Title: Two Lives
Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab)
Summary: Calleigh Duquesne is kidnapped and isolated from the world. She's trapped between trying to escape and protecting what she treasures most. Crossover with CSI.
Category: Crossover – Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio
Genres: Established Relationship, Suspense, Drama
Characters: Horatio Caine, Alexx Woods
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Chapter: 3 "Heart to Heart"
Author's Notes: none
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"Yes, this is Horatio Caine," he said with the phone to his ear. His eyes widened and he went silent for a long minute before he heard the man on the other end ask if he was still there. "I'm here… Yes, Calleigh Duquesne was one of my CSIs here, but she's been missing for two years now…" He listened as the man on the other end filled him in. "Where? Las Vegas?" Nodding quickly, he sank down in his chair closing his eyes, "I'll be waiting for the e-mail." Closing his phone, Horatio let tears fall from his eyes. He let the phone slip out of his hand and clatter on the desk, not caring for the phone, he brought his hands up to his eyes and just let the tears fall.
A knock at his door sometime later alerted Horatio to reality. Quickly he took a couple deep breaths before wiping the wetness from his eyes and cheeks. "Come in," he called pretending to be looking over reports on his computer.
"Horatio, Honey, are you okay?"
He let out a breath, and relaxed. He didn't feel the need to remain tense in front of Alexx. He was torn between telling her and keeping it a secret until he got the images from Las Vegas CSI. "No."
Closing the door, Alexx ventured closer to Horatio. "You coming down with something?" But when she saw his face finally when he turned it upward towards her, she saw the redness and the dried trails of tears. "Tears, Horatio? I haven't seen you cry since…" She stopped herself; Calleigh's disappearance had touched many people in CSI, including her. She considered Calleigh a close friend, and had had quite a hard time the first couple weeks of her disappearance and knew Horatio hadn't let himself sleep, eat, or stop blaming himself for it for some time.
"I received a phone call, Alexx," Horatio informed her slowly and as calmly as possible. "It was Las Vegas. A few years ago, we did a joint case with them… One of their CSIs thinks that he's seen Calleigh…"
"Thinks?" Alexx questioned, wondering why that CSI hadn't questioned her about what she was doing on the other side of the continent.
"He apparently tried to talk to her, but the man with her was calling her Abigail. But on the grocery list, she wrote down my number and apparently hid it, but so CSI Brown could see. She could be out there, Alexx," Horatio said trying to keep hope.
"Is there anyway to know for sure?" Alexx asked. "Fingerprints?"
Horatio nodded, "A lot of smudges, but, from what they have, they match Calleigh's…but they're pulling the tape from the grocery store."
"How long will that take?" Alexx asked wanting desperately to see the footage. It would be proof that they could see from Miami that Calleigh was alive and okay.
"They're sending me it in an e-mail…"
Alexx pulled a chair over and sat down, and put on a smile. Reaching out, she took one of his hands and squeezed it in hers. "Horatio, Calleigh's alive, Honey… You've got to believe in that…"
……………………………
After waiting for what seemed like days, the e-mail finally popped up. Horatio's hand shook slightly as he clicked on it to open it. He read the small text in the e-mail body before downloading the video attachments. "They sent me all the clips of Calleigh, and they've enhanced them for us already…"
Alexx scooted her chair closer, so that she'd have a better view of the video. She watched as the download bar filled quickly and then the video player on the computer popped up on its own. Calleigh's face filled the screen, and Horatio held his breath as he watched her pushing the cart and then noticed the child. The blonde hair and what he assumed were blue eyes…Calleigh had a child… He knew it was possible with her being gone for two years. "How old does that child look to you, Alexx?"
"Ten months…maybe a year… I can't tell for sure," Alexx said and looked over at him and wondered if he thought that the little girl was Calleigh's. "She has a baby… Horatio…are you going to be okay?"
The clip changed positions and Horatio watched intently as the man grabbed Calleigh's wrist in one of the aisles and pulled her roughly along with him. "No wonder she hasn't tried to contact us before…she was protecting her child…"
"Horatio, she could suffer from Stockholm's Syndrome," Alexx warned. "We need to be careful when we extract her."
"I need you to come," Horatio said not taking his eyes from the screen. "I need you there for the baby and for Calleigh…"
Alexx nodded, "I'll make family arrangements."
……………………………
As Horatio and Alexx walked towards the rental car agency within the Las Vegas airport to pick up the keys to the vehicle that was supposed to be on hold for him, Alexx kept a close eye on him. He had put his sunglasses on the minute they had landed. He hadn't said a word to her during the whole flight. Even when she had initiated the conversation, he had merely nodded in response. A force smile, a nod, or a shake of the head was the most she had managed to get from him. But she waited to bring it up. She knew that Horatio blamed himself; he had told herself when Calleigh had first disappeared.
"Any word?" Alexx asked seeing Horatio. It had already been a day since Calleigh's vehicle had been found crushed, and blood had been found on the steering wheel. They had determined it was Calleigh's and she was most likely injured in the accident.
"No," Horatio told her and lowered his head, as his hands found his hips.
Frowning, Alexx walked toward her friend, "You'll find her… It's just a matter of time."
"Calleigh might not have that time."
"There wasn't that much blood at the scene, Horatio," Alexx pointed out. "Honey, you're going to find her…"
Horatio sighed; he felt the need to tell someone… Alexx was probably the one person that he and Calleigh both trusted enough to tell such a thing to. But was he jumping ahead of himself? "Alexx," he started and then stopped thinking about Calleigh. Tears threatened to form and fall, but he kept them back.
"What is it?"
"Calleigh—" he started, and then had to stop himself and think about what he was saying. "Calleigh's counting on us…"
Alexx smiled and patted his shoulder lightly, "She knows you're going to find her, Horatio. Now you just need to believe that. That's the only way you're going to find her."
"It's my fault," he blurted out.
"Horatio," Alexx chastised. "It's not your fault…"
"It is."
"How could it be?"
"Just trust me, Alexx."
Alexx hoped Horatio would see that it wasn't his fault in the end, but she had a good idea that that wouldn't happen until Calleigh was safe. "She's waiting out there, Horatio. Bring her home."
"What's wrong?" Alexx prodded once they were in the rental car.
"She was counting on me… I let her down. She's been waiting for me, and I let her be held hostage for two years now…" Horatio said quietly. "The man could have done anything to her in that time… The abuse that she's had to endure is my fault. I was supposed to find her."
Alexx reached out and rubbed his shoulder, "Horatio…Honey, Calleigh is not going to blame you. She's going to more likely be completely overcome with joy to see you." She gave him a smile, "Now, you listen to me. I get to give the orders for the next couple of minutes, and you need to follow through with them." She noticed the glint in his eyes when she said that, and smiled a bit brighter. "You're going to coordinate with CSI Las Vegas and their police department. You're going to follow their rules…and you're going to get Calleigh back…"
"You need to be there," Horatio insisted, his logic behind it was that Alexx was a doctor and a familiar face and Calleigh may not respond to complete strangers. Having Alexx there, Horatio had reasoned, would be a comfort for Calleigh and would be able to evaluate her and the baby.
"I will. But you have to clear the path first," she reminded. "Let's get to their department and we'll go from there." Reaching out she squeezed his hand, "By tomorrow, hopefully we'll have Calleigh back…"
Horatio gave her a small fake smile before turning the key and starting the car. "I hope so, Alexx… I hope so."
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TBC…