Title: Water's Edge
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Logan Echolls/Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: Veronica Mars /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 Logan Echolls or Ryan Wolfe, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ryan sighed as he lifted his bag out of the van, turning towards the beach where he knew a body was located. He loved his job; he loved being a CSI. But there were times when he simply didn't want to see another dead body, to know that a life had been snuffed out.

He would end up talking to a lot of people, most of them who lived in the nearby condos, asking if they had seen anything. And the answer would invariably be "no." Nobody ever seemed to see anything, or hear anything either -- or even care about what had happened.

But this was his job, and even if he didn't like everything about it, this was what he had to do. Squaring his shoulders, he moved into the crowd of people, most of whom parted respectfully to let him by at the sight of his CSI jacket and his obvious need to be here.

As he went about his business, he couldn't help looking up now and then to see the people who were crowding around the crime scene, apparently trying to get a look at what was going on. There was one face in the crowd that he focused on each time.

A young man with troubled dark eyes, who couldn't seem to stop looking at the body under the tarpaulin while it was still on the beach, before the coroner's office took it away. The look in those eyes was almost .... haunted. As though he was reliving some private terror.

Ryan made up his mind to speak to that young man before he left; that would be the first interview he did. There was something about those eyes that drew him in -- and made him feel that they needed to talk, even if this young man had nothing to do with what had happened here.

Horatio came over to him as he was packing up his bag and preparing to talk to a few people, shaking his head. "There's really no reason for you to stay and ask any questions," he said quietly. "Nobody knows anything -- and I think I have a lead on who did this."

Ryan nodded, still determined to talk to that handsome young man. Okay, so he was on the clock -- but what could it hurt? The haunted look in those dark eyes would stay with him unless the two of them spoke, and besides, he was curious about what it could mean.

The crowd was already dispersing; he didn't need to stand here doing nothing. He should go back to the lab, of course -- but he wasn't going to. He was going to find that young man and talk to him -- if he was still around. Ryan's eyes scanned the thinning crowd anxiously.

There he was, standing near the water's edge. Ryan walked closer to where he was standing, his gaze sweeping over the still, thin figure so close to him, feeling a surge of desire so strong that it shook him to the core, almost making him gasp.

That wasn't why he wanted to be here, he told himself fiercely. He wasn't trying to get laid. He just felt that he had to reach out to this young man somehow. That troubled look had been too poignant to turn away from; those eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life if he did.

Moving to stand beside the young man, Ryan had to force himself not to reach out and touch his shoulder. "Hey," he said softly, his gaze sweeping over the horizon, the waves breaking on the beach. "I thought you might need to talk. You like you've got something to say."

The young man glanced at him, then shook his head. "No. I don't know anything about what happened -- I heard the gunshots, like everybody else did, but when I came out of my condo, whoever did the shooting was gone. It just .... reminded me of something."

Ryan nodded slowly, believing those words. He hadn't really thought this young man could be mixed up in what looked like a ritual contract killing. "I didn't think you knew anything about it. I'm Ryan, by the way. Nice to meet you." He smiled tentatively, holding out a hand in greeting.

"Logan." The young man turned to him, taking his hand in a firm grip and shaking it. Ryan was again struck by that wave of desire that he couldn't hold back; Logan was even better-looking close up; he was enough to make anyone go weak at the knees.

"I'm guessing you're not from here, judging by your accent," Ryan said, trying to make conversation. He should be going back to the van, back to his lab, back to his job. But he couldn't leave this beach without knowing something about Logan, talking to him for at least a few minutes.

"California." Logan flashed a smile at him, a smile that Ryan felt hid some strong emotion that Logan wouldn't allow to surface. "This is kind of similar to what I'm used to. I wanted to get away, so this felt like a logical place for me to start a new life."

"A new life?" Ryan raised an eyebrow, curious as to just what Logan meant. "Why would you want to start a new life? You seem pretty young, so I wouldn't think that your old life had gotten boring enough for you to want to get away from anything yet."

"My mom died. So did my dad. And the circumstances weren't pretty. No, it didn't have anything to do with me," he said, as though to stave off Ryan's next inevitable question. "But after all that .... tragedy, it wasn't a place I wanted to stay in. I needed to put it all behind me."

"I understand," Ryan said softly, his heart aching for this young man. No wonder Logan had wanted to start a new life somewhere else, especially if he'd been close to his parents. But the hesitation before he'd said the word "tragedy" had made Ryan wonder.

"I'm sorry," he added, wishing that he could say something other than the obligatory phrase. "I don't blame you for wanting to be in a place where there weren't a lot of memories hanging around. I know something about that myself -- but because of my job, I have to stay here."

"You have some bad memories in your past too, huh?" Logan asked, turning to look at him. "I'm not going to pry. Whatever's in your past is yours to share -- or not. Sometimes the best way to deal with it is to find that new life and leave the past behind you."

"The past that haunts me is job-related -- and I've already found out that I don't want to leave my job, or the people I work with," Ryan said softly, shaking his head. "Sometimes it's hard to deal with, but I'd feel a lot worse if I left it behind. It's too much a part of who I am."

Logan nodded slowly, as though he understood, but Ryan wasn't sure that he did. Sometimes he didn't understand his conflicting emotions himself; it was hard to reconcile some of the ambivalent feelings he had about his work with his passion for uncovering the truth.

"If you want to talk, here's my number," he said softly, taking one of his CSI cards from his pocket and handing it to Ryan. "I'd like to talk to you sometime, if you wouldn't mind. Not about this," he added hastily, in case Logan got the wrong idea. "Just the two of us."

"Are you asking me out?" Logan laughed, a sharp, quick sound. His dark gaze swept over Ryan again, as if he was assessing the man standing next to him. "Okay," he said, apparently coming to a decision. "If you want to talk, that's cool. How about if I call you tonight?"

Ryan nodded, trying not to seem too eager. Tonight? That seemed too long to wait, but he did have to get back to work, even though he'd much rather stay here on the beach talking to Logan all day. He had responsibilities that he couldn't run away from.

"I'd like that," he said softly, hoping that Logan could hear the sincerity in his words. "And I wasn't asking you out, really." He felt compelled to explain the reason for his invitation to talk. "You just seem like you need somebody to talk to. And I'm willing to listen."

"I'll call you later," Logan told him, his eyes hooded now, giving nothing away. "We'll talk. I don't know that I'm ready to tell all that much, but it'd be nice to have a friend here." His smile was almost sad. "I've been here for two weeks, and I haven't really made any friends."

"You have now," Ryan told him, his own smile bright and hopeful. "Call me later, okay? I'll be out of the lab by five. If you're not doing anything tonight, we can have dinner." He tried to keep the hope out of his voice; he didn't want Logan to think he was too eager.

"Okay." Logan nodded, smiling again. "It'd be nice to hang out with somebody. Walking alone on the beach is already starting to get old. Maybe I need company more than I thought I would when I decided to pack up everything and start a new life."

"I think you do," Ryan said softly, before raising his hand in a slight wave. "I've got to get back to work, Logan. But I"ll see you tonight. You will call, won't you?" he asked, hoping that the answer would be yes. He really wanted to see this young man again -- on his own time.

"Yeah. I will." Logan raised his own hand, a slight smile crossing his features again. He was even more good-looking when he smiled, Ryan thought, turning away reluctantly and heading towards the van. Back to work, back to the lab, back to doing his job.

But tonight was going to be the start of something, he told himself as he buckled his seat belt and started the van. He could feel it. A chance meeting by the water's edge had opened up a whole new vista in front of him, and he couldn't wait to see what tonight would bring.

***