Obstacles

Hrockz

Hrockz

Coroner
I miss Ray Jr, tptb seem to have forgotten his existence....:(
The following is set shortly after the events of 'Rio'........


Horatio pulled up his Hummer outside Yelina's house. She was waiting for him outside. She was dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a body-hugging blouse. The sight of her, fired off familiar pathways in the neurons in Horatio's mind, and he felt a familiar feeling he couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Horatio," Yelina greeted him as she climbed in. Pulling the passenger side door shut after her, she rambled on, "thanks for coming at such short notice. I hadn't had the time to get myself a car, I just hope he's ok. If anything happens to - "

"Yelina," Horatio reached over to her with his right hand, squeezing her left hand gently. The gesture surprised them both, but given the gravity of the situation, neither had the presence of mind to ponder the consequences of his actions. "Firstly no worries... second, I'm sure he's fine."

Yelina's eyes still showed her worry but she seemed calmer somewhat.

"Yeah," she breathed. "You're right."

Horatio offered a slight smile, then pulled out onto the road again. They were soon at Dade Memorial, and a nurse at the reception desk pointed them to a room at the end of the hall in the ER.

Yelina pushed the door open, and both were relieved to see Ray Jr, propped up on his bed, his left hand in a cast but looking none the worse for wear. Yelina frowned at the bandage on his forehead but gathered her teenage son into her arms.

Mother and son hugged briefly. Ray noticed his uncle and smiled.

"Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" Horatio took a step towards his nephew.

"I'm ok, really." the teen said as Yelina let go of him.

A bespectacled doctor entered the room. "Ah good, Mr and Mrs Caine - "

"That's my mom, and that's my uncle." Ray corrected him.

"Ok...." the doctor continued. "Raymond has a broken wrist, he needs to have some pins inserted surgically, we've scheduled the surgery for tomorrow morning. The stitches on his forehead, we'll remove in a week, he has a slight concussion. Obviously he's going to be in here for a couple of days."

"The driver who hit Ray...." Horatio enquired, anxious that justice be served. He flashed his badge.

"It was my fault Uncle Horatio." Ray was quick to admit. "I didn't notice the car, I was too engrossed in my iPod...."

"The driver's a little shaken, she's in the next room."

"I'd like to get one of my detectives to speak with her."

The doctor nodded, and Horatio whipped out his phone and made the phonecall to set things in motion.

The rest of the day was spent with Ray Jr in his hospital room, keeping the teen company.

Night had fallen by the time Horatio drove Yelina home. Despite being apart for a year, the awkwardness that Horaito thought would be there, wasn't. In it's place was a comfortable silence.

Now that she knew Ray was going to be alright, she felt alot better, and her hidden feelings for her brother-in-law slowly bubbled to the surface. Eager to thank him, and perhaps to spend a little more time with him, Yelina invited him in.

"Wanna come in for some coffee?"

"I uhh..." Horatio wasn't sure. They hadn't seen each other since that day outside MDPD, when he asked her to stay in Miami. He didn't even know she had done so, till her phone call to him early that afternoon.

"Just so I can thank you, and show off my new house?" Yelina pressed on.

Horatio cocked his head and smiled. "Ok." She was like an addictive drug he couldn't quite shake off. Subconciously, he didn't want to.



Am busy but will post more instalments as often as I can. TBC....
 
Well MacsGirlMel you need to have watched part of seasons 3 to 5 in order to follow what I'm writing about, but there's always the epy summary in CSIFiles :lol: If not just PM me and I'll be glad to explain. I'm always passionate about my H/Y.


Yelina led Horatio into a modest-looking single-storey house that was adequately furnished.

"I'll get started on the coffee." Yelina gestured towards the living room. "Feel free to look around."

"Thanks." Horatio nodded. Yelina disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Horatio to look around. He studied the place, much like he would a crime scene but this time it was to gather clues as to how Yelina and his nephew had been. The place was neat and tidy, the way he remembered how she kept her house. They seemed comfortable but there was no evidence of her having enough to splurge on something overly expensive. Everything was new, it was the first time he was here but the place was strangely familiar. It was Yelina's presence that made it so. Of all the nights he had spent thinking about her, now she was here, in the flesh.

He stopped at a picture frame. He picked it up and the familiar pain of losing his little brother stabbed at his heart. It was a family photograph of Ray, Yelina and Ray Jr, aparently taken while they were in Rio.

"I miss him too." Yelina said from behind him.

Horatio put the picture back and turned to face Yelina. She held out a cup of steaming coffee, which he took.

"I apologise for bringing back any bad memories." He was quick to say as Yelina sat herself down on the couch, tucking one leg under her.

"I wouldn't have put the picture there if it was hurtful." Yelina replied.

Horatio sat down beside her. He understood. "How are you holding up?" He asked as he took a sip from the aromatic coffee.

"I'm much better, now that I know Ray Jr's going to be ok."

Horatio nodded. "From Brazil?" He asked raising the cup of coffee.

Yelina broke out into a smile. "Yes."

It was so good to see her smile. Horatio had missed that.

"I really appreaciate you coming to give me a ride to the hospital today."

"No worries," Horatio's turn to smile. Yelina returned the smile and lowered her gaze in an attempt to hide her feelings. His smile, along with his blue eyes, always slayed her. "We're family."

Horatio's generic word for wanting to be around her but needing an excuse to do so. She had gotten so used to it. She nodded, pretending it was ok for him to use that excuse over and over again. But it had to be, he had used that same waord to make her come back to Miami.

"Nice place you got here." Horatio said, as he placed his cup on the side table.

"I got it at a bargain." Yelina looked back at him. General small talk didn't need any hiding of emotions. "I'm looking for a job now, and," she laughed, "a car."

"If you need my help.... if you need some money...."

"You know I would never." Yelina was firm in her reply. He had offered help financially before and she had always refused.

He had expected that answer. "You know, I had to offer."

"I know."

"I wish you had told me you guys were back."

"I'm sorry, we only just got back two weeks ago."

"Nothing left for you in Brazil?" Horatio ventured a dangerous question.


Sorry for the abrupt ending gota run but I'll be back later to update more if I have the time.
 
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I know about some of it, the whole Marisol thing and Brazil and I saw a little of when Ray Jr was there. I'm mostly H/C though I don't follow Miami as closely as the other two but anyway I'll still keep reading now that I've started. Post soon!
 
Glad I took some time to check the forum during my break! This is truly how tptb should've handled the H/Y story! Can't wait for the next update
 
Glad to see you round Tati, *points to another fic couple threads down*, did you check that one out too?

MacsGirlMel, glad I got you hooked too :)


“To be honest, we kept a low profile there. Lived almost in seclusion, you would understand why.” Yelina paused, and Horatio saw bitterness flash in her eyes. “But you know Raymond, went back to his old ways….

She refused to dwell on it and shook her head as she continued to speak.

“But anyway, Ray Jr and I talked about it. We decided it would be better if we came back. My mom’s here, the friends he grew up with are here, that and I’d like for him to continue his education here. So we sold the house in Brazil, packed up and.. here we are.”

They shared a smile.

"I’m glad you’re back.” Horatio said.

Yelina of course didn’t tell him that the other reason she decided to return was what he had said to her outside MDPD three weeks ago. To her understanding, Horatio had asked her indirectly, to stay because of him. It had given her a glimmer of hope that maybe there was something there for them. Much had changed in a year, and she wasn’t sure how things would be between them, but so far, things hadn’t seemed to have changed much.

"It’s good to be back.” Yelina agreed with him. She took a sip out of her coffee. “But enough about me. What about ?”

Horatio leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees, he tilted his head and looked up at her. “It’s been busy, you know, Miami’s never short on crime."

Yelina smiled and nodded. “Still watching over our city.” She teased. “But seriously, I didn’t mean that.” She paused unsure if she should continue, but decided to hazard it.

“I meant, how have you been since Marisol.”

Yelina wanted to know. It had always been apparent that both of them felt for each other, just never acted on their feelings for each other. They had dated other people, but it had never got serious with other parties. Then she went away, and he had seemed to get over her fast, so fast, he got married. She had been unhappy in Rio but in their infrequent communication to each other while she was there, she never let on that she was having problems with Raymond. She didn’t want him to worry. Then came the simple phone call, informing her he had got married. It had hurt. It almost felt like he betrayed her. Now she wanted to know where she would stand with him.

Horatio bowed his head. “I ah…it’s been…”

Yelina pressed on. “You came to Rio to make sure justice was served to her killer. Was it?”

Horatio's expression clouded over. One of the benefits of working with Lt Horatio Caine and also having him as her brother-in-law, was that Yelina learned to read the man very well. And she knew she had over-stepped her boundaries. Perhaps they had grown apart.

Horatio pressed his lips together tightly, a frown forming on his face.

“I’m ah… I’m fine really. You know what? I think I’d better get going. You need your rest.”

He stood up. “I’ll drop by tomorrow morning, give you a ride to the hospital.”

He didn’t give Yelina much of a chance to respond, and when she stood, he made a hasty retreat, letting himself out the door.

Yelina sighed. She plopped back down on the couch, throwing her head back. “Great,” she muttered to herself. She hoped the next day wouldn’t turn out to be such a disaster.
 
Yep I read the other fanfic aswell. As a matter of fact I read it as soon as you put it online! Just didn't find the time to write a reply. Anyhow you know how great you are so.. still me saying it once more couldn't hurt right? :D
 
Thanks for the compliments *blushes*


When Yelina opened her front door the next morning, she found Horatio’s Hummer parked out front. He was seated in the driver’s seat, waiting patiently. She took a breath. In the past it had always been him who hurt or angered her, and him who needed to step carefully around her. Now it felt as if the tables were turned. She approached the Hummer slowly. Pulling opening the passenger side door she climbed in like she did the day before.

“Morning.” Horatio greeted her, to her surprise. His shades hid his eyes, making it hard to judge his mood.

"Morning,” she echoed him.

The rest of the journey went on in silence and Yelina felt as if an awkward tension that wasn’t there the day before, hung over them. Thankfully the tension dissipated once they were in Ray Jr’s hospital room.

Ray had been prepped for surgery and he sat on his bed with Yelina as they waited for the orderly to come take him to the OR.

"Nervous buddy?” Horatio asked as he stood next to Ray, his hands together in front of him.

Ray shrugged. “A little I guess.”

“Well you’re going to be fine, so you shouldn’t be.” Yelina ruffled his curly hair.

Horatio nodded. “Your Mom’s right. You’re going to be fine.”

"We’ll be right here waiting when you come out ok?” she added.

“Don’t you have to work Uncle Horatio?” Ray asked.

“No worries,” Horatio smiled, “my team can function without me for a day.”

The orderly came. Time for Ray’s surgery. “I love you,” Yelina kissed her son on the forehead.

Horatio and Yelina waited together in the family waiting area outside the OR. The awkward tension returned. Horatio bought coffee and sandwiches from the cafeteria, his attempt at dispersing the tension, Yelina suspected.

When the food had been consumed, Yelina decided it was time to try making peace.

“Horatio,” she paused, and when he turned to finally look her in the eyes for the first time that morning, she knew she had his attention. “I’m really sorry about last night. I had no right to –“

He interrupted her. “Yelina…. You had every right, you had every right."

Horatio let out a breath and continued to speak. “I was up all night, thinking… we both, we've been through alot together. We've both just lost someone we love, you must be hurting. You know you're not alone on this."

Yelina knew what Horatio was trying to say and was trying to answer her questions from last night. Time to tell him what really went on in Rio, but she suspected he already knew.

"Horatio, when you sent us to Rio...." Yelina shook her head and gave a bitter smile. "..... I was a fool to think he would change... I wasn't as happy as I let you think. Your brother..... he was never around, just like before, we fought all the time, our house was like a hotel to him, he came and went as he liked, he might even had other women there, and of course there was the drugs."

Horatio had leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. His hand was so close to her knee he brushed it accidentally, sending Yelina's heart into overdrive. He looked into her eyes and she saw remorse in them.

"I put you in that position."

"No. you couldn't have made me go if I didn't want to. We both knew Ray and I deserved a second chance. I tried so hard to make it work."

"I know you did."

"I didn't want to tell you, you sent us there for a fresh start, I'm sorry."

"You should never apologise for that." Horatio's eyes always so telling to her, reflected sadness.

"That day when you went to the airfield with Ray Jr and I, I thought, maybe..." Yelina closed her eyes and smiled at the memory. She opened them and continued, "maybe you had decided to break those boundaries you put up for yourself, I thought maybe we had a shot at something."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lead you on."

Horatio understood she wanted to know about Marisol. "That day when I sent you away... a part of me died. I thought I'd never feel again. Then I met Marisol. At first, I only wanted to help her out because she was Eric's sister. But she was quite insistent on getting to know me better. I guess, I guess I surprised myself when I began to feel something for her. We had to take things fast, she was sick, we didn't know how much time we had."

Yelina nodded, she understood.

"I loved her, like you loved Raymond."

It was hard for Yelina to hear but she was glad he was being honest with her.

"When you said you thought I had broke those boundaries.... Yelina, I already have.....I, already have."

Yelina was taken aback. She saw the sincerity in his eyes. Her heart started to race again and she didn't know how to react. She didn't expect this at all. What was he getting at?

Horatio recognised her surprise. "You and I, we know each other so well..." He didn't dare say it outright, so he twisted his words, "we can have that shot at something together, anytime we're ready."

He paused for effect. "Like I said, it took awhile but.... the boundaries for me are no longer there. But.... there's no rush, take all the time we need."

He wanted her to think about it first, especially since they had both just lost their spouses. He didn't want it to come off as if Raymond and Marisol had meant nothing to them.

Just then the doctor emerged from the operating room.

"Mrs Caine?"

Yelina stood, as did Horatio.

"The surgery went well. You can see your son soon."

Yelina turned to Horatio. "Like I said, no rush." He smiled at her. "Let's worry about Ray Jr first ok?"

Yelina smiled. The heaviness on her seemed to have lifted as did the tension that hung over them. "Yeah, let's."
 
When Ray Jr got discharged from the hospital, Horatio went about playing the part of the dutiful uncle and brother-in-law, helping them settle back in to Miami. He came round frequently for dinners, gave Ray rides to school and took him on the occasional fishing trip. For Yelina, she had wanted to start work again, so he went about helping her get her old job back. They both began to feel comfortable round each other again, and the familiar close friendship was developed to the point where they had left off before Rio.

Then Ray's cast came off and Horatio fell off Yelina's radar. Never called or came round. For days, she agonised over whether it was something she had said or did. Eventually she told herself she should stop beating herself over it and life had to go on.

That was slightly more than a month ago. It was Yelina's first day back at work. She had been a homicide detective for many years, and it was easy to get back into it, it felt as if she never left. There were just a few new policies and procedures to familiarise herself with. Policework, that was the easy part. Horatio, she wasn't so sure. She knew that their paths would cross in the course of work.

Just as she thought of him, he materialised as his CSI Hummer pulled up to the crime scene. She watched as Horatio, dressed in his trademark black suit and sunglasses, cooly stepped out and walked towards her.

"Ma'am." He greeted her.

"Horatio."

All business.

"What do we have here?" Horatio looked at the dead body at his feet.

"James Parker. Took one to the head. Obviously. Just made partner at Young and Graysons."

"A law firm."

"Yes. He wasn't the only one who was eyeing that position, and many thought he shouldn't have been the one to get the promotion."

"Sounds like motive to me." Horatio said as he slipped off his sunglasses.

"I'll talk to his colleagues, see if I can round up a few suspects."

"Thank you Ma'am." Horatio said as they parted, Yelina to her car and Horatio slipping on a pair of latex gloves to process the scene.

If their past was going to be a problem in their working relationship, it wasn't apparent that day. Yelina chased down alibis and spoke to a number of possible suspects. These she did, some with and some without Horatio. When they had to partner up, they worked like the same well-oiled machine they were two years ago.

By the end of the day, the case was nowhere near getting solved but they had a few suspects in mind. The CSIs had almost sufficient proof for the warrant they needed that would be served by Yelina the next day.

For her the working day had come to an end. She was packing her things, ready to go home when Horatio appeared at her desk.

"Hey," He smiled, the first he had offered her all day.

"Hey." Yelina did not return the smile.

"How've you been?" Horatio asked. His eyes reflected vulnerability and sincerity, these he made no attempt to hide from her. But she was still angry.

"If you didn't pull that disappearing act on me, you would know." She snapped.

"I uh... I apologise for that."

Yelina rolled her eyes, unmoved.

"If you'd let me buy you dinner... I can explain."

"No, Horatio. You can't buy me dinner." The anger seethed through her voice. "I'm sick and tired of your games. You show up, hang around for awhile, then you disappear and I don't hear from you again. You're acting like your brother."

Yelina had raised her voice a notch and heads started to turn in their direction.

"Yelina, this isn't the place." Horatio looked pleadingly at her. He lowered his voice. "If only, if only you'd let me buy you dinner, hear what I have to say. If you don't like what you hear, I won't bother you again."

He waited for her to think about what he had just said.

"I'm not playing any games, you have my word."

Yelina lowered her gaze to the floor. She had promised herself she wouldn't let him do this to her again, but she was a sucker for the Caine charm. Especially the older brother's.

"Ok. But I need to stop by my Mom's first, check on Ray Jr, see if he can stay the night with her. It's a school night."

"How about I meet you at Murphy's Bar and Grill, eight?"

"I'll be there."

"Thank you." Horatio had taken a gamble, and he had no gurantee it would pay off. But he had to try.


Feedback please! :)
 
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Please read and review :)


Yelina had just enough time to go home for a quick shower and change after she left her mother's house. She had even time for make-up, a tad more than she wore to work. She realised she was dressing up for Horatio. And she didn't even know what he was going to tell her. For all she knew, he could be telling her he didn't feel for her anymore. Don't be ridiculous! He wouldn't go to that much trouble just to tell you that! Yelina was almost certain she was being paranoid. And hadn't she been angry with him? Her conflicting thoughts puzzled even herself.

She arrived at the restaurant at precisely eight. She saw Horatio's Hummer. He was already there. Horatio had chosen a table at the far end, privacy was his intent. He sat with his elbows resting on the table, his hands clasped together, looking deep in thought. He was still in his work attire. Yelina thought he looked decidedly handsome and wondered why she didn't notice it during the course of the day.

Horatio stood up when he saw Yelina approach. She was dressed in a simple green dress with a plunging neckline, revealing a little too much of her clevage, he thought. He took a deep breath. It was already not going to be easy telling her what he wanted to tell her, and he hoped he would be able to form coherent speech.

"Hey," he pulled out her chair for her.

"Hey." Yelina smiled. Her first to him that day. He looked nervous, but it made him look all the more boyish.

The waiter came to take their orders, and she decided on the fish while he went for the chicken.

"So I think we're going to be able to wrap up the case by tomorrow." Horatio began.

"I know. We're still waiting on the warrant for suspect's DNA?"

"Should be a match to the blood from our vic's shirt."

"But, you didn't come here to tell me that did you?" Yelina smiled coyly.

Horatio swallowed. "No. I didn't."

She seemed in better spirits than at work.

"I ah, I wanted to, wanted to explain myself."

"Why you disappeared on me."

"Yeah." Horatio took a breath. He had tried not to let it show but she noticed anyway. "Yelina," his blues eyes held her gaze. "That day outside the OR.... I meant everything I said. I'm ready for us.... for me to move on with you."

Yelina was touched. However, she still didn't understand why he would avoid her all this time.

"I wanted to give you some space. I wanted us to be sure we weren't just reacting to the deaths of Raymond and Marisol, I didn't want something on the rebound."

He looked down at the table, and gave a half-smile. "But I don't think that's possible, I mean for us to be just reacting.... I mean we've always had feelings for each other.... they've always been there."

He looked to her for affirmation of what he just said.

Yelina smiled, blinking she looked at him again. "You're right, those feelings have always been there."

Horatio felt less nervous now. At least he had got her to admit that, and he got the confirmation he wanted, that she still felt for him.

"I guess, I just wanted to give you time to get over Ray, and for myself too. We're already complicated, we don't need the extra baggage."

Yelina nodded. It was wise of him. "Good decision. But you didn't have to cut off all contact with me. Even Ray Jr was upset."

"Yeah, I owe him an apology for that."

The food came, interupting their talk. They switched the subject of their conversation to something lighter over dinner. Horatio ordered them coffee, aware that they both had to drive home afterwards.

"Back to what we were saying." Yelina pressed on. She had to know. "You didn't have to completely disappear to give me space."

"I know." Now came the hard part. The gamble he had to take. The truth. "Yelina, you may not like what you're going to hear but.... before we decide on anything, on our future, there's something you need to know."

"I'm listening."

"I had to distance myself from you because I didn't want you dragged into the mess I was in..... when you asked me that night, about Marisol's killer.... you know I went to Brazil to make sure he got what he deserved."

Yelina nodded.

"Well uhmm... the Brazilian police weren't going to prosecute, Antonio Riaz was a free man. I had to take care of him on my own."

Yelina blinked. She didn't understand what he was trying to tell her, but as he continued to speak it dawned on her, and she was filled with dread and disbelief.

"That man killed Marisol. He took Ray Jr. He was part of the same gang that killed Raymond and caused you all that pain. He was going to hurt Ray Jr, and maybe even you. So I had to make sure he would never get the chance to do that."

Like the sudden realisation that Ray had cheated on her when Horatio told her the truth about Madison, it was something she wished wasn't true and didn't want to hear but had to.

"You took care of him." Yelina repeated. She suspected she knew what he meant by those words but she had to be sure. "You mean you killed him?!"

Horatio avoided her eyes. He nodded slowly.

"I'm not proud of it, but I'm not sorry for what I did. I did what I had to do. He took away everything I loved, he had Ray Jr, he was going to get to you - "

"Don't you dare Horatio, don't you dare blame it on me or my son." Yelina was angry again. What had the man she loved and respected become? He always stood for justice, justice the right way, not taking the law into his own hands.

Horatio was silent. He knew he had probably blew his chance of anything he could have with her. But there was no way to undo what he did, but he did not regret his actions.

"And you think you can just get off scott free like that?"

Horatio shook his head. "The Brazilian authorities thought I was doing them a favor."

Yelina wasn't surprised. She had been there and knew how corrupt things were.

"But IAB weren't so forgiving. I was suspended without pay."

"You're quite the public figure in Miami, it's a wonder we didn't hear of your heroics on the news." Yelina's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"The Chief was nice enough to make it all hush hush, made it seem as if I was on vacation rather than suspended. Not many people knew."

"And today was...."

"My first day back at work too." He looked up. He had said what he had to and could now look her in the eyes again. He saw anger.

"I've heard enough." Yelina stood to leave.

Horatio quickly paid for dinner and hurried out after her.

"Yelina!" He called to her as she started towards her car. She took a moment to compose herself. She would not let him see her tears. What happened to the Horatio she knew? He had gone and murdered a man in cold blood. In her world he would be put away for life or even sentenced to the electric chair if he was someone she had arrested for homicide. What had he become? Did she still really know him as well as she thought she did?

Yelina turned. Horatio had his head bowed.

"I didn't want you to find out from anybody else. I didn't want us to start something and for you to find out."

For his part Horatio was right. If they had been in a relationship when she found out, it would have been devastating.

And she had been so ready to accept him into her life, but his confession changed all that.

"I ummm... I guess I blew our chances of being together huh?" He sounded like a sad little schoolboy.

Yelina knew her reaction had probably broke his heart, but how did he think she would react? She guesed he knew.

"Are you sorry for what you did?" Yelina felt as if she was chiding Ray Jr for getting into a fight at school.

"I don't regret what I did." He maintained.

"You said that if I didn't like what I hear, you wouldn't bother me again."

"I did." Horatio said slowly. He was afraid of what she was going to say next.

"I didn't like what I heard Horatio."

With that Yelina got into her car and drove away.

Once again, Horatio was alone.
 
Well Yelina's reaction is perfectly normal. BUT Riaz had to be taken care off.. and the police in Rio wouldn't do anything to him because he pays them off..

I hope she'll forgive him.. i know she will
 
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