"Is there a reason you're naked in my bed?"

"Prob'ly." Chris LaSalle peers up at his partner, his head on her mattress and the two pillows practically covering his face. "An' I ain't nekkid, Mere."

He flings back her duvet to show that he is in fact clad in a pair of boxers. University of Alabama themed boxers.

Merri can't help herself. She snorts out a laugh. "Roll Tide, huh, Chris?"

Chris looks affronted. "I'll have ya know it's laundry day."

"Noted," Merri grins. "Now can you please tell me why you're *half naked* in my bed?"

"Yer place was closer'n mine," he answers, settling down further in the bed. "Come on, Mere. 'S been a long day. Let's relax."

Merri shakes her head, but kicks off her boots and climbs up into her bed.

"Pride's gonna notice when you go to work tomorrow in day-old clothes," she mutters, curling her body against his. "And you know we can't sleep too long. We have to get back to work."

"Don't care," he mumbles sleepily into her hair. His hands wrap firmly around her back and waist.

"He's going to think you're sleeping around again," she says, feeling the stress of the day melt away as she sinks into Chris' warmth.

"Let 'im," Chris replies. "You an' I know the only sleepin' I'm doin' is with you."

"We don't do much sleeping, Chris," Merri giggles, giddy like a schoolgirl in their new relationship.

Chris musters up the energy to waggle his eyebrows seductively. But then he yawns, ruining the act.

Merri snorts a laugh and pats his bare chest, running her fingers over lean muscle for maybe a few seconds too long. "I think tonight we may actually sleep."

"Ya might be right, Mere," Chris mutters. "I need rest. 'Specially if we gotta get right back."

"And Pride did say he only wants us gone long enough for a nap, dinner, and a shower," Merri struggles to speak through her own yawn.

"Nap now, shower later?" Chris' eyes are shut and he's practically asleep.

"Mmmm," Merri agrees, falling asleep just moments after Chris does.

Pride is tapping his foot impatiently, staring at his watch.

"Where the hell are the two'a them?" He asks rhetorically.

"If I came back for nothin'..." Sonja Percy leaves the threat hanging and Pride rounds on her.

"Solvin' a petty officer's murder is 'nothing'?" He snaps and Percy is smart enough to shut up and look down at the stack of phone records on her desk.

"That's what I thought," Pride shakes his head at the rookie agent.

In the next minute, Chris and Merri run into the office, out of breath and babbling apologies.

"Sorry, Pride, we're so sorry!" Merri exclaims, brushing hair from her forehead. Chris is hot on her heels, skidding to a stop just before he crashes into her.

"Yeah, sorry King," Chris says, straightening himself out before starting to recite the cover story they'd agreed on. "Mere's car broke down an' she called me ta get her."

"And I overslept as it was," Merri finishes, an apologetic half-smile on her face. That, at least, was true. They had overslept the alarm.

Pride gives them both a once over and Percy side-eyes them suspiciously. The newest agent opens her mouth, to say something caustic, Merri is sure, but Pride cuts her off.

"Don't let it happen again," he warns them, a strange look in his eye. "We gotta murder to solve. Get to work."

Merri and Chris share a look as they scramble for their respective desks. Merri raises her eyebrows at Chris, *that was close*.

He nods sharply, a quick tilt of his chin in Percy's direction, *gotta be careful. She's gonna figure somethin's up*.

Flipping through the files on her desk, Merri wonders what will come first; Pride or Percy figuring out that they're dating, or Merri and Chris getting tired of the secret-keeping and blurting it out?

She sneaks a peek at Chris and watches as he concentrates. In that moment, Merri knows she wants to keep *them* as close to the vest as possible, for as long as possible.

A/N: I've been blocked on writing for a while and I just seem to have no inspiration. But I wrote this a couple days ago, and I kind of like it.

Someone reviewed asking for more scenes of Chris and Merri early in their relationship (I am SO SORRY that I can't remember who asked. I wrote it down in a notebook with some ideas and then I lost the notebook -_- So please let me know in a review if you're the one who asked for pre-kids Cherri!)

As always, I'm open to prompts (and I'll try to keep better track of them this time!)