A/N: I stalled posting this, as it's a setup chapter, and I've recently reconsidered what to do with the characters in these next several chapters. I find myself going back to tweak details that I swore I wouldn't touch anymore. But if I make changes, the ending will shift in a big way….so, decisions, decisions! Enjoy this next installment and send me good vibes, or plain old feedback on what you'd like to see happen!

Chapter 16

Eric and Calleigh found the rest of their party in the second floor conference room where Horatio had set up a makeshift command post.

To Calleigh's silent relief, they learned that the rescue crew departed before they returned, which meant Eric's re-joining of underwater recovery would be delayed.

Even the medic left with the response team after ensuring Natalia was stable. Only the CSIs remained, along with a very limited crime lab support staff.

As promised, Eric gave Calleigh space, and he rounded the conference table to put distance between them—he certainly would not be able to control the tension radiating off of them in waves if he stood any closer to her.

A voice came over the sat phone as the pair entered the conference room, Horatio being mid-conversation with someone on the other end.

"—Airlines arena is completely surrounded by water. We're utilizing the upper levels and it's over capacity."

Eric tuned out the next words relayed over the line. He knew at least Isabel and Clara had tried to make it to the arena. Right on the coast, it wasn't ideal, but Miami had no hurricane shelters, and the structure was built to withstand higher winds than most others in the city.

His parents, stubborn as ever, refused to leave their home as Hurricane Paige approached land, which had worried him most, until this brief news about American Airlines Arena.

Eric locked eyes with H, and he knew his brother in law's thoughts ran along the same line as his.

"How many—how many are we talking about?" Horatio asked evenly, although Eric could hear the tension in his voice.

"We're at 18,000, and supplies are thin on the ground. The Red Cross is mobilized and providing aid, but we don't have the right protocols for this. The governor declared a state of emergency and the National Guard is deploying to high priority areas, specifically the arena. Damned if I know when they'll have boots on the ground."

Eric and Calleigh heard the frustration in the man's voice, which they now recognized as that of Chief Strauss.

"What is the ETA on restoring full radio comm?" Horatio asked.

That was news to Calleigh and Eric. They were aware the cell towers went down, but not that radio communication had suffered in the onslaught of wind and rain.

"We're almost there. The lost frequencies should be restored within the hour."

"And the storm?"

"The outer bands are passing. Level 2 warnings now. No severe weather predicted past 11 a.m. today, just more rain, which should clear by 4 p.m."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the news. They escaped the worst of the danger, and now they just needed to focus on rescue and recovery.

"Keep me in the loop, Chief," the lieutenant said, and the call ended.

"What did we miss, Horatio?" Calleigh jumped in immediately.

"We…are under water," he said plainly.

No shit, Eric mumbled to himself.

Calleigh noticed his lips move silently and the look on his face, and she knew what he was thinking, but she said nothing, only sending him a half-reproving, half-amused smile.

He saw her smile in the nanosecond it lasted, and he repressed his own grin at the fact that she could read him so well.

The look she now sent him told him to pay attention, and she didn't have to tell him twice. He averted his eyes from hers and back to his LT.

"What about the arena?" Eric asked. No one missed the concern in his voice, but only Calleigh and Horatio knew the true source of his angst. His real question was, " What about my sisters?"

Horatio leveled his gaze with Eric's. "I need eyes and ears there," he said. "Calleigh's…to be precise."

Her eyebrows shot up. Why her? Horatio knew Eric would want to check on his family, and he could easily send her partner instead.

Omniscient as always, Horatio continued: "I need Eric in the water, Ms. Duquesne."

Calleigh expertly hid her disapproval of that decision, arranging her features neutrally, however hard it may be. Still, she expressed her next question in a tone that let both Horatio and Eric know she was displeased. They knew her too well, which she counted on to get her point across.

"What's the situation?" she asked sharply.

"Mr. Wolfe?" the lieutenant ceded the floor to Ryan to explain.

Ryan shifted awkwardly on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest, right hand playing nervously with a pen. He hadn't missed Calleigh's tone, either.

"We have a 10-45, deceased found floating in Bal Harbour, apparent gunshot wound to the back. Patrol says a witness saw a male in a blue rain slicker toss a gun in the water; that's our only solid lead."

Horatio picked up where his CSI left off, peering still at Eric. "You'll be with Mr. Wolfe."

Eric expertly hid his annoyance at this development. He still seethed at Wolfe's actions in the last 24 hours. This should be fun, he groaned to himself.

Horatio turned to Calleigh and Natalia, who sat in the chair in front of her. "We have another victim at the arena…tempers are flaring. Calleigh, you can handle that. Natalia, the medical team on site is awaiting you for monitoring. You…you are sidelined."

For a while, Calleigh had forgotten that people killed other people, even in hurricanes, and it was her job to solve the clues and catch the bad guys. The chaos of the weather created a perfect opportunity for murder, and now a storm of another kind was brewing in their city.

Calleigh sighed inwardly. Not only were they being ordered in different directions, but Eric was headed to Bal Harbour where she wished to be to check on her home, and she was headed to the arena where she knew he longed to go to find his family.

They locked eyes for a moment but said nothing in protest of their orders to their boss.

"Where will you be, H?" Eric asked.

Horatio shifted his stance and set his hands on his hips.

"I will be operating from headquarters—for now. I'll coordinate the temporary morgue. Here," he said, reaching below the table for two small items no one noticed previously. "Take these."

The extra satellite phones. God bless him.

"I want hourly check-ins," he commanded his team, and he handed a phone each to Delko and Calleigh. "ETA is 30 minutes for a ride out of here."

"I don't have a kit," Calleigh remarked. "It was in the Hummer."

"Take mine," Horatio said. "Let's get to it, Team."

With that, they dispersed in search of the supplies they would need out in the field, Eric to the fourth floor to QD where he left his kit, Ryan to Trace, and Calleigh back to Horatio's office. Natalia remained in the conference room, shivering beneath her blanket and grumbling to herself about being useless.

Calleigh closed the door of Horatio's office behind her and pulled out the sat phone, dialing the number she knew was assigned to Eric.

"Delko," she heard over the line.

"It's Calleigh," she sighed.

Eric chuckled. "I'm not sure this is what H had in mind when he gave us these," he teased.

A small smile graced Calleigh's features. "I just didn't think we'd get a chance to talk again before we leave."

Two floors above her, Eric nodded, though she couldn't see him. She did hear him roughly exhale, though.

"Yeah," he said, frustrated. Then he added in a quiet voice, "I just want to forget about all of this. Go home. Hold you."

Calleigh's smile faded into sadness. "Me too," she confessed. This was becoming easier and easier.

Two months of mentally processing the notes in Eric's file had brought her to this place of resolve, a place where she wanted to be open with him rather than run from vulnerability. Calleigh's walls still stood strong and impenetrable, and she wasn't quite sure how to deconstruct them, but a little at a time they seemed to be crumbling on their own.

"Do me a favor?" she asked.

"Anything," he replied immediately, and with such fervor that Calleigh's heart clenched.

"If you can, if you're nearby, can you check on my house?"

Eric heard the fear in her tone. She anticipated the worst.

"Already on my to-do list, Cal," he said softly.

"I'll try to find Isabel and Clara," she responded. "If I can track them down, I'll call."

"Thank you," Eric murmured into the phone's receiver. Again, Calleigh couldn't see the relief, or the hope, in his eyes, though she heard it in his voice.

"Cal?"

"Yeah?"

"Be safe," Eric pleaded.

Calleigh grinned. "That's supposed to be my line."

"Well, I'll be safe, too. Don't worry," Eric told her with a grin of his own.

The mood shifted into seriousness once again, and Calleigh whispered, "You better."

They hung up with those last words, knowing they'd see each other in a few minutes, hating the fact that they couldn't touch each other or say a proper goodbye.

When the boats arrived to take them their separate ways, Eric somehow managed to keep his distance from Calleigh, save for the burning gaze of his eyes, locked on hers in the dawning light of morning. He didn't let go until she turned the corner and he could see her no more.