hi! thanks soo much for the reviews; i love that you guys are enjoying this. as long as it takes for me to write it & tweak it, i always have a hilarious time just fantasizing the characters doing it.

i hope hope hope you still have some Christmas spirit left in you, because i've got a couple more chapters to go.

so, enjoy!


December 19th

If there was one thing Calleigh Duquesne hated more than death, it would definitely be smelly death. She and Natalia had the bad luck of spending their Friday morning in the small cramped one-room apartment of a bloater. A bloater whose remains weren't contained in a single space; the murderer left them a nice soup as a gift.

Whoever made up TGIF has obviously never been in the same room as a bloater.

Natalia's Hummer smelled, Alexx's van most probably smelled, and worst of all, they smelled.

"Of all the days to get a bloater, huh?" Natalia made a smooth left turn into the parking lot of the lab.

"I'd rather not get a bloater on any day." Although she would never admit it, she was glad they didn't take her company vehicle; at least all she had to clean was herself.

"Mm. You got that right. I would like nothing more than to soak myself in a nice warm hot tub."

"Oh, of course. Right up until I get raisin skin," Calleigh added. Both women dreamed for a while, knowing that in their line of work the longest shower they could take was probably fifteen minutes tops.

'Crime never takes a shower', Horatio would probably say. Yeah, but crime's not the one who stood in what was once a whole person, and crime didn't stay behind to watch their handiwork rot.

They walked swiftly to the showers, ignoring the disgusted looks and the epic covering of noses.

"Look at these people. It's like they've never smelled decomp." Calleigh whispered to Natalia.

"I know! I think they're just exaggerating. We don't smell that bad, do we?"

She earned a 'what do you think?' glare from the blonde. "Okay, I take that back. Still, overdramatic much?" Natalia said the last sentence loud enough on purpose for everyone to hear.

The women's shower room was empty. Both women had already retrieved their change of clothes from the locker room – they cleared the room inhumanly fast – and were getting ready to step into separate stalls.

"Oh, no." Natalia, wrapped only in a towel, turned to Calleigh, who was still undressing. "I forgot to pick up some lemons from the break room."

"Call Maxine and ask her to drop some off," Calleigh suggested, standing up and wrapping her body with a similar white towel before turning to Natalia.

"Except we left our cell phones in our lockers… You know what? You go on ahead. I'll just find a bathrobe and get them myself. I'll cover myself in ten towels if I have to."

Calleigh nodded, and the women went their different ways.

--

Calleigh removed her slippers and stepped in the wide room. One side of the shower room had stalls – at most, ten women could shower simultaneously. The other side was a row of hooks for towels, clothes, pretty much anything hook-able. The floor was typically bathroom-tiled, with several drains in a straight line to prevent flooding.

A big chunk of white stood out among the brown tiles and walls. Calleigh had never seen it there before, and there was no news of a renovation. Slowly she walked up to it, one arm across her chest to keep the towel up.

It was a bathtub. The tub was filled about ¾ full with lukewarm water. But what made Calleigh smile was the seven white toys floating around.

Looking at her reflection, she noticed a distorted black lettering at the bottom of the tub. She reached in and fished out a letter inside a clear plastic bag. The letter was unfolded, and once she wiped away the drops of water left behind, she could read the words clearly.

To my favorite lady,

You not only reek of decomp, you also reek of everything that's wonderful.

Man, how lame was that? Sorry, I tried.

How about I start over?

Firstly, I had no influence whatsoever about you and Natalia getting the bloater and me and Delko getting the open-and-shut robbery case. It's over and done with, so just…think positive about this: Lucky for me that I got this all set up, and lucky for you to get this all set up. So now we're both lucky.

Today is the seventh day.

On the seventh day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Sevens swans-a-swimming

I couldn't find swimming swans. Well I could, but none that could all fit in the bathtub. So I went home (ahem, I mean, I went to the store) and got seven yellow rubber duckies. Then I came back to work and painted them white with waterproof paint. Actually, I dipped the duckies one by one in a tub of paint and then I dried them in Delko's fuming hood while he wasn't looking, but nobody needs to know that.

So go ahead and take as long as you'd like in the bathtub. Play with the 'swans' like you used to when you were a child – haha, or in my case, 'like you used to yesterday night' – and relax. Horatio's out on a call; he won't be bothering you with his 'Crime never takes a shower' speech.

Enjoy the bath, Cal.

Waiting for your lemon-freshness,

Ryan

PS. When you see Maxine, give her a huge hug and owe her your life, because I certainly wasn't the one who got the bathtub in there. I know my limits when it comes to gender-separated showers.

PPS. No need to slice your lemons. The water's been lemon-ed.

PPPS. I gotta try this again, so bare with me, okay? Take two.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Even though you stink,

I still love you.

How's that?

Calleigh clutched the letter in one hand, let her towel drop, and stepped in the bathtub. She moaned slightly at the warmness of the water and slowly she lowered herself until only her neck was above surface and the water was up to the brim of the tub. The lemons started to work their magic.

She took a rubber swan and squeezed it, its squeak the only sound to be heard in the shower room. Then she placed it back down, watched it float away from the other six, and created a current with her free hand to direct it back to the fleet.

Then she read his poem again and again until it was all she could think about. With a big smile across her beautiful face she whispered, "I love you too."


aw, even though i wrote it, i still think the last part's so cute. haha & the poem was so lame; my bad.

let me know what you think! :]