"Valera…" Keats barely said her name before she started to cry. Maxine Valera put aside her testing and placed a comforting arm over her shoulder.
"What happened, K.J.?" She stroked her arm and tried to wipe the tears off her face with a tissue. Natalia stood by her side, wondering how to help in the situation.
"Berkeley…he's going to ruin Ryan's career…if I don't sleep with him…" She managed to choke out through her sobs. Natalia's eyes narrowed. She promptly excused herself from the DNA lab, leaving Keats in the care of Valera.
"Relax, K.J. Berkeley doesn't have enough power to damage the rep of a CSI. He's just a minnow swimming in a pool of sharks." She said, testing out an interesting metaphor. Keats looked up at her.
"What is Ryan?" She asked. Valera thought for a bit.
"A barracuda?" She suggested. Keats laughed through her tears. She hugged Valera, hoping that in time she'd be able to repay her kindness.
Berkeley watched Ryan cross-examine the Captain, cunningly drawing a confession out of him. The Captain admitted to the crime, shouting his declaration of guilt in a fury. Ryan left the rest to the suits and headed out of the interrogation room.
Berkeley leaned against the wall, checking his watch periodically and waiting for Keats' shift to end. Ryan passed by him as Natalia was approaching, using quick and angry little steps.
"Where the hell do you get off being such a pig?" She said. Ryan stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"What are you insinuating, Natalia?" Berkeley asked with a grin. Natalia Boa Vista's eyes flashed.
"You're blackmailing Keats into having sex with you."
"Natalia…I appreciate your concern over Remington's welfare, but I'll thank you to stay out of my business." He said as he headed down the hall.
Ryan reared back and gave Berkeley a punch that sent him crashing to the ground.
"You son-of-a-bitch." He sputtered. The side of his mouth carried a slight dribble of blood. Natalia stared at Ryan in shock.
"Nice right hook you got there." She said.
"What the hell is going on?" Calleigh Duquesne walked primly down the hall, a vision of refinement in an otherwise disorderly setting.
Ryan and Natalia looked at each other, wondering how to go about explaining the matter at hand.
"I was attacked by one of your agents." Jake said, picking himself off the floor.
"He was trying to bribe K.J. with sexual intent." Natalia murmured, her eyes cast downward.
"Detective Berkeley, your reputation here in the Crime Lab has not gone unnoticed. I'm going to forget all of this ever happened, but if there are any more incidents of this caliber, I'll be forced to take legal action." She gave him a stern look and continued on her way.
Jake Berkeley wiped his mouth with the corner of his sleeve and stormed off in a fury.
Ryan Wolfe sat by himself filling out the paperwork on the cruise murder. He hadn't felt like explaining himself to anyone. It was amazing how possessive he felt of Keats. His Keats.
"Wrapping up the Reims case?" Eric Delko stood beside him, giving him a look that said he didn't care a rip about the closing of the Reims case.
"Don't start, Delko." Ryan muttered. Eric's lips tightened.
"You gotta watch your back, Wolfe. Berkeley is one of the worst cops in this department. He'd sell his grandmother for a raise." Delko replied, mildly annoyed that Ryan wasn't freely volunteering information.
Ryan grunted, trying to ignore Delko's words of advice. Delko refused to back off.
"Will you at least tell me what happened, so I know how to explain to Horatio why Berkeley has a fat lip?" He tried again. Ryan finally relented. He explained to him exactly what had conspired amongst the trio, leaving out absolutely nothing.
"You hit Berkeley because of Keats." He said a few moments after Ryan had finished relaying his side of the story. Ryan prepared himself to be reproached, but he was met with light laughter.
"…it's finally happened to stone-faced Wolfe." He said between chuckles.
"What are you talking about?" Ryan wondered. Eric shook his head.
"You got it bad and you don't even know it, man." He gave Ryan a slap on the back. Ryan watched him leave, thinking heavily about his last words.
He thought about earlier in the afternoon, the mid-day tryst he'd shared with Keats. He remembered almost whispering 'I love you.' And at first he thought he was just going along with the flow. She said it…then he said it…
And it suddenly occurred to Ryan that he hadn't just said it. He truly meant it. The realization floored him.
Natalie made her way back to the DNA lab, confident that Jake Berkeley had learned his lesson. Keats stood in the doorway shyly, waiting for her approach.
"Natalia…I know we haven't gotten along that well. We sorta started off on the wrong foot…more like the wrong leg, actually…" Keats began to babble. Natalia listened, wondering where her train of thought was going.
"…I guess what I'm trying to say is…I'm really glad you stood up for me." Keats drove the point home by embracing her in a childlike hug.
Natalia staggered backward from the force and from the surprise, but she soon grew to like it. It was such a simple, touching gesture that she soon found herself returning the hug.
"No problem, K.J. Us girls have to stick together, right?" She said, in total disbelief that she had actually uttered those words. Sisterhood and girl power and all that stuff didn't exactly frost her cupcakes.
Keats figured she probably didn't mean it. It was obvious in the way her voice lost its usual confident edge. But Keats was happy to have made slight progress in her working and personal relationship with Boa Vista.