[DISCLAIMER: I do not own CSI Miami or there characters but I do own the plot and any characters I have made up]
It has been 3 months since Ryan and Charlie started dating after meeting each other through the investigation of Nikki, Charlie's best friend's murder. From that moment on Ryan and Charlie have been joint at the hip, whenever Ryan wasn't on the job or Charlie wasn't organising some charity event; they were together.
After seeing how the Legal system works in trying to create justice, Charlie got a job as a legal assistant for one of her Dads old friends who is a partner in a law firm. Ryan is still working hard as a CSI with the rest of his team, fighting crime all over Miami.
On both of their days off, Ryan and Charlie went down to the local shops to have lunch. They walked hand in hand down the beach, making their way to a cafe. Once they were seated, they looked at the menu.
"What do you feel like having today?" Ryan asked his girlfriend. "I'm thinking a chicken burger" Charlie said putting down the menu and staring at Ryan. He nodded "Good choice, I think I'll get one too" he said as he put down his menu also. After they took their order, Ryan took his girlfriends hand from across the table and held it but Charlie kept fidgeting. "What's wrong?" Ryan asked her "I've been thinking..." Ryan quickly interrupted her. "This doesn't sound good"
Charlie smiled widely "Oh no, it's nothing bad. We've been going out for nearly 4 months now and we've known each other for nearly 6. I think we should go that one step further in our relationship". Ryan cocked his eyebrow and played with Charlie's hand "What do you mean?" he asked her.
"I think we should move in together" Ryan was taken back, let go of her hand and leant back into his chair. "Whoa, Charlie... isn't that moving a bit fast?" Charlie folded her arms over chest "You don't want to move in with me?" Ryan knew he'd started something now "Nooo Charlie..." she interrupted him.
"You practically live in my apartment anyway Ryan, I just think it's stupid that you're paying for your own apartment when you're not even there."
Charlie had a point, Ryan thought to himself. He had to admit; moving in together would make things a lot easier. He was always at her apartment anyway? But then Ryan got thinking about his problems... his OCD. Sure Charlie knew he liked things to be in order, but she hadn't seen his apartment... I mean for god's sake, he alphabetises his cereal boxes! What if she saw how weird he got about that kind of stuff? Would she still want to be with him?
Ryan held his girlfriends hand again but she pulled away. Ryan looked at her with all seriousness.
"Charlie, I just think we should wait a bit longer. I do want to move in with you but not right now..." Charlie got up from the table and stormed off outside. Ryan placed some money on the table and chased after her. He finally caught up to her as she was walking along the boardwalk "Charlie, please stop" she reluctantly stopped when Ryan grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him.
"C'mon Charlie, don't act like this" she folded her arms across her chest again "Why not? I just want to know where we stand Ryan." He looked down at his shoes, not knowing what to say. Charlie unfolded her arms and moved closer to Ryan "Just with our lives at the moment, you and I working fulltime, it feels like I don't get to see you. And that's all I want to do, be with you because I..."
Charlie paused for a moment and Ryan looked up from the ground and into her eyes "Because I love you" she said lightly smiling at him. Ryan's face lit up and he blushed. "I love you too" he said back to her.
That was the first time they said they loved each other and they were too wrapped up in the moment kissing to notice Horatio Caine was standing next to them.
"Lieutenant Caine!" Charlie exclaimed as she pulled away from Ryan's lips "Good day off Mr Wolfe?" Caine said looking at his college.
"H!" Ryan said as he quickly wiped his mouth "Um you remember Charlie?" he said pointing to his girlfriend "I do Mr Wolfe, how are you Ma'm?" Charlie couldn't stop smiling.
"I'm good Lieutenant, how about you?"
"I'm fine" Horatio nodded, looking at the young happy couple. "Well I'll leave you two at it. Mr Wolfe I'll see you tomorrow" he said putting on his sunglasses and walking off. Charlie and Ryan both turned to each other and laughed "I can't believe H just saw me..."
"Kissing your girlfriend?" Ryan nodded as he pulled back Charlies hair from her face. "It's not like your 15 Ryan and your parents just caught you with a girl in your room" but Ryan disagreed "Oh it is" he said with another laugh, grabbed her hand and then they both started walking back down the boardwalk.
The next day Ryan Wolfe turned up at the Lab and greeted his co workers. The first person he saw was CSI Calleigh Duquene walking up to him swaying her gorgeous straight blonde hair "Hey Ryan" he greeted him showing off her southern accent. "Have a good weekend?" she asked him sounding more interested in his social life than normal.
"Um yes it was good" he said back to her.
"From what I heard, it was a bit more than a good weekend" Eric Delko the charasmatic Cuban said as he walked up behind them. Ryan turned to him, confused at what he was talking about. Then Natalia the brown haired/skinned beauty of the team rocked up "Charlie told me about the big step you took" Ryan sighed. Charlie and his fellow co workers Calleigh and Natalia had gotten very close over the past couple of weeks after meeting again at Eric Delkos birthday drinks.
"So you love her Wolfe?" Eric teased him.
"Don't tease him Eric" Calleigh defended him "At least he has a girlfriend" Natalia backed up Calleigh. They all laughed in unison but stopped as soon as they saw Horatio walk towards them with a serious face.
"What's up Horatio?" Eric asked him. "We have a dead reality star on our hands" he replied and led the team out of the lab and to their assigned CSI Hummers.
The CSI team arrived at the crime scene, where Alexx Woods their ME was already examining the body. "Her name was Christie Turner, 26 years young" Alexx said in her motherly tone as the team got to her and started looking around.
"COD?" asked Natalia as she got out her camera to photograph the body "Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head" Alexx pointed out. Horatio, Eric and Calleigh then went to talk to the first police offices on the scene while Ryan and Natalia stayed with Alexx. Natalia photographed a rock that was near the body, covered in blood
"The murder weapon by the looks of it" she said as she continued taking photos. "What is she famous for?" Ryan asked as he put the rock into an evidence bag.
"She was on one of those reality shows, the one where they hook up some rich Bachelor and he gives the girls a rose if he likes them..."
"Yeah have no idea what you're talking about Natalia" Ryan joked around.
Natalia looked down sadly at the womans body "She got her 15 minutes of fame from it, and from what I heard started doing come commercials and such. Really into those charity events... maybe Charlie knew her?" she asked Ryan but he shrugged.
Horatio, Eric and Calleigh soon walked back over to the body "The police officer already has a suspect but he's lawyered up." Calleigh told the team.
"He's in his lawyer's office right now. Mr Wolfe, Calleigh and I will go talk to the suspect" Horatio said putting on his sunglasses.
As Ryan, Horatio and Calleigh got out of an elevator they found themselves in the reception area of a prestigious law firm. Ryan recognised the firm as soon as he read the name above the receptionists head.
"We're from the Miami Dade Crime Lab Ma'm" Horatio said walking over to the receptionist. "And do you have an appointment Sir?" she asked him.
"We're here to talk to a suspect named Jerry Lewis, who I believe is with his lawyer Mr Wilson" the Receptionist nodded, picked up the phone and called his assistant."His assistant will be out to take you to the board room".
Horatio, Calleigh and Ryan waited a few minutes until they saw glass doors opening and Charlie was approaching them. A smile appeared across her face when she saw Ryan
"Hey..." she said walking over and kissing him on the cheek. "You meeting me for lunch?" she asked him as she obviously thought she had forgotten they had arranged lunch.
"We're actually here on business Ma'm" Horatio said. Charlie looked away from Ryan to Calleigh, who smiled apologetically at her. "There here to see David..." the Receptionist pipped up, Charlie nodded and lead them through large firm.
The CSI's lead by Charlie walked into a huge boardroom which overlooked the city and already in seats were Jerry Lewis and his lawyer. David Wilson stood up and shook hands with Horatio and gestured for everyone to take seats including his assistant Charlie. Horatio, Calleigh and Ryan sat across from Jerry, David and Charlie to discuss the case.
"My client has pleaded the fifth amendment Lieutenant Caine."
"That's good for him Mr Wilson, but we already know he committed the crime." Horatio replied. Jerry Lewis shuffled in his chair "I was there Lieutenant. As I've told my lawyer I went over to talk to Christie about getting back together"
"You's were dating?" asked Calleigh and Jerry nodded. "She wouldn't listen to me, and kept pushing me away and threatened that if I didn't leave she would scream."
"Then what happened?" Ryan asked, flickering from Jerry to Charlie. "I left" he said leaning back in his chair, twiddling with his thumbs. Ryan couldn't help but laugh at this man's story "You just left?" he said looking at Calleigh "Take off your jacket Mr Lewis" Ryan said firmly and putt out his hand. Jerry Lewis looked at his lawyer in confusion "What's this about?" his lawyer asked.
"We have probable cause to take your jacket for testing" Calleigh answered David Wilsons question. The lawyer nodded to his client, so Jerry Lewis took off his jacket "Testing for what?" he asked as Calleigh bagged the jacket and put it in her evidence kit. "See once somebody has killed someone, they usually wash their hands to get the blood off. But what they always forget to do is to change their clothes." Ryan said as Horatio, Calleigh and himself got up from the table.
"We will run this jacket for fibres of blood and we'll see if your innocent or not Mr Lewis". They walked themselves out into the reception area followed by Charlie, David Wilson and the suspect Jerry Lewis. "We'll come down to the labs to see the results ourselves". So they all got into the elevator, Charlie and Ryan not talking or even looking at each other.
A little while later they all arrived back at the labs "My assistant Charlie will go with you while you test my client Mr Lewis's jacket" Horatio nodded "That's perfectly fine". Horatio then gestured for David Wilson and his client to go to his office, while Calleigh, Ryan and Charlie stood awkwardly. Calleigh turned to both of them and handed Ryan the bag of evidence.
"You go take this to Natalia for fibres then send it off to Eric for DNA if there's blood." Calleigh smiled at Ryan then to Charlie "I'll call you later" she said to Charlie, then turned and walked off in the opposite direction.
Ryan walked Charlie to the lab where Natalia was waiting "Hey Charlie" she said as she took out the jacket from the evidence bag and started spraying it with some liquid.
"What are you doing?" Charlie asked. "This will show if there is any blood on the jacket" Natalia answered as Ryan stood quietly with his arms folded over his chest.
"Wa la!" Natalia said with a grin as the jackets sleeve revealed blood "Now I'll just take a swab of this and you can take it down to DNA". Ryan nodded to Natalia as she gave him a clear plastic bag with a cotton bud in it.
Ryan rushed down to Eric in DNA with Charlie shortly behind him. Eric greeted them as they walked into the DNA lab.
"Bring your girlfriend to work day?" Eric teased as Ryan passed him the bag "No, Charlies working for the defence" Ryan said with a tone of disgust. Both Eric and Charlie noticed his tone but chose to ignore it. It only took a few moments for Eric to see that the DNA on the jacket belonged to their murder victim Christie Turner.
"He's our man" Eric concluded looking at Ryan, who then turned to Charlie and walked out of the lab. Charlie caught up to him as he walked past the numerous labs making his way back up to the main offices "Horatio, its him" he said on the phone and hung up. Charlie called out to him
"What's with the cold shoulder Ryan?" She asked with confusion over her face. Ryan laughed "what's so funny?" she said pulling his arm so he would stop walking and talk to her.
"I just don't get how you can do it" he asked her with a sarcastic grin "What do you mean?" He shook his head and put his hands on his hips.
"Working for the defence, helping people get away with murder". Charlie's mouth dropped open and she threw her arm in air "What do you expect me to do Ryan? It's my job!"
"To what? represent scumbags!" Charlie took a step back and calmed herself. "We don't choose our clients Ryan; we just do our jobs like everyone else."
Just then Ryan and Charlie looked to the side and saw Horatio putting handcuffs on Jerry Lewis where another officer took him away; then David Wilson the lawyer approached Charlie. "We've got to head back to the office now Charlie, fill out some bond forms for Mr Lewis. " He nodded at Ryan and walked off towards the exit. As soon as Charlie's boss was gone she turned back to Ryan "I've got to get back to work." He nodded while looking down at the ground. She sighed and put one hand through her hair
"Apparently there's going to be a small memorial service tonight for Christie which I'll be attending, I'll see you at mine around 6pm if you're going to accompany me." She said still angry at Ryan but turned away to catch up to her boss.
Later on that day just before the end of the CSIs shift Eric and Ryan were packing up their kits in their locker room "So since when has Charlie been in the field of law?" he asked Ryan. "Nearly a month now. One of her Dads old friends offered her a job and some training." Eric nodded and then saw Ryan lean his head against his locker.
"I was out of line today" he said to himself and Eric nodded. "From the performance I saw... just a bit" he said with a casual smile. Then Ryan's phone rang, it was Charlie
"Hey Charlie..." he was going to apologise but she didn't give him time to "Just letting you know that I'm going to the event early to help set up. So if you were going to show tonight, I was just err letting you know that you don't need to pick me up". Ryan nodded and went to say something but she hung up. "Looks like you have some making up to do tonight Wolfe" Eric said slapping him on the back as he passed him.
Later on that night, Ryan arrived at Christie Turners memorial service. He couldn't believe that this girl had only been dead for one day and people had already organistd a memorial service so quickly. Ryan made his way through the crowds of rich and famous, who were there to pay their respects to the reality star. He found Charlie talking with a bunch of random people he didn't recognise but went over anyway to say sorry.
"Hey" he whispered lightly in her left ear making Charlie turn around. "I'm really sorry about today, I was out of line and I know that you're just doing your job." She couldn't help but smile at him when he did his adorable apologetic face. She laughed and held his hand "I forgive you" she said kissing him lightly on the lips.
They talked for a few minutes by themselves until Charlie was taken away by some random girl to discuss some details of their next charity event. Ryan looked around and noticed someone familiar in the distance and walked over to them.
"Why hello Wolfe" Michael Lipton said. "What are you doing here?" Ryan said looking around to see if anyone was watching him with his old bookie.
"I haven't played for months Lipton..." Michael interrupted him "I know Wolfe, but you still owe me 10 grand. And if you can't come up with the money maybe I'll just work it out with your new friend over there". He said looking over in Charlies direction. Ryan watched as his girlfriend spoke to numerous charity folk.
"Doesn't she work over at that Hawks and Burrows Lawyers?" Michael said with a smirk. Wolfe grabbed his arm and walked towards the exit "You leave her out of this" he whispered in all seriousness.
"Get me my money and I will" he said and then left the room. Charlie walked over to Ryan in her black cocktail dress, with her blonde hair all curly and held his hand.
"What are you doing over here by yourself?" she said with a smile looking up at him. She knew by his body language that something wasn't right.
"What's going on?" Ryan looked down at Charlie and tried to pull a soft smile "Nothing, everything's fine" he said and then pulled back some curly hair from her face.
Once Ryan and Charlie had arrived back to her apartment, she asked him again if something was wrong. "Charlie everything's fine, stop worrying." So Charlie turned around for Ryan to pull down the zipper on the back of her dress.
"You would tell me if something was wrong though, wouldn't you?" she asked him. Ryan closed his eyes for a couple of seconds to think and placed his head on the back of her shoulders, not undoing her zipper. She turned to face him, worry written across her face.
"There's something you don't know about me..." Ryan began to say "If this is about your OCD? Because babe I've kind of noticed it" Charlie said trying to crack a joke but it failed. Ryan went and sat down on the lounge and Charlie followed.
"I'm just going to be straight forward about this. I owe this guy some money."
"What for? How much?" Charlie asked him. "It's just a guy I use to play poker with, no big deal. I'll just play and the win money back" Ryan said. Charlie got up of the lounge angrily "No you won't" She said folding her arms.
"Look Charlie, I've done it before, it will be fine." Charlie looked confused "You've done it before? What's that suppose to mean Ryan? Do you have a problem with gambling?" Ryan turned away, he couldn't look at her and see disappointment.
"Ryan..." she said as she walked back over and sat next to him on the lounge. "I'll give you the money you owe whoever it is, but you can't play again." Ryan continued to look away from her until she pulled his head towards hers and their foreheads met.
"I know how addicts work, once you start you can't go back". Ryan leant back a bit to look into her eyes which started to tear up "What are you talking about?... Nikki?" Ryan jumped to a conclusion about Charlie's dead best friend. He was right, she was addicted to drugs, but that wasn't who Charlie was talking about.
"My Father was an alcoholic, had been for years before my Mum had the guts to say anything to him. Mum had finally had enough of his behaviour; she told him that he could stop drinking and get help or he would lose us." Charlie reminsed on her memories "He chose to stop drinking, but only after Mum decided to separate from him. That's how they died, on the way to a marriage counsellor to try and fix things. They were hit by a drunk driver, how ironic is that?" she asked looking at Ryan.
He leaned it and held his girlfriend "I'll never play again and I'll pay you back every cent."
Charlie smiled and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend Ryan, stroking the back of his head "Good, because I can't loose you too".
[[AUTHORS NOTE - Really big chapter that was. I hope everyone is enjoying the development of Ryan and Charlies relationship. The next chapter is going to be an emotional one! so keep reading and I'd love to hear what you think about it]]