Disclaimer: Nothing recognisable is mine.
Pairing: E/C
Rating: T
A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed my last story, "Honey, I'm home."
They had been paged two hours ago and since then were on their way to the crime scene – first by car, then by boat. Horatio had called them from the oil platform on which the murder had taken place and bid them make haste.
They arrived, slightly sunburnt and a little exhausted, glad to escape into the shadowy and slightly cooler building block in the middle of the sea. Horatio met them halfway and informed them about the present state of investigation.
A manual worker had been shot – middle aged, married, two kids. His co-worker had found him in his quarters. Apparently, he had not shown up for his shift and people got worried.
Calleigh and Eric made their way to the victim's quarters. The air was humid and peculiarly musty. Eric remarked to the only woman present besides Calleigh, a Ms Eondt – one of the company's watch dogs, with short hair and a slightly grim face –
"Air-condition not working?"
The woman raised an eyebrow in reply and halted on a crossover, then pointed into a hallway to her right.
"Room A65, I will leave you to do your jobs now."
Without further attempt at conversation she vaporized leaving an amused ballistics specialist and a slightly offended Eric Delko. The latter shook his head at the woman's odd behaviour.
"My charms seem to lose their power."
Calleigh could not repress her laughter, "Nah, don't worry. She's just not the type to be womanized."
Eric chuckled and followed the pretty blonde. They started with the usual procedure, taking finger prints and pictures. The guy, a Mr Stephen Hondras, had been hit twice. A third bullet had smacked into the bed-post. Calleigh identified the weapon as a 45, nothing out of the ordinary. Eric found a cell phone and some bills; and evidence of sexual intercourse.
"The guy wasn't too lonely, I suppose."
When they had finished, Calleigh called Horatio retrieving permission to return to the lab. They packed their stuff and Eric shouldered most of the evidence.
"Remind me to charge you extra backrubs once we're back."
"Once I feel my toes again."
Eric wanted to comment on her footwear, but then decided against it as he loved watching her stalk through the labs. The clapping made him aware of her presence whenever she was nearby, and curiously he always felt at ease upon hearing it.
Back at the lab, Calleigh relieved Eric of half of the bags dumping them on Valera's desk. She quickly wrote a note thanking the DNA analyst for doing the scans as quickly as possible.
"She's gonna hate you for that."
"She won't. I signed with Eric Delko."
"How thoughtful."
"I know," she reached for the bags containing the bullets and ushered Eric outside, "and now, I have some work to do."
Eric quickly reached out and hindered her from closing the door straight into his face. "No fair!" After a day of hot, sweaty team-work and friendly banter, he would not be bereft of her companionship so easily. "I remember a promise of backrubs." He threw in what came suspiciously close to a pout and knew Calleigh was lost.
"You're like a two-year old."
"No getting side-tracked. One hour, my apartment – you may bring pizza."
"Alright, but I decide on the channel."
"We'll see."
10:23pm
Calleigh was late and how she knew Eric she would have to pay bitterly. Come to think of it, he still owed her for drying one of her woollen shirts. Grabbing the pizzas and her notes, she quickly made it inside. He was sitting in front of the telly, freshly showered and looking very cosy from her point of view.
"I see you missed me terribly."
"In fact, I did." He retorted deadpanned.
Calleigh blinked, thrice; cleared her throat and finally retrieved sense enough to come up with an excuse.
"Yeah, I forgot time. I'll just shower and be back in a moment." And she was. Plopping down onto the sofa, she snatched a slice of the pizza and grabbed the remote. "The weather channel!"
Eric sighed. He wasn't particularly fond of her taste matters TV, but was content to sit beside her for the time being. Besides he was too tired to concentrate. Moments later he fell asleep. Calleigh turned down the volume and stretched heartily. "Guess that means I escaped my duty once again." And had Eric had any suspicion, he might have detected a plan underneath her bambi-looks.