A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up but my hard drive crashed....like in the blue screen of death.....and it took me forever to put all my programs back in and get everything reorganized. The good to come out of this? I now have a hard drive 3x larger than the one originally put in. Things are lightning fast now. Sigh.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Eric had been covertly watching Calleigh for days and he was, frankly, worried. She hadn't seemed all that rattled once they put Pete Morton away and her good name cleared but something just seemed off with her. She smiled and responded in much the same old way, but, yet.....he couldn't put his finger on it. She seemed sadder somehow; more somber. He wanted to ask her but he didn't want to pry. Returning to his fingerprints, lest he be accused of daydreaming, he tried to put the matter out of his mind for the time being.

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Eric had been absolutely correct about Calleigh's mood. She did feel sad and somber and all for one reason. She hadn't seen or heard from Jake in close to a week. She kept replaying over in her mind the last conversation that they had and she was sure that all she brought to his attention was the fact that him working the case could be seen as a conflict of interest. She had made no indication that she wanted anything to stop and she had tried calling him repeatedly, only to get his voicemail or answering machine. She had even asked Frank, in most casual way she knew, if he had seen Jake anywhere. Frank had replied that he hadn't seen him in a good week and he thought the guy might be on vacation. As day passed into day a feeling of abandonment began to creep in, souring her mood and darkening her sunlight.

It was nigh onto the second week that she boxed Jake's things and put them in the garage for if or when ever he decided to show up. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and a complete stranger stared back. Her hair had gone limp and lifeless, her complexion pale and her eyes unusually large and reddened by not enough sleep and too many tears.

"I need to stop this; I can't keep doing this to myself. Jake is gone. He chose his job over me again and I just need to get over it and move on," Calleigh said to her own reflection. She had already noticed the concerned looks she was receiving from her teammates in the Lab and wondered how long it would be before anyone started asking questions. Before she could stop herself, her eyes welled with tears. "Why do I always fall for the wrong one?"

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Not wanting any more undue attention from her teammates, Calleigh took extra care in readying herself for work. She soothed her reddened and puffy eyes with eye drops and used a slightly deeper foundation and a little extra blush to cover over the paleness of her skin. She even took extra care to give her hair a little curl and volume before leaving for the day.

Firmly pushing any and all thoughts of Jake from her mind, she exited the locker room and strode down the hall to the break room for her morning coffee and to read over her messages. She sat down, sipping her first cup and was going through a case file when Natalia walked in.

"Hey, Calleigh," Natalia said, coffee in hand.

Calleigh looked up. "Oh, hey, Nat. You're here early."

Natalia smiled at her. "Just taking the example from my mentor. Besides, I have an appointment at the shooting range this afternoon so I wanted to get in early so I can spare the time."

"If we get a call-out, I'll rotate in for you if you need me to while you're at the range. How are you doing with that, by the way?"

Natalia looked away, still embarrassed by some of her shortcomings. "It's coming along. I'm getting better with the handgun, but I've only tried the shotgun once." She shook her head. "You make it look so easy."

"Nat, I heard about your shoulder. Don't be embarrassed. I grew up shooting a shotgun and hunting small game. I'm just glad you weren't hurt worse. Next time come to me and let me know. I'd be the last person to laugh at you. I've had enough accidents of my own to know they're not funny," Calleigh said seriously.

"I can't believe that you've ever had a problem with anything that you can aim and shoot. You can fire anything," she praised.

Calleigh's cheeks colored slightly and she gave a small chuckle. "It was a JBL Sawed-Off Magnum Double Sling Speargun that bit me hard. That thing nearly took my right shoulder off. I knew the thrust it had just not the kick it would give me on dry land. That thing was made to be fired in the water and I conveniently forgot that. I had a technicolor bruise the size of my fist and I can't even begin to tell you how much that hurt."

"What happened?"

Her eyes lit at the prospect of telling the story. "A treasure hunter was found with a spear straight through him, pinning him to his own boat hull. So, once Alexx freed up the spear from the vic and the hull, I hit the firearms locker to see what we had. The spear fit two exemplars and I pulled them both. The first one couldn't even get into the gel block, let alone the hull of a boat. So, I tried the Magnum and it was the right one, alright, but I got hurt."

"Did Horatio ever-"

Calleigh shook her head. "He saw the bruise but didn't know how bad it was and I wasn't about to tell him. Our detective did since he was there at the time of the experiment and he's the one that squealed to Horatio. I wanted to kill Hagen for that. As far as I was concerned, it was just a job hazard and nothing to make a fuss about. Besides, I was a little embarrassed about it. I am the firearms expert and all."

"Then you know that I want to keep it to ourselves. How did you find out?" Natalia asked, fascinated by the fact that Calleigh still made mistakes with her work. It made her feel a whole lot better.

"Eric told me because he was worried about you and rightfully so. He knows that I've been training you so he thought I should know. I won't make a big deal about it and I won't put it on your record," Calleigh said understandingly. "Accidents happen when we learn new things, Nat. We're allowed to have them."

Natalia closed her eyes in relief. Calleigh was her friend, sure, but she was also her supervisor and had to take official actions whether she wanted to or not. "Thanks. I really appreciate it. I promise to be more careful in the future."

Calleigh smiled at her, taking another sip of coffee. "Good."

"Speaking of good, you look really nice today. Normally I wouldn't say anything but you've been a little.....I don't know: not looking like yourself lately. Is everything alright?" Natalia asked. She didn't want to pry but Eric hadn't been the only one concerned about her of late.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Calleigh said quickly.

"I thought you might have been a little rattled by the whole nearly getting run over thing accompanied by the Stetler stuff. No one would have blamed you if it upset you more than just a little," Natalia commented, watching Calleigh carefully.

Damn her for being so intuitive. She was right; Calleigh had been very rattled by the whole thing and really needed someone to lean on. That someone was supposed to have been Jake and he hadn't been there. He hadn't been anywhere and she had to deal with how she felt on her own, adding growing feelings of abandonment to the mix. Eric had offered but she didn't want to impose on or strain their renewed friendship. So, ultimately she dealt with everything that had gone on alone as she always had done. This time it hadn't been as easy and keeping up the cheerful facade was almost impossible. She knew that people noticed the struggle she was having and gave her space.

"Well, I'm over it, Nat. I was rattled but I'm okay now. Having your career nearly ripped out from underneath you just because you did what you had to to save your own life is pretty big. The good thing is that we got to break up a major drug ring in the middle schools and save a lot of kids a lot of trouble," Calleigh said cheerfully. "That's a lot of future crime we won't have to deal with."

Sensing that Calleigh was still avoiding something more upsetting and having the sense to steer clear, Natalia said, "Well, I'm glad that you got your wind back. Hey, I know what it's like to have your career ripped out from underneath you. You ever want to talk about it, you can come to me."

Calleigh smiled at her, knowing that the offer was genuine. "Thanks, Natalia. The worst of it has passed. I'll be fine."

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Eric had flat out said it. He was ready to settle down and have a family if he found the right girl. He knew that Jake was out of the picture and had been for a while and while Calleigh seemed to have finally bounced back after the break up he had hoped that he'd waited a decent time before making his interest known to her. He knew that she'd be extra cautious now and all his earlier impatience with her skittishness had to be made invisible. Jake had hurt her with the break-up; hurt her again. Eric had watched her struggle through the pain and just remained a supportive friend in the background.

She hadn't sounded displeased with the statement and even said that he'd make a great dad. In fact, there was an almost imperceptible note of interest in her voice. If he hadn't known her so well for so long he would have missed it. He had wanted to ask her about it or push the subject with her: casually so she wouldn't shy away, but doing so while investigating a murder suspect's bedroom just wasn't the time and place. He had let the matter drop, planning on bringing it up to her in the future when the right time came along. This time, he'd be more aggressive in his part of the game and make certain that there would be a right time.

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The thought of Eric being a dad had grabbed her imagination, firing it; charming her. She pictured him playing with his children; one of each, both with his beautiful brown eyes, heads topped by curly dark hair. He was rolling on the grass with them, being their "horsey" and tickling and laughing. He'd read them bedtime stories and help them with their homework. He would be such a wonderful dad. She was startled out of her reverie by the sudden, overwhelming desire for those children to be hers and Eric still their father. The revelation shocked her with it's intensity. She desired it more than ever; desired Eric more than ever but she had hurt him so badly and didn't know if he'd ever be receptive to her again. She would have to go softly and carefully, making certain that he didn't shy away from her.

She put her head in her hands and sighed, getting up from her microscope and stretching her cramped back. Time is what she needed most and she knew that while time could be a friend, it could also be a bitter enemy. Time had almost stolen him from her almost a year ago. Fate gave him back to her and she'd squandered that chance away because she had been too afraid. What she needed was a little time to make certain that her renewed interest in Eric wasn't just a rebound and that the feelings were real. If they were and Eric still wanted her there was still that pending no fraternization rule which they would have to heavily consider. The real question was: where did they go from there?