CHAPTER 4

Speed and Eric had spent hours processing the Riley McBane crime scene. After Alexx had come and taken the body away, they went room by room collecting every single piece of evidence they could find. It wasn't unusual for them all to give over 100% on the job, but this had been Calleigh's friend so now they were even more determined. If anyone would solve this case, it was them.

Once all the evidence had been collected, the two men headed back to the lab to begin piecing everything together. After parking the H2, they got out and headed toward the door.

"Oh! I forgot something in the hummer," Eric suddenly announced out of the blue, stopping mid-stride.

Speed looked over at him, his face as detached as ever. He tossed Eric the keys and then said, "It better not be evidence."

"It's not," the other man replied, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. As if he'd be stupid enough to leave evidence unattended while working such a big and important case. "I just forgot my sunglasses."

"Ah yes, and the world shall fall to pieces if the young Eric Delko doesn't have his sunglasses while INSIDE the lab," Speed muttered sardonically as he turned and continued on his way to the door while Eric headed back to the H2.

He was almost to the door when he suddenly heard the sound of something metal falling on the pavement. He turned his head and looked around, but didn't see anything. He was about to forget about it and go inside when he again heard something. Only this time, it sounded more like metal clanking against metal. He frowned and decided to investigate the noise.

He walked around several cars and turned the corner around one of the pillars in the crime lab garage until he laid his eyes upon Calleigh's yellow Jeep Wrangler. He immediately quickened his pace toward the vehicle when he noticed movement underneath it. "Excuse me," he said, announcing his presence as he reached the back of the Jeep. The movement underneath stilled.

A feeling of unease suddenly washed over Speed. He unsnapped the strap holding his gun in its holster and placed his hand on the butt of it. "Please come out from underneath the vehicle," he said, his tone stern. Whoever was under the Jeep didn't seem to want to listen. "I repeat: please come out from underneath the vehicle."

Just as the words were out of his mouth, a man quickly rolled out from under Calleigh's Wrangler and whipped out a Beretta, shooting Tim in the chest before he had time to react.

Breath caught in Speed's throat and agonizing pain spread throughout his body like a fire. He slowly looked down at himself to see the gaping hole that the bullet had made. His legs went numb and he dropped to his knees, his body limp, before he simply fell over onto the pavement.

As he lied there, he could feel his life draining away from him as his blood, his life-force, flowed out of the wound. Blackness began to cloud his vision and just before he lost consciousness, the man who had shot him stood over him, a nefarious grin on his face. And then there was nothing.

Eric was just about to go inside when he suddenly heard the gun shot. His eyes went wide and he immediately pulled out his own weapon. He placed his crime scene kit down on the pavement and quickly began weaving through the cars in the parking lot trying to find the source of the shot. Suddenly, as he went around the pillar, he saw him. He saw Speed lying face down on the ground, a large puddle of blood surrounding him.

"Oh God," Eric gasped as he ran toward his downed companion. He was about ten feet from Speed when all of a sudden a car peeled out from a parking space perpendicular to where he was and sped toward him. He had no time to get out of the way when the black SUV slammed into him, sending him flying up onto the windshield. The vehicle made a sharp turn to the right causing Eric to slide off the hood and onto the pavement. The last thing that his brain registered before he lost consciousness was the sound of the SUV leaving the parking garage. And then there was blackness.

Calleigh and Horatio had been sitting in a companionable silence on the floor of her bedroom for some time. They were both leaning back with their backs against her bed, legs stretched out in front of them. Calleigh was leaning her head on Horatio's shoulder while he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. They had always seemed to have a silent communication. Certain looks, touches, expressions that only they knew how to interpret.

After several long minutes, Calleigh suddenly spoke up. "I want a kitten," she stated softly.

Horatio smirked at her abruptness and then tilted his head to look down at the blonde. "A kitten, hmm?"

She nodded. "Yeah, a little white, fluffy one." She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"So," Horatio began, moving slightly to make both of them a bit more comfortable, "if you were to get this little white, fluffy kitten, what would you name it?"

"Well, if I were to get one, I would want a little girl." She snuggled up to Horatio a bit more. "And I think I would call her Daisy," she replied. "But that's if I ever got one, which I probably won't because I work so much and I wouldn't want to leave her alone all the time because that wouldn't be fair to her. Plus there's also the matter of food and water and her litter. I mean, I could get her food and water dispensers and get one of those self-cleaning litter boxes, but she might also scratch my furni—" She looked up again to see Horatio staring at her with an amused smirk on his face. "And I'm rambling." She blushed.

Before Horatio could say anything, his cell phone started ringing. He frowned slightly and looked down at the object on his belt before he reluctantly reached for it. Flipping it open, he brought it to his ear and said, "Caine."

Calleigh sat up straight and turned her body toward Horatio so that she could observe him as he talked on the phone. She immediately frowned as she watched his features contort with what she figured was concern...No, more like worry.

Horatio looked over at her and into her questioning eyes before he held up his free hand, the one that he had slipped off of Calleigh's shoulders when he had got the call, and lifted up a finger, motioning for her to hold on. "Whoa, whoa, Alexx calm now," he said into the phone, he brow knitting together. "Explain it to me again." He cast Calleigh an uneasy glance. "Both of them?" There was a pause and then, "Ok, we're on our way." He flipped the phone shut and quickly stood up, pulling Calleigh with him.

"What's wrong, Horatio?" This was one of those times when their silent language was off the charts because Calleigh didn't even need to look at him to know that something wasn't right. She could just feel it.

"I'll tell you in the car, but we have to go right now," he said, his normally cool exterior suddenly replaced by one that Calleigh rarely ever saw. It was fear.

She nodded quickly and then followed him out to the H2. Once they had climbed inside, Horatio peeled out onto street. There was a silence in the vehicle for a few long moments before he finally spoke. "Speed and Eric are in the hospital."

Calleigh's eyes went huge. "What?" she gasped, "Why?"

Horatio released a slow breath and then glanced over at her. "Alexx said that they were both found in the parking garage at the lab, and," he paused a moment, "and that Speed has been shot in the chest and Eric was hit by a car."

Calleigh was completely silent, utterly shocked by the news. First Riley and now the boys? What was going on?

(A/N: More is coming very soon! I actually now know where I'm going with this story so you won't have to wait for me to get past my writers block! WOO! Remember to REVIEW!)