Title: The Three of Us Part 2
Author: Aeon Cole
Rating: FRAO
Warning: Slash
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairing: Horatio/Speed/Stetler
Word Count: 3930
Summary: The beginning of a new life.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
ooo
Rick fell into a deep sleep with Horatio curled into his arms. He likely would have slept for a few more hours that morning if Tim hadn't woken him up, not that he had minded all that much at the time. He barely noticed when Horatio rolled over and off of him to snuggle up next to Tim who was dozing lightly. Tim's eyes fluttered open when he felt Horatio roll over to him and he slipped an arm around the redhead. Horatio muttered something unintelligible in his sleep. Tim was beginning to doze again when he felt Horatio twitch and become restless. He opened his eyes and could tell Horatio was dreaming. He pulled him closer running a hand gently over his arm trying to soothe him. He heard Horatio start muttering again and thought he heard the words 'don't hurt'. His mind flashed back to a little earlier when Horatio had thought he was hurting Rick.
"Shh. No one's getting hurt," Tim whispered.
Horatio was still fidgeting in his sleep and he muttered the words again. Tim didn't want to wake him so he continued to try to soothe him while he slept but he could tell it wasn't really working. Then a little more clearly, Horatio said, "Don't hurt me," just as his eyes flew open. He sat up and quick jumped out of bed before Tim could react. Tim looked over to see him disappear into the bathroom. He lay there for a few minutes trying to decide if he should go after him or give him some time alone.
Horatio shut the bathroom door behind him but didn't lock it. He stood there and took a couple of deep breaths trying to calm himself then he walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. But when he stood up and looked into the mirror, the face staring back wasn't his own. He wasn't surprised by this. That same face had been staring back at him from mirrors frequently over the past few weeks. The older he got the more striking the resemblance became and it always made him wish he'd inherited more of his mother's features. He hardened his expression trying to will the image away but it only served to strengthen the resemblance to his father.
In his mind's eye the image in the mirror came to life and all of the insults and criticism that were hurled at him as child were thrown back at him now; how worthless he was, how weak and indecisive. He felt himself beginning to retreat like he'd done when he was a kid but part of him wanted to fight back. He had the strongest urge to slam his fist into the mirror to make the image go away but he gripped the counter a little tighter instead.
He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered though gritted teeth, "You're dead. Go away."
When he opened his eyes the image in the mirror had returned to normal but now he saw Tim staring back at him from the doorway. He lowered his eyes but didn't soften his expression at all. Tim regarded him for a moment before he spoke. Without really thinking about it he used the same voice he used in interrogations when he'd finally figured out a case and he wanted the suspect to know that he'd figured everything out.
"How bad was it, Horatio?" he asked.
They locked eyes in the mirror. Horatio didn't look down or look away. "Bad," he said then pushed past Tim and walked out of the room.
Tim followed him into the bedroom and watched as he stepped into his jeans and grabbed his shirt then walked out. Tim pulled on his own pants as he walked toward the door. He went downstairs and found Horatio in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. He was wracking his brain for a way to get Horatio to talk to him when he settled on the only idea he could come up with. He walked up to the redhead and leaned against the counter.
Rick rolled over in bed and stretched out his arm feeling around for his lovers. Encountering only empty space he opened his eyes and sat up. He had a moment of panic thinking that they had both left him but he could hear noise coming from downstairs so he hopped out of bed and slipped into his boxers before heading out of the room. He stopped at the kitchen door when he heard Tim talking. He stood back and listened.
"Did I ever tell you why I left home?" Tim asked. Horatio glanced over at Tim then shook his head and went back to what he was doing. "I was fourteen when my stepdad married my mom. He knew I was gay, my whole family knew. I'd been outted the year before and stopped hiding who I was. So he knew. He didn't say anything to my mom or to me about how he felt about it. But he kept me at arms length. Then Teddy was born and all of a sudden he saw me as a threat, a corrupting influence, because if Teddy grew up around someone who was gay, he might turn out that way too. I lived in that house for another year and a half putting up with the verbal abuse and the beatings. He did everything he could to get me to run away."
Horatio looked up from the counter. He asked, "Didn't your mother do anything about it?"
"He never did anything more than glare at me when she was around. He had her convinced that I was getting into fights at school. I tried to talk to her about it but she never believed me. She accused me of making everything up, of being jealous. She couldn't bring herself to believe that the man she'd married, the man who was so gentle and loving to his own son could be any different with hers."
Horatio poured two mugs of coffee and handed one to Tim. "And that's why you left?" he asked.
Tim took a sip of the coffee then shook his head. "No. I knew I only had to put up with it until I was eighteen then I'd go off to college. But just before my seventeenth birthday things changed. I'd gone out with some friends. We'd snuck into this club in the Village. We spent the evening drinking and hanging out. I started feeling a bit lightheaded so I decided to go outside for some air. I was pretty drunk. When I walked out, I got jumped by three guys who pulled me into the alley next to the club. They started pushing me around and beating on me."
For the first time since he'd started talking, he turned his face away from Horatio as he spoke. "Then they took turns raping me," he added quietly.
He went silent for a moment and Horatio laid a hand on his arm. With a sigh Tim continued, "My friends came outside looking for me and scared them off. They wanted to take me home but I'd recognized one of the men as a friend of my stepfather's and I was sure he was involved somehow. I had them take me to my uncle's. I stayed there and after I recovered he petitioned the court for custody of me and won."
Horatio studied Tim for a few moments realizing that he above anyone else would understand though he'd never talked about this with anyone before, not even Rick. "My father was an alcoholic," he said speaking quietly but with purpose. "He was an angry and vicious man. He never wanted a family but he got my mother pregnant and for whatever reason decided to marry her. They were very young, too young really."
Tim raised an eyebrow a little worried about the answer he was going to get to his next question but he asked anyway. "Was he the one?"
Horatio shook his head. "No, but he knew about it and never did anything to stop it," he said.
His anger was raw and very clear in his voice, but before he could say anything more or Tim could ask any questions, Rick stepped into the room. He'd heard everything that they'd both said. His worst fears finally confirmed after more than twenty years, he locked eyes with Horatio. He could see the anger in his lover's expression at a level he hadn't seen in a very long time. Horatio held his gaze for a few moments then his eyes closed and his head dropped. Rick immediately pulled him into his arms. They'd been through these sudden mood swings before. Horatio buried his face in Rick's shoulder and they just stood there holding onto each other.
After a couple of minutes Rick asked, "Who?" He needed to know because if this person was still alive, he was going to kill them.
Horatio didn't move from his position so his voice was muffled by Rick's shoulder. "Jamie," Horatio answered.
Tim watched Rick's expression change from anger to one of shock. Rick pulled Horatio to his feet but the redhead wouldn't meet his eyes. "Your cousin?" Rick asked.
Horatio nodded. Rick had actually met Horatio's cousin one day many years ago when they were still living in New York. They'd run into him in a café and Rick was able to tell there was tension between the two but he had no idea why and Horatio had refused to talk about it. The one thing that tempered his mood though was that he knew the man was dead, killed in a car accident ten years earlier.
"Bastard," Rick muttered as he pulled Horatio back into his arms.
Tim was still a little unsure of himself around the two of them so he just stood back and let Rick and Horatio comfort each other. Then Rick held out a hand to him and drew him in. It felt good to have both of them in his arms like that and they just stood together drawing strength from each other for many minutes. But after a while Rick, who was only clad in his boxers, began to get a chill despite the two warm bodies pressed up against him. He pulled back and looked at both men.
"I need to put some clothes on," he said. "It's getting chilly in here."
He gave each of them a kiss and Tim said, "Or we could just go back to bed."
Rick shook his head. "We still need to talk. If we go back to bed we won't be doing much talking," he pointed out.
Tim raised an eyebrow. "Rain check?" he asked trying to lift the general mood a notch or two.
Rick rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he said. "I'll be right back."
He walked upstairs and sat on the side of the bed for a few moments. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He still wasn't sure just what it was that had made Horatio finally admit to what Rick had always suspected but he was glad he had. Maybe now they could get past this last issue that stood between them. He grabbed a pair of sweat pants and t-shirt and dressed quickly before heading back downstairs. He found Horatio and Tim sitting together in the living room talking quietly.
Rick walked up and stood in front of both of them. Horatio held out a hand and Rick took it. Tim did the same and they pulled him down onto the sofa to sit between them. Rick put one arm around each man and pulled them close. Horatio rested his head on Rick's shoulder and snuggled up to him. Rick knew he wanted to talk to both of them about what he'd heard them talking about but for the moment he was content to simply have them close. It was Tim who finally broke the silence.
"So… how much did you hear?" he asked.
Rick gave Horatio a quick hug then removed his arm and turned toward Tim. "I heard what you told Horatio," he said.
Tim lowered his eyes. He hadn't really meant for anyone else to hear that story. He'd only told Horatio as a way to get him to fess up about his own past. He didn't need anyone feeling sorry for him but Rick seemed to sense this.
"You know, I'd like to meet your uncle some day," he said. Tim looked up at him slightly confused. "Well, he probably saved your life and because of that you're here with us right now."
One side of Tim's mouth quirked up and he said, "Yeah, I'll have to remember to thank him again."
Rick leaned over and gave him a kiss then he turned back to Horatio. He looked his lover in the eyes and this time Horatio didn't back down. "Jamie's been dead for ten years," he said matter-of-factly. "I think it's time we leave the past in the past and start moving forward before we're both too old to enjoy a life together." He took Horatio's hand. "What would you say if I asked you to move in with me?"
Horatio just stared at him for a moment not sure he was hearing things correctly. He had expected Rick to call him out about lying to him for so many years but this totally through him for a loop.
"Um, I'd say yes," he replied still a little stunned. Rick's face broke into a wide smile and he pulled Horatio into a hug. "I love you," Horatio said softly then he pulled back and asked, "What about Speed?"
Rick ducked his head. "Tim and I have talked about this and he doesn't feel he's ready to take this step with us, not immediately anyway."
Horatio looked over at their young companion. "It's not that I don't want to, H. I just need a little time to get used to the idea. It's been a long time since I've had to live with anyone, other than my uncle that is. And I can't leave the building unsupervised." Horatio ducked his head and nodded. "But don't worry. I promise I'll be here every chance I get. And my uncle gets back in town in three months. That should give me enough time to get settled with the whole idea."
Horatio was willing to accept that as long as he knew that eventually they would have Tim with them. He turned back to Rick and asked, "I can really move in here with you? You really want that?"
Rick smiled gently. "Yes, I do. I told you before, Horatio. I'm tired of living separate lives, only getting to be with you a couple of times a month. I want to wake up with every morning and go to sleep with you in my arms every night. I'm tired of hiding how I feel about you."
Horatio smiled then a thought occurred to him. "What about work? What do we do at the lab?"
Rick shook his head. "I don't know. We'll figure it out as we go, I guess." Horatio raised an eyebrow. He wasn't used to Rick being like this. He always had a plan. Rick sighed. "I'm tired of always having to be the one to make the decisions, Horatio. I want to start doing things with you instead of for you." Seeing the look of uncertainty in his lover's expression he added, "I know it's not going to be easy. We've been living like this for twenty years. And it doesn't mean that anything is going to drastically change tomorrow. It will take time, I know that." Then he smirked and said, "So don't look so scared."
Horatio smiled shyly and dropped his head for a moment before looking up at Rick again. He leaned forward tentatively and Rick met him half way. Rick opened his mouth trying to get Horatio to take some control over the kiss. He did and Rick moaned softly. Tim leaned over and started nibbling at Rick's ear as one of his hands slipped up Rick's leg. Rick moaned again when he felt Tim cup his growing erection through the fabric of his sweat pants. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Horatio's.
"That rain check you wanted? How's now?" Rick asked.
Tim continued nibbling at Rick's ear. "Now's good," he muttered as he swirled his tongue around the outside of his ear and continued to stroke his cock.
Rick groaned. "Upstairs, now."
He pulled the other two to their feet and practically dragged them up to the bedroom. He pulled Horatio into his arms while Tim pressed his body up against him in back and started kissing and nibbling at his neck. Rick moaned and leaned back against Tim. He pushed Horatio's shirt off and undid his pants pushing them to the ground. Tim pulled Rick's shirt up over his head from behind then wrapped his arms around him and slipped his hands inside his sweat pants and began stroking him again. Rick felt his knees go weak and leaned his weight on Tim. Tim looked over Rick's shoulder at Horatio who seemed to get the message and pulled Rick's sweats down allowing him to step out of them.
"So," Tim said seductively into Rick's ear. "How do you want to do this, this time?"
Rick moaned softly at his tone. He ground his ass back against Tim and said, "Someone is still wearing too many clothes."
Tim quickly slipped out of his jeans and moved back in behind Rick letting his cock rub against the other man's ass. "Better?" he purred.
"Much," Rick breathed as he pulled Horatio in again. He took a moment to regain his composure before he said, "I have and idea."
He took Horatio's hand and led him over to the bed. Rick sat in the middle of the bed and leaned back against the headboard. He held his arms out to Horatio and pulled him down to sit between his legs resting his back against Rick's chest. He began stroking Horatio's cock as the redhead mewled softly. He nodded for Tim to come over. Horatio knew that he'd hurt himself earlier so this was all he was going to be able to do but he wasn't complaining.
Tim crawled up at the end of the bed and slowly ran his hands up Horatio's legs. He leaned in and captured Horatio's mouth while Rick continued to stroke him gently. Their tongues dueled until Horatio's lungs began to burn and he pulled away resting his head back on Rick's shoulder and gasping for air. Tim and Rick exchanged a glance before Tim replaced Rick's hands with his tongue causing Horatio's breath to catch. Tim slowly drew Horatio's cock into his mouth pausing to suckle at the tip while his tongue played with his piercing.
Rick noticed that Horatio had momentarily stopped breathing and whispered into his ear, "Breathe, love."
Horatio gasped in a breath as Tim swallowed him down. He desperately wanted to thrust up and he felt his control slipping. He grabbed onto Rick's hands and tried to pull his arms around him. Rick realized he was self-restraining so he wrapped his arms tightly around the redhead pinning Horatio's arms beneath. Once Horatio was restrained he began thrusting into Tim's mouth to the extent that he could. It didn't take long for Horatio to come with a loud moan while he continued to thrust up until he was spent. He collapsed onto Rick gasping for air.
Rick locked eyes with Tim and said, "That was hot." He heard Horatio chuckle. He leaned close to Horatio's ear and whispered, "I love you."
Horatio's body was limp against Rick's but he could feel his lover's arousal pressing insistently into his back so he rolled off to let the other two have some fun. Rick desperately wanted to feel Tim inside him but he was afraid he'd pushed Horatio too far already. That was something they could save for later. He glanced over at Horatio who was watching him with a bit of a grin and asked, "You want to see Tim ride me?" He saw Horatio nod so he reached under the pillow and grabbed the lube. He handed the bottle over to Tim then lay back onto the bed and pulled Horatio close.
Horatio watched as Tim slicked up Rick's cock then raised himself up and slowly sank down until Rick was buried deep inside him. Rick let out a long moan and thrust up just a bit. Tim sat still for a moment allowing himself to regain enough composure to start moving. After a moment he began slowly rocking his hips drawing soft moans and whimpers from Rick.
Horatio had his eyes locked on Rick's face mesmerized by his expressions and what Tim was doing to him. He'd always had to concentrate so hard on his own control that he'd never taken the time to pay much attention to Rick's face when they were together and now he couldn't get enough. His hand brushed over Rick's cheek and Rick's eyes fluttered open. He saw Horatio staring down at him. Horatio became self-conscious and tried to turn his head but Rick pulled him in and their tongues tangled as Tim picked up his pace.
Seeing Horatio and Rick kiss while he was riding Rick almost undid Tim on the spot. "Not… gonna… last," Tim breathed.
Rick broke the kiss but kept Horatio close. "Me either," Rick gasped.
He reached out and wrapped his hand around Tim's cock and started pumping. Tim moaned. Horatio felt himself get hard again from watching and started rubbing his aching cock against Rick's side. As soon as Rick felt that he thrust up and came with a long moan. Tim followed then Horatio as they all collapsed into a heap on the bed. Tim rolled to the letting Rick slip from his body. He was already beginning to drift off.
Rick leaned over and whispered something in Horatio's ear. The redhead got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. He returned with a wet cloth and proceeded to clean them all up then he tossed the cloth back into the bathroom and joined the other two in bed. He snuggled up against Rick and chuckled slightly when he heard Tim snoring. Rick looked at him.
"I think we wore him out, love," he said softly.
Horatio smiled and laid his head on Rick's shoulder. "I like it when you call me that."
Rick smiled back and said, "I'll have to do it more often then." He kissed Horatio's temple and said, "Get some rest now." But Horatio shook his head. "Why not?" Rick asked.
Horatio lifted his head and looked at him. "Because I'm afraid I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream," he answered.
Rick hugged him closer. "It's not a dream, love. I promise."
Horatio laid his head back down. "When can I start moving in?" he asked.
"Anytime you like," Rick answered.
"This weekend?" he asked hopefully.
"That would be perfect," Rick said.
They lapsed into silence and Horatio felt Rick begin to relax as he drifted off to sleep. Horatio lay awake a little while longer being lulled by Rick's heartbeat and Tim's soft snoring before his eyes finally closed.
TBC