Little Horatio: Hey! Here with me is Rick and Eric. And as for the story, Horatio finds something really old—no, not my great-grandmother--and Rick and Horatio will have a confrontation, it involves Rick taking away something important from Eric's boss.

Rick: (arms raised in victory) Yes!! Woohoo!

Eric: Don't get your hopes up, SERGEANT. (turning around) Little Horatio doesn't own me, Woohoo-boy here and any of the CSI: Miami cast for that matter. And THANK GOD she doesn't!

Little Horatio: (smirks) That's what you think…

Eric: What did you say?

Little Horatio: Oh, nothing, don't mind me. (turning around and dialing on my cell, whispering) Hey, JB, about the CSI: Miami crew…

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Chapter 7: Give Me Your Gun

Calleigh entered the break room, yawning. Her nose, filled with the aroma of good coffee in the morning. "Hmmm," she said, getting her coffee cup and got some for herself, "Coffee."

"Good morning to you too, Miss Duquesne," said the Cuban and sipped his coffee.

"Hey there, Eric, and good morning!" she said cheerfully and patted him on the shoulder.

Eric laughed and shook his head, "You have to tell me where you get your energy from every morning."

"It must be a southern thing," she said, looking like she was thinking. She sipped some of her coffee. "Hmmm."

Eric chuckled, "Must be."

"Good morning, everyone," Ryan said, rushing towards them and got his coffee cup, took some coffee and quickly drank all of it. "Ahh. That hits the spot."

Calleigh gave him a weird look. "Good morning, too, Ryan."

Eric face was quickly covered by a grin, meaning he had something up his sleeve. "You shouldn't have done that, Wolfe."

"Done what?" he asked, sipping the little remainder of his coffee.

"Dude! You just drank a cup load of Café Cubano!! In one gulp!"

Ryan spewed out his coffee. "WHAT?!"

"Eww! Gross, Ryan!" Calleigh shouted, jumping out of the way. "You almost hit me!"

Ryan started shaking like a leaf. "No, no, no…"

Eric burst out laughing and whacked Ryan's back. "Relax, man! It's not Café Cubano! I'm just playing with you!"

Ryan glared at Eric and shouted through gritted teeth, "DELKO!"

"Take it easy, man," Eric said in between snorts, putting his hands up, "I'm just messing with you."

"That was NOT FUNNY!" roared the youngest CSI, obviously pissed off. He turned his head and saw Calleigh stifle a laugh in vain. She smiled at him and gave him an innocent look, saying, "Yes?"

"I can't believe you guys!" Ryan said, blinking angrily. "Playing a trick on me early in the morning? What's the matter with you two?"

"Hey, I have nothing to do with this," Calleigh told the rather irate CSI. "Besides, aren't you glad that Eric found a new way of making you alert early in the morning without the involvement of caffeine?"

"Oh yeah, right, gee, thanks, Eric, I really appreciate the scare," Ryan said sarcastically. "You should be ashamed!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Ryan," Eric said apologetically but still smiling. "Now, stop it, will you? You're beginning to sound like Alexx."

And as if on cue, Alexx strolled in the break room. "Good morning, guys."

"Good morning, Alexx," they chorused.

Alexx looked at Wolfe while she got herself some coffee. "Why are you screaming early in the morning, baby?"

"Cubano boy here played a nasty trick on poor little Ryan," Calleigh answered for him, laughing.

Alexx shot a look at Eric which he returned with a smile of innocence. "I just woke him up, that's all, I swear! It was funny!" he confessed, laughing.

"No, it was not funny!" said Ryan as he wiped the floor clean with a mop. Setting it aside, he warned, "I'll get you for this."

"Oooh, I'm scared," Eric said mockingly.

Ryan gave him a fixed stare as he refilled his cup with coffee. Calleigh settled herself on the sofa and so did Eric.

"Have you guys seen Horatio?" Alexx asked and sipped some coffee.

"No, not really. Sorry, Alexx," Calleigh said.

"We haven't seen him since you let him go home early last night," Eric remembered.

"Yeah, well, he needed the sleep badly so I sent him home."

"Yeah, Alexx, he looked very tired last time I saw him," Calleigh said.

"It must've been the case," Eric suggested. "You know how H gets all worked up like that. I hope he had a good night's sleep,"

"Well, he better had," Alexx said, hoping he did.

"I'm not too sure about that," Ryan said, looking through the window. They all stared at him. "Horatio just arrived," he explained, pointing out the window.

Horatio was in the elevator, alone. He took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes, stifling a yawn. "Come on, Horatio," he said to himself, "Look alive or Alexx will have your hide." He didn't need another lecture from his M.E. along with his team in the early hours of the morning. His dreams made it hard for him to get any sleep and he didn't want any of them to find out what those dreams were. Getting out, he walked straight towards the break room, hoping he looked well rested enough for them and hoped that there was still some coffee left.

"Are you sure, Ryan?" asked Calleigh.

"I don't know. I saw him massaging his head though," he replied and sat on a chair next to the couch.

"Ryan Wolfe, not sure about something, that's the first." Eric said with a grin, putting down his cup of coffee on the table.

"Shut it, Delko," he shot back.

"Aren't we a little touchy—Hey, H," he said, seeing his boss enter the break room.

Looking up, Ryan greeted his boss. "Good morning, H."

"Good morning, Mister Wolfe," Horatio said casually, hoping that they wouldn't notice his rather tired eyes.

"Good morning, handsome," said the southern belle, once again, using the pen name that she gave him.

"Good morning. Calleigh," he said with a shy smile. He turned to Alexx who was already holding his cup filled with fresh morning coffee. She graciously handed it to him. "Here you go, baby, and good morning."

"Thank you, Alexx," he said politely, accepting the cup.

"So, Horatio," she said, "how was last night? Got enough sleep?"

Horatio sipped some coffee and said, looking at his cup, "Plenty, Alexx, thank you."

"Plenty, huh?" she said, giving him a look. "Doesn't look like it."

Horatio anticipated this and, thankfully, he had legitimate excuse other than his hellish dreams. "I, um, I was awoken by a call from one Rick Stetler."

Alexx studied the younger man's actions and looked directly into his beautiful blue innocent-looking eyes. A moments past and she finally looked away. "Okay, I believe you…only because the sergeant paid us a little visit last night thirty minutes later when I told you to go home and rest. He was looking for you and I clearly said not to disturb you if stupid ideas pop up in that big head of his."

"What did he want?" Horatio asked, now a little concerned over the situation but couldn't help showing a thankful smile at the motherly protection he knew Alexx had showed last night.

"Stetler wanted to talk to you about the shooting that happened during our rescue at the abandoned warehouse," Ryan informed him.

"What happened when he found out I'd already left?" Horatio asked, getting interested by the minute.

"Well, he was pissed, for one," Ryan remembered. "He went all red in the face, saying you slipped again."

"He threatened that he'd go to your house to get a statement if he had to," Calleigh said, with a frown. "He found out that you were the only one who fired a gun."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me. Rick has a tendency to find things out for himself without other people knowing," Horatio said blankly and finished his coffee, setting his cup aside. "What happened next? He didn't go to my house as I recall it."

Now, it was Eric who spoke, a big wide smile on his Cuban-Russian descent face. "You should have seen it, H," he said, his face full of utter enjoyment, "Alexx got all over Stetler's face and warned him not to disturb you or there would be hell to pay. I haven't seen Stetler grumble like that before. It was funny and weird at the same time."

Horatio turned to Alexx and gave her an appreciative smile. "Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome, baby," she said, rubbing their supervisor's arm, "besides, somebody needs to put that sergeant in his place."

"You know, he'll get you for that," he advised her.

"Let him try," Alexx retorted with a stern look.

Horatio chuckled and bid them all good bye. He went to his office and dreaded the inevitable. The moment he entered his office and turned on the lights, his eyes tightened. Piles and piles of paperwork were stacked on his desk, waiting to be taken care of and sorted out. He walked over and around his desk and sat on his chair. He groaned, took out a pen from his drawer and started with the stack of grueling paperwork a page at a time.

IAB Sergeant Rick Stetler stormed into the building and went straight for the elevator, ignoring the upset remarks when he entered the small space. He couldn't really care less right now as he jabbed the number two button with his finger. Horatio wasn't going to get away this time, that's for sure. Stetler was still annoyed about what happened last night. That M.E. Alexx Woods, got into his face and warned him about troubling Horatio, clearly stating her hate. "She'll pay for that," he muttered.

He heard the elevator dinged and stomped out as soon as the doors slid open. He shouted at the first officer he laid his fiery eyes on. "Where is he?! Where the hell is Horatio?!"

The young rookie officer stuttered trying to get the words out. Stetler shouted, getting impatient and causing more heads to turn, CSI Eric Delko being one of them. "What?! Spit it out!!"

"I-I have n-no idea, sir."

"Well? What the hell are you waiting for?!" Stetler spat. "Go find him! Idiot!"

"Y-yes, sir!" the rookie said, starting to walk the hell out of there before being stopped by a smiling CSI who put his hand on the scared rookie's shoulder. The CSI said kindly, patting the young officer's shoulder, "Hey, man, chill, forget about that order and go get yourself a bottle of water or something. Relax, ok? I'll cover you."

The young rookie nodded in reply and left the two men alone. Stetler closed his eyes and shook his head, an evil grin on his face. He gave the young CSI a look full of dislike. "You're really a piece of work, aren't you, Delko? You think you're all that, knowing the redhead's got your back on everything, don't you?"

Eric gave him the same look and said in a firm voice, "What the hell do you want this time, Stetler?"

"You know exactly what I want so don't play dumb, Delko," he said, looking into the Cuban's eyes. "Either you tell me where Horatio is or get the hell out of my way."

Before Eric could give the sergeant a piece of his mind, Stetler walked around him and darted toward the far corner of the hallway. It took Eric a while to finally register the fact that Stetler was heading for his boss' office. He ran after the sergeant, hot on his heels.

Hours passed as Horatio yawned tiredly, sitting in his chair and rubbing his hands over his tired eyes. He closed the folder in front of him and looked at the time. It was 10:45 am and he was almost about done. "It's not going to be a bad day after all," he thought, stretching his arms and legs. He was about done with his paperwork and there wasn't a single call-out today, well, this morning but he still keeps his hopes up that he and his team were just going to spend their working hours in the Crime Lab. Everybody needed the time to cope up with their own individual work and his was filling out unwanted papers.

Looking around his desk full of case files and paperwork, his attention was taken by a worn-out envelope that had a red "on-going" stamped on it. Conquered by his curiosity and intrigued by it's covering, he took it and examined it's exterior. It didn't just look very old, it was very old, dating back to thirty years ago if he'd read the date correctly. And it was a murder file, left in the unsolved. What really got the Lieutenant's attention was the two blue words that were stamped on the other side of the cover.

'This case file came from New York,' he thought, his heart beginning to beat faster, 'What's it doing here?' Thinking that his question was only going to be answered when he opens it, his hand snaked on the top of the envelope and was about ready to be enlightened when suddenly his door bursts open. One pissed IAB sergeant came in along with a very upset CSI behind him.

The CSI spoke first, "H, I tried to stop him. He just came barging in un--"

"Shut up, Delko, this has nothing to do with you!" spat the angry sergeant, looking at him with hateful eyes. "This is only between me and Horatio."

Eric looked at his boss who calmly stood up. "It's alright, Eric, it's alright. You can leave now, please," he said with a nod.

"Are you sure, H?"

"Yes, sir, thank you," he said, giving his young CSI a reassuring smile. Eric gave a worried nod and left his office, leaving the two gentlemen alone.

"You have to teach that freakin' CSI of yours some manners, Horatio," he said angrily to the lieutenant. "Sooner or later he's gonna get his ass into some real trouble."

"I assure you, Rick, that Eric and the rest of my CSIs doesn't need an attitude adjustment but I would be very happy and willing to help you with your attitude problem," Horatio said, firmness in his voice. He put the worn-out envelope back down and went around his desk, over to Stetler. "What do you want?"

Rick gave Horatio a menacing look as he said, "What I want from you is a statement about what happened at the warehouse and why was it that you were the only one who fired a gun."

Before Horatio could answer, he closed his eyes as his head throbbed in pain again. He leaned on his desk for support and rubbed his forehead. Thinking what was it this time that made his head hurt. 'Maybe Rick's blabbering,' he thought, 'Sounds convincing.'

"Horatio?"

Opening his eyes, Horatio says, "Hmmm?"

"What's wrong?"

"Headache…" he mumbled.

Stetler looked quizzically at Horatio and laughed. "Oh, I get it, Horatio. Pretending of having a headache now so you can slip away again. Let me tell you something…" he said, stepping in Horatio's space, "Not gonna happen! Your M.E. isn't here to save you again, Horatio."

Horatio's eyes narrowed and he wanted to take a swing at the IAB agent for getting in his face. Stetler took a step back and said, "I want my statement, Horatio, and I want it now!"

"Well, I won't give you an answer, Rick, not with that tone of yours," Horatio said sternly with a smile that said "bite me."

"Stop playing fucking games with me, Horatio," Stetler said threateningly, raising a finger in front of Horatio's face. "I have had just about enough of your bull—" He stopped and looked at his cell phone that was chirping loudly. He shot a glare at Horatio and pick up his phone, flicking it open. Raising his phone beside his ear, he said, "Yeah—Right…On my way." He then pressed a button and closed his phone.

He turned his attention to Horatio. "You got lucky I've been called out but I will get my statement. Tomorrow morning, nine o'clock sharp. And as for now," he said with a smile, "I'm going to have to take your gun."

"For what, Rick?" said Horatio, sounding really annoyed now.

"For officer involved shoot-out, Horatio," he said, his smile grew wider. "Protocol says I take your gun for processing. Rules are rules, Horatio. Give me your gun."

Horatio resisted the urge of blowing the sergeant's brains out as he handed him his gun. Stetler took the gun with a triumphant smirk. Before leaving, he said, "And don't forget. Tomorrow, nine o'clock. I am going to get a statement, Horatio, so don't even think of walking out." He left, carrying the Lieutenant's gun and leaving a very pissed Horatio who said, "Oh, I will give you a statement, Rick, and I'm going to shove it right up your ass."

Eric Delko stood at the corner, careful so he couldn't be seen as the sergeant walked out of his boss' office. He suddenly jumped when cold water hit the back of his neck from out of nowhere. He looked around and didn't see anything. He even looked at the ceiling. Deciding that it was nothing, he turned his attention back to Stetler.

"He's got H's gun," he said quietly as he watched Stetler go to the storage room and put the Lieutenant's gun in an evidence box. "What's he up t—AHH!" he exclaimed, jumping. Cold water hitting the back of his neck again and he quickly turned around. "What the…?"

He saw Ryan holding his sides and covering his mouth, doubling over, laughing. He then shot his eyes on what the young CSI was holding. It was a green water pistol.

Eric gritted his teeth and roared across the hallway. "WOLFE!!"

Ryan shot up and saw the angry Cuban CSI glare at him, huffing. 'Uh-oh,' he thought. Raising his hands with a surrendering motion, Ryan said with a nervous smile, "Uh…woops?" In a second, Ryan ran away with his water pistol as fast as he could.

Eric dashed the moment he saw the young CSI move, getting everybody's attention, "WOLFE! Come back here!!" he roared as he ran past the IAB sergeant, completely forgetting about Stetler and Horatio.

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Little Horatio: Hey, Horatio, you feeling any better?

Horatio: Yes, thank you.

Rick: (dangling a gun) Oh, Horatiooo, lookie what I got.

Horatio: Hey! That's my gun! Give it back!

Rick: (grinning) Say please!

Horatio: (shouting) Screw you!

Rick: Then I won't give it back. (sticking his tongue out)

Little Horatio: (panicking) Horatio! Rick!

Eric: (chasing after Ryan) Wolfe!

Ryan: (running away from Eric) Ahh!

Little Horatio: Eric! Ryan! Oh, boy…

Alexx: (sighs) Thank you for reading and we would really appreciate it if you gave us some reviews. Thanks, honey.