Previous part of Unstoppable.

***

Chapter 51

Hetty was sitting at the dining room table with Tim when Horatio and the others walked into the house. Horatio looked back at Spencer. "I want you to go to the chair to the left of the table and sit down, Spencer," he said. "Sit quietly for me, okay?"

"What's happened to the boy, Horatio?" Hetty asked. She was a tiny vampire from Vlad's line that had been practicing law in one form or another for the past three hundred years. A lot of people looked at her and saw a small woman and immediately assumed she was a target. Those people usually didn't last long. Hetty was a scholar, but she was also from Vlad's line, and that meant she could fight well.

"He's in a blood trance, and the vampire refused to lift it," Horatio said. "It's the Russian clan, so there's nothing any of us can do until the healer is here from Greece. Aaron, sit down, please. You're not going to do any of us any good if you pass out before we can feed you."

Speed put Aaron into a chair and went to join Horatio over in the kitchen. "I've got some blood in the fridge," he said. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I like to be prepared. Stetler was back sniffing around at work, Horatio. Delko and I watched him as best we could, but we couldn't really tell if he was doing anything or not."

"He met the plane at the hanger, so that means someone tipped him off when I was coming home," Horatio said. "I think, Tim, that we need to take some time and question everyone that's working around us. Human and vampire both. I don't like how easily Stetler is getting information on me."

"I can put in some complaints for you, Horatio, but I don't think they'll do you any good," Hetty said. "I still think his death is the best option we have."

"I want to save that for a last option, especially since we don't know where all of his information is coming from," Horatio said. He sat down next to Reid and put a bowl of chicken broth in front of the young man. "Spencer, pick up the spoon, dip it in the broth, do not overload the bowl of the spoon, bring it to your mouth and sip it slowly into your mouth. Swallow, breathe, and keep doing the same until the soup is gone." He rubbed his face and sighed.

"Here," Speed said, handing him a mug of blood. "Eat. The pup isn't the only one that needs food. Aaron, you too."

"Thanks, Tim," Hotch said with a small smile. "Hetty, I might need your help with something too, once you're done helping Horatio clear up the mess down here."

"I can manage to pin everything on Gideon, so don't worry about any of that," Horatio said. "You focus on healing, Aaron, and let me worry about the rest of it. If you and Spencer do have to vanish, then I'll take care of that too."

"As king of America, you'll be able to do that," Hetty said. "I've been approached by JAG to head out to Los Angeles and head up the local NCIS office out there. It would be a change, and I'm tempted to accept it."

Horatio smiled. "Having you on the west coast would be a help to a few plans Tim and I have in place, Hetty," he said. "We're going to set up one of our courts there. North, but it would still be good to have you close."

"I'm glad my plans have folded in so neatly with yours, Horatio," she said with a smile. "Who is going to govern the court while you're not there?"

"I was thinking about Arthur and Merlin," Horatio said. "The pair of them are still in hiding in the Court in England, and I think they might enjoy getting out after a few hundred years."

"I don't know if you'll be able to pull Merlin out of England with a pair of swords, let alone words," Tim said. "The man has always linked to the magical powers of that land to do his own work. Not to mention Arthur is still rumored to return some day and sit upon the throne again. No, I think that Tony is a better bet for admin out there."

Hotch shook his head. "Tony won't leave without his partner, and you know that you're not going to convince him to go anywhere and run a court for you."

"I wouldn't ask him to run the court," Horatio said with a smile. "If we're going with Tony and his partner, then I think that weapon's master would be a good job title, don't you?"

"That might get Jethro's attention, yeah," Speed agreed. "I guess we do need to figure out exactly who we want to have running that court for us while we're here in Miami."

"As soon as we have word that we have the court, we can start talking about that," Horatio said. "For now, we have dual problems; young Spencer here, and Rick Stetler."

Hetty grinned. "If you'll leave Stetler to me, Horatio, I believe that I can make him back off without traumatizing him too badly. I'll call you in the morning and let you know, okay?"

"That would be wonderful, Hetty, thank you," Horatio said. "The healer from Greece should be here late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I'm holding onto hope that the Kings will agree to let the healer transform Spencer, but I don't know if that's false hope or not."

"I don't think it is," Tim said.

"Why not?" Aaron asked, looking over at the older vampire.

"Both Vlad and Constantine are aware that the world is changing, no matter how much we all might want to hold onto the past we so fondly remember," Speed said. "So, that being said, they're reevaluating a rule they put into play after a horrible war. It's possible that they're going to be making some changes to everything, and we just have to wait for the official proclamations."

"I think someone has been talking to his sire again," Horatio said. He looked over and saw that Reid had finished the soup. "Good boy, Spencer. Well done. Now, pick up the glass of water and sip it slowly. Breathe between each swallow for me."

Speed shook his head. "I'd forgotten how detailed you have to be with someone in a trance," he said. "I hate thinking out that many steps in advance. Horatio's always been better at it than I have."

"I think it comes from being a better fighter, honestly," Horatio said. "Think about a sword fight. You can anticipate up to five moves in advance, more if you're a good fighter. That talent bleeds into other parts of a fighter's life, oftentimes without anyone noticing it."

"Then he says something like that and I'm reminded how much crap he talks," Speed said.

Horatio grinned. "I love you too, you big grinch."

***

Chapter 52

Horatio was in the back of the house helping get Reid settled for the night when he heard the doorbell ring. His keen ears picked up conversation, so either Speed or Aaron answered the door, so he focused back on the young man in his care.

"Hello, Fia," a soft female voice said from the doorway.

"Helena," Horatio said, turning with a smile. "The kings sent you for the evaluation?"

Constantine's daughter was one of the most powerful healers in the Greek court, and it was rare for her to venture outside of its walls for any reason. She smiled and walked up to give Horatio a hug. "I requested it when I heard the story," she said. "Tell me of the young man."

"His name is Spencer Reid and he's a genius in many senses of the word," Horatio said, turning back to the still form on the bed. "By human standards he is young. By ours, a baby. One of his supervisors was a vampire from the small and relatively unknown Russian line and placed him in a trance many times without anyone realizing it. This is the final trance, Helena. Either he is transformed or he dies."

"Wrongly, I might add," Speed commented from the door. "This kid didn't ask for a damn thing beyond acceptance and he was used in a power play. Tell me how that's different from what Brass was doing out in Vegas."

"It's not and you're quite right," Helena said, looking back at her younger brother. "Let me look into his mind and see what he would become before I make my decision."

Horatio nodded and bowed. "We're in your hands, Helena," he said. "Come on, Tim. Let's go see how Aaron is holding up."

"Badly, I'm sure," Speed said. He bowed to his sister before following Horatio out and back down the hall. "Okay, she's like the last person I expected to see here. There's more going on than we think, Horatio."

"When isn't there when it comes to our kings?" Horatio asked with a small sigh. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, probably right before there's either fighting or a war starting up."

"I'm supposed to be the sarcastic one," Speed pointed out.

"I think you're rubbing off on me, Tim," Horatio said fondly.

Hotch, who had been out on the deck, stuck his fingers in his ears. "I don't want to hear about it," he said.

"Someone's mind isn't where it should be," Speed said. He sat down next to Hotch and grabbed one of his arms. "The healer is here and is in with Spencer."

"Who is it? Anyone I know?"

"My older sister, Helena," Speed said. "Before you ask, no, I don't know why the hell she's here, and I'm pretty sure we're not going to find out until she wants to tell us about it."

"I don't want Spencer to end up as a piece in a power play," Hotch said.

"We won't let him," Horatio said softly. "It's okay, Aaron. I know you're worried and scared right now, but Helena is a powerful healer, one of the most powerful I know, and if anyone can help Spencer, it will be her."

"What happens if she won't transform him? What do we do then?"

Horatio sighed. "I think that the best thing for Spencer would be to let him be taken to one of the medical houses in Europe where he can be cared for properly," he said. "I would make sure you were able to go along, if you wanted to, Aaron."

"A week ago I knew where I wanted my life to go," Hotch said with a sigh. "I was even reasonably happy with the way things were starting to work out in the BAU. Seeing the fruits of so many years' work finally coming together and starting to do some good. Now I don't know what to do."

"Trust that the kings know what they're doing," Tim said. He leaned forward on the table with a sigh. "I suppose that's going to include us one of these days, isn't it, H? How the hell are we supposed to rule?"

"I think that you should allow Fia to rule and you keep him grounded, brother," Helena said from the doorway to the house. "I will transform him."

"What's the catch?" Speed asked.

"For once, there isn't one," Helena replied. "Father and Vlad are still rethinking the ban, but they gave me blanket permission to act as I best see fit in cases such as this starting today and moving forward. I think they realize that too many lives have been cut short unfairly and wish to remedy this."

Horatio nodded. "I wonder if the case in Vegas didn't have something to do with it," he said. "So, the question now is if you are going to transform him here or take him back with you to one of the remote courts."

"I will take him to Europe," Helena said. "You well know, Fia, the dangers of attempting to raise a fledgling in society. They have grown only more so as humans have developed around us."

"Will you take Aaron with you, please?" Horatio asked. "He needs a chance to heal as well, and he loves Spencer."

"Of course, should he wish it," Helena said. "It would be a hundred years, if not longer, in the same court. Is that something you wish, Aaron?"

"I've always been more a scholar than fighter, even if I am from Vlad's line," Hotch said with a wry grin. "Yes, I'll be fine in a remote court as long as there's a library and a garden."

She smiled. "There is both there," Helena said. "What of your life here?"

"I'll take care of things for you, Aaron," Horatio said. "Actually, Tim, what do you think about this? We get temporary help running the court in California and when Spencer is okay to travel again, he and Hotch run the court for us there?"

"That could work," Speed agreed. "What do you think, Hotch?"

"I'd have to see what Spencer wanted to do, but don't count us out," Hotch said. He stood and hugged his brother tightly. "I'm going to miss you, H."

"I'll come visit when I have the time," Horatio said, hugging his brother just as tightly. "Keep me updated on how you both are doing, okay?"

"I will," Hotch said. "Tim, thanks for the temporary home. I really appreciate it. Both of you let me know if there's anything I can do to help with Stetler."

Horatio grinned. "I will," he said. He focused in on Helena. "Take care of them both for me, Helena. Thank you for all your help."

"They will be fine, Fia," Helena said. "You focus on the coming battles you have here."

"Better words of caution have never been spoken," Horatio said. "Our enemies here are numerous, but they underestimate one thing."

"What's that?" Hotch asked.

"The courts. They seem to think we all have grown weak over the long years," Horatio said with a grin. "I think they're going to find out quickly that they're very, very wrong."

***

Chapter 53

"So what do you think Hetty is going to do to Stetler?" Speed asked that night, once they were alone in the house. "And do you think it's anything we need to be worried about?"

"I think that she's going to put in a report for harassment with the department, along with a warning that should it not stop immediately then she will take legal action on my behalf," Horatio replied. "No one wants to see Hetty take legal action, Tim. Remember what happened in Paris."

Speed snorted. "That family was never the same again, were they?"

"No they weren't, and I think to this day they teach their children to stay on the correct side of the law at all costs," Horatio said with a grin. He stepped up behind his lover and slid his hands up under the pair of t-shirts Speed had on. "I also think that we should take advantage of having the house to ourselves again, Tim. What do you think about that?"

"Only if you move us away from the damn window," Speed grumbled.

Horatio chuckled and started walking, moving Speed in front of him, sucking on his neck softly. "Does that mean you don't want to go outside on the back deck then?" he asked.

"Do you want me to kill you now?" Speed asked. He lifted his arms up and let the shirt be pushed off. "Because that's still an option."

"I think that I could keep you distracted enough that you wouldn't know where we were, Tim," Horatio said.

"Distracted or not, I am not spending the night outside, Horatio. I don't care if this is Florida, we have too many enemies around again to take that kind of risk," Speed said. "I am not fighting anyone naked."

"I like fighting naked enemies," Horatio said. "They have nowhere to hide weapons and they're much easier to kill."

"You know what I meant," Speed said. He turned and captured Horatio's mouth with his. Horatio moaned softly and opened to his lover, being careful of the fangs that had dropped down.

"I think, once we're in power and have our enemies eliminated, that I'm going to take you out onto the beach and make love to you there," Horatio said. He nipped at Speed's neck carefully. "Out where anyone could see us in the moonlight, making you scream for me over and over again before letting you fall apart into an intense climax."

Speed looked up from undoing Horatio's jeans. "I think that if you think I'm going near sand naked then you have another thing coming," he said. "It took a week to get all the sand out of me last time."

"I remember," Horatio said. "You grumbled at me for the whole week."

"Sex on the beach is not sexy, Horatio," Speed said. He pushed his lover down onto their bed and went to get the lube. "Sex on the beach is abrasive and messy."

"For the one on the bottom anyway," Horatio said. He grabbed Speed and pulled him down onto the bed, rolling so he was on top of his lover. "For the one here, it's fun."

"Still not happening," Speed said. "Anywhere in the house is fine with me, but we are not going outside for any reason. I don't care how lightly you sleep, someone could still get in a fatal wound before you woke up."

Horatio pushed back when the lube hit him in the head, taking the hint. He slicked two of his fingers and reached down to start spreading the lube around. Speed really didn't need too much prep after several hundred years together. "That could happen in here too, Tim," he pointed out.

"Not with the alarm systems we have in the house," Speed said, pushing back against Horatio's fingers. "Feels good, H."

"You want another one?"

"No, just you," Speed said.

"Where do you want to bite tonight?" Horatio asked, spreading lube over his erection. "Neck or wrist, Tim?"

"Wrist," Speed said.

"You'll have to do all the work then," Horatio said, shifting off his lover to lie on his back. "There's no way for me not to crush you if I'm on top and we do a wrist bite."

Speed straddled Horatio and moved, taking his lover's erection inside him slowly. Horatio's hand went to Speed's hips to help him balance until he found the exact position he wanted to be in. He also raised his legs a little so he'd be able to thrust once Speed started moving. "Needed this more than anything else," Speed said, starting to move slightly. "Need to make more time for this, H."

"Yes we do," Horatio said. "Always going to need you, Tim."

Speed leaned down to kiss Horatio before he started to lift up and slide back down, setting the rhythm he wanted for the night. He needed to be careful not to become addicted to the sensations of the wrist bite, but it wasn't going to be easy. Speed knew that Horatio would always humor him, let him choose whatever position he wanted for sex when they had the time, but Speed also knew there was something in the warrior that enjoyed holding him down and almost using his body for release that he had to be careful to let have time every so often. Horatio was such a tender lover most of the time, careful to hide the warrior in the more modern society, that Speed was the only one that would be able to encourage him to come out and play. And he had to admit that it was really hot when Horatio lost control and was rougher than normal. Speed would have to remember to suggest that one for next time.

"Close, Tim," Horatio said, hips pushing up as Speed came down, letting him slide that much further into his lover's body. "Very, very close."

"Almost," Speed said. He hadn't found the angle that would light up his body, but he knew the bite would help him over the edge. There was something about Horatio's fangs sliding into his wrist that took him higher on pleasure than anything they ever did together.

Horatio caught Speed's left hand and started to mouth at his wrist, letting his fangs slide over the exposed veins. Speed shivered and started to move faster, catching Horatio's wrist in his hands. "Now," he managed, biting Horatio.

The red head's fangs slipped into the veins in Speed's wrist and Speed flew apart, climax shuddering through him, causing his body to shake as he drank from his lover's wrist. Distantly he felt Horatio's climax inside him and he finally slumped down to the side, eyes fluttering closed.

"You okay, Tim?" Horatio asked, checking both their wrists to be sure the wounds closed.

"Very," Speed managed, cuddling up next to Horatio.

***

Chapter 54

Horatio and Speed were on their way to the lab the next morning when dispatch called and redirected them to a crime scene not far from the university campus. Alexx and Calleigh were already there when the pair arrived.

"Okay, I haven't seen anything that brutal since the Inquisition," Speed muttered as he and Horatio approached the scene. There was a body hanging from a large tree, and even at a distance, it was obvious he'd been tortured before he was hanged. The question was, did he die from his wounds or the noose around his neck.

"Don't forget Scotland," Horatio said softly.

"Oh yeah," Speed agreed. He moved to start taking pictures while Horatio went to speak with the ladies.

"Alexx, what do we have?" Horatio asked.

"He's a professor here at the university," Calleigh replied instead of Alexx. "The students that found him are with patrol answering questions. I was trying to work out the best way to get him down without damaging evidence when you got here."

Horatio nodded. "Okay, thank you," he said. "Calleigh, will you go on over to the school and find out who the immediate supervisor is, please? I've got a few questions for them."

"Will do," Calleigh said.

"Alexx, what do you think we'll lose if we cut him down?" Horatio asked.

"Nothing, if we do this right," Alexx said. She held up a package. "I've got a large tarp here ready to go, if you boys have some cutting gear."

"We don't, but I know where we can get some," Horatio said with a smile.
*~*

"Who teaches hate?" Speed asked later that day. They were on their way to the classroom to get reference samples from the students in the professor's class. "I mean that seriously? Who needs to teach hate? That's the one thing I think no one ever needs to teach because humans manage hate so well on their own. History is full of examples of it."

"Which would be an interesting class, if the man didn't start believing in what he taught," Horatio said. "It's one thing to study hate in history through the lens of science or academics, but it's another to degrade students whose only mistake was signing up for the class."

Speed snorted. "The school seems to be trying to cover up that they knew full well what the man did in class," he said. He pushed the door open and found twenty pairs of eyes staring at him.

Horatio moved around his lover and headed towards the table at the front of the room. "Good morning, class," he said. "My name is Lieutenant Horatio Caine and I will be your guest speaker this morning." He put his kit on the table and opened it up. "Lesson one will be how to correctly take a DNA sample. Who would like to be first?"
*~*

Calleigh was working in one of the labs when Horatio and Speed got back from the university. "Horatio, can you help me for a second?" she called.

"Speed, go ahead and take our samples on over to DNA," Horatio said, handing off the envelope. "Let's find out which students touched that rope. Calleigh, what do you need?"

"All these weapons you guys found are wrong for the torture devices," Calleigh said. "Alexx made as many molds as she could for me, and nothing is matching."

"Let me see," Horatio said, pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Here are the molds and pictures," Calleigh said, handing them over. "God damn it, why is he back again?"

"Who?"

"Stetler. He's been haunting the lab all morning and it's really freaking me out," Calleigh said.

"Just ignore him," Horatio said. "I see what you mean about these marks, Calleigh. They were made by weapons, or items, smaller than anything our teacher had in his cabinet. What else did Alexx find?"

"He was alive when he went up into the tree," Calleigh said. "None of the wounds were even close to fatal, even when totaled up. There's a lot of trauma to his body, yes, but nothing that would have killed him. What do you want, Stetler?"

"I need to speak with Horatio alone," Stetler said.

"Calleigh, go back and talk with Alexx again for me, please," Horatio said. "See if she's found anything else with autopsy on our victim, please. Rick, what can I do for you?"

Stetler gritted his teeth. "I apologize for harassing you," he managed. "It won't happen again."

Horatio grinned. "You're right that it won't, Rick," he said. "Because, if it does, you will be in more trouble than you can ever imagine. Now, that said, the lab has not turned up any new evidence in Rebecca's disappearance, but we're keeping an eye on a few things. I'll make sure you're notified should any new evidence come to light."

"Thank you." Stetler turned and stalked out of the room.

"Looks like he had lemons for breakfast this morning," Speed commented, joining Horatio in the room. "I wonder exactly what Hetty said to the Chief on our behalf."

"I don't think we'll ever know, Tim, but I am glad that Stetler has backed down, at least for the day," Horatio said. "I do think that we need to stay on the alert for more problems from him. Stetler doesn't strike me as a man that will back down without a fight, no matter what he's threatened with."

"You're right enough about that," Speed grumbled. "No luck with weapons?"

"Not yet, but I think that we should go and take a look at his house, don't you?"

"It beats standing around here waiting for test results," Speed said.

"It certainly does," Horatio agreed.

***

Chapter 55

"I smell blood, Tim," Horatio said softly.

"I smell scared human," Speed said just as softly. "I'm going around to the back, H. Whoever is in there is the one that killed our professor, and we don't want them to escape."

Horatio grinned. "Just toy with them a little first," he said. "Two minutes, Tim, and then I'm going in."

"Two minutes." Speed nodded and headed off around towards the back of the house. Horatio stayed where he was, counting slowly in his mind. When he reached a hundred and twenty, he pushed the door open and walked in.

"Well, hello again," he said, looking at the small woman sitting at the desk running papers into a shredder. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a key," she said. "We all do. The professor welcomed us any time we wanted to come over."

"That's not what I asked you," Horatio said. He leaned against the wall and put his hands into his pocket. "I'm certain you remember who I am, so you know why I'm here. Why don't you put the papers down and tell me why you killed your professor?"

"I didn't kill him!"

"Didn't you?" Horatio asked softly. "Then why are you destroying all of his papers? I think that he was using you for something, maybe sex, maybe fame, but whatever it was, you found out about it too late and after you killed him."

She threw the stapler at his head. Horatio caught it easily and grinned. "One of the many weapons you used to kill him," he said softly. "I can smell the blood on here. You attacked him here, in this room, using anything that came to hand after you rendered him helpless, and you took him out to the place where he used rituals to teach hate, and you murdered him."

"What do you mean you can smell his blood?" she asked staring at him.

"There are worse monsters around than the ones that wear human skin," Horatio said, not moving from against the wall. "It just happens that I'm one that wears a human skin. So is my partner."

Speed leaned around the girl, fangs visible, and grinned. "Boo."
*~*

"Teaching hate and using students as a study without their permission," Horatio said, looking over all of the paperwork they'd brought back from the professor's house. "Somehow, Tim, I don't think the world will be a worse place with this man gone from it."

"I think that poor girl lost her mind before she killed him," Speed said. "I can't believe she tried to attack us when we told her she was under arrest."

Horatio nodded. "The hospital will help her as best they can," he said. "It's possible that she's too far gone for anyone to bring her back again."

"It's sad that she fell into his web so easily," Speed said with a sigh. "Tell me the school is going to be in trouble for all of this."

"They will, and I believe several people have already lost their jobs and been brought up on charges," Horatio said with a small grin. "I do know that teachers there will be watched far more closely than they have been in the past to be certain that there's no one else that thinks teaching ideas like these are a good idea."

Speed sighed. "Wish we'd been able to catch this one sooner," he said.

"So do I, Tim," Horatio said softly. "If only because that man would have made good sport. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to play with him before he died."

"I think we need to find you a hunt or let you loose in bed tonight," Speed said, looking over at his lover. "Because the warrior is trying to come out again, Horatio, and we don't need that with Stetler still lurking around."

"It's only a shame we can't make sport out of him," Horatio said. "Come take a walk with me, Tim. I heard from Vegas. Vlad and his people have eliminated the nest there and are moving on to California and their target there. I'd like to go and join them."

"How are you going to get the both of us out to California by tomorrow night without raising questions in the department?" Speed asked.

"There's a conference in San Francisco that I signed us up for at the last minute," Horatio said. "Mac and Danny are going as well, so we'll be able to catch up with them a bit more than we have over the phones."

"And what will happen when the lab finds out that we weren't at the conference at all?" Speed asked, glancing over at his lover. "Any major deaths out there are going to catch attention in the media, and Stetler is already looking for reasons to get us fired."

Horatio grinned. "I think, Tim, that we'll be able to do both," he said. "Although it will take a bit of coordination and work with Vlad and his stealth forces."

"You want to send two of them to the conference as us while we join the group to fight," Speed said. He sighed. "I guess that's not the craziest plan you've ever come up with."

"No, the craziest plan I ever came up with was Germany just before the first of the world wars broke out," Horatio said. "Remember?"

"I try not to," Speed said. "All right, so I guess we're going to California. Have you told Calleigh that she's going to be in charge of the lab yet?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay with us going first," Horatio said. "When we get back to the lab, I'll talk with Calleigh about the next week or so while we're out in California."

Speed sighed again. "I guess this is easier than finding you some sort of a rapist to let the warrior out on," he said.

***