We would like to thank ALL our loyal readers for your support while we have been away. In the next few weeks, you will see our stories being reposted here for all of you to read along with several NEW stories we've written while we've been away.

We appreciate all the kind messages we've received for our readers...we didn't realize how many of you were reading our stories, lol. It has brought HUGE smiles to us and we hope you'll continue to stick with us as we re-post some old favorites and hopefully new favorites. Thanks again!

CaineSpeedle & Speedfanatic05

Now for the good stuff!

**WARNING: STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT AND LANGUAGE! You Are Warned**

DISCLAIMER: We don't own any of the Miami characters and we're NOT making any money off of them!

SEQUEL TO: "Legacy Of Madness"

Walking through the corridors of the lab, Tim was preoccupied not by the file in his hand, but by the lack of communication between him and Calleigh. It had been three weeks since she returned with nothing to say about why she was back and a distinct desire not to talk about Horatio. He could see the disappointment in her eyes and the hurt that came along with it and knew that their relationship was hanging by a mere thread. Since her return, he'd seen less of her, even when he had invited her over for dinner; she declined, optioning instead to stay at home. He wanted to be there for her, but he wasn't going to force himself on her.

Turning the corner, he looked up to see her walking his way and a smile of surprise graced his lips as he folded the file down. Coming up to her, he arched his brow as he took in her appearance, noticing very quickly, the small pouch.

"Cal…how are you? Are you coming back to work?"

Seeing Tim as he walked towards her, Calleigh held onto her paperwork, knowing she'd have to go through him to get back into her lab. In the weeks she'd been back, she had spent a lot of time to herself, thinking about her future and where she wanted to go with it. And now that she was going to be a single mother, she would need to be able to support not only herself, but her child as well. The decision to return to CSI had been long and thought out. She knew that one day Horatio would return, she just hoped by then the dust would have settled.

Stopping in front of Tim, Calleigh gave him a small smile and presented him with her paperwork from personnel, "Well, I hope I am…that is if you still need a ballistics expert."

"Of course I still need a ballistics expert. Are you sure you're ready? I mean…you're…" Tim trailed as he looked to her stomach again. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, she placed her hand onto her stomach, "I'm great actually. Doctor gave me the okay to work…as did the therapist. Besides, I'm tired of sitting around my place…I need to work. I'm gonna have an extra mouth to feed."

Running a hand through his hair, he glanced away, "Have you…ah…um…talked to Horatio?"

Breathing out heavily, Calleigh looked round and then back to Tim, "I have nothing to say to him. He doesn't want to believe this child is his…then I don't need him in my life."

Deciding to stay out of their business, Tim nodded and looked over the personnel file. Smiling, he gestured to her, "Walk and talk?" When she followed, he glanced back to hear her catching up and smirked, "Nice to see you back, Cal. But…do not have a conniption fit about your gun vault. There was nothing I could do…"

Reaching for his arm and stopping him, she raised a brow, "What the hell is wrong with my vault? Better question, who am I gonna have to mame?"

"I have no idea, but it's probably going to take you forever to get it back to par," Tim answered as he glanced away. "You're going to probably spend the rest of the day there."

"Joy. Well then, I guess I'd better go take my domain back over. Oh and…being I'm in the condition I'm in…I'm lab only until after the baby is born…then we'll go from there." Pointing to the file she'd handed him, she shrugged, "It's all in there. But, we have the mobile link ups, so I can at least help out that way."

"Yeah, but we're gonna miss you on the scene." Turning the corner, he nodded as Walter and Jesse approached and then leaned into her, "I think you have two very happy guys wanting to see you. I'll be up in the office if you need me, okay?"

"Okay…thanks, Tim." Watching as he left, Calleigh then turned to Jesse and Walter as they came over to her, "Hey, what are you two up to?"

"Trying to stay out of trouble," Walter responded with a big smile. He gave her a slight nod and bowed, "It's nice to see you again, Detective Duquesne. It's been a big vacuum without you."

Giving him a smile, Calleigh slipped her hands into the pockets of her trousers, "Well, that's gonna change. I was just reinstated, so I'm back to work here…lab only through for now." Glancing at Jesse, she shrugged, "Gotta take what I can get. But, at least I'm not sitting at home anymore."

"It's nice to see you back, Calleigh. Things weren't the same without you." Jesse shifted his weight and smirked, "So…all rested from your break? I heard you had a mess in firearms to take care of." Seeing her glare, he held his hands up defensively, "Hey…don't blame me. I had nothing to do with it."

"I want to know who was running my lab while I was out. Any ideas or do I have to threaten target practice?" she asked as she looked back and forth between the two of them. "Come on, spit it out."

Looking to Jesse, Walter scratched his head and mumbled, "Jones…"

"Walter," Jesse exclaimed through clenched teeth as he smiled at Calleigh. They'd both inadvertently caused the demise of a fellow CSI and the sad thing was that they didn't know what was coming.

"Jones…" Calleigh repeated, "Well, looks like I'll be having a nice long talk with him about how to properly maintain a firearms lab then." Seeing Jesse's look, Calleigh raised a brow and decided to tease him some, "Would you rather take his place?"

"Ah…no… Not in the least bit. Have your fun with Jones. Hey, when…you ah…get a chance, do you want to have lunch with me in the break room? It will give us a chance to catch up. You've been gone so long…" Jesse held a hopeful tone, "I mean I understand if you don't want to."

Giving him a small smile, Calleigh nodded, "If I'm not buried up to my ass in the vault, then I'm sure I can…as long as you're buying." Smirking, she chuckled some, "I'll be there."

His tentative smile turned wide and he nodded, "Alright. I'll give you a call around twelve. We'll go from there." Looking to Walter, he raised his brow, "Get to work, big guy. Don't want the supervisor coming down on you."

Walking away with Jesse, Walter shook his head, "Nah, see, Speed and I we have an understanding…"

Snickering some as they walked away, Calleigh turned to head to the elevators. Seeing Stetler standing there, she sighed heavily and walked over, pressing the button, but not saying a word to the man. Since Tim had taken over the lab, she'd heard that Rick had been floating around more, asking question's as to Horatio whereabouts along with hers. Not wanting to give anything away, she looked up at the numbers as they slowly ticked down.

Giving a sideways glance, Stetler cleared his voice and smirked darkly, "Nice to see you back, Detective. It's been a while. It's also been a while since I've seen Horatio. Do you know where he's at?"

"No, Rick I don't," Calleigh replied with a firm voice. "It's not my job to keep up with him, now is it? Besides, he's a grown man, I'm sure he can take care of himself."

"There's a rumor that he's down in the Keys, in a facility. It seems as if he's gotten himself addicted. I knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped up." Turning to her more, he arched a brow, "You're looking…refreshed. How far along are you?"

"Excuse me?" Calleigh asked as she finally looked to him.

"You're pregnant, aren't you? And with his child…" Smirking more, he blinked and shook his head, "Don't play coy with me, a blind man could see the attraction between you two." Peering into her eyes, he saw something else and grinned harder, "But you're here, and he's…not."

Tilting her head and blinking, Calleigh raised a brow, "And since when is my personal life any of your concern, Rick or in your job title?"

"It's my job to know about every aspect of the lab and fraternization between colleagues is against policy," Stetler rattled off. He shook his head and stepped closer, "I'm this much closer to finally having what I want, and Caine's just that much closer from the edge. It's only a matter of time."

As the elevator door's opened, Calleigh walked in and turned back looking at him. Pressing the button she needed, she smiled, "Yeah, I heard about that, Rick. Seems that lab supervisor position slipped through your fingers again, didn't it?" As the doors began to slide close, she smiled more, "Have a good day, Rick."

Going into the office that Harry was letting him use, Horatio went over to the desk and sat down. In the month he'd been there, he'd made great headway with his addiction. The cravings were coming few and far between now and the muscle spasm had stopped finally. Even with all that, he knew he still had a long recovery road ahead of him, but he was doing what he could now to stay on track.

Looking at the phone, he longed to call the one person he'd been missing the most, but knew by her absence since that first visit that she didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Picking up the receiver, Horatio began to dial another number from memory, hoping to at least get some sort of information on how she was doing at least. Hearing the line pick up and the familiar voice on the other end, Horatio bowed his head slightly. "Speed."

The sound of his voice on the other end brought a surprise to Tim and he lifted his head from the paperwork to focus more, his brows knitting. Looking around, he cleared his throat, "Ah…H. Um…how are you doing?"

Looking around the room some, Horatio nodded and sighed, "Pretty good, Speed. How about you? I heard you're running the lab now."

"Yeah, but seriously, I don't know how you do it, H." Running his hand through his hair, he exhaled and sat back in the chair, rubbing his eyes. "I'm going crazy as it is, and it's getting worse. Stetler's hovering."

Smirking some, Horatio raised a brow, "He's probably pissed that's it's you in that chair and not him. Just do like I did, ignore him…that or call his bluff." Turning some in the chair and sitting back, Horatio looked towards the window, "How's your daughter handling you working so much now?"

"Emma's getting used to it," Tim answered as he looked to the picture that he'd placed on the desk. He was sure that Horatio wouldn't mind if he added just that one picture, the only thing he felt he needed to have. Smiling, he sighed, "She wishes, though, that I would give it up. She misses her Daddy."

"I'm sure she does," Horatio said softly and then looked down. "I'm sorry I put you in this position, Speed. It wasn't my intention…I've screwed up a lot of things…and lives."

"Horatio, don't worry about that. You're getting better, and that's what matters. All this other stuff, just…don't worry. Things are going well at the lab, I'm okay. Cal's…" Stopping, he closed his eyes and sighed, knowing that this would be a sore subject for him. Trying to amend it, he added, "Sorry, H…I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay, Speed. How is Calleigh doing? I…I take it she's back in Miami," Horatio replied as he looked back out the window. "She hasn't come by or called…I figured she left."

"Yeah, she started back to work. She's doing good so far. She's looking well." In the silence of the pause, he debated on whether to get involved and then sighed, "Look, H. I've never touched Calleigh. She's always been yours, and I suspect, you still are. That baby is yours, hands down."

Sighing heavily, Horatio rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know that for sure though, Speed. Too much has happened and I doubt Calleigh wants anything to do with me anymore. I haven't seen or heard from her in almost a month. That's proof enough to me that's it's over."

"You don't know unless you try, H. Have you tried to call her?" Tim was becoming flustered but knew that he needed to go slow, "I'm just saying, H. You assume that she won't be understanding. I think Cal just wants you to acknowledge what you had."

Sitting back in the chair again, Horatio closed his eyes, thinking back to the last time he'd seen her. Shaking his head, he spoke softly, "She left me, Speed. I tried to stop her…but she left." Opening his eyes again, he lowered his head, "She's probably moving on with her life now…which is good. She doesn't need me fucking it up for her anymore then I already have."

"I don't know what you constitute as moving on, H, but I don't think Cal's doing it. She's not herself anymore. Just…just try and talk to her," Tim answered back with an arched brow.

Licking his lips and raising his brow, Horatio stared out blankly, "Easier said then done, Speed…easier said then done." Knowing the man was still probably at work, Horatio blinked and took in a deep breath, "Look, I'm sure you're busy, I'm gonna get off here. Congratulations on the position, Speed. If anyone deserves it, it's you."

Knowing that he only had seconds left with the man, he spoke quickly, "H talk to her. You'll never know what can happen. She loves you."

A small smile formed and Horatio sighed, "Does she now? Goodbye, Speed. Take care of everyone." With that, Horatio hung up the phone, his eyes and hand staying on it, wishing his life had been different.

Hanging up the phone, Tim exhaled heavily and mumbled, "The things I do for friends." Picking up the phone he dialed her number and then waited, his annoyance growing as the seconds ticked by.

Placing the handguns back in order onto the back wall of the vault, Calleigh checked off each one on her clipboard as she went. For most of the day, she'd been rearranging things back into proper order and doing an inventory check at the same time. Smiling as she placed a Smith and Wesson into place, her phone began to ring and she reached into her pocket for it. Flipping it open, she placed it to her ear with one hand while her other began to write, "Duquesne."

Hearing her pick up, Tim rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head, "Look, Cal, you've got to talk to H. This is petty and it's been going on too long. You both know that you love each other and the pregnancy issue…well, you'll have to navigate through that. The point is, Cal, he needs you."

Raising a brow and setting her pen down, Calleigh placed her hand onto her hip and shifted her weight, "Excuse me, Tim? Mind telling me what brought all this on? Cause if I remember correctly, I left him almost a month ago. If he cannot man up and claim what's his then there is nothing to discuss."

"Give him the chance, Cal. He wants the chance. He called and he wanted to know how you were doing. He's showing interest, Calleigh. Allow him that."

Getting annoyed, Calleigh began to work again, "If he wants a chance then he can call me…I'm not calling his ass."

"Since when did you become four? Calleigh, be grown up about this," Tim said irritably. When met with silence, he relented, "Alright…okay. I'll get him to call you, but you've got to promise that you'll at least give him the chance."

"He'll have five minutes to do some convincing. Now I'm busy with getting this vault into order. Is there anything else you needed?" she asked, her voice and tone showing her mood.

"No…nothing else. Thanks, Cal." Hanging up, he sat back and covered his eyes, allowing a tuft of air to escape his lungs. Mumbling to himself, he groaned, "I do not want a relationship."