A/N: I figured it was about time to take a step back to the E/C side of the street, heh. This is a Christmas fic (not a challenge fic, just a regular Christmas fic), and has three parts. As always, nothing recognizable is mine; and finally, hope y'all enjoy it:)

"Wow," Calleigh murmured breathlessly, her eyes glued to the window in front of her. "It's beautiful."

Eric smirked, slipping up beside her. "Fifty bucks says you won't be saying that in a few hours," he quipped, leaning against the window. A tiny smile graced Calleigh's lips, and while her eyes were still locked on the scene outside, Eric let his eyes take her in.

He hadn't believed her when she told him she'd never seen snow. But now, watching her face and seeing the almost childlike wonder in her eyes, he knew she'd been telling the truth.

She turned to him, and Eric couldn't help but grin at the tiny pout on her face. "Why's that?"

He hesitated, glancing out the window himself. He knew Calleigh was eager to get home; she'd made that clear to him for the entirety of the trip. But now, with the newfound light in her eyes and the first genuine smile he'd seen on her since before they'd left Miami in the first place, Eric didn't want to be the one to tell her that the beautiful scene just outside the window was the reason it would be a while longer before they made it home.

It was the day before Christmas, and instead of at home in Miami, wrapping last minute presents (or in Eric's case, buying last minute presents), the day found Eric and Calleigh standing in a small town airport somewhere in North Carolina, an airport they weren't even supposed to be flying through in the first place.

The flight home was supposed to be simple. Straight into Miami; they'd have been home by nightfall. But certain events of the morning had turned that simple flight into what could be called a nightmare.

----------

Calleigh looked anxiously at her watch, tapping her foot on the tile floor in annoyance. But after a moment, that repetitive tapping sound grew far more irritating than the lack of punctuality in a certain co-worker, so instead she stopped that, channeling her frustration into a particularly loud sigh. Leaning her head back against the wall, her eyes drifted toward the ceiling, and for not the first time in their stay there, she winced at just how clearly old and stale this particular motel was. Rolling her eyes at nothing in particular, she irritably crossed her arms over her chest, resisting the urge to yet again glance at her watch. "Come on, Eric," she muttered.

At this rate, they wouldn't even make it to the airport in time for their flight, let alone make it through security and get to the gate in time. And being Christmas Eve, what were the odds that they could actually get another flight?

Calleigh gave a defeated sigh, figuring all she would accomplish in angrily tapping her foot and constantly glancing at her watch would be making herself even more exhausted. It was Christmas Eve; she just wanted to get home.

A few years back, a case that Eric and Calleigh had worked had been traced back to a small town in Alabama. It had fallen under their jurisdiction, and that'd been the end of it. Or so they'd thought. But at the last minute, the last possible minute before the trial, there had been an issue with the Miami evidence, and it had brought Eric and Calleigh to Alabama. But now that was done, and they were on their way back to Miami.

If Eric would only hurry up and get downstairs.

Failing to stifle a yawn, Calleigh lifted her hand to her mouth, trying at least to hide it. She hadn't slept well the last couple of nights, but nobody needed to know that. Nobody needed to know she was anything less than at a hundred percent. Even for a plane ride.

It was another fifteen minutes before the doors of the elevator opened, revealing Eric to the lobby. Immediately, Calleigh crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes in a cold glare as he stepped off the elevator, making his way toward her. "What the hell, Eric?" she hissed, gesturing to her watch. She didn't even bother to feel bad when he flinched, both at her glare and her tone.

Eric avoided her eyes; an angry Calleigh wasn't exactly someone he wanted to be on the bad side of. He raked a hand through his hair, smiling sheepishly. "I, uh, overslept a bit," he said, knowing as soon as the words left his mouth that it was the wrong answer.

Calleigh stared. "You overslept."

Eric unconsciously took a step back, honestly afraid. "Yeah, uh, I guess the front desk screwed up. They never sent up my wake up call."

Calleigh gave another frustrated sigh, lifting her hands to rub her temples, hoping to ward off an impending headache. "Things like this happen all the time, Eric. If you'd listened to me, we'd be getting on our plane about now."

Eric's eyes widened; she was taking this far worse than he'd imagined. "Calleigh, I told you; I didn't get a wake up call," he stated quietly, trying both to keep his calm and not cause a scene.

Calleigh wasn't backing down though. "Then you should've set another alarm."

"Oh come on, Cal, like I knew they wouldn't call me."

"I didn't get my wake up call either, but I'm down here on time." Calleigh crossed her arms, lifting an eyebrow in challenge.

Wisely, Eric didn't take that challenge. "Calleigh," he sighed, shrugging his shoulders apologetically, "I'm sorry, okay?"

Closing her eyes, Calleigh took in a deep, calming breath. She could tell his apology was genuine, and besides, it was Christmas Eve. He didn't deserve to be yelled at just because she wanted to go home and crawl into her own bed. She nodded slowly, opening her eyes again, reaching out and touching his hand just slightly. "Me too," she murmured, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Hey, it's fine, Calleigh. You're right; I should've been more prepared," he said gently, looking into her tired eyes, concern for her rapidly growing within him. "You okay?"

Calleigh nodded. "Yeah. I'm just tired. I just need some sleep."

Eric smiled, reaching around to grab her suitcase for her. "Well, come on, let's get out of here, and maybe you can get some sleep on the plane, okay?" he suggested. "I'll even let you lay your head on my shoulder."

Though she tried, Calleigh couldn't keep a grin from spreading over her lips. "How can I stay mad at you when you make me a deal like that?"

----------

Though they'd missed their original flight, Eric, feeling bad, managed to pull some strings and get them on the next flight out. It wasn't direct to Miami though; they'd have to switch planes once. But Eric didn't mind, as long as it got them out of there, and as long as Calleigh wasn't upset with him anymore.

And, true to his word, he'd let her use his shoulder as a pillow. He'd felt bad that he had to wake her when they landed in North Carolina. Calleigh had looked like she needed some rest, and she'd just looked so peaceful there. It hadn't been merely for her benefit, however. Eric loved the feeling of having her curled up against him. The tiny sighs that escaped her as she slept had almost been enough to completely undo Eric, though; and he could've almost sworn once that he'd heard her murmur his name, although that might've been wishful thinking on his part.

That'd been a few hours ago, and in just those few tiny hours, the entire outside landscape had been transformed. What before had been just an empty runway that eventually ended, green grass spreading away from it and toward a forest of green in the distance, snow-capped mountains watching over it all had become a sea of endless white. The sky had been threatening snow all day, but Eric had shrugged it off, figuring that since North Carolina was still technically in the south, it had to be far too warm for snow.

But obviously, he'd been wrong.

And despite the predicament the sudden snowstorm had put them in, Eric had to agree with Calleigh. There was no denying that everything all covered in white as more fell from the sky was the second most beautiful sight he'd seen on this trip; the first being the sparkle, the wonder in Calleigh's eyes as she watched the very scene unfold.

And it pained him dearly to know that, with this one piece of bad news, he ran the high risk of extinguishing that bright sparkle.

Anxiously, he slipped his hands into his pockets, avoiding the questioning look that'd come over Calleigh's eyes. He knew she wasn't going to like this. "I know you really want to get home, and I know it's Christmas Eve and you probably have somewhere you need to be, and it probably wouldn't be like this if we were in a bigger airport with more up-to-date equipment and the like, but…"

Calleigh grinned, tilting her head. "Eric, what is it?"

He sighed, resting his body against the wall. " Cal, this snowstorm's causing some problems." He lifted a hand, pointing half-heartedly toward a screen listing arrivals and departures. All but two of them were listed as canceled, and Eric would be willing to bet that the other two would soon be following suit. He shrugged. "It's too dangerous to fly in this kind of weather."

Calleigh's smile faltered, her eyes darting back to the snow falling outside, regarding it in a new light. "So you're saying?" she asked quietly, hoping he wasn't telling her what she thought he was.

"We're going to be here for awhile," he said simply, flinching as it seemed Calleigh was deflating right before his eyes.

"But it's Christmas Eve," she remarked softly. She let out a breath and slowly lowered herself to the floor, leaning her head back against the wall, her knees pulled against her chest. Granted, it wasn't like she had anything planned over Christmas, but it still didn't mean she wanted to spend the holiday stuck in an airport a few states away from home.

Eric sighed. "I know."

"And tomorrow's Christmas."

Despite the high chance that Calleigh might hit him for it, he couldn't resist giving a smart-ass comment. "Yeah, Christmas generally does come after Christmas Eve," he smirked.

Calleigh lifted her head toward him, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. "You're the reason we're in North Carolina to begin with, so it'd be to your advantage to keep your mouth shut," she commented, as though daring him to say anything else. Although, the effect was marred by the slight twitching at the corner of her lips that Calleigh was just unable to hide.

With a grin of his own, Eric sank to the floor next to her, patting her knee lightly in reassurance. "Hey, maybe this won't be as bad as you think."

Calleigh chuckled, looking to Eric with a raised eyebrow. "And just how might that be?"

Eric shrugged, looking out the window to the snow-covered land below. "Well, when you were little, didn't you ever daydream about getting snowed in?" he asked enthusiastically, letting his own excitement over the snow shine through. Unlike Calleigh, he had seen snow a few other times in his life, but nothing like this. And the fact that he was snowed in with none other than Calleigh Duquesne just made it all the more exciting.

"Eric," Calleigh began exasperatedly, "I've never even seen snow before today. Back home, I never even got a snow day from school, let alone the chance to think about getting snowed in." And I'm glad for it, she added silently. Her family wasn't exactly the first group of people she'd want to be snowed in with.

"Okay then," Eric continued. "At least we're stuck in a place that has food. And shopping," he added with a grin.

Calleigh laughed. "I'm not even gonna ask why you're excited about airport shopping."

Eric gave a fake sigh of relief. "Good, because you'd probably laugh at me and call me names."

"Yeah, because I'm the immature one on this trip," she teased, elbowing Eric in the side.

Eric fought to keep a straight face. "Well hey, I wasn't going to say anything, but if you're gonna admit it so easily," he teased back, earning himself another elbow in the side. But he didn't care; before, Calleigh had looked almost ready to admit defeat, and now Eric had her laughing again. He could deal with a little pain in his side, especially since Calleigh's smile was all he needed to make it go away. He gave a quiet chuckle, remembering something from just a little while earlier. "Okay, the real reason I'm excited about airport shopping," he began with a wink, "is because I have fifty dollars extra to spend on anything and everything."

Calleigh watched him, slightly confused. "What?"

Eric grinned evilly. "Oh, don't you remember? You owe me fifty bucks." His grin widened as Calleigh's look of confusion grew. "Here we are, on Christmas Eve. We're probably not gonna get home until tomorrow evening. And it's all because of that seemingly harmless white stuff out there," he said, pointing to the window. "Snow. I bet it's not so beautiful now, huh?" he smirked.

Calleigh scowled, remembering the conversation from earlier. "It's still beautiful," she insisted, giving Eric a playful smack on the arm, "it's just inconvenient."

"Calleigh, how can a wall of solid white be beautiful?"

"Shut up," Calleigh demanded with a laugh.

"Pay up," Eric retorted, extending his hand to her.

Calleigh rolled her eyes, reaching into her purse, knowing that if she didn't, she was going to have to listen to him whine about it the whole time they were there. "Here," she muttered, pretending to glare as she pulled out two twenties and a ten. "Happy?"

"Very," Eric replied smugly. He grinned and rose to his feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some shopping to do."