Distracted
Title: Distracted
Author: Ragna (goddess_loki)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Peyton Driscoll & female OC, mentions of Don Flack
Rating: PG
Author Prompt: Lord Byron
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the CSI franchise; they are owned by Jerry Bruckheimer, Anthony Zuicker, et. al. do. Samantha belongs to me.
Authors Notes: For thiscanbegin, who adores this OC. She joined around the time season 2 ended, so this is set at some vague point in S3. Only thing you need to know about her is that her brother was John Hagen from CSI: Miami.
---
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
from "So We'll Go No More A-Roving" by Lord Byron
Samantha sighed, looking out the window of the office she shared with Lindsay. She didn't want to be at work. She wanted to be curled up in bed with him. Lucky bastard had the day off and she'd had to make herself get out of bed and come in to work.
It had been pretty obvious she hadn't wanted to be there, she realized. She'd changed a lot after coming back from Miami and making peace with everything that had happened there, and the fact that this morning it looked as though the old Samantha had returned had those she worked with a little on edge.
Her thoughts were pulled away from the window and the night before as she heard a knock at the door. "I thought you might like your autopsy results," Peyton said in that slightly musical voice of hers.
"Oh, right," she said.
"You seem a bit distracted today. Stella was asking most of the questions downstairs and you seemed to be staring off into space."
"I'm sorry. My mind's just somewhere else."
Peyton smiled at her. "You have a new man in your life," she said matter-of-factly, nodding. "One of those men from Miami?"
"No, not Eric and Ryan," she said, shaking her head. "Closer to home."
"But it is a new man, though."
"Yeah."
Samantha leaned back in her chair as Peyton handed her the autopsy results. "It was blunt force trauma with something cylindrical, but the interesting thing is that his tox screen showed he had been using blood thinners."
"So even getting hit enough to bleed could have killed him. This guy just decided to bash his skull in." She shook her head. "I hate some of these cases. As far as we can tell, this man didn't do anything to anybody."
"Those are the worst cases, yes," Peyton replied, sitting down in Lindsay's seat. "Samantha...I have never seen you this distracted, and you've been here quite a while. If you aren't careful, Mac will notice. I happen to like you, as does Stella, and neither of us want to see you get into trouble."
"I'll snap out--" She paused. "What does Stella have to do with it?"
"She figured out who the new man in your life was. I merely got confirmation that there was one."
Samantha groaned. "And she told you who it was, didn't she?"
Peyton nodded. "Apparently, Flack has a rather hard time keeping his mouth shut, and he felt the need to tell somebody that he was seeing someone. He trusts Stella, and well..." She paused. "He never said it was you, though. Stella just put two and two together this morning."
"I'm going to kill him," she said before she sighed. "Please promise me you'll keep this quiet. It's bad enough with you and Mac and then Danny and Lindsay."
"You two aren't ashamed, are you?"
"No, but we don't want people thinking there's an epidemic of work relationships, either." She picked up a pen and started tapping it on her desk. "Once I got over everything it just happened. He was there for me, helped me sort things out in my head, and it just kind of...happened." And then she smiled slightly. "My brother would have killed me for dating a cop, you know. Probably would have hated it more that I wasn't being open about it."
"How long now?"
"A month, maybe a little less."
Peyton looked at her shrewdly. "And something happened last night that hadn't happened before."
Samantha looked at her and then nodded slowly. "Things were going slow so we sped it up a little."
Peyton smiled then. "I think I see."
"I hope you do because I really don't want to talk about it."
"I understand." She stood up again. "If my opinion matters, I think the two of you will be good for each other."
Samantha smiled back at her. "Thanks."
"And Stella and I will stay quiet if and until you two decide to say something about it."
"Thank you." Samantha watched Peyton walk out and shook her head, making sure her full attention was on the case now. That was the way it needed to be. She set down the pen and got to work, opening the folder with the autopsy results and giving it her full attention.
Author: Ragna (goddess_loki)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Peyton Driscoll & female OC, mentions of Don Flack
Rating: PG
Author Prompt: Lord Byron
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the CSI franchise; they are owned by Jerry Bruckheimer, Anthony Zuicker, et. al. do. Samantha belongs to me.
Authors Notes: For thiscanbegin, who adores this OC. She joined around the time season 2 ended, so this is set at some vague point in S3. Only thing you need to know about her is that her brother was John Hagen from CSI: Miami.
---
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
from "So We'll Go No More A-Roving" by Lord Byron
Samantha sighed, looking out the window of the office she shared with Lindsay. She didn't want to be at work. She wanted to be curled up in bed with him. Lucky bastard had the day off and she'd had to make herself get out of bed and come in to work.
It had been pretty obvious she hadn't wanted to be there, she realized. She'd changed a lot after coming back from Miami and making peace with everything that had happened there, and the fact that this morning it looked as though the old Samantha had returned had those she worked with a little on edge.
Her thoughts were pulled away from the window and the night before as she heard a knock at the door. "I thought you might like your autopsy results," Peyton said in that slightly musical voice of hers.
"Oh, right," she said.
"You seem a bit distracted today. Stella was asking most of the questions downstairs and you seemed to be staring off into space."
"I'm sorry. My mind's just somewhere else."
Peyton smiled at her. "You have a new man in your life," she said matter-of-factly, nodding. "One of those men from Miami?"
"No, not Eric and Ryan," she said, shaking her head. "Closer to home."
"But it is a new man, though."
"Yeah."
Samantha leaned back in her chair as Peyton handed her the autopsy results. "It was blunt force trauma with something cylindrical, but the interesting thing is that his tox screen showed he had been using blood thinners."
"So even getting hit enough to bleed could have killed him. This guy just decided to bash his skull in." She shook her head. "I hate some of these cases. As far as we can tell, this man didn't do anything to anybody."
"Those are the worst cases, yes," Peyton replied, sitting down in Lindsay's seat. "Samantha...I have never seen you this distracted, and you've been here quite a while. If you aren't careful, Mac will notice. I happen to like you, as does Stella, and neither of us want to see you get into trouble."
"I'll snap out--" She paused. "What does Stella have to do with it?"
"She figured out who the new man in your life was. I merely got confirmation that there was one."
Samantha groaned. "And she told you who it was, didn't she?"
Peyton nodded. "Apparently, Flack has a rather hard time keeping his mouth shut, and he felt the need to tell somebody that he was seeing someone. He trusts Stella, and well..." She paused. "He never said it was you, though. Stella just put two and two together this morning."
"I'm going to kill him," she said before she sighed. "Please promise me you'll keep this quiet. It's bad enough with you and Mac and then Danny and Lindsay."
"You two aren't ashamed, are you?"
"No, but we don't want people thinking there's an epidemic of work relationships, either." She picked up a pen and started tapping it on her desk. "Once I got over everything it just happened. He was there for me, helped me sort things out in my head, and it just kind of...happened." And then she smiled slightly. "My brother would have killed me for dating a cop, you know. Probably would have hated it more that I wasn't being open about it."
"How long now?"
"A month, maybe a little less."
Peyton looked at her shrewdly. "And something happened last night that hadn't happened before."
Samantha looked at her and then nodded slowly. "Things were going slow so we sped it up a little."
Peyton smiled then. "I think I see."
"I hope you do because I really don't want to talk about it."
"I understand." She stood up again. "If my opinion matters, I think the two of you will be good for each other."
Samantha smiled back at her. "Thanks."
"And Stella and I will stay quiet if and until you two decide to say something about it."
"Thank you." Samantha watched Peyton walk out and shook her head, making sure her full attention was on the case now. That was the way it needed to be. She set down the pen and got to work, opening the folder with the autopsy results and giving it her full attention.