Title: A Near Fatal Mistake
Chapter 2 - A Feeling of Fear

A/N: Thanks for the great reviews for chapter 1 and sorry for the delay in getting this up! I hope chapter isn't to slow but it's going to focus on Calleigh and her thoughts on H being missing and then back to the action. A special thank you to TheLuckyLlama17 for all your wonderful help and time with this; most appreciated and sorry if I drove you crazy! :D


~A few weeks back~

'You cold?' Horatio asked as they departed the restaurant, heading into the cool night air.

'A little, but not bad,' Calleigh answered; delighted when he then removed his jacket, draped it over her shoulders and then pulled her back into his strong embrace.

'You?' Calleigh queried, voice slightly muffled through his hug.

'A little, but not bad,' Horatio teased. 'Shall I take my jacket back?'

'Do and die mister,' she joked back.

They walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence before Horatio stopped them, gently turned her body to face his, tilted her lips and pressed his mouth firmly against them, flooding her entire being with heated delight.

'I want more,' he ttold her.

'Horatio we just ate. If you want...'

'Not more food,' he smirked, cutting her off. 'More of this...of us. I want it all.'

'I do too. But...' Calleigh's voice trailed off, suddenly unsure of what to say.

'No, I'm not in a hurry, not wanting to rush this. I'm not going anywhere. Are you?'

'I never wanted to leave in the first place,' she admitted as it was her turn to bring his lips to hers, crushing them once again.

'I want to take this slow and enjoy every moment,' he confessed, a few moments later.

'So do I.'

"Hey Calleigh you okay?" Natalia asks as she glances over at Calleigh in the Hummer as they drive back to the lab, just as Calleigh lets out a small gasp; her mind quickly snapping her back to present day as the image of Horatio's handsome face is replaced with a bloody corpse. "What is it?"

"Yeah I um..." she pauses, her still mind reeling from the strange sensation, she just experienced. "It's nothing."

"You look kinda pale."

"Must have been the tuna salad at lunch," she offers weakly. "I'm okay, really."

"You sure?" Natalia suspiciously eyes her friend, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah just...it's nothing," she insists, somewhat hesitantly. "I think I'm just tired."

"Well maybe we'll catch this guy and then we'll all be able to sleep better tonight."

"I hope so," Calleigh agrees with a soft smile.

But as they near their home base once again; Calleigh's mind starts to ponder the peculiar feeling growing inside, her heart never daring to guess that the sharp pain she's experiencing originates from when the man she loves underwent something horrible. She attempts to reassure herself that all is as it should be, Horatio is waiting for them at the lab and that she and Horatio would make some time tonight as he had suggested and work past their heated discussion, in order to get back on the track they were before, trying to grow a personal, romantic relationship.

"It's getting dark," she mumbles to herself as Natalia brings the Hummer to a halt.

"I think the boys should be back by now," Natalia mentions as they both get out, greeted by a warm blast of humid air, the sky around them half shades of dark blue, crimson, and fiery orange, as the setting sun filter through a few stray clouds.

"Well, I'm sure Horatio will just call another meeting, tell us that our leads once again turned up nothing, and that will be that," Calleigh states with a slight bitter edge in her tone.

"And then another peaceful sleepless night?" Natalia arches a brow as the head inside the gloriously air-conditioned building.

"Alone," Calleigh's dismal voice dies out as Eric walks up to them, leaving Natalia unable to say or ask anything further about her cryptic answer. She and Horatio had traded a few romantic nights at each other's places in the weeks leading up to the case, but in the past two weeks there were too many late-night shifts and sleepless nights to really just enjoy being together. Would they get those moments of love back? Or would things be too strained by the time this case was over?

"Anything?" Natalia questioned Eric, with a hopeful twinge.

"Both our leads were dead ends, either this guy has a lot of money to pay off every trucker in the area or he really is an expert in hiding," Eric huffs. "You two have any success?"

"Besides the usual sex starved trucker comments?" Natalia answers flippantly, drawing a smirk from Eric's lips. "The same as you; dead ends. Maybe this guy has already left the state; already moved on?"

"Always a possibility," Calleigh agrees as she looks at her watch. "Almost 'team meeting time.'"

"H isn't back yet, so it will have to wait," Eric comments.

"Where did he go?"

"Not sure. Clerk said he just rushed out without saying a word. Not sure where Frank is. We were with him and then he left. Could be with H right now," Eric shrugs as his phone goes off. "Okay I gotta take this call, see you both later."

"I'll finish up those last tests," Natalia tells Calleigh as she turns to leave.

'H isn't back yet...didn't tell anyone...but could be with Frank right now...' Eric's voice prattles on in Calleigh's mind as she absently wanders toward Horatio's office. For a brief second she can picture him behind his office desk, shoulders squared, jaw tense, and a determined look in his crystal blue eyes. But her mind quickly recalls details of their last heated argument and she finds herself starting to get agitated. Adding to her irritability is the growing doubt in the pit of her stomach that something isn't right, that Horatio is in trouble. Oh Calleigh snap out of it, she commands herself. Horatio is just fine and you are just being emotional.

"Horatio?" Her mind thinks back to the first morning they woke up together a month back. "You have an odd look on your face."

"Pinch me."

"Where?" She remembered teasing.

"Where it counts," he flirted in return, prompting her hand to slowly trail downward to his most sensitive area, his eyes closing with delight and his lips offering a very satisfied moan.

"Does this count?"

"Very much."

"What was that for?"

"Just wanted to make sure you are really here."

That moment had progressed into a beautiful love-making adventure; the first of many intimate exploits to come. However, once the case started, tempers flared more easily and the private tender moments were fewer and far between; culminating in the heated showdown from a few hours earlier that resulted in them separating in anger. She had offered him a slight smile, the promise of a possibility for reconciliation, but had to wonder if he could see the doubt and tension in her eyes. Would she have the chance to make amends? Was the abnormal churning inside her soul just a silly feeling or was it actually an ominous warning that something indeed was terribly wrong?

She feels her fingers itching to reach for the phone on her hip; her fingers tempted to dial his number and ask where on earth he was and what he was doing. But she glances up, catches sight of Frank approaching and tells herself that Horatio is probably back and that he's asked Frank to come and get her for the meeting. I can make him pay later for sending the messenger instead of coming himself, her brain chides.

"Hey, Calleigh, you seen Horatio? I just searched this place and he's MIA," Frank inquires and her mind picks up speed, racing once again. Horatio is still not back?

"No," she answers, turning to him with a frown. "I thought he was with you? Eric said Horatio, he took a call and then clerk said he just dashed off but hasn't been heard from yet. We thought you were together."

"Nope haven't seen him. Maybe he went to see the brass and give them an update. I just need him to answer his damn phone. We might have a lead on our big-rig-slicer-and-dicer and I need to discuss something with him."

"What is the lead?" Calleigh wonders. "Everything we searched today was a dead end, literally."

"Well, the plates don't match but a truck that fits the description of a missing big rig was spotted near the turn off to the old everglade highway. A couple of my boys are going to check it out right now; so maybe he'll get lucky and this bastard will be stopped once and for all."

"Need some help?"

"Nah we got this," Frank huffs. "Just if you see Horatio lurking around here, tell him to call me."

"If I see him," she remarks absently. "We might not see each other until the morning unless it's urgent."

"I heard some of the...well the argument," Frank chooses his words carefully. Since he had caught them in a romantic embrace a month ago he had suspected a relationship growing between them. But knew it wasn't his place to pry or poke fingers. Still he had to mention something this time:. "And I'm sure he's just blowing off a little steam someplace; probably preparing to waltz back in with all the answers," Frank finishes on a lighter tone, forcing her face to somewhat soften, "Probably even dragging that creep behind him. I'll call you if I hear anything further."

She gives her friend a nod goodbye and then looks at the clock, an worrying sensation still rumbling in the pit of her stomach. 'Don't expect me to nurse you if you get hurt by one of them...' she had tossed at him when he had thrown at her that she was merely a woman and shouldn't have gone off after the truckers alone. They were both wrong but now she wonders if she'll come to regret her callous words; spoken in a true fit of heated anger and regretted the second they were uttered.

'Horatio took a call...rushed out without telling anyone.'

"And he got after us for just wanting to rush off alone," she mutters with a slight hiss in her tone; her thoughts now switching from those of panic to frustration and anger. "How dare he lecture me and then turn around and do the exact thing he said we shouldn't!"

She feels her fists clench, her fingers once again hovering over the phone, wanting to pick it up and just offer him a small tongue lashing as a reward for the mental stress he's putting her through right now with his cavalier actions and attitude toward his own well being. But she figures that would just cause tempers to flare further and them to grow further apart.

"I'm sure it's nothing," she tries to convince herself as she wanders back to her desk, sits down, and attempts to keep herself busy with paperwork, the minutes ticking slowly past, the sun already set. She looks out the window and frowns once more before she reaches for the phone; her worried brain, prompting her to make the call before she can place the phone back on its cradle. Her excuse for calling him would be to ask if he was coming back for the meeting or if they should all just call it a night.

"Just go easy," she reminds herself. "You can make him grovel in person later."

She finishes the sentence with a slight smirk, her brain already thinking of a creative way to punish him for the silent grief he was forcing her to endure in his absence. She leans back in her chair and looks at a small picture of them; taken at a team function a few months back. Finally, a small smile starts to play upon her lips as she remembers the evening ending with a kiss; the lead up to them finally admitting to want to take the next step beyond the boundaries of friendship.

The few weeks that followed and before this case had started, they would finish the day in either of their homes, making dinner together and then just enjoying their time alone, away from work. But after the case really started they had spent the nights alone, often working long hours; trying to stop one man's murderous rampage and putting their own futures on hold. Each telling themselves they had time, and that when this case was closed both would be here to continue where they left off.

"Horatio," she allows his name to slip from her tongue, her brain and her heart finally urging her fingers to complete the task of giving him a call.

Calleigh dials Horatio's number but just gets a blank, dead tone in return; not a busy signal, and nothing saying it wasn't in service. He simply wasn't there.

"What is going on?" Calleigh mumbles to herself as she tries his number again. "Horatio? Hello?"

Again nothing.

"He's not just be ignoring me, is he?" She asks herself with a frown as the sick tingling inside her starts to intensify.

'You can't go off alone...take Eric with you.'

'Will you do the same? Do the same...the same...'

She finally hangs up and leans back in her chair, a slight frown starting to furrow her brows. "Okay, something is up," she admits, sighing heavily as she casts her glance over at the clock.

She slowly places the phone back in its place and picks up another small picture of the two of them, this one taken in one a corny photo booth on the boardwalk three weeks back; his mouth on her cheek and her smile from ear to ear. A shadow of sad melancholy starts to creep over her as she continues to stare at the picture, her brain scolding her heart for not just forcing him into a corner, kissing him until he wasn't able to think straight, and telling him how she really felt before he acted on the urge to go off half cocked, alone and feeling the need to prove himself to the world around him, as he usually did. Was this the day his lone wolf actions would do him in?

She looks at the clock once more; her anxiety beginning to grow as she reaches for the phone again; another round of dead tones in her ear, seeming to buzz with despair.

"Horatio where are you?" She frantically whispers as panic starts to build as she sees Frank heading towards her with a strained look, each step that he takes toward her, causing her world to get smaller and smaller. She can tell by the look on his face that something bad has happened.

"Oh no...Horatio," his name dies in her throat.


A/N: Feedback would be most appreciated and thank you in advance for reading!