Author: Sam

Story: The Wrong Way to Relax: 1 of 1

Series: Secret Desires

Rating: PG-15 (T+): Nudity; Language

Characters: Natalia Boa Vista; Calleigh Duquesne; Eric Delko; Alexx Woods; Tim Speedle

Summary: Eric hasn’t been getting any sleep, so Natalia decides a shower massage is the way to go… Boy was she wrong!

Spoilers: random episodes

Category: General; PWP

Setting: Crime Lab, Miami

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: CSI: Miami is produced by Alliance Atlantis Communications and CBS Productions, in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Films; the series is distributed worldwide by Alliance Atlantis, and by CBS in the USA. I am in no way connected with these people, and I do not claim ownership to these characters, lands, or names. I have borrowed them to share a story... and most likely not a story any of them would have written, had they had the time or no. I am making no money from this, and it is just for my entertainment, and that of free entertainment to a select group of friends. Thank You.

Distribution: Please ask first?

Notes: Well, you’ll never believe where this bunny got me! After a very long night, and very little sleep, I fell asleep at my desk at work. Half an hour later, I woke up, minus a lunch break and with this running around my head, screaming for release. Thus, you have this tale.

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

It had been a long three months.

With the lab under constant surveillance, first due to the murder of Natalia Boa Vista’s ex-husband then the civil court case against Eric Delko due to a misguided attempt to save a con artist, everyone at the Miami Crime Lab was on edge. Those two incidents alone would have been more than enough, but things had just gotten worse.

Not even a month after the invesitgations, Alexx Woods had been in a court house explosion, thankfully escaping with only minor injuries. However, that very same day, still reeling from Alexx’s near miss, the lab was faced with one of the biggest heartaches of their lives as Eric, shot in the head, wound up in surgery. Long hours passed as the worried team waited for any news while the doctors tried everything in their power to keep the investigator alive, even bringing him back from one flat line.

The hardest affected was Eric’s partner, Tim Speedle, who’d nearly died himself at a job-related shootout two and a half years previously. The scruffy, taciturn man had spent most of his energy pursuing Eric’s attacker and, when he was pulled off the case to rest, he spent the remained of his energy sitting a hospital vigil for his friend and partner. When the doctors finally pulled off the miraculous and wheeled the injured C.S.I. into recovery, Speed had responded by passing out; he was admitted to the hospital for exhaustion for the following two days.

No one had gotten much, if any, sleep and the investigators, pulling extra shifts to cover for their hospitalized comrades, were feeling the pressure of lack of sleep, too long hours, and Internal Affairs questioning. Relationships were beginning to get a bit strained, as well. Perhaps it was the residual worry combined with long difficult shifts; or, it may have been the fact that Eric, still suffering from memory gaps, was on edge and very stiff, but the normally reserved Speed had suddenly become unapproachable.

Yes, it had been a long three months.

Natalia sighed, looking through the door to the fingerprint lab. Eric was rubbing at a crick in his neck, a set of Ident cards and a magnifier sitting ready on the desk before him. She frowned, wanting to help her boyfriend. His head and other injuries were almost totally healed after two long months, but the stress was obviously keeping him wound tight. And these late shifts were wreaking havoc with his sleep schedule; he’d gotten insomnia recently just like his partner, Speed. It was a problem Natalia wanted to help solve, and she thought she had a way to do it.

Stepping away from the doorway, the young woman made her way back to her own desk area. She wanted to get her files in order so she could be ready to meet Eric when he left. They’d only just started getting back together, but recently, they’d been missing each other and by the time she would show at Eric’s, he’d be too tired to do anything, even sleep. She wanted to be with him when he arrived home this time; hopefully she’d catch him a little more awake than the last couple of months.

Before she knew it, the clock had sped ahead two-and-a-half hours. Jumping up, Natalia hurriedly logged out, intent on trying to catch Eric. Hopefully he hadn’t left yet. Practically running down the hall, she glanced in the fingerprint lab, but found it dark. If she was lucky, he was in the locker room. Natalia skidded to a halt in front of the male’s locker and shower room, listening at the door for any activity. With a smile, she recognized the sound of a lone person in the room beyond.

True, she had been intent on waiting until they got back to Eric’s apartment before giving him a relaxing massage, but with no one else in the building, what could the harm be? Natalia carefully pushed the door open, glancing inside. A small start of surprise went through her; the room was dark except for the emergency lighting, though the definite shape of clothes folded neatly on the bench was evident. Eric liked to shower in low light? Smile spreading, Natalia slipped inside; she found it a bit of a turn-on with the pervading near-darkness.

Quickly, Natalia slipped out of her clothes, not wanting to get them wet as she didn’t have a change with her. She moved quietly into the other room, smiling a little more at the low-light of that room, too. There, near the back of the showers, was the figure she sought. The woman took a moment to stop and admire the almost indistinguishable figure.

His back was to her, hands braced on the wall, and feet slightly spread and firmly planted. His head was bent towards the wall as hot water coursed over his body. The glint of metal from around his neck gave him away: Eric wore religious medallions on a chain around his neck. As quietly as possible, Natalia approached the man, knowing her footsteps would be further masked by the water pounding over his dark head.

Upon reaching the wet man, she reached her hands up to start massaging his shoulders. Instantly, he stiffened, starting to turn, but she firmly pushed him back to face the wall. In a low, throaty voice, she said, “No, relax. Let me help you.” A soft groan issued from him, and he laid his forehead against the wall tiles, not protesting.

Natalia was gifted with her hands; she gave a damn fine massage according to many a friend back in Quantico. She kneaded the tight muscles, seeking out the sore places and soothing them away. Caressing, massaging, she moved from the muscular shoulders, down the strong back, towards lean hips, finding the occasional scar she hadn’t know about; Natalia made a mental note to ask Eric about those badges of honor later. Under her ministrations, the man before her was beginning to relax, soft groans of appreciation and pleasure issuing from his throat, drawing equal satisfaction from the young investigator.

A spark of mischief suddenly flared, and a smile spread wickedly over Natalia’s face. Carefully, not wanting to spook Eric as she had when she’d first come in, she let her hands massage ever closer around his firm waist and lean hips. Finally, she’d reached her new goal, closing her hands over his abdomen and pressing up against his back. Again, he jerked in her arms, lifting his water-darkened head and beginning to turn in protest. With a soft smile, Natalia kissed his back gently, right over a large scar.

Unexpectedly jarring her, he jerked away from the touch and pushed from the wall, whirling around. His voice was deep and angry, a slight rasp very noticeable. “What the hell was that all about?”

Shock threatened to root the woman to the spot, but self-preservation reared its head and Natalia found herself fleeing from the angry man, stopping the barest of moments to scoop up her clothes before sprinting, nude and wet, from the room. Tears coursed down her face as she threw herself into the woman’s locker room, sobbing.

Stunned, Calleigh whirled around to face the otherer woman, her fingers stilling in the process of buttoning up the shirt of her street clothes. She took in, in an instant, the tears, the nude form, the fear, and immediately pulled Natalia into the bright lights, studying her worriedly. “Natalia? What happened?”

“I think I’ve just lost my job,” she sobbed, sinking onto the cold wooden bench of the locker room.

With a shake of her head, Calleigh sank down next to her, unable to grasp the situation and the reasoning behind her friend’s behavior. “Were you attacked, Natalia?”

“Attacked?” She lifted confused eyes to the older woman. “No… why…” then shame flushed her face bright red as she became fully aware of her naked, wet state. “Oh, God!” Natalia moaned as she dropped her head into her clothes-filled arms, sobbing. “No… not attacked… not me…”

Calleigh was equally confused as she slid an arm around the shuddering blonde. Giving her a few minutes to try to pull herself together, she finally reached over and lifted Natalia’s chin in her hand. “What happened, Natalia?”

Natalia lifted her head from her now thoroughly wet clothes and hiccupped. “Eric’s been so tense recently, and he hasn’t been sleeping. I thought I’d give him a massage… you know… to relax him.” She wiped at her eyes.

Nodding briefly, Calleigh had to silently concede that a massage could do wonders for a tense man. “Go on.”

“Well, I knew he was working late tonight, and so I went looking for him so I could catch a ride back to his place. He wasn’t in the lab, but I heard someone in the men’s showers… and figured, with so few people here, I could give him a massage before we left.” Natalia scrubbed a hand over her eyes and pushed on before Calleigh could comment; the disapproval on her face was comment enough.

“So, I went in there. The lights were low, but I recognized the chain around his neck… the one for his medallions, so I… I…” the woman stammered to a stop, and shook her head, wailing the rest in a rush, “I went in there and started massaging him and it ended in a hug.”

Wisely, holding back her shock at Natalia’s blatant disregard for sexual harassment policies, Calleigh merely nodded once more. “Go on. What did Eric do to you?”

Again, the younger woman wailed. “It wasn’t Eric!” She buried her face in her clothes. Through the muffled tears and stuttered words, Calleigh couldn’t understand what the woman said. It took several long minutes before the blonde calmed down enough to raise her head and groan in a defeated sigh, “I’m going to get fired for sure.”

“Well, you did break policy, and what you did can easily be construed as sexual assault, Natalia.” The Louisianan thoughtfully sat there, next to the sobbing woman. “Get dressed and I’ll see what we can do about this.” She turned a stern eye on the junior investigator. “I can’t guarantee a clean record, or even your job, but I’ll try my best to help you out. Who was in the shower?”

Natalia turned miserable eyes to her friend and moaned out, “It was Speed!”

Her job is lost. It was a cruel thought, but most likely an accurate one. After all, Calleigh knew Speed perhaps better than even his partner, Eric. He wouldn’t tolerate sexual harassment or assault, and he certainly wouldn’t tolerate being the victim of it. As Calleigh waited for Natalia to get dressed in a dry lab jumper, she tried to think of how she could help smooth out the situation, and couldn’t think of much. Especially since a small, niggling thought kept popping up: out of everyone at the lab who needed a good massage to help him relax, Speed was probably the one.

Finally, the women were ready to face the lion in his den. They strode quickly to Speed’s desk in the Trace Lab, hoping to catch him before he filed the report that would put a death-stamp on Natalia’s entire law enforcement career. Maybe, just maybe, by some very slim chance, they could get Speed to understand that the encounter had been meant in the best intentions, and he’d gotten stuck in the crossfire… but even that didn’t sound very good.

At Calleigh’s knock, an immediate growl of “Come in,” issued forth, and Natalia went a bit paler. With a push to open the door, the two women entered the very much work-filled quarters their fellow investigator tended to inhabit while working.

Speed’s handsome face was set in a cold, withdrawn expression, his brown eyes piercing and disapproving. He watched silently as the two investigators slid onto stools. Finally, when they seemed as settled as they were going to get, he asked “What do you need?”

Natalia gulped, and Calleigh leaned forward, her face as serious as Speed’s. “Natalia asked me to mediate a meeting between you two concerning an occurrence in the showers.”

Normally, Speed was the intermediary, being their Union Representative, but he could easily see how that wouldn’t be feasible in this situation. “You could wait for a mediator from the Union…” he suggested, as per regulations, but Natalia’s head shake indicated she’d rather be represented by Calleigh. He nodded. “Fine.” The word was short and cold.

Calleigh turned to the other woman and gave her a nod of encouragement. “Tell him what you told me, Natalia.”

The blonde flushed, but, having never backed down from a challenge in her life, she forced herself to meet the cold, disapproving eyes of her friend. “I… I was worried about Eric, because he hasn’t been getting sleep. Everyone’s so tense and on edge. So… I thought I’d get a ride home with him so I could… uh… give him a massage and relax him.”

When Speed didn’t even acknowledge her words, she swallowed nervously and continued. “I knew Eric was working late, and I thought he was the one in the shower… I… the lights were so low, I couldn’t… I….” Finally, she blurted out, “I’m sorry, Speed. I didn’t intend for it to go so far or for you to be the one who…”

He raised one hand, effectively silencing her. “Natalia, what you did was inappropriate at the very least. Entering the men’s room or locker and shower areas without due cause is against regulations. The woman’s facilities are in working order, so there’s no excuse.”

She hung her head, but when he continued, the younger woman forced herself to look him in the eye once more.

“Not verifying who was inside and whatever occurred in the room is another matter entirely.”

“Speed,” she jumped in, unable to stay quiet, needing to defend herself, even if she didn’t know how. “I’m sorry. It will never happen again. I… I know I’ll lose my job for this.”

“Is that what you think I should do?”

Natalia stifled a sob. “I… I know this will go on my record.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell him to fire her. It hadn’t started out sexual at all.

Several long, tense moments passed in which none of the three spoke. So far, Calleigh hadn’t said anything in Natalia’s defense, merely sitting quietly. After all, there was nothing she could say that hadn’t been said, nothing she could suggest to help ease the trouble the young woman had gotten herself into. The tension was on the verge of getting truly unbearable when Speed’s husky rasp broke through.

“I’m putting you on report, Natalia, for inappropriate use of the facilities. If this occurs again, you I’ll report you for harassment. A third offense and I’ll see you fired without a reference… there will be no next time, do you understand?”

She nodded, eyes filling once more with tears of shame.

“Did you have anything else to add?”

“Speed, I’m sorry…” He lifted one dark eyebrow, encouraging her to finish. “What I did…”

“What happened in the room isn’t going in the report, as no one has reported you for anything beyond entering it. Did you want to add something to the report?” His voice was a warning, and suddenly she understood.

Speed was giving her a second chance. He was going to ‘forget’ about what she’d done and let her off with this rather minor disciplinary action. Thankfully, she shook her head. “No, Speed. I… I don’t want to add anything.”

“Your shift’s over for the night, so you should go home,” Speed added, almost unnecessarily.

Natalia didn’t make a peep of protest. She merely rose and strode from the room, as quickly as dignity would allow.

When Speed and Calleigh were finally alone in the room, they sat in silence, only the ticking of a clock heard over their quiet breathing. Finally, Calleigh cleared her throat and said, “That was decent of you, Speed.”

Speed sighed and stood, watching as his friend and fellow investigator, rose as well. He didn’t say anything as he reached for his denim jacket, a frown still marring his features. With a shrug, Speed slipped into the old denim then turned to his companion. “As long as she knows it was inappropriate and doesn’t repeat the offense…” he let that drop, but Calleigh caught the hint of near bewilderment in his voice. After all, it wasn’t every day someone dared give Speed a shower massage.

Calleigh smiled, slipping her arm through his and guiding him towards the elevator and inside. At his look of surprise, she grinned wider and nudged his side. “I wonder if you would have been so lenient before you had a nice, relaxing… massage.”

Speed shot her a glare, trying to ignore her laughter as the elevator doors swished closed.