Hey everyone, sorry about the slow updates. I've been really busy working full time again and haven't had a lot of free time to update. Plus it's thunder storm/tornado season around here so it seems every other week my electricity or internet is getting knocked out, and without either of those I can't update. Sorry again and I hope everyone enjoys the next few chapters with Horatio and Arianna.

For those of you who don't know Code Adam is a national program started by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It's used in lots of places such as retail stores, amusement parks, and other facilities use Code Adam. It's a program designed to help locate missing or separated children within the facility.

Also I know Stetler would be gone at this point but I'm not so savvy with keeping up with the little facts and don't know who's internal affairs now so I used him anyways.

Code Adam

Ryan smiled as he watched Amanda Wolfe walk into the restaurant. She awkwardly sat at the table next to Horatio and Jessica. They sat in a cumbersome silence, everyone watching each other.

"How are you Amanda?" Horatio asked. Amanda jumped and looked at Horatio with large, scared eyes.

"It's ok Mom," Ryan said with a smile, "Nothing's wrong. Horatio just wants to know how you're doing."

Amanda shifted uneasily in her chair. "Well I've kept my job at Starbucks for two months now," she said nervously, chuckling lightly, "I think that's a new record for me. I moved out of my house and into a loft downtown closer to my work. And I've been sober for two months."

"Nothing in your system?" Jessica asked.

"Nothing at all," Amanda said with a small smile.

Ryan smiled at his mother and reached across the table to hold his mother's hand. "I'm proud of you Mom," he quietly said, "You're changed your life so much."

Amanda Wolfe's eyes watered. "Thank you Ryan," she whispered.

Ryan squeezed her hand and smiled shyly. "Mom, will you still call me Lighting Bug?" he whispered.

Amanda Wolfe laughed and smiled. "If that's what you'd like, Lighting Bug."

"Can we order?" Carli asked, "I'm hungry!"

The adults laughed and Horatio ruffled her hair. "When your Mom gets here, Carli."

"When's that?" Carli asked in an impatient tone.

"It seems right now," Horatio said, pointing towards the entrance to the restaurant.

Arianna Wolfe walked in and looked at her sister. Amanda stood and walked towards her. She gave Arianna a weak smile and stared at her. Arianna's eyes watered and she embraced her sister.

"You look good Amanda," she whispered.

"Thanks sis," Amanda responded.

Carli smiled and twirled in a circle. "I love it!" she exclaimed, trying to look over her shoulder at the bag on her back.

Horatio smiled at the little girl with the ladybug backpack on her back. "Do you want that one?" Horatio asked her.

"Yes!" Carli excitedly exclaimed, "Are you really going to buy it for me?"

"Of course Carli," Horatio said, "But you have to take it off first."

"Aw, ok," Carli said, slipping the bag off.

Horatio and Carli walked through the store hand-in-hand, the new bag and dress Horatio bought for Carli in the department store bag in Horatio's other hand. A store clerk smiled at them as they approached the exit.

"Good afternoon sir," he cheerfully said to Horatio, "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

"Yes as a matter of fact we did, thank you," Horatio politely responded.

The clerk knelt down and smiled at Carli. "And how about you sweetheart? Did your Daddy buy you some nice things?"

"This isn't my Daddy," Carli politely said.

The clerk gave her a measured look. "Then who is it? Do you know this man?"

"Yes, this is my Mommy's boyfriend, Horatio." Carli proudly said, "I know him very well."

The clerk stood back up and looked at Horatio. "Sir we currently have a Code Adam in effect."

"A separated child?" Horatio said, "That's never good. Maybe you should resume your post, you know since she's already identified me as her guardian."

"Sir she matches the description of the little girl perfectly," the clerk insisted, "I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

"No," Horatio said, "I have no reason to."

"Sir, don't make this more difficult than it has to be," he continued, "Just come with me and we can resolve this issue quickly."

"No, you need to back off," Horatio said, pulling back his suit jacket to relieve his badge, "There's nothing wrong here except for the fact that you're keeping me here against my will and wasting my time. Now let me and my little girl through."

The clerk looked at Horatio for a moment. He suddenly grabbed Carli and took off running. Horatio ran after him screaming. "Stop right there!"

"Daddy!" Carli screamed, "Daddy help!"

People stopped and stared as they ran through the mall. Several security guards took off after them, trying to stop them. Horatio jumped at the man and tackled him to the ground. He slammed the man's head against the floor and grabbed Carli back in his bewilderment.

Horatio stood from the ground and held Carli tight against his chest. He felt her tears pour against his neck as she began to sob. "It's ok Carli," he whispered, "You're safe now."

A security guard knelt beside the man and felt for his pulse. "Oh god, he's dead."

Arianna rushed onto the scene. She found Horatio talking to a patrol unit, Carli pressed tightly against his chest. She ran to him, her heart pounding. "Horatio, Carli!" she exclaimed. Horatio turned to her and embraced her with one arm. He kissed her and held her close.

"Horatio, what's going on?" Arianna asked, "I got a call at work saying there was some kind of accident with you and Carli."

Horatio looked at the body lying on the ground. "That man is Brandon Scott," Horatio explained, "He's a wanted pedophile. He tried to kidnap Carli but I stopped him. He poses as a department store employee, and then tells parents the store has a Code Adam and their child matches the description. He asked them to come with him. He in capitates the parent and kidnaps the child. I guess he changed his motive when he found out I was a cop."

"Why is he dead?" Arianna asked.

"I hit his head on the ground and he died," Horatio whispered.

"How?" Arianna pressed.

"That's what the coroner's here for," Horatio said almost inaudibly.

Stetler watched as the night shift medical examiner cracked open the dead man's skull. "Wow, hemorrhage city USA," she commented, "I can already tell you this man died from intracranial bleeding, probably an aneurism."

"What would cause that?" Stetler asked.

"Just an expanding of the artery and a build up of blood," the ME explained, "Something did cause it to burst though."

"What could burst it?"

"Anything really, stress, drugs, high blood pressure."

"What about outside trauma?"

"Oh yeah, hit someone with an aneurism hard enough and it'll pop like a balloon."

"Thank you," Stetler mumbled as he left the morgue.

Stetler found Horatio sitting in the lobby, Arianna Wolfe still sitting beside him and her daughter on his lap. "Horatio we need to talk," he said to him.

"Fine," Horatio stated, standing with Carli in his arms.

"Horatio the child can't come along."

"Why not? She's a witness."

"I want to talk to you, not her."

"Fine then, tell Carli that." Horatio held his arms away from his body and Carli's body stayed fixed against his own. She glared at Stetler as she clung with all her might with her arms and legs.

Stetler smiled at the little girl and her eyes narrowed even more. "Hi sweetheart," he said in a high voice, "Can you let go of Horatio so I can talk to him?"

"No!" Carli snapped.

"Pretty please?"

"Fuck off bitch!"

"Carli," Arianna said in a warning tone, "Remember what happened last time you talked like that."

Stetler sighed and straightened up. "Fine, she can stay. I'll just kill two birds with one stone."

"You shouldn't kill birds," Carli said, "They didn't do anything to you."

"Ok Carli time to play nice with Rick," Horatio said, wrapping his arms around Carli's small body.

"Well then I get to go because she's my daughter," Arianna said.

"No," Stetler said, "You can't. You're romantically involved with Caine, you'd be biased."

"But blood is thicker than water so I win let me be with my daughter," Arianna said, pushing past him. "I like interrogation room number two best so we're using that one."

Stetler stood there flabbergasted watching Arianna walk away. Horatio chuckled and followed her. "She's become more aggressive in the last few months," he commented, "And I love it!"

"So let me get this straight," Stetler said, "You hit his head on the ground and that's it?"

"Yes, just like the last five times I've told you Rick, yes that's all that happened," Horatio said, "That and the fact that he tried to kidnap Carli, but you seem to keep ignoring that fact."

Stetler gave him an irritated look. "Caine this is my investigation, let me run it the way I want to."

"Then I demand a new investigator," Horatio said.

"Can't do it," Stetler said, "Conflict of interest."

"Don't care what you say Rick," Horatio said, "You're doing an ineffective job and I'm getting annoyed. I feel like you're trying to accuse me of murder rather than see it was an accident. And a good thing, too, now there's one less pedophile out on the street."

"Statements like that don't look good Horatio," Stetler commented.

"Well you've clearly never felt the love of a child Rick," Horatio said.

A knock on the door and the ME's head popping in interrupted their conversation. "Mr. Stetler I've my finished report if you'd like to read it."

"Thank Sherry, can you just tell me the cause of death?" Stetler said.

"Ruptured aneurism," she said, "It was a pretty bad one, too. The guy probably had a migraine every waking moment of his life for the last few weeks. All he needed was just the right a moment of pressure, which wasn't much, and ka-boom. Lights out for him, and good thing, too. I feel safer walking the streets with my children now. My conclusion- his death was accidentally. The guy was a walking time bomb. Lieutenant Caine was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and thank god for that."

She left and Horatio smiled at Stetler with a satisfied grin. "Well Rick?"

Stetler glared at him and released an exasperated breath. "Fine, you're free to go."

"Thank you Rick," Horatio said as he stood, "Now if you don't mind I need to return to the store to retrieve my purchases."

"Yeah, I want my new buggy bag!" Carli said, "Horatio bought it for me."

"Oh a buggy bag?" Arianna said, "That sounds cute."

Arianna and Horatio stood in the doorway of Carli's room, watching her sleep. Horatio felt his heart pound as Carli's plea rang out in his mind.

"Daddy! Daddy help!"

Arianna leaned into him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you so much Horatio for saving my baby," she whispered.

Horatio smiled and held her face in his hands. He kissed her gently and pulled her against his body. "I would do anything for you and your little girl Arianna," he whispered, "Because I love you both."

She smiled against his lips as she kissed him again. "Well then I'm going to guess you won't object to what I have in mind next."

Horatio chuckled and kissed her again. "You know me too well," he said as Arianna led him to their bedroom.

They laid out on the bed and Horatio covered Arianna in kisses.

"How long has it been?" he quietly asked.

"Um, since this morning?" Arianna questionably replied.

Horatio chuckled as he unbuttoned her shirt. "No, I don't mean since the last time we had sex." He said with a smile, "I mean how long have we been together?"

"Um, well I don't know," Arianna said, "What are we starting our count at?"

"Well Bug had her miscarriage in November and that was the first time we had sex," Horatio recalled, "But we didn't say we loved each other until April."

"Let's say November," Arianna answered as she ran her hands across his now bare chest, "Because I believe you've been in my life since then. I want to believe the last eight months we've been together, even when we split up."

"I think you've been in my life since before then," Horatio whispered.

Arianna looked at him with concern in her eyes. "How so?" she whispered.

"You've been in my life since July," Horatio quietly said, "And I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

Arianna giggled lightly. "Well I guess you believe in love at first sight."

"What you don't?" Horatio teased.

"Well I do, but for you I had to look again."

"Aw, why's that?"

"Because I was more concerned about finding my daughter than the incredibly handsome man standing in front of me," Arianna explained.

Horatio chuckled and kissed her gently. "Well I guess that makes sense."