Chapter 3

They both then began to feel at ease and calm as they both relaxed back, feeling extremely happy.

"What coffee did you use?" She asked looking over at him.

"The normal one" Ryan said softly as they both looked up at the ceiling, resting their heads back.

"Then why do I feel weird?" She asked.

"I don't know, I do too" Ryan said as he began to laugh a little, looking over at her.

She got up and walked back over to the counter and opened the coffee tin.

"It looks fine" she said as she turned around and Ryan got up and walked over to her.

"Well, I definitely feel weird."

"I'm going to call Eric." Zoë said as she picked up her phone and rang him.

"Ericcc, can you come to the break room please." She said quite happily.

"Erm… okay?" He said, never hearing Zoë speak like that before and quickly went into the break room.

Zoë walked towards him as she staggered slightly.

"I think there's something wrong with this coffee. We both drank it and now we feel weird." Zoë slurred slightly as she handed him the tin.

"It's new?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just opened it." Ryan said looking over at them.

Zoë fell a little and Eric caught her. He looked at her eyes.

"Hey Wolfe, come here." Eric said as he had his arm around Zoë and held her up against him.

"You're so strong, Eric." Zoë murmured, placing one of her hands on his strong chest. Eric took a deep breath, pushing it to the back of his mind and letting it go. Ryan walked over and Eric placed his hand on Ryan's face and opened his eye a little more.

"You've been drugged with something." Eric said, noticing the pin-point pupils.

"Sit down." He said as he placed Zoë on the sofa. Ryan sat next to her.

"Stay here, I'm going to run this" Eric said as he walked out.

"Drugged?" Zoë said looking over at Ryan and he looked over at her. Ryan looked back, just as miffed as she was. They silenced, looking around, watching colours and patterns unfold before their eyes. 15 minutes had passed and they looked back at each other, both feeling exceptionally high.

She ran a hand through Ryan's hair.

"Your hair feels so good." She said with a small laugh, amused by it.

Ryan put his hand up to his hair and agreed with her.

They looked at each other with a smile, and then suddenly had the urge to kiss each other.

They leaned in and made contact with their lips as they both lightly kissed each other.

Zoë placed her hand behind his head and her other on his leg while he placed his on her cheek and the other on her waist. They both began to kiss a lot firmer and they parted their lips, their breathing accelerated. Ryan ran his hand up her side and then back down to her leg and pulled her over and on to him. She straddled him on the sofa as she wrapped both hands around his neck as she bit his lip.

He ran his hands up her thighs and left one at her waist as he began to undo her shirt buttons with his other hand.

He stopped at the 5th button and opened the shirt and cupped one of her breasts as they both let out a small moan. Ryan's fingers slipped into the cup of her bra and found her nipple. She let out a moan and pushed him back as they began to kiss a lot more roughly.

He pulled his hand out of her bra and turned, laying her down on the sofa, never breaking the kiss. He began to undo his shirt as she placed one of her hands on the side of his face and the other on his arm that he was supporting himself with. Ryan had undone his shirt and placed his hand back on her breast. She broke from the kiss as she took a deep breath to get some air as Ryan moved down and began to kiss her neck as he massaged her breast. Zoë closed her eyes and just let the heightened sensations take over as she moved her hand from his face to his shoulder. Ryan quickly had his trousers undone and placed his hand back on her breast as he kissed at her neck.

Eric walked in and stopped in his tracks with a piece of paper in his hand, he just stared at them as they looked round to him. His jaw dropped.

"Wolfe! What the HELL." Eric almost shouted.

Zoë looked back around and up at Ryan who still had his hand on her breast

"Ryan?" She questioned and he looked back down at her.

"Ryan!" She said as she pushed him off and stood up.

"What the hell is going on?" She said as she backed off.

"What… how? What… what is going on?!" She said looking at the both of them.

"Erm… I don't know, how… how did that happen?" Ryan said getting up and buttoning his shirt and trousers up.

"Er… Zoë…" Eric said looking over to her, he then looked up at the ceiling as she turned to him.

"You probably want to do your shirt up." Eric said softly. She looked down and quickly did it up as she turned around.

"What is going on?" She asked loudly as she turned back around, she stumbled slightly and caught herself by holding on to the counter.

"You've… you've both ingested ecstasy… it can heighten senses, cause arousal and feelings of intimacy." Eric said looking at them both.

"Good God." She said raising a hand to her head.

"But… I feel almost fine now." She said looking at him.

"Yeah, you've both only had a small amount of it." Eric said looking at them. "It's probably already out of your system. It doesn't look like either of you drank the whole cup." Eric said walking over to the coffee table. Zoë looked over at Ryan.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight. Nothing happened here, okay?" She said sternly walking over to the both of them.

"Agreed" Ryan said looking up at her, slightly happy about what just happened between them, but a little unhappy about it as it clearly isn't what she wanted.

"Eric, if you breathe a word of this to anyone, God help me, I'll–" She said looking at him sternly.

"I won't, I won't." Eric said backing off.

Zoë put both of her hands to her mouth in shock.

"How did this happen?" She said looking at Eric.

"I don't know, who got the coffee?" He asked.

"I did." Ryan said looking up at him.

"Where?" Eric asked.

"The shop down the road." He said.

"Right, stay here and don't move. Try and stay away from each other…" Eric said looking at them both.

They just stared at him. Eric made a quick exit, leaving the coffee tin.

"Erm…" Zoë said a little awkwardly as she walked over to the other sofa.

"I'm not going to say anything." Ryan said, reassuring her. Zoë gave him a nod.

"Thank God Eric walked in when he did…" Zoë said staring at the coffee table.

"Mmm" Ryan mumbled in a daze, wishing to go back to the moment.

"You didn't enjoy that did you?" She said forcefully looking over at him.

"No… no" Ryan said, lying through his teeth.

"Good, that's never going to happen again." She said as she swallowed.

"I er…. Do you want some water?" Ryan asked.

"As long as it's not laced with ecstasy, yes." She said looking up at him. Ryan let out a small laugh as he exhaled and brought over a glass of water for her.

"Thank you" she said as she took the glass.

"Genuinely cannot believe how today is turning out." She said.

"Does someone have it in for us or what?" She said looking over at Ryan.

"Must do!" Ryan said looking over at her.

They chatted a little more, both feeling slightly awkward, but soon cleared up the awkwardness, agreeing to never speak of it and agreeing that it wouldn't change anything.

Eric walked back in 2 hours later, they were both resting, bored out of their minds and watching the small TV with the news on.

"It's not just that tin, the lot of them are contaminated with the drug too." Eric said looking at them both.

"Have you arrested the shop owner and spoken with the company?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, the owner denied knowledge but there's evidence to suggest that he knew full well what he was doing and the company, well I sent some officers over there and the warehouse is loaded with the drug. So that has been taken down." Eric said with a small smile.

"Managed to keep your hands off each other?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

"Yes." Zoë said as she got up and a huff and walked over to the sink and poured the water down the sink.

"Er… sorry Zoë." Eric said as he walked over to her.

"Just don't ever mention it again, okay?" She said turning around to him, looking at him sternly.

"Of course, sorry." He said, seeing the annoyance in her eyes.

"You should both go home if you're feeling alright to drive… we've got it covered here." Eric said looking at the both of them.

"It's a good idea" Zoë said looking at him.

"Yeah…" Ryan said as he stood up.

"Are you sure you're both alright to drive?" He asked.

"Yes, completely fine." Zoë said and Ryan agreed.

"I'll see you both tomorrow then." Eric said as he left and they nodded at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ryan." She said with a small smile as she walked towards the door.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." He said as he followed her out.

They both got into their cars and drove home safely. Zoë got in and had a shower straight away, trying to forget the situation. Ryan got in and thought about it as a smile appeared across his face, but then quickly diminished as he remembered that she wasn't happy about it at all, he erased it from his mind. 'If H ever finds out that happened, I'm positive he'll have my job and my head.' Ryan thought to himself.

Zoë then walked over to Horatio's house and knocked on the door. He answered quite quickly.

"Hey, how you doing?" She asked as he invited her in.

"Good thanks. How about you?" He asked as they walked through to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm alright thanks." She said trying to act normal.

"How's the wrist?" He asked. "Good" she said with a small smile.

"How's the chest?" She asked looking at him. "Good" he said with a smile. They both chuckled a little as Horatio tried to hide his affection for her and looked down at the floor briefly.

"How was work?" Horatio asked as he looked at her softly.

"Let's not even go there." She said, dismissing it.

"That bad?" Horatio asked.

"Mm-hmm" she nodded.

"Coffee?" He asked

"Nooo thank you, I'll have tea if you've got any, please?" She said looking at him, slightly uneasy. He looked at her slightly confused.

"Yes, I've got tea." He said as he pulled out two mugs and boiled the kettle.

"So what have you been up to then?" She asked.

"Not much, I did a small amount of paperwork." He said as he leant against the counter as she leant on the island counter.

"You weren't supposed to be working; you were supposed to be resting."

"I was resting… at my desk." He said as he turned around and poured the kettle. He made the tea and coffee and handed her the mug.

He could see that something was clearly bothering her.

"What's wrong?" He asked bluntly, getting it out there.

"Nothing" she said with a small smile. He looked at her and willed her to tell him.

"Please just leave it." She said looking at him, pleading him. He took a breath an exhaled giving her a small nod, not wanting to push her.

They chatted a little, getting her mind off the whole situation and she cheered up.

Then the living room caught her eye and she looked over a few times.

"What are you thinking about? What's wrong?" Horatio asked, seeing her look over at the living room a few times and thinking hard.

"I don't know… I can't put my finger on it." She said looking back at him.

A part of him still hoped that she'd remember, but another part didn't because he'd have to explain himself as to why he hadn't said anything for so long.

"Do you mind if I…?" She said looking back over.

"Of course not" Horatio said softly as he gestured to her to go right ahead. She walked through to the living room, with Horatio closely following.

"It's like… I know your living room, but I've hardly been here?" She said looking round to him.

Horatio didn't say a word; he just looked at her with a small smile and then looked down at the sofa.

She turned around and looked over at the bottom of the stairs.

Horatio's heart began to beat erratically as his nerves began to get the better of him, slightly scared of her remembering, he didn't know why he was feeling like this, all he wanted was for her to remember again.

"Are… are you okay?" Horatio asked as he looked over and up at her, tilting his head.

"Erm… yeah." She said looking over at him. He then gestured towards the sofa. She sat exactly where she used to sit, he sat down in his seat, next to her.

"It… it feels like it means something, but I don't know what." She said honestly, looking over at him.

Horatio raised his eyebrows and shook his head while he shrugged, pretending to not know what she meant.

Horatio then felt one large thud in his chest, and felt slightly strange.

"Are you okay?" She asked him as she saw a change in his facial expression.

"Yeah" he said as he brought his hand up to his chest.

"What's the matter?" She asked and then he began to feel normal again, but slightly confused.

"Nothing" he said with a small smile.

She reached over and took a hold of his wrist, taking his pulse. She then let go and placed her hand on his neck, taking his pulse again. She looked at him.

"No more caffeine for you." She said as she withdrew her hand.

"You've got quite a fast pulse Horatio, is there something the matter?" She asked.

He felt the thump again and the weird sensation followed.

She put her coffee down and leant over again and took his pulse, she looked at him with a peculiar look.

"You wouldn't happen to have a stethoscope lying around, would you?" She said as she dropped her hand from his neck.

"Sorry." He said as she shook his head.

"I thought so." She said with a small smile.

"Horatio, I need you to tell me what's wrong." She said looking over at him.

"Erm… it's just a sort of thump and then a weird sensation." She took the mug out of his hand.

"Can you describe the sensation?" She asked.

"Erm… like something bad is happening?" He said to her.

"Would you describe it as the feeling of impending doom?" She said looking at him.

"That description fits better than mine." He said looking at her.

"I don't have a stethoscope, can I listen to your chest though?" She said looking at him.

"Er… yeah?" He said, not sure of what she was going to do. She nodded at him and then leaned in closer.

"Head back and relax." She said as she placed her ear to his chest with a hand on his shoulder

He felt the thump again and she withdrew her head a few seconds later.

"Okay, it's nothing to worry about. Your heart is beating a little too fast and it's trying it's best to slow it down. Those thuds you're feeling are it trying to correct itself, almost like a defibrillator." She said giving him a reassuring smile.

"Your heart has been through a lot today, so it's probably going to be more noticeable." She said reassuring him.

He gave her a nod in understanding.

"Lay off the caffeine for a while though." She said raising an eyebrow at him. She picked up her tea and finished it. They looked over at the TV and began to watch it.

"So… why were you so adamant that you had tea instead of coffee?" Horatio asked.

"Long story honey." She said as she placed the mug on the coffee table.

"I'm not doing anything tonight." He said with a small grin.

She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" he asked.

She exhaled and looked at him. "I… er… please leave it?" She asked trying to get out of it again.

A shiver went down her spine as she remembered Ryan undoing her shirt.

"Sorry Horatio" she said and he gave her a nod.

"Do you feel up to work tomorrow?" She asked him with a smile.

"Absolutely" he said with a smile.

"Good, I'll pick you up as your car is still at MDPD." She said with a smile.

"Thank you" he said, stopping himself before he said beautiful at the end of his sentence.

Zoë looked back over to the bottom of the stairs. She looked at it for a few seconds and some old conversations radiated throughout her mind. She swallowed, as she became increasingly confused.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Horatio asked placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Er… yeah, can I please use your bathroom?" She said and he gave her a nod saying "of course".

"Thank you" she said as she got up and walked through into the bathroom and shut the door, looking into the mirror. She splashed her face with some of the water and looked into the mirror again.

"What is going on?" She asked herself as she leant on the sink.

She quickly dried her face and walked out, taking a deep breath.

Horatio had walked into the kitchen and placed the cups in the sink as she walked in.

He saw something troubling her again.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked turning around and looking at her.

She looked at him and then looked over at the living room again. "I don't know Horatio." She said looking back to him, raising her eyebrows. She glanced back over to the living room.

She looked back around to him and saw his shirt undone. She looked at him weirdly.

"What are you doing?" She asked, confused.

"Doing what?" Horatio asked as she blinked and suddenly his shirt was done up again.

She raised her hand to her head and looked at him, tilting her head.

"Nothing…" She said as she slowly shook her head.

"I should be going…" She said as she dropped her hand from her head and looked at him with a small shy smile.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked as he moved around to her and stood in front of her, tilting his head at her.

"I… I don't know Horatio." She said looking up at him, then quickly turned around and looked at the living room again.

"Sweetheart…" He began to say but wasn't sure how to finish the sentence.

She walked over to the living room and stood at the side of the sofa and looked down at Horatio's seat where she saw him sitting.

"Horatio?" She questioned.

"Come and sit down beautiful." He said as he smiled at her, with his shirt undone as he patted the seat beside him.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?" Horatio asked as he stood behind her, she jumped and turned around. 'He was just on the sofa?!' Zoë thought, thinking she was going crazy.

She looked at him troubled, she looked back round to the sofa and he was gone again.

She looked back around to Horatio behind her and he was also gone.

"Horatio? Horatio!" She shouted, feeling like she was losing her mind.

She heard something in the kitchen and began to make her way through to there.

"Zoë?" Horatio's voice said but she had no idea where it was coming from, she looked around, but couldn't see him.

"Horatio!" She yelled again, as she turned around, doing a full circle, her eyes frantically searching for Horatio. She felt the walls move in closer, as the air around her distorted and thickened.

"Horatio!" She cried as she felt invisible hands taking hold of hers.

Just a note to my regular readers, I will be transferring my stories to AO3 for a few reasons. I understand that some of my content is not whole-heartedly welcomed on this site so will be using AO3, especially as some of the story lines to come up will more than likely be better welcomed there. I will NOT stop posting to this site, but it has been suggested that I use the other site to post my workings in case for any reason my stories are reported and taken down. I reiterate, that I will continue to post here but am mentioning it now.

As always, thank you for taking your time to read these stories, next chapter to come tomorrow, thank you.