Hey all, just want to say thanks for reading my previous chapters! Please tell me what you guys' think so far. Dave Benton (audio/visual) is in my story. He adds to the story line.

- V

Three

Horatio was the last to arrive at the crime scene. Frank Tripp was the one that decided to keep him in the dark about it. But he didn't only have Horatio's well-being on his mind. He knew that Frank would never do something he didn't think was right or necessary. When his Hummer pulled up, Calleigh and Natalia stalled their actions.

"I knew he wouldn't say behind." Calleigh murmured. Natalia looked around for Frank, knowing that the boss was going to go right for him. She spotted Frank conversing with an officer. When Boa Vista returned her gaze to the lieutenant's Hummer, she saw that he was out of the vehicle, in his sunglasses and headed straight for Frank. Horatio was ready for work.

"Frank."

He turned around, knowing that voice anywhere. The redhead stood there, his head tilted to the left. Frank couldn't tell if he was looking right at him or somewhere else. The sunglasses tint was too dark to tell.

"Horatio what are you doing here?" He asked. "I thought you were back at the lab."

"Because you told Mr. Wolfe to babysit me, Frank. But we'll talk about that later. What's going on here?" Horatio took off his sunglasses and began to look around, observing the scene. Frank dismissed the officer he had been talking to. "Robbery gone wrong. The victim's name is Janice Lee. Her sister came to check on her, said she hadn't heard from her in two days. When she found her, she was dead in the hallway so she called us. The vic has been dead those two days."

Horatio noticed the window to the house was broken. He approached Calleigh, who smiled brightly when he did. "This is the entry point." She announced. "We think the suspect thought no one was home and went in to rob the place. But she must've heard them making noise and went to investigate. He beat her to death wither own cheerleading trophy. Do you think he got panicked and just used the first thing he saw?"

Horatio shook his head. "No, this is a personal crime. It was intentional. They knew they were going to kill her. They just didn't know how."

Ryan was shaking his head, mumbling angrily to himself. Dave, the audio/visual tech was chuckling as he watched him walk around the lab. Ryan angrily put on a par of glove and then grabbed a box and pulled a manila envelope out. He cut open the envelope, and reached inside to pull open a mall bracelet. Ryan didn't notice Dave coming up behind him, as he was too busy eyeing the piece of jewelry when suddenly he felt hands on his hips.

Startled, Ryan jumped and almost dropped the bracelet out of his hands. Once he realized he had a firm grip on it, he breathed out in relief. Dave laughed and removed his hands from Ryan.

"You're a little jumpy, Ryan." He told him.

"Don't touch me at work." Ryan snapped. "I could have dropped this thing and ruined possible evidence. It costs more than both are salaries combined."

Dave retreated, even putting his hands up in surrender. "Calm down, no one saw me touch you. And besides, I'm sure that bracelet has insurance."

Ryan had hoped he was joking but knowing Dave, he had a feeling he wasn't. Ryan put the bracelet down on the table, and then pulled out more equipment to dust for fingerprints before facing him. "Don't you have work to do," to which Dave shook his head no and smiled, "okay, why are you here? Just to bother me?"

"I'm wondering if you'd join me tonight. And also wondering what happened with Rick."

"No." Ryan answered. "And he had the nerve to criticize me for not wanting to go see a counselor to talk about Jesse. He says it proves that I don't care about anything or anyone in lab, and that's not true. I did care- I do care; but honestly I didn't know him as well as the others. I did work with him, yes but we didn't know each other on a personal level. I am sad about his death though, but I don't need to see a counselor."

Dave nodded and sighed. "Man, that's heavy. So, why don't you want to come over tonight? You bailed on me last night, which was understandable, but I'm starting to think you're seeing another guy." He laughed. Ryan stopped looking at the man and turned his attention back to the piece of neglected jewelry lying on the countertop.

Ryan cleared his throat. "I have a lot of work to do. So if you don't need me for anything job related, then I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me get back to it."

Dave stared at the side of Ryan's face in disbelief. That was all he could see. "So, you're really seeing someone else?"

Ryan looked around, making sure no one else was able to sneak up on him. "No, I was with Natalia, Walter, Eric and Calleigh last night. And tonight I'm going to see family. You have the wrong idea and I don't want to talk about this here." Ryan answered. He didn't once look up to face the other man. When he heard the sound of Calleigh and Natalia talking nearby, he felt instant relief. Ryan noticed Dave backing away from him and soon, he was alone in the room.

He couldn't tell Dave that he was with Horatio last night and that he'd be seeing him again tonight. When they had met, Dave knew about Ryan's crush on Horatio. Apparently it had been obvious to him. Soon after meeting, Ryan invited Dave out or a drink. He knew how he felt about him and figured Dave could help him get over the lieutenant. And Dave was more than willing to try. Although it seemed that as of late, he'd become increasingly more and more jealous whenever Horatio's name came out of Ryan's mouth.

They'd been seeing each other at least twice a week for two months now. But it didn't matter how many times they got together, Ryan just couldn't get over Horatio. And Dave was patient with him, saying he didn't want to be intimate unless Ryan was completely over his crush on the boss. But Ryan had known Horatio so long. This was no small crush, it was so much more than that. If he had told him the truth, that he was seeing Horatio tonight, things would go awry. He would be upset, to say the very least. And Ryan didn't want that. So he had to lie. Although he knew that eventually the truth would have to come out. He had just hoped things wouldn't go too bad.

Horatio opened the door to a sheepish looking Ryan. He was surprised to see him there. They'd agreed to meet at a bar, but apparently that wasn't happening.

"I thought we were…" Horatio started speaking but once he had seen how distraught Ryan looked, he stepped to the side to let his colleague in. To which, Ryan complied and bit his bottom lip harshly. Horatio closed the door behind him but kept his eye on him. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know." Ryan chuckled. "I just really need to apologize for last night. If I don't do it now, I won't have the courage to later."

"Mr. Wolfe, I don't think-."

"I was pretty drunk and I must've done something wrong. You barely acknowledged me this morning when you came to pick me up. I don't know how bad I got but I couldn't live with myself if I have done something to offend you in any way. So, I'm sorry Horatio. I hope you forgive me."

Horatio stared in shock. He wasn't sure what Ryan was talking about. What could Ryan have done to offend him He ran his fingers through his hair, was close enough to breathe on his ear, and he had pushed his body against Horatio's. But he had just thought that was the alcohol consumption that had blurred Ryan's thoughts.

Ryan couldn't look Horatio in the eye. Suddenly, he had a feeling this was a bad idea. He shouldn't have come. He should have just stayed home like he had planned on doing originally.

"Dad?"

Both of them turned their heads to the direction of the voice. Kyle stood there in the doorway, leading to the kitchen. Ryan felt his face getting warm. Now Kyle heard, how embarrassing. He should have asked first to make sure that Horatio was alone. How could he have forgotten that he was shaving dinner with Kyle?

"Kyle," Horatio's voice broke the silence, "it seems Mr. Wolfe needs my assistance with something tonight."

Kyle nodded. "No problem. I'll just see you tomorrow." He went to the door, where Ryan noticed shoes were by. Kyle began to put them on and lace them up, while smiling at Ryan. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Ryan apologized.

Kyle waved him off and opened the door. "It's fine, we just finished dinner and were just talking and catching up. No problem, like I said. See you both later." He gave his dad a hug goodbye and gave Ryan a head nod. Then, he was gone.

"Would you like to sit down?" Horatio asked. Ryan quickly shook his head. "No, I shouldn't stay long. I just wanted you to know that I was sorry."

"But what are you sorry about?" Horatio inquired. Ryan finally looked him in his eyes. He looked so confused and concerned at the same time. They both did. Ryan felt even more foolish. "You didn't say or do anything to offend me. Why would you think I did?"

"I just- I don't know." He tried to find the right words. "This morning you barely spoke to me and you wouldn't even look me in the eyes. And when I'm drunk, I know I can do some very questionable things."

Horatio nodded .He was contemplating bringing it up to Ryan; the way he looked at him last night was something Horatio hadn't seen in a long time. It wasn't admiration or even appreciation of Horatio being there for him. It wasn't a look a friend would give another. Honestly, no one had looked at Horatio the way Ryan did since Marisol.

But that was his wife so that was understandable. Ryan Wolfe was his coworker. And Horatio was his lieutenant.

"Mr. Wolfe, last night was fine. Nothing happened." Horatio explained.

Ryan shook his head. "Call me 'Ryan'."

"What?"

"Call me by my first name. I hate when you address me by my last name. You call the others by their first names, so why not me, too? It's like you have them on a pedestal that I'm too low to ever reach." Ryan wasn't speaking the way he usually did. He was usually so calm and collected.

Now he seemed rushed and frantic. Maybe even a little bit frustrated, Horatio concluded. The older could see why Ryan would feel that way. He did call his colleagues by their given names. But he only referred to Ryan by his surname. There wasn't a specific reason why, only that he liked to.

"If it bothers you then I will call you by your first name." Horatio nodded. "Will that be all?"

"Are you dismissing me?" Ryan asked, incredulous.

"No, I'm asking you if you need anything else. What had gotten you so defensive?" He asked. He was genuinely concerned about Ryan. He'd never seen him so hostile and on-edge before outside of working on a case. Maybe Ryan was just stressed out. The cases were becoming more and more intense. And Horatio had heard about Stetler lurking around the lab. Maybe he had said something to set him off.

Ryan was giving him that look again. It was the same one from last night. They both stared at each other. Horatio wanted to look away but he couldn't. He just found Ryan's brown eyes captivating.

Before Horatio could do or say anything, Ryan closed the distance in between them, coming closer. Ryan stared deeply at him, only dropping his gaze down to his chest. He noticed that Horatio was still wearing his suit. He was sure the man didn't actually own casual clothing. His jacket was unbuttoned, and Ryan reached out. With how close they were, he didn't have to reach very far.

Ryan touched Horatio's chest lightly. Really, he just wanted to rip his shirt off but he couldn't. He had to go slow as to not scare him off. He was a bit afraid of looking in his eyes again. What if he was giving him a look of disapproval? Or even worst; disgust? But Ryan had to. He willed himself to look up. Horatio's eyes were closed. His chest was expanding and retracting slowly with each deep breath he took. All Ryan had wanted to do was touch him a little. But now, he wanted more.

Should he push his luck? He'd already came this far so why shouldn't he continue? Ryan moved his face closer to Horatio's. He could sense the younger CSI, Ryan could tell. His breathing stalled for a split second but then continued on slowly. Ryan kissed Horatio on the lips. He went slowly and it was just a peck. Once he did it, he looked at Horatio again. His eyes were still closed, so Ryan kissed him again. He didn't care about anything anymore; he just wanted Horatio.

Ryan pulled away from the kiss. Horatio's eyes popped open as soon as he did. Ryan didn't see it though, he was already down on his knees in front of the lieutenant. He had just started fumbling with his belt buckle when he felt his hand on his shoulder. Ryan paused and looked up at the man, afraid he had gone too far.

He didn't expect to see Horatio grinning down at him. "Bedroom, Ryan?" He suggested. He quickly nodded and Horatio took his hand. Once he guided him to his feet, Ryan let Horatio lead the way. Up the stairs and down a long hallway and into a large white room with a large bed with red satin- no, maybe silk- sheets on it. Ryan went in first with Horatio behind him.