Fic: White Light, Chapter 2 (CSI Miami, Eric Delko / Ryan Wolfe)
Title: White Light, Chapter 2
Pairing: Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Notes: Inspired by the movie Just Like Heaven
CSI Miami Main List
Chapter 1
“Are you trying to quit coffee?” Speed poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down on the break room couch. Eric looked up from the Yellow Pages he had been browsing.
“What?”
“Are you trying to switch to tea?”
“No.”
“Sorry, my bad. I thought those things under your eyes were teabags, but they’re all you.”
“I didn’t sleep. At all.”
“People always say that-”
“Yeah, but I mean it literally. Not a minute.”
“Noisy neighbours?”
“That would be better, at least there would be walls between us.” Eric slammed the book against the table and groaned. “And this book is totally useless!”
“What are you looking for?”
“Exorcist. The closest thing I could find was existentialist and exhibitionist. Are they even real jobs?”
“World’s full of odd jobs-” Speed’s mouth stilled. “Wait, wait, wait… why are you looking for an exorcists?”
“I’m trying to stay positive. If I try to think about it realistically, I’ll have to call a shrink and I’m not that crazy. At least not yet.”
“Why do you need a shrink?”
“I’m seeing things.”
“Are you hearing voices too?”
“Yep.”
“You’re going crazy.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“Okay, I’m done mocking. What do you see?”
“I just saw it once. Last night.”
“You saw what?”
“A ghost.”
“Right, of course it was a ghost…” Speed took the directory and started flipping through the pages. “Psychiatrists… You probably don’t wanna see the department shrink, she`d have you in a straightjacket right away.”
“I’m not kidding! Look at this.” Eric pulled his shirtsleeve up to show the small bruise on his elbow. “I fell out of the shower when that thing talked to me.”
“It talked to you?”
“Yeah.”
“What did it say? Is it one of those "help me settle my unfinished business so I can pass on" kinda things?”
“No, more like "I’m not going and I’ll haunt you as long as I want" kinda thing. Then it just vanished.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah!” Eric snapped his fingers. “Like this. First he was there and then he wasn’t.”
“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you fell?”
“I didn’t hit my head and I’m not going crazy!”
“Okay, okay… what happened then?”
“Nothing. I went to bed and I rolled through the night. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Is that all? I’ve had worse after a two-week old ham sandwich.”
“That’s not all. This morning I didn’t see it, but I saw what it did. I left a clean shirt on the bed, and I went to shave. When I came back, my shirt was in the trashcan.”
“Half the lab’s been waiting to do that-”
“Remember last Christmas?”
“When you passed out with our head in the punchbowl?”
“It was empty! Remember this?” Eric pointed down to his shirt. He was wearing a pink button-down shirt with a matching pink tie. “I got these from Calleigh.”
“I noticed, but I just thought you got a court date or something.”
“These were on the bed when I came back. When I tried to take something else from the closed the door just slammed shut and I couldn’t get it open.”
“You’re haunted by a vengeful stylist.”
“A vengeful, pink-loving cop.” Eric spat out. “I look ridiculous.”
“Yeah, I heard about that outfit when I first came in.”
“Great…”
“There was a betting pool going on about that. So far I’ve heard four theories.”
“I don’t wanna know.”
“New girl, new guy, a TV makeover show or approaching nervous breakdown.”
“That last one’s pretty close to reality. And how come you’re so calm about this?”
“I’ve been breathing in morgue fumes for the last two hours. You now that smell when a corpse has been rotting in a swamp for a month? It goes to your head, man…”
Speed got up and emptied his coffee mug.
“Anyway, if it doesn’t go away, what can it really do to you?”
“Did you even see this?!” Eric waved his elbow, looking like a small child showing off his boo-boo. “It hurt!”
“You fell, your own fault.”
“It startled me! Can I bunk on your couch till I find an exorcist?”
“No, you can’t and I don’t think there’s exorcists anymore. You gotta do it yourself. Draw some pentagrams on the walls and chant in Latin.”
“Thanks a lot, you’re really helpful.” Eric deadpanned.
“I’m always helpful.” Speed laughed and headed out of the break room. “Gotta get back to work before my morgue buzz wears off.”
Eric tossed a lump of sugar at his head, but it hit the wall few inches from the intended target. Speed hurried out, accompanied by a loud burst of laugher.
---------------------------------------
The printer ejected the last page of the report. Eric leaned back in his chair and didn’t make a move to collect them. The case was closed and his report was ready, but the idea of going home didn’t sound too tempting. Finally Eric took the prints and shoved them to a folder. He was about to leave when an idea crossed his mind. He sat down again and opened the web browser on the screen.
Eric wrote the address for the Miami Mirror and selected the article search. After few more keystrokes he found what he was looking for. The headline appeared on the screen in large letters: Bank robbery gone wrong - Three dead, four injured.
Eric scrolled down the page till he found two pictures. Both of them were obviously released by the Miami Polise Department, showing two men in their uniforms. Names of the two men were under the pictures: Officers Lake and Wolfe.
He clicked on the other picture and leaned closer to take a good look at it. The man looked serious and stern in his uniform and with his hair combed back, but he was easily recognisable. Eric had to pause for a minute. The man on the screen was undoubtedly the same man he had met in the apartment. No matter how many times he tried to think about it, it felt too unbelievable. The man stared back at him, looking slightly smug. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked straight to the camera with a challenging glint in his eyes.
Eric had to pull his eyes away from the picture. He returned to the top of the page and re-read the name.
Officer Ryan Wolfe.
Chapter 3