Fic: Leading by Example, Chapter 2 (CSI NY / Miami, Ryan / Eric, Hawkes / Flack)
Title: Leading By Example, Chapter 2
Fandom: CSI Miami / CSI NY
Pair: Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko,
Sheldon Hawkes / Don Flack
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
CSI NY Main List CSI Miami Main List
Chapter 1
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“Come on!” Eric exclaimed. “He can’t be serious! What do I look like? Some kinda bored housewife, who has nothing better to do than bake muffins and show newcomers our highest palm trees?”
“It was just a suggestion.” Ryan reminded and parked the car in front of Eric’s apartment building. “Horatio has his own plans for the weekend, and quite frankly, I don’t wanna know what they are. Think about it, the guy’s in Miami, stuck in the hotel waiting to be called to the stand. We got all weekend, we can spare few hours.”
“Yeah, but what are we supposed to do with him?”
“Show him the sights, get some dinner and then ditch him back to his hotel?”
“Ditch? Yeah, that’s good. Ditching’s good.” Eric nodded. He hopped out of the car and almost walked in front of a passing car as he continued his rant. “But seriously, we had plans!”
“We did?”
“Well, I had! Like… good cop, bad cop in the living room. With cuffs and all.”
“If we’re both cops, who do we cuff?”
“I’m the bad cop, so I’ll cuff you. That’s why I’m the bad cop.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Not for a whole weekend.”
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Hawkes sat down on his hotel bed and pulled out his phone. His fingers hovered over the buttons and he selected the first of the three new messages. First one was from Stella, the second one from the lab and the last one from Danny. Danny’s message was the shortest one: Tick tock tick tock.
Danny’s call had been bothering his him all afternoon, and his meeting with Caine had turned into a series of awkward “Sorry, can you repeat that?” requests and in the end Caine seemed uncertain if calling Hawkes to the stand was particularly smart move. Maybe the DA would reconsider and he could fly back to New York early. The thought of going home send his mind once again back to turmoil. A Greek folksong started ringing and he fished his phone out of his pocket.
“Stella?”
“Hey. How are you doing there?”
“I just got back to my hotel. How’s work?”
“Typical Friday, something urgent always comes up when we’re about to go home.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Ever seen War of the Roses?”
“Yeah, last Valentines Day.”
“Alone?”
“No, me and some of the guys got together to spend an anti-Valentines Day.”
“I would have thought you’d be a bit more romantic than that.”
“I am when I got a date.”
“Can I be honest?”
“Can you be anything else?”
“There’s three hundred and sixty-four other days in a year. You men can keep the others and complain all you want, but bitching about the late of dates on Valentines Day is women’s prerogative.”
“What does that have to do with War of the Roses?”
“It doesn’t, but last Valentines Day I actually had a date that didn’t turn out to be a homicidal maniac. You’re not allowed to soil my memories.”
“You never had a second date with that guy.”
“A date is a Valentines Day date is above all. It doesn’t matter if…” She started giggling. “How did you get me so far away from my case?”
“I just gave you a little push and you did the rest.”
“I’ve tried to cut down on babbling ever since I started working at the lab. People don’t trust the authority of a woman, who can’t keep her secrets.”
“You got authority, Stel.”
“When I raise my voice. Anyway, the case was brutal. The kind that makes you think back at all the spousal killings with nostalgia. Wife killed their piranhas so the man wouldn’t get them, he got dressed up in her lingerie to make sure she wouldn’t get her hands on them… Why can’t people just agree that they don’t want to live together anymore and settle things like adults?”
“Well, all men and women are basically just animals. Strong survival instinct and open part of that is holding on to what we consider ours. Did you know that biologically speaking-”
“Please, it’s too late for those lectures.”
“Sorry, I’ve been trying to cut down.”
“Normally I don’t mind, but not now. How’s Miami?”
“Hot and humid, and I was stuck inside most of the day. At least I got the weekend to get some sleep.”
“You should, you didn’t look too good when you left.”
“I’ve had some trouble sleeping. Things start rolling around in my head and I can’t sleep.”
“Something you wanna talk about?”
“Not really.”
“Could it possibly have something to do with Danny or Don?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You think I’m stupid? You avoid Don, Don avoids you and Danny’s hovering around both of you like a hummingbird on Speed.” She waited a moment, but Hawkes didn’t respond. “Did…” Stella put on her gentlest tone. “Did Don try something?”
“H-h-how did you know?”
“He’s got a great poker face, but not when it comes to stuff like this. What did he do?”
“Okay…” Hawkes sighed and tried to silently remind himself that Stella would never spread the story all over the lab. “He asked me out.”
“Asked you out how? Dinner? Movie?”
“Beers after work, something to eat. And when he was leaving he turned back and asked if I really knew what he had meant when he asked me that.”
“You mean he asked if you knew it was a date.”
“Yeah. I didn’t know what to say, so I called the whole thing off and left.”
“After that?”
“I started wondering and… I kinda liked the idea.”
“It’s Don, of course you like the idea. He’s been stealing glances ever since you left the morgue.”
“Not before?”
“You two didn’t really see each other that often when you were working in the morgue. And if you ask me questions like that, you must like the idea that he was looking at you.”
“I wasn’t sure first, but yeah. I like it.”
“And?”
Hawkes realised what she was fishing for. After a brief hesitation he decided to admit the truth.
“And yeah, I’ve been… looking at him too. I didn’t realise it first.”
“So when exactly did you get this miraculous revelation?”
“Can the sarcasm. It was the night before I left.”
“When we all went for to that Irish pub?”
“Yeah. There was always people around and I was leaving on the morning flight… I followed him to the men’s room and I kissed him.”
“You kissed him?”
“Yes.”
“Are we talking about full lips on lips-”
“Stella, this is embarrassing enough. I acted like an awkward teenager and then he accused me of playing with him.”
“Playing with him?”
“Yeah, leading him on. And he told me think about it before I come back, because if I’m not serious about it, he’s not even going to give me another chance.”
“Well, do you want a chance?”
“This would be a lot cleaner if I didn’t, wouldn’t it?”
“I guess… so what’s stopping you? Go see him when you come back, wait until his back is turned and give him a good grope.”
“Stella?”
“I can’t believe I actually said that… I think I should have eaten something besides peanuts before drinking.”
“Drinking? Where are you?”
“In that bar couple blocks from the lab. Lindsay had to cancel, Lara had to stay at work and even that dried up old maid from administration is on the dance floor, rubbing against some poor guy.”
“I don’t hear any music.”
“I’m in the ladies room, one three-legged barfly pushed me against a waiter. I think my whole shirt is ruined, red wine everywhere.”
“I had a similar accident too.”
“You went bar-hopping? When did you have time for that?”
“No, it was in the lab cafeteria. And it was just coffee, nothing stronger.”
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“The number’s still busy.” Ryan shrugged and snapped his phone shut. “I’ll try calling him later.” He took a minute to consider. “I could eat something… You?”
“I could always eat something.” Eric agreed. “What do we got?”
“We? This is your place, so we’re probably stuck between a rotting piece of pasta and a take-out menu.”
“Hey, I can cook!”
“Last time you invited me here for dinner, you tried to pass your mom’s cooking as your own. Of course I had my suspicions and then she showed up on the door asking for her oven pan.”
“Whatever… Who cooks at home anyway? That’s what take-out was invented for.”
“A lot of people cook at home.”
“That’s just your own oddity, Wolfe.”
“Like you and some thirteen year old girl would say: Whatever.” Ryan grabbed his shirt from where it had landed on the floor and pulled it on. “I’ll see what I can find. Unless something you left there to rot in your fridge has grown legs and attacks me when I open the door-”
“Ryan?” Eric panicked and let out a sigh of relief when the man walked back into the bedroom. “One question.”
“Shoot.”
“I’m the bad cop.”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re the good cop.”
“Yes.”
“Then… how did I end up in cuffs and not you?”
“That’s my little secret.” Ryan stated and licked his lips like the cat who caught the canary. “But whoever said good guys finish last, didn’t know the right guys.”
Chapter 3