Title: Fresh Out of Lies
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: Table 2, 20 in 20 Challenge, tv_universe
Prompt: 5, Purple
Author's Note: One-shot. Spoilers for the CSI: Miami episode "Wolfe in Sheep's Clothing."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing him for a while. Please do not sue.

***

How was he going to hide this from the rest of the team?

Ryan sighed as he looked at the right side of his face where the tooth had been yanked out; there was no more evidence of that than a large purpling bruise on his jaw.

But still, wasn't someone -- at least one person, Horatio most likely -- going to ask about that? People would wonder how he'd gotten a bruise; everyone knew that he wasn't a brawler, and he couldn't say that he had stepped into a fight.

If he did that, everyone would wonder why he hadn't used his police credentials to put the person who had started things behind bars. No, that excuse wouldn't work.

Ryan sighed softly, leaning against the counter in his bathroom and closing his eyes. He wasn't entirely sure of what to do now; he had to go to work, but he couldn't tell anyone what was going on. Not if he wanted to save a child's life.

Every instinct he possessed told him to go to Horatio, but he knew that he couldn't do that. He didn't have a choice. A life was at stake.

He wasn't going to put that life at risk for any reason.

Maybe he could buy some makeup and put it over the bruise well enough to hide it. Even as that idea occurred to Ryan, he rejected it.

That would be too obvious -- and even if he managed to get away with it at the beginning of the day, he was bound to forget that he had makeup on the bruise and rub it off, which would just make things even more awkward than they already were.

Someone was sure to ask him why he was covering up a bruise, he thought ruefully. There was no way that he could avoid the questions if he tried to hide it.

No, the only thing to do would be to tough it out.

But what story could he make up? What could he say that would be believable? At the moment, he was fresh out of creative lies.

He couldn't tell the truth, but he'd found out the hard way that it was always easier to go with something that was close to the truth when he absolutely had to lie. That way, at least he could feel that he wasn't being completely evasive.

Ryan closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands for a moment. If only he could tell Horatio the truth, this would be so much easier to deal with.

But that was impossible. And he couldn't turn to Horatio to bail him out. He had to get through this on his own. It was his own mess to clean up.

He'd gotten himself into this, and he could rely on no one but himself to get him out of it. He had to do what he felt was best -- and he had to remember that the life of a child was at stake here. He wasn't going to be responsible for that life coming to a premature end.

If that happened, Ryan knew that he would never be able to forgive himself. So he wasn't going to let it happen, no matter what he had to do.

Even if it meant his own disgrace and the end of his career.

It might very well mean that, Ryan thought with a soft sigh. If he couldn't find a way to get himself out of this mess, he was facing the complete ruin of his life.

At least he would still be alive, but that would be small comfort if his life was in flames around him. Still, he had faith that he could manage to extricate himself from the situation he was in. He had to hold on to that faith, to retain some belief in himself.

That might not be one of the easiest things he'd ever done, he conceded as he fingered the purple bruise again. But somehow, he would do it.

He'd always come through before. This time would be no different.

Ryan straightened up, staring at himself in the mirror. He had learned how to rely on himself, and he'd gotten to be pretty good at doing so.

He wasn't going to call out for help, or let himself feel that he couldn't handle any situation he might find himself in. He was a self-reliant person, and he was going to pull himself out of this and come out on top -- without sacrificing a life to get that job done.

He swallowed hard, thinking of the alternative. He wasn't going to let anyone die because of him. He'd do what he had to do, and he wouldn't ask for help.

Really, he couldn't ask for help. That had been made clear to him. And even if he took Horatio into his confidence -- or anyone else, for that matter -- they might tell him that he was doing the wrong thing to go along with the people who were doing this.

Or anyone he told might not believe that he was serious, and that no one was really in danger. But Ryan knew better than to think this was a game.

The purple bruise on his jaw and the throbbing where a tooth had been told him that.

He would just have to try to deal with them as best he could, think up some reason for that purple bruise, and try to hide the pain he was in.

Ryan sighed as he ran a hand gingerly along his jaw, wincing as he turned away from the mirror. He had to get to work; if he wasn't there soon, he would raise suspicion by not coming in, or at least calling to say that he was ill and couldn't make it.

No, he wasn't going to do that. He couldn't. He didn't have a choice. He had to go in, and act as though everything was normal.

Which just might be the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.

***