Time

Ryan groaned as he lugged the armchair into the condo with Eric.

"Damn Wolfe, you sure Jessie's going to like your old furniture in her nice place?" Eric chuckled as they took a brief break.

"Don't know, I guess we'll find out," Ryan chuckled, "I figured we'll decide what we want to do with it when she gets back. I'm keeping my TV though. No questions asked."

Eric chuckled and looked towards the door as Horatio walked in carrying a box with Lucy following at his feet. Lucy's tail wagged excitedly at the sight of Ryan just before a light trickle hit the hardwood floors. Her ears laid flat and she whimpered with her tail between her legs. Ryan smiled and grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen.

"It's ok Lucy," Ryan said, scratching her ear, "That excited bladder will go away eventually."

"Is that why you decided on the cherry wood floors by the entrance?" Horatio inquired.

"Yup, Lucy always seems to tinkle when I come home and I figured this would be easier to clean," Ryan explained.

"Again, do you think Jess is going to be cool with all these changes you've made?" Eric laughed.

"And again, we'll find out when she comes home," Ryan smiled.

The new Trace analysis smiled at Ryan and he politely returned it with one of his own. "What have you got for me, Molly?" he asked.

"Some very interesting results," she said, "You've got quite the mixture here. On the scarf there was chloroform along with nail polish, and the bat has axle grease on it."

"Well that confirms my suspicions of two suspects," Ryan said, thinking out loud. "What about the knife?"

"Nothing except blood," Molly said.

"Did you check under the handle?" Ryan inquired as he pulled on a pair of gloves.

"Under the handle?" she inquired.

"Yeah, maybe something got lodged under it during the struggle," Ryan explained as he disassembled the knife handle. "Yup, there's something green under it, and it looks just like the green substance I found on the scarf."

"Do you think its nail polish also?" Molly asked as she collected a sample.

"Well visually they look the same," Ryan said, "So I'm going to take a chance and say it probably is."

Molly smiled at him. "Wow, you're really smart."

Ryan couldn't help but feel the tops of his ears turn red and return the smile. "Thanks, you're pretty good at what you do also."

"Would you like to get a cup of coffee after work together?" Molly quickly asked.

Ryan stared at her. He knew she was asking him out on a date but he didn't know how to decline the romantic offer. "Um, Molly I would like to get coffee with you, but only as colleagues."

"Really?" Molly said, obviously disappointed, "Why's that?"

"Well you see I'm kind of with someone," Ryan awkwardly said.

Molly looked at him confused. "Who?"

"Ryan," Horatio said as he walked into the room, "I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what's up, boss?" Ryan asked, slightly relieved to have the tension broken.

Horatio smiled at Molly. "Hello Molly, settling into the lab well?"

Molly nodded her head. "Yes, thank you, sir."

Horatio turned his attention back to Ryan. He placed his hand on his lower back in a very intimate gesture. "I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner tonight. It's a rather important date and I wanted to spend it with you."

Ryan nodded his head. "October 12th, I don't think I could forget this date even if I wanted to."

Horatio smiled at him. "Good because I don't think Bug would forgive you if you did. I'll pick you up at your place after work."

"Ok, just give me a call so I can crate Lucy."

Horatio smiled at him again. He looked at Molly. "It was good seeing you, Molly. I'm glad to hear you've settled in well." He turned and nodded at Ryan with a wink. "Mr. Wolfe," he said as his departing words.

Ryan watched Horatio leave and smiled to himself. He felt excited and honored having Horatio ask him to spend the anniversary of Jessica's adoption with him.

"So you're with someone," Molly quietly said.

Ryan jumped at the sound of her voice, forgetting she was even there. "Um, yeah, I am."

She gave him a questioning expression and her eyes darted back in the direction Horatio had left. Ryan's face flushed and he shook his head quickly. "No, no, no, not like that," he hastily said, "No, I'm not with Horatio. I'm dating his daughter."

Molly raised her eyebrows. "The dead one?"

"No, I'm dating Jessica, not Izzy."

"Izzy? Who's Izzy?"

Ryan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Horatio has two daughters, twins in a way. One's named Elizabeth and the other is Jessica. Elizabeth, or Izzy as she was known, died when she was a teenager. I'm dating Jessica, the one that survived."

"But I thought Jessica was dead." Molly said confused, "It was all over the news."

"Well I don't believe she's dead," Ryan defiantly said, "I think everyone's wrong." He turned and left the room, deciding he wouldn't be meeting Molly for coffee after all.

Ryan and Eric ran after the blood covered man through the woods. He was attempting to flee the scene and refused to stop as Eric and Ryan yelled at him.

"You go left and I'll go right!" Eric yelled to Ryan as they hit a fork in the path.

"Got it!" Ryan called out as he jumped over a fallen tree.

Ryan sprinted through the wooded path. He could hear something cracking and twigs snapping ahead of him. He pushed himself to go faster, thanking Jessica for all the extra cardio work she had started him on. He could see the man ahead of him but knew there was no way he was going to catch him on the path. Ryan veered off and took a trail that went uphill. He could see the man running along side the edge of the hill, unable to see Ryan from where he ran. The man stopped to catch his breath and Ryan sprang onto him.

Ryan tackled the man to the ground and they struggled to gain control. The man bit Ryan's left arm and Ryan recoiled in pain. The man shoved him hard and Ryan rolled backwards and into a pile of rocks. He quickly regained his footing and tackled the man to the ground. He twisted his arms behind him and snapped handcuffs around his wrists.

"You son of a bitch," Ryan muttered as he pulled the man up, "You really thought you could get away with it."

Ryan led the man back to the Hummers where Eric and Horatio were waiting for him. Eric laughed and smiled at the sight of his friend. "Damn short stuff, you got him!"

Ryan chuckled as he looked at the man that stood at least a foot taller than him. "Hey good things come in small packages."

"Is that what you told Jess?" Eric chuckled as he helped Ryan place the man in Frank's patrol car.

"No, don't you remember, I'm hung like a freakin horse."

Eric laughed loudly and clapped his friend on the back. "Touché Wolfe, you win this time. Hey, what time is it? I'm thinking it's almost food o'clock."

Ryan chuckled at his friend's joke and looked down at his watch. He stopped laughing and felt sadness flow through his veins. The crystal was broken and the hands bent at strange angles. Most of the numbers had fallen off and the mother of pearl face was smashed into several pieces, revealing the inner workings of the watch. Ryan gingerly touched the watch and a spring fell out and the stem fell off. Horatio stood by his side and gently touched his arm.

"My Uncle bought it for me when I graduated from the Police Academy," Ryan quietly said. "It's a real Rolex. He said every man needed to own one once in his life."

"I'm so sorry, Ryan," Horatio quietly said, "The department can pay for you to get a new one. It should be covered under your personal property replacement."

Ryan shook his head. "Its fine, it's probably not worth anything anymore."

"It was to you," Horatio quietly said.

Ryan nodded his head and felt his eyes water. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so emotional."

"Is it that time of the month for you, Ryan?" Eric jokingly asked.

"Hey lay off," Ryan retorted, "And maybe it is. Men do go through a mental period where their estrogen levels are higher."

"Aww, so you're on your man rag?" Eric teased.

"Shut up," Ryan muttered as he walked away. He climbed into the Hummer he had drove and just sat there. He started to cry and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel. He heard the door open and close and looked to see Horatio sitting in the passenger seat.

"Let's go for a drive," he quietly said to him. Ryan nodded his head and started the Hummer.

"You miss her, don't you?" Horatio quietly asked after they had been driving for several minutes.

Ryan nodded his head. "I hate this; I want her to come home."

Horatio sighed and reached into the pocket inside his jacket. "She sent me something," he quietly said as he held out an envelope for Ryan.

Ryan pulled into a parking lot and cut the engine. He opened the envelope and found two plane tickets to Berlin, Germany inside. "I don't understand," he whispered.

"Sami lives in a little village just outside of Berlin," Horatio explained. "The nearest airport is in Berlin. I think she wants us to come and get her."

Ryan's neck cracked as he whipped his head around to look at Horatio. "She wants us to come get her?"

Horatio nodded his head. "Yes, I think so, but like everything else with Jessie Bug I don't think it's going to be that simple. I think we're going to have to try and find her."

Ryan stared at Horatio and then looked back at the tickets. The flight listed wasn't for another month. That meant he was going to have to wait four more weeks to see Jessica.

"Alright," he said, tucking the tickets back into their envelope, "If she wants to play games then I'll play, too."

Horatio laughed as Ryan explained his encounter with Molly in the Trace lab that night at dinner.

"So now Molly thinks you're dating the big boss," he chuckled as he ate his food.

"Yup, but hopefully it helps keep her at bay," Ryan explained. He nodded his gratitude to the waiter as he refilled his wine glass.

"You don't think she's going to try another advance, do you?" Horatio inquired.

"I hope not, I felt bad enough declining coffee."

They ate and laughed their way through their dinner. Horatio told Ryan stories of a young Jessica as the night went on.

"Bug decided she didn't want to go to Michigan after all," Horatio said as he reminisced. "So the night before she left she hid my car keys, hoping that if I couldn't drive I wouldn't be able to take her to the train station. But little did she know I knew about the loose floorboard in her bedroom and the next morning she woke up to me prying it up and retrieving my keys."

Ryan laughed so hard he snorted. He knocked over his wine glass as he went to take another drink, which resulted in more hysterical laughing.

"I'm so sorry," he said to the waiter as he tried to help clean up.

"It's quite alright, Mr. Wolfe," the waiter politely smiled, "It happens all the time."

"Well I think I've hit my limit," Ryan said with a laugh, "Good thing you drove, H."

Ryan staggered back to Horatio's car with Horatio's arm around his shoulders. He tried not to laugh at the strange looks the other patrons gave them.

"Guess we'll never be allowed back in there," Ryan laughed. "Making too much noise, getting drunk, and they think we're gay."

Horatio chuckled and stood next to his car as Ryan leaned against it. "You look like you're feeling better now," he quietly said to Ryan.

Ryan looked into Horatio's deep blue eyes. He felt he could almost see Jessica in their essence. He placed his hand on Horatio's cheek and leaned forward. Horatio snaked his arms around Ryan's body and pressed him close to his chest. Ryan's head leaned against Horatio's shoulder and he slowly started to cry again.

"I miss her so much," he whispered, "Why did she have to leave?"

Shots rang out and Horatio dropped to the ground with Ryan beneath him. Tires squealed away as someone yelled out "Blood bitches!"

Ryan's heart raced and his breathing was labored as his entire body shook. Horatio looked around carefully before he stood and helped Ryan to his feet. He looked at Ryan's terrified face and held him close again.

"That's why," he whispered.