Title: New Kid in Town
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: gen, Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5_prompts, Written in the Stars challenge
Prompt: D12, Things are beginning to percolate in your career
Author's Note: Spoilers for the S3 CSI: Miami episode "Under the Influence."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Ryan Wolfe or any of the other characters from CSI: Miami, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ryan pulled out his keys as he bounded up the steps that led to his apartment, taking them two at a time. This had been one of the best days of his life; he had moved forward in his career, taking what he felt was a big step from being a cop to working as a CSI.

Even with his degree in chemistry, and the fact that he was pursuing one now in genetics, didn't make it a sure thing that he would be hired by Horatio Caine. But the other man had apparently seen something in Ryan that he liked; he'd been given the job right away.

It was still hard for him to believe that the transition could be so easy and seamless. One day he had been a cop, working with the other guys on the force who he'd been around for the past few years -- and the next, he was working with the CSI team. As quickly as that.

Everything that had happened felt like a dream, as though it hadn't really taken place. He had already begun working with the CSIs; he hadn't expected to be sent out on his first case on the day he'd started, but he was glad that Horatio had such confidence in him.

He'd always had self-confidence, but there had been times when he had felt woefully inadequate at some of the things he'd tried to do. Maybe that was why he was going back to school for that genetics degree, he mused as he opened the door to his apartment.

He had been called an overachiever before; that was because he tried to bolster his self-confidence by doing more than he had to do. And the fact that he had a mild case of OCD always made him strive to be more than he knew he had to be, just to offset that.

Horatio hadn't seemed to be put off by his mention of having OCD -- in fact, that had seemed to almost please him. Ryan didn't know why, but he wasn't going to question it. Maybe this was one of those times when a liability became an asset.

Whatever Horatio's reasons were for hiring him to work on the CSI team, he wasn't going to question them. He was just happy that this had happened; he'd been trying to work up the nerve to talk to Horatio about it for weeks, and today, he'd finally gathered his courage and done it.

He'd enjoyed being a cop, but there had always been something missing. He hadn't gotten the chance to work in a lab, which was where he felt his real talents lay. He'd spent far too much time involved in car chases and apprehending criminals, not doing what he really wanted to do.

He loved being a cop, Ryan reflected as he sat down on the couch and turned on the lamp beside it. He'd never want to give that up. But on the CSI team, he had the chance to be a cop both out there in the field, working with people, and working in the lab as well.

Most cops claimed that it was impossible to do both, but he didn't agree with that. He had always felt that the CSI team were the best cops around; they not only put two and two together in the field, but they were able to bring more to the table with their expertise in scientific areas.

Did he consider himself a cop first, or a scientist? Ryan considered the question, resting his head back against the soft cushions of the couch and closing his eyes. That wasn't an easy answer for him. He had always liked to think of himself as being both.

If he had to make the choice, though, he would say that he was a cop first. He loved science; he wouldn't be pursuing a degree in genetics to add to the one he already possessed if he didn't. But he was born to be a cop. It was what he had wanted since he was a child.

Ryan couldn't imagine doing anything else with his life than what he was doing now. As much as he had enjoyed being on the force, being out there in the field every day, there was something much more fulfilling about being part of the CSI team. He had finally found his niche.

He felt as though his career was just beginning to percolate; he'd had a lot of interesting and exciting things happen to him while he was out on patrol, but he had the feeling that his job was going to be much more interesting now that he was doing what he really wanted to do.

Some of the other members of the team seemed to be having a hard time accepting him, but he couldn't blame them for feeling that way. It was still very soon after the death of someone they had been close to; he couldn't expect them to embrace him with oepn arms.

He was going to be the new kid in town for a while; he could see that already. He didn't really blame the rest of the team for being cautious about him; he would probably feel the same way if one of his colleagues who he'd been close to had been replaced.

But he didn't really see himself as a replacement for the man who had died. He wasn't trying to take the place of someone who had been a valued and respected team member; he was trying to do his job, to find his own place, to fit in with the team in his own way.

He could only hope that the other team members would see it that way, Ryan thought with a sigh. It could pose a real problem if they refused to accept him in his own right, or if they refused to work with him. Then his new career could be over before it even began.

No, that wouldn't happen. He was sure of it. Some of the team memhers might seem cold to him now, but it was only his first day. Things would warm up once he began to get better acquainted with them, and proved to them that he could be a valuable asset to the CSI team.

Ryan had thought about this career path for a long time; it wasn't something that he'd decided to do on the spur of the moment. He had wanted to be a CSI for a while now, but he hadn't quite known how to go about talking to Horatio Caine. It hadn't been an easy decision to make.

Though now that he had, he was glad he'd done it. It hadn't been easy to screw up his courage and go talk to the man in charge, but he'd done it, and been successful. That made all the difference in the world, knowing that Horatio apparently thought highly of his abilities.

His career was definitely heating up now. He'd felt the need to leave the force and do something that felt more meaningful to him percolating under the surface, but it had taken him a while to act on what he wanted to do. Now that he'd taken that chance, he was glad he'd done it.

The team would eventually accept the new kid in town, Ryan told himself, smiling at the thought. It might take a while, but he would find his niche and start to fit in. He already loved what he was doing, and he was sure that euphoric feeling wasn't going to go away any time soon.

***