Previous part of Who wrote these orders.

***

"Phil, could I talk to you for a second?" Horatio asked the next afternoon when they were all out at the base.

"What's up, Horatio?" Coulson said.

Horatio picked up two folders. "I'm a little confused by what I'm reading here," he said. "The pair you want to post here for more experience before you take them for their next assignment."

"FitzSimmons. They're unique, even in SHIELD, Horatio," Coulson said. "Best friends since they were six, both geniuses and something happened to them that means they're not quite telepathic, they have their own language and can communicate without words. They also both have some fear issues, which is why I want to get them out of the lab they're in right now, but give them a safety net before they are posted to the field."

"I was a little concerned they were two people sharing a single brain," Horatio said.

"It'll seem like it at times, but they're not. We've got the brainwave scans to prove it," Coulson said. He smiled. "I think you're the best one to work with them, truthfully. I know you want to pick your own team, but if you could take them on for me, it would be a big help."

"Of course, I'll be happy to work with them," Horatio said. "I'll have my final choices to you by tomorrow, I just wanted to ask about this pair. Should we go and see what trouble the others have found?"

Coulson snorted softly. "On any piece of SHIELD ground, Horatio, trouble finds you," he said.

"Clint was telling me about that," Horatio said as they started towards the small ground standing outside the buildings where the labs would be. "Something about certain words and phrases that are never to be uttered under pain of death."

"I'll get you a list," Coulson said.

"I wish I thought you were joking," Horatio said.

"There are some days when I wish I was too," Coulson said. "Grant, what do you think so far?"

Grant looked over briefly. "It has potential," he said. "I think I can see it finished and full of life again. There are few things sadder than an abandoned military base."

"True enough," Coulson said. "I brought the keys with me today, guys, so we can go inside and look around. Oh, and Tony wanted me to tell you, Horatio, that he's gone back to Candyland to work on your new equipment and you're not to buy anything for the lab until he's finished."

"Should that worry me?" Horatio asked.

"No, not until he shows up with equipment that explodes to find answers for you," Barton said. "Tony's got a really unique approach to lab work, Pop. You should come up to New York and meet Dummy."

"Dummy?"

"One of Tony's three robotic helpers in the lab," Coulson said. "Probably the most easy going of the group, and one that is very likely in love with the fire extinguisher. That's why Tony has to keep it hidden."

"Like he doesn't have sprinklers in the lab anyway," Barton said. "Okay, going from light to dark is really screwing me up."

"We're here," Coulson said, squeezing his lover's shoulder softly. "There's nothing in here but dust and bugs."

Barton looked up. "Not exactly reassuring, given a few of the things I've seen, Phil."

"Good point," Coulson agreed. "I'll make a note to have a SHIELD security team come through before we allow any renovations to be done."

Horatio just shook his head fondly. He'd known he was heading into a unique world when he agreed to work for SHIELD, but the truth was ending up stranger than anything he could have imagined. It was going to be interesting.

***

Work started up on the new base the next week. Horatio and Grant both received folders on the people they would be commanding and started to review them to memorize as much as they could. Horatio then passed his onto Ryan so the new second-in-command would be able to learn as much as possible about the new CSIs they would be working with. The lab staff was a little easier to pick out, SHIELD scientists that wanted to relocate south, or a chance for a promotion to the new lab. Coulson double-checked each of them to be sure that they would fit in well with the staff Horatio was putting together.

The day that Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons arrived in Miami was one that no one in SHIELD would forget. Barton had about fifty percent of his vision back and was at the lab talking with Calleigh about bows and how they developed through history, different types of bows and arrows when a tiny robot flew past his head. Calleigh jumped and reached for her gun, but Barton stopped her. "That's one of the seven dwarves," he said. "FitzSimmons is probably showing Pop how they work and one got lost," he said, holding out a hand. "Come here, I won't hurt you, baby. Oh, you're Sleepy, aren't you? I recognize your markings. Come on, let's see if we can get you back to your parents."

"What is it, exactly?" Calleigh asked, pushing Barton towards the main area of the lab.

"There's seven of them, all programmed to help investigate anything," Barton replied, holding the buzzing robot close. "There's Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, and Dopey. We don't ask and FitzSimmons has never told us why, but they're pretty awesome tech. Hey guys, I found a missing baby."

"Oh, Agent Barton, thank you," Simmons said with a grin. "We wondered where Sleepy got off to. He must have just wanted a fly around to get the lay of the land."

"More likely he wanted a nap," Fitz said. He took the robot carefully. "Thanks for that, Agent Barton. Glad someone they knew was around."

"Guys, this is Calleigh, head of the crime lab," Barton said. "Cal, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons."

Calleigh looked surprised, but took it in stride. "It's a pleasure to meet you both," she said. "Welcome to the lab and to Miami. If there's anything I can do to help you out, just let me know, okay?"

"We'll do that, thank you," Fitz said.

"That's very kind of you," Simmons said at the same time, words overlapping.

"Where's Pop?" Barton asked, looking at Coulson.

"Getting us guest passes and setting it up so SHIELD has access to the crime lab for training," Coulson said. "Ryan was curious about what was in the cases, so I gave the okay to let the dwarves fly around for a bit."

Fitz looked up from his tablet/board combination. "They're not liking the humidity too much, we'll have to adjust for that, but it should be an easy enough fix," he said. "Simmons, what are you seeing on your end?"

"What we're expecting, standard building materials overlaid with a slight build-up of chemicals from the years of functioning as a lab," she replied. "Nothing harmful, nothing to worry about. Certainly lower grade than the SHIELD labs have."

Horatio walked back over. "This is yours, I'm assuming?" he asked with a smile.

"Grumpy you naughty boy, you know better than to take off on your own," Fitz said. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, he normally behaves better than that. We should probably recall the others to be sure that none of them are missing."

Calleigh moved over next to Horatio. "You don't find this odd?" she asked, looking at the hovering robots.

"Not in the least," he replied. "Keep in mind I now have an AI butler at my house and Tony Stark building me my lab equipment."

"Stark?" FitzSimmons squeaked at the same time.

"He's not in town at the moment, but I'm sure you'll have a chance to meet him soon," Horatio said. "Is that all your children accounted for?"

"That's all of them."

"Yes, Sir."

The overlapping words would take a bit of work to get used to, but Horatio had good ears. "Then let's go see about getting you set up in an unused lab and we can start working on some basic CSI principles that can be adapted to your dwarves."

Barton could tell, looking at FitzSimmons, that they already adored Horatio because he accepted them for who they were. That was his Pop, as long as no one was hurt by it, he would adapt to anything almost instantly.

***

"This will be easy enough to adapt to," Fitz said, flipping quickly through a binder on crime scene investigation procedures. "Granted, we've never had to do anything like this before, but it'll be a good challenge for our equipment."

"Did someone say equipment?" Tony asked, walking into the lab where Horatio and FitzSimmons were working together.

"Oh my lord."

"Tony Stark."

Horatio bit back a smile. "Tony, these are two of my new CSIs, and I think that you'll enjoy seeing what they've invented," he said. "Fitz, Simmons, Tony Stark."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Really an honor."

"Of course it is," Tony grinned. "No, seriously, I'm very pleased to meet you both. Sounds like you'll fit right in with the group, so I'll have to steal you for a day or two to see if you can help me finish working on a few things, if your tech is as good as Horatio seems to think it is."

"Can we let them out again, Lieutenant?" Simmons asked.

"Go ahead," Horatio replied.

FitzSimmons picked up their tablets and started to enter instructions. The seven dwarves flew up out of their cases and circled Tony. He laughed, delighted, and reached out towards one. "That's amazing," he said. "It seriously is. What powers them?"

"Solar energy combined with a special battery that recharges as needed," Fitz said. "We can also power them up with a special pen we both carry that has a type of heat source in it."

"Clever," Tony said. "So you have them set up to work with different parts of the environment, I'm guessing. Sensing different things to give you as complete a picture as possible of whatever room you're in?"

"Exactly," Simmons said.

"I might have to talk to Agent about hiding the two of you away from me," Tony said. "He's probably scared that I would try and steal you away from SHIELD with promises of labs built to your specifications and all the raw materials you need."

"Which is exactly the reason we've kept you apart," Coulson commented, pushing Barton into the room as well. "FitzSimmons, how are you two holding up?"

"Fine Sir."

"Good."

"I'm glad to hear it," Coulson said. "We don't have bunks set up on base yet, so we've rented a large house for the time being. You'll have rooms there and the usual supplies. Tony, now that you're back in town, Clint and I wanted to talk with you about possibly creating some targets for us."

"Sure, no problem," Tony said. "Just let me fill Horatio in on what all my labs have been able to do and are still working on and I'll come find you guys. Dinner on me? FitzSimmons, you want to join us?"

"We couldn't..."

"We don't want to impose...."

Coulson bit back a sigh. He'd hoped to keep the children from meeting the Avengers for at least another month, if not longer. "You'll be fine, both of you," he said. "It's not a problem. You don't have to, but if you decide to join us, I should warn you that your new second-in-command will be there, along with Horatio's partner and the rest of the Avengers."

"The rest of the...."

"It's really okay?"

"Go ahead and pack up, you can ride over with us," Barton said with a grin. "Come on, kids, let's get your feet wet in this larger world."

Tony glanced over at Horatio when they were alone. "I didn't want to say when they were all in here, but you picked up on it, Horatio?" he asked.

"I think anyone that's been abused would have," Horatio said softly. "I'll keep them safe, Tony."

"I'll help, and so will JARVIS," Tony said. "All right, now then, equipment for the new lab."

***

"Have they ever been to the beach before?" Grant asked softly, watching FitzSimmons playing in the sand with the Avengers.

"I don't know," Horatio replied just as softly. "They've been abused, Grant, that much is obvious, but I don't know all that much about them. Phil wants them here to gain confidence outside of the lab."

Grant nodded. "That'll be difficult."

"Yes it will, but I think that, ultimately, they'll find it," Horatio said. "Phil."

"Hey, to answer Grant's question, no, they've never been to the beach before," Coulson said, sitting down next to the pair. "In fact, until SHIELD found them, I don't know that they were allowed outside much at all. FitzSimmons have had a rough life, but we're trying to help them find their wings."

"I'll do the best I can with them, Phil," Horatio said. "I think having Clint and Tony around for the first couple of weeks will be a help. Clint seems to be especially good with them, and they in turn really seem to like him."

Coulson nodded. "He's the one that rescued them and then stayed with them through their first month with SHIELD," he said. "They see him as a big brother. I talked with Director Fury, we'll be getting more of your people here in the next few days. I was thinking that it might be better to introduce them slowly to FitzSimmons."

"Overwhelming them wouldn't be a good thing at all," Grant commented. "Though if I had to take a guess, Tony there isn't going to let them out of his sight any time soon."

"I was worried about that, at first, but he's doing good with them," Coulson said. "Since they're already familiar with a few things, I think that they could help set up the new lab rather than going through basic crime scene orientations with the larger group."

"I can work with them one-on-two to get them up to speed easily enough," Horatio said. "They're here at your request, Phil. I'll trust you to handle them until we get the base up and working. I'll admit I'm curious to see exactly what Tony and Bruce have come up with for us to use at the lab. Tony was telling me about a few things that they've already finished. It sounds interesting."

"Criminal investigation for the super beings," Coulson said. "So many people would call us crazy, Horatio."

"They'd be right," Grant said with a fond smile. "But you're also doing exactly what needs to be done, so crazy you are. Crazy and capable."

Horatio leaned over and kissed Grant's cheek. "No wonder I love you so much," he said.

"I'll help Horatio keep an eye on them too, Phil," Grant said. "I know I'll my own men and cases, but I can pop in for lunch every so often. Between the two of us and Ryan, I think that FitzSimmons will find they have a home here in Miami."

"We know that you and Horatio are good with troubled teens and young adults," Coulson said. "That's partly why I assigned them down here. Director Fury and I hope that they will be able to move onto a strikeforce we're starting to outline. A team of extraordinary talent to move quick and investigate things that don't fall directly into SHIELD's lap."

"Like Tony, you mean?" Horatio asked.

"And Thor, yes," Coulson replied. "I think that FitzSimmons are the perfect science team for that future team, and Nick agrees with me, but only if they have a little more training first. They need experience outside the lab as well as inside it."

"That, I think we can manage," Horatio said.

***

"So what are these targets you and Agent wanted to know about?" Tony asked.

Barton looked over. He was working with FitzSimmons on building a sort of sand castle. "My eye-sight is still weak and I think I need to be working it out more than I am," he said. "The doctors don't agree with me, but I think that if you could build me targets that I can hit with tennis balls rather than arrows, it'll give me something to do other than sit around and worry."

"Are you cleared to be throwing things, Clint?" Steve asked from a little ways down the sand.

"Spoilsport. Not yet, Cap, but I didn't think that Tony would be able to get them done in two nights," Barton replied.

"You need to be taking it easy so you don't strain your eyes, Clint," Natasha said. She poured out a little water for Bruce to mix in with the sand. "You know your body, yes, but you should also listen to the doctors. You don't want to risk damage at this stage."

Simmons looked up. "What happened to your eyes, Clint?" she asked softly.

"I had a building come down on top of me on an op," Barton said. "I don't know how long I was in a coma, but I've got close to a year of physical therapy, maybe some new surgeries too, before they'll even talk about clearing me for field work again."

"A building?" Fitz asked.

"Yep, someone decided to plant bombs in it that I didn't know about and I was on the roof," Barton said. "You and Simmons aren't going to be in that sort of situation, Fitz. I'd kill Fury if he tried to put you guys into something like that. You'll be working in safe conditions. Pop will make sure of that."

"It's just so scary outside the lab," Simmons said. "I know we need to do this to get better, but it's hard."

Tony looked over. "You two know what happened to me, right?" he asked. "The whole kidnap, cave, torture that I lived through a couple of years ago. When I came home, I lived in my lab. Yeah, my lab is always at my house, so I didn't have that far to go to do anything, but it was hard for me to even go upstairs and get food. The lab was what I knew and where I was safe, and that was all I cared about. Forces conspired against me and pulled me out, but any time I'm stressed or scared or worried, I go to the lab. The point of this ramble is that you don't have to give up your safe place just because you want to try and get out into the bigger world."

The pair looked at each other. "It's something to think about," Fitz said.

"We'll have our own lab?" Simmons asked.

"I think so. Horatio is still working on that part of the building plans," Tony replied. "You two are here to have a safety net to the bigger world, and all of us will be right next to you the whole time. How can we not be? A lot of us know exactly the sort of fears you're feeling right now."

"Tony's right," Steve said. "We're a family and we're here to help each other however we can. We're going to be back up in New York before too much longer, no matter how much we're all enjoying Miami, but Tony's putting some neat tricks in at your new facility and we're only a phone call away if you need to talk about anything."

"It's hard to trust again," Tony said, "but you know that Horatio helped to raise Clint, right? How many people does Clint trust?"

"Not that many," Fitz said. "At least that I know of."

"It's not that many," Barton grinned. "You two can trust Pop and Grant with you lives. I wouldn't be leaving you here to work with them if you couldn't."

They looked at each other again. "Okay."

"We'll try."

"Good," Barton said. "Seriously though, you two, call if you need to talk. If nothing else, I want to hear about the cases you're working."

"So was that a yes or a no on the new targets?" Tony asked.

"No, I guess," Barton sighed. "At this rate, Phil's going to have me doing paperwork to pass the time."

"You'll survive," Natasha said.

***

"It's weird seeing you in a different office, Horatio," Calleigh said, letting the door swing shut behind her. "Here's the files you asked for. Stetler gave me some weird looks when I asked for them, but didn't argue with me."

"Thank you," Horatio said. "These cases, Calleigh, are all cold cases that we couldn't work out what happened. I want to have my new team go through and see if it's possible that there could be a different cause for them."

"I suppose anything is possible, isn't it?" she asked. "How's your new team doing?"

Horatio leaned back in his chair with a small sigh. "I didn't think it would be this much work to get a new department up and running," he said. "Either that or I forgot what I went through back when we were just starting out here. FitzSimmons is staying close to Tony and Clint, which is fine because we're not up and running and they're more intuitive than they are book learners. They're going to do better in the field thinking than they will running through training in the lab with the others."

"They seem sweet," Calleigh said. "You've started running people through here though. I've seen a few of them looking frustrated about something."

"My CSIs aren't ready to take the qualifiers yet, but they're getting there," Horatio said. "Four teams, three people each. The lab staff is learning more about new tests and procedures we're going to be doing than anything crime scene related right now. That will change as we get closer to moving into our own buildings, but I want them to be able to do these things in their sleep."

"What's the sticking point with the agents picked to be CSIs?" Calleigh asked.

"They thought it was going to be different than it is," Horatio replied. "I think, out of the twelve, there's only one team I feel comfortable sending out into the field right now, without taking the final tests, if Director Fury should need us to roll out sooner than planned."

"Let me guess; the team made up of Larry, Chris, Amy and Frank," Calleigh said. "They strike me as being really good."

"They are. They also have more experience in labs and using their science training in practical environments, which is half the battle," Horatio said. "The other teams are mostly younger folks just out of the military or school. People that SHIELD hired to work in labs and get more training there. I'll have them ready, but it'll take me a little longer than I would like."

"I'm sure that they'll be fine," Calleigh said. "They have some of the best people in the country training them, after all. If our people can't get your people ready for their tests, then you did something wrong back in the day, Horatio."

He chuckled. "I have always, and will always, stand by the people in this lab," Horatio said. "You all came together so much better than I ever could have hoped."

"That's because you trusted us to do it right, so we did," she said. "You'll be fine, Horatio. I know you're nervous about the new department, but you've got good people working with you, and good people supporting you. You'll be just fine."

They both jumped at an explosion somewhere in the lab. "You were saying?" he asked, hurrying after Calleigh.

"Hopefully that was an experiment gone wrong and not a bomb," Calleigh said.

"I think it was," Horatio said. "Eric?"

"Sorry, Horatio, I accidentally left a tube of super glue in the box and it exploded," Eric said. "No one was hurt."

"What were you working on?" Calleigh asked.

"Ryan asked me to see if I could find prints on something he'd brought in from SHIELD," Eric said. "I had one of the new teams in with me and we were trying different things. Guess I got distracted."

"I suppose it's a good lesson, if nothing else," Horatio said. "All right, let's get this cleaned up and everyone who was in the room get checked out. Calleigh, do you want me to field this since it was training with my team?"

"Please. I'm still not real comfortable talking to the brass," she said.

Horatio nodded. "I'll leave you to deal with this end of things then."

***


"Lieutenant Caine, could I talk to you for a second?"

Horatio turned and found one of his new CSIs behind him. She was just out of college and shy, but smart and had promise if he could get her to stand up for her opinions a little more. "Of course you can, Andrea, what is it?" he asked.

"It wasn't a tube of superglue that went off today," she said softly. "I don't think anyone realized I saw what happened, but Randy switched out the pan with the superglue in it to something else."

"He did?" Horatio asked.

"I don't want him to know that I told you, but I didn't want Eric to get in trouble," she replied. "He's been really nice and helpful ever since I came in for training."

"All right, I'll talk with them both," Horatio said. "Thank you for coming to tell me, Andrea, I really appreciate it. Did you get checked over by the medics?"

"I'm fine, they said I was just bruised," she said.

"Stay with the group until bedtime just to be sure," Horatio said. "There can be delayed reactions to things and I don't want any of you getting sick, okay?"

Andrea nodded. "I will."

"Okay. Thank you again." Horatio watched her walk off and sighed. "Mr. Wolfe."

"Scene awareness needs to be stressed with all of them," Ryan said, coming out of the lab he'd been working in. "Randy is the one that we've been having the most problems with whenever he's assigned to work with Eric. I think they've had a couple of arguments. Which one do you want me to take?"

"Get Randy into my office and wait with him there," Horatio said. "I want to check with Eric and then we'll find out what's really going on."

Ryan snorted. "Hopefully it's just two alpha males butting heads," he said.

"When is life ever that easy, Ryan?" Horatio asked with a wry grin.
****

"Eric."

"Horatio, I'm really sorry about this," Eric said, looking up. "I swear this wasn't me trying to get your attention or anything."

"Hey now, we've always managed to keep personal out of the lab, and I don't expect that to have changed," Horatio said. "I know that I could have done better by you, Eric, but I honestly don't know what I could have done differently, and I'm sorry for that. Tell me about Randy."

Eric looked up, startled. "He's smart, quick, chemistry background training to be one of your new CSIs," he said, not quite keeping the bitterness out of his voice. "He seems to think that I don't have anything to teach him and doesn't pay attention whenever he's assigned to me."

"So I hear," Horatio said. "So now, Eric, this is what I need you to do for me. I heard that it wasn't the tube of superglue in the tank, but a pan of unknown material that caused the explosion. It makes more sense to me because you have never once, no matter how distracted you were, done anything that would place a case in jeopardy, and I didn't think you would start now."

"Randy did this?" Eric asked.

"I think so," Horatio replied. "Find me that mystery substance, Eric. Break it down and tell me how it would react to heat, and then find me in my office. There's someone causing problems in this lab and I want to find out why."

***

"He was one of our top prospects," Coulson said, looking in at Randy sitting with Ryan. "I think that if he hadn't been pegged for this project, he'd be in R&D working on some of Director Fury's projects."

"I think that what we're dealing with here, Phil, is ego," Horatio said. "I wanted you here because of your reputation within SHIELD. I'm sure that word of my reputation will get around, but not fast enough for this. Clint, what did the doctors have to say?"

Barton looked over. "Up to eighty percent back, Pop," he grinned. "Phil's going to have me on paperwork in no time at this rate."

"They think he'll be at a hundred in another week or so," Coulson said. "Then we'll head back up to New York and start looking into surgeries and therapy to get him back into the field."

"That sounds like a plan," Horatio said. "Although Grant and I will miss having you here. Come on in, both of you. Let's see what's going on here." Horatio pushed the door to his office open and then held it for Barton to come through. "Randy, it seems that we have a problem," he said.

The young man looked over. "I'm not sure what you mean, Lieutenant Caine."

"Your team was assigned to work with Eric Delko today, learning about fingerprint evidence and different methods of collection and storage," Horatio said. "The super glue tank exploded in the middle of a test that Ryan here had you guys running, and I heard from a reliable source that you had something to do with that explosion. Care to explain things to me?"

"Eric left the tube of glue in there and it blew up," Randy shrugged. "I don't know what you think I had to do with anything."

"Lieutenant Caine, Sir, I have reviewed the video footage from the lab in question and found that Randy did, in fact, place something in the tank prior to the explosion," JARVIS said via the tablet Horatio had on his desk. "I was unable to analyze the substance in question, but Eric is working on doing so now in the trace lab."

"Thank you," Horatio said with a small smile. "Randy?"

"Okay, fine, yeah, I put something in there," Randy said. "I didn't ask to be here. When SHIELD recruited me, they said I'd be working with cutting edge technology to develop new weapons not going to the edge of nowhere to be a crime scene investigator."

Horatio leaned against his desk. "What sort of weapons did you want to design?" he asked softly.

"I don't know, bombs and things," Randy replied. "Things that will keep people safe."

"Clint?" Horatio said.

"I think Tony would be better for this one, Pop," Barton said. "Randy, are you really stupid enough that you think weapons keep people safe? Do you see me here, in this wheelchair? I was on an op for SHIELD in a sniper perch when bombs planted at the base of the building I was on detonated and brought the building down on top of me. I almost died from those injuries. What do you think, people just plant bombs and the loud boom scares the enemy enough that they give up? Bombs detonate and they kill people. Worse than that, they maim people. I think, Agent Coulson, that Randy here needs to tour a few field hospitals in war zones and see if that doesn't straighten him out a little."

Coulson tilted his head slightly. "I think that's a good idea, Barton," he said softly. "Lieutenant Caine, with your permission, I'll be borrowing Randy for some additional training before he is posted to a SHIELD lab designing door locks."

"That's fine, Agent Coulson," Horatio said. "This level of anger is not something I need on my team."
****

"I'm going to start rumors about you when I'm back on base, Pop," Barton said later that night when they were back at the house. "People need to know that you deserve respect. I know you'll be able to earn it, but that'll take too long."

Horatio couldn't help the fond smile. "I'm sure that people will figure me out soon enough, Clint," he said. "I don't know that you need to terrorize them with stories about me."

"I do," Tony said, joining them. "I heard about the jackass today and made a few suggestions to Agent about places to take him. Use bombs to keep people safe. I can't believe I used to think like that."

"It was how you were raised, Tony," Barton said. "I hate that you suffered so much when your opinion was changed."

"I survived. I'm surviving," Tony said. "I'm actually going back to New York tonight to pick up a few piece of new equipment for you, Horatio. The lab at the base is far enough along that I can start bringing things down to you. I think you'll like the new toys I have for you."

"JARVIS has been a huge help, Tony," Horatio said. "I can see why you're so fond of him."

Tony looked over. "Want him at the base too?" he asked. "JARVIS can totally do it for you. It might be good for him, interact with some new people. You just can't let them near his servers."

"Whatever you want to do is fine, Tony," Horatio said. "Clint, how are you holding up? Don't think I didn't see you yawning while we were at the lab."

"Busted. I'm tired, but it's from not being able to move," Barton said. "I'm doing fine, Pop. I just really want to get back to my normal routine. You know I've never been good at being sick."

"I do, and I know how hard it is for you to sit for long periods of time," Horatio said. "It sounds like you're almost there, Clint. Just be sure to give everything the time it needs to heal before you move onto the next step."

***

"So, it sounds to me like you need a massage tonight," Grant said as he slipped into the shower behind Horatio. "Although, I suppose if your new CSI teams get too out of line, you can send them over to me for some PT or something."

Horatio chuckled. "Somehow I think the teams will pull together a little better now that Randy is gone," he said. "It's always trial and error to get any department set up and running, but there are some scientists that believe they are destined to better things than crime scene investigation, or even a lab."

"Too much Tony on their TVs growing up," Grant sighed. He reached around and started to rub Horatio's chest. "If only they knew what he suffered to get to where he is now."

"I suppose that we'll be investigating the fall-out from some of those scientists with delusions of grandeur," Horatio said. He leaned back against his partner with a sigh. "There's just so much that can go wrong while we're setting things up. I think we're lucky to be finding out about Randy's problem now rather than risking the integrity of our lab once we're operational."

"I couldn't have said it better," Coulson commented from out in the hall. "Sorry, sound really carries in your house, Horatio, and I was coming to ask if you have any saline eye drops. Clint's eyes are bothering him and I didn't want to run to the store if I didn't have to."

Grant put his head on Horatio's shoulder and tried not to laugh. Horatio just chuckled. "In the second drawer to the right of the sink, Phil," he said. "I have to say that Grant and I haven't been interrupted since Clint was a lot younger."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Coulson said.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Horatio turned off the water and reached out to grab towels for both him and Grant. "You know that I want Clint to be as comfortable as possible. What did medical have to say about this?"

"Just that it's not unexpected and to bring him in if the eye drops don't help in a day or two," Coulson said. "I'll leave you two alone now. Thanks again, Horatio."

Horatio glanced at Grant. "He was pretty red there, wasn't he?"

"Yep, he was," Grant replied, lips twitching. "I don't think he realized we were both in the shower until it was too late."

"I don't think I realized how much I missed having my family with me until you were all home again," Horatio said. He pulled Grant over for a kiss. "Now if Eric would come around, life would be perfect."

"You said you were able to talk with him today without trouble?"

"Yeah, because it was case related," Horatio said. He draped the towel over the bar on the door and headed for the bedroom. "I think that if I needed to talk to him about anything else, he'd still be on the defensive."

Grant slid in next to Horatio. "I wish there was an easy answer for you, love, but I can't think of anything," he said. "I think the only thing we can do is have hope that Eric will realize that he misses you as a friend and comes to talk to you again."

"I hope it's that easy," Horatio said with a sigh.

***

Horatio stood in his new office and looked around. "Well, hello there Grumpy, are you trying to hide again?" he asked when one of the dwarves flew in. "Come on, let's go find your mom and dad." He caught the bot gently and headed towards the yard that was formed between the three arms of the lab buildings. "Jemma, did you guys lose this one?"

"Oh, thank you, Lieutenant," she said with a smile. "We're getting a look at the new building and he got away from the group. I'm sorry he bothered you."

"Not a bother at all," Horatio said, sitting down next to Simmons. "What all are you seeing?"

"The building is in good shape, they did a good job patching things up and getting it ready for us," Fitz said. "I thought we might make a map of the lab with the dwarves, if that was okay with you, Lieutenant."

"That's fine. I'd like to have as many different mappings of this facility as possible," Horatio said. "When Clint's better, he's offered to go in and map out the vent network for me, although I think that I might have that done before he's healed up."

Steve ducked one of the dwarves as it flew by his head and handed a couple of files to Horatio. "Tony asked me to give these to you, Horatio. Spec sheets for some of the equipment he's built for you."

"Thank you, Steve," Horatio said. "Things are coming together nicely for us."

"Some of the troops are also arriving," Steve continued. "Uhm, guys, which one is this?"

"That's Sleepy and I think he likes you," Fitz said. "Sorry, Captain, I'll get him back on course here in a second. I think it's the humidity playing with them. We need to re-calibrate them, Jem."

"Let's do that and see what else we can find," Simmons said. "Call back?"

"Call back."

Steve just smiled fondly. "I'm sure you'll be able to get it worked out, guys. Horatio, Grant wanted you to come over when you had a minute," he said. "And I'm due to help Tony with some heavy lifting. See you all at supper tonight?"

"We'll be there," Horatio said. "Leo, Jemma, you two do what you need to and get me the maps in your own time. Thank you for that, it's a good idea."

"We'll have them reset in a day or two," Simmons said.

"It's a quick fix," Fitz said.

"No hurry, take your time," Horatio said. He started across the lawn towards the building that Grant was using as an office. The base was starting to come to life around him, and he had to admit that he really liked the feel of it all. Missing the crime lab or not, it was a good career move for him. "Hey there."

Grant looked up from filing. "Hey. So, medical looked at Clint again and they're taking him up to New York for some testing on his lower joints," he said. "Eyes are recovered enough, even with the dryness he's been having, to start on physical therapy if they don't need to surgically stabilize any of the bones."

"That's wonderful news," Horatio said. "Let me guess, Nick grabbed them before Clint could let me know."

"Got it in one, but they'll be back for breakfast tomorrow," Grant said. "He just didn't want either of us worrying and I was closer to medical."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Horatio. One of my new officers thought it would be a good idea to stand on a rolling chair to try and hang safety posters on the walls," Grant said.

Horatio sighed and started laughing. "I wish I could think you were making that up."

"He'll be fine, just bruised up, but we had to make sure," Grant said. "At any rate, we'll get things finished up here and our boy will be back in the morning."

"I guess it's getting close to time for them to go home," Horatio said. "I'll be honest, Grant, I'm going to miss them."

"I will too. But I think we'll see a lot of them now," Grant said. "After all, they're family now."

"That they are," Horatio agreed with a smile.

***