Previous part of First Time.

***

"So, I think, Mac, that you managed a miracle today," Horatio said when they were home late in the evening. "I have never seen Ray as happy as he was today. Thank you."

Mac looked at his partner with a smile. "I'm glad to hear it," he said. "Now we just have to deal with that one business owner, Horatio. I'm not impressed with what he told us, or what the kids that have been working for him have told us."

"I agree, and I've started an official investigation into not only his business ethics and how he works with kids, but his finances," Horatio said with a small smile. "I'll know more in a day or two and will take it to the judge then. I'm also making a recommendation that businesses where kids are serving out community service are monitored a little more closely to prevent abuses such as this. These kids have made mistakes, but being treated like criminals when they're trying to fix their lives, that just pushes them back into the system that much faster."

"Can I come hug you?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Horatio said softly. He sighed and rested his head against Mac's. "I still don't know when, Mac."

"However long it takes," Mac said. "I'm not pushing you, Horatio. I have a feeling you still have some nightmares lurking in you from your childhood, although I have noticed you're sleeping a lot better since you told me about your brother and your fears there."

"I feel lighter," Horatio admitted. "I guess I didn't realize how much that information was weighing me down. I wish that it would let me let you closer to me, Mac, but there's still fear there."

"I know, love, I know," Mac said. "Come on, let's head for bed. I took the trust you put in me and I broke it. I know that can take years to heal and I'm still amazed that you're even willing to try. So many people would have just walked away."

Horatio sighed. "You make me feel something that no one else ever has, Mac. I can't explain it, I can't even put it into words, but there's something here," he said. "Something between us that's been there since the first time we talked and it's only growing stronger every day. With you, I feel safe."

"Oh, H," Mac said softly. He pulled the other man in for a hug and just held him.

"Some day, Mac," Horatio said. "I'm not giving up on us. I want to get back to where we were. I just don't know how."

"You will, H," Mac said. "You will."
****

One thing Mac never thought would happen would be becoming a witness to a hit and run fatality incident. "Tripp."

"Hey Mac," Frank said. "So I hear you saw everything."

"I was hanging some new fliers in the window," Mac said. "A black sports car, Mustang, mid-2000s, came from the left there, speeding and with loud music blasting out the window. The bass shook my windows in here. The light was green in favor of pedestrians crossing north and there was a crowd of them in the middle of the street when the suspect vehicle ran the red light and straight through them."

"Let me guess, tinted windows," Frank said with a sigh.

"Unfortunately, but they had vanity plates, Frank," Mac said.

"Now how the hell did you spot those?" Frank asked.

"My doorway causes an interested effect with traffic," Mac said. "Here, come look. See, if you're standing here, where I was hanging up the new informational fliers, you can see traffic half a block down to the left. The suspect vehicle was moving quickly, but not so much that I wasn't able to get a look at the plates. Even reversed like they were."

Frank grinned. "Sounds to me like we lost someone good at the lab, Mac. You sure you ain't gonna come join us there?"

"Maybe someday," Mac said. He handed over a piece of paper. "Here's the plate information along with everything I saw. Sorry about the blood stains, I was out trying to help people before emergency crews arrived."

"Heard about that, two of them only made it because you were here and took control," Frank said.

"I wish I could have saved them all," Mac said softly. "Find them, Frank. No one should be able to get away with anything like this."

"We will, Mac. We will, and this will go a long way towards helping us," Frank said. "Thanks for everything."

***

Mac was already at home and cooking supper when he heard the front door. "That you, Horatio?"

"It's a silly question if it wasn't, Mac," Horatio replied, coming into the kitchen.

"Nah, not really. Anyone else would have stayed quiet and I have knives in here," Mac said. "Hungry?"

"I am, thank you," Horatio said with a smile. "Frank wanted me to tell you that we found our hit and run suspects because of your eyes and attention to detail."

"Then your lab was able to find the evidence to prove it was them, right?"

Horatio laughed. "We did, although they had been through a car wash by the time we caught up with them," he said. "Lucky for us, some of the blood got up under the hood and was protected from the water. DNA matched it to our victims and only the driver's fingerprints were on the wheel, so his story of having loaned the car to a friend didn't hold up. When we presented him with all the evidence, including video from the traffic camera at the intersection, he confessed."

Mac brought two plates over to the table and sat down next to his lover. "I don't know why people think they can get away with things," he said. "Especially given what a media driven age we live in."

"How very true, but those tinted windows blocked us from seeing who was driving," Horatio said. "This looks wonderful Mac. Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's nice to have someone to cook for again," Mac said. "So what else happened at the lab today?"

"Well, I heard back from a lawyer friend that works closely with the community service programs and he's going to put in a proposal that there's a bit of an overhaul to the system," Horatio said. "Including closer and more thorough inspections of businesses involved in the program."

"Good, I'm glad. The kids need help and support, not persecution from people that don't know all the details," Mac said. "I'm afraid my day was boring, apart from what you already know about. I had a couple of high school seniors come in and get information on the program and one of them will be fine. The other one I'm not so sure of, so I encouraged him to go and talk with the Army. I think they would be a better fit, even though they want to try and serve together."

"Which is never a guarantee anyway," Horatio said. "I'm sure they'll find where they're supposed to be, Mac."

"We'll see what happens. I think that people don't realize how tough Marine boot camp can be," Mac said.

Horatio nodded. "You're probably right. I don't think I would have been able to do it," he said. "The police academy was tough enough."

"Although I hear rumors that you're able to work out the most likely path a suspect running away is going to take and always manage to block them," Mac said.

"The running is good for Eric and Tim," Horatio said with a small smile. "Speaking of, they've invited us to supper tomorrow night. Did you have any plans that will be in conflict?"

"Nope, I'm wide open," Mac said. "Is it at their place? Do we need to bring wine or anything?"

"No, there's a new beach restaurant open that they both like and wanted to take us to," Horatio said. "I don't know why they always take me to beach restaurants, but they do."

"I know why," Mac said. "It's so you can hear the ocean and relax while you're eating."

"But I'm with friends, so I'm relaxed anyway," Horatio said. "I always appreciate it, but at the same time, some of those places get a little repetitive."

"You could tell them."

"I don't want to hurt their feelings."

Mac shook his head with a fond smile. "So suggest a different restaurant in the same price range and offer to pay," he said. "Although I maintain that Tim will lecture if he ever figures this out."

"Tim likes to lecture. I think he hangs around Alexx too much, but that's just me," Horatio said with a small smile.

"H, you should just tell them the truth."

"I don't want to cause trouble."

Mac realized they'd come up against another little ghost from Horatio's past and decided to drop it until he could talk with Speed about a couple of things. "Okay, H, okay. I won't nag," he said. "The beach it is."

"Thank you," Horatio said softly.

***

Speed was working in his lab the next day, trying to get some paperwork caught up, when his cell phone rang. He picked it up without looking. "Speedle."

"Hey, it's Mac. Do you have a minute or should I call back?"

"Spoken like a true CSI," Speed said with a small snort. "I'm just working on paperwork, which means putting checks in small boxes most of the time. I'm happy to take a break. What's up?"

"I was wondering about something with Horatio, if he's ever told you?"

"He might have, but I think he's been talking to you more than he ever did with me," Speed said. "I'm going to go for a walk so I'm not at risk of being overheard. Hang on one second, let me sign out and then I'll ask you what's up."

"Sounds good to me. I'm closed for lunch to do this," Mac said. "It came up last night during dinner, and I had to drop it so I didn't upset him. I figured between the two of us maybe we can come up with a solution."

Speed sighed. "There's only so much we can do because I know he hasn't talked about everything he saw and experienced growing up," he said. "I'm always amazed when he does tell me things because he plays everything so close to his chest. Okay, I'm outside. What's up?"

"It's about dinner tonight. Please don't let on that we've been talking about it, but he mentioned that he finds beach restaurants repetitive, but he doesn't want to cause trouble by telling you guys."

"Okay, yeah, I do know this one," Speed said. "It's from his father, no surprise, and the man's favorite dinner. More often than not they had to eat the same thing over and over again, night after night, because the bastard loved it so much. It's why Horatio will never complain about food. Ever. It doesn't matter if he hates it or not, he'll eat it without a word, and even comment on how good it is."

"What was the favorite dinner?" Mac asked. "I'm doing a lot of the cooking these days and I don't want to risk a flashback with him."

"You don't have to worry about it, unless you were going to be cooking corned beef and cabbage," Speed said.

"Yick," Mac said. "Not a chance in hell would I be cooking that one. So he had to eat that growing up?"

"Almost constantly, and the smell can actually make him sick," Speed said. "We had a case a couple of years ago where the family was eating it for dinner when they were killed. Horatio couldn't stay in the house because of the smell. I've seen him take on decomp with no problem, but that one smell makes him sick."

"I'll have to make sure to keep him away from restaurants around Saint Pat's day then," Mac said. "So, getting back to the original question here, do you think it's possible for us to start mixing up the type of restaurant we take him to in the future without him getting suspicious that we're plotting against him?"

Speed bit back a sigh. "He's standing right behind me, so no, I don't think so," he said. "Hi H."

"Hello Tim," Horatio said. "What are you and Mac talking about today?"

"Dinner tonight," Speed said. He turned to face Horatio. "I know what you're expecting, Horatio Caine, so don't even try to pretend that you aren't expecting a lecture from me. How many times have I told you that if you don't like something or want to try something new to tell me so we can? I'm happy to be a safety net for you, but the net won't work if it doesn't know what it's supposed to be doing."

"I'm happy to eat wherever you want to, Tim," Horatio said.

"And I know that, but part of finding yourself, which you say you're doing, is to know that you can have an opinion on restaurants," Speed said. "Mac, I'll call you back, or have Horatio call you. I need both hands here."

"You look like a mother hen with your hands on your hips, Speed," Mac pointed out.

"You are not making this any easier you know," Speed said.

Horatio looked at the ground, and it was pretty obvious he was trying not to smile. "I never thought the two of you would get along so well," he said. "I'm very happy you are."

"Talk to you later, Mac," Speed said. He put his phone in his pocket and then his hands, if only to keep them off his hips. He didn't want to give in when they were in public. "Part of this going out to eat deal is that we go places you like, Horatio. If you don't express an opinion on it, then how am I going to know if you have a good time?"

"I enjoy spending time with you, Tim, so I always have a good time," Horatio said.

"Then why didn't you say something about wanting to try a different kind of restaurant?"

"Because I don't want to cause trouble," Horatio said.

"That is not causing trouble, that is not telling people that care about you something important," Tim said. He stepped in closer and pulled Horatio into a hug. "I know that you're all in pieces right now, H. It probably does feel like Mac and I are conspiring against you, but we only want you to be happy."

"I know, Tim, I know," Horatio said. "I should have realized he would call you about this."

Speed moved back and smacked Horatio's arm lightly. "Of course he was going to call me about this," he said. "Just like I'd call him if I was worried about something you said or did. That's what having friends and a partner is all about. I know that you've called Eric a few times when you've been worried about me."

That got a smile. "Guilty as charged," Horatio said. "Speed, you do know that your paperwork is not going to do itself."

"I can hope," Speed said, falling into step with Horatio.

"The day that the paperwork does itself is the day that we are going to have to worry about our sanity," Horatio said.

"After we thank it for being done," Speed said. "You have to have your priorities straight, Horatio. Paperwork that does itself is more important than sanity."

"Speed, you're very weird," Horatio said.

"Yeah, I am," Speed said. "So, dinner tonight, and no being mad at Mac for calling me about this. The man is worried about you."

Horatio nodded. "I know he is. I'm trying, Tim."

"We know you are, and it can't be easy. That's one reason we're going to talk, Horatio. So you don't have to."

***