Hero.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Warning: If you really like Ryan Wolfe, be warned. There is slight character bashing.
Author's Note: Short, but to the point. Hope you enjoy! (PS: I love reviews!)
The death was hard enough, they didn't need a replacement. Not so soon. Nobody could ever take his place, nobody. Nobody would ever be as good as he was, nobody would ever be so respected and loved. Nobody could replace him, be as good as him, do the things that he did. He was irreplaceable, even if nobody else seemed to think so. And nobody did.
There was no way that Speedle could ever be replaced, especially by someone like Ryan Wolfe. There was no way. Speed did a better job than Ryan ever could, even if nobody else seemed to think so. And, as it seemed, nobody else did. Nobody else seemed to care about Tim Speedle anymore; nobody seemed to care. The man was dead, and the only one left to care was Eric Delko.
And maybe, Eric wouldn't have remembered as well as he did, as much as he did. Maybe he wouldn't have cared as much, been so upset, had he viewed Speed just like everyone else had. A co-worker, a friend. That was how everyone else saw him, and that seemed to be a position that was easily replaced. But of course it was. Nobody seemed to care about Speed anymore, nobody besides Eric. To them, he was a memory, someone who would always be remembered but rarely thought of. Nobody else seemed bothered when Ryan stepped in to take Speed's place. And Horatio Caine had done it so quickly, found someone to fill the position, that it almost scared Eric. Was everyone really forgetting about Speed, were they really just tossing him to the side? Was he really just worth their time when he was alive?
Speed meant much more to Eric. He couldn't see how they just forgot about him. They were all friends, weren't they? Family? Then how was it that he could just be replaced like that, and nobody seem to care? It didn't add up. Horatio's team was his family, and nobody can replace family. So how was it that Tim Speedle was forgotten, all memories of him thrown aside and Ryan sent in to take his place? It scared him, it really did; what would happen if he, too, died?
But that wasn't the only reason he cared. He didn't just care because it gave him insight as to what would happen if he died, he didn't just care because they were friends. No, the main reason Eric hated the fact that Speed was replaced, forgotten, was much more than that. And nobody seemed to realize, nobody seemed to care.
Timothy Speedle was much more than a co-worker and a friend to Eric Delko.
He was a hero.
Eric could always look up to him, always hope to be somewhat like him in many aspects of his life. Speed was everything that Eric wanted to be, and more. He was so much more than Eric could ever hope to be, so much more, and he could never forget him. And if he, someone much greater than Eric Delko, was forgotten so quickly, Eric wouldn't stand a chance of being remembered when his time came. And with Timothy Speedle's superiority, Eric was left to wonder if maybe he should have died instead.
After all, no hero deserves to die.