AN: Again, these are outtakes, if you will, from "Blind Memory"
This would probably have been sometime after the previous scene, and would have taken the place of chapters 5-8, but since I decided not to introduce Bridget, Eric decided he should be involved earlier in the game than he otherwise would have been and take Speed home...

Horatio sighed as he leaned on the doorway to the lounge. He had hoped not to find Speed's compact body curled up on the couch around his jacket, but wasn't terribly surprised to see it, either.

"Horatio," a quiet voice came from behind him.

He turned and greeted the night shift lieutenant. "How are you, Manny?"

Manny Perez smiled a little bit. "I'm all right, yourself?"

"Can't complain," he said, with a little shrug.

"Listen, don't give your boy too hard of a time, all right?" Manny said, nodding towards the lounge. "I asked him to help me out a little bit tonight. He was doing paperwork and we were swamped, so I asked him to walk my rookie through doing a scene, since I had to take another one. So it's my fault. I told him to go home and I'd let you know what happened, but he said he'd just take a nap and be fine."

"No, it's not your fault," Horatio said, with a tight smile. "I suppose he didn't tell you he'd already worked a double, did he?"

Manny frowned. "No. He didn't."

"Of course not," Horatio sighed. "And of course he wouldn't say no to you. He thinks he owes you."

"He doesn't, not really," Manny argued.

"You know that and I know that. Speed, however, doesn't see it that way. You gave him chances that almost nobody else would have," Horatio replied.

"Megan gave him more," Manny pointed out.

"Megan isn't here," Horatio said, shrugging.

"I know," Manny sighed. "Bridget Mueller is, though," he added.

"I'd heard that," Horatio nodded.

"I wonder if anyone's told him yet," Manny said.

"I doubt it. I haven't, anyway, and I don't think most people would either know she's back or know why it would be important," Horatio said.

"Probably better to not interfere, and let him find out for himself," Manny said. "But I'd hate for him to be ambushed."

"I know," Horatio sighed.

"Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I'd borrowed him last night and that was why he was here overnight," Manny said. "You have a good day."

"Thanks, Manny. You have a good one, yourself," Horatio said. He turned back towards the doorway and sighed again. Bridget Mueller was not a complication Speed needed right now. He had enough on his plate.

Horatio walked across the room and sat down on the coffee table in front of the couch to regard his sleeping Trace expert. "Speed," he said quietly. There was no response. "Speed, come on, wake up," he said, a bit louder.

"Mmph," Speed grumbled.

"Come on, Speed. Time to get up," Horatio said, reaching out to poke Speed in the shoulder.

"H?" Speed asked sleepily, his eyes cracking open.

"Yup," Horatio said.

"Oh, hell," Speed, mumbled, flinging his arm over his face. "I meant to get up before you got here," came the muffled explanation.

"Too late," Horatio replied. "You do have a bed, right? In an apartment where you pay rent?"

"It's a house, not an apartment. And I have a mortgage. I'm a grownup, I don't pay rent," Speed said, grouchily.

"Speed, I've got to tell you, grownups don't need to be told when to go home and go to sleep," Horatio pointed out with a bit of a smirk. He was somewhat concerned, though. Speed didn't generally divulge personal details unless he was really exhausted.

"Mmm," Speed replied. He scrubbed his hands over his face. "What time is it, anyway?"

"6 AM," Horatio answered. "When did you lie down?"

"Dunno. 4, maybe? I was helping Manny out," he said.

"I know. But you shouldn't have been here still in the first place," Horatio sighed.

"It was just paperwork. I wasn't doing real work," he protested.

"But you were the night before, Speed. You've been here for at least 24 hours. It was time to go home," Horatio said, with some exasperation. Speed shrugged, but didn't say anything. "Come on, get up," he said after a moment. "I'm taking you home."

"What? Why?" Speed asked, confused. "I've got a shift today."

"Not anymore," Horatio said. "You've got the leave time."

"But, H, I'm good. I slept," he protested.

"For two hours. In the last twenty four. You're not good, Tim. You're going home," Horatio replied in a tone that brooked no argument. "Come on, get up."

Speed sighed, but dragged himself to his feet, where he swayed tiredly. "All right," he conceded.

"Good," Horatio said, standing up and herding him out the door.

The drive to Speed's house was without conversation, with occasional directions from the passenger seat punctuating the silence. Horatio pulled into the driveway of the small ranch house and looked at his passenger. "This is home?"

"Yeah. It's home," Speed looked at his house with a mixture of exhaustion and a little bit of pride.

"All right then, let's get you inside," Horatio said, getting out of the car.

"H, I'm good. You don't have to stay or anything," Speed said, leading Horatio up the walkway to the front porch.

"I want to make sure you eat something and get to bed," Horatio said.

"What, you don't trust me?" Speed asked, opening his front door.

"Not particularly, no," Horatio said, following him inside the house.

"Humph," Speed said, bending down to intercept a cat that was trying to make a break for the front door. "Oh, no you don't, missy," he said. "Go chase your brother or something."

"Nice cat," Horatio commented.

"She likes to be a little escape artist," Speed explained, yawning. He wandered down the short hallway to the back of the house and the kitchen. Horatio followed and watched Speed slump into a kitchen chair and stare glazedly at the table.

"You should eat something," he said.

"Probably," Speed said, glancing up.

"Want me to fix you something?" Horatio asked.

"I can do it," Speed insisted.

"I'm sure you could, if you weren't about to pass out. What do you have? Eggs, toast?" Horatio asked.

"There's probably eggs," Speed conceded.

"All right, then," Horatio said. "Scrambled or fried? They're the only ways I know how to make them."

"Scrambled," Tim sighed, leaning his elbows on the table and his forehead on his hands.

"Where do you keep the skillet?" Horatio asked, as he walked into the kitchen area.

"Cupboard by the stove," Speed replied.

"Got it," Horatio said. He found the skillet and put it on the stove, then turned to the refrigerator to get the eggs. He stopped when he saw the photographs. There was one fairly recent photo of Eric, Calleigh and Speed that he thought must have been taken at the department picnic. Another of Alexx and her kids at what looked like a baseball game. One of Megan and her late husband that appeared to be several years old. One of a couple with a teenage boy that Horatio assumed was Tim's family. And then a much older photograph of a dark haired woman holding a small equally dark haired boy in a park. It was the last photograph that really caught Horatio's attention. The woman was smiling happily at first glance, but there was some odd tension in her face when Horatio looked closer. The boy was solemn and wide eyed, and seemed somewhat uncomfortable, either with the woman holding him or with having his photo taken. "Is this you?" Horatio asked, indicating the photograph.

"Hmm?" Speed asked, looking up. His face tightened when he saw which photograph Horatio was pointing at. "Yeah. That's me."

"How old were you?" Horatio asked.

"About four," he replied.

"Is that your mother?"

Speed hesitated, but said, "Yeah. That's my mother. She'd just graduated from CCNY."

"City College of New York?" Horatio asked. Tim nodded. "That's a hard road, to go to school with a little one," he commented.

"It's significantly easier when the kid doesn't live with you," Tim replied, with an odd note to his voice.

"I'm sorry?" Horatio asked, looking over at him.

"She and my dad got divorced when I was about six months old. I lived with my dad," Speed said, slowly.

"Oh," Horatio said. "That's your dad, then, and your stepmother, I presume?" he said after a moment, indicating the photograph of the couple with the teenager.

"She's my mom, I don't call her my stepmom, but yes," Tim said. "She's the one who raised me."

"I see. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"No reason you should have," Speed shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

Horatio didn't reply, but he thought that it obviously did matter to some extent. When Speed didn't seem interested in expanding on the conversation, he opened the refrigerator and retrieved the eggs.

He placed the plate of scrambled eggs along with some juice he'd found in the refrigerator in front of Speed a few minutes later. "Here, eat."

Speed picked up the fork and obediently took a bite as Horatio sat down across from him. "Look, I'm sorry I was abrupt," he said, after a moment.

"About your family?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah," Speed said.

"It's all right," Horatio shrugged. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

"It's just that it's complicated. And we haven't always gotten along," he explained.

"I'd guessed as much," Horatio said.

Speed nodded and finished the eggs. "Thanks for this," he said.

"You're welcome," Horatio replied. "You're going to get some sleep now, right?"

"Yeah," Speed sighed. "I am."

"All right then. I will see you tomorrow, ok?" Horatio said.

"Yeah. Thanks, H," he yawned.

"No problem. Get some rest," Horatio said. "I'll let myself out."

"Ok," Speed said, sleepily.

Horatio smiled a little as he closed the front door behind him and got in the truck. Getting Speed to sleep was not an easy task. He was glad that Speed hadn't decided to really fight him on it. It might be slightly worrisome, but it did definitely make life easier.