Disclaimer: I do not own CSI Miami or its characters and I am making no money from this. I wish I was, it would be awesome.
Ship: DuCaine
A/N: I really hated the fact that Horatio and Calleigh still seem to be so distant with one another, if anything I thought they would be closer now. I also hated that he had a reunion of some form with Eric and everyone else. So, I had to write a missing scene. Short and to the point. I want to write something longer involving these two; I just need to find something that seems right for them.
Rating: PG for some language I think, other than that nothing.
Dusk has fallen on Miami as she watches the dark ocean waves crash gently against the shore, her closing her eyes as she takes a deep breath. Nervous anticipation threads into her veins and makes her acutely aware of her surroundings as she waits. The whole day has been one filled with ups and downs, her emotions on a roller coaster ride since she heard those words.
'He's gone.'
Disbelief came first, then shock. Soon sorrow sat in and then rage came into play with her seething at how casually everyone else around her seemed to be dealing with the blow they had been dealt. Hurt soon began to eat at her and then betrayal had revealed itself. It gave way to utter relief when she heard he was alive, but deep down a part of her was deeply hurt that he hadn't chosen her. That he had entrusted something so risky to someone she didn't completely hold in such high regard. Tears burn behind the lids once again at that betrayal, her sensing someone approaching and wiping quickly at her eyes.
"Calleigh." His voice is laced with gentle concern and she's fighting a battle between wanting to hug him or knocking the Hell out of him. She can only utter one word, her asking quietly,
"Why?" A heavy sigh from him. Silence, then;
"I did it for you." She explodes from the pain of the day, her turning to face him saying,
"For me? How could you do it for me? When I seen that blood…when I heard those words…." Her words become broken and hard to force out as emotion takes over, her finally regaining in enough composure to continue, "My heart broke right there on that tarmac, it was all I could do to hold it together. Then I get a bullshit story from Ryan? How did you do it for me, Horatio? Because from where I stand, it looks a Hellava a lot like you don't trust me."
They stand facing one another for some time, her finally whispering, "What happened to us, Horatio? Where did I lose you?"
The silence is almost unbearable, her moving to step past him when a hand on her wrist stops her. Glancing up she studies him for a moment, he looking away as he releases her wrist as he heaves a heavy sigh. For a moment, she begins to see the man she knows is under all that armor, the wounded warrior who doesn't allow anyone to help him mend his broken heart. He takes the first step, him saying softly, "I lost myself."
She looks to the sand as if it's going to make everything better between them with her saying quietly, "You hurt me, Horatio."
"And for that, I'm sorry."
She looks up to find that haunted look in his blue eyes, but a pleading is there as well as she sighs,
"It's always been you, Horatio. It's always been you I'd walk through Hell for. I'd sell my soul if you asked it of me. Why didn't you ask for something so menial from me in return?"
He knows he can never hide from her, she demands the best from him. He knows it's because she cares about him, worries about him. And he's done nothing but hurt her. He looks to the ocean, the tension causing the air to become thick between them before he answers quietly,
"I've lost so much in this life that if…" He doesn't continue with the words, them choking him as he reigns in the emotion that's beginning to break him as he softly informs, "That if you weren't a part of my life, my world meant nothing anymore. I wouldn't have a reason to live."
Tears well in her eyes, her trying to wipe away her weakness when he steps closer and tips her face towards his, his thumb brushing away the moisture as he whispers,
"Calleigh…." She flings herself into his arms, him tightening his grip on her as she demands,
"Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again."
A faint smirk as he hears her Southern attitude breaking through, "Never." Closing her eyes, she holds him so close she can feel his heart beating with hers as he begs her,
"Believe in me, Calleigh. I need to know I have your strength to help me through this."
She pulls back, her looking up at him as she says, "I always have. You will always have me."
He rests his forehead against hers, them simply allowing themselves to be in the same space, time not having any meaning for them in that moment. And he knows he will have to work hard to prove his loyalty to her, to prove he loves her. But he knows now that the path that had once divided and had them walking on separate paths was whole and she was once again by his side on his lonely journey.
Finis