8.

Alexx, looking at Schell in concern, slowly smiled ever so gently --rather a chore as she really wanted to rejoice. "Sugar? Come on with me for a little bit, you could use a good shoulder to cry on, couldn't you? And I'm a mother, I'm great at having my shoulder cried on! Come on with me, let me take you out?" She put a comforting arm around Schell's shoulder, and steered her towards the Hummer.

Despite the fact Alexx was a total stranger, Schell allowed her to steer her to the door. She was inside and buckling up before she realized it as Alexx made her way around the vehicle and climbed in.

"Don't worry, sugar, you'll be all right. I promise." Alexx said reassuringly as she twisted around for the seat belt. "What happens between us stays with us. I can be as tight lipped as an oyster with a pearl! Sometimes my job depends on it."

"Horatio, really doesn't know you're here?" Schell asked quietly.

"He doesn't, sugar." Alexx confirmed, smiling at Schell and inserting the keys into the ignition. As she started the engine, she looked at her and asked gently. "Why don't you tell me what happened to make you think Horatio mistrusts you?"

Succumbing to Alexx's gentle demeanor, Schell sighed. "I was supposed to be moved in here in April. But with what was happening in Seattle, things got totally screwed up and I couldn't move until last month. Horatio had asked me to call him when I got moved in. Even gave me his cell phone number. But in all the moving I lost the card, so I had to call the Lab and leave a message. I never heard from him until he appeared out of nowhere last night. He surprised the hell out of me."

Alexx chuckled, backing out. "I bet he did, he looked damned fine in that Armani, as well!" She straightened around and pulled forward to the curb, then out into traffic.

Schell looked at Alexx in surprise.

"What?" Alexx asked looking her way, "You certainly aren't going to deny he's a handsome man, are you?" Alexx chuckled, "Honey, my husband and I are madly in love with each other, and we have a 'look don't touch' promise. I know fine men, and Horatio is a fine man!"

Despite the turmoil in her, Schell couldn't help but let out a laugh. "No, I won't deny it," she murmured. "That hair…"

"Honey, that hair is amazing! But the rest of him is as well. Keep talking to me, sugar, let it all out." Alexx encouraged.

She did. Schell spent the next several minutes reliving the nightmare that her life had been when Horatio had rescued her from drowning after her boat had exploded on Puget Sound. Alexx remembered the call they had gotten before it hit the local news that Horatio had been fished from the Sound and hospitalized after nearly getting hypothermia. Then everything Schell told her, from his offers to help her with protection to Schell telling her how kind and gentle he had been to her through all the confusion tallied right into the Horatio she herself knew and loved. And fully explained the happiness he had felt on returning home to Miami.

Schell looked drained when she finished talking and blinked when she saw they were parked at a restaurant that Alexx frequented.

"I bet that feels better," Alexx asked, looking at her knowingly. "All that turmoil bottled up and nowhere to go?" She smiled at Schell as she blushed. "You've been through nearly as much as him. And I think you are going to find that last night was just a bad case of misunderstanding. He'll come around again, if I know Horatio." Alexx hinted.

"Really?" Schell asked her. Alexx saw the hope there.

"Sugar, I saw him when he came home after his trip up north. Just be patient, he'll do something. I've never known Horatio to leave something incomplete. It might take time, but he never leaves a work unfinished, you catch my meaning?" She asked.

Schell looked at her, and slowly nodded.

"He's all right isn't he?" Schell asked, revealing to Alexx again her concern. "He looked so… hurt last night. You know? All I saw was turmoil and fatigue on his face ."

Alexx smiled, a little sadly. "I'm hoping he will be, but his job carries a lot of pressure and he carries a lot of deep concerns. I won't tell you any more details, I can't. Just give him time, all right, sugar?"

Schell thought about her words, then nodded.

"Good, now let's go eat. I want to talk about a big surprise for my husband now…" Alexx grinned mischievously, reaching behind the seat for her purse. "You're gonna love this place, one of the best Cuban restaurants in the city. By the way, did I tell you that my husband picked you out in the crowd because of that gorgeous hair of yours?"

Schell found out quickly that Alexx indeed wanted to surprise her husband. The Medical Examiner left her thinking deeply, and she quickly relaxed over their lunch, finding in Alexx Woods a warm, funny, and very sharp woman. She could sense a protective streak, also, and quickly decided not to press her for details of the events of Horatio's past few months.

She couldn't help but take a quick liking to her.

Their lunch drew to a close and Alexx, citing work, drove her back home, dropping her off in front of the apartment with a promise for another lunch, soon. Schell watched the Hummer pull away and shook her head in amusement at the fact the city could afford the vehicles as company cars. Turning, she walked inside, coming out of the bright sunlight into the darkness of the parking garage. As her eyes adjusted she couldn't help but notice the bouquet sitting next to the cargo elevator.

Limping up, she stared at a lovely crystal vase full of white Casablanca lilies, white freesia, tuberose, jasmine and three spectacular sprays of white Dendrobium orchids. The subtle palest green and yellow in the snow white of the orchids was brought out by the darker greens of the jasmine's leaves. It was one expensive bouquet and the aroma….

Schell blinked, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt they were for her. She reached in for the card, nestled amongst the lilies and saw her name written on it. The fragrance was intoxicating as she breathed in deep, then she looked at the card. It had to be one heck of a coincidence, Alexx's sudden appearance and now the flowers. They could only have come from one of two people, and only one was an investigator who had caught on to the fact that white fragrant flowers were her favourite fragrance.

'I've done some stupid things before,' the card read when she opened the little envelope it was in. 'but last night trumps them all. Would you please call me when you get these flowers?' it was signed 'Horatio' and he wrote his number on it.

He was walking up the long sidewalk towards the entrance of the Crime lab when his cell phone rang. He paused a split second, feeling a jolt as he recognized the number, and took a steadying breath before he answered the call. He stopped in his tracks.

"Hi," he said a little cautiously. "I take it they arrived?"

"Hi, and they did," she said.

"Good…" he said, smiling slightly, his hand tugging back his jacket to rest on his hip. "Good," he repeated seeming to reassure himself. "Umm…" he hesitated. "Can we talk? Please?"

"Yes, we can…" she replied sounding a little hesitant, herself. She waited.

"All right, umm, not over the cell, though. Can I meet you somewhere?" He asked, still feeling the adrenalin the call had sent shooting through his veins.

"I'm new here, remember? I hardly know my address." Schell replied.

Horatio smiled, "That's okay, uhh, may I…" he paused, "May I meet you at your place?"

There was a long pause on the other end, then he heard her sigh a little. "Okay, that will be fine."

"And your address is?" he asked with the faintest of wry subtle humour touching his voice and making him wonder where that had ever come from.

Schell told him the address.

"Okay…" he said, "Miami Beach. I should be over there in about twenty minutes. Is that all right?"

"Yes, it's all right," she replied.

"Okay, then," he said with a relieved smile. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Ok."

"Schell…?" he asked before she could hang up.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you…" he said and hung up.

He paged her floor when he arrived and waited patiently in front of the wrought iron gate of the elevator, removing his sunglasses. He listened as the elevator engaged and looked around at the security of the place, toying with the earpiece of his sunglasses. As the inside doors opened, he dropped his head, but when he didn't hear the gate opening he looked back up.

Schell was looking away from him as she was reaching over to poke the door open button on the control panel. Her white hair was loose, and she was dressed in comfortable old jeans and a sleeveless pale pink camp shirt. Her cuffs were rolled up and he could see she was barefoot. She was also folding her arms and looking at him as she waited.

Horatio's eyes widened slightly when he realized she wasn't going to open the gate. "Umm," he stammered, looking down again, puzzled. He started to open his mouth to speak again when she said,

"You are only standing here because you confirmed what I was telling you was the truth. Did the receptionist remember my call?"

"Uhhh," he stammered again, then nodded, his eyes expressive, still unable to meet her gaze. "She does now."

"You didn't decide to send those flowers until after you got your information." She stated simply.

"Uh," he started again before he glanced up at her with that puppy-eyed plea she could have swore was cultivated with her in mind. He looked like he had his tail tucked between his legs.

"Just because you got information confirming what I said was the truth, then sending me flowers doesn't automatically get you back into my good graces, mister." She said, looking at him.

"Um, I'm beginning to realize that," he said, then he looked at her with a shy smile. "Remind me never to doubt your word again."

She just gazed at him, saying nothing.

"Schell, I came here to apologize," he said quietly. "I was out of line last night and I should never have doubted you." He smiled a little sadly. "You surprised me last night and I reacted badly. Can you forgive me for that?"

There was another long pause, then she sighed, reached up, and pulled the iron gate back. Taking a hesitant step forward she stepped up to him, seeing the faint look of trepidation in his eyes, then she smiled gently.

"You're forgiven," she said quietly, looking directly into his face. "The flowers are amazing."

Horatio gazed at her in wonder for a moment. "Thank you…" he murmured then he reached up and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her.

Blinking in surprise, Schell returned the hug, almost getting lost in the delicious sensation of feeling him holding her again, before becoming aware of something large and hard on his hip. She reached down to pull his lapel back, when his hand caught hers, and he murmured. "Ah ah ah, never reach for a policeman's gun."

Schell pulled back, looking down and finally noticing the 9 millimeter pistol in a hip holster attached to his belt, along with his ID card and his badge. He smiled down at her as she looked up at him.

"My, don't you look official, Lieutenant?" She murmured.

"Mm hmm," He replied, gazing at her face a moment, then softly added, "I am very happy to see you here," He reached up to tuck back a strand of her hair, "Welcome to Miami,"

"Thanks…" she said, ducking her head to hide her sudden blushing. She felt his hand on her chin and cheek, lifting her head back up to face him. He searched her face a moment, his thumb lightly stroking the soft skin of her cheek, then he smiled very gently.

"You looked," Horatio glanced away as his eyebrows rose, "You looked, stunning last night," he said.

"You, uhh, you didn't look too bad, yourself." Schell said softly, a hint of amusement in her voice. "But you sure caught me by surprise."

"The feeling was mutual," he replied, letting his hand slip to her shoulder.

"Come on up?" She asked, looking at him.

"Um," he glanced down a moment, "Only for a little while," he said with some regret, both his hands resting on her shoulders where he felt the fabric under his hands, before looking at her. "I'm on call; got a man down for a few days…"

"All right," she acquiesced, nodding, then backing up, she smiled at him, "That's all right."

He was watching for her reaction and seemed relieved that she accepted his situation.

"Come on," she said, stepping into the elevator. Smiling, he followed her in.

As they rode the elevator up to her floor she cast a sly glance his way. "You look like you're about to burst, Lieutenant." She chuckled a little at the puzzled look he shot her as he toyed with his sunglasses. "You have questions written all over your face."

He dropped his head, smiling. "You're right," he replied, but refrained from saying anything else as the elevator came to a stop. Schell reached up for the gate as the elevator whooshed open, but with a knowing smile, Horatio slipped an arm past her and got the gate himself. As she walked into the huge, nearly bare, kitchen, he noticed she was limping.

"Forgive the state of the place. I've barely unpacked, have little to no furniture, am so damn far behind on my work that I despair of ever catching up." She said as he followed her into the apartment.

He stopped, looking around, seeing all the evidence of recent moving, and couldn't help but notice the spectacular view out of the windows. He spotted the flowers he had sent, set up on the kitchen island, blinking in surprise at the end results. He smiled a little when he spotted the old blue leather sofa from her studio in Seattle, then on to the painting in progress and what was obviously research for another work sprawled around on the drafting table and computer desk.

Horatio looked at Schell, where she had paused by the sofa to lean against it to relieve pressure on one of her feet. She was looking at him with the faintest hint of amusement. When he noticed it --an eyebrow rising in query-- she ducked her head, blushing.

"Go ahead, Horatio, ask your questions."

"What happened?" he promptly asked and smiled slightly at the mischievousness in her dark blue eyes when she looked back up at him.

"Lawyers," she replied and by the time she finished telling him the entire story they were both sitting on the blue couch. Horatio was sitting forward, arms on his legs, and looking at his sunglasses, considering what she had been telling him.

"So there you have it, six months later and I have six months' of work to catch up on." She sighed, eyeing her pile of research, her shoulders sagging.

"I never got that entire day's worth of messages," he admitted. "A fault of the clerk.

"You know the really ironic thing?" she asked, looking over at him.

"What's that?"

"I found your business card last night, just minutes before I had to leave for that event. I stuck it in my jewelry kit for safe keeping and promptly forgot that that was where it was."

Horatio looked her way, then began to snort softly in amusement. "Mutual misunderstandings…" he murmured.

Schell flashed him a dazzling smile and nodded. Horatio sighed, his face softening with humour. Setting his sunglasses down, he sat back into the sofa, stretching out a leg and looking around the apartment.

"Can I get you anything? I haven't the slightest notion of how to make a proper Southern ice tea, but I have lemonade, coffee?"

"Coffee would be nice. Got any of that Zoka Kempaa blend you were making on the boat?"

"Of course!" she said, getting up. "Zoka is finally online, so I can at least order it." She limped into the kitchen.

"Schell, how did you get into this place?" he asked.

"I knew that was coming," she said with mirth in her voice as she set about making coffee. "It was really unexpected," she said and proceeded to tell him about the reward money the stolen paintings had been insured for.

"So when that came through, I contacted that realtor friend of yours and he worked a few minor miracles."

"I guess he did," Horatio commented.

Schell smiled, and as the coffee maker wound its way down, she filled him a cup and limped over to him.

"You're limping," he said, taking the cup from her.

"Yeah, those shoes I was wearing last night were designed by the Marquis de Sade."

He looked up at her, smiled wryly and settled back a little more, taking a grateful sip of the aromatic coffee.

Schell looked at him, his features were haggard, and he had a dark smudge of fatigue under his eyes. "You look tired…" she murmured softly.

He nodded, and sighed, then wrapped his hands around the cup. "I am," he admitted.

"Work?" she asked.

"Yeah, mostly," he looked at her, and Schell would have sworn there was a look of forbiddance in his eyes.

Catching the sense that she shouldn't ask, she gave him a soft smile of understanding and went to go get her coffee. As she did her, phone rang.

"Hang on a minute…" she said.

"That's all right," he reassured her as she went to take the call. He listened with half his attention, realizing the call was about some sort of research. The subject of the San Pedro, a historic wreck around Islamorada, coming up in the conversation repeatedly. Schell, reaching for a notebook on the counter near the phone, promptly began taking notes and for the next several minutes tended to her work.

When she finally got off the phone, she turned towards him, " I'm sorry about that! That was one of the archive keepers at…" she stopped.

Horatio had made the mistake of sliding more comfortably onto the couch and letting his head rest against the back. Worse, he had closed his eyes. Schell blinked, looking at him. The cup in his hand, miraculously came to rest on his leg where his loosening fingers barely held it upright.

He was sound asleep.

Schell started to say something, but then stopped as she came around in front of him. Gingerly she reached over, taking the cup from his hands, convinced he would wake up the moment it moved from his fingers. He didn't even move, his hands just relaxed onto his lap and as she studied his weary face, she realized he was damn close to exhaustion.

A sad, caring smile tugged at her lips as she studied him, wondering what it was that he had been going through to cause him to be so worn out, then she reached over and pulled over one of the pillows. Hesitantly, and not with a little trepidation --convinced he would wake up and wonder what the hell she was doing-- she reached down to take his arms gently in her hands. Slowly she moved him before gravity took over and he slid sideways onto the couch. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he groaned, but he didn't wake up.

She sat on her coffee table, looking at him before reaching over and gently lifting his head to set better on the pillow. She did the same with his arm and as she did she paused, holding his hand and looking at his long fingers. Before she realized it, she reached over and set her hand on the nape of his neck, her fingers finally succumbing to the desire to just run through the shorter red hair at the back of his head. Enjoying the softness, she reached up and stroked his hair a moment, as she studied his relaxed features. With a regretful sigh she stopped,sat back and set his hand in a more comfortable position.

Presently, she got up, disappeared a moment into her bedroom, and returned with a light blanket, which she carefully draped over him. Standing there at the back of the couch, she reached down one more time to touch his hair, then with a gentle sigh she turned and moved over towards her work on the drafting table. 'An hour,' she thought to herself, sitting back down at the table and picking up her pencil, 'I'll let him sleep an hour.'

It would turn out to be more like three…