if you've stuck with me from the beginning & you're still here, great! here's the next chapter.

thanks a bunch, btw, for the people who leave comments! & also to those who visit, maybe read a bit. & of course, to the ones who put me on their story alert or their favorite story/author list. *hinthint*

anyways, here's the promised long chapter.


December 16th

She tapped her delicate nail-polished fingernails in a nameless rhythm on the table. Waiting for results was like watching a glacier move; they both take a hell of a long time for progress to be visible.

Her day started out ordinary. She came to work, visited the scene of a gunfight, came back to the lab, and worked. It was mid-afternoon and she hasn't seen anyone for a couple hours.

Calleigh wondered what Ryan would do today. She felt so special being the center of his attention (not that she never wasn't, she was just never aware).

Her cell phone resonated through her thoughts.

"Duquesne."

"Calleigh, it's Horatio." The sound of her boss' voice was refreshing, after being in solitude for so long.

"Yes, Horatio. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like for you to revisit the scene, please. I seem to have misplaced my sunglasses."

The blonde grew slightly irritated, but as politely as she could (this was her boss she was talking to), she asked him, "And I'm going to possibly retrieve them instead of you because…?"

"… Because I'm taking my lunch break. And I'm lieutenant, so what I say goes. Chop-chop, Miss Duquesne. We wouldn't want some patrol officer using the finders-keepers rule, now would we? Or worse, having my silhouettes be compensated through your check. Well, worse for you, at least."

And with that he hung up. Calleigh was a bit astonished at the odd behavior her boss showed during their phone conversation.

Still, he was the boss, so she had no choice but to return to the scene and search for Horatio's favorite accessory. It'd be good to get fresh air, anyways.

Calleigh took her set of keys and made her way to the front parking lot. Her Hummer sat tall and shiny in her designated parking spot.

The large vehicle's doors unlocked as Calleigh pressed the button. She stepped on the ledge and noticed a white envelope stuck to her steering wheel. Sitting in the driver's seat, she pulled the door closed before taking the letter out.

Dearest Calleigh,

Don't start the engine. The sunglasses were never lost; it was all a lure. I thought this was better than the simple 'Go check your Hummer'.

I hope you don't mind that I accidentally scratched your paint job when I was jimmying the lock.

Calleigh, in all her frustration, didn't even notice. She unrolled the window and stuck her head out to see the damage but she didn't have a good view. She promised herself to check it out after she finished reading the letter and finding the present.

Made you look, didn't I?

Damn! She never realized how predictable she was. Or was it just Ryan who was so observant? She picked the latter, and smiled because of how well he knew her.

Anyways. Today's day number four. Open up the glove compartment.

She reached over and obeyed Ryan, and found three purple flip phones. The lively picture of Tweety bird was decorated on the covers. She hoped this wasn't another of his 'creative juices flowing into a dam' moment.

On the fourth day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Four calling birds

So this is the part where you ask yourself, 'if the next verse says four, how come I've only got three?' Well…

At that moment one of the flip phones crackled. Calleigh jumped at the sound; how strange that it would make a noise right when she found them.

"Calleigh? Calleigh? This is your Hummer, right? Over."

She found the phone transmitting the voice and flipped it open. To her surprise it wasn't a cell, rather, a walkie-talkie.

"If you're not Calleigh, either you've got the wrong car, or I do. It's probably you who's wrong; I lied down flat on the dirty pavement checking that the spot said C. Duquesne. Over."

"Relax, Wolfe. It's me. And you don't need to say 'over' all the time."

"You're right, Duquesne, I don't have to. But if I don't it's just like we're talking on the phone, and where's the fun in conversing like that on walkie-talkies? Over."

"Well…" Calleigh searched for a reasonable argument. "Wow. You're right."

… She figured maybe the connection was lost until she realized she forgot to say something.

"Over."

"Haha, there we go. See? Isn't this more fun? Over."

"Oh, tons more fun. Tell me something. How exactly did you get Horatio to play along? Over."

"My conversation with H went a little something like this:…

'Hey, H, I've got a question.'

'What do you need, Mr. Wolfe?'

'I need to get Calleigh in her Hummer.'

'What's wrong? What happened to her?'

'Oh, no, nothing. She's fine. I just… I'm trying to teach her something and… I just need her to go inside her Hummer.'

'Why don't you just tell her?'

'It's…it's not as fun if I do that.'

'All right, well, Christmas is coming, and I wouldn't have the Christmas spirit if I didn't offer you my services, so yes. I'll get her inside.'

'Thanks, H.'

'Wait. Just one more question…what should I tell her?'

'…Uh…I don't know. Tell her you lost your sunglasses at the scene or something. I'm giving you the space to think up something practical.'

…and I left before he said anything more. And so I was never actually there for your encounter. What did he say? Over."

"The exact same thing you suggested. Kudos to your Horatio impersonation, by the way. Over."

"Oh, well, thank you. I can say that I didn't practice, but then I'd be lying. Over."

They shared a laugh, though on the speakers it sounded like they were both having coughing fits.

"Okay, so four calling birds. Three with you, one with me; four – check. They're walkie-talkies; calling – check. Tweety bird's on each one; birds – check. Over."

"Dare I say it, Ryan, you're getting super creative here. Over."

"I tried not to get you a bunch of birds, since a) they're expensive as hell, and b) how boring would that be? Over."

Calleigh laughed (he thought her laugh still sounded lovely over the static). "Well, I think I'm remembering the lines, so they're doing their jobs, regardless of whether they're live birds or stuffed birds or not even birds. Over."

"That's great! There's more days left, so leave some space in that large brain of yours. Oh, I gotta go. Delko's looking at me funny. He probably thinks I'm talking into a fake flip phone. Over."

"Don't worry about Eric. He's just jealous he doesn't have one. Over"

"Actually… Never mind. Just keep reading the letter, okay? Over."

"How did you know –"

"Wolfe, out! Over."

Calleigh made a mental note to ask him – in person and in a corner, so he wouldn't find some way to escape – how he knew all these things about her. And how his timing just seemed so impeccable each day.

But first, the letter.

Since there's four walkie-talkies, and four of us on the team – minus Horatio (I don't think he'd really like being seen with a purple Tweety bird thing clipped to his superhero utility belt) – maybe you could find it in that big, sweet, generous heart of yours to share them with Delko, Natalia, and I.

Besides, we both know how that shade of purple brings out the color in my eyes beautifully. And it'd be pretty hilarious seeing Macho Delko holding it. We could even use them in our next expedition to the 'Glades; I bet the connection is way better than the so-called 'top-notch' radios the lab's got.

Have a great day experimenting with the electronic calling birds, Calleigh.

Hopefully Yours,

Ryan

Hopefully yours? She wondered what that implied. She hoped it was what she thought it meant. She'd ask him that too later.

Calleigh stepped out and covered the Miami sunshine with her eyes to keep her from getting blinded. She looked for the supposed scratches Ryan had made. There weren't any. So she read over the card to make sure she had read it properly.

In smaller font – she must have covered it with her hands while she was reading it in the Hummer – read,

PS. I didn't jimmy your door, by the way. Delko did.

PPS. I was just kidding about that first one. Horatio lent me the spare keys.


while i'ma be working my bum off on the next chapters to be hopefully done before the christmas spirit fades, leave a review, please. i just love the warm fuzzy feeling they give me. :D