Title: Life Or Death
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Series: 1) Catch Me I'm Falling, 2) Sparks, 3) Holding Steady, 4) More Than Ready, 5) Talk About It, 6) Confessions, 7) Fate's Plan, 8) Exposed, 9) A Matter of Feeling, 10) Loving Every Minute of It, 11) Street of Dreams, 12) One of Our Own, 13) Cold Storage
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: R
Author's Note: Mentions of rape.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Adam Ross, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg almost jumped out of the van before it stopped; after following two dead-end leads, he had the feeling that this would be their last chance to find Ryan. Something told him that his boyfriend was here, somewhere in the house that looked so plain and innocuous.

Ryan was in there. He had to be. Greg was sure that he could feel the other man somewhere near, that Ryan needed him. Involuntarily, his hand went to his pocket, clutching the silver four-leaf clover that he was keeping there to return to Ryan when he was found.

They'd processed the necklace as evidence, and Greg had begged Catherine to let him keep it with him. He knew that he was treading on dangerous ground with such a request; it was possible that Catherine would guess just how much Ryan meant to him.

He hadn't been able to meet her eyes when he'd made the request; he was sure that he would burst into tears if she had said no. But the answer had been yes; Catherine had somehow seemed to realize that he'd already formed a strong bond with Ryan.

That bond was what drove him forward now, opening the door of the van before Nick had stopped it fully. The other man reached out to grab Greg's wrist, shaking his head. "Greg, don't be in too much of a hurry. If Ryan's in there, they could have a gun on him."

Greg nodded reluctantly, realizing that rushing in without knowing what the situation was could put Ryan in even more danger than he was already in. He had to try to keep himself calm, to move slowly and take his time, even though he was sure that Ryan was here.

He watched as Sara and Hodges got out of the other van and Catherine slammed the door of her car, wishing that they would hurry. Didn't they know that every second that ticked away could be one more second shaved off of Ryan's life?

He forced himself to calm down, to take deep breaths. He nodded as Nick and Catherine outline their plan for going in; Nick was going first, with Greg and Catherine right behind him, Sara bringing up the rear. Hodges would wait outside, ready to call for medical help if it was needed.

Greg cold only pray that it wouldn't be needed. He hoped that the men who had kidnapped Ryan would have simply left him here -- and that they had finally found the right place, after chasing two red herrings that had left him frustrated and more terrified than ever.

What were they going to find when they went into that house? Would Ryan he there -- or would it be just another dead end? He was almost afraid to think of what he would feel if Ryan wasn't inside somewhere -- or if he was, and he was already dead.

No, Greg told himself firmly. No. Ryan Wolfe wasn't dead. He would feel it if his boyfriend was no longer a part of the world he inhabited. His world would be empty; there would be a void in his heart and soul that could never be filled. Somehow, he would know.

Maybe it was strange that he had bonded so completely with Ryan when they had only known each other for a few days -- but Greg didn't doubt the strength of their bond, not for one moment. He trusted that bond to lead him to Ryan, to let him know that the man he loved was near.

Where was he? He could be in any of the rooms in that house; the place could be booby-trapped, and one wrong move could kill Ryan -- or any of them. Greg's throat tightened at the thought; it was bad enough that his lover was at risk. He didn't want his friends to walk into a trap.

He should be the one to go in there first. That way, and surprises would be leveled at him, and not at the rest of the team. But he knew that Nick would never let him go in first; Nick had always been too protective of him, and that attitude was front and center now.

Silently, Nick pulled the unlocked front door open and entered the house, Greg right behind him. "Clear!" Nick shouted as they made their way through first one room, then another, until they were at the back of the house. What Greg saw as he came through the door made his heart stand still.

Ryan's clothes were on the floor, the jeans and shirt he'd been wearing when they'd gone into that house together and his boyfriend had disappeared without a trace. His shirt was ripped to shreds, as though the fabric had been torn forcibly from his body.

Wherever Ryan was, he was naked and helpless. Greg wanted to hold the torn shreds of his lover's shirt to his face and sob out his terror; every new thought that was going through his mind about what those men could possibly be doing to Ryan horrified him more than the last one.

"It's all clear," Catherine said, coming into the room and stopping short as her eyes took in the shirt and jeans on the floor. "They took his clothes off. That's definitely not a good sign," she murmured, shaking her had, her concerned gaze resting on Greg.

Greg could only nod, not trusting himself to speak. If he did, he was sure that he would burst into tears -- and doing something like that would reveal the depth of his feelings for Ryan. He couldn't let anyone know what they meant to each other. He had to keep his emotions in check.

"There's something buzzing in that back room," Nick said, frowning as he slowly approached what looked like a porch built on to the back of the house. "It's a freezer -- and it's been turned on high." He turned back to the other two CSIs, raising a brow in question.

"Now, why would you turn off all the lights in the house and try to make it look like nobody's here -- and then turn the freezer a lot higher than it has to be?" he asked softly, moving to stand beside the freezer and looking down at it. "I've got a feeling we might find something here."

"Open it! For fuck's sake, open it!" Greg almost screamed the words at Nick, stumbling towards the older CSI and reaching for the top of the freezer himself. If Ryan was in there .... He didn't want to think about how long his boyfriend could have been locked in that frozen darkness.

"Greg." Catherine put her hand on his arm, her voice soft. "If Ryan's in there -- you know there's a very good chance he's ...." Her voice trailed off; she looked down, swallowing hard, as though she didn't want to say the word. "He could be dead," she finished in a whisper.

"I know," Greg managed to answer, his voice choked and barely audible. "I know he might be dead. I know he might not even be here. But if he's in there and he's alive, Catherine, we're wasting precious seconds that might mean the difference between him living and dying!"

The older CSIs looked shocked by the anger and determination in Greg's voice, but they both stepped back. He moved to the freezer, closing his eyes for just a moment and praying to whatever deity might be listening that Ryan would be all right if he'd been trapped in that thing.

He and Nick looked at each other, nodding and then heaving the lid of the freezer. Greg blinked once, twice, then gasped in horror at what he saw inside. He knew that it would be a sight he wouldn't forget any time soon, one that would haunt his nightmares.

Ryan was naked, bound and gagged, ice crystals forming in his hair and on his long eyelashes. His skin had already taken on a bluish tinge, and Greg couldn't tell if he was still breathing. He only hoped that his boyfriend hadn't been conscious when he was dumped in here.

"Ryan!" The cry came from Greg's heart and soul; the sound of his voice ripped through the people standing around him like a boom of thunder. Nick quickly reached into the freezer to help Greg lift Ryan's inert body out, laying him gently on the floor.

Greg sank to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks, unable to check the sobs that rose to his lips. They'd found Ryan. He was here, in Greg's arms. But he had no idea if his love was still alive -- or if he had been too late to save what was most precious to him in all the world.

With trembling fingers, he reached out to lay a hand against Ryan's throat, praying that he would feel a pulse beating there, however weak it might be. To his immense relief, there was a pulse -- thin and thready, but Ryan was alive. He was alive!

He looked up at the others, all standing in a circle around him and obviously trying not to stare at Ryan's body. Nick shrugged off his jacket and covered Ryan's nudity, tucking it in around his hips and shoulders as Greg gathered his boyfriend into his arms.

Greg didn't say a word; he didn't look at the people around him. All he could do was rock back and forth with Ryan clasped in his arms, feeling the other man's weakened heartbeat against his own, thankful that in this life or death situation, for once, life had been the victor.

***

Next story in series - Hole in My Heart.