Title:- A Thousand Years To Whisper

Rating:- T

Pairing:- Eric/Calleigh

Spoilers:- Post Season 8 finale. Spoilers for character death.

Okay, let me caution any prospective readers that this fic is ENTIRELY fluff! A little angst, but...mostly fluff. If it doesn't send you into a hyperglycemic coma, I hope you like it! As always, thanks for reading.

"Save me a seat at the breakfast table
Save me a dance around the Milky Way
And save me a thousand years to whisper in your ears
All I've wanted to say."

Chris Rice – 'Breakfast Table'

All he wanted to do was hold her. Though the sound of her soft, rhythmic breaths was both calming and comforting, he needed to touch her, needed to reassure himself with a gentle caress of her warm skin, that she was okay. He had watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest now for what seemed like hours, but still his brown eyes were held transfixed by the sleeping woman beside him, watching every breath, every flutter of her long lashes, taking in every subtle movement, every murmured sigh.

Propping his weary head in his hand, Eric continued to keep his silent vigil, reaching out uncertainly and placing his hand atop of hers as it rested high on her abdomen. He brushed his thumb absently over her hand, revelling in the feel of her soft skin beneath his touch as his eyes once again lingered over her face.

A familiar tightening in his chest suddenly commanded his attention as he gazed down at her and he found himself once again thinking over the events of the previous day. The terror that had overcome him at finding her apparently lifeless body, he was certain would never leave him. He had told her once that he couldn't imagine living his life without her and as he had fallen even deeper in love with her, that sentiment had became even truer. Calleigh was his life.

Despite the clean bill of health she had been given from the doctors that evening, he planned on making sure she rested and despite her vehement protests, he had vowed to keep a watchful eye over her.

Shifting restlessly, Calleigh released a deep sigh and the faintest traces of a smile ghosted across her lips as she interrupted his vigil, "Eric, will you stop that!"

"Stop, what?" he watched her green eyes flash open and peer up at him, affixing him with an accusatory stare.

"Eric... I'm fine," she implored, sighing once more as she peered boredly around their bedroom and slid her hand out from underneath his, moving to sit up against the pillows and running a hand through the ends of her long hair.

Calleigh turned to face him and held his gaze, bringing her hand to rest lightly against his cheek, she stroked her thumb over the stubble of his jaw and smiled, "Really Eric, I'm okay... I appreciate your concern, I do, but I'm fine."

She rolled her eyes and felt her smile growing wider as he enclosed her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm, "You're a lousy patient, you know that?" he stated, eyebrow arched pointedly.

"Hey, it wasn't me driving the nurses crazy last night," she reminded him, nestling closer and resting her head on his shoulder, her cheek pressed to his t-shirt clad chest.

Eric laughed and slid his hand up her side, rubbing slow circles across her back as he remembered the reaction of the ER nurses to his constant demands for information. Of course they knew his desperation stemmed from concern and they placated him as best as they could with well meaning smiles and reassurances. But as Eric had driven Calleigh home later that evening, he figured perhaps some flowers and a note of thanks wouldn't go amiss. Maybe some chocolates too... it had been a long night.

"The nurses loved me," he scoffed, glancing down at her with an incredulous expression. Despite his...passionate...nature, he was fairly certain that the old Eric Delko charm and swagger could get him out of many a sticky situation.

The sound of her impish giggle brought a smile to his face and he brushed a clumsy kiss to her forehead as he felt her hand slide across his chest and her arm draped languidly over his torso.

"You know, hard as it is to believe Eric," she began, resting her chin on his chest and peering up at him from behind impossibly wide green eyes, "there are some people who are immune to your charms."

A low rumble reverberated through his chest as he laughed, "Worked on you, didn't they?" he teased, staring down at her with unchecked adoration. Sometimes he wondered if she really knew just how much he loved her.

Calleigh stilled and appeared to think this over momentarily, leaning back against his arm as she stared up at the ceiling and then nodded in agreement, "Oh that's right," she flashed him a playful smile, "you worked your magic and bam...seven years later, you had me!"

She recoiled back into his chest and giggled, catching the indignant expression on his face as he wrapped his arms around her once again.

"Yeah, well there were 'mitigating circumstances'," he retorted, watching her relocate further up his body so she could rest her chin on his shoulder, her warm breath drifting across his skin as their legs tangled and her heart pounded rhythmically above his.

"Uh-huh," she murmured, closing her eyes and nuzzling her face against his neck. He felt her smile against his skin and her lips drew a slow line of feather light kisses across his throat. Eric turned his head and enclosed her in his arms, allowing one hand to drift slowly up her arm before it lingered over the curve of her cheek.

"Uh-huh," he repeated, "But I've got you now," his voice was soft and deep and Calleigh felt her eyes drawn inexplicably to his, "and I'm never letting you go," he vowed, the pad of his thumb brushing her lower lip.

She sighed at the gentleness of his touch, at the heart breaking sincerity of his words and for a split second she found herself mourning the years she had missed being in his arms. Too many missed chances, too many misunderstandings, too much time spent stuck in the limbo that had become their friendship.

"Okay," she whispered, closing her eyes as he gently rolled them side by side, their bodies still entangled around each other, his forehead resting tenderly against hers as he searched out her hand between them and interlocked their fingers. She smiled as the tip of his nose brushed hers and his arm gathered her closer against him, hands clasped between their chests as their lips finally met in a slow kiss.

"You can hold me tighter, Eric. I won't break," she said softly, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest as she saw the haunted expression in his eyes. He gathered her as close as he could, his lips planting desperate kisses to her cheek and neck before his hand tangled in her blonde hair and he pressed his face into the sweet smelling skin of her neck.

Calleigh felt the dynamics of their embrace change as she held him to her, her fingertips combing soothingly through his short hair, his breath hot and shaky against her skin.

He breathed her in, his hands scouring her petite frame as he simply held her, both allowing the moments to silently pass by before he drew back to hold her gaze once more.

"I love you so much."

Calleigh's lips curved into a faint smile at his words, not a new affirmation, certainly, but definitely one she would never grow tired of hearing.

"I love you," she replied simply, her smile growing that little bit wider as he peered back at her, his eyes dark and warm and more than hinting at the depth of his devotion. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before; not John, or Peter.. not even Jake. Even if Eric had never uttered those three words, she would know instantly how very much she was loved and cherished, just in a single glance from those beautiful brown eyes. She hoped he found similar confirmation in hers; sometimes words were just not enough.

Eric released a deep sigh and rolled onto his back, manoeuvring her carefully with him as he continued to hold her tightly to him.

" You gotta stop doing this to me, Cal," he rasped, his fingertips tracing up and down her hip as he stared up at the ceiling and tried to gather his emotions.

Calleigh leant up and tapped her finger lightly against his chest, "Hey, I kept my part of the bargain. You said 'no more running into burning buildings', nobody ever said anything about the firing range," she punctuated her argument with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

"It is your natural habitat," he reasoned, glancing toward the clock on the night-stand. Horatio had yet to call and his thoughts began to drift to that of their friend. He only hoped that no news would in fact prove to be good news.

Calleigh shrugged and lay her head back against his chest, "I don't know, home does have it's charms."

Eric smiled, still in a state of disbelief that he now shared a home with Calleigh, that they were here, in their bed, in their house. The idea still seemed almost surreal. It was everything he had ever wanted.

"Yeah, well it's not a home without you, Calleigh," he glanced down at her briefly, placing a reverent kiss to her temple.

He felt a sigh escape her body and she closed her eyes once again as a comfortable silence descended upon them.

"You think Jesse's gonna be okay?" she asked quietly, both having previously been afraid to discuss their fallen friend. In a tragic twist of fate, it had not been the gas that had injured their colleague, in all likelihood Jesse would have walked away from the incident unscathed - but as he had fallen, he had hit his head. The doctors called it a 'traumatic brain injury' and Jesse now lay in a coma, Horatio, keeping a constant vigil over him as his friends themselves recovered from the effects of the gas.

"I don't know Cal," he replied honestly, anger and frustration overcoming his emotions as he considered the tragedy that had befallen their unit yet again.

Calleigh watched the large red figures on the clock display, watched them slowly signal the passing of time as she lay silently in Eric's embrace.

"He was nice to me, my first day," she swatted at her cheek as a tear trickled slowly from her eyes.

Eric nodded, rubbing her back comfortingly, "I was nice to you," he offered, trying to cheer her mood and not mourn their friend before they had to. It was an act of denial some might confuse for optimism.

"You weren't a cop, doesn't count," Calleigh sniffled, blowing out a slow breath as she tried to focus on the steady and constant beat of his heart beneath her ear.

"Besides," she added, "asking for my number doesn't count."

"Guess not," Eric allowed, squeezing her shoulder in a reassuring gesture, both starting slightly as Eric's cell phone rang ominously from the night-stand beside them.

Calleigh sat up in the centre of the bed and watched as Eric held the phone to his ear, licking his lips nervously.

"H?" he stared down at the bed covers, rubbing the side of his head as he listened, his expression darkening considerably, "Yeah, okay. Yeah. I will."

Calleigh widened her eyes as she watched him press the 'End' button and he looked up at her with an expression of sadness and defeat as he let the phone slip from his hand and land back on the night-stand with a gentle clatter.

"Eric?"

But she already knew the answer to her question. Jesse was gone.

Eric shook his head sadly, his jaw set as he considered the tragic waste of a life, that yet again, they had lost one of their own.

Calleigh placed her hand over her eyes and immediately began to quietly sob, her shoulders shaking with the effort of her tears.

Moving to sit beside her, Eric wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding onto her tightly as she shifted to sit on his lap and threw her arms around his neck, her tears concealed against his chest.

They remained like that a while, taking comfort in each other as best friends do. Looking down at the woman in his arms, Eric thought about Jesse, about the loss he had suffered. He hadn't known him as well as the others, had never really made an attempt to know him better, but in the short time they had been colleagues, Jesse had struck Eric as being somehow incomplete.

He couldn't imagine losing Calleigh, he couldn't imagine a life without her in it. Jesse's pain must have been unimaginable, Eric could never have begun to understand.

He would never truly want to.

"You think they're together now?"

Calleigh wiped at her reddened eyes and looked at Eric in confusion, "Who?" she asked quietly, sitting up straight across his lap but keeping her arm firmly around his neck.

"Jesse and his wife," Eric said quietly, avoiding her gaze as if he were somehow embarrassed at having asked such a question.

Calleigh frowned, shaking her head from side to side as she found herself suddenly pondering the same question. All she could do was answer honestly. "I don't know. I'd like to think so."

Eric remained silent, his gaze lingering on their hands as she placed hers over his and rubbed his skin affectionately.

"You think... You there's something else? Something after this life?" he glanced up at her, trying to read her expression as she very clearly struggled with this very 'un-Eric' train of thought. It wasn't a topic of conversation she thought they hadn't ever broached before.

"I do."

"Good,", Eric nodded, hoping against hope that she were right. Somehow, a lifetime together with Calleigh wasn't seeming like nearly long enough. He wanted forever to mean just that, to mean eternity.

"Are you okay, babe?" he shook himself from his thoughts and swiped a kleenex from the box on Calleigh's side of the bed, gently wiping a tear streak from her cheek before placing it in her hand.

"Yeah," Calleigh nodded, planting her palm to his cheek and rewarding him with a kiss.

"Are you hungry? Want me to make breakfast?" he checked, hardly feeling in the mood for food himself, but wanting to make sure she was looked after, "I could..."

"Eric," Calleigh interrupted softly, entwining her fingers with his and pressing their palms together, her head falling back against his shoulder, "let's just stay here a while."

Eric nodded, enclosing his arms around the woman he loved and silently hoping that somewhere, two lost lovers had finally been reunited.