Title: Artist's Choice
Author: Kacey
Rating: FRT or PG-13
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairing: established relationship Eric/Ryan
Summary: The team wants to know all about Ryan's body decoration after Calleigh accidentally sees it, and they find out more than they thought they would.
Inspiration: jawbreak06's request for a fic on the tattoo.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Just borrowing them for fun.
Warnings: AU. Total, total, total AU. in late season three, not after any particular episode, particularly since I haven't seen any of the later episodes. I'm pretty sure there aren't any spoilers. Speed didn't die, and Ryan joined the team after Horatio decided he needed another CSI.

***

Ryan was just pulling off his shirt since Calleigh needed it as the currently at large suspect had shot at him when she walked in. He had jumped out of the way in enough time to only get grazed by the two bullets on his left side. She stopped in place and stared at him, mouth open in surprise and shock.

Handing the shirt over to her, he raised a brow in question when she just stood there and stared at him. "Something I can help you with, Calleigh?"

"You have a tattoo," she accusingly said.

Glancing down at the tattoo on his left upper arm, Ryan looked back at her and warily agreed, "Yeah?"

"You have a tattoo."

"We've already established that fact, Cal. It's not like I can hide the evidence now."

Laughing, she explained, "No, I mean you, as in Mr. Anything Goes Wrong and the Whole World Stops Turning, Mr. Don't Touch My Kit, Mr. Perfectionist. You have a tattoo."

Confused expression on his face, Ryan placed his shirt in her hands and asked, "And?"

"And you better believe we're discussing this at the bar tonight," Calleigh remarked as she walked out the door.

"Wait, Calleigh," Ryan shouted after her, grabbing the shirt he had in his locker, slamming it shut and taking off after her. Throwing on the shirt, Ryan was still tugging it down his chest when he hit the hallway, desperately trying to stop Calleigh. She waved at him from the elevator, and he groaned in dismay. There was no way he was going to be able to stop her from spreading this. Not that he particularly cared who knew, it was just that he didn't want to be part of gossip central at the lab.

Pulling his shirt the rest of the way on, Ryan turned and walked back into the locker room. Opening his locker, he grabbed his lab coat. He had samples to run in Trace. Wondering if there was any way he could avoid going to the bar that night for their every Friday night get together, Ryan shook himself mentally and focused on the task at hand. Four hours later, he and Calleigh arrested their suspect and closed their case. Promising to meet her in the parking lot, Ryan closed his locker door and leaned forward against it, wishing he could be anywhere but where he was at.

A few minutes later, he was pulled back against a hard body, arms wrapping around his waist and voice quietly asking him, "Is everything okay, baby? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Smiling softly, Ryan leaned his head back against his lover's shoulder and answered just as quietly, "Yes and no. And, no, I'm fine. You can see for yourself later tonight."

"Okay to the last. But no to the first?"

"Calleigh saw the tattoo on my arm today," he explained.

Eric turned him around and inquired, "So what's the problem?"

"It's not a problem per se," Ryan hedged, "it's the fact that she told me we'd be discussing it tonight."

"Ah, I see the dilemma," Eric breathed out. "We already told Horatio. Do you really care if they know or not?"

"No, not in the sense that I don't care if our friends know, but yes, in the sense that I don't want everyone in the entire Miami-Dade Crime Lab knowing."

Laughing, Eric said, "Whatever you feel comfortable with, Ry. I'll follow your lead, okay?"

"There's a first," Ryan muttered, pushing himself away from Eric. "I have to go. I told Calleigh I'd give her a ride."

"She's drinking heavily tonight?" Eric asked in surprise. Calleigh never drank much because of her father. She didn't want to be called an alcoholic and bring any type of suspicion or scrutiny on the lab.

"No, she's making sure I actually show up at the bar," Ryan stated from the doorway. "See you shortly, love."

Nodding his head in agreement, Eric quickly tossed his lab coat in his locker and grabbed his keys and cell, heading out to his car.

-----------------------

Forty minutes later, Eric was walking through the door of their favorite hang out. Spotting the group over in their usual booth, he made his way over to them, waving at people he knew as he went. Sitting down in the open space next to Ryan, he greeted his co-workers, turning a wicked smile on Ryan when Calleigh glared at him and demanded, "All right, Eric's here. Now, what's the deal with the tattoo?"

Alexx, Horatio and Speed all turned shocked expressions on Ryan. Ryan groaned and was about to say something when Eric interrupted. "Which tattoo did she happen to see, Ryan?"

Ryan blushed and glared at Eric, as Alexx and Calleigh both demanded to see the other tattoo. Gritting his teeth, he kept glaring at his lover until Alexx smacked him on the arm.

"Pay attention, Ryan," she admonished. "And stop glaring at Eric. We would have found out about the other tattoo eventually."

Shaking his head, Ryan refuted, "No. You wouldn't have."

"What makes you say that?" Speed asked. "And, by the way, rookie, I want to see both tattoos."

Once more glaring at Eric, Ryan tried to figure out how to tell them without revealing too much. Eric finally took pity on him and explained, "Well, Speed, unless you plan on stripping him, you're not going to see that other tattoo."

"Stripping him?" Speed inquired. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Speed questioned, "How exactly did you see it?"

Smirking, Eric leaned back against the booth seat, trying not to laugh as Ryan moaned in humiliation and blushed bright red. Raising a brow in challenge, Eric countered, "How do you think, Speed?"

Speed glanced back and forth between the two men, eyes widening when he figured it out. He sputtered out, "You and Ryan. You. And. Ryan. Eric! How could you corrupt my favorite rookie!"

Glancing over at Ryan, Eric's smirk widened, and he replied, "Well, it's not like you were teaching him anything, Speed."

Ryan choked on the drink he'd just taken. Placing his drink on the table, he smacked Eric on the arm and remarked, "Keep that up and he might have to."

"Yeah, Eric, I might have to teach him something," Speed teased. "So, rookie, do I get to see your body art?"

Ryan sighed and rolled up his shirt sleeve, showing everyone at the table the tattoo Calleigh had seen earlier. Alexx leaned closer and asked, "Why a joker?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Wasn't my idea. I lost a bet. This was my forfeit."

"Your forfeit was a tattoo?" Calleigh asked.

"Well, it was that or declaring my undying love for my genetics professor in class," Ryan said. "I chose the tattoo."

"Sounds like a safer option," Speed nodded.

"If I would have known I was going to get so much grief for a damn tattoo, I would have gone for the other option. I only had three weeks left, and I was moving right after graduation. I'm beginning to think I chose wrongly," Ryan complained.

"Now, can I see the other one?" Calleigh questioned eagerly.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Ryan shot Eric another glare and definitively stated, "Absolutely not."

"But, Ryan," Alexx playfully whined, "we want to see all of your body decoration."

"That's too bad. I'm not going to show you, any of you."

"But, Ryan," Speed began, imitating Alexx right down to the whine, "Eric's seen it. It's not fair that we don't get to."

"See what you started," Ryan muttered to Eric, who simply laughed at him. Turning to Speed when his lover didn't provide any help, Ryan replied, "Well, Speed, I guess if you really want to see it, you'll have to do what Eric did."

Speed looked over at Eric and asked, "What did you do?"

Shaking his head in amusement, Eric turned to Ryan, question on his face. Ryan shrugged his shoulders and sarcastically said, "Whatever you feel comfortable with. I'll follow your lead, okay?"

Eric responded, "Sorry."

"No, you're not," Ryan ruefully stated.

"Okay, so, I'm not," Eric agreed. "To answer your question, Speed, I seduced him."

"How?"

"All right," Ryan interrupted. "That's enough. No more talking about my life, any aspects of it, Mom."

Alexx laughed softly and questioned, "Aren't you going to introduce your boyfriend, son?"

The incredulous expression that crossed Ryan's face just set her off even more. He simply stared at her, until he finally asked, "And why would I do that? You already know him."

"Yes, I do. But maybe you could tell me all about how the two of you got together?"

"No. Just no."

Speed laughed and saved him. "Now, Mom, can't you see you're embarrassing my favorite rookie? Only I'm allowed to do that. Although, I guess Eric has that right now as well."

Everybody laughed when Ryan dryly replied, "Oh, gee, Speed, I'm so glad to know that only you and now Eric have the right to embarrass me. I can see the fun you're going to have with that."

"And you know I will," Speed vowed.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

The two of them then spent the rest of the night teasing and taunting each other across the table, providing a great deal of entertainment for their friends and colleagues. When the clock hit nine, Alexx left to go home. When Ryan looked down at his watch and saw that it was just before midnight, he groaned and said, "I hate to cut the party short, but I have somewhere to be in the morning, so I'm going home. I'll see the three of you next week. And I'll see you tomorrow, Eric."

"Okay, see you later," Eric replied, getting up and letting Ryan out of the booth. He watched his lover walk away and then turned his attention back to the rest of the table. Horatio was watching all of them, amused expression on his face. Speed and Calleigh were both glaring at him.

"Why didn't you tell us, Eric?" she demanded.

"He wasn't ready for anyone to know, Cal," Eric explained.

"We wouldn't have said anything until you told us we could," Speed pouted.

Eric rolled his eyes and responded, "Please, I know you two. The first chance both of you got, you would have been giving him hell."

"So, why now? And how long has this been going on?"

"Today he said he didn't care if you guys knew, he just didn't want the whole lab to know. And six months."

"You sure moved fast," Calleigh commented. "He's only been in the lab for eight months."

"I went after what I wanted, Cal. He was accommodating enough to give me what I wanted," Eric replied. "And that is enough question and answer. I'm going home. See you guys later."

His three friends left sitting at the table watched him walk off. Turning to Horatio, Speed stated more than asked, "You knew, didn't you, Horatio."

"Eric told me as soon as he decided to pursue Ryan. Then he told me once he caught him," Horatio answered. "It was quite amusing to watch."

---------------------------------

Eric pulled into Ryan's driveway. Stepping out of his vehicle, he shut and locked the door and walked up the sidewalk and onto the porch. Pulling out his keys, he unlocked the door and let himself in. Quietly shutting and relocking, as well as engaging the chain lock, the door, Eric made his way through the front room and down the main hallway to Ryan's bedroom.

Pushing the slightly ajar door further open, Eric noiselessly closed the door behind himself. Taking his shoes off and placing them neatly by the door, he stripped and neatly folded his clothes and placed them in the hamper for his OCD lover. Walking over to the bed, he lifted the sheets and slid in behind Ryan, pulling him back against his own body. Ryan stirred and mumbled, "I thought you were coming over tomorrow, Eric."

"It is tomorrow, baby."

"Okay," Ryan muttered and turned around in his arms, burrowing into Eric's side.

Running one hand up and down Ryan's back, Eric soothed him back to sleep and, listening to his lover's deep, even breaths, slowly fell asleep himself.

***