He opened his eyes as she gently tilted his face to meet his, gasping as he saw the beautiful woman in front of him. Her long black hair framed her youthful features as her soulful brown eyes stared deep into his.

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, "I don't know who you are," he began almost breathlessly, "It's too dangerous, you shouldn't be here. Please, you need to leave. Now," he pleaded with her.

She placed a finger on his lips, "Shhhhhh," she crooned as she stroked the right side of his face with her other hand. "They can't hurt me anymore."

His brow creased in confusion as he struggled to understand the meaning of her words, "You have to get out of here, they'll come back," he insisted as his breathing increased along with his heart rate.

"I'm safe now," she repeated as she took his face in both of her hands, "You have to be strong, Horatio. They need you, they've always needed you."

"Who?" he asked as his voice grew louder with frustration, "I don't understand!" He could feel another shiver course through his body.

With a loud thumping noise he heard the lights come back on again, he screwed his eyes shut in an effort to protect them from the harsh glare.

"Open your eyes, Horatio," the soft, melodic voice commanded.

There was something familiar in her voice, he knew that he must have known her from somewhere but was at a loss as to why or how. Listening to her sweet timbre he felt a strange sense of sadness wash over him, mixed with a terrible longing.

"Please, open your eyes and look at me."

With an unknown strength of will he kept his eyes firmly shut as he began to recite the words of that special song he and Lori shared on their wedding day. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when….."

His recitation was stopped mid-flow as he felt a pair of soft, warm lips come into contact with his own. An overwhelming sense of déjà vu hit him like a truck, he'd felt those very same lips before. But where?

He opened his eyes slowly and sucked in a breath; she looked down on him and smiled. The light behind her gave her an ethereal glow, as if she were an angel visiting from Heaven. He felt an almost physical pain in his chest as a sliver of a memory flashed through his mind.

He'd seen her before, remembered her leaving him outside a restaurant as he begged her to stay with him. The melancholy look she gave him as she walked away from him almost broke his heart as she placed a gentle kiss on his lips and told him that he had to go back. He didn't understand, where was he supposed to go?

The face was achingly familiar and yet he still couldn't place her, couldn't understand the intense emotions that flowed through his mind as he continued to gaze into her loving, brown eyes.

"I'm not in pain anymore, Horatio. I'm free," she told him as she smiled sweetly at him. "Don't feel sad for me, I'm at peace."

She wiped the errant tear that had escaped from his eye, "I will always watch over you, but you must fight this. You're stronger than they are, you mustn't let them break you."

He could feel what little strength he possessed draining away as he sighed deeply. "I'm so tired."

"I know you are, my love. You must find the strength to carry on, they need you," she repeated again, cryptically.

"I don't understand, who needs me?"

"They all do," she replied once more.

"I don't know who they are."

She smiled at again as she moved further away from him, "When the time is right, you will know," she answered as she began to walk backwards toward the light.

"What time, when?" a sense of desperation gripped him as he saw the beautiful stranger move away from him.

"You will know. Have faith, Horatio. Be strong, I love you," her words became harder to hear as her form began to dissipate and blend into the blinding brightness.

"No, wait!" he shouted as he pulled on the ropes keeping him bound to the chair, not caring as the movement sent sickening pain through his left arm. "Wait, come back!"

He begged her repeatedly to return but to no avail, he hung his head as the lights once more went out and the room was plunged into eerie darkness. He couldn't help the feeling that overcame him, a feeling that he had failed her in some way. He felt the tears running down his battered face as he whispered, "I'm sorry. Please…forgive me."

The harsh knocking on the door of Horatio's office made her jump, she hadn't realised she'd been staring into the cup of coffee in front of her on the desk until then. Brushing back the hair from her face she set about straightening her appearance before beckoning her visitor in, smiling as she saw the curly-haired head of the department's resident technology and audio specialist poking his head round the door.

"Calleigh, I got here as quickly as I could. What do you need me to do?" Dave Benton asked as he made his way fully into the room. To a casual observer it would have been easy to write him off as nothing more than beach bum; his laid-back-surfer-dude taste in clothes belied the fact that the lab tech was a highly qualified specialist in his field.

Schooling her thoughts, Calleigh took a deep breath before responding. "We had a package delivered to the lab last night, a cell phone. There was a text message and a video, I need you to go over the phone with a fine-tooth comb and see if there is anything that might lead us to Horatio's location."

"Sure thing," he replied, sensing that she was holding something back from him. "Was there anything else?"

"No. Thanks, Dave." She hesitated as she fiddled with the jotter on the desk, "The video is….graphic. No one else is to see it, understood?"

He began to feel slightly uncomfortable at the ferocity of her stare, "You have my word, as soon as I find anything I'll let you know." He picked the sealed bag containing the phone up, turning before he left the room, "This'll get top priority, if there's anything that'll help us track down Horatio I'll let you know straight away."

Calleigh gave a tight nod in response, wanting nothing more than for Dave to close the door and leave her alone. She had finally convinced Kyle to head over to Eric's apartment to rest properly some hours ago, the young man had refused at first and it had become a battle of wills between the pair of them. The nightmare that had claimed the young man earlier had shook both of them, Calleigh had insisted that Kyle rest properly and had promised to ring him when she had any news.

The problem was that she had no news to report, Horatio had been missing for nearly twenty-four hours and they were still no closer to finding him. The video the Malucci's had sent made it clear that the redhead was not being treated well; the image of his battered visage sent a chill coursing down her spine. With every hour that ticked by the chances of finding Horatio alive grew smaller.

Shaking the negative thoughts from her head she glanced at the watch on her wrist, it was barely past seven a.m. but she could already hear the hustle and bustle of the team as they began gathering in the break room. She couldn't fault their enthusiasm or their loyalty to their leader, coming in a full two hours early for their shift, doing anything they could to find Horatio. She knew that as soon as they saw her emerge from Horatio's office that they would look to her for answers and she wondered how he did it. He had always led his team from the front, seeming so sure of his actions; did Horatio ever question his ability to lead the team?

Now was not the time to be second-guessing herself, thrust into an impossible situation the only thing she could do was what the enigmatic redhead had always taught her, follow the evidence. And she would, hoping that it would lead them to him before it was too late.