravity certainly did not play a part in this erratic world that he inhabited right now.

To pull me back to the ground again

Yes, he thought that he could get quite used to this weightless feeling of being foolishly in love, of living on cloud 9 where supposedly nothing mattered when everything really did with lives hanging by threads.

Feels like I've been awakened

"Good morning," she yawned sleepily, stretching out gracefully against him. Her eyes were cloudy with sleep.

Every rule I had you breakin'

Yes, Raymond's secret had come out. She hadn't fail to notice his relaxed posture and boyish gait when he had spoken to Raymond over the phone. But what did it matter, Raymond was safe and right now everyone was happy. In Horatio Caine's book…that was the most important thing.

The risk that I'm takin'

He leaned down to kiss her in response. The risk was dire…he had everything to lose and if he did lose her to cancer, he wasn't sure he could come back.

"Hmm," she murmured contently when he broke away, "You certainly are up early thinking about crime."

I'm never gonna shut you out

"Actually, Marisol, I was thinking about you." he replied listening to the fading lyrics.

His last coherent thought before she grinned at his words and climbed to straddle him was that he really needed to buy that record.

-FIN-