Authors Note: Ok I'm sure many of you hate me for not updating, not saying that I blame you, I mean it's been two years since I've last updated this story. School and life had called and if you look at Reforged Armour you'll have a better understanding of what I have been doing, should you be mad at me for leaving such a evil cliff hanger? sure why not, though this 'episode' plays so much better then the Resurrection episode believe me. I was not happy with that one, that story arc should have been carried on much longer, but alas it wasn't and they made Horatio Caine a god over the last two years. However with the recent season finale, I have to say "It's about time!" Hopefully you people enjoy this chapter and hope you review letting me know what you think. I will be working on this story now that my life isn't so hectic anymore and we will see this come to a close and book two starts up because I want to work my way to the Teaser I left behind in regards to the 'Mayday' episode.

As it is and I would like to remind people, I DO NOT OWN CSI MIAMI or it's characters they belong to CBS and it's people. However STAT and it's people belong to me and my close friends who have allowed me to use STAT and it's people. As I mentioned in previous chapters this is going to dive into Sci-fi very soon, just be patient all will be revealed about certain people.

R&R and thanks,

-Guardian-

Danse Macabre

-4 Months Later, 10pm; Night Club-

The night life of Miami never changed; it was always ever alive, always moving like the water of the oceans. The heavy bass from a metal band covered the movements of two men, both in suits and both in shades as the strobe lights danced above the crowd watching the live performance banging their heads to the song.

Breaking apart the two men went separate ways one taking a seat on the floor, above the other walking along the edges of the room. Both watched the bar, they seemed to be waiting for something or someone. Standing by a pillar the man wearing all black looked into the crowd before looking up to his compatriot above and across from him.

"Do you have eyes on the target?"

"Not yet... I don't believe he's shown up yet, how's the eye?"

"It's alright makes for easier tracking"

"Indeed... we have a guest at the bar"

"On it..." it seemed that both men had ear pieces for easier communication. The red haired man on the balcony above watched the surrounding area before heading downstairs to join his compatriot. The dark haired man made his way to the bar past the masses as Evanescence's 'Haunted' played over the speakers. Picking his way through the crowd the dark haired man passed through a throng of thugs all armed with weapons.

The red head moved to a flanking position as the dark haired man walked up to the man with his back to him at the bar.

"You and I need to have a chat"

"Just who the fuck... you... you're dead" throwing the glass in hand at dark haired man, the Hispanic turned on his heel and ran away towards the back exit. Breaking out through the doors, he looked behind him as the dark haired man walked out of the exit behind him a gun in hand. The Hispanic man continued to run through the alley but as he made a turn he ran dead smack into another man with a gun. The red head held his gun with one hand his profile given to the Hispanic now on his ass in the middle of a darkened ally.

"Caine... you're dead"

"Yes... that does seem to be the story doesn't it?" Horatio Caine stood with his gun pointed at the man the hammer pulled back.

"We... need to... talk. Don't we Erik?"

"Talk indeed... isn't that right Riaz?" Erik finally stepped into the light as his blacked out shades covering his eyes hid something. Walking over to Riaz he kneeled down as Horatio moved behind the man to prevent an escape attempt.

"I'm sure your brother could tell you all about talking hmm? But he's dead isn't he?" Horatio said lightly, Erik looked up at Horatio then Riaz, better known as San Riaz or Gryphon the arms runner for the Mala Noche.

"Now I'm going to ask you some questions San and I want you to tell me the truth and I'll let you live longer"

"We'll find you... we'll find you and kill you properly" Riaz looked at Erik with a scared but arrogant smirk, but it was soon wiped from his face as Erik pulled off his shades. A red glow appeared on Riaz's face after it lost all color.

"Believe me... you can't kill me not matter how hard you try. You took Zach, tortured him... made him insane. Now he runs the Mala Noche under the name 'The Shark'. He doesn't know that I'm still alive so we'll be doing this one of two ways. I break your bones one by one till I get the information that I need or... you tell me everything you know and you get to live"

"I... your..." The red glow on Riaz's face came from Erik, his right eye had been replaced with an artificial eye that looked strangely like that from the Terminator movies. It shifted like a human eyeball always adjusting with minuet movements. It was fashioned to work as a real eye but it had yet to take on the human look as the tissue wasn't applied to the machine component yet.

"Now you are going to give me what I want... got it?"

An hour had passed as Erik placed on his shades and walked out of the alley with Horatio in step beside him. As they left the alley the body of Riaz remained on the ground unmoving, Horatio went to a black Denali across the street as Erik stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky as it opened up bring down the rain.

Quickly making his way to the SUV he climbed in and leaned back in the seat. Horatio looked at Erik starting the vehicle and pulling away from the curb of the nightclub.

"So Saris isn't where we thought he would be, and he has more of the alloy rounds… we have a new problem now"

"We do, but the issue is that that he disappeared after our stunt only to surface as something else. I can't help but wonder if Zach has found him and done away with the man or if Saris is playing smart since Catherine moved here and to take a spot on CSI till a replacement could be found or the fact that STAT now has a permanent base here in Miami."

Crossing his arms Erik closed his eyes and listened to everything around him. Horatio made his way along the highway into a rich suburb. But there was a place that was condemned and it was locked down. Driving up to the gates Erik got out and opened the metal fence unlocking and pulling the gates open. Horatio drove through as Erik locked up again after parking the SUV into the garage, the door came down giving the appearance the house was decrepit. But the inside was a different story, heading into the laundry mat Erik went for the kitchen grabbing a bottle of iced tea from the fridge. Horatio followed in after Erik pulling off his coat and laying it on the barstool. His chest holster held his new Sig Sauer 228, Horatio ended up getting a mug from the cupboard and making himself coffee.

"That ends that lead; we need to wait on Cameron's information. If anyone can find Saris it's her. Finish your coffee and meet me in the basement. I need help putting that stuff in and setting it."

"I'll be down, go and get the piece ready" Erik left the room pulling off his suit coat his own chest holster held his Walther P99. Heading down into the basement he pull off his shades and tossed them onto a work table before getting a pair of latex gloves. He went to a fridge pulling out a tray with different bottles and small containers. Opening a few of them he set the tools down and looked to Horatio as he walked in to the basement pulling on his own latex gloves.

"Ok let's get this over with..." Erik undid the top 3 buttons of his shirt before sitting down in a dentist's chair. Placing the tray on the table nearby Horatio held up a hypo-needle as Erik lay down. Leaning over Horatio looked down at Erik who nodded. Jabbing the Hypo needle into Erik's neck, Horatio sat back in his chair watching as Erik left eye unfocused and the glowing right eye dimmed before shutting off.

As Erik started to feel the effects of the chemical in his system he looked up at the bright light of Horatio's work light it was bright before everything went dark around him.

-Flashback 4 Month earlier-

Standing on the tarmac Horatio glanced around, the plane was directed to 'take' Julia and Kyle to safety out of the country. But Cameron had convinced him to let her deal with them. As he stood beside the plane he heard a car drive up. It was Erik as he parked and got out he walked to over to Horatio looking at the man before standing in front of him.

"This... is going to hurt... but you'll be out for a few hours. Trust Cameron and her shot alright?"

"This will look authentic?"

"It will... that small thing we attached to your back will make it look like the bullet is a through and through. The CSI's will never find the slug, and the chemical compound you are being hit with will make you appear dead, there is no side effects that could harm you."

"I understand..."

"I'll see you in a few hours..." a loud crack and something whizzing by Erik's raised arm slammed into Horatio's chest as he looked at Erik before collapsing to the ground. Pulling his pistol from his hip holster he looked around keeping his eyes on the tower from which the first bullet came from. A second crack hit him in the leg it was laced with a chemical compound much like Horatio's and as he fell his knee he looked around and put a hand to his leg seeing the silver underneath along with the blood. A third crack hit Erik where his heart was more chemical compound was delivered the bullet having hit metal again and compressed. Sitting on his ass he breathed heavily trying to keep his head steady and his eyes open. A forth shot ripped through his open right eye and out to the side avoiding his vital blood vessels. Landing on the ground blood poured from the hole as Erik's vision faltered and darkened. His last thought was of Leona as darkness took him.

Waking up in what seemed to be a hospital Erik blinked a few times, pushing himself up to a sitting position he frowned a bit as he remembered feeling something slam into his eye. When he put a hand to his face he could see completely.

"You're awake... I was getting worried"

"Tony..."

"Yeah... I basically have both of your bodies now. Police, the CSI's and our group isn't happy that someone walked off with the two of you. But you'll both have to be put under for the funeral that's happening later this week.

And Erik I have to tell you Leona took this very hard. She's... heartbroken. She was looking forward to marrying you." Tony watched the emotions fly across Erik's face and tears coming down his face, stepping up he placed a hand on Erik's shoulder before pulling a chair up to look at Erik.

"Ok your new eye will basically function as a regular eye; however there is a small issue with it. Because I need time to perfect an organic covering for it you will have to wear shades. I know that isn't an issue with you but this is a must. Unless you are in this house do not take them off in public ever. This is the working version that I was going to give Helio, but she's decided against it. This one is as damn near human as I can make.

Another reason to wear the shades out in public is because I need to calibrate it, putting it into your head wasn't all that easy and I need the eye area to heal well. Other than that the shades I've given you has a special connection to your eye allowing you to use the tracking software that I have installed so you can see it with both eyes. Before you ask about how this thing functions I have used an organic memory inlay attached to your brain.

Electrical shocks won't do anything to it don't worry about anything to do with electrical surges, or anything that could cause it to crash. You are basically the perfect cyborg if I must say so myself. Now once I'm finished here I need to go back to the base that's just been set up. You have new ID's via Cameron as well as money and a weapons storage bay here. It is stocked so you shouldn't need us to make a drop.

A computer that I've developed for Cameron has been left here on the site. Make use of it, it will not be traced by anyone. And if we did need to do an emergency tracing only I would know how to trace it. None of the governments will be able to.

Other than that I will let you know the date of the funeral... Erik... you come back you got it? You come back to Leona..."

"I will Tony"

"Good... Horatio is upstairs, as is Cameron" Erik got off the bed and pulled on a T-shirt that was left for him, as he was wearing a pair of black shorts. Picking up the shades he put them on and looked in the mirror in the bathroom before he went up stairs to the kitchen where Horatio was nursing a mug of coffee.

"Erik" Horatio quietly said taking a sip of his drink.

"Hey Erik, how are you feeling" Cameron got up from her seat and hugged Erik tightly before stepping back. "I wasn't sure if you would have survived the shot the scene was a mess Erik. If Leona ever found out that it was me that shot you... she would never forgive me"

"I know... but it's been done, I'm still alive as is Horatio and that's what matters. Now we can do what needs to be done. Cameron I need to be eyes open for me and Horatio, Tony will keep the computer connections between us secure."

"I will, but you two are on your own. Stay out of the public for at least a few days. Funeral is for the end of the week. I'll be putting you under again for a day for private viewing. Erik for public viewing you will have a closed casket. Horatio will have an open casket as he was shot in the chest. Once the caskets close on both of you, we will be moving you to a backroom where you will be woken up and let out. We have replacement weighed dummies that will take your spot. You will have to sneak out through a side entrance that i will clear with Tony.

If you want to watch and attend at a distance you may... but make sure you wear the coats and hats, it's supposed to rain heavily. And we set it for that because it'll be easier for you both."

Horatio and Erik nodded as they listened to Cameron, this would be hard for all of them. The deception was going to be difficult but in the end it would be well worth it.

A week had passed and the funeral was on hand. Everyone was dressed in black making the whole affair that much more depressing. Having been drugged and put under again both Erik and Horatio would not know of the emotions that would be shed that day. Leona when able to have the private viewing looked at Erik, his ring was still on his hand it was something that he never took off as it was a symbol of the love he had for Leona. Looking at her ring she fisted her hand and bent over Erik crying for him.

"WHY! WHY ERIK! YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD BE THERE FOR ME! YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME! YOU... OH GOD I MISS YOU" Leona yelled at the still body, she clung to him as tears cascaded down her face.

I love you Erik, I will never marry anyone else for all and everyone to know I'm married to you dead or not." Mace came in behind Leona and looked at Erik before pulling Leona away from the casket. Funeral workers came in and watched Leona bend over and kiss Erik before leaning over and resting her head against his before leaving, allowing the casket to be closed.

Yelina was standing beside Cameron out in the main room looking on as people arrived to the funeral home. Standing in her Canadian Naval uniform people came by and looked at the two women as Cameron nodded to the people that walked by her as her hushed conversation with Yelina kept the two from being the emotional mess that was brewing in them.

"Was he really that much of a mess?"

"Yelina, I was terrified that he wouldn't survive and that the plan would fail. But as it is... he survived and to tell you the truth. He was a mess this morning. Both tried to hold it in and it shows" Cameron said as she threw her voice right beside Yelina without really moving her lips. Ventriloquism was a trick that she and Erik shared. However if there was something to be said both worked in live theatre and they knew the ins and outs of such tricks. It was how Erik had earned the nickname 'Phantom' and Cameron earning 'Ghost'.

Glancing around the room and seeing all the people in the room, Cameron turned her head and looked at looked at Catherine. After the news had spread that Horatio had been killed as did Erik, Catherine volunteered to stay behind and help out with the loss of personnel.

Standing nearby Calliegh and Eric, Catherine walked to Horatio's casket and stood by it as tears filled her eyes. The morning that Horatio had died, the red head took Catherine to breakfast not minding that they would be late to the lab. Sitting at the diner and having their breakfast Horatio had mentioned that Catherine could if she wanted move here to Miami and take up day shift with the team. Catherine's response was that she would think about the offer stating that she loved Vegas and that was where her family was. With Calliegh now as acting Lieutenant, Catherine was seriously considering putting in for a transfer.

Standing at the casket she looked down at Horatio's face and in her minds eyes she saw his smile and laugh that made a few tears role down her cheeks. A number of footsteps came up behind Catherine forcing her to turn around and look at who showed up. There were two groups one was people she didn't know headed for Calliegh and the other were people she knew.

"Grissom, Nick... Greg... you are guys are here. But who's holding down fort?"

"Ecklie has swing and days covering." The group was there for Catherine knowing that she was close friends with Horatio. The only other one of the Vegas team that had been to Miami was Warrick, but with his murder the team had been running shy of one and they had all been very upset with the death. But they had moved on and became closer as a result, they knew that Warrick would not want them to mourn too long for him as he watched from heaven.

After the exchanges of hugs Grissom and Catherine turned and looked at the group of three standing and talking with Calliegh and Eric.

"Mac..."

"Hey Calliegh, hello Eric"

"Hey"

"Calleigh this is Detective Don Flack and this is Detective Stella Bonasera. Both have known and worked with Horatio.

Flack raised a hand and gave a soft hello; Stella did the same hugging Calliegh and Eric. Looking to Eric, Calliegh did her own introductions to the members of the team. Standing quietly Mac turned his head and looked at a pair sitting in front of a picture that he didn't know. The Miami team quiet down and looked away from the woman.

"Mac... I don't know your past but you look like you've lost someone very dear to you..." Calliegh started softly, Mac had nodded leaving Calliegh to continue. "That's Leona... we have a special group of people with us and that man who's picture is there was to marry her. There was plans being set in motion to have the wedding here.

"Are all of them in military uniform?"

"Yes... Erik came from a military unit" Mac nodded and looked at the two at the front pew. Walking to them he looked at the picture closer and saw that it was a man in Canadian Naval Uniform. Hearing the soft crying from the side he looked down at the larger well built man holding a smaller young looking woman.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but my name is Mac Taylor..." the man holding the young woman looked up at Mac and raised an eyebrow. Mac gave a half smile and looked to the American military uniform the man was wearing. "I suddenly feel underdressed"

"Meaning?"

"I'm a former Marine" at this the harsh looking face softened and the woman brought her face out from the man's jacket. Turning her head she looked up Mac. From the way he held himself and build of him reminded her of Erik.

"Mace be nice... nice to meet you Mac, you remind me so much of Erik. I'm Leona Vallen Destler. This big lug is Mace Ironfist."

"Nice to meet the both of you, however I wish it was it was on much better terms." Mac looked at the picture on the stand and then back to Leona." I'm sure he thought about you to the end no matter what."Leona looked at the picture and smiled sadly as tears satin the corner of her eyes

"Thank you Mac" was all that Leona was able to say before she turned her face into Mace's suit coat. Moving away from the two Mac looked one last time at the picture before he went back to Calliegh and the others.

The rest of the funeral was as sullen as it was depressive, the people each paid their respects to the two men in the caskets. When it came to the procession everyone got up and left the room as funeral workers came into the room to deal with the two caskets. As the caskets were moved, Horatio and Erik been woken up and the weighted bodies took the two men's places.

Leaving the loading dock with their coats and hats the procession moved to the grave sites was the two coffins were to be laid down. Standing at the edge of the cemetery Horatio and Erik stood in the rain watching with growing emotion as each and every single person they knew stood openly crying and standing at attention as 21 gun salute sounded through the air, the long coats and fedora's did the job of keeping the two men stay hidden and unknown to the people standing at the two graves. Unable to continue watching, Erik turned his back and started to walk away, Horatio too turned followed Erik away from the cemetery and to an awaiting car. Cameron had been in a position to watch, tears streamed down her face watching the pain in the people's faces. Closing her eyes she willed herself to be strong as she opened her eyes watching the caskets go into the ground

As the two walked away, a lone scream ripped through the air, causing everyone to turn and give Leona support as she leaned into Maces shoulder crying out to the heaven's for taking away Erik from her. Yelina looked at the grave stone behind Horatio's and saw the name of his wife who had been taken from him. There were flowers from when Horatio took Yelina to see the stone of his dead wife a few days earlier.

Marisol Delko Caine, you should know that Horatio talks about you every day... I wish that I had gotten to meet you and see him happy. I hope you are watching him up there.

The afternoon back at the safe house was even more depressing as Erik was in the Rec Room tearing into a punching bag weighing more than a normal heavy training bag. Each shot he made had it swing as he danced around while making strikes at the bag. Horatio was out behind the house standing at the beach looking at the waves of the ocean. As Cameron watched both men, she saw how different the two of them were; both had different ways of showing emotions. Erik was aggressive as tears streamed down his face as he beat the heavy bag. Horatio stood like stone but his shoulders betrayed him as watched the waves.

At the end of the night once both men had cleaned themselves up and finished dinner they made the vow that they would go back to their families no matter the costs. Over the following months Horatio and Erik gathered leads and followed up on them, they hadn't heard from anyone and they didn't pay much mind to the CSI's if anything was serious Cameron would have let them know.

But it soon changed as Cameron left an urgent message telling the men that Mac Taylor who had been helping with the CSI's was in the hospital with serious injuries and Catherine Willows taken. With everyone now involved. The search became a race against time as the body count climbed higher and time ticked away.

But with the way the events were running and the increased body count from both the Shark and the two 'dead' men, the CSI's and STAT were always 10 minutes behind to two men seeing the aftermath of their mess thinking that the Shark was receiving help. When STAT and CSI showed up at their scenes they had to recoil because it was always a mess but even in the mess there was no evidence of who committed the crimes.

During one of the nights that Erik and Horatio were out, CSI and STAT almost caught them, but it was by a leap of faith that both men were not discovered.

-Night, Miami construction site/skyscraper-

Two black clothed men stood at the base of a building under construction, a majority of the bottom half was built leaving the upper floors to be finished, it was clear they were standing guard for whatever happened to be inside the building. Not too far off from the gates are two other figures both of whom looked to wearing special futuristic armours, if one looked close enough the armours looked much those of a video game, and it was apparent also that the creator of such suits played way too much Halo ODST or the soon to be released Reach. However the helmets were of a different design much like Final Fantasy Spirits Within, and the paint job made them look like demons of hell.

Burning orange and glowing blood red eyes looked up at the building before looking to each other. There were no verbal sounds to the outside world but however inside the helmets it was a different story.

"Target location is the third floor from the top Erik"

"Roger"

"Copy that Tony" Horatio said turning to look up at the building; his internal HUD was set to night vision as look the glowing orange eyes took in everything. Pulling from his shoulder a small powered grappling hook holding it in one hand while the other held a silenced Sig 228, Horatio looked to the glowing red of Erik's helmet. Erik had the same thing the other man had and they aimed the grappling hook gun up and fired. As the grappling gear pulled the two men up on the ground where two bodies each with bullets in their head and blood all over the place.

Rushing up to the floor above they stopped and landed on the flooring as the orange eyed figure dealt with the grapple gear and the blood red eyed figure scanned around. Getting a nod from Horatio, Erik pulled a cylindrical device out and pushing a button and threw it to the floor. Moments later the grenade went off frying every piece of electrical equipment on all floors but theirs. The two figures were unharmed by the EMP grenade and they continued forwards not knowing that the EMP triggered a silent alarm.

-In a room surrounded by computer screens-

The figure looked up at the display in front of him and then to another screen which was blinking red at him.

"Oh shit... ERIK! Silent alarm has been tripped you have 10 minutes!"

"Do something..."

"I'm trying, I can't!" Fingers danced across the keyboards in front of the figure, he wasn't known as the best of the best for brains for nothing, and Tony McEllgen was damned if he was going to fail. The coding in front of him was something he had never... correction he had seen it before, this was STAT tech and it was designed by him and Cameron, but only Cameron had the deactivation codes.

"Erik, Police and STAT are on their way!"

-Miami building-

"We need to move fast!" Erik called to Horatio. Both men ran and pulled their weapons, because it was supposed to be an in and out mission both only had knives and their pistols and a couple of flash, smoke and EMP grenades.

Engaging the enemy in the building Erik and Horatio made quick work leaving bodies on the floor, their target on his knees staring at the glowing demon eyes. The fear was very much there and very much alive as the man had moments ago pissed his pants as evident by the darker stain on his slacks.

"When is the shipment coming in?"

"I'll never tell you... The Shark will tear me apart"

"You tell us and we give you a quick death"

"I tell you NOTHING!" Horatio moved and dug around the man's pockets and pulled back when he had a an envelope of money and a letter with a Pier number as well as password information.

"We have it" said the electronically garbled voice, the gravelled voice acknowledge him.

"Too bad for you then" Erik cocked the hammer of the gun and put a hole through the man's right eye into the brain.

"ERIK they're there!" came the frantic voice over the ear pieces. Both then turned and looked to the stairs and the elevator, they heard and located the voices and names as they lit up on the HUD.

"We'll get them, they just made their final mistake!" The voice belonged to the STAT leader Vincent Valentine. Pulling a smoke grenade from his waist Erik pulled the pin and slid the object to the ground.

"GRENADE!" Yelled Calliegh as smoke exploded into the air effectively concealing most of Erik and Horatio and the armour. With the external speakers off Erik yelled to Horato.

"To the roof, we can leave from there"

"How!"

"There is a river behind this site, and the suits as I'm told can take the hit"

"You are insane!"

"Tell me about it later. MOVE!"

Navigating the smoke and the people, Horatio accidently bumped into Mace who turned his head only to be tripped and pulled to the ground by Erik. Pushing their way to the roof the police finally followed but were too slow as Erik slammed the door shut and put his body weight into it, he ducked down to avoid gun fire being shot out the small window.

"Horatio you need to jump!"

Horatio walked up to the edge and looked over it before he looked to Erik under the helmet, fear crossed his features, but the closing shots of gun fire semi-rooted him to the spot.

"GO!" Erik yelled. Horatio took several steps away from the edge before he ran and dove of the edge. Erik looked on then to the door before he pulled one last flash grenade from his waist and he pushed away from the door and pulled the pin and dropped it before he made a break for it.

"STOP! POLICE!" The guns went off again as a few rounds hit Erik in the back, the armour held up extremely well, but as the bullets hit Erik the flash grenade went off blinding everyone.

Horatio had hit the water and true to Erik's word the suit held up and softened the waters impact on his body. Surfacing he took a few sputtering breaths as his helmet quickly filtered out the water from the system. Watching the roof and treading water Horatio saw Erik leap off the roof as a flash went off.

Watching Erik hit the water he looked to the roof and saw people stumbling to the edge before leaving. Once Erik surfaced and coughed, the two swam to shore. The hike to their SUV didn't take that long and they had avoided all police and members of STAT.

"That was close"

"It was... Tony what happened? Vince was there"

"Vince?"

"Yes Vince... I thought after what happened that he was to be confined to the base, and meant to the stay there"

"This is news... let me look something up..." Getting to the black SUV, Erik got into the driver's seat and leaned back and reached up pushing a button on the side of the helmet. The little button extended out a few centimetres and spun in a counter-clockwise direction. The helmet made a hissing sound as it opened; the mouth and nose portion came forwards as the top head piece slid back and revealed a glowing right eye and a human left eye. Pulling the helmet off he put it on his lap and reached to the dash board and pulled a pair of black shades and put them on. Horatio removed his helmet as well and ran a hand through is wet hair.

"You are an insane man..."

"I know, but we are still alive aren't we?"

"How do you find the will to live after everything you've been through?" Horatio asked, he was staring at his helmet as Erik looked over then to the seat belt buckle by the man's holstered gun.

"I suppose that in after I finished trying to kill myself after I lost my arm the first time around I looked around and saw what was there waiting for me. Friends, family... girlfriend and future wife..." With a sigh he continued on and looked out the front of the monster SUV parked in front of him.

"I've been through so much... had so much hardware 'installed' and been through enough testing that I hate the inside of most sterile places minus the lab and the morgue that... I look past it all and my mind is taken to the one person who doesn't give a rat's ass so long as I'm alive. Leona... I love that woman like nothing in the world, she's the reason I continue to fight, why I continue live and do some of the crazy shit that I do" Erik's face went from serious to sadly happy before he gave Horatio a rueful smile. Horatio just stared at Erik and shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

Turning the ignition on Erik put the SUV into drive and pulled out of the packed late night supermarket, taking a few streets and getting onto the highway. Once on a major stretch Tony's voice came through on the headsets that Erik and Horatio were wearing.

"Base logs show Vince still on base. Further search through the data logs shows and out bound flight from hanger 12. Its flight was to our Colorado base and from there to the Dade County airstrip. Vince must have been trying to cover his tracks out. Must have... Doctor's orders were that he was to be confined to his Hutt and his room on in base. To be honest though... where was security detail?"

"Clearly not there..." Erik mused; the red head turned and raised an eyebrow at Erik before looking out the front to the road, the sun long since gone down leaving them in darkness.

Arriving back the safe house Erik and Horatio took extra care in arming the house and doing a walk around before they went to separate rooms to shower and change before they met in the kitchen armed before they set about making dinner. On their way back to the safe house Erik had Horatio send Cameron the information that they had gathered, sitting and eating dinner both men turned their heads when they heard the safeties on the house being disengaged. Pushing themselves away from the table and reaching for their guns they moved to only entrance into the kitchen and hid themselves behind the door as a voice called out.

"Erik, Horatio!" It was Cameron and her worried tone had both men look on as the younger woman flew into the kitchen and looked around seeing the two men before latching herself to both of them. "Oh my god... you're here, thank fucking god..." Both Erik and Horatio put their guns down and set them to the side on the dining table as they returned Cameron's hug.

"Vince is here..." Cameron finally said as she took a deep breath, clearly she was relieved and it showed as she slumped into her seat rubbing her hands over her face. All the stress that was on her shoulders disappeared as the two men sat down settled down in their seats.

"We know, we ran into him on our way out. Did you see to the information that we sent you?" Erik asked lightly as he reached for his drink as Horatio started to eat his dinner.

"I... yeah I did and I scoped the place out setting up micro cams for you. Computers are heavily guarded with Ortega's men as well as Saris'. I didn't see Saris there or Zach's men being involved too much, they are just the buyers from the looks of things. It seems like Saris has taken over Manny's business and place as gang leader, there is no direct link to Zach and further look into the surveillance yields that international buyers are coming soon."

"That could pose a problem…"

"Indeed… what need to do is get those rounds away from Saris" Horatio said looking to Erik as the man leaned back in his seat and cleaned his mouth with his napkin. Looking back at Horatio there was a hardened gleam in his remaining eye.

"We take them"

"Under what premise Erik?" Cameron asked looking very weary of what she saw. Horatio looked at Erik wondering exactly what was going through the man's head.

"We kill Saris' men, take the rounds and pose as high end Mercs, it'll allow for us to have that cover. Are you still being asked for Zach's contracts?"

Cameron rubbed her face at Erik's idea, and looking at the too made her head hurt at the mess the two men already were making even if it was for the greater good. Granted it was an organized mess that made for easier clean up for the CSI's with a total lack of evidence when processed. And with Tony's experimental suits working and being used why not go with the idea of them being mercs.

"Yeah I do…. Why?"

"Mention the names Radkos and Reaver after me and Horatio raid the pier and take the rounds. And see if Tony can't get us an untraceable phone or pda.

"Why! You can't be serious!" Cameron stood up yelling at the two.

"What? If we can do this and get to Zach, we currently can't get close enough to him, we do this we get close enough to take him down" Erik just stared at Cameron as he rested his elbows on the arms of his chair.

"You'll be dragged into more deaths and should you get caught, Miami PD will kill you on sight!"

"What if we arranged to have the victims saved and the gang dead?" the tension between the two members of STAT was quite visible as Horatio looked on, he was always a man to follow the law but lately ever since he attacked the internet stalker he's found himself slowly crossing lines in order to protect his city. He looked up at Cameron as she struggled with herself not to break down due to stress.

"You want to use the blood rounds like I did with Horatio…"

Erik nodded looking at the younger woman before he gazed to Horatio as the man thought about how much further he would be willing to go in order to in essence save the world.

"I can see what I can do about a large supply of blood rounds for the both of you… but you are playing a very dangerous game Erik"

"We do this right and we get Zach, we save Catherine and we prevent a war that we would lose, isn't that worth what we have been doing for the last several months?"

"You two are the cause of most of the new crime scenes within the last several months; do you have any idea how hard it is to make sure that there is no trace of you or Horatio?"

"Cameron, we are almost finished this, just continue looking for Saris and we will do the rest, we won't leave anything behind, we never have" Cameron looked between Horatio and Erik, she knew she couldn't say no to a commanding officer let alone Erik, sighing she hung her head and nodded.

"I'll get things worked out for you… when do you plan on raiding the dock?"

"When we have more concrete evidence of where Saris is…"

"Cameron, I know this is difficult for you and you on a daily basis I'm sure cross the lines between right and wrong, but I too know what that is like. We will make this work, you have done extremely well and you are a bright girl, just hang in there just a bit longer alright?" Horatio stood up and went over to Cameron and put a hand on her shoulder giving her a gentle squeeze. Turning she wrapped her arms around Horatio and hugged him as silent tears rolled down her face due to all the stress she was under. "Hang in there Cameron, hang in there"

"Thank you Horatio… thanks for this"

"You are very welcome, now how about you join us for a drink, that is unless you have to leave"

"No I have to leave, Vince and the others will be wondering where I am"

"Ok, you get some rest… you know where to find us both" Horatio gave her one last hug before letting her go, Erik had stood up and watch Horatio handle Cameron as the young woman wrapped her arms around Erik.

"If I had a little sister, I would have no other one then you kiddo, you are my family and I would never let anything bad happen, you know that right?"

"I do…"

"Let's finish this then have a barbeque eh?" Erik looked down to Cameron's face when she looked up at the word 'eh' and saw him wink.

"Ever the Canadian huh?" She asked with a slight smile on her face, Erik gave her a grin and cocked his head to the side.

"Damn right, rest well Cameron I expect to hear from you soon" there was a chuckle as Erik let Cameron go and watched her as she left the safe house before both men looked at each other with soft smiles on their face.

-Present time-

Deep breathing was all that was in the room as Horatio sat back in his seat and looked at Erik, after getting instructions on how to add the organic eye tissue over the machine eye, Horatio couldn't help but look on in awe as the tissue formed the cornea, iris and whites of the eyeball. It was only an hour after he set the piece in place and waited for the tissue to settle into the human look before Erik would wake up. While he sat there he thought about Yelina and what she was going through and if they could ever have a relationship, but with the death of his wife Marisol he was taken into a dark place of despair. She was only married for 8 hours before she was shot and taken away from him, she was the highlight of his life and she made him feel things that he hadn't in years.

Shaking his head he looked to the clock then the timer on the stand beside him, it was almost time to wake Erik up. Reaching over the tray that he had worked off of Horatio picked up a unused package and opened it revealing a needle, picking up the vial that was left he readied the needle with the chemical and injected Erik just as the bell rang.

Sitting back after giving the man before him the shot, he watched as eye settled and changed to the bold ocean blue color before he pulled the tape that held Erik's eyelids open. The breathing from the man changed as there was a grunt and slight moan.

"Welcome back to the living Erik"

"I hate you…." A smile crossed Erik's face as he opened his eyes and looked at the man sitting beside him.

"No because if you did, you wouldn't have let me do this. How is the vision?"

Blinking a few times Erik rolled is head to the side and looked around, clear and crisp were the two words that came to mind, and no more seeing in red unless he wanted to. Pushing himself up to a sitting position he yawned and shook his head.

"As clear and precise as your shots" Chuckling Horatio pulled his gloves off and cleaned up the tray and his mess, Erik swung his legs off the side of the chair and stood on his feet. As he took a few steps he heard a phone go off, pulling the device from his pockets he looked at the screen and handed it to Horatio.

"She found him and the entire order of alloy rounds… time to move"

"It is, and we leave no one standing"

"Actually I think it's time we leave a few standing. Radkos and Reaver will be leaving a calling card now" Both men walked to the basement and stood in front of two body forms that held their newer updated armour. The creator clearly wanted to have to the strength protection and customization of a Halo Spartan, but the manoeuvrability of an ODST, too many video game references if one looked at it. The armour to these men signalled the brilliant mind of a man that took any idea he liked and made it a reality.

Both men changed into their respective gear and when done they picked up their new helmets and eyed the paint job, putting the helmets on they closed with a hiss and sealed themselves as blood red and flame orange eyes activated. Once ready with the other gear that didn't involve weapons they checked each other over before walking to their weapons locker room they picked up their weapon sets and headed out the door.

The message on the phone read:

2 hours til buyers get to industrial pier 15, Saris is there.