NaNo! Day 15
The few days after Halloween passed in good standing until Rick was knocked flat on his back by three patrol officers after he had been harassing Xander about his costume. Rick was about to make a scathing remark until he saw the darkness in the lab tech’s eyes.
“I will say this one last time Sergeant Rick Stetler of IAB. I am not on the take, I am not a whore, and I am not sleeping with anyone in this lab. Now, you will stop harassing me, or so help me God, I will ruin your career with words to the right ears. I have Federal Agents as friends, and I know many people who work in the Police force, so please, keep pissing me off.” With one last glare at the prone man, Xander stalked down to the Ballistics lab and began to fire off the necessary rounds for Calleigh before he decided to beat the shit out of an IAB officer.
“You ok Xan?” Calleigh’s voice flowed into the room after he had fired off four rounds.
“I will be after I hit the gym later today.”
“After you’re done with those you can head down to the gym, there isn’t much else to do today. Halloween is almost always a quiet period for us.”
“You sure? I don’t want to foist work onto you.”
“I’m sure; besides, you need to work up a good sweat so that we ladies can enjoy the view.” That got a laugh out of Xander and he gave her a hug, whispering his thanks into her ear, he made his way to the workout room under the labs.
Stretching out his muscles with some light weights, Xander began a hard workout to vent his frustrations at the harassment he was getting. When people are hunted by IAB, others talk. He, being on good terms with Horatio and his team, put him in dark waters with IAB Stetler, and Xander was getting more and more upset with every snide remark sent his way. Patrol had been in on his joke to the crime lab, and had HR and the other departments that didn’t interact often with the lab, but they never got this flack from being friendly with Horatio and his team.
After giving the heavy weight bag a good workout, Xander went hunting for a place to cool down in. He wanted as much time away from the IAB as possible, since they tended to piss him off the fastest. Resting in one of the side rooms to the locker room, Xander went to get ready for his shower, then hide in the room until it was time for him to clock out. He didn’t want to see many people right now, as he was more than willing to hit first and ask questions later. Hoping that Adam wasn’t at his place when he got there, Xander let the hot water wash away the sweat and stiffness from his body.
Quickly scrubbing away at his body, Xander finished his shower and made his way to the lockers. He had much to think about, and began to ponder if he should make a formal complaint against Rick, or if that would make things worse. He’ll have to talk to Horatio about that, and from there see what he should do.
Slipping on his shoes, Xander went back to the small room and sat down. Centering his thoughts, Xander began to go over everything that had Rick on his ass for, and he frowned. It started when the Seven had come down to teach the AFT agents here in Miami how to do a proper disposal run. He’d talk to Rick first and see what was wrong, maybe there was an issue and this was the only way that the IAB sergeant knew how to get Xander’s attention.
With that in mind, Xander left the room and made his way to the IAB floor. Stopping at the receptionist’s desk, he told her to let Horatio know that he was going to IAB at the moment, and if he was looking for him, to find him there. She nodded and smiled, letting Xander slip into the elevator unnoticed by the floor guards.
Xander quickly made his way to Rick’s office and slipped in, closing the door behind him. The man was slumped behind his desk and Xander wondered if he was alright.
“Rick?” The man jumped, and Xander frowned at the dazed look in his eyes
“Xander, thank you for coming; I didn’t know any other way to get you here without telling Horatio that I wanted to talk to you, and if I did that, he’d want to be there.” Xander nodded at his confirmed suspicions.
“You could have called my cell.”
“I lost the number after the Mole was washed out.”
“Ah, so what can I help you with Rick?”
“I need you to stop Ryan from gambling. I’ve gotten reports on him going to poker halls and everything, and I’m worried that he’ll force me to fire him; especially now that he’s finally got footing in with the team.”
“I’ll fix that, and let his beau know that it might become a problem.”
“He’s seeing someone?”
“It’s too new to tell if it’ll go anywhere, but I don’t want Ryan to lose the job he loves, and maybe even a shot at love, because of a game.”
“Fair enough, and thank you for coming. Though, you should have told me you were dressing as a girl, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to get you removed from the premises if I had known.”
“It was a last minute thing, really, and only Yelina really knew before hand since I was teaching her son for his costume.”
“Very well, thank you and have a good day Xander and I am sorry for the scene downstairs.”
“No worries, though I am sorry you got hit so hard.” He handed over his cell number and left with a wave. Horatio might get curious if he was gone much longer. Now all he had to do was tell Ryan that someone saw him playing poker for cash and warned him before actions could be taken. That was so not going to be fun.
Gods I hate being sick... everything suffers and I have to force myself to do things... like writing... eating...cleaning up... ugg....