Chapter 2

Thank everyone for reviewing! They give me a warm feeling inside.

Ummm, I have good news and bad news. I have a DVR and live in Canada. That's the good news. I also know how everyone wants to see the CTV promo. The bad news is, my DVR crapped out that night so it didn't record. I also fell asleep half way through the episode. From what I saw, I thought it was excellent.

Oh, and I'm sorry for the delay. I meant to update a couple of days ago, I've been busy.

Oh, and I'm also taking a bit of a rapid leap to something I wanted to work in. They kinda go out of state in this one. The town is also quite random.

Please R/R

Eric stepped off the elevator with Calleigh in tow. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. He wanted those men back behind bars. At this very moment, nor he or Calleigh were safe. In Florida. In general they weren't safe anywhere they happened to have family. Not to mention he was also worried that either Hank or Henri would use his family against them. He cringed at the very thought.

He stopped in front of Horatio. Horatio seemed calm. A bit too calm for his liking due to all the stress that was recently put upon him. Eric watched as Horatio put his hands on his hips and stood up even straighter, "I don't think Calleigh is safe here," Eric looked over at her.

"Horatio, I'm fine, I'll be-"

Horatio shifted his footing a bit, "Ma'am, I think it'd be best if you leave," Calleigh was shocked that Horatio was asking her to leave. Like the last time Hank escaped from jail, she's never taken a sick day. She was on mandatory medical leave. That's different. That was an order. She wanted to protest; she knew she wouldn't be able to win. Eric would be on his side all the way. Apparently the little 'rule' her mother and Eric set up in Louisiana was still in place at the moment.

Horatio put his head down and ran his finger along his glasses, "I have a friend in New Jersey. He's more than grateful to take you in," Calleigh looked up. She didn't want to go to New Jersey, "he owes me a favour," Calleigh once again was about to protest, "Ma'am, please, it's for your own good."

Calleigh turned on her heel and walked away from both Horatio and Eric. She could have sworn she heard a 'go with her Eric and keep her safe' behind her. She clenched her fists into tight balls and walked away. She had once again dragged Eric into the Henri Remilly mess. Again.

"All flights boarding for Newark Liberty Airport," Calleigh was getting tired of listening to all the intercoms. They were to be picked up at the airport by someone they didn't know. Lovely. She turned and looked at Eric when he placed his hand upon her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," he looked into her deep green emerald eyes, "We're gonna be in a small little town…H said it's great. The town's been around since the late 1800's and all the houses are almost one hundred years old," he was trying to make her birthday better. She truly wished it was going better too. She hated feeling like she was on the run. Brings back déjà vu.

She nodded and brushed past him towards the gate. She handed the woman her ticket. She noticed the woman's smile grow larger when she saw Eric. Her Eric. He didn't seem to notice. She flirtatiously told him 'enjoy your flight' before he muttered a 'thanks.' Calleigh smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

The plane was medium size. Once again she found herself in a sticky situation. She still abhorred flying. She didn't think she'd get over that. It's like the ants. She's still not over them either. She just says she is.

Eric sat down beside her and held her hand, "here we go," she gave him a weak smile. Hoping he would think that her birthday was going slightly better.

They were both glad that neither had checked in any luggage. Calleigh was able to wheel her little suitcase down towards the escalator while Eric was able to carry his little navy duffle bag. It also didn't take long for them to find a man with a sign that read 'Eric Delko & Calleigh Duquesne' on it. They exchanged hellos with the man. His name was John Jefferson. He lived twenty minutes away in Glen Ridge.

Calleigh stared out the window. She saw people weaving through the traffic almost every second. It didn't amaze her. Eric did the same thing back home in Miami. She also took notice to the graffiti. Well, Miami wasn't great about it either. Calleigh took notice that everything looked…greener than it did in Miami. Must have been the no humidity and chipper weather. Calleigh wished she had a thicker jacket.

When they turned on a street, Calleigh looked up and saw the old houses. They looked as if they were from the World War I era. Some even before. Their beauty amazed her. Eric smiled at the fact that she was enamoured by old houses.

"Here we are," John cut the engine off and opened the door. He headed to the back of his black Volvo and popped the trunk. He wasted no time in pulling out the duffle and suitcase. "Eric, go open the door will ya?" he tossed the house keys in Eric's direction. He obviously caught them.

Calleigh looked at John for a second, "How do you know Horatio?"

John looked up at her, "We worked together in New York for a bit, I retired about two years ago," he looked around, "Haven't lived here long, people are nice here. They like meeting new people."

Calleigh shivered, "How safe is it here?"

"Very safe ma'am," Calleigh shivered again. She saw her frosty breath form in front of her. "You better get inside," he looked up to see Eric struggling with the back door, "You turn it to the left!" he started jogging towards Eric. He didn't know what he was doing.

She sat down on the bed and looked out the window. The house was three stories high. You could say it was very cold upstairs. Right before she went up, she heard John holler if she wanted the heat on. She didn't want to trouble him. Eric answered for her. He knew she would be cold. Neither of the Miami CSI's were used to cold weather and the occasional ice.

"I underestimated the temperatures," Calleigh leaned back against the headboard. The bed wasn't exactly the largest. Eric offered the couch, Calleigh told him it wasn't needed. On the second floor, John's room was set up. John kept his clothes in another one of the rooms on the same floor; he didn't bother putting a bed in it. The other was used as a study or office of some sort. You could also call it a mini library. Also for some unknown reason there wasn't a bed in the other spare bedroom on the third floor.

"Yeah, me too," Eric placed her feet in his lap, "You know, there's a old bathtub in the bathroom. Looked like it would be relaxing," she smiled, "I also ran over to CVS pharmacy when you laid down because of your headache. Turns out they had candles and some fancy soap," she giggled a bit, "I thought it would be relaxing."

She shrugged her shoulder, "What are you waiting for? That bath's not gonna make itself," he smile at her and moved off the bed through the door. He shut it behind him. Smiling, Calleigh moved off the bed and went through her bag. She grabbed a bathrobe she managed to squish in and laid it out on the bed. She stripped and put it one over herself. She smiled at the thought of what Eric was doing for her and laid back down on the bed. Admiring the old light fixture.

He knocked on the door, "All right, Cal, it's ready," she moved off the bed and went to open the door. She moved to open the door; she wrapped her hand around the handle and gave it a slight tug. Nothing. She tried again. Nada.

"Calleigh?"

"Eric, the door's stuck," she didn't want John who had recently gone to bed to wake up to them moving around upstairs.

She heard the floorboards creak under Eric's weight as he shifted and pulled the door open. It made a popping and cracking sound as some of the paint on the doorframe came off.

"Fixed it," he smirked.

Playfully she moved over to him and slapped his shoulder before she brought his mouth down in a kiss. "Are you gonna join me?" he raised his eyebrows. Yep. He sure was.

Maybe this birthday wasn't so bad after all.

Yeah, I'm sure people are like "what the heck" I was too when this thought appeared in my head a couple of days ago. Don't worry, they won't be here long.

I have been to Glen Ridge. I loved that little area! I've also been in that airport numerous times. The intercom is very annoying (like in all airports) for some reason, Newark's gives me hell.

I have two reasons for not updating sooner. 1, I was busy, 2, I had two different plots going through my head at once.

Please Review =)

Leigha