Marked
Ryan walked through the halls of the crime lab. He shifted his shoulders and wished the itching would stop. He knew he should have waited until the end of the week to get it done. His light weight shirt stuck to the ointment on his back and he pulled at the shirt to get it off. It was going to be a long day.
He walked into the locker room to find the rest of the team already there. They fell silent as they watched Ryan open his locker. "It's ok," Ryan said, "You don't have to quit talking just because I'm here. I'm ok, really I am."
"Sorry man," Eric said, "We're all just worried about you."
Ryan smiled at him briefly before he returned his attention to his locker. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine, never better."
"Ryan," Walter said, "You're girlfriend went missing last week and is presumed to be dead. To be honest I think you're anything but fine."
"She's not dead." Ryan said, still looking in his locker. "She's alive, I know she is. She's coming back to me."
"Do you really believe that, Ryan?" Natalia asked.
"As a matter of fact I do." Ryan said, looking at the picture of him and Jessica in his locker one last time.
"What makes you think she's coming back?" Eric asked. "I mean no one's seen her in over a week, there was blood all over that apartment, and she received a second death threat from the Crip Kings. Ryan, Jessica's chances of being alive are slim to none."
"She's alive." Ryan said again. "I know she's alive, I can feel it."
"Ryan what reasonable evidence do you have that Jessica's alive?" Calleigh asked him.
"I have her heart." Ryan said, finally looking at his coworkers. "She stole my heart last year and gave me hers in exchange. She's coming home, I know she is. You can't live without your heart."
Eric couldn't help but chuckle. "Always the hopeless romantic," he said as he clapped Ryan on the back.
Ryan screamed and turned away from him. He sunk to his knees in front of his locker and felt the tears burn in his eyes. He pulled at his shirt to get it unstuck against his skin. He gasped slightly as his skin felt like it was burning where Eric had touched.
"Oh my gosh Ryan!" Calleigh said, rushing to his side. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ryan said as he stood up. "It's still raw."
"What's still raw?" Calleigh asked him.
Ryan unbuttoned his shirt and slid it down his back. He watched as Calleigh's eyes grew huge and she stared at his shining back.
Across Ryan's left shoulder blade was a blue phoenix. Its wings were spread open and blue flames trailed in its path. Everyone stared at his new tattoo. Calleigh moved behind him and gently placed her hands in the middle of his back.
"Ryan, does that say Jessica?" she quietly asked.
Ryan nodded his head as he remembered the tattoo's design. The flames beneath the phoenix spiraled around each other and hidden deep within the flames was Jessica's name. Paul had spent hours getting the design just right so that the name wasn't obvious, just like Ryan wanted.
"Impressive Mr. Wolfe," Ryan heard someone say. He turned to see his boss standing there, looking at his back. Horatio walked over and looked closely at the tattoo. "I see my daughter has made quite the impression on you. Now tell me, what does this say?" Horatio's hand hovered over the Japanese Kanji characters that ran along side the phoenix. Ryan smiled and looked into his deep blue eyes. "Peace, Love, Ladybugs," Ryan quietly said.
Horatio smiled and grasped Ryan's other shoulder. He squeezed it briefly before he released his grip. "Alright everyone, get a move on it." Horatio said, "I'm not paying you to play show and tell." He looked at Ryan one last time and winked at him as he turned and left the locker room.
Ryan pulled his shirt back on and began re-buttoning it.
"So you really think Jess is alive?" Eric asked.
"Well I think it's safe to assume so." Ryan answered.
"Why's that?" Calleigh asked him.
A smile slowly spread across Ryan's face and his eyes lit up. "Because I don't think H would have agreed to let me marry a dead girl."
Calleigh's mouth dropped open and she wrapped her arms around Ryan's torso. Ryan hissed when her hand brushed against the sore skin on his back and Calleigh lowered her arms to his waist. "Oh my god Ryan! You're going to marry Jessica?"
Ryan chuckled and wrapped his arms around Calleigh. "Well I have to ask her first."
"Do you really think she's going to say no?" Natalia asked as she hugged Ryan.
"I really hope not," Ryan said, "Because tattoo removal is really fucking expensive."
