Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Although…. Nah, nothing.

A/N: This is set the day after Lost Son. Please R+R, short I know, but hey, waddayagunnado?

Phone Call

I'm hovering on the verge of awakeness.

Man, it was a long night. My head is pounding, how many drinks did I have?

Come to think of it, I can't even remember last night.

My alarm clock buzzed on.

Seven am. On a Tuesday.

Then the phone rang.

The metallic ringing reverberated around my head. I dragged my feet out of bed, and sat up.

The light hurt my eyes, the room was spinning. Welcome, I said to myself, To Hangoverville.

I reached out to grab the phone, and then stopped to wonder who would ring me at this time.

It couldn't be anyone from the PD, what couldn't wait for half an hour 'till I get to work?

Aww… screw it. I pick up the receiver and answer with a groggy, "'Ello?"

It was Speed.

"Hey Delko. How's it going?"

"Speed? What the hell are you doing ringing at 7 in the morning? What couldn't wait for the Labs? And anyway, do you remember getting smashed last night? 'cos I sure as hell don't…"

"Yeah…" he said offhandedly, artfully dodging both questions. "So, hows it going?" he asked brightly.

"Dude! It's seven a.m.," I whined, "NOT the time for, 'how's it going?'. So what's the real problem?"

"Nothing, nothing, can't a friend just call another friend?" he asked innocently.

"I can't believe you're not feeling last night… everywhere I go, you go… you had to have been there…"

Again he avoided the comment with a mumble.

Then for some unexplainable reason, we got talking like we were in the break room at lunch.

We ragged on Horatio and his sunglasses, Alexx and her 'Baby, Sugar,' routine. All in good fun though.

We talked about the previous case, but strangely not about the current one.

It was approaching 7.40, and weak sunlight was outside the window. I leaned across and pulled back the curtain. It was a dreary overcast day, somewhat of a rarity in Miami.

"Listen Speed, I gotta get me a coffee and get down to the La…"

At that moment, the events of the previous day sank in.

I had drowned my sorrows at a bar because… because… Speed was gone, He wasn't…

"Speed!" Yelled into the phone, "You're dead!"

"Yeah, See you Delko…" he said sadly, and hung up.

I dropped the phone and looked at it. I'd seen him wheeled out of the Jeweller in a Body bag, seen H clean out his locker… even seen Alexx cry as she made the first incision in his autopsy.

It wasn't possible; I'd just talked to my dead friend.

All the possibilities ran through my mind… impostor, H playing a trick, a dream… an impostor wouldn't have known all those things we talked about, and all us CSI's were hurting too bad to do something like that.

I pinched myself.

Yep, I was awake.

"Uh-huh. Bye Speed. I said, not sad, but bizarrely calm.

He was still here.

He always would be.