Disclaimer: I don't own anything CSI Miami, this is not for profit, just for fun...Vanessa Pedrosa is a figment of my own imagination.

A/N: Many thanks to Yoda11, Bmangka & Prisca512 thanks for the love!

Calleigh walked towards the trace lab not really having any real reason to be there other than to pester Speedle with some more questions about who he was dating…it wasn't that she wanted to know so that she could spread gossip all through the department, it was more about knowing that whoever the woman was that she was right for her close friend. She noticed Detective Pedrosa was also in the lab, no doubt getting brought up to date on the details of the case she was working with the team. Earlier in the morning a team of three men had attempted an armed robbery on Dade Mutual Funds. The attack had been foiled by a nearby patrol unit leaving one of the suspects dead and two others in the wind. Calleigh smiled slightly, realizing that Vanessa being there would probably work to her advantage – they could gang up on Tim, he'd have to tell them eventually.

"Has he told you yet?" Calleigh demanded looking between her two colleagues expectantly, not phased that she'd interrupted Vanessa mid-sentence.

"Has who told me what?" Vanessa inquired politely.

"Well, I have it from a reliable source that our trace expert here was called away from a date to attend the Bataldo case last week. Now seeing as my source was Tim himself I'm a little bewildered as to why there haven't been any more details. For the life of me I can't think why he won't tell me who the lucky woman is." Calleigh ranted, she hated being left out of the loop. Eric obviously knew about Speedle's date but despite all of her best efforts and countless feminine wiles she couldn't get him to tell her either.

Vanessa tilted her head to the side slightly and looked at Speedle carefully.

"A date? Are you keeping secrets Speed?"

"Absolutely." He said, completely dead pan. "Now what does a man need to do to get a little work done in his own lab? Have you forgotten we are trying to solve a case here?" He chastised them halfheartedly.

"Hey I'm multi-tasking." Calleigh protested.

Speed raised his thick dark eyebrow questioningly.

"I am. I'm grilling you while I wait for my results from DNA." Calleigh stood her ground for a moment longer before sighing and walking away. "I'm gonna find out eventually, resistance is futile." She warned before exiting the lab.

Vanessa broke out laughing the second Calleigh was out of sight.

"Are you scared?" She managed to ask between breaths.

"Nah, she's all talk she won't figure it out."

"How can you be so sure?" Vanessa challenged.

"She's had 6 months to figure it out and only now does she know that I'm seeing some one. Trust me she has no idea it's you." Tim indulged Vanessa is a slow grin, his brown eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Are you working tonight?" Speed asked as he lightly toyed with Vanessa's fingers.

"No I have tonight off. Come around when you're finished for the shift?" she asked him coyly.

"You bet babe." He promised giving her hand an extra squeeze before reluctantly letting her go. He watched her walking away from the trace lab until he couldn't see her anymore – all the time a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Dude pick your jaw up off of the floor, we've got work to do." Delko laughed.


Calleigh sat in the break room sipping slowly on a cup of chamomile tea as she thought about the meager evidence she'd collected. She knew that the woman in question had to be somehow involved in the work they did at the crime lab – other wise there would be no way Speedle would be discussing case evidence with her. Calleigh knew that they had been dating for a while but not exactly how long nor how serious it was – God, Tim wouldn't even tell her that! Did he not trust her anymore!

Calleigh had very few facts and too many possibilities – it shouldn't bother her this much that he was seeing someone…if she was being honest it wasn't that that bothered her but the fact that he didn't seem to trust her with the information. She'd tried asking him directly, she'd tried being coy and attempted to trick it out of him…her last weapon was truly a last resort, she knew it would work – it had always worked in the past. Calleigh flicked her curtain of white blonde hair back behind her shoulder and strode into the fingerprints lab.

"Eric could you tell me…"

"Calleigh give it up, I'm not telling you who Speedle is dating." Eric cut her off grinning slightly. Her incessant questions were driving him nuts but he loved knowing something she didn't.

"Eric could you please tell me if any of the prints we recovered at the Dade-Mutual Funds heist gave us any suspects from CODIS?" Calleigh requested not giving him the chance to interrupt her again. Eric looked over at her surprised, he'd forgotten that she had legitimate cases to ask – she wasn't just playing Nancy Drew with Speedle's love life.

"Sure thing Cal. Ahh, two prints came back as possibles. Thomas McDowd, 34 long history of armed hold ups, last paroled in 2001. Also Patrick Keener, 28 computer hacker from U of M. He got into trouble a few years back for hacking into the university database and selling female students phone numbers to the highest bidders. Coincidentally it was Keener's blood we found leading away from the bank."

"Thanks Eric." Calleigh started to walk out of the lab giving off just the right mixture of nonchalance and mild affront she barely got as far as the doorway before Eric called out to her.

"Calleigh! Look, I'm sorry I jumped the gun – I just thought…"

"I know what you though Eric." Calleigh looked away from him for a few calculated seconds. "I didn't like not knowing is all, but now I do and it's none of my business. What they get up to on their own time is their own business." Eric just watched dumbfounded as Calleigh walked away from him; he had no idea that she was grinning from ear to ear. He jogged to catch up with her following her wordlessly to the break room before pushing her any further.

"So now that you know, you're okay with it?" Eric asked her again still not sure he was believing what he was hearing.

"Of course I am Eric – Tim is my friend, I just want him to be happy."

"I just thought seeing as they are both friends of ours it might be a little weird."

"Why Eric? To be honest I don't know why I didn't see it sooner – they're good for each other. Tim's the happiest I've seen him in months."

"You know I think I caught him singing in the lab the other day." Eric laughed. It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, he hated keeping things from Calleigh, even something as seemingly innocuous as who his best friend was dating.

"You know Cal it's not like they were keeping it just from you – Speed tried to keep it from me too…" Calleigh rested her hand on top of Delko's, giving it a friendly squeeze.

"It's okay Eric, really – I understand…they wanted their privacy. I'd be exactly the same."

"Yeah but I have no idea how they managed to keep it quiet for so long, I mean Vanessa's face is such a billboard, especially when she gets caught in a lie."

"Vanessa?" Calleigh squeaked. She couldn't help it, hadn't meant to give away that she'd really had no idea who Delko was talking about. "Vanessa?! Tim and Vanessa?" Calleigh couldn't stop asking – this she hadn't seen coming, not from a mile off – she hadn't had even the slightest of inklings.

"Who did you think I was talking about Calleigh?" Realization settled across Delko's face. "You just played me Calleigh!" He accused angrily – Speed was going to eat him alive for this.

"No, I thought it was that new night shift woman – Rhonda from toxicology!."

"Rhonda?" Eric asked confused. "The tall redhead? Calleigh she has a girlfriend…"

"She has a girl…oh!" Calleigh breathed as the implications of what Eric told her sunk in.

Of all the people she had thought Tim might be seeing, Vanessa didn't even make her top ten. How could she have missed that? Vanessa and Calleigh had been getting closer over the last few months, their professional relationship extending more towards a personal friendship. Calleigh couldn't believe she'd been blind sided. In amongst the wonder of it all, if Calleigh was being truly honest with herself she was also feeling a little hurt. Why hadn't Vanessa told her this herself?

Vanessa breezed into the break room smiling broadly when she saw Calleigh. "Just the woman I was looking for! I feel the need for a girl's night out, first round is on me. What do you think?"

"You sure you don't want to let everyone else know before me? Maybe even check with Tim first?" Calleigh asked snidely before stalking out of the lab not looking at her supposed friend once.

Vanessa threw Eric a look, he knew he was in definite trouble.

"I thought she knew!" He protested giving her his best puppy dog eyes and holding his hands out as if to say don't hurt me, I'm innocent.

"What part of I'm telling Calleigh tonight made you think she knew already?" She demanded peevishly.


Calleigh avoided Vanessa's phone calls for the rest of the shift – she didn't know exactly why but she felt it was important that she did. She was making a stand, she'd decided. They'd made her look like an idiot – Vanessa andTim even Eric. Why hadn't they trusted her with the hush, hush information that Vanessa and Tim were seeing each other? She couldn't really see what the big deal was anyway. In the almost ten years that Calleigh had been with the Miami-Dade crime lab she had seen her fair share of inter-office relationships…Vanessa and Tim's didn't even count! She was MDPD not crime lab – fair enough they were both employed by the county but honestly what was all the fuss and bother about!

She watched as her cell chirped for the eighth time in ten minutes but she resolutely refused to answer. She watched the glowing screen fade as the call went unanswered. She turned back to her locker, pulling out her slim fitted leather jacket and shrugging it on. The message tone went of on her cell. She stared at it for a moment before sighing, pressing the playback button and holding it to her ear.

'Hey Cal, it's Vanessa…I know you don't like me much right now but I have our table at Rouge and an extra big cosmo coming with your name on … don't make me drink it, you know how silly I get on these things. Look, it's 7:30 now and if you don't get here soon, I'm going to be the sad, old, drunk lady hogging the hottest table in here … Someone might attack me for this perfect view…hurry. I'll see you soon?'

Calleigh sighed heavily as she slid onto the red leather stool across from Vanessa her face unreadable as she stated, "This does not mean I forgive you!"

"Peace offering?" Vanessa smiled weakly nudging across the promised fruity cocktail. Calleigh said nothing but took a slow sip of the sweet but tart drink.

"I know I was an idiot, I should have told you sooner…"

"So why didn't you?"

"Oh Calleigh, I don't think you realize it but you are like Tim's over protective sister…I mean that in the best way possible." Vanessa added hastily to avoid offending Calleigh any further.

"Look it's just, I worked so hard to get you guys to trust me in the first place okay and I really felt like, I don't know Calleigh, I felt like you and I had moved beyond just being colleagues and became actual friends."

"I thought we had." Calleigh snipped and instantly regretted it when she saw the hurt look flash in Vanessa's eyes.

"You know Calleigh we are in such a male dominated arena, I guess I just didn't want you to think of me as one of those women who can't work with men without falling into bed with them…I can't stand those women and this thing with Speedle it – it caught me completely off guard. I wasn't looking for it, it just found me. He kinda wheedled his way under my skin ya know?"

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I was so sure that I was going to ruin this beautiful thing I have with Speed and I knew when I did, that the lines were already drawn in the sand. Look Calleigh you've known Tim for a long time so obviously if anything were to go wrong he is where your loyalty would lie, and rightly so. I was being a stupid, insecure girl." Vanessa admitted.

Calleigh couldn't help but grin at her, "You are a goose, you know that right?" she laughed. Vanessa nodded sheepishly.

"Do you realize just how much gossip you owe me!" Calleigh laughed and Vanessa could not have been more pleased.


Several hours and about three or four cosmopolitans later Vanessa crawled into bed with Speedle snuggling into his wam body and gently kissing his chest.

"How did it go?" He asked his voice reverberating through Vanessa's body.

"We kissed and made up."

"Damn it, I knew I should have gone!" Speed sounded disappointed.

"Down boy!" Vanessa giggled stroking his broad chest rhythmically. "You know Calleigh is going to have words with you yet." She reminded him, her big blue eyes finding his – he offered her a bright cheeky grin.

"Don't worry your pretty head over me, I can take whatever she'll dish out." He reassured her placing a kiss on the crown of her head.

A/N Okay so this chapter was a little light, a bit of fluff but hey a little fluff goes a looong way. I want to make sure you get a feel for Vanessa before I turn her world upsode down and bring on the heavy angst...got you intrigued yet? Stay tuned there is definately moe coming at you!

As always please review, leave me a critique, a comment...sme love - I'm drives my muse wild and she goes into over drive & YOU get chapters faster.

xOx xOx