Title: Just Ask
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5_prompts, Month of November challenge
Prompt: Day 21 - Ask for help
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 sighed as he pulled his car into the parking lot of the crime lab, stopping the engine and looking over at his boyfriend. He and Greg had talked for what seemed like hours this afternoon, trying to decide what they should do about what had happened in the park.

Should they have an APB put out on someone whose name they didn't know, and whose face they could only describe? Or should Ryan spend hours poring over mug shots, trying to put a name to the face that haunted his dreams every night?

He'd done that when he was in Miami, but he hadn't been able to come up with a name. And if that face was in any kind of lineup, it would have been there; he was sure of it. This man probably wasn't in any kind of database in Vegas. At least, not yet.

If he'd been able to stay under the radar in Miami, then he'd probably done the same everywhere. He was out there, threatening both of them, yet they couldn't seem to do anything to catch this guy. He was like an elusive phantom, showing up when he was least expected.

The last thing he wanted to do was ask for help, but this had gone far beyond the point where he could handle it alone. He had known that from the second he'd seen that bastard step from behind the tree in the park and lay hands on the man he loved.

If he could, he would find his nemesis and confront him -- and kill him in cold blood. He didn't want this man to become a part of the justice system, as system that had already failed and set him free far too many times. He wanted the man dead.

He didn't want to cope with any more threats to Greg -- or to himself, either. He could take care of himself, Ryan thought grimly. But the moment that bastard had laid a finger on Greg, that was the moment that he had felt the thirst for revenge in his heart.

"Are you okay, Ry?" Greg asked softly, turning to look at him. Ryan realized that he'd been sitting there silently, lost in his thoughts, his mind churning around and around and not coming up with any kind of a solution to their problem. "We've got to go in, y'know."

Ryan sighed, looking over at Greg and reaching for his boyfriend's hand. "Yeah, I know, he said softly, wishing that they could just turn around and go home. "I'm just thinking about what it's going to be like to ask for help with the situation we're in."

"Ry, we have to," Greg said, his fingers twining through Ryan's, making sure to keep their hands down so that no one would be able to see them holding hands. "We can't handle this alone. He got the drop on us once already. We don't want it to happen again."

"We're officers of the law, Greg," Ryan told him, feeling his anger at the situation start to rise to the surface. "We shouldn't have to ask for help. We should be able to protect ourselves. And I should be able to protect you. I shouldn't have frozen up in the park."

"If I saw anybody grab you, and they had a knife, I'd freeze, too," Greg said, his voice barely a whisper. "I'd be so scared that I don't think I'd be able to move, or breathe, or do anything. I'd just stand there and be terrified that I was going to lose you."

"I just hate to ask for help, when I'm a cop," Ryan muttered, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. "I should be able to take care of myself -- and protect you, too. That's one of the reasons I joined the police force, to help people. And right now, I feel helpless."

"I understand," Greg said softly, squeezing his hand sympathetically. "I do, Ry. But we can't handle this on our own. Not any more. I don't think either one of us wants to take a chance on losing each other. We've got to ask for help. It's gone beyond our control."

Ryan sighed, nodding, knowing that Greg was right. But how he hated to admit that this was out of his hands! He still felt that he should be able to protect his boyfriend without the aid of the police -- but as Greg said, he didn't want to take any chances.

If anything happened to Greg because he'd had too much stiff-necked pride to ask for help, then he would spend the rest of his life blaming himself. And he didn't want to live with the guilt of knowing that others might have been able to protect his lover better than he himself could.

"What do we do if the police can't keep us safe?" he whispered, the images from that horrible nightmare he'd had only a few nights ago coming unbidden to his mind's eye. Greg being shot, his body riddled with bullets, lying lifeless in his arms.

Ryan shuddered at the memory of that dream, pushing it away from him and slamming a mental door on it. He didn't want to remember that; it had only been a dream. It wasn't a premonition; it wasn't a glimpse of their future, of things yet to come.

"Nothing's going to happen to either one of us," Greg said firmly, bringing Ryan out of his dreams and back to the present moment. "We're going to be okay, Ry. We're going to catch this guy. All of the LVPD will be behind us. Just ask for help. We'll get it, I promise."

Ryan tried to smile, but it was getting harder and harder to do so. Every day brought fresh worries; ever since he had seen that man grab Greg, he'd felt shaken, unsettled. Nothing was going to make him feel okay again until his nemesis was safely behind bars.

And who knew when or if that was going to happen? He didn't want to think of the probable outcome if it didn't. He didn't want to face that bastard again; the last thing he wanted to deal with was a repeat of the last time, when his adversary had held all the cards.

He held them this time around, too, Ryan thought to himself, though he didn't want to say the words aloud. If he kept threatening Greg, he knew that he would have the upper hand. He had to know that there was nothing Ryan wouldn't do to protect his lover.

They had to ask for help. This had gone beyond the two of them; for all he knew, it could reach to their friends, as well. Other people on the CSI team might be threatened. It was time for him to admit that they had to bring in people to help them.

"Come on," he said, giving Greg's hand one last gentle squeeze before letting it go to open the door. "Let's get in there and tell people what's going on." In spite of himself, Ryan could feel his spirits lifting. It was time to ask for the help they needed -- help that he knew they would get.

***