"Speed, my man," yelled Eric as Tim re-entered the bar, "you've been
holding out on me!"
Tim rolled his eyes at his friends, and joined them at the table, "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Uh, let's see," said Valera "we come to a bar and see you with a woman, who just HAPPENS to be Cookie Devine.
"Her name is Sara," said Tim glaring over at her.
"Told you he was sensitive about it," said Calleigh stirring her drink.
"What is your problem Calleigh?" said Tim, leering at Calleigh out of pure frustration.
"Jeez, nothing, I was just trying to make friendly conversation with her."
"Whatever, look, I'm out of here guys, have a good night." With that Tim stood up, threw some money on the table and walked out of the bar.
Everyone just sat there and looked at Calleigh after Speed had gotten up.
"What?" she asked innocently, staring everyone down.
"What's up with you two?" asked Valera, saying the thing that everyone else had been thinking.
"Nothing is up, he's just cranky as usual," replied Calleigh, as she finished her drink.
"Yeah, well he's not the only one," said Tyler looking at Calleigh.
"I," said Calleigh emphasizing the word, "am not cranky, I just don't want Tim to make a mistake."
"Well if that girl is a mistake," said Eric pointing at the door, "then sign me up."
Everyone was laughing at his comment, except for Calleigh, who stood up. "I'm going to head home, Goodnight."
"Calleigh" cried Eric after her, "I didn't mean anything."
"It's fine," said Calleigh with a smile, "I'm just tired, I'll see ya'll tomorrow." With that she spun on her heals and headed out the door.
Tim arrived at the lab early on Monday morning, hoping to get a jump on their investigation before Calleigh got there. Usually he loved working with Calleigh, they thought alike, and were always able to solve crimes quickly, but right now, she was the last person he wanted to spend his day with. Just then his pager went off, it was Horatio, beeping them all to the break room.
As Tim walked in, he found everyone huddled around the coffee table that was in the center of the room. Sighing, he sat in the only open spot, the couch next to Calleigh.
"Alright people," said Horatio, taking off his sunglasses, "Where are we on the DB on the beach case?"
"Her name is Jane Horton," said Calleigh looking at Speed, "I just got her address and I'm going to go check out her residence right now."
"Great, take Speed with you and keep me posted, Eric and I are going to take a body dump out by Coconut Grove."
With that Eric and Horatio got up and left the room, leaving Calleigh and Tim. They both stood up and headed out toward the Hummer.
"Look Tim," said Calleigh as she climbed in, "about this weekend..."
"Forget it," said Tim cutting her off.
"No listen," said Calleigh turning to him, "I'm sorry, I had no right to treat Cookie...Sara...the way I did."
"You're right Calleigh you didn't," said Tim turning the engine on and looking at her, "so why did you?"
"Why did I what?" asked Calleigh confused.
"Why did you treat her that way?"
"I don't know," replied Calleigh, "I just don't want you to get hurt, and that girl just seems like trouble."
"Why," said Speed as he drove out of the parking lot, "because of her job?"
"Yes," said Calleigh honestly, "Tim, you don't know what you are getting yourself into, doesn't it bother you that hundreds of men have seen her naked, and another handful have slept with her on camera?"
"Well I'm a big boy Cal." With that Tim turned the radio up and drove a little faster.
Calleigh just slumped into her seat and looked out the window.
Once they arrived at Jane's residence they both went their separate ways. "You check the living room, I'll start on the bedroom," said Calleigh as she began unloading her kit.
"Done," said Speed, and he took off.
Calleigh sighed, she really needed to make things right, she hated having Tim mad at her. She had never felt as sick in her life as she did last night when she had seen Tim with Sara at the bar. It was as if someone had punched her in the stomach. 'Oh my god,' she said to herself, 'I was jealous.'
"Calleigh," speak of the devil; Tim was calling her from the living room.
"What did..." she started and then stopped as she entered the room, it was covered in blood and looked like a tornado had hit it. "Well I guess we found our crime scene," she finished stepping slowly toward Tim.
"I'd say that's something we can agree on," mumbled Tim, as he walked toward the couch. "Here's your bullet hole Cal," he said pointing to the back of the couch.
"She was probably just sitting here watching TV and BANG," said Calleigh as she walked over and bagged the bullet.
"Wasn't she shot in the back though?" said Tim thinking back to the beach.
"Well she was on her stomach so we assumed so," said Calleigh matter of factly, "but that was before we realized she was a dump job."
Tim nodded and walked over to examine the blood spatter, "There's a trail of blood here, she must have walked a little after she was shot, I'm going to call this in."
"Good idea," said Calleigh as she continued to examine the bullet hole, "Horatio will be thrilled."
Tim picked up his phone and began to dial, Calleigh watched him intently, taking everything in, from his dark messed up hair to his dark blue shirt, what was it about him that suddenly was so intriguing to her? She just kept staring trying to figure it out.
"What?" said Tim as he realized Calleigh was staring at him, blushing Calleigh quickly turned away, "sorry," she said, I was just lost in thought I guess.
Tim just looked at her funny, "alright then....H, It's Speed, we found our crime scene...yep...send them over...thanks." With that he hung up the phone and turned back to Calleigh.
"H says we need to collect blood, bullets and fiber, and he's sending over a team for a sweep," said Tim as he put his phone in his pocket. Calleigh looked at him and nodded.
"Cal are you okay?" he asked with concern, "I'm sorry I was so rude earlier, it's just this whole thing with Sara has me a little on edge."
"I'm sorry too Timmy," said Calleigh walking over to him, "I guess I just have to get used to seeing you with a girl," after the words left her mouth she knew she was going to have to explain what she had just said, but rather then do that she turned on her heals and left the room, "I'm going back to the bedroom," she called over her shoulder.
Tim just started after her, what had Calleigh been talking about? Why did she have to get used to seeing him with a girl, was there something wrong with that? He had noticed her staring earlier, and it wasn't just a haphazard stare, she had been studying him.
He remembers when he first met Calleigh how he used to study her the same way, like he was trying to figure her out. She would be working, and he would just sit in his lab and take every part of her in. He smiled to himself as he remembers the crush he'd had on her when he first saw her enter the lab for the first time.
He wasn't the only one, half of the guys in the office had a crush on Calleigh at some point or another, but his crush, like everyone else's had at one point gone anywhere. She was too amazing, too beautiful, too sensible, to ever date anyone at work, and he had known that.
But then there was John Hagen, the one man that she did let her guard down for, and he had hurt her. Tim always hated that guy, and when he hurt Calleigh it made him want to strangle the bastard.
Sighing, he remembered the night Calleigh showed up on his door step in tears, they sat up all night and she complained about men, and he listened. Then she fell asleep in his arms while they were watching a movie, and he just watched her all night.
Shaking his head, he remembered where he was, and got back to work.
"Valera gorgeous," said Eric as he entered the lab, "What have you got on my body from the grove?"
"You think calling me gorgeous is going to get me to process your blood any faster?" asked Valera as she elbowed Eric gently in the side.
"Well I figure it can't hurt," he said smiling, "but you know you really are gorgeous anyway."
"Well thank you," said Valera blushing, "and sorry but nothing on the blood you sent me back, I sent it through the system and no hits."
"Bummer," said Eric, "so this stuff about Speed is pretty crazy huh?"
"You mean him banging the porn star," said Valera as she snapped her gloves off and threw them in the trash.
Eric chuckled, "you certainly aren't subtle are your Valera?"
"Subtlety has never been a strong point of mine now," she said smiling, "speaking of subtle, have you seen any of her videos?"
"Whose?" asked Eric turning and leaning on the table.
"Cookies, of course," said Valera smiling at him.
"uh...maybe, have you?" asked Eric interested in the answer.
"Yeah, I've seen a few of them here and there," she said eliciting a blush from Eric, "the whole time we were at the bar I just kept picturing her moaning and..."
"Enough!" said Eric covering his ears, "I think I'm going to have to go to confession for a week now just from this conversation!"
"Well I always was one to corrupt good Catholic boys," she replied with a smile, and then got back to work.
Eric just grinned at her, "see ya later gorgeous," and he left the room.
Tim and Calleigh rode back to the lab in silence, Calleigh looked over at Tim who was concentrating on the road, he felt her looking at him and turned to face her, she quickly turned away.
This game went on for several minutes, until finally Tim's phone ringing broke the silence.
"Speedle," he said, not recognizing the number that came up on his phone.
"Hello Detective Speedle," a familiar voice said into the phone.
Tim smiled, "I told you I was going to call you," he said knowing now that it was Sara on the other end of his phone call.
Calleigh frowned, because she too knew it was Sara on the other end of the call, she was still trying to figure out her own feelings for Tim, and this call was not helping things.
"I know, but I'm an impatient girl, and I had a question for you," Sara said in an almost pouting voice.
Tim sighed, "And what would that be?"
"I was hopping you would come over for dinner tonight," Sara said in a voice, that made Tim almost drive off the road.
"Tonight?" he questioned looking over at Calleigh who turned to look out the window. "I think I could do tonight," he replied as he shifted his phone.
"TIM!" Calleigh cried grabbing his leg, just as he was about to ram into the car in front of them that had stopped short.
"Shit!" screamed Tim, as he dropped his phone, and slammed on his breaks swerving.
Tim pulled off to the side, and picked up his phone, "Sara, can I call you back?"
"Of course, is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yes, I'll see you tonight."
Tim and Calleigh both just sat on the side of the road for a minute, Calleigh's hand had yet to be removed from his thigh.
"Sorry," said Tim looking over at her, "I guess I wasn't paying much attention."
"You could say that," Calleigh replied in a snotty voice, "you know what they say about talking on the phone while you are driving."
Tim looked down at her hand on his leg, and she quickly removed it, "Let's just get back to the lab alright."
Calleigh sighed; she kept making things worse with Tim. "So was that Sara on the phone?" she asked casually, determined to be nice.
"Yes, it was" said Tim looking at her.
"So you two are getting pretty serious aren't you?" Calleigh asked fiddling with her hair and looking down.
"Calleigh," said Tim in a gruff voice, "I just met her." Then he sighed, "I really like her though."
Calleigh felt like vomiting, "I know I was hard on her, and I'm sorry, she seems nice."
Tim just smiled at her, "I'm sorry too, and she is nice."
The two sat contently and rode the rest of the way back to the lab in silence
Once the arrived back at CSI, the two grabbed their kits out of the back of the Hummer and headed inside.
"Hey guys. Here you found a crime scene," said Alexx as they entered the building.
"Yes Ma'am," said Calleigh with a smile, "blood, bullets and everything, I'm heading down to the range right now."
Tim looked at the two women and then at his lab, "I'll go process the fabrics we found."
"And I will go finish your body," said Alexx, looking back and forth between the two of them.
Tim smiled, slightly, and walked toward the lab.
"What was that about?" asked Alexx, as she followed Calleigh out.
"What do you mean Alexx?" she asked.
"Honey, I'm the best ME in the area, and even I couldn't cut that tension."
Calleigh chuckled nervously, "I don't know what you are talking about Alexx, we're just both tired."
Alexx just rolled her eyes, "you can talk to me you know?"
"I know Alexx, thanks."
Tim showed up at Sara's apartment at 8:00pm, she had told him to be there at 7:00, but they had a late lead in the case that he and Calleigh had to go check up on. It was a nothing lead, and now he was late.
"Well hello Tim," said Sara as she answered the door, "I was just about to give up on you."
Tim smiled sheepishly and kissed her on the cheek, "I'm sorry, Calleigh and I had to check up on something before we clocked out."
Sara frowned at the mention of Calleigh's name, but ushered Tim in none the less; "Well I'm just glad to see you," she added fixing a smile on her face.
Tim wasn't used to women praising him, but he smiled back and took in her apartment. It was very nice, large living room leading into a kitchen that was colorfully decorated. It reminded him a lot of Ashley Anders' apartment that he had processed just a few days ago.
Shaking any thoughts of Ashley out of his mind, he headed into the kitchen, "so what did you make me?" he asked jokingly as Sara pulled a few containers out of her refrigerator.
"Well," said Sara placing items on plates, "I MADE you my famous chicken Marsala, but now you are going to get nuked chicken Marsala, because you are late."
Speed chuckled at her comment, "I'm used to things reheated," he said smiling and leaning against her counter, "Whenever Calleigh makes us dinner; she always says she just puts some in a Rubbermaid for me so I feel at home."
"So did you two used to date?" asked Sara uncomfortably. Tim looked up at Sara questioningly, "who?." He asked helping her grab the plates from the cupboard.
"Calleigh," said Sara following him and sitting down, "you two seem really close, and then she got all jealous, so I just assumed."
Tim let out a chuckle, "she wasn't jealous she's...she's just Calleigh she's suspicious of everyone, and no we never dated."
Sara looked a little unsure, but smiled anyway, she was an actress after all, she could put on a face and pretended like it wasn't bothering her.
"Well," she said raising her glass of wine to Tim's, "here's to us having another wonderful evening." Tim smiled over at her, she was beautiful, he just kept staring at her.
"What?" she asked smiling.
"You're very beautiful," said Tim looking down at his food, "do you mind if I ask..."
She looked up and cut him off, "why I do adult films?"
"Sorry," he said as soon as the words came out of her mouth he felt guilty, "it's none of my business."
"Tim, I like you," she said putting down her fork and grabbing his hand across the table, "I like you a lot, and if you want to know why I do what I do, then you have every right to ask. In all honesty, you are the first person to ask and not just assume."
Tim smiled up at her, "You don't have to tell me."
She sighed, "It started out because of the money, and it's hard to pass up that much money, and it's just acting, naked acting," she added with a laugh, "but just acting none the less."
They both smiled at each other, and the subject was dropped. The rest of the dinner was spent talking about their lives growing up, Tim's job, and other tid bits about their lives.
Calleigh took off her jacket and sunk into her big couch, she hated knowing that at this very moment Tim was on a date with Sara. Why did it take her until now to realize that she liked him. Or, she began to think, do I only like him because I can't have him.
"That's it," she said aloud as she stood up and walked into the kitchen, "it's just because I can't have him, but I don't need him." She just needed someone to love her, to care about her, it didn't matter who she just needed someone.
With that thought in mind, she picked up her phone and dialed a number that she hadn't used in awhile, "Hey John, It's Calleigh..."
After dinner they moved into her living room. It was a simple living room, reminding Tim once again of Ashley's living room, and reminding him of Sara's job. He sat on the couch and she sat next to him.
"I'm having a great time with you Tim," she said out of the blue smiling at him.
He looked over at the beautiful woman next to him, he was having a good time with her too, but something still wasn't all the way there. None the less, when she leaned into kiss him, Tim didn't stop her.
It started off as a slow kiss, she captured his lips, and he raised his hands up and ran them through her hair.
Shifting, he lay back onto her couch and pulled her back with him. The kiss intensified until they both had to pull back for air. He proceeded to place kisses down her neck and she closed her eyes and moaned his name. Hearing his name escape her lips like that brought Tim back to reality.
Things were going excessively fast. He wasn't against having sex right away, he just hadn't considered yet what it would be like having sex with someone who was in her profession. Would he be good enough? Was he safe? How often did she take guys home?
These questions were all nagging in his head, only it wasn't his voice nagging him, it was a southern voice that was beginning to get on his nerves. Calleigh had showed her distaste for Sara right away, and Tim needed to know why before things went any further with Sara.
"Tim?" she questioned realizing that he was slipping away. Slowly he sat up.
"I'm sorry Sara, I have to work really early, so I should get going."
She looked hurt and sad, Tim hated that he was making this women feel that way, he hated that he had Calleigh's voice nagging in his head.
"Sure," she said putting on a smile, "I understand, and Tim."
"Yeah?" he asked as they stood up and he smoothed out his shirt.
"This is weird for you isn't it?" she asked him point blank.
He didn't know what to say. "Sara, I just don't want to rush things okay."
She smiled half-heartedly at him, and guilt overcame him.
"Movie, tomorrow?" he asked her pulling her into his arms.
Her smile returned and she kissed him, "movie sounds great," then he left.
Tim hopped on his bike, only he wasn't headed home. He hated that he kept having second thoughts about Sara, and he blamed Calleigh, he was going to go talk to her about it, and he was going now.
He sped down the road, and pulled up to her apartment building, he debated calling her, but decided he would just stop in instead.
Making his way up the stairs, he soon reached her door and knocked on it, he wasn't really sure what he was going to say, he just needed to get this off his chest.
Calleigh got up from her chair, she was surprised that John was there already, he was always late when she needed him. Sighing she opened the door, and was surprised to see who was on the other side of it.
"Tim!" she said the surprise evident in her voice, "what are you doing here?"
"Hey Cal," Tim replied looking down, "I need to talk to someone about something, and I just think you are the best person."
Calleigh's heart fell in her chest as it always did when she saw this man. "Uh, of course, she looked out over his shoulder, no sign of Hagen, "come in."
Tim walked into her apartment, and she continued, "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm good," he said, "I need to talk to you about Sara." He got right to the point, he figured that was the easiest way.
Calleigh's heart fell; he had come to talk to her about his girlfriend, great just what she needed. "Tim, I don't know if I'm the best person to talk to about this..."
"No Calleigh," he said sitting down on her couch, "you are the exact person I need to talk to about this."
Calleigh sighed and sat down next to him, "alright, lay it on my Yankee," she said with a smile.
"I like her, I like her a lot," he began. Calleigh's eyes fell to the floor, "but whenever I'm with her I can't help thinking...," he paused trying to find the right words.
Calleigh found them for him, "you can't help thinking that Eric and his left hand have seen her naked."
Tim laughed, "Exactly, I mean maybe you are right worrying about me liking her."
Calleigh sighed, "Tim, you have to follow your heart, I know it's cheesy to say, but it's the truth."
"I just don't know if this feeling will ever go away," he said slumping back onto Calleigh's couch, "like tonight, I was at her apartment, kissing a gorgeous woman, and I just kept hearing you in the back of my head."
Calleigh's eyes shot up, "Tim, I should never have been so hard on her."
"You may have been right though, she could have any man, why me?" he questioned.
"Tim," said Calleigh grabbing his hand and forcing him to face her, "you are amazing."
Tim looked up in Calleigh's eyes, they seemed different, they were glowing green/blue as she continued, "you care so much about people, you have a huge heart, and you're gorgeous, any woman would be so lucky to have you."
Tim smiled, his hand was still in Calleigh's, and his heart was beating fast, what was going on here?
"Cal, you're my friend you have to say that stuff," he replied.
"No, Tim," she replied, "I don't."
They had moved closer now and her heart was racing she could feel his breath on her face, their lips were just inches apart and she was pretty sure that if her heart beat any faster it would jump out of her chest.
"Cal..." he whispered, and then there was a knock at the door.
They both jumped apart, right as John Hagen let himself into the apartment.
"Cal, baby," he called, "it's me, I came as quick as I could."
Tim's mind went blank, why was this man here? Calleigh's head fell into her hands.
"John," she called out, "I'm in the living room."
He walked in, and stared over at Tim, "Hey Speedle, am I interrupting something?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tim asked him without even getting up.
John walked over to Calleigh and kissed her on the head, "Calleigh called me, she needed me."
Tim stood up and looked at the two of them, "I uh, better go," he said standing up.
Calleigh walked over to him, "Tim, I'm sorry, I called him earlier, why don't you come over to tomorrow, we can talk more?" she whispered.
"I can't," said Tim out loud, "Sara and I are going to the movies," before Tim could stop himself he added, "Since you two seem so cozy again, why don't you come with us?"
Calleigh looked at him like he was crazy, and he might have been, "Sounds good," said John wrapping his arms around Calleigh from behind, "we could use a date."
"Good," said Tim, "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned and left the apartment quickly, Calleigh hot on his heels.
"Tim wait..." she called after him, "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to explain Cal," he said "I'll see you tomorrow night."
Tim rolled his eyes at his friends, and joined them at the table, "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Uh, let's see," said Valera "we come to a bar and see you with a woman, who just HAPPENS to be Cookie Devine.
"Her name is Sara," said Tim glaring over at her.
"Told you he was sensitive about it," said Calleigh stirring her drink.
"What is your problem Calleigh?" said Tim, leering at Calleigh out of pure frustration.
"Jeez, nothing, I was just trying to make friendly conversation with her."
"Whatever, look, I'm out of here guys, have a good night." With that Tim stood up, threw some money on the table and walked out of the bar.
Everyone just sat there and looked at Calleigh after Speed had gotten up.
"What?" she asked innocently, staring everyone down.
"What's up with you two?" asked Valera, saying the thing that everyone else had been thinking.
"Nothing is up, he's just cranky as usual," replied Calleigh, as she finished her drink.
"Yeah, well he's not the only one," said Tyler looking at Calleigh.
"I," said Calleigh emphasizing the word, "am not cranky, I just don't want Tim to make a mistake."
"Well if that girl is a mistake," said Eric pointing at the door, "then sign me up."
Everyone was laughing at his comment, except for Calleigh, who stood up. "I'm going to head home, Goodnight."
"Calleigh" cried Eric after her, "I didn't mean anything."
"It's fine," said Calleigh with a smile, "I'm just tired, I'll see ya'll tomorrow." With that she spun on her heals and headed out the door.
Tim arrived at the lab early on Monday morning, hoping to get a jump on their investigation before Calleigh got there. Usually he loved working with Calleigh, they thought alike, and were always able to solve crimes quickly, but right now, she was the last person he wanted to spend his day with. Just then his pager went off, it was Horatio, beeping them all to the break room.
As Tim walked in, he found everyone huddled around the coffee table that was in the center of the room. Sighing, he sat in the only open spot, the couch next to Calleigh.
"Alright people," said Horatio, taking off his sunglasses, "Where are we on the DB on the beach case?"
"Her name is Jane Horton," said Calleigh looking at Speed, "I just got her address and I'm going to go check out her residence right now."
"Great, take Speed with you and keep me posted, Eric and I are going to take a body dump out by Coconut Grove."
With that Eric and Horatio got up and left the room, leaving Calleigh and Tim. They both stood up and headed out toward the Hummer.
"Look Tim," said Calleigh as she climbed in, "about this weekend..."
"Forget it," said Tim cutting her off.
"No listen," said Calleigh turning to him, "I'm sorry, I had no right to treat Cookie...Sara...the way I did."
"You're right Calleigh you didn't," said Tim turning the engine on and looking at her, "so why did you?"
"Why did I what?" asked Calleigh confused.
"Why did you treat her that way?"
"I don't know," replied Calleigh, "I just don't want you to get hurt, and that girl just seems like trouble."
"Why," said Speed as he drove out of the parking lot, "because of her job?"
"Yes," said Calleigh honestly, "Tim, you don't know what you are getting yourself into, doesn't it bother you that hundreds of men have seen her naked, and another handful have slept with her on camera?"
"Well I'm a big boy Cal." With that Tim turned the radio up and drove a little faster.
Calleigh just slumped into her seat and looked out the window.
Once they arrived at Jane's residence they both went their separate ways. "You check the living room, I'll start on the bedroom," said Calleigh as she began unloading her kit.
"Done," said Speed, and he took off.
Calleigh sighed, she really needed to make things right, she hated having Tim mad at her. She had never felt as sick in her life as she did last night when she had seen Tim with Sara at the bar. It was as if someone had punched her in the stomach. 'Oh my god,' she said to herself, 'I was jealous.'
"Calleigh," speak of the devil; Tim was calling her from the living room.
"What did..." she started and then stopped as she entered the room, it was covered in blood and looked like a tornado had hit it. "Well I guess we found our crime scene," she finished stepping slowly toward Tim.
"I'd say that's something we can agree on," mumbled Tim, as he walked toward the couch. "Here's your bullet hole Cal," he said pointing to the back of the couch.
"She was probably just sitting here watching TV and BANG," said Calleigh as she walked over and bagged the bullet.
"Wasn't she shot in the back though?" said Tim thinking back to the beach.
"Well she was on her stomach so we assumed so," said Calleigh matter of factly, "but that was before we realized she was a dump job."
Tim nodded and walked over to examine the blood spatter, "There's a trail of blood here, she must have walked a little after she was shot, I'm going to call this in."
"Good idea," said Calleigh as she continued to examine the bullet hole, "Horatio will be thrilled."
Tim picked up his phone and began to dial, Calleigh watched him intently, taking everything in, from his dark messed up hair to his dark blue shirt, what was it about him that suddenly was so intriguing to her? She just kept staring trying to figure it out.
"What?" said Tim as he realized Calleigh was staring at him, blushing Calleigh quickly turned away, "sorry," she said, I was just lost in thought I guess.
Tim just looked at her funny, "alright then....H, It's Speed, we found our crime scene...yep...send them over...thanks." With that he hung up the phone and turned back to Calleigh.
"H says we need to collect blood, bullets and fiber, and he's sending over a team for a sweep," said Tim as he put his phone in his pocket. Calleigh looked at him and nodded.
"Cal are you okay?" he asked with concern, "I'm sorry I was so rude earlier, it's just this whole thing with Sara has me a little on edge."
"I'm sorry too Timmy," said Calleigh walking over to him, "I guess I just have to get used to seeing you with a girl," after the words left her mouth she knew she was going to have to explain what she had just said, but rather then do that she turned on her heals and left the room, "I'm going back to the bedroom," she called over her shoulder.
Tim just started after her, what had Calleigh been talking about? Why did she have to get used to seeing him with a girl, was there something wrong with that? He had noticed her staring earlier, and it wasn't just a haphazard stare, she had been studying him.
He remembers when he first met Calleigh how he used to study her the same way, like he was trying to figure her out. She would be working, and he would just sit in his lab and take every part of her in. He smiled to himself as he remembers the crush he'd had on her when he first saw her enter the lab for the first time.
He wasn't the only one, half of the guys in the office had a crush on Calleigh at some point or another, but his crush, like everyone else's had at one point gone anywhere. She was too amazing, too beautiful, too sensible, to ever date anyone at work, and he had known that.
But then there was John Hagen, the one man that she did let her guard down for, and he had hurt her. Tim always hated that guy, and when he hurt Calleigh it made him want to strangle the bastard.
Sighing, he remembered the night Calleigh showed up on his door step in tears, they sat up all night and she complained about men, and he listened. Then she fell asleep in his arms while they were watching a movie, and he just watched her all night.
Shaking his head, he remembered where he was, and got back to work.
"Valera gorgeous," said Eric as he entered the lab, "What have you got on my body from the grove?"
"You think calling me gorgeous is going to get me to process your blood any faster?" asked Valera as she elbowed Eric gently in the side.
"Well I figure it can't hurt," he said smiling, "but you know you really are gorgeous anyway."
"Well thank you," said Valera blushing, "and sorry but nothing on the blood you sent me back, I sent it through the system and no hits."
"Bummer," said Eric, "so this stuff about Speed is pretty crazy huh?"
"You mean him banging the porn star," said Valera as she snapped her gloves off and threw them in the trash.
Eric chuckled, "you certainly aren't subtle are your Valera?"
"Subtlety has never been a strong point of mine now," she said smiling, "speaking of subtle, have you seen any of her videos?"
"Whose?" asked Eric turning and leaning on the table.
"Cookies, of course," said Valera smiling at him.
"uh...maybe, have you?" asked Eric interested in the answer.
"Yeah, I've seen a few of them here and there," she said eliciting a blush from Eric, "the whole time we were at the bar I just kept picturing her moaning and..."
"Enough!" said Eric covering his ears, "I think I'm going to have to go to confession for a week now just from this conversation!"
"Well I always was one to corrupt good Catholic boys," she replied with a smile, and then got back to work.
Eric just grinned at her, "see ya later gorgeous," and he left the room.
Tim and Calleigh rode back to the lab in silence, Calleigh looked over at Tim who was concentrating on the road, he felt her looking at him and turned to face her, she quickly turned away.
This game went on for several minutes, until finally Tim's phone ringing broke the silence.
"Speedle," he said, not recognizing the number that came up on his phone.
"Hello Detective Speedle," a familiar voice said into the phone.
Tim smiled, "I told you I was going to call you," he said knowing now that it was Sara on the other end of his phone call.
Calleigh frowned, because she too knew it was Sara on the other end of the call, she was still trying to figure out her own feelings for Tim, and this call was not helping things.
"I know, but I'm an impatient girl, and I had a question for you," Sara said in an almost pouting voice.
Tim sighed, "And what would that be?"
"I was hopping you would come over for dinner tonight," Sara said in a voice, that made Tim almost drive off the road.
"Tonight?" he questioned looking over at Calleigh who turned to look out the window. "I think I could do tonight," he replied as he shifted his phone.
"TIM!" Calleigh cried grabbing his leg, just as he was about to ram into the car in front of them that had stopped short.
"Shit!" screamed Tim, as he dropped his phone, and slammed on his breaks swerving.
Tim pulled off to the side, and picked up his phone, "Sara, can I call you back?"
"Of course, is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yes, I'll see you tonight."
Tim and Calleigh both just sat on the side of the road for a minute, Calleigh's hand had yet to be removed from his thigh.
"Sorry," said Tim looking over at her, "I guess I wasn't paying much attention."
"You could say that," Calleigh replied in a snotty voice, "you know what they say about talking on the phone while you are driving."
Tim looked down at her hand on his leg, and she quickly removed it, "Let's just get back to the lab alright."
Calleigh sighed; she kept making things worse with Tim. "So was that Sara on the phone?" she asked casually, determined to be nice.
"Yes, it was" said Tim looking at her.
"So you two are getting pretty serious aren't you?" Calleigh asked fiddling with her hair and looking down.
"Calleigh," said Tim in a gruff voice, "I just met her." Then he sighed, "I really like her though."
Calleigh felt like vomiting, "I know I was hard on her, and I'm sorry, she seems nice."
Tim just smiled at her, "I'm sorry too, and she is nice."
The two sat contently and rode the rest of the way back to the lab in silence
Once the arrived back at CSI, the two grabbed their kits out of the back of the Hummer and headed inside.
"Hey guys. Here you found a crime scene," said Alexx as they entered the building.
"Yes Ma'am," said Calleigh with a smile, "blood, bullets and everything, I'm heading down to the range right now."
Tim looked at the two women and then at his lab, "I'll go process the fabrics we found."
"And I will go finish your body," said Alexx, looking back and forth between the two of them.
Tim smiled, slightly, and walked toward the lab.
"What was that about?" asked Alexx, as she followed Calleigh out.
"What do you mean Alexx?" she asked.
"Honey, I'm the best ME in the area, and even I couldn't cut that tension."
Calleigh chuckled nervously, "I don't know what you are talking about Alexx, we're just both tired."
Alexx just rolled her eyes, "you can talk to me you know?"
"I know Alexx, thanks."
Tim showed up at Sara's apartment at 8:00pm, she had told him to be there at 7:00, but they had a late lead in the case that he and Calleigh had to go check up on. It was a nothing lead, and now he was late.
"Well hello Tim," said Sara as she answered the door, "I was just about to give up on you."
Tim smiled sheepishly and kissed her on the cheek, "I'm sorry, Calleigh and I had to check up on something before we clocked out."
Sara frowned at the mention of Calleigh's name, but ushered Tim in none the less; "Well I'm just glad to see you," she added fixing a smile on her face.
Tim wasn't used to women praising him, but he smiled back and took in her apartment. It was very nice, large living room leading into a kitchen that was colorfully decorated. It reminded him a lot of Ashley Anders' apartment that he had processed just a few days ago.
Shaking any thoughts of Ashley out of his mind, he headed into the kitchen, "so what did you make me?" he asked jokingly as Sara pulled a few containers out of her refrigerator.
"Well," said Sara placing items on plates, "I MADE you my famous chicken Marsala, but now you are going to get nuked chicken Marsala, because you are late."
Speed chuckled at her comment, "I'm used to things reheated," he said smiling and leaning against her counter, "Whenever Calleigh makes us dinner; she always says she just puts some in a Rubbermaid for me so I feel at home."
"So did you two used to date?" asked Sara uncomfortably. Tim looked up at Sara questioningly, "who?." He asked helping her grab the plates from the cupboard.
"Calleigh," said Sara following him and sitting down, "you two seem really close, and then she got all jealous, so I just assumed."
Tim let out a chuckle, "she wasn't jealous she's...she's just Calleigh she's suspicious of everyone, and no we never dated."
Sara looked a little unsure, but smiled anyway, she was an actress after all, she could put on a face and pretended like it wasn't bothering her.
"Well," she said raising her glass of wine to Tim's, "here's to us having another wonderful evening." Tim smiled over at her, she was beautiful, he just kept staring at her.
"What?" she asked smiling.
"You're very beautiful," said Tim looking down at his food, "do you mind if I ask..."
She looked up and cut him off, "why I do adult films?"
"Sorry," he said as soon as the words came out of her mouth he felt guilty, "it's none of my business."
"Tim, I like you," she said putting down her fork and grabbing his hand across the table, "I like you a lot, and if you want to know why I do what I do, then you have every right to ask. In all honesty, you are the first person to ask and not just assume."
Tim smiled up at her, "You don't have to tell me."
She sighed, "It started out because of the money, and it's hard to pass up that much money, and it's just acting, naked acting," she added with a laugh, "but just acting none the less."
They both smiled at each other, and the subject was dropped. The rest of the dinner was spent talking about their lives growing up, Tim's job, and other tid bits about their lives.
Calleigh took off her jacket and sunk into her big couch, she hated knowing that at this very moment Tim was on a date with Sara. Why did it take her until now to realize that she liked him. Or, she began to think, do I only like him because I can't have him.
"That's it," she said aloud as she stood up and walked into the kitchen, "it's just because I can't have him, but I don't need him." She just needed someone to love her, to care about her, it didn't matter who she just needed someone.
With that thought in mind, she picked up her phone and dialed a number that she hadn't used in awhile, "Hey John, It's Calleigh..."
After dinner they moved into her living room. It was a simple living room, reminding Tim once again of Ashley's living room, and reminding him of Sara's job. He sat on the couch and she sat next to him.
"I'm having a great time with you Tim," she said out of the blue smiling at him.
He looked over at the beautiful woman next to him, he was having a good time with her too, but something still wasn't all the way there. None the less, when she leaned into kiss him, Tim didn't stop her.
It started off as a slow kiss, she captured his lips, and he raised his hands up and ran them through her hair.
Shifting, he lay back onto her couch and pulled her back with him. The kiss intensified until they both had to pull back for air. He proceeded to place kisses down her neck and she closed her eyes and moaned his name. Hearing his name escape her lips like that brought Tim back to reality.
Things were going excessively fast. He wasn't against having sex right away, he just hadn't considered yet what it would be like having sex with someone who was in her profession. Would he be good enough? Was he safe? How often did she take guys home?
These questions were all nagging in his head, only it wasn't his voice nagging him, it was a southern voice that was beginning to get on his nerves. Calleigh had showed her distaste for Sara right away, and Tim needed to know why before things went any further with Sara.
"Tim?" she questioned realizing that he was slipping away. Slowly he sat up.
"I'm sorry Sara, I have to work really early, so I should get going."
She looked hurt and sad, Tim hated that he was making this women feel that way, he hated that he had Calleigh's voice nagging in his head.
"Sure," she said putting on a smile, "I understand, and Tim."
"Yeah?" he asked as they stood up and he smoothed out his shirt.
"This is weird for you isn't it?" she asked him point blank.
He didn't know what to say. "Sara, I just don't want to rush things okay."
She smiled half-heartedly at him, and guilt overcame him.
"Movie, tomorrow?" he asked her pulling her into his arms.
Her smile returned and she kissed him, "movie sounds great," then he left.
Tim hopped on his bike, only he wasn't headed home. He hated that he kept having second thoughts about Sara, and he blamed Calleigh, he was going to go talk to her about it, and he was going now.
He sped down the road, and pulled up to her apartment building, he debated calling her, but decided he would just stop in instead.
Making his way up the stairs, he soon reached her door and knocked on it, he wasn't really sure what he was going to say, he just needed to get this off his chest.
Calleigh got up from her chair, she was surprised that John was there already, he was always late when she needed him. Sighing she opened the door, and was surprised to see who was on the other side of it.
"Tim!" she said the surprise evident in her voice, "what are you doing here?"
"Hey Cal," Tim replied looking down, "I need to talk to someone about something, and I just think you are the best person."
Calleigh's heart fell in her chest as it always did when she saw this man. "Uh, of course, she looked out over his shoulder, no sign of Hagen, "come in."
Tim walked into her apartment, and she continued, "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm good," he said, "I need to talk to you about Sara." He got right to the point, he figured that was the easiest way.
Calleigh's heart fell; he had come to talk to her about his girlfriend, great just what she needed. "Tim, I don't know if I'm the best person to talk to about this..."
"No Calleigh," he said sitting down on her couch, "you are the exact person I need to talk to about this."
Calleigh sighed and sat down next to him, "alright, lay it on my Yankee," she said with a smile.
"I like her, I like her a lot," he began. Calleigh's eyes fell to the floor, "but whenever I'm with her I can't help thinking...," he paused trying to find the right words.
Calleigh found them for him, "you can't help thinking that Eric and his left hand have seen her naked."
Tim laughed, "Exactly, I mean maybe you are right worrying about me liking her."
Calleigh sighed, "Tim, you have to follow your heart, I know it's cheesy to say, but it's the truth."
"I just don't know if this feeling will ever go away," he said slumping back onto Calleigh's couch, "like tonight, I was at her apartment, kissing a gorgeous woman, and I just kept hearing you in the back of my head."
Calleigh's eyes shot up, "Tim, I should never have been so hard on her."
"You may have been right though, she could have any man, why me?" he questioned.
"Tim," said Calleigh grabbing his hand and forcing him to face her, "you are amazing."
Tim looked up in Calleigh's eyes, they seemed different, they were glowing green/blue as she continued, "you care so much about people, you have a huge heart, and you're gorgeous, any woman would be so lucky to have you."
Tim smiled, his hand was still in Calleigh's, and his heart was beating fast, what was going on here?
"Cal, you're my friend you have to say that stuff," he replied.
"No, Tim," she replied, "I don't."
They had moved closer now and her heart was racing she could feel his breath on her face, their lips were just inches apart and she was pretty sure that if her heart beat any faster it would jump out of her chest.
"Cal..." he whispered, and then there was a knock at the door.
They both jumped apart, right as John Hagen let himself into the apartment.
"Cal, baby," he called, "it's me, I came as quick as I could."
Tim's mind went blank, why was this man here? Calleigh's head fell into her hands.
"John," she called out, "I'm in the living room."
He walked in, and stared over at Tim, "Hey Speedle, am I interrupting something?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tim asked him without even getting up.
John walked over to Calleigh and kissed her on the head, "Calleigh called me, she needed me."
Tim stood up and looked at the two of them, "I uh, better go," he said standing up.
Calleigh walked over to him, "Tim, I'm sorry, I called him earlier, why don't you come over to tomorrow, we can talk more?" she whispered.
"I can't," said Tim out loud, "Sara and I are going to the movies," before Tim could stop himself he added, "Since you two seem so cozy again, why don't you come with us?"
Calleigh looked at him like he was crazy, and he might have been, "Sounds good," said John wrapping his arms around Calleigh from behind, "we could use a date."
"Good," said Tim, "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned and left the apartment quickly, Calleigh hot on his heels.
"Tim wait..." she called after him, "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to explain Cal," he said "I'll see you tomorrow night."