New semester at university has started. Reading. Papers. Life. You get the picture. Will post as often as time permits. Enjoy.

Need a Miracle

Five

"We should probably walk around again," Calleigh suggests.

"Yeah."

They both get up and begin to stretch and take turns about the vault again.

"OW!"

"What?" He asks in a panic.

"Dammit, Eric, you stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry."

"Just keep your big feet away from me."

They both are much more cautious as they walk around.

Lean On Me begins playing, and Eric chuckles.

"Your iPod's going Old School on us."

Calleigh smiles. "That's real music right there. I grew up on this."

"Ah, you're a Motown girl..."

"Damn straight. You should already know these things, Mr. Delko."

"I've never listened to your iPod," he laughs. "I had no idea you had a groovy side. All you used to play was Harry Connick, Jr, and Ray Charles."

"I like that too."

He grins. "You have a whole other side with your iPod."

They walk around and listen to the song.

Calleigh has always liked this song, it's message. It resonates with her, because she has people in her life whom she can depend on, whom she can lean on and gain strength from. She is sure that if she needs her friends, they will help her, they will no hesitate. But because of the brave face she puts up all the time, they assume that she's always alright, that there's nothing going on, that nothing fazes her. She wishes that she had it within her to cry out to them. She feels as though she's been living in a vacuum, and her voice is gone. She feels so far removed from everyone and everything, and she doesn't know how to get back to them.

She does need help, she's just afraid to ask. She's afraid of giving in to the feelings that have been consuming her day after day for months.

Calleigh sits down again, and she looks at her watch.

"What time do you have?"

"I have four-thirty."

She sighs. "How come no one's found us yet? I-I mean...those two guys couldn't have gotten too far."

"Cal, it's going to take them some time if they are looking for us," he says. "We may not get out of here until the bank opens again."

"Which will be tomorrow!"

"Calleigh, there's no point in stressing yourself out about it," he says. "We'll get found."

She nods. "I know...I'm just so tired and hungry and thirsty..."

"I know. Me too. But don't think about it too hard."

"Distract me."

Eric raises an eyebrow and smirks mischievously.

"Oh mind out of the gutter, Delko," she frowns. "Besides, what you're thinking will only make us hungrier. Sex burns calories."

"You got a point there. But sex also relieves tension and-"

Calleigh shakes her head. "I'm not having this conversation with you. Boundaries, remember?"

"Friends talk about sex."

"With other people. Not sex with each other."

Eric chuckles. "So you're gonna go all 'When Harry Met Sally' on me?"

She scowls at him. "You know, I could make this a lot worse for you if I imitate the fake orgasm scene."

He smiles. "Please?"

"Oh stop it!" She huffs as she gets up and begins to walk around the vault again.

"Cal, I'm just kidding."

She stops and puts her hands on her hips and eyes him suspiciously.

"You're imagining me naked, aren't you?"

He downcasts his eyes guiltily. "Maybe..."

"Ugh!" She frowns. "See, you should have never planted those seeds!"

"I can't help it, Cal," he says defensively. "We've been together, we've made love, I know what you look like naked. I'll never get that image out of my head, break or no. Besides, don't act like you don't do the same thing."

"Oh my God, I can't believe we're having this conversation," she groans. "This is serious, Eric. We're locked in a vault for heaven's sake! We're both starving, thirsty, exhausted, and getting on each other's nerves! This is not the time to be talking about you or me naked! Or 'When Harry Met Sally'! Or any other Nora Ephron production for that matter!"

He furrows his eyebrows. "I thought Rob Reiner directed that?"

"Ephron wrote it, Reiner directed it."

"Ah."

Calleigh sits back down Indian style, then she tangles her fingers into her hair.

"I can't take this!" She says tearfully. "I can't! I need to get out of here!"

Eric can hear the distress in her voice.

"Cal..."

He makes his way over to her and he touches her shoulder, but she pulls away from him.

"No!" She snaps. "There's nothing you can say or do right now! I'm sick of this, okay!"

Eric goes back to his side.

His side.

Already he is starting to feel at home.

"Calleigh, you need to stay calm," he says firmly. "You don't want to have another panic attack, do you?"

"No," she sighs. "You're right...how are you so calm about this?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I'm just thankful that we're okay, and that this isn't more dire than it looks."

She rests her head back against the wall.

Eric now feels the weight of sleepiness in his eyes, and he quickly dozes off.

Calleigh feels sleepy again herself, and she will allow it; anything to help take her mind off of her hunger and thirst. She turns off her iPod, then she puts on her blazer, then she crawls over to him and immediately replaces herself against him. Eric automatically puts his arm around her and he covers her with his jacket again.

Within minutes, both of them are asleep.

/\/\/\/\

Oh God Calleigh thought as she watched Eric unbutton her blouse. This is really happening between us. God...why am I so nervous? I've done this before...but not with Eric. Jesus, he's so damn handsome. I feel dizzy...it's really hot...

Eric saw her wavering on her feet, and he caught her just before she collapsed.

"Whoa, Calleigh," he said, concern on his face. "Carina, are you okay?"

She nodded. "Mmhm..."

He loosened his grip on her.

Calleigh's skin was flushed a deep crimson, and her breaths were becoming quicker and shallower. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes were glazed and she was spaced out. He wondered if they perhaps had too much wine with dinner to make her this faint.

"Babe..."

"I'm fine," she insisted. "It's just...really hot."

He chuckled. "Are you sure you want to do this tonight? I think you're a little tipsy..."

She nodded emphatically. "No. Yes!" She exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. "I want to..."

He smiled. "Okay."

He gently caressed her cheek and kissed her softly.

Eric has been waiting for this moment for so long, he didn't know if he would be able to contain himself. There was so much he needed to learn about her, about how to please her, how to make her tremble and cry out for him. God, he was looking forward to that moment. He wanted Calleigh so badly, and he hoped that they would take their time. He wanted to take it slowly and take some time to catalog every expression on her face, memorize every patch of skin he kissed. It was going to be exquisite.

God, he was completely in love with this woman. He had been in love with her for over a year, and to finally be with her like this...he was almost waiting to wake up. It was surreal.

She felt lightheaded as she kissed him. She couldn't wait to make love to him, which she wanted to do very soon, as in the next moment. Her skin was hot to the touch, and she pressed herself against him more, kissing him ardently, and she reached between them and began to unbutton his shirt quickly. He took it off and she was pushing up his undershirt, which he also abandoned. She was quick with her hands, because he could barely keep up with what they were doing from moment to moment. Oh, there went his belt.

He kissed her neck as he set about finishing the task of unbuttoning her blouse.

She whimpered. "Eric..."

He kissed her softly, and then, he felt her retreating.

He opened his eyes and her eyes were rolling back as she began to faint again. He caught her again and she collapsed against him.

"Whoa, whoa," he said, shaking her a little bit. "Calleigh..."

She was out, and he chuckled a bit as he gently laid her down onto the bed. He put his undershirt back on, then he laid down beside her and held her as she slept.

It wasn't until the morning that Calleigh woke up, and she turned onto her side, and she reached a hand out. Eric wasn't with her, and she groaned in embarrassment.

She did drink a bit too much wine from the nervousness and eagerness she felt at dinner.

Passing out probably completely turned him off and he must have left her hours ago when he discovered that she was down for the count. Great...

She began to cry into her pillow.

After waiting and then finally getting to the moment they were ready, she had to go and pass out like some common lush. The depth of her affection for Eric ran so deep she could barely comprehend it, and she wanted to fall even further. She wanted him to make love to her, but she figured that wasn't going to happen.

Perhaps he realized he'd made a mistake and changed his mind.

That thought brought on more regretful tears.

"Carina...?"

At the sound of his voice, she sat up, her face streaked with tears and her hair tussled.

There he was in the doorway, two plates in his hands.

"Eric? Y-You-You're still here?"

He grinned. "Yeah...why wouldn't I be?"

She sniffled and wiped her tears, and she grimaced. "Oh God...I must look hideous..."

"You look gorgeous," he smiled as he came and sat on the bed with her. "I made you some breakfast."

She smiled a bit. "Thank you. That's sweet of you, especially since I ruined last night for us..."

"You didn't ruin anything," he chuckled. "I like being with you. I like this."

She smiled.

She looked ravishing with her cheeks flushed, her blonde hair tussled from sleep, and of course, that amazing smile to top it all off.

They ate breakfast and talked about silly things, things that made her giggle and flush, that made him smile and tease.

After they finished breakfast, Eric cleaned up, and Calleigh laid back, staring up at the ceiling, part thinking, part luxuriating. Her heart was fluttering, she was basking in his scent, chuckling at the fact that her blouse has been completely unbuttoned since last night and was revealing her pink and black lace bra. She smiled, feeling silly, giddy, and happier than ever before. All these feelings were surrounding her and they felt like...they felt like...love.

Calleigh Duquesne felt like she was falling in love with Eric Delko.

The thought made her smile.

Okay...I'm falling in love with Eric, she thought happily. I'm falling in love again, and it feels even better than the first time. I'm falling in love with Eric. My coworker. My best friend. My soon-to-be lover if things go well from here...I think I'm in love with Eric. I love him.

Eric came back into her bedroom and saw her sprawled out, blouse open and revealing her pink and black lace covered bosom, her hair fanned out a bit, her face flushed, and a sweet smile on her face.

She sat up a bit and looked at him.

He came over to her and kissed her passionately.

She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him on top of her.

Calleigh awakens, and she sighs.

That's not quite how their first time making love went, and she grins at the variation her REM had produced. Most of it was pretty accurate; yes, she did pass out, but only for a few minutes, and instead of breakfast, Eric made them coffee, but they did have morning sex, just in the wee hours, around three or four in the morning.

The other part that was real is the part when she'd been reclining on the bed, thinking that she was in love. That is true, and she furrows her eyebrows through drowsiness.

She is in love with Eric.

Deeply in love with him, to the point where it aches.

She hates that he doesn't know that, that she hasn't been as bold as he to confess it. It hurts her, and she's made him think that she doesn't love him the way he loves her. He's sure about what he feels, but he's still in the dark about what she feels for him, when she should have made it obvious, when she should have told him.

She's already twice almost lost the man that she is desperate for, and both times she has kept all the love she has for him to herself. She is desperate, helpless...addicted to being in love with him and she hates herself for being such a coward.

When will she say it? When will she say screw self-preservation and tell him the truth?

Because now he is thinking about seeing other people. Other women.

Suddenly, she is cold with fear, and her stomach lurches, sick from anger, and she removes herself from his embrace, and she makes her way across the vault and sits against the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest. She covers her mouth with both hands to keep the sobs from escaping. She shakes and hyperventilates as the scorching tears fall down her cheeks and go on a bumpy ride down her fingertips clamping tight across her mouth.

Maybe it's the hours in this vault, or the conversations and arguments that have slowly, but surely shaved away the layers, but now she feels naked, she feels stripped, bare...she closes her eyes.

Calleigh cries harder, and she feels her chest becoming tight and she is becoming weak against the battle of trying to hold herself together, or, at the very least, keep herself quiet.

She fails. Miserably.

Eric furrows his eyebrows, hearing the faint sound of...crying from within his subconscious. He opens his eyes slightly as the crying begins to sound louder, and more like sobbing...familiar sounding sobbing, and he rubs his eyes before he looks over at Calleigh.

She is hyperventilating, sobbing, red-faced, fingers tangled into her hair.

He immediately snaps out of it and sets his mind on helping her.

"Carina, what's the matter?" He asks. "Breathe..."

"I-I-I c-ca-can't," she sobs hysterically.

Eric made sure to put her inhaler in his jacket pocket incase she needed it right away again and not waste time searching for it on the floor or in her purse. He digs in his jacket pocket and he grabs it.

"Here," he says, putting it in her hand. "Calleigh, you have to use it."

She lifts it to her mouth and she uses it, letting the medicine enter her airway and ease the growing inflammation and constriction. Her breathing slows, but she is still sobbing, and Eric puts his hands on her wet cheeks.

"Cal...what's going on?" He asks. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Just the opposite is true.

The most rapturous and blissful dream has revealed to her the painful reality.

"I can't," she cries, pushing him away. "I can't, I can't..."

"Can't what?" He asks, confused.

He knew it. He knew that she was unraveling, and he should have gotten whatever it is out of her sooner because watching her like this is terrifying him. He hasn't seen her cry like this in years, and before now, when she did, she was more forthcoming with him, and she didn't have weakened lungs.

"Babe, you gotta talk to me," he implores. "I-I can't understand you when you're crying like this. Try to calm down so you can talk to me."

"No!"

"Calleigh, you're scaring me," he says. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong..."

"No!" She yells, hitting and kicking him away. "Get away from me! Leave me alone!"

"Calleigh stop it! I can't let you go on like this! Stop it!"

He grabs her arms and draws her into him to keep her from hitting him, and he wraps his arms around her, and she finally hooks her arms under his and grips his shirt into her fists as she releases painful sobs into his shoulder.

"I don't want to do this anymore!" She sobs. "I can't do it anymore! I can't..."

Eric smoothes over her hair. "You're gonna be okay...I promise..."