Author's Note: I apologize for the incredible delay in between chapters for this story. I hope you guys are still out there and are still willing to take the time to read this story.
I honestly lost a lot of motivation to write (and even stopped watching the show) once it was obvious that TPTB were going to screw us over and act like the Eric/Calleigh romance never happened. But recently I realized that my attitude wasn't fair to the couple I adore, you guys, or myself. I love Eric & Calleigh and if the show won't give us what we deserve after all these years then I might as well write about it the way I want to, right? There might be mentions of current cases or events that happened if I thought they were interesting but my chapters will most likely NOT be canon anymore (if they ever were to begin with, lol). So look for more chapters of this story, albeit probably sparingly at first, as I get back into the groove of the Hiphugger way.
Until next time, I hope you enjoy!
~JP
An Introspective of a CSI Romance
By Jaclyn Parker
7. Normal In Chaos
The sound of music suddenly broke through the darkened bedroom and after a moment of dual confusion, Eric felt Calleigh roll over and slap at the offending alarm clock. A crash and a muffled grumble of words told him that she had hit the small machine a little too enthusiastically and had knocked it off of the night stand. Another mumble and the bed shifted as she bent sideways to put it back, before slipping out from under the covers.
Calleigh barely made it a step before the sound of flesh hitting solid oak rang out.
"Son of a…"
Eric cracked an eye open at the sound of the almost curse in a soft Southern twang.
The resounding hiss of breath followed by the unmistakable rhythmic thud of someone hopping on one foot had him fighting back a chuckle. He listened to her hop around the floor for a moment and without turning his head, he could clearly see in his mind the picture she created.
Her long blonde hair would be sleep tousled and messy, hanging down over her face as she clutched her one foot in her hands. The sleep shirt she wore to bed would be creeping higher up her thighs as she hopped around, showing off her adorable pink and white hip hugger underwear. The more he thought about it, the more the idea of alerting her to the fact that he was awake appealed to him. Another sharp curse brought those thoughts to a halt. He was sure that he wouldn't be able to hold back the smug look on his face as he watched her hop around considering their minor argument before bed last night about just this situation happening…again.
It was actually the second time this week that she had stubbed her toe on the nightstand by her bed but whenever he tried to suggest moving it back an inch or placing a rubber strip on the corners all he got in return was a curt response of: "It's fine."
Eric listened to her head towards the kitchen and knew that she was starting the coffee pot. It was rare for Calleigh to drink coffee but on the days that she felt she needed it to function she could drink more of it than he did. Sure enough, soon the smell of the dark Columbian roast permeated the apartment and again he lay there listening to the next step in the morning ritual. The shower turned on full blast and he rolled over onto his back, staring up at the white ceiling. He calculated quickly and knew from experience that he had about another forty minutes before he even had to think about waking up to shower himself. Glancing at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock, he saw that he had guessed correctly so Eric contended himself to close his eyes again and listen to the sounds of his girlfriend getting ready.
When he opened his eyes again, 35 minutes later, it was to the new noise of the blow-dryer. He realized that the enticing sounds of the water and the early morning birds outside had previously lulled him back to sleep. Hearing the blow dryer stop, he turned his head and opened his eyes a little to watch a bathrobe clad Calleigh wander out of the bathroom. She tiptoed through the bedroom to head for the closet in the hallway where she kept her numerous amounts of hair products and other girly things he didn't like to think about.
Eric smiled as he lazily stretched his muscles and slid out of the bed too. Checking that the clothes he had brought over were laid out in the armchair by the window he didn't bother with pulling on his boxers on his way to the bathroom. What was the point if he was just jumping into the shower?
Catching sight of the hair straighter plugged in and ready for use, Eric couldn't help that his small smile grew larger at the idea that the golden strands he loved so much would be loose, super sleek, and flowing like a waterfall today.
He had just soaped up when he heard her re-enter the bathroom. The hiss of the flat iron on product covered hair confirmed his earlier suspicion and he contented himself with the fact that he would be able to sink his hands in her hair upon saying good morning.
A loud pop and even louder exclamation made Eric hurriedly stick his head out of the shower in concern.
He immediately saw Calleigh standing there, half dressed in a pair of black slacks and light pink camisole, staring incredulously at the hair straightener in her right hand.
"Cal?" He ventured to ask and she shook her head, frowning.
"It blew." She said, her voice dazed. "Do you see this? I only got through half of my hair before this thing went kaput! What am I going to do?"
"It's not that bad, Cal. I can't even tell the difference." Eric said, but even as the words came out he knew they weren't true.
One side of Calleigh's head definitely had more…volume…than the other. The raised eyebrow and look she sent him told him that even she knew that he knew better.
Eric was about to say something more encouraging when an acrid odor reached them and he wrinkled his nose.
"Is something burning?" He asked and Calleigh's eyes widened.
"Oh my God, the coffee!"
At least, that's what he thought she said since she raced out of the bathroom so fast he might have imagined her saying anything at all.
But after finishing his shower and putting his own clothes on, Eric walked into the kitchen to find her still fiddling with the settings on the brand new coffee maker they had picked up that weekend.
"Good morning, Babe. Want me to see if I can fix it?" Eric said, as he concentrated on buttoning the left cuff on his dark red button down shirt.
When he raised his eyes, the death glare he received in return made him pause and unconsciously take a step back.
"It is not a good morning and no, I don't need you to fix anything." Calleigh said, enunciating every word slowly. "I'll just throw this stupid thing out and grab some real coffee on the way to work."
Eric noticed this and very smartly just nodded along with her, sidestepping her to reach for an apple on the kitchen table.
"Okay." Eric said, just as slowly and sat at the table. "I'll just wait here until you're ready to go."
Calleigh looked at him like he had two heads and he swallowed the bite of apple he had just taken.
"Your car, Cal. It's in the shop, remember?"
"You know what, Eric? You can..." Calleigh started but in the end just swallowed the rest of her unladylike phrase before gesturing to the doorway. "Never mind, can we just...go?"
Wisely, Eric simply nodded and motioned for her to go first. Normally his chivalrous attitude would have gained him a gentle and affectionate smile. But this morning it just received an irritated eye roll and a loud sigh as Calleigh brushed past him, hastily pulling her hair back into a thick braid.
Other than a brief thank you when Eric stopped at a drive-thru donut and coffee shop the car ride was filled with a somewhat tense silence. The arrived at the lab with only a couple minutes to spare before they had to clock in for the day and once through the checkpoints they went their separate ways.
The morning started out slow enough until a report came in about a young woman's body found in an empty condo in very affluent part of the city. Only a few hours later they had gathered an overwhelming amount of facts and were starting to piece the puzzle together.
The condo turned out to have been the site of a raving party only a couple nights ago while the owners had been away visiting relatives up north in New York City, New York. From the lack of prints and the anti-septic smell that hung in the air, they knew that the place had been professionally cleaned afterwards. However, the girl's body temp and decomposition showed that she had been dead at least a few days before the night of the party. The lack of blood or any disturbing evidence of that nature around the corpse meant that the condo was just a dump site and that she had been killed somewhere else. The only set of prints they did find came from under the expensive diamond watch that the beautiful blonde woman had been wearing. It was established that the prints belonged to the 23 year old son of a multi-millionaire business mogul and that was when all the trouble started.
After getting confirmation in Natalia's lab that there was enough semen present from the swab taken from the inside of her right thigh to compare DNA to that of a suspect, the group split up.
Eric and Ryan headed back to the condo in order to see if they could find anything to back up their new theory while Horatio and Calleigh accompanied Frank to try and get a judge, any judge, to sign off on a DNA test warrant for Ken Hudson, Jr.
As it turned out, Eric and Ryan had gotten the easier part of the plan when, after talking to three different judges, it looked like the Hudson's had more influence than they initially thought. Time after time Frank, Calleigh, and Horatio were turned down for a DNA warrant due to "lack of evidence"; an excuse that was growing weaker by the judge. After much hemming and hawing, Frank managed to track down a judge who didn't seem to fear the wrath of the Hudson family name but she was currently in the middle of a trial until four o'clock that afternoon.
The moment Judge Katherine O'Malley appeared out of the court room, Frank jumped on his chance to plead their case. Unfortunately so did Mr. Kyle Polk, the Hudson family attorney, who had gotten wind of their intentions and shown up as soon as he could slither out from under his rock.
Calleigh and Horatio got their two cents in with the more scientific explanations but in the end they were left out in the hallway to pace while Judge O'Malley allowed Frank and the Hudson family attorney into her chambers to discuss the warrant in further detail.
On her fourth trip down the lengthy ornate hallway, Calleigh's cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Stopping just shy of the water fountain by the judge's door, she promptly answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Sexy, what are you up to?"
Calleigh's eyes widened slightly at greeting and she sent a quick glance in Horatio's direction. Seeing he was still seated on the bench by the door, she discreetly moved far enough way to hold a conversation.
"Eric?" Calleigh asked, her soft southern drawl tinged with confusion. She plugged a finger in her other ear and hunched over the phone as if getting closer to the device would provide some clarity to what was going on.
"Who else would be calling you sexy over the phone?" Eric asked and Calleigh could hear the soft laughter in his voice.
Calleigh's eyes narrowed and she frowned. Reasons as to why he would be talking to her this way during work hours swirled around in her head until one stuck out and caused her to suck in her breath in panic.
"Eric, are you okay? Is there someone with you that is making you talk like this?"
Visions of Eric being held hostage in some dingy basement with a gun pressed to his temple flashed in her mind's eye. Before she could straighten to motion to Horatio that there was a problem Eric's low chuckle sounded out in her ear.
"No, Baby, I'm fine. I'm my way back from the second go around at the crime scene and I just wanted to hear your voice."
Calleigh froze and her previous feelings of fear and panic slowly began to melt away into a mixture of frustration, anger, and incredulity.
"Excuse me?" Calleigh asked, her shocked voice echoing in the marbled hallway.
She glanced back over her shoulder and noticed that Horatio was now watching her with an eyebrow raised. Calleigh sent him a quick casual nod and smile before turning her attention back to the phone.
"Have you lost...your...mind?" Calleigh whispered harshly, her green eyes wide as she frantically tried to keep her voice low.
"No, I just miss my sexy as hell girlfriend and thought I'd call her to say hi."
Calleigh stood stock still for about a nano-second before she launched into her tirade.
"Eric, it is 4:55 and I am standing in the hallway of the courthouse waiting for a judge to sign off on a warrant that, in essence, would only be in effect until 5:30 tonight. Our suspect is a major flight risk and very well connected, as evident by the foot dragging going on in almost the entire legal district including our current judge's chambers. Not to mention our boss is standing a mere 5 feet away from me and you're calling me to flirt?"
There was a long silence on the other end before a small grunt.
"Okay, well, when you put it like that it does sound kind of bad," Eric said.
Calleigh had to force back a small laugh and was about to say something else when the door to the judge's chamber opened up. An obviously angry Kevin Polk stormed out with a grinning Frank stepping out right behind him, waving a folded up piece of paper.
"I gotta go, Eric. We got the warrant!" Calleigh said, sending Frank and Horatio a grin.
"Go get 'em, Sexy," Eric said loudly in her ear.
"You're insane," was all she replied.
With a shake of her head, she hung up her phone and hurried to follow the two older men as they all fast tracked to the parking lot. But even as she caught up with them, she knew that the wide smile on her face was there to stay.
Despite the final success of the obtaining the warrant and, after a bit of a struggle, the actual DNA the case hit quite a few more roadblock as many of their cases tended to do. But Eric and Ryan had managed to get enough evidence to ensure their suspect was confined to his parent's house while Natalia could run the DNA comparison testing overnight. They all knew in their gut that the Hudson kid was guilty so there was no additional pressure to stay after hours and monitor the results.
Since Natalia had offered to drop Calleigh off to retrieve her car from the shop, Eric had gone out with Ryan for a beer and to watch the first half of the Miami Heat game. When they went into halftime with a deficit of more than 60 points, both men decided to call it an evening.
As Eric swung his car onto his street, he was surprised to see Calleigh's car already parked in front of his house. By the time he had pulled into his driveway and gotten out of the car, Calleigh had gotten out of her own and was leaning against the side of it, waiting for him.
"Hi," Eric said softly, walking halfway down the driveway and stopping.
"Hi, yourself," Calleigh replied, smiling at him.
"What are you doing here? Did you come right after work? Have you been waiting this whole time?" Eric began asking questions and only at the sight of her bemused expression did he realize he wasn't giving her a chance to answer any of them. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Calleigh said, grinning. "No, I've only been here a few minutes. Ryan called me right before you left the bar."
"What for?"
"With my attitude today, I think Natalia might have mentioned something to Captain Annoying earlier about us fighting even though we weren't. And you know Little Boy Nosy, he can't resist playing Mr. Fix-It from time to time."
"That's quite a few nicknames you just gave Wolfe," Eric said, his lips turning upwards in that devastatingly sexy smirk of his.
"And he earns every single one," Calleigh deadpanned.
"Very true," Eric acknowledged and then tilted his head. "Seriously, Cal, what are you doing here?"
"Well besides wanting to spend the night with my boyfriend, I feel like I owe you an apology."
"You know I never mind you wanting to spend the night but what's the apology for?"
"I know I wasn't the most pleasant person this morning...or this afternoon, really."
"Cal, everyone has bad days," Eric interrupted, "You are entitled to a couple too."
"Hmmm," Calleigh murmured and moved closer to Eric, her arms dropping from their position across her chest to reach towards him. He didn't hesitate to open his own and wrap her up in them, especially as the cool of the night air started to register.
Calleigh looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling as she kissed the underside of his chin. He grinned down at her before leaning over to gently kiss her lips.
"Do you know how wonderful you are?" Calleigh asked as she batted her eyelashes coquettishly.
"Yeah, but you can always tell me again." Eric said as he guided her towards the front door with a hand on the small of her back. Calleigh took the house key form his other hand and turned it in the lock.
"Oh, I don't plan on telling you anything. Showing you, however..." Calleigh said, throwing a look over her shoulder that left no doubt as to her meaning as she swung the door open.
Eric grinned at her and wrapped her up his arms again as they crossed the threshold of the front door. Looking down at her as he kicked the door shut again, he waggled his eyebrows.
"Go get 'em, Sexy."