Slightly Condoned
Disclaimer: Don't own anything…
Rating: R (later)
Pairing: Eric/OC, Speed/Calleigh
Summary: I haven't much to say on the summary of this part. It's very humorous but with a lot of little perks for you angst ridden teens, adults, whatever.
Spoiler: Tinder Box, Body Count
A/N: Speed's a little antsy in this one, but can you blame him?
Dedication: To Katie and Jacqueline, without our late night talks and your advice I wouldn't be able to write half of this stuff. A thanks is in grave order!
***
Part 16- It's People Like You That Turn People Like Me Into Alcoholics
After about an hour, Calleigh slumbered off on the couch, after getting drunk off two more beers, and her own insane opinionated thoughts.
Elisabeth threw a quilt over the southern beauty and went over to the shattered green glass of the beer bottle; she'd been neglecting to clean up.
As if listening to Calleigh's tale of the better times was any more tedious than cleaning up after her, Elisabeth successfully managed to relocate the pieces and place them neatly into a the garbage can before returning to the living room.
She watched the other woman sleep so peacefully a little pang struck Elisabeth's heart. Calleigh didn't deserve to feel so negative, and neither did Speed.
However, if they did have such communication problems than maybe their relationship lacked substance, which could only be found through distance. Maybe they depended too much on each other, and needed to stand on their own two feet.
Maybe…
" And maybe I have no life so I pry into others." Elisabeth scolded herself cynically, but then her eyes scanned the coffee table, and she noted the scrap of paper with messy ink on it, once again.
Raising an eyebrow, just for kicks, she thought to herself, " I wouldn't do it…would I?" and then in that instant Elisabeth realized that if she really had to ask herself, than perhaps her fault was exactly that.
She would do it.
And she'd do it now, because like it or, not Calleigh and Speed had some sort of a relationship, and one that deserved saving even if it was so damn tangible, and the only way in Elisabeth's eyes, to savor the last of their ties would be a test.
One she already had mapped out in her head.
Smiling a little mischievously to herself, she scooped up the piece of paper in one quick motion and sauntered into the kitchen…with the phone…
***
Speed pressed the shut down button on the main system computer and got up from the chair that occupied him for the last half hour.
He rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension that was causing a terrible headache, or the genesis of one, as he walked out of the lab.
Horatio's office was lit by a single table lamp, and through the translucent wall of the crime labs, he could see his boss hunched over his desk, filling out, what Speed knew, was endless amounts of post mortem reports.
His hand reached up to the doorknob, but then clenched into a fist, before he could grab on to the ledge. Something held him back from simply saying good night to his boss, his friend, his confidant.
Tim turned around and walked quickly down the hall, continuing on his way out, and silently pasturing himself for being such a coward.
The ring of his cell phone interrupted his scolding. Speed switched it on, and made it to the parking lot.
" Speedle." He breathed in a breath of fresh air, realizing he hadn't checked his caller ID, there was still some hope that it was Calleigh calling him.
Even if she would only yell at him, or remind him to stop by and pick up his things, he just wanted to hear her voice.
Yet instead of his ex girlfriend, it was his best friend's voice that he had the pleasure of inquiring.
" Hey." Eric's voice sounded a little bitter, and somewhat empty, however over the phone, Tim couldn't detect whether it was forced or if it mirrored his friend's mood.
" Where'd you bail off to today?" Speed asked, as he reached his bike, and leaned against it.
" Needed to clear my head." Eric didn't supply any more than that, but only because nothing more needed to be said.
" You went to your mom's." Speed stated more than he asked.
" Yeah. I'm just a mama's boy at heart, what can I do?" Eric sighed overdramatically.
" Hell, I don't blame you, with your mother…"
" I really don't want to hear any vulgar thoughts you have about my *married* mother."
Speed chuckled lightly, and got on his bike, " I'm just saying your not the only one who might need to be tucked into bed tonight."
" Speed…" Eric's voice trailed off, leaving enough time and credibility for his friend to interpret…if he chose to do so.
" It's done." He shrugged, not really wanting to relive the horrible events of the day.
All he wanted was a crate of beer all to himself, and no one around.
" What's done?"
" Take a wild guess." Speed snapped, and then added quickly, " Cal and I are done."
There was immediate silence over the line, and the heady scent of understanding fell upon the two men, miles away from each other, but feeling very confident in their connection.
" I don't know what to say." Eric admitted genuinely, reminding Tim just why he became friends with him.
" You don't have to say anything, except, I'll be at your apartment with a 12 pack of beer in about twenty minutes."
" Hell no, you're not going this routine."
" But I want my best friend Bud."
" Too bad, I'm replacing him."
" You are not, I wont allow you to." Speed exclaimed, not really sure if he was playing along or actually threatening his friend.
" There's only one way I will allow you to get completely and utterly wasted tonight." Eric compromised.
" I am willing to negotiate." Speed agreed.
" If you come out and play with me."
" Umm…"
" Get your mind out of the gutter Speed, I have a proposition."
" Alrighty." Tim chuckled, still a little in awe that someone knew him so well.
" After Descent burned down, some guy who owns a chain of clubs in Palm Beach decided to buy the property."
" Okay, why are you telling me this?" Speed asked, a little less than pleased to be reminded of the horrible night out gone wrong, back in May.
" Because, I got a call from his manager today. He'd like us to come for the grand opening, check out the place."
" You mean risking getting burned to death again. Rain check."
" Speed, it's not like that. I was there today, after I left mom's. They're not doing pyrotechnics any more, and the bouncer is an ex cop."
" A step up from Maxwell. No offense." Speed blurted out, finally considering the other man's awful memory of that night.
" Yeah, so please check it out, I mean it can't be that bad."
" Why does something tell me you already agreed to this?" Tim asked knowingly.
" Oh only because I did, and you know me way too well."
" Yeah." Speed smirked bitterly, " and it's working out just peachy for me."
" I'll take that as a yes, I'll pick ya up 9."
" Don't forget flowers, I think that's accustomed on the first date." Speed chuckled devilishly, teasing his friend to no end.
There was a short stint of silence coming from the other line, which ended in Eric's reply, " You're still on the rebound man, maybe some other time. And you never know. Maybe you wont be going home alone tonight."
" Yeah maybe." Speed suddenly frowned at the idea of sleeping with a random woman.
The idea would've appealed to him a few months before, however now things were changed. He was changed, and he had no one to blame but his ex girlfriend.
Eric sensed his friend's train of thought, and stopped him right away.
" You'll survive I promise."
" Sure, don't be late." Speed hung up, and wished for a split second that he could believe what Delko said.
***
The first thing Calleigh detected when she opened her eyes was the unbelievably annoying ache at the back of her head and in her shoulder.
However, when she looked down, she found Elisabeth hovering over her, and affectively shaking her awake by provoking in the sharp pain in her upper arm by poking her.
" Ow." Calleigh sat up, and let out a cryptic grunt, at which she was surprised to see Elisabeth grinning manically.
Feverishly Calleigh shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to block out the wind rushing in from the back windows.
She scanned the room suspiciously, no doubt, trying to remember what was real and what was her imagination, concerning her actions within the last two hours.
At first, Calleigh wondered if she'd really bashed a bottle against the wall in Elisabeth's apartment, but not detecting any glass she looked up at the auburn haired splendor still standing over her.
" Good morning Beautiful."
Calleigh grunted again, and tried to rub the haze of sleep from her blue eyes. When she pulled her hands back and caught sight of the mascara and eyeliner stains on them, she cringed and tried to look away from her friend.
" Can I use your bathroom please?" she asked politely, trying to salvage the last bit of her dignity.
" No problem, it's that way down the hall, third door on your right." Elisabeth pointed, and followed Calleigh until they reached their destination.
" Thanks." Calleigh muttered, and went inside.
Elisabeth leaned against the door, and listening to her friend trying to masquerade herself again.
Then this was her chance.
Trying desperately not to laugh evilly, Elisabeth added, " Yeah, and I think you'd want to look presentable for your date tonight." She said quickly and waited impatiently for the reaction of her friend.
She didn't have to wait long.
Calleigh opened the door, and looked at her friend suspiciously, " What. Date?" She asked sternly, making it even more difficult for Elisabeth to sustain her laughter.
Involuntarily her lips curved into a suppressed smile, as she spoke, " Your date with Josh." She said as if were the most obvious thing in the world and proceeded down the hall.
" Liz what the fuck did you do when I was asleep?" Calleigh exclaimed, and tailed her.
Elisabeth turned to her innocently, for once glad that she was taller than the blonde. Made her look a little more alike authority.
" I called him, and asked him out." She gave Calleigh a conceited smile and turned on her heel again.
Calleigh stood speechless. No doubt seething with anger.
" Mission Accomplished." Elisabeth thought, looking at her frail friend, before saying, " You know your accent is so damn hard to authenticate."
" Just one of a kind." Calleigh snorted, not quite believing the predicament her friend put her in.
" Calleigh."
" Elisabeth, why would you do something like this." Calleigh met the DA's gaze, and for a moment the other woman wished she'd never picked up the phone in the first place.
Perhaps this was a bad idea; maybe she'd just leave everything alone. It wasn't too late to cancel.
But then as quickly as that train of thought entered Elisabeth's mind, it exited.
They needed to realize something.
They needed to understand that they were in love, and only made for one another. And what better way to prove that, then a test?
" I'm doing the right thing." Elisabeth told herself as she studied Calleigh.
" I did it for your own good Cal."
" No you didn't, how does this benefit me exactly?" The ballistics expert smirked and fell into the couch again.
" Calleigh, your beautiful, and smart, and sure as hell deserve better than some guy who is so fucking insecure that he won't let you explain yourself, in fear that he's already lost you. I think Josh sounds like a fine choice of fresh meat. He can take you places." Elisabeth lied but with conviction.
She had an excuse to sin at this point. She needed everything she had to butter Calleigh up into doing this. And it was so blindly obvious that if Elisabeth just said to her, that it wouldn't be worth it, striking gold with some College Boy the southern belle would believe her.
On the other hand, the ADA was quite pissed off at a certain trace expert anyway, so this would let go off some steam for her.
" By some guy you mean Tim don't you?" Calleigh stated more than she asked, but the uncertainty in her voice troubled Elisabeth to no end.
" Smart girl. See, your quick on the tongue too." Elisabeth tried her best to cheer her friend up.
Calleigh looked at Elisabeth unconvincingly, and let out a small, suppressed chuckle.
" You spoil me," her southern drawl, even managed to pull in the other woman into her speech, as she smiled.
" I intend to, you deserve it." Elisabeth encouraged, and they fell into compatible silence, through which each woman contemplated her actions over the period of time since their introduction.
A few minutes stretched into hours for Elisabeth and she couldn't take the quite anymore, anxiously awaiting Calleigh's verdict.
" So."
" So…"
" Should I gear up my accent again and go disappoint the poor fellow?" Elisabeth asked with mock regret, as she touched her heart through her t-shirt.
Calleigh gave her a constituted smirk and took a deep breath, closing her eyes; " God forgive me." she looked up.
" Is that a yes?" Elisabeth asked, perking up to the edge of the couch.
" Yes." Calleigh sighed and watched as Elisabeth almost launched in her arms, but sustained herself.
" Thanks you wont regret it. Plus we're going to some new club in town. It's supposed to blow your mind or something." Elisabeth smiled excitedly.
" Where're we going?" Calleigh asked, still wondering silently why Elisabeth would accompany her, but then through her own mind she sort of realized, the other woman was itching for a change of scenery, and some uninhibited fun.
Something Calleigh could definitely relate to after the circumstances surrounding her arrival here.
" A club called Danza." Elisabeth got up from the couch.
" Good, because I intend to do a lot of 'dancing." Calleigh smiled recognizing the Spanish originated word.
" That's my girl, now let's forget about our slightly unkempt boys and go have some fun." Elisabeth smiled and Calleigh nodded awkwardly, still mulling over in her head, when did 'our boys' become plural…
***
At quarter to 9 Speed switched off the light in his bathroom, and walked into the kitchen, where he focused on obtaining a pre-clubbing drink.
The room was dark, as he stood in front of the closed fridge and buttoned up a dress shirt identical to the one he'd worn that night at Club Descent.
Except this one was dark in contrast to the color of the other long gone shirt, he figured this way if death were to play a trick on him again, at least it wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing every single spot of soot on his clothes, or even any blood that would escape.
Closing the black cuffs, Speed was about to open the fridge to get out an ice cold beer waiting so seductively for him inside, when he came face to face with a photo, pinned by a Tabasco bottle magnet on his freezer.
He stopped attempting to retrieve anything from the ice box, as he stepped back and ripped the picture off, from underneath the metal inducement, not wanting to look at it closer, but having no other choice but to.
It was the most recent photo of Calleigh and him, at the beach, a few weeks before. They were sitting on the sand, right where the line between the tide and the dry surface was drawn.
Calleigh sat with her legs draped over his lap, resting on her elbows, and smiling incredibly at him, while he gazed back, and rubbed her calf absent-mindlessly.
It still awed him quite a bit, on how Delko managed to capture that moment so well. Calleigh's blinding smile, and Tim's own seldom moment of vulnerability.
He was sure that if neither of them were sporting shades, Delko would also capture the look exchanged between them, the look only reserved for lovers.
Speedle scoffed at the picture painfully, before walking to the stove and turning on one of the seldom-used burners. He neatly set the symmetrical edge of the film on fire, and watched the flames hungrily devour first Calleigh's gorgeous blonde hair, and then her face, until she was completely extinguished from the photograph.
He switched off the burner and tucked the rest of the frame underneath the magnet before reaching in for the beer.
However, almost as soon as he exerted a bottle opener from the drawer, his doorbell rang, and he was pulled away…
" Fuck Delko's punctuality." He thought out loud and walked to the door, dumping his last chance at redemption into the fridge, and silently promising to return to it later…
***
They decided to meet at Calleigh's place around 9:30, because it was closer to Danza, then Elisabeth's.
She parked outside and made her way into the building, having finally realized she hadn't seen where the southern belle resided. As she ascended the stairs to the front door, Elisabeth took a moment to contemplate her situation.
Since Eric had skipped out on her that afternoon, she'd been having mixed emotions about her feelings toward that certain CSI. At first she wanted to murder him in cold blood and the next…well…she couldn't exactly voice what she wanted to do to him, in a church, or she'd get a beating from her strongly religious grandmother.
It plagued her mind to think someone so distant and new to her had such a grave affect on her, the ability to guide her in one direction and then just as successfully lure her the other way in a matter of seconds, without even knowing it.
It bothered Elisabeth just because in doing so, he held a power over her and she didn't like answering to any one but herself, it limited her confidence and independence and she also refused to think that could be a factor in her future.
Her escape from Manhattan and her family was something of a statement, and even if she did so at a late age of 29, it meant more to her that way, and she intended on keep her freedom something sacred, and no man would take that away from her.
Not even Eric Delko.
Although it scared Elisabeth beyond belief that a part of her wished that he would…
***
The doorbell rang just as Calleigh buckled the strap of her red stilettos and supported herself against the wall, not to tumble over as she raced to the door.
Catching her breath slightly, as she unlocked it, and came face to face with Elisabeth, who was smiling widely, and somewhat evilly.
Calleigh rolled her eyes, at her friend's bemused expression as Elisabeth gave her a once-over, silently approving, or so Calleigh hoped, otherwise she couldn't detect what the hell her friend's look read.
" Welcome to my humble abode." Calleigh turned on her sear dyed heel and walked back through the hallway to the bathroom.
She heard her friend's steps bouncing off the hardwood floor and approved, as she knew Elisabeth was following her.
" Well, it may be humble but you sure as hell ain't." Elisabeth teased and Calleigh felt an involuntary blush coat her cheeks. However, it was from embarrassment, but from pride, and Calleigh had no idea where it was coming from.
Granted, it'd been a long time since she had gone out solo, and having another woman comment on her sensational attire, boosted Calleigh's already sky high confidence over the roof.
" Why thank you I try." Calleigh twirled an artificially styled curl between her fingers, as she escorted Elisabeth into her bedroom, encountering a full-length mirror.
" Oh that you do." Elisabeth commented, as the two women stood side by side placing finishing touches on their own attire.
Calleigh stared back at herself, unable to resist glowing in the master workings of her transformation.
Her reflection awed even herself, as she ogled at the stranger in the mirror. Catching her breath Calleigh tried to concentrate on the fact that she looked good, not the fact that she was burning inside with the desire to crawl under her covers and cry herself to sleep.
Was she honestly doing the right thing? Dressing up for some college boy in hopes of relinquishing her old self. But did she really want to trade in her old self, in high spirits of keeping this new one around.
Calleigh was shocked that a pair of black leather pants, a glittery red halter-top and matching shoes held such power over her, and the impression she hoped to give off.
She once again commiserated over her misfortune as she ran her fingers through her curled hair.
Stealing a look at the dark redhead beside her, Calleigh smiled, " You scrub up nice."
Elisabeth turned to her, and with a full laugh replied, mimicking, " Why thank you I try." Causing Calleigh to burst out laughing.
" Well you should try more often. I don't think you'll be going home alone tonight." Calleigh smirked and Elisabeth seemed to receive this compliment as some sort of rendition of a cryptic praise.
She gave her miniskirt a tug, and then looked at Calleigh with newfound doubt, she wasn't sure what she wanted out of this evening, and quite frankly hadn't even thought about it, until Calleigh so bluntly stated her opinion.
" I don't think that far ahead." Elisabeth adjusted her black laced up tank top so that she showed off just a bit more cleavage, causing Calleigh to burst out laughing.
" Apparently you do." The blonde pointed out, as Elisabeth fastened her top to her liking.
" Well, maybe, but you know. Go with the flow sister." The ADA winked, sending her ponytail flinging in all directions.
Calleigh let out another full-blown chuckle and actually found herself agreeing as she generously applied a thick shade of blood hued lipstick and then checked herself for needed improvement.
When she didn't find any, she turned to Elisabeth and smiled, " I never thought this moment would come, but I actually think we are ready to go."
The other woman nodded eagerly and supplied, " Yep, can't keep the good College boys waiting."
Calleigh stiffened at her comment, but more internally, because with the mention of Josh also came the remembrance of her ex boy friend, and that itself was enough to threaten Calleigh's good mood for the evening.
Tightly, but invisibly clenching her hands into fists at her sides, she gave Elisabeth a forced smile and took her purse off her bed, " No, we can't."
She said unconvincingly, but before Elisabeth could question her, walked out of the room…
" Oh hell. I need a drink." The ADA complained to no one in particular as she followed her friend out…
TBC…