There's a time jump in this one where it says a few weeks later. Just sayin'. Sorry if this fic is a little shippery on the EC side, but hey, you can't just deny the attraction this season. :)

"Mr. Wolfe, there's no need to be so nervous…"

Ryan was squirming in his seat. Amy acted really weird the night before, and he was afraid she heard him talking to Horatio outside. He came in a little early to talk to his boss in his office. "Well, I can't really help it, H."

With a smirk, Horatio started talking about his plan. "Well, in a few weeks, I'm going to be at the airport. I know Julia is with Ron Sarris. I'll try to convince her he's dangerous, and tell her and Kyle to leave on a small plane."

Ryan frowned. Where was this leading?

Horatio continued. "That way, I'll be outside in a large, open space. The perfect spot to be assassinated!"

"You sound a little too enthusiastic…"

"Because I know this will work. Anyway, I'll wear a bullet-proof vest and get some stage blood."

"How are you so sure they're going to shoot you in the chest?"

"I'm not. But it's my only choice. So if she doesn't get that information to Sarris, you will."

Ryan looked at his feet. All of this was happening way too fast. "Well what are you going to do with them? We can't just arrest them, they'll plan a hit from jail!" he said, stating the already obvious.

"That, Mr. Wolfe, is the interesting part….While I'm lying on the ground writhing in pain, I will quickly reach for my gun and shoot them. Your job is to make sure all of them are there."

"How am I going to do that? They'll know something is up!"

"You can figure it out. You're the CSI." He noticed Ryan's frightened rabbit look and said, "I kid." Ryan wasn't laughing. "You just have to work each of them one by one. You're going to have to pretend you're on their side and really want to kill me."

"H…I can't…"

"Yes you can Mr. Wolfe. We need to meet regularly. So you can tell me their plans and everything."

Ryan felt like crawling in a hole. He didn't know how long he could keep this up.

Over the next few weeks, Ryan somehow managed to convince Sarris he was on his side, but not his father or Jake. Ron decided to have a little meeting in a warehouse late at night. Ryan tried to get the time pushed up; he didn't want Amy to wake up and find that he was gone. But the terrible trio wouldn't hear it. That night, he quietly slipped out of the apartment, told the guard cop outside he was getting groceries, and took off. It wasn't a convincing lie, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"He's uh… I think he's trying to get Julia and Kyle away from you…." Ryan was sitting at a small card table with Ron, his dad, and Jake. A few members of Jake's gang were standing guard at the door, which made Ryan stumble over his words in nervousness.

Ron smirked and said, "Well I know that, kid."

"I mean he wants to fly them out of the country on a private aircraft." He tried not to reveal too much and sound fake. He had to make it look like it was their idea to shoot Horatio at that location.

"When?"

"Like…next week. The two don't know yet."

"Where?" His father asked him.

Ryan almost shivered a little. He did not want to give this man a wrong answer. He made that mistake too many times. "At a private airstrip that's about 10 minutes from the lab. It's hardly ever used."

Jake looked around the table. "Maybe that's when we should make the hit. If no one's around, then I think we can do it."

Ryan almost smiled but stopped himself. He should be happy that they were taking the bait, but this also meant his boss was putting his life at risk. George Wolfe looked at his son coldly and said, "How do we know you aren't setting us up?"

Ryan put on his best lying face and said, "For one, the man fired me a few months ago based on nothing. One of my other colleagues had bought marijuana and had failed a drug test, but he kept his job. Caine only re-hired me because they did such a crappy job without me." He paused and said, "And I'd rather not see my niece get murdered." He felt his father's eyes slicing into him.

"Ok then. That's when we'll do it. I wanna be there when it happens too." George said.

The others agreed and Ryan asked, "Who's going to actually shoot him?"

Ron said, "I want the first shot. I want to see the surprised look on his face when he realizes I'm killing him." He leaned back in his chair with an evil grin on his face.

Ryan felt like shivering again. In all his time at CSI he still couldn't understand how casual people can be with murder.

Amy had a nightmare and bolted upright in her bed. All she could remember was her grandfather and Ryan fighting until George pulled out a gun and shot him in the head. There was blood everywhere and he turned to point the gun towards her. She sighed as she realized it was a dream. It was the most graphic nightmare she ever had, and she got a terrible feeling in her gut it would somehow become true. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom. As she was coming back, she noticed Ryan's door was open and the light was on. He wasn't in there. She ran downstairs to see if he was cleaning or something and quickly realized he wasn't in the house at all. She looked out the window and saw that his car was gone. She wanted to go out and ask the policeman what happened, but being outside at night in Miami didn't exactly feel secure.

She ran back upstairs, grabbed her cell phone, and hid under her covers.

"Wolfe?" He wondered what would possess someone to call him at 2 in the morning.

"Where are you?"

"I had to get some…disinfectant…."

"At this hour?"

"That's how it is with OCD people, Amy."

"You didn't leave a note or anything!"

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine; I just…thought you were dead or something…"

He tried not to laugh and said, "I'm not. I'll leave a note next time, I'm sorry."

"Well I'm glad you think this is so hilarious!" She yelled and hung up. Maybe it was a little harsh, but she nearly had a heart attack.

Ryan put his phone down as he was driving and sighed. He thought she was a heavy sleeper. He had been to these midnight meetings before, and she apparently didn't wake up any of those times. Even if she did wake up, he didn't realize she would get so worried. He arrived at his apartment and quietly went upstairs. Amy's door was closed, but there was light under the door.

He knocked and walked in to find her scowling at the wall. "Amy, look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you would get so freaked out."

"Disinfectant?"

He looked at his feet. "Yeah."

"Whatever. Just don't do it again, ok?"

"I promise." That was probably a lie, but he was used to it by now. He turned to leave when she stopped him.

"Wait…"

He turned back around and said "What?"

"What's wrong with your hand?"

He looked down at his newly-bruised hand. His father nearly crushed all the bones in it when the meeting was over and he need to speak to him 'privately.' George grabbed his son's hand and squeezed until Ryan promised he was part of 'their' team and not working for Horatio.

"Uh…mishap at the store."

"With the disinfectant."

"With the disinfectant." He repeated. She gave him look and he turned to go to his own room. Sooner or later all these lies were going to catch up to him.

Calleigh Duquesne was walking confidently through the lab. She was on her way to a crime scene that involved someone being hurled from a window. Since her kidnapping ordeal, she felt her confidence drain immensely, but today was a little different. She woke up that morning and decided to move past it. She was Calleigh, after all. She had a reputation to keep up. As she was happily strolling, she caught sight of Ryan. Since he told her about his 'situation' he had been acting really off. He was worse after Alexx left.

"Hey Ryan!" Maybe her cheerfulness would rub off on him.

He looked down and said, "Let's just go to the crime scene."

They got in a hummer together, with Calleigh at the wheel. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced at him looking distantly out the window.

"So…how's life?" She said, mocking him from a few weeks before. He just turned and looked at her.

"Ryan, what's going on?"

"Nothing." He said softly.

"Is Ron Sarris still bugging you?"

"You could say that."

She sighed. "Are you…sad about Alexx leaving?"

He looked away and thought about that day. When some gossiping lab tech came and told him she was leaving he didn't believe it at first. But then the whole lab was talking about it. Ryan was crushed. The mother figure he ever had in his life would be leaving. She was staying in Miami, but it wouldn't be the same. As she was saying goodbyes and came to Ryan, he had a hard time holding back the tears. "Well who isn't?" He asked rudely.

"Ryan what is your problem?"

He didn't say anything, so she dropped it and they rode along in silence. Once they were there, Horatio divided everyone up into groups. He pointed to Ryan and Natalia and told them to investigate the room that the victim fell out of. Ryan rolled his eyes. Even if Natalia was a good CSI, he couldn't stand to be around her. He spent all that time looking for the mole when it wound up being the chick he was kind of dating.

"Well, let's go!" Natalia smiled at him. He forced a smile back. When they were upstairs looking around the room, shots rang out below. Ryan threw a screaming Natalia on the ground and drew his gun. He looked out the broken window, and all he could see was Eric hiding behind a gurney, Horatio's hair, and a dead ME. Once he realized he couldn't do anything from a zillion feet in the air, he relaxed. Eric called him and told them to keep investigating the room.

Natalia found blood on a piece of wood, and as she was exiting the room, Ryan got a call on his cell phone.

"Wolfe." For half a second he considered actually saying hello for once, but it quickly left his mind.

"Today's the day." It was George Wolfe.

"Yeah, I know." Ryan made sure that Amy was at Ashley's all day, and told the officer to keep a sharp eye out. He felt in his gut things wouldn't work the way Horatio planned.

"I need you to keep calling me and tell me what Red is doing."

"I know!"

"If you don't, I'll come after you myself!" George barked into the phone. "You won't see tomorrow and neither will Amy."

"Just leave her out of this, dad…"

"Don't you tell me what to do! I'll slaughter her if I want and you won't be able to do a thing about it! Anyway, do your people still not know that it was Jake's guy that kidnapped Blondie?"

"Do you refer to everyone by their hair colors?"

"I asked you a question." He said menacingly.

"No. They won't find out unless the guy talks."

"Great. Call me next time Red makes a move."

Ryan sighed. This was going to be a long day…

WOO! Sorry the update took a little longer than usual. Things should be moving quickly from here though!!