A/N : Sorry for the wait. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. Would really like to thank every single one of the reviewers.

Here we go, the last chapter as promised. :)

Enjoyyyy ;)

As soon as he stepped out of the room, he immediately fished for his phone and dialed for his wife. He needed to hear his wife's voice to seek comfort. He needed to feel safe. He needed to find something to hold on to. He waited for a few rings and there she was. He immediately felt a wave of relief within himself.

"Hi sweetheart. I've missed you. So much." Horatio needed to let that go.

"Horatio are you alright? You don't sound okay. What happened?"Calleigh somehow panicked when he heard Horatio over the phone. He sounded desperate and defeated.

"I just wanted to hear your voice. I wanted to let you know that I love you." He sighed.

"Horatio where are you right now? Horatio talk to me."She got worried and started pacing up and down in her ballistics lab. She really wanted to know what was going on with her husband.

"I'm fine Calleigh. I'm in Mac's lab. I just wanted to hear your voice. That's all."

"Horatio Caine! You got me so worried! Don't you ever do that again you hear me!" Calleigh almost screamed into the phone. Horatio chuckled softly at her antics. He loved it when Calleigh gets all overprotective on him. "And don't you laugh." Calleigh was stern. He went quiet, not wanting to agitate her further.

"How are you sweetheart? And how's Horatius? Is he okay already?" Horatio asked, concerned about their well-being, especially Horatius.

"He's okay handsome. He's much better. Are you sure you're okay?" Calleigh asked in return.

"I'm okay sweetheart. I just want to tell you that I'll be fine. I'll be wired when I go to meet him tomorrow. You don't have to worry so much. I'm in safe hands sweetheart. We've run through all the safety protocols and such."

"That's great. And please don't act like you're some kind of superhero. You know what he's capable of."Calleigh warned him. Horatio smiled to himself when he realized that his wife knew him better than himself. He would admit that sometimes he would go overboard and forget that he is just human.

"Yes Ma'am. I'll keep that in mind. I promise. I'll call you later sweetheart." Horatio ended the call the moment he saw Mac walking out of the conference room.

"You okay Horatio?" Mac asked out of concern. Horatio gave a slight smile.

"I'm okay. I just needed to call my wife for a minute." Mac nodded.

"I understand. How about joining us for lunch? Our treat since you're new here."

"New? But I'm not joining the NYPD." Horatio chuckled.

"Well, you've gotten an ID for our lab.." Mac paused a while. "So that's considered part of the team already. Don't worry. We won't take you away from the MDPD force." Mac teased and chuckled, which caused the team behind him, laughed in unison.

"Alright then." Horatio agreed and followed them for lunch. They took two cars in which Horatio, Mac and Stella took one car while Danny, Lindsay, Adam and Sheldon took another. During the drive, Horatio realized that New York has changed so much that he almost didn't recognize the town that was what he called home once. It looked very modernized and very busy.

"Wow New York has really changed so much. I didn't realize this the other day." Horatio broke the silence amidst looking out the window.

"Yes it has. But the crime remains." Mac chuckled slightly.

"How long ago did you move away from New York?" Stella added in into the conversation. Horatio pondered for a moment.

"Over 20 years ago. It was a desperate choice I had to make." Horatio was brought back to the event that made him move over to Miami. "Miami-Dade had an opening and I was in need of a transfer. So that's how it started." Horatio smiled. Stella didn't pry further.

"Okay here we are. This is a great place to get together and to just talk and catch up." Mac said as he stopped the car by the side. All of them stepped out and made their way into the restaurant. Once they settled down, the waiter came and took their orders and they continued talking to each other about their lives.

"Oh Horatio, Mac told us that you and your wife just had a pair of twins." Lindsay spoke up, excited. Horatio smiled and took out his phone to show them their recent photo.

"Yes we did. They're 6 months old now. And we're expecting another too. There they are. In blue is Horatius Declan Caine and of course in pink, is Alayna Cadence Caine."

"Aww. Such Beautiful names for this pair of fraternal twins. They're so adorable. They almost look alike and they really look like you. Gorgeous babies." Horatio smiled thinking how lucky he was that he had a pair of gorgeous twins and knowing that he is having another baby excites him further. After a while, the food they ordered arrived and they all tucked in into the food.

"Wow Horatio. Another one already?" Danny teased and the whole table laughed. Horatio blushed.

"Wow. This is great. The food is good huh." Horatio tried to change the subject and got a laugh from the team.

"Okay we'll not tease you further. And yeah the food is really good. We always come here as a family. As a team." Danny added and the rest of the team nodded in agreement. Horatio loved seeing them as a team. It reminded him of his own team whom he also calls family. Just then, Mac's phone started ringing and the team waited for him to finish his call before asking him what the call was about.

"We got a call-out. Busy as usual. Thankfully we're done with the food. So Horatio, do you want to come along or do you want to have your own free time?" Mac asked.

"I think I'll just walk around. As much as I want to come along, I don't think I want to interfere with your investigation. I'll see you later. You don't have to pick me up. I have your spare key. I can go home on my own." Mac nodded and they all parted. Horatio decided to explore New York and just look at how much it has changed ever since he left. He did come back to New York a few years back when he and Mac had a case together and at that time, he didn't get to go around since he was on business. As he was walking around, he came upon a jewelry shop and immediately got reminded of Calleigh. He made his way in to look around. He was thinking of getting something for her. The moment he went in, his eyes caught a sapphire heart-shaped pendant necklace, which was surrounded by diamonds. He had immediately fallen in love with the necklace and had asked to look at it. He loved it so much and he knew that Calleigh would also love it. He asked for the price quotation and didn't mind the high price. He wanted to pamper his wife just the way she deserved it.

After the purchase, he made his way around the city where he met his old partner, Sullivan. They managed to spend some time together where Sullivan had invited him over to his place for a cup of coffee and Horatio took up his offer. They did some catching up before Horatio eventually called it a day as it was getting late. He didn't want to arrive later than Mac. It was out of courtesy and most importantly, he wanted to get enough rest for the next day. He was going to be out on a mission.

The next day arrived for all them. Back in Miami, Calleigh was not at all focused in her work. All she could think about was Horatio and his meet with the guy that has been tormenting them. She was worried for his safety. Horatio on the other hand, was being handled by Danny Messer, who was helping him with the wiring. They will be monitoring Horatio's movement from the lab and that they will be recording the conversations. After it was all set up, Horatio made one final call to his wife, telling her the same thing all over again; telling her that she don't have to worry about him and that he loves her very much.

At 4pm sharp, Horatio arrived at the location that was set by the guy. The place was empty as expected. It was secluded and it was far from any human traffic. It was definitely an ideal place if he wants to kill Horatio. Slowly, he made his way into the abandoned warehouse, aware of all his surroundings. His hand tried reaching his side for his gun but he realized that he had gone in without any weapon, just as he was told. As he stepped further in, there was not a single light source. It was dark and he couldn't see anything around him including his own hands. He had to use his own guts and instincts to move around the warehouse. He stretched out his arm to feel his surroundings so that he wouldn't bang into anything.

"WELCOME TO MY HUMBLE ABODE LIEUTENANT." A voice was suddenly heard, startling Horatio. He jumped at the voice. He couldn't figure where exactly the voice had come from. He could only estimate it according to his hearings.

"I'm here now. What do you want?" Horatio spoke loudly. His heart was beating so fast. He was nervous.

"I have disabled all the surveillance that you have on you my dearest Lieutenant. Don't think I don't know. You had better not have any weapon on you. Because then you know the consequences." The voice warned and suddenly the room brightened up with a photo being projected onto the wall. It was the photo of Calleigh and the twins. "That was taken earlier today in the morning. How do you like it Lieutenant? Miss them?"

"Don't you dare. You told me that you won't hurt them!" Horatio was angry.

"I was just taking a photo of them Lieutenant. Don't they look adorable? Your babies in the stroller and your wife walking with her baby bump? How far along is she? 3? Or 4? Aren't you an active man Lieutenant.." The voice drifted off and suddenly laughed so loudly. "You've earned my respect for that."

"WHERE ARE YOU? WHY DON'T YOU SHOW YOURSELF?" Horatio blared. He was really pissed at that point of time. He has been tested enough.

"I am not going to show myself Lieutenant. You have seen me once. And I think that is enough for you. I just want to see if you can be trusted and apparently, you have not earned that trust. You will work to gain my trust. I will tell you what to do. There will be a task waiting for you." The projector was then switched off and the photo disappeared from his sight.

"WAIT!" Horatio shouted.

"We will meet again Lieutenant. I will find for you. And beware of your surroundings. You have made so many enemies in here. Be careful." Right then, the whole warehouse turned bright and Horatio turned around, looking for anyone or anything. He looked around frantically. He didn't see anything. Not even a single furniture or box. It was really empty. He then unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the wires off so hard.

"Damn it!" He cursed. He was angry at himself. He knew the guy would have prepared himself with such details. He knew he shouldn't have agreed on wearing the wire. He immediately took out his phone and dialed for Mac as he exited the warehouse as quickly as possible, hoping for a possibility that he would stumble upon the man who just threatened him. After a few rings, he heard Mac's voice on the other line.

"Mac, I lost him. I lost him just like that. I should have known he was just testing me." Horatio almost screamed into the phone. He was devastated to the point that he wanted to just give up and give whatever this guy wanted; his life. Once he stepped out, there was no one. It was as empty as when he first came.

"Horatio, we will get him. I assure you. We just need some patience." Mac said in a calming and relaxed tone. "We will get him." Mac reassured.

"I want him so badly I can taste it." Horatio said with so much passion and desire burning inside him. He was enraged. Mac just kept quiet on the line. He was stunned that Horatio had somehow turned dark. Silence fell over them and suddenly all Mac could hear was a bang and then muffles over on the other side of the line.

"Horatio?" There was no response. "Horatio!" Mac screamed into the phone. There was still no response. "Dammit!" Mac cursed and ran to the AV lab where he saw his AV technician, Adam, singing to the song he's listening on the iPod. "ADAM!" He screamed and yanked the earpiece of Adam's ears. Adam jumped out of his seat, shocked.

"Boss." He looked so apologetic.

"I need you to track Horatio's cell phone and I want his location right now!" Adam was dumbstruck and speechless. "ADAM!" Mac screamed again.

"Yes boss. I'm on it." His voice was shaky. Adam then quickly turned to his computer and started typing; doing what he does best. Within a few minutes, they traced Horatio's phone at the warehouse where he was supposed to meet the Tu Amante Apasionado. Mac thanked Adam and rushed out of the lab, gathering his team members to order them to rush to the location.

Mac and the team reached the location within minutes. They sped through and just passed all the red light. This was priority for them. Other cases were either being put on hold, or given to another team to handle. Once they arrived on location, the place was empty as hell. Mac signaled Danny to check inside the warehouse with him while Stella and Lindsay remained outside to check the perimeters. After a few minutes of canvassing the area, Stella found a pool of blood and immediately called Mac to meet them outside.

"What's up Stel?" Mac asked once he stepped out.

"Do you think this belongs to Horatio?" She questioned as she directed her attention to the pool of blood on the floor. Mac turned and gasped softly. 'Don't let that be his.' Mac prayed inside. Hoping, for the sake of everyone, especially Calleigh and the kids that the pool of blood doesn't belong to Horatio.

"Swab it and bring it back to the lab. I want it processed A.S.A.P." Mac ordered. Lindsay nodded and opened up her kit to take a sample of the blood while Danny bagged the cell phone that was left on the floor then together; they made their way back to the lab. Meanwhile, Mac and Stella stood there, not knowing what else to do.

"What are you thinking?" Stella asked Mac when she realized that he was not talking at all.

"If it is his blood, where is his body?" Mac answered. His hands remained in both the pocket of his pants. "What am I supposed to tell his wife?" Mac frowned.

"Let's wait for the lab results first Mac.." Stella approached him and squeezed his shoulder gently. "We'll figure this out Mac." Mac nodded and Stella took his wrist gently and pulled him towards the SUV. Stella took the driver seat since she didn't want Mac to drive because he has too much in his mind and drove off. They arrived at the lab an hour later and went straight to the trace lab where Danny and Lindsay were busy analyzing the evidence.

"What have you got?" Mac asked as he walked and stopped beside Lindsay who was waiting on the computer for the results of the blood.

"We're still waiting Mac. I'm running it through the National Database." Mac nodded and focused his attention onto the screen, waiting impatiently for it to come up negative. Suddenly, a ding came up.

"Mac. It's a match." Lindsay spoke up and Mac just stared at the screen with an open-mouth. The results came up positive. Mac's eyes never left the screen.

Horatio Caine.
Miami, Florida

THE END :)

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Hope you guys have enjoyed this story as much I enjoyed writing it. A very huge and warm Thank you to those who have stayed through the story from the beginning of it since the pre-quel The Deadly Return.

Stay tuned for more upcoming stories prepared for your entertainment. ;)