'Just in Time for Christmas', that had been the common theme of the papers' headlines for the past few weeks, satirical and inaccurate as far as Horatio was concerned. Some of the newspapers seemed to make a great pretence out of thanking Miami-Dade for finally stopping their latest serial killer in time for the holidays whilst others harped back to the Suburban Legends' killer, pointing out the parallels and questioning if Miami-Dade would be lucky enough to catch the next one in time for the holidays. The redhead had scowled at the implication and thought sardonically that it might only give would be killers an incentive to strive for holiday murders for maximum attention.
It was Christmas Eve and Horatio knew he should be somewhat happy, the case was closed after all but there was something niggling at him, something Rothdale had said before he had been sentenced.
Charles Rothdale Junior was no more frightening or wild in appearance than the average drug dealer, he did not resemble the monster he was, which disappointed the press who chose to keep running the image of a rabbit masked mystery man. As Horatio impatiently surveyed him he took in his appearance for what he hoped would be a final time- hazel eyes, dirty fair hair, swarthy skin and a scar down his left cheek. He was a small, skinny man with a slightly sunken appearance and a few moles on his neck, entirely unremarkable.
Horatio folded his arms and quipped calmly, "is there a reason you requested my appearance Mr. Rothdale?"
The man's beady hazel eyes snapped up to Horatio and for the first time the redhead saw life in them, a burning, powerful spark that alarmed him just a little. "Lorina," he complained, "an embarrassment I hid! He said you found her, he said you would make my shame public, so I had to do it again, make it new, make it so no one would see the failed Alice, only the perfect one. He said you knew."
Horatio's golden-red eyebrow raised a notch at this. "He?" he queried curiously. He was used to this tactic, in desperation people liked to blame others, sometimes they even made up culprits for their terrible deeds.
"The prince of Hell. You think I'm the devil but you think you caught the devil before me too, only demons, servants of Hell," the man babble. "Of us he has a multitude, a plague upon Miami, a legion, for we are many."
Horatio tensed slightly at the abridged Biblical quote, he was used to religious nuts but Rothdale didn't seem to fit the profile for that and as he spoke he sounded disturbingly sane to the lieutenant. "Mr. Rothdale if you are trying to bargain for a more lenient sentence it's not going to work," Horatio retorted coolly. "You killed eleven people, which we can connect you with; you cannot downplay that or negotiate your way out of that."
"He mocked Alice, he said they would laugh, he awoke the demon, I had slumbered for ten years, I had forgotten the need to make it real, but he reminded me there was much yet to finish. I am the servant but he is the devil Lieutenant Caine." Rothdale gave a wide smile then. "Both of you are marked, Caine and the Beast. Think Lieutenant, why did the other sleeper awake and come from New York to Miami? Because an evil seed was planted!"
Horatio shook his head tiredly. "I think it more likely he simply sought a change of venue," he suggested lightly. "At any rate Mr. Rothdale I have better things to do than listen to you talk of the devil, the simple fact is Mr. Rothdale you lie down with the devil, you wake up in Hell. You made your bed and you are going to burn in it."
Frustrated, Horatio turned and headed for the door.
"We are just the shadows Caine but there is only one who casts them out to darken Miami!" Rothdale shrieked at him.
Horatio shrugged off the memory and his uncomfortable unease as he pulled into Calleigh's drive and gave Raymond a weak smile. They all knew the holidays were going to be hard without Yelina and truthfully with Christmas having rushed in so soon after her sudden death the redhead really didn't know what to do and was somewhat relieved when Calleigh had been very insistent that he and Raymond came to her Christmas Eve party.
"Ready?" Horatio quipped brightly as he turned off the engine.
The boy looked at him sullenly and nodded. He hadn't wanted to come but he hadn't want to sit in his grandmother's house either staring at photographs of his dead parents. They exited out of the car and Horatio led the way to the front door, which predictably had a wreath hanging on it. Horatio rang the doorbell whilst Raymond hung back behind his coattails, suddenly shy and uncertain.
Calleigh opened the door with a bubbly smile wearing a green elf's hat. She opened the door wide to a festive, brightly lit hall. The sound of Christmas music called from the living room along with chatter and laughter and the sweet odour of ginger, nutmeg and eggnog wafted through the doorway. "Come on in guys," she said enthusiastically.
Horatio had to admit it did seem welcoming and he felt a slight weight shift from his shoulders as he stepped onto the wooden floor. Raymond followed behind him with less certainty, looking at Calleigh dubiously when she pressed her palms on her thighs and leaned down so that she was almost eye level with him. "John brought his niece Tess," she informed him with a grin, "and Alexx brought her kids."
"Oh," Raymond said flatly.
"Come on," Calleigh urged them both as she stood upright and closed the door. She led the way into the living room, pausing at the open doorway with a teasing grin. She pointed up to where mistletoe was hanging. Seeing the nervous look in Horatio's cerulean eyes only made her giggle and remark firmly, "come on Horatio it's tradition."
"Yeah H it's tradition!" Eric called teasingly from within.
Horatio sighed before obliging Calleigh with a quick kiss on the cheek. He then stepped into the living room where Eric and Alexx stood, both wearing Christmas jumpers, along with Alexx's husband Henry, Detective John Hagen, Detective Angelo Sanchez, and Frank Tripp all helping themselves to eggnog and festive snacks whilst John's niece Tessa and Alexx's son, Bryan, and daughter, Jamie, sat on a fluffy rug on the floor engrossed in a game.
The living room was appropriately decorated with fake holly and pine on top of the fireplace, penguin teddies on the mantle and a tall tree in the corner with numerous decorations, multi-coloured twinkling lights and tinsel. The television was on with Christmas music playing adding to the warm, festive feel in the room.
Half an hour later Raymond had finally relaxed into the evening with the other children and even laughed a couple of times much to Horatio's surprise, whilst Eric was trying to encourage the adults into beginning a game of Clue, jesting that the detectives weren't as clever as they thought. As they finally opened the game the doorbell rang again.
"At last," the blonde said happily as she raced to the front door. She opened it to smile at Ridley and Tim who stood side by side, Tim with his arm wrapped about Ridley's waist. "Welcome guys," Calleigh greeted cheerfully.
"Hi," Ridley replied happily, she was clutching a large bag in her left hand that looked full to the brim with presents.
"Come on in," Calleigh said chirpily. She once again led the way to the living room, pausing in the doorway and gesturing up to the mistletoe once more.
Ridley laughed and leaned in, giving her friend a kiss on the cheek, which resulted in several teasing catcalls from Eric and Detective Sanchez. Calleigh shook her head scornfully with a groan even as her cheeks blushed before she looked to Tim. "Come on Speed, it's tradition," she pointed out.
"Right," he retorted dryly before he gave the blonde a brief kiss on her other cheek.
The blonde giggled again before hastening into the living room. Tim then turned Ridley towards him and gave her a soft kiss causing half the room to emit teasing groans of despair. Ridley laughed again even as she blushed before stepping into the room.
"Hey guys," Eric greeted cheerfully as he stepped up to them, "how's Speedbump doing?"
Ridley frowned at the nickname even as she raised her free hand instinctively to her stomach. It was too soon for people to know and it worried her that the news had slipped out already. She grimly suspected that her psychiatrist Dr. Young had something to do with it. After being late to a session due to morning sickness and threatened with a negative report that could lead to a forced suspension as the psychiatrist thought she was trying to skip sessions again, Ridley had ended up blurting out the truth of the matter. Soon after it had become common knowledge that Ridley was pregnant. She had been upset enough about the matter for Horatio to intervene and try to find the source of the rumours but if it was the psychiatrist she had her trail covered. In the end Horatio had arranged for Ridley to see another psychiatrist, Dr. Mackenzie who, after meeting her, promised to have her discharged before New Year's Eve.
"Fine," she said calmly.
"Perfect," Tim answered a little more confidently even as his eyes twinkled with a trace of nerves.
"Speedbump?" Alexx questioned as she gave Eric a dubious glance.
Eric grinned proudly as he nodded. "It's Speed's bump," he explained jovially.
Alexx, Frank and Detective Sanchez all let out a groan of despair.
"Clever," John said appreciatively with a small smile.
"No it's not," Ridley grumbled.
Tim gave her a small grin. "It is kind of catching," he admitted.
Ridley gave him a look of disbelief. "Did you two come up with it together?" she demanded.
Tim wilted slightly at the fierce look in Ridley's eyes. "Um...maybe," he confessed awkwardly.
"Really Tim," Ridley retorted with a shake of her head before she finally sat down her bag and occupied a seat on the couch.
The night continued jovially with several Christmas movies and games of Clue and everyone departed late and happy, save Eric who stayed to continue celebrating his first Christmas with Calleigh as his girlfriend.
On Christmas Day Calleigh would be welcoming her father, Eric's parents, Horatio, and Raymond Junior for dinner, whilst Tim and Ridley would be reluctantly attending Tim's parents' house for theirs. They would all be uniting however after the festivities of Christmas and Boxing Day to travel together to Vegas to spend a much needed holiday there bringing in the New Year courtesy of Chris Cavaliere, Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown insisting that they came.
What had happened was Chris had gotten in touch with Ridley wanting to see her over Christmas whilst Catherine had extended a polite invite to Horatio, trying to be coy, she had made murmurings of Warrick wanting to see the Miami team again and Nick and the others wanting to meet Calleigh and Eric. Then she had dropped that excuse and whilst admitting it was true that Vegas did want to see Miami, she confessed she had a more personal interest in mind. Horatio had considered a decline until Ridley had mentioned the possibility of going to see her uncle, then they had discussed the matter and Calleigh and Eric had gotten excited about the prospect and so a brief holiday had been arranged.
New Year's Eve had come quickly and mercifully without event. Everyone had had a good Christmas and the Miami team had been able to come to Vegas with ease. Eric had been swift to catch up with Warrick and hit the casinos whilst Calleigh had started talking shop with Sara and Greg although she wasn't too impressed with the lab rat known as Hodges. The many distractions of Vegas had given Horatio and Catherine the private time from their teams that they had wanted. The redhead had thought he would turn the blonde down, giving into his grief and guilt, but there had been something about her smile, the glimmer in her blue eyes, a look that suggested she understood his pain and then, when they had kissed, that wonderful, burning spark he had felt before with her.
Now here they all were on the rooftop of a pricey casino, part of an exclusive party ready to begin the countdown and welcome the fireworks. Horatio stood beside Catherine, both of them carefully surveying the members of their teams even as they enjoyed each other's company. Calleigh and Eric were hand in hand looking over the railings and joking with Warrick and his date, Nick was with Gil, Sara and Greg, ever the life of the party as he entertained with jokes whilst Tim and Ridley seemed oblivious to anyone else despite Chris Cavaliere's watchful gaze on them. Tim had spent the holiday sober for Ridley, although it was obvious how hard he found the nightclubs to bear without alcohol. The pair had found their fun in slipping off to visit a particular carousel that had left the others confused, especially when the topic seemed to embarrass Ridley, and resulted in Tim making jokes about naming his offspring Silver or Moonbeam, he admitted he couldn't be sure which. Horatio thought he got the joke and Chris knew he did, and it was all the dark haired detective could do to contain his temper.
"Ten," the countdown began.
Horatio looked to the Vegas landscape and then to the skies before his gaze flickered from one teammate to another, "four," for Calleigh, "three," for Eric, "two," for Tim, and then "one," for Ridley. He hoped quickly that this New Year would be a good one for them because they all sorely deserved it. As the fireworks lit up the sky in a magnificent show of colour Horatio let his fears go up with them as Catherine pulled him into a kiss. Miami's problems could stay in Miami for now, this was Vegas and anything could happen in Vegas.
Well that's it guys, another Miami fanfic done and dusted! Thank you all for sticking with this one and for your lovely reviews and favs etc, they have definitely kept these fanfics going! I thought I'd leave this one slightly more open ended in case I do, do a sequel, as I've said I do have some ideas and if there is a want for it I will oblige, but at the same time I do think I've wrapped it up nicely too as in everyone has gotten their happy ending :-)