A/N: Yes, I know I promised to put this up on Friday, and I had it all written but my har-drive was fried and my computer had to be taken into the shop and it took until today to get it fixed, although I'm not that happy with my new computer. No matter, I have been typing this up since 10:00pm and now it is 1:49 in the morning. I call that dedication. This fic was based on the fact that I was able to remember Greg's dream car from Iced and I wanted to do a car chase for quite some time now, not to mention that Eric Szmnda starred in a movie called Dodge City which was a like a somewhat early version of The Fast And The Furious (I have yet to see it, I have the movie ordered in and it didn't come yet). So I thought, what better way to do one than Sandle? The two Viper's are based from cars in The Fast And The Fruious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Greg's buick was based off of the one from Tokyo Drift. All of the statistics about the cars were looked up by me and the car terms were from various racing movies.
"Why do they always have to run?" Greg complained as he slammed the car door shut.
"They're criminals Greg, what do you expect?" Sara replied, aggravated, as she hurried to get in the passenger's side. "And in this case, they aren't running; they're driving."
"Enough with the corrections Sara, hurry and buckle up."
"I still don't think we should do this, Greg," Sara protested as she pulled the seatbelt over her shoulder, buckling it in place. "We should wait for back-up."
"You know very well that we called for back-up almost half an hour ago and it still didn't get here. We don't have any more time to waste waiting for them. If we don't go now, we will lose them."
"Greg, it's one thing to go chasing after a car full of raving lunatics with guns without at least one officer present, it's another to drive your own car after them instead of one of the standard investigation vehicles. You remember what happened last time when Nick did…"
"We don't have anything in here to that's worth getting stolen. All of the evidence is back at the lab. Sara, trust me. I need to do this, and I need you with me." Greg said as he turned to stare at her, his eyes bright.
Sara almost melted when those sparkling pools of green looked her way. Those pleading eyes that made her turn to mush with every glance. He had the most innocent face she had ever seen; shining eyes that could rival the cutest of five year olds, smooth, lax skin worthy of a cosmetician, and a smile any actor would kill for. With the body of a model and the compassion of a hero straight out of one of her romance novels, how could she ever say no to him?
You've said no to him this long, Sidle, why change your mind now? Her conscience argued.
It was true, Greg had pursued her for just one date, longer than anyone else, and he had tried as many possible tactics as he could to make her see the light, but no matter how much she wanted to give in, she just couldn't bring herself to do it; for fear that it would end up just like all of her previous relationships, in the gutter.
However, today's toss up being case work instead of romanticism, she sighed and nodded yes, knowing that he was right; if they didn't go now, their suspects would be long gone.
"Yes!" Greg cried triumphantly, ecstatic that she was finally seeing reason. He leaned over the console and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. "We'll get them Sara, I promise. You won't regret this."
"Just drive." Sara commanded, turning herself towards the side window, hoping that Greg didn't notice the blush creeping up her neck and over her cheeks, still warm from his touch, deep inside, secretly yearning for more.
Without a second thought, Greg leaned back in his seat, switched the car into drive, and sped off down the street.
"Which way did they go?"
"Left."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
"Then why did you say left?"
"I'm roughly fifty percent sure."
"Fifty percent? That means they could have went left or right! Have you been keeping track of them at all or are you just taking me on a joy-ride?"
"A little bit of both, actually." Greg admitted as he glanced over at Sara. "I mean, since this is your first time in my lovely car, I think you should at least enjoy yourself. Just because we're on duty doesn't mean that we can't have ourselves a bit of fun. Besides, Tessa's color really brings out your eyes."
"Tessa?" Now Sara was thoroughly confused.
"The car Sara! How could you not know that? She's my baby."
"How could I forget?" Sara mumbled as she poked her head out of her window and stared down at the lustrous red paint of the Testarossa.
She had to admit, the Ferrari in question was an admirable one with it's glistening paint job and polished rims. With a V12 under the hood, perfect throttle response, and an acceleration rate of 6.3 seconds to half rate of the two hundred and ninety kilometers an hour top speed, the car was the definition of a classic super roadster.
They had been doing well, keeping hot on their suspects' trail, or so Sara thought. The car they were following was a vintage Viper; sleek and black in color, the two strips that rolled across the roof and hood gleamed a bright ivory.
Greg, knowing that the car in question could go from zero to sixty in 4.3 seconds at mass acceleration, wasted no time speeding after it when Sara gave him the okay.
The chase had been fairly simple so far; a straight stretch of road with very few turns and minimal accounts of traffic to get in their way, giving them time for menial conversation over various topics. Greg was generally the one to initiate the short talks hoping to take Sara's mind off of the fact that they were breaking about twenty on-the-job rules. She always was a workaholic and a stickler for codes of conduct; what had made her agree to his crazy idea of going after some raving criminals on their own Greg would never know. However, deep in the recesses of his mind, he secretly hoped that it wasn't because of heir job, but because of him.
"Why do you wear those things?" Greg had asked, pointing at Sara's too big, blue shaded, aviator sunglasses.
"To keep the sun out of my eyes." She replied nonchalantly, refusing to turn her gaze away from the road.
It seemed to her that every time she looked at Greg, something was aroused in her; a distant monster inside of her that wanted to be released. She has decided earlier on that she would keep her eyes off of the irresistible man sitting next to her and the blush off of her cheeks. No way was she going to let him see her in a vulnerable state, let alone reveal to him that it was none other that he who had made her that way: exposed in her true state for all to see, nothing more than a love-sick broad.
"I think they're hideous." Greg said, not attempting to hide the truth.
"Well, you're not the one wearing them."
Without thinking about the consequences, Greg reached over and gently slid them off of Sara's face. She looked over at him questioningly, even though her better judgment told her not to, just in time to see him toss them over the front windshield and speed up, a satisfied smile crossing his face at the crunch as he drove over them, the car's weight squishing them flat and breaking the lenses into hundreds of tiny fragments.
"Greg!" Sara shrieked as she punched him in the arm causing him to swerve slightly. The reality of the situation just hit her. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"Sara, I have no qualms with you touching me but not now, I'm trying to drive and I'd rather not put us off of the road." He replied, avoiding her question.
"You smashed my favorite sunglasses!"
"They weren't all that great." Greg stated before mumbling under his breath, "You outshine them by far."
"Well? Why did you do it?"
Giving up on trying to control his gallantry of wanting to shower her with feathery caresses and charming compliments, his grin grew wider as he stared into her deep brown eyes that sparkled like a thousand twinkling stars in a cocoa abyss. He leaned over the console and raised his right hand to her face, his palm resting lightly on her cheek as his thumb glided daintily over the tips of her eyelashes, causing her eyes to flutter shut.
Keep your eyes closed! Don't look at him! You don't want to feel like a damsel in distress! You don't! Sara's mind cried, although her heart was arguing. Yes, you do. You want the knight in shining armor to rescue you from your fears and wipe away your doubts. Give in! Rapture and desire are within reach! Let yourself fall victim to his spell!
"They hid your pretty eyes." Greg whispered huskily as he continued to gaze at her closed lids, constantly flickering his eyes back to the road for a second at a time although the ratio of time his eyes were on the goddess beside himto the road was five to one, the five being on his maiden.
Unconsciously, with her eyes still glued shut, she began leaning closer. She could feel his breath on her face when she finally opened her eyes. Thinking fast, knowing that this wasn't the time to let her fantasies be unleashed she caught sight of a button on the dash and hit it quickly before sitting back in her seat.
"What did you put the roof up for? I was rather enjoying the wind blowing through my hair." Greg pouted at not getting a kiss, but also at the fact that his precious special-order-soft-top was rising over his head, shielding off the evening air that had successfully made his hair tangled and wind strewn. It would take him forever to get it back to it's wavy self. Sara's hair on the other hand, Greg thought looked radiant as the wind whipped through it, sending strings of it across her porcelain face.
"This way you can't throw any more of my stuff out of the car." Sara noted triumphantly.
"Au contraire Sara," Greg began as he pressed a button on the door, "I still have the windows."
Sara glared as she watched her window go down. A growl rose in her throat when she realized that Greg had put the lock on so she couldn't get it back up. She crossed her arms letting out a 'harrumph' causing Greg to chuckle.
"Turn right onto Tropicana." She mumbled.
Following her orders he turned right, dismay crossing his face as they fell into a long stream of evening traffic headed towards the strip. It would be murder to find the Viper in the mess of cars.
"Is that them?" Sara asked after they sat stationary at a light for a few minutes, taking the opportunity to try and pick their perps out of the crowd.
"Where?" Greg stared out through the windshield.
"In the Viper."
"Which Viper?"
"What do you mean 'which Viper'? There is only one!" Sara exclaimed, thinking her partner had gone off his rocker.
"Look up." Greg muttered absentmindedly as he locked his eyes on a car in the lane next to them about twenty feet up.
Sara, wondering what Greg had meant by 'look up', glanced upward and stared at the contents of the inside of the car. A cd case was snapped onto Greg's visor, holding everything from screamo to swing, as well as a pen clipped to the side. A few envelopes were suck under Sara's visor along with a pin that said 'lab rats have more meaningful careers than I do'.
Only Greg…Sara thought happily.
In the middle was the rearview mirror. Deciding it was worth a shot, Sara stared into it only to gasp as she saw a cerulean Viper with ebony flames and tinted windows staring back at her.
"See what I mean?" Greg murmured as he tapped the steering wheel, waiting for the traffic to move.
"Yeah."
"Hey, what are they doing?"
"Hmm?"
"Our guys. Look." Greg pointed at the Viper, slowly edging out into the middle of the two lanes. As soon as they were in the clear, they sped off down the road, stopping for no one.
"Oh my god." Sara declared as she stared, mouth agape, at where the car had been.
"Time to motor!" Greg yelled as he hit the gas, swerving quickly into the middle of the two lanes in breakneck pursuit of the Viper. Both vehicles, avoiding all of the honks and screams from the surrounding drivers,
"Ahhh! Greg!" Sara screamed as she watched the needle on the speedometer pass the one hundred and fifty mark.
"Just hang on Sara, we'll get through this." Greg assured her as he shot her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Truthfully, he was just as terrified as she was.
One hundred and sixty.
A mirror from a silver SUV was broken off by the viper and sent flying backwards, hitting the Testarossa's front windshield, eliciting another shriek from Sara. She grabbed his leg, digging her nails sharply into his thigh. Originally, she had reached for his arm, but remembering his speech about not going off the road, deterred her course at last minute.
One hundred and ninety.
Greg took a swift left onto Maryland, his tires skidding loudly against the pavement. He was aware of a sudden pain rushing through his right leg. He glanced down to notice Sara's hand holding him, her nails applying as much pressure as possible.
That would do it…Greg thought as he tried hard not to think about affliction, knowing that Sara was horrified and need to hold onto something.
Two hundred and twenty.
"Umm, Greg?"
"Yeah?" Greg rasped, his breath hitching in agony.
"We've got company…" Sara stated as she stared into the review mirror.
Greg followed her gaze, observing that the blue Viper was hot on their trail.
"Shit!"
Two hundred and forty.
Another tight left was taken onto Flamingo as the Viper in front pulled ahead. Putting his foot to the floor, Greg urged the needle farther up, knowing that this was the fastest his car had ever, and probably would ever go. He watched as the needle struggled forward, not liking the agile speed.
Two hundred and sixty.
"Just who's chasing who?" Sara asked as dug her grip even deeper.
Greg winced slightly, not being able to hold back his agony any longer.
"Sorry." Sara said as she loosened her grip.
The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Greg.
"No, it's alright. I'm fine." Greg ground out through clenched teeth.
I need the reassurance almost as much as she does. He thought.
Two hundred and seventy.
Bang!
"Ahh!" Sara ducked as glass from the back windshield sprayed up to the front. "They're shooting at us!"
Bang! Bang!
Greg sucked in a breath at the pain shooting up his bare arm. Not being able to duck in time, and a t-shirt not being much protection, shards of glass had embedded themselves into Greg's arm. Blood trickled helplessly downward, forming a small pool on the console.
Two hundred and eighty.
"Stay down Sara! Whatever you do, just stay down!" Greg cried, making a quick swipe at her seatbelt, releasing her of it's confines.
"What about you?" Sara asked as she ducked only slightly.
Bang! Bang!
"Forget about me! Just worry about your own well being for once! As I said before, I'll be alright."
"Greg-"
Bang! Bang!
"I don't want anything to happen to you on my account Sara! I got us into this mess and I'm going to get us out!"
Two hundred and ninety.
The car was going at top speed now and it seemed as if the Viper on their tail was still faster. Deciding that Sara's safety was more important to him than catching their guys, Greg made a fast u-turn and drove onto Paradise just before the blue Viper reached them.
"Greg?"
Bang!
"What?"
"Are you crazy?" Sara cried, staring at the horror in front of them. A few hundred feet ahead of them, the bridge that led into North Las Vegas across the river running into Lake Mead, was rising steadily. There was no way around it and it didn't appear that Greg was going to make another u-turn anytime soon.
Bang!
"Crazy in love." Greg smirked as he closed the gap between them and the bridge.
Sara stared wide-eyed at him until Greg commanded her to close her eyes. He really didn't want her seeing what was about to happen, especially if they didn't make it.
No, we'll make it. We have to…Greg thought.
Within the span of six seconds, the car was up the bridge, and ramping off into the air. They were going to make it. Greg heard one last gun-shot his vision blurred.
"Greg!" Sara screamed from beside him as his hands fell from the wheel. "Greg!"
Her voice became a distant whisper and things began to go black. He could feel her hands on his chest, on his face, attempting to wake him from his premature slumber. Sweat mixed with the blood on his skin, as his senses faded.
"It will be alright. I promise." He murmured as her fingers traced his face and her salty tears fell onto his t-shirt. She had obviously not listened to him when he told her to close her eyes just like she didn't listen to him when he told her to duck. She seemed to have moved as close to him as he could.
"I love you Sara, know that." Was the last thing he managed to get out before he was engulfed completely by the darkness.
"Greg? Greg wake up, please."
"Mmm?" Greg murmured as he forced open his eyes, only to close them again to shield them from the bright light above his head.
"Come on, Greg. You can do it. Do it for me." He knew that voice anywhere. Greg opened his eyes once more, slowly this time, only to be greeted by the angelic face of Sara Sidle. Around her, Greg noticed was Warrick, Nick, Catherine, Grissom and Brass.
"What? Where am I?" Greg sat up carefully, Sara helping him by propping up his pillows.
A bed? This is weird…
"We're in the hospital Greg." Sara replied as she patted his bandaged arm.
"Yeah man, you've been out for awhile." Nick added.
"It's true." Warrick put in.
"Seven hours and forty eight minutes to be precise." Catherine noted.
"Only you would keep track of the amount of time someone was unconscious, Cath." Nick smirked.
"The hospital? Why are we in a hospi-" Greg broke off remembering the events of earlier. "Oh my god! We survived the jump!" He cried.
"Jump? What jump?" Grissom asked as he looked at Sara for an answer. She just shrugged and turned back to Greg.
"The jump, you know, off of the bridge!" Greg exclaimed.
"This should be good." Brass grinned as he folded his hands behind his back.
"Sara, how can you not remember?"
"Remember what Greg?" She questioned, just as oblivious as everyone else what to what Greg was saying.
"We followed those guys and we got into a huge car chase!"
"What?" Nick raised his eyebrows.
"No way." Warrick stated.
"Yes way!" Greg continued. "We chased them all the way onto Tropicana and then we got caught in a traffic jam. And then they sped out into the middle of the lanes and we followed them."
"This is ridiculous." Catherine muttered as she walked towards the door. "I'm going to get a soda. Anyone want anything?"
"I'll come." Warrick said as he followed her out, "I could use a coffee right about now. Greg's still a little out of it and his story is hurting my head."
"It's not a story!" Greg called to their retreating backs. "Sara, you know it isn't a story, you were there with me!"
"Greg, we didn't-"
"Let him talk Sara." Nick reprimanded her, enjoying Greg's farfetched tale. He could hold it over his head later on.
"You must remember! Then another Viper began chasing us! A blue one! And then they began shooting at us!"
"Shooting at you?" Grissom was getting more and more skeptical by the minute, Greg could tell by his face.
"Yes! They shot out the back windshield, and the glass went everywhere. That's how I got this!" Greg gestured to his bandaged arm. "The glass cut it when I didn't duck in time. I told you to get down, Sara, although you didn't listen to me!"
"Greg, I-" She tried again but was cut off.
"And then I decided that it wasn't worth the risk of your life in trying to catch the guys so I turned onto Paradise but the blue Viper still followed us and kept shooting so I told you to close your eyes once you noticed the bridge coming and then we ramped it! You have to remember! Although, halfway across I blacked out. Oh my god, what happened to Tessa?" Greg screamed.
"Who in the hell is Tessa?" Brass wondered aloud.
"My car! My Testarossa!"
"Greg, you don't own a-" Sara, once again, was cut off by a hysterical Greg.
"How did we survive? And how did you come out without a scratch? Not that I want you to have scratches, no, that's the last thing I want but so much happened and to come away unscathed is just amazing! What are you, super woman or something? I always thought there was something mysterious about y-" Sara silenced his rambling by placing a finger to his lips.
"Greg, I'm only going to say this once," Sara began. "We were in a car chase but only a brief one. We did not ramp off of a bridge either."
"But-" Greg tried to say through Sara's finger but she was having none of it.
"Greg, we chased them into an alley in your Buick. We got out of the car, they shot at us, nicking your arm," She gestured to his bandaged arm, "And then you got hit in the head by the gun when they ran out of rounds and threw it. You were knocked out but luckily Brass got there with back-up soon after and got them arrested and into custody. I went with you in an ambulance to the hospital and have been here with you ever since." She concluded and removed her finger, resolving to take Greg's hand. "It was all just a dream."
Greg stared at her creamy skin on top of his and sighed, smiling slightly.
"You could've died, Greg." Brass blanched.
"He's right. Lucky for you that Sara has been on the job longer and knew enough not to take drastic action and only use defense until Brass and his men got there." Grissom stated malignantly.
"So there was no car chase and heroic attempt at saving the girl's life by ramping off of a bridge?" Greg asked grimly.
"No." Grissom answered calmly.
"And no Testarossa?"
"Nope."
"Damn."
"I have to hand it to you Greg," Nick grinned, "You know how to tell one hell of a story."
"Umm, guys?" Sara turned towards Nick, Grissom and Brass. "Would you mind if I had a few moments alone with Greg?"
"Sure. Take all of the time you need." Grissom said as he ushered the others out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Once they were gone, Sara relocated from the chair she was sitting on to the bed, not letting go of Greg's hand. They were both silent for a moment but Greg needed to make sure…
"So you're sure I didn't get to be the hero and save your life?"
Sara smiled. "Greg, you were my hero when the lab exploded even though you were the one who was sent to the hospital, you were my hero when I found you laying on the sidewalk, waiting to be moved to the ambulance when you got injured the last time, and you were my hero today when you took that gun to the head."
"What? Heroes are supposed to have great adventures and save the girl. I wasn't a hero any of those times." Greg protested.
"Yes, you were."
"How?"
"A hero in my eyes, Greg, is someone who isn't afraid to take chances and makes to arguments about doing the right thing. As for the lab, I thought you looked sort of like Spiderman flying though all of the shattering glass."
"Really?" Greg asked, perking up at being compared to his favorite superhero.
"Yes."
Silence again.
"Do you remember the last thing you said to me before you blacked out?" Sara asked, needing to get it off of her chest.
"I know what I said in my dream, but not in reality though."
"What did you say in the dream?" Sara asked out of curiosity.
Greg blushed as he looked down.
"Come on, Greg. You can tell me."
Gathering up his courage, Greg whispered "I love you Sara, know that."
"A common element between your dream and reality." Sara said quietly.
"You mean…"
"Yeah."
"Wow. I'm sorry you had to endure that, especially at a time like that."
"Endure what, Greg?"
"Hearing an unrequited vow of love that the speaker wanted to confess for years."
"Unrequitted?"
"Obviously."
The next moment, Sara was hovering just above Greg, her hair tickling his face. "I think not." She whispered as she closed the gap between them, tasting Greg's lips for the first time, gaining the desire she had wanted forever. After pulling back slightly, she gazed into the bright green yes she loved and sighed. "You'll always be my hero Greg. Don't forget that."
Greg just smiled as he scooted over a little, giving Sara enough room to lay down beside him which she did without second thought. Her arm draped lightly over his waist, knowing that he would probably still hurt from falling to the concrete. He wrapped his good arm around her in return, letting out a shaky breath as her free hand glided over the bandage wrapped around his head.
"So you really mean that my feelings aren't unrequited?" Greg chuckled as he planting a butterfly kiss on Sara's forehead.
"I love you Greg, know that."
