Title: Brief Encounters

Rating: K

Spoilers: None

Pairings: Weir/Caldwell

Summary: Elizabeth meets Steven Caldwell, with a little help from her dog.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters I use them for entertainment purposes but make no money out of it.

Authors Notes: This is for Sepik and for me as Weir and Caldwell are another of my 'Ships that pass in the Night'. You can defiantly see passion in their eyes.

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Elizabeth was staring into space and not paying attention until Sedge whined at her, she picked up his ball and threw it as far as she could and Sedge galloped off after it. When had Simon become so patronizing? Last night at the dinner party, he'd been treating her like a child; he'd actually patted her on the head and told her how clever she was. She had to get out of the house before she exploded so she'd taken Sedge for one of the longest walks of his life.

"Oh no, no Sedge, no, no, Sedge come here, heel Sedge, oh no, no" she called as her dog went hurtling towards the man taking a call on his mobile. She closed her eyes and waited for the thud, she opened them again to see a heap of man and dog on the grass. She ran over to him,

"I am so, so sorry he's not usually like this," she said as she held out her hand to pull him up, the man struggled to his feet,

"You could hire him out as a Weapon of Mass Destruction," said the man, brushing himself down. Elizabeth's lips twitched

"I have thought about it" she said, she crouched down and tapped Sedge on the nose "you are a bad dog". He gave her look that said 'Moi' "yes you, you are impossible" she scratched him behind the ear; she couldn't stay mad at him for long. "Are you sure you're ok" she asked the man

"I'm fine, only my ego is bruised" he said smiling "don't worry about me..." he bent down to look at Sedge's tag "...Elizabeth" her lips twitched again, she liked the way his eyes twinkled when he smiled

"And you are?" she asked

"Steven Caldwell" replied as he held out his hand, she shook it, she was a good-looking woman he thought. Sedge whined and he picked up the ball and threw it, Sedge ran off barking happily.

"A fellow dog lover?" she asked,

"I haven't owned a dog for a while, I'm in the Air Force so I'm not around a lot and it's not fair on the dog really," he said. Sedge returned with the ball and plopped it on the ground,

"I work abroad a lot but" damn she'd talked herself into a corner "but I have someone who looks after him for me", Sedge growled, "I know you're not fond of him but it's either that or kennels" she said, Sedge gave her a look that said he'd prefer the kennels. Caldwell picked up the ball and threw it again, Sedge bounded off.

"I take it he's not happy with the living arrangements?" Caldwell remarked

"I don't know what's come over him recently, he never used to be like this" she replied; only she knew she wasn't talking about the dog.

"He probably knows things are not happy at home," he said, Elizabeth nodded in an absent-minded way. Sedge came back with his ball and rolled over onto his back wanting a tummy tickle,

"Sedge you are so cheap," she said laughing as Caldwell bent down to tickle his belly. They carried on chatting whilst taking it in turns to throw the ball for the dog.

"Lizzie, Lizzie, I've come to take you home" called a voice, Elizabeth sighed with disappointment, Simon had the worst sense of timing ever.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you and thank you for being so understanding about my clumsy dog," she said

"My pleasure" he replied thinking that it could have been if he'd made a note of the phone number on the dog's tag. Elizabeth clipped the lead to Sedge's collar; Sedge whined and tried to pull her back to Caldwell. Caldwell scratched his ear and Sedge licked his hand.

"Come on you" she said and he followed. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and smiled sadly at Caldwell, Sedge nudged her leg as if to say I'm not such a bad dog am I?

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I gave Sedge my cat's attitude. Thanks for the reviews and suggestions. Don't be shy if there's a pairing you'd like to see drop me a line.