A/N: Enjoyy fellow Ryan lovers! PS this is set in the season 4/5 time period that's why Tessa is younger. Also, I will be adding plot from the actual seasons soon!

Disclaimer: I don't own! boo.

Tessa Owens let out a groan at the sound of her bedroom door opening, and tiny footsteps tiptoeing their way towards her bed, a giggle escaping the little devil's mouth of whom those feet belonged to. She felt tiny hands grip her comforter, and she did her best not to breathe. She didn't want to be woken up quite yet.

"Mommy," a small voice beamed, and the little boy jumped up from the floor onto her bed, landing square on her back.

"Ouch!" Tessa screeched, wincing in pain as her son tugged at her hair.

"Wake up!" the little boy giggled, leaning over her shoulder and kissing her cheek.

"Give me five minutes!" she shouted, her eyes not opening as he jumped up and down on her back.

"Now!" he shouted. "Wake up, Mommy!"

Tessa let out a dramatic sigh, which was inevitably pointless considering her son didn't give two shits about her lack of sleep. "Okay," she mumbled, rolling onto her back, causing him to giggle when he fell on the bed. "Morning," she spoke, her voice unenthusiastic as she rubbed at her eyeballs. "You hungry," she turned towards her son, who was nuzzling into her side, and yawning.

"Yes," he nodded his head. "I want Nana and chocolate 'dip pancakes!

Tessa scrunched her face in protest. "Banana and chocolate chip?" she asked. "Gross!"

"Num!" he giggled. "Nana and chocolate! Nana and chocolate!"

"You are a sick little kid," she laughed, willing herself to sit upright. She set one foot on the floor, and pushed herself upright, sitting on the edge of the bed, letting out a loud yawn. "If Joey goes pee-pee potty, his Mommy will make him Banana and Chocolate chip pancakes," Tessa bribed her son to used the "big boy potty," as she stood up to get ready for work.

Joey Owens climbed out of his mother's bed at the offer she was making and hurried into her bathroom before she could make it in there. "In your potty," she sighed watching him grab his step stool and set it in front of the toilet. "Not Mom's."

"You needa help," he said, tugging at his pajama bottoms, unable to get them below his waist. She let out a sigh, and pulled them down for him before turning to look at herself in the mirror. She was not ready for her first day at work. Not one bit ready.

Being the only female in the homicide department in Fort Lauderdale was something she hadn't been keen to at first. It had taken months to get those guys to warm up to her. To prove she wasn't some girl who thought it was cool to carry a gun and arrest bad people. It had taken her over a year to get them to love and accept her as the only female in their bull-pen.

And she knew that Miami would be the same. People didn't like newcomers. Especially older men when it came to younger women. It had something to do with power. Men liked power. And a girl coming in over-stepped the power boundary line.

Tessa let out a sigh, blinking at her reflection, hoping that her long thick, black Polish/Native American hair would straighten itself. Wrong idea, she realized when she opened her eyes, her wish having not come true. "Guess this aint Disney after all. None of my dreams have come true," she mumbled. She glanced at her baby boy, who jumped from his stool, and stepped right out of his pajama pants and undies, and hurried out of the room clad in just his Cars pajama shirt.

"Freaking A! Brat!" she called after her crazy son. "Get back here nakey boy!"

"Neber!" he giggled, his voice becoming faint as he hurried into his bedroom.

"Better stay in there," she spoke more to herself as she turned to face herself in the mirror. Ever since she'd been a single mother, she resorted to having conversations with herself. It was that or learn baby talk. She had no friends in Fort Lauderdale. The only reason she had moved there was because she had to drop out of college and care for her baby. Not only had it been cheaper to rent a cute little house there, she got a job as a cop. Something to help her with her later goal in life. CSI. That had gone down the drain when she got pregnant, and she'd have to resort to homicide detective. And if she was going to tolerate the men's bullshit, she rather it be in Miami, where the pay was better.

She let out a sigh, and grabbed her brush, hoping Joey would occupy himself until her brother arrived to watch him so she could get ready for her first day at work. Today was going to be a long day. It was only 5:30 in the morning, and she wasn't due for work until 9:00. But she needed to be out of the house by 7:30, in order to avoid traffic and get into Miami by 8:30, and Joey had been waking her up at 5:30 religiously since he could walk. She'd purposely put him in bed around midnight on her days off in hope he would sleep in, but he never failed to be her personal alarm clock, opening her door and sliding into her bed, or jumping onto her back at 5:30.

XXXXXXXXX

Tessa let out a frustrated groan, slamming on her breaks. Traffic was horrible, as usual. She was glad she left when she did, finally pulling into the MDPD parking lot, climbing out of her black 1990 Honda Civic. Maybe with her new paycheck she could put that damned thing to rest. It was edging on its 200,000-mile marker, and she wasn't sure how much longer it could last. Joey's sippy cup had been spilled numerous times in the back seat, leaving red stains on the floor, and she didn't do anything but add to the mess when her cover-up had slipped from her purse a few months ago and spilled onto her passenger seat.

She locked the door with her key, trying not to be envious of the man who had parked next to her, who had used an actual key clicker. Something Tessa wish she had. Money was something she never had much of.

She let out a deep breath, brushing off her black dress pants, a nervous habit she picked up when she was dreading an event that she couldn't stop. She had decided on flats for the day, knowing that if she got caught in a chase on her first day of work, her new colleagues wouldn't let it down if her heels broke.

She pulled at the door that read MDPD Precinct, and let out a deep breath, glancing around. She was in the lobby, and she wanted to be in the homicide bullpen. She walked towards the tall desk were a security guard sat, trying to explain to a distraught old women she needed to wait in line before she could pay her parking ticket. Tessa gave the woman a sympathetic smile, grabbing the sign in sheet, knowing that since she didn't have a photo ID yet, she'd need to sign in as a guest. She showed the guard her license, and also her gun and badge that were sitting on her hip before her waved her to go back.

She pushed on another door, and took in her surroundings. Nope, just as she had suspected. No females. She bit her lip, unsure of who would be her Field Training Officer. Protocol called for every new member, whether familiar with law enforcement has an FTO for at least 5 days. Even if she knew how to do this job.

"Excuse me?" a bald man, who looked like his toupee had just been blown away by the wind, also wearing a beige suit asked her, his hand meeting with her elbow. "You Detective Owens?"

Tessa nodded her head, her golden brown eyes twinkling with anticipation as she held her hand out for him to shake. "Tessa Owens," she smiled.

"Detective Frank Tripp," Frank said, shaking her hand. "So it's true. Thought the guys were just yankin' my chain."

"What?" Tessa asked.

"That you're a girl."

Tessa let out a snort. "I'm a girl," she laughed. "Least that's what the doctor told my Mom when she had me."

Frank's eyes widened at her remarks. She'd be a good fit to the guys with her mouth, even if she had a nice chest. His cheeks turned a red color realizing his mind had gone into the gutter. "So. Since you're the only one being nice to me," Tessa smiled, brushing back her long silky hair. "I'm assuming you are my FTO."

"Great guess," Frank nodded his head. "We've got a homicide to go to."

"Great," Tessa smiled back. "Let's get to it. Hate it when the CSIs show up before myself."

Frank nodded his head, grabbing his suit jacket from the back of a computer chair. "Let's go then, Detective Owens."

"It's Tessa. Or Owens," she corrected him, following him out of the bullpen.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tessa sat in the CSI break room as she waited for Frank to finish talking with Horatio Caine, her eyes glued to the young man with shorter hair than she last recalled, and stronger arms. He was wearing a white lab coat, his hazel eyes fixated on a piece of evidence. Never did she expect to see him again. Ever. He had been a college student at Boston College. She never expected him to leave Boston. It's where he grew up. Yet there he was, in Miami. In the lab that she'd probably visit on a daily basis. She could only avoid them for so long.

A quiet, but loud enough cough caused her to shake her head and fixate her eyes on a tiny blonde woman sporting a cheery smile. "You must be the new homicide detective Frank was talking about," she smiled, holding her hand out for the stranger to shake, "Calleigh Duquesne, CSI. Ballistics is my specialty."

"Tessa Owens," she smiled. "Good to meet ya. Wasn't sure if I'd be working with any girls. I gotta admit. I'm relieved a bit now," she laughed nervously.

"It's tough tagging along with the guys," Calleigh smiled.

"Yeah," Tessa agreed. "I'm used to it. Doesn't mean I like it though. The guys in Fort Lauderdale welcomed me with slightly more open arms then here. I know they're wanting' to know why in the heck Stetler would hire a girl to do their job."

"And a young one at that," Calleigh smiled. "How did you get to being a homicide at 26?"

"Well. When you're on patrol and you get shot, 9 times outta 10 they never put you back in the uniform. I basically got my pick of the bunch."

"Oh wow. That's really a shame," Calleigh spoke, her eyes widening in sympathy and shock for Tess.

"Eh," Tess shrugged it off. "I'm alive right? And I've got a pretty hot battle wound to show off."

"Where?" Calleigh asked.

Tess brushed the red v-neck t-shirt she was wearing off her left shoulder, revealing a ragged pink line. "Scariest moment in my life," she laughed. Right next to knowing you're gonna be a young single mother, she thought. "Say," Tess nodded her head towards the CSI she'd noticed earlier, trying to change the subject. "That guy over there? Who's he?"

Calleigh turned around and glanced through the glass walls to see who Tessa was talking about. "That. Is Ryan Wolfe."

"I knew it," Tess mumbled under her breath, and then shook her head. "Thanks. Well it was nice to meet you. I should go. Frank is heading this way."

"Bye," Calleigh smiled, waving to Tessa who hurried out of the break room.

Whadd'ya think? Lemme know by clickling that little bubble. Tee-hee. More Ryan to come!