Title: Things Change
Author: Kacey
Rating: FRT or PG-13
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Pairing: implied Eric/Ryan
Summary: Eric gets a clue.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Just borrowing them for fun.
Fic Prompt: # 91: Epiphany
Warnings: Inspired by the table on AU100, I think. Anyway, on some lj, I don't remember which one. I've created an AU based on the characters in CSI: Miami and the premises of the show. Also totally inspired by the Sylum Clan, not that this contains vampires, because I assure you, it does not. I do not own these characters, their creators and producers, CBS, etc. do. Each story will be part of this AU. The overall rating is FRMA or NC-17, but not all stories will be rated that. In this AU, Ryan is not a cop or CSI. And Speed is alive. The main pairings are Eric/Ryan, Horatio/Speed and anyone else I might add in. Some stories might be crossovers, I'll try to give warnings for each story.
Note: Late Season Two

***

Eric was pounding on Ryan's front door, Speed and Horatio standing behind him. He'd gotten a page on his cell phone with Ryan's home phone with 911 after it. When he'd first met the children, he'd told them to page him 911 if they ever needed him.

"Poppa, is that you?" a terrified voice asked from inside.

"Yes, Des, it's me," he reassured her. "Let me in."

They all heard the door being unlocked and then it flew open. Des jumped into Eric's arms bawling.

"Des, what's wrong?" Eric asked, trying to calm her down.

"I think Daddy's dead," she sobbed out. "We've been trying to wake him up, but there's blood everywhere."

A concerned expression crossed Eric's face. He strode into the house asking, "Where's he at?"

"In here," Tony said from the doorway to the living room, blood all over his hands and clothes. "I'm not sure, but I think Daddy's been shot."

By then Speed had pulled out his phone and was dialing 911. He was quietly explaining the situation to the operator and following the rest of them into the living room while Horatio and Eric were taking stock of the circumstances. Ryan was lying on the floor in a pool of blood and had most definitely been shot, three times at least. His breathing was very shallow, and his lips were beginning to turn blue. Horatio dialed the swing shift supervisor and asked him to send his team over to process the scene.

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Three hours later, Eric had called Ryan's grandparents, who were on their way back from Europe as soon they could catch a flight, and was in the waiting room with his own family and his son and daughter, since they were a package deal. Des was clinging to his mother, while Tony was clinging to him. A doctor came walking out towards them. "Are you here for Ryan Wolfe?"

"Yes, we are," Clorinda said.

"I'm sorry, but according to the privacy laws, I can only give information out to his contacts. Would any of you happen to be Antonio or Delphine Barrett or Eric Delko?"

"I'm Eric Delko. And you can share the information with everyone here."

"Very well, Mr. Delko," the doctor said. "Mr. Wolfe was shot three times, twice in the abdomen, once in the upper chest. We managed to extract all three bullets and sent them to the Crime Lab with CSI Duquesne. Aside from the fact that he'll need physical therapy as we don't know how much muscle and nerve damage has taken place, he'll be just fine. He's in recovery right now and will be moved to a room shortly. If you have any questions after you see him, have the nurse page me."

"Thank you, doctor," Clorinda said.

Des asked, "Can we go see Daddy yet, Poppa?"

"When they come get us," Eric assured her. "Right now, they need to finish up with him. They'll come get us when he's ready to go upstairs."

Frank walked down the hallway towards them. "Eric, I really need to speak with the children and Ryan. When would be a good time?"

"You can speak with Ryan as soon as he's able, but the kids, I don't know. They're not really up for it right now," Eric hesitated. "Maybe when they're with Ryan. They'll be calmer then."

"Call me, would you?"

"Sure."

A few minutes later, an aide came towards them and asked, "Ryan Wolfe's family?"

"That's us," Des piped up. "Can we go see Daddy now?"

"We're taking him up to his room," she smiled. "You can come up with us, but only two of you at a time."

"Can I bring both of them up?" Eric asked, pointing to the two children.

"All right, but he really does need his rest, so try not to tire him out, okay?"

Two heads nodded vigorously in agreement. The aide smiled again and said, "If you'll follow me. For everyone else, we're going up to Med Surg which is unit 6. Mr. Wolfe will be going to pod 6600, room 6615, in case you need to find your family members later."

Assuring his mother that he'd call her when he knew what was going on totally, Eric stood up, and Des held out her arms to him. Shifting Tony over, his mother handed her to him, and he followed the aide to the recovery unit, where they were waiting patiently, Ryan laying on a surgical bed. Both Tony and Des reached for their father, but Eric cautioned, "Let's wait until we get to his room, all right. Your father is pretty weak at the moment, and we need to be extra careful, okay?"

Receiving two solemn nods and one amused look from a very pale Ryan, Eric followed along as the staff wheeled Ryan to the elevator and then into his room. They were met by two more staff members and exchanged information. Fifteen minutes later, they were left alone. Smiling wanly, Ryan commented, "I'm surprised Clorinda let you up here without her."

Laughing, Eric replied, "She didn't really have much of a choice. The aide said only two people could come up with you, but she did okay these two."

Patting the bed on either side of him, Ryan softly invited, "Why don't you two hop up here? Okay, no hopping. You'll both have to be really careful. Daddy's injured and hurt okay? No roughhousing."

"Okay, Daddy," Tony nodded, climbing up on the bed as soon as Eric let him go. He placed Des on the bed beside Ryan and flopped down in the chair next to the bed. Ryan glanced over at him, but kept the majority of his attention on his children until they both fell asleep several minutes later.

Looking over at Eric, Ryan quietly asked, "So, why aren't the cops here asking what happened?"

Raising his brow in amusement, Eric inquired, "Do you want me to call Tripp and get him in here?"

"Actually, yeah," he said. "Sooner it's done, sooner it's over."

"True. Let me call him. I'll go get my mother to sit with you."

"I'd rather have Marisol," Ryan called out to Eric's retreating back.

"You'll get my mother and be happy about it," Eric replied.

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Thirty minutes later, Frank and Horatio walked into Ryan's hospital room just in time to hear him sternly and quietly say, "Clorinda, please. They don't need a mother. They have Eric and me. I'm not getting married just to give my children a mother. Their last one left a lot to be desired. And, no, much as I like Juanita and Marisol, I don't like them enough to marry them. Just leave it alone. I really do like you, but you do not know what's best for my children, nor does Eric. Plus, much as I like your entire family, you don't have any legal ground to stand on in order to take my son from me. Now, please, just drop it."

"Fine, Ryan, but I do wish you'd change your mind," Clorinda sighed. "Des needs a woman's touch."

He weakly laughed and asked, "And you don't think Grandmere, you, Juanita, Lupe, Marisol, Alexx, Calleigh and Yelina count? I'm not kidding, though, Clorinda. I won't discuss this anymore. At all…Now, I believe that Lieutenant Caine and Detective Tripp are here to question me. How are we going to do this, gentlemen?"

"For the purposes of the trial after we catch your assailant, it would be best if Mrs. Delko was not here," Horatio said, "nor myself. We'll just take the children, as they shouldn't hear this either, to Eric and then Frank will question them. Does that work with you?"

"Only as long as Eric or myself is there when you question them," Ryan was quick to reply.

"Yes, I had planned on having Eric there as I questioned them separately," Frank assured him.

"All right, then. I'm ready whenever you are."

Horatio picked up a still sleeping Tony and Clorinda did the same with Des. They took off to find Eric and left Frank to question Ryan in peace.

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Several hours later, the children were saying goodbye to Ryan for the night with the promise that they'd be back first thing in the morning. Eric was going to take them home with him and keep them until Ryan's grandparents got back or Ryan was released, whichever happened first. Watching Ryan, Eric figured the second option would happen first. Ryan apparently hated hospitals, as he was an absolutely horrible patient. Alexx kept laughing at him whenever he'd grumble about something.

Clorinda gathered up the children and then turned to her son. Giving him a meaningful look, she stated, "I'll stay with them until you get home, Eric. Don't blow this."

Ryan watched in confusion as she walked away. Glancing over at Eric, he asked, "What was that about?"

"This," Eric said, stepping up to the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Ryan to him, being extremely careful. Leaning down, he kissed him gently. Ryan went still and gasped in shock. Eric took that as permission to explore his mouth. He smirked when he felt Ryan relax and respond to him. Ryan needed to breathe several minutes later, something that swimming had always helped with.

Pulling back slightly, Eric looked down at Ryan's flushed face and whispered, "Think about that. I'll see you in the morning."

Laying Ryan back down and tucking him in, Eric turned and left, wondering if he'd just made a mistake.

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Two years later

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Ryan was walking along the trail at the park, trying to calm his youngest daughter down. She was extremely angry about something, screaming her head off, face red and tears streaming down her face. Everything he'd tried so far hadn't worked. Diaper. Bottle. Rocking. Carseat. Talking. Singing. Other people, especially that. She'd only screamed louder. He was afraid that someone was going to call the cops or something soon.

Eric walked up to him and ordered, "Give her to me. We're going to take a little ride."

"What?" Ryan asked in confusion.

"Momma made the suggestion of a car ride," Eric explained, taking Alex from him, wincing when she screamed louder. "It's something we haven't tried yet. I figured, what the heck. Nothing else is working. The mothers all wonder if she's teething or starting to. Yelina said that Ray, Jr. acted like this for two weeks before he started teething. If the ride doesn't work, she said try cool items on the gums."

"Teething?" Ryan said in bewilderment. "She probably is about ready to. I didn't even think of that. I'll have to thank Yelina. I've been wondering why Alex has been so unhappy lately."

"Want to go with us?" Eric asked, trying to soothe Alex by constantly petting her back. That seemed to calm her down somewhat, though she was still pretty loud in her fit.

"I don't think so, love," Ryan smiled. "Tony and Des keep saying I'm ignoring them. I think I should spend some time with them."

"All right. Have fun. They're with Speed and Calleigh," Eric told him, walking over to their SUV, stopping off to grab her carseat first.

Turning around and walking off to find their oldest two children, Ryan found himself leaning against the nearest tree, watching as Tony and Des were playing some game that he had no clue about with Eric's teammates. Making his way over to where everyone else was gathered at, he sat down on the ground and leaned back against the tree behind him. Diego toddled over to him and climbed on his lap while crying out, "Daddy!"

Smiling gently, Ryan settled him on his lap and the two of them sat in the shade watching all the activity around them. Eric came back thirty minutes later and found the two of them asleep. Shaking his head in amusement, he made them both more comfortable and sat down next to them, a much calmer and quieter Alex in her carseat. Gathering her up, he held her as he contentedly watched his family, blood and extended.

***