Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait!!!

Disclaimer: All CSI:M characters that you do recognise here belong to Jerry Bruckheimer, CBS, et. al

Acting like an Adult

There was silence. Marisol's mouth opened to say something but when she realised nothing was coming out she pursed her lips together. She brought the door closer to her, narrowing Horatio's view of the interior that was lit only by the dying rays of the sunset coming through the curtains. She only had to push it a few more inches to shut it: shut the world away for a few more moments, shut him away and not listen to his heart-breaking good-bye, not have to hear her pathetic sounding self when she begged him not to leave her…. OH GOD, it was so hard! Why did it have to be so hard? Act like an adult, act like an adult, was the only coherent line her mind could come up with.

Horatio couldn't believe his eyes. No way could the tear-stained woman he was staring at really be the woman he had walked with on the beach,on that Sunday that suddenly seemed so long ago. Her face was ashen and Horatio didn't have to sweep his eyes along her form to know she had lost weight. Her hair was in disarray. The luminous green sparks in her hazel orbs no longer illuminated her eyes. It was her eyes….they held pain, anguish and more unnervingly – pandemonium. He wanted to reach out to her – hold her – make it all go away. More disturbing, was the thought that he was in some way to blame for her pain. What other reason could she have for not having spoken to him yet? Oh God, if he was the cause……..if anything had happened to her……... It seemed too painful to finish the thought. They were standing inches apart, but for practical reasons they may as well have been standing on different planets. He took a step closer, "Marisol. Are you ok?" Real slick Horatio, real slick, his mind commented sarcastically, does she look bloody ok, man?

His voice snapped Marisol out of her silence. She gulped slightly, "I….Horatio….I uh…I…" The phone rang. "I… I have to get that. Come in." Great Marisol, her mind said, being in hell isn't enough for you. You're walking up to introduce yourself to the devil, brilliant! She opened the door and let him in. Horatio stepped in and closed the door after himself. His eyes adjusted to the unusual dimness. There was an underlying smell of alcohol that pervaded the atmosphere of a room that he was normally so comfortable in. He watched her hunt around in the semi-darkness for the cordless phone. He would have suggested turning the light on, or would have even done it himself. He just didn't quite feel brave enough to do so. Listening to her cursing under her breath in Russian, or what he assumed to be Russian because it didn't sound familiar, made him feel very unsure of the boundaries of their relationship. He had never seen her so angry and anxious. It was strange considering he came across it everyday when he interviewed suspects and dealt with it accordingly. But with Marisol, a person so close and intimate to him, it was on another plane altogether.

She found the phone somewhere in the living room. "Hello." she said, trying to sound calm, even though she knew her heart rate was probably through the roof. No doubt Horatio gazing at her in the dark had something to do with it.

"Marishka?"came the slightly accented voice.

"Papa! How's the skiing?" she said cheerily.

"Not bad, less snow this year. The usual you know. How are you?"

"Fine." She answered back bitterly in Russian. Even though Horatio had no idea what she was saying, he would have had to be deaf not to pick up the change in her tone.

Mr. Delektorsky, or rather Mr. Delko smiled fondly. Although he had tried to make his children as American as possible and cherish their Cuban rather than Russian heritage, his youngest daughter Marisol, his Marishka, had been insistent on learning Russian from her father when she was a child. He had refused at first but her stubbornness and sweetness had won out in the end, and he had ended up teaching her to be literate in his native language. The rest of their conversation took place in Russian.

"Marishka…" he started pleadingly before continuing, "Blanca's been calling us regularly since she got there and we just finished speaking to Eric."

"Family conference without me? Now isn't that unusual?" her voice heavy with sarcasm. A small voice spoke up at the back of her mind, act like an adult Marisol, act like an adult! She realised she was standing in the dark now. She could barely make out Horatio's form. Now, also came the realisation that there was a puddle of alcohol somewhere in her living room. She moved to the kitchen in the dark, pulling a startled Horatio behind her. She had gripped his arm initially but he instinctively took her hand in his. Why was he making this so damn hard? She left him standing in the doorway as she flicked the switch. They both blinked as the bright light assaulted their eyes.

"Marisol, that's not fair." retorted her father.

"Since when has life been fair, Papa?"

"Marisol, what's gotten into you? Blanca said you've changed again. Maybe we should come? I can't believe he's done this to you. He's made you into a cynic."

"Papa leave him out of this. He has nothing to do with it. Why is it so hard to get? I'm happy with him. What I did with my treatment has nothing to do with him. Nothing. Eric should have told you…"

While Marisol continued her conversation with her father, Horatio put down the flowers and envelope on the table. His hands unhooked the sunglasses that had been hanging around his neck. He stood back against the counter and let the CSI in him take over; observe and then analyse. She was dressed in faded denim shorts and an equally faded grey t-shirt that seemed to hang off her bones. He was pretty sure that ten days ago the tee would have fitted her body perfectly – shaping the curves and contours of her upper body. Her hair which looked half damp and half dry was pulled up into a loose knot. Her hands kept running through it, yanking hair here and there, until eventually the knot gave way and fell around her shoulders. He noticed the way she stood slightly hunched over the table. There was something defeatist in her body posture but there was clearly defiance in her voice. The only thing that seemed out of place was the cardigan. He knew she had a very finely-tuned sense for fashion – making the plum cardigan look all the more wrong on her. He saw the dark stain appearing on one of the sleeves and hoped his eyes were playing tricks on him. Please don't let it be what I think it is, he silently begged. She began rummaging around the drawers, clanging and banging till he had uncomfortable reverberations in his ears. To his slight irritation, he saw all the noise had been made merely to find a pack of chewing gum. She took out a stick of gum and threw the packet at him. He deftly caught it with one hand and put it next to the envelope. Marisol who had appeared to be such an open/shut person when one first met her was clearly as enigmatic as they came. Right now she seemed so phantasmagorical! And it was driving him crazy! He wanted to touch her right now to make sure she was real – to make sure his sleep-deprived mind not playing tricks on him.

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"Papa, please, it's not long now. Please, just let me do what I want! I'm tired of fighting."

"He's there isn't he? Isn't he Marishka?" he asked, his tone softening after the mini-shouting match and three-way conversation he had conducted between himself, his wife, and his stubborn daughter.

"He is, but it doesn't matter now. It doesn't matter." she whispered the last bit to herself before adding. "I love you Papa."

Mr. Delko sighed, "I love you too Marishka." He knew she wanted to hang up now. He was irritated finding it hard to discern the line between parental concern and parental interference, even though he had been a father for 45 years now. Of course Marishka was his favourite girl! She always had been!

"I'll speak to you soon. Love you Marisol."

"Bye…Dulces Sueños Chiquita." came her mother's teary voice.

"Bye…Buenos Noches Mama." Marisol couldn't help but feel the wave of guilt that washed over her. No child should ever make their mother cry – no exceptions.

Horatio, lost in his own thoughts failed to notice that she had finished her conversation until the silence started to echo in his ears. Silence, now when had that happened? And what was happening to him? This loss of focus wasn't like him. He crossed over to the other side of the small kitchen that was partially hidden by the table. He found her crouching down, back up against a cupboard, eyes shut, arms hugging herself. His ears strained to catch the words mumbled under her breath but all he could make out was 'adult' and 'Doesn't matter'.

"Hey." he said, alerting her to his presence that she normally sensed so easily, but not so this time.

She opened her eyes, clearly startled almost like she'd forgotten he had been in the room. He saw fear streak through her eyes as she found her voice, "We have to talk."

"Sure." He offered her his hand to help her up. She first took it and then dropped it, preferring to help herself up, even though it seemed to tire her out. He remained confused. She went into the living room and switched on a lamp. Horatio saw the fragments of glass but said nothing. His gaze fell on the bag of marijuana. Marisol noticed.

"Going to arrest me?" she asked harshly, offering up her wrists to him.

Horatio had had enough, he enjoyed her vivacity and spontaneity but right now, his mind was tired of making leaps in the dark. He clasped her wrists and pulled her to him, "Marisol don't be silly. What's gotten into you?" He felt her momentarily crumple against him, his body automatically sagged to support her. It was such a natural reaction, but in this case, a reaction that elicited confusion for Marisol.

Her mind wondered if he was he this nice to all the women he broke up with. Her throat momentarily struggled with co-ordinating the air in order to speak. She took a step away from him. She crossed her arms against her chest. She felt the cut opening again as the skin around it strained from the force of crossing her arms. But she didn't care. Act like an adult, act like an adult, her mind chanted. A sudden burst of adrenaline and the words were out of her mouth, "Horatio you really deserve to be seeing someone stronger…someone more focused than I am. And I know…I know ten days is a long time. Believe, I should know that! Enough to fall in and out of love, in and out of a relationship…if you want to move on, then it's fine…I completely understand. In fact maybe it's best you leave after we say good-bye." A small choke escaped her. She pressed her hand to his mouth, and quickly withdrew her hand as if branded. She turned around; she couldn't bear to look in his eyes. She just couldn't. She knew she would be her own weakness if she did. Breathe woman! And act like an adult, act like an adult.

"Horatio you should leave now. Please don't make this awkward for Eric. Goodbye now." She closed her eyes and waited for him to say the words and then walk out of her life.

Horatio felt this moment to be a cruel trick that fate was playing on him. Time seemed to slow down as he heard the words from her lips. He watched her turn away from him and felt the earth drop from under his feet; He looked down at his feet to make sure his stomach hadn't suddenly dissociated itself from his body. Everything seemed to be spinning twenty times faster than it normally did. He didn't have any words. He stepped up to her and drew his arms around her, pressing his face against the back of her head. She struggled slightly, "Please don't make this harder Horatio, please."

He heard the sobs in between her words and held her tighter. This couldn't be happening to him! It wasn't fair. The happiness and warmth he yearned for in his life that had earlier seemed to be nearly within his grasp was now being forcibly wrenched from him. He felt the bitterness in his throat. No, he wouldn't…he wouldn't let go without a fight this time.

"Please give me another chance Marisol. I'll do it right this time, I promise."

"It's not you Horatio!" she exclaimed forcibly removing herself from his embrace, "It's me! Can't you see that I'm not good enough for you?"

"Sweetheart if anything I'm not good enough for you!"

"Don't say that Horatio…don't say it. You really don't need me as a burden. You deserve someone stronger."

"Marisol what are you talking about?" The sharpness of his words surprised himself but his patience and nerves were shot to pieces. "You're not a burden! I want to be with you. Why can't you see that? I think you're strong and perfectly capable."

"But I saw you…" she trailed off, taken aback by his tone. The tears finally spilled out.

"Saw me?" he asked gently, upset with himself for making her cry.

"Today, wh…when I was with Madison. You were holding hands with her… lu…lunch. I saw you….I know it was you." She mumbled, biting her lip down hard, "She was there when I was at coffee with Bella. I understand Horatio I really do. You two looked happy together."

Horatio groaned inwardly, he should have run after that fleeting piece of green that had caught his eye during lunch. "Marisol…." He cocked his head trying to make eye contact with her. Her head remained bowed, her chest heaving slightly. "Marisol, today I had lunch with Jennifer Wilson. I've known her since she was ten years old, when her parents were murdered. My partner in New York was involved with her mother and I…I've kept an eye on her ever since. She became involved in a case with my nemesis, Walter Resden earlier in the year. It's a long story." he sighed, "Marisol, lunch today was to celebrate her getting a top job with the UN. She has no family to properly celebrate this with. I can't help but feel responsible for her." He tilted her chin towards him, "Marisol, I promised I'd never hurt you. Sweetheart you mean so much to me, I don't think I could hurt you without hurting myself. Sweetheart…Marisol, Marisol."

This time she let him embrace her. She began to cry harder against him. The tears wouldn't stop. Every wrack and spasm she gave out cut him a little deeper. He ached knowing he had caused her so much misery. She seemed more fragile than ever in his arms. He felt her shiver and sob some more. His hands slipped under the cardigan and stroked her back, holding her tighter against him. He whispered gentle SSh's in her ear. He soon felt the skin under his shirt go damp as her tears seeped through.

"I'm s…ss…sorry Horatio. I'm such an idiot. I really don't deserve someone as patient and as loving as you."

His fingers pressed against her lips, silencing the explanations she felt she needed to give for her irrational behaviour. He refused to let her make excuses for her behaviour. It was his fault – he should have tried harder to get in touch with her, he should have swallowed his pride and asked Eric when Marisol was coming back. He felt so ashamed for causing her to feel like this, for almost destroying something so beautiful and loving that he had helped to create with her. They stood in her living room for minutes. Her guttural sobs quieted down to sniffling. He held her for as long as she wanted to be held. Horatio lost track of time, everything seemed to be warping anyway. When she did unclasp herself from him he was surprised to see her eyes full of sadness and still shining with tears threatening to break.

"What's the matter?" he asked. His hands came up to her cradle her face. His thumbs wiping away the sticky treads of her tears. He could feel her beginning to tremble again.

"I wasn't completely honest with you about New York." She bit on her lip again waiting for him to say something, anything. He remained silent, his eyes trained on her waiting for her to continue. "Horatio, I've been in hospital the past week and a half getting tests and stuff done. My sister, Blanca came down from New York with the kids. That's why Eric has been late; he's been coming to the ward constantly to see me…. It's not good." She stopped, unable to continue because of the emotion she saw in his eyes. He reached for her hand and squeezed it, "The cancer's spread to my spleen from the nodes. The doctors say I've only got a couple of more shots to get it before it spreads to my liver and once it gets there, there's nothing more they can do other than set a timeframe, and it…it isn't long."

He remained silent there was no need for words; his eyes, the turn of his mouth, his expression said it all, "Don't be sad Horatio. You're amazing; you could make someone very happy. You've made me very happy, thank-you. You can still say good-bye if you'd like, I'd understand." She said gently, sliding her hand slowly down his cheek.

"I'm not going to say good-bye Marisol. I don't think I could make anyone as happy as you've made me. Look at me, Marisol. You've changed me everyone's noticed it. My sister-in-law, even my brother all the way in Brazil." Oh no! There went Ray's cover. How had that come out? But Marisol hadn't seemed to notice his slip-up in mentioning his brother was still alive and not dead.

"Please don't stay because you…because you feel obliged or sorry for me. Please don't… I wouldn't be able to take it."

Horatio shook his head mutely. He could only imagine how nightmarish this had day had been for her. Going from bad to worse couldn't be more of an understatement. He just wanted to hold her now and whisper that everything was going to be all right, he didn't ever want to let her go. He was willing to lie to her just to make her happy….happy for as long as she wanted to be happy. It was only now that his mind acknowledged, after he had said the words, that she was vital to his well-being. He didn't think he could face living the rest of his days like he had lived this past week and a half! It had been nothing but aching loneliness in his 'happy' department. He was pulled out of thought by Marisol's voice, "There's more Horatio."

He raised an eyebrow. If she didn't need to sit down soon, he was certain that he would have to. He pressed his finger against her lips, finding little resistance from her, he felt his confidence return. He picked her up, carried her over to the couch and sat down next to her. "There's more?" he asked huskily.

She nodded, "It's just that my family don't quite approve of this….of us. That was my dad on the phone and Blanca's been playing out the role of big sister to perfection looking after me, reporting back to my parents about my condition while I was in hospital. After hearing about me skipping chemo, paying less attention to my treatment, meeting Vargas, you not coming to see me in hospital, the cancer spreading…" she gave a small, sad smile, "They seem to think you're the problem. If only they knew how wonderful you really are." Her fingers brushed across his lips and she felt him hold her a little closer to him, "How happy you make me. We…on the phone…basically we argued about you and me. They've spoken to Eric, and he backs them up because it seems your colleagues don't wholly approve of us either. It's an impression I got and Eric backs it up. Horatio…I…I feel lost, I know what I want but I never used to care so much what people thought and now suddenly I do, suddenly everything is just complicated. I don't want you to get into trouble for anything. So much pain to be caused in such little time."

"What do you want Marisol?" he asked quietly. She couldn't read his expression; her shadow was thrown across him, cloaking him in darkness.

"This…" she choked, her voice was filled with tremors, "I want us…I want to be with you because you make me happy. That's all I want."

"Then that's all that matters." he said with a tone of finality, "Sweetheart we're adults we can do whatever we want. It doesn't matter what others think, all that matters is what we know inside about ourselves. I don't want you to worry about that. We can do this Marisol." He felt her perk up a bit in his arms.

"Whatever we want?" she asked hopefully.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "Whatever we want." He echoed. Horatio was furious; he couldn't believe the people he worked with dared pass judgment on his private life. There was a reason it was private. On the other hand he had his suspicions that he was quickly becoming office gossip. He never really paid attention to it being a more avid believer in cold, hard facts. But he didn't want it to affect Marisol. He had the feeling Calleigh was one who disapproved because of the looks she kept giving him after she had seen them holding hands in the parking lot when Marisol had once come to see Eric. Occasionally there was a tension between them but it wasn't such a problem that it interfered with their work and Horatio had left it at that. But it was really none of her business.

"What do you want Horatio?" she asked laying her head against his chest.

"Exactly what you want." he replied.

He received a playful shove from her, she seemed happier now, he could feel her relaxing in his embrace, "That's not an answer Lieutenant."

"Yes, it is," he insisted, "You make me happy…I want an 'us' too." He smoothed back her hair away from her face.

Marisol smiled, just having him hold her made it seem like it was all going to be okay. She felt the fight returning to her. She buried herself further into him, linking her hands with his. They sat in silence for a few minutes, "I'm sorry about your shirt." she said shyly.

"Darn! And it was my favourite." he joked.

"I'm sorry." She kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm kidding Marisol. It's just a shirt." He nuzzled his face against her hair, "Hmm…you smell different…smell peppery."

Marisol let out a laugh. It was her first proper laugh and he felt everything around him brighten, his heart swelled. "I see why you're a CSI now. Yeah…Blanca is kind of obsessed with herbal stuff and I ran out of shampoo so I had to use hers. It's actually pepper and arnica." she said melodramatically.

"Hmm…not quite you."

"Don't I know it!" she laughed again and again Horatio felt his spirits rise with hers.

"I missed you so much." he whispered against her hair. He closed his eyes, and let his hands trail across her.

"I missed you too." She heard his heart beat a little harder.

Horatio's hands reached the sleeve of her cardigan. He folded it back gently and brought it to his lips. She tried to tug her hand away from him. He kissed it and tasted the drying blood. "What happened?" he asked softly, rubbing her cut gently across his cheek.

"An experiment…I mean you CSIs do it all the time right? I was doing a bleeding test. You know… time it takes for a cut to stop bleeding is indicative of your platelet count, intrinsic and extrinsic clotting mechanisms." She had rattled off the jargon as if known by heart

"Mhmm…bleeding tests are normally done using standard cut size. And yours sweetheart does not prescribe to the standard size."

"You CSIs really know everything huh?" she joked. She didn't hear an answering chuckle. She sighed and straightened herself against him. She brought her hand down and looked at it – it was still bleeding slightly. "Ok, you win, I can't lie to you anymore." She sighed again. He rested his chin on her shoulder and waited for her to continue. "When I got back from the hospital, Blanca gave me a lecture on the phone and I just felt so depressed…" she let out a heavy sigh, "I couldn't feel anything else. I just cut it to see if I could at least feel pain. Pain seemed better than the gloominess I was feeling and you know what Horatio…there was nothing…I didn't feel a thing… that was the saddest part of all…I had completely lost the ability to feel something as basic as pain. Nothing mattered. But now…now it does…it does matter. Also I can feel the pain now." This time she felt him smile and that made her smile.

"You're amazing, you know that." He said amusedly, "Just next time you want to do something like this again – call me. I'll come join you."

"I don't think I'll be doing this again Horatio." she said deadly serious. She leaned her head back against him, and discarded the now superfluous cardigan. Even though it wasn't cold, as soon as the cardigan came off she had gooseflesh rising. Horatio rubbed her arms gently to try and warm her up. They remained silent for a while, "Madison had leukaemia didn't she?"

Horatio froze, he swallowed hard a few times, wanting to tell her about it but unsure of how to begin. Marisol prompted him a few moments later. He gathered his courage and told her about Madison and how she came into his life. There were times when he stopped…unable to go because of the pain he felt knowing Madison was Ray's and how he had had to hide it from Yelina, the pain he had caused Yelina and how the idea of a child dying was what finally united them as a family, if an unwilling family at first. It was at times like this that Marisol rubbed her hand over his heart, loosening the tightening he felt when he paused. When he finished, Marisol kissed him softly and thanked him for telling her. He nodded, unable to speak but glad that he had told her.

"Oh, Madison asked me to give you something." He lifted Marisol off the couch and carried her to the kitchen, avoiding the broken glass on the way. He stood her down and handed her the envelope he had brought with him. It was a baby pink color and had her name drawn across it in red crayon. She opened it and smiled as she read the invitation to Madison's birthday party.

"She really hopes you'll come. She said I was to try and convince you as much as possible."

"She really has you wrapped around her little finger doesn't she?" asked Marisol, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Completely, and doesn't she know it! So will you come? With a 'please' from Madison and a 'pretty please' from me?" Horatio batted his eyelashes at her and caught hold of her waist drawing her close to him.

"Yes. I'd love to come." She said, slipping her arms around him and looking up into his beautiful eyes that were alive with fire and happiness as he heard her answer. Their lips met, his mouth felt so soft and sensuous as he claimed her in agonising slowness with his tongue. Their tongues continued to move slowly as they tasted each other after so long.

They were both breathing heavily when they broke apart. They pressed their heads together.

"How about breakfast tomorrow?" he asked, "Bright and early?"

She wrinkled her nose as images of 'bright and early' flashed through her mind, but being with Horatio was more important than sleep, she chuckled as she thought about it, "I'd love that, bright and early it is then." She remembered that Eric was supposed to be over in a while. "You should go Horatio. You need your beauty sleep."

He let out a hearty laugh at that, "My beauty sleep it is then…Ma'am if I didn't know you so well I'd say you were trying to get rid of me."

"You're just too brilliant a CSI!" she said smiling, she sagged slightly in his arms.

"What's wrong seriously? I can get lost if you want, really."

"Horatio, there's nowhere I'd rather have you be than here. But Eric should be over soon and I know we're going to fight. I just know it. I mean we love each other to bits but when we fight…we fight. What we'll talk about is just going to end up in a fight and I don't want you in the middle of it, ok?" She saw his dejected expression, "Hey, don't be sad."

He kissed her nose, "If you say so. So tomorrow say seven a.m?"

"You got it. I'll set all my alarm clocks and get Eric to call me to make sure I'm up. Boy! Seven a.m!"

"Sure you'll be ok?" he asked wrapping a strand of her hair around his finger.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for the flowers." Her hands remained on his jacket, unwilling to let go of it.

He looked sheepish now, "You're welcome." He moved to the front door. He didn't know why but he suddenly felt awkward and shy around her, he stuttered "So…so we….we're ok then?"

She flashed him a huge grin and kissed him impulsively, "We're more than ok,"Horatio blushed crimson. Marisol giggled, "Goodnight Horatio."

"Goodnight Marisol."

She came out with him and stood against the iron railing to wave goodbye. She went back inside happy and cleaned up the mess she had caused.

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Horatio looked at the dashboard at noted with surprise that it was still early. He was feeling elated and happy and he didn't want to stop feeling like this. Apart from her impending death, everything they wanted to do and have they could. They couldn't have strings holding them back now, manipulating them – because being together had never felt so right. He pulled into the parking lot and noted with pleasure that Tripp was still here.

Horatio walked in and sat down on the stool next to Frank, who was having scotch.

"Francis." said Horatio, placing his sunglasses down on the counter. He motioned to the bartender to get him the same as Frank.

"Horatio." replied Frank jovially.

"Don't you have the kids this weekend?" asked Horatio as he made himself comfortable.

"Supposed to have them but they've gone to celebrate my mother-in-law's sixty-fifth, ya know. Someone left CSI on time and even a bit early today."

Horatio jerked his eyebrows up in amusement, "News travels fast." He raised his glass, "Cheers."

"Cheers. Actually I called CSI to ask you if you wanted to catch a burger tonight. But whaddya know? You were already gone. Thought you would have been doing the stupid paperwork to put the bastards, we caught today, away."

"Uh…I…I had to go see someone."

"Case related?" asked Frank,

"No." he said carefully.

"Marisol Delko?"

"Yeah…but how did you…maybe you should transfer to CSI, Frank."

Frank guffawed, "Everyone knows you're seeing Delko's sister. Hot gossip ya know but that aside the only time you're unsure about yourself in the lab is when she's around. Hell, I've seen it myself. Besides your shirt looks messed up." He offered suggestively.

Horatio ducked his head, with a sheepish smile, shook his head and took a sip.

"Now Horatio I don't mean to sound pushy or anything, but are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Horatio cocked his head to one side and briefly he closed his eyes, deciding to play dumb. He knew damn well what Frank was going to say next.

"Conflict of interest Horatio. Number one rule in the book. And you know the rules better than anyone."

Horatio sat silent for a moment, as it ran through his head. He remembered talking to Eric about conflict of interest and how a relationship with a person involved in a case could be perceived in the courtroom. Which is why they had to maintain a degree of impartiality. Where was that degree of impartiality when Marisol had offered to cook him dinner? Being silenced, that's what had happened. But still no ugly beast had reared its head when it came to his work and his relationship with her. "I don't think we have that problem. It's more complicated than that."

"Darn right it is. Horatio, it is conflict of interest whether you'd like to admit it or not. And with Delko messing up a couple of times, Ryan's eye, the lab under review, your leaky mole problem. Your connection with Marisol would just raise unnecessary questions. Heck, she could be called in for questioning."

"The evidence speaks for itself Frank. She can't be conflict of interest, she was never charged. She doesn't have much longer Frank."

Frank sighed, "Look man, I'm on your side, I'm just saying be careful."

"Now if I did that…that would take all the fun out of life. Besides I think you're missing your kids, no one to lecture."

Frank flashed him a grin, "Well parent talk over now! So tell me, how things goin' with her?" he raised the tumbler to his lips, took a sip and then said, "Hope she's not completely like Delko."

Horatio laughed and then let Frank grill him.

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Horatio got home a couple of hours later went for a shower and got into bed. He lay on his back, watching the shadows dance across the ceiling. He was feeling both happy and sad. He let his thoughts drift slowly and was disturbed by his cell-phone trilling loudly in the silence of his home. He reached for the phone, the thought of dispatch at the other end suddenly seemed very unappealing.

"Caine." he answered.

"Hi. It's me." answered Marisol softly.

"Hey." He rolled himself over on his side and propped himself up on his elbow. "Everything all right? Eric?"

"Yeah…we argued or rather spat venom each other. He just left, he's still mad but we'll be fine. Something's bothering me…"

"Do you want me to come over?" he asked sitting up in bed.

She laughed, "No Horatio that's ok. I just wanted to hear to your voice."

"Are you sure that's all?"

"Yep, relax Lieutenant, there's no bigger picture here. I just wanted to hear your voice and say goodnight. I really missed you."

"I missed you too."

There was silence, Horatio could just picture her biting her lip in bed. That must look so cute, he smiled at the image. He cleared his throat slightly, "Well, I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours then."

"Yeah, goodnight then Horatio."

"Goodnight Marisol. Hang on a sec will you."

"Huh?"

"Ok, you can hang up now if you like."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well I just sent you a flying kiss." he said sheepishly, feeling the blush rise.

Marisol smiled and gave a short laugh, "Standard or first class?"

"First class."

"Well then, consider it received. Goodnight."

"Goodnight sweetheart."

He heard her hang-up and soon fell asleep for a few hours with a smile on his face.

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Author's note: Sorry if the spanish translations are bad, I'm not too good with the language. I'm not too sure about the facts on cancer affecting the spleen/liver but I do know that most tumorous cells travel via the lymphatics. I wanted to make this chapter quite teary but I don't think I quite got the desired effect. I hope you guys get the gist of the plot for the last two chapters, I must admit it's not the clearest/ strongest reasons I've given for the character reactions. I'm going to be travelling for a couple of days and I won't be able to post the new chapter until I get back. I haven't proof-read it as much as I'd like to have so please bear with me if there are more mistakes than usual. Please do leave a review, feel quite bummed out by this chapter and the slowness it took in putting it up. Thanks.