Title: Fresh Start
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, csi50
Prompt: 19, Fresh
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ryan leaned back in his desk chair, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. It had been a long night, but he and Greg had cracked a case that they'd been working on, and even now, Jim Brass and the cops were bringing in a killer.

He was proud of the work he'd done in the time that he'd been here -- and he felt so much better about his work here in Vegas than he ever had when he was in Miami. He felt that he was finally a valued member of a team, that his work was appreciated.

There would never be anyone here who would believe the worst of him with no proof; he would never have to feel as though he was replacing someone and not quite living up to the impossibly high standards set by a person whose death had made them a veritable god.

He hadn't admitted it to anyone at the Miami crime lab, but their attitude had always annoyed him. By the time he'd left, he was sick to death of being compared to a dead man, made to feel as though he would never measure up.

Especially when it was Speedle's idiocy that had gotten him killed, Ryan thought wryly. He had died because of something incredibly stupid that he'd done himself. But yet, everyone in the Miami lab turned a blind eye to that fact, and acted as though he was perfect.

Ryan had never been fully accepted there; the only person who had treated him fairly was Walter, and that was more than likely only because Walter hadn't joined the crime lab until Ryan had been there for a few years. The others had always treated him with suspicion.

Even their friendly gestures had never seemed completely believable. Ryan hadn't really felt much of a tug at his heartstrings when he had left; he knew that he was leaving a team who had closed their ranks against him from the beginning, who had never fully let him in.

Here in Vegas, he was not only appreciated and valued, but the team actually wanted him here. They would never assume that he had murdered someone when they had no proof. They would never believe the worst of him right from the start.

Coming here to make a fresh start with his life was the best thing he'd ever done for himself. He had thought that he was doing something to turn his life around when he had joined the Miami crime lab, but now, it felt as though that had been a step backwards.

Ryan sighed as he rested his elbows on the desk, closing his eyes, contemplating what his time at the Miami crime lab had been like. It hadn't been all bad, of course; he'd enjoyed the work, and he'd learned a lot. He'd become a good CSI there.

If he wasn't good at what he did, then he would never have been able to transfer here, to the best and busiest crime lab in the country. Even Horatio, who rarely gave praise to anyone but his pampered pets Delko and Boa Vista, had admitted that Ryan was good at his job.

Horatio hadn't wanted to lose him -- as a team member, he'd claimed, but Ryan had been fairly sure that Horatio wanted him in Miami more as a scapegoat and whipping boy for the rest of the team than for whatever he himself brought to the CSI team there.

He hadn't said that when he'd left, though. He had simply told Horatio that this was best for him, that it was what he wanted, and refused the offer of an increased salary if he stayed in Miami. It hadn't been the money that was important to him.

It had been the fact that he never felt as though his work was truly appreciated in Miami. Everyone else on the team could make mistakes, and have them ignored or swept under the carpet. But when he made even one small mistake, it was magnified out of all proportion.

There was none of that here. He wasn't made the scapegoat for everyone else's mistakes, so they could come through any kind of trouble smelling like roses while Ryan was thrown under the bus and made to pay for the mistakes that other team members had made.

He'd been thoroughly sick of that by the time he'd decided to leave -- though that hadn't been the only reason he'd decided that Miami was a part of his past rather than his future. No, there had been more to his decision to make a fresh start elsewhere.

Somehow, he had seemed to be drawn towards Las Vegas. He'd thought long and hard about where he most wanted to be, and this had seemed the best place -- the crime lab with the best reputation, the one place where he had felt that he would fit in.

But that wasn't the only reason he had come here, was it? Ryan smiled as he leaned back again, his gaze coming to rest on the picture of himself and Greg that was on his desk. No, there had been another reason that he'd been drawn here, one that had nothing to do with work.

Greg had been here, waiting for him. He might not have known the other man at the time, but he knew in his heart that there had been something in Greg that had called to him, over the miles, even before they had met. He'd come here to find the love of his life.

He hadn't been planning on that when he came here. He hadn't thought that he would find anything but a satisfying job and a fresh start with his career. But he'd found so much more than that, so much that he would hold on to with all of his heart and never let go.

From the moment their eyes had met, he had known that his heart was lost forever. He'd given that heart willingly; he would never ask for it back. And he would hold Greg's heart close to his own, keeping it safe and protected for the rest of their lives.

This might not have been what he was looking for when he'd driven into Vegas and felt a lifting of his spirits, but he'd stumbled into something that was so much more than what he'd ever expected. He'd been happier here than he had ever been in Miami.

It wasn't just the job that had made him happy, though Ryan had to admit that he loved what he did here. There might be more restrictions in a lot of ways, but he was valued here more than he had ever been in Miami, and that feeling gave him a warm glow inside.

But it was nothing even close to the glow that warmed him when he thought of Greg, and the love he'd found here in Vegas. This might not be the place where most people would go to find the other half of their hearts, but it been right for him.

This was a fresh start for him in so many ways, and he was thankful every day that he'd listened to whatever fate had drawn him to this city. He'd found so much more than he was looking for; at this point in his life, Ryan felt that he had it all.

He did have it all, Ryan told himself as he pushed his chair back and got to his feet. He had a job he loved, and a man who was the center of his life and who filled his heart. And he had a fresh start in life -- one that he intended to enjoy every moment of.

***