Ryan walked out of the locker room, thankful that another day of work was over. He felt people staring at him all day; ever since he froze in the chop shop warehouse he had felt their eyes on him.

Calleigh had tried to make it better and he appreciated her attempt to show him that she cared, that she understood. He still felt depressed and at fault however.

Horatio. His boss had protected him both at the scene by taking the shot that Ryan didn't, couldn't make, and then with Stetler, insisting that Ryan did not have a clear shot. Ryan had known that Horatio Caine was protective of his team, had experienced it in someway himself when Eric muscled his way into Ryan's road trip last summer when the lab was closed. Ryan had never had Horatio protect him like this though. He had not really expected it. His boss still called him by his last name while calling everyone else by their first names. Ryan had thought that meant that Horatio valued him less. Now he knew that wasn't the case.

Ryan continued walking towards the reception desk and the building's exit. He needed to check for his messages one last time before leaving for the night.

Maybe he should call Tony or Ezra. He knew both men had been involved in situations where they had fired their weapons, in some cases fatally wounding the suspect. He could call Vin too. Ryan knew the quiet Texan had killed people; he was a sniper after all. Ryan knew he could count on any one of those three to answer his questions and allow him to voice his fears without possible ridicule. He thought of Dan Cooper's reaction which caused Ryan to wince.

******************************************

Eric was standing at the reception desk talking with Horatio. He noticed Ryan walking up to the desk lost in thought. Eric saw the wince cross Ryan's features and his heart contracted painfully. Eric was pretty sure the younger CSI was thinking about the chop shop shooting. Ryan had been more quiet than usual since that day. Eric knew that Calleigh had spoken to Ryan, to try and put the incident into perspective for the young and relatively new CSI. To assure him the team understood. That they respected him. Looking at ryan now Eric wasn't sure she had been successful.

Eric had tried to bring up the topic with Ryan and each time he did Ryan either changed the subject or found someplace else he had to be. Eric knew he would just have to start trying harder. Maybe now would be a god time to start.

******************************************

Ryan stopped at the reception desk for his messages and was about to leave when the receptionist called him back.

"Ryan, you have a package here it came earlier today."

The receptionist placed a Fed Ex box on top of the desk.

Ryan had not ordered anything so at first he was suspicious, concerned the package might contain a bomb or a biological agent similar to the one in the envelope that Tony opened last year and landing him in Bethesda with the plague almost killing him. Then Ryan noticed the sender's name A. DINOZZO.

Tony had his home address Sending this package here to the lab was done for a specific reason. It could be related to a case. Tony literally kept personal files on dozens of cases that he had been unable to solve. The there were his court notes for the cases that were solved and were either gone to trial or were in the process of going to trial. Since he had no idea if it was pertinent to some ongoing case Ryan decided to open the box here.


******************************************

Eric watched as Ryan was handed a package by the receptionist. Watched as initially Ryan regarded it with wary and suspicion and then curiosity. Eric's own curiosity was piqued and he moved closer to Ryan abruptly ending his conversation with Horatio who at this time also noticed Ryan and his package.

Calleigh walked down the hallway on her way home and noticing her coworkers clustered around the desk went over to investigate.


******************************************

Ryan meanwhile was oblivious to the attention he was garnering. He took his car keys and used them to open the box.

The first item he saw when he opened the package was what he thought at first was a blank piece of paper. When he lifted it to look at the other contents of the box he noticed the handwritten note on the underside.

GO TO THE RANGE
DON'T MAKE ME COME THERE AND TAKE YOU

Ryan put the note to the side and pulled an NCIS baseball cap out of the box. A baseball cap with a huge bullet hole of the I and S of NCIS.

Ryan smiled at that remembering when Tony told him about Gibbs taking Tony to the outdoor Marine firing range and forcing him to use his favorite cap to hone his aim… If Ryan remembered correctly Ryan forced Kate to use her PDA for the same purpose.

Ryan looked into the box and sure enough there was a ruined PDA in there too. Seeing this Ryan's visage took on a sad sentimental, reminiscent smile, thinking of Tony's dead coworker.

She would have killed him if she knew he had rescued the ruined PDA from the garbage, or at least elbowed him in the ribs.

Ryan gently touched the PDA with reverent fingers. He would have to find a place of honor for it.

Under the PDA Ryan found another piece of paper.

CALL ME TONIGHT

Ryan had no idea how Tony knew what happened. There was a mole in the lab but it appeared that Tony DiNozzo had a personal mole and they only reported on Ryan to Tony.

Tony was right in a way he had not been to the range in months. When he was in patrol he made sure that he and Speed went at least once a month or if for some reason they missed then at the very least every other month. Even if he had to drag his lover there. Thinking quickly he couldn't remember the last time he had been to the range.


******************************************

Eric watched Ryan open his box, saw him read a short note that was on top of the contents of the box. Watched as his sometimes lover pulled out a baseball cap with a bullet hole in the crown. Eric looked into the box and saw a ruined electronic device that also looked as if it had been shot. Eric felt his temper rising. Someone was rubbing Ryan's face in the shooting the other day and as soon as Eric figured out who it was they were going to be sorry. Then Eric noticed Ryan smiling at the hat and a sad sentimental smile given to the pile of wires and plastic still in the box.


******************************************

Ryan did remember now the last time he had gone to the range. About a week before Speed had died the two of them had gone. Ryan had personally cleaned both his guns and Speed's when they returned home. He was positive of that. He now knew that Tony's contention that Ari had somehow gotten to Speed's gun had some merit. There should have been no way it misfired due to it being dirty.

Ryan was started out of his introspection by Calleigh who asked, "What do you have there, Ryan?"

Ryan looked up then seeing he had become the center of attention for his coworkers. Not used to having all of their attention blushed slightly and said, "A care package DiNozzo style." With that he picked up the NCIS cap and placed it on his head, bullet hole prominently displayed. He turned towards Eric who was looking at him with an incredulous look on his face.

"Wolfe, you have a strange, strange family."

Ryan grinned at him and inclined his head in acknowledgement.

He started towards the exit with Eric following; the last thing that Calleigh and Horatio heard was Ryan asking "So, think you might wanna go to the range with me sometime this week?"

Alex was in a rage, someone was playing pranks on her Ryan, her baby. She paced in front of the reception desk, determined to talk to him. TODAY! This morning before he started work.

She knew the rest of the team had been present when Ryan opened the package. The rumor mill was rife with the story.

If it had been any other member of the team Alexx would have not been as upset and concerned. They all tended to look out for one another, except for some reason Ryan always seemed the odd man out.

Ryan also was a wounded soul. Alexx was aware of some of the reasons for that. It was a big part of why he was her baby, although things had not always been that way.

She knew a big part of the reason that Ryan had such a difficult time gaining acceptance from the team is the fact that he was seen as the replacement. Ryan knew it too. But only Alexx knew that Ryan was even more devastated by Speed’s death than anyone else on the team.

Only she knew that Ryan was even acquainted with Speed, though they were much closer than acquaintances.

Ryan had already been her baby when she learned the truth, having overheard Ryan speaking with his cousin Tony when the older man was in town for a visit that morphed into a joint case with NCIS and the FBI. She learned that Tony and Speed had been friends for several years, since College, that Tony had asked Speed to watch out for his cousin when Ryan decided to join the Miami-Dade PD out of college to be closer to his uncle. That Ryan had been the roommate that Speed had mentioned a few times but the team had never met. That they had been lovers for almost 4 years when Speed was shot.

When she first found out she was furious and a little doubtful. Speed would never keep something so important from her. Ryan had not been able to discuss it with her at the time, and that is probably what saved both their personal and working relationship, that and the fact that Tony defended Ryan like few family members she had ever seen before.

She learned from Tony the reason that Speed had agreed to keep the relationship a secret. Tony told her how he had nearly been killed when he was working his first PD job after college in Peoria, because he had been outted bi. That he had 2 cousins and several friends who were in the same situation as he was, working in police organizations and living with being gay or bi sexual. He had made them all promise to never do anything that would jeopardize their safety, especially letting it be known that they were not as straight as they appeared.

Tony went on to say that Speed never really thought that any of his team would have a problem with it but that Ryan worked patrol for their entire relationship and that was a main part of the reason that no one was told.

Alexx knew Tony took a huge risk, explaining this to her. As far as she knew no one on his team knew he was bi. She later saw the subtle undercurrents in the NCIS team, and she couldn’t blame the man for keeping it a secret, though she thought the young goth lab rat may have known.

Ryan came to talk to her later after the case was solved they had dinner together. He told Alexx how much Speed loved her, and that he had finally convinced Ryan that telling Alexx at least would not cause them any problems. That she would not out them and that she would love Ryan. Ryan further explained that what Speed really wanted was to tell the whole team but was willing to settle for telling Alexx.


And now a box addressed to her baby containing a shot up hat and some mangled electronic equipment came to the lab. She knew Ryan was very upset about what had happened in the chop shop and it appeared that someone wanted to tease and torment him. Not while Alexx was around. She would get to the bottom of this and protect her baby.

Normally she would count on the team to close ranks and protect one of their own, but with Ryan being the one threatened she couldn’t be sure that would happen. No mater she would take matters into her own hands, starting with talking to the man himself.

While the CSIs on the day shift got along now better than ever, Ryan, was still at times the odd man out. Still thought of by his immediate coworkers as the replacement instead of being accepted for his own strengths and weaknesses, he was constant compared to a dead man. At this point Alexx is sure that the team isn’t even aware that they do it… not anymore.

It had to be even more difficult for Ryan since he probably missed the man the lab still mourned more than all of the people who worked there put together.

Alexx made a turn on her heel as she paced and glanced toward the entrance... Finally her quarry was here!

Alexx stalked up to the young CSI and said only one word, “WHO?”

Ryan had been talking to one of the lab techs and had not noticed Alexx waiting in the reception area as he walked into work. He glanced up distractedly and said, “Hey Alexx.”

Ryan concluded his conversation and turned his attention to the ME.

“Don’t hey me Ryan. I want to know WHO!?”

Ryan looked at her in a puzzled fashion not sure what she meant. He said “Who…?” expectantly hoping she would give him some more information to go on. After receiving the package from Tony yesterday and actually thinking about the last time Speed had used his gun and the fact that Ryan had cleaned it had Ryan spending the night wondering anew about how long and to what lengths Ari had been following or stalking them. He had thought he had laid this to rest after the terrorist’s death but Tony had inadvertently brought it all back up for him. Ryan was definitely not at his best this morning.

Alexx shook her head in exasperation, “The package you got yesterday. Who sent it? Because once I find out who…”

Ryan broke into to Alexx’s tirade. “Tony”

“… I’m gonna- Wh- Tony? Why would he send you something like that?” Alexx was grudgingly fond of the NCIS agent cousin of Ryan’s. The younger man had a bit of a rogue in him but wasn’t mean or malicious and in the short time she had spent with him, he seemed to really care about his cousin. She couldn’t fathom him doing something to deliberately hurt him, tease him definitely but never hurt him.

Ryan looked chagrinned. “It’s his way of telling me I need to go to the range more often. He’s probably right, other than for yearly qualifying I haven’t been to the range in far too long.” Left unsaid was the reason for that. Alexx filled in the blanks herself. She knew now how tight Speed and Ryan were.

“Tony sent 2 very special targets.”

“Targets?” Alexx asked quizzically.

“Yeah, a couple of years ago Tony’s boss took him to the outdoor Marine firing range and made Tony use his favorite NCIS cap as a target… well the object was to avoid the cap to hone his aim but one round caught the edge of the cap.”

It wasn’t the strangest thing Alexx had heard of but it was definitely different. “So what’s with the wires?” She had heard that there were wires or a ruined piece of electronic equipment in the box also.

“You remember the female agent on Tony’s team? Kate Todd?” at Alexx’s nod of assent he continued, “That was her PDA. I’m still not sure how he rescued it from the trash.” He knew that for all their arguing while she was alive, Tony genuinely cared for Kate and to be entrusted with her PDA was no small thing.

“So you talked to Tony?” Alexx asked not sure how else the NCIS agent could have learned about the shooting.

“No I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. Left a message for him last night cause he asked me to call in the package, but before that it had been nearly a month since I called him.”

Alexx raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at Ryan questioningly.

“I have no idea how he does it but he always finds out what's going on here. One of the reasons I chose Miami is because I thought it would be free of prying influence apparently I was wrong. I mean look how quickly he was down here after I injured my eye.”

Ryan looked at his watch he really had to start the day before Calleigh or god forbid Eric came looking for him.

“I gotta go Alexx, but I need to talk to you about something. Can we meet for lunch today or sometime this week?”

“Sure baby, give me a call when you have time.” She gave him a hug. “Make sure that you do what Tony is telling you to do and go out to the range soon ok?”

Ryan hugged her back and gave her an extra squeeze when she mentioned his going to the range. “I will. I asked Eric to tag along so we will see.”

Ryan walked away and missed her speculative look. She knew the 2 CSIs had been hanging out together more often since the summer road trip they took and more still since Ryan injured his eye. She just hoped they knew what they were getting into.