Well, I had to introduce my guy sometime. :)


Tim's ears perked up as he opened the door to the locker room, immediately greeted by the sweet sound of her giggle. With a smirk, he slipped into the room, intent on sneaking up behind her, surprising her.

But his smirk quickly became a frown, as he became the one surprised. Not pleasantly surprised, either.

He stood, lurking just around the corner in the shadows, watching the scene before him. He knew it was probably nothing; he also knew that technically, it was none of his business. She could talk to whoever she wanted.

But still, even though he knew all that, Tim couldn't avoid feeling that stab of jealousy.

No longer was Calleigh the new girl in the lab. A few days after their dinner date (the thought still brought a smile to his face; he couldn't remember ever enjoying dinner quite that much before in his life), a new face had joined them at CSI - Eric Delko, straight out of underwater recovery. Tim didn't have anything against the younger man; in fact, since then, he'd been paired with Delko on most of his cases, and Tim had struck up quite a quick friendship with the new guy.

But there was the problem. Since Delko had been hired, he'd always been paired with a higher ranking CSI so he could learn the ropes. Tim didn't mind working with him, but since Delko had joined them, Tim hadn't worked a single case with Calleigh. He missed her; he missed the amazing team they made together. It was to the point where if he didn't get a chance to spend more than five minutes with her soon, he was going to go crazy.

That chance was what he was currently trying to seize. He'd become desperate for it, and he'd thought he found his chance when Horatio had asked him to find Delko and Calleigh and bring them to the layout room in ten minutes. He knew he'd have to find both of them, not just Calleigh, but he'd never imagined he'd find them together.

But that's exactly how he found them. Together, in the locker room. And Tim couldn't help being jealous as he watched them. They were sitting on the bench, facing each other, Delko laying down a few pictures on the bench between them. With each picture he showed her, the light in Calleigh's eyes brightened, and her smile widened. Once, she even gasped softly, leaning a bit closer to him as she lifted one of the pictures from the bench, gazing at it intently.

"Wow," she murmured, mesmerized. "These are amazing."

Delko chuckled. "Trust me, it's even better in person," he insisted. "Once you get down there and see it all for yourself; it makes these pictures look completely dull. Fake, even."

He slipped closer to her, close enough to touch her without even trying, and Tim growled, suddenly not feeling very friendly at all toward the younger CSI.

Not that it mattered, since Calleigh displayed enough friendliness for the both of them. "Really?" she asked, truly amazed. "Wow…"

Delko laughed. "You've really never been diving, have you?"

Calleigh shook her head. "Eric, I wouldn't know the first thing about diving."

He grinned. "It's not that difficult. If you have a good teacher, that is," he clarified smugly with a wink.

Playfully Calleigh rolled her eyes. "My, you're certainly a modest one, aren't you?" she teased.

"I do what I can," Delko smirked, chuckling when Calleigh gave him a light, good-natured shove. He shifted slightly, the effect being that he was even closer to her than before. "If you want, I can take you," he suggested quietly.

Calleigh's eyes sparkled, and Tim had to grab onto the wall in order to keep himself hidden. It was all he could do not to race in there and break up this little scene. This was very nearly killing him. He wanted to be the one impressing Calleigh. He wanted to be the one making her laugh. He wanted to be the one to take her diving, never mind the fact that he didn't like the ocean, nor did he know anything about diving at all.

But to his relief, the sparkle faded slightly, and Calleigh bit her lip thoughtfully. "I don't know," she said.

"Why not?" Delko pressed. "It's beautiful down there; it's a rush like none other. You'd love it," he said with a grin.

Calleigh gave a playful grin. "What can I say; I'm a bit more of a land critter." She paused, shrugging. "Besides, I don't like sharks."

"I'd protect you," he said with a wink, now downright flirting. Calleigh giggled again, not exactly opposed to it. "I won't let any sharks get you."

Calleigh grinned. "Well, aren't you sweet?" she drawled.

"I get that a lot."

"I'll bet you do."

He grinned smugly. "I do. And it's true, and it means you should go with me one day."

Calleigh chuckled. "I said, teasingly, mind you, that you were sweet. I never said I trusted you to get me out on the open water with nothing but sharks, limited oxygen, and fish that sting," she declared, and Tim had to restrain himself from doing a bit of a victory dance.

A faint glimmer of disappointment crossed his features, but it was gone as soon as it had come, replaced again by with his boyish grin. "Well, if you change your mind…"

She nodded. "I'll come find…" she paused, looking up and finally noticing Tim standing in the shadows, "…you. Hey, Tim."

Tim cringed slightly, wondering how obvious it was that he'd been eavesdropping. He stepped fully around the corner, nonchalantly crossing his arms and leaning against a locker. "Hey. Uh, Horatio wants us in the layout room," he stated, getting to the point. He didn't quite feel like making conversation.

His subdued mood followed them into the layout room, only interjecting a syllable or two every now and then, preferring to let the other three speak. Aside from a few questioning looks from Calleigh, his silence went unnoticed. His mood only worsened as the discussion moved along. It was a big case, a big lead; he should've at least been relieved. But he could only summon forth bitterness when Horatio told Delko to follow up on it.

"Go with him, Calleigh."

He knew those four words could sour his entire day. Tim would have rather gone with Delko himself. Sure, he still wouldn't be working with Calleigh, but at least Calleigh wouldn't be working with Delko.

Moments later he was brought back to the present to find that the room was now empty, save for himself and Calleigh. And there was that questioning look again. He wished she would stop doing that; it was almost like she could read his very mind, not to mention every last word scribbled upon his heart.

"Everything okay?" she asked quietly, laying a hand on his arm.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"You sure? You're acting…odd."

"Thanks," he replied dryly.

Calleigh opened her mouth to reply, but second thoughts caused her to close it again, nodding slightly. "Okay. Well. I'm gonna go," she said quietly, gesturing to the door. "Eric was pretty excited about this one; I figured I'd better catch up to him before he gets too involved." She turned away, but didn't quite get the chance to take a step.

"He likes you, you know," Tim blurted, a little more bitterly than he'd intended.

Calleigh shrugged. "Well, that's good. I didn't want the poor kid to hate me," she said, flashing her smile to Tim.

Tim rolled his eyes. "Calleigh, he has a crush on you."

Calleigh laughed, looking at Tim as though the idea were absurd. "What? No, he doesn't!"

"Actually…"

"Tim, I just had my first real conversation with him today. Technically he just met me."

Tim scoffed. Yeah, well, that didn't stop me. He shook his head, his heart stopping at the tiny grin he saw playing at Calleigh's lips. Surely this didn't amuse her. There was absolutely nothing amusing about any of this. This could very well be a disaster. Groaning inwardly, Tim rolled his eyes. "Doesn't mean he doesn't have…ulterior motives."

To his slight irritation, Calleigh only laughed. "Well, I certainly appreciate you looking out for me," she teased, playfully nudging his shoulder, "but I think I'm going to be okay. We're just headed out to that scene on Flagler, Tim."

"You never know what could happen at a crime scene," he challenged, narrowing his eyes.

"Wow, you're right," Calleigh deadpanned. "What on earth might possibly happen at a crime scene? Some investigation, maybe?"

Tim scowled. "He'd better not be doing any investigating," he muttered under his breath.

Calleigh frowned. "What?"

He shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Nothing."

Calleigh tilted her head, slight confusion evident on her face. "No, really. What is it?"

"Calleigh, it's nothing, okay?"

Calleigh frowned, though she nodded in assent. Tim sighed with relief, thinking the subject was closed, though he should've known better with the glint of realization that flashed through her eyes. She stared at him, a hand on her hip. "Are you jealous?" she teased, gazing at him with that smile that got him every time.

Tim stared at her, hoping his incredulity seemed more genuine to her than it did to him. "What? No way," he said quickly, shaking his hands.

Calleigh giggled, and there was that crazy urge again. That urge that Tim was feeling more and more these days. The urge to grab her and just pull her to him and crush his lips to hers. With each day that passed, it was getting harder and harder to resist. And to make it worse, suddenly she'd reached across the desk, tapping him playfully on the arm. "I think you are," she teased, winking smugly.

She was just teasing, but she couldn't have hit the mark better if she'd tried.

Tim shifted anxiously, pretending to busy himself with looking through the casefile on the table. He tried to block out the truth of her statement; he tried to block her out. But that was something that never worked.

"Okay, well. I'd better get going so Eric doesn't beat me there and get too far involved with it. So I'll see you later?" Calleigh asked.

"Whatever," Tim muttered bitterly, though he regretted it immediately upon seeing the slight flicker of hurt in Calleigh's eyes. He sighed. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

Still confused, Calleigh bit her lip and nodded slightly. Without another word she turned and left, leaving Tim alone with his bitterness.

It was a few hours later that she finally trudged back into the lab. The crime scene was fairly large, and Delko had taken the inside of the house while Calleigh looked around the perimeter. And it was just her luck that as she was halfway finished, a typical afternoon rainstorm rolled into the area, soaking her within minutes.

Calleigh gave a shiver as she pulled open her locker. When a cursory glance around the locker room proved that she was alone, she quickly pulled her soaked top over her head, tossing it onto the bench behind her. She lifted herself to her tiptoes, silently cursing whoever had had the bright idea to put the hooks at the very top of the locker. And then she silently cursed herself for the bright idea to hang her bag with her spare clothes in it from those distressingly out-of-reach hooks.

Tim had hung the bag up there in the first place. Calleigh couldn't help but wonder if he'd done it for her knowing that eventually she'd be in a situation like this - cold, wet, wearing shoes that were a good three inches shorter than her usual heels. She wouldn't put it past him; he did like to get under her skin. A tiny smile flitted across her lips at the thought of paging him to get the bag down for her, but as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she gave an intense shiver, partly from feeling the cool air of the locker room against her bare skin, but mostly from the sheer thought of Tim seeing her like this.

Eventually she managed to pull the bag from the hook, and she pulled out a blessedly dry shirt. Quickly she pulled it over her head, smoothing it out and shaking her damp hair out of it. She let out a sigh of relief, though that relief was short-lived; within the next second, she thought her heart might stop.

"What was that?" asked a quiet, curious voice behind her, and Calleigh jumped, having never heard the door open.

She placed a hand over her heart, though she didn't turn to face him. "What, do you enjoy sneaking up on me today?"

He took a step closer to her. "Not just today. Every day." He snickered. "Now, are you gonna answer my question?"

"What was what?" she asked. She could almost feel his piercing stare on her lower back, and a small, knowing smile played at her lips. She felt him close in behind her, and as moments before she thought her heart might stop, it now raced with inexplicable anticipation.

"This," Tim murmured, gently placing a hand on her lower back, just above her covered tattoo. Even through the fabric of her shirt, he could feel the heat of her body, and once again that dizzy sensation flooded over him.

She looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes wild. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?" she suggested quietly, daring him.

The look in her eyes sent Tim's entire being into overdrive. His mind and heart raced. His spine tingled. His body felt as though it might combust if he didn't soon pin her against the lockers and kiss her feverishly. He had never wanted anybody this badly before.

Softly he slid the bottom of her shirt up her back a bit, revealing to him once more the tiny butterfly at the base of her spine. "A remnant of your adventurous days?" he murmured, hearing their conversation at the airport echoing in his mind as though it were yesterday.

Calleigh breathed in deeply, feeling the pad of his thumb brush over every line on the butterfly. "You could say that," she gasped. "I got it the first time I was here in Miami."

"You've been here before?" He couldn't pull his hands away from her. Her skin was so soft, and he wanted to feel more of it. With more than just his thumb. He closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath of his own as he struggled to control his thoughts. His thumb, however, continued tracing the butterfly.

She nodded, lost in sensation. "When I was in the academy, on the spur of the moment, my then-boyfriend just decided, hey, let's go to Miami for the weekend. So we did. And I ended up going home with a tattoo." She laughed, her face tinting slightly as she remember that weekend so long ago. "I was serious when I said I was crazy back then."

Tim gave a soft chuckle. "Too bad I didn't know you back then." Slowly, his fingers edged their way upward, sliding away from the tiny butterfly, as his feet shifted as well, bringing his body ever closer to hers. He closed his eyes and breathed her in, the scent of her intoxicating him. She was addictive, far more so than any drug, and he hadn't even kissed her or even held her.

This was what he'd missed. He'd worked far too many cases without her; he'd spent way too much time away from her, and now, being so close to her, it was like he was touching her for the first time; breathing her in again for the first time. It was almost enough to knock him to his knees, all over again.

Calleigh couldn't help but tense as his fingers slid gently over her back. It wasn't the butterfly anymore that he was studying. It was her. Her skin; her body. Granted, it was only a tiny patch of skin on her lower back, but it was still enough to set her entire body on fire. It was overwhelming; it had started with just one coincidental, maybe even innocent glance at her tattoo, and then with his touch along her back, it'd escalated into so much more. He'd pulled her into a time and place where nothing existed save for the two of them. And truly, it was a place where she'd be more than content to stay.

Involuntarily she squirmed, his fingers trailed over a particularly ticklish patch of skin. "Tim," she breathed, feeling herself slip back down to earth, piece by piece.

Her voice broke his trance, and he didn't know whether to be relieved or frustrated. He was so close behind her; he could feel the heat from her body. Lost in his trance, he'd almost given in, finding that resisting the temptation to lower his lips to the creamy skin of her neck took more self control than he thought he could spare. Relieved he was; they were already in a bit of a compromising position to begin with, but Tim knew he could explain away the fact that his fingers were on her back a lot easier than he could if his lips were sliding across her skin. But for that very reason, he was also frustrated. He needed her. He craved the feeling of her skin beneath his lips; his lips moving against her lips.

Tim had never been more frustrated in his life.

Or so he thought. His frustration skyrocketed as the most unwelcome visitor chose to interrupt their special, private moment. Like sand through his fingers, the moment slipped away from him in tiny pieces, without any guarantee of ever getting it back again.

"What a day, huh?" Delko exclaimed, bursting through the locker room door. He continued on to his locker, not noticing the increased tension hanging in the air, nor the way Tim had jumped away from Calleigh, moving to his own locker as Calleigh blushed and turned back to hers. Completely oblivious, Delko continued talking. "Three big cases, three big convictions. Now that's why I left underwater recovery for CSI."

"That's nice," Tim replied sarcastically. He honestly could not care less. It might be different if he hadn't witnessed Delko and Calleigh in the locker room earlier.

But really, that nagging voice in his mind reminded him, it's your own damn fault. Nobody forced you to eavesdrop. Nobody forced you to torture yourself by listening to that. Nobody but yourself, Speedle.

Oh, how he hated that voice. It was the same voice that kept screaming, Admit it, you're jealous. You want her. You want her to want you. You're falling in love with her and there's nothing you can do about it.

He shook his head, attempting to clear it. He closed his locker, a little more forcefully than was required. Turning around, he caught Delko's questioning look. "What?" Tim asked, a bit defensively.

"I asked if you guys wanted to go grab a drink or something to celebrate?" Delko grinned. "My treat. There's this great little bar a few miles down the way. I know the owner; always gives me a discount."

Tim blinked. He glanced at Calleigh, her eyes still averted from him. "Uh, sure," he replied. After the day he had, he could use a drink.

Delko nodded. "Calleigh?"

Calleigh sighed, hesitating. Delko didn't notice, but Tim picked up on it immediately. Slowly she closed her locker, sliding her purse onto her shoulder as she turned to them. "Thanks," she started, addressing Delko before her eyes shifted and locked again on Tim's, "but I don't think that'd be a good idea," she added quietly. "I think I'm just gonna head home…"

"Maybe another time, then," Delko suggested, not seeming any less enthusiastic.

"Yeah, maybe," Calleigh replied, pushing her hair behind her ears. She switched her purse from her left shoulder to her right, and Tim tilted his head thoughtfully. It was one of her giveaways; when she was tense or nervous, if she had something in her hand or on her shoulder, Calleigh would switch it to the other side.

She lifted a hand to her mouth, covering what Tim wasn't sure was a fake or a real yawn. "I think I'm just gonna head on home. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, speaking directly to Tim. He nodded, and she turned, moving toward the door.

"Hey, Calleigh? Same time tomorrow?"

She hesitated, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She really had come to love their shared bike ride to work each morning, and she'd missed it dearly when she'd woken up to rain this morning. She smiled to herself, nodding slowly. "Yeah, same time."

And with one last indecipherable look back, she was gone.