Author's Note: Where I am, Aiden is still an integral part of the CSI: NY team. Sorry for the long delay. Don't really have a reason.
Disclaimer: CSI:NY is the property of Jerry Bruckheimer, Anthony Zuiker and anyone else who owns it. This story was written strictly for my own personal pleasure. Any similarities between this story's plot and any others is purely coincidental. No plagiarism is intended.
Drag this lake. (Part II).
As reality began to trade in on the slowly awakening man, the clock above the ornamental fire place ticked over to one o'clock in the morning. Stretching to wake himself further, he dislodged the blanket that had cocooned him as he slept. Finally recalling the day just passed, Danny Messer made a mental note to thank his since departed best friend for her care the night before. Picking up the blanket that had fallen on the floor, he folded it in a slightly hap-hazard manner and threw it over the back of the divan.
Checking that the door to his apartment was locked, he found that she had catered for that as well. Smiling to himself, the flashing number on his message machine reminded him that he had work in under seven hours.
A final cursory glance of his apartment drew his eyes to the remnants of the popcorn he had enjoyed the night before. Placing the bowl in the dishwasher, he idled his way to bed, barely remembering to set his alarm before falling into a more fitful sleep than the one he had enjoyed in Aiden's presence. The remnants of the headache fought there way back to annoy him further. Today was not going to be pleasant.
As Aiden hung up her coat in her locker, the occupier of her thoughts entered looking only slightly better than the day before. Knowing his taking one day off was pushing it, she skipped over the needless griping and offered him a smile in greeting. Once it was returned, she resumed organising her locker into something more manageable. Her rushing to leave yesterday had left it in a state of disarray.
Closing the doors of their lockers, synchronised through months of partnership they left the locker room in search of Mac and their latest assignment.
Aiden drove the car fluidly through the heavy rush-hour traffic, making it look deceptively easy. They were making good time, and would possibly beat Flack to the crime scene, even though he was coming from a similar distance in the opposite direction. She smiled to herself as she listened to the news broadcast on the radio, careful to keep the volume at a bearable level for her partner. She was well aware that, even if he was being truthful about his current condition, any unneeded stimulus would cause a relapse. She still wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with him.
Danny Messer sat on the passenger side, nursing a minor migraine and hoping Aiden wouldn't notice. She was surprisingly perceptive when it came to anything involving Danny Messer. Don't think it wasn't lost on him. This, however, was just one of those nigly little things due to stress. Loosing that promotion, and the confrontation with Mac had left Danny a little drained. He was still trying to put things into perspective, and that, he was sure, was the source of his full blown headache of the day before. Honestly, he was just glad to be on a job, take his mind off things.
The fact that he was partnered with Aiden on this crime certainly helped matters. Easy to forget about your woes when she was near.
"Supposedly, this crime's a messy one. Something about the guy being tortured. Wouldn't want you to mess up your pretty new shoes." He remarked, having noticed them earlier.
"Sure you have the stomach for it?" She returned, trying to shoot him a challenging glance and navigate a tricky turn at the same time. She knew full well he could, if his usual choice in film was any indication. If it wasn't Sci-Fi it had to have an excessive amount of blood and gore. She couldn't really complain. Maybe not so much the Sci-Fi part, but she certainly had a penchant for the latter. Two highly educated young adults who liked nothing more than to watch often plotless violence.
They continued to banter good naturedly until they reached the crime scene. They were both aware that, like ant crime, this was a serious situation. Their light-hearted conversation did not detract from that.
It turned out Flack had beaten her after all as she pulled up behind his car and switched off the engine. Danny had opened the door and stepped out of the car before she had pulled the keys from the ignition. She smiled at his back as she exited the car and walked up behind him. He was obviously eager to get his hands dirty.