A/N: This Speed is somewhat taken from a tale by BJ Jones called Silent Witness. If you've read that, then know that I don't write slash so there will be no getting H and Speed together in a romantic relationship. It was BJ's portrayal of Speed's disability in that fic that inspired me to write this story as it was the best I've ever seen. Both of my grandparents on my father's side have this disability as does my baby sister. I only hope that I can do as good a job as she has.

The day shift of the crime lab of the Miami-Dade Police Department was gathered in the stark waiting room of Mercy hospital. Frank Tripp, their favorite detective and occasional guinea pig, leaned against the door jam and winced at the sight they made. Hospital waiting rooms were never the most comfortable of places to sit for long hours and the hard plastic chairs only made it worse, but he could tell that none of the four people in front of him even noticed their surroundings. He honestly didn't think that Yelina Caine, the detective in the far corner did either but she was holding up better than the CSI's. Then again, she'd been through this sort of wait before; under far less promising circumstances.

Alexx Woods, the medical examiner and a beautiful older black woman, was holding onto Tim Speedle, the trace expert. Tim's nickname was Speed but right now nothing showed of the daredevil who loved to race motorcycles. There were only the tears of a man waiting to lose his best friend. Alexx had the scruffy white man's arms around her waist and his head buried in her shoulder. She was running her hands through his hair in an attempt to calm her adopted son but Frank could see his shoulders shaking.

Eric Delko; underwater recovery, drug identification and finger prints, crossed in front of Frank, getting his attention. Eric was pacing the length of the room. The good looks that he had inherited from his Cuban mother were marred by the broodiness of his Russian father. That part of his heritage rarely surfaced in the usually upbeat and charming man's personality but Frank had to admit that this time there was good cause.

Calleigh was the last of the four CSI's that Frank checked on. People did not expect the petite blond with a soft southern drawl to be a ballistics expert, especially to the point where at one time her nickname had been 'Bullet Girl'. But she collected guns the way some women collected teddy bears and with the same enthusiasm that most reserved for fine jewelry. She was perched on the hard plastic chair on the other side of Speed; rubbing his back as tears ran down her face.

The reason for Speed and Calleigh's tears was the one person missing from the scene, Lieutenant Horatio Caine, head of the crime lab. Five days ago Horatio had disappeared. His hummer had been found at one of the many small private marinas that existed on Miami's waterways with traces of blood in the front seat. Five days of tracking down their leader's kidnappers had taken its toll on the group but it had naturally hit Speed hardest of all.

Horatio and Speed had been partners for years. They had met when Speed had transferred into the bomb squad from patrol, just as Horatio had done a few years before. The bomb squad captain had paired the two men together on a whim. It was a whim that made department history. The two men's attention to detail and calm manner on the job made them the best team the squad had seen in years, but even the best can be caught by an unstable bomb. Speed had been the one to spot the bomb first, and the fact that it was about to fall onto a concrete floor, which would cause it to explode. He had thrown himself on top of Horatio, shielding his partner from the blast. Horatio had walked away without a scratch but Speed hadn't been so lucky. His injuries had necessitated his retirement from the bomb squad and almost from the department.

But Horatio and Speed had been planning for that possibility. Knowing how dangerous bomb squad work was and the likelihood of injuries, they had both been taking classes for years to qualify for a transfer to the crime lab, with specialties in Trace Evidence for Speed and in Explosive Materials for Horatio. Horatio had taken the transfer immediately and after a year of rehab Speed had joined him.

Now Horatio was lying in the ER being treated for dehydration, malnutrition, infected rope burns and who knew what all else on top of whatever injuries his kidnappers had inflicted upon him in the first place. Frank sighed and rubbed his balding head. He wished the doctor would come in and give them the verdict. The small boat that Horatio had been stashed in for the five days he had been missing hadn't been all that seaworthy and between the seawater and crap that had been floating in it along with Horatio, Frank was very worried. Almost as though his wish had conjured the man up, a tired doctor in filthy scrubs walked into the room. "Is anyone here for Horatio Caine?" he asked rhetorically. With Speed the trouble magnet coming in at least once every couple of months, as well as the others coming in for their own on the job injuries, Dr. Paul Mullins was well acquainted with the group from the crime lab.

Frank and Eric were instantly at the doctor's side and Alexx and Calleigh were dragging Speed up and positioning him directly in front of the doctor. Dr. Mullins spoke directly to Speed knowing that he would be the one who needed calming the most. "Horatio should be fine in a week or two. His injuries from the kidnapping itself were minor."

"Chloroform," the CSI's chorused. Dr. Mullins nodded, that made sense. Getting the drop on Horatio Caine was nearly impossible. The man's favorite game was to sneak up on people. Many had tried to turn the tables on him but very few could actually do it. "Most of the blood evidence we found came from his kidnappers," Eric continued. "H got more than a few good licks in before he went down."

"His most serious problem is the infections he contracted from either the contaminants in the salt water getting into what wounds he did have or drinking dirty rain water. We're attacking these infections aggressively with IV antibiotics. We're also treating the dehydration and malnutrition. He's on liquids only right now but should be back on solids within a few days depending upon how he reacts to the antibiotics. The last thing we want is for his system to have to deal with too many stresses right now." He waited sternly staring at Speed until Speed nodded. He knew that Speed would be cooking up a storm for Horatio and the only way his patient would stick to the restricted diet was to get Speed involved from the beginning. More than once he had caught Speed sneaking home cooked meals in for one of his teammates. "Good, now he's also experiencing sensitivity to stimulus beyond what we would normally expect." Mullins addressed the one person in the room who had hung back when the crime lab group had crowded around him, although he never turned his head. "Do hyperactive senses run in the Caine family, Detective Caine?"

"Yes I think so," Yelina Caine, Horatio's widowed sister-in-law said. She was a tall woman at five feet ten and had a willowy figure that many women envied along with beautiful brown eyes and long curly brown hair. "Ray could always hear things before I could and their mother was one of those people who always knew things that they shouldn't be able to. Ray always said that she had eyes in the back of her head."

Yelina had been a widow long enough that talking about her husband Ray wasn't difficult as long as she stayed away from the circumstances under which he had died. Raymond Caine had been buying drugs undercover at a sleazy dance club when a gang member had come around the corner shooting wildly at the police officers chasing him. It had triggered a huge firefight. To this day no one knew who fired the shot that had killed Ray, although they were aware that it hadn't been one of the police officers. It only helped a little and was something that she did her best not to think about.

"Then we are looking at the possibility that Horatio is a Sentinel. He'll need to be tested if the sensitivity he's experiencing continues. Right now I want him to rest and recover before we subject him to any more tests that we have to. He's being sent up to a room right now. Once he's settled you can go and see him. We'll be keeping him here at the hospital until he's off the IV and eating solids. Alexx, please make sure that Speed takes care of himself."

Speed rolled his eyes but didn't deny the unspoken assumption that he would be spending his time in Horatio's hospital room and would have to be pried away from Horatio's side. He wouldn't leave his partner alone in a hospital any more than H had ever left him. Not only had H spent every minute of every emergency room visit with him, he had spent every minute he could at Speed's side during the year Speed had spent in rehab. The Mercy Hospital staff had learned years ago not to try and separate them.

There was an agonizing half hour wait before the group was allowed to see Horatio. Slipping into the room, Speed went directly to where Horatio was lying in the hospital bed with his hands covering his ears. Ignoring the nurse who was attempting to tell him something, Speed knelt by the bed and after catching Horatio's pain filled eyes, brought his partner's hand to his chest. Then he placed his own hand on Horatio's chest.

Horatio sighed and made a face to hide his relief at the contact, the one thing currently in his world that didn't hurt. They stared into each other's eyes, matching each other's respiration and eventual heartbeats. 'Just another bomb', was the thought that ran through Horatio's mind. It had been their pre-bomb ritual, and was still the perfect way to calm him down. After a moment Speed pulled back. ~Better now?~ he signed.

Horatio remembered pushing his partner's body off of him and seeing the blood running from both his ears and from his leg in the aftermath of the last bomb they had worked on. The memory still gave him nightmares from time to time. He had thought that Speed had been killed. The fact that the only physical reminders that Speed had of the incident were a slight limp and being severely hearing impaired was a miracle that he thanked God for every night. ~Yes,~ Horatio signed back slowly. ~What's going on?~ The injuries he had from the restraints used on him made it difficult to move his wrists.

~First off, we got the ones who took you. They're headed straight for jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.00,~ Speed signed. His snarky attitude towards the perps got a muffled snort from Horatio and a set of giggles from Eric, Calleigh and Alexx who were standing by the door. To make things easier at the lab, and because they had become a family, all three of them had taken sign courses and were now as proficient as Speed and H.

~Didn't doubt it for a moment,~ Horatio signed.

~Good!~ Speed signed firmly. ~Now we're going to have a little talk about you and heroics!~

~Not my fault!~ H signed back. ~There wasn't any way I could give them Gloria!~ Gloria Murphy was a witness for a case the crime lab had recently processed. She was also only ten years old. All of the crime lab team members had a soft spot for children and had done their best to close the case as quickly as possible to protect her. H had even helped her and her mother settle into a safe house, which was why he had been chosen by the kidnappers.

Alexx, Calleigh, and Eric moved into the room, satisfied that they weren't going to hurt H with their presence. Alexx placed her hand on H's hospital bed where Speed could see it as the group came around to where H could see them. She didn't want to startle Speed by approaching him from behind and touching his shoulder, and making any sort of noise from a direction Speed's hearing aids could pick up was out of question at the moment as H was still flinching at the slight noises that the nurse was making.

~You didn't give her to them. She and her mom are fine. Gloria testified yesterday and the scum that your kidnappers worked for is already on his way to his eventual appointment with a lethal injection. The trial took all of four hours. We got you back this morning,~ Eric signed as he moved into H's line of sight.

Alex gently moved the nurse out of the way so that she and Calleigh could be seen clearly. ~Horatio, everything is fine. All you need to worry about is getting well enough to get out of here. Let us take care of the rest,~ Alex signed. Horatio looked back at Speed who had turned around to follow the conversation.

Speed smiled at Alex and turned back to find H watching him. ~Don't worry, partner. We've got it handled.~ And they would handle it, no matter what it turned out to be.

A/N2: American Sign Language and Signed English are two different languages. The primary language used in this fic for normal every day communications is ASL. When technical terms are needed (or when Speed is snarking by being extremely proper) Signed English is used. The reason for this difference is that ASL is a conceptual language. Many words used in English such as: a, the, and are dropped and single signs can be used to express an entire concept. For instance, the sign that most hearing Americans are used to seeing is 'I love you' which is signed with one hand outspread and the two middle fingers folded down. Signed English is a much more rigid language that be directly translated into spoken English. Most of the deaf people that I know only use Signed English when it is required. Admittedly, most of these people are my grandparents age and in my family and they are all much more comfortable with ASL.