Title: A Chance Meeting

Author: Kasandra

Rating: K+

Content Warning: Some language.

Disclaimer: Don't own; don't sue. Thanks

Pairing/Characters: S/C

Spoilers: Pre-Season 1

Classification: Romance

Summary: It was the beginning of something beautiful…

Word Count: 2, 950

Challenge Prompt: #20 Close But Far

AN: Many special thanks to Anni for helping with the development of this story. Thanks for all your wonderful insight. You. Rock.

AN2: Borrowed a line from "True Believer," by Nicholas Sparks. Ten brownie points to whoever can spot it.

The biting, cold wind whipped harshly around Tim Speedle as he waited for the light to change causing him to shiver. Living in Miami had made him soft against the bitter winters of the North East. He'd dressed in black of course, with his wavy dark hair, and dark eyes and fashionable stubble, he looked every bit the New Yorker he was. Tim huddled in his leather coat, as if shrinking into himself would garner some warmth.

Just when Tim thought it wouldn't get any worse, delicate snowflakes began to fall from the vast white and grey sky. Plumes of smoke rose steadily from the grates before settling over the icy sidewalks. Tim grumbled and wrapped his scarf tighter around his face. The briefcase Tim had with him suddenly felt heavier than before.

The light changed from green to red and Tim hurried across the street. A dimly lit sign that belonged to a local greasy spoon caught his eye. Instead of heading straight to his destination, Tim decided to make a pit stop to grab a cup of coffee. He hated coffee but he was too cold to care.

As he entered the diner, he noted that it was barely at full capacity, leaving him with many an option to sit. Tim took the chance to grab a booth in the back. As he settled in, he signaled a waitress to take his order.

The waitress barely had a chance to greet him before Tim barked out what he wanted. She hurried off, leaving Tim alone once more and with his thoughts. Moments later, a piping cup of black coffee sat in front of him.

As he stirred two spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee, Tim focused on the patrons who were occupying the diner at the moment before being distracted by the jingle of the bell over the diner entrance.

Another gust of wind entered the diner soon followed by the most strikingly beautiful woman Tim had ever laid eyes on. His spoon clattered loudly as it fell from the cup and onto the table. Her skin was as fair as the outside snow, but was slightly tinged pink due to the cold. Her blonde hair, topped with a baby blue knit cap fell past her shoulders and down her back. An easy smile spread on her face as she shook the snow off her.

"My Lord, it's cold out there!"

Tim cringed slightly at her thick accent. 'She's a Southerner…' However, Tim found that he could look past the accent. 'It's not like the New York accent is any better…' he thought as he watched her continue to shake the snow off.

"You take a seat anywhere sugar; I'll be with you in a minute," the waitress called out.

"Coffee, cream and sugar, please. I'll be in the back," she had replied in turn to the waitress. The waitress nodded and the woman made her way in the back, with a large suitcase and bag in tow.

As she walked towards the back she made eye contact with Tim. His dark eyes probed her bright green ones quickly and she smiled politely as she walked passed. A cup of coffee was quickly placed on her table and the woman quietly gave her thanks as she too mimicked Tim's actions of pouring sugar into her cup.

"That stuff will rot out your stomach," Tim retorted loudly, swearing to himself as he did so.

The blonde turned to him, eyebrow perfectly arched. "Isn't that hypocritical of you to say?" she replied coolly, pointing to Tim's cup.

Tim let out a low chuckle and he extended his hand. "Tim Speedle."

The woman didn't take his hand. "Sorry," she apologized with a quick shake of her head. "I'm Calleigh. Calleigh Duquesne."

"What brings you to New York? Business or pleasure?" Tim questioned as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Are all New Yorkers so nosey? Or are you just special?" Calleigh snapped.

Tim shifted in his seat uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "My apologies. I won't bother you again."

An awkward tension followed before anything more was said. There was a sound of a chair moving and Tim looked up to see Calleigh sitting across from him.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not from here." Calleigh replied apologetically, her tone much softer. "I'm here on business. I'm participating in a convention at Madison Square Garden."

Tim furrowed his brows. "Not the criminalist convention?"

"That's the one!" Calleigh exclaimed. "Wait…" There was a pregnant pause. "How did you know?"

Tim reached into his pocket and revealed his badge. "I work for the Miami PD. I'm a CSI."

Calleigh let out a smile and what seemed to Tim as a sigh of relief. "My specialty is ballistics. Yours?"

"Trace analysis, among other things." Tim replied. "So I guess in a weird way you're close but far from home?"

"You could say that," Calleigh agreed, taking another sip of coffee. "It's my first time away from home. Us Southern girls like to stay close to home."

Tim laughed a little more, letting his smile grow as he looked to her again, marveling at her beauty. He was literally transfixed at her. She chuckled out loud, bringing him back to the surface and he cleared his throat somewhat, centering his gaze back on his cup. The steaming liquid provided him with a distraction as he tried to get the conversation back on track.

"So, how are you liking New York so far?" he asked, seeing her shiver slightly. He shook his head slightly as he stirred his coffee more. Southerners.

"I like it, except for the weather. In New Orleans, it rarely gets below sixty, even in the winter, so this is something of a drastic change for me."

"I know what you mean," Tim responded as he sipped the coffee more. He found himself easing into a relaxed state, one he hadn't felt in a long time. It was as if he was catching up with an old friend. "I've been in Miami long enough to remember how cold it really can get in New York."

"Ah, so there's the accent," Calleigh said with a smirk. "I was sitting here trying to place it. You didn't strike me as a Southern gentleman."

"Oh, really?" Tim asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, really. You have Yankee written all over you," Calleigh replied coyly. Her eyes danced, furthering Tim's decent into them.

'Cute,' Tim thought. "Well, how about this Yankee taking you to see the sights, that is after your sessions, of course."

"Well, I do declare, did you just ask me on a date, Tim?" Calleigh asked, batting her eyelashes, her accent thickening.

Tim sighed heavily as he smirked, shaking his head, "Southerners."

"Yankee," Calleigh shot back, her eyebrows arching in true competitive fashion. Two could play at this game. "Tell you what," she said as she pulled out a pen, and writing her number on the napkin before her. "Give me a call when you are finished, and let's see what we can get into. Deal?"

Tim eyed the napkin and smiled, actually smiled fully at her, seeing her cheeks redden slightly, "Deal."

Suddenly, Tim couldn't wait to finish the trace session he had looked forward to all week.

Tim yawned as he approached the break room, a file in hand ready to give to Horatio. Despite the long plane ride back to Miami after the conference, Tim was somewhat ready to tackle the day ahead. If not for the memories of the night before coming back home, Tim would've said that the conference was a bust, but how wrong he was. One chance meeting with a stranger had changed everything for him.

He saw him as he emerged from the elevators, his blue eyes set in determination already. Tim could swear that the lieutenant probably woke up with that countance. Chuckling to himself slightly, he prepared to hand off the file.

"Speed," Horatio said as he took the file, flipping through it, "How was the conference?"

"It was what it was. Got some good techniques and information," Tim responded as he yawned again. "Other than that, it was a pretty run of the mill weekend."

Horatio smiled as he closed the file and glanced at his watch, "Speed, I need a favor. We have a new member of the team coming in today at Miami International. Think you can swing by and pick them up?"

"H, I've got six cases on my desk…" Tim trailed off.

"It won't take long, Speed. The flight should be landing within the hour."

Tim let an irritated sigh escape as he looked to his own watch, trying to calculate his schedule. As it was, he was already behind on several things, but he knew he couldn't just leave Horatio hanging.

"Alright, H," Tim reluctantly agreed.

"Good man," Horatio responded as he turned to walk away. "Make sure you bring her to see me when you get back to the lab."

Tim put a hand up to give a half hearted wave to him as he disappeared through the corridor. His day just got worse, ten times worst. A newbie. 'Great; just great.'

She sat on the curb, looking in each direction for the Hummer that she was told would be picking her up. Glancing to her watch, she sighed as she started to look at her nails, wondering how long she would stand there before actually doing something about it. Just as she was about to get up and walk, she saw the hulking vehicle as it appeared in the line.

As the vehicle came closer, she stood up, dusting the back of her pants and reached to grab her belongings. Perching her sunglasses on her head, she squinted at the driver, in an attempt to get a closer look of who he was, but found that she couldn't.

Tim's jaw dropped and felt his heart race as he parked the Hummer. 'It can't be…what was she doing here?'

But it was her. Memories of the night before flashed through his mind once more – heated kisses, his hands on her hips, her hands running through his hair, her skin dewy from sweat… the moan of his name emanating from her lips.

Tim blinked rapidly, shaking himself out of his thoughts. He swallowed hard as he got out of the vehicle and approached her. "Calleigh. Hi."

Calleigh's eyes widened slightly at the sight of Tim and she could feel the color draining from her face. It had never occurred to her that Miami Detective that she had spent a passionate night with just only the night before would be the same man she would be working with

"Tim!" Calleigh replied, attempting a brave smile as a sinking feeling began to settle over her. If this moment was indicative of her future in Miami, she was going to board the next plane out to New Orleans. "I…I…it's good to see you again. I had no idea that you and I…"

"It's alright," Tim replied, his eyes darting past her and to her paisley print luggage. Tim eyed it curiously. It was hideous. "I didn't know either."

Calleigh didn't reply; she was unsure of what to say. Despite standing outside in the vast, spacious airport parking lot, she felt as if overwhelmed, as if there had been a giant pink elephant in the middle of them and no one was saying anything. Tim found himself once again breaking the silence just as he did before in the diner. He tilted his head in the direction of the Hummer.

"Shall we?" he questioned as he reached past her to grab her luggage.

Calleigh attempted to protest his help but Tim paid no heed to her words. "Alright," she finally conceded. "Let's go." She buckled her seatbelt and settled against the cool leather as she did so. The ride back was silent. Calleigh stared out the window and to the passing foliage and palm trees.

Tim watched Calleigh out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to say something – anything but he couldn't formulate the words. He had thought he would never see Calleigh again but here she was now. Tim wasn't sure if he was capable of surviving the work week with her and showing her the ropes when he knew her so intimately. Never mind the barriers of office politics.

'Working with her is definitely going to be interesting.'

The only thing he was sure of was that he wanted the day to be done and over with.

The throbbing, aching pain in his head hadn't subsided despite taking half a bottle of ibuprofen. After dropping Calleigh off with Horatio, Tim threw himself into his work in hopes that it would take his mind off of her. It hadn't worked. Instead, he found himself even further distracted. It was his luck; he reasoned that this would happen. He didn't necessarily find the situation to be bad at all; in fact, he was disappointed that they had to part after spending the day – and better part of the night together.

Calleigh was unlike any other woman he had met. She was way too cheerful for his usual taste; however, he found himself making an exception with Calleigh. She was strong, sweet and sassy – she had all the qualities that he looked for in a woman. He only had one night with her but he found himself hooked.

Tim sighed as he tried to focus on the evidence before him.

Tim slammed the door to his locker shut, glad that the shift was finally over with. As he began to pull his jean jacket on, the sound of footsteps caused him to pause in his actions.

"Hey Tim. I thought I'd find you here."

Tim felt his chest tighten at the sound of Calleigh's voice. He turned around and found her leaning against another set of lockers. He presumed she was trying to appear casual.

"Calleigh… how was your first day?"

"Good, I just love my lab. My lab," Calleigh stressed, beaming with pride.

"Glad to hear it," Tim replied. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he rocked on his heels. "Something tells me that you're not here to talk about how your day went though."

Calleigh shook her head. "No; you're right." She stood straight and approached Tim. "I wanted to talk about that night… about us."

"Look, if you want to pretend it never happened," Tim sighed, feeling his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach. "It's fine. I'm cool with it; but I can't just ig-"

"No! It's not that at all," Calleigh quickly rushed. "It's just that it took me by surprise. In New York, I wasn't expecting to see you again, so, I was a little…"

"Uninhibited?" Tim asked the memory prompting an arching of his eyebrow and a smirk.

Calleigh giggled slightly, the tension that was between them earlier, now seeming to dissipate. Her stance relaxed even more as she continued to smile at him, feeling something deep inside tugging at the strings of her heart. Could it be that she had fallen for him, after one night of passion? She pulled a stray hair behind her as she dropped her line of sight then brought it up slowly, registering that he was staring at her. Her cheeks reddened as she changed position and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Yeah, you can say that. So, where does it lead us?"

"Apparently, awkward moments," Tim responded as he leaned up against the opposite lockers, his demeanor a lot less stiff. Again, he found himself feeling as if he were catching up with an old friend instead of negotiating through new territory with a stranger.

"It doesn't have to be," Calleigh replied as she approached Tim. Placing her palms on his chest, she looked up at him. Her heart thumped wildly against her ribcage as she waited for his response.

Tim reached up to take her hands into his drawing her closer as he did so. He stared into her green eyes, searching. He murmured her name before pressing his lips to hers.

Calleigh gave herself into the kiss, moaning quietly as she did so. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Tim placed his hands on her back, in the space between the waist band of her pants and the bottom of her shirt. Her skin fluttered beneath his touch and she pressed herself closer to him. Tim let out a small grunt of satisfaction. Calleigh pulled away breathlessly moments later, licking her lips as she did so.

"Let's get out of here," Tim answered finally. "Get a beer or something…" Tim had never believed in fate before but he was starting to come around. He was starting to believe things happened for a reason. After all, had he not gone to the convention or go grab a cup of coffee, he wouldn't have had such an opportunity with Calleigh. Rules and work politics be damned; there was no way he was going to give up a second chance with her. Perhaps this was the best decision Horatio had ever made.

Calleigh hummed a bit before cocking her head to the door. They began to head out together, Tim's hand on the small of her back, guiding her. He couldn't help but smile victoriously at Calleigh's next sentence.

"Or something."

FIN.