Disclaimer: I don't any of these characters.

Authors note: I'm working on a sequel to my last Warrick story, but promised some friends an Eric/Calleigh fic. I hope this will be a worthwhile read. Please submit reviews so I know you want to keep reading. This will be multiple chapters and will explore more with Eric and Calleigh with some surprises!

Setting: This takes place post "10-7". Eric has talked Calleigh into not quitting ballistics and she's thrown herself into her work to not dwell on John's death. She doesn't even like to talk about it.

Bridging the Gap

Chapter 1

Calleigh is listening to an old Eagles CD on her way to work and wondering why they don't make music like this anymore. She hates driving in the rain and is just trying to keep her mind off of how nasty the road is. Calleigh turns a corner and realizes a second too late that the bridge has washed out. Her car goes off the bridge and lands nose first in the small creek. Everything goes black for a few seconds and when Calleigh gets her senses back she looks around and is noticing water around her car……..the water doesn't look very deep. She breathes a sigh of relief and wills herself to think. She assesses the scene around her. Her car is nosed into the embankment. She thinks to herself that this is good because the car won't float downstream. She tries to open her door. It won't open. She breathes in deeply and tells herself not to panic. She wonders why she feels so short of breath when there is plenty of air. She reminds herself to slow her breathing down and not hyperventilate. She reaches to find her phone. Maybe she should call for help first. "Come on Cal!" she scolds herself. "Think like a CSI, not a victim!" Calleigh places the call to 911 and gives them her situation. They want her to stay on the phone but she tells them she can't, she has to call work and that everything is fine. She hangs up the phone and before she can make another call, she realizes that the water is rising around her. She tries her door again…………….. Nothing. She reaches over to the passenger door and tries to open it………….. Nothing. It won't budge. She feels something on her feet and looks down. "Oh my God! It's getting in the car!" she cries out. She realizes that she is breathing rapidly again and is close to panic. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She tells herself the paramedics will be there shortly…………she's beginning to feel a little dizzy and her head is already killing her!

Eric is processing the scene of a DB in a bar. The bar owner has left the night before and the place was empty. When the owner arrived this morning, there was a body across the bar. Eric has already talked with the owner and he has no idea who the vic is. Eric looks at his watch again. Where is Calleigh? It's not like her to be late. He isn't sure why "H" thought that Ryan needed to tag along on this case. Eric knows he and Calleigh can handle it just fine. That is if she ever gets here. Eric has this twinge of something he can't place, but tries to tell himself that he's being ridiculous. So she's a little late. No reason to worry……….

Calleigh is beginning to waver in consciousness and knows she has got to stay alert. She's checked everywhere in her car and can't find anything to break the window and get out. She's fought the doors until her shoulder hurts and she's getting more lightheaded. She decides that maybe she should call Horatio or Eric and let someone know. What the heck is taking the paramedics so long? She decides that since she is supposed to meet Eric and Ryan, she'll call Eric. She thinks maybe hearing his voice will keep her from panicking…………IF she can keep him from having a come apart. She dials the number and waits for him to answer.

Eric grabs his phone and looks at the ID, knowing it's Calleigh. He flips the phone up with a smile and says, "Hey Cal, you having a bad hair day? Where are you?" Calleigh all of a sudden feels like she is going to cry. In the moment she takes to swallow the lump in her throat, Eric senses something is wrong. "Calleigh? What's wrong?" Eric says in a much more serious voice. Calleigh tries to rush it all out before he can panic, "Eric, I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you I'll be late. The bridge washed out on Hwy. 59 and I went off the bridge……." Eric interrupts her, "Went off the bridge? Calleigh are you hurt? Tell me what happened!" Calleigh feels herself getting short of breath again. "Eric, I called you to be my voice of calm. Please don't come apart on me. I'm not hurt I don't think. I just can't get out of the car and……." Eric whirls around and motions to Ryan that he'll be back and runs to his car with Ryan shouting at him to find out where he is going. "Calleigh, did you just tell me you can't get out of your car? You're at the bridge on Hwy 59 right? Have you called 911?" Calleigh leans her head back against the seat reminding herself to slow her breathing down. "Eric, I have called 911. They should be here any second. Just talk to me until they get here OK?" Eric feels the beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Calleigh, I'm on my way. Talk to me. Tell me exactly what happened," he says in the most calm voice he can muster. Calleigh tells him each detail she can manage and Eric drives faster because her voice is fading more by the second. "Calleigh, how high is the water?" Calleigh gasps for breath and says, "It's up to my chest." Tries to laugh, "My hair is floating, Eric." Eric sucks in his breath and drives even faster. "Calleigh, is your head hurting?" Calleigh wonders how Eric knows she has a headache. Man, it's all so fuzzy. She wonders what that incessant noise is……."Calleigh! Calleigh!" Eric is shouting at her. "Calleigh! I hear the sirens! The paramedics are there! Can you see them?" Calleigh fights to stay awake……."Eric, they are so loud, can you tell them to be quiet?" Eric fights a wave of nausea. He's losing her. He can't do this, Not again. Not someone else he cares about. One of the main reasons he started swimming was because of her…..he'd never told anyone. And now Calleigh was trapped in a car with water rising and the possibility of drowning being the biggest fear. "Calleigh! Can you hear me? Talk to me!" He shouts at her. She isn't responding at all now. "Calleigh!" Her phone loses signal and Eric shouts and throws his phone down. He's go to get to Calleigh!

More to come….