Sugar & Spice
Title: Strangers In A Bar - Part 1 At The Bar
Author: venetia-sassy
Claim: Aiden Burn/Lindsay Monroe
Prompts:csi50 Theme Set #1 theme #023 sight, stagesoflove Five Firsts - First Meeting
Rating: G
Word Count: 754
Disclaimer: I own my imagination, nothing else.
Author's Notes: WIP. This was supposed to be a one shot of Aiden and Lindsay's first meeting. At this point it looks to be at least four, possibly six chapters.
Strangers in a Bar
At The Bar
Aiden snapped her cell phone shut and sighed. Danny had gotten caught with a new case towards the end of shift and he had no idea when he’d be able to leave. Aiden understood; that had been her life not so long ago, but ,damn, she didn’t feel like her own company tonight. She settled back in her booth at Sullivan’s and looked idly around, recognizing some of the faces from the job. She didn’t see any of her friends and she had no desire to talk to any of the cops that she knew only casually. She’d been recognized by a few of them but none had spoken to her and several had given her very cool looks. Sullivan’s wasn’t really her bar anymore but she would have been okay if Danny had been there. They would probably have gone to the Chinese place down the block for dinner, anyway.
Aiden was contemplating whether to go there by herself or to head home - a prospect that wasn’t terribly appealing - when she saw a stranger enter the bar, weariness in every line of her petite frame. Aiden stiffened slightly as she got a better look at the woman. She’d seen her before, outside the lab, when she’d been meeting Danny one night. This was her replacement, the girl from Montana. She sat at the bar and ordered a drink - whisky, neat - as though Sullivan’s had been her local for years.
Aiden struggled with herself for a minute, the resentment she knew was unfair warring with her innate curiosity. As per usual, curiosity won and Aiden stood up and crossed over to the bar. As she leaned on the bar, waiting for the bartender, she took covert stock of the woman. Petite, no more than 5’4”, slender but shapely, with honey-brown hair caught up in a casual twist. Strands were slipping free and Aiden took in the signs of a very long shift. Shadows under the eyes, weary posture, hair no longer neat. And a tendency to stare into the whisky glass as though it held all the answers.
“If you want to ask me something, ask, don’t stand there pretending you’re not looking at me.”
Aiden almost jumped and tried hard not to blush at being caught. She’d thought she was being discreet. “Sorry. Wasn’t meanin’ to be rude. Just … kinda curious.”
The smaller woman turned her head to look at Aiden. Tired brown eyes regarded her with an almost dispassionate inquiry. “Curious about what?”
Aiden’s smile was a little twisted. “I’ve been hearing about ya from Danny but I’ve never met ya before. Seems weird. Lindsay Monroe, right?”
The woman tilted her head to one side, her gaze sharpening with speculation. “Aiden Burn?” At Aiden’s nod, she smiled a little. “I’ve been hearing about you, too.”
“If what ya heard came from Danny? It’s all lies,” Aiden said with a firm nod and a hastily suppressed thought about just what gossip the woman might have heard. Danny never would tell her what was being said.
Lindsay’s tired eyes brightened with laughter. “Oh, I’ve learned to take anything Messer tells me with a pinch of salt. Last thing he said to me before I left tonight was ‘Montana, you got a pimple on your forehead.’ I checked in the mirror before I left, the ass.”
Aiden laughed, as much in surprise as amusement. “The jerk! I hope you gave him hell for it.”
Lindsay’s smile was mischievous. “I was too tired to deal with him tonight, but I have plans for him, don’t you worry.”
Looking at that smile, Aiden didn’t doubt it and it was in a spirit of unholy amusement that she wondered whether Danny’s ambivalence towards the new CSI was partly due to her ability to get the better of him. She grinned back at Lindsay. “Glad to hear someone’s keepin’ him in line.” She paused for a moment, then succumbed to impulse. “Look, I was supposed to be meetin’ Danny for a drink, but he just called, said he’d caught a case …”
Lindsay nodded. “Double homicide. I’d have stayed to help but I just finished a double shift myself.”
“Well, since I’ve been stood up, so to speak, and you seem to be on your own, you wanna join me for a drink? And we can see just how much truth there is in what Messer’s told us about each other.”
Lindsay looked at her for a moment, her expression inscrutable, then smiled. “I’d like that.”
Author: venetia-sassy
Claim: Aiden Burn/Lindsay Monroe
Prompts:csi50 Theme Set #1 theme #023 sight, stagesoflove Five Firsts - First Meeting
Rating: G
Word Count: 754
Disclaimer: I own my imagination, nothing else.
Author's Notes: WIP. This was supposed to be a one shot of Aiden and Lindsay's first meeting. At this point it looks to be at least four, possibly six chapters.
Strangers in a Bar
At The Bar
Aiden snapped her cell phone shut and sighed. Danny had gotten caught with a new case towards the end of shift and he had no idea when he’d be able to leave. Aiden understood; that had been her life not so long ago, but ,damn, she didn’t feel like her own company tonight. She settled back in her booth at Sullivan’s and looked idly around, recognizing some of the faces from the job. She didn’t see any of her friends and she had no desire to talk to any of the cops that she knew only casually. She’d been recognized by a few of them but none had spoken to her and several had given her very cool looks. Sullivan’s wasn’t really her bar anymore but she would have been okay if Danny had been there. They would probably have gone to the Chinese place down the block for dinner, anyway.
Aiden was contemplating whether to go there by herself or to head home - a prospect that wasn’t terribly appealing - when she saw a stranger enter the bar, weariness in every line of her petite frame. Aiden stiffened slightly as she got a better look at the woman. She’d seen her before, outside the lab, when she’d been meeting Danny one night. This was her replacement, the girl from Montana. She sat at the bar and ordered a drink - whisky, neat - as though Sullivan’s had been her local for years.
Aiden struggled with herself for a minute, the resentment she knew was unfair warring with her innate curiosity. As per usual, curiosity won and Aiden stood up and crossed over to the bar. As she leaned on the bar, waiting for the bartender, she took covert stock of the woman. Petite, no more than 5’4”, slender but shapely, with honey-brown hair caught up in a casual twist. Strands were slipping free and Aiden took in the signs of a very long shift. Shadows under the eyes, weary posture, hair no longer neat. And a tendency to stare into the whisky glass as though it held all the answers.
“If you want to ask me something, ask, don’t stand there pretending you’re not looking at me.”
Aiden almost jumped and tried hard not to blush at being caught. She’d thought she was being discreet. “Sorry. Wasn’t meanin’ to be rude. Just … kinda curious.”
The smaller woman turned her head to look at Aiden. Tired brown eyes regarded her with an almost dispassionate inquiry. “Curious about what?”
Aiden’s smile was a little twisted. “I’ve been hearing about ya from Danny but I’ve never met ya before. Seems weird. Lindsay Monroe, right?”
The woman tilted her head to one side, her gaze sharpening with speculation. “Aiden Burn?” At Aiden’s nod, she smiled a little. “I’ve been hearing about you, too.”
“If what ya heard came from Danny? It’s all lies,” Aiden said with a firm nod and a hastily suppressed thought about just what gossip the woman might have heard. Danny never would tell her what was being said.
Lindsay’s tired eyes brightened with laughter. “Oh, I’ve learned to take anything Messer tells me with a pinch of salt. Last thing he said to me before I left tonight was ‘Montana, you got a pimple on your forehead.’ I checked in the mirror before I left, the ass.”
Aiden laughed, as much in surprise as amusement. “The jerk! I hope you gave him hell for it.”
Lindsay’s smile was mischievous. “I was too tired to deal with him tonight, but I have plans for him, don’t you worry.”
Looking at that smile, Aiden didn’t doubt it and it was in a spirit of unholy amusement that she wondered whether Danny’s ambivalence towards the new CSI was partly due to her ability to get the better of him. She grinned back at Lindsay. “Glad to hear someone’s keepin’ him in line.” She paused for a moment, then succumbed to impulse. “Look, I was supposed to be meetin’ Danny for a drink, but he just called, said he’d caught a case …”
Lindsay nodded. “Double homicide. I’d have stayed to help but I just finished a double shift myself.”
“Well, since I’ve been stood up, so to speak, and you seem to be on your own, you wanna join me for a drink? And we can see just how much truth there is in what Messer’s told us about each other.”
Lindsay looked at her for a moment, her expression inscrutable, then smiled. “I’d like that.”