My last Greg/Morgan story of 2012! Don't worry, I'm sure I'll write some more next year! ;) Happy New Year, everyone!
PS. The song I mention in this story, is Guilty by Usher. Enjoy! :)
Greg looked up from the report he had been reading and saw Morgan staring at the clock on the wall. When she realized he was looking at her, she turned around. He raised his eyebrows. "What are you doing?"
"Counting down," she explained. "If nothing happens in the next three minutes, I can finally get out of here and I won't come back this year anymore!"
She added the last bit with a huge grin. Greg turned back to his report. "Sounds like you've got big plans…"
He couldn't help sounding slightly annoyed. Of course he wasn't annoyed with Morgan, but with the fact that he would probably be stuck at work the rest of New Year's Eve.
"I got invited to a party," Morgan told him. A big smile appeared on her face. "Apparently they do it every year and every year it's bigger and better, they say. I've never been before of course, but half of Vegas seems to be going and there should be an amazing fireworks show at midnight. I really can't wait!"
The smile on her face got even bigger. Greg tried to be polite, but he wasn't able to say more than: "Well, have fun."
Morgan rolled her eyes. "That almost sounds like you mean it… Is there something I should know about this party that I don't know about yet?"
Greg sighed. "No, don't worry. It's just… At least you can get out of here in less than one minute while I can't leave until I've solved this case! It's just…"
"Frustrating?" she finished the sentence for him. He smiled a little. "Exactly…"
"Are you still working on that strangled girl?" Morgan asked. He nodded. "Yes, the niece of the Las Vegas mayor got strangled three days ago and ever since the entire Las Vegas press and LVPD have been breathing down my neck…"
"Well, you don't have to do it alone of course," Morgan said, slowly making her way towards the door. To her surprise, Greg shook his head. "That's not exactly true…"
She froze and looked at him with a frown. "What do you mean? You can't be working this case alone!"
"Sara has a few days off to celebrate New Year's with Grissom, Russell is at home with his family, Finn was supposed to help me but she suddenly got invited to a New Year's Eve thing by some guy, so she left and Nick is still working on another case, so he can't help me either," Greg told her. "So, yeah, I am working alone!"
Morgan shook her head. "You're not telling me this so I'll start feeling guilty and come and help you out, right?"
Greg looked up at her, which caused his heart to skip a beat as usual. Why did she have to be so beautiful?
"No," he still said. "Go to your party, I'll manage on my own."
"You sure?" she asked, not entirely convinced.
"Yeah, go! Your shift ended twenty seconds ago anyway," he told her, pointing at the clock. She smiled. "That's true! Bye, bye, LVPD for this year, I'll see you again in 2013!"
She rushed out of the office she shared with Greg and Sara, but couldn't help turning around one last time. Greg was at his desk, sighing over the report and flipping through the pages, hoping to find a clue that would help him solve the case. She felt her heart filling up with guilt, but when she thought of everything she had heard about the party, she still turned around and left the police department.
A little over an hour later Morgan arrived at the party. With the excitement of a little girl she looked at the beautiful decorations, all the people around her and the fancy bar and buffet. She smiled for a moment. This was amazing! Someone offered her a glass of champagne, but before she could take the first sip, her thoughts took her back to her office, where Greg was doing everything he could to find the strangler. She shook her head. He had told her he'd manage on his own, he didn't need her help. Or did he?
"I guess I'm guilty for wanting to be up in the club"
She turned around. What did she just hear? She looked at the DJ, remembering he said something about playing an Usher song.
"I guess I'm guilty for leaving and having a little fun"
Okay, this was crazy! He had said it was okay for her to go, she didn't have to feel guilty about it! Then why was she feeling so bad? For the second time, her thoughts took her back to her office. Seeing Greg's desperate face again was too much for her. She put down her glass of champagne and left the party.
Back at their office, Greg was still at his desk, going over everything for probably the thousandth time. He sighed. What was he missing? Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shocked, he turned around, but relaxed when he saw it was Morgan. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress with glitter and her blonde hair was in curls around her face. She smiled at him. "Need a hand?"
He was too surprised to say anything. Playfully, she gave him a little push against his shoulder. "Come on, did you really expect me to enjoy my party, knowing you were working here all alone? You should know me better than that by now! Just tell me what you've got, okay?"
"Alright," he nodded, deciding not to think about her being here any longer. She was here, she wanted to help him, that was all that mattered!
"Three days ago, the girl was found in an alley, just off the Strip," he started telling Morgan. "It was easy to see she had been strangled by hands, as you could see the hand impressions on her neck. We even managed to find fingerprints, but we have nothing to compare them to. Witnesses say they saw a man named Jack Gilligan in the alley around the time of the murder, but we have no evidence to prove that he was there. And since we don't have anything, we can't get a DNA sample or his fingerprints…"
"So basically you need another way to get his fingerprints," Morgan understood. "Has Brass talked to him?"
"Of course."
"Do you remember if he drank anything during the interrogation?" Morgan tried to get find the report on the interrogation, but Greg already shook his head. "I didn't think so, but if you like, we can check the tape… The entire interrogation was recorded on video."
"Let's go then!" Morgan decided. They left their office and walked over to the AV lab, where they watched the tape of the interrogation. Just like Greg had remembered, Jack Gilligan didn't drink anything during the questioning. Greg sighed. "I knew it… I'm gonna be stuck working this case for the rest of 2013!"
He turned away from the screen just as Morgan called out: "Greg, look!"
Quickly, he turned back. He looked at the screen, where the image had been frozen. Excitedly, Morgan pointed at it. "He put his hands on the table when he got up… If no one else has been in there, we can get his fingerprints from the table and compare them to the ones you found on the girl's neck. If they match, we've got him!"
Greg needed exactly two seconds to process what she had said before he rushed off to find out if anyone else had used the interrogation room after he and Brass has questioned Jack Gilligan. With a smile on his face he returned to the AV lab. He didn't have to say anything, Morgan already knew the answer. She smiled as well. "Let's go and get him behind bars before 2013!"
They went over to the interrogation room with their kits, printed the table and then returned to CSI. Greg immediately scanned the prints they found into the computer and then waited with a wild beating heart. Could this finally be the break he had been waiting for? Next to him, Morgan seemed just as impatient and excited as he was. When the computer finally gave them the result, they both stared at the screen. Morgan was the first one who started to smile.
"You've got him, Greg!" she smiled. "You've really got him!"
Greg was still staring at the screen. The words 'Positive match' kept blinking on it. Morgan nudged him softly. "Well, go on, call Brass and tell him to arrest the guy! Or do you really want to stare at the screen for another five minutes and wait till it's 2013?"
Greg looked at the clock. It was five to midnight, 2013 was about to begin. He quickly got out his phone and called Brass. The police captain was just as relieved as he was that they had caught the guy.
"I'm going over to arrest him right now," he promised. "He's going to be watching the fireworks from his cell! Well done, Greg, and happy new year!"
"Happy new year to you too," Greg smiled before he hung up. He looked at Morgan. "Brass said 'Well done', but I think you deserve that compliment. If it wasn't for you, I never would have solved this case. Thanks you so much!"
Morgan smiled. "No problem, Greg, I was happy to help! But now… Come here and count down with me!"
She took his hand and pulled him over to the clock in their office, which told them there were only 30 seconds left of 2012. Slowly the pointer of the clock moved towards the twelve. Morgan squeezed Greg's hand gently. "Ten… nine…"
He joined her: "Eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two…"
They both turned away from the clock and looked at each other. Morgan pulled Greg a little closer. "One… Happy new year, Greg!"
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him with much more passion and love than a normal New Year's kiss should have. He was too stunned to wish her a happy new year back. Luckily, she didn't expect him to. She just pulled him even closer and kissed him again. Greg could only think one thing: 2013 couldn't have started any happier for him.