Title: Vendetta

Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab/Miami Heat/LJ)

Summary: Clavo Cruz escapes from prison and goes after those Horatio holds dear in order to really get back at him. Clavo sees that there's more between Horatio and one of his co-workers, and takes Calleigh... (takes place before current season - I swear this was thought up before "Man Down")

Category: Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio

Genres: Angst, Drama, Episode Related, Established Relationship, Friendship, Hurt Comfort, Suspense

Characters: Horatio Caine, Calleigh Duquesne, Eric Delko

Warnings: none

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 12 "Lifeline"

Author's Notes: laptop is back in for repair…again twitches

……………………

The annoyance rang loud and clearly. Her hand reached out blindly to silence it. It wasn't responding how she expected it to. Her hand was connecting with it, but it was still ringing. Her eyes forced themselves open, it was her cell not her alarm clock she realized. Her fingers clumsily flipped open the phone. It took her a minute to actually get it to her ear, but she managed to get it there. "Hello?" she finally answered weakly not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

((—alleigh…))

At first, her brain couldn't process the voice, but then her eyes quickly widened at the realization of who it was. She straightened in the office chair. "Horatio?" she asked at first not believing her ears. "Where are you? Are you okay?" she asked as calmly as she could force. Tears stung at her eyes before common sense kicked in and she tugged at a piece of stationery and scribed a note to trace her line along with her phone number. Calleigh also added to call Eric and to tell him to be ready to be picked up along with his number.

((—alleigh…))

She sucked in breath when she realized he may not hold on for much longer. "I'm here…stay with me," she prompted as she hurried out of his office and down the stairs. As she passed the night shift A/V tech, she slapped the note across his screen before hurrying out of the lab. "Horatio," Calleigh spoke up again. "I need you to talk to me… I'm trying to get to you, but…but I need help." She had to cover the microphone, so he didn't hear her voice tremble. It would do him no good.

((Cold.))

It wasn't the response she wanted to hear. She pulled open the door to one of the Hummers outside. She heard someone yell that dayshift wasn't on, but Calleigh just dragged the door shut and started up the vehicle. "Horatio, I'm gettin' Eric and we're goin' to find you… We're comin'…."

……………………

A phone call in the middle of the night had not been something he had expected. He'd crashed the middle of the night had not been something he had expected. He'd crashed the minute he'd gotten home. The A/V tech telling him that he needed to be ready for Calleigh was not only a relief, but a shock as well. The A/V tech could only guess it was Horatio or Clavo on the other end of the line. He was waiting for her with the night shift A/V tech still on his phone.

He could tell that Calleigh was talking to Horatio by the tears running down her face and the hushed, but loving tone of her voice as she talked on her phone. He wondered if she should be driving in such a state. "He says to head towards the Port of Miami," Eric told her.

She knew that the longer the phone lines stayed connected, the better the chance to get a triangulation on Horatio's position. "Horatio, we're almost there," she told him as she turned the bar of lights on to help clear lagging traffic between her and Horatio.

"He's in one of General Cruz's buildings near the port," Eric said thanking the tech and hanging up. He pulled the stack of papers with information on Cruz properties throughout the state of Florida. He found the property and quickly listed off the address. "It's not far."

The sound was deafening. "Horatio?" she asked bordering on calm. No answer except for the tone that told her that she'd lost her connection with him. "Horatio?!" she shouted more panicked. She thrust the phone to Eric, "Redial Horatio's cell," she told him as her foot fell heavier on the gas pedal.

Eric tried to reach Horatio, but it went directly to voicemail. "There's no power, Calleigh." He watched as tears furiously rolled down her cheeks. They were close, and they knew where to go, but she was cut off from his voice. She missed the assurance was what Eric could come up with. "He's okay, Calleigh. You've got to believe that."

Once the building was spotted that was all that mattered. Calleigh didn't waste anytime parking the Hummer in the correct space or even turning off the vehicle. But Eric's hand caught her arm before she could leave the Hummer. "We should call for back up," he told her trying to stay rational.

"He can't wait that long, Eric," Calleigh told him as a new wave of tears rushed from her eyes.

……………….

TBC…