Warnings: This story is slash, don't read if you don't like.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from CSI: Miami is not mine.
Leonard Bertram and all of his evilness, however, is mine.
(Muahahahahah cough, choke)
Beta: The wonderful Shadowfax27
A/N: Chapter two of three. Please R&R. Reviews keep me writing.
2. So It Ends
Ryan hoped the effort o to hide his tears was not noticeable, even though he was alone in the morgue. He placed the badge gently onto Jessop's chest and brushed back the young man's hair.
"Goodbye, Aaron," Ryan said. He glanced around before placing a final kiss on Jessop's forehead. He had debated whether or not he should, and had finally decided that although he wanted to keep the memory of Jessop's warm lips alive, the forehead would be all right.
He left, but didn't head for home. He went to a bar. A small bar near his place. Not Davey's, though. After they ran into Bertram there, they had started going to a little place called Statler and Waldorf, which was owned by someone a little too obsessed with Muppets.
His intent was to get drunk, but he couldn't. He just stared at his drink and, eventually, paid and left. He took only one sip.
He didn't want to go home; he couldn't face the emptiness that was waiting for him. He drove mechanically, not realizing where he was going until he got there. He had to force himself to get out of the car and knock on the door, and he dreaded looking into the face that waited on the other side.
"Wolfie, how're you holding up?" For being a son of a bitch, Bertram always seemed to know what to say.
"Can I crash here?" Ryan wasn't ready to talk.
"Of course, c'mon in."
Had he been at anyone else's house, Ryan would have felt like he was intruding. But Bertram deserved it.
"Why'd you do it, Leo?" Ryan asked after they had set up the couch. Bertram gave Ryan a sideways glance and sighed.
"Why'd you stop going to Davey's?"
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm not."
Ryan glared at Bertram, wishing he knew what the other man was thinking.
"It was a place with no connection to work until you showed up."
"I didn't do anything except give you both a push. I saw your face the day I introduced you two. I did wha-"
"You played matchmaker. Again."
"I didn't think."
"Damn right you didn't think! You didn't think last time, either. And look where that got me!"
"Will you let me finish?" Bertram's eyes burned into Ryan, but Ryan nodded. "What happened the first time wasn't my fault, and it wasn't yours either." Bertram paused and Ryan jumped in, tears in his eyes.
"I was a fucking one night stand, Leo!"
"I know. I'm sorry. If I'd known what kind of man he was, I would have stayed out of it." Ryan opened his mouth to speak, but Bertram held up a hand. "I'm not done. I shot you down when I first met you because I didn't want to hurt you, and when he pulled that shit I was there to help you get over it. But Jessop was different, wasn't he?" Ryan nodded. "You loved him, didn't you?" Ryan nodded. "I was right, wasn't I?"
"No," Ryan whispered. "You should have stayed out of it."
"Go to bed."
"Leo!"
"Ryan."
And it was over.
Ryan woke up to see Bertram looming over him. He sat up quickly, trying to escape from Bertram's piercing gaze.
"What'd you do?" Ryan asked, his voice coated heavily by sleep.
"Nothing. Your friend Delko called, said you guys have a case. I think he suspects that we're up to something." Ryan glared at Bertram. He was irked even more by the laughter in Bertram's eyes.
"What did you do you, Leonard?" Ryan was fully awake now.
"Ooh, using my full name? Is that supposed to scare me?"
"Give me my phone," Ryan held out hi hand and waited. Bertram slipped the phone into Ryan's palm, a sly smile on his face.
Ryan left after threatening Bertram with bodily harm if he had done something.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Calleigh and Eric were already at the scene when he got there. He joined them by the body of a man with a knife in his back.
"Open and shut case, wife already confessed." Calleigh filled him in.
"Yep, we just have to clean up the edges." Eric added. Ryan nodded as Eric moved away to take pictures.
"I'd better call H, let him know you made it." Calleigh grabbed her phone and flipped it open. "Dang it! I could've sworn I charged this."
"Here, use mine." Ryan said, handing it to her as he bent down to examine the blood pool surrounding the body. It wasn't until the phone had switched hands that he realized what Bertram had done. Too little, too late, he thought as he listened to see how bad the damage was.
"Ryan?"
"Yeah?"
"Is that you and Jessop, uh, kissing?" Calleigh asked. Ryan stood up and took the phone to change the background. He couldn't help but stare at the picture, remembering when they had taken it.
"Yeah. Don't, uh, tell." He looked up at her. She wanted to ask why he hadn't tried to ask for time off, but the look in his eyes made her stop. She placed a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder and gave him a sad smile.
"Of course." She said and flipped open his phone to make her call, noting that he hadn't changed the background.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
They had solved the case, proving that the wife had been telling the truth. Ryan sat in the locker room, trying to decide if he should confront Bertram. He didn't hear Eric walk in, and he just stared in front of him as his colleague changed his shirt.
"Why do you and H get all the revenge?" He said it so quietly, Eric wasn't sure if he had heard correctly.
"What?"
"For Marisol. What about Jessop?"
Eric was at a loss for words as Ryan lifted his head so that their eyes met.
"What about Jessop's revenge?" What about mine? He almost added.
Ryan left before Eric could say anything, surprised he had let the words slip out. Eric just stared after him, trying to figure out what Ryan had said.
