A/N: Never having been near a bomb in my life, my knowledge is unfortunately restricted to far too many Tom Clancy novels and never enough repeats of CSI Miami. Also, I should mention that I have no idea what level CSI everyone is. So, for this fic, Horatio and Calleigh are Level 3, Eric is Level 2 and Ryan is Level 1. I'll try to separate the dark bits with a bit of humour every now and then. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!

Nothing happened. For two whole days, nothing happened. It was getting to the stage where Frankie was almost hoping for a bomb, just to release the tension. She didn't have enough information to do more than the most basic of profiles, and her appointment with the graphologist was not until the next day. When Eric walked in on her morning coffee–and–gossip with Calleigh, both women instantly said the same thing.

"Any news?"

The Cuban shook his head. "Nothing. It's quiet out there – too quiet." All three started to laugh. "Always wanted to say that," Eric said pouring himself a cup of coffee and sitting down next to Calleigh. Frankie grinned as she saw how naturally Eric's arm went around Calleigh's shoulders, and how she leaned back into his embrace. Took them long enough, she thought fondly.

"All right, Frankie, there's no need to look so smug. After all, you're not much better when Horatio is around," Calleigh teased her friend.

"I know. They're going to have to start calling this the Lab of Love."

"Nah, we need to find Ryan a girlfriend first," Eric laughed. Both women's eyes lit up at the prospect of match-making.

"Ooh, yeah! Who do you think Frankie? Valera might be an option, or that new girl, what's her name?"

"You mean Trisha? I don't know, she's a bit quiet," Frankie mused.

"Who is?" Ryan asked, appearing suddenly. He didn't get an answer, as all three started to giggle uncontrollably. The young CSI was just about to get annoyed when Horatio walked in.

"Joke's over everyone. There's been an explosion."

Horatio stared at the devastation around him grimly. Thank God I ordered Frankie to stay at the lab, he thought. He would never be able to concentrate if she had come out to the scene with him. All his attention would be on making sure she was all right, and that no one was about to hurt her. And that would not help this case.

The bomb had torn through the heart of the Everglades Open Centre, the tourist information point for all those wishing to have a tour of Miami's natural border. It was also an educational centre, and the bomb had gone off just as a school tour was arriving for their day trip to the Glades. So far, there were five confirmed deaths and another three people missing, trapped beneath the rubble.

A member of the Bomb Squad approached him, and he found a welcoming smile from somewhere. Bill Franklin had been a friend from years back, and had been just a rookie when Horatio left the Squad. "Bill."

"H. What do you make of this?"

"It's got to be some form of high explosive. There's too much damage for it to be anything like dynamite."

"Yeah, we're thinking C4 at the moment."

Horatio paused for a moment. Composition-4 was a military grade explosive. Could this be a terrorist attack? "I'll let you know when we confirm that."

Alexx arrived in the coroner's van then. "Oh my God," she whispered, half-prayer, half-disbelief. Horatio glanced over at her. She was swaying slightly, her eyes filled with tears.

"Alexx?"

"My kids were meant to come here next week," she said as she turned to him. "It could have been them."

"But it wasn't," he said gently. "Alexx, if you want someone else to cover this…" He let the question hang in the air unsaid. The ME glared at him for a long moment, before squaring her narrow shoulders and heading off into the scene.

"We should start processing," he said, turning the Bomb Squad man. Bill followed his lead, snapping on a pair of latex gloves and following Horatio towards the main seat of detonation. Calleigh, Ryan and Eric were just about to start, having been helping look for survivors.

"They just found another body, H." Eric's eyes were red, though whether from dust or tears, Horatio couldn't tell. "A little girl. She was eight years old."

"So we're up to six," Horatio bit his lip hard. "Any luck finding the others?"

"Fire-Rescue pulled one guy out. He's hurt pretty bad, but he should make it. There's no sign of the other woman."

Horatio nodded, his eyes focused on a point on the ground in front of him. Ryan followed his gaze and stepped forward, but his supervisor caught his arm and yanked him back. "Stay there," he ordered. Horatio bent down and carefully picked up a charred metal object. "Blasting cap, often used to detonate C4," he said softly. "Everything we need is here people," he said, standing up as he spoke. "The components of the bomb are here somewhere and I want to see every piece of it back at the lab. Find the bomb, find the bomber."

"C4. Are we looking for terrorists?" Calleigh asked.

"I don't know yet. This seems a strange target for terrorists, but let's keep an open mind." Horatio tipped his head to one side and stared past them, as he heard an odd sound. Picking his way carefully through the rubble, he reached what had been the main entrance to the centre.

"Where is he going now?" Ryan sighed.

Eric grinned. "H always has his reasons. We'll never understand them, but that's just H." As he spoke, Horatio knelt down and eased a lump of concrete out of the way. Underneath, it was possible to make out the face and left shoulder of a woman, who had blood streaming down her face. As Horatio called for rescue, and calmed the terrified woman down, Eric exchanged looks with his fellow CSIs. "See? Told you."