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Biting her lower lip in concentration Samantha Barrish was browsing through the data Horatio had recovered from a possible suspect. They were looking for anything that could link the young man to the double murder that had occurred at his best friend's house. The theory was that both men had killed the father and stepmother to get their hands on a juicy inheritance. It had taken her a good hour to get through the securities of the computer. Now it looked as though the kid had taken care of all prejudicial data. The recovery program she had started two hours ago didn't seem to be doing the trick if she was reading its preliminary results properly. Her brows pleated as she went through the list of more thorough software available to the lab.

"Hey, any luck so far?"

The male voice behind made her smile and a soft blush of pleasure appeared on her cheeks.

"I'm afraid not, officer Delko." She answered with a sultry voice.

She turned around in greeting and took a pause that she knew did usually marvels on any hot blooded male. In a quick motion she rearranged her top pulling the hem down to improve her cleavage by half an inch. Eric walked next to her his eyes focused on the data displayed on the 102 inch screen. She moved a little closer almost touching him and flashed her best smile.

"Please call me Eric." He answered with an easy grin. "I leave 'Officer Delko' to people I can't stand."

"Very well, Eric." The flush on her cheeks deepened. "Here is what I can say. Data was definitely tampered with. And the guy knows his business well. So far I haven't been able to recover what he has deleted. He used some very nifty program to do the trick. I'm not sure we'll get a lot out of this hard drive. But whatever is available, you will get."

The last sentence had come out a little huskier than usual. She looked up at him her smile widening and wondered if he had understood her not so subtle innuendo. Eric's gaze was glued on the monitor as he took in the data in front of him. Suddenly she saw his body tense as he got her blatant invitation. She grinned as she saw his furrowed brows and nervous cough.

"What about the computer of the victim's son?" He offered as he discreetly moved a step away from the pretty brunette.

"I couldn't find anything compromising on that one." She said this time all business again. "I checked the files he erased recently but there was nothing worth mentioning."

"What about hidden data?" He wondered desperate to keep the conversation purely work related and his attention solely on the screen in front of him.

"No nothing. The computer is really basic." Sam smiled. "I doubt he does anything else than play with it."

"This is weird. We were told they were both real computer freaks."

"Maybe he has another computer." She suggested.

She leaned a little forward on the console and turned her body towards him. The view Eric was getting of her cleavage was enough to damn any saint. He gulped as his eyes unwittingly strayed. He felt the color rise to his cheeks and he wondered how the hell he could escape the lab and the young tech without being too harsh.

Calleigh quickly made her way along the corridor towards her office. She smiled at a young officer who walked past her when she noticed the AV lab and the little scene that was taking place there. She stopped dead in her tracks when she witnessed the deliberately enticing posture the young woman had adopted. Of course it was too much to hope that Sam would concentrate her efforts on someone else than Eric she thought annoyed. Her eyes zoomed in on him as she tried to read his reaction to the blatant invitation he was given.

She felt her body tense and irritation build inside of her. Her gaze was glued on the little exchange that was occurring only mere feet away from her. Her reason tried to make her move away from the damning evidence that Sam Barrish was definitely after her boyfriend. If anyone was witnessing her current reaction, rumors would spread like a fire on a dry meadow. She swallowed painfully as she tried to control her emotions. Maybe she could just enter AV and use a lame pretense to drag Eric out of there. She glanced down at her trembling hands and angrily closed the open file she was holding.

When she looked up again her green eyes met Natalia's brown ones. The other CSI was standing right in front of her, effectively blocking the view she had from the AV lab. Calleigh tried to hide her surprise at her unexpected appearance and she wondered how she could have been so taken by Sam's unrequited actions that she hadn't seen Natalia approaching.

Calleigh quickly smiled to hide her annoyance and held the papers close to her body for countenance. From all the people to meet now the redhead was worst. She was too perceptive and there was no way she hadn't seen her strange behavior in front of the AV lab. If anyone had suspicions about the current nature of her relationship with Eric it was definitely Natalia.

"Are you heading back to your office?" The other CSI wondered.

"Yeah I just got the Thomson case from Horatio." Calleigh said showing the thick file she was holding in front of her. "He wants me to get over it again. Apparently the DA isn't happy with the Night shift's work. So we have to review it."

"I just hate it when they do that." Natalia sighed rolling her eyes. "What are they trying to achieve? Antagonize Day and Night shifts? This is the only result that this kind of action will bring."

"I know." She groaned. "I think it is Stetler's private version of Separate to reign."

"Argh you should have told me that the rat was involved in the process." The redhead waved away.

At that moment Sam's melodious laugh could be heard from AV and Calleigh instantly stiffened. She felt Natalia's eyes bore into her as she was trying to read her every emotions and it took Calleigh all her strength to pretend indifference. She plastered a fake smile on her face and tried to ignore the joyous dialog that was taking place nearby.

"Horatio asked me to help you with the case." Natalia said after a short silence pointing at the file in Calleigh's arms. "He thinks that the two of us should deal with it quickly. I only have boring paperwork to finish so I'm up to anything fun."

Calleigh nodded and slightly shifted position in order to be able to see past her colleague. But Natalia mirrored her actions and once more shielded effectively the scene taking place behind her. Calleigh felt her frustration grow by the second. There was no way that the redhead's action had not been deliberate she decided. She was probably finding the whole situation highly amusing. Her green eyes squinted as she pondered what she could do without making a fool out of herself. She pressed the folder harder against her chest as she tried to get a grip over her raging emotions.

"Well let's go then. The evidence boxes should already have been delivered to my office." Calleigh finally managed with a pinched smile and she resumed her journey towards her office. Her eyes stayed focused on the wide corridor in front of her and not once did they wander in the direction of the AV lab.

Natalia grinned as soon as the blonde had turned her back. Calleigh was just so easy to read. When she had found her lost in the contemplation of Sam's efforts to attract Eric's attention she had seen the tension radiating from her friend. Natalia honestly wondered how no one else was picking up the blonde's very obvious jealousy. She indulged and gave the couple in the AV lab a quick look. Eric had carefully moved away from the brunette his hand on the ledge of a chair. It looked as though he was using the chair to maintain a certain distance. His uneasy smile showed to anyone knowing him that he wished to be anywhere else. With a silent giggle she quickly followed her friend, now impatient to share her findings with the rest of the girls.

"What do you think of Sam Barrish?" Ryan wondered as he was studying the evidence in front of him.

"She seems very efficient." Eric answered after a short pause.

To be honest the young woman was starting to creep him out. To say she was crowding him every time they were together in the same room would be the understatement of the year. He wasn't usually against flirting but he liked it more casual. Sam seemed to throw herself in the battle like there was no tomorrow. Now he wondered how he could let her gently down without hurting her feelings. But maybe that could not be achieved. He needed to do something before Calleigh could get wind of Sam's latest attempts. There was no way he was going to jeopardize their relationship because of the silly crush of a coworker.

"I was not referring to her work." Ryan corrected with a lazy smile. "Isn't she quite an eyeful? If she said yes I definitely wouldn't say no. And she is quite feisty too."

Eric lifted his eyes from the shirt he was working on and marked a pause. With Ryan showing an interest in Sam he could pretend he was backing off from the girl because his friend was in love with her. That way he wouldn't hurt her feelings and he wouldn't have to explain his real motives. That seemed almost too perfect he pondered.

"She isn't really my type, but if you're interested you should ask her out. As far as I know she is single." Or at least he hoped she was. If not her current boyfriend should definitely worry.

"She is not your type?" Ryan looked at his friend with furrowed brows. "We usually always like the same kind of girls."

"We do?" Eric straightened and turned around to look at Ryan. Sure they had had their respective crush on Natalia but she had seemed to be the only woman they had both fancied at one point. But maybe he was wrong. Did he also have a thing for Calleigh?

"Yeah, except maybe Calleigh." The younger man chuckled.

"Calleigh?" That Ryan had said her name at the exact moment he was thinking of her felt a little eerie.

"Don't tell me you never noticed I had the crush on her?" Ryan laughed in good humor. "Damn at the beginning I was constantly blushing. She just had to smile my way and my brain wasn't functioning anymore. I sure had fantasies."

"I had no idea." Eric managed to say as his eyes bore into his friend.

"Yeah well I grew out of it." Ryan said with a sad smile. "She is way out of our league. For some strange reason she seems to be only interested in big bad cops. Maybe if I had become a detective I would have had a chance. But now we have that fraternization rule, so it's a non-issue. That would put too much strain on any relationship. See what happened between her and Berkerley? But then I can only say good riddance, what an ass!"

Eric turned his attention back on the evidence in front of him. Ryan had a point. Not being able to clearly say that they were an item was not as easy as they had initially thought. They had only seen their side of the problem and how they needed to act as colleagues during the day whatever happened once they were home. But they had underestimated the interactions with their colleagues and the tension they could cause. Sam's constant flirting was one example, Natalia's inquisitive eye another. They might behave at work as they had always done, but they weren't the Calleigh and Eric they used to be. If things went on that way, they needed to discuss his switching to Nights once more.

"So do you think I have my chances with her?" Ryan wondered with a smile.

"With Calleigh?" Eric had been so deep in his own predicament that he had totally forgotten his friend.

"No, I'm speaking about Sam." Ryan laughed. "I heard rumors saying she was quite into you… So if you are interested I won't barge in."

"She is flirting a little, but nothing serious." Eric said not at all ashamed by his white lie. If he played this right, his main problem could disappear overnight. "I'm currently not looking for a girlfriend and even if I were I have decided to keep my hands off from colleagues. That only leads to stress."

"Yeah that's the down side of it." Ryan nodded. "They can check your schedule, know where you are… And if it ends badly you're screwed. Maybe I should reconsider."

"I didn't mean it that way." The half Cuban looked at his friend alarmed. "Look at Natalia, we're still good friends. Nothing bad happened. That's just me talking. The last years have been pretty hard so I just don't want any unnecessary complications. But then maybe if I really was into somebody from work, I would forget that resolve in a second."

"So you think I should ask her out?" He asked with a wide grin.

"Absolutely."

"Good I will. Thanks Eric."

Ryan started whistling as they went on working. Eric couldn't help a grin at his friend's sudden high spirits. Now for his own sake he hoped that Ryan would win the lady.