Title: Not All Bad

Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab/Miami Heat/LJ)

Summary: A challenge that I sort of issued to myself. CBS blames "Born to Kill"'s suck factor to the fact that they had no budget. So, I figure that an episode done solely in one room couldn't cost that much. This story involves the whole team, and only one room. But what will they face in this room? Post "Born to Kill".

Category: Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio

Genres: Angst, Drama, Episode Related, Established Relationship, Friendship, Hurt Comfort, Suspense

Characters: Horatio Caine, Calleigh Duquesne, Eric Delko, Natalia Boa Vista

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 1 "Flicker"

Author's Notes: I left my jump drive with all of my current open stories on it at home instead of making it in my bag; it's hanging out on my dresser at home. So, instead I've decided to start this one ;) This is my good use of my two day a week, four hour a day class on short stories (not creative writing…the literature one).

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The flicker of the lights didn't reveal much to Horatio as he stared out at the scene in front of him. It was a lot more gruesome in his mind than the crime scene he'd just escaped from. The lighting was a yellow-brownish hue and was barely there, it just flickered. It had taken him a moment, but his eyes adjusted to the poor light. Calleigh was closest to him, she was slumped against him with a large gash in her forehead bleeding and her arm was curled between her body and his while the other was hidden under her body. Besides the head injury, was she further injured? He moved his gaze past her…he could check on her in a moment, but first he needed to further analyze the scene. Eric and Natalia were also present, on the other end of the cramped metal space. Eric was lying on his side, his face pressed against the cold tile, and a bit of blood spattered on the tile. Natalia was slumped with her head against one of the small section of wall near the doors, her head just pressed against it. He didn't see any obvious sign of injury, but sure there'd be some kind of complaint later when she was conscious.

Horatio, himself, didn't know if he was injured quite yet…either. He was sure that something would hurt later…at the very least be bruised, but he wasn't feeling it yet. Only time would tell the true injuries. He pulled Calleigh into his arms, rolling her, so that her face was upward to him. Her face looked pale and lost in the lighting. He knew she wasn't lost, though, he could still feel the rise and fall of her breathing. It was comforting in a way, but then painful thinking that she was injured and he didn't know exactly to what extent yet.

"Calleigh," he whispered letting his hand touch her face gently, stroking her pale cheek. He watched as the blood started to run back and into her hairline and staining her golden hair. He realized as he reached to put pressure on her wound that his wrist was throbbing. He had injured it in the rush and the percussion that had shaken the metal container they were in. "Calleigh, Sweetheart…" he whispered again and then realized that there wasn't a reason for him to whisper. Horatio watched as she started to stir, slowly and gently, but she was coming around.

"H?"

The strained voice pulled his attention from Calleigh to Eric's strained voice. Eric was pushing himself up from the other side. He noticed that the side of Eric's head was the source of the bleeding, but that blood had been swept across his forehead from his previous position on the tile. "How are you doing, Eric?" Horatio asked quietly and slowly watching his friend. He wanted to not only hear Eric's response, but wanted to analyze Eric's movements and actions to determine if anything was wrong.

"Is Calleigh okay?" he asked noticing Calleigh being held in his boss' arms.

"Fine."

It was barely there, but in the silence of the rectangular metal room, it echoed off the walls and made it to both Horatio and Eric. It was a weak, pained voice, but it was very much Calleigh. Horatio smiled a bit and then turned his eyes down to her open green eyes, slices of light reflecting in them…flickering. "What hurts?" he asked. Horatio's voice and his eyes reflected his deep concern for the woman in his arms.

"Fine," she repeated, clearly lying as she started to move and then stopped when a groan escaped from her lips. Her head was pounding and her lower back ached. She knew that her lower back would be pretty badly bruised and that her head was bleeding from the cold trickle from her forehead.

"You need to learn a better word when you lie, Cal," Eric told her with a small smile.

"I am," Calleigh defended and finally pushed herself up to a sitting position biting her lower lip the whole time to keep back the cries that wanted to escape her lips. She stayed quiet and held her hand over the bleeding wound.

"I'm 'fine' too," Eric teased lightly sighing and then looking over at Natalia. "Should I wake her? Or let her come to on her own?"

"She looks unscathed, why don't we let her sleep for now?" Horatio suggested. Calleigh and Eric both needed attention, let alone figuring out a way out.

Pushing his team into the elevator as Horatio yelled, "Bomb! Everyone take cover!" was a blur as he remembered making sure his team was all inside before pushing the button to close the elevator like crazy. For some odd reason, the building had been constructed with ONLY elevators. He had made a mental note to point out its serious flaws such as the one in their current situation where that was a bad thing. He wasn't sure what had triggered the bomb, but he had heard a distinct clicking…more like a ticking…and that was all he needed to hear before taking action.

Eric was on the other side of the elevator, and he watched as Eric pressed Natalia against the corner of the elevator, covering her body with his. Horatio pressed the button for the lobby of the complex before turning and doing the same. Calleigh could take care of himself, but he'd give his life to save hers. It was an easy gesture. It was one of protection, and she didn't seem to mind or push him back as a sign that she didn't appreciate it.

For a minute, Horatio thought that the bomb scare was just that, but then the elevator started to shake and the explosion echoed through the metal of the elevator and the shaft itself sending vibrations up and down. It felt like a second bomb had gone off as a serious jolt hit the metal box only seconds after the first set of shaking. It was enough to send them all flying every which way.

The metal colliding with his body brought an audible groan from Horatio emanating from deep down inside of him. He collided again with metal, not sure if it was the floor or the ceiling. He was only able to keep his eyes open barely enough to see Calleigh not too far from him before he blacked out.

"You sure you're okay?" Eric questioned Calleigh again as he held pressure on her forehead, keeping a piece of cloth there. His bleeding had stopped on it's own, but Calleigh's gash seemed deeper or larger than his. He watched as Calleigh nodded, but wasn't so convinced. He'd still keep a close eye on her. He left her alone to go back to check on Natalia, who had woken up and was figuring out what hurt and why. Horatio had taken up the job of trying to figure out how to get out of the elevator. He was just standing there in the middle staring up at the ceiling. Maybe he was trying to figure out where the ceiling panel was?

"I think I'm just going to have a bruise on this side of my body," Natalia told Eric when he came over to ask her what was hurt. She supposed that was better than a head injury and nothing seemed broken. She'd been pressed pretty close to the hand rail inside and probably just hit it pretty hard during the big jump the elevator had taken when it had rattled back and forth in the shaft with the big explosion from their original crime scene. Most of the kits were sitting in the elevator, and Natalia wondered if it was any help that those had been saved.

Eric sat down next to Natalia and watched Horatio, "Do you have any idea what he's doing?" he asked as he watched Natalia. He'd keep an eye on her, too, just in case she had hit her head hard enough to cause some kind of concussion or imbalance.

"What about callin' out, Horatio?" Calleigh suggested as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She frowned when she noticed that the glass was cracked in the screen and there was no power. She pressed the power button to try to power it on, but sighed when it didn't turn on. It was busted. "I suppose at least we have good service plans on these…"

Eric and Natalia both went to pull out theirs. "I must have dropped mine," Eric said slightly annoyed. He knew now it was probably in a billion pieces from the explosion, and then he peered over at Natalia's and saw it was also busted like Calleigh's. "Damn…" He looked up at Horatio, "You wouldn't have yours intact, would you?"

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his phone out and inspected it. The screen still displayed the date and time along with how much power and signal he had. Three bars of power, but no bars of signal. He tried to dial 911, but there was definitely no signal. "This building has a lot of concrete and circuitry," Horatio told them. "It's interfering with the signal…" He tucked it away before looking back upward. "It may even have a signal killer in it, like some of the newer buildings are having installed."

"They should really make an exception for emergencies," Calleigh mumbled as she watched Horatio.

His hands on his hips, he thought about how they were going to get out. "Up and out, I guess is the way we're going to have to go."

Calleigh blinked her eyes a few times as she watched Eric to get up to assist Horatio. Eric looked a bit pale, Calleigh noted, but he kept on like nothing was wrong. "We sure we're gonna be able to get out that way?"

"Someone's going to find us," Natalia added quickly. "It's not like we're in a secret location."

"We may not have time to wait," Horatio said eerily as he moved out of the way, so that Eric could attempt to move the ceiling grate aside.

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TBC…