Hey! I will get my 100th review this chapter! Woo! Unless you all decided to hate me and refuse to review!Hehe
Okay, last chapter was E/C implied, butthis one is slightly Peter Elliot/Calleigh and VERY Speed/Calleigh.
Enjoy! R+R dont forget review hahah!
Peter Elliot awoke in the early hours of the morning.
He looked at the clock and cursed.
03:27
He would have to leave in just over half an hour to get his plane back to Washington.
With a sigh, he untangled himself from the bed sheets and headed to the bathroom.
As I stood by the bed, I couldn't help notice how empty it looked. Calleigh's small figure was swamped by the size of it.
The bed needed two people in it, or it didn't look right. It's a double bed, made for two people.
That's better, I thought, a moment later.
I knew that I was invading her privacy.
I knew that I shouldn't have slipped under the covers, but it felt right.
It's not like anything can happen.
Calleigh will never even know I'm here.
I closed my eyes and edged closer to Calleigh.
Her warm breath was on my face when I closed my eyes.
A few seconds, or was it hours, later, I opened them again.
I had felt movement next to me.
Calleigh rolled onto her side so she was facing me.
One of her hands stretched out and came to rest on my chest.
Her arm didn't slide through me.
It took me a moment to realise how strange that was.
Her arm didn't slide through me.
My flesh was no longer ghostly, but human.
I was alive again, back in my mortal state.
Calleigh's hand shifted on my chest.
I was alive and in the one place I had always wanted to be but never thought I could get to.
Next to Calleigh.
With that thought, I fell asleep for the first time in a long while.
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I woke up, blinking, a couple of hours later.
I could still feel where Calleigh's hand had been.
It was as if her skin was on fire and had left a searing burn on my chest.
I glanced around and saw that I was alone.
I started to panic, not knowing where Calleigh was, but only for a moment because a second later, I heard the shower turn on in the next room.
She must be in the shower. I won't intrude.
I sat on the bed, remembering what had happened the night before.
It had seemed that I had got my body back.
It had seemed that I was no longer a ghost.
But if I had got my body back, why hadn't Calleigh noticed me when she got up earlier?
Surely she would have woken me.
Or maybe, everything that happened was just a dream, a hope, a mirage showing me what I've always dreamed of, but snatching it away only seconds after.
Well, I have to try it. I have to find out if I am human or spirit.
I'll try opening a door by the handle.
If I fall through the door, I'm still a ghost.
If not…
As I reached the door to the bathroom, the sound of water hitting the shower tray stopped.
I couldn't try opening the bathroom door, in case it worked and I ended up walking in on her.
While I stood there thinking about my next move, the door opened.
Calleigh was standing there, wearing only a towel and another one around her wet hair.
She didn't hesitate before walking out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, going right through me.
My hopes were dashed.
It had all been a dream.
I hadn't got my body back at all.
It was all in my head.
It's as if my brain showed me what I have always dreamt about and then snatched it away from me and told me that I'm not good enough for her.
Of course I'm not good enough for her.
I'd hurt her too badly and that's the last thing I want to do.
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As Calleigh came into work that day, she passed a room where Ryan was talking to a suspect.
I heard a snippet of their conversation through the open door.
"Let me fetch a more senior colleague."
Ryan stood up and left the room just as Calleigh walked into the break room.
He glanced around, probably looking for Horatio, I thought.
Horatio was out on a crime scene.
But that didn't matter because Wolfe was actually looking for…
"Calleigh?" He called, "Err… I need you to help me…"
Calleigh was slightly amused.
"Why?"
"Because I have no idea what I'm doing! This woman I talked to earlier, she claimed to be the victim of identity theft. Now, she," he pointed to the interview room, "comes in and she claims that she is the victim."
Calleigh nodded, understanding his problem.
"Okay, I'll be ready in a moment. Just give me a second…"
Ryan took that to mean that if he waited, she would be coming in the next few seconds.
Calleigh really meant that she wanted to be alone for a moment.
She pulled her cell out of her bag and started dialling a number and as she did, she gave Ryan a look that very clearly said "Leave me alone."
He did.
Calleigh pressed the Call Button and held her phone to her ear.
It rang for about half a minute before going to voicemail.
I saw Calleigh curse under her breath before leaving a message.
"Umm… Heya Peter… It's Calleigh…Just seeing if you have landed yet…Obviously not…Umm…Call me when you can…"
She hesitated, unsure of how to end the message.
"…Missing you already…Bye…"
She sighed and looked at her phone, the screen cheerfully telling her that her call had been fifty-seven seconds long.
With an abrupt snap, she shut the phone and put it in her locker.
She then headed out to where Ryan was waiting.
I remembered what he had said before.
"…A senior colleague…"
It's strange, but I've never seen Calleigh as senior to anyone in the department.
Probably because she was a lower rank than I was.
Now though, she's second highest ranked CSI in the department.
Second only to Horatio.
That is strange.
If Horatio were to leave, Calleigh would become lieutenant.
For a second, I had a mental image of Calleigh, stepping out of one of the department Hummers, putting her hands on her hips and putting on a pair of sunglasses.
I couldn't help but laugh.
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Their case isn't going to make it to court.
It's only identity theft; other crimes are considered more important.
"Non-violent crime is not a priority!" Calleigh told Ryan. She was obviously just as frustrated by that fact as he was.
"This is not what I signed up for!"
None of us signed up to work identity theft cases that won't even make court.
Some of us joined to pursue justice and protect their city.
Others want the glory and thrill of catching murderers.
But sometimes, we just have to work cases like this one.
Ryan is going to drive himself crazy if he thinks like that.
Like every case must be followed through, right to the end, with another criminal in jail.
It doesn't always work like that.
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But this case may actually end with a court case and a conviction.
A body has been found; the body of one of the victim of identity theft.
Calleigh and Ryan met Alexx at the crime scene.
Alexx was leaning over the door of the red convertible to get a closer look at the body.
When she saw Ryan and Calleigh arrive, she straightened up.
"Can I...?" Ryan asked, indicating the corpse.
"Go ahead baby," Alexx replied.
She headed towards the coroners van to fetch a body-bag, so I followed her in the hope of a moment to chat to her.
"Baby?" I muttered once we were out of earshot.
"Well, he is the baby of the team isn't he?" replied Alexx.
We turned and saw Ryan standing side by side with Calleigh.
He was nearly a foot taller than her and her head only just reached his shoulders.
I knew that Alexx was thinking the same thing as me.
"You know? Earlier, Ryan went to fetch a senior officer to help him. Give you three guesses who."
"Calleigh?" she guessed while chuckling slightly at the thought.
"Yeah. It's strange."
"Hmmm," agreed Alexx, slightly absent-mindedly. She was busy getting the body-bag out of the van.
"She's going to go far, you know."
"Yeah."
"Next in line for the lieutenant post… she'll do fine."
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Calleigh headed home after a good day.
She and Wolfe had found out who had committed murder: the victim's wife.
Ryan had got the case to court after all.
Calleigh went into her apartment and collapsed on the sofa.
She wriggled her feet out of her high heeled shoes and curled her legs under her, before turning on the TV by remote.
She watched The News At Six, before a blinking light on her answering machine caught her attention.
She shuffled to the other end of the sofa and pressed the button marked "hear message".
"Hello Calleigh…I got your call…It was nice to hear from you once I had landed… Anyway, I'll see you soon hopefully. Bye."
Calleigh grinned and lay back on the sofa.
She didn't quite realise then how soon it would be before she would see him again and how his return could change her life, or at least, change an old relationship.