Calleigh returned to the lab after lunch with a heavy heart. She knew that some of the things Alexx had said were probably true, was Horatio in the right frame of mind to be back on duty? Only time would tell.
She had barely had time to sit down behind the desk in Horatio's office when she was disturbed by a knock at the door; she beckoned in her newest visitor with a sigh, hoping that it wasn't another member of the team coming to question the judgement of her or Horatio.
She had been expecting Ryan or Natalia to be on the other side of the door, or even Tom. The woman standing in the doorway was the last person she had envisaged seeing today.
Her eyes narrowed as she regarded the sharply-dressed woman before her, noting the fierce yet feminine trouser suit she was wearing.
"Sargent Craig, what a pleasant surprise."
The icy way she spoke left the IAB officer in no doubt that her colleague was less than pleased to see her.
"CSI Duquesne," the raven haired woman replied just as coolly, her sharp green eyes hidden beneath a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
"Take a seat," Calleigh muttered as her counterpart pulled up a chair without being invited to.
The IAB placed the file she had been carrying on her lap and opened it, perusing leisurely through the first few pages before returning her attention to Calleigh.
"It's my understanding the Lieutenant Caine returned to duty this morning."
"Yes, that's correct. Why is it any of your business?" she asked as readjusted her position in her chair.
"My visit shouldn't come as a surprise to you, CSI Duquesne, it is department policy to interview all interested parties when an officer returns to duty after such a long….absence."
She could feel her ire rising at the prim woman sitting before her yet she refused to be baited by her.
"It is also department policy to investigate when officers are killed in the line of duty. Four men lost their lives because of the….situation with Lieutenant Caine. Questions must be answered and people held accountable. You know that as well as I do, being an officer of the law yourself."
It took all of her might not to jump over the table and smack the smug look off of the other woman's face. Stetler may have been gone for a number of years but his legacy still lived on in the woman that took his place. She seemed to have just as much of an axe to grind with the Lieutenant as her predecessor did.
This was nothing more than a witch hunt, news of Horatio's abduction and subsequent rescue had spread like wildfire throughout Miami and beyond. Although most of the details of the redhead's past had been kept under wraps, the media frenzy over Horatio had taken several weeks to die down.
It seemed as if IAB had taken it as a personal insult as the media and the general public created a wave of sympathy for their fallen hero. Sargent Craig was making it her mission to make Horatio a scapegoat, laying the deaths of the uniformed officers squarely at his door.
It was the last thing he needed, an IAB officer driven by her need to accelerate her career at any cost, the most power-hungry of people were usually the hardest to deal with. She knew that she needed to protect Horatio from the worst that this woman had to throw at him.
"We also need to assess whether your actions while in charge of the crime lab were satisfactory. We've heard rumours that some of your colleagues were less than sure about the methods you adopted over the duration of the Lieutenant's abduction."
She opened her mouth to respond but found herself already cut off.
"What is your relationship with Lieutenant Caine?"
The question caught her off guard as the shock clearly registered on her face.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
The IAB gave her a patronising smile before answering.
"There have been several rumours circulating the department over the last twelve months that you and your superior had a more than professional relationship."
How could anyone have known about that? The pair of them had been skirting around the idea of pursuing a relationship for a short while before all of the mayhem had unfolded around them and turned both of their worlds upside down.
During those weeks they had been careful never to bring close attention to their blossoming relationship. They had only exchanged smiles and quick glances, the odd flirty comment when they were on their own perhaps. It didn't make sense that IAB would have any idea of what was or wasn't going on between her and Horatio.
She told herself that the other woman was just fishing, trying to goad her into blurting out something incriminating.
"Those rumours are unfounded," she smiled back sweetly. "Lieutenant Caine and I merely have a close professional relationship, nothing more."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to change your answer to that question, CSI Duquesne?" the IAB officer asked as she glanced down at the file in her lap.
"According to out sources, Lieutenant Caine has been residing at your house since his release from hospital, is that correct?"
"He needed someone to help take care of him, he was horrifically injured after his abduction," Calleigh responded as she shot daggers at the other woman with her eyes.
Sargent Craig looked down at her notes again.
"It says in his hospital reports that he was released approximately eight weeks ago. Last week he passed both a psychological evaluation and a physical."
"That's correct."
"So my question to you, Miss Duquesne, is this, why is the Lieutenant still residing with you? Surely he is now able to look after himself; he wouldn't be back at work if he couldn't."
The other woman had a fair point, yet she refused to be dictated to by IAB, what business of theirs was it who she lived with and what she did in her own free time.
"He's staying with me as a friend," she replied, not willing divulge the details of her relationship with the redhead to her, she wasn't even sure how to define it herself.
They were more than friends yet less than lovers, for the moment anyway. The kisses that they had shared had been meaningful for both of them yet she knew that Horatio had so far had not been in an emotional position to act upon the feelings that they both had for each other.
"You are aware that fraternisation between superiors and their subordinates is against department policy, are you not?"
She refused to be reeled in by the smarmy young woman sitting before her.
"Yes, I am. Seeing as Horatio and I are friends and work colleagues I fail to see where your line of questioning is going."
"Some of your colleagues were overheard talking about your judgement or lack thereof during Lieutenant Caine's abduction. It seems that some of the members on your team felt your actions had been skewed by your more than professional feelings towards him."
"Bullshit. I would have done everything the same way for any member of our team."
"That remains to be seen, CSI Duquesne. Be assured that I will be talking to each of your colleagues in turn to assess whether your actions were justified."
"Go to Hell," she growled, finally letting some of the bitterness she felt towards the other woman show on her face.
If it fazed the IAB officer she didn't show it in her expression or her voice as she flipped through the pages in her file, seemingly unaffected by the open hostility that Calleigh was showing her.
"Just one last question, CSI Duquesne," she began as she looked up at her counterpart again. "If your judgements and actions were justified as you say they were, why did you physically assault Special Agent Richard Collins of the FBI?"
Flashback. Miami, 11 weeks ago:
"Hey, Alexx," Calleigh said brightly as she walked towards Horatio's hospital room, trying to hide the fatigue from her features.
The redhead had been distant and depressed over the last week or so, even being transferred to a room on a regular ward had done nothing to raise his spirits. She began to lose hope that Horatio was ever going to pull himself out of the mire that he had become stuck in.
"Hey, sugar," the doctor replied, "How're you holding up?"
She blew a strand of long blond hair from her face before answering.
"Horatio's been so down lately; I don't know what to do for him. Nothing seems to make any difference at the moment."
The dejected look on Calleigh's face caught the doctor's attention; she leaned in closer and whispered conspiratorially to her friend.
"I think I know something that might cheer him up," Alexx said mysteriously.
She was rewarded with a blank look from the other woman.
"It's about time we got our handsome redhead out of bed and out for a little walk, don't you think?"
"Are you sure, Alexx? I mean, is he ready for that?"
"Honey, three weeks stuck in a hospital bed would drive anyone crazy, let alone Mr Independence in there," she replied as she tilted her head towards the private room.
"Getting him up on his feet might be just the lift he needs to cheer him up a bit. At least, it can't hurt to try. Wanna come and give me a hand?"
She followed Alexx into the room and smiled at Horatio and found hers faltering as she saw the defeated look on his face.
"Hi, Handsome, how are you feeling today?" she asked brightly as she walked closer to him.
"Fine," he replied dully as he closed his eyes.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a number of minutes before Alexx began unclipping the drip connected to the redhead's right arm.
"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously as he tried to move his arm away from her.
"You're getting your stubborn ass out of this bed today, Mister. How's about taking us lovely ladies for a guided tour around your room?"
Try as he might, he couldn't hide the shock or elation from his face as Alexx's words filtered through his brain. He suddenly felt overcome with a sense of hope that things might actually turn out to be ok in the long-run.
"Are you serious?" he asked with a sense of hope in his still-croaky voice.
"As a heart attack, honey," the doctor smiled back at him.
"Calleigh's going to give us a hand, are you ok with that?"
He nodded his head vigorously knowing that these would be the only two people he would choose or trust to be with him at this time.
After disconnecting various wires and tubes, the two women managed to get the weak and frail Horatio sitting upright on the side of his bed, holding onto him whilst he regained his equilibrium.
"How do you feel, sugar?" Alexx asked as she kept a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Dizzy," he replied honestly.
"Give it a minute, it'll pass. You've spent so long laying down that your body's forgotten what it feels like to be upright."
He nodded his head weakly as he tried not to projectile vomit in front of the two beautiful women before him.
A few moments passed before he motioned to them that he was ready to stand up. With a great amount of effort, and more than a little help from his friends, he had finally managed to get to his feet, his legs shaking wildly beneath him.
"How does it feel?"
"Strange, Alexx," he answered, rewarding his friend and former colleague with a genuine smile.
"Are you going to show us the sights?" Calleigh added as she gave his arm a light squeeze.
She too was rewarded with a beaming smile as the three of them spent time walking slowly but steadily around the hospital room.
He felt as if he had been standing and walking for hours but in reality it had only been a few minutes. Just as he was beginning to feel confident in his ability to put one foot in front of the other he found his sense of balance desert him as he began to fall forwards only to be caught by the strong hands on the two women by his side.
"I think that's enough excitement for today," Alexx gently chided as she and Calleigh guided the exhausted man back to his bed.
Between them they managed to get him settled and hooked back up to the tubes and wires, noticing the look of disappointment on his face as they did so. The doctor found her actions halted by a shaky hand on her wrist; she looked up into the crystal blue eyes of her friend.
"Now that I'm up and about, do you think that someone could take that…..thing out," he said as he pointed towards his groin, his face flushing a little with embarrassment.
"Honey, you've just gotten out of bed for the first time. I hardly think you're up to taking yourself to the toilet on your own."
"Please, Alexx," he pleaded as he gave her his most sincere look, "I promise that I'll call for a nurse to come and help me to the bathroom. I just want to get rid of as many of these damn tubes as I can."
He kept direct eye contact with her and she could feel her willpower draining away, the poor man had been through so much and today had seemed like the first time he had shown any sort of enthusiasm for his recovery or life in general. It was such a small, inconsequential thing for him to ask yet she knew it would mean the world to him if she agreed.
"Fine, you win," she smiled as she acquiesced to his wishes, lifting the bed sheet and reaching out towards his gown.
He recoiled as much as he could in the bed as he saw Alexx's hand snake towards his groin.
"When I said could you take it out, I didn't mean you," he squeaked as he tried to bat her hand away.
"Oh stop being such a baby, Horatio," she chided as she easily moved his good hand out of her way.
"I've seen more penises than you've solved cases, sugar. Trust me; you haven't got anything that I haven't seen before. Besides, this isn't the first time I've seen the junk you've got in your trunk."
Calleigh couldn't help but burst out in laughter as she saw the look on Horatio's face as he flushed a bright crimson. She felt tears of laughter escape from her eyes as she watched the scene with her two friends unfurl before her eyes and soon found herself needing to leave the room to get some fresh air.
Her good mood was instantly soured when she ran head-first into the tall, middle aged FBI agent standing in front of her.
"You," she spat as she took an involuntary step backwards.
"Good day to you too, Miss Duquesne," the balding man replied as he gave her an oily smile.
"What do you want, Collins?"
"I just came to express my good wishes to your colleague; I hear he's doing much better now."
"No thanks to you, you bastard."
"Now, now. I was hoping we could all be civil to one another, we are all on the same team after all."
"You're not welcome here, Collins. We don't need weasels like you."
"That's such a shame, I was hoping that I could talk your man into another job, I have a case that needs his expertise."
She knew that he was deliberately baiting her yet she couldn't resist the urge to give him a taste of his own medicine, it was no less than he deserved. She leant forward, getting closer to the suited figure with a sweet smile on her face before swiftly and brutally punching him straight in the stomach.
She smiled as he bent forwards, gasping for air.
"That was from the team," she said gleefully as she pulled him closer and kneed him with as much force as possible in the groin.
"And that was for Horatio."
The FBI agent fell to his knees as his hands went straight to his injured appendage as he held onto it in an effort to lessen the pain.
"If you ever come near him again, I promise that I'll kill you myself."
She felt inordinately satisfied at her own actions; it felt good to dish out a little just dessert to the cowardly Collins. He deserved much more than a quick knee in the groin but it was a start at least.
Her happiness was short lived as she heard the sound of an alarm and watched on in dismay as a number of nurses began running straight into Horatio's room.