Chapter 4: Not Again

When you're trying to get over such a dramatic event, everything is different. Some days are better then others, while some are pure hell. Today was one of those days. Ryan didn't know how he managed to get through the whole day. Horatio had offered to let him go home, but that was the last thing he wanted. Like he had told Dr. Evans, work kept his mind off of his ordeal while if he went home all he would have to do is replay it over and over again.

Ryan slowly entered his apartment and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it and took a deep breath, thankful to be home. He noticed that the light on his answering machine was blinking; he took off his jacket and hit the button. There were two messages; one was from Dr. Evans reminding him of his appointment next week, the other was his parents Philip and Judith checking up. But, this wasn't the time for him to call back. If his parents, especially his mom, found out what happened today, they'd be on the first flight out. It isn't that he wouldn't appreciate having them, but he didn't want to worry them. He knew though that he did want to talk to someone. Ryan picked up the phone and dialled, it rang twice before someone picked up.

'Hello?' A female voice answered

'Hey Pup' Ryan said

'Howl!' Karen exclaimed 'How's it going?'

'I'm alright. How about you? Still busy planning?

'Like you wouldn't believe' Karen started 'You don't know how busy and crazy it is to plan a wedding until you have to plan your own. There's the hall, decorations, cake, invitations and of course my dress, but my mom has been such a big help'

'That's good'

'Howl, is something wrong?'

'No, no everything's fine'

'Don't lie to me Ryan. I can tell there's something; I hear it in your voice. Please tell me what's wrong'

Ryan had been trying to keep it in since the beginning, but he couldn't anymore. He sat down on his sofa and took a deep long breath. 'Today was…a pretty… bad day' Ryan said, his voice breaking

'It's alright, just take your time' Karen said

'It started off well…'

-xxx-

Ryan and Eric arrived at the crime scene. This was the third house fire in two weeks. The team had found evidence of foul play at the first two, the work of an arsonist. Ryan and Eric were expecting to find more evidence of foul play at this scene as well. This house was lucky; it wasn't a total loss like the other two were.

'What do we got?' Eric asked one of the cops on the scene

'Same thing as before. Fire started in one of the bedrooms and living room'

'Who called it in?'

'Owners did, they were home when it started. They were in the master bedroom packing for the family vacation. They were supposed to leave tomorrow.

'What about the vehicles?' Ryan asked

'Son and daughter were gone with one and the other is in the shop'

'Thanks' they headed towards the house

'Well it fits the M.O' Ryan said 'Two story house, fire started in the same places. Only this time it didn't completely go up in smoke, if you know what I mean'

'The prep probably thought no one was home just like at the other two houses. No car in the driveway and no noise in the house'

'So where do you want to start?'

'I'll take the living room and you can take the bedroom' Eric decided

'Alright, I'll catch up with you later'

They both took their kits and headed their separate ways. Eric stayed downstairs and Ryan headed upstairs.

Arson cases are among the most difficult scenes to process because not only does the fire destroy your evidence, but the firefighters aren't much help either. CSIs had to take their time to make sure that they didn't miss anything. Ryan had been in the bedroom for about an hour, shifting through the debris and had found what he was looking for, the point of origin. The arsonist like in the other cases had started the fire in the closet on the other side of the room away from the door. Ryan took out his camera, knelt down and started photographing his find. Not long after he heard the door to the room creak open behind him.

'You find anything in the living room?' Ryan asked, taking for granted that it was Eric coming to check up on his progress. No answer came.

''Eric?' He turned to see what his fellow CSI was up to. Instead, to his surprise he was met with a hard blow to the side of the face. The hit knocked Ryan onto his back. The whole room was spinning. He hadn't been hit that hard since….

Ryan looked up to see a man holding what looked to be a red gas tank in his hand. Instinctively, Ryan reached for his service pistol. Seeing what he was doing, the man went to Ryan's side to grab the weapon first. Ryan tried to break the grip he had on the pistol, but was met with another hit to the face. His attacker removed the gun from the holster and pointed it at Ryan. Memories came flooding back, Ryan could see Steve Dawson pointing the gun right at him ready to pull the trigger and end the seven days of hell he had been through.

'This is my work' The man started 'and like the others times I was supposed to watch this place completely burn! But no! The owners had to be in the house and ruin everything. Well I'm an artist and I can't stop until my work is completed and this time I'm going to make sure that it is'

Keeping the gun trained on Ryan, the unknown attacker began pouring out gasoline on the bed

'So what are you planning to do?' Ryan asked 'Burn the place down with us still in it?'

'You do catch on quickly don't you?' The Man laughed 'I can just see the headlines now 'Great Arsonist finishes the job and takes a member of the M.D.P.D with it' No one is going to forget that'

Ryan could tell that his guy was delusional, a pyromaniac who just wanted to see stuff burn. He thought he could work with that.

'Yeah, but if you're in here when this place goes up in smoke….literally, you won't be able to see the beauty of it burning. And then the fun is over for good, no more torching, no more artwork. Do you really want that to happen?'

'I do like to watch' The man said, the gun still pointed at Ryan 'I mean setting stuff on fire and watching them burn is where I get my thrills. It's so exciting and beautiful'
'You see, you love it too much to let it stop here. So let's just put the gun down, we'll go outside and find something else for you to burn, so you can watch'

'That would be fun, but I told you that I'm an artist and I need to see my work completed and that's what I'm going to do!' He came up beside Ryan and hit him hard on the head with his gun. Once again, Ryan was sent onto his back, but this hit did a lot more damage, he could feel himself wanting to lose consciousness.

His assailant lit a match from his pocket 'And I still like the idea of adding a police officer to my work. It's that pizzazz that I need to keep the people's interest' He flung the match onto the bed and left. Instantly the gas ignited, starting to turn the room into a fire chamber once again. Ryan knew he had to get out fast and warn the others. He turned onto his stomach and tried to get up, still dazed from the hit he had just taken. Was that a ringing in his ears that he was hearing? No, he realized it was the upstairs fire alarm; the smoke had crept out into the hallway and had set it off again.

'Wolfe?' He heard Eric's voice from downstairs

Ryan got to his feet and stumbled out of the room 'Eric!'

Eric looked up and saw the smoke coming from behind his fellow CSI. He rushed up the stairs and found Wolfe staggering 'What happened?' He asked as he put one of Ryan's arms around his shoulder to help.

'Suspect came back…we need to get out of here, this place is going up again'

Eric grabbed his radio and sounded to alarm to the other officers that were around. Once he and Wolfe were outside, he also radioed fire and rescue.

'You alright?' Delko asked Ryan

'I'm alright, nothing a little ice wouldn't help'

'Well we're going to have to get you checked up at the hospital anyway; you're bleeding from that shot to the head'

'I don't want to make a big deal about it, please'

'Don't start playing tough guy; I know another event like this can't be easy on you so soon after…'

'I know Eric; let's not bring that up shall we? I'll go to the hospital, get checked and come back to work'

'If H let's you'

Ryan sighed. He couldn't believe it. How could this happen again so soon? Hadn't he been through enough? He had to convince Horatio to let him keep working. Just sitting on the back of the hummer, his mind was racing with images of his capture again. He tried his best to fight them back. One thing he didn't want to do was break down again, especially in front of Eric. He knew that if he went home it would be even worse

How could this happen again so soon? Thatwas the question racing through Ryan Wolfe's mind.

-xxx-

Ryan felt better after talking to Karen. It felt good to let some of the emotions he was feeling out. He knew that his sister was always there for him, family always was. Then it hit him, what was the team to him, but an extended family. Alexx was like a second mother to him and he looked to Horatio as a sort of father figure. Then there was Eric and Calleigh, they had all been there for him. They came through for him by saving him from Steve; they were by his side when he was in the hospital and now, through his recovery, they were there for him once again. It was like Dr. Evans had said he didn't have to face his demons alone. Ryan knew that he had the best chances of getting past this, with a lot o help from his family and friends.