Rating: MA

Pairing: Eric/Calleigh

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own them, wish I did, but alas I don't so don't sue.

Author's Note: This fic came from a dream I had. This story is my idea, but it's been beautifully interpreted for me by thisyearslove.

Past Life

Chapter One

In her line of work, she saw first hand the horrific
acts of humanity and the awful ways the citizens of
Miami hurt one another. Every crime scene dug into the
heart a little bit. The training and experience a CSI
receives could never fully alienate the emotion from
the hard science of the job, especially when it gets
personal.

It wouldn't be the first time a suspect crossed the
line with a law enforcement officer. Carrying a gun
and a badge might be a shield but invincible armour
it was not. Regrettably, it wasn't the first time she
felt threatened at a crime scene. Just last spring, a
man she once shared a bed with held a gun to her head,
her life flashing before her eyes and her heart
pounding as she closed her eyes as she awaited the
familiar BANG she heard a hundred times a day. After
she witnessed his suicide, she spent months trying to
understand it. Her psychiatrist urged her to go back
to the ballistics lab. Instead, she left the
psychiatrist, knowing it was still too soon.

As she pulled her jacket on carefully, Calleigh
winced at the pain in her side. Horatio advised her to
stay at the hospital overnight but she swore to
herself she would never be an overnight patient again
at the hospital if she could help it.

She made her way through the emergency room she
blinked at the harsh lights of the hospital. Being at
the ER as a patient was not the same as being at the
ER as a CSI. Being a patient opened files, asked
questions and initiated conversations in hushed tones.
Those who knew her wouldn't know it but her long
medical history was filled with broken bones, hairline
fractures and doctors and nurses giving her
sympathetic but knowing looks.

The butterfly bandage on her cheek felt like a sign
that said "victim" and she fought every urge she had
not to pull it off. Her ribcage was wrapped and her
doctor instructed her not to move if she could help
it. Her broken ribs would heal and the bruises on her
back would fade but a youth spent fighting for her
life would never disappear.

The rain had started again and a steady downpour had
taken over. Calleigh found a cab quickly to take her
to her destination. She sat gingerly in the back seat
as she watched the lights flash outside her window on
her way through the wet city. It wasn't long before
she reached her destination and paid the cab driver.

She stood outside the condominium for five minutes,
debating what she wanted to do. The hospital scrubs
Horatio rounded up for her were hardly her size but he
insisted on taking her clothes to process tomorrow.

It was now or never and she walked up the steps and
knocked on the door. She could hear the television and
the remote drop to the ground and footsteps shuffled
to the door.

Eric opened the door, wearing sweatpants and a tight
undershirt. He looked sleepy but smiled at seeing his
friend. He took in her appearance, the bandaged on her
cheek and her frown, and his face became wrought with
worry.

"What happened?" he asked pushing the door open and
taking a step toward her.

Soaked and upset, Calleigh broke down. The tears
welled up inside her and she let out a shaky breath.
"Can I come in?"