Title: Discoveries
Author: Bj Jones
Rating: FRM
Summary: The team makes a discovery
***
The club was hopping, you could feel the vibrations of the music, smell the musky scent of sex, alcohol and drugs. It was one of those clubs one where you went to get lost. No one asked any questions, no one talked about it, and most of what happened there stayed there. It was a bit like Fight Club, first rule no talking about Fight Club; second rule no talking about Fight Club. You get the drift.
***
It had been Calleigh’s idea to go out have some fun, forget what they did for a living. She had worked the lab, trying to get a small group together. I was the first on board, hey can’t have a party without me now can you. She asked Speed second, he gave her his polite small smile and explained he had plans. She hounded him for a day at least, until she finally gave up and searched out her next victim, I mean guest.
“So Calleigh,” I headed straight for the coffee pot. The case we were working on had me running in circles.
“Yeah Eric,” She smiled at me.
“How many are coming tonight?” I leaned back against the counter sipping my coffee.
“Five,” Calleigh’s blue eyes sparkled. “You, Tyler, Valera, and can you believe I got Alexx to agree to come. I mean Alexx, agreeing to go out clubbing, but not Speed.”
“Did you ask H?” I smiled at the thought of Alexx letting her hair down. She always took care of us ‘kids’ it would be good for her to relax and have some fun.
“Are you kidding,” Calleigh stared at him. “I’m not asking my boss to go clubbing.”
I laughed, “Come on. I know your dying to see him in anything but a suit.”
Calleigh winked at me as she headed for the door, “Or just out of the suit.”
***
So here we are standing just inside ‘Discoveries’. I’m not quite sure how we ended up here; you have to be invited to get inside. We had started off with dinner at Roxy’s Calleigh making one finally attempted to get Speed to join us, he smiled kissed her on the cheek and said he had a date. I admit I was a bit shocked, Speed hadn’t mentioned a new girl to me. Monday he and I were going to have a serious conversation.
Valera was busting at the seams, literally. I admired the lab tech, it took guts to wear a leather corset with practically spray painted on blue jeans – she looked hot. I had to get her out on the dance floor at least once.
We worked our way through the crowd towards the center of the club. Discoveries was located on the Westside of town, a converted old warehouse turned night club. When you walked in, there were bars and seats all around, a section of seats lined up against metal railing, which gave the guests ample view of the dancers on the bottom floor. The bottom floor consisted mostly of the dance floor, one bar, private booths, and a few back rooms for special clients.
Somehow Alexx snagged us a sweet seating spot next to the railing. She was grinning, her dark eyes taking in the atmosphere. It was hard to believe she was married with two kids, her silk pants suit and hair done up made her look classic and sophisticated and I’m not the only one who noticed. She’s had at least three offers since we walked into the place.
“You know its nice seeing a place like this in its element instead of as a crime scene,” Alexx leaned over towards Calleigh.
“I know,” Calleigh grinned back. “I’m going to get a drink, what do you two want?”
“A glass of wine” Alexx smiled, “Keeping it simple.”
“Beer,” I grinned up at Calleigh. “And if you see Tyler and Valera tell them we got prime seats.”
“Sure will,” Calleigh wandered off towards the bar.
“So did you know about Speed’s date?” I asked Alexx. If there was one person at the lab that Speed opened up to it was Alexx.
Alexx’s eyes narrowed at me, her eyebrow arched slightly, “Hunting for information detective?”
“Oh come on,” I leaned over the table giving her my megawatt smile. “He tells you everything.”
“Not this time,” Alexx huffed as she leaned against the table. “I have no clue who his date is.”
“Damn,” I leaned back in my chair in time to see Valera and Tyler walk up with drinks in their hands.
“Here you go,” Tyler sat a glass of wine in front of Alexx.
“And your beer,” Valera set my drink down then sat next to me.
“Where’s Calleigh?” I asked sipping my beer.
“Talking with a cute Texan,” Tyler settled down next to Alexx.
“Okay who’s going to dance with me?” Valera looked between the two men.
“Are you sure the paint won’t come off?” Tyler teased her.
“I used the really good stuff,” She winked. “Hey Calleigh, did you get his number?”
“No,” Calleigh growled as she sat down. “He’s married.”
“How did you find out?” Alexx asked.
“He opened his wallet to pay for my drink and had a picture of his wife and kids,” Calleigh shook his head. “Men are stupid.”
“Yeah,” both women agreed.
I wisely kept my mouth shut, my eyes turned and focused on the dance floor. I ended up spitting my beer out, about the same time Tyler exclaimed what I was thinking “Holy shit!”
Everyone turned and looked at Tyler, but my eyes were glued onto the floor. “No fucking way.” It couldn’t be.
“What?” Calleigh demanded.
“Look on the dance floor,” Tyler pointed towards the figure I was watching intently.
“Holy Shit!” Calleigh leaned over the table to get a better look.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, one Timothy Speedle aka Speed dancing at Discoveries. “What the hell is he wearing?” I asked stunned. “And when the hell did he learn to dance like that? He sure as hell wasn’t acting or moving like that when we went clubbing.”
“Oh God,” Valera joined in on the conversation. “That man looks hot in tight leather pants; damn I’m not going to be able to look him in the face again.”
We all sat there stunned, watching Speed grind and dance, not caring who is partner was man or woman. His eyes were closed lost in the beat of the music; he dipped and swayed with the beat. Sweat poured off of him as he moved sensually, erotic, God it was turning me on, and I wasn’t the only one. “Tyler you’re drooling,” I pointed out.
He grinned, “That’s the hottest thing I’ve seen in years, and even Alexx is affected.”
Alexx hadn’t take her eyes off him, “What? He’s a good looking man.”
“He’s your baby,” Calleigh looked at her.
“Yes, he is, and my baby looks good in leather,” Alexx gave her a bright smile.
I laughed at Calleigh’s expression, “she got you there.”
“You think he looks good in leather?” Calleigh smirked at me.
I shrugged, “Yeah he does.”
“This can’t be good,” Tyler’s comment pulled all of our attentions back to the floor.
All of our eyes were focused on the scene that was taking place in front of us. Speed was lost in the music, not noticing another dancer moving in closer to him until he was inches from Speed. His hands reached out and pulled Speed to him, matching Speed’s movements. At first Speed smiled, then faltered, his eyes opened and he pulled out of the man’s arms. He frowned as he looked at the man; he shook his head no and turned to leave. The man grabbed Speed’s arm, people around them stopped and stared.
My beer was forgotten I could only watch the drama unfold. Out of one of the darker booths a man stepped out and moved towards Speed. People on the floor moved out of his way, watching intently as he approached the two men. It wasn’t until he got to them that the small group got a good look at him.
“HOLY SHIT!” Valera spat out her drink and stared, yep that’s what I was thinking.
I could only focus on the red hair; red hair that belonged to my boss. We watched as Horatio quietly stepped between Speed and the man, removing the tight grip from Speed’s arm. His head was bowed slightly his lips moved as he spoke, I could only imagine his words as they were spoken low and deadly. He lifted his head up, eyes cold as he stared at the man. The man wisely turned and left.
“Oh my God,” Calleigh was voicing all of our thoughts.
It was like a train wreck we couldn’t turn away. We watched as Horatio turned and slid his hand into Speed’s hair, pulling him to him. Speed smiled right before Horatio claimed his lips kissing him passionately on the dance floor. Slowly Speed started moving to the music once again, pulling Horatio into the sensual dance. He turned in Horatio’s arms, his back against Horatio’s chest, both dipping and grinding moving as one. Horatio’s arms wrapped around Speed’s chest pulling the man closer to him, nothing was getting between the two bodies. Speed’s head fell back against Horatio’s shoulder, giving the redhead ample room to taste and lick the elegant neck.
“Well Calleigh you wanted to see him in something other than a suit,” I looked over at the blonde.
She sat back fanning herself, “How the hell am I going to face them on Monday?” She down her drink in one gulp, “Look at them; Speed’s in leather, Horatio in silk – God.” She slammed her head down on the table.
I turned away from Calleigh back to the sight in front of me. “I had no idea,” I stammered. “How could I not know?”
“None of us knew,” Calleigh’s voice was soft she sounded like she was in shock. “How long do you think?”
“They’re comfortable here,” Valera pointed out.
We all watched as the two danced, they were solely focused on each other, oblivious to everything around them. Horatio pulled Speed off the dance floor and back to the darkened booth in the corner. I wasn’t sure if I was upset or relieved that I couldn’t see what was going on in the booth.
“Maybe we should go,” Alexx stood up from the table. “We don’t want them to see us.”
“You didn’t know did you?” I asked.
She shook her head, a shocked expression on her face, “Nothing. Not even a clue from either man. I don’t even know how long this has been going on.”
At that moment I was angry at both men, Alexx was hurt that they didn’t confide in her. But at the same time I knew they had their reasons. Actually, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Speed was my best bud, we went clubbing together picked up girls, but then did I ever see him pick one up? Have I ever seen or heard about Horatio going out? The two have always been close, “They didn’t want any of us to know.”
“It’s not easy for a cop to be out,” Tyler stated as he stood up. “Look at how I still get hassled by the bigots around the department, and I’m a lab tech. Imagine Stetler getting this info.”
I think it hit home for all of us at that moment. We all headed out of the club, as we exited there was sign above the door that made me laugh: Rule number one – no talking about Discoveries, Rule number two – no talking about Discoveries.
***
I walked into work on Monday with a smile on my face. The weekend had been relaxing and pleasurable, I met someone Saturday while I was out, and we have a date set for dinner on Wednesday. I walked into the locker room, and found Speed sitting in front of his locker a smile on his face.
“So how was your date?” I asked not a hint of the truth in my voice.
He looked up at me a grin on his face, “Good. But you already know that don’t you.”
Okay I admit he shocked me with that one, “Excuse me?”
“Discoveries,” Speed smiled as he stood up. “Some detective you are. You forgot something really important about the club.”
“And that is?” I asked arms crossed in front of me.
“You have to be invited or you don’t get in,” Speed gave me a shit eating grin. “How do you think you got in through the front door?”
“My charm,” I shrugged as I leaned up against my locker. I had wondered about that, I had just figured it was some fluke or maybe Calleigh had gotten invited.
Speed snorted in return, “It was our way of letting our friends know; without saying anything.”
I realized at the moment how much Horatio and Speed really cared about us, their friends. They trusted us enough to see them as their true selves, and not talk about it to anyone. Speed patted me on the shoulder, “Maybe you can come over for dinner one night.”
“I would like that,” I gave him a large smile, and then grew serious. “Have you talked to Alexx? She was upset you hadn’t confided in her.”
“I’m on my way there now,” Speed sighed. “I wanted to, but…”
“We understood,” I pulled him into a hug. “And we support you.”
Speed hugged me back, a rare show of emotion for the quiet man, “Thanks.”
***
It’s been a couple of weeks since that night at Discoveries, the night I so lovingly call ‘their coming out party’, Horatio just rolls his eyes, while Speed snorts and comments that the joke is getting a little old.
We’re having dinner and Speed’s place, the two practically live at each others houses, never apart, but they don’t share a residence officially. I still can’t believe none of us saw it, saw the love that shines between the two. Just looking at them, you can see it. Speed’s eyes take on this light when he sees Horatio. Alexx forgave them instantly, understanding why they kept quiet. Calleigh was still in shock that the relationship had been going on for over six months. Even Valera and Tyler were here for dinner.
They gave us another surprise, Speed can cook. No, I don’t mean boil of pot of water and make pasta – I mean cook. As in Chicken Cordon Blue, wild rice, spinach salad, and custard tarts for desert cook.
I leaned up against the counter between the dining room and kitchen talking with Speed, just watching as Horatio walked in and kissed him on the temple a simple loving gesture. One they will never get to make in public, but they can here with their friends. I grin at Speed toasting him with my beer. He was one lucky bastard. I can only hope to discover a love that those two have.