Burning Embers of Love- Eric/Natalia centric fic

Chapter 5: Feelings Known and Unknown

The day had been unusually swamped with cases, leaving Eric no wiggle room to catch up with Natalia. Calliegh seemed to take up his time at every oppertinuity and Natalia seemed to avoid him at every turn. Eric eventually found himself at peace in the evidence locker putting away that days evdence only to come back and look at it the next day. From a distance he heard the click of heels and sighed in anticipation of Calliegh, however his axiety flew out the window when Natalia walked into the locker with her iPod stuck in her ears oblivious to his presense.

He stood in the shadows and watched her slightly dance around and softly sing the lyrics. Her voice soothed him body and soul. Every muscle relaxed and the stress of the day melted away like ice in the mid-day summer sun. Eric stepped further into the shadows as Calliegh approached and interrupted the beauty of the moment.

"Hey Natalia have you seen Eric?" Calliegh asked

Natalia jumped and put her hand on her chest hoping to calm her rapid heart rate.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" Calliegh said. "Have you seen Eric though?" she asked

Natalia caught a shaking shadow out of the corner of her eye. She knew for a fact that shadows didn't shake unless the shadow was Eric Delko laughing at her being scared out of her witts. Natalia got the feeling that Eric didn't want to bed discovered and played along.

"No Calliegh I haven't seen him, but if I do I'll let him know your looking for him." Natalia lied, feeling uilty the moment the fib passed through her lips.

"Thanks" Calliegh said leaving and going home.

Natalia waited until she saw the elevator doors close before turining her attention to the shadow.

"Ok you can come out now you creeper." she said

"Thanks Talia" he responded.

"No problem, but why are you avoiding Calliegh?" she asked curious.

Eric leaned on the table, sighed and hung his head.

"Come on spill, you have my attention" she said putting a box of evidence on the shelf.

"Talia last night was...." Eric started to say but was cut off by Natalia.

"I know last night was a mistake. Your with Calliegh. You don't have to clear you concience with me Eric." she told him hoping that he didn't detect the sadness laced in her voice.

"No Talia!" he exclaimed. "Natalia last night was amazing and so was this morning. I haven't felt the way I have felt with last night and this morning with any other woman." he said

"What are you talking about Eric?" she asked shocked at his words.

"I'm talking about us Natalia." Eric said grabbing her hand.

Neither missed the eletricity that flowed through them at the simple contact. Natalia shook her head. This couldn't happen.

"Eric what about Calliegh? Have you thought about her at all?" Natalia asked.

"I have thought about her! Natalia I don't feel the same way I do with her as I do wth you." Eric confessed.

" Eric do you realize what your saying?" she asked.

"Yes I do Natalia." he told her.

"And how are you supposedly feeling with me that you don't feel with Calliegh?" she asked him in disbelief of what her was saying.

"I feel elated as if nothing in the world can bring down my spirits. Natalia I don't know if it's love but I want you around constantly." Eric told her holding her hand tighter.

"Eric..I...I can't. Calliegh is my friend and I've already betrayed her in the worst way possible and so have you. Eric we have to forget about what happened last night." she sid pulling her hand from his and leaving.

Eric hung hs head and banged his fist on the table. He opened his hand and suddenly missed the feel of Natalia's softer smaller hand in his. He looked at his watch and decided that he needed time to think and be alone. He called Calliegh and she picked up on the thrid ring.

"Hey Eric! Where are you? I was expecting you long before now." she said sweetly.

"Yeah about that, listen Cal I need to cancel for awhile." he said.

"Why what's wrong?" she asked.

"Some things have come up and I just need sometime to think." he said.

"Well come over and we'll talk about what ever is bothering you." she insisted.

"Calliegh I don't really want to talk about it. I just need some alone time to think." he told her.

"Does this have to do with your brain injury?" she asked "If it does then I think you should talk about it."

"No Calliegh it has nothing to do with that!" he exclaimed "Look I just need sometime for myself alright." he added exasperated and tired of arguing with her.

"Ok Eric, but call me if you need anything." she said

"I will" he said before hanging up.

Calliegh sighed. She couldn't pin-point what was up with him and it bugged her. If something was bothering him so much to make him cancel plans her should be with her talking about it. She took deep breaths in and out and calmed herself. She sighed again and decided to call Natalia to see if she could help.

Natalia picked up on the third ring and sighed.

"Hey Calliegh" she said as cheerfully as possible given the current situation.

"Hey Natala can I talk to you about something if you can spare the time?" she asked

"Sure what's up?" Nat asked hoping it was about something other than Eric.

"It's about Eric" Calliegh said crushing Natalia's hopes.

Natalia breathed deeply and began her conversation with Calliegh as if nothing had happened with Eric that evening.

The next morning Natlia woke from a restless sleep. It was hard to sleep in a bed that smelled like tha man who once layed there. She looked over at her clock. 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Natalia sighed, picked up her phone and called Ryan. Today was his day off and she knew he would be pissed with her inturrpting hin slumper but he would be there regardless.Ryan picked up the phone moments later.

"You had better be buying" he groaned groggily with one foot hanging off the bed.

Natalia giggled "Of course. I'll meet you at our spot" she said

"I'll be there" he said as they hung up.

Ryan sighed and got out of bed.

"What did Delko do now? he asked to himself as he walked to the bathroom to shower running into the side of the door on the way. "This is the last time I pick up the phone this early on my day off" he groaned.

An hour later Natalia was pouring out her confusion to Ryan who listened and offered advice where needed. After two hours of talking Natalia and Ryan left and Ryan walked Natalia to her car.

"So I'll talk to you later and try to have a good day." Ryan said hugging her.

Natalia hugged him back just as Eric's car drove by the tiny shop where they were at. Eric shook his head. He refused to believe that there was anything going on between the two of them. It was probably just a friendly hug. Erc breathed deeply, he ddn't want to make a mountain out of a mole hill and make an ass out of himself. He would simply talk to Natalia about it later. There couldn't be anything between them could there?
 
Ohhh, this is where it stopped last time, I remember now....ah, the drama :lol: Loving it! :thumbsup:
 
Update!! Sorry it took so long, but college as a first semester freshman makes it hard to update as frequently as I would like. Now without further ado here is the next chapter.

Chapter 6: Unexpected

"Eric you’ve been pacing all day," Calliegh said irritated with Eric’s pacing and mumbling.

"Sorry," he said.

"What’s wrong? Talk to me," Calliegh said to him taking off her gloves and putting her hands on his hips, and looking up at him with big eyes.

"It’s nothing just some personal issues," Eric said.

"Like what?" she asked persisting in her venture to get him to talk.

Eric sighed. He wished she would get the hint and leave it alone.

"Calliegh I don’t want to talk about it. Lets just work the case," he said to her and moved past her to look at evidence.

Calliegh stood for a moment shocked that he would say that to her. That he would block her out; let alone keep secrets from her. For the first time she needed to escape a room faster than a bug in flight.

"I’m going to get something to eat. I’ll get Natalia to take over here," she said and left before Eric could object.

Eric banged his fist on the table and groaned. He shook his head and sighed, while cursing himself under his breath. He was screwed, he was in love with his ex who apparently had something with Ryan. At the same time the fantasy relationship he had created with Calliegh, post-bullet number one, was falling apart around him.

"Damn," he cursed to himself as Natalia walked into the lab.

"Tough case?" Natalia asked still n her chipper mood from this morning.

"Yeah" Eric lied straightening his posture.

"Well tell me what you have so far and I’ll see if I can help." she said smiling and snapping on a pair of gloves.

Eric smiled back he could never stay mad at his Talia. He explained the case and told what he and Calliegh had been looking for. Natalia nodded and searched threw the mountains of trash and paper work with Eric.

Hours later Natalia ran across a hand written poem that made her skin crawl.

"This might be something," Natalia said handing the crumpled, Chinese stained paper to Eric.

"Yeah this is definitely something," he said reading it. "I’ll get this printed and then send it to you for DNA," he continued.

"Send it to Valera, Ryan and I are going out for lunch," Natalia told him.

Eric felt his blood boil. He wondered how long she was going to lead him on before telling the truth.

"Sure" he said coldly before walking out of the lab, leaving Natalia to dwell in her thoughts.

Natalia noticed Eric’s sudden change in mood after announcing her lunch plans. She wondered if he and Ryan had gotten into another fight. She hoped that he didn't think that what they shared two nights before meant nothing to her.Natalia sighed thinga had gotten out of control. She knew she still loved Eric, and after spending a night with him she was sure of it. She sighed and went about cleaning the evidence before heading to lunch.

Making it to the diner five minutes late Natalia laughed at the look on Ryan's face.

"Your late," he groaned as his stomach roared.

"And your starving," she said smiling innocently.

Ryan rolled his eyes and led Natalia into the diner, just as Calliegh was walking out with a large carry-out bag.

"Hungry much Cal?" Rayn asked.

"Yeah a little and I'm taking some lunch to Eric, you know he forgets to eat when he's on a case," Calliegh said with a smiled.

"Yeah he's hard-headed" Natalia said trying to quelch the queezy jealous feeling in her stomach, from remembering the days when it was her bringing Eric lunch.

"Yeah. Well you two enjoy your lunch," Calliegh said smiling at then as if she knew some untold secret.

Natalia shrugged off the unesay feeling she got from Calliegh's smile and resolved to have a pleasant lunch with her friend.

Back at the lab Calliegh had convinced Eric to take a break and eat. They were together in the break room enjoying a quiet lunch.

"So I saw Ryan and Natalia going into the diner when I was comming out," Calliegh said

"Really?" Eric asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah. You know those two make the cutest couple," she said not knowing how much the small comment crushed Eric's heart.

"Yeah," he said trying not to show the hurt.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. The case is just bugging me," he lied.

"Well all cases do that, but we'll pull through together," she told him, resting her hand on his knee.

Eric smiled, but the fact was the feel of Calliegh's simple contact didn't course through him like a raging fire like Natalia's did. The rest of the day flew by for Eric. He had two suspects and twenty leads that all led in different directions. He now found himself in the locker room carefully watching Natalia decide on what to wear for an apparent evening out.

"Eric can I ask you something?" Natalia asked innocently.

"You just did, but sure ask away," he joked with a grin.

"Red or purple?" she asked holding out two cocktail length dresses before her.

"Purple," he said. "Going on a date?" he asked.

"Why? Are you trying to stalk me?" she asked playfully.

"Just figured since you and Wolfe seem to be getting pretty cozy with each other," he said in an off handed way.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked looking at him and raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, just stating the obvious," he said.

"Eric what are you talking about?" Natalia asked throughly confused.

"You and your new boyfriend!" Eric spat.

"Eric that's crazy!" Natalia spat back.

"Is it? I still love you Natalia, and I thought you felt the same way, but apparently not! Enjoy your date with Wolfe!" he said before storming out.

Natalia sat stunned on the bench just behind her. Things were now way out of hand. She put her head in her hands. She needed to let everything out. To tell the truth, but how? In the meantime she prepared herself for the opening of her uncle's resturant, Chateau.

Natalia drove home after the opening party for her uncle's resturant. As she walked up to the door she noticed that music and lights were on. Drawing her gun she took off her heels and crept through the house. Turning into the kitchen she saw someone she never expected to see.
 
Ok everyone here is the long awaited update on the story. I'm sorry it's taken so long, but college likfe is crazy. Sorry it's so short, but I hope you like it!!

Chapter 7: Like a Thief in the Night

“Oh my god! What are you doing here?” Natalia asked shocked.

“Nat I just came to see you. You’re a friend” he said approaching her.

“Mike get out of my house” Natalia ordered trying to hide her fear in her voice.

“Now Nat I just came to check on you. I heard there has been a lot of crime in this area so I came to check on you” Mike said smiling.

“As you can see I’m fine. Now please leave” She said.

“Good night Nat” he said and lightly kissed her cheek.

As he left he stealthily took the spare key that an upset Eric had returned earlier in the evening. The moment he left Natalia called Eric and begged for him to get there as soon as he could. Natalia paced around her living room for hours on end waiting for him. She called him several times and left messages for him, but he seemed to be ignoring her. Soon she retreated to her bedroom. She showered, changed, and went to bed.

Meanwhile Eric looked at his phone and saw the many missed calls from Natalia. He listened to the voice messages also, but assumed that her upset tone had to do with Wolfe. Eric threw his phone down in disgust. Just the thought of his Talia with Wolfe or any other mad was enough to make him sick. He turned his phone off and went to bed.

Both laid in bed that night and thought of the other lying next to them in a warm embrace of love and caring. The whispers of sweet nothings, and sleepy I love you’s clouded their heads and haunted their restless sleep.

Rising from his bed with a sick feeling in his stomach, Eric hurriedly dressed and rushed to Natalia’s. However by the time he got there the door was open and after looking around the house Eric knew she was gone. Signs of struggle prevailed throughout the house and small smears of blood ran on the walls.

Eric called Horatio and the team immediately gathered at Natalia’s home. This case was top priority to them. There would be no other cases in Miami until Natalia was found.

At this time Mike had thrown Natalia in the back of a tag less rented van and drove into the night, as fast as he could without being suspicious. He drove all night before reaching a small secluded cabin far out in the everglades.

Natalia had taken his life and shot him straight to hell. He would now repay the favor to his friend. An evil grin appeared on his face as he looked at Natalia’s unconscious form. He chuckled evilly to himself and closed and locked the doors to the room. He would make her pay and dearly.
 
Hi! I love this fic and great job. So glad you updated. :)

I laughed out a little at the 'fanatsy relationship' thing. :lol:
 
I'm fascinated! I loved the story! I laughed a lot with horatio/eric and natalia scene. Poor calleigh. And what I liked most was the friendship between ryan and natalia! not many fanfic that really create this friendship between them, very very beautiful!
 
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