Pliant
Three
Ryan carefully sidesteps a pool of blood on the floor before he takes another picture of the body. He looks around the room, and he sees Calleigh picking up a shell casing from a bullet and examining it before she puts it into an evidence bag. She places it gingerly into her kit before she stands up straight and looks around, thinking of a possible theory for what exactly went down. She furrows her eyebrows as she takes off her gloves, and out of the corner of his eye, Ryan catches the glimmer of her sizable wedding ring and he can't help but grin a bit.
The wedding had been elegant, if not hastily thrown together, because neither she nor Eric wanted a long engagement. They extended a verbal invitation to the rest of the team two days before the wedding, and everyone scrambled to get cards and gifts before going to the beach wedding. It'd been simple, intimate; Calleigh's father walked her down the aisle, Horatio had been the best man, Alexx the maid of honor.
Four months have passed since then, and they still look very happy.
"What're you thinking, Mrs. Delko?"
At that, she looks up and glares at him, sending a chill down his spine as he scratches his head.
"I'm sorry, alright?" He chuckles. "But...you are."
"Ryan."
"I'll shut up now."
"Thank you," she smiles.
Her cell phone rings and she answers. "Duquesne...yeah, Ryan's already here. We need you to help finish processing because I've got to get to the lab...okay, see you in a few. Bye."
"Who was that?"
"That was Nataila," she explains. "She's going to come help you process the scene."
Ryan's heart leaps into his throat.
For the past week, he's been actively avoiding any contact or communication with Natalia of any kind because he still hasn't formulated exactly what he wants to say to her beside "I'm sorry." He's tried calling her, but they've been playing phone tag as well. She's probably thrown the flowers away by now, he figures.
"I-I thought she was on that smash 'n grab across town with Cardoza?"
"Cardoza's got it under control," Calleigh explains. "I have three other priority homicides I need to work on. Natalia's going to give you a hand with this scene. Is there a problem?"
"No," he shrugs. "Just...asking."
Calleigh tilts her head to the side.
"Are you able to stay focused?" She asks. "Because you two have been acting very weird around each other. If there's going to be an issue-"
"No issue," he assures.
She nods. "Alright. I'll see you later."
Calleigh gingerly steps out and heads to her vehicle to pack up her things.
Natalia drives up and she steps out and Calleigh waves.
"Hey," Natalia smiles.
"Hey," Calleigh says. "Thanks for offering to help out. I'm swamped in the lab and Horatio will have my backside if I don't close my priorities."
"It's no problem honey," Natalia says.
Calleigh sighs and pushes her hair behind her ears. "Are you two going to be alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because I'm really concerned about you and Ryan," Calleigh says sincerely. "You've both been strange and it's not good having coworkers at each other's throats."
"It's nothing," Natalia waves off with a slight smile. "It's fine, I promise."
Calleigh nods. "Alright, then I'm off. I'll see you later at the lab."
"Okay," Natalia says before she goes inside.
She has a sinking feeling as she approaches the scene. And Ryan.
She walks in and Ryan looks up.
"Hey," she says quietly.
"Hi," he says.
They both stand across from each other, the dead body between them. They both know that this isn't the time nor the place for the conversation they know they need to have.
"The ME should be here soon," Ryan reports. "Calleigh's already recovered the bullets, we just have to process the rest of the store. The witnesses said the suspects made their way from front to back."
"Yeah," Natalia says. "Okay, I'll take the back. Is there a uniform posted?"
"Yeah," Ryan informs her.
She nods.
"Um...Ryan?"
"Yeah?"
She grins a bit. "Thank you for the flowers...they were very beautiful."
"You're welcome," he smiles a bit.
She then heads to the back of the store.
They spend about three hours processing the damage caused by the suspects; Ryan recovers a few fingerprints, finds a blood spatter pattern and another pool of blood, indicating that the suspects may have turned on each other and that there just might be another dead body out there somewhere. Natalia collects samples of blood and an unknown substance.
Once they are finished, they head to Natalia's vehicle.
"I'll put the stuff in the back," he says and he takes her kit for her.
"Thank you," she says before she gets into the driver's side.
After a few moments, he gets into the vehicle and she starts it and they begin to head back to the lab. The silence between them is overwhelming, and Ryan shifts uncomfortably in the seat. In the last week, his feelings on The Night have become even more confused. Yesterday, he saw her in the lab, and the blouse she wore (a V-neck, royal purple sleeveless satin blouse that clung to her figure) didn't help things when it showed off cleavage, glowing, healthy bronze skin and the curve of perfect, round breasts. He's never looked that closely before, never wondered what lacy surprise she has under it and if the panties match. He thought about how amazing she looked with her hair in soft waves and pulled back half up-half down with one of those clip things. He's never had thoughts like that about her before. Of course, he's always appreciated her beauty, but not like that.
And right now, she looks...incredible.
She's got on a peach colored, casual cotton blouse today, and her hair is pulled back into a ponytail; she's got on a pair of khaki slacks and brown boots. Again, he finds himself wondering, as he traces his eyes over the curve of her breasts, if she always matches her underwear or if she mixes and matches-what the hell?
Dammit, he thinks to himself as he looks away.
Natalia is nearly suffocating under the stifling silence and she presses the button to roll down the windows. The cool breeze immediately comes through and offers some fresh air, pushing out the uncomfortable tension. She'd felt Ryan's eyes on her and she should have been offended, annoyed like she'd been with Jesse, but no. Instead, she took great pleasure out of it, pretending like she'd been focusing on the road, which she had been, but she also sensed Ryan sweeping his eyes over her. She's caught in a tug-of-war. She doesn't know whether to frown or smirk at the question of if Ryan goes commando all the time. She shouldn't even be thinking about that, but she can't help herself. She'd felt her thighs clench involuntarily when she remembered how he felt in her hand and the firmness of his muscled body over hers...
Shit.
Natalia searches out the nearest parking lot and she finally pulls into a gas station and parks the Hummer haphazardly and kills the engine.
Before Ryan can react to the sudden veer off course, she turns to him and speaks.
"We need to talk. Now."
He clears his throat and nods. "Okay."
She sighs. "Ryan...I can't take this anymore. It's been a week and three days since that night and I'm confused and I'm afraid that we're going to ruin our friendship over it. God...what the hell were we thinking?"
"I don't know," he says, rubbing his hands over his face.
She sighs, rubbing her temples. "I don't know how to feel...I want to get a new car because every time I look at it, all I see is the image of the two of us fucking on it. And when I do think about it...I...well-"
"It kind of...turns you on?" He asks sheepishly and she flushes.
"Kind of," she admits. "But it was just so...weird and spur of the moment, like we both had an itch to scratch and by the time I got home I felt so bad, I felt like I used you...again and I'm sorry."
"I should be the one apologizing."
"I'm the one that started it."
"I should have stopped it, and I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I really am, Natalia. I uh...I'm not that kind of guy. I respect you, and I wasn't anticipating that. Sex in parking garages or any public place isn't really my thing. I don't do that."
"I don't either," she says.
They lapse into silence for a few minutes before Ryan speaks again.
"Nat..."
"Hmm?"
"Do you...regret it?"
She sighs and looks out at the street. "I-I don't know, Ryan. I'm still trying to figure out why it happened. I don't want to regret it, but...maybe I do. I just don't know. Do you regret it?"
She can see the hurt in his eyes and he looks away.
"I don't know," he says. "I honestly don't know, Natalia."
She nods. "I still want us to be friends, Ryan. So let's just try to forget about it. It was just a weird night...can we leave it at that for now?"
He grins. "Okay."
She smiles. "Okay...gimme a hug."
He leans over and they hug each other tightly.
After a moment they pull away then they make their way to the lab.
O-o-O
Ryan feels like his eyes are going to begin to see in fuzzy black and white after closely inspecting the security cameras from the store. He is in need of a cup of coffee and maybe one of those cheap, dry sandwiches from the vending machine. He prefers the coffee, his mouth is fixed for it; high octane black, two or three sugars and piping hot.
He walks into the break room and heads straight for the coffee machine. He pours himself a cup and nurses it to his liking. His mother prefers coffee the same; black, two sugars and so hot she could barely sip it and the steam would fog up her glasses. He thinks she'd just liked the warmth of the mug in her hands because she's cold natured, always wearing a sweater. He misses her, tries to call her as often as he can because he barely gets to make it up to Boston to visit. He misses his mother, his sister, his grandparents. He barely gets to see the uncle that lives here in Miami as often as he should. Work has taken over his life.
Calleigh comes into the break room and goes over to the fridge.
"Hey Ryan," she says as she opens it up and retrieves a bottle of water.
"Hey," he says.
She sits next to him on the couch before she drinks down nearly half the bottle of water.
"Thirsty?" Ryan chuckles.
"Mmhm," she nods, looking at him. "Did you and Natalia...work things out?"
Ryan grins. "There was nothing to be worked out I assure you, Mrs. Delko."
"Oh no," she says firmly. "And would you cut that out? First of all, you know the rules about that. Secondly, we're not talkin' about me, we're talkin' about you and Natalia. I've never seen the two of you tiptoeing around each other like you have been lately."
He sighs. "Things are fine with me and Nat. I promise."
She looks at him doubtfully.
"How come you get to speculate on everyone else's personal lives, but I can't speculate about yours?"
"Because unfortunately for you, I don't have much of a personal life for you to speculate on," he quips.
"C'mon, Mr. Wolfe," she insists. "You can talk to me, you know that right?"
He sighs, nodding slightly.
"Is it bad?"
"It's not anything bad," he says. "There was a situation...and I don't think it's really resolved. We made peace for right now, but I'm still confused."
"What was the situation?" Calleigh asks.
"Natalia and I...we-"
"Ryan..."
He looks up and he sees Natalia standing in the doorway, her eyes wide, incredulous.
She turns on her heels and walks down the hallway.
Ryan quickly gets up and follows.
"Natalia, wait a minute," he says, gently catching her arm and pulling her into an empty layout room.
"You are unbelievable!" She hisses quietly.
"Wait a minute," he says. "I didn't say anything when you came in..."
"But you were about to," she argues. "Ryan...I trust Calleigh, but still...my personal life is my business and it should be at my discretion whether I want Calleigh or anyone else to know about it!"
"What about me? Calleigh's my friend too," he argues. "Forgive me if I'm still a little fucking confused about what happened that night, okay? I just wanted another perspective."
"About the night we had sex on the hood of my goddamn car?" Natalia asks.
"I didn't tell Calleigh about it," he insists. "Okay? She's still in the dark, alright? Trust me."
Natalia sighs and puts her hands on her hips.
"I thought we were supposed to just forget it?"
"I can't," he says. "I-I don't know what that says about me, but I can't forget about it. I can't forget the fact that I...saw you and touched you and kissed you..."
She shakes her head. "I'm sorry...it's hard for me to forget too, but I don't want things to be like this between us from now on. We have to forget about it, Ryan. I never said it was going to be easy."
He crosses his arms over his chest. "It's not easy because it must've meant something."
She looks away.
"I came to tell you that the AV guy was able to isolate another possible suspect from the security tape. Frank is tracking him down now."
With that, she walks out.
O-o-O
Curled up on the swing in the enclosure looking out into her backyard, Natalia looks out as the rain continues to fall. It's been raining for a long while now, and it's soothing. She sips at her tea, letting the warmth permeate every cell in her body and she closes her eyes. The rain is soothing as it falls, and it helps her to relax even more, clear her mind. The last three weeks have been stressful and intense for her, and today she's taking a sick day because she doesn't feel well and she just can't do it.
When she was a little girl, she'd actually been afraid of thunderstorms. She used to get an odd, nervous convulsion in the pit of her stomach whenever she saw dark clouds closing in and heard the first roll of thunder, caught the first flash of lightning. She'd actually had a traumatic event concerning rain; when she'd first gotten married to Nick, they'd had their first physical altercation and she grabbed a few things and left...in the middle of a storm. Just wanting to get out of the house, she drove out onto slick streets. Fueled by adrenaline, she drove fast, ignoring the fact that she was out in driving rain. It hadn't been long before she found herself caught in a low water crossing with another car. She felt the water spilling into her car as it stalled and she couldn't push the door open because the current was so strong.
She was absolutely terrified, cold, shivering...
She'd finally been rescued.
Even with that traumatic experience, she still likes the rain. Has more respect for it now because of her experience.
It feels good to not have to go to work today, even though she's not in the best of moods.
She has barely had a conversation with Ryan or anyone else for that matter except about evidence and cases. She's still irritated about the little stunt he was about to pull by telling Calleigh about them.
Them.
What them?
She feels so guilty about the way things are between herself and Ryan.
He'd sent her those beautiful flowers as a sign of...what, exactly?
She doesn't know if he regrets that night, thinks it's a mistake.
"It's not easy because it must've meant something."
Natalia supposes that he'd been trying to tell her, in a round about way, how he felt overall about the situation.
She sighs and groans as she gets up.
Time for another Ibuprofen.
She trudges into her kitchen and she opens up the drawer in the island and takes out the bottle. She pours one into her palm and she pops it before washing it down with a sip of tea. She replaces the bottle in the drawer before she goes back outside to the swing.
The rain is subsiding, becoming softer, and it is even more relaxing now.
She sighs as she rests her head back and closes her eyes.
She hears the doorbell ring, and she furrows her eyebrows.
She isn't expecting anyone over today except her sister, who is way late with her Ben and Jerry's.
She sighs as she gets up and goes back into the house, frowning as she makes her way to the front door. She looks through the peephole and she sighs and rests her forehead against the door before she opens it.
"Ryan..."
"Hey," he says, holding up a container of chicken soup. "I heard that you weren't feeling well so I thought I'd drop by and bring you some soup."
She grins a bit.
"Ryan...it's not that kind of sick," she explains. "I'm...it's..."
He sighs. "Is it because of me?"
"No," she assures quickly. "No, it's not you. It's...I'm uh..."
He furrows his eyebrows then he nods his understanding. "Oh...well I guess I should've brought you a chocolate bar or something."
"My sister's got it covered," Natalia says.
"Okay," he says. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah," she sighs. "It figures you'd stop by when I'm fat, hormonal and unattractive."
"Hormonal maybe," he sighs. "But fat...?" He pauses and inspects her figure, gently turning her around.
He's actually never seen Natalia this dressed down before; she is in a pair of pink pajama pants and a plain brown spaghetti strap shirt with a knit white sweater over her. Her hair is down and tussled slightly, probably from a nap she'd had earlier, and her skin looks even more soft without the makeup. She looks so cozy and natural in this moment.
"Well this is comfortable," she snorts as he turns her back to him.
"No fat anywhere and as for you being unattractive? Impossible."
She chuckles as she closes the door.
"I'll put the soup in your fridge," he says.
"Is it any good?"
"Yep, it's my mother's recipe," he says.
She sits on the couch and he sits next to her, but not too close.
"How are you feeling?" He asks. "Do you need anything?"
"No, but thank you," she says as she rests her head into the cushions.
Ryan nods, then he gets up.
"So uh...I guess I'll let you get some rest-"
"You don't have to go, Ry," she says softly. "Look...I'm sorry if I've been unbearable about the whole...thing. Your friendship is so important to me, it really is, even though I haven't been showing it. We should be able to hang out together without it being weird. I-I don't want that night hanging between us all the time."
He sits down. "We had sex, Natalia."
"So? It was just...an error in judgment," she says.
"No, it was more than that..."
"Ryan-"
"It was more than that for me..."
"...it must've meant something."
She swallows the lump in her throat.
"I regret..."
Her heart clenches at those words.
"I knew that you did," she says quietly.
"I regret that it happened like that," he explains. "I regret that it was on your car in a parking garage."
Natalia looks at him. "What?"
Ryan sighs. "I think that you are a beautiful, courageous and intelligent woman."
Her heart begins to race within her, and she hears the blood rushing in her ears, tears pricking at her eyes.
"I like you, Natalia," he continues. "From the moment I met you, I've always liked you. I like who you are, I like the way your whole face lights up when you smile, I like the way your eyes do all the talking for you and I like it when you do that thing when you bounce on one hip when you're waiting for a result."
She blushes and covers her face. "Oh God...I knew someone saw that, I just didn't know who..."
Ryan gently lifts her chin so that she can look at him.
"I think you're...amazing, Natalia," he says. "I liked the time I got to spend with you, and that night when we talked about when we dated...I wanted to hold you again so badly."
Natalia grins a bit.
There's always been an undercurrent of attraction between them, but she had no idea that he felt this way about her, that his feelings have deepened. She is relieved because she doesn't regret that they actually had sex, she'd just wished it'd been some place else, preferably in one of their beds. It'd been so. Good. So damn good, and hell yes whenever she thought about it, it more than "kind of" turned her on. It turned her on completely and it made her body tingle and crave and singe with the residual heat from his kisses. No matter how hard she tries to rationalize the situation, she can no longer deny that on that night, she'd wanted Ryan Wolfe. And he'd wanted her.
Ryan is thoughtful, sweet, patient to a fault, caring...damn sexy with his large, brown eyes, his commanding presence, his strength. That night, he'd left her wondering what he'd be like when he slowed it down and exercised the self-control he usually has while he took his time with her.
"You're a good man, Ryan," is all she can manage to say at the moment once she makes her way out of the haze of her thoughts. "You're a wonderful, good, incredible man...I've always known that, but...I took you for granted. I don't regret the sex, but I feel guilty because I'm the one that's confused, I guess. You knew what you wanted out of that, I didn't."
"Do you know what you want now?" He asks.
She looks away, but he turns her face back to his, looking into her eyes.
Her body wants him, that's for sure.
She remembers how she felt, how Ryan made her feel when they'd dated; he treated her like she was the only woman on earth, he made her feel worth the time and effort, worth every moment. It hadn't been about sex; he didn't want to posses her, he'd wanted to be a part of her. A part of her life, and she'd pushed him away because she'd been trying to hold on to a relationship that was going nowhere, and still sleeping with an ex-husband who continually used and abused her...but she's different now, right? She's a different person, he's a different person, yet still so much the same.
He gently cups her cheek in his hand and caresses his thumb over her cheek bone.
He's so, so patient!
He's not pushing her nor trying to coax an answer out of her. She thinks this man just might wait for her answer, good or bad, forever...
"Ryan I want...to be with you again," she says quietly. "God Ry...the way I felt when we were together and just having a good time, I want to feel that way again. I want to make you feel like you made me feel...I want you."
He grins before he leans in and gently captures her lips with his.
