Chapter 3

Janet thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest it was pounding so hard. 'Just play it cool.' she told herself. "Sure, Daniel. W-what's up?" 'Come on, Janet! You sound like a nervous schoolgirl!'

"Um...well... I-I was wondering..."

Janet looked at him expectantly.

"Um. Is...is Cassie back from her trip yet?"

Janet cocked her head, clearly confused. "Um, no. Not until tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering... I mean...how's she's doing..."

"She's doing great. She loves it and she's good at it." Janet sighed inwardly, disappointed.

"Great," Daniel said awkwardly. "Well, um, that's it. That's what I was wondering." As Daniel turned to leave, he cursed himself. 'You coward.'

"Okay..." Janet's heart sunk. She was sure he was about to ask her...

Suddenly, Daniel steeled himself and turned. "No, that's not true." His voice broke Janet's thoughts.

"Huh?" She shook her head. "What do you mean?" If Janet thought she was confused before... She decided that she would have to be a little bit more forward. "Daniel, did you want to ask me?"

Daniel sighed again. "Are you..." he took a deep breath. "Are you busy tonight?"

Janet blinked at him. She had so wanted him to make a move but didn't believe he ever would that the request took her by surprise.

Daniel paled as his heart sunk. He took her silence as her trying to come up with a way to let him down easy. He spoke softly as he turned to leave. "It's okay. I was just..."

"Wait!" Janet's hand shot out to grab his arm. The effect was immediate. A shock seemed to reverberate through both of them and Daniel stared down at her hand on his arm causing Janet to draw her hand back quickly. "Sorry, I just... No. I'm not...busy, that is." She smiled shyly at him, still in shock.

Daniel took another deep breath. "Do you wanna go get some dinner?" he asked quietly, refusing to meet her eyes.

"I'd love to."

His head shot up. "You would?"

She grinned at him. "I would."

He grinned back. Suddenly he shook himself from his daze. "Okay!" he said brightly. "Great! Um, where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. I heard there was this new place downtown..."

"Sure! Okay. When do you get off duty?"

"5:30."

"I'm not off until 6, so how about I pick you up around 7?"

"That sounds great."

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you then?"

Janet smiled at him and nodded. Daniel smiled back and they grinned at each other for a few seconds until they heard voices in the hallway. Daniel shook himself and turned to leave. He turned back and smiled again and then he was gone.

Janet was still smiling to herself when Siler walked in holding his arm to his chest. 'Oh well. Back to work.' she thought.

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AN: I don't know how happy I am with this chapter but I wanted to get it posted. Let me know what you think. (As for the implied SJ UST, it's just that...implied and unresolved. I won't take it beyond that...that's what my SJ stories are for. I happen to be an SJ shipper but I respect those who aren't, even if I happen to think that the show hints at it even more than I did.