Well, I started out wanting to write a nice fluffy E/C fic but this came out instead. I've decided it will still be an E/C fic but it won't be as fluffy as I wanted.
Just as a note, I haven't found any specifications on the length of time Calleigh was with John. For the purposes of this story I'm going to assume it ended with time enough for the events mentioned to happen.
Disclaimer: Not my characters.
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She couldn't believe it had been a year since Speed's death.
Calleigh Duquesne was on the range, firing practice shots as she usually did on the mornings of her days off. She found it was a great way to keep herself sane since, while her active mind concentrated on her shooting, she could delve into the issues that had buried themselves into her subconscious during the past week. It sure beat having to go to therapy.
This particular morning, however, Calleigh was dealing with more than just a week's worth of mental upsets. It was the anniversary of Speed's death and she was attempting to come to terms with the fact that she had just spent a year without him.
She had loved him, in her way. She had had trust issues of course. Having grown up with an alcoholic father she couldn't have been any other way. But Speed had understood and had had patience with her. Surprising considering his nature.
Although they hadn't intentionally kept their relationship a secret, nearly nobody knew that Calleigh and Speed were together due to their effort to keep their personal lives seperate from their professional. Impressive considering it's the job of those aorund them to uncover the truth.
The only person who had known, Calleigh found out later, was Alexx. The week before his death, Speed had asked Alexx to help him pick out an engagement ring. Alexx, forever the victim's voice, had sat Calliegh down after the funeral and told her of Speed's intentions. Calleigh, while deeply saddened and angry at the thought of what might have been, was nevertheless thankful to Alexx for giving her the security in the knowledge that at least once in her life, someone had loved her as much as she had loved him.
Calleigh sighed, set down the gun, and brought the target up so she could look at it. She ran her finger over the holes. One less than the amount of times she had shot. She knew exactly when she had missed; her mind had been stringing together random images of time spent with Speed when she remembered his face, above her own in the semi-darkness, his arms holding her reverantly. Her hand shook and she missed.
She took down the target and put up a new one. She was going to keep on until everything was out of her system and she made every shot perfectly. Better to miss on the range than on the field.