Title: Rear View Mirror
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: gen
Pairing: Ryan Wolfe
Fandom: CSI: Miami
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 5, Memory
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Ryan Wolfe, unfortunately, just borrowing him for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"Mr. Wolfe." That was what he'd always been to the Miami CSI team.

Ryan's foot pressed the accelerator harder, his hands clenching on the steering wheel. It took him a moment to realize just what he was doing; when he did, he took a deep breath and eased up on the pedal, trying to force himself to relax.

There was no reason for him to get upset, he told himself. He was done with the CSI team here in Miami; by this time tomorrow, he would be on his way to Las Vegas, to start a new job in a new place. A fresh start, a whole new life that he could build from the ground up.

That was what he needed. It was what he'd needed for a long time, really. He need to be some place where he didn't feel as though he was looked down on.

Here in Miami, he had always been the new kid, the guy who had replaced Speedle. The members of the CSI team who had worked with Speed had never really accepted him; they had never had his back when he'd needed them the most. And they never would.

It was time to stop searching for an acceptance he would never find.

People like Walter had always been on his side, but Walter hadn't worked with Speedle. The long-time team members would never see him in the way that Walter did.

To them, he would always be "Mr. Wolfe," and never just Ryan. He would never be the friend and colleague that he wanted to be -- that he had tried to be. He would now and forever be the guy who had replaced their friend -- and they would always resent him for it.

Even Horatio, who had thought enough of his abilities to hire him, had never really warmed to him. He was the one who had started with the "Mr. Wolfe," and the rest of the team -- other than Walter and Jesse -- had all followed suit. They had always shut him out.

Well, they would all be nothing more than memories after today. He would be out of Miami, gone from here into a new life. A better life.

In that life, he would simply be "Ryan." He'd never have to be "Mr. Wolfe" again.

Maybe he wouldn't find the complete acceptance he was looking for, Ryan thought with a sigh. Maybe whoever was on this CSI team in Las Vegas would expect him to work harder than the average person to fit in. But hopefully, he wouldn't be just a replacement.

Miami would be in his rear view mirror by tomorrow afternoon; he wouldn't really have a lot of regrets about leaving. His family would still be here, but he could keep in touch with them. It was past time he'd taken the reins of his own life, and worked to make it better.

***