Summary: Payback is a bitch. Sometimes it's cold too.

My story in the "dictionary challenge" on the forum "CSI Miami: The Challenge Corner". The story has to center around the word chosen randomly in a dictionary.

Word: Cold

The prank was so sinister. So incredibly evil, well-planned and stupid. Most of all it was difficult. How can one manage to take a lot of ice inside without it melting away too quickly? Easy. One simply turns the air condition to its lowest degree and wars warm clothes. Easier said than done though.

That one person turned out to be a group of five people. Five people whom had momentarily forgotten with who they were messing with, but would by the end of the month remember why no one, literally no one with a clear mind, messes with Lieutenant Horatio Caine.

"God it's so c-c-cold!" Walter whined.

He blew air into his hands as he jumped from one foot to the other, trying to keep warm.

"You could help so we'll get this done quicker instead of standing there whining like a baby." Ryan retorted.

Walter sighed and grabbed an ice block. They were quite big and heavy. It took two people to carry each of them. They walked from the freezers in the morgue where they had stored them over the weekend, to the "scene of the crime" as they called it. Boy, their boss was going to get so mad. But hopefully before he got mad, he would be speechless and that had never happened before. The tongue lashing they would receive would be all worth it after watching their lieutenant get baffled.

"I'm going to drop it." Walter warned, as the ice block started slipping in his hands.

"Do that and I will tell everyone you're favorite song is Barbie Girl by Aqua." Ryan growled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Walter asked perplexed.

"Oh sorry, wrong person."

"Who has Barbie Girl as their favorite song?"

"No one."

Walter kept pestering Ryan to tell him who it was, but the brunette never budged. After four hours of grueling and cold work the team finally finished. They looked at their masterpiece.

"We are so dead." Eric smirked.

"Horatio is going to fire us all." Calleigh smiled.

"And we are happy about it because?" Natalia asked, although she was also grinning like a fool.

"Because this will be the most watched video on YouTube." Ryan grinned and held up his video camera.

They each went to the locker room and got changed into casual clothes. They threw their jackets and gloves into their lockers and then went hiding. Ryan found the perfect spot to video tape the whole event without being seen. It was the best idea they had ever had and also the worst. Horatio was not funny when he was mad.

-I-

With a cup of steaming coffee, some case files and humming on a song Lieutenant Horatio Caine stepped out of the elevator, checked with the receptionist Paula to see if he had any messages and then made his way to his office. He was, as usual, the first one of his team there (he thought). He smiled and sipped on his coffee as he climbed the stairs leading up to his office.

He put his hand on the door handle and opened the door. He instantly noticed how cold it was and frowned. He turned the light on and dropped everything he was holding. He gaped at the sight before him. Never had he witnessed such a thing.

His desk, chair, and couch had been moved to the middle of the room and around it was an igloo. It even had a small opening which he could to get inside it. The air condition in his office was low to keep the ice from melting. Fortunately his computer and other electrical things had been removed. But wow!

He walked around the igloo still stunned and even went inside. There were tiny penguin toys stashed everywhere. He tried to figure out who would have done this and could only come up with one answer.

The anger boiling up inside him could have melted all the ice in the world. But before he could scream for him team water drops starting falling on him. He stepped out of the igloo and observed it. A plan started forming in his mind as he watched the ice melt. The room was cold and he started to freeze, but he ignored it.

He smirked and then yelled for his team. They appeared moments later pretending to know nothing about the igloo.

"Wow H, how did that get there?" Eric asked.

"I want one too." Calleigh grinned.

"Yes, I wonder how it got here." Horatio said and glared at them, "Tell you what... I have a meeting, so I'll leave you to get rid of this."

"All of us?" Ryan asked, not to happy about having to carry all the ice back to where it came from.

"Yes." Horatio smiled, "Each and every one of you will clean up my office."

"But we didn't do anything." Walter whined.

"Oh? Then who did?"

"Um... Travers." Walter said.

"Travers is visiting family in London." Horatio said, "When I get back from my meeting I expect my office to look the exact same way it did before this igloo appeared."

The team groaned and glared at each other. When Horatio was gone they did what he had said. But they were about to get a worse revenge than just having to clean up Horatio's office.

-I-

A month later Horatio had still not given his team a tongue lashing for building an igloo inside his office. He hadn't even given them a proper revenge. They were beginning to think he had forgotten about it.

"Team, I have a special assignment for you." Horatio said, one Monday morning.

"A week of vacation?" Natalia asked.

"No, afraid not." Horatio said, "But, the Canadian police have asked Miami Dade to send a team of investigators to a small town or village to teach their officers about forensics."

"Canada?" Eric asked.

"Yes. I want all of you to go." Horatio said, "It's nice to sort of vacation, isn't it? You get to live in your own cabin and it is part of a five-star hotel."

"Nice!" Ryan exclaimed, "When do we leave?"

"Next Friday." Horatio smiled, "It's just over the weekend."

The team smiled and agreed to go to Canada and teach forensics for the weekend. The next two weeks came and went and soon it was Friday. The team boarded their plane and within a few hours they had landed. A Canadian officer from the little town they were going to picked them up and drove them straight to the hotel. He told them the hotel was mostly empty during the winter- season. It was a hotel with several small cabins out in the woods.

The team was expecting some high quality cabin. They noticed the absence of other houses around, but weren't worried. The snow was thick on the ground and soon the officer pulled up the van they were driving to a house.

He and the hotel owner, an old lady, led the team to one of their bigger cabins. She showed them around and gave them her card in case they needed to call her. Once they were left alone, the team started exploring.

"There is no electricity." Natalia said.

"And almost no running water." Ryan said.

"Where is the toilet?" Calleigh asked.

"Guys, I found a note from H." Eric said and read it out loud.

Dear Team,

Since you were so kind to build an igloo in my office I thought

I would be just as kind to send you on a mini vacation.

Don't worry, you will still be teaching the town police about forensics.

However, you will live in a cabin surrounded by snow and woods.

No electricity (but you have candles to use and a fireplace), only camp beds to

sleep in and most important; the toilet is in the outhouse behind the cabin.

Enjoy your stay in the cold cabin during the coldest days of the Canadian Winter.

Love, Horatio.

PS. Payback is a bitch!

"No real toilet?" Natalia exclaimed.

"No heat?" Ryan whined.

"Camp beds? This is supposed to be five star hotel!" Walter exclaimed.

"He did this on purpose." Eric said, "Payback is a bitch."

So the team learned a valuable lesson that weekend after spending hours trying to get the fireplace to work and warming up witch blankets in small camp beds. Never mess with Lieutenant Horatio Caine.

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