Sorry this took me longer to post, had a little bit of writer's block and then I got busy with end of the week stuff at work (yay!). But, I'm planning on dragging my laptop with me later so I can get some more of this done. So with any luck, you'll get more than one chapter later on :)


Now this was the life; sitting on the couch with a beer in one hand and the tv remote in one hand. The tv was playing SportsCenter and re-capping that day's baseball scores. The Reds had lost...again, the White Sox and the Yankees had both won. He'd managed to avoid shopping with Christianna for most of the day but they'd met up for an early dinner. Now she was in his apartment, probably off somewhere doing whatever it was that women seemed to do when they disappeared in their boyfriend's apartment. At least she seemed to be in a better mood and wasn't constantly bitching. Don and her hadn't even fought that afternoon, for which he thought he deserved some type of an award or something.

He laughed to himself as he finished off his beer and changed the channel to the news before getting up; heading for the kitchen to get another beer. Don hadn't heard from Emma since they met up that morning and he didn't really expect to since she knew his girlfriend would be around. And his luck, if she called and Christianna answered World War III would bust out. Opening the next beer, he tossed the cap into the trash before wandering back towards the bedroom to see what his girlfriend was up to. The blonde was perched on top of his bed, dozens of pictures surrounding her on the blankets. He raised an eyebrow wondering where in the hell she'd found all the pictures. He wasn't even sure where they'd come from totally, knowing how he was he'd probably had boxes of crap under the bed that hadn't yet been unpacked...and he'd been in that apartment for what seemed like forever! "What are you doin'?" He asked as he approached the bed.

She looked up and smiled, waving a picture of him around, "I found these in your dresser. Look how cute you were!"

Don snatched the picture out of her hand, recognizing it as one from his high school graduation. He was standing in between his parents with a horribly cheesy grin on his face, complete with a dorky blue cap and gown. He groaned, dropping it back onto the bed, "I look like an idiot. Why'd you go through my dresser?"

Christianna shrugged, "was bored. You were busy with that ESPN crap."

"Yeah but...that's my stuff." He grumbled a little, finding an empty spot on the bed next to her to sit down, "I didn't say go through my dresser. Hell I'm not even sure where I got some of these.."

She just shrugged again, choosing not to see how annoyed Don looked. "I've never seen some of these, you should really put these into albums or something. I bet Emma does that, she's the photographer and artist or whatever."

"When do I have time to do that?" He shook his head, picking up a picture lying near his leg. That one was of him and a couple of the other boys that grew up in the same neighborhood as him. He smiled some, dropping it back onto the pile.

She was still hunched over some of the pictures, grabbing one out of the stack and looking at it closely, "Is that Emma? Oh my god.." She laughed, "was she the school nerd!"

Don rolled his eyes, reaching out to take the picture from her. "No she was not the school nerd. That was really fucking nice, Chris."

"What!" She fell back on the bed, laughing still, "She just looks so..geeky."

"Back then everyone looked geeky." He scowled some, looking back at Christianna, "Don't be such a bitch, god."

"I am not being a bitch," She huffed before sitting back up. "Not my fault you get all sensitive over the Emma subject."

He just shook his head, grabbing up some of the pictures and standing to put them back in the dresser drawer they'd been in. "Yeah well we're done looking at old pictures. I'm tired."

Christianna made her way off the bed, coming to stand behind him. She slipped her arms around him, leaning up to put her chin on his shoulder, "well then baby, we need to get to bed.."

Don wanted to be irritated at her, he really and honestly did. It was just hard to stay so irritated and annoyed at her when her hands were making their way to the top of his jeans. His resolve was slipping, damnit.


She pushed her way through the crowd, hurrying up the steps that would lead her out of the subway and onto the street. It was after 9 a.m. on Monday and already it was turning out to be a not-so-good day. First of all, Emma woke up late and then found that she had no hot water when she went to take a shower. So after taking a very cold shower and finding the clothes she wanted to wear, she hurried out of the apartment. For some reason she thought the subway would be quicker that morning, but she had no such luck as the train stopped on the tracks for about fifteen minutes thanks to some electrical issue. Now she was running (in heels, no less) down the street so she wouldn't be so late.

It wasn't like her work place would mind so much, she was lucky in that aspect. Emma was a big fan of art and photography and after floundering around in odd jobs, she eventually found herself working in an art gallery she often frequented when they held shows. It wasn't the most glamourous or most well-paying job but she enjoyed it. It was quiet and most of the time it was just her in there hanging out with the radio on whatever station she wanted. She usually worked with a slightly older woman, named Luisa. Emma hadn't been too sure on what to think of the older, born-and-bred New Yorker, when she first started. Luisa looked like she could be someone's grandmother (and she probably was) but she could talk trash with the best of them. She had a tough exterior but once Emma got to know her, Luisa was the sweetest person alive. She'd been at the gallery for years, running all the shows that the place held.

Emma skidded to a stop in front of the door to the small art gallery. She'd nearly run over two guys in business suits but they were moving too slow. Once she was inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. A glance at her watch let her know that it was only five minutes past 9, and she was glad it wasn't any later than that or the guilt would've weighed on her heavily for the rest of the day.

Luisa came out of the back, carrying some papers in her hand, smiling when she saw her younger co-worker. "Why do you look like you just ran all the way here?"

Emma laughed, shaking her head as she shrugged out of her coat and headed for the backroom to put her things up, "You don't even want to know what hell this day has been like already."

Luisa laughed, "I won't ask then. We've got these invites to put together for that show next week. We need send out them today, I figured we can do that this morning."

"Yeah sure, just let me throw this stuff back here and I'll come help!"

Emma walked through the gallery, pausing just long enough to admire some of the prints on the walls. Different photographs hung up in a straight line, most showcasing nature in some way. The New York skyline in black and white had to be her favorite, just because it looked so dark and so romantic at the same time. She couldn't remember off the top of her head who the photographer was but the person was amazing. Being able to capture something that moved so fast all the time and make it stop for just a split second, that seemed amazing to her.

She shook her head and continued her trek to the back, setting her purse down on the table in their small breakroom. One day she hoped to have some of her photographs hanging somewhere. She had no idea when that'd be or what they'd be of, but she just knew that was one of her goals. Emma was always taking pictures, even as a kid. Photo albums littered her apartment and her mother's house in Georgia. Emma's weekends often consisted her heading out early in the mornings, finding something to take a picture of whether it was a person or a building. None of her friends really understood her obsession with taking pictures, except for maybe Marissa since she was somewhat into photography too. Don definitely didn't understand why Emma always had some sort of camera with her in her purse. But he didn't complain too much anymore.

At the slight thought of Don, Emma frowned some. The two of them had been playing phone tag for more than a week now. He'd been busy at work for the past couple of days and had also been too wrapped up in his girlfriend. Emma had tried to be nice to Christianna, she really had. But there was just no being nice to that woman anymore. Emma could deal with his work and the sometimes weird shifts he often worked, even though she worried about him getting hurt or worse. And she could deal with him having a girlfriend, it was just highly aggravating when it was someone so annoying. And maybe underneath it all, maybe Emma was jealous. Just a little, of course, and there was no way she'd admit anything to anyone if they ever brought it up. But as much as she could deal with his work and his girlfriend, she just missed getting to talk and goof off with him. But she understood, he had his own life and so did she.


Don watched where he stepped, making his way slowly through the apartment of a brutal break-in. The crime scene team was doing their thing, processing every nook and cranny of the place. The woman who lived there was a single mother and had been beaten pretty severely but, it looked like she would survive. Luckily, her son wasn't with her but they still didn't know who'd broken in. He had his notebook open, a couple neighbors had given him their names and numbers along with anything they'd heard but nothing was heard out of the ordinary.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand as he found one of the CSI's, Danny Messer, in the back bedroom. He was crouched down next to the nightstand taking a sample of blood off the floor, glancing back when he heard the heavy footsteps. "Hey Flack...anyone hear anything?"

Don shook his head, "Not a damn thing. I've got the neighbors' names and all that though. Find anything interesting?"

Danny sighed as he stood up, "Just a hell of a lot of blood."

"Guess you'll need to get back to the lab then. Where'd Mac wander off to?"

Danny chuckled, shaking his head as he grabbed his kit off the floor, "Good question. We still up for drinks later or what?"

"Yeah sure.."

The shorter male gave him a look, raising an eyebrow, "You mean the girlfriend doesn't have you off picking out china patterns or some shit?"

Don narrowed his eyes, "Don't make me beat your ass at basketball this weekend."

"Yeah sure, Flack." Danny stepped around him to walk out of the room, "But seriously, your girlfriend gonna let you out of the house?"

"Yes damnit. I told you we'd get drinks tonight after work," Don said as he followed him out of the bedroom. "I should call Emma.."

"Emma that friend of yours?"

"Uh huh. I haven't talked to her in...forever it seems like."

Danny glanced back at him, "So invite her along. I've heard you talk about her enough, might need to see if this woman actually exists."

The two males had become fast friends after working dozens, if not hundreds, of crime scenes together. They were a lot alike, even though they had their differences just like any other person did. They often made plans to go out to the bars or to play basketball on their days off. Danny had met Christianna but had only heard Don mention Emma, he hadn't met her yet. He'd begun to tease Don that she didn't exist since he never saw her, so maybe this was an opportunity for him to meet the ever elusive Emma.

Don smiled some as he followed Danny out of the crime scene, both heading downstairs to their respective cars. "I'll call her and see if she wants to tag along. Hey maybe you'll like her...Lord knows she hasn't had a date in forever."

"Hey I don't need you setting me up, you know!" Danny shook his head as they walked down the stairs, their footsteps echoing loudly in the stairwell, "We'll just see."

"Okay, okay. Just a little suggestion." He grinned as they reached the outside, Don heading for his car, "See ya later Messer."