Natalia braced herself for the onslaught as the door to her room opened and Rick came charging in. She had come to just as she was taken out of the ambulance and rushed into the hospital. There was no burn damage thankfully, something she had been surprised about given she could still feel the searing heat of the flames following after her. There was a scent of burning etched into her nostrils were smoking debris had gotten lodged. She knew that would take a while to shake.

Natalia had assessed her symptoms just a few minutes ago- she had nausea, an incredible headache, a persistent ringing in her ears and a terrible pain in her right ear from a damaged eardrum and all the superficial aches that came from being flung without warning across several feet and slamming down onto a semi-hard surface. She imagined the damage would be even worse if she had landed on concrete or tarmac instead of soft dirt. She was still waiting on the doctor's final prognosis but figured it would be- concussion, tinitis, bruising, swelling, burst eardrum, a sprained left ankle and cuts from the debris that had struck her.

Rick's dark eyes filled with shock before his mouth gave a tremble and he suddenly dropped in a crouch at her bedside.

Natalia was bewildered. She blinked at him in confusion as her mouth part slightly. She suddenly worried about Ryan. The doctor had assured her earlier that her co-worker was in much better form than she was but now she wondered seeing Rick so distraught.

"Rick is Ryan alright?" She yelled it at him anxiously as her heart began to hammer hard against her chest in a surge of panic.

Rick glanced up at her in a state of confusion and surprise. He nodded.

"Of course," Rick assured, "he met us in the corridor. He said you were alright but...shit seeing you like this. When I got the call..."

Natalia continued to look puzzled, all she could hear was the ringing. Even though she rationalised to herself that it would fade it was a little frightening now to see Rick's mouth move but not hear what he was saying. She was relieved when Rick nodded to confirm Ryan was alive but worried over his condition.

Natalia touched her hands to her ears.

"I can't hear, I've burst an eardrum," she explained, her voice still loud as she couldn't gage the volume of it.

Rick blinked as he tried to muster a calmer expression.

For a moment Rick had bounced back to the sadly all too common times he had been in a hospital, this hospital in fact. When he had entered the room and smelt the odd clinical cleanliness mixed with a faint odour of medications, he had been thrust back to some of his most vulnerable moments in life. It made him unstable, here was a place he had no control, not over his fate, his sister's, his niece's, or Natalia's.

Rick stretched out a hand to stroke the side of Natalia's face. He was careful to avoid the areas of budding green that promised bruises.

"Ryan is okay," he mouthed the words to her slowly. "I am not," he added pointedly as a nervous smile slipped out.

"Rick did you think it was worse?" Natalia queried.

Natalia realised what kind of call he must have gotten- 'there's been an explosion'. It wouldn't matter what words had followed that, Rick's imagination would have done the damage already.

Rick nodded wearily as he felt his adrenaline rush subside. Natalia was awake and talking to him, it was better than anything he had envisioned. The phone call to him hadn't even advised if she was critical or not, simply that there had been an explosion and she and Ryan were at hospital. Rick bowed his head as his chest rose and fall rapidly and he tried to ease his breathing.

Once, Rick had been a master over his emotions but the past few years had worn him down. Whilst he had overcome most of it, it still took him longer than it used to, to get his emotions in check.

Natalia leaned forward to slip her hand into his dark hair. She felt the tug of the I.V drip on her left arm and a jolt of pain in her ribs with the movement. She eased the fingers of her right hand through his greying sable hair gently in an effort to calm him.

"Rick don't you dare reach for that tie," she chided him as she saw his shoulders rise as he raised his hands slightly.

Rick let out a snort of amusement at this before he glanced up at her with a look of scorn in his dark eyes.

Natalia grinned down at him. "You know," she addressed him loudly, "when you were lying in hospital I gave you a kiss. A lot of kisses in fact." She tried to add some lightness to the tense mood.

Natalia had expected Rick to admonish her, scold her for rushing to danger, the fact that he hadn't made her wonder if it was possible that she looked worse than she felt and right now she felt like hell.

Rick nodded as he rose slightly so that he was level with her.

Natalia took him in, noting that his dark jacket was open and his tie was already almost undone and hanging loose halfway down his chest.

"Oh dear," she chided as she reached for it.

Rick's hands caught hers and held it in place.

Natalia looked up at him surprise as she felt the tremors running through his palms. His dark stare fell upon her again, both terrified and relieved. He pushed her hand back from his ruined tie and leaned down to kiss her.

Natalia closed her eyes as she welcomed his mouth upon hers. As she tasted his warmth tears began to trickle out of her eyes and she finally became aware of how scared she had been. She remembered the air burning before a roar deafened her and the world faded to black. Her last thoughts had been of Rick and the girls and her terror that she might have to leave them.

Natalia broke from him and turned her head sideways to press it against his crinkled blue shirt as she cried silently.

Rick embraced her lightly against him, conscious of her variety of bandages and plasters and the drip and heart monitor she was linked to. He was aware of his fast pacing breathing still and tried to calm it as he gave a heavy sigh.

Five minutes passed before there was a light knocking at the door.

Rick glanced over to it and called, "come in."

The door opened and Horatio entered calmly followed by a dishevelled but relieved looking Ryan. His face was marred with a few budding bruises and scrapes but he still managed a smile for Natalia as he stepped round from Horatio's shadow showing that his left arm was bandaged up.

"Why do you look better than me?" Natalia quipped mournfully as she pulled back from Rick.

Even though Natalia practically shouted it at Ryan he struggled to hear over the ringing in his ears. He just about made it out and grinned in answer.

"She's damaged an eardrum," Rick explained.

"Yet she is looking well for someone involved in an explosion," Horatio praised.

The redhead was just as relieved as Rick to see Natalia mostly in one piece. He had been a little more pragmatic about the situation, as they had rushed here, quite certain if it had been truly bad then someone would have told him directly. Still, for a mundane job to go so badly wrong was a little unnerving. That was the dangerous life of the CSI, one never really knew what they were walking into.

Horatio thought of Tim Speedle, gunned down in a shoot-out right before Horatio's eyes. Horatio still remembered the feel of Tim's hot blood smothering his fingers as he pressed down on Tim's chest and futilely tried to keep it in. Tim had no idea that day was going to be his last and he treated it like any other, with his usual cynical outlook on life as they moved through a typical hot Miami day trying to solve a case as important as any other and yet in a way no less ordinary than the majority of them. There had been nothing unusual to suggest that day would end with Tim's death.

Yes, life was fleeting, Horatio knew that well but having knowledge of mortality didn't make it any easier to encounter or prevent.

Horatio glanced at his watch, it was just after seven. It had taken a while before he and Rick had been informed of the incident and then a short while before the doctors had permitted them to see Ryan and Natalia. The redhead wasn't even sure just how long he and Rick had spent trying to get from chaotic uncertainty to this moment of relief. How long how had Cassandra been at home with Marissa and Annabelle in a state of confusion probably trying hard to feign calm. Horatio had already phoned her while standing in the hall with Ryan as Rick saw Natalia and let her know that Ryan and Natalia were going to be fine. He had let Ryan talk to Cassandra to calm her stubborn doubts but had to advise her that Ryan could not hear anything she said.

"Ryan is going to get discharged and then I'm going to take him home," Horatio explained to Rick.

Rick nodded. "Yeah, the sooner you get to the girls the better," he murmured. He turned back to Natalia and squeezed her hand gently. "I'm staying for a bit," he said to her.

Natalia just looked confused, lip reading wasn't exactly something she had mastered. "Are the girls okay?" she demanded.

Rick nodded reassuringly.

"With Cassie?" Natalia ventured a guess.

Rick nodded again. He was trying hard to push back against the smells attacking his senses and trying to plague him with memories. He was staring too hard at her bed remembering how it had felt to be lying in one, sedated and at the mercy of his former boss who had come to taunt and threaten him. He couldn't make this about him, Natalia was here now and he had to focus on that.

Natalia turned her attention back to Horatio and Ryan. She didn't know what to say. She was sore, tired and eager to banish the persistent ringing in her ears. A guilty brown gaze fell on Ryan.

"I'm sorry," she admitted.

Ryan shook his head at this. "It wasn't your fault."

Natalia winced as the pain in her ribs flared up.

Rick leaned forward with an immediate look of concern as he saw her wince.

Natalia gave her partner a reassuring smile even as she leaned back a little to try and find some relief.

"Just banged up a bit," she murmured, "going to be bruises I'm sure."

"Rest," Rick said firmly.

Rick proceed to urge her down into the bed, gentle but firm, as he pushed her down with both hands and brought the light blanket up about her.

"I'm staying," he reaffirmed as he stroked her hair gently. He smiled as he realised she had done the same for him when he was in hospital.

"We'll go," Horatio said.

"Yeah, ring me when you're with the girls," Rick requested.

"Of course," the redhead assured.

Horatio glanced at the clock on the dash. The digital green numbers flashed 22:03 back at him. It was later than he had anticipated. The hospital had taken longer than expected to discharge Ryan, it was a busy night for them and it had taken a while to find a doctor to sign him out with a prescription for pain medication. They had to get the prescription next before heading back to Horatio's car. The minutes had added into hours and whilst Horatio had tried to keep Cassandra updated with texts he knew she wouldn't settle until he was home no matter what assurances she gave him.

Ryan had finally let his fatigue show on the way home but he had mustered enough energy to try and give Horatio a decent run through of what had happened. He had given a grimace as he joked about their evidence being up in smoke.

Horatio had promised that he would have a team out ASAP to salvage what they could. There was still a murderer out there and now that person had the charge of attempted murder of police personnel added to the charge which bumped them up to an urgent priority in the eyes of the law. A drug dealer with a wired up den was nothing new in Miami sadly and all too common out in the swamp but the mundane nature of it certainly didn't make it okay.

Horatio wondered dryly how he had come to a point in his life where he considered two members of his team almost getting killed by an explosion in a drug den to be mundane. Perhaps it was because the likes of Josh Silverstone had been that little more creative and personal. It was always the ones who made it personal that stood out. Today hadn't been personal, the dealer had his stash rigged for intruders of any kind not specifically cops.

Horatio wondered about Kara Watkins' still evasive killer, had that murder been personal? It certainly seemed like it. Her death had been strangulation, no evidence of rape or torture, one might have considered it a rape or robbery attempt gone wrong except she had disappeared on a club strip but turned up elsewhere and she had been anointed and trussed up as an angel. Stranger still was the still unexplainable presence of Benjamin Bracker's blood. It had everyone wondering if he had really been butchered by his brother Henry five years ago and if Henry hadn't butchered Benjamin had he killed any of his family members? It was hard to imagine the frame up given Henry had been found in the house, the lone survivor in his room, insane and covered in blood.

Horatio still didn't know what to make about it. He was wary that Kara might only be the start. That someone was playing a game they hadn't fully grasped yet. The cases had only one connection- Benjamin Bracker- he had known Kara in life and his blood was on her in death- but otherwise they seemed very different.

Horatio shrugged off his grimness as he pulled up into his driveway and killed the engine. He had to present a happier face to Cassandra, he was bringing good news and he didn't want her worrying unnecessarily.

The redhead stepped out to a mild Miami night and headed up to the front door with ease, keys out and ready. He could see as he approached the house that all the lights were on. He had expected it but he still felt a little dismay as it was a reminder of the fear his fiancée was prone to at night. He paused as his shoe stepped on something plastic on the ground. As he lifted his foot he glanced down and only then realised what else was unusual. There was no porch light to illuminate the porch.

Horatio's blue eyes shifted up to the lamp with a moment of suspicion. He felt a flicker of relief to see that all was in tact and figured the bulb had blown. He scolded himself internally for missing something so obvious at his own house before returning his attention to the item he had stepped on. He crouched down and snatched up the object, frowning as he took it in. It was Cassandra's bank card. He couldn't imagine how she had been so careless.

The redhead unlocked the door quickly and hastened to silence the expected alarm. Hoping he hadn't woken the girls, he locked the door and headed down the brightly lit hall, following the noise of the television travelling out of the ajar living room door.

Horatio headed into the living room where Cassandra was quick to greet him as she immediately turned round to confirm that it was definitely him.

He watched as relief visibly flooded her face and the tension of wariness seeped from her shoulders. His cerulean eyes swept over her, taking note of the watery bloodshot condition of her right eye and the way she had her head tilted in that direction and her right hand twitched as she struggled to restrain it, undoubtedly fighting an urge to bring it up to cradle her temple.

"Cassie are you alright?" Horatio queried gently.

"I'm fine," she murmured with a smile.

The blonde reached for the remote and turned the volume down a few bars before she stood up from the couch.

"How are the girls?" Horatio pried. He knew she was lying and was upset that pride kept her withholding the truth of her fears from him.

"In bed," she retorted. Her tone was a little odd and her brown stare seemed to avoid Horatio, looking past him to the doorway.

Horatio, still holding her bank card, took a step towards her.

"Are they asleep?" he queried, guessing at what she withholding.

Cassandra sighed and pressed her hand up to the sore point of her skull at last. "No," she muttered, "at least Annabelle isn't, Mari might be I suppose. You know it was fine for a while, I had them at the shop earlier today, thought we could get a few snacks."

Cassandra paused and gave an amused but tired smile. "I didn't realise how much of a handful two young girls can be, it took a lot of juggling but we got there in the end. Annabelle had never had s'mores so we made some in the kitchen. It was fine, fun but then it got later and I tried...I mean you hadn't called yet and they were worried, I was too but you know, I tried to be calm."

Cassandra's smile faded and she dug the side of her head into her palm with a wince.

"Annabelle got really upset, she was just crying, shaking and then it upset Mari, they were both bawling for Rick at some point. I didn't really know what to do, what do you do? My mom just let me cry and then he..." Cassandra bristled as she stared at the ground. "Well never mind him. Rick always tried to get me to shut up, he was always trying to be firm, telling me off but he was just anxious, knowing we'd have something worse coming if I wasn't. I remember he used to try and distract me so I did that."

Cassandra ventured another smile up at her fiancé but this one was weaker.

"I had them do some drawings for Rick and Natalia, gave them some juice, got them into bed. Mari wanted stories but I couldn't do that."

Cassandra dipped her head again as she felt her eye burn and seep water, crying out the pain of her headache.

"I couldn't," she said softly. "A simple book of fairytales but I couldn't even look at the pages. I just told them to go to sleep and I left."

Horatio nodded sympathetically. He knew what bedtime stories meant to Cassandra, it wasn't sweet but instead conjured a memory of nightmarish crime stories read to her in the night by a drunk stepfather who had dragged her from bed for a show and tell of newspaper articles of murders and kidnappings and other perverse things. The late Balthasar Garrett had committed so many horrors upon his stepchildren that it almost sounded fictional when one heard about it. Yet for all Horatio had learned from Cassandra and Rick about their sufferings at the hands of the man he was quite certain there was still a lot more they hadn't shared and he wondered if they ever would.

Horatio stepped up to the blonde and reached to her with his free hand, pressing it lightly against her brow and stroking it. She was warm to the touch and sweat beads were forming on her forehead.

"Cassie you need your injection," he murmured. "Come, we'll sort it and I'll check on the girls."

Cassandra nodded agreeably.

Horatio withdrew his hand and kissed her brow lightly, as much to reassure him as her that things were alright.

"So, you said Ryan and Natalia were good," she murmured, "and you haven't mentioned them yet so I assume that's still true. Is Rick staying with Natalia?"

Horatio nodded. "Yes and I've left Ryan home, the ringing in his ears should fade overnight so he will be hearing fine tomorrow hopefully."

Cassandra's dark gaze brightened slightly at this news but then she was wincing again, irritated by the lights and the faint noise of the television.

"Cassie how long have you the headache for?" Horatio pried.

Cassandra shrugged him off. "Just an hour or so, it was mild, it's only getting worse now," she insisted.

Horatio resisted the urge to admonish her, he could see she was tired and he felt his own weariness creeping in. It had been a long day for all of them. He knew why she had resisted her injection, she didn't like it at the best of times but it had a tendency to make her dopey and tired, which was the same as vulnerable and not a state she was willing to put herself in while in charge of the girls. It didn't matter than having the distraction of a budding cluster headache made her vulnerable too, Cassandra would choose to try and control that over fighting the influence of her medication. It was something she had in common with her equally stubborn brother.

Horatio considered bothering her about the bank card later but he didn't like to hide things from her, even for her own good. He held it out to her with a calm stare.

"I found this outside in the porch," he explained.

Cassandra was surprised as she took the card and turned it over. She had to blink a few times and tug her glasses down to rub away water from her eyes before pushing the glasses up again to see. "My bank card," she said with a sense of disbelief, "but how?"

Cassandra turned from Horatio to the couch she had been sitting on. On the coffee table opposite it was a tasselled bag, colourful and decorated with beads on the tassels. Cassandra lifted it up and inspected it. It was made of threads depicting a blue sky with suns and rainbows and apparently had had its day as there was a neat hole at its base.

"What the hell?" Cassandra grumbled as she turned it about to inspect the tear. "It must have caught on something, shit."

She doubled over and pressed a hand to her brow as a groan of pain escaped her.

"Shit how didn't I notice?"

She hunted through it quickly for her possessions, plucking them out one by one in a panicked motion.

"I just threw the card in after the shop," she grumbled, "lucky it fell out at the porch."

Horatio felt the scorn and worry of a cop rise within him, her card had her name and date of birth on it, in the wrong hands there could be fraud, and in the very wrong hands there could be worse. He made himself swallow down his concerns, reminding himself of all Cassandra had suffered while he had known her, she wasn't foolish, this had been an accident and hell no one was hunting her or him, those people were dead or behind bars.

Seeing how she fussed and worried and winced as her rising woes worsened her headache, prompted Horatio to step forward and embrace her lightly with both hands.

"Stop," he urged her gently.

Cassandra froze up and let the bag sag to the table again.

"I'm an idiot," she scorned herself. "So reckless, I was distracted by the girls but I shouldn't have been, you'd think I'd have heard it tear or felt it. Shit, my I.D could have been dropped anywhere, keys, medication, shit, shit-"

"Cassandra stop," Horatio interrupted her sternly.

He pressed his mouth against her brow again as he held her lightly against him.

"It was an accident," he reassured her, "and you have everything don't you?"

She nodded and cursed as the gesture sent a fresh pang of pain through her.

"It's been a long day honey, let's just sort your headache out, check the girls and go to bed," he suggested. "Tomorrow, we're getting you a better bag."

"We?" she echoed. "You want to go bag shopping?" She tried to sound humorous but her voice was bitter as her gaze remained annoyed.

Horatio frowned at this but his stare twinkled with mirth.

"No but I'll do it anyway, for better or worse," he teased.

Cassandra finally gave him a smile again.

Horatio kissed her on the mouth this time, a chaste gesture to offer her some reassurance.

When he broke from her, he reached for the remote and turned the television off before taking her hand and guiding her from the room.

Horatio led Cassandra up to their bedroom. Telling her to get ready for bed, he retreated back down the hall to the spare room.

The spare room had initially just contained a single bed but a few weeks ago Horatio had invested in a twin set and replaced the single with them. The room was big enough for it and he said to Cassandra it was better having them than not. Sure, Annabelle never stayed as she was in foster care so that made it a little complicated but somehow Horatio had known there might be an exception.

The redhead considered grimly that the agency would soon learn about what had happened to Natalia. They would ask questions, check boxes and pry into Rick's whereabouts and, more importantly, Annabelle's whereabouts and assess the impact the trauma of it all might have on her. Then they would query the situation of the girl living with two police personnel, how practical and safe was it really?

Horatio knew something no one else did, that the agency was unduly harsh with Rick and overall unhappy with having Annabelle in his care. They remembered the case of a social service worker getting murdered by Josh Silverstone when he had attempted to abduct Marissa from them. Rick was still being unfairly penalised for this and all the other horrors he had suffered and he wasn't considered to be presenting a stable environment.

The reason why Rick had Annabelle was because she only responded to him. In the children's home she had been quiet except at night when she screamed. She was largely unresponsive and always scared and only ever showed any kind of ease when Rick had visited. Rick made her feel safe, he had been her rescuer after all, the cop in the rain who had shot down her kidnappers and battled back another one of them even as he bled from a bullet wound. She had seen him in pain and still fighting back and he had won and she was safe. Rick was her rescuer, it was simple but more than that he made an effort with her when few others did.

So, Rick got to foster Annabelle but social services and the foster system were eternally wary of the arrangement. Only Horatio knew about the arguing Rick did with the social workers and the worries he had of Annabelle being plucked from him. Even Natalia didn't know how bad things were between Rick and social services. They tolerated him but only just.

The door was open and as Horatio looked in he wasn't surprised to see two sets of eyes looking back. Both curious and upset.

The redhead felt a familiar woe to see that look in Marissa and Annabelle, it was a worried stare they had both possessed far too often for their young ages.

"Where's Uncle Rick?" Marissa queried quietly.

"He's with Natalia," Horatio answered as he gave them a soothing smile.

The redhead stepped into the room as he saw that Annabelle's eyes were swollen from crying and she trembled slightly.

"They're both fine," he assured. "Natalia was hurt but not badly and Uncle Rick is staying the night her to keep her company."

"No!"

Marissa jumped at the squeal that escaped Annabelle whilst Horatio looked at her with fresh concern.

"No!" she repeated as the sobs started to escape from her. "I...I..." She started to stammer through her sobs. "I want him! I...I...I want daddy!" she squealed.

It was less of a tantrum and more of an outburst of terror.

Horatio approached the side of her bed slowly, determined to put her at ease. He rested his hands lightly on his knees and bent down slightly so that he was more level with her.

"Annabelle I know you're scared, this is new for you to stay here but I promise you are safe."

"Aunt Cassie checked under the beds," Marissa piped up pointedly. She was hugging her doll Becky close and looking over at Annabelle with annoyance.

"She didn't do it right," Annabelle whimpered, "and this isn't...he always says about the cameras watching."

Horatio nodded as he gave a small smile. "Annabelle we have cameras here too and I have locked the doors, you are safe," he insisted. "How about I read you girls a story and you try and sleep?" he offered.

Annabelle shook her head quietly as tears streaked down her cheeks. "I want Rick," she sniffled.

"I know but he's looking after Natalia," Horatio explained. "He asked me and Cassie very nicely to look after you, just for this one night. Now, why don't you both lie down properly and I'll start this story."

The pair lay down obediently but Horatio could see that neither girl was happy about it. Rick was the story teller not him.

Horatio occupied a seat between the two beds and started to read through a book of fairytales. He read calmly and clearly but attempted no voices and didn't show the girls the pictures as he wanted them to fall asleep. He was deliberately slow in an attempt to get them to drift off and it had the desired effect.

It took almost half an hour before the girls were asleep. Horatio departed quietly, leaving the lamp between them on and their bedroom door ajar so the hall light could drift in.

When he reached his bedroom he found Cassandra waiting in a pair of navy, silk shorts and a matching vest top. She was lying on the bed, upright with her head against a raised pillow as she winced slightly.

Horatio saw the used needle on her cabinet and guessed that she had injected herself.

The redhead stepped into the room and pushed the door half-closed before reaching to turn off the main light sending them into a welcome dimness as only the lamp at Cassandra's bedside gave the room light.

Horatio stripped off quietly before hunting a New York Yankees' t-shirt to don. He slipped it on with ease before lying down on the bed beside the blonde.

"They're asleep," he informed her quietly.

Cassandra turned to him with a smile. "You always have a way with kids," she remarked brightly.

"You do too," he retorted. "You were good minding them all day."

"Hmm it's just the nights I fail at," she grumbled.

Horatio leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. "As a team we've got it covered."

Cassandra's smile widened as she returned the kiss. "We, you always say it but I still find it odd to be a part of that we," she admitted.

Horatio's hand moved up her arm, stroking it gently before pausing at her shoulder strap. "It's going to be for always," he murmured, "you and I, we."

Cassandra gave him another kiss. "Hmm I like that," she mused.