Disclaimer: I own nothing. CSI: Miami and CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation belong to whomever they belong to. The songs belong to Enigma and Micheal Cretu.

Synopsis: Angst fest. Tim loves Eric and Eric doesn't love him. It's Horatio to the rescue… sort of. (Timothy Speedle/Horatio Caine)

Archive: Long as you ask and make sure my e-mail address is with it... :)

Pairing: Horatio Caine/Timothy Speedle

Rating: R because of allusions to sexual content and very little
strong language. Rating will probably go up later due to sexual
content. (LOL)

Authors Notes: This was supposed to be a Eric Delko/Timothy Speedle
fic but for some reason it didn't work out. Then I was going to make
it Speed/Greg Sanders-- but my muse demanded that I write a
Horatio/Speed fic. So, here is the first part and I hope you enjoy.
(Be forewarned... it takes me a long time to post the chapters
afterwards... LOL. I'm bad about that...) Ah, and it is extremely
disjointed... it's supposed to be.

Chapter 3: Too Blind to See the One

((Why it has to be like this. Why we don't realize. Why we're too blind to see the one, who's always on our side. I'm asking why, I'm asking why, Nobody gives an answer
I'm just asking why. Just tell me why… why it has to be like this, that the good ones disappear… I'm asking you why.))

Horatio Caine and Eric Delko turned down onto the street where the accident had been called in. Eric was fidgeting slightly. He had a bad feeling about this accident for some reason. There was some otherworldly force making his stomach knot up as the got to the scene of the crash. The first thing he saw was the license plate number—and his stomach clenched even tighter. He knew that license plate number—knew it almost like his own. And he knew who owned the vehicle it went with as well. He felt sick and he looked at Horatio. Horatio had already exited the car and he was talking to the police officers around. He could tell by his authoritative attitude that he hadn't recognized the car or the license plate number. Eric hoped and prayed he was okay and he exited the car and walked to the ambulance that was on the scene. Eric tried to steady his voice as he showed his badge to the paramedic.

"I need to see the person inside this ambulance… to see if they can tell me anything about what happened." The paramedic nodded and opened the back doors, allowing Eric access to the rear of the truck. He stepped up into the ambulance. It was slightly dark inside; he felt a wave of nausea hit his stomach as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he saw the pale, drawn, and bruised form of his best friend… Timothy Speedle. He felt the nausea settle in his stomach like a lump of ice and he had to leave the ambulance. He couldn't stay any longer… and he couldn't even get the question out. His vision blurry with unshed tears, Eric stumbled to where Horatio was. His eyes almost blinded with tears, he reached out in front of him, grasping for Horatio.

"Horatio…" Eric emitted a strangled cry that was wrought with pain and suffering. The cop Horatio was talking to looked over at Eric with a disbelieving look. The cop, as it was, thought that Eric was getting too emotional over the people in the accident. It was rarely ever anyone who you knew. He snorted, trying to hold back the laughter he knew was threatening to spill over. Horatio turned to Eric, pulling off his sunglasses to look at the younger man. The pain written all over his face was enough in itself to make Horatio uneasy. He walked closer to Eric and placed a hand on his shoulder. His green eyes locked onto Eric's darker ones as he cocked his head in a silent inquiry as to determine what Eric's problem was. Eric swallowed visibly, shaken to the core, he was having a hard time getting the words out. He opened his mouth and made several attempts to speak—but nothing would come out and he stopped trying. He shook his head, trying to clear out some of the fog that had overtaken his mind before attempting to speak again.

"The… the guy in the ambulance… it's… " Eric stopped, those unshed tears pricking up in his eyes once again. He couldn't look Horatio in the eyes anymore. Somehow, Eric had started feeling like this whole thing was his fault. If he hadn't told Speedle about Warrick…! Eric stopped and looked back at Horatio. Horatio was still staring, waiting for Eric to finish his thought. Eric shook his head, once again, trying to clear out the pain for a moment, just long enough to get out what he needed to say. He shook his head once again, finally feeling enough numbness to carry on. "It's Speed, Horatio. Speed was in the accident… in the ambulance…" The change that came over Horatio was so brief and flashing that Eric wasn't even sure if it really happened.

A flash of worry in his eyes and then it was gone. Horatio excused himself, calmly, from both the cop and Eric and made his way over to the ambulance. He flashed his badge and the weary paramedic just opened the doors and moved aside. He had long since stopped interfering with the cops while the ambulance was still on scene, which was making him uneasy in itself. The paramedic couldn't understand why the ambulance was still on scene, far as he knew—protocol said if the person was alive and injured, it went to the hospital, with or without the cop's consent. The paramedic walked to the front of the ambulance and noticed that the driver wasn't in there. He went to the back and stepped into it, watching as Horatio stared at the body, a weird silence was in the back of the ambulance.

"Lieutenant Caine…" The paramedic said softly. Horatio, somewhere far away, heard the paramedic's voice, but only distantly. He turned, his face pale and drawn and tears streaked down his face. "I'm not sure what's going on… but all I know is that this man needs to get to the hospital. You can stay if you want but… I need to get this man to the hospital" Horatio nodded and held a finger up to the paramedic.

"Eric…" He called out to the younger CSI. "I'm going to go to the hospital with Speed. Call Calleigh and have her help you process the scene. Since I don't see another car—we're gonna have to treat it like a hit and run. I'll call you when I know something." Horatio then went back into the ambulance and looked at the paramedic. The paramedic nodded, went to the driver's side door, and got inside. He flipped on the lights and sped away from the scene. The man was in critical condition… the paramedic thought as he drove on, where did the driver go? And if he left willingly… why did he want this man dead? And if he didn't leave willingly… who wanted this man dead?

Calleigh Duquesne arrived on the scene, her forensics kit in hand. She had no clue what was going on with the crime scene or who the vic was—just that Horatio was no longer at the scene, since he went to the hospital, and that Eric was sorely shaken about the case. No one told her anything, of course, and she just walked under the yellow crime scene tape and watched as a frustrated beat cop tried to keep the stream of traffic moving. The people were gawking because of the police cars and craning their necks to try and see the wreck. One of the cops walked up to her.

"CSI Duquesne, we just thought you should know, that the victim of this crime was CSI Timothy Speedle." She said. Calleigh nodded, feeling a sense of dread fill her stomach. However, she maintained her professionalism and walked to the car anyways.

"That's how more accidents happen…" Eric grumbled, gesturing to the people gawking as he was trying to get some paint samples off of the side of the totaled Hummer. Calleigh made a small sound of acquiescence and went to photograph tire marks. Whoever had hit Speedle had definitely been in a hurry to get away from the scene. The black rubber tire marks where the person had obviously accelerated too much and the paint samples were the only evidence they had, aside from the blood inside the car. It had shocked Eric, how much blood there was yet Speed was still alive. As they finished processing the scene, they called their tow truck in order to get it shipped back to the lab for a more thorough investigation of the car. Calleigh walked over to the other Hummer, which was Horatio's, and sighed. She called another tow truck and asked them to take it to this address, in which she provided Horatio's address. She then turned to Eric, who now, after the scene was processed and there were no other cops to be around, looked like a lost little child. She sighed again and walked over to Eric.

Eric was standing there, looking at the spot where Speed's car had once been. Images of it flashed in Eric's head and a sickening feeling took up residence in his stomach once again. All he could think of is what if the other car had come from the other way—hitting the driver's side door instead of the passenger door. He shuddered slightly, not wanting to think of that. Eric felt depressed and he didn't even notice Calleigh standing beside him. He just kept replaying a thousand different scenes in his head. He wondered, briefly in the back of his mind, if Speed had suffered at all. The tears that were previously unshed now streamed down his cheeks. Calleigh felt a wave of sympathy for the younger man and she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, Eric. I'll take you back to the lab then you can go home." Calleigh said, leading Eric to her car. Eric nodded numbly and shook his head.

"Just take me home… I'll get my car some other time." Eric said, his voice as empty as he felt. He had seen Speed in that ambulance and he looked like hell. Eric looked up and closed his eyes. He could tell, already, that they were in for a very hard time.