Title: Upside Down
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
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.

***

Greg raised his head from the magazine he was pretending to look at, surreptitiously watching Ryan. His boyfriend had a book in his lap, but Greg was sure that he wasn't reading. His hands were clenched to fists at his sides, his jaw tight, his gaze unfocused.

He knew what Ryan was thinking about; judging from the expression on his lover's face, he didn't have to ask. It was the same thing that was on his boyfriend's mind all the times lately -- the man who had followed him here from Miami.

Greg had to hold back a sigh at the thought; he would give anything to take Ryan's mind away from that subject, even for one day -- hell, just for an hour, he told himself. But that didn't seem possible. Ryan was completely fixated on the problem that was facing them.

Maybe he was just tired of feeling that he had to look over his shoulder all the time, Greg thought, but he immediately dismissed that thought. There was more to Ryan's worries than just disliking the feeling of being watched and hunted all the time.

No, Ryan's worries went far beyond that kind of irritation, especially after what had happened in the park just a few days ago. Ryan was worried about him -- afraid that their nemesis would use him in any way that he could to get to Ryan.

Greg didn't know what to do to calm his lover's nerves, to reassure him that nothing was going to happen to either of them. And, in truth, he didn't know if he could say those reassuring words in all honesty. He didn't know what might happen. Neither of them did.

Their entire world had been turned upside down and inside out ever since Ryan had seen that man at their crime scene. And after what had nearly happened in the park, neither of them could feel safe, not even when they were simply walking Wolfie around the block.

He could still feel the pressure of that arm against his thoat, could still see the gleam of that deadly knife flashing silver in the sun. He was convinced that his captor hadn't planned on using that knife, but Ryan still wasn't so sure about that.

Ever since that fateful day, Ryan's nightmares had been getting worse -- and Greg knew that now, he had something new to dream about. He had no doubt that the horrible images going through Ryan's mind involved him, and his death at the hands of their enemy.

But he didn't intend to die -- at least not in that way, and not for a long, long time, he told himself. Ryan didn't have anything to worry about; the police would catch this guy, and the crime lab would help them do it. He'd be prosecuted, and end up behind bars where he belonged.

Of course, if he said that to Ryan, his boyfriend would point out that they had to catch him first -- and he would be right, Greg thought with a sigh. He didn't realize that the sound had actually been audible until Ryan looked up sharply, closing his book.

"What's wrong, babe?" he asked, his voice soft and a little hesitant. Greg was sure that his lover knew what he'd been thinking about; Ryan seemed to have a sixth sense about things like that, or maybe it was just because they were so close in so many ways.

"You know what I'm thinking about," Greg sighed, getting up from the chair he'd been sitting in and moving to the couch to curl up beside Ryan. "It's what we've both been thinking about all the time, ever since that day in the park. I can't stop thinking about it."

"Neither can I," Ryan admitted, heaving a sigh that matched Greg's. "I keep worrying that he knows where we live -- and he knows that you're with me. He has to know that, Greg. He wouldn't have targeted you that day in the park if he didn't. He would have gone after me instead."

"We've both got a lot to thank Wolfie for," Greg murmured, looking over at the puppy with a smile. Wolfie raised his head as though he knew that he was being mentioned, thumped his tail on the floor and gave a loud bark, then settled down to sleep again.

"If it hadn't been for him, there's no telling what that guy would have done to you," Ryan said, shuddering at the memory. His arms slid around Greg, pulling him close and holding onto him tightly. "I still have bad dreams about him stabbing you -- or dragging you off with him."

Personally, Greg was sure that his assailant would have rather just slit his throat than stabbed him -- but he wasn't going to argue with his boyfriend. The last thing he wanted to do was to give Ryan yet another mental image to disturb his already chaotic dreams.

Aloud, he only said, "Well, he didn't do it, thanks to Wolfie. We'll get this guy, Ryan. Everybody on the police force and in the crime lab is on the lookout for him. He's not going to get away this time, no matter how well he thinks he can hide."

"I want to believe that," Ryan told him, sighing as he spoke. "And part of me does, Greg. But another part of me knows how hard it's going to be to catch this guy. I dealt with him in Miami, remember. And he's not going to make mistakes. Not this early in the game, anyway."

Greg shook his head, frowning as he spoke. "He might think it's a game, but I don't," he said, his voice gaining strength as he spoke, his tone betraying the anger he felt towards the man who threatened them. "What he did to you isn't a game. He should be locked up."

"I'm not disputing that," Ryan said, shaking his head. "I believe that more than anybody. I tried to lock him up in Miami, Greg. And you know where that got me. This guy is going to be a lot harder to track down and pin anything on than we think he will."

Greg nodded, sighing again. "I know you've been down that road before, and you're frustrated with trying to catch this guy and not being able to," he said softly, raising a hand to stroke Ryan's hair. "But we'll get him, Ry. I know we will. I can just feel it."

"I'm glad you can, babe," Ryan told him, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the couch. "Because I can't. I can't do anything but worry about what's going to happen if he catches us alone again when we're not prepared to deal with him."

"You can't keep thinking like that," Greg told him, keeping his voice firm and even. "If you do, then you'll just worry all the time, and you'll be so stressed out that you won't be able to do anything. You can't get yourself all worked up like that, Ryan. It won't do us any good."

"I know," Ryan said with another sigh, not opening his eyes or lifting his head to look at Greg. "But I can't help it, Greg. I know what he's like to deal with. I've been on the receiving end, remember? And now you have too -- even though he didn't do anything to you, thank goodness."

"I don't want him to have the chance to touch you again," Greg said softly, resting his head against Ryan's shoulder and closing his eyes. "It gives me the creeps to think of him even being near you. Or me. I just want the cops to catch him so we can put him away."

"How are we going to do that, Greg?" Ryan asked, raising his head again and gazing at his boyfriend. "Right now, we don't have anything to charge him with. We might be able to hold him for a few days on a charge of assault from the park, but that's it. We can't prove anything else."

"Ever since he turned our lives upside down, you've been a mess," Greg said, tightening his arms around Ryan's waist and snuggling closer against him. "I wish there was something I could do to make him just disappear, so you'd be yourself again."

"If you could, that would be great -- not just for us, but for the police and the crime lab, too," Ryan told him with a soft laugh. "Then nobody would have to worry about him, and we could just go back to business as usual. But unfortunately, it's not that simple."

"I know," Greg sighed, raising a hand to stroke Ryan's cheek. "I know it's not. I just wish it was. I'm tired of our lives feeling like they've been turned upside down and inside out, Ry. I just want us to get back to normal, without having all this drama from the past to worry about."

"I hope it'll be over soon," Ryan murmured, tilting Greg's face up to his and bowing his head to brush a kiss across his lover's parted lips. "I'm going to start believing the way you do, Greg. That we'll catch him, and then we won't feel so unsettled any more."

Greg was sure that his boyfriend wanted to feel that way -- but he was also sure that it would take a lot more than just saying those words to make the feeling actually get through to Ryan. That would be too much to expect, after all that he'd been through.

But he did want to look on the bright side of their situation, Greg told himself firmly. If he didn't, then he too would be under way too much stress, and he didn't want either of them to crack under all of the pressure that would be on them.

He was just going to keep hoping that this man would be caught, and that their lives would stop seeming as though they had been turned upside down, Greg thought as he snuggled into Ryan's embrace. He just hoped that day would come around soon.

***