Horatio Takes a Vacation

Chapter 6

Speed woke up to the familiar sound of the cell phone humming wildly on the desk. After he had finished the DNA report, he went up to Horatio's office to rest his eyes. Now as he lifted his head, he glanced at the clock that was hanging on the wall to see that it was almost seven thirty. He picked up the phone and flipped it open without looking at the caller ID.

" Speedle," Speed said groggily.

" I'm coming up the stairs with coffee and bagels," a chipper voice returned to him.

" Huh?" Speed replied as he wiped his eyes. " Calleigh , you are way too cheerful. How many hours of sleep did you get?"

" Two, but they were the best two hours ever," Calleigh returned as she came to the door. Speed heard a soft knock on the door and got up out of the chair stiffly. Flipping his phone down, he opened the door to see Calleigh standing there with two cups of coffee and a bag. " You look a lot like death warmed over," Calleigh intoned in her strongest accent.

" Thanks, good morning to you too," Speed countered quickly. " Let me take some of that off your hands."

" Thanks, Speed. No matter what they may say, I think you're an okay guy."

Speed smirked as he took the tray of coffee cups out of her hands and closed the door. Calleigh sauntered over to the desk and placed the bag down, glancing over the reports

" So , did you get DNA confirmation on Savoy Roberts?"

" Yeah. I'm going to put out an ABP on her and hopefully she'll turn up before she does something stupid."

"Like let a criminal out on the streets? Hey , when's the trial?" Calliegh asked as she opened the bag and started to place food on the desk.

Speed grabbed the bagel out of her hand and walked around the desk. He flipped open a file and read for a moment, taking huge bites of the bagel.

" Believe it or not , this afternoon," Speed said between chews.

Calleigh glanced at Speed in disgust, yet amused, then dropped her head and concentrated on a small spot on the floor. Something awoke in her but she didn't really recognize it. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was something about him...

"Calleigh!"

" Hmm?" Calleigh returned lazily.

" Did you hear me? I said that we need to snag her before the DA comes for the paperwork. Where were you just then?" Speed said as he grinned at her.

" Nowhere in particular. What time does court start?"

" Two thirty. The DA is supposed to pick up the paper work at twelve. So that gives us almost four hours to find her," Speed said as he finished off the bagel. He crumpled the paper then tossed it into the wastebasket. " Thanks for breakfast, Cal. I really needed that."

" No problem, Speed. Glad I could help," Calleigh returned as she sipped her coffee. She would eat her bagel later. " Well, if you need me, I'll be in firearms finishing some reports."

" You are not finish with those reports yet, Calleigh? I asked for them yesterday," Speed asked as he ran his hand through his thick mane.

Calleigh glared at him, not believing what she just heard. What feelings she had for Speed were now drowned in fury.

" If I can remember correctly, you asked us to help you with this little project that you got yourself into. I spent all of my time helping, Speedle!"

" Calleigh, I'm sorry. I- the job is getting to me. I never thought that I would be so ready for a week to end."

Calleigh stood defensively as she watched Speed turn and fall into the black leather chair behind the desk. She could understand the stress that Speed was under and she relented.

" Tim, I'm sorry that I went off on you. I'll get those reports to you this morning," Calleigh said as she turned to walkout of the office.

" Calleigh?" Speed called as he turned the chair to the window.

" Yeah, Tim."

" Thanks."

Calleigh opened the door and walked out the office with a smile. That Tim Speedle wasn't half bad.

CSI

" So, Timmy, only four days left," Alexx said as they walked the corridor. She glanced over at him, seeing the exhaustion that was prevalent on his face. This was the worst that she had ever seen him. The change of clothes did nothing to enhance him.

" Yeah, I wish that he would come back early," Speed said warily. " I'm in so much need of a vacation myself."

" Maybe when Horatio gets back you can put in for one," Alexx whispered as she spotted a flash of red in front of her. She smiled to herself as she put a hand up to stop Speed.

Speed continued to walk, not aware that she had stopped. When he lifted his head, he saw Horatio as he was stopping at the reception desk. He stopped and turned around quickly, leaving Alexx standing alone in the corridor. He wasn't supposed to be back for four days, Speed thought as he searched the corridor for a way out. He spied the elevators as the door opened and strode to the bank hurriedly. Getting in, he pushed the button down to the firearms lab, and as the doors closed, a voice peeped up from behind him.

" I just came from there, Speedle," Calleigh said as she eyed his nervous demeanor.

Speed jumped and turned around, " Calleigh. He's back."

" Who is back?"

" Horatio. He's at the receptionist's desk right now," Speed said as he grabbed Calleigh by her arms. " When he finds out what happened, I'm a dead man."

" Tim , don't be so dramatic. I'm pretty sure that Horatio will understand that you let a complete stranger toss his office and steal an important document, all because you thought that she was his sister."

" Wow, when you say it like that , Calleigh, I think he will understand completely," Speed returned sarcastically as he let his hands drop to his sides. He would lose his job , the only thing that he really had at the moment.

" C'mon, Tim. Just go and talk to Horatio. I think everything is going to be fine," Calleigh said as she put her finger on the button to go back up.

" What makes you think that?" Speed said with frustration.

" Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear," Calleigh said as she depressed the button.

" Cute. You're right though, I might as well get it over with," Speed sighed as the elevator went pitch black. He then felt a shudder as the lift came to an abrupt halt, sending him and Calleigh on to the floor. When he gathered himself, he saw the emergency lights as they came on and glanced over to Calleigh. " What did you do?"

" I didn't do anything," Calleigh said as she pressed the buttons. Each time she pressed it the light dimmed. " Power must've went. Hey , do you have your cell ? I left mine in the lab."

Speed looked at her and saw as she began to pace slightly, then grabbed his cell. He flipped it open to see that he had little power left in the battery.

" I didn't charge it last night. It's almost out of juice."

"Great! You think you could make a call?" Calleigh asked as she started to fan herself. It was obvious that there was something wrong.

" I can try."

" Do the honors,"Calleigh continued as she began to breathe heavily.

Speed dialed Eric's number and waited. He heard a click then he saw as the phone's light shut off. His phone was officially dead. Calleigh closed her eyes and continued to breathe deeply.

" Calleigh, what is the matter with you?"

" Oh nothing... Just a little hot..." Calleigh stated as she paced more.

" Calleigh , you're claustrophobic aren't you?" Speed said as he stood against the wall of the elevator.

" I am just a little afraid of closed spaces, but I'm going to be..."

Speed watched her as she slid down to the floor and went to her, " Calleigh!"

Calleigh laid on the floor unconscious. I can't believe she' passed out, Speed thought humorously. He stretched her legs out from under her and took off his button up shirt and folded it under her. He then sat down next to her and rested his arms on his knees. With no phone and no way of knowing what happened, Speed knew that they would be here for a while.

CSI

Eric was just about to run the security tape when the lights blinked off then back on again. He looked up to the ceiling and then the lab went pitch dark. He got up and walked out into the hallway where he saw Horatio and Alexx talking.

" H, you weren't supposed to come back. I mean you had four days left."

" I felt like it was time to come back. I can only imagine what Speed's been through these past two weeks. Have you seen him?"

" No. Any body know what happened to the lights?"

" I heard the maintenance guys talking about a cut electrical line," Alexx said as she glanced at the bank of elevators. " I'd hate to be in there at a time like this."

" Why, Alexx?"Eric said as the generator hummed to life and the lights flickered back on.

" Because, even with the lights coming back on, whoever is stuck in the elevators stays stuck. The elevators run on an entirely different set up. When the power is knocked out, it takes the elevators four hours to reset and come back on line. I wouldn't want to be claustrophobic in that situation."

The three chuckled lightly as they walked down the corridor to the stair well. They went their separate ways unaware of the two missing parts of their family.

CSI

Stetler opened the door to Horatio's office and made his way to his computer. As much as he didn't like Horatio, he did have admiration for Speedle. When he had heard about the trouble Speedle had encountered with the former CSI Lieutenant, he mobilized his resources and found Savoy. He procured the documents that she took and booked her, and now here he was back in Horatio's office, looking out for his CSI.

He sat at the computer and began by encrypting his keystrokes so that no one could trace him. He bypassed all of the other files that he would've killed to have, and uploaded the file that Savoy had 'borrowed'. After finishing , he stood then walked out of the door. As he descended the stairs, the lights in the lab went out. He stood for a moment in the hall, then when the lights were restored, he walked out of the building. He smiled to himself as he proceeded to his Tahoe. He had done something nice for a change, and felt good about it.

TBC...

A/N : a-ha! Threw you for a loop there didn't I? You gotta love Empire Records! Talk to me people :)