Two Sided Mirror

chapter 9 - Walk Me Through It

Horatio turned his gun on the man as he stood behind Calleigh, with the gun still flush to her skull. His clear blue eyes hardened at the sight of his CSI , standing helplessly while her life was in limbo, waiting for something to happen.

" Put the gun down!" Horatio ordered as the short man laughed without turning around. He held the gun tighter in his hand, pulling the hammer back. Horatio heard the familiar sound and steadied his gun, his intense blue eyes fixed on the gunman and the petite blond in front of him. If he took the shot, he risked the man pulling the trigger. If he didn't, he was leaving Calleigh to the mercy of this maniac. " I'm not going to tell you again. Put the gun down."

Calleigh closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, trying to prepare herself for what could happen. She kept her mind on Horatio, imagining him behind them, gun poised and steady, and she knew that he would make everything alright.

Then it happened. Within a spilt second, Calleigh felt the gun slip from the back of her head, and she turned to see the man drop to the ground with a bullet in his skull. Horatio quickly made his way to her, looking down at the man who stared back up at him with empty eyes. He then glanced up to Calleigh, checking for any signs of distress.

" Are you okay?" he asked as he looked her in the eyes. She nodded then closed her eyes, breathing in deeply.

" I'm fine. Thank you Horatio."

" What did he want?" Horatio asked as he gestured down to the body.

" He wanted guns. I wasn't going to give him any of my evidence, so its good that you showed up," Calleigh returned matter of fact.

" I'm glad you are okay. We need to get to the morgue. Preston knows Speed's weaknesses."

" So, he'll go for the people that he loves to get what he wants," Calleigh pointed out.

" Exactly. And Alexx is number one on that list," Horatio responded as he started to walk to the elevators. He would call the second shift in to deal with the dead body in the atrium. He pushed the button to the morgue and they both rode in silence.

" Horatio, do you know what this is about?" Calleigh asked, her voice piercing the air.

" Not all the pieces are clear to me, but one thing is for sure, Speed's in trouble. And I intend to help him."

Calleigh nodded as the door to the elevator slid open and they walked quickly to the morgue's double doors. As they pushed through the doors, it was immediately known that Alexx was no longer there. Her tools had been scattered and her cleaning supplies were left on the slab. Horatio filled his hand with his gun as he searched the office and the autopsy theater, finding nothing. When he returned to Calleigh's side, he looked to her, seeing the fear that crept inside of her.

" She's gone." he said as he holstered his gun.

/Walk Me Through It/

Speed held on to her as she drifted in and out of consciousness while he waited for the ambulance to arrive. After getting to her, she had surfaced, but only for a moment before she began to loose her grip. He noticed that her wound was still pumping out blood, and the shirt that he wore was stained with it profusely. If she didn't get to the hospital,he was sure that she wouldn't make it. He silently pleaded with her to stay with him as he heard the faint sounds of the ambulance, as it approached. He didn't know what he would do if he lost her as well. When the paramedics arrived, Speed backed out of the way as they worked to stabilize her and prepare for transport.

" Sir, we need to take her quickly," the para medic said as he held the IV bag up.

" I'm coming with you," Speed returned as he kept his gaze steadied on her pale face. Just last night he could feel her warmth, a connection to something that he hadn't had in a very long time, something to look forward to.

"Sir..."

" No time to argue," the second paramedic interrupted. " Let's get going."

Speed climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat next to Prue, grasping her hand while the paramedic attended to her vitals. He leaned in closer to her ear, making sure that she could hear him .

" Prue, stay with me. I need you to walk with me through this world," he pleaded as the tears invaded his voice. " Don't leave me alone."

The sound of a cell phone, jarred him from his pleas, and he sat up slightly to reach for it. The paramedic glared as he pulled the phone up out of his pocket.

" Sir, you can't use that in here," the paramedic said as he let out a frustrated sigh.

" It won't take long," Speed said as he flipped up the phone and spoke into it, " Hello?"

"Ma- Speed? How?..."

" Preston, I see that you are surprised to hear my voice. Did you actually think that I was going to let him kill me?"

" You are brave," Preston said as he tried to compensate for the unexpected surprise. " So are your friends, especially that Calleigh. When she has a gun to her head, she keeps cool. You gotta admire that."

" Preston..."

" I know what you are going to say, ' if you harm a hair on their heads, I'll kill you'. Really, Speed you have to find more material," Preston taunted. " But that's not the point."

" You were unable to get what you wanted right?" Speed asked sarcastically. He smiled inside at Calleigh's defiance.

" Yeah, unfortunately. But I lucked out on a consolation prize," Preston chuckled. Speed could hear the faint sounds of a struggle through the cell phone.

" What are you talking about, Preston?"

" Well you once told me that your friends were all that you had. I have a little surprise for you," Preston said as he took the phone away from his ear.

" Tim! Don't give them anything..." Alexx's frantic voice said. Speed could hear the panic and fear that rode her voice and it angered him.

"Alexx! Are you ok? Alexx!" Speed yelled into the cell phone, prompting the paramedic to glance at him. He had given up on trying to tell this man what to do.

" She'll be fine if I get what I want, Speed. You know what that is. You have two hours, then I start cutting her into pieces to send to her children."

"Preston, you son of a bitch!" Speed said as the phone went dead. He gripped the phone tightly in his hands , practically forcing himself to hold onto it instead of slamming it into the wall of the ambulance.

When he gathered himself, he dialed the familiar number and waited for him to pick up.

" Caine."

" He's got her," Speed said with a dark tone, his emotions threatening to overflow.

" I know and I know what he was after , but Speed, I need to know everything to be able to help you."

" I know H. I'm going to the hospital. Meet me there, Grace Memorial. I'll explain everything," Speed said as the ambulance pulled into the emergency bay. He flipped the phone down and moved to help them get her out of the ambulance. The para medics rushed her inside the building as a team of doctors and nurses met them at the door.

" We've got trauma room one open!" shouted a doctor as Speed matched step with them.

The nurse put her hand up and stopped him, preventing him from going any further, " I'm sorry, sir , but you can't come back here." Speed started to protest, but he knew that he needed to be away from her so that she could get the help that she needed. He nodded at the nurse and watched her as she joined the effort to save Prue.

Turning around, he walked out into the lobby and stood silently with memories from the past. He realized right there that leaving Prue was the worst thing that he could've done, despite the excuses that he had given. She was his life, and now that she had returned, he faced the daunting notion that he could very well loose her again. The tears rose inside of him, tightening his throat as he desperately tried to force them down. He lost his battle with his emotions as he felt the salty streams make a trail down his face. He had lost so much, could he stand to loose more?

/Walk Me Through It/

Alexx watched her captors carefully as they moved around the room with guns in their hands. She was frightened yes, but she knew that she would have to keep a cool head if she was going to get out of this. She knew that her Timmy would do anything to find her, and she was assured by that matter, making it easier to relax.

A tall man with platinum blond hair approached her with a wide grin and a certain glint in his eyes. He pulled her up by her arms off of the chair and bounded her with thick rope. She felt his hands on her skin and she shivered with disgust , but keeping it in check.

" Don't want our prize to escape," he said as he turned her roughly and smiled at her. She turned her face from him, trying not to gag on the cheap cologne that he was wearing. " You are our ticket."

" He's not going to give you anything," Alexx spat.

" For you, he will," he Preston said as he gripped her tighter. He saw the defiance in her eyes and it was starting to anger him. " You and your friends are his weakness. You're all he has."

" He's a strong man. You'll never get what you want," Alexx returned acidly.

"Well, I think that I'm going to give him a little inspiration to help him along," Preston said as he pushed her down, then motioned for one of the gun men to come. She watched this guy warily as he handed his gun to another and approached her with a demented smile. Alexx steadied her breathing , bracing herself for what she knew was coming. She closed her eyes and felt the blow strike her across the face , instantly producing blood in her mouth. The tears began immediately as he landed another blow , sending her head in the other direction. The blood dribbled out of her mouth and she closed her eyes, to the pain, as he continued.

Please help me Timmy, she thought as she teetered with consciousness. She finally gave up and drifted into a pain filled slumber, with her children and her friends on her mind.

/ Walk Me Through It/

Horatio pulled the Hummer into the emergency bay to see Speed sitting out on the bench, gazing out into nothingness. He was delighted to see his young protege but disturbed at what was going on around him. He could see as he looked at him, what the duality of what he had engaged himself in, as it had started to take its toll. The dark circles around his eyes, and the disheveled look were dead giveaways for Horatio. He approached him with a soft voice, trying not to disturb the serenity of the moment.

"Speed... are you alright?"

Speed glanced up at the red head and smirked darkly, " I'm fine. Someone I care about is in surgery fighting for her life, and another who has been taken by a maniac. So I'm just peachy."

"Speed..." Horatio said in a light warning tone. He knew that he would be blaming himself for this. " Tell me what 's going on. Walk me through it."

Speed nodded and began, " You know the case that I was working on when Nia died?"

Horatio nodded and took a seat next to him on the bench, keeping eye contact with him, his memories returning to the dark times after Speed had lost his daughter.

" Well, I put the guy in prison, and I later find out that the feds are going to let him out, to try and get the bigger fish. I couldn't believe it. He had been convicted of gun smuggling and they were going to let him off, this after murdering my daughter to get to me," Speed said with hatred in his voice. Horatio was not prepared for the Speed he sat in front of, not the vengeful anger filled Speed. He nodded and let him continue, " So I was approached by the ATF to go in covert to get the head of the operation and the one responsible for Nia..."

" How did they know to approach you?"Horatio asked, " It was well known who you were as the trial proceeded."

" They needed someone on the inside to get to the evidence, so Preston figured that I would be the best, since I had lost my little girl. He played on the fact that I would be so wrought with revenge that I would do anything to get them. Which I was. H, I could barely function when Nia died, and now someone was giving me a chance to make it right. So reluctantly , I took it."

" Reluctantly?"

" I didn't want to deceive you , any of you,"Speed said as he dropped his head. He remembered how awful he had been to Alexx that day at the crime scene, and he felt a tear drop.

" Speed,..."

" No, what I did was stupid. I should've never taken them up on the offer. I hurt so many people in the process; you , Calleigh , Alexx... Eric..."

"Paula," Horatio completed as he dropped his gaze to the ground then back to him.

" I didn't kill her, H. I was trying to help her," Speed stated as he wiped the tears away. In a sense, this was a relief to get off of his chest.

" I know, Speed. The evidence told me that. What happened?"

" I was at the lab, working on a case when I got the call that I was to get the evidence out from the case that Calleigh and Eric had been working on. Apparently, it was crucial for them to have. Two idiots showed up as I was going into the evidence locker to get them, and I pulled Paula away from the desk, facing me. I didn't ... I couldn't get her down fast enough. I saw her eyes as she died Horatio. Her blood was on my lab coat," Speed choked out. He tried to force the image of Paula's stricken face as she died. " She tore at my lab coat before she died. I made sure to leave my prints and the lab coat in the evidence locker, and I told them that the evidence was in the firearms lab. They were incompetent, they wouldn't know the difference."

"So they took the wrong weapons?" Horatio asked now seeing where this was leading to it explaining the damage done to the firearms lab.

" Yeah, and Preston knew it, so he switched out the guns for the meeting. The one that you weren't supposed to be at," Speed said as he glared at him, remembering his friend's eyes as he pulled the trigger. " How did you know to put kelvar on him?"

" It was a serious situation. When the young woman came, she gave a sense of urgency but she couldn't come out and tell us. Calleigh recognized her from Lotus as your friend, Prudence Kruss."

" Oh, yeah... I forgot Calleigh could read lips. So Prue told you where to go?"

"No , Calleigh used her talents to get the location when she was on the phone. After she left, Eric and I followed."

" H, you have to know..."

" Speed, I know that you didn't mean or want to shoot him. What matters is that he is okay. He's bruised ,but he's going to be fine."

" Thank God," Speed said as he sighed, " but we still have a huge problem. He's got Alexx and I know that he's not going to be a good little boy and play nice. Every second is a second that Alexx doesn't have, Horatio."

" I'm taking care of that, Speed. I've got something up my sleeve."

" Really," Speed asked as he raised his eyebrow and turned away. He saw the nurse as she walked out to him, almost seeming like she was in slow motion. He got up quickly and met her, not liking the look in her eyes.

"Mr. Speedle?"

" Yes... is she okay?"

" I'm sorry , Mr. Speedle, but Ms. Kruss flatlined in surgery..."the nurse said quietly.

" She's gone?" Speed asked as a fresh round of tears started. He felt Horatio's hand on his shoulder and he jerked away from him, unable to stand in one place. His grief tore a hole inside of him, and opened the old wound that had not completely healed with time. He let out an anguished cry as he dropped to his knees and wept. Horatio glanced at the nurse and she took her leave.

"Speed... you have to focus now. Prudence would've wanted you to finish what you started."

"She can't be ... dead..." he managed in between the tears. He was inconsolable. Horatio sat for a moment with his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. As suddenly as it had begun, it was finished. Speed stood up and wiped his tears away, revealing a dangerous glare. His grief had been once more transformed into anger. And there was no stopping him now.

TBC...