Title: Step By Step
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, csi50
Prompt: 36, Next step
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 and leaned back in his desk chair, staring up at the ceiling and feeling drained. It was over; Santos had been taken back to Miami, and if they were lucky, they had gotten enough evidence against him to send him to jail for a long time.

He might end up having to testify, and then what had been done to him when he'd first encountered Santos might come out into the open. He hadn't wanted anyone other than Greg to hear about it, but if it could be used to put a criminal behind bars, then it was worth it.

It would be embarrassing to sit in a courtroom and describe what he'd been through to a crowd of jurors, and any people who had been allowed in the court that day. But he'd do it. If his testimony would send Santos away for life, he'd gladly suffer the embarrassment.

Testifying was just the next step in the plan that he'd formulated to put Santos behind bars. The next step in keeping Greg safe -- and keeping himself safe, too. It was a step that he had to take -- but with any luck, he might not be called as a witness.

He hoped that he wouldn't, but it was a definite possibility, and they had to be prepared for that. But at least they could both rest easier now that they had gotten Santos out of Vegas, and he was no longer threatening their safety and their peace of mind.

It made him feel much better to know that Greg was now safe -- well, at least as safe as he could be, given the job they both had. He'd been able to avert the threat before Santos could get too close to Greg, other than that terrifying incident in the park.

The memory of that day still made him shudder; his heart lurched whenever he thought of Santos having his hands on Greg, knowing that the man who had violated him so brutally had touched his lover. It made him want to kill -- and he would have, if he'd had the chance.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan pushed the thought away, slamming an inner door on it and burying it as deeply as he could. He didn't need to think about that now. It was over and done; letting a memory reduce him to anger wouldn't change what had happened.

He and Greg would have to talk about everything that had happened later, once they got home -- and he had no doubt that Greg would ask him questions about the brief time that he'd been cut off from the surveillance of the police force when Santos had discovered the wire.

Nothing had happened to him; Santos had grabbed his wrist, nothing more. There hadn't been time for the man to do anything, or even to bark orders to the rough, burly men guarding him, before the cops had broken through the warehouse door and come to his rescue.

For just a few fleeting moments, he'd been terrified that this might be a repeat of what had gone before -- he had been sure that Santos meant to finish what he'd started back in Miami, and he'd had no doubt that this time, he might not come out of the encounter alive.

But fortunately, that scenario hadn't come to life; he shouldn't have thought for even a moment that it would. He had known that the team was backing him up; even after the wire had been found and they'd lost contact, he should have had more faith in them.

He didn't blame Greg for being unhappy with the plan they'd put into action; if it had been Greg who was placing himself in the path of danger, he would have felt the same way. But it had to be done, if they wanted to trap Santos and send him away for good.

There was always the chance -- a very good one -- that the case against Santos would fall apart, Ryan reminded himself. And that would mean that the man would be back here in Vegas, to go after him even more vociferously than he already had. He couldn't discount that possibility.

But he was going to try his best to pile up the evidence, and be sure that Santos would be in jail for as long as he could possibly be kept there. Horatio had told him over the phone that they had tracked down two people in Miami who were willing to testify against him.

If those people turned out to be reliable -- and Horatio had seemed to think that they were -- then they could be sure that Santos was going away for life. The man had murdered two Federal agents, as well as police officers in Miami, as well as kidnapping Ryan.

This was just one more step in making sure that Santos was sent away, where he belonged, Ryan told himself. They would have to take it step by step, until they were sure that he wasn't going to be able to evade justice yet again.

No one wanted that to happen, least of all the police in Miami, where he committed the majority of his crimes. But now that he seemed to be spreading his network to Vegas -- more than likely just to come after him, Ryan thought wryly -- more people were involved.

For just a moment, he felt guilty that he had come here, that he'd been instrumental in bringing Santos and his evil to an unsuspecting city. But that feeling dissipated after giving him a momentary pang; this hadn't been his fault, and he knew it.

Santos was focused on him for some reason, and he didn't want to know why. It was bad enough that he was the object of a criminal's obsession; he didn't need to know the reasons for it. He just wanted to make sure that criminal was brought to justice.

At least the bastard couldn't get to Greg again, Ryan told himself, heaving a sigh of relief. He was more than satisfied with the work they'd done to help but the man who had caused them so much anxiety behind bars, even if he'd had to put himself at risk.

There were still more steps to be taken to make sure that Santos went away for good, but now that the man was safely in custody, Ryan was sure that Greg would encourage him to testify if his words were needed. It was the right thing to do.

If he did that, then he could have some closure; he could openly confront Santos with what he'd been through, and help to get a dangerous criminal off the streets. He was sure that Greg would agree with him, as well as the rest of the CSI team and the Vegas police force.

They were taking it all step by step, moving forward with each one of the those steps, Ryan told himself as he stood up, glancing at the clock. It was time for the next step -- going home and talking to Greg. That talk would be one of the most important steps for the two of them.

***