Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of CSI: Miami. Unfortunately. Am just borrowing and they will be returned undamaged and in their original packaging.
Ex-Boyfriend
'Can I ask you something?' Ryan asked Valera. There was a table between them. He was having to restrain himself from climbing over it and kissing her senseless.
She didn't look up. 'Depends what it is.'
'Are we going to tell anyone at any point?'
She still didn't look up. He found himself studying her profile, the serious curve of her mouth and the slight furrows in her brow from concentration, a few tendrils of hair falling over her forehead. 'Depends.'
He cleared his throat and said in a low voice, 'On what?'
She smiled, although she still wouldn't look at him. 'On what you're talking about.'
Ryan sighed inwardly and caught the small smile on her lips and realised she was playing hard to get. 'Well, let me know when you decide something,' he said, returning the same smile.
She nodded. 'I'd rather wait until – if – we get serious. You know? Everyone will make a big fuss and then…' She shrugged. He understood and nodded, showing that he understood.
'When will the DNA results for my case come through?' he asked.
'That's really why you're here, isn't it?' she said.
'Oh, of course,' he agreed. 'That's the only reason I'm here. I'm not here for any other reason at all. If I wasn't waiting for DNA results, I would not be here at all.'
'Of course you wouldn't,' she agreed. 'Get out, Ryan. I'm busy.'
'Sure. We still on for tonight?'
'Yes. Bye.'
He stepped outside and walked straight into Eric. He murmured an apology and looked back around the door. 'You will let me know the minute they're ready, won't you?'
Valera looked past him to Eric. 'Eric, please take him away and stop him pestering me for his results. He's giving me a headache. Valera, are they ready yet? Are they ready now? How about now? Now? Just take him away.'
'I think she wants you to go away,' Eric said to Ryan.
'Do you think?' Ryan said amiably.
'So, you two get on well?' Eric asked carefully as they walked down the corridor.
Ryan frowned and looked, as far as Eric could tell, genuinely bemused. 'We work together. We get on fine.'
'Fine? That's all?' Eric said, sounding puzzled.
'Why?' Ryan turned an innocent gaze on Eric.
'No reason,' Eric said.
'Remind me never to play Ryan at poker,' Eric said later to Calleigh.
She looked up from the microscope at two bullets she was comparing. 'I got a match. Case solved,' she said happily. 'Why are you never going to play Ryan at poker?'
'He just as good as told me that there's nothing at all going on between him and Valera,' he explained.
'He's lying,' she said confidently.
'Of course he is. But if I didn't know otherwise, he would have fooled me.'
'Leave them alone,' she advised. 'If they want to pretend to not be interested in each other at all, leave it up to them. I expect they don't want everyone making a fuss right now. Which is understandable. I didn't want everyone making a fuss when I was dating Hagen,' she added reflectively, quietly.
Horatio stepped inside the room. 'Calleigh, you'd better have some good news for me.'
'I have some great news for you,' she said. 'The bullets match. Case closed.'
He looked pleased. 'Good. One more murderer caught. What were you talking about?'
'You recall Alexx's little idea?' Eric said.
'You mean the one that if it went wrong I was not supposed to know anything about in case it turned violent?'
'Yeah, that one.'
'Well?'
'It went well. Only a small amount of violence, with excellent results,' Calleigh said, not looking around. 'I think that we can also call that case closed.'
'That's your phrase for the day, isn't it?' Eric said to her.
'Yeah, it is. Now if you don't mind, I have a murderer to interview.' She gave them both a sunny smile and walked out of the lab.
'Excellent,' Horatio said, although it was unclear whether he was referring to Calleigh's case or Alexx's idea. 'Let's get back to work, then.'
It was at the end of the shift. Valera left without seeing any of the others; they were still arguing over how to deal with a new case that had come up, all had different ideas. The argument was friendly, however. She waved as she went past; only Ryan saw her and smiled in return. Calleigh and Eric both looked around but she had already gone by then.
She checked her watch. Plenty of time to get ready and go to meet him. In the week since they had started seeing each other, they'd only been able to go out, to the wine bar a few blocks down the road he lived in again. It would be great to spend some time together, outside of work, without the risk of anyone catching them out. The risk had been fun, kissing in an empty corner or the locker room, but it would look very unprofessional if they were caught, and right at the moment she couldn't afford to look unprofessional. Horatio would probably turn a blind eye. Stetler wouldn't.
Her Mum and Jess were getting really interested and kept asking her when they were going to get to meet him. She wasn't sure she wanted to subject him to that kind of interrogation. Not at this stage, anyway. Whilst they both joked that they were only having some fun, she wanted it to become serious.
She left the lab, walked down the road. Parking had been bad that morning and she had been late so she had parked down the street.
'Maxine! Maxine!'
She heard his voice calling her, raised in anger, and started walking fast, her head down. He was the last person she wanted to see right now.
'Hey, Maxine, wait for me!'
Why couldn't he have been Ryan? She would have been glad, more than glad, to see him.
She slowed, turned and waited silently for Luke to catch up with her. 'Luke,' she said quietly. 'Why are you here?'
He stopped and smiled at her. 'I've been wanting to speak to you. Why aren't you returning my calls?'
'I thought I made it clear why when I saw you last week,' she said.
Luke brushed his hair back. He was very different to Ryan in almost every way. Very tall, big and muscular with floppy blond hair, small dark blue eyes, as opposed to Ryan's slight and compact build, tidy dark hair and large, expressive eyes.
'I wanted to see you,' he said.
'I can tell.' She carried on walking.
'I'm sorry,' he said.
Valera stopped. 'What? What are you sorry for? I broke up with you, why are you sorry?'
'Well, I must have done something to make you want to break up with me. Please, Maxine. I love you, don't leave me – '
'Luke, I don't love you. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be with you anymore. I'm sorry.' She carried on walking.
Luke ran after her. 'Maxine! Please!'
She turned on him. 'No, Luke! Just go! I don't want to see you anymore! Please, just go!'
He stopped and let her walk away. 'I love you!' he cried after her.
She didn't look around, just carried on walking.
'Don't walk away from me!' he yelled.
She ignored him and just carried on walking.
