Fic: Invisible, Part 16/22
Title - Invisible, Part 16
Pairing - Eric/Ryan
Spoilers/Warnings - none, that I can think of
Notes - beta'd by Lene (thank you so much!); Sorry it took so long, guys. Writer's block + working on a different story + sickness = a not very conducive environment to writing Invisible. Should be quicker next time. ;)
Ryan had just managed to calm down and convince himself he was alone in the apartment when Eric walked through the door, all the weariness and confusion he felt clearly written on his face. Closing the distance between them, Ryan wrapped his arms around Eric, pulling him into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against Eric’s neck as strong arms wound around him.
Eric chuckled lightly against his hair. “You don’t even know what’s wrong.”
“I can probably guess.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Eric assured him. “You have no reason to be sorry.”
Ryan placed a light kiss on Eric’s neck. “What happened?”
“Your case just seems to get stranger and more complicated every time I look at it.”
Ryan pushed away to look at him, eyebrows creased in a frown. “What’s going on?”
Eric sighed, resting his forehead against Ryan’s, and closed his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.
“Please?”
He opened his eyes again and stared directly into Ryan’s worried hazel orbs. “I can’t. I’m not allowed to talk about the case with anyone outside of the investigation.”
Placing a quick kiss on his lips, Ryan cut off his excuse with “The rules don’t apply to me; I’m dead.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Ryan brought a hand up to Eric’s cheek and stroked it softly with his thumb. “Hey, please just tell me what’s going on. I hate seeing you like this.”
Letting out a relenting sigh Eric dragged Ryan over to the couch. Once Ryan was settled against his chest, he started talking. At first he seemed reluctant, but eventually he was just pouring everything out. He told Ryan everything, from Tyler bringing the pictures back and seeing Speed in them, to talking to Speed and coming up with nothing. Surprisingly, he did feel a little better after telling Ryan - but only a little. He did, after all, still have to think about the possibility of his best friend being a murderer. Ryan just sat patiently and waited until he finished talking, while rubbing soothingly on Eric’s legs.
“I don’t want to think that Speed could ever do something like that, but that’s what the evidence is telling me.”
“Well, maybe there’s something going on you don’t know about. Maybe Speed has a legitimate reason for taking the gun. Maybe it wasn’t even Speed in the first place, but a -”
Eric cut him off. “What? A look-alike? A doppelganger? You can’t be serious,” he replied, fixing Ryan with an incredulous look.
“Don’t give me that, Eric,” Ryan countered. “You’re sitting on the couch with a ghost; stranger things have happened. Anyway, all I’m saying is don’t give up on you friend just yet.”
Eric deflated and pulled Ryan even closer, burying his face in Ryan’s neck. “Point taken. What would I do without you?”
“You’d go crazy worrying about all the what-ifs.” Ryan smiled and ran his fingers through Eric’s hair, attempting to soothe some of the troubles away.
***
“Leave Ryan alone.” The demand was simple, but Marisol knew that its response wouldn’t be. A black mist surrounded her making her shiver in disgust, and if he had this much of an affect on her, she could only imagine what he’d already done to Ryan. “He doesn’t belong here. He needs to go back where he does belong.”
“But it’s so much fun to mess with him. He thinks he’s losing his mind,” an eerily quiet voice replied from deep in the mist. “Not like you; you aren’t afraid of anything. The dead are no fun. Good thing he’s different. Hopefully he’ll be as easily influenced as the rest of them.”
“Don’t count on it. From what I’ve heard and seen of Ryan Wolfe, he’s a pretty stubborn man.”
The mist began to take form, and let out a ghostly laugh. “Everyone can be persuaded by something. I’ll just have to figure out what his weakness is.”
“Ryan won’t listen to you, no matter how hard you try,” Marisol countered angrily at the fake form of Tim Speedle standing in front of her. “And Eric already told him that Speedle may have been the one to kill him, so he won’t trust that form.”
“Speaking of this form, isn’t it ironic that his biggest fear is someone he’s never met?” Fear laughed again. “But you’re right, he doesn’t trust Tim Speedle. That doesn’t mean I won’t be able to persuade him to listen to me. I haven’t lost one yet.”
“You’ll lose this one.”
Fear raised a cynical eyebrow at her. “What makes you so sure?”
Marisol stared him down, fire in her eyes. “You’ll have to go through me to get to him.”
His voice was low, quiet, and yet strangely over-powering. “Silly girl. There’s nothing you can do to stop me. I even had power over you once.” He ran a taunting finger along her jawline, but it was quickly slapped away.
“I may not be able to stop you, but I can influence Ryan just as much as you can,” she argued. “Besides, you’ve forgotten one very important thing, Fear: he trusts me. He knows I’m here to help. I’ll do anything I can to get him back where he needs to be.”
Part 17
Pairing - Eric/Ryan
Spoilers/Warnings - none, that I can think of
Notes - beta'd by Lene (thank you so much!); Sorry it took so long, guys. Writer's block + working on a different story + sickness = a not very conducive environment to writing Invisible. Should be quicker next time. ;)
Ryan had just managed to calm down and convince himself he was alone in the apartment when Eric walked through the door, all the weariness and confusion he felt clearly written on his face. Closing the distance between them, Ryan wrapped his arms around Eric, pulling him into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against Eric’s neck as strong arms wound around him.
Eric chuckled lightly against his hair. “You don’t even know what’s wrong.”
“I can probably guess.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Eric assured him. “You have no reason to be sorry.”
Ryan placed a light kiss on Eric’s neck. “What happened?”
“Your case just seems to get stranger and more complicated every time I look at it.”
Ryan pushed away to look at him, eyebrows creased in a frown. “What’s going on?”
Eric sighed, resting his forehead against Ryan’s, and closed his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.
“Please?”
He opened his eyes again and stared directly into Ryan’s worried hazel orbs. “I can’t. I’m not allowed to talk about the case with anyone outside of the investigation.”
Placing a quick kiss on his lips, Ryan cut off his excuse with “The rules don’t apply to me; I’m dead.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Ryan brought a hand up to Eric’s cheek and stroked it softly with his thumb. “Hey, please just tell me what’s going on. I hate seeing you like this.”
Letting out a relenting sigh Eric dragged Ryan over to the couch. Once Ryan was settled against his chest, he started talking. At first he seemed reluctant, but eventually he was just pouring everything out. He told Ryan everything, from Tyler bringing the pictures back and seeing Speed in them, to talking to Speed and coming up with nothing. Surprisingly, he did feel a little better after telling Ryan - but only a little. He did, after all, still have to think about the possibility of his best friend being a murderer. Ryan just sat patiently and waited until he finished talking, while rubbing soothingly on Eric’s legs.
“I don’t want to think that Speed could ever do something like that, but that’s what the evidence is telling me.”
“Well, maybe there’s something going on you don’t know about. Maybe Speed has a legitimate reason for taking the gun. Maybe it wasn’t even Speed in the first place, but a -”
Eric cut him off. “What? A look-alike? A doppelganger? You can’t be serious,” he replied, fixing Ryan with an incredulous look.
“Don’t give me that, Eric,” Ryan countered. “You’re sitting on the couch with a ghost; stranger things have happened. Anyway, all I’m saying is don’t give up on you friend just yet.”
Eric deflated and pulled Ryan even closer, burying his face in Ryan’s neck. “Point taken. What would I do without you?”
“You’d go crazy worrying about all the what-ifs.” Ryan smiled and ran his fingers through Eric’s hair, attempting to soothe some of the troubles away.
***
“Leave Ryan alone.” The demand was simple, but Marisol knew that its response wouldn’t be. A black mist surrounded her making her shiver in disgust, and if he had this much of an affect on her, she could only imagine what he’d already done to Ryan. “He doesn’t belong here. He needs to go back where he does belong.”
“But it’s so much fun to mess with him. He thinks he’s losing his mind,” an eerily quiet voice replied from deep in the mist. “Not like you; you aren’t afraid of anything. The dead are no fun. Good thing he’s different. Hopefully he’ll be as easily influenced as the rest of them.”
“Don’t count on it. From what I’ve heard and seen of Ryan Wolfe, he’s a pretty stubborn man.”
The mist began to take form, and let out a ghostly laugh. “Everyone can be persuaded by something. I’ll just have to figure out what his weakness is.”
“Ryan won’t listen to you, no matter how hard you try,” Marisol countered angrily at the fake form of Tim Speedle standing in front of her. “And Eric already told him that Speedle may have been the one to kill him, so he won’t trust that form.”
“Speaking of this form, isn’t it ironic that his biggest fear is someone he’s never met?” Fear laughed again. “But you’re right, he doesn’t trust Tim Speedle. That doesn’t mean I won’t be able to persuade him to listen to me. I haven’t lost one yet.”
“You’ll lose this one.”
Fear raised a cynical eyebrow at her. “What makes you so sure?”
Marisol stared him down, fire in her eyes. “You’ll have to go through me to get to him.”
His voice was low, quiet, and yet strangely over-powering. “Silly girl. There’s nothing you can do to stop me. I even had power over you once.” He ran a taunting finger along her jawline, but it was quickly slapped away.
“I may not be able to stop you, but I can influence Ryan just as much as you can,” she argued. “Besides, you’ve forgotten one very important thing, Fear: he trusts me. He knows I’m here to help. I’ll do anything I can to get him back where he needs to be.”
Part 17