Time Bomb

by staceycity

So this is a 1 shot story on the episode Time Bomb which is in Season 8 Epi 23. When I am stuck on writing this is one of the episodes that always kicks my muse in the right way and helps me write again. Parts of this story is from the POV of Calleigh and parts of it are from the POV of Eric. Basically what they were thinking & fill in the blanks between scenes the way I see fit :)

Calleigh's point of view:

'Hey Calleigh' I hear his voice coming through the phone, as I wait outside the MDPD for him.

'Hey, I thought we were supposed to meet for coffee' I tell him.

'I...I'm sorry I got pulled away' he tells me, realizing he forgot about our plans.

'Oh really?' I ask disappointed.

'Yeah. I'm down town about to step into Court, is everything okay?' he asks me.

'Yeah' I say. He must be sensing my worry for him to ask that as I am obviously calling because he is running late, which is something he usually isn't when we are about to meet 'Sure' I say, but as the words slip out of my mouth, I hear a car coming so I turn my head to look and I just can't believe it.

It is Eric.

He is talking to me while driving in front of the Miami Dade Police Department when he has just told me that he is in Court. He passed from right in front of me and didn't even see me.

'Okay. I'll talk to you in a bit' I hear him say but at that moment my system starts shutting down.

'Okay' I say the words just coming out of my mouth. My eyes are staring at him in the car, and I just can't believe it. Why is he lying to me? He never lied to me before. Where is he going? I make the decision to follow him. I need to know. Is he cheating on me? No...it can't be...not Eric. But I have to know.

So I run towards the hummer which is parked outside the MDPD building and very close by and thank God I have my bag and car keys on me. There is only one car in front of me which is perfect, as I don't want him to notice that I am driving after him. I need to know where he is going. What is so important that he would ditch meeting me? It is really not like Eric at all. But on the other hand, he has been acting a bit strange lately, and it is not like I haven't noticed the signs that he is hiding something. Just yesterday, I almost scared the shit out of him when I went back into the house because I forgot the laptop. I could see him piling the papers on top of each other, hiding stuff from me. Usually he would talk to me about his cases and get my feedback, but he wasn't doing that this time. So this must mean that it is related. It has to be about a case, it can't be that he is cheating on me.

Why is that the first thing that comes to my mind? I ask myself frustrated as I turn the car on my right, my eyes focused on Eric's car. I can feel my heart begin to pound harder in my chest, and thank God it isn't so easy for me to cry or else tears would already be streaming down my face. I am feeling so hurt for some reason, and this...this person that I am now...this is not me. Why am I becoming so sensitive all of a sudden? He is crashing down my walls. Walls that I have built around my heart for all these years to protect it from all the pain and heartache men make me go through, but yet Eric can so easily bring them down.

It's just Eric. It's because Eric is involved, I realize. I have always cared so much about him, I always knew that he wanted so much more than just friendship, especially when I was with Jake. He was so jealous, but at the same time, he always respected me, and every time I needed him he was there. He is the only man in my life who has always been constant...so why is he doing this now? It just doesn't make any sense.

oooOOOooo

Eric's point of view:

I cannot believe I have been such an idiot. How could I forget that I was supposed to meet Calleigh at the same time I agreed to meet with Rebecca? I could hear it in her voice that she was worried, and I know that I have been acting a bit strange lately around her, but I was just trying to protect her. I didn't want her to find out that I was investigating the team, including her...my own girlfriend. I never thought that I would end up in such a position, but if I didn't take this job, someone else was going to be investigating them, and they wouldn't have cared. I know them, I know all of them and I know that they won't do anything stupid...none of them...that they couldn't be the leak in the department.

I had to do this. I had to take this job and be the one investigating them, because I knew that if I found something I was going to keep digging to clear them, to protect them, especially Calleigh. Not that I thought that she was involved in anything because I knew she wouldn't be, but I just wanted to protect her, protect them.

I can still hear her voice echoing in my head. The sound of worrying, the sound of doubt, and I know how touchy she could be. She always stood on her own, and I always tried to be there for her, tried to provide her with that shoulder to lean on every time she needed to take a break from herself and let someone just be there for her. I just want to protect her. She is just so strong and tough all the time, I know it must be exhausting at times, and this feeling that I might have betrayed that, that she could sense that, was just not sitting well with me. I really wish I can turn the car around and go see her. I need to hold her in my arms and assure her that everything is fine with us, that everything is as it has always been.

I need to get this meeting with Rebecca over and done with so I can go to her.

I finally reach the meeting point, so I park my car in the first slot available, grab the file and make my way out ready to meet with Rebecca. This is a huge case. The diamonds are not the only thing that has been stolen, and I need to focus. I can't let my feelings and worry about Calleigh get in the way right now. This is huge but as huge as this is I am glad I arrived to this point, because this has to clear the team. It has nothing to do with them. It is beyond them.

I start walking to where Rebecca is supposed to be waiting for me, with the file in my hands when I suddenly hear a familiar voice calling out to me.

'Eric...Eric' and as I turn around I see her. I see Calleigh. Her eyes are bright and big and I can see all sort of worries in them.

'What are you doing?' she asks me.

'Calleigh, where did you come from?' I ask worried.

'Why did you lie to me?' she asks me.

'I didn't lie to you' I tell her.

'Yes you did' she replies firmly.

'Calleigh look' I say as I turn around to check if Rebecca is waiting for me 'Can we not do this now?' I ask her. This is not the time to get into an argument and try to explain things to her.

'You drove right past me at PD' she tells me and that is when I realize that she has been following me.

'You followed me here?' I ask her. I cannot believe that she did that.

'Of course I did. You've been acting strange and now you're lying to me' she tells me.

I cannot believe this. I turn around again and see Rebecca talking on the phone not too far away from where we are right now, so I turn around to face Calleigh again.

'I'm not lying' I tell her.

'Nevins' she says as if she has just figured out something 'Are you still working for the ASA?' she asks me as if she didn't know that.

'I never stopped working for the State Attorney's office when I came back to the lab' I explain.

'But you both have offices, so why are you meeting here?' she asks me.

'Calleigh' I say warning her to stop asking questions.

'Does this has something to do with Walter? Are you building some sort of a case against him?' she asks me.

'No...No' I say as if it was absolutely absurd.

'Then are you the reason why people are getting dragged into Rebecca's office?' she asks me, and I can see her getting angrier.

'You don't know what you're talking about' I tell her.

'Then why don't you tell me the truth?' she asks me, eyes wide open, daring me to do so.

'I'll explain later okay when there is time' I tell her as I look over my shoulder once again.

'Fine' she tells me 'Whatever works for you' she says ending the discussion for the time being, but I can tell that this is far from over.

We stare at each other for the longest second, before I turn around and start making my way towards Rebecca, but something stops me. I can't let her go like this. I hate fighting and arguing with her. I cannot begin to imagine what she is thinking that I am doing and I definitely don't want her to say anything to the others. I see Rebecca waiting for me, opening her hand as if she can't understand what is taking me so long, why I stopped, but all I can hear is Calleigh's heels walking further away from me, and that bothers me. I turn around to call her and this piece of paper flies out of my file.

'Calleigh' I call out as I try to grab the paper when suddenly I hear this loud noise coming from behind me which literally throws me to the ground.

oooOOOooo

Calleigh's point of view:

I am making my way back to the car, fuming, angry at Eric. I can't understand what he is doing, what he is working on and why he is meeting Rebecca here and not at her office, but at the same time, something inside of me calms down, glad to realize that this is about work and not about some other girl. I know it was stupid of me to think that about Eric and I know he will be hurt if he finds out what I was thinking. He would never hurt me like that.

I keep on walking when I suddenly hear him calling for me but as I am about to turn around this huge noise, the sound of an explosion rattles the area as it throws me to the ground. I push myself up and turn around and I see a car hitting the ground upside down, what must be another car in flames, and Eric...Eric on the ground.

At that moment all sense of anger disappeared and the feeling of worry flooded me as I run to him, his body on the floor, thrown away by the blast. I run and I run as I call out to him.

'Eric…Are you okay?' I ask him as I go down to help him get up.

He's shaken up, he can hardly open his eyes. He is holding onto me, while I am holding onto him, trying to see if he is hurt. Waiting for him to say something to me as he turns around to check what happened. Two cars are still burning from the blast and Nevins is lying dead.

'Eric...say something...are you okay?' I ask him again filled with worry.

He slowly turns to look at me, frowning, trying to catch his breath 'Calleigh' he says as he pulls me in his arms.

I close my eyes as I rest my cheek against his, hugging him as tight as I can. My heart is pounding savagely in my chest as shock and reality collide inside of me. If I hadn't followed him...if I hadn't stopped him...I wouldn't be hugging him right now...he would be...dead. I fight the burning in my eyes as tears threaten to spill out at that realization but instead I try to focus on the fact that he is still alive and in my arms as he kept on hugging me without saying a word.

It takes us both a long moment to get out of the embrace and attempt to walk closer to the crime scene. We just can't believe what our eyes are seeing. Cars burning, all kinds of car parts torn to pieces...Rebecca lying dead, as a part of her arm stood further away from her burnt lifeless body. I feel him squeeze my hand so I look at him.

'Thank you' he whispers and I don't have to ask him what the thank you is for because I know. He is thanking me for saving his life.

I nod, still a bit shaken up 'We have to call...I'll call Horatio' I tell him as I walk just a couple of steps away, my eyes still focused on Eric. The last thing that I want to do was take my eyes off him.

People are gathering round the crime scene as by standers must have reported what happened as well. The helicopter is flying, news reporters are here, paramedics, officers, fire fighters, my team.

They are all here.

I can see Horatio talking to Eric while I talk on the phone and sign papers and I am glad that Horatio is here, because whatever it is, I know Eric will confide in him. I start to relax a bit, calm down just a little bit, because at the back of my mind I know that if I hadn't followed him, I would have lost him. I close my eyes momentarily and when I open them, I see Eric looking at me. He is still shaken up I can tell and I just wish we can walk away from here and just be in our house, holding onto each other, but we can't. We have to work this case.

Minutes later or rather almost an hour later, Eric is back on his feet working the case with us, when I see him talking to Natalia, and I can tell that they are talking about something serious. Her face shows that. She is arguing with him, and I have to know what is going on as Walter approach as well.

'You got to come clean about this, about everything' I hear her tell him.

'Come clean about what?' I ask as I turn to look at him. My heart start to pound harder once again. I wanted to know the truth, but at the same time I was scared of what I was going to find out.

I watch them exchange looks, looks that tell me that Natalia knows something that I don't.

'She deserves to know' she tells him and he turns to look at me again 'Everyone deserves to know' she continues.

'Know what?' Walter ask confused as much as I am.

'Nevins...she had me wearing a wire' he start telling us and I can feel my eyes going wide in disbelief as he turns to look at me.

'A wire?' Walter ask.

'You agreed to that?' I ask him.

'The evidence was going missing from the lab' Eric starts telling us.

'So you were spying on us' Walter tells us as if to clear the reason why Eric had been wearing the wire.

'Everyone was a suspect on stolen diamonds, the heroin, okay? If it wasn't me, it was going to be someone who was not going to protect you' Eric explains.

'You're a real hero Delko' Walter tells him sarcastically, while I am staring at him in shock and disbelief. I cannot believe what I am hearing. It is like I don't know this man standing next to me at all.

'Hey, hey...it is not as simple as it all seems' Natalia tells Walter.

'Hey you...you knew about this all the time?' Walter asks her.

'I'm sorry' she apologizes.

I can't figure out what I am more shocked about right now. Is it the fact that he had been wearing a wire? Is it the fact that he was spying on all of us, including me? Or is it the fact that Natalia knew about it all along? Why did he confide in Natalia and not me?

'Some team' I hear Walter say before he walks away.

'I was doing it to protect you guys' Eric says but at that Natalia turns around and walks away from us, leaving me and Eric standing there, looking into each other's eyes.

'You almost got yourself killed. How's that protecting anyone?' I ask him.

I am so mad at him right now. So many emotions are running through my entire body, so many questions are running through my head. Anger, frustration, sadness, hurt about so many issues. I just want to walk away from all of this and talk to him. I need to clear this out. This...this situation...all these feelings I am feeling are bigger than me. They are weighing too heavy on my heart.

Eric's point of view:

'We got backup' Calleigh tells me as we make our way following the route the GPS has given us. Apart from that confirmation, it has been dead silent in the car. I can feel the tension rising between us as we sit here while I know everyone is talking about me, but I really don't give a damn what anyone else thinks about me. All I care about is what Calleigh is thinking.

I could tell how shocked she was when I confessed to wearing a wire. I want to clear the air between us, but right now I really need to focus on the case. If I don't close the case, someone else could die...that someone could be me. The car bomb was probably meant for me, and I am still processing that, and probably Calleigh knows that that is the case, and that probably is scaring the shit out of her.

'Good' I tell her.

'So are you still wearing it?' I hear her ask me and I know immediately to what she is referring about.

'No...I'm not wearing the wire' I reply.

'Are you sure?' she asks me and I can tell that she is having a hard time trusting me after everything that has happened today.

'Calleigh...I stopped wearing it' I tell her as I turn to look at her.

'Cause I don't want to think about it' she says.

'Think about what? What are you talking about?' I ask confused.

'Were you wearing it...when we were together?' she asks me. There it is. The million dollar question! How can she think that? 'Where you wearing the wire when we were at home?' she asks me again.

I look at her as if she is insane to think such a thing about me. Doesn't she know how much I care about her? How much she means to me? I can never do that to her. I stop the car as we arrive to our destination and turn to look at her.

'Calleigh listen to me. I wasn't wearing the wire when we were home, together' I assure her, and then I see her eyes open wide as she stares ahead.

'Hey...that's Ryan's' she tells me, and I turn my head to look in disbelief.

'The car bomb started here?' I say. Can it be? No it can't be.

It can't be Ryan.

oooOOOooo

Eric's point of view:

Finally it is all over. The case is close and the rat is caught. It has been Stetler all along, and a part of me cannot believe it while on the other hand a part of me can. Ryan is cleared and things between us are fine as well as he finally realized that I was working to protect them, but even though the case is closed, I still have this huge weight sitting on my shoulders.

I am in the locker room taking my stuff out when I hear the sound of the heels coming my way. I can tell who it is. I really don't have to look. I can recognize that sound from million miles away not to mention that I can smell her scent.

'Hey...' she says and I turn to look at her while closing up my locker. She has the softest smiles on her face.

'Hey' I say back.

'You want to get out of here?' she asks me softly.

'Hell yes' I reply and Calleigh smiles at me. For the first time in this long exhausting day, she finally smiles at me.

Not long after we are down by the docks, watching the waves crash against the shore thinking about everything that we have been through today.

'It's quite a sight' I tell her.

'This view never gets old' she tells me.

I chuckle at that reply 'I wasn't talking about that view' I tell her with a smile as she turns to look at me.

'Flattering will get you nowhere today' she replies, and I can't help but laugh but soon that laugh fades away.

'I know it's going to take me a while to earn back your trust' I tell her.

'You're right about that' she tells me, but that smile she has on her face tells me it might not be so hard after all.

'You want to go home?' I ask her. I just wanted to talk things out properly, really clear the air between us. I need her to know that I was never doing things behind her back. I just need a chance to plead my case.

'Yeah' she replies and with that we make our way to the car.

Calleigh's point of view:

We finally arrive at our house, and I hurry ahead to open the door. For some reason I really need to be inside. I somehow need the comfort of being in our home after such a long day, and even though things feel much better now that the case is closed, I feel like everything is coming over me again. I hear Eric close the door behind me but I don't turn around to look at him. I need to collect myself first.

'Hey emm, do you want to go and have a shower first or can I go?' he asks me.

'No it's fine, you go ahead' I tell him, still not looking at him, while I remove my shoes.

'Alright' he tells me as he comes from behind and kisses the back of my head before he makes his way into the bathroom, and that almost does it for me.

I sit down on the couch and I let my head fall into the palms of my hands trying to fight back the tears that still threaten to spill out. I am not sure why I want to cry right now. Is it because I am glad it is all over? Is it because I almost lost Eric? Is it because he lied to me? Because Natalia knew and I didn't? All the questions from earlier today started flooding my mind again and I really need to calm down. I know I can cry in front of Eric but at the same time I don't want to.

I get up from the couch, remove my jacket, and make my way into the kitchen. I need some herbal tea. I just need to calm down. I put the kettle on and prepare a mug with a teabag in it and when the water is ready, I pour it in the mug. I grab the mug to warm my hands, and I get lost in thought again. I can still hear the loud noise from the blast, the terror I felt when I turned around and saw Eric lying on the ground. It was like I couldn't get to him fast enough. I ran and ran and at the same time I was so terrified of what I was going to find. I don't know if I would have been able to take it if I lost him today.

'Calleigh hey' he says as his hand slips behind my back, but so lost in my thoughts, he scares the shit out of me and I jump, pulling the mug along with me, as it splashed on the floor, the hot water burning my naked toes.

'Calleigh what's wrong?' he asks me, but as soon as I hear him talk I finally burst into tears. I can't hold it in any longer 'Hey what is it?' he asks me worried 'Come here' he tells me.

He literally picks me up, probably thinking that I might have burnt my toes too much, which I did, but I am not crying because of that. It is just today's events that has rattled me. I have come too close to lose him so many times in the last couple of years, it is just scaring the shit out of me. He settles me on the couch and goes to get a square bucket filled with cold water from the laundry room so I can put my feet in it so I won't get blisters all over my toes.

'Why are you crying?' he asks me 'Are you in pain?' he asks and I shake my head 'Then what is it?' he asks worriedly.

I tried to calm down and catch my breath as he handed me a napkin to wipe my tears 'It's just today...everything that has happened...it just came crashing down on me' I tell him.

'I know...I'm sorry' he replies.

'After everything that...that I was angry about...I just...can't get over the fact that if I hadn't followed you...I just can't even say it' I tell him 'I can't' I repeat.

'Come here' he whispers as he pulls me into his chest, resting his chin on my head while he rubs my back 'I'm here and I am fine...it is in the past now, don't think about it' he tells me.

'How can I not think about it Eric? That bomb...was meant for you! Don't you think I know that? Rebecca didn't have the information. You did. Someone tried to kill you today...again' I tell him.

'I know...and that someone is Stetler and Rebecca died instead of me...and I am here because of you' Eric tells me 'And I know that if it wasn't for the bomb, we would be having a different discussion right now' Eric tells me.

'Why did you tell me that you were in Court when you weren't?' I ask him 'You were passing in front of the PD and you were telling me that you were in Court. That is what made me follow you' I explain.

'I didn't realize at that moment. I was so lost in thought and I just...I just wanted to get the meeting over and done with. That was the first thing that came out of my mouth' Eric starts explaining 'This was a huge case to handle and when she first asked me to go back into the lab and wear the wire I didn't want to do it, I swear I didn't. Excepting this case, was excepting the fact that I had to spy on my friends, on you, and that broke my heart Calleigh, but at the same time I knew that if I didn't except this job, someone else was going to do it, and they wouldn't have cared about what happens to Walter or to Ryan, but I kept investigating. I knew it couldn't be them, but I swear I never thought in a million years that it was Rick' Eric tells me.

'Why Natalia?' I ask 'Why did you confide in her and not me? Do you have any idea how I felt at that moment? I felt like...like you weren't the Eric I knew, or that maybe you still had a thing for her' I start telling him.

'No Calleigh no...I don't have a thing Natalia. For God sake's Calleigh, how can you think that?' he asks me shocked.

'What was I supposed to think? You confided in her and not me' I explain.

'I didn't confide in her. She found out' he starts telling me 'I came to the lab wearing the wire, and it disturbed her hearing aid, and since she was in the FBI, she realized immediately that I was wearing the wire...so I had to tell her. That's why she didn't come to have a drink with us that night' he tells me and I realize at that moment how long it had been going on.

'Oh God' I say rubbing my forehead.

'But Calleigh you have to know that I never wanted to hurt you or put you in the middle of all of this. I just wanted to protect you...protect are friends, and Horatio knew what was going on' he tells me.

'He was in on it as well?' I ask him.

'Of course. I was investigating the lab' Eric tells me.

'It's just...it's just too much to take in, in one day' I tell him.

'I know...and I'm sorry...I really am...but I have never been more grateful to you than I am today. Calleigh you saved my life' Eric tells me as I see tears in his eyes.

I close my eyes and just lean into him 'Can you just hold me?' I ask him.

'For as long as you want' he tells me 'I love you Calleigh...remember that' he tells me before he kisses the top of my head.

'I love you too Eric...don't you ever forget it' I repeat as I finally let myself relax in his arms for the first time in such a long exhausting day.