Miami. Present day:
Her unpleasant phone call completed, Calleigh collected her belongings with a heavy heart as she took one last look around her kitchen before joining Horatio in the car.
"Here, you forgot these," she said as she passed him his sunglasses.
He nodded his thanks and put them on before returning his gaze to the passenger window.
He didn't really need them for medical purposes now; the photosensitivity that had afflicted him previously had cleared up several weeks ago. Still, she knew how fond he was of his sunglasses, how he used them as a shield from the rest of the world. Today would be hard for him; he was likely to need all the protection he could get.
With a final glance in his direction she started the car, pulling out of the gravel driveway and onto the road.
They sat in silence until Calleigh could take it no more.
"Why do you want to leave, why now?"
He fiddled with the support bandage on his wrist as he struggled to find the right words to say to her. She had been more than supportive to him in the last few months; he'd owed it to her to be honest, at least.
"It's complicated," he sighed, embarrassed that he had taken the easy way out yet again.
"Then explain it to me."
How could he? He could barely understand it himself.
He knew that in reality he was ashamed of his inability to cope on his own since his ordeal; all he really wanted to do was retreat into a dark corner and lick his wounds in solemn silence.
"I'm a grown man, Calleigh. I've recovered sufficiently; I should move back to my own house and let you get back to some sort of normality."
"But this feels normal to me, having you in my house…..in my bed."
She wasn't sure what his reaction would be to her last words but was pleasantly surprised to find that Horatio hadn't flinched at her words, in fact, he smiled.
"I feel the same way," he said honestly.
"Then what's the problem?"
She sighed a little in frustration as he averted his gaze once more.
"You deserve better than me."
"I don't want anyone better than you. I want you."
He had to try to make her see reason; she didn't need the emotional carnage that inevitably came with being in his life.
"I've got too much baggage. You need someone who is whole and can love you the way you deserve to be loved."
"But you do that just fine. I don't want anyone else."
"Calleigh," he began before his words were cut off.
"I don't want you to leave; I want you here with me. Will you stay, for me?"
She looked at him hopefully and he knew he had no resistance to her; he would gladly follow her to the gates of Hell and back if she asked.
Taking a deep breath he nodded and was rewarded by one of her hundred-watt smiles beaming straight at him. As apprehensive as he was about returning to the lab, he couldn't help but return her smile with one of his own.
She could sense his trepidation as they exited her car and made the short walk across the car park to the elevator that would take them into the bowels of the Miami Dade Police Department's forensic laboratories.
Calleigh glanced at Horatio out of the corner of her eye and frowned as she saw him fiddle with the arms of his sunglasses nervously. She could hear the deep breaths he was taking in an effort to calm his wildly beating heart.
Watching as the numbers on the elevator ascended, she reached out a hand and took one of his, squeezing it tightly and only letting go when the doors began to creak open, relieved that he had returned the steady pressure on her own hand.
The pair of them nodded to several lab technicians as they walked through the corridors of the lab, Horatio gave a small smile and a nod of the head in acknowledgement to the numerous 'welcome back' comments he received from them.
They were quickly outside the break room; one glance through the window was enough to tell them that the whole team had assembled in there, waiting for their daily briefing.
Calleigh couldn't fail to notice him stiffen as he stood stock still.
"We can go to your office first if you want," she suggested gently.
He shook his head before placing his sunglasses at the top of his shirt.
"No time like the present," he said as he plastered a pained smile on his face, wanting to get the whole thing over and done with.
He opened the door and braced himself for the reaction of the team. Of course, they had seen him many times since his ordeal and most of those times he was in a less than hospitable mood, often trying to push away their concerns about his physical and mental well-being. He needed them to understand that as their leader he should not be showing any signs of weakness, how could he lead a team if he couldn't even look after and deal with himself?
One glance around the room and he could see the familiar faces, all smiling at him. He suddenly felt uncomfortable at being the centre of attention, having a whole room look at him was never something he particularly enjoyed.
The air rushed out of his body with an 'oomph' as Natalia threw herself at her leader, squeezing him tightly and then placing a soft kiss on his cheek. She seemed to realise that her emotions had got the better of her as she quickly let him go, smoothing out her blouse as her cheeks coloured a rosy pink.
"Well, that was certainly some welcome," he replied dryly as he straightened his suit jacket and shirt.
A small ripple of laughter circulated the room.
"I'm sorry, Horatio. It's just that I've missed you, we've all missed you," she said sheepishly as the other members of the team nodded in agreement.
Frank left his perch on the side of the couch and walked towards the redhead only to stop when the other man took a step back.
"You're not going to kiss me are you?" Horatio asked warily, the hint of a smile on his face.
"Hell, not in a month of Sunday's, pal," the beefy Texan retorted as he took Horatio's hand in his and shook it firmly.
"It's great to have you back; this place hasn't been the same without you."
Frank seemed to realise what he'd said and turned to Calleigh to explain.
"No offense, Cal. You've done a great job these last few months….."
"It's ok, Frank, I know what you meant."
"About that," Horatio began as his eyes scanned the room, "Calleigh will still be in charge of the team in the interim."
He could see the look of shock on their faces and realised that they had all expected him to pick up exactly where he had left off before all of this had first begun.
"I've been away for quite a while; it's going to take some time for me to get up to speed. There's also the matter of meetings with IAB and the chief that need to be resolved before I can be reinstated as head of the crime lab."
If they allow me to be reinstated at all, he thought bitterly. If IAB had their way he would likely be out of a job and off the force after the debacle of his past coming back to haunt him.
He turned his head to Calleigh and nodded at her to take control of the meeting.
"Well, you all know what your current cases are. Let's get back to them."
The team nodded their heads but seemed to be reluctant to leave the room, as if leaving would somehow mean that Horatio had died out on the choppy waters of Miami all those months ago.
They filed out one by one, passing by Horatio with a slap on the shoulder or a shake of the hand until all but one of them were left.
"Was there something you needed, Tom?" Calleigh asked as he gave him a quizzical look.
"Just wanted to express my relief that Lieutenant Caine is back with us. I had an awful feeling at one point that he would be a resident in my morgue, I'm just glad that's not the case."
The blunt words didn't come as much of a surprise to either of the CSIs; they had all become used to Tom Loman's way with words. Horatio didn't take it as an insult and in fact was glad that the other man was treating him as he would at any other time. It made a nice change from being treated like he was going to break at any second.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Dr Loman. I too, am glad that I didn't end up on your table, although I'm sure you would have taken good care of me if I had."
"Indeed I would, Lieutenant, I can assure you."
The M.E nodded to both of them before leaving the room.
"Was it as bad as you were expecting?" Calleigh asked after the door had closed.
He tilted his head to the side and gave her a wry smile.
"Worse."
"Still, at least it's over and done with. You can concentrate on getting back in the swing of things. Let's go to your office and I'll bring you up to speed on our current cases."