Jaded
By Celtic Lady
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst
Pairing(s): None
Characters: General cast plus an other character named Jade Reno
Rating: T (age 13+)
Summary: With Horatio Caine on medical leave, Rick Stetler is put in charge of the crime lab – a move that Horatio doesn't understand nor like but has no control over. Feeling depressed, Horatio must deal with his darkest demons.
Author's Notes: This story is set after the end of Season 5 thus Ryan Wolfe is not working in the lab. This is the third of a three story arc. The first story being "Eye On Crime" and the second being "The Rape of Horatio Caine" both which can be found on this site.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters so please don't sue. If the real owners want to use anything from my story (yeah, wishful thinking), go ahead, you can have it for free. :-)
This story has made use of the following characters which have appeared in previous CSI: Miami episodes.
Michael B. Silver ... FBI Agent Peter Elliott
Christina Chang ... State Attorney Rebecca Nevins
Nick Searcy ... IAB Jack Seeger (Season 1, Episode 18: Dispo Day)
Holt McCallany ... Detective John Hagen
William Allen Young ... Chief Judge Joseph Ratner
Mark Rolston ... FBI Agent Glen Cole
Horatio was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt as he sat on the bed. He couldn't figure out what was taking so long – the doctor said he'd be discharged hours ago yet here he was still waiting.
His surprise showed when Eric and Calleigh walked into the room.
"We thought you might want a lift home." Calleigh smiled.
Horatio looked much better than when he was brought in six days earlier. She could still see visible bruises but his smile was back – that was a good sign.
Horatio raised an eyebrow to Calleigh's offer. "Well, thank you. But unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the doctor to release me."
"Well, let's get this show on the road. I'll go track down your doctor and light a fire under him." A broad grin came over Delko's face and he walked out the door leaving Horatio and Calleigh alone.
Horatio took the opportunity to inquire about the case. "Anything new you can share with me on our serial killer?"
Calleigh's frustration was evident, even through her Louisiana drawl, "Not that we know of, but Stetler is keeping his cards close to his vest. None of us are included in his little loop."
"What about Jade. Has she made it into the loop?"
Calleigh gave Horatio a puzzled look, "Why do you ask?"
Horatio had that guilty look on his face like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Oh, no reason." The grin on his face told Calleigh otherwise.
"Okay Horatio, you know I'm not buying that. Now out with it!"
Horatio couldn't tell her everything but he did remember his agreement with Jade. "Let's just help her get close to Stetler."
Calleigh thought she understood as she asked playfully. "Is Jade our little spy?" She returned Horatio's grin, "Consider it done!"
Eric returned with a nurse in tow and a wheelchair. "All set?" Eric wheeled the chair up to the bed where Horatio was seated.
Horatio rose very slowly proving that he was still in a lot of pain and discomfort. Something that did not go unnoticed by Eric and Calleigh.
Eric did his best to stay upbeat as he pushed Horatio down the hospital corridor to the elevator. When they emerged on the main floor, it became evident that a group of reporters had gathered at the entrance.
Angered, Eric commented, "How did they know – I told the doctor to not tell anyone!" Eric was pissed that the media had been alerted to Horatio's release from the hospital. That meant they probably knew the name of the victim as well, something the lab was working diligently to keep quiet.
"Eric, why don't you get the car and meet us down by the Emergency Room. We'll wait for you there," Calleigh offered.
"Give me a few minutes to loose the mob okay." Eric then exited into the crowd.
--OO--
Jade had been snooping through the department's files for months now and finding nothing of interest to her. But one night, her luck had changed when she discovered the administrator's password to the network. Making use of it, she immediately created several fake login names, with administrator right's, so she could browse the network files undeterred. Jade had majored in computer science in college when surveillance technology hadn't yet existed, but once it did, it really caught her attention. It sounded much more exciting than sitting at a desk all day so she attended night school for her second degree. She was so glad she had both experiences under her belt now.
Jade had also considered it poetic justice when she set up the fake login names to be similar to existing people like Rick Stetler. It was unlikely that anyone would question Richard Stetler since he was IAB.
Although in her search, she saw several questionable files of personal nature on each person's network directory, it wasn't until she was browsing through the archived files that she hit the jackpot. In looking through the files removed from Tim Speedle's computer, after his death, she discovered that he had been doing some investigation into the IAB department himself. She couldn't believe her luck – someone had already gathered some important information which had been forgotten at his death.
Jade was quick to download all the files to her flash drive for reviewing later. Now, she had to get back to work before anyone noticed.