Disclaimer: I obviously own nothing you recognise!
In this we have never met Calleigh's father as he still lives in Louisiana with the rest of her family, and Marisol didn't die yet. So please enjoy!
Eric Delko was the happiest man alive, he and Calleigh had only been seeing each other two weeks, but he knew she was the one. He loved her, now he realised that he had since the day he met her, she was beautiful, but not like the other girls he dated. She didn't seem to realise her beauty, or the effect she had on men, on him, the other girls flaunted it, were in your face about it, and they didn't even come close to Calleigh. She was intelligent, smart, sensitive, thoughtful, fantastic, amazing….the list was endless. He was so lucky, she could have her pick of men, yet she had chosen him. He was struggling to keep the grin off his face, he was sure that people in the lab were beginning to notice, but Calleigh wanted to keep their relationship quiet, after all they were only just starting out and anything could go wrong, but he knew he wouldn't let.
Eric and Calleigh were on their way to a crime scene, Eric was driving, yelling at the cars that kept getting in his way and Calleigh just laughed at him.
"You know they can't hear you, right?" Calleigh said.
"Well they should just get out of the way then, anyway, I was thinking you want to go out for a meal tonight?" Eric asked, changing the subject.
"Sure, we should be celebrating, as of Friday we both have a week off; I still can't believe Horatio agreed to it."
"I know, but then again, it's not like we haven't worked enough overtime recently. So where do you want to go?" He asked.
"You choose, I chose last time, surprise me," Calleigh said smiling. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy, she finally had a decent boyfriend, she'd fancied Eric for ages, but believed she wasn't good enough for him. He was fantastic, everything she'd ever wanted, gorgeous, smart, clever, funny and he knew how to treat a lady, he was romantic. He also seemed to understand that she didn't want to rush into anything and respected her for not jumping straight into bed with him, she wanted to take things slowly, she thought of her previous relationships and how disastrous they'd been, she didn't want that to happen with her and Eric, they'd not been going out long, but she knew this was special.
They arrived at the scene, Horatio was already there and Alex was examining the body, Calleigh and Eric walked over to Horatio.
"What have we got?" Eric asked.
"Male late twenties, no ID as of yet, can you two start processing the scene?" Horatio asked.
"Sure," Calleigh replied walking over towards Alex to see what she had, when Calleigh saw the body she stopped, "No, no, no this can't be happening, no, no way!" Eric ran over to her.
"Calleigh, what is it? Do you know this person?" Eric asked her.
"That's my brother, Joe Robinson, I didn't even know he was in Miami, he's supposed to be back home in Louisiana." Calleigh was near tears and Eric put his arms around her, she shrugged away, she couldn't let anyone see her like this, no one ever saw Calleigh Duquesne upset. Eric tried to lead Calleigh away from the body, but she just stood there, her eyes transfixed on Joe, how could she let this happen, to her own brother, she should have protected him. Horatio walked over and Eric explained.
"Ok Calleigh I want you to take the rest of the day off, go home, Eric, you go with her." Calleigh would normally have argued about being sent home, but right now she was too shocked to say anything. She felt Eric take her hand.
"Calleigh, are you ok?"
She just nodded sadly in response.
"Ok, come on, lets get you home," Eric added slowly moving her towards the hummer. She got in and did up her seatbelt and then just sat there not saying anything for the entire journey back to her apartment. When they arrived, Calleigh got out and made her way to her apartment, opening the door and letting herself and Eric in before shutting it again.
"Do you want anything to eat, maybe something to drink?" Calleigh asked.
"No thanks," Eric replied, smiling at the fact that even at a time like this her southern hospitality shone through. He walked over to her and placed his arms around her waist hugging her to him, he couldn't imagine what she was going through, he thought about how he would feel if Marisol had been killed and he found her like that, it'd kill him. Calleigh whispered something but he couldn't quite hear it.
"What was that?" he asked quietly.
"This is my fault," Calleigh said so softly he only just heard it.
"How'd you figure?" he asked, amazed at the fact that she could even think that this was her fault.
"I should have protected him, I should've stopped this happening."
"Calleigh, you didn't even know he was in Miami, how were you supposed to stop this, this is not your fault, you had no idea this could happen."
"He stunk of alcohol," she stated as if this explained.
"I don't understand Calleigh, so what if he'd had a bit to drink, you still didn't know this could happen."
Calleigh didn't want to explain this, not now anyway, she had too much to do, she had to go home, tell her family, arrange the funeral, she couldn't deal with Eric now. She shook him off and moved towards the bedroom. Eric followed her, wondering what she was doing, she grabbed a bag and began pulling clothes off their hangers and putting them into the bag, she then went to the bathroom and grabbed her toiletries and put them into the bag. Eric went to her and grabbed her hands, which were shaking, and turned her to face him.
"Calleigh, what are you doing?"
"I have to go home, to Louisiana, I have to tell my family and arrange the funeral."
"Calleigh, you don't have to do that right now, it can wait until tomorrow." She pulled away from him, trying to resume the packing.
"No, I have to do this now," tears began streaming down her face, she was frantically trying to wipe them away, she couldn't let anyone see her cry not even Eric Delko, it was a sign of weakness, she couldn't be weak, she wouldn't let herself show weakness. Eric grabbed at her wrists and pulled her to him into a hug. That was it, she broke down in his arms, sobbing so hard she was shaking, Eric held her, stroking her back, glad that she was finally showing some emotion.
"I'm sorry," she said when she finally stopped crying.
"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for," he answered.
"I really do need to pack, I have to go home," she said, resuming her packing.
"Ok, but I'm coming with you," Eric said.
"No, Eric you really don't need to do that," she didn't really like the idea of taking him home, not right now, introducing him to her family would be hard enough, but with this she didn't even want to imagine it.
"Calleigh, don't argue with me, I'm coming, you're not doing this on your own."
"But…"
"Calleigh, I'm coming."
"Thanks Eric," she replied, part of her was glad he was coming; at least she'd have someone on her side.
Ok so there's the first chapter, next we'll go to Louisiana, please read and review, I would really appreciate to here what toy think, good or bad!