A/N: No one saw this coming! And I love this pairing!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, or the episode "Manhattan Manhunt." Although I really want to...
"Give my best to Stella, will you?"
These words rang in Horatio Caine's ears like nothing he had ever heard before. He had never had quite a friend like Stella Bonasera. He had only met her a few years ago, and he hadn't quite forgotten about the first time he ever met her when chasing a killer from Miami. They had gotten along pretty well, and this case only strengthened their friendship. With catching Lydia Johnson's killer, they helped place another guilty soul behind bars.
"I'm not going anywhere," Horatio told Adam over the phone. The little boy had worried about his mom and asked the lieutenant about the killer.
"I'm not going anywhere."
He hung up the phone, standing in the New York rain, contemplating everything that had happened over the past seventy-two hours. Catching Darius, Johnson's killer, everything in between…
"Hey, Horatio!"
Stella Bonasera caught up with the famed lieutenant, smiling. It was strange- Horatio thought of her as one of the true friends he could talk to that didn't live in Miami. They had a special connection after the case. He could hear Mac's joking voice…
"Stella already has you on speed dial?..."
He looked up. "Hey."
She smiled. "Heard you were off to the sun. Before you go, I was wondering something?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Dinner at Friday's on me."
"Well, uh, I suppose I could come get something to eat…" he replied somewhat bashfully.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Horatio wasn't uncomfortable in these types of places anymore. He had grown up in New York all his life. He missed the sights, the smells, the sounds.
He didn't miss the memories, though.
There were some things he didn't want to remember while he was here.
Stella looked at him. "Horatio?"
He snapped back to reality and attempted a small smile. "I'm fine."
She simply laughed. "You really are something, you know that?"
He looked into her eyes. "Stella. I've got something I need to tell you.
"A couple of years ago- twenty, to be exact- a person I knew very well and loved was killed in front of me. I was heart-broken, angry, and so many other emotions that I couldn't really control myself. Something happened where he person's killed wound up dead, and the O.D.A. is going after me on this. They think I'm the one who killed them." He looked at her softly. "You can't tell anyone else about this."
She simply stared at him. This man of passion, of unrelated chasing, was confessing that he was a suspect in a murder case? She blinked. "Is it true? You killed someone?"
He looked down at his food. "I've done some things I'm not real proud of, Stella. There are some things I am."
She looked into those deep blue eyes, getting lost and confused. "What are you proud of?"
"That I met you, Stella," he whispered, kissing her lightly.
She wouldn't forget that lasting touch of Horatio Caine's lips on her cheek. Not ever. Even if he was going back to Miami in a few hours…
A/N: I'm affectionately calling this pairing SHorT! Please review! Thank you!