TOGETHER
He stood on the beach, staring into the ocean, again. Sometimes, it was the only time he found peace. Staring into that huge vast blueness. So huge that he, and his problems, seemed tiny beside it. He could die, they all could die, and suffer, and the ocean would roll on, aloof, untameable, forever.
"You ok?"
He smiled, involuntarily, unaware, or rather, not acknowledging, the flash of pleasure her voice spread through him.
"I'm fine, Calleigh." He said, turning to look at her. He thought he saw her shiver her a moment. "I'll be along in a minute"
"Oh, no rush. Just wanted to check you were fine, that's all." She said, smiling again. He'd looked so lonely, out here, staring at the sea. Whenever she saw him like this, she wanted to go over to him, rescue him, assure him he wasn't alone. He never would be alone, if she had anything to do with it. She would always be by her side, whether he saw her there or not. But she could never find the words to tell him.
And she knew why he was lonely today. She'd spent a lot of time with Yelina, on that last case, and she, much to Calleigh's surprise, opened up to her.
Horatio felt Calleigh shift slightly, prepared to ask him something. If it had been anybody else, he would have felt uncomfortable, invaded. The moment would have been awkward, and he would have walked away, leaving the ocean to itself, and forgoing his peace. But, to his surprise, Calleigh didn't disturb him.
Not that way, at least. Many things about Calleigh disturbed him. Her beauty. Her intellect. Her smile. Her taste in boyfriends. But not Calleigh herself. With her was only peace.
"Can I ask you something personal?" Calleigh asked, moving to his side. He looked down at her, and removed his sunglasses. Her hair was loose, and the sunlight was tangled in it, and she took his breath away, not just because of her physical beauty, but because of her soul so clear in her eyes, and he realised he had never been struck by anything but Yelina's looks. He didn't think he'd ever seen a feeling deeper then the surface in Yelina's eyes.
"Of course." He told her.
"Why didn't you tell Yelina Madison wasn't yours?"
He drew breath sharply. That hadn't been the question he had been prepared to answer.
"I mean, if it's not intruding, but I know you care for Yelina, and she said, because of the child, but...." Her voice trailed away, as he gazed down at her.
"I do care for Yelina." He said, and his voice sunk her like a stone. "But not in the way you think. She is my sister, and I will not sully my brother's name."
"Well, it's your choice, and of course, I see why. I really do, but..." Calleigh didn't know why she just didn't shut up and go away. This was way beyond the boundaries of their relationship. But his eyes held her there, and she wanted to know, wanted to know so much it ached inside her.
"I don't love Yelina." He said, sharply. "Perhaps I thought I did. But what I loved was the idea of a family." He was staring out to sea again, his sunglasses turned over and over in his hands. "I loved the idea of a wife, and a child, and a home, and Yelina personified all that. But you know what, Calleigh?" he said, as if discovering something for himself for the very first time. "Families are what you alone create, you cannot just choose one to be part of."
He glanced back down at her. Now she stared out to sea, following his gaze, turning his words over in his head.
"Calleigh." He asked, and she turned to him, smiling, as always. "How did you know Madison is not my daughter?"
"Oh...right. It's what you said that day in the lab? When I said families were hard sometimes? And you said it was harder not having any? You wouldn't have said that if you had a child. That's all."
Horatio smiled to himself. Calleigh had this habit of seeing through everything, every lie, every obfuscation, everything, right through to the very heart of things. Yelina had spent hours with him, and never seen the truth about him and his child. One throwaway remark to Calleigh, and she had known everything.
"Very clever." He praised, and she blushed a little.
"Not just a dumb blonde." She teased.
"I never thought of you as one." He said.
"Then what do you think of me as?" she asked, suddenly, surprising herself. She hadn't meant to ask that question. She hadn't meant to have this conversation at all. She had only meant to coax him out of his dark mood, and back to the lab. She didn't know when things had become this personal. And she wasn't sure what the answer would be, and dreaded to hear it. but she couldn't move. Not now.
Horatio stared down at her. What was Calleigh?
His colleague?
His friend?
His ballistics' expert?
His light?
His lover?
His weakness?
His mistake?
His truth?
He reached out a hand to her, running his fingers though the golden hair, blowing and tossed in the wind.
"You, Calleigh Duquesne," he said, in the soft voice that set her spine shivering. "you, are my future."
She only had to look in his eyes for a moment. She saw what she wanted to see. What she had seen before, but doubted. Standing on tip-toe, she wrapped his arms round his neck, and finally, at long last, kissed him.
The kiss sealed it, for both of them. This was no crush. This...this was wondrous, difficult, glorious, awkward, amazing, enthralling, all-consuming, love.
THE END