Yes, yes... I wrote CSI: Miami again. I got inspired, and this is what resulted. I hope y'all enjoy it! Don't have much time for a note, but many thanks to racefh853629 for being my beta. Many, many, many thanks.

"Hey there," came the sound of a voice Eric knew all too well.

"Hey, Calleigh. What are you doing here?" he replied, gazing at his surroundings for the first time in what had seemed like forever-or at least long enough to give him one hell of a crick in his neck.

"I could ask you the same question," she said teasingly. He trained his eyes on her face just in time to see the sly smile pulling at her lips, which were a faded shade of the rosy pink lipstick she had been wearing earlier that day. Instead of answering her, he simply smiled back at her and waited for her response. "I wanted to finish the paperwork for the Jennsen case."

"Just one less case to worry about for the new year, right?" he asked.

She nodded with a grin. "What about you?"

"Same thing. My date called and canceled last night, so I figured I'd just get some of my case reports out of the way before heading out to this party Alexx is throwing. Some sort of reunion she's been planning since she left last spring." When he saw her smile falter slightly before setting back in place, a question flew to the forefront of his mind. "Are you going?"

"I don't think so. I've got a lot of paperwork, and the peace of the lab on New Year's is the best place I can think of to do it." Her eyes were focused on a spot to Eric's right, and he shook his head impatiently.

"You should go. Alexx really seemed to want the entire team there," he said.

"You know that's not possible," she murmured, barely audible above the whir of a printer that had just kicked to life in one of the many separate stations of the lab. He didn't have to ask to know what she meant, and the sting of loss pricked at his heart to spread its poison throughout his entire being.

Speed.

"I, uh…" When the pitch of his voice broke, he felt something warm slip down his right cheek. When he wiped at it, he realized with the slightest bit of shame that he was beginning to cry. And when he looked up from his hand that held the damning evidence of that into the emerald green eyes of the woman before him, he realized he wasn't alone.

Without saying a word, he took the two steps that were between them and enveloped her in an embrace, pouring every bit of love and caring he felt for Calleigh into it. The fact that his face was now out of reach of his hands allowed the tears to flow, slowly at first, but becoming more persistent as he felt the warm wetness of her tears soaking into his shirt and cooling as the air met them. It was the only evidence that she was crying, judging by the rigidity of her body and the fact that her hands lay still on his back.

"Calleigh, I feel that every year. The team is just as strong as ever, even without Speed, but the fact that he left a hole that can't be filled will never change. I don't know about you, but I always feel him with us. Blame it on the bullet in my head, I don't care. That won't change the fact that he's always going to be here, even if it is only in memory."

She pushed back, turning away from him for a moment. Taking the opportunity, he wiped at his face until he was satisfied there was no more evidence that he had been crying.

When he looked down at his chest, he found a small black smudge on the front of his button up shirt. But when Calleigh turned back to him, it looked as if she had never even gotten teary eyed. He forced himself to not look shocked, but it was a difficult task when she was practically smiling at him.

"I know, Eric. I feel him too. That's why seeing Alexx leave was as difficult as it was. I know how close the two of them were. He would have been devastated to see her go." Her breath hitched, but she continued with no other sign that she was going to break down. "I know you think the team is just as strong as ever, but I feel like it's falling apart. It's not the same anymore."

He didn't respond. Everything she said he knew was the truth. Nothing was the same anymore. Even the people who had been there for years, who were not leaving, were changing. Including him. That bullet to the brain had him thinking of his future, and he no longer lived solely in the present. After Hagen killed himself, Calleigh had become slightly more self destructive than she had already been.

Of all the people changing around him, though, Horatio was the worst. He was turning into something completely different. He was a vigilante out for justice, and as much as his fatherly instincts remained, Eric still felt they were losing the heart of their team.

And when the heart of something changed, nothing could ever stay the same.

"I'm gonna get back to my paperwork. I'll talk to you later." And with those parting words that closed any and all opportunities for them to talk, Calleigh left. As the click of her heels faded, Eric sighed and turned his attention back to his reports.

After a couple of hours struggling to concentrate on his work, Eric checked his watch. Quarter after eight. He resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to get any more work done. He packed up the papers and stood to put them away before walking down the hall to the locker room. When he pulled the door open, he was surprised to see a veil of blond hair flowing over a pair of hands that covered the beautiful face beneath. The woman sat hunched over on the end of the bench, her elbows resting on her knees.

"Calleigh?" Her shoulders squared suddenly, and she looked up at him only after wiping her face with her slender fingers under the curtain of hair.

"You get those reports done?" she asked, her voice mildly betraying the semblance of control she had over her features.

"Nah. I got distracted." He walked over to his locker and pulled it open, pulling out the extra shirt inside to change out of the stained one. "How about you?"

"Yeah."

"How long ago?" he asked knowingly.

"About an hour," she said with a soft sigh. She stood and opened her locker, riffling through it.

"So what are you gonna do now?" When she simply shrugged her shoulders, he said, "Let's go to the party. You'll have a great time, I promise."

She went to protest, but then shook her head and gave him a small smile. "Fine. But I have to go home and change first."

"I'll pick you up at ten."

"Make it ten thirty, and you've got a deal," she bartered.

"Okay, okay. Ten thirty it is."

"You guys made it," Alexx said, her voice raised slightly so she could be heard over the din of the party. It was nearly eleven, and she looked as if she'd not expected them to come at all. "Come in. Everyone else has been here for hours, but at least you didn't miss the countdown."

Eric stepped inside, followed closely by Calleigh. They shrugged out of their coats before having them taken away by Alexx, and then moved into the living room to join the rest of the party goers. It seemed that everyone was all smiles as they chatted idly, discussing cases or families or plans for the new year. He noticed Calleigh sidle over to Natalia and Valera and exchange hugs with both before falling into whatever conversation they had been having. He approached Ryan, who was having a seemingly innocuous discussion with Horatio.

"Eric. When did you get here?" Horatio asked.

"Just now. Calleigh and I both worked late, so we came together."

"I see." He shifted his weight uncomfortably as his boss studied him, feeling as if he were being sized up as a suspect.

"What were you guys doing?" Ryan asked, oblivious to what Horatio was doing.

"Finishing up some reports," he replied.

The conversation continued in the area of work, discussing the most recent cases they had closed, and they eventually veered into what they had done for Christmas. Eric continuously stole a glance at Calleigh across the room-at least when Horatio wasn't looking-and was relieved to see a smile plastered on her face. She seemed to be enjoying herself, despite the dark thoughts she had been having at the lab about coming to the party.

"Guys, the countdown's starting soon," came the excited call from Alexx. Everyone grabbed a glass of champagne from the table where the recently filled flutes were set. Eric glanced over at the TV, which showed they had two minutes before they were in 2009. He moved over to Calleigh, who was still speaking with Natalia and Valera.

"You having a good time?" he asked when she looked over at him.

"Yeah. I'm glad I decided to come," she responded.

"I'm glad you did, too." He turned back to the TV, but felt her eyes on him for a moment more before the room began to fill with the sounds of voices counting down.

"Nine… eight… seven… six…" The world and sounds faded as Eric's thoughts consumed him. He turned back to Calleigh, watching her lips form the final numbers before the cheers broke into his psyche. She turned and hugged the two women beside her, then turned back to him. She moved to hug him, her actions betraying her hesitance. Before he could stop himself, he dipped his head and captured her lips with his, but the shock of it all melted away as she firmly returned the action.

She pulled away quickly, and he opened his eyes to see hers shifting wildly in their orbits. Nobody seemed to be looking at them as Eric looked around, and he realized then just how incredibly stupid it was to do that.. but also that he didn't care. It had taken them too long to do that, and he wouldn't regret it.

"We shouldn't have done that," she said in a harsh whisper.

"Not here, anyway." He gave her a playful grin, and she swatted his arm in very mild annoyance. Then he fixed himself with a serious look, and pulled her by the arm towards the front door of the home, to get some sort of privacy. "You said that the team was falling apart earlier. You could be right about that. But when things fall apart like they have been, other things come together."

"You mean…"

"Yeah. What do you say? Do we give this," he motioned between the two of them, "a shot?" he asked as she placed her hand on his chest, and then she smiled at him as she looked up.

"I think that's a resolution I'm willing to make."

-Fin-