Title: Misdemeanors
Disclaimer: Language, violence, angst, and slash.
POV: Speed
Chapter Six: Shooting You
I sit with my hands handcuffed in the silence of the interrogation room. The officer was kind enough to remove my handcuffs and cuff my hands in the front. It may have been a nice gesture but I know that right now he's talking to Horatio, telling him all about the incident at the crime scene. The cop deserved what he got if you ask me. The annoying thing is that I don't care for Ryan and yet, here I am, in big trouble, because of him. How does that work out? I fidget in the seat. Never before have I noticed how uncomfortable these chairs are. Usually I'm on the good side of interrogation. When you're asking the important questions you never worry about the chair you're sitting in.
The door opens and Horatio walks in, a look of disappointment on his face. There's a folder in his hands, the typical case folder. He sits opposite of me without saying a word. I look away from his incriminating gaze. The folder is opened and he slides it across the table for me to see. I take a tentative glance. There are pictures of the officer I went after and the bruises that I left behind. I push the folder back in Horatio's direction.
"I don't know what to say about this, Speed," he says.
"I'm not going to deny that I did it, H. I did it and I know that I'm in trouble." My voice sounds hollow and dry.
"The officer explained things. He says that you attacked him for no apparent reason. I can't have a loose cannon on my team. You do know that this is going to reflect badly on you and you'll most likely go on suspension, unless they decide to fire you," he explains.
I sigh. "I can't believe that after all these years you're going to believe that officer instead of your friend. Do you know how that hurts, Horatio? Do you not even want to hear my side of things?"
"Of course I want to hear your side of the story, Speed," he rubs the back of his neck. "However, you need to realize that this guy has been on the force longer than you. He's received medals for his bravery. The evidence isn't telling us much. This case is going to become a he-said-he-said, and you know how those play out."
I nod. "Look, this is what happened. I got to the scene, Ryan showed up about twenty minutes later. I processed the body and the living room after sending him to check the other rooms. After an hour of eerie silence I went to check on the rookie," I explain. "I stopped at the kitchen entrance when I heard the officer talking to Ryan. Only they weren't talking, the officer was being extremely unfriendly toward Ryan."
"Unfriendly how?" Horatio interrupts.
"He was trash talking Ryan," I simplify. "Now, I wasn't going to get into because I admit, I liked hearing him get put in his place. Then the officer said some things that I didn't agree with and it got me thinking. When I heard Ryan ask the guy to move out of his personal space I decided to enter the room and put an end to the problem. That's when the officer grabbed Ryan and held his arm too tightly. After that I guess I sort of snapped."
Horatio frowns. "You're saying that the officer grabbed onto CSI Wolfe?" I nod. "Hm, funny, he never brought that up."
At that moment the door to the interrogation room flies open. Ryan comes in with a smile on his face. He reminds me of the cat that ate the canary. It makes me sick to see him so happy while I'm sitting here in handcuffs.
"Ryan, this is private, you need to leave the room," Horatio says patiently.
"I'm sorry, H, but this is important. I hope that you will hear me out."
"Ryan-"
Ryan rolls up the sleeve of his shirt. There, right above his elbow, is a nasty looking bruise that's distinctly shaped like hand. Horatio stands to get a better look at the bruise. Anger flashes in his eyes as he runs his fingers over the reddish marks. Ryan winces in pain.
"So it is true what Speed said. The officer assaulted you first," Horatio muses.
"Yes," Ryan confirms. "Though I don't agree with how Speed went about things I'm glad that he did. Officer Barq was threatening me."
"Go get Calleigh or Delko to photograph this bruise in detail," he says to Ryan. Ryan smiles again and leaves the room in a happy mood. Horatio turns to me. "I'm going to let you go about business as usual, Speed. Don't make me regret it." He waves in an officer to take the handcuffs off.
I rub my wrists after the cuffs are removed. The last I see of Horatio is of him entering the second interrogation room where Officer Barq is sitting. My stomach growls letting me know that I missed lunch because of a stupid misunderstanding. Without asking anyone I get up and leave the lab completely. I need the fresh air. Seeing that disappointment in Horatio's eyes had been nearly too much for me to take. How could he have doubted me in any way? This just confirms the worries that I've been having. Horatio doesn't trust me anymore. He really has hired Ryan to take my place.
I stop at a local burger joint to fill the empty void in my stomach. The grease of the burger and fries is too much for me and I don't finish my meal. While I'm finishing up my lemonade I think about the repercussions of my actions in that house. The only people who know what the argument was about are Ryan, the officer, and me. Ryan won't talk, neither will I; that leave us with the officer. Word's going to spread that I stood up for a gay guy. Before too long the accusations will be coming my way. This is something I wish I had thought of before acting on impulse.
I look at the Hummer parked just on the other side of the black iron railing. This is my job, my life. Standing up for victims is what I do. I've never questioned any of my actions before, so why am I doing it now? I hear the radio squawk through the open window as a call comes through. Putting down my glass I hope over the railing and open the door to the large vehicle. The few patrons at the restaurant watch me with curious looks. The waitress rushes over to make sure I don't skip out on my bill. I hold my hand up to silence her for a minute as the call comes through again.
An officer is in trouble and one has already been shot. I call it in saying that I'm on my way to the scene it's not that far away. I open my wallet to pay for my lunch when the waitress shakes her head and tells me that lunch is on her. I stare at her in disbelief. More calls come through about shooting. Now it's been upgraded to a hostage situation. No other cops are within the immediate area. I thank the waitress before hopping into the Hummer and turning on my sirens. I race out of the area to help the officer in trouble. This can make me look good in the eyes of everyone and turn around the events of this morning. I hate myself for thinking that way. This is not about reputation, this about saving lives.
I turn the corner into a warehouse district and come across another CSI issued Hummer. A cop car sits beside it. I pull up behind the two vehicles and climb out. There's no doubt that the Hummer was driven here by someone from my team. Are they the ones who got shot? How could this have happened? Was the officer not doing his job? I hear shouting and head in that direction. I turn the corner around a warehouse to find an unpleasant scene. The uniformed officer lies on the ground, a wound in his chest bleeding profusely. He doesn't appear to be breathing. A few feet away, with a gun trained on me, is a guy hyped-up on drugs. In his grasp is Ryan. The universe must be laughing at me.
"Drop your weapon," I shout at the guy, taking a few steps closer. "Other cops are on the way. Drop the gun and let's deal with this peacefully."
The guy laughs and points the gun at Ryan's head. "I've always wanted to kill cops. Cop killers get a lot of media coverage. Then I got to thinking, so do serial killers."
"So you decided to be a serial cop killer?" I ask in hopes that I can keep the man talking long enough for back-up to get here.
"Genius isn't it? That guy there," he gestures at the officer, "was so easy to take down. But this guy had to put up a fight."
Ryan squirms in an attempt to loosen the hold on him. His face is slightly red and he's probably not getting enough air. The blood on the lower right side of his white T-shirt flashes in the sun. I don't know if the blood is his or from the officer. The spot looks to large to be from blood splatter.
"You aren't going to come out of this alive," I say.
The guy shrugs. "That makes it even better. Dead people gain a lot of popularity. I'll just make sure to take out you and your buddy here before the others show up."
He points the gun at Ryan's head once again. This time he cocks it, his finger is on the trigger. In moments like this time slows down. You have to make a choice. A choice that needs to end right but can go wrong so quickly. In a flash the druggie turns his gun on me instead. The air echoes as guns are fired.