Title: Club Descent: Courage
Author: Aeon Cole
Rating: FRM
Genre: AU, angst, hurt/comfort, romance
Warning: Slash, past abuse, non-con, rape
Fandom: CSI Miami
Pairing: Horatio/Speed
Challenge: Lover100
Table: table-c
Prompt: #2 Writer's Choice - Courage
Word Count: 1810
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, Secrets, Home, Confessions
Horatio stretched and yawned. He glanced over at the clock and was surprised to see that it was almost two in the afternoon. He reached over and nudged Tim.
"Hey, we've got to get up," he said. Tim rolled over and murmured something he couldn't quite make out. Horatio smirked and nudged him again. "Come on, it's two o'clock. I told Calliegh we'd meet her at your place at three." He swung his feet over the side of the bed and sat up. After a moment he felt a hand brush over his back and side.
Tim ran his fingers over a long scar on Horatio's back then over to a smaller one on his side. He felt Horatio shiver. "How did you get this one?" he asked rubbing the smaller scar on his side.
Horatio sighed. "About ten years ago," he said not turning around. "I was investigating a call about an argument in a small apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan. This guy was hiding behind the door when I went in to clear the room. I was stabbed."
Tim didn't say anything but he moved his hand to Horatio's back and traced a longer scar that looked older and faded. "And this one?" he asked.
Horatio was silent for a moment. "My, uh, my father. When I was a child. He, uh, he used to…"
"He used to hit you," Tim said. Horatio nodded. "Bad enough to leave scars." Horatio remained silent but nodded again.
Tim crawled up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, leaning his chin on Horatio's shoulder. "How old were you?"
Horatio shrugged. "Nine, maybe ten. I don't remember exactly. It all sort of blurs together."
Tim nodded. "I think I can sorta relate," he said.
Horatio turned his head and gave Tim a weak smile and a quick kiss. He patted his hands which were clasped together at his stomach.
"Come, we've got to meet Calliegh."
888
Tim stepped into his apartment with Horatio by his side. "I need my briefcase and research notes. I think they're all on the kitchen table," he said.
Horatio and Calliegh followed him into the kitchen. Strewn all over the table and several of the chairs were papers and note pads. One chair contained a pile of books. Tim scanned the table mumbling to himself and picking up what looked to Horatio like random sheets of paper. He was completely absorbed, as if the others had faded away, and was projecting the archetypical absent minded professor.
He looked up when he heard Horatio chuckle. "What?"
"Nothing," Horatio replied trying to suppress a smirk.
"Believe it or not, I know exactly where everything is," Tim said as he pulled together a pile of papers. Then, as if to prove his point, he asked, "Horatio, would you grab my bio-chem text from that pile on the chair next to you, third book from the top."
Calliegh watched Horatio pull a book from the pile and hand it over. She had been silent this whole time watching the dynamic between Horatio and Tim. She thought that they seemed to have an easy-going manner with each other.
Tim finished gathering up all of the papers and placed them and his book into his bag. He walked out and placed the bag by the front door. He turned to Horatio. "I should put my bike in the garage. I don't want anything to happen to it while I'm not here," he said.
"We can do that on the way out," Horatio replied. "We need to get you some clothes first."
Calliegh walked toward the bedroom followed by Tim and Horatio. But when Tim reached the bedroom door he stopped and reached back for Horatio's hand. The flashback hit him hard, like another blow Simon, as soon as he looked into the room. He turned away, a bit dazed, and worked to get himself under control.
Horatio placed his hands on Tim's shoulders. "It's okay. I'll get your stuff if you want."
Tim shook his head. "No," he said. "I'm not going to let him do this to me anymore. Just give me a minute."
Calliegh watched from the bedroom. She recognized Tim's reaction. She had seen it before in other abuse victims and she thought that it was a good sign that he was fighting back. She watched as he took a deep breath then took hold of Horatio hand and stepped into the room. He stopped again once he was inside, staring into one corner of the room.
Tim stared at the place where Horatio had found him that morning, the spot where Simon had tried to kill him. He knew at that moment that he couldn't return to living here again. He would always have that image in his head, even if they caught him and locked him away for ever. But at least this time he had somewhere to go, he had Horatio.
"What are you seeing?" Calliegh asked gently. "What can you tell me about what happened here?" She was hoping to take advantage of his new found courage and the fact that he seemed to be lost in a memory of the incident to get some more information from him.
Tim closed his eyes and let himself return to earlier that morning, knowing he was safe. "I was lying in bed," he said. "I became aware of a movement in the shadow by the window. Simon spoke and I froze." He looked at Calliegh. "I thought I was dreaming at first."
"What did he say to you?" she asked.
"He made a remark about Horatio then he grabbed me and pulled me out of bed." He paused for a moment trying to remember the exact sequence of events. "He pushed me into the corner, over there," he said, indicating the far corner of the room. "I think… I think I hit him." He looked down at his right hand and, for the first time, noticed that his knuckles were bruised.
"You hit him?" Horatio asked, surprised.
Tim slowly raised his eyes from his hand to Horatio's face and smirked slightly. He was surprised, himself, that he'd done that. "Yeah," he said. "Right in the mouth." He shook his head. "I never did that before."
Horatio placed a hand on Tim's shoulder and smiled. "That's good. You fought back," he said.
"Yeah, but it just pissed him off more," Tim said. "He punched me in the stomach, knocked the wind out of me. After that, it's all a blur."
"Did he say anything else?" Calliegh asked.
"All he kept saying was how I'd," he paused for a moment and looked at Calliegh. "Excuse me but, how I'd fucked everything up."
Calliegh smiled at him. "It's okay," she said.
"I'm really not sure what he meant by that," Tim said quietly and lowered his eyes.
Horatio pulled Tim into his arms and they held each other for a few moments. "You did a god job," he said. Tim nodded and pulled back. Horatio placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Why don't you go pack up some clothes and anything else you think you'll need, okay?"
Tim agreed and headed over to his closet. Calliegh wandered over and stood close to Horatio. "I found some light blood spatter and some gravitational drops," she said in a low tone. "I assumed it was his," she continued glancing back at Tim.
Horatio shook his head, answering her just as quietly. "He's covered in bruises but no open wounds."
Calliegh nodded. "I also found tissue when I swabbed under his nails this morning."
"You think he scratched Simon?" Horatio asked.
Calliegh hesitated for a moment before asking, "Well, you said you were here last night. He didn't…"
Horatio gave her a shy smile and ducked his head. "Scratch me in the throws of passion?" he finished. Calliegh nodded, ignoring the slight blush she saw rising on his neck. "No."
"You're sure? Because, possibly, you might have been too… caught up in the moment to notice," she asked not meeting his eyes.
Horatio chuckled. "He was facing away from me, Calliegh. I'm sure of it."
She turned away from him, trying to hide her embarrassment at having had to ask him such a personal question. "Mr. Speedle?"
Tim turned from his packing. "Tim, please," he said.
Calliegh smiled at him. "Tim, do you remember scratching the man who assaulted you this morning?"
Tim closed his eyes and thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't recall."
Tim gathered up the last of his things and they all headed outside. Horatio loaded the bags into the trunk of his car while Tim moved his bike and car into the garage and Calliegh had a quick word with the uniformed officer guarding the scene. She walked back to Horatio and they made arrangements to meet the next afternoon at CSI so that Tim could sit with the police sketch artist to get a likeness of Simon. They then said their goodbyes and drove off.
About ten minutes later, a young man approached the apartment. As he made his way up the driveway the officer stopped him.
"Sir, this area is a crime scene. Don't come any closer," he said with his hand on his holstered weapon. The officer took a close look at the man. He was tall and muscularly built. He was dressed casually but neatly, wearing jeans and a white button down shirt and a baseball cap. He had a neatly cropped beard and moustache.
The young man raised his hands. "What happened here? This is Dr. Speedle's house, isn't it?" he asked.
The officer thought that he seemed genuinely concerned and said, "Yes, it is. There was an assault here this morning. It's still being investigated."
The young man looked shocked. "Is Dr. Speedle okay?" The officer nodded. "Thank God," the young man breathed. He held a hand out to the officer. "My name's Sam," he said. "I'm one of Dr. Speedle's students. I just stopped by to pick up some research notes. You wouldn't know where I could find him, would you?"
The officer smirked slightly. "I think he's staying at Lieutenant Caine's," he answered with a bit of a chuckle. "You can check with the precinct."
The young man smiled. "Thank you, I'll do that. You've been a big help," he said as he turned to leave.
He reached the end of the driveway and turned right walking down the street a bit. When he reached his car his expression hardened. He sat in the car and tossed the baseball cap into the back seat then carefully peeled off the fake beard and moustache. He shook his head.
"Oh Timmy, when will you learn," Simon said staring into the rear view mirror.
TBC