A/N: Sorry I'm late today guys! I am the new proud mother of a second German Shorthair Pointer. I purchased 'Crash' on Labor day when he turned seven weeks old and the little devil has been keeping me and my four year old female 'Lucky' very busy...

o0O0o

The chase had paused when Jesse fled to the garage and grabbed his surfboard. He had managed to escape the trained detective with only minor bruising this time. He was getting better.

Jesse's sneakers squeaked on the concrete as he slid to a halt in front of the surfboard propped up against the far wall. He grabbed it and swung in in front of him in defense as Steve ran into the dim garage. "Stay back!" Jesse yelled, accidentally hitting Steve's truck with the board.

"Jesse! Watch where you swing that thing!"

"Sorry."

"It's okay. No harm done."

The two looked at each other a moment longer before Jesse held the surfboard close to his body and fled out the side door. The air was still hot but not nearly as uncomfortable as it had been this afternoon. Jesse quickly stepped to the side of the house and pulled off his left sneaker. His heart thudded in his chest as he tried to breathe quietly through his nose.

Steve stepped outside a moment later with his own surfboard in tow. The second he was in full view, Jesse hurled his shoe at the detective and ran the best he could towards the ocean.

"Ow! Get back here!" Steve yelled as he gave chase to the energetic young doctor.

With the ease of someone who was frequently chased, Jesse took off his other shoe without missing a step. He turned to throw it, but the tail of the surfboard under his arm caught in the sand and he stumbled. "Shit," he muttered, dropping the shoe to regain his balance. Steve was catching up now, and Jesse ran faster into the water.

The chase ended mutually when both men rode their surfboards towards the vivid orange and purple horizon. "Sure is pretty," Steve said as he paddled beside Jesse.

"Yeah," Jesse replied with a soft voice. He was already panting from his run, but the serenity of the sunset seemed to help even out his breathing. This was everything he had been wishing for after such a long and hot day. The water was warmer than usual but it still served to cool his body. Jesse noticed then that he was still in his regular shorts and thanked fate that along with the surfboard, Mark had also let Jesse keep a change of clothes in the beach house. It was too late for a wet suit or even trunks at this point. The ocean licked his thighs, adding weight to his khaki shorts and seeping through to his boxers. He might as well enjoy the spontaneity.

Jesse and Steve sat in awed silence for a few minutes as they observed the magnificent display of the setting sun on the ocean. Blinking himself out of the trance-like revere, Jesse glanced back to shore and reached over to shove Steve's shoulder. "Race back to shore?"

"You're on."

Both men paddled out a few more strokes while putting the distance of a few feet between them. While Steve was a skilled surfer, Jesse was occasionally more so. His size and surprising strength often gave him the edge when Steve wasn't concentrating enough. Jesse turned his board so that it pointed towards the shore and crouched on it, poised to catch his wave. He was barely aware of the heavy weight of his wet shorts as he instead focused on putting himself in position. Steve was further away now, ready to catch the same wave. Up ahead, two backlit figures appeared on the patio of the beach house.

Jesse felt the wave swell and rise underneath the surfboard. This was it. He stood and quickly placed his feet, bent his knees and found his center of gravity almost simultaneously. The wave carried him as if it understood his intentions and Jesse couldn't remember the last time surfing was so much fun. It no longer mattered who got to shore first. Jesse was caught up enjoying the moment.

The wave continued to shrink until it melted into the clean sand. Jesse stumbled a little as the surfboard sank suddenly, then hopped off and picked up the board. Steve arrived seconds later.

"Good ride," Steve commented, following suit and stepping into the wet sand.

Jesse simply nodded, looking out onto the darkening horizon in appreciation. When he turned back to the detective, Steve was looking at him expectantly. Jesse grinned and pulled up his shorts against the extreme pull of gravity. "Wanna fire up the Playstation 2?"

"Never thought you'd ask."

The two stuck their surfboards in the sand side by side then bounded up the deck steps en route to the back door. Mark and Amanda were sitting at the patio table, talking quietly and obviously enjoying the radiant sunset. Mark was dressed down and wearing his favorite button down short sleeved shirt, which was blowing slightly in the gentle ocean breeze. Amanda was dressed to impress, as was her habit. Mark and Amanda stopped their conversation when the two men reached the deck.

'Mischief,' Jesse thought with a gleam in his eyes. He pulled up his heavy, dripping shorts which had settled low on his hips and ran to Amanda. Before a Sloan could shout a warning, Jesse pulled her against him and effectively saturated her clean clothes before she jumped to her feet and pushed him away.

"Jesse!" She shrieked, and Jesse was proud even as he stumbled back. "You little brat!" Amanda shot a deadly glare at Mark and Steve to silence their laughter before she began wringing out her clothes. "Do you have any idea how much this outfit cost? If it is dry clean only you will pay the bill, Travis." She paused, looking in Jesse's eyes. "Do you know what you remind me of? A big, dopey Golden Retriever!"

Steve bent over in laughter and turned away as Mark agreed. "You know, she's right Jess. I mean, you're always good-natured, you assume everyone's your friend, you love the water†and you'll eat just about anything that's put in front of you!"

Jesse let his jaw drop with false indignity. "Hey- I resemble that remark! Come on Steve, let's go."

Steve picked himself up from where he was currently convulsing with silent laughter and obediently went inside. Jesse shot one more challenging look at Mark and Amanda before she called out again.

"Hey plumber boy, pull up your shorts!"

Jesse made an exaggerated show of doing so and followed Steve with a smile on his face.

When the sliding glass door shut, Mark and Amanda were left grinning at each other and at the watery footprints left behind on the wooden deck.

o0O0o

"Thanks for the ride," Jesse said as Amanda stopped her car next to his Mustang.

"No problem Jesse, I'm glad you had fun tonight. You feelin' better?"

After stepping out, Jesse shut the passenger door and leaned on the frame of the open window. "I am. It was the perfect way to start my day off."

"The amazing Dr. Travis has a day off?" Amanda asked with a teasing smile.

"Well, Dr. Travis has a day off. Now it's Chef Travis' turn."

"That's what I thought. You work too hard, kid."

"Don't I know it," Jesse sighed as he started to back away. "Gotta pay the rent on that fine apartment of mine."

Amanda laughed and Jesse smiled from watching her. "Maybe I'll talk Mark into stopping by for lunch tomorrow."

"Sounds good. See you then." Jesse straightened as Amanda put her car in reverse then returned her goodbye wave. He was left alone in the quiet parking lot of Community General Hospital. Jesse pulled his keys from his pocket and started the short distance to his car. The only sounds were the lonely chirps of nocturnal crickets and Jesse's overworked mind translated the noise into the beeping of a heart monitor. He shook his head and stopped to unlock the car. "I need to get out more," he said quietly to himself.

Jesse opened the door and tossed the plastic grocery bag of wet clothes into the back seat before settling himself behind the wheel. He and Steve had holed themselves up in the den for a couple hours while they competed against each other on the Playstation. He wondered when Steve had found the time to get so good at the games that Jesse use to reign supreme over. Shaking his head at the memory of Steve's last minute come-back, Jesse started the car and left the parking lot.

Still under the influence of the last racing game, Jesse drove a little faster than normal and returned to his apartment in record time.

Yeah, the air conditioning was still broken.

Jesse trudged into the elevator, barley noticing that the repairmen had long since abandoned their job for the day. The plastic bag plopped to the floor by his feet as he pushed the button for his floor. "Doors close on ground level, open on my level," Jesse narrated. This was one of his bad habits, if that's what talking to yourself classified as. Jesse knew it was sad, but occasionally being caught narrating himself wasn't enough embarrassment to make him stop. He grabbed his bag and drug it down the hall with him, stopping again to unlock the door to his sauna- apartment.

Jesse stepped into the dark cave of heat and figured that turning on the overhead light would only make it worse. Instead he clapped- he got a kick out of that every time- and illuminated a table lamp in the corner. The lone survivor of the small aquarium looked at him in wide-eyed surprise. Jesse kicked the door shut. Hadn't there been a South Park episode centering around a demonic fish like that?

Jesse left the bag of wet clothes by the door in hopes that it would remind him to wash his clothes tomorrow. Actually, there were clothes strewn out all over the apartment so he shouldn't have that hard of a time. He turned the latch on the deadbolt with one hand and began peeling off his T-shirt with the other before the metal had fully slid into the doorframe. The shorts went next, landing somewhere near the small couch. His kicked shoes added another scuff to his growing collection on the baseboard of the white wall.

Now the warm air was free to circulate around his bare skin and Jesse barely glanced at the contents of his refrigerator still on the kitchen floor as he headed straight to bed. Tomorrow he could sleep in, until nine at least, before he would have to be at BBQ Bob's. He fell face down on the mattress, set his alarm clock, and promptly fell asleep.