After hearing the conversation from the chief, Ryan only pushed for more cases, spending less time outside his office, avoiding almost all contact with the other employees. Even with him practically living behind his closed door, his co-workers' respect continued to grow as he solved every case he was handed.

Ryan didn't know or try to think about what they would say about him when he wasn't around, but their behavior toward the isolated agent didn't noticeably change in Ryan's eyes. 

The only consistent communicate that Ryan expected came from his chief and Brendon. When he would walk into the office, Brendon would have an extra cup of coffee, which Ryan accepted gratefully. They would have a light conversation before Ryan went to his office.

Ryan in his office, nursing his black coffee as he was finishing up the paperwork from his latest case. He was in a fairly good mood that morning. Occasionally, he got lost in thought. He snapped back into reality when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," he called out, looking back down at his work.

"Ross." Ryan turned to see Hurley walk in and take a seat across the desk.

"I was gonna come into your office to get another case after I finished this report." Andy smiled.

"Well, I just saved you the walk. Got your next case right here." Andy placed a new folder in front of Ryan. Setting down his pen, Ryan opened it and started to read. His face scrunched in confusion the more he read. When he finished, he looked back up at Andy.

"I don't do surveillance cases, sir." Ryan face went serious as he stared at Andy. His chief knew what cases he preferred to work on. Why would he give him a surveillance case?

"I need you on this case."

"Chief, I really don't think th-"

"I wasn't really asking what you thought, Ross." Ryan frowned, but didn't retaliate. Ryan knew when he should and shouldn't argue with his boss. By the tone of Hurley's voice, this was a 'shouldn't' moment.

"What will I be looking out for?" He looked down at the file. "There aren't many details. Just suspicious activity. Why can't the local police handle this?" Ryan grunted, not liking this new case.

"We don't believe this is a job that should be handled by them, but we aren't entirely sure the severity of the situation. Which is why I want my best agent on this case." Andy gave Ryan a wide smile and got an eye roll in return.

"Trying to sweet talk me into the case, chief?"

"Is it working?" Ryan let out a sigh.

"Fine. I'll do it." Andy gave his hands a clap and stood up.

"Good because you didn't really have a choice. Your rooms are booked and your flight leaves Thursday," Andy spoke as he walked toward the door. Ryan stood up quick.

"Woah, woah, woah. Rooms? Why would I need more than one room?" Ryan eyed Andy suspiciously. His chief misspoke. That's all, right? Ryan could see him smirking over his shoulder.

"Do you think I would send you out by yourself when we don't know how dangerous this case could be?" Ryan's eyes grew wide.

"No," his voice was soft. "No. No." Ryan felt himself growing angry. "I don't do partners chief. I'll do the stupid surveillance crap, but I won't do a partner."

"Not up for debate, Ross." The door shut behind Andy and Ryan started pacing around his office. As much as he wanted to storm into the other's office, he knew his protests were pointless at this moment. It was set already.

The logic he came up with didn't stop his body as much as he hoped. He was moving to the door. When he swung it open and took a step out, he crashed into another worker. The stack of papers the other was holding scattered everywhere around them.

"Shit. I'm sorry. I didn-" Ryan looked up to see Brendon staring up at him with a light blush on his cheeks. "Urie." Brendon dropped to his knees and began collecting the papers, avoiding eye contact. Ryan followed suit, eyeing the shorter man.

"I-it's okay. They're... they're for y-you anyway... the papers." Ryan looked down at the papers. They had more information over the case; his hotel, flight... his new partner. Ryan snapped his head up. Brendon peeked up at Ryan, unsuccessfully hiding a growing blush.

"Chief said I'm g-gonna be your p-partner."

"I don't need one," Ryan retaliated. Brendon looked up with wide eyes.

"But-"

"I don't care. I've never had a partner and I don't plan to have one now. So just say you don't want to be put on the case." Brendon dropped his head.

"Ryan, I-I." He quickly gathered the rest of his papers, trying to spit out a string of coherent words. The man was beyond nervous and made Ryan question why he was paired to be put on such a "dangerous" case. "Chief and I- I don't want t-to. He said."

"Urie." Brendon looked up again, but didn't speak right away. Ryan could see a hint of desperation in the other's eyes.

"I have to go," Brendon finally spoke in a small voice. "You know how chief is. He'll have our asses if I don't go." Ryan growled in frustration. He knew Brendon was right. "S-sorry." Ryan shook his head at the apology and took the stack of disorganized papers.

"I'll go through these and give them back by the end of the day." Ryan stood up and turned back into his office. He heard a small 'okay' before shutting the door. He made his was to the desk and started going through the papers, grumbling to himself.

After some time, he stopped paying attention to the words in front of him and thought about his new partner. He let out a sigh and sat back in his chair. If he had to find a positive in all of this, he guess it would be that the chief chose the one person he tolerated most in this department.

---

A/N:

It is December 20th... The reunion is tonight and I am not okay!