Sunday June 30th. 16:50

"For the third time. I'm fine!" Horatio snapped and put his shirt on.

For the last fifty minutes, doctors and nurses had been poking him and trying to figure out why he had passed out. Horatio had told him that he was under a lot of stress thanks to Mr. Roberts and that he was currently trying to find a killer and two escaped convicts. Eric had confirmed that Mr. Roberts had caused Horatio to be stressed out and worried. However, he also told the doctors that Horatio hadn't eaten or slept well in the last two weeks.

"You're not fine if you pass out." Eric said.

"We both know why I passed out." Horatio said, "I will sleep and eat more. I promise."

Eric snorted. He knew Horatio. And he knew that he would keep on staying awake all night and avoid eating. Not to mention he seemed to throw up every time he ate.

"H, could please just stay here over night?" Eric begged.

Horatio shook his head and jumped off the bed. His lack of sleep and food made him very agitated, and Eric tried his best not to piss him off. As Horatio walked out of the room, with Eric close behind, he bumped into Alexx in the hallway.

"Did the doctor tell you to leave?" She asked.

"Yes."

"No." Eric said, "They want him to stay here over the night, since they're not sure if he is okay."

"I am perfectly fine." Horatio sighed and walked towards the elevator.

If Alexx was strong enough she would have dragged him back to the room. But she wasn't. And neither was Eric.

"Should I call for backup?" Eric asked.

What he meant was that he would call Frank and ask him to drag Horatio back to his room. Horatio turned around and looked with pleading eyes at Eric.

"Eric, if it will make you happier. I will go home and get some sleep." Horatio said softly.

He gave Eric his puppy-face look, and he knew that Eric couldn't resist it. Eric sighed and looked at Alexx. Alexx nodded, she was fine with it. She trusted Horatio and knew about the whole Mr. Roberts deal. She knew that some time away from work, might just help Horatio get back on track.

"Okay." Eric sighed, "Promise me that you will sleep?"

"I promise." Horatio smiled slightly.

Eric and Alexx got inside the elevator with him. Eric drove Horatio home, while Alexx went back to the morgue. In the car, Horatio got hungry. Eric stopped at a small diner and bought them both something to eat. Once they were home, Horatio kissed Eric goodbye and Eric left. As soon as the hummer was gone, Horatio ran to the bathroom and threw up once again. Then he lay down on the couch and tried to close his eyes. He failed. After two hours, he decided to take a shower. It was the last thing he remembered doing.

-I-

17:30

Lisa, the receptionist on the weekend shift, had never seen the interrogation rooms at MDPD before. After all, she spent her weekends behind a desk, answering the phone, writing down messages and trying to keep awake. She was tired of her job.

"Ms. Turner." Frank said, "You're a hard woman to find. You don't answer your phone and don't even show up to work. Hell, we even had to go to the airport to find you."

"I was taking a little vacation." Lisa sighed.

"You haven't asked for permission from your boss." Natalia said, "And you didn't call in sick today. You just didn't show up."

"So? I skipped work."

"Well, it's a little too convenient that it happened the same day that two escaped convicts broke into the lab and shot a lab tech." Natalia said, "And that the same day that you skipped work, you also decided to take a little trip to Jamaica."

"I like to do spontaneous things." Lisa sighed.

"Well, here is what it looks like. You got paid to stay away from work and therefore you also helped Malcolm's murderer, so you're going to be charged with felony murder." Frank smirked.

"What?" Lisa exclaimed, "No wait! I was paid to skip work today. I had no idea that anyone would shoot Malcolm, or break into the lab."

"Well, what did you think then? That whoever paid you did it just for fun?" Natalia asked.

"No, I got the money by mail. A big envelope." Lisa sighed, "Fifty thousand dollars. And a note that said, I should stay awake from work today."

"Did you get that envelope today?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, early this morning, just as I was about to go to work." Lisa said, "Look, you have to believe me."

"No, I don't. But we will print that envelope and the money." Natalia said, "But things don't look so good for you."

Lisa nodded and leaned back in the chair. She could deal with loosing her job, but not being sent to jail. Natalia and Frank left the room.

"What do you think?" Frank asked.

"I think she's telling the truth. But, I don't think John gave her the money." Natalia said, "I think John works for someone, who paid Lisa."

"I agree." Frank sighed.

Alexx panted as she walked up to the pair. She had been looking for someone in the team and now she had finally found two.

"What's going on Alexx?" Natalia asked.

"Somebody stole my file on Ratner." Alexx said.

Natalia and Frank followed Alexx down to the morgue. Alexx showed them the desk drawer where she kept all her files, it was supposed to be locked. But the lock had been picked. Alexx hadn't thought about checking her desk for missing files, because Rick and John hadn't never been seen entering the morgue on the surveillance tapes.

"They were here." Alexx sighed, "And they stole his file."

"Why would they do that?" Frank asked.

"Everything I found on Ratner's body was written down in that file. They can see what the autopsy revealed." Alexx sighed, "But it would be a lot smarter to take Horatio's file. He always has the big file, where we all put our reports."

Natalia groaned as she figured out why John and Rick had gone to the lab in the first place.

"They were looking for that file." Natalia sighed, "And by the looks of it on the tapes, Rick was being forced to guide John."

"And then Malcolm just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Frank sighed, "I'll see how the search for Rick and John is going."

"I'll have to check Ratner's body for evidence left from John." Alexx sighed, "Hopefully he touched him."

"I'll print the desk. Eric and I already found several prints from Rick and John in the hallway. Eric is working with it right now." Natalia said, and put on some gloves.

It turned out later, that John's prints were all over the desk, but he hadn't touched Ratner's body.

-I-

17:50

Cooper was quite famous for always sleeping on the job. And today was no exception. IAB Srgt. Paul, found Cooper in the AV lab. Sleeping with his head on the desk, but that is not what caused Paul to lie on the floor, laughing like a maniac. Cooper's job was to finish what Malcolm had been working on. It was a job that only required about two hours of work, and apparently, two hours was enough to make Cooper fall asleep.

"Has Paul lost his mind?" Jason asked as he stood next to Eric, who was grinning.

"No, he just saw Cooper and Cooper's new outfit." Eric grinned.

Jason walked towards Cooper's lab and burst out laughing at the sight before him. There were several pink and yellow ribbons around his head. He was also dressed in a shirt with the playboy logo on it, and no pants. However, the funniest thing was the pink tutu he was wearing. The suspect list of who had changed Cooper's clothes was very small. In fact, there was only person everyone could think of. The big Texan named Frank Tripp. Tripp walked past Jason and looked innocent.

"Why are you all looking at me?" He asked and tried not to smirk.

"Have you ever worked at extreme makeover?" Jason asked.

"No, but I did apply for a job there once." Frank smirked, "If anyone tells Cooper how he is dressed, I will commit murder on that person."

Everyone promised not to say a word. Paul had finally stopped laughing and approached Eric. Eric tried not to get angry as Paul smirked at him.

"I heard that Lt. Caine passed out in the morgue." Paul smirked, "I guess we all come to a point when we have to quit."

"He doesn't need to quit Paul. Now what do you want?" Eric asked.

"Well, someone in the lab got shot. I have to investigate."

"You can investigate all you want, just not here. And he wasn't just someone, he was Malcolm." Eric said, "It could be nice if you at least knew his name."

"Malcolm." Paul sighed, "A victim like any other."

Eric grabbed Paul by the collar and pushed him against the wall. Jason was quickly there to calm Eric down. After a few minutes, Eric let go of Paul.

"I will take you down to the morgue, and we can discuss the case." Jason said, and winked at Eric.

"Why the morgue?" Paul asked.

"Alexx can tell you more." Jason smirked.

Paul shrugged and walked towards the morgue. Jason smirked evilly as he followed him. Eric shook his head and went back to work with the fingerprints. He was trying to find a substance on the surface of the prints; maybe it would tell him where John or Rick had recently been. As he was working, Cooper woke up and entered Eric's lab. Eric had to bite the inside of his cheek, to prevent himself from laughing. It was a good thing, that Cooper was wearing underwear, because the tutu didn't hide much.

"How long was I out?" Cooper asked.

"Not long at all." Eric said, "But long enough for Fra…Never mind."

"For what?" Cooper asked.

"No, nothing." Eric sighed, "Look at this. I found something."

"What?"

"Let me check." Eric said and checked what he had found from Rick's print.

"Dirt." Eric sighed, "Wait a minute…"

"Dirt? Dirt is everywhere." Cooper said.

"This is a special kind of dirt." Eric smiled, "It has trace of cocoa in it."

"Cocoa?"

"Yes, and I know exactly where to find this kind of dirt." Eric smiled.

"Where?"

"In an underground basement. A family once built a basement in the middle of the woods, to have a place to keep the cocoa." Eric explained, "But by the time the basement was done, the head of the family had died and the rest of the family was so sad that they packed up their things and left."

"And Rick and John were hiding there?"

"At least Rick was, but I'll see if I can find the same substance on John's print." Eric said, "This is good."

"Yeah, they were hiding in a basement with cocoa. They've probably left already." Cooper sighed.

"Yes, but someone might have seen them there and at least it's a little step forward in the investigation." Eric said.

"Well, I'm going home." Cooper smiled and left.

-I-

18:15

Rick finally had the courage enough to stop hiding on the beach. He sighed and sneaked around some buildings in downtown Miami. He saw cops everywhere, and knew that it was a miracle that he had managed to stay hidden this far. He had no idea where John was, but if he found him, he was going to beat the shit out of him. Rick was bleeding from his shoulder, where John had shot him. It hurt like hell too. Rick found a ladder and climbed up on a roof on a diner. He looked down over the edge and saw two cops, and both of them had a dog. Rick walked away from the edge and looked around for something to get to another roof. He didn't want to take the risk and climb down the ladder; he was much safer on the roof. Because nobody would search the roofs after him. Without hesitation, Rick jumped from one roof to another. He landed softly and ran towards the edge of the roof to jump onto another roof again. This time, someone pulled him back just as he was about to jump. Rick came face to face with a young woman.

"Who the hell are you?" Rick asked.

"I'm Michelle."

"Michelle? As in the Michelle that Ratner was supposed to meet?"

"Yes." Michelle said, "Come with me. I can help you."

"Why would you help me?" Rick asked.

"Okay, you want to do this the easy way or what?" Michelle sighed.

When Rick didn't answer, she hit him in the back of the head with her gun. Rick passed out. Michelle then rolled Rick up inside a carpet and dragged him down the stairs by the side of the building. She panted as she reached the bottom. Rick was heavy for a small woman like her. She managed to get Rick inside her big SUV, and drive to her boss. After driving for almost thirty minutes, she reached the mansion where her boss lived and stopped the car. She dragged Rick inside the house and into the living room. Her boss smirked as she arrived and he gave her a soft kiss. On the chair in front of Michelle and her boss, John was tied to a chair.

Rick woke up slowly and when he opened his eyes, he saw a badly beaten and tied up John, Michelle and a man he had never seen before.

"Welcome to my home Rick."

"Who are you?" Rick asked.

"My name is Jack Bernard; I'm from London and own this big mansion that you're in right now." Jack smirked, "I think you know Michelle and John."

"I don't agree." Rick said.

"Right, okay, let me correct myself. You thought you knew what John was like, but it turned out he was more evil then you first thought. And Michelle, you have only met once. Since the cops ruined your first meeting." Jack said, "Well, actually, you shouldn't have met Michelle at all. Ratner was supposed to do it. John told me that Ratner was dead when he found me."

"Ratner was supposed to meet Michelle, yes." Rick sighed, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Nothing really. I have a job for you." Jack smirked evilly, "I want you to find out everything you can about the case."

"I can't do that. I'm wanted." Rick said, "You want me to get the file in Lt. Caine's office."

"Yes, if you don't, John will die."

"I don't care."

"Oh, but you do care Rick. I know you do." Jack chuckled, "John has 48 hours left to live."

"You give me 48 hours to get a file?" Rick asked.

"No, I'm giving you 48 hours, to get me that file I want, kill Lt. Caine and get rid of Ratner's body." Jack smirked.

"What?"

"Find the file, Kill…"

"I heard you!" Rick snapped, "I just… you want me to kill Lt. Caine?"

"Yes, why not? Ratner must have planned something. Why else would he have Caine's phone number implanted in his foot?" Jack asked, "I want you to make sure that this case becomes a cold case."

"By killing someone and hide a body?" Rick asked.

"Are you stupid?" Michelle asked, "Is it really so hard to understand?"

"Michelle." Jack warned, "Rick if you don't do this for me. John will die."

"Then go ahead and kill him. I could get arrested and tell the police about your plan." Rick said.

"You won't do that." Jack smirked, "Because I hold the key to your freedom."

"What key?"

"If you do this for me. I will give you seven million dollars and a new name." Jack smirked, "You will become an Irish Citizen. You can travel all around the world and live like any other human being. Just a little bit richer."

"You're lying!" Rick growled.

"Rick." Jack sighed and threw a gun to him, "This gun was used by John when he shot you and that lab tech. It can only be traced back to him because only his prints are on it."

Michelle threw a pair of gloves to Rick. Rick put them on and then picked up the gun.

"Do we have a deal?" Jack asked.

"Deal." Rick said and shook his hand.

Rick then left. He wasn't proud of what he was about to do. However, he wanted to be free. Maybe he could figure out a way to get what he wanted, without killing anyone. But he had to think fast. He only had 48 hours to do it.

-I-

19:00

"Cooper, please come out there." Eric said.

Cooper was hiding in the men's room. He had locked the door and refused to come out. Eric had tried to get him out for over twenty minutes. Cooper had been on his way home, when he had noticed how all the officers were laughing at him. He had screamed like a girl when he seen what he had been wearing and run back to the lab.

"This is so humiliating!" Cooper growled, "Frank went too far."

"Actually he didn't. I mean, Ryan and Horatio cut holes in his pants once and he had no idea. He also embarrassed himself in front of the entire MDPD." Eric chuckled.

"That was Ryan and H's fault! Not mine." Cooper whined.

Eric was about to say something, when Paul passed by him. White as a sheet. Jason was following him, smirking widely.

"Do I want to know?" Eric asked.

"Alexx and I just showed him our knife collection." Jason chuckled, "And now I'm taking him back to his office."

Eric shrugged. Jason was becoming crazy just like the rest of the team. Eric begged Cooper to come out for another ten minutes, before Frank finally showed up with his old clothes. Cooper opened the door quickly and grabbed the clothes. He came out five minutes later. Dressed in the clothes he had come to work with. He threw the tutu and all the other clothes at Frank.

"This was by far the worst prank ever!" Cooper growled and left.

Frank laughed and shook his head. Now it was time for Cooper to have his revenge. Frank wasn't scared though.

Natalia joined the boys and asked why Cooper looked like someone had killed his kitten and eaten all his cookies. Eric explained and Natalia shook her head at Frank.

"Anyway, I was in the basement you told me about. I found some hair, brown like Rick's." Natalia said, "But I couldn't find any DNA from it."

"Any shoeprints?" Eric asked.

"Plenty, but without Rick or John's shoes, we can't match it to them." Natalia sighed, "And the prints from Lisa's envelope doesn't match neither John nor Rick."

"It's getting pretty late, and we should all head home." Frank said.

Eric agreed and left his kit in his lab. On his way home, he hoped that Horatio had managed to get some sleep. As soon as he entered the door, he smiled. No lights were on and everything was quiet. He went to the bedroom, and frowned when he didn't see Horatio. He wasn't in the living room either, or on the back porch. He suddenly heard two dogs whining.

"Waldo? Rascal?" He asked and followed the whining.

It came from the bathroom, and Eric opened the door. He gasped as saw Horatio lying on the floor of the shower, naked and unconscious. Waldo and Rascal had tried waking him up for several hours, but Horatio didn't respond to anything.

"H?" Eric asked, and gently shook Horatio.

Horatio didn't respond. Eric quickly called an ambulance and then checked his pulse, it was faint. Horatio was cold, but his body didn't even shake.

"H, please wake up!" Eric begged.

TBC…

AN: Please review!