Little Horatio: Oh seemingly endless joy!! I finished chapter twelve!!
Horatio: (smiling a bit) Yes, you did.
Kiuna'yukina: (giggles)
Horatio: And who is this lovely lady?
Little Horatio: Oh, this is Kiuna'yukina. She's my best friend!!
Kiuna'yukina: Hello!!
Horatio: Well, nice to meet you Miss Kiuna'yukina. It's wonderful to meet one of Little Horatio's friends.
Kiuna'yukina: Nice to meet you, too! (Shaking his hand) you're Horatio Caine, right?
Horatio: Indeed, I am, ma'am.
Kiuna'yukina: Wow…I've heard so much about you…you're cool.
Calleigh: And don't forget handsome! (She added)
Little Horatio: I'm still bummed out that I don't own anything…
Kiuna'yukina: Wow…and you're Calleigh Duquesne, right?
Calleigh: Yup. The one and only.
Kiuna'yukina: You ARE beautiful…
Calleigh: Aww, now you're makin' me blush.
Rick: Have you heard about me?
Kiuna'yukina: …? Who are you?
Rick: Rick Stetler. The STAR of this fic.
Kiuna'yukina: Huh? No, seriously, WHO ARE YOU?
…………………………………………………………………………
Chapter 12: Surprises II
Silencing his engine, Speed got off his Ducati and took off his helmet. He felt the warm Miami heat on his face and the familiar Miami smell that filled his nostrils. Trailing his eyes from where he stood and to the MDPD Crime Lab, he saw some faces that he usually saw but not the ones he worked with.
Speed smiled a little. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when he takes them by surprise.
…………………………………………………………………
Calleigh, arms crossed, looked at her boss as he took the offer of taking a seat on the exam table next to him. They were the only ones who still had breath in them in the autopsy room and they didn't mind to be in company of corpses. A shiver went down Horatio's spine, feeling the coldness of the steel exam table.
"Horatio, what happened to you?" she started. "And, please, tell me the truth."
Horatio looked at Calleigh with his exhausted blue eyes, thinking if he would tell her the WHOLE truth. No. Can't. "I already did, Calleigh," he said.
"You can't be serious," she said. "Are you?"
Horatio gazed down and smiled weakly. "I—"
"Stop right there," Calleigh said as she closed her and took a deep breath. "Horatio, you DO realize that I'm trying to help you, right?"
"You already did," he said, giving her a weak smile. "Thank you, Calleigh."
"So you're basically sayin' you're fine?"
"Yes, ma'am, I feel fine."
Calleigh lifted an eyebrow as he saw something red trickle down the side of her Lieutenant's face. "Okay," pretending she was okay with his answer. She prodded further. "So," she said, leaning on the exam table opposite to Horatio, "How was the trip to the E.R.? Did the doctor give you permission to get back to work already?"
Okay, Horatio has been pondering of an answer for that question the whole time, knowing that, sooner or later, they would ask him. Now, one of them DID and he still couldn't find a good excuse. 'Why am I cursed with the inability to create a good story?' he thought. The words that went out of his mouth were, "I, um…I was…Uhh…"
"You didn't go to the E.R. did you?"
"No," he said, shaking his head a bit. "I…I was thinking that Alexx would take care of it for me."
Calleigh sighed and said, "It's Alexx's day off, remember?"
"Oh…" Horatio just sat there silently, staring at his shoes. He lifted his head as he heard Calleigh close a cabinet door and watched her carry something back.
"What are you—"
"As you might have not noticed, Lieutenant Caine, you are bleeding," she said, opening the first aid kit and taking out some of its contents. Horatio wiped the side of his face and looked at his hands. He saw scarlet.
"Work with me, handsome," she said and reached for the bandage that was wrapped around his forehead. Horatio nodded. She began to slowly and gently remove it.
"So," she said casually while taking off the bandage. "Why DIDN'T you go to the E.R.?"
"I was…ashamed…"
"About what?" she said with a smirk. "About the bedside table thing?"
"Yes," managing to smile a bit. "The bedside table thing."
"Whoah," Calleigh let out. "That's one serious cut. And there's even a big nasty lump." She brushed her finger gently on the lump.
"OW!"
"I barely even touched it," Calleigh reasoned. "Are you SURE you're okay?"
"Mm-hmm," he nodded. "I just—AHH!" he raised his grabbed Calleigh's hand, stopping her. She just dabbed an alcohol soaked cotton onto his cut and it stung like hell.
"Stop moving, handsome," she said and continued on what she was doing. "Take it like a man."
Horatio glared at her and said, "You should have warned me, you know."
"I already did," she said, smiling cheerfully. "You said, 'Mm-hmm.'"
Horatio was about to raise his eyebrows and give her a you-cheater look but winced and shut his eyes tight as she continued dabbing his cut with the notorious alcohol soaked cotton. He let out a moan.
"Not my fault, handsome," she teased, not stopping dabbing his wound. "You should've gone to the E.R. but you didn't so…deal with it."
Horatio chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."
Calleigh laughed and Horatio relaxed a little bit, closing his tired eyes. Calleigh smiled, looking at him while his eyes were closed. She always thought of him as someone who's caring, thoughtful, helpful, and courageous, loyal, trustworthy; dedicated to everything and everyone he's involved with and, of course, handsome. 'But…he is so much more than that!' she thought. 'He's idealistic, he's a role model, he's compassionate, he's charming and he's such a loving individu—wait…I'm sounding like…oh…my…god…I have…a CRUSH on him!! I CAN'T have a crush on him! Oh, no…'
The voices inside her head were arguing. Two were yelling at her to stop falling for her boss and the other three were telling her to go for it.
Calleigh had always had feelings for Horatio that were beyond friendship but it just hit her now. It was bad news if a co-worker fell for their boss MAINLY if two of those people were her and the Lieutenant. All sorts of things could and would go very—VERY—wrong. Reasons? Well, for one Sergeant Idiotic Ass for Brains, Rick Stetler, would have a field day if he found out that there was something going on between them. Secondly, their jobs maybe on the line if anybody found out that they were dating. And, most of all, Horatio wouldn't agree. He'd say that he's too old for her and that it would interfere with their jobs.
A tremor shot through her body as she just realized something. It was only a couple of months ago that Marisol had passed away. And, for sure, Horatio was still mourning for her. There was no way that Calleigh would be able to replace Marisol and she wasn't even sure that Horatio would agree to that. And what would Eric say?
"Calleigh?"
'I'm so stupid,' she said to herself as she continued contemplating.
"Um…Calleigh…" Horatio said as she watched her get some more cotton.
'Great,' she thought, 'my heart is palpitating.'
"Uh…Calleigh…" he said, trying to get her attention again as she reached for the bottle of alcohol.
'Be still my heart,' she said to herself, trying to relax.
"CALLEIGH!"
At once, Calleigh went from her inner most thoughts and back to reality as some urgent voice kept trying to get her attention. She shook her head.
"Not to be ungrateful and rude, ma'am, but you're about to pour a bottle of disinfectant on my eyes NOT on the cotton and that would really—REALLY—sting like hell."
"W-what?" she said, confused. She looked at what she was holding. On one hand were a bunch of cotton and on the other was an open bottle of antiseptic slightly tilted next to the face—particularly the eyes—of Horatio.
"Oh, my god," Calleigh said, pulling away the alcohol and placing it in the kit. "I am so sorry!"
"It wasn't your fault, Calleigh," Horatio said, giving her a small smile. "Something just got your attention. It's nothing."
Calleigh looked away, a tint barely visible on her cheeks.
Horatio tilted his head, a question evident on his features. "Calleigh? Are you okay?"
Calleigh slowly took a glance at Horatio, but felt herself looking away with a jolt at the tingly feeling going up and down here spine. "I-I'm fine, Horatio."
Horatio tilted his head to the other side, smiling, and with a curious glance, said teasingly, "Horatio? What happened to handsome? Not that I mind but…"
He trailed off, leading Calleigh to look at him. She soon learned just seeing the visage of the man who had those beautiful blue eyes and that fine looking ginger-red hair made her heart shoot like a loaded firearm. Now, sporting an amazing scarlet on her cheeks, Horatio couldn't help but feel worried.
"Calleigh?"
"Y-yes?" She inwardly screamed, 'What's wrong with me? I'm…I'm stuttering!'
Horatio saw Calleigh fidget and edged on by insistent curiosity. He slowly raised his hand, slowly inching his palm close to her face. Calleigh, on the other hand, still blissfully oblivious to the present events but was suddenly jolted quite harshly to reality by a warm soft hand that gently caressed her cheek.
"H-Horatio!!"
The redhead, taken by surprise at her sudden scream, drew back a bit but still held his ground. "Yes? Is anything wrong? Calleigh, your cheeks are red…Are you feeling okay?" he said worriedly. "Tired? Do you feel dizzy? Have you been resting okay? Do you have a fever? You look like you're running a temperature…"
Calleigh was taken full force by the bombardment of questions and was inwardly berating herself. She then totally spaced out when she suddenly noticed Horatio moving closer and closer…inches from her face. Taken by surprise, she started inching backwards, eventually hitting the tray full of utensils. Horatio stopped as he heard a soft thud.
"Calleigh?"
Calleigh, breath-hitched, felt her throat run dry. She opened her mouth but no words came out.
Seeing her reply—or lack of it rather—Horatio slowly inched closer and closer until his forehead was touching hers. "Hmm…you don't seem to have a fever. I don't feel anything. You're running a normal temperature…then…why are you red? "
Calleigh, whose brain had run on overload, was, yet again, harshly brought back down from dream land.
"Ahh!" She doubled back, but leaning fully on the utensil's tray, the wheels rolled, the bandages, alcohol and other of the first aid kit's contents fell to the floor, taking Calleigh with them. Well…almost.
Horatio jumped off the exam table quickly and, by conditioned reflexes, caught Calleigh in a quite…hmm…interesting pose, by the way.
It felt like an eternity past until Horatio got to his senses and noticed the compromising situation they were in. Straightening both of them up, he took a deep breath and said, "Okay…so…Calleigh…are you really okay?"
Looking at Horatio now, Calleigh gave a shaky smile and said, "Yeah. I am now. Thanks to you, handsome."
Horatio smiled and gave a sigh of relief then flinched. He felt the pangs of dizziness wraps it's claws around him. Immediately, he held on to the autopsy table to maintain his balance but in the process, trapping Calleigh between HIS BODY and the autopsy table.
Calleigh feeling warm again at the sudden physical contact noticed his eyes closed and felt worry wash over her completely. Getting back to reality, she asked him, "Handsome? You okay? Where does it hurt?"
Horatio, seeing how concerned she was, gave her a slight smile to calm her down but pain was still evident on his face. It was then that Calleigh took charge, gently helping him to sit back down. And began to, once again, tend to his wounds.
"Thank you…Calleigh," Horatio said as he sat back down.
"Don't mention it, handsome," she said, smiling pleasantly.
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"What do you think…?" Ryan asked as they continued their work in the trace lab.
"I think Calleigh is doing Alexx's job," Eric said happily as he examined evidence. "Giving our boss a good tongue lashing. I can't wait 'til Alexx gets a hold of H tomorrow. It's always funny when Alexx gives lectures to H not us."
Ryan stared for a moment and said, "No, Delko, I didn't mean that. What I meant was H's injury."
"Oh, that," Eric said, nodding. "Well…if H was serious about the bedside table thing? It must've been an accident. I mean, H can't suck that bad in making up a story, right?"
"Or…?"
"Or," Eric mimicked him. "It wasn't an accident and somebody clashed it out with him. But…I'm having doubts about that."
"Why?" Ryan asked.
"Hey, man, H might be that soft to look at but he's as hard as boulders," Eric said, proud that he's boss can be as gentle as bunnies but can be as tough as nails. "Have YOU ever seen H in a fist fight?"
"No," Ryan said. "Have YOU?"
"Yeah, but only one time," Eric said, sitting next to him.
"When?"
"A long time ago," Eric started the story. "I was a green CSI—only on my first few months—when Megan was still the Lieutenant. H had an argument with this big guy, a suspected killer of six innocents, about how H accused him of killing all those people. Now, the suspect thought that H was easy to handle. Hell, he thought wrong," Eric said with a big smirk on his face. "A huge fight broke out and it only ended in…what? 10 seconds?"
"That quick?" Ryan said in disbelief.
"Yeah, Eric said, "It was too fast. I thought H was a goner but the suspect was down on the floor in seconds."
"What happened to the case?"
"H proved himself to be right and the killer was sent to prison," Eric said. "For life without parole"
"So…" Ryan said and began to count. "…if it wasn't an accident and it wasn't a fight then…what?"
"I don't know," Eric shrugged. "It's not like somebody just secretly waltzed in his house and beat the hell out of him AND still LEAVE him alive. That's weird…far worse, that would be stupid."
"You know what would be weirder than that?" Ryan said.
"What?" Eric asked. "Tell me, oh great, Wolfe."
"What if somebody DID come to H's house and tied him down somehow," Ryan said, thinking about what to say next. "And…beat the hell out of him with…a belt? Yeah, now, THAT would be weird."
Eric stared at him with a look that said 'WTF!' He backed away a little, saying, "No…that would be extremely stupid. And, Wolfe? Keep your sick fantasies to yourself. You're freaking me out."
"Yeah…me, too…"
Eric and Ryan jerked around and saw the man who had been listening to them the whole time. The man slightly waved his hand.
"Hey…"
Eric smiled widely. Getting up from his chair, he gave the man a huge embrace.
"Speed!" Eric said, hugging the man tightly like giving him a bear-hug.
"D-Delko!" Speed exclaimed as the man slowly suffocated him. "Uh…Delko?"
"What?"
"I-can't-breathe!" Speed choked. Finally letting him go, Speed took a deep breath, filling his lungs with much needed air. "Thanks…" he said as he coughed a little bit.
"We missed you, man," Eric said cheerfully. "I missed you."
"Can't live without your wingman, can you?"
"Yeah, I've been having a little trouble picking up the ladies ever since my wingman left for New York," Eric said, wrapping his arm around the shorter man's shoulders.
"That's what I am to you?" Speed snapped, shooting him a look with his lazy eyes. "You missed me because you had trouble hooking up with girls?" he said, sounding a little more hurt than he intended to.
"Well, yeah…part of it," Eric shrugged. "How can the ladies find me attractive when I'm not next to someone LESS attractive than me?"
"Shut up…ass," Speed replied. He then turned to Wolfe and held out a hand…lazily. "Timothy Speedle."
Ryan hesitated but accepted the impromptu introduction. "Ryan Wolfe. Nice to finally meet the famous Tim 'Speed' Speedle," he said, shaking the man's hand.
Speed looked at him cynically and turned to Eric. "Delko, have you been ranting about me again?"
…………………………………………………………………………
"There," Calleigh said. "All done."
"Thank you, ma'am," Horatio said with a smile. He raised a hand and started to scratch his bandaged temple.
Calleigh instinctively slapped the back of his hand and said, "Nuh-uh, handsome, you know better than to scratch that. You'll loosen your bandage."
"Sorry," Horatio said embarrassingly. He was absentmindedly rubbing his wrist.
"Handsome, what's that?" Calleigh asked leaning forward and pointing a finger.
"Huh?" He looked where she was looking at and he stopped abruptly on what he was doing. He then straightened his sleeve, hoping that she didn't see his wrist. "Um…I was just…fixing my sleeve," he said.
"I thought I saw something," she said, leaning a little more forward. "Let me take a look…"
"No, Calleigh, I—"
The doors burst open and in came a loud Cuban voice, saying loudly, "People in the autopsy room! Dead or alive! Cold or warm! Still or moving! May I present to you a former CSI level three here in Miami—and my wingman of all time—Tim Speedle!!"
Because of all the commotion, Calleigh was startled out of her wits and fell forward, landing onto Horatio's lap.
Instead of a warm hug fest welcome, nobody moved and nobody talked. Silence was the loudest thing you'll ever hear in the autopsy room right now. Eric, Ryan and Speed gawked at the southern belle and at the redheaded Lieutenant as they pulled away from each other with a blink of an eye.
Thoughts were pouring out of their minds as they stared at each other. Speed came back to his senses first.
"Okay, now, YOU guys are really freaking me out," he said with his lazy drawl. "I mean, I leave here for three years and you two are going at it? In the autopsy room? Near dead guys? Go to a closet or something…"
Horatio slightly shook his head as both of them straightened up, blushing immensely. He cleared his throat and said, well, tried to say, "I, um…we, uh…It's—"
"It's not what you think," Calleigh finished for him quickly, trying to pull herself together.
"Riiiiiiiight…" Eric said, smirking.
"I think we should leave these to alone," Ryan said and reached for the door handle.
"Shut it, Wolfe," Calleigh snapped, shooting a murderous glare.
Speed chuckled and walked towards the two. "Yeah…yeah…I missed you, Cal."
"Missed you too, Timmy," she said, pulling him into a tight hug.
Once Calleigh released him, Speed went to the Lieutenant who held out a hand, saying, "Nice of you to visit, sir."
Speed looked at him quizzically and eyed his hand. "What?" he said with mock hurt. "No warm hug? No pats on the back?"
"Not this time," Horatio answered, smiling uneasily at the thought of his back being patted roughly with all those welts. No way…
"Yeah, well, you owe me," Speed said, thinking that the reason for H not wanting a hug was that he would put or stick something on is back…like the last time. "So," he said, looking around. "Where's mother hen at?"
"Today's her day off," Eric responded.
"Okay…then…how about lunch?" Speed suggested. "I don't know about you guys but I could eat a whole dinosaur…assuming they still walked the Earth."
Looking at his watch, Ryan said, "It's already past twelve so…yeah."
"Who's buying?" Eric asked, purposely looking and waiting for Speed to answer.
Speed sighed and glared at Eric irritatingly. "Okay, okay…I'm buying."
"That's my wingman!" Eric said happily, slapping Speed.
"That hurt…smart-ass," Speed mumbled, rubbing his shoulder.
They were beginning to walk away but doubled back, Speed, saying, "Hey…you two coming?"
"Yeah," Calleigh said and walked past them. "Free food, right?"
"Right…"
"Then let's go."
"Hey, H…"
Horatio just stood there, hands on hips. 'This is a bad idea,' he thought as his fingers were tapping on his shiny badge.
"Come on, H! Speed's treat!" Eric shouted, his voice echoed in the autopsy room.
"Keep your voice down, Delko," Speed said, being annoyed. "You might wake up the dead."
'HE might be lurking around,' Horatio thought.
"Hey! Earth to Horatio!"
"Right behind you…" Horatio finally answered, managing a smile.
Speed nodded and the four of them continued forward. He cupped his ears to muffle the bombardment of food the three wanted to order.
Horatio, holding the handle of the door, looked back. He saw the dead bodies on some of the exam tables and hoped, against all odds, that nobody he knew would occupy them.
"I'd kill myself…" he mumbled and gently closed the door, letting silence, once again, have its way in the cold room.
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Little Horatio: Thank you so much for everything!
Kiuna'yukina: heheh! Don't mention it! I was glad to help!! (Sees Stetler) EEEKK!
Rick: What do you mean you don't know me?!
Kiuna'yukina: Eww…get away from me!
Little Horatio: Rick, stop it. You're scaring her.
Rick: But she doesn't know me!!
Little Horatio: Nobody cares…
Rick: I DO!!!
Kiuna'yukina: Like Little Horatio said, nobody cares…
Rick: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kiuna'yukina: Is he always like that?
Little Horatio: Yup…ALWAYS…
Rick: She doesn't know me!!!!
Horatio: Oh, calm down, Rick, don't worry. Nobody cares…
Rick: SHUT UP!!!!
