Disclaimer: CBS owns everything, including my soul! Mwahahahaha.

A/N: Just a cute little fluffy one-shot I wrote while procrastinating. Eric/Calleigh of course!

Minty Fresh

It was a beautiful morning. Clear blue skies, sun beaming down and the usual hustle and bustle of downtown Miami gave Calleigh a sense of normality as she crawled through the traffic into work. However, that fleeting feeling of stability was slowly overtaken by crippling nervousness. Today was different. Today was the day that Calleigh would finally bite the bullet and do something she had been putting off for far too long. She was already running late because of her redundant procrastination that morning, another distinct sign that something was bothering Calleigh. Yes, procrastination was a behaviour that Calleigh Duquesne did not frequently resort to unless something was undeniably wrong.

By the time she got up to the break room, the rest of the team was there, ready for their new assignments. Eric, noticing Calleigh's abnormal tardiness raised his eyebrow in curiosity and gave her a look as their eyes met one another's. Eric knew not to probe. If Calleigh was late then there was a damn good reason for it and he was sure that this was no exception. Little did he know…

"Sorry Horatio, big traffic-jam downtown." Calleigh lied. Well, partially lied anyway as there was usually a traffic-jam downtown in peak hour. But had she ever let it stop her coming in on time before? No, no she had not, because Calleigh Duquesne was an entirely competent human being who could plan ahead, which, in some instances led to too much contemplation and not enough action, as was evident this particular morning.

"Not to worry, Calleigh. You and Eric have a D.B. down in South Beach. Keep me posted." Horatio made a start to exit the break room.

"Horatio, wait! I need to ask you something." She called out, as she made her way out the door.

"Yes ma'am?" He queried, turning back to face her.

Calleigh could feel Eric, Ryan and Natalia's curiosity surge through the room as they watched them in the doorway and she blushed slightly. "Um, in private if possible."

Horatio exited the room, making a gesture to Calleigh to follow him to his office. Once inside, Horatio turned to face her once again. "Is something the matter Calleigh?" His concern for her was rising. First Calleigh was late, and now she needed to talk to him in private. What was going on? Did something happen to her that would result in such an absence of her normal bubbly personality?

"I, um, I need to go to an appointment this afternoon." She stated. Observing her boss's confused face, she went onto explain further, "A dentist appointment." She cringed at her own use of the word.

The revelation made Horatio finally realize Calleigh's strange behaviour. He had known about Calleigh's fear of the dentist when she first started working at CSI. A murder involving a dentist had sent Calleigh into a wave of panic and fluster, forcing her to explain her irrational behaviour to Horatio. Yes, it all made sense now. It was that time of the year when Calleigh would start to fret and make excuses for not attending her appointments.

"Ahh… I see…" Horatio said, trying to look her in the eyes but found that her gaze had been averted to her black high-heeled boots (however she walks in them all day at a crime scene is something he had always wanted to know). "Calleigh, you know what I'm going to tell you, right?"

"Um… no excuses again?" She said, still failing to meet his piercing blue eyes.

"Mmhmm" Horatio nodded slightly, trying to resist the urge to chuckle at her childish behaviour. "Did you want me to go with you this afternoon?"

She finally glanced up and met his gaze. "Horatio, it's fine, really, it is. You're far too busy, I'm sure…" She trailed off.

"Nonsense, Calleigh, if you need me, I can make time." He knew she hated to go alone, the few times she did go by herself had seen her walk out of the waiting room at the first sound of a distant drill.

"Horatio, I'll see how I go this year and if I need you, I'll call you." She smiled. "But I do appreciate your concern for my teeth". He laughed at this.

"Alright then Calleigh, try not to think about it." Horatio smiled back at her.

"Thanks Horatio, I'll go get to that D.B., I expect Eric is still waiting for me in the Hummer."

With that, Calleigh had left the confines of Horatio's office and headed down to the car park, her palms becoming increasingly sweaty and the butterflies in her stomach were fluttering considerably. This was going to be a fun day. Not.

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The Hummer ride to South Beach was silent as Calleigh could see Eric barely withholding his burning questions regarding her strange behaviour. Usually their rides in the Hummer were filled with fun, flirty talk or an awkward silence following a moment of sexual tension. Finally when they stopped in traffic he turned to her, his curiosity surmounting. "Okay, spill." He stated rather simply.

"Spill what? What are you talking about? There's nothing to spill!" Calleigh said rather hurriedly, probably not the best way to lie to Eric.

"Calleigh, you're a terrible liar. You've been acting strange all morning. Why were you late?" Eric probed, he could usually read her like a book even when she was trying her best to cover what she was feeling; today he didn't even have to try.

Calleigh was becoming increasingly flustered. "It's none of your business", she snapped at him. Why couldn't he mind his own business? It was embarrassing enough that he knew about her ant phobia, the teasing would be never ending if Eric found out about this!

"Calleigh, please, whatever it is…" Eric tried to reason with her but stopped short after receiving a warning look from the blonde. "Fine, I won't push it. But you know that if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm always here for you."

With that, Calleigh felt a terrible pang of guilt. He was only trying to be a friend and it wasn't his fault that she had an irrational fear of the dentist. It was true, what he said, he was always there for her when she needed to talk. She often took that for granted. "Eric, I appreciate your concern but it really is nothing. I'm just a little stressed, that's all. And I'm sorry for snapping at you." She smiled softly at him, trying to apologize for her rude behaviour.

"It's no problem, Calleigh." Eric returned the gesture with his charming smile. The rest of the car ride was spent in companionable silence, with Eric deciding to drop his questioning for now. They arrived at the scene and grabbed their kits from the boot. Alexx was already there, reporting preliminary findings to an assistant.

"Hey Alexx, what have we got?" Eric asked as they moved closer to the victim.

"Male, in his mid-forties. He was stabbed. Defensive wounds on his hands and arms indicate a struggle. Poor guy, tried to fight back." She explained, carefully indicating the marks.

They were joined by Detective Frank Tripp, who walked over from a witness. "Hey, victim's name was Derek West, just talked to the wife who was with him at the time of the incident. Said a man tried to grab her handbag but her husband fought back. The knife was brought out and he got stabbed. Poor guy, had three young children, average guy, dentist... shame."

Calleigh suddenly tuned out as she began to feel dizzy. Did she just hear correctly? Dentist? Surely not today, that would be far too much of a coincidence. "Frank, did you just say 'dentist'?" She asked him, tensing up at the use of the word.

"Yes I did ma'am. Why? Is there a problem?" He asked, frowning.

"Um, no…. not at all." She said giving him a quick fake smile. This was all too coincidental. She contemplated calling Horatio to tell him of this strange fact but realised how busy he must already be without worrying about her silly phobia.

"Calleigh, are you okay?" Eric asked, her sudden fright at the word 'dentist' had stirred even more curiosity in him. What the hell was going on with her?

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now, were there any other witnesses?" She turned to Frank and continued to discuss the case.

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After collecting what little evidence they had, they returned to the Hummer. Once inside Eric sat and looked at her. "What? What is it?" Calleigh asked, she felt uncomfortable enough as it was without him looking at her like that. What was he up to?

"Dentist." He said and she immediately cringed. "Dentist" He repeated, watching her cringe again. "Dentist", for the third time she cringed.

"Eric, stop it!" She cried out, becoming more and more panicked. He could not believe it; Calleigh was afraid of the dentist! It all made perfect sense. He would bet money that she had an appointment coming up soon and was all nervous in light of it.

"You, Miss Duquesne, are afraid of the dentist?" He said, his astonishment slowly turning into amusement.

"No, I am not afraid of the dentist!" She denied, inwardly cringing this time at the word, not allowing Eric the satisfaction of seeing her reaction.

"Yes, yes you are!" Eric said, now grinning triumphantly.

Her cheeks were flushed and her heart rate pulsing. She glanced at the clock and realised she had to be at her appointment in two hours. Eric had already realised, there was no point in keeping up the façade. "Okay, I am afraid of the dentist." She admitted. "Stop laughing!" She replied, slightly angered.

"I'm sorry Calleigh, I just never pictured you to be scared of such a thing! I mean, I know you're afraid of ants and all, but, dentists?" He chuckled.

"Eric, it's serious. I can't go without anyone being there with me. Call me crazy, I don't care, but please don't laugh at me!" She pleaded.

Eric realised how solemn she was and stopped smiling. "I'm sorry Calleigh, I didn't mean to…"

"I know" she cut him short, understanding why someone would laugh at her phobia. "Please, don't tell anyone, it's embarrassing enough that you and Horatio know."

"I won't Calleigh, don't worry. So, that's what this morning was about? You were talking to H about the dentist?" He asked.

"Yes. I have an appointment this afternoon. In one hour and fifty-eight minutes to be exact." She said, glancing nervously at the clock again.

"Oh, do you want me to come with you?" Eric asked, he was now more than slightly concerned for his friend, she was obviously petrified. Their case involving the dentist must have really freaked her out.

"Well, I was going to get Horatio to come with me but he seems to be rather busy as of late. Would you mind?" She asked hopefully, Eric would certainly take her mind off the dentist more than Horatio would. Eric usually took her mind off most anything if she didn't focus.

"Calleigh, of course I don't mind! Like I said, I'm here for you." He smiled, reaching over and putting his hand on her shoulder. The butterflies in Calleigh's stomach began to stir even more, but for a different reason. Eric suddenly realised their close proximity and turned back into his driving position. The Hummer ride back to the lab was definitely filled with awkward sexually charged tension.

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One hour and fifty-seven minutes later, Calleigh and Eric were sitting in the dentist's waiting room. She nervously awaited the lady at the desk to announce it was time for her to enter the dreaded room full of drills and other tools for oral hygiene. A drill suddenly started up in a nearby room, making Calleigh twitch with nervousness. This did not go unnoticed by Eric who reached out and grabbed her hand. "It's okay Calleigh, it's just a drill." He smiled encouragingly at her.

"I know Eric, I just… I can't…" Calleigh tried and failed to explain.

"I understand. Well, I don't understand your fear of the dentist, but I do understand a phobia." He admitted.

"You have a phobia too?" She said, a little too excitedly. "Come on, tell me what it is!"

"No! I will not tell you what it is!" He said, starting to blush. Only Calleigh could make him blush like a little schoolgirl.

"Eric, I told you mine! Tell me yours!" she said, her feelings of anxiety were slowly disappearing as she became more and more interested in what made Eric Delko afraid.

"Yeah, well, maybe later…" he said. "So, um, how about the case? I think we're still waiting on the blood analysis…" He started, his lame attempt at trying to change the topic wasn't working, but at least Calleigh was grinning at him.

"Eric, I will get it out of you! Just you wait!" She exclaimed gleefully, just as the receptionist called out her name. Her nervousness had eased with Eric by her side holding her hand as she had her check-up. The dentist concluded that her teeth were in excellent condition and would not need any further treatment (thank God).

Once out of the building, they returned to the beachside car park where the Hummer was parked. They both took in a breath of the salty air as a sea breeze gusted by. "See, that wasn't all that bad, now was it?" Eric said, smiling at her as they both looked out over the beach, side by side.

"No, I think, Eric Delko, that you have cured my phobia of the dentist." She declared. "Now, let me know your phobia and maybe I can help out!"

"Fine" He sighed, knowing that Calleigh would not give up. "Moths".

"Moths? Are you serious?" she practically gasped, astounded at his pitiful phobia. "At least dentists can actually cause pain! What the hell can a moth do? Flutter in your face?" She laughed at him.

"Oh shush, you! It's no more irrational than your phobia!" He said, laughing with her. They stopped laughing as their eyes met, the tension between them was overwhelming. Maybe it was the electricity in the air that was brewing due to the storm that they were expecting; maybe it was the sudden admissions of silly phobias, maybe it was just a long time coming. Who knows? Either way, something made Eric Delko lean forward and place his lips on Calleigh's.

The kiss took her by surprise but she reciprocated, tongues intertwined as he held her in his arms. They pulled away, staring at each other with silly smiles on their faces as though they were teenagers who had just experienced their first real kiss.

"Eric…" She breathed, "That was…" She trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Minty fresh!" He finished off her sentence and received a light smack on the arm. They had finally been brought together, not by any particularly romantic happening, but by Calleigh's irrational phobia of the dentist. Who would have thought? This would definitely be a story to tell their grandchildren.

The End!!!