Ryan got hardly any sleep that night. Partly because he was high on coffee, partly because both he and Hotch though that Lambert could be capable of this. Horatio had told him to take the next day off if he needed it or to at least come in late. Delko Speed offered to take him out for drinks but Ryan declined and whenever Calleigh or Alexx saw him for the rest of that day, they would always say something like " it's ok" or " you'll pull through." He wanted to kill Hotch for forcing his hand but that night Hotch came to his apartment and they spent the whole night talking about random stuff. They fell asleep on the couch and when Ryan woke up at twelve the next morning by his cell, Hotch was nowhere. He answered his cell. " Wolfe."
" Mr. Wolfe, we need you to come in as soon as possible," he heard Horatio say on the other end of the line and then the click indicating the end of the call.
Ryan quickly hopped into the shower and then left for the lab. He was playing with his phone in the elevator and went into the breakroom. " Hey."
"Hey babe. I thought you weren't in today." Calleigh said worriedly.
" Horatio said to come in whenever I wanted and I just got a call from him. She indicated to the group she and the others were talking to. " Y'all haven't met, have you?"
" I'm Ryan."
" Hi. I'm JJ, this is Morgan, Reid, and Elle."
" You're Hotch's Ryan, aren't you?" Morgan asked.
Ryan smiled and blushed slightly. " Yeah... speaking of, has anyone seen he or Horatio?"
" H's office, baby," Alexx said.
" Thanks," he said and left.
He made his way to Horatio's office and saw Horatio, Hotch and some other guy he didn't know standing close, heads bent, talking quietly. He knocked on the door and let himself in.
" What's going on?"
" You might want to sit down."
" I'm OK."
" This is Jason Gideon." Hotch said, pointing to the man.
" I've read about you."
" Hotch has told me about you and your past," Gideon said looking sympathetic.
" Yea... been doing that a lot lately, hasn't he."
" My analyst back at Quantico did the check on Lambert... It turns out that Lambert was accused of inappropriate behaviour to a cheerleader not long ago actually... just before the killings started. The girl mysteriously dropped the charges and disappeared. Garcia found that Lambert used his credit card for plane tickets to Miami and has been staying in the Garciana hotel for the last two months." Ryan swallowed hard.
" It could be him." He barely heard himself speak.
" We both agreed we don't want you anywhere near this case," Horatio said.
" That should be my decision," Ryan said getting his voice back.
" We have more than enough hands working this case."
Ryan turned to Hotch. " Remember yesterday, when we went for coffee and we were talking about all this stuff..." Hotch nodded. " I think he might have been there, watching."
" I think you should have a security detail," Hotch said.
" No chance!"
" He's right, Ryan," Horatio agreed.
" No!" Ryan practically shouted. There was silence for minutes.
" Tell you what, we'll meet you half way," Gideon said. " You stay in the lab until we get this guy. No obvious security detail and during the nights you stay with one of your friends or something."
Ryan knew he didn't have a choice. He quickly agreed and left, knowing that in the end it would be down to him and Lambert.
A?N: I was thinking about finishing it there and doing a sequel.
Some stuff I was thinking about doing would be a bit strange as a continuation. I am quite into the idea of Hotch and Ryan being romantically involved and it would be weird as a continuation since I practically said they were related.
Please Review and give your thoughts.
