Chapter Fifty: Drowning

It didn't take long for word to get out that the Miami-Dade crime lab was under fire. Cops from other precincts started arriving in droves, riot gear on and semi-automatic weapons ready for the firing. After that it was only a matter of time before the members of the militia ended up either dead or in police custody. A few tried like hell to escape only to have canine units take them down. The cops spared no mercy in their take down of the militia. For more than a month every cop in the state had been on edge, afraid to even stop a car for a simple moving violation. Now they had the potential to bring everything to an end. Both of the missing officers had been returned; none more had gone missing. The only lives on the line were those stuck within the confines of the building. Unexpected help came in the way of Federal agents. They'd been poking around the city since things started to escalate, most likely awaiting orders to take over the case. Those orders never came but they remained for support and now that things were finally coming to a head they offered their help.

A span of twenty minutes.

That's all the time it took from the first scream until the sound of the last gun going off. And then an eerie silence settled over the place. Outside there were officers yelling, sirens whining as ambulances and other rescue personal arrived at the scene. Horatio stumbled through the mayhem, a right arm pressed firmly against his chest. Those that weren't hurt were helping those that were. As he stumbled through the debris he kept an eye open for the members of his team. He noticed that a lot of the injured or dead were not members of the police or the workers in the lab. He counted that as a good sign. A lot of broken glass littered the floor and other available surfaces. He noted that a few of the machines would need to be replace, riddled with bullet holes. He made his way down one of the hallways and came across Ryan sitting on the floor, his back against one of the only walls that managed to remain intact.

"Ryan, are you okay?" he asked as he noticed the trickle of blood on the investigator's forehead.

Ryan looked at him. "Fine, just a knock on the noggin." Then he noticed the way that Horatio was holding his arm, the way the blood was soaking into his shirt. "What the hell…" he scrambled to his feet. "Are you okay? You should go downstairs and find a paramedic."

"I'll be fine."

"Horatio…"

"Where are the others?" he interrupted. At least he knew that one of his friends was okay.

"My best guess would be that they made it to the morgue. That's where Delko was sending everyone," answered Ryan. "I never quite made it there myself…"

The two of them started for the morgue in silence. Ryan lagged a step behind so that he could keep a watchful eye on his boss. In all the months that he'd been working at the lab he could not recall any other time when Horatio had been physically hurt. There was a lot of emotional pain that he went through but this was the first time Ryan remembered seeing him hurt. And it worried him, what with the amount of blood that seemed to be coming from the wound in his boss's arm. The closer they got to the morgue the more intact that the lab was, the militia failing to make it into the very bowels of the lab. He took that as a good sign, everyone in the morgue would be okay, alive. The least casualties on their side, the better.

When Horatio opened the door to the lab he was instantly greeted by Alexx, Cooper, and Valera all brandishing scalpels. A group of lab techs sat huddled against the far wall. At the sight of their boss they relaxed a little. Alexx dropped her scalpel. "Horatio, is it over? Oh please…you're bleeding."

"It's just a cut."

She walked over to him, placed a hand on his arm. "Let me have a look."

"Where are Speed and Delko?"

Cooper frowned. "We thought they were with you."

Before anything else could be said Horatio was racing out of the morgue to search the lab for his missing friends. Had he looked back over his shoulder he would have seen that the others were following him. He started checking through every room when Ryan remembered that he'd run into Delko when the whole thing started. He had said something about Speed listening to his music. Without bothering to say anything to the others he bolted toward the Trace Lab. He prayed that when he got there everything would be okay. But those damned thoughts crept up on him anyway. What if Delko hadn't made it in time? What if this time Speed was actually dead? Or worse…they could both be dead, victims of the attack on the lab. He turned the next corner knowing that he was mere feet from the Trace Lab and came to a sudden halt.

He watched as two paramedics rushed a gurney toward the elevators. Speed was leaning against the door frame, tears streaking down his face. He was covered in blood.

"What…" was all Ryan managed to get out.

Speed took a step forward and stumbled. In the blink of an eye Horatio was there to catch him, holding him up, the cut on his arm forgotten. The two of them sank to the ground. Speed felt like he did that first day at the home of the triple homicide, his back against Horatio who had his arms wrapped protectively around him. Ryan looked at Cooper and gestured for him to take his shirt off. Cooper didn't even question why, he didn't have to. A second later Ryan kneeled on the floor by Speed, pressing the bunched up fabric to the wound in his friend's thigh.

"Speed." Horatio's voice was hoarse.

"They…shot him," Speed managed to choke out. "They…shot…in the head."