Author's Note: Kudos to Love4eternity1016 for correctly getting which band I got the lyrics from! Within Temptation! Fantastic band, check them out if you haven't already. They're like Evanescence, only better :P.
For everybody who's been patiently waiting for some Ryan/Horatio interaction... This one's for you. Enjoy! :)
Chapter Nineteen
Ryan ran for all he was worth. He could hear the rumble of the engine behind him, lights flashing.
A raspy growling, the wolf's gnashing jaws…
His chest exploded with pain, but he kept running as fast as he could, his feet barely touching the ground with each stride. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get there now.
The road ended up ahead, he could tell by the way the streetlights ended and an utter darkness began. He saw the moon. He saw moonlight refracted a million times on an ever-moving surface.
Water.
He made for it. He had to drown them. He had to kill them at all costs.
Sirens exploded to his right as a patrol car and another Hummer came whizzing around the corner. He ran onto the slippery surface of a dock, knowing it was too narrow for the machines to follow him there, buying some time.
The gun grip was slick in his blood-drenched sweaty hand, but he refused to drop it.
It was his last chance.
-|x|-
Horatio got out of his Hummer at the end of the dock. He was quickly joined by Eric and Calleigh. The patrol officers that had made it there were drawing their guns and approaching the dock.
"Everybody stand down!" Horatio ordered. "Hold your fire. Just stay back."
The officer were confused, but obeyed.
"Are you okay?" Horatio asked Eric quietly, noticing the red swelling puffing up on his eye.
"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered. "H, he didn't even recognize us. He got my gun, he shot at us."
Horatio looked from Eric to Calleigh, who nodded in agreement with Eric's story.
"Then we need to handle this very carefully," Horatio said. "He's not going anywhere, we have him surrounded. Let me talk to him."
"Horatio…," Calleigh began worriedly, but she didn't know how to finish.
Eric looked at his brother-in-law closely, then nodded. "Be careful, H. He's not himself. He definitely could have killed me, he chose not to."
Horatio took a wary step toward the dock. "That means he's still in there somewhere, Eric."
Horatio left them, walking slowly but confidently down the dock, toward the end. The water and the sky were utterly dark around him. He felt as if he were descending into an eternal abyss of shadow.
A single lantern hung above the end of the dock, casting an eerie yellow light around the area, twinkling on the water's rippling surface. A high stack of crates was on the left. There was no sign of his CSI.
"Ryan?" Horatio called.
Ryan suddenly stepped out from behind the crates. He still held his left arm tightly against his side, obviously in pain. He held the gun up in his right hand, aiming right for Horatio's head. Horatio could see the dark streaks of dried blood that ran down his arm from the wounds on his shaking hand.
Horatio held up his hands in front of him to show they were empty. "Ryan, put the gun down," he said quietly.
The younger man said nothing in return, as if he hadn't even heard him.
Why is a lefty holding a gun in his right hand? Horatio thought.
With a rush of fear, Horatio realized what could be going on.
"Ryan, does your chest hurt?" he asked earnestly.
Ryan looked at him, scared and confused.
"Please, talk to me. Is there pain shooting down your left arm?" Horatio pressed.
"Stop reading my mind!" Ryan screamed.
"I'm not reading your mind," Horatio insisted. "I just noticed your holding your arm like it hurts, that's all. You could be having a heart attack."
Ryan's face indicated he didn't believe a word Horatio was saying.
"I promise I'm not reading your mind," Horatio continued. "I just noticed. That's what we do, remember? We notice things. You do it too. That's what we do at CSI. Remember?"
Something sparked painfully in Ryan's eyes. He looked utterly lost.
"Ryan, don't you remember what happened to you?" Horatio asked, his heart pounding in his chest. "You were hurt. A woman dosed you with a drug that's playing tricks on your mind. You're not yourself, Ryan…"
"Neither are you!" Ryan burst out suddenly. "You're not who you pretend to be. You're not who you say you are!"
The words physically hurt him. "Ryan, it's me. It's Horatio."
"You're not Horatio!" Ryan bellowed, brandishing the gun. "You stole him like you stole me, but you're not him. He never calls me Ryan!"
Horatio's heart was breaking a little more every second. "Ryan…," he said quietly, taking a step closer. "Look at me. Look at my eyes."
Ryan didn't move, only stared at him fearfully.
"It's me," Horatio said softly, coming even closer.
A flicker of doubt crossed Ryan's face. "Horatio?" he whispered.
Horatio smiled and nodded. He held his hand out to Ryan.
Ryan's eyes widened in fear. "No!" he cried. His knees wavered and he fell to the dock. He quickly scrambled to get away from Horatio, stopping right on the very edge.
He pressed the gun to his own temple.
Horatio's blood ran cold. "No, Ryan, don't…"
"I have to!" Ryan cried desperately. "I have to kill them, it's the only way! They want to get out, they want to get inside your mind, too! I can't let that happen!"
Horatio got down on one knee, as close to Ryan as he dared. He held out a shaky hand again.
"Ryan, please… No one is going to get me," he pleaded. "I can help you, but you have to give me the gun. There's another way to get rid of them, but you have to trust me. Do you trust me, Ryan?"
Ryan blinked hard, unsure.
Horatio inched closer. "Please let me help you. Give me the gun."
Tears began pouring down Ryan's exhausted face. "But I have to kill the voices," he insisted desperately. "They want me to hurt people, they wanted me to kill Calleigh and Eric. I can't hurt people, I just can't!"
"You don't have to, Ryan," Horatio coaxed. His hand was almost close enough to reach the gun. "Come with me."
Ryan stayed where he was, his body shaking with sobs and overexertion, the gun still pressed firmly against his head.
Horatio carefully placed a hand on the barrel.
"Trust me," he said quietly.
Ryan's tortured eyes bored into his. And then he let Horatio pry the gun from his grasp.
Everything that had been building up inside him all day seemed to suddenly burst forth like water from a dam. Ryan collapsed into weeping, sobs wracking his exhausted body as the tears flowed unabated.
Horatio immediately swept him up in his protective embrace, pressing Ryan close to his chest, determined to never let anything hurt him again. He felt tears spring up behind his own eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
"They won't stop!" Ryan sobbed, burying his face in Horatio's shirt. "Why won't they stop?"
"I don't know," Horatio murmured soothingly. "We'll make them stop, I promise."
"I can't do it anymore, Horatio," he cried. "It hurts too much..."
"I know," Horatio said quietly. "I know it does. I'm gonna help you, just hang on."
He held him for he didn't know how long, rocking Ryan gently as his anguished cries grew weaker. Ryan's body was limp in Horatio's arms, shivering uncontrollably as he wept. Horatio pressed his mouth into Ryan's head, closing is eyes with relief of finally having his boy back and knowing there was no way he could ever hold him tight enough.
He would have gladly taken on all of Ryan's suffering for a lifetime just to spare him one more moment of this hell.
He vaguely heard two sets of footsteps behind him. Calleigh knelt down beside them, wrapping her arms around both of them and laying her head gently next to Ryan's, wishing desperately she could erase all of his pain with a single touch. Eric crouched down beside them on the other side, placing a hand on Horatio's shoulder.
"H, the ambulance is here," he said quietly, his voice gruff with emotion.
"Okay," Horatio answered, but he made no motion to get up.
Ryan's sobs quieted, though he continued shivering in Horatio's protective embrace. Calleigh stroked his arm gently, if only just to let him know she was there, tears pooling in her own eyes.
"We're here, Ryan," she whispered. "We'll take care of you."
Author's Note: Awww... :') They make such a cute family. Wish they were like that more on the show. More soon, please review!