This is really beautiful, 15-year-old Ryan Wolfe thought as he reached the top of the tree. He stood up and began to walk to the edge of the branch.
" Ryan," he heard his neighbour Aaron call his name and lost his balance. He fell and hit his head off the jagged rocks below...
" Mr. Wolfe," Ryan heard his boss call his name anxiously and was brought back to reality " Mr. Wolfe, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just waiting on the trace results." Horatio gave him the look that told Ryan he knew he was lying. " H., I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind. Nothing to worry about. I'm fine." Ryan smiled a smile Horatio knew was fake. Horatio nodded, though knowing all too well that there was more to it then that.
They stood there for seconds, minutes maybe, in Silence, Ryan wondering how long Horatio had been standing there, calling his name, Horatio wondering what was on his newest and youngest CSIsmind when finally the machine next to Ryan started whizzing and spat out a piece of paper. Ryan went and Picked it up.
" Trace Natalia found on the carpet in the victims house is the main ingredient in an anti-depressant and is a match with the trace found in the glass and with the drug in the tox report for both blood pools. It's also a match to what we found in the last two vics." The look on Horatio's face told him he was going to do something he really didn't want to do.
" O.K. Thank you, Mr. Wolfe. Why don't you take a break? You look like you haven't stopped in days!" He smiled and Ryan smiled back. He turned and headed for the door. " Oh and ah, Mr. Wolfe..." Ryan looked up. " If you need some time off... if you need anything at all...all you have to do is ask and we'll sort something out. "
" Thanks," Ryan said quietly, touching his fore head, as Horatio left, talking on the phone.
As Horatio walked into the breakroom, he saw Delko, Alexx, Calleigh, Natalia and Speed.
" Hey H. We're heading out for lunch. Coming?" Speed asked.
" Ah. No. I'm waiting for a call. FBI!" Everyone groaned.
"Hey anyone know where Wolfe is?" Delko asked.
"No." everyone answered.
" I saw him trace but I think he headed out... Has anyone noticed anything different about our young Mr. Wolfe?"
" Apart from him not being here gettin' in on all the girly gossip!" Speed joked. Delko laughed.
" Actually," Calleigh said, " he has been acting a little strange the last few days."
" And not half as focused as he usually is," Alexx added. " When the first rape victim was brought in, he was there for the autopsy and after going through all that, I looked up and he was just staring at the body, I thought he was crying, I had to go over everything again."
" I asked him what was wrong, he said he had alot on his mind," Horatio said.
" And you believe that?" Natalia asked.
" No."
"You don't... you don't think he knew the vic, do ya?" Delko asked.
" I don't think so," Horatio said. " But whatever it is, I hope he'll talk to someone about it. Soon."
Ryan sat alone in a booth in the diner down the road from the lab. It was where cops would go to hang out, get coffee. Talk. He sat with two empty cups, one full with coffee, a burger with one bite taken out of it and his cell. He had called his mother, who yelled at him for not calling enough, asked for the number of Aaron Hotchner and left five messages for him. They hadn't talked since before Ryan left for college. Aaron was his neighbour and Ryan's best friend. Ryan was the son Aaron had yearned for and he was the father Ryan had always wanted. They had shared secrets and Hotch was the only one who could help Ryan with this
Aaron was a lawyer but moved to when Ryan was seventeen to join the BAU. They wrote short letters but lost all contact within weeks. Ryan always called Aaron Hotch and Hotch always called Ryan "kiddo" or "twerp" or even son.
Now he was the only one who Ryan could talk to. He was there through it all.
Ryan woke up in a hospital bed and opened his eyes to see a very worried Aaron Hotchner. He tried to talk but failed miserably. " Don't try talk kiddo. You'll do more harm then good." Ryan managed to mouth the words, "My Parents"
" Your Dad is at the lab," he told him, reaching for the glass of water. He handed it to Ryan, " your mother is in a meeting." Ryan smirked and looked around the room. Aaron Hotchner was the only one in the room. Ryan felt a searing pain in his head. He reached up and felt around. He hit a bandage and yelled in pain. " Hey, take it easy, Ok. When you fell you hit your head pretty hard on the rocks. You also broke your leg."
" What?! No!! I have the game in a few days, the team needs me!"
" Well you won't be playing on that leg. not for a few weeks at the least! Sorry, Buddy!" He fell back and groaned. After a few minutes he fell into a restless sleep.
" Ryan. Ryan," he heard Calleigh say and felt a slight jab in his side. This brought him out of his daze and he stared up, confused, at his three other colleagues, staring worriedly back at him. " Hey there, day-dreamer. Mind if we join you?" she said brightly, even though it was obvious that it was fake."
Ryan shook his head slightly. " Ah, here," he said, throwing down a twenty dollar bill onto the table and getting up, " I'm done." He hurried toward the exit
" Come on, Wolfe," Delko called.
" You barely started your burger, " Tim stated.
Ryan turned a walked backwards, " I wasn't that hungry and I got to get back to the lab." And with that Ryan turned around and ran out the door. Calleigh turned and saw from the looks on her colleagues' faces that they felt what she did