Esposito was going crazy now. He couldn't sit still in this freaking van. They were still driving around, trying to find where the Craig had parked his van. Esposito was sure he probably hid it somewhere before they went into the building.

He was listening to Ryan and felt like the shittiest partner in the world. Ryan had said their code for 'get me the fuck out of here' but still had no help.

Esposito thought his heart was literally going to break into two pieces when they heard Ryan's small voice whisper directly into the microphone, asking where they were.

Ryan was talking to their vic, Cassie for the past few minutes. He was still speaking when their tech guy finally got their systems back up. Esposito screamed at the driver to floor it and they sped down the streets.

A block away, he heard Craig come back into the room with Ryan. He was talking about a birthday gift and was pissed that Ryan had 'covered himself up'. There was too much rustling and moans for Esposito's liking.

They pulled up in front of a beaten down warehouse. He wanted to continue to listen to what was going on inside but he couldn't do that and storm in to save Ryan. So he ripped the headphones off his ears and hopped out of the van. Beckett, Castle, Cash and Robinson followed suit.

"Go in and find Ryan. Anybody that gets in your way, take care of." Esposito ordered the team as he checked his rifle.

He didn't wait before turning towards the warehouse. He ran inside with Castle and Beckett just behind him. They went down a long hallway that led to an open room. They walked through puddles all over the floor and assumed this was where Ryan was when they were all sprayed as it sounded. So they had to be close.

They went through another door to a dark room. Castle flipped on his flashlight to illuminate the room and it shined against the beds all over the room. In the beds were women in white hospital gowns. "Ryan!" Esposito whispered loudly. He walked past past the first few beds, looking to see if he saw Ryan. "Kevin!"

Castle and Beckett started to check the beds as well while Cash and Robinson continued to another room. "We're going to try and find the guys behind this," Cash said as they walked out, a few trained officers following them.

After a minute of searching the entire room, Esposito turned to Castle and Beckett. "He's not here."

"There were other rooms we could check. He took Ryan somewhere else, remember?" Castle said, nodding his head towards the door.

They left the room as Beckett called in the finding of all these women. They ran across the open floor, splashing through the puddles again. They kept their eyes open to make sure no one came up to them.

There was one more door that they saw. They opened the door slowly and the minute he walked through the door, he was jumped. "Shit," he cursed as the sudden weight knocked him into the wall.

"Espo!" Beckett yelled, cocking her gun down at the person on top of him.

"Javi?" Came a soft voice that never failed to make his heart skip a beat.

Esposito turned his head to see who had leeched onto his back and saw his partner. "Kevin?"

Kevin let his head fall to Esposito's shoulder and breathed, "Oh, thank God."

Beckett lowered her gun and laughed slightly. "Gave us a little scare there, Ry."

Ryan scoffed as he slowly dropped from Esposito's back. "I guess we're even then."

"We're so sorry, Kevin. The GPS shut down and we couldn't find you for a few minutes." Esposito put a hand on Ryan's arm trying to look him up and down to check for any wounds.

"Where is this dick face?" Castle asked angrily, coming to the front. With a jerk of his head, Ryan motioned towards a cage against the wall. Castle's eyes flickered from the cage back to Ryan. "Did he hurt you?"

"I took care of him," Ryan answered but didn't address Castle's actual question.

"Did he hurt you?" Esposito repeated, not letting his partner slip away that easily.

Ryan huffed impatiently. "Besides for making me incredibly nauseous and freezing cold, I'm fine."

Esposito's eyes went to Ryan's wet hair that was flat to his head. His mascara was slightly runny but all that mattered was that Ryan was safe. Esposito let a relieved laugh out at this thought and pulled him in for a tight hug. "Good job, man."

Ryan's hands immediately wrapped around Esposito and he buried his cold face into his shoulder. "Thanks for coming," he mumbled softly as his fingers dug into Esposito's back.

"Thanks for not getting yourself killed or worse before we came., Esposito answered with a small smile.

"Is this Cassie?" Beckett's voice broke the moment.

Ryan hesitantly pulled out of the hug and Esposito wanted to pull him back in. He looked over to the young girl trying to hide against the wall. "Yeah, that's her." He walked over and took her hand. He looked at her with a smile. "See, I told you my partners would come."

Cassie looked between them all. "So is it over? Am I safe?"

Esposito nodded. "Once you're out of here, we'll get you a change of clothes and bring you to our precinct. Then call your parents to come and get you."

She nodded nervously. "Thank you for saving me."

Esposito smiled at her and then turned to behind her where Craig was unconscious in the cage. "Never thought I'd see this little fucker again."

Ryan handed him the keys to the cage and Esposito gave him the handcuffs. "Here you go, partner."

Ryan looked down at the handcuffs and then nodded, a slow grin spreading across his face. Esposito unlocked the door and walked through. He leaned down and shoved Craig's head hard into the metal ground of the cage. Ryan came in next and secured the cuffs tightly around his wrists.

They stepped out and slammed the cage shut behind them. "Call it in, Beckett," Esposito said as he slipped the lock back in place.

She nodded and rattled off into her walkie talkie that they found their suspect and where he was. Back up will handle the other girls and the men in here. "What do you say we head back to the precinct?"

Ryan nodded his head. "Please."

They all started to make their way to the exit. Cassie held onto Ryan's arm and Esposito walked on the other side of Ryan. Back at the precinct, he'd definitely need to get them both warm towels and clothes that covered their backside. Not that they probably noticed.

Esposito shrugged out of his large jacket and looked over at Castle to do the same thing. Castle caught his eye and pulled his off. Esposito handed his coat to Cassie since she was smaller and Esposito's was the smaller jacket. She took it with a grateful smile and pulled it over herself.

Castle wrapped his around Ryan's shoulders. Ryan turned his head back to give Castle a small smile with his flushed cheeks. "Thanks, Castle," he said as he pulled the coat around himself tighter.

They led them outside where there were dozens of squad cars lined up and flashing their lights. Cassie flinched at the light, probably used to the dim lighting in that room she's lived in for the past few months.

Ryan started to shiver again at the cold air against his still wet body. Esposito wrapped his hands around his arms and started to rub it to give him some heat. "Let's get you two in a car and we'll head back to the 12th."

Castle and Beckett nodded. "We'll get a ride back as well."

"Yeah, there's probably no room in that van for all of us." He found a few familiar uniformed officers in the crowd. "And I'm sure they won't mind giving us a ride back."

They all squeezed into one squad van. Cassie took a seat next to Ryan and Esposito and Castle took the seat on the bench behind her, figuring she wouldn't want to be very close to men just yet. Beckett went in the front next to the driver. "Thanks, Drakken."

"It's no problem, Captain," Officer Drakken said. "We'll be back at the precinct in a few minutes."

They drove down the blocks, passing by more and more NYPD cars as they joined the scene. "So you lost the signal?" Ryan asked once they were close to the precinct, away from the dark allies.

"The program crashed briefly, yeah," Beckett answered. "Esposito was about to kill someone. And Castle wasn't so calm either."

Ryan laughed. "I told you guys I'd be able to handle myself. Even if something went wrong."

"Pulled it kinda close there."

"I did my part," Ryan pointed out. "I was ready to get out of there once we got to the warehouse."

Esposito tried to forget the panic in Ryan's voice as he was led into the building without backup. He could only imagine how scared he was. He was expecting backup and it never came. Not until Ryan had already been through hell. But he was smiling now and while Esposito knew his partner and knew he was still shaken up. He'd live.

"I still can't believe we left you in there with him." Esposito sighed, knowing he let his partner down.

Ryan turned around in his seat to look over at Esposito. He offered him a small smile. "Don't make yourself sick over it, Javi. I'm fine and we busted them. Cassie is safe now. Besides, I've been in much worse before with the mob. So this was almost a breath of fresh air."

"I hope you're only saying that to make me feel better right now. Even though it's not really helping because now I'm worried about when I wasn't by your side against Bobby S."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "It was years ago, Javi. You can put the claws away."

Esposito sighed but let it go. Dwelling on the past wouldn't change it. He could only promise himself to not let Ryan get into a situation like that again in the future.

Back at the precinct, there was hardly anyone in the bullpen. It was a little after three in the morning and most of the midnight cops were out at the scene. Ryan still had his clothes from before he got changed but Cassie needed something.

So Ryan offered his jeans and sweatshirt to her while he timidly turned to Esposito and asked if he could borrow the change of clothes in his locker. Esposito noddly. "Of course, Ryan, you don't even need to ask."

Cassie went into the bathroom with Ryan's clothes and Esposito brought Ryan down to the locker room. Ryan walked through, keeping his eye out for anyone else inside. They had the room to themselves, thankfully. Esposito went straight to his locker and unlocked it. He pulled out his sweatpants and t-shirt.

"Do you need underwear?" Esposito asked.

"Uh," Ryan stammered. "Yeah, I do. If you don't mind."

Esposito pulled out his boxers and handed them to Ryan. "Don't worry, I changed out my clothes this week."

Ryan smiled at him and stepped into the boxers. Esposito grabbed his elbow when he almost lost his balance. "Easy there," he chuckled.

While Esposito still held onto his arm, Ryan stepped into the sweatpants as well. He pulled them over his belly button but they still pooled around his ankles and would fall past his hips if he didn't hold on to the waistband.

"Um, can you tie it?" Ryan asked as he held it in place.

Esposito nodded, kneeling down so he was able to get hold of the strings. He lifted the white gown so he could see what he doing easily. He double knotted it so it stayed in place and then let the gown drop. He couldn't continue to stare at Ryan's milky stomach.

"I'll turn around while you pull on the shirt." Esposito covered his eyes and turned around. He listened to the rustle of the gown being lifted over Ryan's head and then the t-shirt being pulled on. He didn't turn back around until Ryan said he was okay.

Esposito looked at his hair, still soaking wet and the t-shirt did little to keep him warm. They'd have to grab a towel and a blanket from the closet. "Stay here," Esposito said before running to get them. He came back to Ryan and handed him the towel first. "Here, wrap your hair."

"Wrap my hair?" Ryan asked. "How the hell do I do that?"

Esposito rolled his eyes and said. "Bend over and let your hair fall."

Ryan hesitated but followed Esposito's directions. Then Esposito draped the towel over his head and folded it in where his hair dangled. He kept it together and said, "Now come back up." Ryan flipped his hair back and the towel miraculously stayed.

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Wow, I have a sister and I never learned how to do that."

Esposito shrugged his shoulders. "Mama did it a lot."

Ryan smiled softly at the mention of his mother. Esposito found himself smiling back. He lifted the blanket and wrapped it around Ryan's shoulders. "Here, I know you've still got that chill."

"Yeah," Ryan said. "I wasn't expecting the rinse and it was brutal." He tried to laugh it off but it died down.

Esposito couldn't even imagine being sprayed with freezing pressurized water. "Are you okay?"

Ryan hesitantly nodded. "Yeah." He paused before adding, quietly. "It's dumb...but for a quick second, it brought me back to Lockwood."

Esposito didn't even think of that. He still had nightmares of watching Ryan drown and get one of his kneecaps shot out, but he forgot water had been rough for Ryan the first few months after. Even now, sudden cold water was bound to bring back some memories.

"I mean, I didn't have one of my panic attacks but…" Ryan trailed off, a haunted look in his eyes. Esposito put a hand on his back and guided him to sit down on the bench.

"Hey, it's okay." He put an arm around Ryan and spoke softly, "Even if I didn't have memories of Lockwood, get sprayed like that would fuck me up."

Ryan nodded absently and spent the next few seconds just sitting there. Esposito continued to rub his arms soothingly. Not much longer later, Ryan cleared his throat. "We can head back up now."

He scrubbed the towel into his hair before pulling it off. His hair was still wet but there weren't droplets of water dripping down his back so Esposito didn't make him dry it off anymore.

They headed back up to the bullpen where Cassie was sitting in the breakroom. She looked up when they walked through and gave a soft smile. "Thanks for the clothes." There weren't too big on her smaller frame.

"No problem." Ryan shrugged his shoulders, making sure the blanket didn't fall off.

"We called her parents in so they'll be coming down to pick her up in a few minutes," Beckett told them. Of course, even at three in the morning, Cassie's parents would want their baby back after months of thinking she was gone forever.

Ryan took a heavy seat next to her. "Are you excited to be back with your family?"

Cassie looked at him with a genuine smile. "Yeah. I mean I'm nervous. But it's a good nervous."

"Everything will be fine," Esposito assured her. He had seen his fair share of reunions between parents and lost children. It was touching to see them finally reconnected.

Just as Esposito said this, the elevator doors chimed open. "Where is she? Where is my baby?" A voice yelled.

Cassie jumped to her feet and turned to the doorway of the precinct. "Mom," she said tearfully.

Her parents paused for a split second before they came rushing to her. In a second, they were wrapping her in one the biggest hugs Esposito had ever witnessed. He watched with a small smile as Cassie's mom started to openly bawl into their daughter's shoulder. Even her father was crying as he hugged both his girls.

The reunion lasted at least ten minutes and the others just patiently waited for the family to calm down. Her father was the first to turn away, but still kept an arm wrapped around her. "Who saved my baby?"

Esposito pushed Ryan forward. "My partner, sir."

He let go of his daughter to drag Ryan into a hug. Esposito didn't miss his partner's brief flinch as the older man wrapped his arms around him tightly. "God bless you." He took a few steadying breaths before pulling back and looking Ryan in the eyes. "I wish I could thank you more than this but you have to know how grateful I am for you."

"Detectives Cash and Robinson are the ones that set everything up," Ryan admitted with a slight blush. "I just went in undercover to bring her out."

"They will get their thanks later when I see them. But now I want to thank you on my wife and I's behalf." Cassie's father gave him one last squeeze before letting go to go back to his daughter.

Esposito took a step forward to stand next to Ryan. They watched the family share another round of happy tears again. Esposito leaned over and whispered in Ryan's ear, "I'm proud of you."

Ryan turned to face him fully with a large smile. He studied Esposito's face for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Javi."

Esposito was a little shocked when Ryan let his head drop on his shoulder. He looked down at the head of dark blonde hair and froze. A hard nudging in his back had him turn his head slightly. He looked expectantly at Castle. The writer nodded his head towards Ryan frantically before wrapping an arm around Beckett.

Esposito's cheeks burned when he realized Castle was trying to help him. He turned back around and with Ryan still leaning against him, Esposito wrapped an arm around his small waist. "Do you want to head back before you pass out right here?" Esposito whispered.

Ryan hesitated with his answer, not that Esposito minded because that gave him more time with Ryan on his shoulder. "Yeah, the adrenaline is starting to wear off."

"Let's say goodnight and head out," Esposito suggested. Ryan nodded his head and straightened himself up. Esposito's shoulder felt cold instantly.

Ryan waited for the next pause in sobs from Cassie and her family before interrupting them. "Cassie, I'm going home now."

Esposito grinned because 'home' was his apartment.

Cassie's eyes flew to Ryan and she grinned at him. She unhooked her arms from her parents to throw them around Ryan. "Thank you so much, Detective Ryan."

Ryan lifted his hands to rub her back softly. "No problem, kiddo."

She pulled back and wiped at her watery eyes. "I'll be back to drop your clothes off tomorrow."

With a laugh, Ryan said, "Don't worry about my clothes. Just enjoy your time home with your family."

Cassie let out a happy sob and nodded her head. "I will. All because of you."

Hearing that, Esposito felt himself swell with pride. Because of his partner, a girl was able to go back to her family alive. Most of their cases, they were too late to save a loved one. But now, there was no homicide and Esposito not only felt satisfied to help close a case but he felt so happy to know he had helped reunite one that night.

And no matter how much worrying his partner put him through, the moments like this made it worth it.

A half hour later, after Beckett and mostly Castle stopped fussing over Ryan, they were back in Esposito's apartment. "Do you want to eat something or just crash?"

"Actually," Ryan said, "I'm going to wash my face and meet you in the bedroom."

Esposito nodded and left him alone, walking down the hallway. Ryan waited a few minutes before following him down the hall. He stepped into the bathroom and turned the light on. Looking up at the mirror, he saw what a mess he looked like.

The perfect makeup and hair from earlier that night were ruined now. His hair looked like he just rolled out of bed and his smudged mascara to make him look like a raccoon. His lips were still a soft shade of pink.

By now, he was itching to get it all off his face. He was aching to get out of his skin entirely. He kept feeling the tingling of Craig's hands where they had touched him. There hadn't been a lot of touching but it was enough to make Ryan sick at the memories.

But when he turned on the faucet water to wash his face, he found himself staring at the splashing water. It was stupid. So stupid. Lockwood was dead and there was no one waiting to hold his head underwater. But for some reason, his heart quickened and his stomach churned violently at just the sight of it.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Ryan willed himself to not be such a baby. He didn't want to relapse with his PTSD after almost five years of being okay. Sure, his therapist warned him it wouldn't always be perfect but why did it still upset him?

With a slow breath, he opened his eyes again. He lifted his hands and cupped them together to catch water but he realized they were shaking too much to hold any water. "Stop it, Kevin," Ryan chastised himself. "It's water."

Against his wishes, he moved his hands under the water and watched his cupped hands fill with water. He slowly and shakily brought them to his face but he didn't think was going to be able to do it.

A hand on his wrist suddenly made him jump with a shout. If his heart wasn't racing a minute, it was now. His wide eyes turned to find his partner staring back at him with nothing but concern in his eyes.

Esposito lifted his hands, bringing them up to his chest and away from Ryan. "I was calling your name. You wouldn't answer," Esposito explained. "Are you okay?"

Ryan nodded but when he couldn't calm his breathing as easily as he'd like, he shook head. "Not really." His partner always had the weird ability to make Ryan want to tell him everything he was thinking.

Esposito raised his arms and asked quietly, "May I?"

Ryan nodded fervently and raised his own arms. He curled and uncurled his fists, grasping at air while he said, "Please."

Esposito didn't hesitate before closing the distance between them. Ryan wrapped his arms around him, trying hard to melt in his arms. Esposito's arms were strong and secure around him.

Ryan took in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself down Esposito's hand came up to his head and pulled Ryan closer in his arms. "Shh," he whispered soothingly. "You're okay, corazon."

Ryan grabbed the cotton of Javier's t-shirt tightly and focused on his partner's soft voice. A few minutes later, Ryan's breathing and heart finally calmed down. Esposito didn't step out of the hug until Ryan let his hands drop.

"Now that we got that out of the way," Esposito said with a small smile. "I've been holding back since we brought you back."

Ryan found himself smiling back. A hug from his partner always made everything in the world feel right.

His voice turning serious again, Esposito asked, "What's wrong?"

Looking into those warm brown eyes, Ryan couldn't hide his feelings so he said, "He hardly touched me, but-."

Esposito shook his head. "Just because he didn't rape you, Kev doesn't make it any better. You were sexually assaulted and it's okay to not feel okay after that." He paused and said dryly, "I think I'd be more worried if you were."

"I just…" Ryan trailed off, not knowing where to start or how to explain his thoughts to his partner. "You were right. I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready."

Esposito took his hand which relieved Ryan because he had started missing contact from his partner. Shaking his head, he said, "It wasn't your fault, Ry. The mess up tonight was on our part. You weren't supposed to be alone with that guy for so long. Like you said, you did your part."

Ryan smiled softly. "Yeah, it was nice to see Cassie back with her family."

"Exactly. And what happened to you was horrible so don't try to hide it or feel like you let me down."

"I still feel him on me," Ryan said after a few short seconds of silence. "I just want to take a shower and get him off. I'll be okay after I clean up…"

"But?"

"But then I look in the water and see Lockwood. I'm trying not to because it's stupid but-."

"It's not stupid, Kevin." Esposito narrowed his eyes. "Did you know two years after I came home from war, I had a panic attack in the middle of a 4th of July fireworks show?"

Ryan's eyes widened slightly. He knew Javi had PTSD but he didn't know it had affected him for so long.

"My sister found me hyperventilating in my lawn chair. Didn't even know I was crying until she started wiping my cheeks." Esposito shrugged his shoulders. "Hell, sometimes a dumb scene in a movie puts me right back in Iraq."

At Esposito's admissions, he felt a little less worried about his reaction to being sprayed down with the water. Ryan smiled softly up at him but didn't say a word.

"So how about you take a shower to get that jackass off of you. I'll turn the warm water on and wait outside the door. I promise no one will be there holding you under." Esposito said seriously. "I won't let it happen ever again, partner."

Ryan believed him. There wasn't a cell in his body that doubted his partner. But even after Esposito turned on the water and tested to make sure it wasn't a bit cold, Ryan hesitated. He wanted to grabbed Javier's hand and never let go. If he had a bathing suit, he'd put it on and make Esposito take the shower with him. But that was a little too clingy. Ryan blushed, embarrassed by even the mere thought of it.

Esposito noted his hesitation and offered quietly, "I can stand outside the shower. You can pull the curtain over and I'll be right here."

Ryan thought about it and then slowly nodded his head. He'd have the comfort of Esposito being close and Esposito would have the reassurance that if Ryan had a panic attack in the shower, he wouldn't fall over and actually drown. It was a win-win.

"Okay, you get undressed and I'll be right here." Esposito leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

Ryan pulled off his borrowed clothes and pulled open the shower curtain. His hand reached out blindly towards Javier as he looked down at the tub, small puddle already accumulating water.

"Woah, Ry, I can't-."

"I don't care," Ryan said over him. Esposito returned the hand hold as he took a step closer to the bath. His eyes were still shut but he helped Ryan take his first step into the tub. When he was inside the tub, he let out a deep breath.

At the sound, Esposito said, "See? You're okay." But he didn't make a move to let go of Ryan's hand. Again, he was operating at Ryan's speed.

Ryan took another step closer until he was under the full spray of water. The warm stream was a welcomed sensation. He smiled and let go of Esposito's hand before he dragged him into the shower with him.

"Are you okay?" Esposito asked.

Ryan paused. "Please don't go far," he requested, hoping he stayed put.

"I'll be right out here," he said reassuringly.

Ryan nodded even though Esposito wouldn't be able to see him. He let go of Esposito's hand and lifted his face upwards. He quickly realized he wasn't too fond of being sprayed in the face with water just yet, no matter the temperature, so he turned his head back down.

The warmth fell onto his back and over his shoulders. He grabbed the bar of soap to suds up his hands and started to wash himself off. He didn't care if Craig had touched him there or not, he was scrubbing every inch of his body down. It felt good to finally get the grime from him off his skin, whether he was imagining it or not.

He spent a good amount of time washing that when he finally rinsed off, he was afraid Esposito had left. "Javi?" Ryan asked suddenly, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Kevin," Esposito responded right away.

Ryan smiled and let his shoulders sag when he realized Esposito was still out there waiting. He felt bad, as it was probably boring to just sit there and the humidity in the bathroom from the hot water was making it hard to breathe.

But Ryan wasn't ready to let Esposito leave yet. A stupid, irrational part of him was afraid that if Esposito left him, he wouldn't come back to save him. Come back from where and to save him from what, no even Ryan knew.

Esposito must have picked up on Ryan's thoughts with his creepy partner mind reading tricks because a moment later, he broke the silence. He was singing a song softly. It was actually the song that Ryan had been singing earlier that night in the beginning of their operation. Esposito was just trying to assure Ryan that he was still there and wasn't leaving.

Ryan smiled softly and hummed along as he continued to wash his hair and finish up his shower. After spending so long in the hot shower, Ryan wasn't sure he wanted to go back out into the cold. But when he shut off the water, a towel popped in through the curtain.

Taking it from Esposito's outstretched hand, Ryan thanked him and wrapped it around himself. He was used to wrapping it around his waist as a guy but now he had to get used to keeping it tucked underneath his armpits.

"I'm coming out," Ryan announced as he pulled open the curtain.

Esposito was there with his eyes still closed and a hand stretched out if Ryan needed it for balance. Ryan was fine getting out by himself but he took the hand anyway. Ryan watched as Esposito's lip quirked upwards slightly.

"You okay to wait in here while I go grab your pajamas?" Esposito still didn't let go of his hand.

Laughing, Ryan nodded his head. "Yes, Javi." He took his hand from Esposito's and placed them on his shoulders. He spun him around until he was facing the door. "The door is in front of you."

Esposito blindly reached at his waist height until his fingers grabbed the knob. He turned it and as he opened the door, said, "I'll be right back."

Ryan watched him slightly stumble out of the doorway and then turn down the hallway towards his room. Ryan shook his head in amusement before turning to the sink. He looked up at the mirror and the face staring back looked much better than the one that was staring back before the shower.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan turned the faucet on again. He stared at the rushing water and slowly brought his fingers underneath. They weren't shaking this time and his heart wasn't close to beating out of his chest.

With some new found courage, Ryan changed the water to cold. He jumped slightly at the temperature change and wasn't as fond of it as the warm but he wasn't about to break down in tears again.

He turned it back to warm water before grabbing his toothbrush and brushing his teeth. The entire time he kept his eye on the water.

Esposito returned just as Ryan was putting away the toothbrush and toothpaste. In his hands, he held a folded pair of pajamas. "I'll leave these on the counter and be in bed."

Ryan smiled gratefully at him as Esposito exited and shut the door behind him. Ryan slipped into the underwear and pajamas Esposito had brought him. There were nice and warm which was definitely welcomed on a cold night like tonight.

He wrapped his hair in the towel like Javier had showed him and dried it off as much as possible. Then he pulled it off, dragged a brush through the knots and stepped out of the bathroom.

In the bedroom, Esposito was just getting into bed and pulling down the blankets. He looked up at Ryan and said quickly, "I can sleep on the couch tonight if it's too much. I don't-."

Ryan shook his head. "No, stay." He knew Esposito was only thinking of what Craig had done and the effect it had on him. But Esposito definitely was not Craig. Ryan felt safer with Javier right there than if he were left all alone.

"Okay," Esposito agreed. "But if it gets too much-."

"Javi, I'm fine. He barely touched me. And you don't remind me of him."

Esposito looked relieved to hear that and got into bed. Ryan followed and pulled up the blankets around his chest. As he was about to lay down, Esposito turned to Ryan and said, "I left you a mug on the nightstand. I hope it's still warm."

With furrowed eyebrows, Ryan turned to the stand next to him and picked up the mug. It felt hot in his hands so he assumed Esposito had made him a cup of tea. He'd never admit it (even though Esposito could read his partner like a book so he didn't need the admission) that Ryan had developed a fond taste for tea ever since the past week.

But when he looked into the mug, it wasn't full of tea. He was staring down at milk. Ryan couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face as he looked up at Esposito. "You made me honeymilk?"

Esposito shrugged his shoulders with a slight blush that was hard to spot under his tan complexion. "Yeah, I figured it'd calm you down and warm you up."

Ryan brought the drink up to his lips and grinned. He took a sip and it was perfect. More perfect than Ryan could ever make his. But then again, Ryan wasn't a cook, his partner was the one handy in the kitchen.

While Ryan finished up his drink, attempting to cover up his moan after each sip, Esposito read from his book. It was a book all about World War I because even though Esposito called Ryan the nerd, Ryan knew his partner loved to read about the military and knew everything about every war and every weapon and every battle. Ryan thought it was cute that he let him see that side of him.

Ryan took his time drinking the sweetly warm beverage. He was sad when his mug was empty and hoped that maybe Esposito would make it again for him. He set the mug on the nightstand and turned on his side.

Esposito saw him lay down and shut his book. "You could've kept reading," Ryan said in a tired voice. The softness of the pillow and the warm milk were dragging him into a slumber.

Esposito shook his head. "I'm exhausted." He laid down and turned to face Ryan. "You okay?" He asked, softly.

Ryan nodded his head. Now matter how annoying Javier's over protectiveness was, it was nice to see how much he cared for him.

Esposito's eyes fell closed and Ryan continued to stare at him. He was afraid if he closed his eyes, Craig's face would find his way back. But if he kept staring at Esposito, then everything would feel alright. He would be safe.

But he needed to get over this. He couldn't even imagine how Cassie was going to fall asleep tonight. She had been with that man for months, being treated much worse. If Ryan was this upset over an hour with him, that poor girl was probably not getting a good night's rest for months.

He tried to close his eyes but the dark did nothing to help him. He felt like there were shadows moving around him just waiting to-

A hand reached out and grabbed onto his hand softly causing Ryan's eyes to snap open. "Go to sleep, Kevin," Esposito whispered without opening his eyes. He laced their fingers together and didn't let go.

Ryan looked down at their joined hands and smiled. He closed his eyes again and focused on the hand holding his. Esposito was right there beside him and wouldn't let anyone touch him. No one protected him like his partner did.