Light in My Life

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami or the characters. Quotes from episode "All In."

AN: Omigosh. I haven't written in a WHILE! I truly apologize to all my readers who have been waiting for updates on my TT story, "The Reason Why." Thank you so much for reading, it's really great to have so much support. So, onward, this is my FIRST CSI: Miami fic; I fell in love with the series after just a few episodes and I have fallen madly in love with the Calleigh / Ryan (CaRWash) pairing. So here's to you all my fellow CaRWash fans! Story takes place the day after Calleigh is rescued. Hugs and kisses! XoXo

Summary: After surviving a horrific abduction, Calleigh is rescued and safely back with the team. They are thrilled to have her back... some more than others.

Happy reading!

"You messed with the wrong people."

It was the last thing she remembered saying before the world started to feel like it was crumbling around her. She listened as Seth McAdams was slowly led away and taken into custody. Tears welled up in her usually bright blue eyes as she felt the gun slowly being removed from her shaking hands. She vaguely remembered hearing Delko's voice gently talking to her, reassuring her. She turned into him, almost believing he wasn't really there. She felt a protective hand on her left shoulder and nearly melted at its gentle, feather-light touch.

'Ryan.'

She knew it from the instant she felt his hand. Ryan was here. Her family was here. H, Delko, Tripp… and Ryan. They were all here… for her… Calleigh Duquesne… Calleigh…

"… Calleigh?... hey, Calleigh?"

She jumped and quickly looked up from what she was doing, straight into the eyes of Eric Delko.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Oh… yeah… I'm sorry…" Calleigh replied. She had spaced out again. It had been happening quite frequently since after the kidnapping.

"No, no… no need for an apology," Eric responded sincerely. "Just checking in. So, you alright?"

"I'll be fine," she answered sweetly. "Listen, thanks again for bringing me home last night. It was very sweet of you."

"Hey, it was my pleasure," he said. "Anytime."

She smiled. "Well, I'm gonna go finish running these glasses real quick. Couple of lipstick smears, but that's all I can see so far. I'll see if I can pull any prints off of them."

"Don't hurt yourself, Ms. Workaholic," Eric teased. "H was nice enough to let you come in to work. Just as long as you take it easy."

Calleigh giggled. "Don't worry handsome, I won't."

.:.

In the lab room, Calleigh began the process of finding and lifting fingerprints from the wine glasses, a process that she could perfect in her sleep. She quickly brushed her hands down her lab coat and readjusted the clear goggles sitting on her dainty nose before getting to work. She worked efficiently, as always, and after just a few minutes, smoke started to rise out from the glass beaker. Calleigh waited patiently for the chemicals to settle and hopefully, stick to a pair of usable prints. As the smoky fog crawled down the sides of the beaker, it began to mesmerize her as she found herself unable to pull her eyes away from the oozing steam…

She moves quickly. She begins to run the lighter underneath the glass jug until the chemicals begin to smoke. Pink fingerprints begin to reveal themselves on the silver flask. She smiles.

"Whoa, whoa! Stop! What are you trying to do? Start a fire? Get the cops here?"

She takes a deep breath. "Look, this is called a fuming chamber. The smoke is supposed to be there, the hot chemicals will stick to any print that's on the flask."

She slowly removes the flask from the glass jug. "I've got two prints. If you give me yours, I can exclude you."

"Do I look stupid to you?" he sneers. "You just want our prints so that your friends can pick us up later!"

"You know what, if you don't trust me now you're never going to," she retorted calmly.

"I don't trust cops."

Calleigh was snapped out of her reverie and jumped as she felt a strong hand on her left shoulder. She smiled."Look handsome, I told you, I'm gonna be just fi-"

Before Calleigh could finish her sentence, she was silenced by the deep, dark eyes of none other than Ryan Wolfe.

"Well, well, well, I never considered myself much of a stud, but thanks for the compliment anyway, beautiful," Ryan responded with a smirk.

Calleigh blushed, but managed to bounce back. "Well then, maybe you're just giving yourself too little credit there, Ryan."

She smiled at him. He always knew how to brighten her day. And this day was exceptional. Before her terrifying ordeal, Calleigh would never have guessed she would miss seeing Ryan's face when she came to work every day. His playful smirk, his witty jokes… his eternal loyalty. Though she loves each and every one of her team members with equal passion, there is something about Ryan that touched her to the very core. There is a special something about their relationship that only she and Ryan knew about. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she wasn't going to kill herself trying to figure out what it was. Whatever it was, she loved it… with every fiber of her being.

"So how're you doing?" Calleigh asked brightly. "Haven't seen much of you today."

"I'm alright," Ryan answered. "Better than you are, I'd say."

"Why do you say that?" Calleigh asked.

"'Cause uh… you're spilling iodine all over your hands," he said trying to hold back a chuckle.

"Oh!" Calleigh quickly grabbed for some paper towel and realized she had tilted the bottle of iodine solution while in the middle of another one of her memory spasms. She REALLY needed to stop doing that.

"Here, here, let me help you," Ryan said laughing. He swiftly made his way over to the lab table, now decorated beautifully with iodine polka dots, and turned off the flame. He put on a pair of gloves and stood next to her. He took her hands in his and carefully attempted to wipe the chemicals off of her gloved hands. She watched him intently with soft eyes. Oh yeah, she definitely would have missed him.

"Sorry about that," Calleigh said apologetically. "I'm just a little off my game today."

Ryan gave her one of his half-lip smiles. "A little?"

She chuckled and nudged him with her shoulder. She didn't move away completely, however, and kept the contact so that she was leaning on him. Ryan shifted closer to support her weight.

"Listen, Cal, don't overdo it today, alright?" he asked softly while continuing to wipe her hands."It's gonna take a little bit of time for you to get back into the swing of things after what you've been through."

"Don't worry Ryan, I'm fine," Calleigh said watching his hands. She turned to him. "But thank you for coming to get me."

"You doubted me?" Ryan said playfully, his eyes quickly finding hers before going back to her hands. "Of course I came for you. We wouldn't want Eric to get all the credit for being your knight in shining armor, now would we?"

Calleigh laughed. "I guess not." By then, Ryan had finished wiping off what was left of the iodine. He held up her hands and inspected them with utmost satisfaction. He was like a little boy who just received his first reward for cleaning up his room. For Calleigh, it was one of the more adorable sights she would see in a while.

"All better," he said happily. His eyes found hers and he gave her one of his best tooth-filled grins. Calleigh could do nothing but laugh. "Thank you, sir."

"So, what were you thinking about that made you decide to turn your hands into chocolate covered ice cream?" he asked. He almost regretted saying it when he saw the fear and sadness creeping back into her beautiful blue orbs.

"Oh, you know… just thinking," Calleigh responded softly. Her eyes lingered on the beaker that contained the glass. The smoke was already beginning to recede.

"Once in a while, my mind just wanders back to what happened, without me even realizing it. I'll be okay though, don't you worry. I just need some time to really think things through." She gave him one of her best smiles and shyly tucked a stray hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear. She remembered telling Eric the very same thing before getting into his Hummer.

Ryan sighed but managed to smile back. "Okay."

She nearly melted. It was the same kind of 'okay' that he gave her when she asked him not to push the issue of the website that led to her abduction. He trusted her. He confided in her. He had faith that everything would be okay if she simply told him so. He understood her like no one else could and it was one of those things she loved about him. And she knew that somewhere, deep down, he felt the same way.

Calleigh moved closer to him and ever so gently placed her head so that it was resting on his upper arm. Her eyes fluttered closed and she stood there, bathing in the warmth of Ryan's presence. He truly was the light in her life, in all times of darkness. "Thank you, Ryan…" she whispered, "… for everything."

Ryan turned his head and glanced down at her. He could feel his heart doing a little dance inside his rib cage and it was pounding in his ears. He could have sworn she could hear it too. Ryan looked down and realized he was still holding her hands. But he made no effort to remove them.

"I'll always be here, whenever you need me," he told her. "Always."

Calleigh nodded against his arm. He smiled softly as he watched her head move up and down in acknowlegement. He then released one of her hands only to wrap the arm around her shoulder and tenderly stroke her opposite arm. His other hand remained glued to hers.

Calleigh felt herself relax into Ryan's body. Her legs felt like noodles and she could swear they'd give out at any moment. She felt Ryan bring his head down so that his cheek was affectionately nuzzling the top of her head. His caressing hand against her arm sent reassuring shivers up and down her spine. She felt so safe. And she didn't want the feeling to go away. Ever.

Ryan felt her move away slightly, and he slowly let his arm drop down across her back. But before he could move away completely, she turned and wrapped her delicate arms around him and held him in a warm embrace. Surprised, Ryan stood motionless for a few moments. His arms hung in midair before gradually wrapping themselves around Calleigh's small frame, returning the embrace. He felt her sigh into his arms and pulled her closer, placing a small kiss on her forehead. She held him tighter and he brought his chin up to rest on top of her golden locks.

"Everything alright there, Cal?" Ryan asked quietly, stroking her back.

"Right now…" she started, "I couldn't be better."

They stood there holding each other for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, the dreadfully annoying sound of a cell phone reached their ear drums. It was coming from Ryan's lab coat pocket. Without letting go of her, he reached in and brought the phone up to his ear, his chin still resting on Calleigh's head.

"Yea?"

Slight pause.

"Alright, H, I'll be right there."

He hung up and placed the phone back in his pocket. His arm returned to its original position on Calleigh's back. He didn't want to let her go just yet.

"I gotta head out," Ryan whispered. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Okay," Calleigh whispered back. She lifted her head from its position on Ryan's chest, forcing him to remove his chin from her head. Their eyes met for the briefest of seconds and for a moment, time seemed to have stopped dead in its tracks. Calleigh's eyes began to close once more as she felt Ryan bring his face down closer to her own. He rested his forehead on hers, closing his own eyes in the process. His nose dipped down to brush Calleigh's, causing both of them to grin innocently at one another.

Ryan slowly opened his eyes. "I'll be back soon," he said to her. "I promise."

Calleigh nodded and her eyes lightly fluttered open. "I'm not going anywhere," she said with a genuine smile.

"You better not," he teased back before releasing her. His fingertips trailed her hand before letting it go completely. He smoothly turned away from her and began walking towards the transparent glass door of the lab. Calleigh chuckled inwardly at Ryan's attempt at being suave and began working to clean up the mess she had made earlier. She heard the door open and waited for it to close behind him. The sound never came.

"And hey…"

Calleigh looked up as she heard Ryan's voice calling back to her.

"…I'm glad you're okay," he said half smirking.

She smiled back.

"Thanks, babe."

AN: Whew! Finally got that out of my system. After the lack of CaRWash interaction in "All In," I had to find some way to satisfy myself. Well, anyway, PLEASE don't forget to review! I'd love some feedback, it gives me motivation to write more. Much love to all my readers, you guys are the greatest!
Thanks for reading!