A/N: There are a few swears in this Chapter. Thought you might like to know before you read on.

CHAPTER 3

As the team crossed over the yellow tape, Lt. Bowman approached them. Horatio motioned the team to continue on as he stopped to talk to the Lieutenant. Horatio looked over Bowman's shoulder. There were multiple camera crews crowded together outside the perimeter, reporting on the tragedy as various officers directed personnel and cleanup crews in the area.

"I appreciate you getting your team out here on such a short notice."

"No problem. How's the rest of your team holding up?"

"Bennings and Officer Nauls were relieved of duty because they were involved in the shootout and are now currently heading back to headquarters to talk to I.A. Norris is being treated for shock; he almost got hit himself. Dr. Copper is assisting your coroner right now." Lt. Bowman let his guard slightly down, showing a look of sadness on his face over losing half of his team.

Horatio reached out and patted Bowman's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks. I understand that you used to work with Det. Hagen quite a bit yourself."

"That I did." Horatio looked over in Calleigh's direction to see what she was doing.

Bowman looked down. "I need to make a few phone calls. If I recall, Hagen has no family living out here. Fuchs left behind a wife and two kids. I need to go over to his house with the chaplain personally and tell his wife before the media gets a hold of who died."

"Dave, I'll need to get your statement when you are done with the chaplain." Both Bowman and Horatio turned to see Stetler standing next to them. Neither one of them realized that he came up while they were talking.

"Can't this wait until the morning?"

"Dave, I'm sorry. We need to follow procedure."

"For Christ sake, Rick! How do you expect me to be in the mood to talk after I tell Teresa that her husband won't be coming home?"

Bowman leaned forward at Stetler; almost in a position that Horatio took as being threatening. He reached out his arm and held Bowman back. "Dave…"

Horatio looked over and glared at Stetler before quickly composing himself. "Rick, given the circumstances, we just lost two of our own. I don't think waiting until morning is going to be a big deal. Your report will get done."

Stetler thought it over for a moment. "You're right, Horatio. I'm sorry." He looked at Bowman. "Tomorrow morning, 9am. My office. Then I want you to see the counselor." He gave Horatio another look before turning around and walking back.

"Fucking prick." Bowman muttered. "How the hell can someone that uncaring towards his own people be in charge?"

"I don't know." Horatio replied. Bowman did have a point. Horatio couldn't believe that despite what happened, Stetler didn't care and just wanted to follow procedure like a programmed robot. Maybe it came with being in I.A. You just learn not to care so you can handle the job. Or the fact that Bowman was right and Stetler was just a prick anyway. Horatio thought back to Speed's death. Stetler was just the same then: wanted the statement and for Horatio to see the company shrink. Sometimes, Horatio just wanted to punch Stetler in the face and then tell him to write a report on that. What did Yelina see in this guy anyway?

Horatio collected his thoughts and turned his attention back to Bowman. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks for stopping me. I think I would have knocked Stetler on his ass. That would have been enough therapy for me."

Horatio let out a brief smile. "Go and take care of your business. We have it handled here."

"See you soon." Bowman walked back over to where the other policeman were. Horatio looked over and noticed that Calleigh was now standing where Hagen was shot. He walked over to her.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Calleigh said softly as she looked at the huge red stain on the ground. "I see Stetler didn't waste his time showing up."

"No, he didn't."

Calleigh was about to say something else before she changed her mind. "I better get back to work." She managed to say instead before she picked up her kit and headed towards the entrance of the store. Horatio watched her go inside before he made his rounds at the crime scene. About 2 hours later, the team returned to headquarters with the evidence they collected. Horatio told them that he would have the night lab techs handle the processing of the evidence so the team could rest up for the long day that they were going to have tomorrow. Ryan and Calleigh walked back to her car without saying a word to each other. As Calleigh reached for her keys, she stopped.

"Can you drive us back? I don't have it in me to drive."

"Sure." Ryan took the keys from Calleigh and they both got in.

They drove for a few minutes in silence. Finally, Ryan looked over at Calleigh.

"Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine when I get home and get some sleep." Calleigh started to yawn.

Ryan pressed on. "No. Over what happened tonight."

Calleigh frowned. "What do you think, Ryan? We just lost two of our men from some coldhearted prick who didn't care about killing other people."

"I'm talking about Hagen. I know the two of you dated for a while. I just-"

"What do you know?" Calleigh cut him off. You apparently don't know shit about what happened between John and I. I don't want to talk about it, ok? Just get us home." She leaned back in her chair and stared forward.

Ryan was stunned. Calleigh had never snapped at him before. True, she's argued with him in the past, but this was the first time she ever went off like that. He swallowed his throat and continue to drive in silence, not daring to say anything else. When they arrived back at the apartment, Calleigh went straight into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, obviously indicating that she wanted to be left alone. Ryan noticed that the answering machine was blinking. He walked over and hit the button.

"hey, this is terry, your superintendent . i got the message about the soap dispenser in your shower being broken. i will get someone out to your place in the morning and fix it. take care."

Ryan bowed his head and groaned. This was going to be a long night.

At this point, Calleigh had the shower running. She sat in the tub, hugging her knees and crying her eyes out. She didn't think that John Hagen's death would affect her this badly. She hated his guts for the way he treated her in the end of their relationship and the way he acted afterwards. She felt guilty not being able to settle the bad blood between the two of them. She then felt angry at him, for making her feel guilty that they didn't resolve any animosity they had towards each other even though he was responsible for it. She rubbed her stomach and remembered what happened to her after they broke up, which caused her to cry some more. She didn't know what Ryan would do if he found out. Ryan. She thought about their conversation in the car. She felt so bad to snap at him like that. He didn't know. He treats her the way she wants to be treated and yet she chewed him out over something that he didn't know anything about. It wasn't his fault.

Calleigh finally got up and bathed herself after sitting in the shower for 20 minutes. She then got out and went into the bedroom. Ryan was already asleep. She climbed into bed and snuggled up against him, causing him to stir somewhat. "I'm sorry about earlier." She whispered. She didn't know if he heard her or not. Suddenly, she felt his arms wrap around her.

"I love you." He mumbled before drifting back off to sleep.

to be continued…