Title- Gain Control Again
Authors- Dame Flame and pepsicolagurl
Rating- PG13 for now.
Disclaimer- See Chapter One.
Author's Notes- Trust us, the story is far from being over. Enjoy, and let us know what you think.
Thanks- To everyone that reviewed. We really appreciate it. And to adpi24, we're still fighting over if we're going to turn this into a 'shipper fiction, and whether it's going to be Horatio and Calleigh, or Speedle and Calleigh. This is what happens when you put two different writers with two different ideas together. We'll see. This story is going to be awfully twisted.
JosiahGirl- You brought up an interesting point about why Speedle's parents wouldn't recognize him. We had already mentioned that his parents hadn't wanted an autopsy to be performed on his body, and how it wasn't an open casket funeral (more implied than anything, when they told him that they were told that he had died in surgery, and the only thing they saw of him after that was the casket), but you called us on it, so we racked our brains to come up with reasons why no one realized that it wasn't Speedle in the casket. Thanks for making us think! It's always nice to get the brain going again. And as to your comment about it being borderline hard to believe, it wasn't supposed to be completely plausible. We researched the medical part of it, but we don't even believe that this could happen. Not all fan fiction is based on fact, that's something that we've come to understand. Other than this being just another way to keep Tim Speedle alive, we wanted an opportunity to work together on a story. Please don't take this the wrong way. We're not ranting, we just wanted to point out a few things. Remember, not everything in life is plausible, either.
nonnie- We love the running commentary. Seriously. Never stop. We were cracking up together, when we were talking on MSN. Would it be wrong of us to beg you to keep up with them? We wrote this, but it's great to read your reactions to certain lines.
Gain Control Again
Chapter Four
And like a lighthouse you must stand alone
Landmark a safe journey's end
No matter what sea I've been sailing on
I'll always come back home again
Out on the road that lies before me now
There are some turns where I will spin
I only hope that you can hold me now
'Til I gain control again
The room was stunned into silence for all of thirty seconds, before Ryan looked at Tim Speedle. "Why didn't you go to the police? This would have been cleared up in no time. Or, for that matter, why didn't the hospital contact the police?"
"Because he's stubborn. He always has been, and he always will be," Calleigh whispered from the couch, refusing to take her eyes off of Speedle.
"I guess she's right. I mean, I know I'm stubborn now, but I don't know about before. I suppose I was. As for the hospital, I don't think they wanted to own up to their own mistake. They were the one that lost my files. If they contacted the police, there would have been a record about it, and I could have sued them for millions. They probably didn't want that." He smirked, and for the first time, he looked like the Tim Speedle of old. "I wanted to figure it out on my own, but Mary saw the news break today, and said that I should call. I owe it to her, for all she's done for me." The old woman looked up at him and smiled.
Her voice was sad when she spoke. "I guess I can't call you Marshall anymore."
He grinned back down at her. It was strange for everyone else to see; they had never really seen him grin before. "You can call me whatever you want. If you want to call me Marshall, I'll answer to Marshall." They exchanged smiles, but looked away from each other when they heard someone sniffle.
Calleigh sat there, tears rolling down her face as she looked towards him. "I'm sorry," she began, her voice choked with her tears. "I'm sorry, but this is just ridiculous. I was there when they took you away in the ambulance, I was there when they told us that you didn't make it. I was there when they buried you. I was there when your mother was crying so hard, she almost had to be sedated. And now, for you to just stand there in front of us...I just don't understand any of this," she finished in a whisper, shaking her head.
No one moved towards her at first, but Speedle took the initiative, walking over to her, and kneeling in front of her. "Look, I'd apologize for everything that I've put you through, all of you, but I didn't know. I didn't know that there were people out there that knew me. I've been living in a fog for the past few months, but if it's any consolation, I really wish I could remember all of this."
She smiled briefly as he wiped away her tears. "You may be Tim Speedle in name, but you're not the same person you used to be."
"Is that good or bad?" he asked.
"I don't know yet." She gave him a slight shrug. "The Tim Speedle that I know rarely smiled, rarely touched anymore, hid behind sarcasm. You're completely different from that Tim Speedle."
He smiled, brown eyes brightening. "Well, you've got a leg up on me, because I don't remember Tim Speedle at all. I get little flashes, almost like a voice in my head that tells me certain things that I don't understand. I get sidetracked by the strangest things." He looked at the bandage on his finger. "I spent a few minutes looking at a blood drop on the counter. It makes sense now, but before you told me what I used to do...I just thought that I was going nuts." He stood up and backed away, looking at the assembled group. "I just have one question: who the hell is H?"
Horatio looked at him, surprise written on his face. "I am."
Speedle nodded. "I kept thinking about that nickname, over and over. Especially when you picked up the phone earlier. I had some sort of recognition, some sort of reaction, to your voice, but that's all it brought to mind."
"That's what you usually called me. Almost everyone calls me that." He smiled, ducked his head for a moment. "You were the one that started calling me that, in fact. You said that my name was too long, and when you had test results, or information for me, you didn't want to waste any time."
"At least I did something useful with my life," he deadpanned. He turned to look at Eric Delko, silent throughout the entire exchange. He hadn't spoken a word since they had been driving to the house. "You okay, or do you usually not talk?"
Eric raised his eyes to meet Speedle's, still surprised to see the man staring back at him. "I was just beginning to accept the fact that you were gone, and now you're here. It's just kind of...strange. I need some time. That's all."
"Completely understandable. If I were in your position, I'd probably be acting the same way." He shook his head with a slight frown. It was an expression that was very clearly Tim Speedle. It was the expression that they were most used to seeing when it came to him. "I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. It's strange for me. I mean, I knew that I had another life beyond what's happened for the past few months, but it's hard to realize that it's actually here, you know? I was used to the fact that I didn't know what my real name was. I was used to going on with my life the way I have been. But this brings up an interesting question, one that you've brought up already? Who the hell is buried in Tim Speedle's grave?"
It had been a quiet day in autopsy until the phone call.
There had only been two bodies to post, and neither of them were complicated. One, a natural but unattended death, was already waiting for a funeral home pick-up, the other put aside until further test results came back. Alexx had parked herself in the small office off of the autopsy theater, searching through the computer files that would potentially match those missing bodies from the hospital. She was used to the silence, even enjoyed it at times, so when the phone rang, it was no surprise that she jumped in her chair before she realized what the noise really was.
She picked up the receiver after releasing her hold on the computer mouse. "Alexx Woods."
"Alexx, it's Horatio. I need a favor."
Leaning back in the desk chair, she nodded. "Sure. It's slow here. What do you need?"
"An exhumation order."
"Not so slow anymore," she shot back. "Okay, what's the name, and where's the body?" When he didn't answer her right away, she frowned. "Horatio, are you still there?"
The reply was slow in coming. "Yes, I'm still here. I know that this is going to sound strange, and believe me, it is, but I need you to get an court order to exhume the body of Timothy R. Speedle." When she didn't say anything, only say there in stunned silence, he continued, voice low. "Please, Alexx, trust me on this one. Trust me. I need this done as soon as possible. If you have any problems, call me back. But please, get this done."
"I'll need to get a release form signed by you, and by someone from his family. Then push it through to a judge. You do know how complicated this is, don't you?"
He sighed, but there was a hint of a smile in his voice. "All right, this is how we're going to do this. Whatever you do, don't call his family. Don't mention this at all. Meet me near the loading bay in half an hour. I'll have your signatures for you."
"Horatio, Tim didn't have any family in Miami, let alone Florida. How do you-"
"Just trust me. We'll be right there."
How was she supposed to argue with that, especially since he hung up on her, she wondered. With a sigh, she turned off the computer and went to one of the file cabinets, finding the correct form that they would need. She grabbed a clipboard that wasn't being used, and slid the paper underneath the claw, wondering how she was going to wait a half hour for Horatio's latest mystery to be solved. Time seemed to pass so slowly as she continued to look at her watch, and then the clock on the wall, wondering which of the two was running slower than the other. Twenty minutes after the call, she moved out of the office and down to the loading zone.
The clipboard hanging from one hand, she watched as the Hummer pulled into the space that was reserved for ambulances and other transport vehicles, looking like all of its seats were filled. She crossed her arms as Horatio climbed out of the vehicle himself and walked up to her, sunglasses in place. "Okay, what is this all about, because you've got me worried now."
He took the clipboard from her and signed his name in the proper place. "It's going to be a shock, but we can explain everything. Almost everything, that is." He took a deep breath and waved to whoever else was in the vehicle. One by one, they slowly got out, silent and white-faced.
"What is going on?" she asked him again, moments before the last person climbed out. He didn't look sheepish, like the others, or shell-shocked. At best, he looked confused. He looked...but that wasn't possible, she told herself. It just wasn't. And yet, there he was. He looked like Tim Speedle.
Alexx wasn't conscious of her reaction. She never felt the tears in her eyes, and she never felt the tremble in her hands. "This isn't possible."
"It is. We checked his fingerprints." He could tell, by the posture of her body, that she had been surprised by the words, but she never moved her eyes from the approaching figure. "He doesn't remember anything, doesn't know who he is. He didn't know that he was supposed to be dead. This never would have happened if his parents would have agreed to the autopsy, but..." He stopped rambling when Alexx moved closer to the approaching man, shaking her head.
"Tim," she said softly, much in the manner than Calleigh had earlier in the day.
He stopped, and they could see the confusion written clearly on his face, whether or not he should respond to the still unfamiliar name. He finally shrugged and offered the coroner a smile. "It's okay. You can if you want. You obviously know me." She took his words as consent and hesitantly, tenderly, embraced the young man. He reciprocated, but didn't so much embrace her as hold her. When she pulled away, he smiled again. "That felt...familiar somehow," he told her.
Horatio interrupted the moment, holding the clipboard out for him. "I need you to sign this."
"You need my permission to exhume my body? That sounds twisted," he said, taking the item and the pen. He faltered above the line for his name. "I don't know how to sign my name, though. Will that matter?" When he received a shake of the head, he put the tip of the pen on the paper and scrawled something.
"You may not remember," Alexx told him. "But that's almost identical to your signature." It took an effort, but she managed to turn away from him, back to Horatio. "Now, who gets to explain this one to the judge?"