Title: Past, Present & Future

Pairing: Eric/Calleigh

Rating: T

Spoilers: AU post S8/9.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Lyrics belong to Brett Dennen.

'All the conquests that I construe, fail miserably in front of you.

Have you ever been loved by such a charismatic fool?'

Shards of broken glass lay strewn across the side-walk, their jagged remains glinting furiously in the midday sunshine. Shattered coffee cups and scraps of uneaten food blended into the collage, as rivulets of dark brown liquid pooled across the uneven ground.

The sound of distant sirens retreating from the scene and the quiet mutterings of gathered bystanders punctuated the silence as the local residents took stock of events.

Eric surveyed the chaotic scene around them and released a weary sigh, lowering the camera to his side as he paused in his task of photographing the scattered evidence markers. This was the second drive-by that week in this area, both taking place in the vibrant streets of Little Havana, his childhood home – his parent's neighborhood.

He watched as the warm breeze swept across the frontage of the little coffee shop, the tattered canopy, torn apart by a hail of bullets, waved ominously from the awning.

His gaze gradually scanned the crime scene and as his eyes lingered over the figure of his partner, he couldn't contain the smile that instantaneously tugged at his lips.

Calleigh crouched by the wall of the neighboring building, her eyebrows furrowed and her pretty face overcome with evident concentration as she carefully extracted an in-bedded bullet from the wall and dropped it unceremoniously into a waiting evidence bag.

"I got a couple of 8mm and a dozen or so 9mm..." she stated, squinting against the sunshine and raising her hand to shield her eyes.

"So we've got at least two shooters," Eric nodded, glancing up and down the street at the slowly disappearing crowds who were being ushered away by uniformed officers.

"Looks that way, I'll know more once we get back to the lab," she smiled, arriving at his side and following his gaze over to an ambulance, where a dark haired woman was being tended by an EMT.

"That our witness?" she queried, watching as the EMT finished applying a small dressing to her forehead and sent about examining her wrist.

"Yeah, the coffee shop waitress," he confirmed, falling into step beside her as always, as she began to make her way over toward the young woman.

"Hi," Calleigh smiled politely and indicated to the badge at her hip, "Ma'am, I'm CSI DuQuesne, this is CSI Delko, we'd like to ask you a few questions if that's okay?"

Calleigh paused and looked momentarily taken aback as the woman ignored her introduction and turned her attention to Eric, suddenly shaking her head in apparent disbelief as she gazed up at him.

"Oh my God," she drawled for effect, "Eric Delko!" her smile grew impossibly wider, much to Calleigh's annoyance and Eric's apparent confusion.

Calleigh glanced between the two, trying to read the expression on Eric's face, her heart sank as she saw recognition gradually appear in his eyes.

"Elena?" Eric frowned, hastily trying to put a name to the face he had apparently forgotten long ago, "Elena Lopez.." he smiled, both in greeting and relief, "it's uh...it's been a while."

"You two know each other?" Calleigh looked up almost fearfully at Eric, clinging desperately to her desire to maintain a professional demeanour.

"We...dated...a few years back," Elena explained, her eyes seemingly scouring every inch of him as her smile widened to impossible bounds.

Calleigh nodded, certain she knew what 'dating' had implied, at least in this case. Eric had not been known for his long term, monogamous relationships back then and she could only guess as to the nature of their relationship.

"You still live around here?" Eric asked in surprise, recalling the hopes and aspirations she had once held for her future, non of which had involved waitressing in a Miami coffee shop.

"Yeah," she nodded, rolling her eyes and smiling to indicate the humor of her situation, "the modelling thing never really took off and my mom got sick, so... guess I just kind of ended up staying."

Calleigh stared down at her feet, conscious of Eric's eyes on her, but finding herself unwilling to hold his gaze. Her stomach twisted into knots of anxiety and she tried to dismiss the feeling of nausea that suddenly overcame her. She knew she was being ridiculous, really she did, but it was proving increasingly difficult to control her emotions, especially when something that felt a whole lot like jealousy, started to infiltrate her thoughts.

Elena let out a breathy laugh of apparent disbelief, still affixing Eric with a decidedly predatory glance and Calleigh's eyebrow arched in an irritated gesture as she took in the woman's appearance; long legs, big brown eyes, a mane of glossy, dark hair... the very epitome of Eric's 'type'.

She trusted Eric implicitly and the shadows of his previously colorful love life had not been something Calleigh had felt she either wanted or needed to dwell upon. But now standing there, faced with one of the ghosts from his past and a particularly beautiful ghost at that, she couldn't help the pang of jealousy that suddenly struck her heart.

As irrational as she knew these feeling were, she found herself suddenly wondering as to this woman's history with him. How had they met? How long had they dated? Had she been a one night stand? Had he ever truly loved or cared about her?

The answers of course didn't really matter, it was all in the past and could not be changed by present day contemplation, but the very fact that this woman had known Eric in this way, had shared his bed, had been in his arms, made Calleigh feel unsettled and somehow intimidated.

"I heard about Marisol, I'm really sorry," Elena winced in sympathy and reached out to place her hand on his arm.

Eric took a step back and avoided her tactile gesture, simply nodding in affirmation; he barely remembered this woman and discussing Mari or her untimely death was not something he intended to indulge in with strangers. It had angered him that her passing had been the subject of local neighborhood gossip and he had no desire to reignite that amongst the residents. For months after her funeral, his mother had been stopped by strangers and acquaintances, in the street at the grocery store, at the doctor's office...each attempting to cloak their desire to extract the details of this young woman's death with façades of sympathy and concern.

"Look uh...we'll come back and take your statement when they're finished up here," Eric gestured to the EMT as he returned with a bandage and began to secure the piece of gauze to her forehead.

"I'll be here!" she shrugged, wincing as the ill-advised gesture caused her pain. The EMT smiled discretely in disdain as he watched the two officers walk away, his patient's flirtatious demeanour not having gone unnoticed.

Eric sighed as he had to jog to catch up with Calleigh's hasty strides and he reached out to gently grab her arm and halt her retreat.

"Cal, wait up." he brought her to a stop and turned her to face him, sighing as she merely peered up at him, all sunny smiles, with an apparent air of disregard for what had just happened. But he knew her better than that, he knew how he would feel, how he had felt. The very mention of Jake Berkley still made his jaw clench in anger.

"Friend of yours?" Calleigh folded her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture and glanced back momentarily toward their witness.

"It was a long time ago... before I even knew you," he tried to appease her.

And really that was the truth of the matter. He had dated Elena Lopez his final year in college, before he had even harbored thoughts of the police department or CSI or set eyes on the luminescent blonde who he would later come to recognize as his soul mate. It had fizzled out as all his relationships had and as ashamed as he was to admit it, she had not figured in his thoughts since the day they parted. Their relationship had been brief, based on no-strings sexual encounters and certainly no element of love or deep affection had ever crossed either of their minds.

It was all so different with Calleigh, she possessed him entirely; mind, body and soul. Every other woman paled in comparison to her, she was everything he had ever wanted.

Calleigh nodded, feeling foolish and yet still unable to overcome the jealousy this unexpected meeting had caused, "She's pretty."

"Yeah," Eric nodded, glancing around to ascertain if anybody was looking in their direction before he discretely stepped closer and placed his hand against her hip, his fingertips drifting up and down her waist in a soothing gesture. He bent his head and implored her to look up at him, smiling to try to allay her insecurities as she finally held his gaze, "But she's not you."

Calleigh smiled gently and rolled her eyes, nodding as she stared up at him and saw the sincerity behind his words and the clear adoration in his eyes. His hand left her hip and suddenly drifted to her cheek, his fingertips carefully brushing away a lock of hair that the errant breeze had blown across her face.

"Do you want to talk about this later?" he asked, widening his eyes and watching her apparently mull over his question, her gaze settling over the horizon behind him.

She shook her head resolutely and smiled, sighing at her uncharacteristically irrational display, "No." She laughed as she watched him nod hesitantly, reassuring him that this was not something that would need to be addressed at home that evening, "Eric, really, it's fine. I...I guess we all have a past."

"Yeah," Eric nodded in agreement, deftly finding her left hand and capturing it in his own as he stared down at her and found himself once again transfixed by her beautiful eyes, "but... you're my future, you know that, right?"

His words were rewarded with a beatific smile and his heart pounded in his chest as she replied in little more than a whisper, "I do,". Two simple words, two words that would soon be exchanged with promises of forever.

She glanced down at their hands, watching him brush his thumb over her skin, pausing to reverently skirt his gentle caresses around the sparkling diamond ring that sat proudly on her finger, soon to be joined by a simpler, yet perhaps more symbolic companion.

"You go talk to her," Calleigh relented, glancing toward the yellow markers that littered the street around them, "I need to finish up here...and besides, she'd probably feel more comfortable talking to you."

"Are you sure?" he checked, squeezing her hand affectionately and flashing her a questioning smile.

"You know I trust you, Eric," she replied simply, sighing as the curious stares of a passing police officer forced their hands apart.

She silently mourned the loss of his skin against hers and she knew that it had never been like this with anybody else. Although she had worked side by side with lovers before, it was different with Eric and she found herself longing for just the simplest touch or intimate gesture. The need to be beside him, to somehow always be connected to him both delighted and frightened her.

The sound of his voice brought her unceremoniously from her daydream and she wondered if he knew what she had been thinking. Because somehow, he always seemed to. He knew her fears and her worries, shared her hopes and her dreams without her ever having to voice them.

"I'll never give you reason to doubt me, Cal," he pressed, needing to reassure her that he wasn't the same man Elena had known all those years ago.

Eric was ashamed of his past and hated to think about some of the things he had done, but it hurt him even more to know that Calleigh knew who he had been back then. She had been his best friend, she had listened without judgement and offered advice without prejudice, but he knew that he had disappointed her.

"Eric, I know that," she smiled kindly, staring intently into his brown eyes to convey just how much she did know. He was unfailingly hers and that was a truth she had learnt long ago.

He allowed himself a few moments to merely look at her, his eyes once again taking in every feature, every curve of her face already long ago committed to memory. It shocked him that she could feel intimidated by any other woman, when he had decided years ago that she was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She took his breath away and he wished for one moment that she could see herself through his eyes.

Eric sighed, his handsome face suddenly overcome with a teasing grin as he leant closer to whisper in her ear, "Although...'Jealous Calleigh' is kind of hot."

He drew back and ran his eyes unabashedly over her body, a wolfish and highly suggestive smirk forming on his lips as he watched her giggle and her cheeks blush an adorable shade of pink.

"I'm not jealous," she shook her head, folding her arms across her chest and biting back laughter, "I'm not!"

"I know," he agreed, laughing as she shot him an indignant glare, "I know!" he held his hands up defensively as her stare almost burned through him.

"I'm not jealous Eric, I'm just..." she paused, trying to find a less incriminating word. The smirk gradually building on his face was infuriating and he seemed to be taking great delight in making her squirming. Oh, how the tables had turned.

"Curious?" he offered, raising both eyebrows as he proffered a suggestion from his own defensive back catalogue.

Calleigh shook her head and sighed as she watched him dig his notepad and pen out of his pocket, preparing to make his way back over to their overtly friendly witness.

"Okay," Eric shrugged, winking at her playfully as he turned to walk away and chuckling to himself at the exasperated frown Calleigh had been wearing.

"Not another word, Delko!" she called after him warningly, smiling despite herself as she walked back over to the coffee shop, cringing at the sound of broken glass beneath her feet as she stepped through the rubble.

Casting a covert glance over at Eric, her gaze lingered for a few moments, watching as he pointed down the street and then gestured to the front of the coffee shop, scribbling furiously on the pad in his hand as he tried to get an accurate account of events, whilst Elena stared up at him, attentive and smiling alluringly.

Calleigh sighed at the ridiculousness of her feelings, trying to shake the last vestiges of jealousy from her mind as she once again became engrossed in the task at hand, ever the consummate professional. She felt at peace to ignore the situation, focusing instead on the tragic events that had once again befallen these streets and how important it was to her to make a difference.

So she wouldn't hear the flirtatious questions from a long forgotten, yet hopeful lover, nor would she hear the pride and sincere happiness in Eric's voice as he dismissed her invitation, as he told her that he was happy, that he was soon to be married...that he had met the one.

I couldn't remember exactly which part of Miami Eric was from, I know it was mentioned once or twice in earlier seasons, but I just guessed, sorry!

As always, thanks for reading/reviewing, guys. :)