Eric's phone rang in his pocket toward the end of the day, snapping him out of the contemplative haze he'd lapsed into waiting for DNA test results. "Delko," he answered without looking at the Caller ID.

"Hey handsome."

He recognized the voice instantly and smiled. "Hey Shauna. You on your way?"

"That's why I'm calling," she explained. "I'm gonna be a little bit later than I thought. One of our guys got hurt pretty badly at practice today, and I'm at the hospital with him."

"That's terrible!"

"He'll be okay," she assured him. "The doctors are taking good care of him, and the head trainer and his coach are on their way, but I can't leave until they get here."

"No problem," he replied understandingly. "Why don't you swing by the lab here and pick me up when you're done? We'll have to make a stop on the way out, but I've got some paperwork to catch up on, and I can do that while I wait for you."

"Sounds like a good plan," she smiled. "I'll even leave Frankie in the truck when I come inside."

That earned her a chuckle. "Horatio will appreciate that."

They said their good-byes and Eric set up shop in one of the unused conference rooms, free of distractions as long as he didn't gaze too long through the heavy glass into the other parts of the lab. He dropped his stack of files onto the table and parked himself in a chair, pen in hand, sighing heavily. Slowly slogging through the paperwork, he added page and case numbers to official reports, and filled in other minor details that were necessary for a court appearance. Halfway through his stack a uniformed officer appeared at the door.

"Ready for a break?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"She here?"

The officer nodded. "Waiting for you at reception."

His lips formed his own pleased smile in response. "Great," he said, rising from his chair and stretching his stiff limbs.

"I told her you'd be ready in a second."

"Thanks Paula," he called as she disappeared around a corner, waiving her acknowledgement. Gathering his files and depositing them in their proper place, he made his way to the lobby where Shauna was perched on the edge of one of the bank of chairs against the wall. "I hear there's a beautiful woman waiting for me out here," he called as he approached, grinning.

She rose, a sly smirk spreading across her face. "Well she must've left, so you're stuck with me."

He kissed her forehead affectionately, sliding a hand over her shoulder. "There's a woman more beautiful than you?"

She brushed off the compliment, but couldn't keep the pleasure out of her expression. "Ready?"

Eric grinned. "Oh yeah, I've been looking forward to this all day."

Shauna led him to her truck and waiting dog. "Frankie's been excited all day, too," she told him as they walked. "It's like he knows where we're taking him."

"He's a smart dog," Eric grinned. "He probably does."

ooo

They arrived at the beach an hour and forty-five minutes later after a stop at Eric's parent's home, frustrated with traffic and happy to be out of Shauna's truck. Frankie bounced out of the back seat wagging his tail, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he danced around Eric, his exuberance only briefly tempered when Shauna hooked the leash to his collar.

"The law's the law, Frankie-boy," she told him apologetically. "And the law says you have to be leashed." When they started moving, though, the dog quickly took the lead, his excitement returning despite the restraint.

"I don't think he minds too much," Eric chuckled, watching the dog prance up the sidewalk and onto the sand.

Shauna smothered a laugh when a couple spotted the big Dane and walked a wide circle around him. "He just wants to run and play," she confirmed. "Leashed or not."

Eric jogged out to the end of the tether and scratched Frankie's back and ears, egging the canine on when he attempted to wrestle with his human playmate. "C'mon Frankie!" he called, grinning broadly and making growling noises. "You wanna play? Then let's go!"

Shauna dissolved into giggles, trying vainly to keep the leash from twisting around both man and dog as the two roughhoused, ignoring annoyed looks from several of the other beachgoers. Eric tired first, giving up long before Frankie was ready and sprawling out on the sand, much to the animal's dismay. He nosed Eric, licking his face and hands, pointedly dodging Shauna's attempts to detangle him and focusing instead on rousing the CSI for another match.

"I surrender!" Eric laughed, throwing his arms up in the air. The gesture drew Frankie's attention, and the spotted dog lunged.

Fortunately Shauna caught him before he could land on an unprepared Eric. "Francis!" she called sharply, shifting the Great Dane's focus from playtime to good behavior. He halted pre-leap and dropped his haunches to the ground in a sit position, swinging his round brown eyes toward his mistress for approval. "Good boy," she confirmed, rewarding him with a pat. "You can't jump on people without warning them, you know." A smile crept over her face when she continued, "And you can't flatten Eric before we open up that basket his mother put together for us."

Frankie's tail wagged cheerfully as Eric pealed himself off the beach. "Let's do that now," he decided. "I'm starving."

"After going ten rounds with Joe Louis, here, I bet you are," she smirked. Frankie fell into step beside them and they made their way back to the truck to pick up the basket in question before heading back out onto the sand. The big canine sniffed inquisitively, his ears pricking up as he recognized the smell of something familiar. "I think he knows what it is."

"He probably has a good idea," Eric nodded. "Let's find a nice place to sit and spread out, and then he'll see what's in here."

"Whether he gets to eat any of it or not, we'll see," Shauna smirked at her pet. "The last thing we need is a huge dog throwing up all over the place."

Frankie bounced around them in anticipation as the pair chose a spot to spread a blanket and pop open the picnic basket. "You think my mother's cooking is going to make him sick?" Eric asked with mock annoyance. "I'll have you know—"

She cut him off with another smirk, this one less jovial. "I'll have you know that the cook has very little to do with it. Some of the most delicious food in the world can kill a dog," she reminded him.

The canine in question knew the rules about mealtime, too, and parked himself on the sand at the edge of the blanket, far enough away to keep him from getting in trouble but close enough to try to use his sad-hungry-puppy face to score a treat. Eric threw him a sidelong glance, then returned his attention back to Shauna. "True. And we wouldn't want anything to happen to my man over here," he smiled, reaching over to scratch Frankie's ears.

"I can't imagine not having him around," she commented in return. "I've had him since he was eight weeks old. I just…don't know what I'd do without him."

Eric was silent for several long moments, opening up containers and arranging items on the blanket without making eye contact. "I know how that feels," he finally answered quietly.

Shauna's gaze fell on his face, her expression softening noticeably. "Yeah, you do."

A small smile crept across her companion's face as he lifted his dark eyes to her blue ones. "You know, Speed would have liked you."

"You think so?" she asked, handing him a plate.

He noted the genuine interest in her voice and continued. "Absolutely. You're smart, you're beautiful, you're devoted to your friends and family. You've got a good sense of humor, too—he would have picked up on that right away. Five minutes after meeting him, the two of you would have been tag-teaming me like you'd known each other for years."

"He liked to tease, huh?" she asked, smiling gently.

Eric chuckled lightly. "He was merciless sometimes. He'd rag on me about the women I dated, about the way I did my job. If he were here he'd ask you how you manage to put up with me."

"Perhaps the Eric I know is a little different than the one he knew," she offered delicately.

"More mature, you mean?" When she nodded, he did too. "I think that was his goal, to try to get me to grow up. On the outside Speed was the kind of guy that didn't let anything get to him, didn't take anything too seriously. He always seemed…very cool."

"James Dean," she supplied lightly.

Eric grinned. "Right down to the badass bike. But he never did anything without a reason. And he was dedicated to the Lab—that's why he was always on me at work. If we screwed something up in collecting or processing evidence it meant that someone who had committed a crime, who had hurt people, could go free. That was just not an option as far as Tim was concerned."

"And he tried to impress that upon you, too," she added.

"Yeah, he definitely tried." He paused a moment, attempting to put his thoughts in an order that made sense. "I think…I think he just wanted to see me do something with my life, y'know? Not waste it away partying all the time, but do something meaningful."

Shauna reached over and covered his hand with hers, squeezing affectionately. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you now."

"Not of the way I acted after the funeral," Eric disagreed with a grimace. "He wasn't exactly into settling down himself, but a string of one-night stands that don't even qualify as one-night stands would have pissed him off…especially when I lost my badge to one of them. He'd have said his piece and let me make my own mistakes with those girls, but when my badge was used to commit a crime?"

"Unacceptable," she finished for him. "You've come a long way since then, though. For one thing, you're sitting here with me—who you've treated like gold," she reminded him with a wide smile, "and this beautiful picnic dinner."

A low whine from the edge of the blanket broke the mood and reminded them that they were not the only two at this gathering. Frankie lay attentively in the sand, trying hard to be patient amid the wonderful smells emanating from the various containers set out, eliciting a laugh from both of his human companions.

Eric grabbed a serving spoon and began dishing out food onto their plates, sneaking the Great Dane a few chunks of cold chicken when Shauna wasn't looking. "My mother is the best cook in the world, and I'm not just saying that because she's my mother," he assured her.

"Your mother looked horrified when I suggested potato salad was an acceptable meal by itself," Shauna returned, handing him a napkin and fork.

"But she liked you."

She pressed her lips together in though. "You sure? She seemed kind of disappointed to me."

He handed her soda can with a laugh. "She's only disappointed because we're not together. She was actually excited that I brought you by."

"How many other women have you brought home?" Shauna asked curiously, pretending not to notice another scrap of chicken being spirited over to her dog.

"Ever?" Eric shoveled a forkful of food into his mouth and thought carefully before answering. "Three," he concluded. "And one of them was Calleigh."

That earned him a giggle. "That explains why your mother tried to overlook my potato salad comment. She was so hopeful!" They were quiet a few minutes, enjoying the food and the weather, praising Frankie for his continued self-control. Then a thought occurred to Shauna and her smile softened. "I bet Speed would have been very impressed with you for introducing me to your parents."

Eric's eyes twinkled in response as he imagined the look that might have been on his friend's face, and he let loose a burst of buoyant laughter. "That would have been an interesting conversation."