One Box

Danny impatiently tapped his fingers on the counter as the clerk clicked away on his keyboard. After a few seconds the clerk wrote a series numbers of a piece of paper and held it out to Baez.

"This is where the box is located, the shelves are all clearly marked." He told her as she took the piece of paper.

"Thanks." She smiled warmly at him. The clerk reached under the counter and Danny and Baez heard a buzzing sound. They walked past the counter and found the door to the next room now unlocked.

"So, where is it?" Danny asked as he and Baez walked down the centre aisle of an extremely large evidence warehouse.

"Just a bit further." Baez told him as she looked back and forth between the numbers on the shelves and the piece of paper she was holding.

"You're in a good mood today." He commented as they traversed the expansive warehouse.

"Uh huh." She confirmed keeping her eyes on the rows of shelves.

"Is that not allowed?" She added feeling his eyes on her.

"No, you're a homicide detective, we don't do good moods." He replied and they shared a laugh. They walked passed six more rows of shelves before Baez slowed down.

"This one." She told him pointing down the row to their left. They turned and started walking down the row, Baez walked ahead reading the numbers on the shelves and Danny followed. They had gotten three quarters of the way down the row when Baez stopped. She looked between the shelves and the piece of paper, she couldn't read the labels on the shelves above her head but based on the numbering system she knew where the box they were looking for was.

"It's up there." She said looking up at the top shelf, ten feet above their heads.

"Of course it is." Danny groaned. Baez barely heard him as she headed off further down the row, coming to a stop just before the end. There she found a staircase on wheels, she grabbed hold of it and pushed it back down the row to where Danny was standing.

"I'll get it." She offered and gave him a smile. She positioned the staircase in front of the shelves and Danny watched as she climbed the stairs. She reached the top and stood on the platform reading the labels of the boxes in front of her. When she found the one they were looking for she slid it out from between two other boxes and took it off the shelf.

"Got it." She called out to Danny who was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her. She tucked the box under one arm and descended the stairs. She was only a few steps from the bottom when she lost her footing, she tried to grab the railing but missed and began to fall forward. She dropped the box and Danny quickly put his arms out to catch her. He caught her as she landed against his chest and grabbed his shoulders to steady herself.

"You okay." He asked as the box hit the ground with a soft thud.

"Yeah, thanks." She replied as they both looked behind her to the staircase. They saw that the third to last step had broken. She turned her head around and once again found herself in Danny's arms staring into his eyes. Her heart, already pounding from the fall, pounded faster as he stared at her, making no move to let her go. His breathing shallowed and his heart beat faster as he was completely drawn in by the big brown eyes staring back at him. Barely a second passed before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed back, one hand gripping his shoulder as the other slipped up to the back of his neck. He almost shivered as he felt her nails graze the skin of his neck at his hairline.

"Why do these places gotta be so big?" They heard Anthony's thick accent as he and Erin walked down the same long aisle Danny and Baez had minutes earlier. They quickly broke the kiss and jumped apart staring at each other in shock.

"Oh, Anthony." They heard Erin chuckle and could tell she and Anthony were only a few rows away. Danny quickly bent down and picked up the box, by the time he was back upright Erin and Anthony were walking past the row they were in, they stopped when they noticed them.

"Hey Danny, hey Baez." Erin called down the row. They both smiled and made their way down to where Erin and Anthony stood.

"Hey." Danny and Baez greeted his sister. Baez also greeted Anthony, Danny briefly acknowledged his presence.

"What are you guys doing here?" Erin asked curious.

"The murder weapon in our current case matches a cold case from 10 years ago." Baez explained as Danny lifted the box slightly.

"What about you?" Danny asked.

"A murdering scumbag was granted an appeal." Anthony told them clearly unhappy about it.

"We have to go back over everything." Erin elaborated.

"Well, we know which one of you will be climbing up to get the boxes, don't we?" Danny smirked unable to resist taking a jab at Anthony.

"Danny!" Erin chastised him while Anthony glared.

"We should get going." Baez said quickly knowing how Danny and Anthony could get. The four of them parted ways, Erin and Anthony walking further into the vast warehouse while Danny and Baez headed for the exit. They remained silent the whole way, only speaking to thank the clerk when he buzzed them out. They reached the exit and Danny opened and held the door, Baez went to walk through but then stopped abruptly and turned back around. She walked back to the front desk and clerk looked up from his computer.

"Is there something else Detective?" He asked.

"We were using one of the portable staircases and one of the steps broke." She informed him.

"Really? You're lucky you didn't fall." He replied with a smirk and nodded subtly to his right. She looked behind him to the right and her eyes widened in horror.

"Well, thanks for letting me know." He added still smirking as she turned scarlet. She quickly turned around and found Danny still holding the door open, she walked over and as she walked through the door he saw her expression. He followed her out and had to jog to catch up as she practically ran to the car.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked concerned as he reached the car door. She opened the passenger side door then stopped and looked at him over the top of the car.

"Security cameras Danny, they have security cameras."