Hey everyone. I am still busy, so updating "Run this town" will take a while. Nevertheless I was able to write a short song fic this morning, and I decided to post it immediately so wait won't be too long. This is a songfic to Rihanna's song Russian Roulette. Now, I don't own the song, the music, the lyrics, or even he idea for that song. But Rihanna just inspires me. In case you haven't noticed :)
Full Disclaimer: I don't own Rihanna's song, nor do I own CSI Miami or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing them for your and my entertainment.
Warnings: Death (obviously), Torture, Russian Roulette. Don't try this at home.
Russian Roulette
It was dark. Almost too dark. But Ryan guessed it had to be dark. After all, not many showdowns take place in the sun. Somebody had probably established long ago that real showdowns and duels of all sort either had to take place in sunrise, sunset or pitch black darkness. Well, not really pitch black. There was a dim light from the light bulb that hung from the ceiling, enough for Ryan to see that this was not the place he wanted to die in. Showdown… duel… He shook his head. If anybody found out where he was and why he was here, he would lose his job. Well, he would lose it anyways after this day… Eric and Calleigh would tell somebody, probably Stetler, what he had done today. Stetler was probably sitting at his desk right now and was writing the letter that would tell him he'd been fired. 'Dear Mr Wolfe, I am glad to announce that you finally gave me a reason to fire you for good. Police will contact you about further charges that will bring you to jail…' Ryan chuckled. Well, he would get that letter tomorrow in the morning perhaps. From Stetler in person, he guessed. But he still had 8 more hours. 8 hours before his life would be over. Well, 8 hours or a few minutes, depending on how this turned out.
Now the door opened. Ryan raised his head to see who had come in. It was him. Ryan knew it from the smell. The smell of cheap perfume and blood. The man who had tortured him all night. Andrei. And now, he saw the face. The man wasn't wearing a mask. A clear sign that he knew there would never be another encounter, no chance for Ryan to give a positive ID on him. Because only one of them would leave this cellar. Alive.
Now Andrei sat down at the table in the middle of the room. He smiled at Ryan, "And I thought I would never see you again… Come here, take a seat, Mr Wolfe…"
Ryan slowly walked over from where he was standing and sat down opposite Andrei. "You look different than I imagined…"
"You too. I didn't imagine you standing here upright with only one visible mark of our meeting… But you surprised me anyways. I rarely had a man at my hands who held up that long. This is why I agreed to meet you. I don't meet with cowards."
"Thank you." Ryan made himself comfortable and place his gun in front of him. Andrei did the same. "I hope you're not fooling me, Andrei."
Andrei grinned and showed Ryan the barrel of his gun. "Only one round, Mr Wolfe. I am a man of honour. Even if you might not believe me…"
"A man of honour, you say. What is so honourable about almost killing an innocent child?" Ryan responded.
"That wasn't my choice, Mr Wolfe. But we should stop the talking now and go over to business. I have someone waiting for me. You might have some stories to share with the poor man…" Ryan breathed in. So, there was another one. Somebody about to get tortured by Andrei. He had to stop him. He heard Andrei's voice, but was barely able to understand what he was saying…
Take a breath, take it deep
Calm yourself, he says to me
If you play, you play for keeps
Take a gun, and count to three
"You might feel better, Mr Wolfe, if I start…." Andrei spun the barrel of the gun, held it to his head, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
Ryan, now trembling a bit, did the same. Only way more slowly than Andrei did before.
I'm sweating now, moving slow
No time to think, my turn to go
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving
Know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger
Nothing happened. Ryan felt the trembling increase. Actually, he wondered how he had been able to hold the gun as steady to his head as he did.
Andrei look at him, a look of pity in his eyes. The same look he had sometimes had during the torture. Only, back then, Ryan knew this was only the 'you know I don't wanna do this, but I have to, so make it easy for both of us because I really don't wanna hurt you' look. This time, it felt genuine. "You're doing this for the first time?"
Ryan chuckled, "No, no, I do this twice a week when all the tennis courts in Miami are occupied by all the rich people in this city."
Now Andrei laughed, "You are a funny kid, Mr Wolfe. A shame we're enemies… My turn." Andrei took the gun, spun the barrel again and shot. Nothing happened. He smiled at Ryan. I am lucky today. Do you believe in God, Mr Wolfe?"
Say a prayer to yourself
He says close your eyes
Sometimes it helps
"Believe me, Mr Wolfe, I've done this more than 15 times. I know what you can do to make it easier. A prayer will help. If you believe in God, that is."
Ryan looked at him, "You've done this more than 15 times?"
And then I get a scary thought
That he's here means he's never lost
"You must be a lucky man, then, Andrei. Ever tried the lottery?"
"Why would I? Ivan pays me well. Breaking souls pays well everywhere, but Ivan is really a big spender…"
Ryan nodded, "I can imagine." He looked at the gun in his hand. "So, did you get a pay cut for not breaking my soul?" He took the gun, spun the barrel, and, this time, with the same speed as Andrei, pulled the trigger. Again, it all remained silent. "Your turn, Andrei. Seems I get lucky sometimes, too."
Andrei looked deeply into his eyes. "Really? Don't you think it would be better if you just died tonight?"
"Why would it?"
"If you die tonight, Wolfe, everything's over. If you survive, you will live with the memory of what I have done to you. For the rest of your life. It will get easier come time, but every look into the mirror will bring back a memory. I have left scars on your body, Ryan. And they will remind you. Everyday. Every night. Days, you will be able to fight the memories. But at nights, when you sleep and your guard is down, the nightmares will come. And haunt you. Doesn't the thought of dying tonight have much more appeal to it, Mr Wolfe?" He spun the barrel and shot. Ryan didn't even wait for the sound he knew wouldn't come. "Your turn, Mr Wolfe."
Ryan spun the barrel, but suddenly, everything froze inside him. And he knew that the next round would be the last. He would die, or Andrei would die at his next shot. But this wouldn't go much longer.
As my life flashes before my eyes
I'm wondering will I ever see another sunrise?
His life. What had he done so far? He had saved lives. Children, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers… He had stopped criminals from doing crimes. He had made the world a better place. But then the images of last night flashed up. The chair, the tape, the pliers, the knife, the blood, the tooth… Andrei.
So many won't get the chance to say goodbye
But it's too late too pick up the value of my life
This man. Andrei. How many lives had he taken? How many of his victims had survived, but never had been able to lead a happy life because of all the bad memories they owed to him? How many had died without being able to say a last good bye to the people they loved? How many people were still waiting for their loved ones to return when the Russian mob had disposed of their bodies? Had Billy died, would Mark have ever gotten his remains to grieve over, or would Ivan and his people have just gotten rid of them? If he, Ryan, had died, would anybody ever know? If he would die now, would anybody ever find out? It was too late now. It was over. For him, or for Andrei…
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving
Know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger…
Ryan held he gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Silence. The gun fell out of Ryan's hand. He took in a deep breath, his whole body was shaking. He had survived. He knew Andrei's next shot would be the last. He just knew.
But Andrei didn't. He laughed, "Oh, Mr Wolfe. This is getting too hard for you? Don't worry. Again, you've been stronger than an average American. But let me tell you how easy this is. The next round, don't spin. Just place the bullet, and shoot, and everything will be over. Sweet death will come, and all the crying is over. It's as easy as that, Mr Wolfe. But first, let me equal the score…"
BANG!
---
Ryan woke up with a start. When he finally noticed he wasn't sitting in a cellar, but lying in his bed, and there was no dead Russian lying on the floor, he calmed himself again. He got up and walked to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water and sat down at the table. It was 3 A.M. He stared at the water. Andrei was dead. Horatio hat shot him. Horatio. Not Ryan. He bit his lip. Horatio had to shoot, or else Billy would have died. But he would have loved to kill Andrei. Loved. Ryan wasn't a person who liked to shoot other people. So far, he hadn't killed anybody on the job. Andrei would have made a wonderful first time. For everything he had done to Ryan that past night, he would have paid. But the satisfaction was Horatio's. Not his. And he would never get the chance to take revenge on Andrei for putting him through the worst hours of his life. Because Horatio had taken that possibility from him.
So, likey? Not likey? Please review if you feel like it. Love, fergie. And may I add: Why couldn't the writers not have Ryan be the hero for once? And yes, I know I broke the "Don't let a character wake up from his dreams" rule. Yay for Dallas.... But what else was I supposed to do i this case. I don't like to change the series plots, soooo....