Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm so grateful. Thanks to Jenny for beta-ing this as always she is amazing. I hope you enjoy this chapter, its mostly a flashback so you can all understand what happened.
Eric felt the world fall into slow motion, the sound of gun shots ringing in his ear, the scenes of what had gone on, replaying over and over in his head. Guilt held his chest as if it was in a vice grip, the hold never loosening but seemed to be tightening as Eric tried to figure where the situation turned pear shaped...
Only minutes before everything had been quiet but both him and Calleigh were on edge as they search the small room. They had decided to clear there current room first before clearing the other two rooms.
No words were exchanged as they quietly crossed the room to the closet each prepared for something to jump out at them but that wasn't the case instead they heard soft breathing followed by a whimper, the pair of CSI's looked at each other and knew they had found their missing 10 year old.
Calleigh lowered her gun slightly as Eric opened the closet doors, to reveal a very scared, fragile, Amy who practically jumped into Calleigh's arms, tears cascading down her cheeks. However, the embrace didn't last long as Eric, could've sworn that the events that followed was like who ever was watching had pressed fast forward on the remote.
Then, like lighting and out of no-where Amy's father had appeared behind Calleigh, who had quickly pushed Amy over to Eric, and overpowered her. Taking her gun and placing her in a headlock.
"Miami Dade PD! Lower your weapon and identify yourself!" Eric yelled raising his glock to keep it aimed at the 6ft 5'' imposters head, ready to make the kill shot. Luckily he towered over the 5ft 2'' blonde even with 3inch hells, so she would not get hurt if he was forced to make the shot.
"Victor. Now hand over my daughter, she belongs with me!" the towering giant replied, tightening his grip on Calleigh,
"Let CSI Duquesne go Victor! Killing her will do you no favours," Eric yelled, daring to take a step forward.
"Not until you give me my daughter back!" the 6ft 5'' ex-con yelled back, tightening his arm further around Calleigh's neck causing her eyes to widen as she struggled for air.
"Let her go Victor," Horatio said rounding the door frame, surprising both parties. This unnerved Victor, but his anxiety was replaced by a sly smile.
"Drop the gun, and you will get out of here alive," Horatio demanded raising his weapon so it was inline with Victor's head.
"What if I don't?"
"Let's just say you won't be getting any visitors," Eric replied flexing his hands around the grip of his glock.
However, Victor also flexed his hand around the grip of Calleigh's gun, his hold on her neck loosening causing the ballistics expert to cough violently as she gasped for air which, came flooding into her lungs.
And it was through that coughing fit Calleigh saw a small window of opportunity. Throwing what little energy she had into ramming her elbow into Victor's ribs causing her attacker to release Calleigh and stagger back but he did not lower the gun.
As Calleigh threw herself away from Victor she struggled to find her footing, she heard the loud bang as Horatio's bullet was freed from its barrel but then a second bang was heard and Calleigh felt a searing pain in her right thigh as she fell to the ground.
Eric felt physically sick when he heard the second bullet fire, just milliseconds before Horatio's round hit Victor square between the eyes...kill-shot. But Eric didn't hear Victor's 6ft 5'' body hit the ground instead he dived to where Calleigh had fallen just a few feet in front of him. Blood was gushing from the wound in her thigh left as the bullet buried itself below the surface of her skin and for the second time in a few minutes she was gasping for air. The Cuban could Horatio calling rescue on his cellphone before removing Amy from the bloodstained room but Eric's sole concern now was on his fallen partner, as he cradled her head on his lap. Meanwhile a member from SWAT had arrived and was currently trying to steam the bleeding...
...A flurry of nurses flew past Eric, pulling him away from his thoughts, frustrated voices could be heard from inside the operating room where Calleigh's life was hanging in the balance.
"Eric? How is she doing?" Horatio asked appearing before Eric, taking up his trademark stance with his sunglasses dangling from his fingers.
"Not good. They say she's lost a lot of blood but that's as much as they'll say as we aren't immediate family," Eric replied looking up at his boss from his seat, frustration written all over his face as well as the annoyance that the hospital didn't see him as family. "Have they been contacted?"
"Calleigh didn't tell you?" Horatio replied confused, but the Cuban shook his head, "Her father is in the ICU with cirrhosis, the family arrived this morning. I was going to go tell them when we know she's not going to die in there."
"She can't die H, we've already lost Speed. Calleigh's the glue that holds us all together, she keeps us sane and stops us from killing each other," Eric begged placing his head in his hands.
A few hours of intense surgery, Calleigh was taken up to the ICU much to the surprise of her family, but to both Eric's and Horatio's disgust, they hadn't been to see Calleigh or check up on her condition. To the pair who had vowed not to leave their fallen conrade, her family on the other just didn't seem to care.
"Get her away from this family! She turned her back on us!" Calleigh's mother Sandra yelled as the nurses wheeled Calleigh's bed into a spot, across the spacious room, from her father.
"Ma'am I'm sorry but your daughter is in a critical condition and the next 24hrs could prove fatal. If you cause any problems I will take you visitations rights off you and you will have to stay in the corridor," the nurse warned, Sandra backed down reluctantly and went to stand outside the ICU with the rest of her family.
Natalia, Ryan and Alexx had rushed over to the hospital as soon as they heard that an officer was had been shot, each carried a gut feeling that it was one of there own but none of them wanted to say it.
"Eric baby, what happened?" Alexx asked sitting down next to Eric in the corridor outside the ICU, placing an hand on his shoulder offering her strength, oblivious to the glaring competition going on between the CSI's and Calleigh's family.
"Amy's father took us by surprise fired one round into Calleigh's leg before H shot him between the eyes,"
"Is she going to be okay?" Natalia asked standing against the wall, wrapping her arms around herself,
"She made it through surgery but the next 24hrs are critical," Eric sighed rubbing his eyes,
"Go home man, you've had a hell of a day," Ryan said, but Eric shook him off, with a response more likely to be heard from Calleigh
"I'm fine, Horatio's gone to get her vest and bullets off of the Doctors and I want to be here when she wakes," Eric replied, hiding a yawn, the thought of Calleigh waking alone was too much to bear however he couldn't decide what was worse for the blonde...waking alone or waking to her furious mother.
So what do you think? Any good? Please read and review xxx