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: Calleigh Duquesne, Eric Delko, Horatio Caine

Warnings: none

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 16 "Like John Wayne"

Author's Notes: This is the last chapter!!!For all those patient people who have been waiting for me to update this story! I hope you enjoy these last couple chapters!!!

Good news! I have a new laptop! Which is totally awesome! The sort of frustrating part is that I have more than 200 pages of composition notebook pages that now need to be typed up!!! I have finished "Promises, Promises" now and am about done with "Not All Bad" and "Happiness is…" so keep an eye out for all of those!!!

………………………….

They had gotten the call, and Eric knew who was breaking every speed limit in Southern Florida to get to Clavo Cruz first. He'd gotten in with Frank just to be there to be a friend and make sure things were handled correctly.

"We've got to get there before Horatio," Frank told Eric.

"Horatio said that he was going to make sure that Clavo was put away for life," Eric said.

"He needs to be."

"Hey, where did they spot Clavo?" Eric asked curiously.

Frank rambled off the location and then continued, "And get this. He bought another one of those lemon yellow flashy cars."

Eric turned to Frank, "That's near Calleigh's place."

"He wouldn't go after her again."

"Step on it, Frank!"

…………………….

"Calleigh, Sweetheart, where are you?" Horatio asked wasting no time. He wanted to hear that she was okay and away from her apartment. He wanted to know that she was safe.

((I'm…like five minutes away from the lab. Why? What's goin' on?))

Horatio was relieved to hear that she was almost to the lab, but he also knew she wasn't there yet. Calleigh wasn't safe. "Listen to me. I want you to go straight to the lab and once you're in I want you to call me."

((Horatio—))

"Please do this for me, Sweetheart," Horatio pleaded.

((Alright, but you owe me coffee.))

Horatio smiled, "I think I can do that. I'll talk to you soon then."

((Alright. Bye.))

Horatio stopped when he spotted Clavo Cruz sitting in his new yellow car just sitting in front of Calleigh's apartment complex. Anger shot through him. Clavo had threatened him and Calleigh, and he was showing him exactly how serious he was and that he did know where Calleigh lived. His phone rang and Horatio knew who it was, "Calleigh's not here."

((Oh, I know, Caine.))

"What do you want, Clavo?"

((I'm going to take her away from you…and I'm even going to let you watch her die.))

"She's safe," Horatio told him.

((Nah, she's not.))

Horatio reached for the door handle, but before he could squeeze the handle and get out Clavo's car screeched and took off. Dropping the phone, Horatio put the Hummer back into drive and sped off after him. The game was on again, but Horatio had a bad feeling about it. The direction was suddenly something Horatio found familiar. It was Calleigh's route to the lab; he'd driven it a couple times over the past few days.

Reaching around for his cell phone, Horatio knew he needed to call Calleigh. With Clavo heading towards the lab, he could see him going after only one target: Calleigh. He'd considered him taking out the whole lab, but had quickly dismissed that idea. Clavo was far more personal than that. Calleigh would hit Horatio harder than his lab being destroyed. They could always rebuild, but Calleigh couldn't be resurrected from the dead like a Phoenix. Death was a permanent state in the world; one Horatio was far too familiar with.

The cell phone finally in hand, Horatio took his eyes away from the road just long enough to dial her number. He waited for her to pick up and then dove right in. "Sweetheart, where are you?!"

((I'm about to pull into the parkin' structure.))

"Clavo's headed towards the lab. I want you to alert security. Get inside quickly," Horatio ordered.

((Horatio—))

"He's after you, Sweetheart. But I'm not going to let that happen." He ended the conversation and set his cell back on the seat next to him. They'd made it to the lab far quicker than he'd expected. Of course, they'd both been speeding the whole way. He didn't like this. What if Calleigh didn't have enough time?

The Hummer dove into the parking structure after the lemon yellow car. Tires screeched and the car swerved recklessly around. The vehicles whipped around o the next aisle and accelerated. They were coming up on the security room for the structure. A man and a woman were clearly visible through the window.

……………………..

"Look, I've already told you. You need to call for back up. I don't care if you don't think the parking structure is a threat," Calleigh argued.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, they'll just laugh at me. I'm merely hired to keep an eye on things and most people are smart enough to not mess with cop cars."

Calleigh picked up the phone and dialed Frank. She'd left her cell phone in her car along with everything else. "Frank, Clavo's comin' to the lab with Horatio right behind him—"

"I'm no hero, Ma'am," the security guard told her.

Calleigh turned her head and dropped her sentence with Frank. A yellow car was barreling towards them with a Hummer right behind it, "Hurry," Calleigh added before dropping the phone. She pulled the security guard towards the door, but found her car wedged there blocking it. The yellow car had put it in place.

The guard yanked her back and pushed her towards the back supply closet. The sound of breaking glass rang through her ears followed by the crunch of wood. A force pushed them ahead and pain pumped through her body. She blinked her eyes, but felt warm liquid falling down along her face. Her eyelids demanded to be closed, and Calleigh lost the battle.

………………….

The guard station looked literally like it'd been completely knocked down and destroyed. There were no signs of Calleigh or the guard. His heart was beating irregularly, his lungs burned, and tears flowed freely from his eyes. His Calleigh was gone?

Calleigh's car was crunched a bit and buried in the guard station. Clavo's car started to back out of the wreckage. For a moment, Horatio just stared out at the scene. He could feel his throat closing. He watched as Clavo moved his crunched car, parked it, and then got out of it with a big smile.

"See Caine!" Clavo began to shout with joy. "What you love is gone!" He was triumphant! He pointed with glee back at the shattered station. "I told you I'd do it and make you watch!"

Horatio got out from his vehicle and had his gun ready. He was tired of the teasing and taunting. Horatio want to get even. He would kill him for killing Calleigh. As he shut the Hummer's door, he noticed Clavo had also pulled out his gun. Horatio held his weapon up and aimed it at Clavo.

Clavo did the same. "How does it feel, Caine? To know that I killed her? And now, now I'm going to kill you—"

"Miami Dade PD! Put your gun down!"

Horatio turned his head a bit and caught a glimpse of not only Tripp, but also Delko and a troop of officers. Back up was there. They were just late.

"You're too late!" Clavo taunted the officers. "She's dead!"

"Shut up!" Horatio snapped. His hands started to shake. The gun shook along with them. Anger and grief coursed through him.

Frank saw Clavo's finger going for the trigger. "Drop it, Cruz!"

Clavo smirked over at the officer before turning back to Horatio. "Time to see her again. Say goodbye to the cops—"

The bullet's sound seemed to hit ears after it hit Cruz. Frank couldn't risk it. He watched the gun fall from Cruz's hand and then the body hit the ground. It was only then that he looked around and took in the wreck that was the first level of the parking garage. He recognized the crashed car as Calleigh's and then took in the crushed security office. He looked back at Horatio and saw he hadn't moved, his gun was still up and in position.

Frank sighed and looked at his officers before walking back over to Horatio and taking his gun from him. "Calleigh was in there, wasn't she?" he asked quietly.

Horatio just nodded. "I wanted to kill him," he whispered as he continued to stare at the body.

"Yeah…I sort of took care of that for you," Frank mumbled. "Do you want me to call Alexx?" He could see how Horatio would want her there to care for Calleigh.

"Tell her to hurry," Horatio responded, still quiet.

………………….

Alexx arrived from the building with her kit. She found Horatio standing very close to the wreckage with Frank right behind him. Eric was off to the side with a look she hadn't seen in a while, not since Marisol…

"Alexx!"

She turned and saw Natalia and Ryan behind her. "I know don't know if it's a good idea you all are down here…"

"Is it true?" Ryan asked. "That Clavo killed Calleigh?"

"That's what they're telling me, Honey. I'm going to find out in a minute." Alexx turned back and headed for the crumpled station. She set down her kit and pulled on her gloves. She silently passed Frank and Horatio and waded through the debris.

She found two bodies.

Checking the security guard, she frowned when she found no pulse. He was young, and Alexx hated when lives were taken away like that. Next, her fingers traveled to Calleigh's neck. Her eyes widened and she shouted urgently, "Someone call Rescue!" She moved a patch of drywall off of her friend, "Calleigh's still alive!"

That was all Horatio had to hear before running in through the debris towards Alexx's position. She was alive. Clavo hadn't taken her away. "Can we move her?" Horatio asked as he knelt down.

"We're going to have to, just be careful," Alexx warned.

Horatio moved a couple pieces of debris and then carefully scooped her up into his arms. Trudging through the debris, he carried her to where Frank and the rest of the team stood. He could see their lips moving, but he didn't hear them. His only thoughts were Calleigh. "Calleigh Rescue!" he shouted as if the realization had just kicked in.

"Already done," Frank said.

"Carefully, Horatio laid Calleigh down on the ground and let her head fall into his lap. He wasn't going to leave her. Not now.

"Is she going to be okay?" Natalia asked looking to Alexx.

"I don't know yet," Alexx responded truthfully.

"Horatio?" Calleigh whispered as she peeked out with one eye before opening the other as well. She smiled a little sleepily up at Horatio.

"Don't move, Sweetheart," Horatio told her. "Where does it hurt?" he asked knowing that she was covered in blood.

"Horatio's right," Alexx spoke, "Don't move, Honey…you rest."

"I don't hurt," Calleigh said sitting up and then realized why they were all so worried. "I don't think the blood's mine…"

"Are you sure?" Alexx asked and then knelt down and started to look her over for some kind of bleeding wound. She wasn't finding anything.

Calleigh looked around then stopped when she saw Clavo's dead body. He had run into the structure when she had been talking to the guard. Looking around, she searched for the guard. She didn't see him anywhere. "Alexx? Where's the guard?"

"He didn't make it, Baby," Alexx told her friend with a frown.

Calleigh stared at the debris that stood in place of the security station. "He said he wasn't a hero…" she said dazed.

Horatio brought his arms around Calleigh and then pulled her close, not caring about the audience. "He was wrong," he whispered into her hair.

"Be careful with her, Horatio," Alexx warned. "She's bound to find bruising and soreness even if she feels okay today."

The ambulance arrived on scene, and Horatio made sure Calleigh went into the hospital even though she insisted she was fine. At the very least she could wash the blood off there after being cleared by a doctor. He rode along with her feeling no need to stay at the scene. His team was capable, and he decided it was best to leave it up to them.

……………………

The funeral for the security guard was held in Miami; his family was local and attended. From the outside it looked like a funeral for a fallen officer with the crime lab and a good number of the police department in attendance. Though most only knew his first name originally, they learned much more about him during the course of the ceremonies.

Jonathan Mathias was only twenty-five when he died. He was an only child, but many considered their brother at heart. He had wanted to work in law enforcement, but wasn't ready for the academy. Instead, he'd been attending Dade University and majoring in criminal justice. He would have graduated in spring with a bachelor's degree.

The information made it all seem so much more tragic. Alexx always told the young ones she cared for that they'd been taken too soon before their life could even begin. He had a dream and goals in life, but his wings had been clipped.

As Horatio, his team, and the police department behind them lined up to shake the parents' hands and offer their apologies. Horatio noticed something that had been on the easel next to where the parents had been sitting. There was a picture of John Mathias and then next to it was what the grave stone would say.

Jonathan A. Mathias

1982-2007

Beloved Son and Friend

Hero

Tears fell from Calleigh's eyes as she and Horatio shook the parents' hands and listened to Horatio's express his sympathy to the family. She'd met them before when she'd originally expressed her sympathy for their loss and told them their son was a hero. The mother pulled Calleigh into her arms and rubbed her back lightly. Calleigh heard the woman thank her. She didn't understand why she was being thanked though.

Horatio tugged Calleigh along with him once she was released. He could see confusion in her eyes. Sure, she'd been sad before, it was a funeral, but there was something more.

Calleigh waited until they were back at the vehicles before she spoke up. She'd been released from the hospital hours after she'd been admitted. She had come out with a mild concussion and a series of cuts and bruises. But over all, she was fine. No internal bleeding, cracked or broken bones, or even a lot of bleeding. The man had saved her and she had given him a bit of a hard time before he'd been killed.

She sat in the vehicle and fresh tears unleashed. Calleigh took the offered tissue and wiped her face. "Thank you," she murmured and tried to breathe and calm herself. She felt like a complete wreck. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel normal. But he'd saved her; a complete stranger had given up his life for hers without even blinking.

"You alright now?" Horatio asked gently.

"She thanked me," Calleigh blurted out. "Why did she do that?"

Horatio whipped away the remaining tears, "Their son died a hero… I'm sure that gave them some comfort."

"He would have been a good officer," Calleigh told Horatio.

"He would have."

……………………

The End.