Title: No Promises
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, 14) Life Or Death, 15) Hole in My Heart, 16) Someone To Pull the Trigger, 17) Every Beat of the Heart
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
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 Ryan Wolfe, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg pulled his car into his usual parking place, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the seat. Ryan would be going back to work tomorrow, even though he still thought it was too soon, and he wanted to talk to his boyfriend about it.

How could he convince Ryan that it was best for him to stay home and try to recuperate from what he'd been through? This was way too much like what had happened to make him leave Miami, and Greg didn't want his boyfriend to deal with more emotional scars.

But the scars were already there, as he very well knew. This was only going to make them worse. Ryan might not want to think about the pain that he'd endured, but Greg couldn't get it out of his mind -- and he was sure that they needed to talk about what had happened.

Ryan hadn't really told him much that he didn't already know. And the team still had no idea as to who had grabbed him; the men who'd taken Ryan had worn gloves, and they'd been very careful not to leave any prints or anything else that could incriminate them.

Greg wanted to find those men and put them behind bars more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life. He wanted to make sure that they never had a taste of freedom again. He wanted them to be thrown into a deep, dark cell, to never see daylight again for the rest of their lives.

No, that was too good for them, he growled inwardly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. Those men didn't deserve to live. They should have to die slow, painful, horrible deaths -- like the death that they had tried to consign Ryan to.

He wanted them dead, no matter what anyone else might think of him for feeling that way. After what they had tried to do to Ryan, he wanted to take revenge on them. It was a miracle that Ryan didn't feel the same way -- but then, Greg was sure that his boyfriend was still in shock.

Or maybe he wasn't, Greg thought with a sigh. Maybe he simply accepted things like this as the price he paid for doing a job that could prove to be dangerous at times. But he couldn't look at it that way, not when the person in danger was someone he loved.

The whole team knew that Ryan was staying with him after what had happened, and no one seemed to think that it was strange. Nobody really wanted Ryan to be in a hotel; it wasn't the best place for him to be, especially after going through such a frightening experience.

Maybe they wouldn't think it was strange if Ryan simply .... moved in, Greg thought, his spirits lifting. It wasn't as though he really had to look for his own place -- he could live and work with another CSI, couldn't he? Being roommates wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

Greg sighed as he opened the car door and got out, knowing that there was no way that he and Ryan could possibly live together. If they did, he was absolutely positive that he wouldn't be able to hide his true feelings -- and that would spell disaster.

Neither of them would get fired, but one of them would be moved to day shift, or swing at the very least. He didn't want to deal with that; he wanted to be able to work with Ryan, to be partners with him at work as well as in their personal lives, to have his boyfriend's back at all times.

If their personal relationship was known to everybody, then they couldn't work together. He didn't have a hard time remembering what it had been like when Gil and Sara had first let it become public knowledge that they were sleeping together. It hadn't been a good scene.

And he didn't want that to happen to him and Ryan, Greg told himself firmly. He wanted to be able to be around Ryan all the time, at home and at work. Maybe he could get Ryan into one of the condos here; then they could at least live close together.

But it would be ridiculous to pay for two apartments, especially if they spent all of their time in one of them, Greg thought with a sigh as he pulled out his keys to open the front door. Though it looked like they weren't going to have a choice with that. They would have to.

He frowned as he entered his home, wondering what was making that odd sound. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen, so he headed down the hallway in that direction, hoping that nothing had gone wrong with the plumbing or anything else in the place while he'd been at work.

What he saw on the kitchen floor made him stop in the doorway, his jaw dropping and his eyes widening. This wasn't something he would have expected in a million years; Ryan hadn't told him anything about it, and he wsn't sure what he would have said if he'd known beforehand.

Ryan was sitting in the middle of the floor, holding a rawhide bone. Tugging on the other end of the bone was a large, shaggy puppy, growling at Ryan in delight as the two of them played tug-of-war. Greg wasn't sure who looked happier, his boyfriend or the dog.

"Hey!" he greeted Ryan, getting down on his knees next to the other man. "Where did this little guy come from? Are we dog-sitting for a few days, or what?" It wasn't something he would normally do, but he had to admit that the puppy was cute.

Ryan shook his head, looking sheepish as he reached out to pat the puppy's head. Deprived of its game, the small animal whined, then licked Ryan's hand enthusiastically. Ryan laughed, glancing at Greg as he tumbled the little dog over to scratch its stomach.

"Ummm .... no," he answered, not meeting Greg's eyes. "He's ours. I went out to an animal shelter today, and I couldn't resist him. He looked at me like he knew he belonged with us. And I kind of figured that we needed a dog. That is, if you don't mind."

Greg felt helpless for a few moments; what was he going to do with a dog? Then he laughed, shrugging off any worry that might have popped into his mind. He missed having a pet, it would be fun to have a puppy around. Between the two of them, they could take care of it.

"So it looks like we've got a puppy," he said, reaching out to join Ryan in scratching the little dog's stomach as the puppy wriggled in ecstasy. "Have you thought about what we're going to name him yet? I've never been good with names."

"Oh, no, you don't," Ryan laughed, shaking his head. "I got him, you name him. Just don't forget that he's an Old English Sheepdog, so he's going to end up being a pretty big boy. So he needs an epic name to go with that kind of heritage. And that size he'll be."

Greg st back on his heels, thinking. He was tired after a long day at work; this wasn't exactly the time to ask him to give a lifelong name to a new puppy. But there was one name that stuck out in his mind, one that seemed to fit this little dog perfectly.

"Wolfie," he said softly, turning to look at Ryan. "His name is Wolfie." He could feel his throat tightening as he said the name; it was connected to Ryan, and it was a name that he would never be able to forget. Somehow, it seemed fitting for their dog to have that name.

Ryan nodded, his gaze meeting Greg's, a small smile on his lips. "I don't want to sound conceited -- but I think it fits him. He's going to grow up to be as big as a wolf. And I kind of like the idea of having a dog named after me. Makes me feel a little ..... invincible."

"Well, you're not," Greg told him, remembering the last few days with a shiver. "Don't start thinking that you are, Ryan. I don't want you to do something stupid and end up losing you. It's already come close to happening once. Don't put me through that again."

"We have dangerous jobs, babe," Ryan said softly, reaching out to stroke Greg's cheek. "I'm sorry, but I can't make promises to keep myself safe. I feel the same way about you, y'know, but neither one of us can know what's going to happen. Not with what we do."

Greg nodded slowly, reluctantly, not wanting to acknowledge what Ryan was saying, but knowing that it was the truth. They could make no promises; they couldn't know if they would be safe from one day to the next. But it was their choice, one that they both had the right to make.

Neither of them could see the future -- and he had to stop worrying about it. Whether they lived together or not, they would make a life together. They already had a good start -- and there was no doubt that Wolfie would be a good addition to that life.

"Come on," he said, getting up off the floor and holding out a hand to Ryan. "Let's get a leash on Wolfie and take him out for a walk. He needs to get used to the neighborhood. And so do you." He looked down at the puppy; Woflie seemed to look back hopefully.

Ryan got to his feet, leaning down to scoop the puppy up into his arms. "It's going to be interesting trying go get a leash on this little guy!" he said, laughing and shaking his head. "He's got a mind of his own. We're going to have our hands full with him."

"Like somebody else I know!" Greg said with a laugh, linking his arm through Ryan's. Maybe he had taken on a lot in his life that he hadn't planned for when he'd gotten involved with Ryan -- but he wouldn't change anything, not now or in all of the days to come in their future together.

***

Next story in series - Perfect Morning.