Chapter 7
"Horatio!" Zoë yelled as she stepped to the side and in front of him as he slipped. She placed her hands on his shoulders and forcefully pushed him back. He landed on the roof on his back and she lost her balance. She could feel herself falling off the edge of the roof and there was nothing she could do about it. Time warped and she felt it slow down. They all watched it happening in front of them and none of them could do anything about it.
"Zoë!" Horatio yelled as he sat up and tried to dive over towards her, but before he could, he saw her falling more. She turned and looked at the balcony. 'If I jump, I could catch the balcony, I'd rather that than falling to the concrete ground below.' She thought to herself as her thought process sped up due to the adrenaline. She jumped. 'I basically just pushed her off!' Horatio thought to himself.
"ZOE!" Horatio shouted as he dived over to the edge. He heard the clang of the metal railing on the balcony and he saw her holding onto the railing. He quickly scrambled over to the balcony and jumped down as Nathan grabbed both of Zoë's wrists. Horatio ran over to them and also grabbed her wrists. They watched the vacant expression cross her face as she let go of the railing. They felt her weight now that she had let go and then both hauled her up and over the railing. Horatio cradled her as he ran back into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He stood back and ran a hand through his hair.
"I just pushed her off the roof…" Horatio mumbled to himself as he looked down at her. Alexx and Nathan rushed in and Nathan quickly placed his fingers on her neck to get her pulse. She blinked just as he withdrew his hand.
"Hey, it's okay, you've just blacked out." Nathan said softly as she sat up. She pulled the glove out of her pocket and then stood up to look at it.
"It looks like it was sending some sort of transmission." She said softly.
"I'm sorry Zoë." Horatio said softly and she gave him a smile.
"Don't worry, no harm done." She said with a sweet smile.
"Erm, why are you both here?" Zoë asked softly as she stood and looked at Alexx and Nathan.
"I couldn't wake you this morning so I called Alexx, we then called Nathan and you began to wake just as we were going to call an ambulance." Horatio said softly.
"Why wouldn't I wake?" She asked.
"I don't know, sweet. It was probably some extreme stress response after last night and yesterday, it could have been a seizure, but that's unlikely given your awareness now." Nathan said softly and Zoë looked at him then thought back to her nightmare. She swallowed and looked round to Horatio.
"It's okay." Horatio assured her.
"How are you really feeling, Zoë." Nathan asked softly.
"I feel fine, a tad stressed now, but fine otherwise." She said softly and Nathan nodded at her.
"In that case I don't think it's necessary for you to go to the hospital, but if you have any problems, call me or go straight to the hospital." He said softly and she gave him a nod and a small smile.
"I'll see you soon, take care, both of you and try not to get yourselves in trouble." Nathan said softly and they gave him a smile.
"Thank you, Nathan, sorry for getting you out on your day off." Horatio said softly.
"Not a problem, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." He said softly and Horatio gave him a smile and nod.
"Thank you, Alexx. Sorry for dragging you away from your family." Horatio said softly.
"Not a problem, call if you need anything. Take it easy." She said softly, directing her last comment at Zoë.
"Wait a moment." Zoë said softly as she walked over to the TV and tapped it to wake it up.
"I just want to make sure it's safe before you both leave." She said softly and they nodded at her as she tapped a few more things.
"Skyler, show me outside the front." Zoë said softly and then the front of the house was shown.
"Highlight any unknown cars and heat signatures." She said softly and they watched the screen come alive with red lines, outlining a few things.
"Is that your car, Nathan?" Zoë questioned and he nodded at her as he looked at the car with an outline.
"Alexx, that's yours, isn't it?" Zoë questioned.
"Yes honey." She replied and Zoë nodded and then looked at the small heat signature across the street. 'It looks like a cat or small animal, that's fine.' She thought to herself.
"Everything is clear, you're safe to leave." She said softly as she double tapped the corner of the screen and it went blank. She gave them a smile and then walked out with them.
"I'm sorry for having to get you both out and thank you. Have a great day." Zoë said softly as she opened the door.
"Not a problem." They both said softly
"Don't tell anyone about the system in place." She said softly and they nodded at her and then left, both a little shocked at how the morning turned out.
'She can talk to her house? She was unconscious and then on the roof collecting some device? What the hell? I can see why she wouldn't get bored of her life.' Nathan thought to himself.
"I'm sorry, Horatio." She said as she turned to him in the bedroom.
"Don't apologise, it's okay. I'm just glad you're okay and I'm terribly sorry for not listening to you on the roof, I just wanted you off there as soon as possible." Horatio said softly.
"It was an accident, it's okay. Anyway, no harm done and we've now got this device thing." She said softly and Horatio nodded as she took it out of her pocket.
"Someone must've put it up there last night as I didn't hear it's buzz yesterday, it was probably put up there early morning as that's when she tried to warn us. I'm going to keep her on low from now on, it may get a little annoying, but I think it's necessary if someone is trying to target us again." Zoë said softly as she studied it. Horatio nodded and she then took the batteries out.
"Skyler, allow signal and radio waves." She said softly.
"I'll have someone from the lab pick it up and check it." Horatio said softly and Zoë nodded and then sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry about last night, Horatio. I don't know what came over me." She said softly and Horatio looked round to her.
"There's no need to apologise, it's okay." Horatio said softly and then pulled his phone out after she gave him a nod.
There was a knock at the door and Zoë handed the device over to one of the CSI's and told him what to do with it.
"Thank you Miss Chambers, I'll let you know what I find." She gave him a nod and then closed the door after he walked away.
2 hours later her phone rang.
"Zoë Chambers" she said as she answered the phone.
"Hi Zoë, I've got the results for the device that you handed me, it seems as though it was recording everything it could, sound mainly and it was able to listen into your conversations. It was sending the signal to ghost email addresses around the world, I'm sorry but I couldn't track anyone down or get any more for you. No prints were found either." The CSI said softly.
"Okay, thank you." She said softly and then hung up and told Horatio the news.
"Who else can have a grudge against us?" She asked as she turned to Horatio.
"Only half of Miami" he mumbled back, trying to understand it.
"Don't forget half of New York too, I think I've still got a few 'fans' from there…" She said softly as she looked up at Horatio. Horatio looked up at her and sighed.
"Someone is hatching a plan, I guess we're going to have to find out what it is and stop it before it takes place." Zoë said softly and Horatio nodded. She then curled up next to him and placed her head on his shoulder, thinking about the possibilities of what could happen.
"Who were those people who actually took Nathan? I never found out." Zoë asked as she took hold of his hand.
"They weren't well known. They were a part of the drugs trade and we've made it difficult for them by putting some of their associates away, we've not dealt with them personally before though. They wanted to find the easiest way to take us out, mainly you as they've heard a lot about you from partners in New York." Horatio said softly as he placed with her fingers.
"But why take Nathan?" Zoë asked.
"Because they wanted to find out our medical records, they aren't easily accessible, especially yours and I don't have very many records so the easiest way to get information is to take the doctor that treats us, he not only knows about our medical records, but he knows details about us too. Don't worry sweetheart, they're behind bars." Horatio said softly.
"Yes, that may be so, but whoever put that device on the roof isn't and is quite clearly associated with the goings on with those criminals. What if they get Nathan again? What if they hurt you?" Zoë panicked.
"They won't get Nathan, I've put undercover surveillance on him for the time being and no-one is going to hurt me Zoë." Horatio assured her.
"But how do you know that? What if my dream comes true? Horatio, I'm scared." Zoë said as she sat up and looked at him and for the first time, he saw terror in her eyes as he's never seen it before. 'She's never admitted that she's afraid before, she must be terrified.' Horatio thought to himself.
"I promise you Zoë, no-one is going to hurt me, your dream was just a dream, nothing more. There's nothing to worry about beautiful, I'm not going anywhere." Horatio said as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her lightly. She swallowed and nodded against his shoulder and Horatio knew she still wasn't convinced.
"You don't need to worry Zoë, I'm not going to get hurt, I promise you, I really do." Horatio said as he rubbed her back. She took a deep breath and then nodded as she pulled back a little and then kissed him lightly.
The End
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