By the end of the day Speed barely noticed that there was a rather large wolf following him around. Though, in his defense, Speed noticed nothing else when he was in fiber-torture mode as his coworkers called it. During a fire alarm he hadn't noticed the sirens blaring. It was only after the firefighters had cleared the building did everyone realize that Speed had been inside the entire time running trace tests. From then on someone, usually Calliegh, would drag Speed outside when they tested the alarms monthly.
The two men had spent the rest of the day in the trace lab—Speed hunched over the tests he was running and Ryan lying underneath the table, alert and ready. As promised Calliegh had stopped by to visit Speed after an hour. The two had talked about her pink bullet problem. Speed ran a few tests and concluded that the bullet was in fact covered in UV paint like he had thought. After a quick computer search he had given Calliegh a list of all the stores that sold that specific paint in Miami. It was a short list. She had thanked him and left to check out the possible leads.
Calliegh was the first of many visitors to Speed's lab. Horatio dropped by twice, Alex spent a good forty minutes there to make sure her baby was ok, Frank came by, and all the lab techs popped in, including Valera, Cooper, and Dan. Heck, even Stetler stopped by to say a polite hello.
Eric avoided the trace lab all day. Speed tried not to be too bothered by it. He might not like Eric in the same way Eric liked him, but he still counted the man as one of his closest friends.
When eight o'clock rolled around Speed took off his lab coat and headed towards the locker. Ryan followed. In the locker room he hung up his coat and put on his jacket. Grabbing his helmet he sat down on the bench and looked at Ryan.
"Look, I ride my bike back to the house. Do you have your own car or something? Or are you riding with me? Because if you are, you're going to have to change back into a human." He waited expectantly.
Ryan cocked his head as if he were thinking. He chuffed quietly and then started to transform. A few seconds later, a fully human Ryan sat down next to Speed on the bench. "We are taking my car. Your bike is too dangerous."
"No, I'm riding my bike home," Speed said shaking his head. "I will follow all your other rules, but I am riding my bike home. You can either come with me or you can follow me in your car."
"A bike is too dangerous. They already tried to kill you this morning. You think they aren't going to try again when they see you on a motorcycle?"
"Ryan, I've been riding my bike to work and back everyday without a problem. Plus, I doubt they will try and kill me again today."
Ryan just looked at Speed in disbelief. "Don't you get it? Whoever they are, they are trying to kill you. There are no rules like you can only make on murder attempt per day." Ryan put his hand on Speed's leg. "I understand you want to ride your bike home. But I'm telling you it's too dangerous. I am your bodyguard and it's my job to you safe," he paused for a moment. Looking at Speed's face, determination written in every line, Ryan suspected that Speed would fight well into the night if he had to. One of them was going to have to compromise if they ever wanted to leave MDPD. Ryan sighed, "Fine. We ride back in your bike just this once. Just this once. And I'm driving."
"No one but me drives the Ducati," Speed protested.
"It's that or I am going to knock you out, pick you up, and drop you in the back seat of my car." Ryan crossed his arms over his chest. "Take your pick."
Speed stared back at his bodyguard. After a few moments he came to the conclusion that Ryan was serious. "We can take your car. But can we skip knocking me out since I am coming peacefully?"
Ryan smirked. "Yeah, I think I manage that. You're sure you don't want to take your bike one last time?" He was surprised that the other man had given in so quickly and abruptly.
Speed shrugged. "Like I said no one drives the Ducati but me. She'll stay here in the garage until this assassination business is sorted out." He stood up and waited for Ryan to do the same.
As they were walking out the door Ryan asked, "Is there anywhere that you need to stop by on the way to your house?"
"Yeah, we need to stop at the grocery—umpf" Speed exclaimed as he ran into someone. Ryan was instantly at Speed's side helping him get up and checking that his protectee wasn't injured. Speed pushed Ryan's hands away from him. "I'm fine Ryan. It was just a little fall."
Speed turned to the person he had run into. It had to be Eric.
"Give me a hand Speed?" the Cuban asked. Speed did just that. Once he was up on his feet, Eric asked, "You heading home for the night?" Speed nodded. "You need a ride home or anything?"
"No that's fine Eric," Ryan cut in. "I've got it covered."
Eric scowled. "I'm his friend you know. He can ride home with me if he wants. It's not like I'm going to try and kill Speed." Eric put his hand on Speed's wrist and tugged. "You coming man? We can stop for pizza and beer if you want."
"No," Ryan insisted. "Speed is my protectee and he his coming with me."
This was just what I needed, Speed thought. A jealous friend and an overprotective bodyguard. At least Ryan doesn't have a thing for me too. That would be ridiculous. Deciding to break up the potential fight, Speed took his wrist out of Eric's hand and placed it on Ryan's shoulder. "Eric, I'm going home with Ryan tonight. The two of us have to sort out the whole bodyguard-protectee relationship. We'll get beer and pizza some other time this week. Ok?" Plus he didn't want to spend time with Eric right then. The Cuban had been avoiding him all day, and a small part of Speed was angry about that. It had hurt that his best friend hadn't come by to check up on him. Everyone else had.
Eric agreed, though it still looked like there was a thundercloud hovering over his face.
Ryan on the other hand looked quite smug. Keeping a hand on Speed's back, he walked the two of them out of the room. Once they were out of hearing distance of the locker room Ryan stopped the two of them. "Speed, I have to ask this: should I be worried about Eric?"
Confusion bloomed across Speed's face. "Eric? No way. He gets a little jealous and hotheaded but he's one of the good guys. Why would you even ask?"
"Because it's part of my job. Jealously can make people do things that they normally wouldn't."
"Well Eric is alright. He's not going to do anything." Ryan could see the beginnings of anger appearing on Speed's face. His eyes were just a little darker, smoldering like a banked fire that could explode into heat and light at any moment. "And you're job isn't to protect me from everything. Just the wackos trying to kill me. Got it?" Speeds voice rose in anger.
"I didn't mean to make you angry," Ryan said quietly. "But, even if it makes you hate me, so much so that you want me to die, I will not let anything happen to you. I will not lose you."
Those words struck something inside Speed, at his very core. No one, even if it was their job, had ever expressed such a deep concern about his well being. Sure Horatio cared, but he felt the same way about everyone who worked for him. He knew that the rest of his coworkers cared about him, from Alex to Calliegh to Eric. Stetler even cared in his own warped, twisted way. But no one ever actually said that they cared. The people of this lab expressed themselves through actions, never words. So to hear Ryan say that out loud, even if it was his job to do so, shook Speed. And his anger that had been on the brink of exploding receded back till it was nothing more than a glimmer.
"Um," Speed faltered for words. "Let's just go ok?" Ryan picked up on the other man's discomfort, unsure whether it was his words or something else that had caused the sudden shift in emotions.
The two walked to the garage in silence. Ryan's car was, for lack of a better description, nondescript. It was black and small, but those were the only words to describe it. If someone was following the car they would lose the car if the interstate was too crowded. Speed figured that was the point as he stood outside the passenger side door. He made no move to open the door or get in.
"Are you alright?" asked Ryan.
Speed stood quietly, staring at the door. Finally he shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "Is the offer to take the Ducati still on the table?" he asked.
Ryan's brows furled in confusion. "We can take your bike, but I'm still driving." Something was going on inside his protectee's head, but for the life of him, Ryan couldn't figure out what. "You want to take your bike?"
Speed tossed his keys to Ryan as an answer. The men walked over to the yellow bike, Speed's pride and joy, and moreover his freedom. Speed handed Ryan an extra helmet he always kept on the bike. Then without a word, Speed climbed onto the back of the bike and motioned for the brunette to get on as well.
Putting on the helmet, Ryan felt as if he had passed some test. What was being tested or the reward for passing still remained a mystery. Speed was turning out to be a very complicated protectee. He had believed the other man when he said that no one but him drove his Ducati. But here was Ryan sitting in the driver's seat putting the keys into the ignition. And damn if Speed's arms around his waist didn't feel good.
Mentally Ryan slapped himself. No! You're not supposed to get attached to your charge, he reminded himself. Remember what happened the last time you let that happen. But those terrible memories didn't change the fact that Ryan liked the feeling of Speed up against his back.
And though Ryan couldn't have known, similar thoughts were running Speed's mind. So if Speed hung on a little tighter and sat a little closer than was absolutely necessary, neither man said a thing. The Ducati came to life with a roar. Ryan drove it expertly out of the garage into the cool Miami evening.
Their talk tonight was going to be interesting and long, very long.
A redhead and blonde watched from the shadows as the two men pulled out. "How on earth, Handsome, did you manage to get him as a bodyguard for Speed? Last I heard, getting one of his kind as a bodyguard was about as hard as getting a buck shot to fit into a handgun."
Horatio smiled at Calliegh's bullet reference. "I pulled some strings," he said by way of explanation. "He let Ryan drive the Ducati. I didn't think I would see the day." He put his arm around Calliegh and pulled the woman closer to him.
The blonde snuggled closer into her boyfriend's warmth. "You think that maybe Ryan and Speed…"she let her sentence trail off.
Horatio shrugged. "Maybe. For Speed's sake I hope so. I don't like seeing him so alone. All he does is work these days. I'm worried about him and not just because of the hits."
"We're all worried, Handsome," she said. Changing the subject she asked, "Are you ready to leave? I am so hungry."
Horatio's chuckle echoed off the walls of the concrete garage. "Darling, you are always hungry. You eat twice as much as me and stay half my size. How do you do it?"
"Southern women appreciate food is all," she said indignantly, her eyes twinkling. "So what are you making tonight? Because really I am hungry."
The pair walked to Horatio's hummer arguing good naturedly about what they were going to make for dinner.
In the corner, hidden by shadows and unnoticed by the garage's previous occupants, Eric fumed.