Multifandom Imagines (and a Headcanon set here and there)

Happy Birthday, Horatio - Horatio Caine x Reader

Requested by Rolan_Lam

You had flown to Vegas for a case, because the murderer had fled from Miami to Sin City. The Vegas guys were very friendly and welcoming; Gil in particular was like your second father, even though you were there for only a few days. You worked quickly and efficiently, and soon put away the correct person for his crime. The trial was held in Vegas, since you were there to represent the MDPD. On the day before your departure, you picked out H' birthday gift: a special cleaning agent for his precious sunglasses.

Horatio's birthday was coming up in just a few hours, but the weather in Vegas was terrible; the downpour was heavy, so much so that you were not sure if you would be able to fly back that day. Nonetheless, you booked your flight, packed your belongings and bade your new-found family farewell before flagging down a taxi and giving the driver the instruction to drive you to the airport, sitting in the front passenger's seat. Just as you got on the highway, it started to come down in buckets. Even the first few seconds of downpour were extremely heavy, to the extent that you were doubting your decision to fly that day, Your cabbie seemed to be thinking the same thing as he asked, "You sure you wanna board a plane now, miss?"

"Ma'am actually..." you corrected gently, pulling your ring from inside your shirt where it hung on a chain around your neck, "and yes. I'm hoping to make it back for my husband's birthday, in fact."

You could hear the smile in his voice as he replied, "Been a while since I've heard something as sweet as that."

"Really?" you asked, but something about your tone gave off that you understood.

""Mm," he hummed plainly. Just as he did, the seemingly impossible happened: the rain came down even heavier. You let out a soft cry of distress, your expression becoming on of horror as you gazed past the wildly moving windshield wipers.

Upon noticing this, your taxi driver put his hand out toward his radio. "Got something for ya." He fiddled with it, and soon I Still Can't Sleep came on.

You sighed and relaxed into your seat, closing your eyes. "Thank you..." you murmured.

"Yeah no problem," he responded genially - did he just deliberately try to make his voice sound like Robert's? For the rest of the ride to the airport, the both of you sat in a quiet, understanding silence, just listening to Bernard.

The music made the journey seem to go by quicker. When you arrived at the airport, you payed the cabbie your fare plus a generous tip. "Thank you so much," you said wholeheartedly.

He smiled a genuine smile and responded, "Stay safe. Give your husband my regards." You shook hands with him heartily before turning around.

However, just as you were about to lug your belongings through the glass doors, an airport-wide announcement boomed out that, due to the rain, all flights were cancelled.

Before your face could even drop into an expression of despair, you felt some of your bags being taken from you. "I heard it too. Come on, we'll go to Henderson!" a familiar and welcome voice said to you. You followed him back to his cab, and he drove as quickly as safety precautions permitted to the neighbouring city.

As soon as you crossed the border between the two cities, the rain seemed to just disappear. "Wowza..." you let out mindlessly.

The cabbie could not hold back his laughter as he responded, "Yeah."

You dug your laptop out of its bag and rushed to book and check in to an impromptu flight back to Miami. It so happened that there was a flight available...and it was departing in
four hours. You took out your mobile phone to contact Horatio and let him know, but your battery was dead. You clicked your tongue in worry. But thanks to the lack of heavy weather, you made it to the airport in no time. By this time, it was a little way into the night. "Thank you again...so much."

"Hey, no problem. Glad I did my job right."

"All the best...Travis Bickle," you winked.

He chuckled and bade you farewell before urging you to 'hurry back home to your husband's arms'. You laughed at that, but could not agree with him more. And hurry you did! You strode as quickly as you could to the check-in counter and stood in line. It took the better part of two hours, but you made it to the front of the queue eventually. You got your luggage - including your kit, which took up most of the time - cleared and put your boarding pass in your backpack. Then, you headed to the McDonald's of the airport to wait. You had a good one and a half hours left, so you sat down and opened your cabin bag, in which was Horatios gift. You set it on the table and admired it. The bottle was a light ocean blue, almost like H' eyes. It was round and quite slender, tapering towards the top whereupon a white screw-on cap, whose top section could be pulled open but remained attached, encased the alcoholic content inside it. It could contain up to two hundred and fifty milliliters of liquid. You smiled; you were quite certain that Horatio would like his gift...you really missed him. You imagined his reaction for when he would first see his gift. He would grin and engulf you in a bear hug, with a loving, "Thank you," murmured tenderly in your ear, sending pleasant shivers down your spine before kissing your forehead repeatedly. He would then pull back slightly to kiss you fully. Mm. You also missed kissing him, being in his arms...that thought caused you to fall asleep, so soothing it was.

You were awoken by the PA calling, "Final call for passengers boarding the flight to Vegas! Final call for passengers boarding the flight to Vegas!" You leapt up from your seat and grabbed your bag running - leaving the bottle behind.

You dashed to the boarding gate, scolding yourself for being such an idiot. When you reached the gate, you saw that there was still quite a que. You took your place at the very back and dug for your passport, which also had your boarding pass folded in between two of its pages. That was when you noticed the bottle was just missing. Again, you scolded yourself, but there was nothing you could do; if you went back to get it, you would miss the only flight to Vegas left. You spent the entire flight chastising yourself and worrying about how Horatio would react.

The flight could not last long enough. You fetched your luggage and went through airport security. As you neared the front, you could see an exasperated but relieved Horatio, with his hands on his hips as usual. The sight of his sunglasses hanging from his collar filled you with dread - he would be so upset. Not only had you kept him worrying for almost the whole day, but you did not even have a gift to make up for it. You shuffled slowly, reluctantly, towards him, not daring to look him in the eye. You could feel his gaze upon you, and you were sure it was a glare - in fact, he had nothing but loving concern in his eyes. Seeing as you were too slow walking into his waiting arms, he stepped across the gap towards you. "Hey," he sighed, relieved, but as he almost touched you, you flinched; this only made him try to hug you again, for he interpreted that you felt guilty for keeping him waiting, and he wanted to show you that this was not so - but you pushed him away.  He frowned, "Honey, what's wrong?"  At least you let him put his hands on your shoulders...so, you still wanted his touch.  Because, he knew, after being away from him for a time, you would be pining for his touch.

"I'm sorry, H..."  you mumbled quickly, your eyes flicking up to his for just a second, "I..."

"Hm?"  he coaxed gently, his face genial and open.

You sighed and your shoulders heaved down, "I lost your present..."  Your head dipped in disappointment now with yourself.

At this, he dropped his hands to your waist and pulled you close.  "But darling," he said, "my present is here."

"No-"  you were going to say, "No it isn't, it's in Vegas," but you were cut off by his lips on yours.

"Happy birthday to me," he chuckled when he pulled away, resting his forehead against yours.  You blushed when you understood what he meant.

"Happy birthday, Horatio."