Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Notes: I know this is a complete 180 but I had it in my head and it kind of fit with 'It's Over'. It's set a year after 'It's Over'. I apologise if people wanted me to keep Eric as the would-be-bad guy but I couldn't, the guy's too adorable. –grins-
(Sequel to; It's Over.)
Developments.
"Hey, Tina," Ryan smiled at the Crime lab receptionist, whos face lit up with a wide smile that showed plenty of teeth.
"Ryan," the woman got up and moved around until she was standing in front of him where she then pulled him into a hug. "It's been a while, how are you? I gotta tell you, I've missed our chats," she said as she moved back around to her post. The former CSI shook his head, more amused than anything else, and leaned against the glass top of the desk.
"I'm good, I've been good. These last four months did me the world of good. I went on vacation… to New York of all places," he confessed and she snickered behind her hand. "That's it, laugh it up. Though truth be told it wasn't all that bad. Danny said 'Hey', by the way. Actually, his exact words were 'Tell Tina I think she's cute and I miss her already.'" The woman herself laughed.
"You tell that Danny Messer to remember just who I'm married to," she pointed a finger at him and he held up a hand.
"I told him, he wasn't fazed. Nothing fazes Danny, does it?" They looked at one another for a long moment before both started to snicker in a 'respectable' manner.
"Mr Wolfe," an amused voice spoke up from behind him and he froze, then cursed and turned around.
"Why do I always feel like your subordinate just waiting for the day for you to snap and chastise me for not tying my laces correctly?" Ryan asked with a mock pout but the ever unflappable Horatio Caine just raised and eyebrow and donned a satisfied smirk.
"My work here is done," the redhead stated seriously and Ryan rolled his eyes before pulling the man into a brief hug.
The first time Ryan did this, Horatio froze but Ryan ignored it; now Horatio is used to being 'randomly attacked' with public displays of affection and 'deals'… even reciprocates every now and then.
"You know something," Horatio began. "I'm actually in the middle of something at the moment but why don't you come over to my house tonight, we'll talk," the Lieutenant suggested and Ryan smiled.
"Are you cooking?"
"Of course," Horatio actually pulled off an 'almost offended' look and it made Ryan's smile widen a little. The younger man turned to Tina and gestured to Horatio.
"This man can make the best fish dinner in the new world," he said, earning a smile from the receptionist. "Alright, H. Will anyone else be there?" he asked curiously but Horatio didn't answer, he just looked at Ryan, nodded his head a good bye and turned to walk away. Ryan had just turned back to Tina when he heard the redhead call his name and so turned to see him still strolling off.
"Your laces aren't tied correctly." And then Horatio disappeared around the corner that led into the main part of the lab. Ryan rolled his eyes, snickering under his breath.
"Tina, can I get a visitors permit?" he asked the woman when she'd finished transferring someone on the phone.
"Sure, Ryan. Here you go," she handed him a clipboard and pen. "You know what to do; Pass number is CGR0938567." A minute later, Ryan was up one visitors pass for the lab.
"Thanks, tell John I said hey and tell that minx you call a daughter that I'll see her at the weekend." Tina smiled and waved him off, already onto another phone call. Ryan strolled to the elevator, saying hi to a few people here and there. He took the elevator down to 1st floor lab level and stopped by the AV lab to talk to DC for a few minutes before a rather abrupt man walked in, completely ignoring Ryan, and demanding DC to get 'that message' sorted through. Ryan waved to his friend and backed out of the AV lab slowly.
His next pit stop was DNA; Valera. The pair exchanged a few words when Valera looked over towards DC's domain. "I hate that guy," she said under her breath and when Ryan turned around, he noticed the abrupt guy from earlier.
"Who is he?"
"Your replacement," she said honestly and he raised an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest and waiting. "Ok, he's not your replacement," she retracted her statement. "He's the newest 'addition' to Horatio's team. Eric hates him; practically begs Horatio to not put them together on cases and its usually Calleigh who ends up playing baby sitter." Ryan winced.
"That guy looks like he'd deal with Calleigh very well. Calleigh's very… precise." Valera grinned.
"You mean is she likes you, she likes you a lot and if she doesn't, you've got no chance in hell?" Ryan nodded with a grin. "Too true my friend. She took him out on his first case and asked him to talk her through the scene at first glances. He looked at her like she was crazy and told her to talk herself through it; he had a job to do."
"Damn," Ryan whistled. "Guy's got balls, I'll give him that." He chuckled and was soon on his way. He stopped off to see Carl in Trace but stayed as far away from the evidence locker as he possibly could; he's seen Boa Vista earlier and really didn't want to deal with that right then. He'd just made a decision to go down to the morgue after finding out that Eric was out on a call when the ME herself strolled out of the elevator, a file in hand. As soon as she saw Ryan she rushed over and pulled him into a hug.
"Baby, it's so good to see you," she said soothingly and he sighed into her hair. He'd really missed her. When she pulled back, she slapped his arm.
"Hey! What was that for?" he rubbed his arm, an irritated look on his face.
"Why haven't I heard from you in two months?" she demanded to know and his look turned sheepish and shameful.
"Ah… sorry Alexx," he said, truthfully sorry. "I didn't mean not to call or anything it just… things were happening and I couldn't even find the time to each three square meals a day, let alone call someone. I'm so sorry," he gave her the 'lost puppy' look and she rolled her eyes.
"Honey, that face only works for Calleigh and you know it," the man pouted but knew he was forgiven. "Alright, I'll forgive you, if," she paused and his smile froze with her. "You come to the house this weekend. Brian and Jamie have missed you." He relaxed at her request and agreed.
A gun shot was heard in the lab and he smiled.
"Big sister's home, where're you headed?" When Alexx answered 'Calleigh', Ryan held out an arm for her to take and 'escorted' her to the firearms lab where they found the southern belle taking aim but not firing. Ryan leaned against the wall with his arms folded and just watched her in her element, motioning Alexx to stay quiet for a minute. It was then that he heard another voice. He altered his position slightly and was able to see that it was the 'guy that both Valera and Eric' hated talking to the blonde. Hell, he was practically undressing her with his eyes.
"You sure you got your stance right, Duquesne?" the man asked and both Ryan and Alexx winced. Calleigh's mouth thinned slightly but the man didn't notice.
"Why I don't rightly know, Steven. Why don't you show me how you're supposed to stand?" As the guy got into his 'stance', Ryan stepped away from the wall, noticed immediately by Calleigh, who quickly reigned her excitement when he put a quieting finger to his lips.
"Your legs are too close together, space them a few inches further," Ryan advised.
"Who the hell are-" the man turned around and saw exactly who it was. "Oh, it's you," Steven sighed a very bored sigh. "Hey, Wolfe, how's the eye these days?" he snarked, a smug smirk on his face. Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"You can't think you're funny, can you?" the former CSI asked, a truly confused expression on his face. When Steven didn't answer Ryan shrugged. "No matter. I thought I'd visit a few friends here today but with everyone I've spoken to, they all mention this one guy. Horatio's new 'team addition'-"
"Your replacement you mean. What kind of CSI get shot in the eye, anyway?"
"One that made an honest mistake. And as for my eye, it's doing much better thank you. It's still blind, but it isn't hurting anymore."
"Whatever, if you'll excuse me, I have a case to get on with," the man made to move passed Ryan but the former CSI stepped in his way.
"Horatio doesn't hire replacements, Steven," Ryan said, his face set and arms now by his sides. "I wasn't Tim's, and you certainly aren't mine." Steven narrowed his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm twice the CSI you would have ever been." Ryan couldn't help it, he snorted, truly amused by the comment. Steven's eye twitched and his hand clenched into a fist.
"You aren't standing straight when you aim with a gun, you disrespect your colleagues, you're arrogant, demand things instead of asking and I'm pretty sure if Alexx wasn't the person she is, she'd have a few words to say about you too. That not only makes you a bad CSI, but a poor excuse for a human being too." Steven opened his mouth but Ryan went right on. "You might have a degree in chemistry and a masters in pharmacology and whatever else you have, but that's not the same as being a good CSI."
Steven snapped, his eyes were narrowed in rage and he swung for Ryan with his left hand, on Ryan's blind side. Ryan however, easily side-stepped the blow, caught the flying wrist, twisted it until his front was to Steven's back and took the other man's legs out from under him, eventually coming to a halt when his knee rested on the small of Steven's back.
"When I started here, I had to work to earn the respect of my colleagues and sure, I made a few mistakes but things worked out in the end and sadly, I had an accident. But I never lost that respect, I never lost my friends. Now what does that say about your position here? Everyone I've spoken to today doesn't have a positive word to say about you and that's simply not acceptable. Now, I'm going to get up and let you go and you are going to walk out of here, ok?" After a long minute, Steven nodded his head jerkily.
A few seconds later, Ryan was on his feet and Steven was out the door, an embarrassed flush colouring his cheeks.
"I've been wanting to do that for weeks," Calleigh grinned up at her friend before pulling him into a hug. Laughing, Ryan was more than happy to return the embrace. "It's great to see you!" she gushed happily. "How've you been?"
"I've been good, great actually."
"Calleigh, here's your report on Sofia Rodriguez," the woman handed over a file, hugged Ryan once again, pointedly ordering him to make arrangements for dinner soon at her house and left the firearms lab.
"How've you been?" Ryan asked the blonde.
"I've been alright. The lab isn't the same without you," she prodded him with a finger and he rolled his eyes.
"I'm slowly getting that," he laughed. "I actually have an interview in about… ah, five minutes. I guess I'd better get going," he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek briefly before disappearing from the lab before she had a chance to say anything.
"WOLFE!" she practically screamed but he just laughed and rushed to the elevator.
Three quarters of an hour and one interview later, Ryan was back in the main lab. He went to Tina and asked her to contact all CSI's currently in house, and Alexx, and tell them to go to Horatio's office as soon as they could. Tina agreed and Ryan made his way to the redhead's office.
"Come in," Horatio called out and Ryan did. "Mr Wolfe," the man greeted with a small smile.
"Horatio, hey," he took the seat offered to him. "I've actually asked Tina to get everyone up here for a few minutes. I have news that has the potential to be good but also bad and I just wanted to tell all of you together." Horatio nodded his head in understanding and peered at the other man. "What?" Ryan asked warily.
"I hear you had a run in with my newest CSI." If the lieutenant expected Ryan to be ashamed even a little, he was sorely mistaken as Ryan simply shrugged his shoulders, a smug look on his face.
"And I hear the guy had it coming. You're too protective of your team to point out their flaws. I remember you avoiding the issue with me and Eric completely." Horatio responded with a slightly guilty look but Ryan shook his head. "Its fine, we worked it out but this guy, Steven, was making a lot of enemies very quickly. And anyway, after I found out about him, I wanted to say something before my interview." He stopped speaking and Horatio shot him an irritated look. Ryan just looked smug.
Over the next five minutes, Calleigh, Steven, Frankie and Jason (who were from the night shift working overtime), Alexx and Eric arrived at the office, each having a different reaction to Ryan being there. Calleigh was still miffed but only jokingly so; she gave him a hug and sat herself in the chair Ryan had abandoned when people started entering. Frankie and Jason greeted him with smiles and 'manly hugs'. Steven glared at him but when Ryan raised an eyebrow, the other man looked away, another flush showing up on his cheeks. Alexx hugged him and Eric just stared at him for a long moment before grinning and pulling the other man into a tight embrace.
The pair had been in contact over the last few months and had slowly regained their trust in one another and their renewed friendship had been like a breath of fresh air for the both of them. They'd spoken at length about Speed and what happened and decided to put all past animosity behind them. If new animosity came their way, they'd deal with it like normal friends dealt with things but Speed was a non-issue and would remain a lost friend to them both.
"You seriously need to call more often," the Cuban claimed and Ryan adopted a sheepish look.
"I'll make a note of that; To satisfy Delko, pick up phone every day instead of every three days." Eric scowled but laughed and took up a standing position behind Alexx's chair.
"What's this about Horatio?" Alexx asked the man behind the desk but he gestured to Ryan who was only just beginning to fidget. "Ryan?"
"Alexx… everyone, though you're all fantastic and great and… things," he said with a grin. "I didn't come here today to see you all. Great as its all been, I actually had an interview with Janet Guild in Rick Stetler's old office." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Horatio hide a small smile and inwardly rolled his eyes. Trust him to know exactly why Ryan was there. "Anyway, to cut a long story incredibly short, I was offered the position of IAB liaison to the MDPD. I'll have Stetler's office in this lab. I think they think that a friendly face will help internal investigations run more smoothly, and personally, I think they're right." Despite her aversion to IAB, Alexx nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Well I dare say you'd be a damn sight more welcome than Stetler," Alexx said with a grin. She got up and pulled her 'baby' into a hug. "I'm proud of you sweety, congratulations."
"Thanks, Alexx." He was inundated with congratulations from his friends and even a reluctant one from Steven. His new 'colleagues' left the room soon after to get back to work and Ryan turned to the only one left. "Well, I start tomorrow and I seriously hope I won't screw it up."
"You won't," Horatio said confidently and Ryan eyed him.
"You knew about the job, didn't you?" he accused and Horatio elegantly shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't like it when my people aren't where I can keep an eye on them, you know that," the comment was innocent enough but the gleam in Horatio's eyes had Ryan rolling his own, again.
"I'll see you tonight, H," he said and left with a parting wave.
He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to tomorrow or dreading it.
Written by Messrmarauder.