Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but we were busy this week. I intended to publish it around wednesday, but wednesday came and I hadn't even started writing. And it's an extra long chapter this week!

I don't think that oranges are often part of forensic investigations. And I don't think Horatio does either.

He held up and orange, that he had picked up from the floor, in front of his face, looking at it slightly confused.

There were oranges scattered around the parking lot.

I could tell that today would be an interesting day.

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A tidal wave was heading for Miami. People were evacuating and the city was in total chaos.

That's why the oranges were all over the floor.

I half wondered, for a moment, whether any of the team would be evacuating, but then realised how stupid I was being. A hurricane didn't drive them out, so why should a tidal wave?

"There's still time to evacuate," Horatio told Calleigh.

There he is, just trying to protect his team. Protecting her.

I wonder if he even notices.

Calleigh shook her head.

"I'm just following your lead."

Typical Calleigh stubbornness.

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Calleigh and Eric were working what will always be known as "The Crime Scene with the Oranges."

Calleigh picked up a squashed orange, a look of slight amusement on her face.

"We got lucky. Someone stepped on this one!"

Eric sighed and shook his head, also grinning.

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The Crime Scene with the Oranges was processed quickly and the team headed back to the lab. When they got there, they split up, heading into different parts of the building to do different tasks.

I followed Horatio.

He met up with Yelina in reception.

She was looking a mess.

She was not her normal, calm self and her right eye was bruised and black.

When Horatio saw her, an expression of worry on her face, I could almost feel the anger and heat radiating from him. He was barely keeping his temper.

"I…I was bending down in the kitchen. Banged my face on a cupboard. It's nothing."

I didn't believe her and, evidently, neither did Horatio.

"How many times have I been told that by battered women whilst in the field?

Horatio was furious.

He stood fuming for a moment, but was interrupted from his anger by an idiot patrol officer who had chosen that moment to tell him that their suspect had top be released.

Then, just to make matters worse, he smart mouthed Horatio.

"Just beat it, will you?"

I was surprised that Horatio hadn't smacked someone. And I would be surprised if he made it through the day without doing so. And from the way he watched Yelina leave reception, I got the feeling that that unlucky person might be Rick Stelter.

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Because I was watching Horatio and Yelina in reception, I missed some crucial points in the case, which is why I was confused when the investigation took Horatio and Calleigh to a greyhound racing centre just out of town.

They were greeted by a man, who spoke in Spanish.

Calleigh converted from English to Spanish in a second, speaking fluently and clearly.

I wish I had learnt Spanish. Or at least some foreign language.

I always felt jealous when Calleigh and Horatio spoke in Spanish and I knew nothing of what they were saying.

I guess it's too late now.

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At the greyhound place, H and Calleigh found a sheet of hurricane glass that looked like it had been shot at. It was cobwebbed with cracks.

Calleigh measured it and Horatio fed the details over the phone to Eric, who ran them through a computer back at the lab.

All of a sudden, we were all leaving the dog place and going to stop a bank heist in town.

I've forgotten how fast an investigation can move.

Lord help me!

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As I saw Eric and Horatio heading towards the bank, their guns lying forgotten in their holsters, I remembered a time not too long ago when Horatio and I had been heading to a scene together, without suspecting that we needed our weapons. But we all know how that turned out didn't we?

I urged them to talk their guns out and look as if they were ready to bust a bank heist, not withdraw a little bit of money.

I did notice that they were not accompanied by Calleigh. Probably ditched her at the lab.

A shot rang out and finally, Eric and Horatio armed themselves, ready to defend.

As they entered the bank, I couldn't help feeling as if they were walking into a death trap.

It would be so easy for one of them to get hurt.

Just one click of the trigger…

Life is so fragile. The movement of a finger can destroy it in a moment.

I saw Horatio with his gun pointed at a man in front of him and realised that I didn't have to be alone.

I was ashamed to realise it, but I found myself hoping that one of my friends would die.

I was lonely.

I was selfish and lonely.

I couldn't believe that I was hoping for one of my only friends to die, just for me.

I didn't think about the rest of the team.

How would they cope if they lost someone else?

I remembered their actions at my funeral.

None of them would survive if they had to go through it again.

Eric is barely holding on as it is.

Alexx is coping, but she knows the truth.

Horatio and Calleigh are just….

I don't know how they are doing because they won't tell anyone!

I was awoken from my thoughts by the feeling of suddenly leaping into an icy swimming pool. Water was all around me. I had forgotten the incoming tidal wave!

I realised that Horatio and Eric had very little hope of getting out of the bank, even less if they helped the people who had been hostages in the heist.

And they wouldn't leave others to die to save their own lives…

After a couple of seconds I didn't see Eric and Horatio get out of the bank and panicked. I wasn't thinking and didn't realise that they could easily have been upstairs.

I was getting slightly paranoid so I went in to check and make sure everyone was safe.

You can only imagine how shocked I was to see Horatio running, carrying an injured woman, into the bank's vault.

What the..?

They won't get out!

All normal reasoning let me as I panicked for my friends.

I followed Horatio into the vault and watched a monitor. It showed the rest of the ground floor of the bank.

Water gushed towards the vault door.

The lights went out.

I waited for a couple of minutes for my friends to say something to me.

If they died, surely they would talk to me…

Suddenly light rushed into the vault again.

Horatio stepped out of the vault into the sunlit bank.

The water level was around his knees, but he and Eric waded confidently through it.

They had made it.

The bank wasn't looking too good, but they had made it.

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Detectives, uniformed officers and other CSIs were soon swarming the bank.

Horatio saw the man he wanted to talk to through the other people and headed straight for him.

There was an uneasy moment between Horatio and Stetler before Horatio spoke.

"I saw what you did to her face."

Horatio's anger levels were rising again.

I took a step back. If a fight broke out, I wanted to be out of the way first.

Horatio's voice dropped to a whisper.

"If you touch her again, I will kill you."

I knew Horatio was deadly serious and felt glad that he had never looked at me like that. I'm dead and I was scared of that look!

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When the tsunami was behind everyone and people were back on track with their daily lives, Horatio started to wonder where the owner of the bank had got to.

He sent Eric to check his home.

Eric was climbing the stairs to the man's first floor flat when he heard shouting. He drew his weapon hastily and headed up the last few steps, more cautious now.

I stood right behind him as he carefully peered round the corner.

He shivered slightly.

There were three men, two with guns, in the room. The unarmed one was on the floor, obviously bleeding.

Eric waited until one of the armed men slowly lowered his gun, then made his presence known.

"Miami Dade Police!"

The man who still had his weapon in hand, grabbed the other and span to face Eric.

"You can't match a 9mm with a P90."

Eric was a pretty good shot, so he probably could.

"You stick your head out the door, I'll blow it off!"

Shoot him now Eric!

"Don't try to be a hero!"

I was getting angry now. All police officers are heroes, no matter the bad guys do.

Horatio had told me that the day he had been named lieutenant.

After Shaun, Megan's husband, died he told the whole team that.

We never forgot it.

Even as the kidnapper made off with his victim, Eric didn't forget it.

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Calleigh and Horatio went back to the bank.

The floor was covered in mud and pieces of rubble, and Calleigh was trying to avoid getting her trousers dirty, and failing.

They would have better luck finding the evidence on the soles of their shoes.

I remembered, with a smile, the time Calleigh did just that.

"I got some on my boot."

I sometimes hate remembering being… you know… alive.

But today, after the destruction that the tidal wave, it was good to remember the good times.

"How are they going to find this gold in a tsunami?" Calleigh asked.

"Same way we are. Sonar and GPS." Horatio replied.

"I'll call the coastguard."

Calleigh left with a determined look in her eye.

She happened to walk straight through me. I wish they wouldn't do that.

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The shift is nearly over.

But they still had work to do.

Horatio had managed to track down the bank manager that had been kidnapped earlier.

He was in a hotel, which was due to be demolished in the next two minutes.

If Horatio is about to do, what I think he's going to do…

Yep. He's going into the hotel to rescue him.

I sat in the passenger seat and H leapt into the driver's seat.

He floored the pedal and drove through the crowded Miami streets.

Being in the car whilst Horatio was driving was an experience to remember, because he can drive!

Actually, I was terrified. He was intent on getting into the hotel before it fell and it was a scary experience riding with him.

He drove into to hotel parking and then inside the building itself.

Suddenly, he veered to the right.

He had obviously seen what I had not: the bank manager.

The hummer came to a screeching halt and Horatio leapt out.

He untied the prisoner, the kidnapped bank manager and helped him into the back seat of the car.

"Come on H!"

I saw in the rear view mirror that one of the pillars holding up the ceiling had fallen.

The demolition had started.

"Horatio! Hurry up!" I willed him.

He leapt in the car and floored the pedal for the second time.

The three of us in the Hummer flew forward, out of the hotel.

A cloud of dust billowed out and engulfed us, but Horatio kept calm and kept driving.

A few moments later, we were in clear air again.

The two living people in the car looked at each other in a way that said "Did we just survive THAT?"

Suddenly everything around me went still.

Nothing moved.

I stepped carefully out of the Hummer.

Glancing around, I saw a woman walking towards me.

She had on a long, plain white robe and her feet were bare.

This didn't seem to matter because I think she was really floating above the rubble that was strewn all around.

She had long black hair, dark skin and full lips. She was beautiful.

In a way, she reminded me of Alexx.

"Hello Tim Speedle."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"I know everyone's name."

I had never been a very religious person, but I had a good idea of who she was.

"Are you God?"

I felt stupid asking the question, but I had to ask.

To my surprise, she smiled and said "Yes."

There was a pause.

"Do you want to know why you are here Tim?"

I was still in shock from the revelation that she is God and my mouth had gone dry. I couldn't say a word, so I just nodded.

"Tim, every human has a guardian angel. This angel will take care of them and influence everything about their life. The angel watches over them."

She stared at me, her dark eyes telling me that she expected me to put the pieces together.

"You want me to be a guardian angel?"

She nodded.

"Who for?"

I could tell that it was going to be one of the team.

"That is for you to decide."

How was I meant to choose which of my friends I wanted to protect?

"I will be back in exactly twenty-four hours to hear your choice."

The beautiful woman disappeared as quickly as she appeared.

The real world started moving again.

Horatio got out of the car to see if his passenger was OK.

The dust started to settle, rather than hanging in the air in an eerie way.

I sat down, ignoring what was happening.

I had a difficult decision to make.

Who will he pick? Only I know!

OK, let me know if you liked the chapter long or short, coz to get all the info I needed, I had to take notes! Lol