A/N: Thank you all for your reviews again, they meant a lot to me. A special thank you goes to my anonymous reviewers, since I couldn't thank them via PM.

So I divided this chapter into two parts, or it would have been too long. Please let me know what you think.

Chapter 7.1

Annoyed, Horatio quitted the call and took a deep breath. It was Saturday, he wasn't on call and yet he had received a call from the Chief, telling him that he was needed at a crime scene. Life was definitely unfair. Why couldn't someone from the nightshift handle the case? "Because the Mayor always gets a special treatment," he grumbled. He and Mayor Simmons have never been friends and the fact that this Mayor was now ruining his well planned weekend with his daughter didn't help at all.

And this was the key word – daughter. What should he do with Elena? His in-laws were out of town, Eric was in the lab…"Alexx." If there was one person on earth who would love to babysit his daughter, then it was Alexx. Immediately he hit the speed dial and waited for her to pick up.

Impatiently he started to pace up and down and when she didn't pick up after the 10th ring, he knew that she wasn't at home and he in great trouble. "Damn…" he mumbled under his breath and was devoid of ideas. He didn't know any teenage babysitters, especially none he would trust to stay alone with Elena and this was a big problem now. "Okay, collect yourself Horatio, stay calm and think. Who's not on call, who do you trust and who is able to stay with Elena?" This was definitely not easy to answer.

With a deep sigh he sat down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair. Well there was one person who complied all this qualities, but he didn't know if this person was at home or willing to spend some hours of vacation with babysitting his daughter. "Well Horatio, you'll never find out until you don't call her," he said to himself and once again used the speed dial. Crossing his fingers mentally he dearly hoped to reach her.

Surprised she looked up from her book which she was reading in. She was sitting and enjoying the sun on her balcony, something she was rarely able to do. "Please, don't let it be you, Dad…," she sighed deeply. It was just after noon and if some barman would call her to pick up her Dad…she didn't even want to think about it. Ungraciously she fingered after her cell phone which was vibrating on the small table next to her. "Duquesne?" she picked up and snapped her book shut, prepared for the worst.

"Hey Cal, it's me," Horatio said when he heard her voice and let his eyes roam over the living room. "I'm sorry to bother you while you're on vacation," he sighed and really had a bad conscience about it. She deserved this time just for herself and now he was interrupting it. Or the chief…well maybe he and the chief together. Not to forget the Mayor.

"Aw, that's fine, Horatio," she drawled in her typical southern accent, relieved that it was just him and not a bar. "What's wrong?" she asked and laid back a bit to make herself comfortable again.

"First of all… are you back in Miami already?"

"Yeah, sure. Since yesterday. Why?"

"I…just wanted to make sure, uhm.. because I need to ask you a favor," he said unsure.

"Okay? Shoot, what can I do for my favorite Lieutenant?" she teased him playfully.

It was a good thing, that she couldn't see his slight blush. "Oh well, your favorite Lieutenant as you call him, needs a babysitter for his daughter, since the Chief wants him on a scene even though he's not on call."

"Oh? What happened?" she asked worried and sat up a bit.

"Well it seems like the Mayor found his dead maid in his house…and he doesn't want any fuss about it…well you know politicians and so he called the Chief…who called me and told me that I'd better get my backside to the crime scene," he told her with an annoyed undertone.

"Oh great," she grumbled in sympathy.

"Yeah. I would have asked Marta and Pavel, but they're away for the weekend. Eric is also on call, so he can't keep Elena and I couldn't get hold of Alexx..so…uhm…," he pulled a face, "if you 're busy…I understand that."

"No, no. I'm not busy. Of course I will babysit her." She loved Elena and she loved spending time with her and her father. "When do you want me to come?"

"As soon as possible, actually. Are you really okay with that, Cal? It's your vacation and I don't want you to skip any plans you might have."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be there in 15. That's what friends are for and I can raid your fridge," she laughed to lighten up the mood and show him, that she was more than okay with it. Standing up she grabbed her book and got inside her apartment.

"I'm not sure if you can find so much in it, but you can at least have a try," he chuckled softly. "Thank you, Calleigh. This means a lot to me. I wouldn't have disturbed you if it wasn't important."

"I know that and I'm happy that you trust me enough to babysit her," she smiled sweetly, even though he couldn't see it, and began to get ready. "Do I need something to stay overnight?"

"Uhm…ah..no, no," he said shyly. "I'll tell the Chief that I can't work that late. So no.. you don't have to," he shook his head.

"Okay, if you say so," she grinned and would still pack a small overnight bag. She knew the chief and she knew Horatio and the way he was when a case got hold of him. But to be fair she had to admit that he has changed a lot over the last months. It was now a rare sight to see him in his office after shifts ends and this was a good sign. The Chief on the other side, wanted to please the Mayor and this meant that he would even force Horatio to work as long as they needed to process the scene. "Well I'll get ready then, I'll see you in a few."

"Yeah, but don't hurry, Cal. Take your time, I'll wait for you anyway," he told her and bid her goodbye. Closing his cell he walked to his 6 month old daughter who was lying in her playpen. "Aunt Calleigh will watch out for you, isn't that great?" he said and lifted her up. "I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun." He hated to leave her alone on the weekend. He hated to leave her anyway, but this time of the week was always their time and now he had to leave her alone. "Daddy will be back as soon as possible, I promise," he kissed her head and gave her a squeeze, which made her squeal in delight.

***

It was after 11 p.m. when Horatio unlocked his door. 10 hours of processing a crime scene, listening to the Mayor's disapproving rants about Horatio's working procedure and processing the evidences in the lab. And now he was finally home again. With a sigh he closed the door behind him and let his keys drop onto the small table in the hallway. With some trouble he slipped out of his shoes, kicked them under the table and hung up his jacket. He was deadly tired and hungry. He didn't have the chance to eat a snack in the lab, because he had been busy working and right now he could literally eat a horse. The problem was, that he was too tired to actually cook something. With a shrug he padded into the living room and was greeted by Calleigh.

Calleigh had already heard the door and knew it could only be him, so she wasn't surprised when she saw him entering the room. "Hey Handsome…," she greeted him softly and switched off the TV. She'd been watching some realty show, so she wouldn't fall asleep until Horatio would be home again.

He felt anything but handsome in this very moment, so he just cracked her a wry smile. "Hi."

"You look like hell," she said in sympathy and watched him sitting down on the couch next to her. "Do you want to talk about it? Did you eat something?" she asked concerned, because he looked a bit gaunt.

"Don't know and no," he gave her the short answer and shook his head. "Don't want to cook and don't think there is actually something in the fridge", he continued. It had been his plan to do some grocery shopping today, but the darn case had hindered him successfully.

Calleigh just smiled to herself. This was a rare view and even though she felt bad for him, he looked incredible cute right now. "Then it's a good thing that I ordered a big pizza some time ago and there is still something left for you."

"You did?" he cracked one eye open and looked at her curiously.

"Uh-huh. Stay here and I'll heat it up for you," she said and didn't give him any chance to argue. Not that he was in any state to do so anyway.

"Okay," he sighed and rested his head against the back of the couch.

In the kitchen, Calleigh grabbed the pizza slices and put them into the oven so they could heat up a bit. After finishing that, she grabbed the lemonade pitcher out of the fridge and searched for a glass. Then she put it all on a tray and just waited for the pizza to be ready. She dearly hoped that he would eat something and as a result would get some strength back, since she needed to talk to him. She had found out about something today, that had disturbed her a great deal and Horatio was the only one who could give her answers to her questions.

Leaning against the counter, she tried to find the best way to approach the sensitive subject. She didn't feel good in her skin, but it had been a complete accident the way she'd found out. And for now she didn't even know if her suspicions were actually right or wrong, though she didn't have any other conclusion about her finding.

The typical ring of the oven startled her out of her deep musings and for now she tried to shake away her thoughts. Right now he needed a little bit of pampering and she was more than willing to give it to him. With the tray she left the kitchen and stopped in her tracks when caught glimpse of him.

Horatio was still sitting on the sofa, like she had left him. His head was resting in an uncomfortable way against the back of the couch and his eyes were closed. She slowly made a few steps towards him to have a better look at him. And what she saw shocked her. He had dark circles around his eyes, there were deep wrinkles everywhere, his normally white skin looked gray and he looked totally exhausted. She knew that this had been a stressful day, but one day couldn't make you look so drained. He looked at least 10 years older and Calleigh was angry with herself that she hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Hey," she said softly if not to startle him and put down the tray onto the couch table. "I hope you like extra cheese?" she smiled and handed him his plate with some pizza.

Slowly Horatio opened his eyes and he felt his senses coming back to life when he smelt the wonderful aroma of a good pizza. "Right now, I'd even eat anchovy," he joked. "But extra cheese is just fine."

"That's good," she grinned and sat down next to him with a freshly filled glass of lemonade. Crossing her legs the Indian style, she watched him eating and smiled at his humming approval. "I'll take you enjoy your nourishment?"

"Oh absolutely," he answered after swallowing and did his best of not to bolt too much, but he felt like starving.

"Good," she nodded. "So, what about the case?" she asked him curiously.

Instead of giving her a verbal answer, he just rolled his eyes which made her laugh. "Well the 'case' as you call it, isn't a case actually. At least not for CSI."

"How so?" she asked intrigued.

"For me everything looks like a death of natural cause. You know, this maid was actually 70 years old." Seeing her raised eyebrows, he nodded. "Yep, that was my first impression when I saw her. It seems like the Mayor likes older staff, since he believes that they're more accurate and don't sell stories about him to the press." The next slice of Pizza wandered onto his plate. "Anyway, it seems like the victim, Mrs. Norton, had had heart problems for some time now and was taking pills for it."

"You think it was a heart attack?" Calleigh asked when he took another bite.

"Mhm…," he nodded and chewed slowly. "I think so…well I need to wait for the autopsy report of course, but since I have neither found any defensive wounds nor signs for a fight…that's the only conclusion."

"And for that reason, the Mayor had made a state affair and defrauded you of your day off", she winced in sympathy. This was really unfair.

"I know," he sighed and suddenly he sat up straight. "What about Elena?" Oh god, he had been so out of it, that he totally forgotten to ask Calleigh about her. This wasn't good. Not at all.

Sensing his worry, she laid a hand on his shoulder. "She's soundly asleep. I put her to bed hours ago, don't worry," she smiled when he relaxed a bit. "See, I have the baby monitor right here," she told him and pointed to the gadget on the table.

"Okay...," he said relieved and leaned back again. "I'm so sorry that you had to wait so long, Calleigh. I guess it's not my day," he apologized.

"That's fine, Horatio. We had a very nice time together," she assured him.

"Yeah?" he asked curiously.

"Yes," she nodded. "We've played with her activity gym, oh well, she'd played with it and I watched her," she laughed softly and smiled when she remembered their day together and saw the scenes playing in front of her eyes. Elena was such a cute and good baby. She was laughing a lot and always wore a smile on her face. She had captured Calleigh's heart in an instant.

"Mhm, she likes this toy a lot and I'm happy about it. To be honest, it was Alexx who suggested it to me. Of course, I've seen them before in stores…but since I have no experiences with babies to speak of, I kinda must rely on other peoples' experiences," he told her and sipped his lemonade.

"Well that's no shame, Horatio. It's indeed very thoughtful of you to ask for help when it comes to Elena." "Though it wouldn't be bad, if you'd ask for help when it comes to you, too."

"You think so?" he asked surprised.

"Of course. It shows that you care a lot about her wellbeing and only want the best for her. So asking someone for advice is anything but a shame. Though…I really need to know which joker gave her this plush cell phone," she giggled.

Horatio just groaned and closed his eyes. "You saw that, didn't you?"

"Of course, it was her favorite toy. Must be from her father's side," she teased him.

"What is that supposed to mean? I didn't buy that..," he pouted. "It was Eric's idea, it's all his fault."

"Aww, come one. She looks awfully cute when she's biting on it, because she gets no connection," she laughed and really tried to not imagine Horatio doing the same, but it was already too late.

"Well I'm happy that my daughter could contribute to your amusement," he told her and rolled his eyes. The bad thing was, that Elena looked so adorable with her personal cell, that he hadn't had the heart to take it away. After all it was just some plush toy. "Well my princess is a modern lady, she doesn't need a teddy bear, she's quite happy with her cell," he deadpanned and really enjoyed this light mood.

"Well as I said, she's got that from her father's side", Calleigh smiled at him and was glad that he seemed to be in such a good mood. It would probably give her a chance to approach the subject.

"How was your holiday?"

"Huh?" she shook her head and cleared her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I just asked if you had a nice holiday." Horatio repeated his question.

"Yeah…yeah it was actually pretty good. Well, better than I originally thought anyway," she told him.

"Hmm," he mused, not entirely sure of what to say.

Sensing that, she elaborated her statement. "Well, my mom was in a good mood and I got to see my nieces and nephews. Not to forget my sister-in-laws and my brothers. We had a good time together. A big home coming BBQ…I had the time to go for a small ride with one of our horses..," she told him with a dreamy look.

"Sounds really nice. Well, except of the horse thing probably..," he murmured, but caught her attention anyway.

"You're not into horses?" she asked with a raised eyebrow,

"Ah, no. Not necessarily. More like…the opposite," he admitted. It wasn't like he didn't like them, they were just too big for his own liking.

"That's fine, I was just happy that I had the chance again, though I felt it for the next days," she chuckled.

"I bet," he smiled to himself. "But it's good to hear that you had such a nice holiday. And technically you are still on holiday," he continued with a sigh.

"So? As far as I know, I haven't worked today," she shook her head and didn't even want to hear another apologize coming from him. "You don't have any reason to apologize, okay Horatio? It's me who actually has."

This got his attention. "How so?"

"Well," she sighed and tried to find the best words. "This afternoon, I sliced an apple and don't ask me why, but I cut myself. It started bleeding and since I didn't want to spoil something I went in search for a plaster."

He looked at her concerned. "Okay? Where did you cut yourself?" he asked her in a typical fatherly tone.

"Just here," she smiled and showed him her finger. "Well, anyway, I went in search for a plaster and found one in your medicine chest in your bathroom. I'm sorry that I invaded your privacy…" She had entered his bedroom after all.

"Oh, there's nothing to be sorry for, Cal. I'm just glad you found something," he put her off. She didn't have to worry about that.

"Yeah, actually…actually I found more than I was originally looking for", she said slowly and when she saw his questioning look, she retrieved a small orange bottle out of her pocket.

Horatio swallowed hard when he saw the bottle and immediately broke off the eye contact he had had with Calleigh. He didn't need to have a second look, neither to see which bottle she had found, nor to see her disapproving face. It wasn't that he cursed himself for not hiding it better, but that didn't mean that he had to like the situation he was in now.

Calleigh recognized his behavior immediately. He was probably embarrassed of being 'caught' and wanted her to drop the subject; something she didn't intend to do. "Horatio?" she tried to encourage him.

"What do you want me to say?" he countered.

"Whatever you want to tell me," she answered him calmly and hoped that she didn't need to investigate him but that he would talk voluntary.