Title is from Onerepublic's song, but it's not a songfic. I just liked the title. Now that I'm on winter break, I can actually have time to type things! I always say this about weekends, but I never get anything done. Hopefully I'll manage to this time. Anyway, I wrote this cute little bonding piece for Greg and Finn, and it follows the same story I had Greg tell in my other story Addictions, but you don't need to read that to read this because they don't really go together.
Summary: Greg and Finn talk things out after Finn has to investigate Greg. Finn gets to know Greg a little better and is surprised at what she finds out. Takes place after 14x7, Under a Cloud.
Fresh from the desk of a twelfth grade nothing.
"Hey, congratulations." She said softly, stopping in the doorway of the locker room.
"Thanks." Greg raised his coffee slightly as if toasting to his salvaged career.
"I know I was really hard on you; I was trying to do my best for someone that I really do care about, but I couldn't act like it." She explained. He listened without interrupting, at least willing to hear her out.
"I had to seem impartial or it really would have hurt your case."
"Finn," He said, "I understand." She looked at him, taking in his kind eyes and forgiving half smile.
"Greg, I never thought you did anything wrong." She said. He looked at her for a second as if considering what words to use. The corners of his mouth pulled upwards and she knew that she was completely forgiven for any and all of her coldness earlier.
"How about that grilled cheese at RJ's?" He asked.
"That sounds great." She said. "My treat."
"Okay." He smiled softly at her. They walked out of the room, side by side.
They walked out together to his car. When they got to it, he opened the door for her.
"Wow, Sara really wasn't kidding when she said you were a modern day gentleman." Finn observed.
"In a world where everything can change in the blink of an eye, I think the consistency of old-fashioned manners is a refreshing change for some people." He shrugged. "Besides, my mother would kill me if I abandoned the etiquette she drilled into my head when I was a kid. She swore she'd raise me a gentleman if it was the last thing she did." Finn laughed at the image of a little Greg being taught how to treat a lady.
After dinner, as they were walking back to the car, she hung onto his arm because it was cold and she'd forgotten her jacket. They walked in companionable silence, listening to the hustle and bustle of Vegas. She'd noticed that he was much more relaxed outside of work. He laughed a little more, put her dirty jokes to shame with his own (she had reluctantly relinquished her title of The Dirty Joke Champion of the Lab), and seemed more…young. At work, he was a professional and a mature young man. Outside of work, he was goofy, sarcastic, and a whole lot of fun.
"Hey." He said, breaking the silence. "I wanna show you something." His eyes lit up with excitement as they climbed into the car. He started driving and she chalked up another mark on her list of things she never knew about him; his eyes were extremely expressive. It was around midnight when they left, and he drove until they were outside of Vegas and all her lights until they were in the middle of the desert. He parked the car beside a large boulder and, as she got out, Finn could see other tire tracks, like someone else had been here before.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"Still in Nevada." Greg laughed. It was pitch black out here, far away from the bright lights of the strip. She looked around as they moved to lean on the still warm hood of the car.
"So what did you want to show me?" She asked. There was nothing to see in the darkness surrounding them. She couldn't see his face very well, but could tell that he was smiling. "There's nothing here."
"That's because you only looked around." He said quietly. "You need to look up." Seriously doubting what she was doing, she took his advice, and looked up. She gasped as she stared at the sky. The stars were so numerous that she didn't know how she had missed them. They lit up the sky spectacularly and put on a dazzling show.
"Do you hear that?" Greg whispered. Finn strained her ears so as to hear whatever it was he was talking about.
"I don't hear anything." She answered, her voice just as quiet as his.
"Exactly!" He said, excitement coloring his tone. "There's nothing to hear except an occasional coyote." She could imagine his enthusiasm was equal to that of a child receiving the toy they'd asked for on Christmas morning.
"It's beautiful." She admitted.
"I come out here all the time." He said.
"So all these tire tracks are yours?"
"Yeah." He said. "I've been coming out here since my first week at the lab."
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah." He shrugged. "I found this place three nights into the job after Ecklie got pissed at me for something that wasn't even my fault. He threatened to fire me, and I got pissed. If you asked anyone who was there and saw what happened, they wouldn't know that I was pissed, because I just took everything he said and then left. He later gave a comment that might have been an apology for threatening to fire me, but that night, after I left, I just started driving. I drove until I got her and I just knew this place would be a good spot to calm down."
"So whenever you get upset or overwhelmed –"
"I come out here and just…exist." He sighed. "Happened at least once a week. I even woke up here a few times." He laughed.
"This place, it's saved me a few times." He said softly. "Times that I thought that I couldn't do this job anymore or that I just wanted to stop everything…" He trailed off.
He took a breath.
"It might come as a surprise to you, but I've thought about suicide." He said quietly.
"You? But you're so…" Finn searched for the right word. "Alive!"
"Yeah, but I've also had a lot of practice perfecting the mask that I still sometimes wear." He snorted. "I was on anti-depressants for about ten years."
"What happened?" She asked. "What was the trigger?"
"When I was sixteen, I went to parties all the time. No booze, no drugs, just a bunch of us teenagers getting together and blasting rock and roll and having fun. It was me and three of my best friends most of the time. Jeff was my age, Jeremy was his brother and was a year older than us, and Frankie was Jeremy's best friend, also a year older. We hung out all the time and Jeremy always drove Jeff or me if we wanted to go someplace. One night, we were heading home from one of those parties and there was a drunk driver in our lane. Jeremy swerved and we went off the road. We hit a tree." He paused and took a shaky breath. She could see the stars reflecting slightly off of the tears sliding down his face.
"Jeff died as soon as we hit the tree. Jeremy bled out before the paramedics got to us. Frankie never made it off the table." She put her hand on his shoulder and felt a silent sob wrack his body.
"I'm so sorry." She said. "I never knew."
"I've never told anyone except Grissom and Doc Robbins." He said.
"Why?"
"People look at you differently." He shrugged. "I was in a coma for almost three months after the crash. When I woke up, everyone just looked at me different. They pitied me. Seeing the constant looks of pity was just another reminder that they were gone." He shook his head. "It's one of the reasons why I left. I couldn't get past it with all those reminders."
"I won't tell anyone." Finn promised.
"I appreciate it." He said. He looked back at the sky and was silent for a while.
"Jeff wanted to study astrology in college." She said. "He taught me the constellations just to prove that he could do it."
"I only know a few, myself."
"Which ones?"
"Big and little dipper, north star, and Orion's Belt."
"Well, the big dipper is actually an asterism; a familiar group of stars located within a constellation. Now Canis Major, The Great Dog. You see Orion's Belt right there? Imagine a line going straight through it. Move your eyes to the south until you come to a very bright star, right there. That's Sirius, the nose of the dog. Keep looking south until you see that triangle of stars right there. That's the dog's hindquarters." He explained.
"The ancient Egyptians called Sirius 'the Nile Star' because it always appeared in the sky right before summer began and the waters of the River Nile began to flood. In medieval Europe, people thought that a combination of the light from the sun and the light from Sirius caused the hot humid 'dog days' of summer." He told her.
"You really know your stuff." She said, impressed.
"Jeff had a way of convincing others to become interested in what he loved."
"So you guys had conversations about stars a lot?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "It was one of the reasons why we all loved him." They were silent again for a little while. Finn suppressed a shiver, but Greg noticed anyway. He slipped his jacket around her shoulders.
"Thanks." She said.
"Mhm."
"You ever bring anyone else out here?" She asked.
"No." He shrugged.
"Not even on a date?"
"Why would a girl want to come on a date here?" He asked.
"If you come at sunset or something and brought a picnic, it would be super romantic." She pointed out. "I bet Morgan would love it." She grinned, nudging him with her elbow.
"You really think so?" He asked. She didn't miss the hopeful look on his face.
"I really do." She nodded. "You've both been dancing around each other forever. You do know she likes you too, right?"
"She does?"
"Yes! My God, she gets distracted every time you come into the room." She said. "You seriously don't see it?"
"I had no idea!"
"Wow." Finn said, smiling from ear to ear. They stayed out there for a little while longer before he drove her back to the lab to pick up her car.
About a week later, she was slipping into a more comfortable pair of shoes before shirt started when he came in.
"Finn! Hey!" He said, grinning like crazy.
"What's up?" She asked.
"I was just looking for you." He shrugged.
"What do you need?" She asked.
"I wanted to thank you." He said.
"For what?" She said, standing up.
"For giving me a push." He said. "With Morgan."
"You guys went on a date?"
"Last night." He nodded. He shut his eyes and leaned back against the lockers. "She's unbelievable."
"Ooh, somebody's in love!" She teased.
"I think so." He looked at her and she saw that he had that sweet puppy-dog look that was a clear indication of his infatuation. He sighed. "I just – I feel…different when I'm with her."
"Oh, kid, that's how it's supposed to feel."
"I like it."
"Of course you do." She laughed. "Good luck, kid." She said.
"Thanks, Finn." He grinned.
"Anytime." She said, walking out of the room.
'Good for him.' She thought; he certainly deserved a little happiness and, hopefully, Morgan could brink that to him.
FIN
Reviews are love!