Two Sided Mirror

Chapter 4- Intros

Speed walked into the firearms lab with his camera around his neck, feeling out of place here. Amid the destruction , he saw Delko as he bent over and lifted more prints off of the gun vault. His feelings were all over the place, knowing that he shouldn't be here, but he couldn't just not show up. They would be instantly curious as to why the always trustworthy and dependable Speedle wasn't there.

" Trustworthy, right," he said to himself as he set his kit down. He kept a keen eye on Delko as he continued about his work intently. He could see the pain that was etched around his eyes, no doubt thinking of Paula, who was at that moment being transported to the morgue. He shook the image of her sitting at the desk out of his mind as he pulled the camera to his eye, lining up the shot. Soon he was into his work and he barely registered anyone as they passed in and out of the lab. He looked up for an instant, feeling someone watching him . As he did so, he saw the piercing gray eyes as they stared back at him. He started to get up and go to him, but as he did so, he noticed that he had disappeared. Was his eyes fooling him? He continued to stare at the place where he had been and didn't hear as Delko came up behind him.

" Speed? What did you find?"

"Huh?"

" I said , what did you find?"

Speed turned to him and saw the uncertainty in his friend's eyes. The lack of trust was starting to take root. Looking down quickly, he cleared his throat harshly.

" I haven't found anything of significance yet," he returned as he started to walk away from him.

Eric looked at him with confusion, and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. This was starting to worry him now.

"Speed, is everything alright? I mean, you want to talk?"

" No, Delko, I don't want to talk. I just want to get this done. So if you'll excuse me,..."

" Speed! What's gotten into you man? You are hateful as hell to Calleigh, you yell at Alexx and you are treating me like dirt. What's going on?"

"Mind your own business , Delko," Speed replied. He felt the wave of guilt crashing into him inside as he saw Eric drop his gaze.

"Considered it dropped, Speedle. I'll be out of your way in a minute."Eric said as he turned and walked away. As bad as it felt, Speed knew that this was for the best. He finished his work then made his way to the trace lab, waiting so that he could close himself inside within the protective walls of his sanctuary .

/Intros/

"Calleigh!" Horatio called as he spotted the blond beauty getting off of the elevator heading for the trace lab. She had a very furious look as she spun around, her blond hair following her . "Calleigh, how did it go?"

" How did it go? Well ,let's see, I was put on suspension for failing to follow security protocols. I think that it went quite well," Calleigh returned as the fury shone in her green eyes. She had never missed so much as a sick day since she started, and here she was, finding herself suspended. " I promise Horatio, if I find out who did this, argghh, I'm going to kill them."

Horatio put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, and instantly the fury subsided. She was reacting out of pure anger . " I've got the best trace person on it, Calleigh. We are going to find out who did this."

" I know, but Horatio, I could've sworn that I locked the gun vault before I left last night."

"Are you sure?" Horatio asked as she looked up at him with a scowl on her face.

" Horatio, I take my job seriously, I wouldn't risk it . Who would've wanted to do this?"

" Okay, let's go through who has access," Horatio said as he started walking to the labs.

" You're not thinking it was someone on the inside , are you?"

" That's the most logical step to take first. So, who has access?"

"Well , that's you, Tim , Camden, and myself," Calleigh replied as she thought hard. " Camden was here in the building last night, and you..."

"I was at home, taking care of a sick nephew," Horatio responded.

"And Tim was at Lotus last night with us," Calleigh finished.

"Wait, did you say that he was at Lotus? I thought Alexx said that it was just the three of you?" Horatio asked as he stopped at the trace lab. He could see Speed through the glass windows as he prepared another sample. He noticed that Tim was wearing his white lab coat instead of the new blue ones that had come in for the lab.

" It was just the three of us, but he came later, alone. The odd thing is , he met with someone. Someone I didn't recognize."

" Did he leave before you?" Horatio asked as he felt his phone vibrate on his side.

" No, we left him there," Calleigh said as she glanced at him. With the new haircut, it was hard to believe that she even knew him anymore. Horatio put a hand up to stave Calleigh while he answered the phone.

"Caine."

" Horatio, it's Alexx, I think that you need to come to DNA. I found some skin cells under Paula's nails and sent them on, and they CC'd me... There's something wrong here."

"Alright Alexx, stay calm. I'll be there in a moment, okay?" Horatio replied gently. He nodded his head then flipped his phone down.

" Horatio, what is it?" Calleigh asked as she caught Speed's eye as he glanced momentarily out into the corridor. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

" Alexx has something, I've got to go. Go home and get some rest," he called to her as he walked rapidly to the other end of the corridor, disappearing into a door. She continued to stare at him until finally resolving to go. There was nothing that she could do now.

/Intros/

Speed slipped out of the trace lab to grab himself something to drink, and mainly to case the corridors of the lab to listen for any rumblings of what was going on. Every since this morning, things had been quiet , and he had his misgivings as to why. As he was walking to the break room, his phone rang loudly and he quickly filled his hands with it, flipping it open in one motion.

" Speedle."

" Tim, great job . We have set up a meeting between you and the connection for tomorrow night. But first, I need to meet with you. Lotus, seven thirty. Don't be late," Preston said , not giving him enough time to respond. He was left with a dead line as he stood in front of the break room.

" This is great," he said as he pushed open the door to the break room. His life was fast on the track to becoming a living hell.

/Intros/

" I came as fast as I could," Horatio said as he entered into the DNA lab. Maxine Valera and Alexx were standing near each other as he stood at the end of the table. " What do you have?"

" The results of the skin cells," Valera said as she opened the file. Her stomach turned as she looked down at the file.

" Did you look in CODIS? This reeks of familiarity," Horatio said as he looked between the two women. Something told him that this news was bad news.

" Familiar is right, Horatio," Alexx said as the tears began to well up in her eyes.

" I had no luck with CODIS, but I found a match in the departmental records," Valera said as she handed the file to him. " I checked it three times, lieutenant..."

Horatio stared at the results of the DNA test, stating that it was from a male. He took in a harsh breath as he read the match, " The sample from Paula's fingernails matched Timothy Speedle's DNA."

Alexx looked at Horatio with fear and despair welling up inside of her, " Horatio , what has our boy gotten himself into?"

" I don't know ,Alexx, but I intend on finding out."

/Intro/

Speed walked into the club as he did the night before, slowly meandering his way around the crowd, finally finding his table. He sat waiting for him to show up, watching the young people writhe on the dance floor to the obscenely loud music. It was for that very purpose that he never went clubbing.

Glancing at his watch he saw him walking through the crowd from the back of the club, almost taking on the characteristics of a snake slithering through the grass. The tall man wore a severe black suit which added to his caricature. He came to sit down with a broad smile on his face, obviously very happy.

"Speed, I see you made it out of the lab on time. How's the investigation going?"

" Preston, I told you never to call me that. And what's the big idea of you coming to the lab? You could've been seen."

" I'm a master at this, Speed. I've been doing this for years."

" Yeah, if you were such a master, then why did you send me out with those two idiots? They didn't do a damn thing right. They were never supposed to go into the atrium. Now , a police officer is dead and the heat is on."

" I see why . How did you get that scratch on your arm, Speed?" Preston asked as he noticed the scratch peeking out from under his shirt.

Speed absently looked at his chest, to see a faint red mark just above the collar. Sighing , he hit the table. " She must've scratched me as I held her. Those asses shot her in the back of the head. Right when I was talking to her. They could've killed me."

"Calm down, Speed. You didn't die, but you are on the rod for officer Paula's murder. It's very likely that they have matched your DNA to it. So you are in affect a fugitive."

" What? You're kidding?" Speed said as glared at him.

" Does this look like a face that would kid around? Since you're unfortunate incident , I've set up shop for you with a liaison."

" Whoa, wait," Speed said as he put his hands up , sitting back , " I don't need anyone to babysit me. I'm cool."

" Don't be so proud, Speed. You have nowhere to go, they'll be at your apartment, the job, hell , they might be outside this club waiting for you. This is the only option," Preston said as he smiled toothily. " Don't worry, Speedy , I've got a great agent for you. She's very intelligent and easy on the eyes too." Preston turned and waved to her as Speed gazed into the crowd of people. How could it have turned bad so quickly?

He didn't see her as she came to the table, only heard her voice as she spoke to him, his back being turned to her.

" Um, I'm Prudence..."

" Prue?" Speed said as he turned around. His eyes lit on her as he took in her long curly light brown hair and her icy blue eyes. He could tell that she had been taking care of herself as he glanced at her in the black dress and stiletto heels. He felt a smile creep up on his face as he remembered the last time he saw her. She was just as beautiful now as she was then.

" Tim? Is that you?" Prudence Kruss asked as she squinted. The hair was gone but those unmistakable brown eyes were still there, and of course that killer smile that had melted her heart all those years ago. She hugged him as he stood up, taking in his cologne, temporarily making her weak in the knees. He caught her gently as she laughed. " Still catching things I see."

" Yeah, like falling stars. How have you been beautiful?"

As she sat, Prue glanced over to Preston who was regarding this like a kid in a candy store, gesturing for her to introduce herself fully.

" I've been well, Tim. But I'm here on business..."

"Really, you have time to catch up with an old friend?"

" Well..."

" C'mon Prue, a few drinks won't hurt will it?" Speed said as he motioned for the nearest waitress to come over. He ordered himself a drink, then gestured over to Prue, " Anything for you?"

" No thanks, Tim. Like I said, I've come here on business. I'm your liaison."

Speed stopped smiling as he turned to her, seeing the old feelings swimming in her icy blue pools. He knew that she was telling the truth, " You're... my Liaison?"

" Yes, as of twenty hundred hours, you are my responsibility," she said as her voice changed from familiar to authoritve in no time flat.

" You're kidding me. Prue, you wouldn't get mixed up in something like this. It's not you."

Prue shook her head and glanced down at her hands, " I don't kid when it comes to my job, Tim. You are priority and I take this very seriously. Now, we have to discuss..."

" No, I'm not doing this. I'm through with this game. I'm out," Tim said as he got up to leave. Instantly he saw uniforms as they filed into the club. He turned to Preston , who had a knowing look on his face.

" I think , you might want to rethink that , Speed. You're ride is here. It's your choice on whether you want to go out the front door with a couple of bracelets on your wrist. Or you can go with agent Kruss here," he said as the uniforms started in on the crowd.

Speed looked up to see the red head as he walked into the door, with his hands planted firmly on his hips. He then turned to look into her eyes, seeing the trust in them. He grabbed her hand and got up , making for the back exit, under the confusion of the club's pulsating music. Tim Speedle had just left his life behind him.

TBC...