Disclaimer: I own nothing… if I did like most would have had Eric and Calleigh together sooner.

A/N: takes place after the finale.

Also this is my first fan-fic. So I really need the feedback. Thanks!!

As Calleigh walked away from her boss and broke down crying, she thought about how foolish she was earlier today about arguing with Eric, her Eric. She knew couples had fights, hell looks at her parents. But she promised herself long ago that when she found "the one" she would do everything in her power to not have big fights that left both sides feeling angry. But she knew that there were a lot of guys she thought of as "the one". In their line of work they knew life was precious, they both learned the hard way, Eric getting shot in the head and Calleigh getting smoke inhalation.

"Eric, please, I'm sorry, come back to me in one piece. I'm sorry". Calleigh cried as she climbed up into her hummer. Her heart was breaking, fast.

Eric had a plan.

When he got shot in the arm and saw the face of the person that shot him, he couldn't believe it. Well, yes he could. He knew that his girlfriend was a great shot, but thankful she missed any major organs. Eric had to think quickly. Knowing the Russian Mob would be looking for him; he wiped the blood from his arm on the seat of the car, and had to crash his car. He told Alexander how to prepare for a crash so that he wouldn't be seriously hurt, just knocked out, and hopefully Horatio and the team would find him first.

Eric's car crashed, air bags deployed and he looked over at his father to make sure he was ok. He made his way to the water; he had to protect the gunshot wound from the bacteria that was in the water. So he took off his jacket and ripped part of his dress shirt off and tied it around the wound, then headed into the water. Just before he started to swim, a light breeze came over the water; Eric looked around, no sign of anyone.

He looked up to the sky and silently said into the wind, "Cal, I'm sorry. Don't worry I will come back to you in one piece. I love you with every fiber of my being". With that he went under water and looked for safety.

While driving her off duty car, Calleigh got this sudden feeling that Eric was ok, safe "You may be safe for now, but until your back in my arms, I won't feel safe". Calleigh thought about their relationship, friendship, partnership. I was a long and crazy eight years they have known each other. Her mind took her back to recent months, when she read his therapist notes. She knew he had been acting differently after he was shot, but never knew why. That proved to her that he has changed from his playboy days. She didn't know what to think of it, until she ended up in the hospital. When Calleigh looked at Eric's watch, she felt… safe knowing he was there looking after her at her most vulnerable state. But something else happened too… she realized that all those years of friendly flirting, was just the surface of something deeper, love.

Calleigh pulled into her driveway. She walked in her front door and smelt the remnants of this morning's breakfast, Eric had always loved to cook her dinner, and he told her his dad had said him that it was the man's duty to make a breakfast for those important women in a man's life. She sat down on the couch and just stared at the entertainment center. Pictures of her and her friends and family, she stood up and walked over to the picture of "the three amigos", Speed, Cal and Eric. It was taken at the department Christmas party six years ago. She missed Speedle, and she knew Eric did too; they talked about him often to keep his spirit with them. Then she glanced over to a picture collage that was the center piece over the tv. It was a big picture in the middle and eight smaller pictures around it. She picked it up and walked back over to the couch and sat down. The entire collage was of Calleigh and Eric pictures; they had other people take their picture, on the beach, at Disneyworld, at a club, at Eric's parent's house. But the middle picture, the picture she cherished the most was a picture that they took one lazy Saturday morning laying in bed kissing. Her finger padded across the glass over Eric's face, a hot tear escaped from her eye. "Eric, where are you?" She pushed herself off the couch and looked in her purse for her phone. She dialed Horatio's number,

"Caine"

"Hey Horatio, any new leads yet?"

"Calleigh, we are doing all we can to find him, I know he means a lot to you, he means a lot to me as well. But please trust me; if anything comes up I will contact you".

"Thank you H. I'll see you tomorrow".

"Ma'am, no disrespect, but I don't want you coming in tomorrow. Just take a personal day".

"Horatio, I am fine. Really."

"Calleigh, please take the day off".

"Horatio…"

"Calleigh, not another word. You're taking the day off and that is final".

"Fine. Thank you Horatio, and please if you hear…"

"I will. Oh and Ma'am, yours and Eric's secret is safe with me". He hung up.

All Calleigh could do was look at the phone with astonishment. She wondered how he knew about her and Eric. Who else knew? She looked at the pictures again and decided that a night alone would not be very good. She called Natalia and asked if she would sleep over because she needed to talk to someone. Nat said she would be over after she finished eating dinner and cleaned up. Calleigh took this opportunity to make dinner herself. Not really make dinner because she was just going to pop leftovers in the microwave. By the time Natalia came over Calleigh had finished dinner and was just putting her dishes in the dishwasher, Nat knocked on the door and walked in.

"Calleigh"

"In the kitchen, make yourself at home. Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure, do you have sweet tea?" Knowing the answer would be yes, she just loved when Calleigh made sweet tea".

"Of course".

Nat sat down noticing the picture frame collage upside down on the coffee table. She picked it up and looked at it. At first she looked shocked, but looking at the pictures she noticed that Eric wasn't the same Eric that she knew when they were going out. Calleigh came back in to the living room and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh My God"

"Calleigh, are you and Delko…"

"Nat, please don't say anything to anyone. We have kept this secret of a while and plan to keep it that way"

"You know Ryan had said something to me when we were working that airplane case".

"Ryan knows too"?

"Well he only thinks you too are having sex. Don't worry I won't say anything to anyone. You guys really look happy".

"We are, were. We still are, I think".

"You think"?

"Oh Nat, I'm so scared that he is dead".

"No, don't think like that, where's your woman intuition"?

"What do you mean".

"When a woman is in love…"

"Nat I'm not, I'm… not in…"

"You're telling me after all those years of being best friends and now being girlfriend and boyfriend that you are not in love with Eric Delko"?

"I…I never… We never… I don't know if I…" With her stuttering words the tears that were welling up in her eyes from the truth of her co-workers words started to fall. She hadn't realized she was in love with Eric until now.

"Nat, I'm so sorry". Calleigh said as she started to calm down

"Don't be. I think you two deserve each other".

"I can't believe I didn't know I am in love with him. This is a new feeling for me. I mean I said "I love you" to Jake but this feels different".

"I'm sure Eric loves you too; look him in these pictures, that's the face of a man in love".

Calleigh looked at her friend, smiled and thought about Eric. So that's what this feeling is that I get every time I see him, or hear his voice, I love Eric, does he really love me too? If he does why didn't he say anything? She thought to herself.

Nat brought her back in from daydreaming but talking about the woman's intuition again.

"Have you had any vibes from him?"

"Vibes?"

"Yeah, could you feel him, hear him?"

"Well there was this thing that happened in the car, I didn't know how to explain it, but I felt as if Eric was in a safe spot".

"See? A woman in love can always feel when her man is in danger or safe".

"Yeah, but him being safe is being in my arms, come on lets go to sleep I'm really tired".

"Sure Cal".

And with that Calleigh put the picture frame back over the tv and said very softly so only she could hear it "I love you Eric Delko, please come back to me soon" and they walked down the hall to Calleigh's bedroom.