Work Text:
"I wouldn't call myself a hitman. I'm an independent contractor in waste management."
"Ah yeah, the famous way of managing your waist by beating them up with a baseball bat." Ryan sarcastically said.
"Who are you to judge my work?"
Ryan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming up.
The last couple of days had been filled with over half a dozen dead people, two different mob families luring behind every corner and a lot of caffeine to counter the lack of sleep. So a suspect being a smartass was the last thing Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito needed.
Several of the victims - who all belonged with the Napolitan mob - were found with wood splinters in their wounds. One victim even had a chunk of the bat in his head, which gave them the DNA of the suspect sitting in front of him. A hitman with the Sicilian mob.
"So where were you yesterday between 12 am and 2 am, and between 5 am and 7 am?" Esposito asked.
"I'm not saying anything anymore. I want a lawyer."
Ryan didn't say anything. He just walked out of the interrogation room with Esposito on his heels. Beckett and Castle emerged from the observation room.
"Go home and have a good rest. We're picking it up tomorrow." Beckett told them. Ryan and Esposito didn't let her tell it twice.
***
Ryan opened the door of their apartment and discarded his shoes onto the pile of footwear in the hallway.
Neither Esposito nor Ryan were saying anything. They sat down on the couch and Esposito opened his arms. Ryan cuddled close until their chests were aligned and his face was buried in Esposito's neck. He let out a relieved sigh when he felt his headache fade away and he planted a soft kiss on the skin nearest to his lips. Esposito closed his arms even tighter around his boyfriend.
"Thank you, I needed that." Ryan whispered.
"Me, too. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Because even if the days were chaotic and violence was never far away, Ryan always had someone to come home to. And he couldn’t be more grateful.