Title: In a Jiff
Fandom: Without a Trace
Pairing: Danny/OC Author: M.
Rating: light R. The smut muse was not kind. :-p
Disclaimer: Danny isn't mine. Chloe is.
Author's Note: another Danny/Chloe fic. Longest one to date actually.
Summary: Things have been...a little frustrating.

"In a Jiff"
By M.
-
Chloe turned away from the whiteboard, a marker in her hand, to ask Samantha a question and the movement drew Danny's eye away from the phone bill he'd been skimming. He watched with appreciation as she leaned over the table, red hair spilling down over her shoulders, looking at something the younger agent was gesturing at. She'd left her suit jacket in her office after lunch and the black pants she was wearing pulled tighter against her body and it didn't take much concentration to summon up the memory of what the skin hidden away beneath them looked like. Even less to remember the feel of it under his hands, hands which moved reflexively with the memory, and he forced himself to turn away.

Back to his phone bill. Well, not his exactly, it was the bill of a missing fifty-five year old bank teller who'd disappeared on the way back to work after picking up his turkey sandwich across the street. Right, missing teller. Work. Concentrate. Steeling himself, he began scanning the numbers again, looking for calls which seemed unusual, repetitive, not looking at Chloe. Chloe, who was just a few feet away, had been all day, out of reach. Chloe, who had been out of reach for weeks . . .

Work had been obscenely busy since the onset of the fall. Kids going back to school seemed to breed chaos. In just a few weeks they'd had three missing freshmen, two professors, a ten year old boarding school student and the janitor of an inner city school . . .

Their life had consisted of entirely too long days followed up by falling into bed for a few short hours of sleep. That was, if they actually got to go home. There'd been more than a few nights where Chloe had ended up on the couch in her office and Danny on the couch of an interview room.

If it went on much longer, Danny was quite convinced he was going to explode. Either that, or snap and drag Chloe into the nearest maintenance closet. Which, as an idea, was starting to look better by the second.

"How's it coming?" Chloe's quiet voice, spoken from just behind him, shattered his concentration into nonexistence and he looked up to find her standing at his shoulder, watching him with quiet amusement. Clearly, she'd noticed his distraction and was having entirely too much fun at his expense.

Well, he'd see about that. She wasn't the only one who could have fun. "Slow." He answered with a wry grin. "Very slow . . . " The innocuous words weren't the least but sexual but Danny Taylor was the master of the double entendre and he put every ounce of skill he had into his reply.

His attempt to remind her of the last time they'd had time for themselves clearly worked as Chloe's pupils dilated slightly and her fair skin went just a little pink. She remembered entirely too well, with as much clarity as he, the Sunday afternoon spent making love on her living room floor. If he closed his eyes, he could easily picture the contrast of her hair against the white rug beneath her. They'd been in no hurry then, unaware of the impending maelstrom of work that awaited them come Monday morning. That'd been when the first of freshmen, a girl named Tamara Murphy, had up and vanished from her local dormitory.

Clearing her throat, Chloe picked up the bill and scanned it herself. After a moment, she grinned ruefully. "This guy makes less calls than I do and if it weren't for the kids, I'd hardly make any." The kids in question, her nieces and nephew in D.C., the children of her elder brother Tom, and weren't really that fond of their aunt's choice to move to New York. She dropped the paper back on his desk then perched on the edge of it herself, surveying the whiteboard. "I think I'm going to declare a moratorium on disappearances. No one in the state of New York is permitted to vanish for the period of six weeks. Sound good?"

"Sounds excellent." He agreed, inhaling the faint scent of the soap she favored. God, it'd been too long since they'd taken a shower together. "I could do with some downtime."

"Missing the wild nights out on the town are we?" She teased, laughing. She knew full well where he spent his nights and the look in her eyes said as much and hinted that, yes, she was missing it too. "Poor deprived Danny."

"Deprivation sucks." Was his response as he picked up the phone bill, staring at it in frustration. Frustration completely unrelated to the good Mr. Williams lack of a social life. Mostly. The sheer lack of anything resembling leads in this one was not what he needed. A nice fat juicy tip which lead to the teller's location would be fantastic. Find the guy, deliver him home to his cat Boomer, fill out some reports and then take Chloe home and spend the weekend reacquainting himself with every tantalizing inch of her. "Really, really, really sucks."

"It does." The woman in question agreed, her perceptive gaze traveling over the room, cataloging where everything and everyone was and Danny caught himself wondering if she could ever stop doing that. If all those years profiling and watching had permanently ingrained the habit in her. If she even realized she was doing it. He suspected she might. Self-awareness was something she didn't seem to be in short supply with her. It was one of the things that attracted him. The sense of depth she carried about her...

Still waters that he couldn't help wanting to stir...

The urge for which...

Phone bill. Right.

"This is getting me nowhere." Frustrated, Danny threw the paper back onto the desk and wished for a satisfying thump instead of the quite unsatisfying rustle. Throwing down a piece of paper just wasn't a good release of frustration. Pushing his chair back, he got a look at the time and turned his gaze to the redhead beside him. "I'm gonna grab some dinner. Clear my head. Coming?"

The look she gave him in response to that particular choice of words was searing and Danny smirked. Oh yeah, definitely mutual frustration.

Misery really did love company.

"Oh I'd love to." Chloe agreed with a nod, pushing off his desk and heading for her office. "Be ready in a bit."

------

The parking garage, like most of the building, had security cameras but years of working there had taught Danny where they were and what they watched. As soon as they were out of sight of them, he backed Chloe up against the wall, his body covering hers. He'd surprised her but she wasn't complaining. A desperate whimper escaped her and she pressed close, her hands curling into his overcoat, lips and tongue meeting his. The heat that had been simmering back and forth between them all day burst and they were both gasping when they surfaced for air.

"I swear to God, if we don't get a break soon..."

"You'll spontaneously combust?" Chloe supplied with a wicked little grin.

"Throw you on my desk and go for it." He finished before kissing her again. "Think...." Her stomach rumbled and it was his turn to grin. "Guess not. Dinner it is." He punctuated the comment with another kiss then smiled at her. She returned the smile but neither of them made any attempt to move. "Think anyone's noticed?"

Unsurprisingly, she knew exactly what he was asking. "The fact that we can barely stand next to each other without fidgeting? How we keep sneaking looks? Or the fact we practically ran for the elevator?" Deadpan, she answered, "No, not a bit."

Danny moved back, letting her fall into step with him. "Completely clueless about it?"

"Oh, absolutely." Chloe agreed with a sage nod before they both gave into laughter. After a moment, she shrugged. "I don't know about Samantha or Martin, but I'd put money on Viv."

"You wouldn't be the only one." Reaching her car, Danny took the keys she held out and unlocked the door, opening it for her. "That'd be a safe bet."

------

"We really don't have time for this." Chloe mumbled against Danny's lips even as she slid her hands up his shoulders, seeking leverage to pull herself closer.

"I know." He countered, his own hands on the move, slipping beneath her coat and finding her waist. "We don't. Which is why we have to be really, really fast." One hand emerged from her coat again, reaching around her body to find the car door, opening it for her. "I should point out...I'm probably gonna break the speed limit."

"I won't tell." She said, kissing him again, mirth in her eyes. "Promise." Sliding into the car, she smiled up at him before closing the door.

Danny took in the promising smile and enjoyed the hell out of it before walking around to the driver's side. Sneaking home for a quickie before going back to work...he hadn't done that in years. He'd forgotten just how damn fun this was. "Think the boss'll mind us sneaking off like this?" He asked after getting in and starting the car.

"Not if we don't tell her." Chloe pointed out with a conspiratorial look. "After all, what she doesn't know, can't get us fired."

"Think she'd be that bad huh?" Pulling out onto the street, he breathed a sigh of relief at the realization they'd missed rush hour. Getting stuck in traffic was the very last thing they needed so that was precisely when he expected it to happen. Nice to have one expectation turn out wrong. At least that particular one.

"Don't you?" She asked. "I mean, that Agent Alexander's a real stickler for the rules... Nag, nag, nag...makes you wonder how she got the job in the first place."

Stopping at a traffic light, Danny leaned over and kissed her fiercely. "Probably not by dating one of the agents she works with."

"You mean having a teeth-rattlingly fantastic affair with one of the agents she works with, right?" Chloe countered, grinning. "You're right...Agent Alexander would never do that." When they both started laughing, she continued, "Which is precisely why I leave her behind in the office."

"And precisely why I showed up at your house when I did." He started the car forward as the light turned green. "Otherwise..." A sound interrupted them and Danny looked down at the pocket which held his cellphone. "Oh, you're kidding me..." He complained, fishing it out. "Taylor." Chloe's eyes were on him as he listened to Martin speak, listening to his half of the conversation in an attempt to glean an understanding of what was going on. Easier said than done considering the majority of Danny's responses were limited to one or two words.

The actual conversation was quite brief, Martin delivering the information quickly and precisely with Vivian cutting in from the background. When it was done, he hit end on the phone and dropped it back into his pocket. "They think they found him. Or, at least, they think they know what city he's in."

"Where?" Chloe asked calmly, all trace of laughter banished from her voice. Lately, work had a nasty habit of doing exactly what the phone call had done. Cutting into their time together just when they were actually starting to relax.

"Atlanta." He looked over at her. "He got an apartment there last month under his mother's name.""Are we sure it's him and not her?"

"She's been dead for three years." A wry grin touched his lips. "We're sure."

She smiled quickly, letting it slip from her face as fast as it had appeared. "Who's free at the office?"

"Sam. Martin and Vivian are still running down the lead we got from his email." Danny had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say before she said it but, he wasn't looking forward to the words being uttered. When he'd wished the guy would turn up, this was definitely not what he'd had in mind.

"Looks like you and Sam are going to Atlanta."

"Vivian's booking the flight. We catch the next plane out." He sighed and turned onto a street that sent them toward his apartment, away from Chloe's home. He needed to stop and grab a change of clothes for the trip. "Can't believe this. The timing stinks."

The frustration in his voice drew her attention and she reached out, resting a hand on his leg. "It does." She agreed. "But...if he's there..."

"Yeah." Danny's grip tightened on the steering wheel and he resisted the urge to curse. He didn't want to catch a flight to Atlanta. He wanted to go home with Chloe. Go home, go to bed, lock the damn door and stay in there for a month. A quick glance at her face confirmed she shared his feelings. Chloe had moved back into a professional mode but he could see signs of the same frustration lurking in her eyes.

How the idea came to him, he couldn't really say, but he saw the sign up ahead and almost before he realized it, they were pulling into the car wash. Confused, she looked at him, amusement replacing the frustration. "I already had my car cleaned this week."

Driving the car into place to let the automated system take over, Danny grinned at her and understanding dawned in her eyes, a laugh springing to her lips. She shucked off her overcoat as he got rid out of his. While she pulled her shirt over her head, he leaned over to push the seat back, giving them room.

He pulled her across the seat onto his lap and their mouths met. The sound of the machinery at work around them was deafening but neither noticed. Danny's hands slid up her sides, finding the clasp of her bra and unhooking it. Chloe moaned into the kiss when his hands cupped her breasts, exploring them with familiarity.

The kiss broke with them gasping for air and she moved back on his lap, reaching for his zipper. When her hand finally grasped him, Danny let out a groan and kissed her again. With time against them, there was little time for pleasantries or foreplay, Chloe released him long enough to push her pants and panties off. Then she was sliding down over him and he was grabbing for her, hands finding her hips and guiding her the rest of the way.

She came down him hard, both grunting with the impact, and almost immediately they were moving. Satisfaction swept over Danny in a wave, replacing the frustration that had simmered between them for weeks. His head fell back against the seat, his body consumed by the sensations, but was brought forward again by Chloe's hands on his face. They kissed, messy, rushed, and a counterpoint to the movement of their bodies.

Urgency fueled each and every moment, driving them on. Water began pounding the car, washing the soap and dirt way. The steady impact thrummed through them, combining with the passion they were generating to set their bodies humming, leaving the couple with a sense of isolation. Cocooned in their own little world.

Breaking off the kiss, Chloe rested her head against his shoulder, her breath hot on his neck, and Danny's grip on her hips tightened even as she tightened around him. It'd been so long and it was so damn good...neither one wanted it to end but..time wasn't on their side and they knew that only too well. It rested in the back of their minds, as much fueling their movements as the desire and passion itself did.

Danny wasn't sure who came first but his next coherent thought was that Chloe, crying out in his arms, felt fantastic...

And he didn't want to leave.

Even now, the desire to go home and go to bed was as strong as it had been before.

Chloe's voice, lazy and soft, drew him from his thoughts as she said, "When you get back..." She sat back on his lap, looking well and truly sated, to grin at him, "you -- "

"Plan on picking up right where we left off." Danny kissed her again. "Definitely. In fact, I'll call from the plane before we land. Should give you just enough time to get home and naked."

"Or...you meet me here and we really can pick up right where we left off...Car wash and all."

To that, Danny grinned. "Deal."

Finis