Episode 1.07, Breathless
"What do you got there, Delko?" Speed asked through the cage door of the evidence room.
On the other side, Megan punched in a code to open the cage door. Eric stood behind her, arms full with several long, black objects.
"Spear guns," he replied, as Megan pulled open the door and the two entered.
Calleigh looked up. "I'll trade you some stale caviar for some of those nifty spear guns," she offered.
Eric grimaced. "I hate fish eggs."
-/-/-
Speed wandered into the print lab, hands in his pockets. He approached the lone figure and watched Eric hunched over a set of fingerprints. He didn't notice him standing there, so Speed cleared his throat. Eric looked up and nodded in acknowledgement, before returning to his prints.
Speed exhaled. "Whenever you wanna have that talk," he said.
Eric looked up again and chuckled. "What are you talking about?"
"You." Speed paused. "Calleigh."
Eric was confused for a moment. "What, the fish eggs? I don't like f—"
"The fish eggs," Speed mocked. "No, Delko, whatever the hell is going on between you and Calleigh."
Eric scoffed. "You think there's something going on with me and Calleigh?"
Speed simply raised his eyebrows.
Eric chuckled. "Yeah, right," he mumbled, returning to his fingerprints. "I wish."
That got Speed's attention. "Yeah? Do you?"
Eric stood up straight, fingerprints forgotten. "What's with the third degree?" he demanded.
"You didn't answer my question."
"What's it matter, anyway?" Eric asked, sounding a lot more defensive than he would've liked. He looked down at his fingerprints and sighed. "She probably has a boyfriend."
"She doesn't."
"Okay, well," Eric continued, gesticulating in the air, "she… probably isn't looking for one."
"And if she were?" Speed pressed.
Eric groaned. "C'mon, man, give me a break. Don't you have a case to work on?" he asked, looking to change the subject.
Speed shrugged. "I'm on break."
"So in the only fifteen minutes of freedom you have all day, you decide to come fuck with me?" Eric asked incredulously, wishing Speed would leave him alone so he could return to work, though he doubted very much that he would be able to focus after this conversation.
Before Speed could answer, Calleigh barged in, reading the contents of a file she held in her hands.
"Tim," she said, turning to the two men, "did you process the trace on Nikki's shirt?"
"I'm on break," Speed repeated.
"I know," Calleigh said with a slight smile. "I meant, before break."
"No, I didn't," Speed replied. When Calleigh shot him a threatening look, he cleared his throat. "Uh, you know what? I think I'll go get that done now."
Calleigh smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Tim," she called out as Speed left the lab.
As Calleigh approached Eric, he could tell that despite her strict treatment of Speed, she was in a good mood, which made Eric immediately forget that he had been working on the same prints for the past two hours.
She reached the table and leaned her weight against it. "I'm going to buy a spear gun," she announced, smiling brightly.
He arched an eyebrow, not sharing her enthusiasm. "There's one in the gun vault all the time," he said.
"But not one at home," she explained.
He smiled. "You're never going to get to use it, anyway," he said, "not unless you want to get arrested."
"My gun license covers them," she replied.
"Yeah," he nodded, "but it's a spear gun."
"I know, isn't it exciting?" she asked enthusiastically.
He chuckled. "No, I mean, it's a spear gun," he emphasized.
She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I'm not sure I follow."
"So," he replied, hinting obviousness, "you can't go shoot it off in your backyard." He smiled at her blank look. "You need to use it in the water, in the ocean," he explained.
She seemed to consider this for a moment. "I've never gone diving before."
"It's incredible," he said.
"It looks incredible." She paused thoughtfully. "I've always wanted to go."
"Why haven't you?"
"I think—" She smiled timidly and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I think that the first time, you have to be shown the ocean by someone you trust, you know? Diving instructors are nice, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that first dive, it should be with someone special, shouldn't it?"
"Yeah," he replied with a short nod, an image of his oldest sister showing him the beauties of the water filling his mind. He smiled at the memory, and as Calleigh turned to examine her file again, Eric blurted out, "This weekend, we're going."
Calleigh's head snapped up. "Diving?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah, it'll be fun," he replied, shrugging. "Why, you got other plans?"
"No, but—"
"We can go pick up a spear gun first," he interrupted, sensing her protest. "Don't tell me you can resist trying out your shiny new spear gun," he teased.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay, we'll go," she agreed. She smiled and put down her folder. "You're flattering yourself, though," she added coyly.
He chuckled. "What do you mean?"
She leaned in. "You think you're 'someone special'?" she whispered.
He tried to act insulted but was distracted when he got a whiff of her perfume. "Are—are you saying I'm not?"
She smiled but ignored his question. "I don't have diving equipment," she said.
"We'll rent you a suit," he replied, suddenly excited. "It'd be best if we get a boat, too."
Calleigh gawked at him. "How much is it? We'll split the bill."
"Hey, don't worry about that. I have connections." He smiled. "I wasn't underwater recovery for three and a half years for nothing,"
"You're serious about this," she said, and he thought that she sounded a little surprised by this.
He nodded. "Yeah, aren't you?"
She smiled brightly. "Yes, I'd love to go diving with you," she replied definitively.
Eric felt a stupid grin spreading across his face. "I gotta get back to work," he said, motioning toward his fingerprints. "This weekend?"
Calleigh's smile widened. "Yeah, this weekend," she agreed. She looked like she wanted to say more, but then turned to leave. She took two steps, stopped and turned her head to look at Eric. "For the record," she added softly, "you are."
"I'm what?"
"You're someone special."
