Chapter 10 - Back to Work
Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to any of the characters as seen in CSI Miami, and my fic is written to be fun and enjoyable and not meant to offend the writers/creators of CSI Miami or the actors who play the different characters. I do ask that no one use my original character as she is my own creation. My fic is not to be posted anywhere else unless written permission is obtained from me.
Acknowledgements: I'd like to thank my collaborator, Flora Belle Jardiniere, for all the help they've given me during the draft process of this piece of fiction. She contributed both encouragement and content when I was stuck. To Garth Brooks for "To Make You Feel My Love" that inspired this chapter.
Author's Note - the Dolphin is known to represent family, togetherness, and happiness as well as freedom, playfulness, peace and love.
Sara woke up during the night to quite a surprise. She was on her side with the Lieutenant sleeping soundly behind her - his arm possessively holding her to him. He was still fully dressed and nestled so close to her that she could feel his breath on her neck. She felt terribly guilty in having asked him to stay until she fell asleep as he apparently dozed off by her side. Sara glanced over to her nightstand – it was 2 AM in the morning. She asked herself what to do – did she wake him or let him stay? Like her, he had to report to work in the morning. He had no extra clothes with him and was nearly an hour drive to the Crime Lab.
Feeling her stir, he woke up. Stretching his long lean body, he let his arm tighten around her.
"You ok?" he asked.
"I am so sorry I asked you to stay."
"Why? You asked me to stay."
"I didn't mean you had to stay all night."
"I didn't have the heart to leave you," he said.
"Horatio, you have to go to work in the morning, just as I have to."
"Trying to get rid of me?" he asked.
She sat up facing him.
"Oh, gosh, no! Horatio, I really appreciate you staying. In fact, I am happy you did."
Sara lowered her eyes attempting to hide her sadness. With his finger under her chin, he slowly raised her face and peered deeply into her eyes.
"You know I have to do this, but I'm going to hate every minute I can't be with you," she said softly.
"We'll get through it. Believe me, I really wish you were not participating in this craziness."
"Horatio, I'm best qualified to fit in. You know that."
"I do. But, we have Special Ops people who are trained to deal with thugs like Waterson."
No matter what, Sara wasn't backing off the project despite her apprehension.
"Sara, you are getting up at five. That's plenty of time for me to get back to my apartment and report to work."
"You'll be on the road an hour just to get home."
"And you forget I am in charge. It wouldn't take much to ask Calleigh to hold the fort until I get there."
She still felt bad about what he would have to do, but she did appreciate the fact that he would do anything for her.
"No worries," he said as he turned onto his back. "Get a couple more hours shut eye, ok."
Sara nestled down by his side. As Horatio wrapped his arms around her holding her close to him, he realized just how easy it would be to make a habit out of waking up each morning with Sara by his side. This wasn't the first time he had the opportunity to stay with her, and he hoped it wouldn't be the last. Although he didn't say it, Sara could feel his love just in the warmth of his embrace. She too thought of how wonderful it was in having him remain with her until morning. Sara loved how he didn't put any pressure on her by demanding more from her than either of them were able to give right now. He was so different than any other man she had ever known. Considering all they had been through, he didn't push her. Despite their both having an incredible attraction to each other, she knew he definitely put preference on owning her heart by showing his desire to love her and protect her first and foremost. Rationalizing the matter even further, if they took that next step in their budding relationship too quickly, it would only make the distance they would now need to sustain that much harder to handle. With that, she sank in even closer to him and closed her eyes with a smile on her face.
Morning arrived and Sara gently whispered in his ear to wake him. As he slowly opened his eyes, he was met with her smile. She had already showered, dressed, and made coffee. What was even nicer was being greeted with a good morning kiss.
"I wish I had more to offer besides fresh bran muffins," she said softly.
He sat up accepting her offerings. "It's perfectly fine, sweetie."
They shared their fast breakfast before Horatio called Calleigh to ask her to handle things until he arrived. Before they parted ways, Sara enjoyed his warm embrace and the passion in his kiss. He held her tightly making her feel so secure and safe.
"Just remember, I'm not that far away. If you need me, I'll be right over," he said reassuringly.
"I'll be fine," she said as a half lie.
He still sensed a hint of nervousness in her voice. She was a bundle of nerves despite her attempts to seem unaffected by what she knew would be potentially dangerous. But, she wanted to do this job – for the sake of the dolphins that might be dying every day muling drugs. He tightened his embrace around her.
"You call if you need me," he said – his voice so comforting and calm.
She gazed into those beautiful blue eyes knowing he meant what he said. He'd fly by helicopter to get to her if the need arose.
"I'll be checking in each night with Yelina. I'm supposed to be off duty at six each night," she said.
"You call me right after you talk to her. No matter what I am doing, I want to hear from you."
"But, what about keeping outside contacts to a minimum?"
"Sara, you call me – I'll get an additional cell phone under a different name if I have to."
"You really would do that for me?"
"Yes, I would. We do have to be careful just in case this guy is smarter than estimated."
She leaned into him again not ready to leave the safety of his embrace.
"Stay safe, Sweetheart," he said before kissing her goodbye.
"Miss Stevens, you remember Mr. Sam Waterson. He'll be your immediate supervisor," Dr. Tanya DeRosa said.
"Thank you," she replied while shaking the lady's hand and then Mr. Waterson's. "I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to be able to work with you."
"It's a privilege to have someone with such great interest in cetaceans as yourself. I do hope you learn a great deal through this intern program," Sam said.
"Well, I'm ready to go!"
Sam led Sara down to the whale and dolphin area.
"We have one female killer whale named Calista and three bottlenose dolphins – Sandy, Terry, and Dolly."
"Oh, will I be able to work with the Calista?"
"Absolutely. Calista is quite smart and takes very well to all people."
"I've always had a special fondness for them. I can't get over the different dialects in their vocalizations."
"It's quite amazing."
"Well, let me get you started with some baseline tasks. First thing we need to do is assess water quality and overall health of the animals."
"Cool! Um, do you use standard water test kits or something more detailed?"
"Oh, we start with standard water test kits and move to more detailed analysis if something seems out of sorts. Blood is drawn daily on the animals and sent off to the lab for screening. We check for certain contagious diseases as well as assess red and white blood cell counts."
"OK. Well, get me started! I'm ready to dig in!"
"I really appreciate your enthusiasm. Now, with the thesis you are doing, what do you hope to see from us here?"
"I'm focusing on animal behavior. What interests me most of all is seeing how quickly they learn new tricks and to see if they teach each other those new tricks."
"Oh, I can definitely tell you they learn fast and they do teach each other – especially the dolphins since we do have the three of them. Unfortunately, we can't tell much of that nature with Calista, since she's here alone."
"Doesn't that bother her since killer whales are pod animals?"
"Well, we haven't been able to obtain approval for obtaining another whale unless one comes in injured and unable to be released."
"I know it's a really controversial situation – keeping wild animals in captivity. But, I see no harm in obtaining a non-releasable animal. At least they can stay safe, fed, and monitored on a daily basis."
"I agree. OK, if you are ready, here are the water bottles – let's go collect our samples and get started. Then, we'll go collect the blood samples."
"Great! Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am to have this opportunity."
Horatio walked into the main lobby of the Crime Lab and was instantly approached by Calleigh.
"Hey, handsome! Great to have you back," she said in her southern drawl accompanied by a big smile.
"Glad to be back."
As they walked down the hall, she noted his unusual silence.
"Everything ok?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said with just the slightest hint of a smile.
"Ok, well, um… I guess I should tell you I sent Eric, Ryan and Natalia off to collect evidence on a double homicide over in Coral Gables, and we caught up on several of the backlogged cases. It was actually a quiet few days."
"I always knew I could count on you to keep the ball rolling in my absence."
"You really aren't going to tell me how things went, huh?"
"Calleigh, I'd rather not discuss it – not right now," he said softly.
"Alright. I understand."
"Suffice to say, there were no hang ups."
"Well, that's good to hear."
Calleigh recognized his need to get back to work. He wasn't one to give up much information about his private life, despite his breaking his own rule over the last few months. The events of the past several months had instilled some temporary changes in him. Now, he truly seemed back to his old self. Calleigh could only blame it on a successful reunion with Sara on a very personal level.
"Hopefully we can collect the necessary evidence on this dolphin case without much trouble," he said.
"I know you are concerned, but she'll be fine."
"I haven't much say in the matter."
Calleigh laughed softly.
"She's a determined lady," she said.
"Which one? Yelina or…" he trailed off.
"Well, let me brief you on the current caseload," Calleigh said as she escorted him into the conference room.
Over the next week, Sara went through a daily routine testing water quality of the tanks the dolphins and killer whale stayed in and learning how to monitor the health of the animals being cared for at SeaQuarium. It wasn't long that she learned how easy it was to show an extreme amount of enthusiasm by staying past her normal working hours. She worked hand in hand with Waterson learning how he trained the animals. Sara also learned of where she could stash herself after hours to spy on Mr. Waterson. Only once did she catch a fleeting glance of the young Hispanic boy who delivered a brown paper bag covered package to Sam. It was the same size as all of the other one's Yelina had seen delivered. Waterson would quickly hide the package under his shirt when the boy left. Sara managed to snap off one photo with the small digital camera she kept in her pocket for such an occasion – the identity of the boy was confirmed by Yelina and Horatio.
"She's good, Horatio. I have to say I don't think we would have found someone who could so easily blend in as she can," Yelina said.
"I still think this is over her head."
"Well, I am sure she will be careful. She's got you to answer to now!" Yelina said jokingly.
Just then, Yelina's cell phone rang.
"Salas."
"Yelina, did you get the digital image I sent?" Sara asked.
"Yes. In fact, I am here with Horatio reviewing it. Say hello to him," Yelina said putting the phone to Horatio's ear.
"Hey. All is well?"
"You bet! Having fun too."
"Um, I'm glad to hear that." Horatio walked away from Yelina to speak privately to Sara. "I want you to be careful, Sara."
"I will be. I promise – no funny stuff this time."
"I love you."
"Love you."
Sara hung up and Horatio returned the phone to Yelina.
"Love, huh? Oh, that's just too sweet," Yelina said.
Horatio smiled boyishly.
"Between you and Calleigh… I'm in trouble if Stetler gets wind of her and I."
"Why? She's working for me, not the Crime Lab."
"You know how Rick will twist it to seem as if she is really an employee of our system."
"He can try all he likes, Horatio. She's not your direct subordinate."
"In a way, she is, and that makes our involvement subject to the Rules."
"Well, nobody's talking. Calleigh's good at keeping a secret, and I'm not talking."
Horatio knew he would have to be very careful when dealing with Sara. Rick Stetler was a master at twisting the truth if he saw fit, and if it had something to do with Horatio Caine, he'd be all over it. Yet, he had to think that Yelina was right. Sara's undercover work was sanctioned by Yelina's private investigation company, not MDPD.