Chapter 5
A Wolfe's Pack
Chapter 5- Comatose Horror
Rating- PG-13
Monday morning dawned with trepidation for Ryan Wolfe.
He hadn't seen Eric since after they all had breakfast. His anxiousness and fear of what Eric's reactions would be once he thought about all that he learned about Ryan constantly bounced around his head.
The knowledge that Eric could now hurt him was constantly bombarding his resolve to not freak out and run-or worse yet, hide in his head.
He went through he and Anya's usual morning rituals with ease, his inner turmoil not causing him to deviate from the routine. Shower, get dressed, make breakfast, wake up Anya, feed Anya, get Anya dressed, have her brush her hair and teeth, gather her school supplies, gather his work supplies, and then out the door.
It wasn't until Ryan was standing in front of his locker-beaten up and dented as it were-that he realized he had somehow done everything without paying any attention.
Ryan really hoped he hadn't dressed Anya in anything to horrible.
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Eric drove to work without anything jumping around in his head.
He had seriously thought about what he had learned Friday evening and Saturday morning.
He thought about how much Ryan must have been frightened when that nail had lodged in his eye when he had a little girl to get home to; thought about how much he really wanted to know the little girl and her daddy, to really know Ryan.
So, after he had thought, he had come to the conclusion that he would treat Ryan as he should have from the start and he would try to get to know the shy man who reacted to keep he and his child safe from the heartbreak he had once felt.
Coming into work he spotted Ryan's car, figuring he'd probably had Alexx help him retrieve it some time during their weekend.
He wondered how early he got in, if he was stuck in a trance from worry about how Eric would react after some time to think it over. Realizing that being completely nice would give the effect that he was giving Ryan pity, he decided to treat Ryan as he would Speed, with friendly sarcasm and mild ribbing.
Of course, Eric winced, he'd have to be careful around Horatio and Calleigh. It was Ryan who had to tell them anything, Anya was his to talk about.
Walking into the break room besides Calleigh, he noticed Ryan. He was staring out a window, mug in hand but no movement, not even a twitch to signal he'd notice Eric or Calleigh, who was sitting at the table with a muffin, had come in.
It was actually normal behavior for Ryan every once in a while, something they had all learned to break him out of in the morning. But this time Eric knew what this really was, that it wasn't healthy for Ryan to escape into.
With his own cup of coffee in hand, Eric walked towards Ryan, not noticing Speed standing at the door watching or Calleigh leaving to finish testing a gun from yesterday's case.
“Hey, Morning Ryan.”
No reaction, Eric bumped his shoulder against Ryan's-he blinked.
When eyes he was sure were focused were on him he spoke again, “Morning Ryan.”
Ryan blinked again, seeming to be in shock, “Uh hi-I mean, Morning Eric.”
“So ready for a day of murder and mayhem?”
“As much as I am any other day, you?”
Eric shrugged, noting speed in the door.
“I think we can handle it, what about you Speed? You think we can take down the lost and deprived and avenge the fallen?”
Ryan, who had been taking a drink of his coffee, choked on what he was swallowing and Speed laughed.
Ryan looked at him incredulously.
“Have you been watching movies or playing Fantasy themed games with Adina lately? It sounds like something that would come out of one of those.”
None of the three noticed Horatio walk in to gather them with the rest for the newest case they had received. He looked on with subdued happiness as he watched the tense knot that used to be between Eric and Ryan partially unravel before his eyes.
“What?! No, I haven’t . . . Well, I might have borrowed a 360 game or two, but . . .”
Ryan and Speed began to laugh and Horatio smiled slightly, maybe things would go smoothly today.
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The site was horrifyingly grisly.
It put them all on edge.
Three little girls, all with Black hair splattered with blood, dark brown almond shaped eyes glazed with death- their innards spread throughout the room as if someone had decided they were streamers and racist slurs written on the wall with their blood.
Eric knew something like this would stir everybody up something awful, but this hit way to close to who he had just met not a few days before- in the youngest girl’s place he saw Anya.
Seeing that himself, he realized Ryan must as well, Speed too.
Eric closed his eyes and breathed, he had to put these girls to rest or they couldn’t be free of it, nor could their families, if they didn’t find their murderer.
He looked at Ryan and saw the carefully hidden anguish he had never noticed before.
Steeling himself he step forward and began to process the scene, Ryan behind him.
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They had cleared the horrid scene and returned to the lab.
Eric was taking a break, the pictures starting to make his stomach revolt against him- looking at them first hand was once enough, looking at the photographic memories of it was just too much.
Walking past the trace lab he glanced through the wall to see Ryan still as a statue.
Slightly alarmed, Eric went inside, worried how Ryan was taking the case.
Everything was processed correctly, most presently being run through GC-MS machine by the computer, but Ryan stood staring outside his gaze unwavering and his posture stiff.
“Wolfe? Ryan? Hey, man, come on, you gotta get outta your head. Come on, lets go get some distance, yeah?”
Even though Ryan was mostly unresponsive, Eric still got a slight twitch which he took as assent to drag him out of the room. Knowing Alexx might know what to do, Eric dragged him down to the morgue, but didn’t take him inside- it would have been to much, hell it was still too much even for him.
“Alexx? You in here?”
“Yes, baby, what do you need?”
“Um, do you think you can help me with Ryan?”
Alexx looked up from the poor girl she was examining.
“What happened, is he alright?”
“Er, well, physically he’s fine, but he’s walled himself into his own mind. Not that I blame him, one of the girls reminded me so much of Anya, it wasn’t funny, and I only met her once. Not to mention the room made me want thrown up on principle alone . . .”
The next thing Eric knew, he was being held in Alexx’s arms.
“Oh, baby, I could just from what I’ve seen of those baby girls. That you aren’t in a state like Ryan is, astounds me.”
Eric hugged her hard for a moment.
“I was for a little bit, I kept thinking it was Ryan’s baby girl in there and even though I only just met Anastasia, she’s special to me and not ‘cause she’s special to Speed, Adina, you, and Ryan, but because
she kinda stole my heart on Saturday and could probably talk me into just about anything.”
Alexx chuckled as he let go and walked out of the room, her face becoming sad as she saw her youngest CSI baby.
He was a mess.
Eyes blank and hollow, chest barely moving to provide air to his lungs- Ryan sat as still as if he were petrified.
Alexx wrapped her arms around him and just held him, Eric not knowing what else to do set his hand on Ryan shoulder.
As he stood there, staring at Ryan in worry he didn’t notice his hand straying from Ryan’s shoulder to his head.
In fact he only realized it when Ryan let out a soft moan and pushed in to Eric’s hand because of the slow petting he was doing to him.
Eric pulled away from Ryan, a slight blush staining his cheeks- he hadn’t meant to do that.
Ryan’s eyes fluttered slightly as he came back to the land of the living, his eyes trailing over to Eric with a slight blush on his face.
Looking at his surroundings, Ryan winced.
“How long was I gone this time? I’m not in trouble, am I?”
Eric responded, alleviating Ryan’s fears.
“Nah, no one else even noticed- its got everybody like that a bit, I was too. This is just . . . Whoever could do this is sick and it just kinda hit us all where it counts. And I get why it caused you to zone. Hell, I froze just seeing the youngest girl- it was like my nightmares just came true, like it was Anya.”
Ryan nodded, his gaze off in the far distance.
“Yeah. She was about the same height and age as Anya. It freaked me out pretty bad, I don’t really remember processing the scene or anything after it. I remember looking at it first and then seeing you guys here. I hope I didn’t screw things up to horribly.”
Alexx sighed and held him to her again.
“Baby, if there is one thing I know about you that I know it is that you don’t make mistakes when you go into that state, you just do as you know- the science.”
Eric nodded, “Yeah, besides, I checked, just to make sure. Everything was going smoothly and you had almost everything done all ready.”
Ryan sighed, “Good, I’d hate to have to explain all of that to Horatio. Now we just have to wait for the results.”
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The results came back and they were able to arrest the three girls fanatic Uncle Jared.
He’d had it in his head that the girls were unclean as his sister had married a man of another race.
Jared Miller was a disgusting pig none of them wanted to have ever met or had the disgust to even know of.
Shift being over, they were all in the locker room, Ryan just getting out of the shower.
“So. . . Anyone need a drink after that?”
Calleigh’s question rang out with her southern twang.
There were several agreements, except for Ryan, whose decline caused Horatio to Calleigh to prod at him.
“Come on Ryan, we all need a breather after that, it would do us all a world of good.”
Speed and Eric glanced at each other, they knew where he wanted to go, hell they wanted to go there and see her too. But it would be nice to go out as adults and relax a little before they spoiled and adored the little girl for just being alive.
Ryan sighed and looked at Speed and Eric, both nodded encouragingly.
“Alright, but only for a little while, I want to go home and relax.”
Calleigh’s grin was almost luminous, “Great, lets all go to Shucker’s (it’s an actual bar in miami, I looked for one).”
They left one by one until only Ryan was left.
Buttoning up his shirt he looked at the hidden picture of his baby girl with a genuinely happy smile on his face.
After some drinks with his . . . Friends, he would go home and just hold her, that always made everything he saw on the job disappear.
Chapter 5- Comatose Horror
Rating- PG-13
Monday morning dawned with trepidation for Ryan Wolfe.
He hadn't seen Eric since after they all had breakfast. His anxiousness and fear of what Eric's reactions would be once he thought about all that he learned about Ryan constantly bounced around his head.
The knowledge that Eric could now hurt him was constantly bombarding his resolve to not freak out and run-or worse yet, hide in his head.
He went through he and Anya's usual morning rituals with ease, his inner turmoil not causing him to deviate from the routine. Shower, get dressed, make breakfast, wake up Anya, feed Anya, get Anya dressed, have her brush her hair and teeth, gather her school supplies, gather his work supplies, and then out the door.
It wasn't until Ryan was standing in front of his locker-beaten up and dented as it were-that he realized he had somehow done everything without paying any attention.
Ryan really hoped he hadn't dressed Anya in anything to horrible.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Eric drove to work without anything jumping around in his head.
He had seriously thought about what he had learned Friday evening and Saturday morning.
He thought about how much Ryan must have been frightened when that nail had lodged in his eye when he had a little girl to get home to; thought about how much he really wanted to know the little girl and her daddy, to really know Ryan.
So, after he had thought, he had come to the conclusion that he would treat Ryan as he should have from the start and he would try to get to know the shy man who reacted to keep he and his child safe from the heartbreak he had once felt.
Coming into work he spotted Ryan's car, figuring he'd probably had Alexx help him retrieve it some time during their weekend.
He wondered how early he got in, if he was stuck in a trance from worry about how Eric would react after some time to think it over. Realizing that being completely nice would give the effect that he was giving Ryan pity, he decided to treat Ryan as he would Speed, with friendly sarcasm and mild ribbing.
Of course, Eric winced, he'd have to be careful around Horatio and Calleigh. It was Ryan who had to tell them anything, Anya was his to talk about.
Walking into the break room besides Calleigh, he noticed Ryan. He was staring out a window, mug in hand but no movement, not even a twitch to signal he'd notice Eric or Calleigh, who was sitting at the table with a muffin, had come in.
It was actually normal behavior for Ryan every once in a while, something they had all learned to break him out of in the morning. But this time Eric knew what this really was, that it wasn't healthy for Ryan to escape into.
With his own cup of coffee in hand, Eric walked towards Ryan, not noticing Speed standing at the door watching or Calleigh leaving to finish testing a gun from yesterday's case.
“Hey, Morning Ryan.”
No reaction, Eric bumped his shoulder against Ryan's-he blinked.
When eyes he was sure were focused were on him he spoke again, “Morning Ryan.”
Ryan blinked again, seeming to be in shock, “Uh hi-I mean, Morning Eric.”
“So ready for a day of murder and mayhem?”
“As much as I am any other day, you?”
Eric shrugged, noting speed in the door.
“I think we can handle it, what about you Speed? You think we can take down the lost and deprived and avenge the fallen?”
Ryan, who had been taking a drink of his coffee, choked on what he was swallowing and Speed laughed.
Ryan looked at him incredulously.
“Have you been watching movies or playing Fantasy themed games with Adina lately? It sounds like something that would come out of one of those.”
None of the three noticed Horatio walk in to gather them with the rest for the newest case they had received. He looked on with subdued happiness as he watched the tense knot that used to be between Eric and Ryan partially unravel before his eyes.
“What?! No, I haven’t . . . Well, I might have borrowed a 360 game or two, but . . .”
Ryan and Speed began to laugh and Horatio smiled slightly, maybe things would go smoothly today.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The site was horrifyingly grisly.
It put them all on edge.
Three little girls, all with Black hair splattered with blood, dark brown almond shaped eyes glazed with death- their innards spread throughout the room as if someone had decided they were streamers and racist slurs written on the wall with their blood.
Eric knew something like this would stir everybody up something awful, but this hit way to close to who he had just met not a few days before- in the youngest girl’s place he saw Anya.
Seeing that himself, he realized Ryan must as well, Speed too.
Eric closed his eyes and breathed, he had to put these girls to rest or they couldn’t be free of it, nor could their families, if they didn’t find their murderer.
He looked at Ryan and saw the carefully hidden anguish he had never noticed before.
Steeling himself he step forward and began to process the scene, Ryan behind him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
They had cleared the horrid scene and returned to the lab.
Eric was taking a break, the pictures starting to make his stomach revolt against him- looking at them first hand was once enough, looking at the photographic memories of it was just too much.
Walking past the trace lab he glanced through the wall to see Ryan still as a statue.
Slightly alarmed, Eric went inside, worried how Ryan was taking the case.
Everything was processed correctly, most presently being run through GC-MS machine by the computer, but Ryan stood staring outside his gaze unwavering and his posture stiff.
“Wolfe? Ryan? Hey, man, come on, you gotta get outta your head. Come on, lets go get some distance, yeah?”
Even though Ryan was mostly unresponsive, Eric still got a slight twitch which he took as assent to drag him out of the room. Knowing Alexx might know what to do, Eric dragged him down to the morgue, but didn’t take him inside- it would have been to much, hell it was still too much even for him.
“Alexx? You in here?”
“Yes, baby, what do you need?”
“Um, do you think you can help me with Ryan?”
Alexx looked up from the poor girl she was examining.
“What happened, is he alright?”
“Er, well, physically he’s fine, but he’s walled himself into his own mind. Not that I blame him, one of the girls reminded me so much of Anya, it wasn’t funny, and I only met her once. Not to mention the room made me want thrown up on principle alone . . .”
The next thing Eric knew, he was being held in Alexx’s arms.
“Oh, baby, I could just from what I’ve seen of those baby girls. That you aren’t in a state like Ryan is, astounds me.”
Eric hugged her hard for a moment.
“I was for a little bit, I kept thinking it was Ryan’s baby girl in there and even though I only just met Anastasia, she’s special to me and not ‘cause she’s special to Speed, Adina, you, and Ryan, but because
she kinda stole my heart on Saturday and could probably talk me into just about anything.”
Alexx chuckled as he let go and walked out of the room, her face becoming sad as she saw her youngest CSI baby.
He was a mess.
Eyes blank and hollow, chest barely moving to provide air to his lungs- Ryan sat as still as if he were petrified.
Alexx wrapped her arms around him and just held him, Eric not knowing what else to do set his hand on Ryan shoulder.
As he stood there, staring at Ryan in worry he didn’t notice his hand straying from Ryan’s shoulder to his head.
In fact he only realized it when Ryan let out a soft moan and pushed in to Eric’s hand because of the slow petting he was doing to him.
Eric pulled away from Ryan, a slight blush staining his cheeks- he hadn’t meant to do that.
Ryan’s eyes fluttered slightly as he came back to the land of the living, his eyes trailing over to Eric with a slight blush on his face.
Looking at his surroundings, Ryan winced.
“How long was I gone this time? I’m not in trouble, am I?”
Eric responded, alleviating Ryan’s fears.
“Nah, no one else even noticed- its got everybody like that a bit, I was too. This is just . . . Whoever could do this is sick and it just kinda hit us all where it counts. And I get why it caused you to zone. Hell, I froze just seeing the youngest girl- it was like my nightmares just came true, like it was Anya.”
Ryan nodded, his gaze off in the far distance.
“Yeah. She was about the same height and age as Anya. It freaked me out pretty bad, I don’t really remember processing the scene or anything after it. I remember looking at it first and then seeing you guys here. I hope I didn’t screw things up to horribly.”
Alexx sighed and held him to her again.
“Baby, if there is one thing I know about you that I know it is that you don’t make mistakes when you go into that state, you just do as you know- the science.”
Eric nodded, “Yeah, besides, I checked, just to make sure. Everything was going smoothly and you had almost everything done all ready.”
Ryan sighed, “Good, I’d hate to have to explain all of that to Horatio. Now we just have to wait for the results.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The results came back and they were able to arrest the three girls fanatic Uncle Jared.
He’d had it in his head that the girls were unclean as his sister had married a man of another race.
Jared Miller was a disgusting pig none of them wanted to have ever met or had the disgust to even know of.
Shift being over, they were all in the locker room, Ryan just getting out of the shower.
“So. . . Anyone need a drink after that?”
Calleigh’s question rang out with her southern twang.
There were several agreements, except for Ryan, whose decline caused Horatio to Calleigh to prod at him.
“Come on Ryan, we all need a breather after that, it would do us all a world of good.”
Speed and Eric glanced at each other, they knew where he wanted to go, hell they wanted to go there and see her too. But it would be nice to go out as adults and relax a little before they spoiled and adored the little girl for just being alive.
Ryan sighed and looked at Speed and Eric, both nodded encouragingly.
“Alright, but only for a little while, I want to go home and relax.”
Calleigh’s grin was almost luminous, “Great, lets all go to Shucker’s (it’s an actual bar in miami, I looked for one).”
They left one by one until only Ryan was left.
Buttoning up his shirt he looked at the hidden picture of his baby girl with a genuinely happy smile on his face.
After some drinks with his . . . Friends, he would go home and just hold her, that always made everything he saw on the job disappear.