A/N: TWO YEARS...It's been exactly two years and one week since I updated this one! But at least you get three chapters for the price of one! Reviews are welcome
characters (c) CBS
The inevitable day of reckoning had arrived for one Tim Speedle. His coworkers and team members had done everything in their power to stop it from coming, especially Eric and Calleigh. Horatio had pulled off half a dozen of paperwork Houidinis and it still wasn't enough. Now all the team could do was prepare him for CSI hell aka Internal Affairs Evaluation Day.
Both the lieutenant and his ragdoll tried every trick in the book to try and make Speed a model CSI: shaving the stubble, ample gel use and the like. Tim even sneaked himself into a funeral home to get a free makeover to look more natural. Horatio then had to spend the entire day looking through five funeral services to find him before he was buried again.
"You look fine, Speed." Caine assured with a smile as he fixed Tim's collar. Said former assassin simply sulked. "I still look dead, H." Tim was wrong; he looked very much normal except for one little detail. "Your eyes…" Those inverted eyes… "Speed, they'll be evaluating your skills, nothing more." The lieutenant added while reinforcing loose threads. Ryan stood outside as lookout while Calleigh did her best to stall in Internal Affairs.
"Here's the provisional case Stetler's assigned for the test." Eric announced as he entered Horatio's office with a manila envelope. "Did he give you any trouble?" Caine asked, looking up to Delko. "Surprisingly no. Apparently the lab's so understaffed that they'll give the job to just about anyone, no offense." "None taken. Let's get on with this; I have a couple of real cases to work on." Horatio placed a quick peck on the CSI's forehead. "You'll do great."
The lieutenant had complete and unquestioned faith on Speed but he couldn't see it reciprocated. The team had spent weeks reviewing protocol and evidence procedures but the hovering doubt was still there. "They'll chew him up if he shows weakness even once." Eric warned remembering his own evaluation just two months prior. "We'll know soon enough." Caine looked at his watch and raised his eyesight to spot Speedle enter IAB.
"Name." Agent Carl Sommers read dryly. "Timothy Speedle." The agent cocked an eyebrow and faced the candidate. 'So the rumors were true; he did come back from the dead…' he thought snidely. "Date of Birth." Tim answered the question unaware of the next one. "Date of death." Tim was off-guard for a second but thankfully no one saw it. "August 15, 2005. Oh and to answer the next question, gunshot to the left lung." Stetler's face had a look that Horatio would've given his gun and badge to see, a mix of surprise, career-bound horror and resentment towards the mentioned lieutenant. The menial questions kept going, Agent Sommers asking, Speed responding and Rick dying just a little inside.
"Well, that concludes the interview phase. Let's see your performance on the field." Speed surprised everyone as he collected evidence from the examination crime scene and processed it in almost record time. He also received outstanding marksmanship in target practice. After two more hours of examination, both Stetler and Agent Sommers had no choice but give the former assassin his certification back.
The entire team was held up in the main conference room, waiting for Speedle's results. As soon as Tim walked in, everyone ganged up on him. "So?" Horatio asked; head cocked to the side. Speed quietly handed Caine a small piece of paper that had an 82 written down in red ink. "What the hell?! Damn bastards didn't give you a perfect score?" Calleigh spat. "Keep reading." Tim replied rather annoyed. In the comments section of the evaluation, the note read:
Excellent workmanship and marksmanship; presents doubts about loyalty to the Police force in regards to confidentiality.
"That's bullshit! If they were disqualifying CSIs for that, Ryan would be out of a job!" Delko remarked, causing Wolfe to yelp, "Hey!" "Stelter just wants to spite H, don't take it too seriously." Calleigh assured, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of the comment. Only the lieutenant remained quiet, if only to let go a sigh. The silence terrified Speed to no end; had he failed his master? Or worse, was he going back to storage?
The rest of the day came and went, but the image of Horatio just standing and saying nothing was painful for Tim. Once at the car, he couldn't help but say something. "I'm sorry I messed up." "You didn't; you did an amazing job." Horatio comforted his coworker with a smile. But Caine knew what the question meant. "Speedle, what happened in there was just them trying to flesh out any remaining alliance to Marla." "But you didn't say anything."
Horatio cocked his head and sighed, "This day, reminded me of your first evaluation." Tim dusted off the memory and grinned rather sheepishly; almost thirteen years earlier, he had just come in from the academy and did so many rookie mistakes that he was assigned into a desk job near Horatio's bomb squad. "Holy crap; you still remember that?" "I try not to forget." Caine chuckled.
"I'm just glad you're back." He murmured as he landed a quick kiss on Speedle's clean-shaven cheek. "Now, let's go apologize to that funerary director you scared the living shit out of."
