Author's Note: Hello everyone, I'm back!I apologise for this very long hiatus which was never my intention. Hopefully this will not happen again for a while to come. My HM writing is a bit rusty but I hope you enjoy this chappie all the same. Thank-you again for all your reviews and PMs. Happy Reading =]

Disclaimer: Sigh, no CSI:M and it's associated characters still don't have any affiliation with me, unfortunately.

20) Alcoholic Outcomes

Horatio Caine stretched out comfortably and opened his eyes to wake up to the now very familiar peach ceiling. He listened to the patter of rain against the shutters. He kept his eyes shut, now used to enjoying the feeling of waking up to a warm body pressed against his. Except today, his hand reached out to encounter nothing. It was then that he opened his eyes to find Marisol examining his leg, completely oblivious to the fact that he was now awake.

"Sweetheart?" he enquired.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, hastily dropping the sheet that had previously covered him waist down. She looked as guilty as sin right now. She resisted him when he tried to pull her back down next to him. He became a little worried, "Marisol? What's wrong?"

As he became more alert he realised that nothing was wrong with his lover who was blushing furiously. He rolled over to trap her underneath him. Her cheek was hot against his palm. He was amused by their role reversal when it came to this bodily reflex. "Sweetheart, this is interesting. You don't blush often." He kissed her cheek, "Actually you don't seem to blush at all."

Tears suddenly welled up at the corners of her eyes.

"Woah! Marisol?" He let her up. Her fists quickly rubbed the tears away. He let her have some space.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." She gripped his arm to lever herself up against the headboard. He clasped her hand. She smiled apologetically She was herself uncertain why she had tears in her eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Horatio." she whispered, her fingers tracing out his jaw line.

"Thanks! I feel older but no wiser, unfortunately. So ahem-what exactly were you doing to my leg?"

She felt the blood rush to her face again, "Anticipating your birthday present."

"Anticipating my birthday present?" he asked, utterly puzzled now.

She let out a huff, "Ok you got me! I was counting your freckles!"

"My freckles?"

She leaned in towards him "Mhmm, a kiss for every freckle…"

"A kiss for every freckle? What a nice way to start my birthday!" he chuckled allowing her to pin him under her as she started with his present.

She stepped out of the shower laughing, rubbing the bruise appearing on her navel. Horatio leaned back and scooped her back into his wet embrace.

"YOU don't get away that easily," he whispered, nuzzling her neck,

"Your birthday treat," she giggled, arching against him to guide his lips lower down to her collarbone.

"I'm going to be late, Lubimiy."

"What was it you said to me, the other day about crime having to wait?" he asked coyly, his arm still snaked firmly around her waist.

She giggled, sliding out of his arms and reaching for the towel a second time "Making crime wait is one thing, making Bella wait is another thing altogether."

He laughed, giving her one last kiss before she stepped out of the shower.

She was getting dressed when his phone began to ring. Thinking nothing of it, she hit the answer button.

"Hello, Hello?" The connection crackled with static, "Helloooo?"

"Hello?" Marisol could hear the surprise in the rich, accented voice. "Could I speak to Horatio?"

Marisol heard a teenager's voice in the background asking to be given the phone, "Just a minute Ray!" the lady's voice snapped. A deeper voice coincided on another line "Happy Birthday big brother!"

"Oh…"Marisol stuttered, "I'll just get Horatio for you."

She hopped around for a moment, hoping Horatio would be out of the shower soon. Realising that she couldn't hear the sound of running water, she figured he was probably done. "Horatio! Phone!" she squeaked anxiously, practically throwing the handset at him.

"Hello?"

"Happy Birthday Horatio!"

"Yelina? Thanks very much. How are you?"

Yelina cleared her throat, "I'm good Horatio. Hope we didn't interrupt anything?" she teased.

Horatio blushed, "No, not at all."

He heard a guffaw on the line, "Ray?" he asked.

Raymond and Yelina broke into laughter

She had just finished cooking breakfast when he emerged from her bedroom; his cell-phone sandwiched between his ear and shoulder as he threaded his belt through his trousers.

"Well, y'know buddy of course you can come visit. As long as they say 'Yes', Ray."

He listened for a moment, giving Marisol a quick smile when she pointed to a plate of scrambled eggs on toast with all the trimmings. "Ok, well I look forward to that then, son. Could I have a quick word with your mom, please?"

He glanced at her apologetically, she smiled waving him on to continue his conversation with Yelina. She gave him a peck on the cheek and pointed at her watch to say she was running late. She picked up her purse, only to find herself being spun around by Horatio and given one last kiss.

Smiling to herself and shaking her head, she shut the door and walked towards Bella's car.

"Morning Sunshine!" chortled Bella.

Marisol rolled her eyes, "Morning Bella."

"That was some smile you had, a couple of seconds ago," she teased and when Marisol kept a straight face, "Nice morning and all then considering the rain and everything?" she enquired casually.

"Bella!" Marisol exclaimed, lightly punching her friend's arm, "Just drive…you are getting no details this time around!"

"Ah damn…" moaned Bella, adjusting gear and pulling away from the kerb.

The women spent most of the day at their favourite café, going through the final details for Bella's big day. The couple's relatives from out of town would be arriving within the next couple of days and accommodation and transport was beginning to be a bit of a problem. Isabella had insisted on putting up their respective families and arranging everything as much as possible in advance so that everyone could enjoy themselves and not have to worry about little things.

The rain had fizzled out by the afternoon and Marisol spent a couple of hours working at another firm she freelanced for. The work was not too taxing and she soon found herself relaxing into the steady rhythm of work.

Marisol walked along the boulevard glancing at shop windows, trying to figure out what exactly to get her lover for his birthday. She sighed, thinking how typical it was for her to leave everything until the last minute. Well, that wasn't entirely true; she had developed the photos from Madison's birthday party and created a little album for Madison and had framed some of the better photos for Horatio to put next to his photos of his nephew. Nevertheless, she still wanted to buy him a present and right now Miami's exclusive boutiques weren't providing anything that eye-catching.

She hmph-ed a little to herself that she only had a little over an hour to shop before having to head over to the surprise party being held for Horatio at a bar that Miami's finest favoured. Not that she would admit it but she was a little worried about how his colleagues would react to their relationship, given the conflict of interest and the umpteen times she had endangered him and Eric.

Ah-ha! That's it! She passed 'Sunglass Hut' and remembered that Eric had told her that the pair of sunnies he had pulled from his salvaging job and given to Horatio had finally fallen apart. She paused thoughtfully at the display rack and wondered whether to get a different pair or the same ones for him. An assistant wandered over and pulled her from her musings. She smiled and waved him away. She smiled at the image of Horatio and his trademark hooking of his sunglasses around his neck – it was all the convincing Marisol needed to purchase them.

She walked into Corrigan's Saloon a while later. It was packed! Seems that everyone who could be spared from Miami PD was currently attending their Lieutenant's birthday party. However, there was no mistaking the twinkling eyes, which immediately settled on her when she walked in, as Eric's. Suddenly the butterflies returned full force and she tried to slip as nonchalantly as she could through the crowd and sidled up to Eric. In truth, this was definitely not what she had been expecting. She had expected a serious, maybe even smoky (and perhaps if she was really lucky, a jukebox!) bar where they would just have a couple of drinks. Instead, she was standing in the corner of a large room (from what she could see) that had bar stools and tables dotted strategically along the walls. Surprisingly, there was a vintage jukebox right next to the DJs platform, which added to the charm of the bar rather than making it look tacky. Overall it looked more like a club than a dive that the cops visited to wind-down after a long day. There was a massive wood-panelled bar counter at the far end, above which was mounted a considerable quantity and selection of alcohol. Infact, just looking at all that booze made her stomach feel just a wee bit queasy. She just couldn't believe how many people from the day shift had decided to come. She would have felt a lot more comfortable if it was just Horatio's team – she already knew Ryan and Natalia and had met Calleigh a couple of times too, but this, this was just causing those butterflies to rise higher and higher within her digestive system. Indeed, she still had not sighted Horatio amongst the crowd!

"Impressed Mari?" asked Eric, smirking.

She nodded, "I was expecting more of a watering hole, but this…" she gestured at the crowd, "…it's more like a bodega!"

Eric chuckled, "Yep, Corrie's got the quickest call-out time in the city!" Marisol laughed.

"No seriously, Marisol, Eric's right…the detectives would be absolutely lost if anything happened to this place." chimed in Ryan who had been standing close by. Marisol continued to chat to Ryan glad for the distraction from having to face the dizzying crowd.

Eric nudged her, "Heads up, Mari." Marisol looked up and saw Horatio waving at her, gesturing for her to come towards the bar. She smiled and confidently wove through the crowd.

"Glad you made it, sweetheart." he murmured, pulling her close and brushing her lips. Someone catcalled from nearby. Horatio looked flushed and grinned at her turning to introduce her to the burly detective standing near him.

"Frank, meet Marisol Delko. Marisol, Detective Frank Tripp. Sorry, I didn't get to introduce you two that day at CSI."

"Hardly any need," scoffed Frank, "Delko's a walking copy of her except she's much prettier. Pleasure, Ma'am." Frank drawled, extending his hand.

Horatio rolled his eyes in response to Frank's southern charm.

"Thank you and likewise Detective. Thank-you for all your help with the spa incident."

Frank waved her away to say it was nothing, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Club soda please." she responded, settling comfortably into Horatio who put his arm around her waist.

"Cheers," she raised her glass towards them.

"To the birthday boy." grinned Frank.

"To the birthday BOY!" roared the rest of the bar in unison, all taking a swig from their respective glasses.

Various people kept coming up to the Lieutenant to buy him a drink. Horatio found it harder and harder to turn people away. Sure he had Irish blood in him and all that but he was older than he used to be when he could drink all the whiskey he wanted without any thought to the hangover the next morning. Also, he could feel a permanent blush staining his neck, which he was pretty sure was from the alcohol. It wouldn't take long for the flush to rise to his cheeks at the rate he was going. He was happy, content with life for the moment. Marisol had turned away from him and from what he could hear through the noise seemed to be in deep discussion with Alexx about bone marrow compatibility. He could tell that Marisol was just beginning to feel comfortable when he noticed Frank's face contort into a grimace.

"What the heck is he doing here?" growled Frank, his high spirits quickly disappearing.

Horatio followed his gaze to Rick Stetler walking up to them. "If he says anything about another internal investigation, we'll be taking this outside." warned Frank, darkly.

Horatio chuckled and put on a serious countenance.

"Many happy returns of the day, Horatio."

"Thank-you."

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"Sure thing. Thanks Rick."

Frank who had been eavesdropping choked on his drink. He was standing with Bernstein who gave him a few good thumps on the back.

"Your good health, Horatio." said Rick, raising his tumbler of whiskey.

Horatio acknowledged his words with a nod before tipping the glass back.

"About Eric's TCA drug test, Horatio - "

Horatio held up his hand, straightening himself to his full height, "Rick, all business as usual I see. I thought it was all too good to be true. Please can we just table this discussion for when we're both on duty? However, just for the record I'm pretty sure we had this whole thing wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and there is no need for further discussion."

Stetler shrugged his shoulders and turned away only to bump into Marisol, sloshing some of her drink onto her hands.

"Gee, sorry ma'am. How clumsy of me!" Rick immediately handed her a handkerchief. He clearly hadn't recognised her from the car park a while ago.

"Thank-you." she dabbed at her hands and passed the handkerchief back to him. Marisol recognised him immediately and where she had seen him before.

"Least I can do," the IAB agent replied huskily, "I'm so sorry to mention this, but you look very familiar. Have you attended any PD functions in the past?"

Marisol nodded her head vaguely, "Yes, a couple of functions." She had already cottoned onto the fact that she had danced with Stetler at the Annual Policeman's Ball a couple of years ago. It had been a masquerade ball and Stetler had nearly decimated her feet whilst dancing.

Horatio casually came up to them, "Marisol, I see you've met one of the department's finest – Agent Richard Stetler. Rick may I introduce Marisol Delko."

Stetler's face fell for a moment before his usual poker face reasserted itself. He was clearly disappointed and not to mention more than a little annoyed that Caine had somehow managed to pull the same woman he had been infatuated with that evening. "Well then, goodnight folks."

The room seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief as Rick Stetler walked out of Corrigan's.

The last of the boisterous party crowd left Corrigan's in the early hours of the morning and Horatio was giving thanks to the fact that it was Sunday and that he definitely wasn't on-call.

He wasn't drunk, or at least he didn't think he was drunk yet…maybe a little tipsy but noooooo…definintely not drunk. Ah, it seemed his feet disagreed with his brain as he missed his footing while stepping off the pavement.

Eric helped to steady him, "Woah, H! take it easy."

"Fine Eric, am fine," muttered Horatio with a good-natured grin. Eric offered to drive him home but he turned the younger CSI down. "Go have some fun Eric. It's Saturday night, you, Calleigh and Wolfe should be out painting the town red, except please don't cause any incidents for the graveyard shift to clean-up otherwise the Chief will have us all working overtime for the rest of the year!" Horatio grimaced at his own words.

Eric and Calleigh both laughed thinking how long it had been since they had seen their boss in such a good mood.

"You just leave us oldies to…"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as both Alexx, Frank and Marisol rounded on him,

"Who you calling old, Horatio?" asked Alexx in mock horror laughing with Marisol.

"Exactly Lubimiy, the night is still young." chimed in Marisol. Horatio looked dazed for a moment.

"Speak for yourself Horatio," muttered Frank, "I'm still feeling pretty good, whaddya say – me and you kids," he gestured expansively to Eric and Calleigh, "head out to the 'Love Shack' for a couple more cocktails?"

"Sure Frank, let me get the others." said Calleigh, turning back to get the stragglers in their group to hurry up.

Marisol was arm-in-arm with Alexx, both ladies giggling as if sharing a private joke about the men. "Can I give you two a lift?" asked Alexx.

Marisol shook her head, "No, don't worry Alexx, we'll get a cab. Drive safely."

"Are you sure Marisol?" asked Eric, his brotherly concern immediately dispelling his good mood. He looked with concern at Horatio too. However, Horatio was in too good a mood and having a friendly argument with Frank over the Dallas Cowboys thrashing the Miami Dolphins in their most recent game.

She nodded mouthing that she'd take Horatio home and make sure he was ok. She thought that this was the least she could do given all the time he had taken to care for her after her chemo session.

The little group said their goodbyes. Marisol and Horatio settled comfortably into their cab. It was beginning to drizzle outside and they both enjoyed the soothing effect the steady drops beat against the car.

"That was fun." She said after a few minutes. She had curled into him, her head tucked below his. "I always knew you had a naughty streak in you!"

He laughed in response and continued to trace small circles on her hand.

"It was nice to finally meet everyone."

"I know." he whispered, pulling her closer into him.

"You should definitely get out more! Now I know for sure there's a party animal hidden deep within the heart of Lieutenant Caine." she teased, lifting her head to give him a quick kiss.

He sighed happily, nodding in the dark at her words, "All because of your bad influence!" he retorted pulling her closer to him.

When they arrived at Horatio's house they decided to have one more nightcap before calling it a night. Horatio poured himself a scotch and small glass of port wine for Marisol. They sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"Damnit!" she exclaimed reaching into her bag and pulling something out, "I almost forgot." She handed the wrapped parcel to him. "Happy Birthday again Horatio. Well, officially your birthday is over but hey… it's not everyday I get to do this with you!"

Horatio grinned. While he unwrapped the gift, he began to feel slightly light-headed from all the alcohol and he could feel the tipsy feeling slowly ascending into the higher realms of drunkenness. "Sweetheart! They're perfect." He hooked them around his neck and smiled. Marisol felt very turned on at the moment as he leaned in for a slow, lingering kiss. "What would I do without you?"

Now it was her turn to laugh, "Oh I'm sure you'd manage!"

He shook her head and pulled her onto his lap fully intending to show her that he certainly wouldn't be able to manage without her. A few minutes later and he could tell that things weren't going the way he planned. Marisol was laughing uncontrollably under him.

"Horatio," she giggled, her hands still stroking him, "I think age is catching up to you."

His eyes widened in alarm at her words and disappointment that her touch was failing to elicit a normal response from him.

She saw his alarm and brought her hands up to cup his face and kissed him to placate him before she let rip her parting shot "Either that, or all that alcohol hasn't simply gone to your head…" she let her eyes travel freely down his half-clothed form, "…but rather to other parts of your anatomy."

Horatio growled in frustration as he rolled off her muttering darkly about getting old. He pulled her to her feet and suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. Marisol noticed, "Let's get you to bed Lubimiy, you really need some sleep."

He went for a shower and she got some aspirin for him. She climbed into bed a little while later expecting him to be asleep but was thrilled to find herself being pulled into his warm embrace.

"Marisol?" he whispered, the hesitancy in his tone was obvious.

She turned around to face him. "About today - I guess I have some explaining to do about that phone call, sweetheart."

She brushed her lips against his, "Whenever you're ready Horatio. Whenever you're ready."

He nodded in the dark and propped his head up with his hand. "Well you see, I don't know what you've heard but this morning, on the phone, that was my brother Raymond and his family. They live in Brazil now."

Marisol smiled in the dark, scarcely believing he was opening up to her. Funny, she thought, what alcohol did to people – she thought he would retreat further into himself. She was happy to be proven wrong in this instance. "I heard from Eric that your brother Raymond died."

A loud sigh issued from above her. "I thought he died too."

Her hand found his under the covers and she linked her fingers through his. "Well you see, Ray's younger and I've always looked out for him. We had to look after ourselves from a young age and you know…" he trailed off for a moment, "…he'll never stop being my little brother. He was a good cop but things started to go awry after he joined the narcotics division. The job paid well which is why he took it because he and Yelina, his wife, were expecting another child. Then things started to get out of control; he wouldn't come home for periods of time and his family missed him, oh how they missed him! He started using meth but he always claimed it was for the job and that he'd get out soon. Just one more assignment and he'd get out. It was always one more damned assignment. I suppose we're both like that."

Marisol unconsciously squeezed his hand at his words. She tried to imagine what it must have been like for Yelina; alone trying to raise a son and manage her new pregnancy, constantly wondering when her husband would next be home. Suddenly, she wasn't surprised that Yelina and Horatio were close. Horatio would have been the only person she would have been able to confide in.

Horatio's thoughts wandered over his last statement and thought how alike he and Ray were in that regard. They would always stay for that one last assignment. Going over and above what was required was deeply ingrained into both their personas because that was the only way to survive in their New York neighbourhood. Well the only way to survive if you wanted to make something of your life and not go down with the gangs.

He sighed again, "Yelina lost the baby in her second trimester and then the inevitable happened; Ray said he was too immersed in his cover to leave now. His visits home and his reports became less frequent. I suppose that it was at this point that he fathered Madison, something which I will never regret even though it brought so much pain to Yelina when she found out. Ray went missing and it was presumed that he died. We all mourned him in our own way. Although, whether any of us came to terms with it is a different matter. Then one day, one day Marisol, I found evidence that he was alive."

Horatio's voice broke a little and Marisol pulled him down to rest his head on her shoulder. "He was alive and I couldn't believe it! But he was in trouble again except this time I had a chance to make it all go away; Let him, Yelina and Ray Junior start a new life as a family and make up for lost time. I had to make it go away, what kind of big brother would I be if I couldn't make it better. I did some things I shouldn't have done." His voice pleaded with Marisol, "Things I really shouldn't have done."

"Horatio, he's your brother, your blood. I do understand. You did the right thing. I would have done the same. I just hope Raymond realises how lucky he is to have you."

His voice became earnest, "Everything went according to plan. Everyone still believes Raymond's dead. His past deeds are rotting in an evidence box in some godforsaken cellar and no-one will go knocking on their door now." He closed his eyes and let out the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding.

Marisol held him close.

"I'm sorry I hadn't told you before, Marisol." He had pulled her back into his arms again.

She shook her head in the dark, "Don't be sorry Horatio. Thank-you for telling me now and trusting me enough."

He held her tighter to him and buried his face in her shoulder, "I just don't know what I'd do without them. They were my only family," he choked, "I had to do what I did. I abused my position but it was for Ray. I could never say no to him, not when it was such a perfect opportunity to make things right for all of them again."

She ran her fingers through his hair, trying to soothe him. "Don't worry Horatio, your conscience is safe with me."

He gave a low chuckle and lifted his head up to kiss her forehead. "I know." he whispered, "Goodnight Marisol."

"Goodnight Lubimiy." she replied sleepily a yawn finally overcoming her.

Within minutes they had both succumbed to sleep's sweet succour.

It was still raining the next morning when they both woke up.

"How's your head?" she teased.

"Clearly not as young as I used to be." grumbled Horatio reaching for some water and the aspirin she had left on his bedside table. He gulped the tablet and water down and settled back under the covers. "Although I can't complain. It was a wonderful birthday." It was tempting to spend all day long in bed, cuddling and kissing under the covers.

"You've made it a wonderful birthday Marisol," he whispered drawing her towards him as their lips finally found each other.

A little while later, while they both tried to catch their breaths Horatio Caine was glad to realise that no, he wasn't getting old and yes, it was just the alcohol!

Hope you enjoyed it. As you can no doubt tell, I took some liberties with Ray + Yelina's story in terms of her second pregnancy etc. Rick's recognition of Marisol is based on the piece 'Masquerade Ball', which was written last year.