"Please tell me my birthday has arrieved earlier this year, Calleigh." Horatio was checking in on his team mates and had found Calleigh in the DNA lab of the C.S.I. department.

"I´ve got nothing new for you, H. I´m sorry."

"What are you doing in here then?"

"Just a little private investigation."

"Do I have to worry about you?" Horatio knew that Calleigh´s father had an alcohol problem.

"No. You don´t." She gave him one of her dazzling smiles. "You can also give up on Tim or Eric to give you good news."

"We must have overlooked something! Tell them I want to see you guys and Alexx in my office in short."

The past week had been hell for the team of the C.S.I. of Miami-Dade. They had found no DNA to analyze, and Mrs. Parker had not been able to indentify anyone that looked like the man she had seen enter the parlor during her session. The leftover canisters and astrolite were no real help to them either, except that they knew that someone professional had assembled the bomb. Not only were they no step futher, but several more bomb threats had kept them holding their breath. Fortunately no more explosions had shook the ground of Miami. So far.

When the whole team found itself in Horatio´s office; Alexx leaning against the door frame, Speed stitting on the table top, Calleigh and Eric seated on the green couch and Horatio standing behind his desk; they looked quite stressed and unhappy with themselfs.

"We must have overlooked something!" Horatio was glaring at all of his team members, hoping any of them would suddenly have a realization.

"We´ve collected all the evidence one could find at a bomb explosion site." Tim said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess reading the evidence is not enough this time." Eric gave as his explanation.

"No, it´s not. I think we should go back to the crime scene and take another good look around. Alexx, you can go..." Horatio´s cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the display. No number he recocnized. He turned back to his team. "...you can go and take care of your other cases. The rest of you, get tready to move out."

Everyone got up to leave and Horatio aswered his call.

"Horatio Caine."

"Hi, this is Cathrine."

"Cathrine?"

"Cathrine Deven. I work at ´The Sun´, Remember?"

Horatio suddenly had a vision of the woman he was talking to over his mobile. Average height, jet-black, long, curly hair, green eyes, a smile that meant what it expressed. "Miss Deven, yes. Of course I remember, the coffee was very good."

"Ehm...well...I wasen´t sure if I should call at this time. I wasen´t sure if I should call at all...I just thought that...may be...well, you left your card and I just thought that...may be...you would be interested to..." Cathrine suddenly paused for a long moment. She felt like such an idiot, she should never have called him.

"Cathrine?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to go out for a drink?"

"Sure." She let out her breath, which she hadn´t realized she´d held. She hoped he didn´t hear it.

"Tonight? At 8?"

"Perfect."

"I´ll pick you up."

"Sure...you very well know where I live."

"I do."

"So tonight at 8...Great...See you then."

"Goodbye Cathrine."

"Goodbye."

She hung up.

Horatio pressed a button to end the call, and then was on his way. Back to the crime scene.


Horatio had totally forgotten about Cathrine Deven, and had been surprised to get a call from her. Truthfully, he didn´t know why he had asked her out, nor why he had left his card. She had been cute when she´d walked back home all by herself that night, no mistake. But Horatio had no idea what had drawn him to leave the card by the empty cup of coffee. Not only did he feel that there was no time at the moment for a blooming relationship, or mutual interest...may be even for the few good years to come, but he also had to get even with his mixed feelings towards Yelina Salas, his sister-in-law.

Horatio and Yelina had shared an interest for eachother and a short relationship, until she decided to go for his younger brother Raymond and exchange the marriage vows with him; and now that Ray was dead, that fragile family relatioship was somewhat brittle and could easily give way to something more.

On the other hand he thought it might be good to meet some new people. His personal life had suffered great losses since he´d become Lieutenant. He did have his moments with his crew, where they´d find something positive behind a tragedy, he did take care of Ray Junior, his nephew, and Yelina. But other than that he couldn´t proove to be an active person in his community. He slept very little and was rarely at home or out at night, to go out for a movie or something to eat. There was nothing besides his job, and til now that had been what he wanted. He rembered the days in which he´d had time for leisure, and that had been a time he didn´t like to rember.

Now, as Horatio got out of his hummer to inspect the scene of the bomb explosion a week ago, he pushed these thoughts out of his mind.

As always.


It was 7:23 pm now, and Cathrine was already dressed to go out. Since they were only going out for a drink, Cathrine had chosen to wear a pair of faded jeans and her favorite 1/4 length, black cardingan with a red corset underneath and her matching red ballerinas. She wore a touch of make-up; a little mascara, some eyeliner and lip gloss; and had decided to put her hair up in a ponytail. She still had a lot of time left until Horatio would come and pick her up, and so got up to make her ration of semolina for the next day. She went over to her stereo and put on ´Gabriel´ by Lamb, the song she loved to listen to the past few days. Cathrine pressed the ´repeat´ button and walk into her kitchen to start off with boiling milk for the semolina. While waiting for the milk to get hot enough, which could take ages with that stove of hers, she got her sketching utensils from her bedroom and started to draw whatever came into her mind.

She loved to depict her thoughts and imagination as pencil drawings, they would always turn into black-and-white pictures, nothing very complicated or confusing. ´Too much detail, and it becomes a mess´ was her mantra; and not only when it came to her art, but also in her personal life.

When she had gotten to the bridge that would cross the river flowing through a forest, Cathrine reckoned that the milk would be ready and got up to check that it wasen´t already to late, and she would have to clean up a mess.

Luckily the milk hadn´t overcooked yet, therefore Cathrine went over to a cupboard to get some bowls and then opened the package with the already done semolina mix. As the song started all over again, she joined in.

´I can fly, but I want His wings. I can shine, even in the darkness, but I crave the light that He brings, ravel in the songs that He sings...My Angel Gabriel...´

She continued to stirr the semolina in the pot for about another minute, but then went on to concentrate on what she was doing. Her mother had taught her not to stirr it for too long, and to add a whipped egg so that the semolina would loosen up and it´s flavour be more enhanced. Now, as Cathrine was fully concentrated, she just hummed the melody of the song. But as soon as she was finished with the procedure of getting the semolina just the way her mother did, and the song had played twice during her efforts and was nearly at it´s end, repeating the first verse, she joined back in. And this time will all the voice she could muster, oblivious to the fact that someone might hear her.

As a result of her artistic cooking habits and her enthusiasm for singing along, Cathrine had missed the frist ringing of her doorbell. And the second time, which had come quite some time after the first, as well as the third time. Then, finally, she heard a knock on her door, and someone calling her name. Horrified she took a look at the clock and realized that it was alread 8:10 pm. She quickly turned off the stove, turend the music down and hurried to open the door.

In front of her stood an amused Horatio Caine.

"Hi, did I get you at a wrong moment?"

"Sorry...I...ehm...I was just...Why don´t you come in first?" she held the door open for him to enter. He accepted her invitation and walked into her livingroom. "Sorry. I was finished early getting ready, and so I started to cook some semolina. I guess I had the music too loud."

"So it was you I heard singing?"

"Oh my God! You heard me singing?"

"I think everyone on the block heard you." He toyed around with his sunglasses and tilted his head to the side, a sly grin playing around his mouth. He noticed her turning red and decided to suddenly find her apartment very interesting; which it turned out to be; so that she could have some space. Her flat was small, but richly furnished with colorful decorations and comfortable looking furniture. Not only was her apartment leaving an impression on him, but Cathrine herself looked stunning in her casual outfit. Now, as her cheeks were a little flushed, Horatio had to controle himself not to stare at her too much, andhe remembered why he´d left his card.

"So, are you ready to go?" he asked, braking the scilence.

"I´ll just pour the semolina into the bowls, and then we can go."

The song was starting from the beginning again, and Horatio silently listened to it, while watching Cathrine through the door of the kitchen.

´I can fly, but I want His wings. I can shine, even in the darkness, but I crave the light that He brings, ravel in the songs that He sings...My Angel Gabriel...´

"Nice song."

"What?"

"The song you were singing...it´s nice." Horatio watched her shoulderblades work underneath that creamy skin, and her black hair sway along her back in a nice contrast. He was shocked about the way he was looking at this woman he barely knew.

She put the pot into the sink, got her cardigan from the chair beside the kitchen table and joined him in her livingroom.

"Okay, I´m ready to go."


Lobito´s wasen´t a café that Cathrine would pick to go to for a date. You could see that it used to be a restaurant that also welcomed families, but now it had become a meeting place for the people spending their nights out instead of at home, caring for a family or at least a partner of the opposite sex. Cathrine had often hear her neighbours say that Lobito´s had exeptionally good food for a restaurant of it´s kind, but had been too uncomfortable to go there by herself, or even with Dana. She felt that, for a woman, coming here was only save in male company. Even during day time.

While they were waiting for a waiter to take thier orders, Cathrine and Horatio were only giving in to small talk.

"So you work for the C.S.I.?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Around 16 years."

"Is it depressing?"

"What?" Horatio looked up from his menu card.

"Working for the C.S.I.! Seeing what all those crazy people do to eachother."

"I got used to it. I guess I´ve always been imune to these exposures. Not that I find crime acceptable, otherwise I wouldn´t do this job...no, I do feel for the victims. But were not supposed to take sides, that´s our job. And you? What do you do in Miami?"

"I moved here 12 years ago. Grew up in Maine, in a little Village called Elizabeth. But rural life wasen´t for me, so I moved down here, got a job I enjoy. I´m quite content with myself."

The waiter finally came and Cathrine ordered a Latte Macciato, while Horatio took a non-alcoholic beer. He din´t want to cross any borders. When the boy that had taken their orders left, Cathrine took up conversation again.

"I can see you are a native," she asked after putting away the menu.

"Yes, I was born and raised here in Miami."

"And you mother and father, they still live here?" She realized immideately that she´d hit a nerve. He lowered his gaze to inspect his hands and gave a rather forced, not so earnest smile and then looked back up into her face. "Sorry, I didn´t mean to..."

"No, it´s okay. You couldn´t have known. It would be more than logical for you to ask me this. It´s okay...my father left our family when I was very young...my brother had just been born. My mother had to take care of us by herself, and therefore it wasen´t a surprise that we could only afford to live in a dody quater,but it was fine. My brother Raymond and me got used to it, and were able to deal with the things we expirienced. Then...when I was 16, my mother got killed by a dealer that was giving us trouble, and...as you migth guess, I became interested in becoming a cop. I helped the MDPD solving my mother´s case, and after finishing High School I went straight to police academy. But as soon as I got to know that the people at the CSI department did all the evidence collecting that would eventually nail a criminal, I went and enrolled in university, got my bachelor in chemistry, went back, and now I´m a Lieutenant."

Cathrine had not interrupted him in his flow, and had listened very attentively. She knew that it helped a great deal to talk to someone about these things that unconcienously haunt your thoughts. To her, Horatio seemed to be one of those people that could deal with memories like that only because they knew that there were people who´s lives were even more messed up than their own. That was probably one of the reasons why he chose to do the job he does, so that he´d feel better about himself, and confident that he was trying to act against that which brougth him misery, and was still affecting the lives of many.

But, Cathrine thought, at some point that won´t help him anymore to forget and confront who he really is.

"Wow...Well, since you´ve given me something I haden´t intendet in getting, I´ll tell you something earthshattering that has influenced my life, and then I´ll just ask harmless questions like earnest people do at those internet dating forums"

"You don´t have to if you don´t want to. I didn´t intend this drink to reveal quite that much."

But Cathrine insisted, "Don´t worry, when I talk to people about my experience, it makes me feel like I´m helping them understand the necessity of being careful while spending time alone. I guess this advice won´t be a neccesity for you, since you walk around with a gun most of the time. But anyway...I want to get even."

"Okay." He nodded his head towards the right and lifted his arms to rest them on the back of the bench behind him.

"Well, you´re gonna laugh about me when you hear what has been the most criminal thing I´ve done so far in my life."

"So far!"

"You never know what life will force you to do," He raised his eyebrows, and she just gave a shrug as an answer. The waiter came back, set their orders in front of them, and left again.

"When I was 12..." she leaned forward a little. "...I went to a Lingerie store and stole a pair of black lace knickers..." He gave a breathy but deep laugh, and decided to do this more often. It was seldom that he laughed nowadays. "...for my mother. It was her birthday, but I´d already spent all of my pocket money on my favorite candy, and this magazine that gave you plastic pear necklace as a gift with it. So – here it is... the moment that changed my lifeforever. From that day on I started to pray for forgiveness every evening. I felt so guilty, I said to myself that I would do all in my power to make other people happy by giving as much as I have. Be it material, emotional or spiritual. I´m paying more now, than those knickers were worth!" Cathrine shook her black curls from side to side, and her cheeks began to flush a little.

´She´s lovely´ Horatio thought. "Just lovely."

"What´s lovely?"

"What!" he realized he´d been thinking out loud. "Oh...the..ehm, sunset."

She turned around to look out the panorama window behind her back. The sky was showing off with a blend of blue and deep-red. "You´re quite right. It´s lovely." She moved to face him again and caught him studying her. She pretended not to notice, and placed her head in her hands. "Now to the harmless questions."

"Alright, this time I´ll start."

"Shoot it."

"Single?"

"You get straight to the piont!"

"It was you suggestion to ask questions like they do on partner-search...so?"

"Single. You?"

"Single." She gave him a grin with a twinkle in her eyes. "Type of music?"

"Not sure...a lot. Yours?

"Good question. I don´t have a lot of time to listen to it much." he said. Cathrine gave a little nod.

"Now me. Which side of the bed do you sleep on?" Horatio gave her a startled look. "A handsome man your age must have been married once until now." Horatio shifted foreward, crossed his arms and leaned unto his elbows. "You know...it tells a lot about the person. People that sleep on the left are usually more turned in, not quite as open as people that sleep on the right. That doesn´t apply to me really...I sleep on the right, eventhough I live alone."

"Left, I slept on the left side."