A/N: Thank you for your reviews. Sophia hasn't been all that helpful at all, but the team wouldn't be the team we know, if they'd stop their search for Gabriel, huh? Let's see if they can find him or…if he will find them in the end.

Chapter 15

True to his words, Horatio had stayed at the lab until deep into the night. His neck felt like they had reviewed every evidence concerning the beach case and they actually had. Long after Calleigh had gone to her meeting with her father, the three men had stayed behind, hoping against hope to find a new lead that would break the case wide open. In the end, after hours of work, they had found the one or other thing but nothing really interesting. He had sent the boys home and after some debating, he'd gone home as well. Hoping that with two fresh eyes he would probably find something.

Yawning, he reached for his coffee cup and took a sip of the dark liquid. "It's like running in circles," he mumbled to himself when he turned another page of the file lying in front of him. "He can't be that good," he muttered and massaged his neck. Looking up from his file, he looked out of the window and saw that Speed had arrived in his lab. Glancing at his watch, he grinned to himself. "Wow, he's more or less on time, even though he had a long night." He probably wanted to close this case as much as anyone else did.

Taking another sip, he realized that his cup was empty. "Oh great, it's only eight in the morning and I already finished my first cup," he rolled his eyes. "By the end I'm going to have more coffee in my body than blood." Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his cup and walked down the stairs. "Morning Speed," he smiled at the man when he exited the Trace Lab.

"Morning H," the man mumbled. "Your second cup already?" he pointed at the item in Horatio's hand.

"I'm afraid so," H looked down.

"I hope this doesn't have the same effect on you as cocaine has on our southern belle."

Laughing, he shook his head. "Don't worry, it won't." This was a running gag within the team, because Calleigh had been quite a sight that day. She was always very talkative, but on this day, she had taken it to an extreme.

"Good, I'm not sure if I want to see you flying around or something," Speed smirked.

"I already told you that I can't fly," Horatio shot back playfully and entered the break room.

"Not yet H, not yet," Speed replied. "Keep up with the caffeine in your body and we'll talk later."

"Who'll talk about what?" Eric entered the break room behind them.

"H and me about him flying around."

"I thought you aren't able to fly?"

Horatio just groaned. "Could we please end this discussion and start a new one?"

The boys just smirked at each other. Sometimes it was very easy to pull Horatio's leg. "Sure, just give us an interesting topic."

"Anything but vampires and their ability to fly."

"Not sure if we can find something interesting then," Eric shrugged and re-filled the coffee machine.

"Didn't you and Calleigh arrive together today?" Speed asked and played with the tea bag in his cup.

"No," Horatio shook his head. "She didn't come over last night."

"Oh?" Eric looked up. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Nooo," Horatio sighed. "She met her father last night and since I wasn't sure when…or if I would go home, we agreed that she wouldn't come over."

"Okay, but this doesn't explain why she isn't here yet," Speed pointed out.

"Who isn't here yet?" they heard another voice behind them.

"Calleigh," Eric answered and sat down on the couch.

"She wasn't at your place last night?" Alexx looked at Horatio questioningly.

Eric reached for the newspaper. "No, they agreed that there was no need to, because Horatio probably wouldn't make it home."

Horatio gave him an outraged glare. "I can talk for myself, you know?"

Speed just snickered.

As did Alexx, but then she became more serious again. "Okay this explains why she didn't arrive with you, but not why she hasn't arrived yet."

"She probably overslept," Eric mumbled and searched for something interesting in the news section.

"We're talking about Calleigh here, Delko," Speed sat down next to him.

Speed and Alexx were right, this wasn't like her. Reaching for his cell, he checked if he had any missing calls, but hadn't. "I'm going to give her a call," he stated and hit the speed dial; the others were watching him closely.

It only took a few rings until someone picked up on the other side and from one moment to the other, Horatio's world turned upside down.

"Hello, my childe," a well known voice greeted him and for the first time in years, Horatio felt fear.

"What have you done to her?"

"Me? Nothing," Gabriel chuckled. "Could I ever hurt a human?" he drawled.

"Where is she, Gabriel?" Horatio growled lowly, which made the others gasp.

"She's in very capable hands, I can assure you my childe."

"I'm not your childe," Horatio snapped back.

"Oh but you are, you little pup. I'm your maker and that makes you my childe."

Gritting his teeth, Horatio tried to stay calm, but this was getting harder by every passing minute. "Where is she, Gabriel?" he asked again.

"With me of course," he laughed humourlessly. "You're talking with me via her cell phone, did you already forget that? My, aren't you the most famous CSI? Looks like it's very easy to impress those humans," he said snidely.

"She is mine, Gabriel. She belongs to me."

"Well but right now she's with me, so keep this stupid nonsense to yourself. I have to admit though that you really know how to pick out the nice ones. She's beautiful," he said lecherously. "She smells of you, but not for long, don't worry."

"If you hurt her I'm going to kill you," Horatio growled and the longer they talked, the more he changed into his other nature. His eyes become icier and his voice got deeper.

"Funny, my childe, as far as I know, I'm already dead. So please, you're boring the hell out of me," he yawned. "If this was all you had to say I'm going to say goodbye, because I have more pleasurable things in mind than talking to you."

"GABRIEL," Horatio shouted. "If you hurt her in any way, then have a good look at the moon today, because you'll never see it shine again." With that he quit the call and glared at the other people in the room. "Get her cell traced and you better have some good news for me when I come back," he threatened.

Eric and Speed just nodded quickly. They had never seen him like this and they felt no need to anger him any further. "Y-yes.."

Alexx, who'd had seen him once or twice like this, couldn't help but asking. "Where are you going?"

Shooting her a glare, he reached for the door handle and opened it. "I'm going to get some answers."

Gulping, Speed looked at the others. "I've never, ever seen him like this," he whispered.

"Me neither," Eric agreed.

"It takes a great deal to anger him like this and I can only advice you to have some answers for him once he's back. This is Calleigh we're talking about, she's one of us. We can't let her be the next victim."

The boys looked at each other and communicated without words. "There's no other case today."

"I'm going to trace her cell," Speed stood up. "Delko, go see her father, we have to find out when and where Gabriel kidnapped her. His house or hers might be our original crime scene."

"You got it, Speed."

Alexx watched the two men leaving. "Please let her be okay; don't let her become another victim," she prayed quietly. If Calleigh was hurt, dead…or turned, they'd not only lose her today, but Horatio as well. She didn't want to think of the mess he would cause if he snapped. It'd be living hell.

Horatio stepped out of his car and slammed the door shut. He was angry, he was afraid for Calleigh's safety, he was livid…in other words: the volcano was just before erupting. With strong steps he made his way to the front door and knocked loudly. "I know you're here so open up the fu**ing door!" Swearing was so not Horatio Caine, but the vampire handled things quite differently.

A very annoyed house owner opened the door. "What the hell do you want? Are you out of your mind, little one?" she hissed quietly.

Horatio just made his way inside the house. "Where is he? Where is he hiding?" he demanded loudly.

Sophia shot him a cold glare and closed her front door. "Lower your voice."

Horatio was neither in the mood to listen to her, nor did he have time for games. "Where is he?" he stepped closer and showed his fangs.

Sophia stayed where she was, she would never back away from a pup. Instead, she pushed her hands on her hips and tried to stare him down.

"He's got what is mine," Horatio growled and took another step closer. "Answer me! Or I'm going to make you." His rage made him beyond caring and so he reached for her.

Inside, Sophia wanted to laugh at the poor attempt, but outside she was very angry. When he tried to grab her, she showed him exactly what she was capable of and seconds later, it was Horatio who was pressed against the wall and a very angry vampire lady literally jumping into his face. "Don't you dare to talk to me like this, Horatio Caine," she growled quietly and flashed her teeth at him. "Don't you dare to treat me like that. I'm your mentor and you will treat me with the respect I deserve."

When he tried to escape her grasp, she pressed him even harder against the wall, which made him hiss in pain. "Sit down on the couch, little one and we can talk. If you won't calm down, I will make you. Do I make myself clear?" She was four times older than he was and he wouldn't stand a chance against her if she was serious. "Did I make myself clear?" she asked again, a little more threatening this time when he didn't answer.

"Yes," he hissed.

"Good," she nodded and let go of him. He was lucky that she was his mentor and therefore had something like a soft spot for him. Otherwise he'd know exactly what it would feel like to treat an elder with disrespect. "Sit down."

Horatio gave her one last look and then did as he was told. Now he not only felt angry, but also ashamed for his behaviour. Looking down, he tried to calm himself and clear his mind.

"So what's going on, Horatio?" Sophia asked and it was still easy to detect in her voice that she was anything but happy with him at this moment.

"He's got her," he whispered.

Rolling her eyes at him, she went into it. "Who has who?"

"Gabriel. He has Calleigh. He's got what is mine," the anger came back.

Ah, so there was the problem. "I see."

"I see? This is all you can say? He's going to kill her or even worse turn her against her will," Horatio raised his voice again and snapped his mouth shut when she raised her brows.

"We've already talked about your tone, Horatio Caine," she said calmly. "How do you know that he got her?"

"Calleigh didn't come to work this morning, so the team and I got worried. I called her number and Gabriel picked up."

Nodding, she accepted his explanation. "Okay. Did you tell him that she's yours?"

"Yes! Of course I did. And he just laughed and said that he doesn't care about it."

Well this was certainly not good. If vampires staked their claims by using a sentence like "she's mine" or "she belongs to me" no other vampire was allowed to come close to that person. This was an unwritten law and only a few were stupid enough to break it.

"Where is he, Sophia?" Horatio interrupted her inner musings.

"Horatio I-"

"No, don't give me excuses. You know where he is, you always know everything about everyone. Where is he?" he tried to reach her conscience. When she didn't reply, he sighed. "Listen, I know you always say that I need to find him on my own, because only this will give me closure. But this isn't about me alone any longer, this is about Calleigh. You probably don't know any longer what it feels like to care for anyone."

"I do know what it feels like," she snapped at him.

"Then tell me where he is," he countered and stood up from the couch again.

"You know that I'm not allowed to do that, little one," she pressed her lips together and looked at him.

"I know you aren't, just give me a hint; that's all I'm asking for, Sophia, please. I love her and I can't lose her."

This took her by complete surprise. "You…you love her?" Until now she'd thought of Calleigh as a play toy for Horatio's amusement.

Horatio furrowed his brows. "Yes, yes I do. Please Sophia, help me."

She'd always had a hard time to say no to this baby blue eyes and she hated herself for being so weak. Before he could touch her, she turned her back to him and walked to a small dresser. There she opened a drawer and pulled out two items. "I don't know if he's still there, but he's claimed a small warehouse, just outside the city. It's about three miles up north from our annual meeting point. You won't miss it, I'm sure." She handed him the two items.

Realizing what this meant, Horatio was more than surprised. "You're giving me permission?"

"I probably should have done that years ago," she stroked his cheek. "I hope it's not too late now."

"Thank you," he gave her a small smile and kissed the inside of her hand. "I'll make you proud, I promise." He quickly tucked away the items.

"I know you will," she smiled at him. "And now, don't lose anymore time. I can feel that she's still alive, but I don't know for how long."

Horatio didn't question her words, he just nodded. "I won't, thank you." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left the house.

Sophia just walked to the window. "Go and find what's yours Horatio," she said softly and watched the man, who she had hoped would be hers one day, leave.

tbc