Thank you all for your reviews! The chapters will be longer now, hope you don't mind.

Chapter 2

"Julian Evans is one of the sickest men I've ever met," Eric exclaimed the next day in the break-room.

"Oh you've met him?" Frank drawled sarcastically and quickly pressed his hand onto his bruised rips when he made the wrong move.

"Well, no, but…figuratively speaking," Eric conceded.

"I still don't understand why you met with him, Frank...without backup nonetheless," Calleigh exclaimed. "He could have easily killed you."

"He wouldn't…," Frank tried to argue, but it was rather feebly.

"Because you're a cop? As far as I know he doesn't distinguish between cop or no cop," Natalia chimed in.

"He's a sick bastard, that's what he is," Ryan nodded. "Guess taking all those drugs twisted his mind completely."

"Who says that he's doing drugs?" Frank asked even though he knew he shouldn't. There was no need to defend Julian Evans if only Julian Evans wasn't one of his best friends.

"He's the right man of Antonio Gonzalvez, one of the major drug lords here in Florida, of course he's doing drugs."

"Well we don't know about that…about the drugs I mean," Calleigh intervened, "he's actually too clever to be an addict, or otherwise we would have some evidence on him and lock him up in a cell."

"I just wish H would be here, I'm sure that he'd get him.. I mean... H always did the impossible, didn't he?" Ryan sighed and sat down next to Frank.

"Yeah," Natalia mumbled.

Horatio had been gone for almost a year now. One morning he just hadn't arrived at the lab and a small handwritten note had told the team that he wouldn't come back in the foreseeable future. He had left Eric in charge of the lab instead of Calleigh, stating that it was time for the young man to take some responsibility and having a very capable second-in-command (namely Calleigh) would help him to do a formidable job. Of course this had surprised the team, most of all Calleigh and Eric, but when the Chief had given his approval without further questioning, they had realized that Horatio's disappearance hadn't been a spurt of the moment decision, but had been well-planned over a longer period of time.

Naturally, they had tried to contact him, blatantly refusing his wish stated in the note not to do so, but to no avail. His cell-number was no longer working, his house seemed to be abandoned and no one seemed to know anything about his whereabouts. All in all it was as if the earth had swallowed him up and even a dead person would leave more traces than their friend and mentor.

"I think that H would be ashamed if he had to listen to our self-pity," Eric shook his head in dismay. "He was..no..he IS our mentor and taught us everything we know. Seeing us like this would make him question himself and that's a shameful thought. We learned from the best and I'm sure that H will come back again and I certainly don't want to meet him eye to eye to him with empty hands. I want him to be proud of us. Yes, that's what I want. I want him to be proud of us, I want to show him that we mastered his test."

"His test?" Ryan asked confused.

"Yes his test, Ryan. I see his disappearance as a test for us; for every individual and for our team in general. Of course, we're all trained and good at what we do, but let's be honest.. in the end we can always count on Horatio having our backs, right?"

The other took a moment to mull it over, but then nodded.

"In the end he was always there to give us advice, lend a helping hand and smooth our path… Now it's time for us to show him that we can do this without him. Every student has to pass a test, so the mentors know that they taught their students well. And what I believe is that this is H's test for us."

Frank couldn't help but stare at the young man in wonder. Since Horatio had left the lab, Eric had matured continuously. At first he had clearly struggled with the burden and responsibility of being a supervisor, but day by day, he'd grown into this role. Sometimes Frank really wondered if Horatio was some kind of seer and had foreseen the outcome of this particular decision. But then again, Horatio was a brilliant man, a brilliant mentor and friend with a gift of knowing people better than they knew themselves. Maybe he was the only one who had realized the potential slumbering inside Delko and had taken advantage of that. No matter the reason, in the end it had been a success.

"You're right Delko," Ryan nodded and stood up. "It's time to show him what we're capable of. I mean…I'm sure that I'll always have questions for him," he grinned at the others who smiled back easily, "but I do want to show him that I can stand on my own two feet."

"Let's show him then and let us nail this bastard Evans," Natalia chimed in.

"Yes, let's get him and this whole bunch of low-lives," Calleigh nodded.

Frank just smiled at the enthusiastic group. He knew for sure that H would be very proud of them right now, he knew that he was. Of course it was rather ironic that they wanted to have their mentor's head, but that was life. "I'm sure H will be proud of you once he's back," he announced. "But let me make one thing clear to you. What I'm doing with Evans is none of your business and if you ever feel the need to follow me again, there'll be consequences, you got that?" He gave them all a serious glare. Pointing at his black eye, he continued his little reprimand. "I don't care if you thought that you'd do me a favor, because you clearly didn't. Don't rush into things without consulting me, understood?"

The boys were on the edge to argue with him, but another death glare was shutting them up completely. "Yes Frank…," they mumbled and nodded.

"Good, because don't forget that I'm a Sergeant, Detectives and I'd really hate to pull ranks on you, okay?" he nodded his approval. "And now I leave you alone to-"

"Sgt. Tripp?" a young officer opened the door.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there's a young boy waiting for you."

"A young boy?" Frank furrowed his brows.

"Erm, yes," the officer shifted uneasily. "He said he got a message for you and only for you to read. You know, we tried to tell him that you're busy, but he was quite...erm...stubborn."

"I see," Frank nodded. "Well then let's go and find out what he wants, shall we?"

"This is going to be interesting," Eric rubbed his hands in anticipation and motioned the others to follow Frank.

"Ah…kids…you're not invited."

"But-"

"No buts, I'm quite confident that I can deal with a boy in a building full of police officers," Frank said amused. "Leave Papa Bear alone for a minute, will you? What was that about standing on your own feet? Do that…but somewhere else please." Sometimes he could actually understand why Horatio had needed a change of scenery. Personally, Frank would have preferred a long holiday on Hawaii or Cayman Islands instead of working with one of the most feared drug lords, but to each their own. "And now shoo," he waved them away and followed the young officer.

"Tell me you didn't put him into one of the interrogation rooms," Frank rolled his eyes when he realized which way they were taking.

"Well, Sir…we thought it might be better to keep him there, so he wouldn't try to get away. His message seems to be important," the officer replied a bit unsure.

"And you didn't think that I know the boy? That he might be..a nephew or something and you treat him like a common criminal?"

"He's your nephew?" the officer asked wide-eyed, which made Frank roll his eyes again.

"No. But he could be, so next time think before acting," he growled and opened the door to the interrogation room. "You're not needed any longer, thank you," he shut the door into the officer's shocked face and walked to the young boy. The lad couldn't be older than 10 or 11 and looked quite out of the place. Not that this was surprising at all. "I heard you have a message for me?"

"Yes," the boy nodded. "You're Francis."

"And what makes you think I am?" Frank asked amused and took the seat next to the boy.

"Señor Julian said to wait for a big man with little hair," the lad grinned.

Leave it to Horatio to make fun of his hairstyle. "Well, yes, this does sound like me," Frank pulled a face. "What's your name?"

"Angelo."

"Okay, so Angelo, would you like something to drink? What about a Cola, hmm?"

"Yes," the boy grinned widely.

"Thought you'd like that. Just wait here and I'll get you one, okay?" he asked and stood up again.

The boy just smiled shyly. "Okay."

"Won't be long," Frank reassured him and quickly left the room. "Typical. First they put him into some room and then they don't even give him something to drink. What's going on with officers these days?" he thought to himself and put some coins into the vendor. "I mean really, he's just a kid," he continued his inner grumbling when he reached for the ice cold can and made his way back to the boy.

"Here you go, Junior," he handed him the can once he was back in the room. "So tell me Angelo, what does the message say?"

"I don't know," the boy shrugged and eagerly took a sip of his drink. "Señor Julian told me not to look at it. Here," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a rather crumbled piece of paper.

"Rice paper," Frank realized immediately and knew what this meant. This message was both private and very important and Horatio wanted the message to be destroyed after reading. Well some water would easily take care of that. "Thanks," he smiled and opened the message.

A nice steak should help with your eye. You can still put it on the grill afterwards. Anyway, I have to take a rain check for our next coffee meeting, since I decided that I needed some adventure. Have you ever gone on a cruise? Well I'll tell you once I'm back. Until then my old friend, I'd advice some boxing-classes. Take care.

He read Horatio's familiar scrawl and his reactions went from amused, to annoyed, back to being excited. The steak was definitely Horatio's way to confirm that it was indeed him who had written the message. The coffee meeting was Horatio's way to make sure that only Frank would understand the meaning. His drinking in a bar and Horatio staying with him while enjoying the one or other cup had stayed between the two of them. And the cruise, well a cruiser was a ship, right? And a shipment was the reason of their little fight the other day. So to sum it up, he knew exactly when the shipment would come in and he knew that this was Horatio's way of apologizing. He'd given him information without receiving some in return.

"Do you like the message?" the boy asked curiously which made Frank smile again.

"It was very informative for sure. So did Mr. Julian tell you that you'd get a reward for being a good boy?"

The child just nodded eagerly.

"Very well then, I'll get a nice female officer and she'll take care of you. Do you like that?"

"Will I meet my mom again?" the child asked hopefully.

"We'll do our best. You're safe here, Angelo," he reassured the child. A few months ago, Horatio had used a child for the first time to get important messages to him with the demand to keep the children safe and get them back to their families. As far as Frank had found out (he had never directly asked Horatio about it), the kids had been kidnapped by the Serpens and were used as living drug curiers. Well as long as they lived anyway. More than one had died during the travels and by sending them to Frank, Horatio tried to safe at least some of them.

"I just want to see my mom again," the boy replied.

"I'm sure you do. I'll get a nice lady and then everything will work out just fine, Junior," he patted the boy's head gently. Then he grabbed the message and stuffed it into his pocket. He'd get rid of it later. "Just enjoy your drink. You deserve it." With that he stepped out of the room and immediately reached for his cell. Hitting the speed dial he didn't have to wait long for the other person to pick up. "Chief Higgins? This is Sgt. Tripp speaking. Sir, I came to the knowledge of an incoming shipment this evening around seven. Yes Sir, it was an anonymous sender."

"Blasted cops had to turn up after all," the man next to Horatio spat.

"Mhm," Horatio just mumbled and took the binoculars from him. They were standing on a hill from where they had overseen the unloading of their cargo. They were close enough to see everything clearly, but far enough away not to be seen immediately. "They're too late though," he handed the binoculars back again and lit up a cigarette.

"Probably had to stuff their fat stomachs with coffee and donuts before," another man chuckled.

"Probably," Horatio just grinned.

"You're not correct though, Boss. Not all the trucks have left."

"I know, but this is hardly the cops' achievement, but more the fact that we have been too lazy," Horatio pointed out. Everything had worked out as he had planned. He had known that it would take the police some time to come up with a plan and getting their forces together, so that they would never arrive on time. And he hadn't wanted them to be on time. He had wanted them to catch one truck or maybe two, but not more. Anything else would have been too suspicious, since he'd been the one who had coordinated this shipment. Now he had killed two birds with one stone. Gonzalvez wouldn't suspect a leak in his midst and Horatio had given the police enough concrete evidence to believe that he was still loyal to them. It had indeed been a very productive day.

"Not to forget that the stupid captain actually blew the horn when they arrived. I mean, seriously, how dense can someone be."

"Well, he will pay for his incompetence," Horatio snarled. "Once the cops let him out, he'll learn that no one is going to joke with us. And if they won't let him out, his life in prison will be hell."

The two men eyed their boss and exchanged a brief look. It was a known fact that no one fooled with Julian Evans and if someone tried, there was hell to pay. He'd always been…almost kind to them, but they knew better than to aggravate him. He surely had a quick temper, especially if things didn't work out like he wanted them to.

"I've seen enough," Horatio said and flicked his cigarette to the ground. Then he put it out with his shoe and reached down to gather the stub. From his pocket, he pulled out a small plastic bag and put the stub into it.

His minions had seen that happening more time than they could count, but never asked about it. This time though, Terry couldn't help but asking.

"You know Boss, I've been thinking.."

"Really?" Horatio drawled. "I wasn't sure that you were capable of doing so."

"Well…yes." What was that about him being almost kind to them? That was when he wasn't a sarcastic jerk. "The cigarette stubs, you always pick them up…"

"You have quite the observation skills I must say."

"Yes, thank you." Terry knew that Julian was insulting him, but he wouldn't back down now. "And I was wondering why you're doing this?"

Horatio eyed the two men with squinted eyes and let them squirm. He knew that the combined intelligence of these two wouldn't be enough to light up a room, but he also knew that it was better to answer some questions, so they would stop thinking about certain habits of his. "Did you know," he started after a while, "that it's very easy to find my DNA on these?" he asked and showed them the bag with the stubs.

"And….?"

Well maybe their combined intelligence couldn't even light up a candle.

Horatio just rolled his eyes at their blank stares, but continued nevertheless. "Imagine the police would find one of these and extract the DNA? They would find out that I was here or somewhere else where we did our dealings…"

"But there can never be enough of this DN-thing, to know that it was you!" Charlie exclaimed.

Horatio stopped himself from giving a lecture about DNA, this would be too much information for their feeble minds. "Well I saw it on TV," he pointed out.

"TV?" Well this was something they could follow.

"Yes. These crime shows? You know CSI Iowa City or whatever their names are? Well I happen to enjoy watching these shows, since we can learn a lot from them." He had no idea if there was such a thing like CSI Ohio, but he was sure the boys didn't know either. Moreover, it was the easiest way to explain his knowledge about investigations. He could hardly tell them that he was working as a part-time CSI after all.

The boys still looked a bit doubtful, but accepted his explanation nevertheless. "If you say so," they shrugged.

"I do and now quiz time is over, we need to get back to headquarters and tell the Big Boss that the cops are an annoying bunch of pricks."

"He won't be happy," Terry pointed out the obvious and together, the three men made their way back to their car.

"No he won't," Horatio agreed, but now it was too late to change things. He just hoped that the incompetence of his own people would cover up his doings

tbc