Chapter 4
"Miss Boa Vista, please get on with what you were doing previously." Horatio ordered gently, but she knew he wasn't to be disobeyed. She pressed her lips together and then walked away, Horatio saw that she was slightly amused by the comment, and she saw the fire in his eyes so stopped herself from saying anything.
"Walter, rescue is nearly here... stop playing with the powder Walter." Horatio said firmly but Walter continued to play with it.
"H can you come in here please?" Walter questioned.
"It's unsafe Walter, I can't." Horatio said softly with a slightly sympathetic expression.
"Please." Walter asked as he continued to play with the powder as Horatio watched and made sure he kept his distance. He knew he couldn't stop Walter from playing with it.
"They're about 5 minutes away, H." Eric said in passing and Horatio nodded before he looked back to Walter.
"It's like snow, come and play with the snow Horatio." Walter said as he looked up at Horatio again with wide eyes and a beaming grin.
"Walter, stop playing with it now." Horatio said when he could see the powder flying everywhere.
"I can feel my heartbeat." Walter said as he stopped and looked up at Horatio. Horatio just placed both hands on his hips and looked down at Walter, unsure of what he could actually do. "You're attractive sir, I can see why Zoë likes you, but you always act as if you're not, you should make more eye contact. You have a great personality too, you should show that at work more. I think you're hilarious when you joke around with Zoë, like on the island. You can come over to mine and show me more of that personality if you want? Perhaps one evening this week? Zoë won't mind, will she?" Walter questioned fast and Horatio's eyes widened, he grew more embarrassed as well as slightly disturbed. 'I could get Eric to deal with this? I could be of more use elsewhere…' Horatio thought to himself.
"Walter, I'd advise you to be quiet and focus on calming down." Horatio said softly as he tried to remain calm himself, all he wanted to do was walk away and drive home to Zoë.
"Come here and calm me down like you do with Zoë? Come and stroke my hair, that works for her, maybe it'll work for me too? I don't really have much hair… but you can stroke my head? I'd like to feel your hands on me…" Walter questioned with a smile while Horatio just stared at him blankly for a moment.
"Walter that is not appropriate and it is unsafe." Horatio said softly before swallowing and pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked down at the floor.
"I'm not gay, but I'd be open to you, H. Show me what you do to Zoë?" Walter questioned and Horatio took a deep breath and his frown deepened as he then looked back to Walter. 'Cocaine does enhance the feelings of sexuality, doesn't it? Why on Earth is he coming on to me? Why not Eric? Or even Natalia? Surely he would have been giving her the eye, not me.' Horatio thought to himself as he exhaled as his frustration grew. "Show me what you do to Zoë, do you like it rough? Because I can do rough… I'd imagine Zoë can be quite rough and that would make it better. I can do that for you, we can even go to a hotel if you'd be uncomfortable at mine." Walter said as he looked up at Horatio. Horatio's eyes just widened as he shook his head in disbelief, he simply didn't know what to do, he'd never felt so uncomfortable in his life before.
"Walter, try and be quiet please, I am not answering your questions and I'm certainly not going to do anything with you. Do not talk about Zoë, if you mention one more word about our love life, I will push you through that floor myself." Horatio said firmly and then frowned more at his response. He knew he was becoming too frustrated and taking it out on Walter, but Walter was only chopping down his already short fuse to a stub and knew it was probably only a matter of time before it ignited. 'It's Walter's fault that he's driving me to reply with such responses, but then it isn't his fault. Don't take it out on him. The sooner this gets done, the sooner the day will end and the sooner I will be back home with Zoë, Bel and Elle.' He thought to himself as he took a very deep breath to push his stress away.
"If only you could channel that firmness into your–" Walter began but the last word of his sentenced was muffled when Horatio intentionally coughed loudly when Frank walked over to them.
"Everything alright, H?" Frank asked and Horatio nodded with a forced reassuring expression as he placed his hands back on his hips.
"Could you just wait outside for fire & rescue?" Horatio asked immediately and Frank nodded with a slight frown as he became slightly suspicious about something.
"Cane me, please? Or I could cane you… I can do rough, I like rough. I've never used canes or anything of the sort. Do you own any H? You must do… ooh wait, or should I say Caine me… as in your last name… yeah!" Walter grinned up at Horatio, very impressed with his joke. Frank looked over to Walter as his eyes widened and eyebrows lowered, slightly alarmed by what he'd just heard.
"Did he just–" Frank began and Horatio nodded which stopped Frank mid-sentence while he stood there in shock. Horatio looked down at the floor, he'd literally never felt so uncomfortable before, he contemplated just walking out and leaving Frank to deal with Walter.
"Would you please go and wait for fire and rescue, there should be an ambulance with that, he'll probably need to go to the hospital." Horatio questioned again and Frank nodded with a slightly disturbed look, he then walked away. Horatio watched Frank walk away and sighed to himself again before he looked back into the room to see Walter studying him intensely which made him feel more uncomfortable.
"Did you see what I did there? I'm so hilarious. Caine… Cane… they can mean the same thing." Walter laughed as he looked up at Horatio but Horatio remained silent. "Have you ever caned anyone? Have you caned Zoë? Or, has she caned you? Are you into that kinky stuff?" Walter questioned excitedly.
"Walter, it's best you stop now." Horatio said firmly as he looked down to the floor in front of Walter as he was unable to make any proper eye contact with him.
"There's so many euphemisms that your last name can be used as. I like it. Would you get into bed with me? I'm sure I'd chicken out, but I'd be up for it right now." Walter said and Horatio exhaled as he rubbed his forehead. 'I don't think I've ever been sexually harassed by a male co-worker? Or a female for that matter… I don't need this right now, I really don't need it. This is horrible.' Horatio thought to himself as he exhaled. "I bet yours is nothing like a cane, you never big yourself up and Zoë said you're a God in bed, so you must be really good. You must be massive… I swear I've seen you with an erection before, Zoë had been sitting on you and when she got off… BANG there it was. I'm impressed, sir. I'd like a bit of Caine in my life… just to clarify, I'm not talking about Zoë… please don't hurt me, I'm not talking about her." Walter grinned as he grew more restless. Horatio closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose once more. He then heard a few pairs of footsteps coming up the stairs. 'Thank heavens, hopefully he'll harass someone else, I can't be dealing with that right now.' Horatio thought to himself as he backed off and let the fire & rescue officers in to do their job. 'Well, that was awful, I hope I never experience that again…' Horatio thought to himself while he still felt the heat in his cheeks from pure embarrassment.
"You might need to come and help H, there's no way these men can get my large ass out of this hole on their own." Walter smiled as the fire & rescue crew put a few masks on as the powder was still airborne as Walter was still flicking it around. Horatio gave them information on Walter and they thanked him. Horatio watched as he pulled his sunglasses out as paramedics arrived and also waited for fire & rescue to get him out.
"Woah, I've got this guys." Walter said as he held his hands up and then placed them on the floor and began to try and push himself out again but he was quickly stopped by the officers.
"Sir, you need to stay still for us please, we cannot get you out if you're moving around." One of the officers said as the paramedics spoke to Horatio. They managed to get Walter out as he stopped moving as much and then set him on his feet again. Horatio looked down at his watch and he saw that 25 minutes had passed and knew that if it was cocaine, it could be starting to wear off now, or so he'd hoped.
"Thanks H." Walter said as he walked over to him with paramedics and Horatio gave him a nod with a small smile, still feeling quite uncomfortable. Horatio saw that he seemed to feel a little better as he wasn't as restless any longer.
"Sir, would you please come with us to the ambulance where we can check you over?" One of the paramedics asked and Walter nodded with a gentle expression before he looked back to Horatio.
"How are you feeling now?" Horatio questioned as he turned with Walter, to walk out with him as he thought that Walter was coming down but felt Walter's hand against his back and felt him quickly move onto his ass. Horatio's heart rate and stress levels shot through the roof as a bolt of embarrassment and shame struck him.
"Walter!" Horatio yelled, completely startled as he moved away instantly, becoming highly uncomfortable. He glared at Walter as he stood there, utterly shocked.
"I-I'm sorry sir, I don't know what came over me." Walter apologised quickly as he frowned at Horatio and blinked rapidly.
"Get him out and check him over." Horatio said firmly as he raised his hand to his head and ran it through his hair whilst he watched the ambulance crew walk Walter out. 'At what point is it deemed sexual assault? Was I just sexually assaulted by Walter? That was horrible.' Horatio thought to himself as he tried to calm himself down as he could feel himself becoming very irritable, more than likely due to his tiredness combined with the situation at hand.
"H" Eric called as he walked over to him.
"Yeah?" Horatio questioned forcefully as he turned to Eric. Eric could see the intense stress on Horatio's face as well as his tiredness, it was obvious that Horatio didn't want to be there any longer.
"Sorry H." Eric apologised as he slowed and became very conscious of how he held his posture and gave Horatio an unsure expression as he wasn't sure what to do or say, he couldn't just walk away now. 'He looks like he's going to blow at any minute, what did Walter say? I bet he said something about both him and Zoë again.' Eric thought to himself as he blinked a few times.
"No, I'm sorry Eric, what is it?" Horatio asked a little more calmly as he exhaled steadily and put one of his hands into his pockets to feel the small picture that he always carried around with him of Zoë and another of Zoë with both babies. Just knowing that they were in his pocket made him feel a little better and calmed him down. Eric assessed Horatio's facial expression and stance before talking but was stopped before he could speak by Walter shouting from downstairs. Both he and Horatio quickly rushed over to the stairs and down to see Walter holding his head as one of the fire officers put a ladder down with a horrified expression.
"I am terribly sorry sir." The officer said as paramedics quickly pulled his hand away to see a small gash on his head.
"So you should be, I don't need this on top of falling through the floor and being drugged!" Walter replied as he frowned and then hissed in pain when a paramedic fiddled with the gash and then put gauze and a bandage on it.
"This is going to need stitches, you'll need to go to the hospital for definite now." The paramedic said and Walter nodded as he held the gauze against his head.
"You need to look where you're going sir." The paramedic said calmly as it was Walter who walked into the ladder.
"I'll go with Walter?" Eric asked when he saw Horatio tense again and Horatio nodded before he looked back to Eric and then down to the floor.
"Keep me updated." Horatio said and Eric nodded and then walked out with Walter to the ambulance. 'How on Earth did he fall through the floor? Perhaps the floor boards had been weakened as drugs were being stashed?' Horatio thought to himself and then carefully checked the room out, being careful of the drugs himself. Horatio exhaled, all he wanted to do was go home more after the incident. He got back to the lab and worked in the lab with Natalia as two CSI's were out and got on with work. Natalia didn't even say a word to Horatio unless it was strictly to do with the case, everyone could tell that Horatio seemed to have very short patience that day, but couldn't work out why as he was usually the most patient man they'd ever met. There weren't able to solve the case that day so left it to the night crew to get on with. Before Horatio headed home, he went over to the hospital to check up on Walter. He entered Walter's cubical and then looked down as he fiddled with his sunglasses as he became slightly uncomfortable again.
"How are you feeling, Walter?" Horatio asked softly as he glanced up at Walter, then to Eric before looking over to the monitor that he was attached to, to look at his vitals and saw that they were all normal.
"I'm much better now sir, thank you." Walter said softly and Horatio nodded as he pressed his lips together and looked down.
"Delko, can I have some privacy, please?" Walter asked and Eric nodded before he quickly walked out.
"Sir, I am so sorry about earlier, I can't tell you just how embarrassed I am and how terrible I feel. I was way out of line. I am really sorry sir. I didn't mean any of it." Walter apologised and Horatio nodded.
"You were under the influence of drugs, I understand. I'm sorry for having such a short fuse with you. But I am glad that you're feeling better now." Horatio said softly and Walter swallowed and then nodded, even he could see that Horatio was uncomfortable and embarrassed.
"I didn't mean anything I said H, I mean you're not bad looking at all, but you're certainly not my type and I'm not into men either. As for what I did when we walked away, I cannot put how horrified and sorry I am into words, I've never done such a thing and I sincerely hope that never happens again, for the both of us. I would never get into bed with you just to clarify and as for those horrifying personal questions, I think I'm trying to repress them. I'm sorry, please don't tell Zoë about that because she will come and put me back in that floor, or put me through another floor." Walter said quietly and then looked up when he heard a very quiet chuckle.
"I understand Walter, no hard feelings, I'm glad you're feeling better." Horatio said softly and Walter gave him a small smile and a nod, he knew the comment about Zoë had amused Horatio, probably because it was true.
"Have a good evening, sir." He said softly and Horatio nodded.
"You too, I hope you get out of here soon." Horatio said before he turned and walked out. He left after having a brief conversation with Eric. He left and arrived home, Zoë already had dinner ready and was just dishing up as he walked through the door and into the kitchen.
"Hey handsome, how was work?" She asked tiredly but with a sweet tone and expression as she tilted her head.
"Hi beautiful, it was interesting and horrible to say the least." Horatio said softly as he walked over to her and placed a loving kiss on her lips. They both needed it. She put what she had in her hands down and placed her hands on his waist as she kissed him back passionately and felt him relax considerably while she wrapped her arms around his waist. 'I guess it's been a hard day, he's very tense.' Zoë thought to himself. He broke from the kiss and then smiled at her softly as they looked into each other's eyes. He had already felt much better in himself and stepped back to take his jacket off as he'd immediately warmed up.
"How's the girls and how was your day?" Horatio asked softly as he walked over to the table at the back of the kitchen where both babies were sleeping in their little swing chairs which had stopped swinging.
"They've been angels and we've had quite a good day actually. They were a little difficult this afternoon, but they did soon settle down. I managed to slip in a nap as well so I'm feeling a little better." Zoë said softly and Horatio nodded with a smile.
"That's great sweetheart." He smiled softly before he looked back to both girls and then bent down to place a loving kiss on each of their cheeks and run his fingers over their heads to feel their soft, short hair. He then stood back up and turned to see Zoë finishing up the dishing up of the dinner. "Did you make that pie yourself?" Horatio asked and Zoë nodded as his mouth began to water almost immediately when he saw the steam rising from the pie as she put the vegetables on the plates. He knew what he needed was a good dinner to also help his energy levels as he'd barely eaten anything all day, again.
"There's also some left over for tomorrow's lunch if it's any good. It's chicken and bacon, I hope it's okay." Zoë said softly as she looked up at him sweetly.
"It smells lovely so I'm sure it will be. You shouldn't be making things like this though sweetheart, you should be using what time you have free to rest." Horatio said softly as he tilted his head and walked back over to her as he undone the next button on his shirt and placed his hand on her back as she poured gravy over both meals which made Horatio's mouth water even more. 'She is turning into a perfect chef too… is there anything she can't actually do perfectly?' Horatio thought to himself with a small smile as he placed his hand on her lower back.
"I wanted us to have a proper dinner tonight though, not something we made a few weeks ago and is frozen, or something like pasta again. I like to know that you're getting a good dinner after working all day too. I've also felt quite good today as well; Isobel didn't stop smiling at all, they both didn't actually. They were really happy babies and they're interacting with their toys more now! I just sat with them for ages earlier watching them pull their faces for about 20 minutes and making faces back at them. It really gave me a boost of energy to see them both so happy." She smiled sweetly and Horatio nodded.
"Thank you beautiful, it does look wonderful." Horatio said softly and she smiled as she turned and then put the gravy jug in the dishwasher.
"Coffee or water?" She asked softly as she pulled her glass from the cupboard.
"Water please." Horatio said softly and Zoë nodded and then got both herself and him a large glass of water and then sat down with him.
"I hope you enjoy." She smiled warmly and then took a bite from the pie as Horatio did. She watched his expression and then saw that he enjoyed it and also felt that the pie was actually tasteful herself.
"This is lovely, Zoë. Thank you." Horatio said warmly and she smiled at him.
"So, I was thinking perhaps a walk after dinner?" she asked softly and Horatio nodded as he took another bite. She could see that he was quite enthusiastic about the idea and knew it would probably relax him further. "Would you like to go out for another meal next week? I've got a place in mind and it's just opened, and I'd love another evening with you." She said softly.
"If we can get babysitters, then that would be lovely." He smiled and Zoë smiled again and nodded.
"It's already arranged actually." Zoë smiled and Horatio chuckled lightly as he smiled brightly at her and then had another mouthful. "So why was your day so bad?" Zoë asked softly once she'd finished her mouthful.
"Well, for starters, Walter fell through the floor at a crime scene, he wasn't hurt." Horatio said softly and then looked up at her as she began to choke on a piece of chicken. She quickly cleared her throat and swallowed the piece of chicken as Horatio began to panic and put his knife and fork down ready to act if needed to, but soon calmed himself when he realised she wasn't properly choking.
"Walter fell through the floor?" Zoë asked as she began to laugh and Horatio nodded which caused her to laugh more while she pictured it in her head. He looked down and allowed her to get it out of her system, he knew she'd find that amusing. "Oh boy, I wish I was there to see!" She beamed while she continued to laugh. He continued to look down as he didn't want to laugh about it himself and knew that if he looked up at her, he'd end up laughing purely because her laugh was so infectious. She then began to calm herself and quietened her laugh down once it was out of her system and saw that he wasn't amused himself, which confused her a little. 'Surely Walter falling through the floor is a funny thing? It would have been serious if he had hurt himself.' Zoë thought to herself. "That doesn't sound like it was a bad day." She smiled softly before she had another mouthful of vegetables and tilted her head at him to elaborate.
"The floor was unstable as drugs had been hidden. Him falling through the floor caused the bags that the drugs were stored in to burst, and he inhaled the powder by accident." Horatio said softly and she frowned as her expression became serious as she realised why he wasn't laughing.
"Really?" She asked sincerely and Horatio nodded.
"He then got high." Horatio murmured as he thought back to it and felt the same feeling he felt when it was all happening.
"Oh gosh, I can see why it wasn't such a good day then." Zoë said softly as she mildly frowned but didn't pick up on his increasingly uncomfortable bodily language.
"That wasn't even the worst of it." Horatio mumbled before he took a sip of water and looked down to his plate.
"What was worse than that?" Zoë asked warmly as she tilted her head. 'She'll laugh if I tell her, she will, I know she will. Perhaps I'll just keep quiet about it.' Horatio thought to himself when he began to feel ashamed and highly embarrassed again while he put his glass back down. He remained silent and she tilted her head more as a hint of confusion and concern glistened in her eyes. "Are you going to share, Kitten?" She asked softly and he looked at her and continued to think about it as he pressed his lips together. 'She'll find it funny.' Horatio thought to himself and knew that if she laughed at him, he'd feel much worse about the whole situation as he began to pick at his food.