Title: Lost in the Crowd
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
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 Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

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Ryan made his way along the sidewalk in front of the house that he and Greg were collecting evidence from, going back to the van to get a few things they would need. This had been a bloody scene, and there were people gawking all around the block.

He hated feeling so conspicuous, feeling that he stood out a mile with the CSI vest that he was expected to wear at all crime scenes. Greg didn't seem to have a problem with it, but then, he wasn't used to something different. Ryan had been more casual in Miami.

Horatio had always felt that it was better for the CSIs to blend into the crowd, but the Vegas lab didn't seem to think the same way. Ryan wasn't going to complain; he couldn't really say that one way was better than another. They were just different.

There were so many people here, Ryan thought, squinting into the crowd. Even this early in the morning, it seemed that people were drawn to the scene of a bloody murder in droves. He would never understand just why people were so fascinated by carnage.

They were all staring at him as he moved towards the van, as though they expected him to pull something out of there that would astonish them. All he was taking out were some things that they needed to use to dust for fingerprints; it wasn't anything unusual.

But he certainly couldn't tell the watching crowd that. It was best if he just got what he needed and made his way back into the house; it was a closed crime scene, and no one would bother him once he was back inside with Greg and doing his job.

Ryan went to the van, finding what they needed quickly and closing the doors, then turning to head back into the house. He had only taken a few steps when he saw a face in the crowd that made his eyes widen and a gasp come from his throat.

He froze in place for a moment, unable to look away from the man he was staring at. He hadn't expected this, not here, not in Las Vegas. He thought that he'd gotten away from all of that when he had left Miami; not only the experience itself, but the memories of it.

He could hardly believe that it was happening; he felt as though he was lost in some kind of a time warp that took him back to his time in Miami, the time that he had spent as a captive of the Cuban drug cartel. One of the most horrible experiences of his life.

The man who was leaning against a nearby signpost and smiling lazily at him was one of the leaders of that Cuban drug cartel -- and he was the very man who had violated Ryan with a gun, taunting him with whispers and threats through the entire experience.

For just a few seconds, Ryan felt paralyzed; he didn't know if he should try to head towards this man, to find out what he was doing here, or if he should simply go back into the house and get on with his job. After all, he could be mistaken.

His memories of that horrible experience might be playing tricks on his eyes. This could merely be a man who bore a striking resemblance to the person who had tortured him for what had seemed like hours, the man who wasn't satisfied until Ryan was sobbing and broken.

He shook his head, blinking, trying to focus on the man standing there. As their eyes met, the stranger raised a hand, forming his fingers into the shape of a gun -- and pulling the make-believe trigger as an ugly sneer of contempt curved his lips.

No. He wasn't mistaken. This was the man who had tortured him, the man who had threatened to pull the trigger of a gun that had been forced inside his body. This was the man who would have taken Ryan's life in an instant if the fancy had struck him.

Dropping the case he held, Ryan strode towards the man, pulling out his gun. When he saw that the CSI had decided to confront him, the man's smile vanished, he turned and began to push his way through the crowd, trying to lose himself in the sea of people.

"Stop! Police!" Ryan yelled, pushing through the people who were nearest to the crime scene tape. They parted as though he was Moses making his way through the Red Sea; Ryan raised his arm, letting them see the gun, reaching for his badge with the other.

He pushed his way through the throng of people around him, wanting to curse their slowness at letting him get by. Already his quarry was disappearing; he could barely keep his eyes on the back of the man's head, and he knew that he could never catch up.

When he finally broke free of the crowd, Ryan looked around him, realizing that the man was gone. He had no idea if his adversary had moved off, or if he had doubled back and was even now lost in the crowd of people around him. There was no way to find out.

Ryan looked around, raising a hand to his eyes to scan the crowd. He didn't see the man he was looking for, but that didn't mean that he wasn't there. He could be wearing a hat to shade his eyes; he could have shed the jacket he was wearing to throw Ryan off his trail.

Ryan's fists clenched in anger; he'd been so close to being able to catch one of the men who had been instrumental in his kidnapping and torture, and he'd failed to do so. He'd let himself be taken by surprise, and that shouldn't have happened.

But he hadn't expected anyone from his life in Miami to follow him here to Las Vegas. He had been sure that he'd left all of that behind him, that this would be a chance for him to start fresh, to leave some of the appalling memories that had haunted him far behind.

He should have known that those memories wouldn't leave him alone, that they would haunt him out in the real world, and not just in his mind. He shouldn't have thought that it would be so easy to escape from anyone who really wanted to do him harm.

What if that man somehow got to Greg? Ryan's entire body seemed to freeze as the thought struck him. Greg could be in danger if Ryan's old enemies were here in Las Vegas; they wouldn't hesitate to hurt Greg, to use him against Ryan in any way they could.

He wasn't going to let his boyfriend be harmed, no matter what he had to do. Greg had already been through enough; he'd suffered through horrors that Ryan didn't even want to think about. He wasn't going to let anyone add more pain to what Greg had already endured.

Ryan scanned the crowd once again before he gave up looking, trudging back to the crime scene and ducking under the yellow tape. He gave a brief description of the man to the cops who were there, telling them that he could be armed and dangerous.

Picking up the case that he'd dropped when he had started chasing his adversary, he headed towards the house, his footsteps slow and hesitant. He didn't want to have to explain all of this to Greg; he'd do it tonight, but now wasn't the best time.

That man had gotten lost in the crowd far too quickly, and Ryan couldn't say with absolute certainty that it was the same man. He'd been so far away; maybe his eyes had been playing tricks on him, and his memory wasn't as clear as he'd thought it was.

Besides, he didn't want to alarm Greg. The last thing he needed was for them both to be on edge; things had been going so well for them lately that he didn't want anything to upset the balance. He would keep quiet about this; there was no reason to make Greg worry.

If it had been the same man, then he would undoubtedly show up again. And hopefully, now that Ryan knew he was here, he would be forewarned and prepared. At least he knew that he had to be on the lookout, that he was probably being followed.

But he would have to be more vigilant than ever to keep that bastard away from Greg. Ryan's fists clenched at the thought of that man getting anywhere near his boyfriend; he wasn't going to let that happen, not even if he had to throw himself right into the path of danger.

He'd done that often enough in the past for strangers, Ryan told himself as he opened the door of the house and took a deep breath. Even though Greg wouldn't want him to be caught in a dangerous situation, there was no one else he would rather face danger for.

Glancing out towards the people surrounding the front of the house again, Ryan cursed the fact that his adversary had managed to get lost in the crowd one last time before he turned back to his job, hoping that Greg wouldn't be able to tell that he had a lot more on his mind than just this case.

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