Rating: T
Warnings: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.
Pairing: Horatio/Speed
Summary: They made it through their first year together, but can they survive the next few days?
Author's Note: definition: triquerta – trahy-kwee-truh noun -a geometrical figure having three points, esp. one formed of three intersecting ellipses: The triquetra was often used in ancient art to symbolize a triune deity.
Author's Note 2: Follows The Miami Murders
888
Tim awoke slowly and stretched. He glanced over at the clock, and seeing that it read 9:30, he smiled. Horatio had let him sleep in. He had hoped that they would have both gotten the day off, but no such luck. Horatio was working a high profile case that involved the mayor's office and a politically motivated break-in. It wasn't a difficult case but anything that involved the mayor required special handling and Horatio was so good at that.
He hoped that he wouldn't be kept too late at the lab. It was their first anniversary and Tim had plans for the evening. His stomach fluttered at the thought of what was going to happen tonight. He rolled out of bed. There was a lot to do to get ready and he needed to get started. As he turned he noticed a piece of paper lying on Horatio's pillow. He picked it up and read, Morning sleepyhead, Hope you enjoyed your morning in. I left you a surprise in the kitchen. Promise I won't be late. Love H.
Tim smiled. He decided to postpone his shower in favor of finding out what Horatio had left for him. He pulled on an old pair of jeans, not bothering with a shirt and headed down the hallway to the kitchen. There on the table he found a vase containing a dozen red roses and a small card. Next to it was a bakery box tied with red ribbon. He approached slowly as if the items would disappear if he moved too fast.
He bent down to smell the flowers before he took the card and removed it from its envelope. He read, To My Darling Tim, For a wonderful first year and the hope of many more to come. Love, Horatio. He felt tears forming. No one had ever given him flowers before. He never really thought of himself as a flower sort of guy and he wasn't sure how to react at first. He quickly wiped his eyes then glanced at the box sitting next to the vase. He looked at the label printed in the corner and his smile grew wider.
He picked the box up and removed the ribbon then slowly opened the lid. It was full of breakfast pastries from his favorite bakery, the one he only went to for very special occasions. He got that flutter in his stomach again. Horatio was going all out but Tim had a surprise for him later, one that he would not forget. He made some coffee and sat down to enjoy his breakfast before getting ready to go out.
He took a moment to call Horatio before he stepped into the shower. The call went straight to voicemail so he left a message to thank him for the flowers and to promise him a more personal thank you later.
888
Horatio walked down the hall on his way to the print lab with his cell phone to his ear. "Yes, sir," he said into the phone. "I'm heading there now to check on the progress." He walked into the lab and stopped in front of Eric. "Yes, sir. I will keep you updated," he said finally and hung up.
Eric looked over at him. "Mayor?" he asked.
"Police Commissioner," Horatio answered. As he went to put his phone away, he noticed his voicemail indicator was on. "Do we have anything on the prints we found yet?"
"Still running. We pulled elimination samples from everyone who had a reason to be in the office and found one set that didn't belong. AFIS is still searching for a match."
"All right, run it against the state employee database as well," he said as he left.
Horatio opened his phone and dialed his voicemail as he headed back to his office. He smiled as he heard Tim's voice. His mind wandered off as he listened. He was not paying attention to where he was walking and ran smack into Rick Stettler, sending the file he was carrying to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Rick," he said as he crouched down to help the other man pick up the myriad of papers that scattered on the floor. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Rick answered. After collecting his file back up he looked at Horatio and said, "You should keep your mind on the case, Horatio," and walked off.
Horatio stared after him, somewhat confused. 'Is he a mind reader, now?' he thought.
888
After stopping at the barber's shop to get a haircut, Tim headed to the grocer's to pick up what he needed to make dinner. He stopped home quickly to store the groceries away, then called Jeff.
"Hey, I was just checking to see if you were up," he said.
'I'm up. And I have it ready,' Jeff replied.
"Great. See you in half an hour."
He pulled his bike into the driveway and Jeff greeted him at the door. Tim walked in and dropped his helmet on the sofa.
"So," Jeff said. "You all ready for tonight?"
"As I'll ever be," Tim replied. "You got it?"
Jeff went into another room and returned with a small box. Tim took the box from him and examined its contents. He sighed. "Thanks for holding it for me."
"No problem. By the way, your hands are shaking," Jeff said with mild amusement.
"Nervous, I guess," Tim replied.
"What's the big deal? You've been through this before."
"Yeah," Tim said hesitantly. "But last time I was on the receiving end. David proposed to me."
TBC