Title: Lost Angel
Author: Bj Jones
Rating: FRM
Disclaimer: I don’t own them. They are owned by various executives, producers, writers and studios who have more lawyers on retain than I want to mess with. I’m not making any money and promise to return them to the lab – sooner or later.
Summary: Angel lost to those on earth.
Beta: Star (Gil)
Author’s Note: *hands out tissues* - don’t worry no main character dies
Challenge: [info]lover100 – Timothy Speedle/Horatio Caine
Prompt: #30 - Innocence
Word Count: 1609


~*~

She walks to school with a lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holding back;
Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday,
She hides the bruises with the linen and lace;

Speed sighed as they pulled up to the house. It was a typical home, in a typical neighborhood, and held the typical secrets. He glanced over at Horatio, who hadn’t said a word since the call came in. These cases were always difficult for the redhead. Speed knew he would have to take care of his lover once this was over.

He stepped behind the Hummer and pulled out his kit, following Horatio up the walkway. The neighbors were lined out on their lawns, watching, shaking their heads, and talking about how tragic it all was. Speed wondered if one, just one, had called the cops, if they would be here.

There were days he truly hated his job; this was looking like to be one of them. Horatio looked down at the tiny body and knelt down and slipped off his glasses. Speed’s heart broke when he heard his lover’s soft words.

“I promise you, this will not go unpunished.” Horatio slipped back on his glasses and stood up. “Speed…”

“On it, H.” He set his kit down and pulled out his camera. Every piece of evidence would be checked and doubled checked, and the bastard who did this wasn’t going to get away with it.

“Oh, sugar.” Alexx’s soft voice echoed in the room. “You are much too young to have left us. You should be playing outside in the sun.” She knelt down next to the tiny body. “Who would want to hurt an innocent like you?”

“That’s what we are going to find out,” Horatio said, looking over the scene. “Speed, isn’t it a little odd for her to be wearing such a nice dress on a school day?”

“That and it looks very used, like it hasn’t been washed in a while.” Tim squatted down next to Alexx. “You mind?”

“No, honey, go ahead.” Alexx motioned for him to check the dress.

Speed ran a gloved finger down the collar of the dress then paused. “Alexx, what does this look like to you?”

Alexx looked down, frowning; she pushed back the collar a bit more and gave a weary sigh. “Bruises.” She rolled up the long sleeves and sighed. “Horatio, looks like our sweet Angel was a victim of abuse.”

“That narrows the suspect list down doesn’t it?” Horatio headed out the door in search for the victim's father.

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask,
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask;
Bearing the burden of a secret storm,
Sometimes she wishes she was never born;

Speed shook his head as he left the interview room. If just one of these people had spoken up, the little girl would be playing instead of lying cold on Alexx’s table. She would walk to school by herself, keep to herself, always wore long sleeves, and barely spoke up in class.

The teacher had informed them that once she sent home a note asking to meet with her father, stating she was concerned about her participation in class. The little girl was out sick for a week, the flu so the teacher was told.

Speed tossed the file onto his desk and sighed. Why wasn’t anyone protecting her? How did she fall through the cracks? He looked up to see Horatio sitting at his desk, lost in thought. He knew this was eating his lover apart. Child abuse cases were always tough, but Horatio took them especially hard.

He understood the pain and fear. A parent is supposed to protect and love, not hurt and destroy. There were days that Speed wished he could raise the Senior Caine from the dead and kill him for the hurt and pain he caused Horatio.

He looked back up at the office; but what we experience makes us into the men we are. And the man in that office will fight to see justice for a little girl that no one saw until it was too late.

Somebody cries in the middle of the night,
The neighbors hear but they turn out the lights;
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate,
When morning comes it will be too late.

Horatio stood on the steps to the precinct as they led the man away. He was going down for murder. In a fit of rage, he had beaten his little girl to death, because she had come home late from school.

No one had heard her screams.

No one cared about one little girl.

Horatio slipped on his glasses and headed for the Hummer. He had somewhere special to be.

A statue stands in a shaded place,
An angel girl with an upturned face;
Her name is written on a polished rock,
A broken heart that the world forgot.

Horatio watched as the small casket was lowered into the ground, a young life stolen before she even got a chance to truly live. He knew he couldn’t save them all, but he could at least give them the final justice they deserved.

“Papa.”

Horatio turned around, a smile appearing on his face. Coming up the walkway was the two most precious things in his life. Speed was wearing a suit, and carrying their daughter, who was dressed in a simple sundress.

Horatio took the wiggling three-year-old out of his hands and held her close. He leaned over and gave his lover a soft kiss.

“I figured you needed a reminder.” Speed ran a hand through the bright red hair of their daughter. “And we’re here for you.”

“I love you.” Horatio closed his eyes, feeling the love of his family surrounding him.

“Papa sad.”

“I’m fine now that you and daddy are here.” He kissed her forehead. “You look very nice in your sundress.”

“Daddy said we were saying goodbye.” She frowned and looked at the gravesite. “Like we did momma.”

“Yes, honey, like momma.” Horatio was always amazed at the insight of his daughter.

“Why we saying goodbye?”

“It was time for her to go,” Speed tried to explain without exposing the horror of this world to her just yet.

“She an Angel like momma?”

“Yes, sweetie, like momma.” Horatio turned and looked at the statue that was nearby, a beautiful sculpture of a small child angel.

Their daughter wiggled out of her papa’s arms and walked over to the statue and touched it reverently. “Momma will take care of you.”

Speed slipped his arms around his lover’s waist, tears in his eyes. “She’s got your soul.”

Horatio let the tears fall. “Thank you.”

Speed kissed him softly. “Lets get our daughter and go see grandma Alexx.”

The redhead slipped on his sunglasses and smiled. “Sounds like a lovely idea.” He picked up his giggling girl. “Grandma Alexx would love to see you all dressed up.” He glanced over at Speed. “Plus you know how she loves to spend time with her grandkid.”

“Daddy not scruffy.”

“Hey.” Speed crossed his arms, indignant.

“We love you scruffy.” Horatio leaned over and kissed him. “Let’s go see grandma.”

Horatio took Speed’s hand as they headed down the path. A little redhead girl looked over her papa’s shoulder and watched as a girl in a linen and lace dress played in the sunlight, being watched over by a beautiful angel.

Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone in a world that she can't rise above;
But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved.

~ The End ~