NOTES: I promised myself I'd update with the first review - so let's see what you make of this:)

Eric jumped at the last moment, the hot burning pain settling in his right side. He clutched at the wound, sinking to the floor with a loud moan. He heard a lot of yelling somewhere, Horatio maybe, telling Speed to stop. Stop what? Did it matter?

The pain spiked as he shifted on the floor, and he was vaguely aware of a hand on his face, a soft voice whispering nearby. "Eric? ERIC! Open your eyes, please."

For that voice, anything. He forced his heavy eyelids back, and saw Speed's white face close to his, far closer than he should be. Something about a bomb…was he hit by a bomb?

"Speed…what…I don't…"

"Shhh, it's alright. I've got you, I'm here."

A trembling hand settled over his, pushing against the red river spilling over his clean white vest. This was going to stain, for sure. He might have to take it to Mama, she'd know how to clean it.

Another hand slipped behind him, looking for something, distressed when it wasn't found. The arm slipped further round instead, drawing Eric close, arms encircling him now as one tried to stem the tide and the other protected. He could fall asleep right here if it weren't for the pain in his side…

He was vaguely aware of another voice, one he didn't recognise so well. The man appeared to be rambling.

"…only bruises with Carla…not so much blood…no blood…too much blood…not dead…"

"Call 911. He needs to get to a hospital."

Speed's voice now, and Eric wondered who needed a hospital. Was Horatio hurt? The rambling man? Why hadn't they stopped it? He should've stopped it.

The other man seemed to regain control of himself and was moving closer. Speed held on to him tighter, and it was good kind of pain, though it stole his breath. The man was holding a gun. A gun.

"Step…step away from him. He…he deserves…"

"Call an ambulance or he'll die!"

"I WANT HIM TO DIE!"

Silence echoed through the room, and only now could they hear the commotion outside, the frantic commands and the mass exodus of the lab population. Where was everyone going? What was happening?

"Tim…what…"

"Tell him to shut up! I want him to shut up!"

There was a soft nudge to his cheek, and he turned into Speed, whose face was but an inch from his. "Stay with me, okay? Just…quiet, for now. Just for a little while, alright?"

Eric was too tired to nod, but allowed his body to collapse further into Speed. He allowed his eyes to drift closed, as the voices droned on and his energy drained away in red.

He had heard of pain-by-proxy, but he never believed in such sentimental rubbish. How could someone's pain hurt you, all tucked away inside them? It made no sense, no sense at all. Until now.

At that moment, his heart bled, a sharp pain drilled right through. He was having difficult drawing breaths, but he kept going, pushing his hand into Eric as if to force it through the weakening form. His breathing was too fast, and the physical pressure of his slumped form burned a hole in him.

He wanted to cry, even though he hadn't cried in years, but Eric needed his strength more than anything and he wouldn't let him down. Timothy Speedle was a man of his word, and when he turned his head, whispering into Eric's hair, he meant every word: "I won't let you die."

Sanchez was calming now, his breaths evening out and his gun hand steadying on Eric once more. Speed raised his head defiantly, staring hard at the man, before shifting his body across Eric's, shielding his head and torso from the gun.

"What…what are you doing?"

"I won't let you shoot him."

A harsh laugh from the man, an edge of hysteria creeping in. Speed swallowed nervously – he was mad, and holding a gun. /And let's not forget those explosives…/

"I already shot him! Look, see, all that blood – I shot him good! One more – what difference will it make?"

Speed's eyes met his solidly, burning coals of hate. "I won't let you shoot him."

"Mr Sanchez, there are currently twenty of Miami PD's best marksmen with their sights fixed on you. I think you might want to reconsider your position."

Horatio's voice was the model of calm; only those close to him would hear the underlying tremor, notice the way his eyes kept flicking over to Eric slumped in Speed's arms.

The man turned wildly and held the detonator above his head, glaring at the men through the glass. "You see this? You can't shoot me before I press it and then you'll all go up!"

Insanity blazed behind his eyes and Speed swallowed, knowing that they would all die unless someone did something.

Calleigh was collapsed into a chair, staring at Eric and shaking uncontrollably; Horatio was trying to be calm and apply logic, but this man looked as if reason was a distant memory; and Eric…Eric was lying in his arms, bleeding to death because of this bastard.

That only left him. If he could drag himself from Eric, from what could be his last moments with him – but no, he couldn't think like that. Not while he still breathed, still held onto life so tenaciously. Speed would fight for him and win.

Because loss was too frightening to contemplate.

It had been too silent for long minutes now. Just minutes? It seemed longer.

Calleigh could only stare at Speed, paled face bent close to Eric's, speaking softly as he gently kissed the unconscious man's hair. Unconscious, bleeding, dying…

And all she could do was stare.

She stood abruptly, unaware of Sanchez's gaze upon her and stepped towards the cabinet. She could hear Horatio's warning tone but opened the door and removed the bottle of water, moving slowly and placing it on the cabinet top before closing the door again.

This was not reality – her mind could not process what was happening, couldn't quite accept the idea that the red pool of glistening blood was Eric's. In her strange dreamlike state, she drifted towards the duo, unscrewing the cap of the bottle and put her hand to Eric's cheek, parting his lips so he could drink.

He stirred as she trickled the water into his lips, dark unfocussed eyes fluttering as she finally acted, did something. Eric made a small pained sound, sharp and intense and the illusion snapped.

Calleigh was kneeling in Eric's blood, vainly trying to make him drink as he slipped further and further away. Her back straightened instantly and her eyes locked on his, but she wouldn't betray him now. They had come too far.

"You really should drink, Eric," she said, forcing a smile onto her lips. "That's really important right now."

"F'you say so, Cal," he mumbled, swallowing down the sips of water with considerable effort.

She looked at Speed, but he was oblivious to the world, staring intently at Eric as he brushed his lips against his cheek. Calleigh's heart stopped – the frank, beautiful gesture revealed his soul for all those who cared to look and she had a front row seat. Tim Speedle loved Eric Delko – and Eric was dying.

No, she refused to think that way. Eric had to live, so that Tim could say with words what his eyes screamed. It couldn't end like this.

Calleigh looked up then to see Speed watching Sanchez, who was nervously glancing between Horatio, the trio on the floor and the snipers visible through the window. The intense dark eyes were calculating and they suddenly fixed on her.

"I need you to hold him for me," Speed said calmly, and Calleigh heard what he didn't say. She slid her hand under his, putting pressure on the wound and allowed Eric to lean into her as Speed shakily stood and faced Sanchez.

The man watched him, waving the gun in his direction with one hand and nursing the detonator with the other, holding it close to his chest like a babe. Calleigh could only stare as Speed regarded him with derision, acting for all the world like…like a man with nothing to lose.

"I think we need to talk."

Horatio Caine did not easily accept that there were some things outside his control. And this situation was rapidly becoming one of them.

First, some convict marches into his lab wielding a gun and strapped with C-4 – the start of a bad day by anyone's yardstick. Then one of his subordinates is shot, probably fatally and there's not a damn thing he can do, because the perp still has five shots and a detonator. And now Tim Speedle is standing before the guy, bold as brass, and looking as if he's prepared to die.

This day couldn't get any worse, could it?

"Things aren't quite going to plan, are they?"

Then again, nothing was certain.

Sanchez fixed the gun on Speed, eyes dark. "You don't know anything about it! Stay away!"

Speed held up his hands, shrugging with apparent nonchalance. Sanchez still watched him suspiciously.

"It was meant to be quick, clean. Too much blood, and now no escape. You didn't really think this through at all."

Sanchez lunged forward, grabbing Speed by his collar. "I'm not afraid to die!" He jabbed the gun towards Eric. "He took everything from me – what do I have to live for?"

"What are your kids gonna say?" Speed continued, voice mocking. "Their Dad didn't just beat Mom to death: he murdered a bunch of cops too. Imagine the playground taunts – 'Your Daddy's a cop killer."

Sanchez paled, hand shaking. "They'll know why I did it! I was wronged! She wasn't meant to die, just…learn her lesson."

"No Dad, no Mom, no one. That's what you condemn your children to if you go through with this. Maybe…if you give yourself up now, we can work something out."

A snarl from Sanchez and he pulled Speed closer, pressing the gun to his temple. "More jail time? Nothing is worth that place, nothing!"

"You could walk away. You have all the power; you would be miles away before they'd dare give chase. You got what you came for – why take it further?"

Sanchez glared at Speed with unholy dark eyes and suddenly, his wild gaze settled and he said, perfectly calmly, "I came for him to die. Now step back and you, blonde bitch, come here."

Horatio watched, powerless, as Speed was forced to retreat from his efforts – efforts that had almost succeeded – and Calleigh stepped fearlessly into the danger zone, her position beside Eric instantly replaced by Speed.

"Remove this," Sanchez said with a smile, as he gestured towards the C-4 device tucked snugly into his chest and levelled the gun straight at her head. Horatio bit his lip – what to do, what to do – but no plan sprang to mind. Calleigh carefully untied the vest that bore the complicated mess of wires and explosives and then pulled it over his head, trying to ignore the leers the man gave her as she accidentally brushed his body.

"And now put it on him," he said smugly, gesturing the muzzle of the gun towards Eric. There was a moment of horrified silence before Speed's indignant shout shattered the soundless air.

"Haven't you done enough, you twisted bastard? I'm not letting you do this, do you understand? It isn't going to happen."

"And what are you going to do, huh?" Sanchez said, his eyes cold and emotionless now. "Whoever wears the vest – doesn't matter, because we're all going to die! I just press this button and BOOM! But this one," he turned his frosty glare on Eric, "this one I want to be sure of. Now, if you wouldn't mind…"

He nudged Calleigh with the barrel of the gun, causing Horatio to wince in sympathy, and she stuttered forward kneeling before Speed and Eric with her bottom lip quivering and haunted tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered and Speed nodded to her. Horatio just caught his reply: "Not your fault, Calleigh." He then raised his voice for Sanchez to hear – "If you're condemning Eric, I go with him."

The man just smiled. "The more of you bastards mauled, the better. You people make me sick."

"I assure you, sir," Calleigh said bitingly, "the feeling is mutual." With shaking hands, she placed the garland of death around their necks and then moved back so the grinning Sanchez could tie those final knots.

"Oh look, a detonator cable here and look at that," he said with relish, "the CSIs have no escape. And just for fun," a few more wires were swapped around, a timer clicked, and Horatio realised with mounting horror what was happening, "five minutes is all you have left."

Sanchez backed away, near-hysterical laughter pealing from his lips as he took one more look at all the CSIs present before raising the gun to his own head.

"We all fall down," he giggled and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot echoed through the room, covering the three covering CSIs with a fine mist of blood and brain matter. Horatio moved quickly across the lab and knelt down before the device, studying it intently and trying to ignore the very personal significance of this mission.

"Calleigh, I need you to go outside and find the bomb squad experts. And then I want you to join the evacuees – you are not to re-enter this building."

With a devastated look at Speed and Eric, she nodded hurriedly and reached out to touch both their cheeks one last time before standing and removing herself from the aura of impatient death that hung around their little huddle.

"I'm not sure if that was brave or stupid, Speed," Horatio said to the pale, shocked man, who was still holding onto Eric and whispering something into his ear, as the vaguely-conscious man murmured incoherent sounds in reply.

"I…I had to, H. I couldn't see any other way."

Horatio looked up at that and realised exactly how close to the edge Speed was. He took a moment to place a hand on his shoulder and meet his eyes intently. "Four minutes can be a long time."

Speed nodded faintly and Horatio went back to his work, attempting to discern what wires had been moved and how the timer was attached to the mechanism. He had to settle his mind to this – time was draining fast and this was one instance where fear of consequences was simply not allowed to be a distraction.

The soft beeping that indicated the timer was still running taunted him but he continued to gently move wires, as the presence of another person registered at his side. Wordlessly, the lady passed over a pair of pliers and said calmly, "Can you handle it?"

"I can," he said with equal calm and as quickly as she appeared, she made her exit – no point them all going up, was there? Another minute drained away and Horatio had narrowed it down to three wires. They were all a uniform black and disappeared into a tangled mess that Horatio didn't have time to decipher and investigate – he just had to pick one.

"Almost there, Speed," he said with a slight smile and if Speed noticed the tremor in his voice, he didn't comment. Yet when Horatio chanced a look up, he caught Speed's eye and realised with a sickening lurch that Speed knew he was going to die.

He had to pick one.