A/N: Disclaimers, ratings, and all the other formal stuff: See part 1.

This chapter is rather H/C-centric (I think we're slowly getting there *g*), tell me how I'm doing with them. I thought this part would be hard to write, but my muse had a good day, apparently. Any feedback on this will be taken seriously into consideration :)

Speaking of which, several people have told me that I'm doing very angsty stuff here. I agree, but I blame it on my muse. She told me that sometimes a catastrophe can be a catalyst, and since I liked the alliteration, I let her have it her way. Can't argue with a muse, now can you?

Chapter 5: Carrying On

Horatio refused to look at her. She had scored a small victory in defying his stubborn resistance, and he was none too happy about it.

When Calleigh had called Eric to fill him in on the coffee angle, Horatio had intently listened to her part of the conversation. Upon her saying that they would check back in soon, he had failed to hide a small negating movement of his head. This had caused her to cover the phone and look at him.

"We're not going back to the lab?" she had asked.

"You are. I'm going to drop you off."

When he had ventured no further information, she had persevered. "Well, what about you?"

"I have … ahm … another aspect of this case to consider." He had kept his eyes locked on the traffic in front of them, as if maneuvering their huge vehicle safely through the city demanded his full concentration. Calleigh had not been fooled, though. He only ever became this evasive when something was affecting him deeply at a personal level. And there was one "aspect of this case" which would have been most heart-wrenching to someone less empathetic than Horatio Caine.

"You're going to go see Evan Taylor's family." It had not been a question.

She had gotten an answer nonetheless, in the tightening of his jaws, and in the short flicker of unguarded emotion in his eyes. He was going to go see his dead colleague's wife and offer every comfort imaginable while taking all the more guilt and sadness onto himself.

"I'm coming with you," she had informed him, the decision being reached in mere seconds.

"No, you're not," he had said softly.

Instead of an answer, she had held up the cell phone again. "Eric, you still there? Good, listen, we will-"

"Calleigh, give me that phone," he had interrupted her. His voice had been low, but commanding nonetheless. "Give it to me."

She had put Eric on hold once more, while Horatio had pulled the Hummer over to one side of the road. Once they had come to a complete standstill, he had finally turned and looked at her. He'd been looking sad, but in control, his voice still low but steady.

"It is my duty to go there. He was working for me."

"It is not your duty to do this alone," she had clarified quietly, wondering if this was his way of punishing himself for not being there when his crimelab had been attacked. People had leaned on him for comfort frequently, and he had never once failed to deliver. Why would he not allow her to share the grief and the guilt and lean on her for a change? No one was destined to carry the world's anguish alone. Somehow, suddenly, she longed to say these things aloud, but was held back by the distance in his eyes.

So, in a futile attempt to lighten the mood, and to keep her heart from breaking for him, she had added, "Face it, you're not getting rid of me," sounding considerably more lighthearted than she had felt.

Instead of an answer he had reached for the phone she had still been holding. Their fingers had touched a little longer than was strictly necessary for transferring the mobile from one to the other, and he had continued to hold her eye while speaking to Eric.

"Eric? It's me. Wait for the results of the tox screen, then do a counter-check with the coffee maker once you have a clue what we're looking for. Have you finished processing the labs? … Good, do that, then call it day. We'll see you tomorrow for a status report … No, we're not checking back in … Just finish the processing, Eric."

He had disabled the connection and handed the phone back to her. Without another word said, he had slowly navigated the Hummer back into the moving traffic.

He had never once taken his eyes off the roads again, apparently not too happy about how things had turned out.

But from the way he had looked at her while talking to Eric, and from the way the tension was gradually fading from his taut posture, she could tell. He was grateful for her coming along.

~*~

Maria Taylor sat on the sofa and clutched a pillow to her. It was obvious she been crying for hours, but now her eyes were dry and she looked exhausted to the point of fainting.

She had allowed them to come in when they had shown up at her front door, but had not offered them a seat. She had simply slouched down on the sofa, grabbed a pillow and stared blankly ahead.

"A police officer was here already," she was just saying, her voice a monotone, "Told me everything that has happened."

Horatio went to sit next to her, placing his hand on hers. "What Detective Tripp did not tell you is that we already have a lead on who did this." His voice was calm and soothing, and managed to get through to Maria.

"You do?" There was the faintest spark of hope in her voice as she looked up at him.

Calleigh did not know how he managed to gather the strength to smile reassuringly at the young widow.

"Yes we do. I want you to know that we will get whoever did this, and he will pay for it."

She acknowledged this with a trembling sigh. "What about the others?"

"We don't know yet," Horatio answered truthfully. "But we will. And when we do, I'll let you know."

There was a moment of silence, then Maria spoke up again. "Evan loved his work, you know?" She smiled weakly. "He had always been crazy about computers, and when he got this job, he was so happy. It made him so proud … He would always tell me how he helped nailing the bad guys." Overwhelmed, she trailed off.

"He was very good at what he did," Horatio told her, and Calleigh loved him for it.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from across the hallway, and Maria stood up, immediately agitated. "That's my daughter, Carrie." Panic filled her voice. "I haven't told her yet. I don't want her to … I couldn't …"

She left the room quickly. Calleigh looked at an agonized Horatio. "I didn't know he had a child," she said quietly.

He gave a hardly visible nod. "She's three years old."

There was nothing Calleigh could have said in return to that. Another life had been extinguished before it was spent, and another broken family was left to cry about a future that would now never come to be. What was there to say?

When Maria returned, Horatio stood up. The young woman looked collected, but only barely so.

"Do you have someone to take care of you?" he asked.

She nodded. "My mother's flying in. She will be here tomorrow."

Horatio handed her his card and told her to call him whenever she needed someone. She glanced at the card.

"I wanted to thank you," she told him.

Horatio was taken aback. Startled, he blinked and looked at Maria questioningly. "Whatever for?"

"Evan spoke very highly of you. He said you really made people feel appreciated. And I know he loved working for you." She tried another weak smile. "I now know why."

~*~

Alexx stared at the sheet of paper in her hand. "You're kidding me!" she said to no one in particular.

"Yeah? What did I do?"

She spun around to see Speed stand in the doorway of the morgue. "Don't you ever sneak up on me like that again," she admonished gravely.

"Sorry," Speed shrugged, "You were rather absorbed in … what is that anyway?"

He walked up to her and tried to have a look at the paper.

"It's the results from the blood tests they did in the hospital."

"You mean on the other victims?"

"Yeah. I wanted to double-check with Taylor."

"And…"

She shook her head. "And it doesn't make much sense. We have a low concentration of hemoglobin and some other aberrations, but then again, any number of substances will cause that."

"So we still have nothing?" Speed asked incredulously.

Alexx gave him a reproaching look. "I'm not saying that. We'll know a great deal more once we've got Taylor's results. Whatever killed him has been there in large concentrations, and has left traces of its presence. And looking at this, I'm slowly getting the idea. Still, I would have expected something much more obvious, what with the symptoms."

Speed nodded. "H called. They seem to have something on the coffee. We're going to process the coffee maker and any remains of last night's caffeine consumption."

Alexx indicated the piece of paper in her hands. "I would like to tell you what to look for, but right now I can't. I will go over this again and have something for you in the morning."

Speed gave her a lop-sided grin and patted her arm. "You're the best."

As he turned to leave, Alexx called after him, "And don't forget that again."

~*~

It had not escaped Calleigh's notice that Horatio's mood had lightened considerably after the encounter with Maria Taylor and her comments about Evan's love of the job. When they had gotten back to the Hummer, Horatio had not started the engine right away. Instead, he had asked her how she was holding up, and she had returned the question. A short silence had followed.

"She does not blame you, you know?" Calleigh had told him out of the blue.

He had stared straight ahead, but she had seen a little smile play around the corners of his mouth. She knew this was exactly what he had been afraid of.

"Thank you," he had said, but it had been barely audible.

Calleigh had wanted to smile, but had not managed to stifle a yawn, or keep her stomach from growling. It hadn't escaped Horatio, either. Eyebrows raised, he had given her a questioning look.

"What? It's been a hard day," she had said apologetically.

He had seemed to consider this. "You haven't eaten all day."

"Well, I didn't exactly have access to my usual supply after they sealed the fridge in the break room. And anyway, neither have you."

He had joined her in her smile. After a moment, he had asked, "Feel like grabbing something on the way home?"

Calleigh had been startled, but had hardly considered the offer. "Sure," she had heard herself reply without even thinking about it.

And now she was leaning against the front of the Hummer, eating chicken show mein from a cardboard box. Horatio came to stand next to her, handing her a canned soft drink he had retrieved from the driver's cabin.

"Ah! Nothing like a healthy diet," she commented playfully and gave him a broad smile.

They were facing the ocean, but in the looming darkness it was hard to tell where the water ended and the sky began.

"Unless someone tampers with it."

His rejoinder sobered her immediately. When she had first opened one of the little boxes they had acquired at the Chinese take-away, she had been surprised about her own appetite. Now, however, she put the food aside.

"Do you really think it was someone working at CSI?" she asked quietly, looking at Horatio's silhouette while waiting for an answer. He had finally taken off his sunglasses for good. At this time, it would have been hard even for him to find a justifiable reason for wearing them. She could see him focusing on the horizon as he was weighing his answer.

"I don't want to," he admitted, discarding his carton as well. "But I don't see many alternatives right now."

"Somehow…" she started, but did not have the heart to finish.

"Hm? Go on."

"I don't know … somehow I still wish it turns out to be an accident. I know that's unlikely," she was quick to add, "But I would prefer that scenario, if I had to choose one."

They stood for a while in silence, each pondering their own thoughts. After a while, Horatio surprised her by saying, "Thank you."

"For what?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

"For making it a point today that you would not let me handle the hardest facets of this case on my own."

"Is that why we're here?" she wanted to know.

"What do you mean?"

 "Well you know, it's just that we don't usually end our working days sharing a bite at the beach," she responded good-naturedly.

"Hmm…" She could hear him smiling. "Maybe it was about time we did." Before she could react to that in any way, he pushed himself away from the car. "Come on, I'll give you a lift home."

To be continued …