Title: Run to You
By: Jessica
Pairing: Eric/Calleigh
Rating: T
Timeline: Post 8x15, "Miami, We Have A Problem."

Summary: All she had to do was say the word, and he'd run to her from wherever he was; the distance mattered not. Two part fic.


It took six rings before the call finally connected. Six rings, just a few seconds, but it felt like several agonizing hours to Calleigh. Curled up on the couch in a pair of sweatpants and one of his t-shirts, hair still mildly damp from the shower, she had fought herself only for a few brief moments before reaching for the phone, her fingers quickly tapping out his all too familiar number almost of their own accord.

She was rather loathe to admit it, but something about today had left Calleigh shaken. It hadn't been the case itself, though; instead, it was the aftermath. Something about sitting with Janet Gardner as she watched the video of the last words her husband would ever say to her had broken through her resolve, and Calleigh couldn't help but chastise herself for that – she'd always been better than that at distancing herself from the cases she worked. But this one…something about it had just hit way too close to home.

Sam Gardner had gotten the luxury though of filming that video for his wife, though. He'd had no idea what was to happen to him, much as none of them ever did. But he'd made sure his wife got to hear what was most important, and that was something that so many people who died never got to share one last time with their loved ones.

And these were the thoughts that had plagued Calleigh for the rest of her shift, for the entire drive home, for the amount of time spent in the shower. Now as she sat on the couch, feeling Eric all around her without actually having him there, Calleigh couldn't deny the urge any longer, and before she could even realize she'd dialed the number, she was hearing those six rings followed by the voice she'd so desperately longed to hear. "Calleigh, hey…"

His voice was gruff, thick with sleep, and immediately Calleigh felt a sharp stab of guilt puncture her heart. She'd been so consumed with the desire to hear his voice that she hadn't even glanced at the clock before she'd called, but with the late hour in which she'd gotten home, plus the thirty minutes spent beneath the scalding spray of the shower, she knew it had to be late.

And clearly, Eric had already gone to bed. "Did I wake you?" Calleigh asked quietly, sheepishly nibbling at her lip.

His answer was quick, almost too quick. "No, you didn't. I was just laying here reading the paper, that's all."

Briefly, Calleigh felt the ghost of a smile flit across her lips – that was typical Eric. He wouldn't admit it if he had been asleep, and Calleigh was absolutely positive he had been. "Don't lie, Eric," she sighed, her smile fading as she lifted a hand to her face. Slowly she rubbed at her tired, frustrated eyes, pulling her legs onto the couch and curling them beneath herself. "I'm sorry – I should've looked at the time."

"No," he said immediately, and Calleigh could hear the quiet rustle of the covers as he pulled himself upright, reaching over to turn on the bedside lamp. "I just had a headache all day, so I went to bed a little earlier." Calleigh didn't reply, and he offered a soft chuckle, knowing she still felt mildly guilty about it. "Really. I'm glad you called."

She could still hear the slight exhaustion in his voice – Calleigh knew him too well, and it was simply impossible for him to hide it completely. Still, she smiled despite herself; though the sleepiness was there, the sincerity was just as apparent, just as genuine, and Calleigh felt a familiar warmth rush through her. "Still…I'm sorry," she repeated softly, tucking a lock of damp blonde behind her ear. "I just…" Closing her eyes, she allowed a quiet, sheepish chuckle to escape her lips – it was the absolute truth, but lending her voice to it made it seem utterly silly to her. "I just wanted to talk to you. Hear your voice."

Her quiet admission immediately had a smile breaking up on Eric's lips, and very quickly, all trace of residual sleepiness was forgotten. "I've wanted to hear your voice ever since we hung up the other night. I, uh, wanted to call last night, but it was too late once I finally got in." He paused, a slight chuckle echoing across the line. "I think maybe I'm beginning to regret taking this job."

"That bad?"

"Not bad, exactly…" Eric paused, stifling a yawn. "But I did take the job because I wanted to stay in Miami. Running all around south Florida picking up the state's attorney's slack wasn't really what I had in mind. I'm starting to think that maybe I quit CSI too soon…"

There was something in his voice that had Calleigh's lips quirking upward again. "You miss it?"

Eric hesitated. "Parts of it, yeah," he finally admitted. "There are definitely certain parts I could do without, though."

Calleigh nodded, despite knowing he couldn't see. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean…"

Her exhaustion, as well as a slight bit of frustration, was clear in her voice. "Rough day?" Eric asked softly, sympathizing entirely.

Shrugging, Calleigh allowed her thoughts to reign for a moment. "Not really," she answered finally, though almost immediately she closed her eyes, rethinking her answer. "Actually, yeah, kind of. Did you know that, for a few million dollars, you can buy a trip into space now?"

Eric blinked, confused by the abrupt change of pace – to him, it was a total non-sequitur. He knew Calleigh was the best at diverting when there was something nagging at her, but even this seemed completely out of left field for her. "Space? You mean like the stars?"

"Yeah." Calleigh shifted on the couch, the quiet rustling barely audible to Eric's ear. "And apparently right here in Miami too. For a few million, you can spend a few weeks on a real space station. That just…it kind of blows my mind, you know? When I was a kid, the perfect vacation was hitting the Louisiana coast for the weekend. The possibility of space would've never crossed my mind."

"And one day, it might be just as common as going to the beach," Eric said. He chuckled softly, the low rumble delivering a gentle comfort to Calleigh's ear that quickly spread through the rest of her body. "You have to admit, though," he continued, and Calleigh couldn't help but grin at the audible smirk in his words. "It would be one hell of a date, don't you think? I could imagine you and me, and nothing but the stars around us…"

Calleigh giggled softly. "Oh yeah?"

"Well, yeah," Eric teased with a grin, stretching lightly on the bed. "You couldn't?"

Calleigh gave a thoughtful hum. "I don't know," she replied softly, gently twisting the ends of her hair with her fingers. She smiled. "To be honest, I think I'd much prefer that afternoon of diving you promised me…"

"And I like to think that I promised you far more than just one," he replied, and even through the phone, Calleigh could sense the smile on his lips. "I can't wait to get you out there in the ocean…"

Sheepishly, Calleigh bit at her lip, hesitating but for a moment before her quiet reply flowed elegantly from her lips, her words soft and sincere. "I can't wait to get you home." She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling much too vulnerable for her liking. She wasn't sure how she felt about this, these emotions that were consuming every part of her, and only growing more and more with every day that went by. Calleigh missed Eric terribly when he wasn't by her side; couldn't get enough of him when he was.

And that was maddening. She had no control over any of it…but even if she did, Calleigh wasn't sure she'd change any of it. She'd become too accustomed to Eric being a part of every aspect of her life. Working in the lab or out in the field without him by her side had become somewhat of a chore; she couldn't enjoy it as much as she used to because she spent too much of her time missing him. Coming home at night was only something to look forward to if she knew Eric would be there; otherwise, her home felt little more than dark and empty, cold and unwelcoming. Worst of all, though, were the mornings she woke up without him – those were the hardest days to keep a smile upon her face.

It wasn't her, these emotions, this almost desperate need to have him with her.

But beyond a shadow of a doubt, Calleigh knew she'd never go back to the way things were – she wouldn't, because her heart couldn't endure the thought of letting him go. He wasn't just a part of her life; he was a part of her, and to part with that, with him, would devastate her.

"Cal?"

His voice, soft and filled with understanding and compassion, cut gently through her silent reverie. Calleigh let out a slow, shaky breath, surprised to feel the slight burning in the corner of her eyes. This was so much harder on her than she'd ever thought it would be. In accepting the job with the state's attorney's office, Eric had cemented his desire to stay in Miami, to remain a part of her life. But in the few weeks that he'd held the job, it seemed he'd spent more time out of Miami than actually within the city itself.

Key Largo, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach…none of the assignments were terribly far away from Miami, but when it was every couple of days, Calleigh couldn't deny that it wore her down in a way she'd been utterly unprepared for. She missed him incredibly, almost in a way that was irrational to miss someone who had only been gone for a couple of days, but that was exactly how much she missed him now.

Her continued silence left Eric concerned; straightening up with his back fully against the headboard, he tuned his every sense into the woman on the other line. "Cal?" he questioned again, his worry mounting quickly as he heard yet another shaky breath. "Talk to me?"

His voice was nothing less than completely inviting, gently penetrating her walls in a way that left her at ease rather than anxious. Calleigh sighed softly, unconsciously drawing her legs closer to her body as she finally spoke. "I just…that case today. It was one of those cases and it…it got to me," she admitted, and uncharacteristic waver in her sweet, Southern voice. "I came home tonight, and I – I just couldn't stop thinking, you know?"

He did. All too well, in fact. It had been one of those cases that had finally led to his departure from CSI – the thinking it'd inspired had gotten to him. But now wasn't the time to linger on that, Eric knew, and when Calleigh failed to continue herself, Eric softly took the initiative. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

His voice was so inviting, and Calleigh felt her heart clench as she wished he was here with her, his arms around her, instead of nearly an hour away. "The, uh, space travel thing I mentioned earlier? That's what the case was about," she began, finally connecting the dots for Eric as she launched into a quick description of the case itself. Eric listened quietly, searching for more the nuances in her voice than the details of the case itself – even though he couldn't see her, it was clear to him that something had her shaken. Something had gotten to her in the way that very little ever managed to get to Calleigh, and the haze surrounding that didn't clear for Eric until Calleigh had moved past the case. "Janet didn't quite approve of what her husband was doing, going into space like that just because he thought it might be fun."

Eric nodded slowly, speaking only when Calleigh failed to continue. "I can see that. I mean, as expensive as it is…and it's not exactly like it's the safest thing in the world either."

Calleigh gave a soft hum of agreement. "Her husband, Sam, before he died? He, uh, he left her a little video message. Apparently one of the guys on board had suggested they all do that. He had no idea that he was going to die, but he got to make sure she knew that he – that she knew how much she meant to him." Pausing again, Calleigh shifted on the couch, moving the phone to her other ear – mostly due to the anxiety filling her body the longer she spoke. "I sat with her as she watched it, and all I could think about was…" Again she hesitated, swallowing hard. These confessions, the ones she'd so desperately needed to share before she'd picked up the phone, were suddenly all but impossible to vocalize. It had been so much easier in her mind. When she continued, her voice was quieter, so soft that Eric had to strain his ears to hear it. "All I could think about was you and me. Us."

It never failed. Every time that Calleigh referred to the two of them as us, Eric found his breath catching in the back of his throat, and this time was no exception. It was ridiculous just how head over heels for this woman he was, and Eric was sure he tumbled just a little farther every time that Calleigh gave even the slightest indication that what she felt was just as strong. He swallowed hard, unable to quell the rapid beat of his heart back down to a normal rhythm. "Cal?"

Letting out a deep breath, Calleigh finally pushed her way to the crux of the conversation, the very reason for the late phone call. "I – I have to tell you something. Because I – I can't…" Pausing, she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back the burn of the tears that threatened to fall. Her resolve was faltering, and she knew it shined through brightly in her stammering voice. "I didn't want to – to tell you like this, but I don't –"

She sighed heavily, her frustration apparent to Eric. "Calleigh –"

"I love you, Eric," she murmured, quietly yet quickly – so quickly that the words nearly ran together. She drew in a quick breath, feeling her entire body tingle with an anxiety laced with anticipation, and the intensity only increased once the words had finally slipped from her lips. "The case – the wife and her husband – I just, I couldn't imagine something happening to you and me not being able to say it," she added, her words escaping on quick bursts. Her typical self-assuredness was missing from her voice; there was just something about the admission that left her without any barriers, without any source of fortification surrounding her heart. She was raw, open to him in a way she'd never allowed herself to be before, and while it was liberating, it was also downright frightening.

At her words, Eric's heart had all but stopped; for a moment, he wasn't sure he'd actually heard them at all. He'd be lying if he said he'd expected those words to tumble from her lips; he knew he felt it, had been fairly sure she felt it too just from the looks he sometimes found in her eyes, the smiles that sometimes graced her lips. But he knew Calleigh, and he'd been sure she was far from ready to admit it. His lips parted, but no words came to his tongue; it was as though his voice had been stunned into silence.

The truth in her words was undeniable. She had needed to say it; she'd needed to know that he knew, but now, rather than feeling better, it seemed that the ache in her heart had only intensified. It was almost impossible to breathe through the pain; rather than merely up the interstate, it felt almost as though Eric were half a world away now. She wanted him now; missed him with everything she was. All she wanted was to have him there with her.

She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, her heart fluttering as, very faintly, her ears perceived the quiet whisper of her name from the other end. When finally she spoke again, her voice was thickened with emotion, emotion she couldn't have concealed if she'd had the strength to try. "I thought that – that saying it would make this easier," Calleigh admitted, lifting a lightly trembling hand to wipe at the stray tears that escaped from her eyes. "I thought that I – that I – but I just…"

She sniffled then, the final sound necessary to shatter Eric's heart, yet somehow simultaneously leaving it overflowing with love and need and utter want for her. "Cal?"

She shook her head, despite knowing that Eric couldn't see the motion. The words articulated quickly in her heart – not her brain, but her heart, and by the time they tumbled quickly from Calleigh's lips, her voice was breaking with them. "But I just want you that much more now."

I just want you to hold me.

Those were words Calleigh couldn't allow to leave her lips, but plainly they echoed in her mind, reverberating their truth against every fiber of her being. This was so frustrating – she felt weak and lonely and every other feeling that she just utterly abhorred, but there was absolutely nothing that she could do. Nothing. Calleigh knew that the pain wouldn't fade until Eric's arms were around her again.

She'd wanted so badly to come home to him today. She'd needed him. She needed him now. Eric's silence continued, and Calleigh bit hard at her lip, feeling the heat rise up in her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt so very small, so foolish for throwing the most important declaration of her life out over the phone. He would be home in two days; she could've easily waited until then. "I'm sorry, Eric," she murmured, letting out a deep breath as she struggled to compose herself. "I didn't mean – I mean, I just – I've never – never felt this…"

It was so incredibly frustrating to her. Her words were utterly failing her; no carefully crafted explanation seemed able to make its way from her brain to her lips, leaving her little more than a stuttering, foolish mess. The fact that it was so unlike her just made it that much worse – she hated feeling so out of control. "Eric, I…"

"Say it, Cal," Eric implored quietly, already pushing back the covers and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. In the back of his mind, he knew he was scheduled to work tomorrow, but that knowledge was utterly trivial to him right now. Balancing the phone between his ear and his shoulder, he quickly found his pants and shirt, mentally calculating how quickly he could be out of this lonely hotel room and back to the one place that felt more like home than anywhere else - all she had to do was say the word, and he'd run to her from wherever he was; the distance mattered not. "Just say the word, Cal, and I'm on my way."

Her eyes shot open at his words, her vision cloudy with moisture. "Eric, no, you don't –"

But he did have to. Her words echoed in his ears like the most melodious song he'd ever heard, and he wanted nothing more than to repeat them back to her. But like her, he had his own requirements – she'd needed to say it to know that he would hear it in case something happened; he needed to have her in his arms when he said it. Most of all, he missed her as terribly as she missed him; her confession had only intensified that longing for her, and that eclipsed any necessity for sleep that he'd had. "I'm on my way, Cal," he repeated.

Calleigh sighed, though she couldn't deny the relief that washed over her at his insistence. "Eric, it's a forty-five minute drive…"

"I can do it in thirty."