This will be the last of the rapid fire updates. You'll have to be a bit patient now as I work on the rest of this.

Title: Club Descent: Secrets

Author: Aeon Cole

Rating: FRAO

Genre: AU, angst, hurt/comfort, romance

Warning: Slash, abuse

Fandom: CSI Miami

Pairing: Horatio/Speed

Challenge: Lover100

Table: table-c

Prompt: #1 Writer's Choice - Comfort

Word Count: 1890

Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me and I am making no money from this.

Author's Note: This is NOT part of my H/Speed universe. This is my first AU. I have plans to turn this into a limited series.

Previous Chapters: The Meeting, Regrets, Choices, Let's Talk, Good News, Problems, Saturday, Help

Frank found Calliegh in the bedroom. She was standing just inside the doorway staring into the room doing what Frank tended to refer to as 'that CSI voodoo thing.' She was scanning her eyes back and forth, up and down, and he had no idea what she was seeing. He cleared his throat, breaking the spell she was under. She turned to face him.

"Hey Frank," she said with a smile.

"Mornin' Cal." He was still a little grumpy about being dragged out of bed so early on a Sunday morning. "How is it your so chipper so early in the morning?" he asked.

"Morning person," she answered with a shrug as she moved further into the room.

Frank shook his head. "So, you wanna tell me what the hell is goin' on here," he drawled.

"Break in and assault," she replied, though she knew that the case was not what he was referring to.

Frank sighed. "I know that. I mean what's goin' on with Horatio? He said something about being part of the scene. And who is that guy with him?"

Calliegh paused for a moment. She knew it wouldn't be long before Horatio was the topic of gossip all over the precinct. She turned to the detective.

"Look Frank, a friend of Horatio's was assaulted this morning. Horatio walked in and surprised the guy. He ran off."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "Horatio let the guy get away?"

"I suspect he was more worried about his friend's well-being."

"Okay," Frank said. "But that still doesn't explain why Horatio's sittin' out there on the couch with his arms around this guy. I've never known him to be the touchy-feely type."

Calliegh thought that for a police detective, Frank could be really dense sometimes. She didn't say anything in response to his statement. She simply let his mind wander over the possibilities.

Finally, she saw a light bulb go on in his brain. "Wait a minute," he said slowly. "Are you sayin' what I think you're sayin'?" She didn't contradict him. "No way," he said. She continued to watch him. "You mean to say Horatio and this guy are… That Horatio Caine is…"

"Yes," she said finally. "But in the end, Frank, does it really make a difference? He's still Horatio."

Frank nodded. "I suppose," he said. "But when this gets out…"

"We'll deal with it," she finished. She gave him a friendly smile. "I need some context before I start processing. We should go talk to them."

They walked back out into the living room. Tim was sitting up on the sofa with his head leaning back and one hand resting on Horatio's leg, his finger's laced with Horatio's. Calliegh walked up to them.

"You two up for some questions?" she asked.

Tim looked at her then over at Horatio who nodded. Tim turned back to Calliegh and nodded his readiness.

"Good. I'm Calliegh Duquesne and this is Detective Tripp," she said gesturing at Frank.

Tim glanced between the two. "Tim Speedle," he said quietly. "Please sit."

Calliegh took a seat at the opposite end of the sofa and turned to face the two men while Tripp remained standing and pulled out his notepad. He couldn't help staring at the clasped hands on Horatio's lap.

"Tell me what happened," Calliegh said.

Tim looked over at Horatio. "We were sleeping," Horatio started. "I got a call from dispatch at around four-thirty this morning. A homicide not too far from here. I put my phone back down on the night stand and got dressed. I forgot to pick it up again before I left. I went home to change and noticed that I didn't have it with me. I called Eric to cover the homicide and drove back here. When I arrived the front door was open. I drew my weapon, made my way to bedroom, saw what was happening and identified myself."

"But the guy got past you," Frank interjected. He'd seen the bedroom. There was only one way in or out.

Horatio looked up at Frank. "I let my guard down. He pushed me out of the way and took off out the door."

"You didn't give chase?" Frank asked.

Horatio squeezed Tim's hand and looked into his eyes. "I wasn't going to leave Tim alone," he said matter-of-factly.

"Mr. Speedle, what do you remember?" Calliegh asked.

Tim closed his eyes trying to concentrate. "I walked Horatio to the door. We said goodbye. I watched him drive off. I stepped back inside. I must've forgotten to lock the door. I went back to bed. I was just starting to fall asleep when I heard Simon in the room."

Calliegh interrupted him. "You know the person who did this?" she asked.

Tim didn't want to answer her. He still couldn't bring himself to tell anyone the truth about Simon. He looked over at Horatio with tears beginning to form in his eyes and laid his head on Horatio's shoulder, trying to keep himself in control.

"It's okay," Horatio said. Tim had given him a little more information about Simon this morning, just enough to give him an idea as to their past relationship but no details. "His name's Simon Cole," he told Calliegh. "They have a history." Horatio felt Tim start to tremble again. He looked over at Calliegh. "I think, maybe, it would be better if we continue this later."

Calliegh nodded. "Horatio? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure. Give me a second," he replied.

Calliegh and Tripp got up and walked to the far side of the room. Tripp turned to face Calliegh. "Sounds like this guy's a stalker," he said. But Calliegh's attention was focused on Horatio. She watched as he turned and took Tim's face with both hands and rested their foreheads together for a moment. He said something to Tim, too softly for her to hear and saw Tim nod in response. When Horatio gave him a quick kiss she looked away.

Horatio walked over. "He's in no shape to answer any more questions right now," he said.

"Can you tell us anything else?" Calliegh asked.

But before he could answer they heard a commotion outside. All three reached for their weapons. Horatio glanced back and saw Tim stand up. "What are you doing?" he asked quickly.

"It's Max," Tim said.

Horatio went to the door and saw Max arguing with one of the uniformed officers. Horatio signaled to the officer to let him pass. Max, looking very pissed and worried, walked straight up to Horatio and said, "What the hell happened?"

He saw Tim and pushed pass Horatio and approached his friend. "Are you okay?"

Tim didn't meet his eyes and Max knew something was very wrong. He reached out and pulled Tim's shirt up seeing the red marks and the rapidly forming bruises. His temper flared.

"Simon," he growled. "I knew I shoulda killed that son of a bitch Thursday night when I had the chance."

"Wait a minute," Horatio said. "What happened Thursday night?"

Max looked at Tim. "Ya didn't tell him?" he asked, a bit more forcefully than he intended.

Tim backed away and fell back on the sofa, pulling his knees up to chest protectively. Max sighed and walked over to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," he said. "I'm not mad at ya. But I'm gonna tell'm what happened."

Tim tightened the hold he had on his legs and buried his face in his knees. Max recognized Tim's withdrawal. He'd certainly seen it often enough. He walked over to Horatio and the others. "He doesn't want me to tell you," he said.

"Max, if you know something," Horatio said.

"I know," he replied reluctantly. "I've known Tim almost since he moved to Miami, 'bout five years now. He got involved with Simon nearly three years ago." He glanced back at Tim who was still hiding. "Simon's a prick. He has a very domineering personality. Tim's a very gentle soul, easy mark for someone like him. Simon took complete control of him."

"Why didn't he just leave?" Tripp asked.

"I wish I knew. Especially when Simon would get violent. A year ago, he put Tim in the hospital. I convinced him to move out, get his own place. But he refused to file charges, wouldn't even tell the ER docs what really happened." He sighed heavily. "Simon wouldn't take no for an answer. He disappears for while but he always comes back. And Tim always takes him back." He glanced at Horatio. "This time was different, because of you. He refused Simon's advances."

"And Simon wasn't happy about that," Horatio muttered. Max proceeded to tell them what had happened Thursday night. He could see Horatio getting angry. Through gritted teeth, Horatio said, "He won't tell me the extent of what happened this morning."

His implication was clear to Max and he looked back at Tim. Max was not a very subtle individual and the idea of mixed company didn't seem to faze him at all. "Ya think he'd be sittin' like that if he'd been raped?"

Frank winced and Calliegh blushed but Horatio actually relaxed a bit realizing that Max was right. Crude, but right. Calliegh cleared her throat, trying to compose herself.

"I, um," she paused for a moment. "I'm going to need to get both of ya'lls clothes," she said without meeting their gaze.

Horatio nodded. "I have a change of clothes out in the car. Bag's in the trunk," he said passing his keys to Frank.

"Tim keeps a change in the hall bathroom," Max added. "I can help him."

"No, let me," Horatio said. "We don't need any more evidence contamination." Frank returned with his gym bag. "Give me a couple of large evidence bags, Calliegh."

He got Tim up and into the bathroom. They came back out after a couple of minutes and handed the bags over to Calliegh. Calliegh reached down into her kit and pulled out a couple of swabs. She looked over at Tim who was standing next to Horatio.

"Can I see your hands for a moment?" she asked. She took samples from under his nails and then a mouth swab. "Thanks," she said with a slight smile. "Do you have somewhere you can stay for a few days?" she asked him.

Before he could answer, Horatio said, "Yes." Calliegh understood. "And Cal, I'm putting myself on administrative leave for a few days. You'll be in charge while I'm gone." She agreed. "Is that all for now?" he asked.

"For now. I'll need you both to come down to the precinct, say, tomorrow afternoon. I'll need to get some photos," she said.

"I need my stuff from the bedroom," Tim whispered to Horatio. "My wallet and cell phone, at least."

Horatio walked over close to Calliegh. "Can you get his wallet and our cell phones off the table next to the bed?"

Calliegh smiled at him and said, "Sure." She looked at him for a moment. He was now wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "You look good casual," she said with a smirk.

She came back out with their things and Horatio took Tim's hand. "Come on," he said. "Let's go home."

TBC