Chapter Nine: That's the Way I like It

They drove around for about fifteen minutes before they found a place where they could eat. At first their conversation centered on the dog. Speed had never actually owned a dog so there were things he felt the urge to talk about; like what type of food he should buy. But Delko was more concerned with the dog having a name. Names were tossed back and forth like balls in a tennis match before Speed finally decided to call the dog Mitochondrial. When Delko heard that he just rolled his eyes; leave it up to a science nerd to give his dog a strange name. Speed quickly explained that he would call him Mite for short. So of course Delko had to bring up the fact that mites are nasty bugs and no dog should have to have that sort of name but there was no changing his mind. The dog officially had a name.

And that's when Speed asked Delko what it was that he had wanted to talk about.

Not ready to bring up his affections for the other man he took a bite of his hamburger so that he had an excuse not to talk. While he chewed his mind went on a wild ride; what was he going to say? There was no way that he could just come out and say what he felt. That's what Horatio said he needed to do but he didn't think he had it in him to be that straight forward about his feelings. The one thing that kept him from opening his mouth was the constant worry that Speed would turn him away. What if his friend couldn't handle the fact that he was in love? This was a delicate situation; one he wasn't sure how to handle. He caught himself wishing that his sister was still alive so that he could ask her for advice. He could always go to Calleigh…

"Earth to Delko," Speed said, interrupting his thoughts.

Delko swallowed his mouthful of food. "Sorry, I was busy thinking…"

"About what?"

He decided to just go with whatever popped out of his mouth. "Where did you go? I thought you left to visit your folks in New York?"

Speed shrugged it off. "I made it out of the state before turning around to come back. I guess right now that I don't know where I belong…"

"You belong here, Speed, with us," stated Delko as he wiped his hands on a napkin.

It looked like Speed was going to say something in reply but before he could their phones began to beep. Their break for lunch was done as the call came across that there was an officer in distress. Delko quickly gathered the trash and threw it in the nearest trash can as Speed headed toward the Hummer with Mite in toe. The dog jumped into the backseat, Speed making sure that the windows were opened far enough for a good breeze. And they were gone.

--

When they arrived at the scene they were already too late. The ambulance was pulling away, sirens blaring. Speed felt his heartbeat quicken and he was filled with a sudden sense of dread. Something about the scene was horrifically wrong, something that would send his world into a downward spiral. His eyes strayed toward the seemingly harmless looking house. There was a Hummer, one belonging to the lab, parked in the driveway. Then he remembered what Horatio had said when he ran into him outside the lab before seeing Delko. The leader of the crime lab had mentioned that he was on his way to interview their only suspect in the slayings. All these horrible images began to filter through his mind, ruining his concentration and that's why he nearly rear ended a patrol car, pulling up short a second before the collision.

He heard Delko yelling at him, the words failing to register in his panic stricken mind. His only thoughts were on Horatio and whether or not his friend was still okay. The ambulance…he tried not to think about his own journey in the back of the ambulance where he fought so hard to stay conscious. But try as he might the unwelcome memories came rushing back to him. Once again he saw the worry clearly written on his boss's face while the paramedics did everything they could to stop the rushing flow of blood coming from his chest. He remembered how scared he became when he started to feel cold and the edge of his vision went black. He remembered the warmth of Horatio's hand firmly grasping his, anchoring him in the land of the living. What would he do if his boss wasn't there one day?

Speed ran in the direction of the voices, his heart threatening to tear free of his chest. He rounded the back of the house and slid to a stop in the grass. There was blood all over the cement surrounding the pool; so much blood that whoever it belonged to was clearly no longer a living human. But it wasn't Horatio. At the sight of seeing his boss standing there talking to an officer he instantly felt relieved, only to feel ashamed about it a minute later. Someone had lost their life and he was feeling relieved; what kind of person did that?

"Speed?" Horatio walked over to him. "Tim, why are you here?"

Before he could say anything Delko came upon them. "We got the call about an officer in distress so we headed right over. Is everything okay?"

The expression on Horatio's face told them the tale. "The suspect is dead but he managed to get a couple of shots off himself before succumbing to the wound. We may have lost one of our own today. The paramedics didn't give him much hope."

"Who was it?" Delko asked. Horatio gave them the name of the officer. "He just got married, didn't he?"

Horatio looked toward the horizon. "I want the house searched. Check all the rooms; see if you can find any connection between our dead suspect and the murdered family."

"Of course."

--

Sometime later Horatio walked into the house to see how well Speed and Delko were doing with the processing. He'd gotten a call from the hospital a few moments ago telling him that the officer was in critical condition but at least he had made it to the hospital alive. Horatio couldn't help feeling that he was reliving Speed's near-death experience and if it was affecting him as much as it was then how was the fragile scientist holding up? Walking through the foyer and into the living room he found Delko securing his kit.

"What do we have?"

Delko looked up at his boss; there was a twinkle in his eye. "I found what look to be dog hairs on our man. After checking over the house I can honestly say that he didn't own a dog. If they came back to our pooch then I think we found our killer. Now if only we could figure out the motivation."

"With time," said Horatio. "With time; get the evidence back to the lab."

"I was just headed that way." Delko stood, his kit in hand but he made no attempt to leave. "Um, H…I couldn't tell him…he was sitting there across the table from me and I couldn't find the words…why is he back? Why didn't he go to New York?"

Horatio looked at Delko. "I'm sorry but I don't have the answers to your questions. There's only one person that does."

"How's the cop?" inquired Delko, changing the subject without any warning.

"He's holding on," Horatio replies, letting the original conversation slide. He knew when it was the right time to push and when he needed to leave well enough alone. "The bad guy is dead and the cop is fighting. That's the way I like it."