Revelations

Horatio sat alone in his office. The sun had set over an hour ago and replaced with flashes of lightning outside of the huge windows that made up one entire wall of the room. It was as if he were unconscious of the fact that wave after wave of severe thunderstorms was rolling through Miami, blowing inland off of the Atlantic.

The weather mimicked his mood, dark and tumultuous. He and the team answered a call-out earlier in the afternoon dealing with a scene involving a drive-by shooting. He was having a difficult time clearing his mind of the images of the innocent victim.

Earlier that afternoon:

After they had arrived at the house where the shooting occurred, it was quickly obvious to him that this crime scene would be difficult. Off to the side, in the front yard of the residence sat a distraught, almost hysterical woman with a detective attempting to garner necessary details of what had happened.

As he and Calleigh made their way past the uniform officers at the front door, greeted by Frank Tripp inside.

"H, Calleigh," his voice grim as he greeted both CSIs. "The ah, the vic is down the hall, second door on the right."

Horatio nodded his head and led the way. Stepping through the door into the bedroom, his eyes travelled to the small prone body of a child lying in a bed shaped and painted like a race car. His heart sank, and he froze in place, placing his hands on his hips, letting out a strong breath as he bowed his head, slowly shaking it while staring blankly at the floor.

Finally, forcing himself to walk the few steps to the bed, he saw the glaring physical evidence with his own eyes. The bullet had entered the left temple of a boy and had exited his head on the opposite side, just above the ear. Behind him, he heard Calleigh let out a small gasp.

"Oh no," was all she could say as she covered her mouth with a shaky hand.

As he sat on the sofa, recalling the horrible scene that afternoon, he could feel the throbbing increase in intensity behind his eyes, as if his head were in a vise. I know I alarmed everyone, especially Calleigh, when after seeing the murdered boy, I suddenly couldn't breathe. Like a coward, I pushed past her, and quickly walked out of the house, leaving her to gather evidence. He absent-mindedly rubbed his forehead, attempting to ease the pain. I just couldn't bear seeing one more innocent child killed because of scum freely roaming the city, killing at will.

Lost in his troubled thoughts, he failed to hear her enter his office, or call his name. Finally he became aware of somone calling his name, seemingly with an ethereal voice.

Calleigh was now alarmed, not getting an immediate response from her superior; she quickly closed the distance between them startled by haunted, weary blue eyes that gazed up at her.

"Horatio…are you ok?"

Calleigh sat down on the table in front of him.

Outside of the building, a loud boom of thunder shook the glass, followed by a bright bolt of lightning that bathed the entire office with surreal light for a few seconds.

As if coming out from under a trance the deep timbre of his voice asked a question, "Calleigh…" Sweetheart, it's late, why are you still here?"

She watched suspiciously as Horatio sat up and attempted to act like nothing was bothering him, cupping his face with his hands, as if trying to wipe away his bad thoughts.

"I wanted to finish running the striation comparisons against ones on file before I left, so in the morning all I'd have to do would be to run them through the national database. Turns out I can bypass that step."

"They matched one on file?" He asked as he shifted his weight forward and rested his forearms on his knees.

I wish I didn't have to tell him my results, but I've never withheld information about evidence from him and I'm not going to start now, no matter the consequences.

"They did. I hate to say this, but the bullet taken from the side panel of the boy's bed came from a gun used in another drive-by shooting last year, the Lobo case."

Horatio's painful blue eyes stared blankly at the floor and his lips thinned with anger. Abruptly, he jumped to his feet and stepped over to the large windows, where he stopped at the glass, put his hands on his hips and let out a painful sigh as he hung his head. Calleigh turned and looked at the redhead; his form silhouetted against the flash from the lightning outside and decided to walk to his side to offer what comfort she could.

"I'm sorry that I had to bring you that news; I know how upset you were last year over the results of that case."

Horatio raised his head and watched the downpour revealed by the streetlights below. He turned slightly and softly responded,

"You're just doing your job, unlike me this afternoon. I'm sorry Calleigh for running out on you at the scene today…I…I shouldn't have done that. It's just…suddenly I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there," his words markedly strained.

She reached out and touched his arm lightly replying, "Hey, I know how it hurts you to find children the victim of crime. You've confronted it so much. Frank helped me with the evidence."

Horatio turned and smiled slightly at his beautiful ballistics expert and answered, "I know it affects you just as badly."

"It affects all of us, but you, you hurt so much more when children are victims."

"Sweetheart…" Calleigh looked up into his eyes answering,

"Yes?"

"Let's both make sure the evidence hangs Lobo this time. There will be no room for error and with a new person coming on board soon, I'd like to ask you to work closely with them and train them in handling the evidence. It's a lot to ask of you and to also cover ballistics too, but there's no one I'd trust more with the job."

"Thank you Horatio. I want to get this monster off the streets as badly as you do; I'll make sure it happens this time." Horatio nodded his head and turned back to the window.

They stood in silence as the storm continued outside for a couple of minutes until Calleigh asked,

"Did you ever eat lunch?"

Horatio grunted and softly answered, "I don't believe I ever did."

"You shouldn't skip meals like that Handsome…"

Horatio turned quickly and interrupted, "Would you like to go get a bite of dinner with me?" She probably has already made plans, but I just can't face going to my empty house alone just yet.

"I'd like that," she replied as Horatio smiled.

"I'll follow you to your house and you can leave your car – then we'll go in mine."

"Well, my car's in the shop. I caught a ride with Nat this morning and told her I'd get a taxi home tonight since I was staying after shift."

Horatio smiled, "Perfect, I'll take you home after dinner."

Neither wanted to eat a large meal so late at night; it was around eight-thirty when they arrived at the small Italian café in Miami Beach. They split an order of lasagna, including a salad between them and a bottle of red wine. They made a pact not to discuss anything about the case over dinner. To her dismay, Horatio never once gave any indication that their evening was anything more than friends sharing dinner. Get a grip girl. He's your superior for goodness sake…you can't expect him to….Deciding to get her mind off that train of thought she asked,

"Have you heard anything from Eric?"

"He called last night. Told me he'd found a nice condo for sale and would close on it by the end of the month. You miss him, don't you?" Horatio turned and watched her reaction, attempting to gauge her feelings. She and Eric were close, then something happened and he resigned suddenly. If she were even remotely interested in me, wild horses couldn't drag me away.

"Yeah, it was like a family member moving away…like my kid brother growing up and going out on his own. I just couldn't believe he moved all the way to Los Angeles and joined the PD there."

Hmm…kid brother! Not the response I expected.

"They have a fine crime lab at LAPD. He'll be a good asset for them." Horatio finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Weren't you…" Calleigh's cell phone rang stopping him from continuing.

"Excuse me Horatio…" Calleigh answered the call while Horatio looked out at the rough waves pushing ashore, listening to the one-sided conversation.

"It'll take me a little time to call a taxi. Could you make sure he stays put until I get there? Thanks so much Patty." Calleigh ended the call.

"I'm sorry Horatio; I need to call a taxi. The bartender over at the Tip Top Club just called and told me my dad is there and is in no condition to leave. I need to go and take him home."

"I'll take you Calleigh, you don't need to call a taxi, besides it would be difficult to get one on a night like this."

Calleigh smiled, "Thank you Horatio, but you don't have to get involved…"

"I want to help, let's go get your Dad and take him home."

Calleigh opened the door of her dad's house as Horatio, with one arm around the man, managed to guide the large Mr. Duquesne through the door, both of them soaking wet.

"Where do you want him Calleigh?"

Her dad turned and looked at Horatio in a drunken stupor and asked, "You…her new…boyfriend?"

"DAD! It's Horatio…he's my boss!" She could feel the blush beginning to surface on her cheeks as she noticed Horatio's grin. "Down the hall, first door on the right," she directed.

"You…like…her?" Calleigh cringed hearing her father talking like that, but she knew she couldn't stop him.

"I do. Now let's get you squared away alright?"

Horatio held the man on his feet with Calleigh's help, while he tugged the wet suit coat off and tossed it on the floor before easing the man down on the bed.

"I'll do that Horatio, you've done enough."

"I don't mind Calleigh. Do you think you need to make him some coffee?" Horatio asked as he slipped her dad's tie off and began unbuttoning his shirt with one hand as he held him upright with the other.

"I usually have it ready for him to turn on in the morning after he gets up. I leave a couple of seltzer tablets and a glass of water on the nightstand for him when he wakes."

"You go take care of that and I'll get him in the bed."

Calleigh smiled as she watched Horatio struggle, "Thank you Handsome." Horatio glanced up; his hair plastered down from being drenched and returned her smile.

A short time later, they stepped outside on the porch and Calleigh locked the front door. Horatio walked to the steps and announced,

"Well, it has finally stopped raining."

"Thank goodness, I just wish it had stopped sooner, you're soaked."

Horatio chuckled, "I don't think there's any danger of me melting."

"Oh, I don't know about that!" Horatio turned his head and looked straight into her eyes, his lips curling into a small smile. She grimaced inwardly as she thought Oh, if ever there was a time I wanted to take back what I said, it's now! I could just literally pass through the cracks in the floor at this moment. I'm so embarrassed and after what Dad said to him…ohhhhh.

"Let's get you home Sweetheart…it's late."

They rode in silence for the most part as Horatio drove Calleigh to her condo. Once arriving, he wouldn't hear of her walking in alone so, he locked his car and accompanied her up in the elevator to her door.

The entire ride up in the elevator, Calleigh wondered how they would say good-night. After all, it really wasn't a date…far from it considering the chore of retrieving her father.

Stopping at her door, Horatio took the keys from her hand and unlocked it, then pushed it open.

"There you go Sweetheart," he softly said as he handed her keys back.

"Cal…Hor," they both laughed as they began speaking at the same time.

He motioned for her to go first. "Thank you Horatio for dinner and especially helping with my dad…I'm sorry you had to do that and I apologize for what my dad said."

"No worries Calleigh, glad I could help. Call me anytime if you need help again." Pausing for a moment, as he looked into her beautiful emerald eyes and continued,

"Thank you for your company at dinner. You helped take my mind off the case," Horatio tilted his head to the side and smiled. "See you in the morning Sweetheart," and then leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek before turning and walking down the hall to the elevator.

Calleigh stood stunned, unable to move.

The next morning, Calleigh was working on the task of searching databases, trying to gather as much information on Lobo's known contacts and arrest record as possible. She felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was Horatio and answered,

"Horatio…yes, I can come up. Be there in a minute."

She ended the call and gathered the papers and put them in a folder and put it in a locked cabinet under the desk before walking out to meet Horatio in the conference room. He'd told her that he wanted the team to meet the new CSI. As she walked to the elevator she thought about how impressed Horatio must have been with the new person to have hired right after the interview.

Walking into the conference room she glanced at the other end of the table and saw Horatio smiling and quietly talking to a dark headed woman. SHE'S the new CSI? Calleigh suddenly felt her heart sink.

Horatio noticed Calleigh enter and motioned for her to join them, "Calleigh, I'd like to introduce you to Aislara Mendoza, our new CSI."

The gorgeous Latino woman stretched out her hand and beckoned, "Please call me Lara. It's nice to meet you Calleigh. I look forward to working with you. Horatio has told me that you and I will be working together."

Calleigh forced a smile, but all she could think of was the meaning of Lara's name – to separate.

TBC…