His mind flashes back to when he found ryan, sprawled on the concrete, nail penetrating his left eye. eric felt a rush of guilt and horror then, just like now. he's just glad ryan's alive, and mostly unharmed.
a short fix-it of sorts, during the events of season ten, episode three, "blown away", some thoughts that i think would cross eric's mind if he and ryan were together.
tumblr — @ericdelko
this episode is a little crazy, up and down kinda momentum of the plot line. had some ideas about what eric would be thinking during this episode and thought it would be good to get some perspective on this incident versus the nail gun one.
by the way, in the end of this, at the bar, ryan's staring at walter in amusement as he watches him dramatically exaggerate the saving part. but ryan's already with that, so he lets walter, if only so the guy gets laid, though i didn't actually write it specifically.(this is canon in the last scene between them when ryan says he'll be walter's wingman at the bar.)
(/ = time skip)
Eric's mouth is moving, reporting the facts, but his mind? That's a whole different story.
There's a tornado alert, evacuation warnings, and Eric's blood pressure is dropping at the thought that Ryan and Walter were sent out in the field an hour ago, in the same area that it set to be hit.
Horatio can already read the fear flashed on his face, the same thoughts flowing through his mind. They need to get Walter and Ryan out of there.
They sprint out of the lab, all but jumping into the car and Eric's so tempted to scream at h to step out it but the man is two steps ahead of him, speeding through red lights.
The tornado has slowly passed by the time Eric is getting out, not even waiting for Horatio to stop the car, eyes scanning through the wreckage for the others.
Horatio brushes against his shoulder and the two of them begin shouting, stalking through the area as Eric's mind runs through worst case scenarios of finding Ryan. Alive, injured, dead, and the last one is too difficult to even think about, Eric's breathing becoming shallow at the thought.
Thankfully, he's saved from going down that trail when he directs his eyes to where Horatio's looking. Walter stumbles out of a turned over house, lost in a daze, and Eric holds his breath as he waits for Ryan to follow, but it never comes.
Horatio's voice sounds shot to hell, yelling out Ryan's name.
Eric's internally panicking as he demands answers from Walter and frustration building when it's not what he wants to hear.
A strange muffle abruptly jumps from behind them and Horatio's eyes widen, then narrow at the sound. "I got him!"
Eric's heart jumps in his throat, hopping up to follow horatio as he rushes after him, hands shaking when he notices Ryan spread out on the hood of a car. He looks worse for wear, cuts and bruises decorating his skin, blood gushed around his wounds. He breathes a sigh of relief, hands hovering over Ryan's body when he moves and verbally responses.
His mind flashes back to when he found Ryan, sprawled on the concrete, nail penetrating his left eye. Eric felt a rush of guilt and horror then, just like now. He's just glad Ryan's alive, and mostly unharmed.
/
His eyes flutter and the first thing that hits him is pain. Ryan lets out a groan as he tries to flex his arm, but it's not moving. A faint sound can be heard but the ringing in his ears are overwhelming, roaring of fear over the pain in his body.
He focuses on the sound, words becoming clear and the voices more familiar.
"There you are. Hey, Ryan. You're okay, buddy." Ryan registers the familiar cadence of Horatio's voice, the startling surprise of his first name passing through H's mouth.
A warm hand grasps his own, gently, mindful of the multiple cuts littering his palm. Eric, his mind helpfully supplies, that hand having held Ryan's millions of times by now.
"Ryan! We're here, You're gonna be fine." Ryan feels a rush of love flow through his body, focused on the comfort of Eric's voice, relief and concern leaking through it.
His eyes flutter shut against his will and he hums. Eric's hand starts to slip away and Ryan's quick to tighten his hold. Eric murmurs back comforting words as he shifts closer, adjusting the position so he's resting their linked hands against his heart.
Now Ryan can feel how fast it's beating, Eric's face appearing in his view.
"Don't worry, you're safe now. I'm here, we're here. The paramedics are coming, I'm not leaving, I promise." Eric reassures, his love wrapping around Ryan like a soothing blanket.
/
Eric does have to leave, though he does it regretfully. He does whisper in Ryan's ear as the paramedics arrive to carry him away.
"I'll meet you at the hospital, okay?" Ryan nods in understanding, eyes closed in pain.
"I promise, Ryan, I swear to you." At that statement, Ryan's eyes open and he gives Eric a small smile. Then he's off to the ambulance and Eric's making his way to Horatio, ready for instructions.
/
Eric's partly glad this case is complicated, it allows him to shift his focus from worrying about Ryan and the state they found him in to working on the case.
When he finds a lost dog in the trailer park, it reminds him of Ryan and his heart twinges a little at that.
Eric had some time to drop in and go see Ryan in the hospital. He was mostly fine, left to bandage a couple of broke ribs and stitching a few cuts across his body. Ryan had shooed him away after reassuring multiple times that he was fine and he would see Eric at the lab. Then he had teased Eric over his bleeding heart about the dog, because of course Eric had to tell him about the dog.
He leaves, his shoulders losing some of that tension and his heart lighter in his chest. Eric shakes off his worries and forces his head back into the game. He processes the fabric found in the man's throat and offers up the dog to Calleigh, like any normal day at work. Except Ryan's hurt and he'll have to wait until after work to really process that. Eric's already mentally creating a list to accommodate Ryan's several injuries.
/
Joy bursts in his chest like fireworks when the hair on the back of his neck stands up. Eric's always had a sixth sense, the presence of Ryan like a siren call to his soul.
It's like there's an invisible string tying them together, tugging them towards each other, like they're drawn to each other.
He whips around, eyes darting until they spot Ryan shrugging on his lab coat, tossing back barbs with Walter if the smile of his face is any indication..
Eric's sure he looks like an idiot, pausing in the middle of the hallway, a wide smile growing on his face.
/
He's hovering very closely, over Ryan's shoulder as they head towards the location of Jared's car. Eric can feel Ryan's body heat, his body practically plasters against Ryan's.
Ryan's looking at him with a mixture of annoyance and fondness, but he is unharmed and Eric can actually breath.
There's cuts and slashes on his face, marring ryan's beautiful face but he still manages to be mesmerizing, grabbing Eric's full attention.
Ryan's okay and if it wasn't for the wounds, Eric would think nothing would have happened.
He's happy when they bounce theories and observations back and forth, landing on the same conclusion. And though fury builds within him, Eric's content in this very moment with Ryan, who's alive.
/
Eric's smiling, finally able to relax after the shit storm, (pun intended, he thinks bitterly), as he shoulders his way into the bar.
Ryan's huddled in a corner booth, smirking with his eyes trained at something in the distance. There's two open beers on the table, one open and half drunken in front of Ryan and one full, next to him for Eric.
Eric slowly strides towards Ryan and he finally spots Walter. He's at the bar, a crowd of people around him, clearly enthralled with what he's saying, most like of his heroics from today, his bandaged hands waving wildly.
He drops in the seat next to Ryan, warmth in his chest growing when Ryan immediately sidles up against him, grabbing Eric's arm to wrap around his body.
Eric goes willingly, ignoring the raising volume from Walter's group. He does rest his head on Ryan's, when the younger man tucks his face in the crook of Eric's neck.
Lips brushing briefly, Eric almost misses the whispered thank you Ryan murmurs against his skin. He does and Eric drops a kiss on Ryan's shoulder, praying silently his gratitude for bringing the man he loves back to safety.