A/N: Sorry for taking so long guys, hopefully the next one will be out in a week or so. Also, for those left a little confused, a mini-background for Ryan and Nevyn is now on my profile.

Luvnumb3rs: Yes, yes they are. My CSI:M fic Double Trouble is where they got together and Nev was introduced. You should go read it. ;P

Ruquas: Because I'm a bitch. Surely you all know that by now?

T.: Yes, it was fun writing Ian's dawning comprehension. As for the conversation, it's at the end of this chapter. And glad you like Delko. As with Luvnumb3rs, you should go read Double Trouble.

For the rest: Thanks for taking the time to say you liked it. And feel free to poke me with sticks if I make you wait this long again.

-NSITH-

Chapter Four: Holy Flying Chaos Twins. In which Ian returns to find whoever hurt his boyfriend, and Don is reunited with Ryan and Nevyn.

"…Charlie's been shot."

At those three words, Ryan and Nevyn sprang into action. Nevyn found her phone from where she'd thrown it before and called her handler to request flights back to LA, while Ryan called his boss to request time off. Apparently, Lieutenant Caine was rather understanding when it came to personal vendettas.

Meanwhile, Ian moved around collecting weapons and putting them in a case to go in the checked luggage. It was quite an impressive range of firearms – two handguns per agent, a rifle each for Ryan and Ian, as well as Nevyn's brace of throwing knives. Granted, the knives were harder to kill with but they were just as intimidating as the boys' guns and much quicker to set up.

By the time Ian arrived back in the living room, both younger agents were ready to go, when Nevyn spoke first.

"Fornell organised a private plane for us. It's a cargo plane, so we're in for a rough flight, but it'll be ready to leave in half an hour."

"I've got the next week off to go help a friend who's been injured. Lucky me," Ryan grinned. "Also, Horatio called ahead to both airports. They'll be expecting three armed agents to go through, so we'll just need to show ID and permits to security."

"Let's go then." Ian didn't stop to question why he had (correctly) assumed that the young pair would accompany him. All he was concerned with was finding whoever had hurt Charlie, and making sure that they never had the chance to do so again.

-NSITH-

It was nearly eight hours later, and a disgruntled Ian stormed through the hospital; hating any medical building was practically a job requirement for law enforcement personnel. As Nevyn nearly jogged to keep up with the taller man, Ryan disappeared to find them all some much-needed coffee.

Only when he approached Charlie's room did the sniper's footsteps falter. He'd spent the vast majority of the last four days questioning his relationship, only to turn around and fly into a rage at the news of his lover being injured.

Well, he thought, at least that answers whether or not I want to stay with him.

Knowing that he'd given up the right to barge into the room when he'd disappeared without contact, Ian knocked softly on the closed door.

It was opened shortly after by Alan, whose expression went rapidly from shock to delight to anger, before settling into a cautious welcome. Ian bowed his head slightly, acknowledging the older man's right to be wary.

"Whosit?" Came the sound of a sleepy Charlie, and Alan stepped back to allow Ian entry.

"Your wayward boyfriend," the Eppes patriarch commented drily.

Ian entered the room in time to see the professor's face light up with joy, which immediately made him feel guilty again. He wasted no time in getting to Charlie's bedside and running his eyes over the injured man. There were no visible bandages, which did absolutely nothing to soothe Ian's fears. If it was a torso shot, Charlie could be in big trouble.

"How bad?" He asked, unable to say much else.

"Dunno! Can't feel anything," Charlie informed him happily. "I gots morphine!"

A giggle near the door reminded Ian that Nevyn had followed him in.

"Ah, morphine," the young woman nodded. "Such a wonderful thing. Tell me, have you tried Diamorphine? It's the best painkiller ever."

"I thought that was only legal in the UK?"

"Donnie!" Nevyn squealed and launched herself at Don, who had just entered. Don stumbled backwards, smiling slightly as the young woman wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She may have been small, but she had momentum on her side.

Alan looked on with bewildered amusement as Nevyn kissed Don's cheek. "Now that's an enthusiastic greeting," he muttered to himself.

"Hey, Nevyn," Don smiled at her. "I didn't know you were in town."

"We came with Ian, he's an old friend."

"We?" Don paled. "Both of you are here?"

"Correct," Ryan confirmed coming up behind him. The young man grinned as he leaned over Don's shoulder to kiss his cheek as well. The older agent heaved a long-suffering sigh, winning a giggle from Nevyn and Charlie, who was watching with delight. Then Don caught sight of Ian and his eyes narrowed as he lowered Nevyn back to the ground.

"You. Outside. Now." It was definitely a command, not a request, and Ian nodded.

Charlie looked happily between them.

"Are you gonna beat him up again, Donnie?"

"Maybe," Don answered with a blank expression.

"Okay. Bring him back soon though, he keeps the raspberry soldiers quiet." Charlie then closed his eyes and let the painkillers send him off to sleep. Alan smiled at his youngest, sitting down next to him, as Ian followed Don out of the room.

There was probably going to be shouting, and neither of them wanted to disturb Charlie. Once they were several feet away from the door, Don turned his full-powered Big Brother Glare onto the sniper.

"Where the hell were you? And why were you out of contact?" His voice was strained from trying not to yell just yet.

"I needed to get out of LA for a bit," Ian confessed. "I had some things to sort out which I couldn't do from here."

"So you disappeared without telling anyone and proceeded to stay out of contact for nearly four days?! You went completely off the grid! Did you even consider what Charlie would think when you disappeared? He was frantic; he thought you'd been injured!"

"I didn't mean for that to happen," Ian continued to speak quietly even though guilt made him want to get angry as well. "I realised that I was having doubts about my work and needed to talk to someone with the same mindset."

"So you chose the Chaos Twins in there?" Don gave him a sceptical look and Ian couldn't help but give a slight smile. It was an apt description of the young agents.

"I helped to train both of them. I've known them both for a long time and I've found that, while we have similar reactions to a lot of things, they're also good at giving me a different perspective." And a kick up the ass when I need it, he added privately.

Don didn't look entirely convinced but apparently decided to let it slide in favour of focussing on other aspects of the conversation for now.

"You were having doubts about your work," he went back to the previous point. "And decided that the best way to deal with that was to avoid contact with those involved in your job, not to mention your boyfriend, and head to wherever the hell those two were?"

"Miami," Ian supplied without thinking, then winced at Don's incredulous look. "And I didn't decide to avoid contact, that was an accident. Before the raid I put my phone in the back of the truck so I wouldn't be startled if it rang, then I forgot about it. It wasn't until I went to call Charlie that I realised I'd left it there."

"Bullshit," Don muttered.

Ian ignored that and continued, realising that he was only digging his own grave with all of this, but too far gone to care.

"And I avoided talking to Charlie because I needed to think about our relationship."

"You needed to think…" Don paused just before grabbing the front of Ian's shirt. The sniper forced himself to not react, knowing it would just make things worse. "You were going to leave him? You were going to fucking leave him without even having the decency to say it to his face?"

At that, Ian finally snapped and shoved Don away from him.

"No! That's not what I was planning on doing, I just needed to think." At the obviously disbelieving look on Don's face, Ian let out a growl and stepped forward. "You can't tell me that you've never had to think about a relationship, Eppes!"

The other agent had the decency to look chagrined and Ian pressed the advantage while he had it. "I've never been in a situation like this, in a relationship where I have so much to lose."

Ian ran a hand over his face in relief when something like comprehension flashed across Don's and he softened his voice again. "And the only reason I'm talking to you about it now instead of Charlie, is that you'd understand some of the things I'm trying to work through. The professor, on the other hand…" Ian trailed off with a smirked snort and Don nodded in agreement.

"At any rate," the sniper continued, "just put the 'doubts about my work' down as a crisis of conscience. Something all snipers eventually go through, something I lecture my students about every single year. And something I'd never gone through before."

Don looked at him with disbelief again, raising one expressive eyebrow before deciding to rejoin the conversation properly.

"And the dog?"

Ian paused, then groaned.

"Oh, not you too! Look, it was a fleabitten mongrel that would have been put down by any self-respecting vet. I just cut out the middle-man, that's all!"

Don smirked, realising that the Miami agents must have already given him a hard time about it.

"Y'know, there's some who would give the same description to you."

Ian offered a half-hearted glare to that. He was mostly relieved that he could go back to work without worrying that Don was going to put a bullet between his shoulders.