SquidgeWorld Archive

Title:Dream Or Reality
Author:Kate
Rating:FRC/FRT mention of violence
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI Miami, David Caurso or
Rory Cochrane, although if I could rent Rory (just
kidding)
Content Warning:Character Death but not the one you
think
Spoilers:AU Lost Son (Spoliers for Lost Son)
Archive:(y/n)Y
Thanks to my Beta Antoinette

Horatio Caine stepped out of the jewelry store and
sighed. He had just left one of his CSI's dead on the
floor with Dr. Alexx Woods, the medical examiner,
doing her field evaluation. He couldn't believe this
had happened. He closed his eyes as he reviewed in
his head the events that had led up to the death of
Timothy Speedle.
He had seen Speed look down at his gun. He hoped
that it had malfunctioned because there was something
wrong beyond Speed's control. "Horatio?"
He hoped when he opened his eyes and looked the voice
he heard wasn't who he thought it was. He opened his
eyes and saw Lisa Speedle standing there, her best
friend, Amy, by her side, and her son, Joey, in her
arms. Joey, who would turn two tomorrow. Joey, who
would now have to grow up without a father. "Lisa,
you shouldn't be here."
"We were eating lunch down the street when we saw
your Hummer drive by," she explained. "We knew you
were on a case, so we didn't plan on coming by. Then
someone ran in and said an officer had been shot. By
the time we paid the bill and got down here, everyone
was here. Horatio, where's Tim?"
"Lisa...."
She knew the answer by the look on his face. She
quickly handed Joey to Amy and ducked under the crime
scene tape before he could stop her. She started
running toward the jewelry store. Horatio caught her
before she got to the store, but she saw Tim's face
before Alexx closed the body bag.
"No!" she screamed as she struggled to get away from
Horatio. "No! This can't be happening! Tim! Oh,
God, Tim!"
"Alexx, get him out of here!" Horatio ordered as the
medical examiner nodded. Delko dropped what he was
doing and went to help Alexx get Tim's body loaded
into the van.
"No!" Lisa screamed again as she collapsed into
Horatio's arms.
"I am so sorry, Lisa," he said as he held her. He
led her back to the crime scene tape. He looked over
at Yelina. "I'm taking her home."
Yelina nodded and they ducked under the tape. Amy
came over to them and held Lisa as Horatio took Joey.
The toddler was crying because those around him were
upset and because he heard his mother screaming his
father's name.
Horatio led them to his Hummer. "I'll get you Joey's
seat, then I'll follow you to the house," Amy said as
they helped Lisa into the car.
Horatio gave Lisa the baby and she held him close.
"What happened?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"He was shot," Horatio said softly.
"I gathered that much. What happened?"
"We went to the jewelry store to talk to a potential
suspect. Tim saw two men in the back room with guns.
He alerted me, we drew our guns and identified
ourselves as police officers. They started shooting.
He went to return fire, then I'm not sure what
happened. I saw him look at his gun. Then, before I
could do anything, they shot him. Lisa, I swear to
you, if I had known it was going to go down like this,
I would have handled things differently."
She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.
"His gun jammed?"
"We think so. Calleigh will be able to tell us
more."
Amy came back with the car seat and she and Horatio
got Joey situated, then headed for the Speedle house.
Lisa stared out the window as Horatio started to
drive, then she turned and looked at him. "I want to
see him."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Lisa?"
"I want to see him. He's...He was my husband. I have
a right to see him.."
"Lisa, right now, you and Joey need to go home. I'll
come by tonight and see how you're doing."
She sighed and continued to stare out the window. He
helped her get Joey's things out of the car when they
arrived at her house, made sure Amy would stay with
them, then headed back to work.
The hours passed, but they finally found the
kidnapped boy and brought him back to his mother. She
had thanked Horatio and told him she was sorry that
Speedle had died. He wanted to tell her that two
children had lost their fathers that day, but he
didn't.
He sighed as he realized that was only partly true.
Speed had told him on the way to the jewelry store
that Lisa had just found out she was pregnant again.
They were going to announce it at Joey's party
tomorrow. He looked up when he realized someone was
standing just inside his office door. "Lisa, what are
you doing here?"
"I came to see my husband."
He got up and went over to her. "Lisa, I really
don't think that's a good idea."
"Tim and Joey are the only family I have left," she
said as tears came to her eyes. I need to see him so
that I know this is real. I need to do this for Joey
and for...."
"The baby," he said as he took her hands in his. He
noticed that the sleeves on her shirt were a little
long, then he realized the shirt was Tim's.
"He told you."
"Right before we went in the jewelry store. I really
don't think it's a good idea for you to see him like
this."
"Alexx finished the autopsy. I already called her
and asked about that. If you won't take me down
there, Yelina will."
"You asked Yelina?"
"No, she saw me when I came in and told me to find
her if you wouldn't take me to see Tim. She
understands what it's like to lose a husband in the
line of duty."
"Lisa, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"It's something I have to do."
He looked at her for a long moment, then he nodded.
He led her towards the morgue observation room. She
stopped before they could go down there. "Lisa?"
"Not the observation room, Horatio," she said as she
turned toward Alexx's office and the door that would
lead them to the morgue.
He sighed and followed her. Alexx looked up when she
heard the door open. "Lisa, honey, you shouldn't be
here."
"Everyone keeps telling me that," she said as she
looked at the body on the autopsy table. She walked
over and reached out to touch Tim's face, then she
stopped. She didn't take her eyes off of her
husband's face when she asked, "Have you gotten all of
the evidence from him?"
"Yes," Alexx said as she looked at Horatio.
"She says she has to do this," he said as he stood
behind Lisa with his hands on his hips.
"I have to make sure this is real," Lisa said as she
got closer to Tim's body. "So I can explain this to
Joey. If it doesn't seem real to me, it won't seem
real to him. I also have a baby on the way who is
never going to know who his or her father is. I have
to explain why."
She reached out and touched his face and felt tears
flow down her face. She almost thought she heard
Tim's voice beside her ear. She looked up and saw the
room start to fade. She thought she was fainting
until....
She opened her eyes and realized she was at home in
bed. "Lisa?" she heard him say and she turned her
face and sat up quickly when she saw her husband
propped up on one elbow beside her.
"Lisa, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Tim Speedle, very
much alive and well, asked his wife.
Not trusting her voice to answer, she threw herself
into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and
held her close. "Must have been some dream."
"You were dead," she cried. "You were shot because
your gun jammed and you died. I touched your body in
the morgue, then I woke up."
"Oh, sweetheart," he said as he kissed the top of her
head. "I'm okay. I'm right here in your arms. You
know that Calleligh has been working with me to make
sure my gun is properly maintained. I'm hardly ever
in a situation where I have to use it."
"It felt so real," she cried.
"I believe it," he said as he looked at the clock.
It read 2:30. "We need to get some rest. Do you want
me to make you some warm milk?"
"No, I just want you to hold me," she said as they
laid back down. "I just really need you to hold me.
I need to feel that you're here and that this isn't
the dream."
He pulled her as close as he could. "This isn't a
dream. Tomorrow is Joey's birthday and we'll tell
everyone he's going to be a big brother."
She turned to face him again. "Promise me you won't
go in any jewelry stores today."
He laughed a little. "If I don't go in any jewelry
stores, how can I buy the mother of my children
something spectacular."
She sat up. "Tim, promise me you won't go in any
jewelry stores. And if you can't make that promise,
at least make sure your gun is cleaned."
He pulled her back into his arms. "That I can
promise. Now, you promise me that you'll calm down
and get some rest."
She nodded and he pulled her close again. "Go to
sleep," he said softly into her ear. "I'm right here.
I'm not going anywhere."
She fell asleep with his arms around him. A few
hours later, his cell phone woke him up and he got
ready to head out to the scene of a boat that had
crashed into a bridge. Tim kissed Lisa and Joey
goodbye, checked to make sure his gun was clean, then
headed to the crime scene.
When the investigation led to a kidnapped boy and
fake jewelry, Lisa's dream came into his mind. As he
approached the jewelry store, he checked his gun
again.
"Speed?" Horatio asked as they stopped. "You okay?"
He laughed a little. "Yeah. Lisa had a wired dream
last night. It involved a jewelry store and my gun
jamming."
"What caused the dream?"
"I wish I knew. Probably hormones."
"Hormones?" Horatio asked as his eyebrows went up.
Tim smiled. "Yeah, Lisa's six weeks pregnant. We're
going to announce it at Joey's party."
"That's great Speed, congratulations."
"Thanks," Tim said as he looked at the jewelry store.
"I suppose we better get this over with."
Horatio nodded and they headed inside.
About fifteen minutes later, the jewelry store was
taped off and Alexx was rushing toward it with her
kit. At a restaurant down the street, word reached
the customers that an officer had been killed. Two
women paid their bill, grabbed the baby out of the
high chair and rushed to the crime scene.
Lisa ducked under the crime scene tape as soon as
they arrived. Horatio spotted her. "Lisa!"
She ignored him as she rushed toward the jewelry
store. Suddenly there was someone in front of her and
she was wrapped in strong arms. "Lisa, I'm right
here."
She looked up and saw the face she was looking for.
"Tim," she gasped.
He nodded and held her close. She looked just past
him and saw Alexx kneeling outside the store and Eric
Delko's body lying on the ground.
"He had just arrived to back us up," Tim said as he
followed her line of sight. "The shooters ran out and
shot him before he could even draw his weapon."
"He didn't stand a chance."
Tim sighed. "No, he didn't. Come on, you shouldn't
be here."
Horatio came up to them. "Take her home, Tim. We
can handle things here. I'll see you at the lab
later."
Tim nodded and led Lisa back to where Amy and Joey
were waiting. He took his family home and thought
about Lisa's dream. If his gun hadn't been cleaned
and it had jammed, he would be on Alexx's table. He
hated that Delko had died. He went back to work and
helped find the missing boy, then he went home and
held onto his wife and son and thanked God he was
alive.