Title: Circling
Disclaimer: Characters are property of CBS, Alliance Atlantis and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Note: I'm not a diehard fan of CSI: NY, but hopefully I've watched enough episodes to keep the characterization on track. Everyone here writes such great stories, and I couldn't resist giving this a shot myself.
"Done already?" he asked as a greeting.
She paused for a moment, removing her cell phone from her ear to check that she had indeed dialed the correct number.
"Hello?" Danny was waiting on the line for a response of some sort.
Aiden returned the phone to its rightful place by her ear. "Yeah, all done." she answered. "Want some company?" She was finished her work in the lab, and figured he'd want some help processing the badly mutilated car in the garage.
"Whose?" He was grinning on the other end and she knew it.
She didn't bother to humor him. "I'll be there in 5."
She walked into the garage, and watched him for a moment before she spoke, removing her long overcoat as she did so. "You took a risk there."
He didn't even look up. "Only one?"
"On the phone...answering it like that." she clarified with exaggerated patience. "What if it was Mac?"
He laughed. He loved teasing her. "I knew it wasn't."
The tinge of confidence in his voice made her stop as she mentally filtered through as many calls as she had made to him as she could remember "You always know when it's me. You answer the phone with 'yeah'." she concluded.
He emerged from the other side of the car, resting his arms on the roof so he could see her over it. "Yes." he confirmed, slightly amused. He could almost see her think.
She glared at him. "How? I called you last week when you were on a case with Stella. You couldn't have known for sure it wasn't her. We have the same office issue phone and I never know who the hell is calling." She pulled her hair back in one fluid movement and walked around the car, stopping to observe the various scratchs and dents.
"Aiden, I know when it's you"
She raised her eyebrows, coming to a stop abruptly in front of him.
"When I pick up, you're chewing on your lip. Don't tell me you don't do it"
"Only when I'm impatient." she admitted. But you're telling me you can hear that?"
"If I have the volume on high."
She rolled her eyes. "You really are something else."
"Thanks." He smirked. "It's kind of cute."
"What is?"
"The way you do that on the phone. But really. How much faster do you expect me to pick up?" He grinned at her.
"You sir," she said with a half-smile as she stabbed him in the chest with a finger, "are full of it."
He fell silent for a moment, scrutinizing her face. Knowing that she had nothing stuck in her teeth, she matched his stare, refusing to speak first.
He caved first.
He leaned in, his lips just barely grazing her ear. "You're doing it right now." he whispered.
She froze, experimentally moving her bottom lip. Sure enough, it was trapped between her teeth and her tongue.
He was already halfway out the door when she came up with an appropriate response. "I'm going to drop this off at Trace." he called, waving an envelope. I'll be back in a couple.
She groaned. He knew to quit while he was ahead.
The shrill tone of a cellphone rang out, and with a sigh, she followed the sound to retrive it. She found Danny's phone on the counter, and flipped it open.
His phone had caller ID.
