I've had this little idea for an E/C thing (there's so few of those around anymore!) for about two weeks now, but I've only just now been able to string the whole thing together. I do realize it's a little out of character in some places. Sorry about that. I blame that on the fact that I've not written anything substantial in over a year. Plus, this is my first jaunt into the CSI Miami fic realm, so that probably has something to do with it as well. Anyway, enjoy and review if you'd like.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own CSI Miami or any of the characters on it. If I did, well, things would be quite different.
"Eric, what is wrong with you today?"
Eric blinked and looked at Alexx. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I've been trying to tell you the results of this autopsy for almost ten minutes, and I doubt you've heard a word I've said."
Eric looked around at his surroundings, as if only just realizing where he was. "I'm sorry, Alexx."
Alexx dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it, Eric."
Eric smiled, grateful that Alexx wasn't angry. His mind had been elsewhere for the past couple of days, but he hadn't thought that it had been affecting his work. He tried to clear his head and focused on the case before him. "Did you find anything that goes against the suspect's story?"
Alexx shook her head. "Nothing at all. Poor thing was dead before the guy even got there."
"He was telling the truth all along. Thanks, Alexx. I'll tell H," Eric said, turning toward the door.
"Eric, I'm worried about you."
Eric turned back to face Alexx, trying to make his face appear impassive. "What?"
"You heard me," Alex said firmly. "I'm worried about you. Usually you're so involved with this job. You don't like to stop until you get the answer to a case. But lately; lately you've been out of it. It's as though you're only going through the motions, like you don't care if we solve the case or not." Alexx paused, taking a long look at Eric. "What's on your mind, sugar? What could possibly be bothering you this much?"
"I'm fine, Alexx," Eric said stoically. "It's just been a long week, that's all."
Alexx sighed. "You're a bad liar; you know that, right?"
Eric crossed his arms across his chest defiantly. "There is nothing bothering me, okay? I just haven't had much sleep lately, and it's finally getting to me. I just need to go home and get some sleep, and I'll be fine," Eric finished, once again moving toward the exit.
"I think you should talk to her."
Eric stopped, but did not turn around. "Excuse me?"
"Talk to her," Alexx repeated.
"Talk to whom, exactly?"
"You know exactly who I'm talking about, Eric. I've been watching you. You've only been acting like this since she left."
Eric turned once again to look at Alexx, acknowledging that he did, in fact, know exactly what she was talking about. He shook his head and lowered his gaze to the floor. "She won't talk to me."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do. I tried to get her to talk to me that day. I think she was about ready to pay me just to leave her alone," Eric said with a hollow laugh.
"So you just gave up. Just like that."
Eric looked back at Alexx. "Well yeah. What else could I have done? I tried to talk to her right after the thing with Hagen, and that went nowhere. I didn't even have a clue as to what I should've said to her. Then, I caught her outside just as she was leaving, and she wouldn't even look at me. She just yelled at me to leave her alone, that she was perfectly fine and didn't need everyone trying to take care of her," Eric recalled, wincing at the memory.
"And you believed her?"
"Of course not. I just, I don't know. I just honestly don't know what to do," Eric said, throwing his arms up in frustration.
Alexx smiled sympathetically. "Just go to her, and do what I've been telling you to do. Just talk to her."
"Maybe you should go talk to her, Alexx. You can get through to anybody."
"Eric, if I thought it would help, believe me, I would. But I think that, right now, the only one she wants to talk to is you."
Eric blinked. "But, then why would she push me away like that?"
"You know Calleigh better than that, Eric. She does that because that's what she does. Calleigh thinks that she can solve the entire world's problems by herself. She thinks she always has to be this tough-skinned woman completely devoid of emotion. To her, showing emotion is the same as showing weakness. She won't say or do anything unless she's satisfied that it won't make her appear weak." Alexx shrugged. "That's how she thinks. If nothing else, Eric, at least go to her and let her know you're there for her."
Calleigh lay on her bed, having just finished packing her suitcase. She could not wait to get away from Miami, even if for just a little while. She needed some time to recuperate from everything. She had given Horatio her letter of resignation that very day; though she knew he wouldn't accept it that easily. He would just tell her to take some time off, to come back to work when she felt like she could manage it again. But to Calleigh, it wasn't that easy. She didn't know if she could ever walk into that lab again.
She sighed, rolling over onto her stomach. Her eyes strayed to the phone lying on her bedside table. There had been many a time during the past few days that she had picked it up, only to put it back down again. She had started to dial twice, but never getting past the third number before hanging it up again. She knew if she called anyone, they'd be over to her apartment in an instant. She didn't want to see anyone face-to-face. She didn't want to have to see the pity in their eyes when they looked at her.
Calleigh closed her eyes. She just needed to get out of Miami; to go somewhere and start over completely.
Only moments later, she was startled by a loud knocking on her door. She jumped, a little apprehensive because she wasn't expecting anyone. She walked slowly through her apartment toward the door. Despite her efforts not to, she still jumped when the person on the other side knocked again. She reached toward the doorknob, but pulled her hand back when she heard the voice on the other side.
"Calleigh?"
Calleigh leaned her head against the door, closing her eyes. "What are you doing here, Eric?" she asked, somewhat annoyed. She thought she had convinced him that she was doing just fine; and yet, now, here he was, outside her door.
"Can I come in?"
"No," Calleigh said sternly, surprising herself as well as Eric. "I mean, not right now, Eric. I'm really tired; I just don't want to deal with anybody right now."
Eric felt guilty for a second, but that quickly passed as she finished her sentence. "Calleigh, you never want to deal with anybody or anything! For once in your life, can you just stop running from everything?"
Calleigh was stung by Eric's accusation, although he was technically right. Running was her solution. It was an easy escape. It was exactly what she was planning on doing right now. But she wasn't going to give Eric the benefit of knowing he was right. "I'm not running from anything," she said defiantly.
Eric sighed, frustrated. He was getting nowhere. Part of him wanted to just walk away from Calleigh, to just give up completely. But his conversation with Alexx kept coming back to him. He decided to keep trying. He wasn't going to give up that easily this time. "Calleigh, can you please just let me in?"
"Eric, just go away, okay? Just leave," Calleigh said harshly, trying not to give away that that's exactly what she didn't want. She didn't want him to leave, but she didn't exactly want him to be there either. She was frustrated; she didn't know what she wanted or what she was feeling at this point. She didn't like not being in control of things like that. "Please, Eric, just leave me alone," she repeated.
Eric closed his eyes, ready to throw out an ultimatum. "Cal, I'm not leaving until you open this door and talk to me."
"Then I guess you can sit out there all night."
Eric cursed under his breath. He should've known that one was coming. But still, he wasn't ready to leave just yet. "Fine by me," he said, sliding down to sit on the floor in front of her door. He smiled briefly, wondering which of the neighbors would be the first to call the cops on him for sitting in the middle of the hall doing nothing. He leaned his head against the door, expecting to hear Calleigh walking away, wanting nothing to do with him. His spirits lifted, however, when he heard a soft thump on the other side of the door, letting him know that Calleigh was in the same position as he was, only, on the other side of the door. After a few moments of silence, moments that seemed to drag on forever to Eric, Calleigh spoke first.
"Did Horatio send you to check up on me?"
Eric blinked, honestly surprised. "Cal, do you think the only reason I'd be here is if H sent me?"
"Eric, no, I just thought that once Horatio read my letter, he'd have somebody over here bothering me, trying to convince me not to go. You know, simply because that's how he is."
"Wait, what letter?" Eric asked, confused.
Calleigh sighed; obviously Horatio hadn't said anything to the rest of the team. He was probably hoping Calleigh would come to her senses and walk back into the lab in a few days, ready as ever to go back to work. "My letter of resignation, Eric."
"Resignation? You're quitting?" Eric said, not wanting to believe it.
"Well, technically I already did."
"But, permanently?"
Calleigh chuckled lightly. "It is a letter of resignation, Eric. Not a request for a period of extended leave."
"Where will you go?"
Calleigh fidgeted nervously, having not thought that far ahead. "I was planning on going back home to Louisiana for a couple weeks, but after that, I don't know. I'll figure something out."
"I don't want you to figure something out, Calleigh," Eric blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Eric, what…?" Calleigh said, confused.
Eric mentally kicked himself. "I mean, you need to stay here. In Miami. We need you at the lab. I mean, where are we ever going to find another Calleigh Duquesne? Sure, there's probably somebody out there with the same name, but I'm sure she's not a ballistics expert and I'm sure she's nothing like you and--"
"Eric, you're rambling," Calleigh interrupted, somewhat amused.
"Sorry," Eric mumbled.
Calleigh laughed quietly. "Don't be. It made me feel better, even if only a little."
"Don't suppose you feel good enough to open the door, do you?" Eric asked.
"Tell me why you're really here and maybe I'll let you in," Calleigh said after a moment.
Eric took a deep breath, guessing it was now or never. "I'm here because, frankly, I care about you, Calleigh. I haven't seen or heard from you since, well, you know. And I was worried. No. It was more than that. I was going crazy not knowing if you were okay. I mean, obviously you're not exactly okay. I don't know anybody who'd be okay after going through what you've been through in the past week." Eric shook his head, realizing he was starting to ramble again. "Cal, my point is, there are so many people here who care about you; who want to help you. You just have to let us," Eric paused for just a second, contemplating his next statement. Hoping it wouldn't push her away. "One more thing, I just need to know that you know this, Calleigh. Even if you feel that everyone in this world is against you, if you feel like nobody cares; just remember, there's always going to be at least one person who cares immensely about you. There will always be that one person who cares so much about you, that he's willing to just sit in front of your doorway all night trying to make sure you're alright."
Calleigh sat on the other side of the door, silently willing herself not to break down. She stayed still for a moment, trying to compose herself, before slowly standing to open the door. On the other side, Eric stood up, hearing the movement from within. Calleigh opened the door completely, bringing herself face to face with Eric.
Eric, having never actually seen Calleigh cry before, was heartbroken at just how close to tears she seemed to be. "Oh Calleigh," he said, closing the rest of the distance between them. Eric was surprised when she fell willingly into his embrace. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms, but wishing it were under different circumstances. He tightened his arms around her, never wanting to let go. "I'm going to be selfish here for just a minute, Cal," Eric said softly. "Stay in Miami. If for nothing else, stay because I want you to stay. Because I need you to stay."
In that moment, there was nowhere else Calleigh would have rather been. She sniffled a little, feeling the tears start to gather again. "Okay," she whispered, barely loud enough to hear.
Eric grinned broadly, feeling happier than he'd felt in a long time. "Okay? So you'll stay? Just like that?"
Hearing the obvious excitement in Eric's voice, Calleigh couldn't help but laugh softly, despite the tears that were threatening to fall. "Yeah, Eric," she murmured into his chest. "I'll stay."