A/N This is my first attempt at anything M rated, so please, no laughing :) If you don't want to read the M rated part, it's only at the end of the last chapter, so just skip that bit.

This is for Beth, Katia, Milenys and Gabby, because you guys are awesome.

x

In life there are a many acts of unfairness. But never will you hear of something quite as unjust as the tragic tale of one special couple. They were indeed best friends. Best friends of over a decade. Together they had been through death, bullets, comas. It had all been thrown at them. Yet every curveball that came their way, they caught like it was the most natural thing in the world. It would seem only just that the world treat them to each other, for true love to finally find them. But sometimes even Cupid's spell is messed with. The arrow hit them, and dear God it hit them both hard. Only it didn't unite them, the love they shared was hidden, they're eyes forced into blindness when it came to the love they showed for each other. The lived in bitter ignorance, a bitter ignorance that followed then right to the end. A shadow of evil. Nothing could ever compare to the evil that life threw at them though. For that was something that made the world around them weep.

-x-

"Cal, where are we going?"he asked, curious as to the route taking them miles from Miami.

"The Glades is in out jurisdiction, and that means all of it. All 4000 square miles."

"And we're going?"

"To the other side."

"Why do we always get roped into doing these cases?"

"Because they know you love spending hours in a car with me." she joked

A sudden awkward air descended over the pair of them. She realised just what she was implying just as he realised quite what his answer would mean. Neither of them said anything, merely lapsed into a pregnant silence, both fearing to worsen the situation. The truth was, what Calleigh had said was too true, she knew it, or hoped it, and he knew it too, he loved spending time with her, possibly too much so. The shrill ring of his phone broke the silence.

"Delko." He answered and switched the speaker on

"It's H. Tom's not far behind you, but there was a triple on the causeway so he'll be a bit delayed."

"Alright, we'll get to work on the scene."

"I'll see you there."

Horatio hung up and thankfully the awkward air between the pair had dissipated. It was an air that frequently consumed them, yet they never dared to speak of it, as if it was a taboo. But in many ways it was. Should you be in love with your best friend? It was a question, unbeknownst to each other, dwelled in their mind most every night.

"Triple on the causeway? That's going to be some awful traffic."

"Yeah, that's us not getting home until some unholy hour."

She laughed and he revelled in the sound. It was one of his favourite things to listen too. What made him even happier was that he had been the one to evoke that laugh, to be the one to trigger that smile spreading across her face. He found himself smiling, at nothing other than her radiance. Together they lit up a room, each echoing the brightness of the other. If only they could see that.

"Wonder what happened on the causeway?" Calleigh asked sparking up their usual easy conversation

"Chance are either drunk driver, or under age driver."

"I don't understand why people do it."

"No, me neither, do they not read the news?"

The way they could lapse into hours of conversation, over the smallest thing, it was something special. If there was something that they didn't know about each other it would come as a surprise. They could be listed as a dictionary definition of best friends, they were perfect.

As the gruesome crime scene loomed closer, they're mood never dissipated. The gore that awaited them did not take the smile off their faces, a smile feeding from each other. It made you believe that together, they could, and would do anything.

The Everglades had long since been one of Eric's favourite places, the quiet, the tranquil, it made a difference from the busy city streets of Miami. Yet it always seemed to be the place of brutal deaths, where people abused the freedom is gave them, saw it as a hiding place of evil, rather than an escape to the silence. Today, once again, it had been abused. A woman lay there, her body mangled, her face pale. Though they saw these horrors day after day, death will never be your friend, and they never got used to it. Like the first death they saw, a twinge of pain rumbled deep inside them, a pain knowing what this woman went through, that everything she could have done will never be known. Though they continued to smile, drawing strength from one another and the knowledge that they would bring this woman justice.

Aside from each other, evidence was on of the most reliable things they knew, it never lied. They were trained to follow it, and follow it is what they did. Weapon in hand, they let the blood lead them from the body. The intricate winds of metal, that she loved so dearly, was the only barriers between him, her and the unknown. Leaves brushed against her face, yet her aim never faltered, one foot followed the other, and together they followed the trail.

Breathing slowed as the rounded a corner, aim set on what could be lurking. But the trail ran cold. They could have turned back, but neither were one to give up. When all else failed they turned to logic, logic that screamed this trail did not end here. Maybe the trail did not end, but with one, then two quick pulls of a trigger, for them the search ended here.

They fell to the ground, fingers falling loose on their only protection. They begged to speak, scream for help, but the emptiness of their surroundings were echoes in there voice. Eyes locked, they watched the dearest thing they'd ever known slowly slip away...

A/N No killing me ok? There is going to be a happy ending you just have to wait and see how :D

x