Disclaimer: The characters of CSI: Miami are the property of CBS Broadcasting Inc and Alliance-Atlantis Communications. The lyrics to Valentine’s Day and Shadow of the Day are owned completely by Linkin Park. They aren’t mine, I didn’t make them up. No copyright infringement is intended.

Warnings: Swearing, HANKY ALERT!!
Male/Male Relationship! Don’t like, don’t read.
Stetler bashing!! Grab front row seats to watch the action take fold!!
Spoilers for One of Our Own and Burned!

Jodine16: I love the new Linkin Park CD, it’s so awesome. That’s where I got this idea (and others) from.

Valentine’s Day Part One

Ryan had been getting ready for work when he received the call.

“Mr. Ryan Wolfe? You’re under the family list for one Alisha Hawkes? There’s been an accident. I’m so sorry, sir.”

My insides all turn to ash,
So slow.
And blow away as I collapsed,
So cold.

Ryan sat down as he tried to come to grips with what the nurse on the other end was trying to tell him.

“We tried everything...the blood loss was too...I’m sorry...Katie...”

Ryan sat up straight at the mention of his daughter. “Katie?! Please tell me she’s alright!”

“She’s in surgery right now, sir,” she said sympathetically.

“I-I be right over.”

When Ryan arrived at the hospital, he met up with Aaron. He silently accepted the hug his friend gave him. “What happened?”

“A case of road rage, the bastard smashed into the driver side,” Aaron said grimly.

“You caught him, right?” Aaron’s heart broke at the pleading tone in his voice.

“He tried to t make a run for it but a good Samaritan grabbed him,” Aaron said.

“I want to meet the man found stopped him,” Ryan said quietly. A doctor greeted them to talk about Alisha.

When they were finally finished, Ryan went outside to clear his head. Aaron, who had been waiting in the reception area, followed him. “Hey, you need to get to work.”

“Work can wait, I need to be here for Katie,” Ryan said firmly.

“I’m off the clock and I have a day off tomorrow so I’ll be here for her,” Aaron reassured him, rubbing his shoulder. “Now go, you’re already three hours late.”

“But—”

“Ryan.”

Ryan sighed, but gave the officer a smile. “Thanks.” They headed back inside and Ryan told the front desk to call him for an update.

A black winter been away,
From sight.
Another darkness over day,
That night.
And the clouds above move closer,
Looking so dissatisfied.
But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing.
I used to be my own protection,
But not now.
'Cause my path has lost direction,
Somehow.

The next week was a personal hell for the young man. Alisha’s parents took their anger out on him, humiliating him in the hallway and then tried to have custody over Katie taken from him. However, they lacked any sort of evidence to have action taken and were forced to back down.

Currently, Ryan was going to the break room to get an energy drink after spending the better part of most of his shift going cross-eyed while looking at a checkers-pattern shirt for trace evidence. He entered the room and barely acknowledged those in there as he made a beeline for the fridge. He grabbed a Red Bull and leaned against the counter. He was just finishing it off when his cell phone rang. “Wolfe.”

“Ryan, it’s Dr. Wesley. There’s been a complication.” Ryan could hear the hesitation in the other man’s voice.

“Jus-Just give it to me straight.”

“She had a stroke. It’s caused such significant damage to her brain that she isn’t going to last the night,” He family doctor said after a moment of reluctance.

Ryan bit his lip and took a deep breath to keep his storming emotions in check. “I’ll come see her as soon as I can.”

“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” Ryan hung up and saw Horatio in the lobby. He stood up and threw his can away, before exiting the break room and walking briskly towards the redhead. “Horatio, I need to go—”

“Wolfe, you aren’t going anywhere.”

Ryan grinded his molars together. Clenching his fists, Ryan didn’t looked at the man speaking. “I wasn’t talking to you, Stetler.”

“Just where do you have to be that’s far more important than an officer-involved shooting?”

Horatio frowned at the dark looked passing over his youngest subordinate’s face. “Rick...”

“It’s none of your fucking business, Sergeant.”

“It is, when you begin taking lessons from Delko regarding your own Wolfe Time.” Ryan growled and spun around. Stalking forward, he shoved the man against the walls. People walking through the halls stopped to watch this little dispute unfold.

“Listen to me you little piss-ant, and listen fucking good,” Ryan snarled. “I just lost my fiancé last week because some prick got angry and slammed into the side of her car. My six-year-old daughter is fighting for her life and the doctors say she won’t make through the night. Now, either you get the fuck out of my way or I’ll shoot you.” Ryan let go of him and took a step back. When Stetler made no attempt to stop him or say anything, Ryan stormed off to the elevator.

A black winter took you away,
From sight.
Another darkness over day,
That night.

“Hey Katie, it’s Daddy,” Ryan said softly, closing the door to her hospital room. He stared at her white motionless form. She was so still the only thing that kept him from thinking she was gone was the steady beating of her heart monitor. And the slow rise of her chest from the ventilator.

He sat down in a seat next to her bed and grasped her hand. He stared at her for an undetermined amount of time before finally speaking. “You aren’t suppose to die before me, baby. You were suppose to grow up, be-be an obnoxious teenager, who comes home with disapproving boyfriends, who goes to college to get a degree or three in something fabulous, who gets married, who has kids, and who makes us proud.”

His lip quivered. “Katie, please don’t go. I love you so much, don’t leave me alone.” He kissed her hand and rubbing some warmth into the cold flesh.

“Aaron, you remember him, he said they go the guy. They got the guy who took your mommy away from us. They got the guy who tried to take you away from me. Please, don’t let him win.” Ryan sniffed, blinking his eyes rapidly to clear his vision.

Ryan was with her through most of the night until her heart monitor began dropping in beats until there was only the sound of the machine flat lining. “Kate,” Ryan choked on a sob. He held onto Katie’s hand tightly as he sobbed. He didn’t notice Dr. Wesley come in until the doctor urged him onto his unsteady legs.

He was lead out of the room. Before Dr. Wesley could release him, Ryan gripped his arm. “John, don’t leave her alone, please, sh-she hates the dark.”

Dr. Wesley patted his arm. “I won’t. You’re friends are here to take you home, okay?”

“O-Okay.” When Dr. Wesley let him go, Aaron and Alexx were there with open arms. They enveloped him tightly. The tears Ryan had yet to cry spilled onto his friend’s jacket, as he cried his anguish of losing his family.

And the clouds above move closer,
Looking so dissatisfied.
And the ground below grew colder,
As they put you down inside.
But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing.

He could feel them slipping down his face to mix with the rain coming from the dark clouds above, but he couldn’t care. It was such a horrible day to have a funeral for the ones he loved. He would never see Valentine’s Day the same ever again. He had his arm linked with Calleigh’s as the sermon spoke at Alisha and Katie’s joint funeral. Aaron was standing next to him, his hand on the grieving man’s back as an anchor. Ryan could almost feel the comforting warmth through his water soaked jacket and he felt grateful for it.

Ryan was hit with a flood of uncontrollable tears when he had to say his final goodbyes to his family. He clung to Aaron as the brunet lead him away. He sneered at Alisha’s parents, daring them to say anything.

The get-together event was held at Alisha’s parents place (much to Ryan and Aaron’s disgust), so Aaron drove him to Ryan’s place, where the team and several other officers Ryan had befriended were going to meet him. Ryan took the time to get to his place to get himself together.

Ryan tried to engage himself in the conversations circling throughout his home, but it was hard. All he wanted to do was toss everyone out and curl up in his room. Thankfully, Dan saw this and got him onto a more cheerful topic.

“So, you and Alisha have been together for a long time then?” he asked. He and Ryan were sitting on the couch, Aaron (who was practically glued to Ryan’s hip) was sitting on the other side of Ryan.

“We met on my first day in college,” Ryan said softly, fingering his cup of coffee. “We really hit it off. Her parents didn’t like me though, when they found out I came from a long line of police officers. They hate cops. They tried to separate us so many times, even went as far as moving to a different state in our final college year. That went well until they found out Alisha was pregnant with Katie. They were not happy at all. They tried to get her to give her up for adoption, but that was the final straw for Ally. She showed up on my front doorstep the night after I graduated.”

Alexx sat down on the love seat and picked a picture of Katie up. “She has her Daddy’s eyes. What was she like?”

Ryan smiled. “Her mom, although Ally would argue she was like me too. Katie loved to make up games and make little plays. I bet she could have put Angelina Jolie to shame, she was so good.” Ryan sighed, looking at his feet. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about her and Alisha. You would have adopted her as your grandchild instantly,” he added, glancing at Alexx.

Alexx gave him a big smile. “You’re right, I would have.”

So now you're gone,
And I was wrong.
I never knew what it was like,
To be alone

On a Valentine's Day,
On a Valentine's Day,
On a Valentine's Day,
On a Valentine's Day

Over the next few months, Ryan had difficulty adjusting to life without the people he thought going to be there forever (or at least longer than they did). Although, with the façade he put on at work, the only person who saw through it was Aaron.

Aaron, the man who put himself in danger everyday to help protect the innocent, was lying in a hospital bed with burns ranging from 1st to 3rd because some idiot planted a booby-trap. Ryan spent all of his free time with the man and when he was finally allowed out of the hospital, he insisted he come and move in with him. Strictly to help him with his burns, of course.

That was eight months ago.

At the moment, Aaron was in Vegas on a conference trip at a time Ryan desperately needed him. But, he wasn’t going to call the other man, because Ryan thought Aaron deserved that time.

Well, you’re fired.

Maybe it was the final straw. The final push that sent him over the edge, Ryan isn’t sure, but he doesn’t care.

I close both locks below the window.
I close both blinds and turn away.
Sometimes solutions aren't so simple.
Sometimes goodbye's the only way.

After locking the house down for the night, Ryan set the appropriate letters out where Aaron would find them in the morning. He walked up stairs with the object of his end to all his suffering weighing heavily in his hand.

He walked into his room and sat down. He stared at the gun for a while, before he raised it to his temple.

Jodine16: Wow, now I know what writers talk about when they say they write those hardcore hanky-fics.