Fic: Unquenchable 1/5
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Title: Unquenchable
Author: Yahola
Spoilers: Kill Switch
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Horatio/Ryan (slash)
Summary: Horatio has an eye-opening revelation, faces temptation and fights some character flaws until he comes up with a plan.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters...
Author’s Note: Thanks to octobertwelfth, who betaed this :)
Chapter One
Alexx caught up with Horatio in front of the MDPD Crime lab, right after he had parked the Hummer. “Poor girl suffocated; she didn’t have a chance. Do you think...?”
Horatio sighed. His fingers twitched, urging him to hide his eyes behind his new shades, but he resisted. This was Alexx he was talking to. The victim had looked strikingly like Jennifer - same age, same hair color - she had even been living in the same neighborhood. Was it a coincidence or a message? Walter was affirmatively not involved but enough people out there held a grudge against Horatio. Either way, the case had hit too close to home.
He was saved from answering when Alexx beamed and waved at someone he couldn’t see. Horatio turned - and stared.
With confident strides, Ryan Wolfe walked down the stairs, wearing not only a suit, but a grey suit, pistachio shirt and a fitting tie in a slightly darker green. He could have posed for a men’s lifestyle magazine; the suit emphasized his small hips and long legs, brought out his masculinity to its best. It was such a contrast to his usual garment that he looked like a different man, grown up, distinguished, ready. He waved and Horatio nodded, both in greeting and approval. The suit was doubtless a preparation for the court hearing where Wolfe was about to testify.
With a soft smile, Horatio trailed Ryan’s movements all the way down the sidewalk to the car. “That suit looks good on him.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Alexx’ smile was gone and she crossed her arms.
Horatio frowned. The tone of her voice and her body language both indicated that she had spotted something she didn’t like. “Alexx?” He looked at her, head tilted in his typical sideway manner. “What do you mean?”
“He’s imitating you.”
For once dumbfounded, Horatio blinked and stared at her before he turned to observe Wolfe pull out of the parking lot. As soon as she had spelled it out, the truth became painfully evident and a jab of annoyance passed through him; he should have concluded this on his own.
The feeling immediately turned to puzzlement. Ryan Wolfe had started to imitate his fashion style; that much was a fact - but why? Was this a new compulsion his employee had developed? He dismissed this option. From the start, Wolfe had tried to impress him and imitation was the biggest flatter, El Humphrey had told him. The new dress style could have passed as another career oriented step but something convinced Horatio that there was more to it than meets the eye.
Perhaps it was more than ambition. Perhaps it was more than the attempt to appear perfect and hide his OCD to the outside world, to his boss, to anyone. It certainly went beyond fashion. The way Ryan was handling cases was starting to change and more than once Horatio found that he would have handled things the same way.
“Horatio, you know exactly what I mean.”
He didn’t, although he was close to finding the answer. In fact, she had just given him another clue what this might be about. She was fiercely protective of Wolfe, she fussed more about him than about the others even if Wolfe was not always aware of it. The way her jaw was set - that was reserved for special occasions.
When the connection hit him, a strange mixture of feelings - dread, irritation, pleasure - tingled along his spine and his entire perspective changed. It was as if Alexx had removed his shades on a gloomy day and he had found himself confronted by sunlight so harsh it hurt his eyes.
The signs were too obvious: the downcast eyes, the gaze that flickered up to him, the barely covered satisfaction when Horatio complimented him for a job well done, not to forget the challenge that had been directed at him on rare occasions - Ryan Wolfe longed for something deeper than an employee - boss relationship.
Alexx had made the connection before him and if he was honest with himself, he had simply chosen to turn a blind eye towards Wolfe’s behavior. But now that he knew, maybe he should rethink his distance he has kept between them...
”Don’t hurt him,” Alexx said, her eyes warning him. “It might work for a while, but you know how it is with regulations and politics being the way they are... Ancient Greece was more tolerant.”
Horatio’s mood darkened. He put his shades on to shut her out and hide his turmoil. With the artificial barrier between his eyes and the world, he once more resembled the calm and collected Caine he wanted to be in contrast to his abusive father, who had never understood that fear and cruelty didn’t resemble love.
Title: Unquenchable
Author: Yahola
Spoilers: Kill Switch
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Horatio/Ryan (slash)
Summary: Horatio has an eye-opening revelation, faces temptation and fights some character flaws until he comes up with a plan.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters...
Author’s Note: Thanks to octobertwelfth, who betaed this :)
Chapter One
Alexx caught up with Horatio in front of the MDPD Crime lab, right after he had parked the Hummer. “Poor girl suffocated; she didn’t have a chance. Do you think...?”
Horatio sighed. His fingers twitched, urging him to hide his eyes behind his new shades, but he resisted. This was Alexx he was talking to. The victim had looked strikingly like Jennifer - same age, same hair color - she had even been living in the same neighborhood. Was it a coincidence or a message? Walter was affirmatively not involved but enough people out there held a grudge against Horatio. Either way, the case had hit too close to home.
He was saved from answering when Alexx beamed and waved at someone he couldn’t see. Horatio turned - and stared.
With confident strides, Ryan Wolfe walked down the stairs, wearing not only a suit, but a grey suit, pistachio shirt and a fitting tie in a slightly darker green. He could have posed for a men’s lifestyle magazine; the suit emphasized his small hips and long legs, brought out his masculinity to its best. It was such a contrast to his usual garment that he looked like a different man, grown up, distinguished, ready. He waved and Horatio nodded, both in greeting and approval. The suit was doubtless a preparation for the court hearing where Wolfe was about to testify.
With a soft smile, Horatio trailed Ryan’s movements all the way down the sidewalk to the car. “That suit looks good on him.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Alexx’ smile was gone and she crossed her arms.
Horatio frowned. The tone of her voice and her body language both indicated that she had spotted something she didn’t like. “Alexx?” He looked at her, head tilted in his typical sideway manner. “What do you mean?”
“He’s imitating you.”
For once dumbfounded, Horatio blinked and stared at her before he turned to observe Wolfe pull out of the parking lot. As soon as she had spelled it out, the truth became painfully evident and a jab of annoyance passed through him; he should have concluded this on his own.
The feeling immediately turned to puzzlement. Ryan Wolfe had started to imitate his fashion style; that much was a fact - but why? Was this a new compulsion his employee had developed? He dismissed this option. From the start, Wolfe had tried to impress him and imitation was the biggest flatter, El Humphrey had told him. The new dress style could have passed as another career oriented step but something convinced Horatio that there was more to it than meets the eye.
Perhaps it was more than ambition. Perhaps it was more than the attempt to appear perfect and hide his OCD to the outside world, to his boss, to anyone. It certainly went beyond fashion. The way Ryan was handling cases was starting to change and more than once Horatio found that he would have handled things the same way.
“Horatio, you know exactly what I mean.”
He didn’t, although he was close to finding the answer. In fact, she had just given him another clue what this might be about. She was fiercely protective of Wolfe, she fussed more about him than about the others even if Wolfe was not always aware of it. The way her jaw was set - that was reserved for special occasions.
When the connection hit him, a strange mixture of feelings - dread, irritation, pleasure - tingled along his spine and his entire perspective changed. It was as if Alexx had removed his shades on a gloomy day and he had found himself confronted by sunlight so harsh it hurt his eyes.
The signs were too obvious: the downcast eyes, the gaze that flickered up to him, the barely covered satisfaction when Horatio complimented him for a job well done, not to forget the challenge that had been directed at him on rare occasions - Ryan Wolfe longed for something deeper than an employee - boss relationship.
Alexx had made the connection before him and if he was honest with himself, he had simply chosen to turn a blind eye towards Wolfe’s behavior. But now that he knew, maybe he should rethink his distance he has kept between them...
”Don’t hurt him,” Alexx said, her eyes warning him. “It might work for a while, but you know how it is with regulations and politics being the way they are... Ancient Greece was more tolerant.”
Horatio’s mood darkened. He put his shades on to shut her out and hide his turmoil. With the artificial barrier between his eyes and the world, he once more resembled the calm and collected Caine he wanted to be in contrast to his abusive father, who had never understood that fear and cruelty didn’t resemble love.