A/N: thanks to all who favorited or alerted this. Please review.

Chp. 1

One week later

February 14, 2008

Somewhere in South Carolina

U.S. Route I-95 South

1350 hours

Jack took his time getting Miami. Longer than it should have taken, anyway, but he didn't want to get there immediately. At the moment, he was sitting in a burger joint with a cheeseburger and Coke classic in front of him, feeling good about himself for the first time in days. So good that he'd forgotten to turn his phone off that morning after checking his messages, and as a result, he felt it vibrate in the pocket of his jeans. He glanced at the number, sighed and answered. "Hi, Dad. I was wondering when you'd call."

"It's….it's good to here from you, Jack. What do you need?"

Jack didn't know what to say to that. He honestly hadn't expected his father to react the way he did. He expected anger, not acceptance, as they hadn't spoken or corresponded in nearly ten years. "I need a job."

"You left the army, then?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I assume you want a spot on SWAT?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're my son." Horatio said, as if that explained everything and it did, in a way, and hung up the phone.

000

Jack arrived in Miami five hours after calling his father. He got a motel room for the night, showered, shaved and changed into a suit. Horatio had called him again and asked Jack if he'd be comfortable meeting some of the team, including Madison, for dinner. When he asked who Madison was, Horatio told him he'd have to wait and see. Intrigued, Jack agreed. So, he was dressed in a celery suit, black button down shirt, and black dress shoes. It addition to the suit, he wore a Blackhawk tactical SERPA holster with his .45 on his left hip and two spare magazines for the weapon on his right hip. His Glock G36 was tucked in an ankle holster. After checking himself in the mirror one last time, he left the room. As he walked to the elevator, he smiled. It would be good to see his father again.

000

"Uncle Horatio?"

Horatio smiled and looked at his niece. "Yes, Madison?"

"What's Jackson like?"

Horatio smiled and thought about the question. He'd adopted his niece when her mother decided drugs were more important than her daughter, and he loved her like the daughter he'd never had. He knelt down to her height and looked her in the eye. "He's very intense Madison, and he loved to laugh."

"You say that like he doesn't anymore."

Horatio sighed and looked away. "Something happened to him. Something bad."

"But he's ok, right?"

Horatio nodded. "Right."

The girl looked at the floor. "Do you think he'll like me?"

Horatio smiled. Ah, this is the real issue. He picked the girl up and kissed her forehead. "I think he'll like you very much Madison."

000

Jack showed up thirty minutes early, as was his custom and checked the perimeter. He didn't find anything that worried him, and he knew what to look for. Delta had taught him what to look for. So, with some time to kill, he went to the bar and ordered a Heineken. Ten minutes passed when he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a familiar Cuban accent. "Excuse me, sir, but I need to see some i.d. You look a little young to be in a place like this." Jack turned and saw a badge.

"I would have to agree, Mike." a southern Louisiana accent responded.

Jack grinned, but didn't turn around. "You two sound familiar, like a couple of squids I used to work with."

"Who you callin' squids?" Former Navy Seal Miguel Alexei "Mike" Delko said.

"Down, Mike, down." Kenwall 'Ken' Duquesne, Jr said.

Jack turned around, a grin on his face. "Good to see you again, guys! So are you MDPD now?" He asked, nodded to Mike's badge.

"Yeah, we started a couple of weeks ago." Ken said.

"Made SWAT, too."

Jack smiled. "Well, gentlemen, this calls for a celebration. Drinks are on me."

"Now that's the Jackson Caine I remember." Mike said, and ordered a Bud light.

The three former special ops soldier's paths had intersected on numerous occasions. Jack and Ken worked together when they were both TDY to the C.I.A.'s special activities division searching for war criminals in Bosnia, in 1998 and Mike joined them in 2001 when Al Queada decided to attack the united states for the second time. The three men and their respective units, Delta and Seal team 6, spent the next two years searching for Osama Bin Laden and his minions. They'd spent the last five years alternating between fighting insurgents in Iraq and hunting Bin Laden in Afghanistan.

000

Eric and Calleigh arrived at the same time as Horatio and Madison. Horatio wondered if introducing his son to his niece would be too much to take it or if he would be hostile toward her because she was Ray's child. But in the end, he decided that Jack was mature enough to keep his hostility focus on Ray, and Ray only.

"Hi, Miss Calleigh! Did you know my cousin's coming to dinner tonight?"

Calleigh knelt down and hugged the child. "I did; are you excited?"

Madison smiled. "Yeah; I mister Eric."

Eric grinned at her. "Hi, Madison, H."

"Eric, Calleigh."

"Hi, handsome."

"Shall we?" Horatio said, holding the door open.

The four of them entered and went to their table. A few minutes later, Jack, Mike, and Ken came to the table. Horatio, Eric and Calliegh stood, but Madison remained fixated on her children's menu. "Eric, Calliegh, this is my son, Jackson Caine."

"Good to meet you." Jack said to both and shook their hands.

"I guess I'll have to call you handsome one and two." Calliegh said, in an attempt to break the obvious tension in the room.

"You are too kind, Ms. Duquesne."

"Thank you, sir. But it's actually Mrs. Delko." Calliegh said, smiling at Eric.

Jack looked at Ken. "Told you." The former seal said.

"Yeah, you did."

"Ah, this is Miami, my friend, we'll find you a girlfriend yet." Miguel said, and the four adults sat down. Madison giggled.

000

Horatio arrived at the MDPD training facility, and waited for his son to come out. He wondered if he'd sprung too much on Jack, bringing Madison to dinner. But she was a part of his life now. He looked up as a knot of people came out of the building and saw Jack in the middle of them, his hand's gesturing wildly, as if he was telling an involved story. Horatio smiled; his son had always been the life of the party. The group broke up when Jack finished and he called his son's name. "Jack!"

Jack turned, recognizing his father's voice. He smiled and walked to the hummer. "Hey, dad, what're you doing here?"

"I…I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch, my treat?"

"Sure, I'm always up for a free meal." Jack said with a grin.

"Shell's sound good?" Horatio asked, going to his hummer.

"Sounds great." Jack yelled over his shoulder as he went to his car. His stomach tightened as he realized Madison would most likely be their topic of discussion. And that would lead to discussion of Ray. Jack groaned inwardly. Raymond Caine was a sore point between father and son. It was one of the reasons Jack hadn't returned to Miami in ten years. He'd always viewed his uncle as the family screw up. Last Jack had heard, Ray joined the DEA after they learned he was a dirty cop. God only knew how, when, where or with whom Madison had been conceived. Jack pushed all thoughts of Ray from his mind as he entered the restaurant and found his father already there. He joined him at the table and quickly ordered a beer, just to get rid of the waiter. "So, how was your first day?" Horatio asked, genuinely interested.

"Interesting. There were a lot dos and don'ts to learn." Jack said, taking a sip of his drink when the waiter brought it.

"Such as?"

"The mountain of paper work to justify shooting someone is ridiculous." Jack said.

Horatio chuckled. "I can see how you would think that." They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before their waiter returned and took their orders. They continued nursing their drinks until their food arrived. Horatio had spent the time trying to come up with a way to broach the topic of his niece, but finally gave it up and decided to just come out with it. "Jack, what…uh…what did you think of Madison?"

"Cute kid." Jack said, taking a bite of his calamari. "I'm assuming she isn't yours. I figured you'd have told me if she was."

Horatio sighed. "She's Ray daughter, Jack. But you knew that already, didn't you?"

Jack nodded. "I figured as much. Look, dad, if you're worried about my opinion of Ray affecting what I think of Madison, don't. Because I don't care whose kid she is; her parent's screw ups aren't her fault. Speaking of which, are you seeing anyone?"

Horatio laughed at this. "What make's you think I'm seeing someone?"

"Because you look like you did before mom died." Both fell silent as the mention of Jack's mother. Horatio had married his high school sweetheart, a pretty redhead named Amber and they both attended Florida State University. Jack was born their freshmen year. Both were seventeen and other said it was too much to take on, but they made it work. The family didn't have much, but they'd had each other and they were happy with that. But everything fell apart shortly before graduation when the woman Jack and Horatio's world revolved around was torn from them. The body of Amber Caine was discovered ten days after she went missing, murdered, raped and mutilated.

"I'm happy for you, dad. It's been almost thirty years. So, who is she?"

"Her name is Megan Reynolds; she's a paramedic."

"She cute?"

Horatio grinned at this. "Very. So, now that I've bourn my soul, how's your love life?"

Jack's eyes bugged. "Dad! Jeez, I've been here less than a day. Give me at least a week."