In Season 10, Ryan and Walter survive an F2 tornado while trying to retrieve the body of a dead Art student. Walter gets locked in a closet after letting go of a string of Christmas lights he threw at Ryan to try and pull him to safety. Ryan is later found on the hood of a nearby car with minimal injuries, and Walter gets a commendation from Horatio for saving Ryan's life, which Walter feels he doesn't deserve. Ryan returns to work on the same day, and finds out that Walter had turned down the commendation, his reasons being that he had let go of the string. Ryan tells him that if Walter hadn't let go, he wouldn't have been able to anchor himself to some pipes and survived. Walter gets uplifted by this statement and they bump shoulders (Ryan's fist is injured and Walter can't do a high five because of his injuries).