Ryan sat in the passenger side, of the hummer. He still wasn't sure how he ended up going to the airport with Delko of all people, to pick up his cousin. He had planned to use his lunchtime to run a hopefully quick errand of playing taxicab for Tony. He thought clearing it with his boss a mere formality. Casting a sideways glance at Delko, the other man seemed to be no happier to be here than Ryan was, at least if the expression on his face was anything to go by.
"So what airline is your cousin flying in on?" Eric couldn't believe H had him chauffeuring around Wolfe of all people.
"What- uh hmmm I forgot to check."
Ryan fumbled for his cell phone to look at the messages. He knew Tony had left him one with all of the information about his flight this morning. Ryan hadn't looked at it before now since he already knew what time to go to the airport.
Eric gave Ryan a dark look, "You don't even know where we have to be!" he exclaimed incredulously.
Ryan blushed slightly at the tone of his coworker's voice. "I wasn't expecting company to be quite honest."
As he checked the message he hoped that Tony hadn't gotten a military transport flight. Usually he didn't when he had the time to come to Miami which wasn't that often. When he came for the funeral he caught a military transport and getting him in and out of the base was an interesting proposition.
He looked at the message and found out it was worse than a military plane. Tony had the private jet. That certainly cleared some things up. It explained the constant phone tag; Tony was ducking his calls. Gibbs was definitely NOT going to be tagging along on this trip. Tony was not just on a vacation there was something else on his mind; the jet was rarely used for recreational purposes. It was used for business and charity functions. It was used to transport family members in an emergency. Not for a vacation that was frivolous. Commercial travel was more than adequate for a vacation.
Ryan was kicking himself mentally he should have checked the message earlier. Now Delko is gonna think that he was some rich spoiled kid. If Ryan had checked the messages earlier he could have found some way to go to the airport alone.
"It's the private plane terminal." Ryan muttered under his breath after looking at his phone.
Eric glanced over at Ryan sure he didn't hear correctly, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Ryan took a deep breath and let it out. This was going to be painful. "The private terminal. Somehow he is flying in on a private jet."
Ryan then continued back in the sotto voice, "At least he isn't on a transport."
Now Eric looked over at Ryan and said, "Huh?"
Ryan shook his head smiled slightly and said, "Never mind not important." Ryan lay back against the seat and placed his head on the headrest, closing his eyes. He needed to regroup. This wasn't a "vacation" something else was going on and he figured he would need his strength to deal with whatever his cousin had in mind. He would need all of his strength to reign in his cousin regardless of the reason tony was here. Ryan had a really good idea of how Tony interacted with women sometimes. Had seen it in person. Then he got to hear all about how Tony and Kate interacted through Abby. Kate would complain to Abby about something Tony did or said and then the next time Ryan spoke to Abby she would tell him what was going on.
Now he was going to have to take Tony back to the crime lab with him. Since Eric was here and he had a county vehicle he knew he couldn't drop Tony at his hotel… If he even had a hotel, which was looking more and more unlikely. He really didn't want to bring Tony home, at least until they had a chance to talk and Ryan could get an idea what was going on.
Ryan rubbed his forehead. He would have to lay down the ground rules to his cousin as soon as he saw him. Somehow he didn't think that Calleigh would react well if Tony started adjusting himself in front of her like he was prone to do with Kate. He didn't think Calleigh would react well to most of the stunts Tony pulled. Oh God! What if he starts flirting with her. No! First order of business is getting Tony to drop at least part of the act, and warn him off Calleigh. Even though Ryan knew he was involved with Gibbs Ryan also knew he kept up the straight guy act. Heck he is the one who told Ryan to never let your colleagues even begin to suspect you're gay. Advice Ryan follows to this day. It's the reason none of his coworkers knew that Tim and Ryan knew each other, never mind that they were lovers.
Tony had learned firsthand on his first job in Peoria, how dangerous it could be for a cop who wasn't completely straight. Tony didn't want Ryan to ever have to go through what he did prior to leaving that area. Once it was clear that Ryan was determined to follow in his cousin's footsteps, Tony drilled into him the need for discretion in his personal life, especially if he was in a homosexual relationship.
Ryan knew that none of Tony's coworkers were aware of the relationship he shared with Gibbs. Even Abby who Tony trusted enough to let her know he was bisexual, had no idea.
Tim had really wanted to introduce Ryan to all of his friends at the lab, especially Horatio and Eric whom he was particularly close to. Ryan using his cousin's example and knowing the very compelling reasons behind it refused. It was one thing that they fought over frequently, though Tim always gave in since he had known Ryan's reason after being told what had happened to Tony.
Then Tim was shot and killed and it was too late to tell anybody anything. At times Ryan wonders if things would have been easier on him with the other CSIs if they had known about their relationship. At other times he thinks it may have been harder if they knew. . At least this way he doesn't get pitying looks and whispers behind his back about taking it up the ass. He still has some friends from patrol so while being somewhat of the outcast among the CSIs, he still has some people to hang out with, to socialize with. If he were "out" he might not have anyone.
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While Ryan was wool gathering Eric sat there, contemplating his newest coworker. He knew in his head that it wasn't Ryan's fault Speed died. That just because the younger man was hired to fill the position left in the wake of Speed's death, Wolfe wasn't the reason that Speed died. It didn't make a difference in Eric's heart though. He didn't want anyone else to take Speed's place. It wasn't fair it, wasn't right. He didn't like the new guy, but in a way he did. Sometimes Wolfe looked so lost and lonely; you could see it in his eyes. They were so expressive. Sad beautiful green eyes.
Eric squashed that thought. This is the guy who took Speed's place on the team. He doesn't know how to work with other people. Come on he took credit for the key gun you found remember all of that.
What's this about his cousin flying on a private plane to come for a visit. Those things cost a pretty penny. Guess Wolfe must come from money, gotta find a way to tease him about that.
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