Hey guys!
Another story of mine :) I had this idea in mind for years now, but since I only started writing fanfic now, I figured I should do it now ;)
When I had the idea, Grissom was still supervisor. Would've turned out differently, but I had to make these changes. So DB Russel's the supervisor in this story.
Let me know what you think of it!
Enjoy!
"Did you find it yet?" Greg asked, holding a ladder.
"Not yet, but it must be here somewhere..." Nick was fumbling through some boxes sitting on a shelve. He was standing on the ladder, searching for a bullet. One of the boxes had a bullet hole in it and they were sure the bullet must be there somewhere. They were at a warehouse where an employee was fired two days ago and went in with a gun a few hours ago, shooting at his former colleagues and his ex-boss. Everybody survived but him. He committed suicide afterwards.
"Try that one," Greg said as he pointed at one of the boxes behind the one with the hole.
"I'm trying to, but it's too heavy!"
"Can you lift it up and hand it to me?"
"I think I'll fall off the ladder if I do," he replied laughing.
"Should I get some help?"
Nick looked around. No one was near them. "No, if you let go of the ladder I might fall off as well. I'll try to find the bullet while I'm up here." While he was fumbling through the box, looking for that bullet, he didn't notice that he was moving the box next to the heavy one with his elbow. "Hah, I got it!" he said happily. At the same moment, the box he was moving fell down.
"Here, let me help you." Nick got out of his car and ran to the other side, opening the door for Greg and helping him get out.
"I can do that myself," he replied quite bugged. While he got out, he stumbled a bit. He was dizzy.
Nick grabbed him to keep him from falling down. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, Greg..."
"Then stop. It's not your fault, it was an accident..." When Nick accidentally moved one of the boxes, causing it to fall down, it hit Greg on the head. Although he wasn't unconscious, he was taken to a hospital. Despite a laceration on the forehead and a black eye he was fine, though. Just a little dizzy. "I'm just glad you didn't fall off that ladder when I let go of it."
"And you're sure you don't want to go home?" Nick asked as he and Greg walked into the lab.
"I'm fine. I was able to rest in the hospital when I had to wait hours to get examined," he said grumpy. He wasn't in the best mood after this.
They walked up to Russels' office to tell him what happened. Nick wanted to call him while they were at the hospital, but couldn't reach him.
"Wait," Greg said when they went past Catherine's office. "What's that smell?"
"I don't smell anything... Maybe we should get you back to the hospital," he replied concerned. "Isn't that a sign of some injuries in the brain?"
Greg rolled his eyes. "My brain's fine. This smell, it smells so familiar..." When the door to Catherine's office opened, he couldn't believe his eyes. A tall woman with blond, shoulder length hair was standing in the door.
"...Mom?" he said surprised. His mother was just coming out of the office. She had been crying. "...What are you doing here? What's wrong?"
"Oh my god, Greg!" she exclaimed. "What happened to you?" she quickly walked up to him to examine his injuries. She hugged him as she sobbed.
"Mom, what's wrong? ...Is dad okay?"
She finally recovered her composure. "Your dad's fine, honey. It's you I'm worried about! Would you tell me what happened to your face?" she asked rather upset.
"Nothing, it was just an accident. I'm fine."
"At work, right?"
Greg nodded annoyed. He knew where this was going.
"Mrs. Sanders, nice to meet you again." Nick shook her hand. "It was my fault. We were looking through some boxes when one dropped down, hitting Greg."
"Your work's too dangerous, Greg! First this guy terrorizing the police, then the hostage situation at the bank... Your colleagues..."
"What happened with Julian was unfortunate, he was a very sick individual... But I guarantee you there's no danger from any of our colleagues, Mrs. Sanders," Nick said, trying to calm her down.
"...Who the hell's Julian? I was talking about you!"
"...Thank you, Nick..." Greg said annoyed. He didn't tell his mother about Julian, he was sure she'd freak out when she heard that. Now he'd have to tell her, after all.
"Maybe we should leave them alone, Nicky... I'm sure they have a lot of catching up to do," Catherine said with a smile, leaving with Nick.
Greg walked into an empty evidence room with his mom. "What are you doing here, mom? You scared the hell out of me!"
"Not a good feeling, right? I was at home worried sick, I couldn't stop thinking about all the horrible things you have to see and go through working here!"
"It's not as bad as you're trying to make it out to be. Yes, the job's risky, but most of the time there's no danger at all."
"You're working with criminals. How's that not dangerous?" Just now she noticed that Greg was carrying a gun. He wasn't carrying it everyday, but when they were called to the scene today they weren't sure if the suspect was still in the building, so he decided to take the gun with him, just in case. "What's this? You have a gun now?"
"No, I mean... yeah, sometimes I carry one to the scenes..."
"Why? Because it's too dangerous not to, right?" She started crying again. "I can't take this anymore. I need to know you're safe." She handed him a paper.
"What's this?" he asked confused.
"I talked to the lab director in San Gabriel. They're offering you a job as a DNA tech."
"You did what? Mom! If I wanted to be a DNA tech again I would already be one here at the lab."
"It's not just your job. It's this city. You need to get out of here."
Greg was able to convince his mom to leave the lab. Of course she insisted to talk about this later, so she drove to his apartment. He walked into the break room looking like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn't want his mom to worry about him. Knowing that she did, though, was hard on him.
"Hey. Where's your mother?" Catherine asked as she saw him walk into the break room.
"Waiting at my apartment for me to get home..." he said embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Catherine. She shouldn't have bothered you."
"It's okay. I'm a mother, too, I understand her."
After fixing himself a coffee, he sat down at the table. "What did she talk to you about, anyways?"
"Well..." Catherine put her mug down. "She asked me to convince you to quit."
Greg looked surprised. "She did what?"
"She's just scared. Of course she wants her son to be safe. I'm sure she'll calm down again."
"Yeah but does she have to come here and embarrass me like that? I'm an adult, it's none of her business."
"I think it's kinda cute she came here," Nick came in and sat down next to Greg, patting him on the shoulder. "She loves you."
"You don't get it. It's always been that way. It pains me to know how much she worries, it's always been that way. I always had to worry about how she'd react if something ever happened to me, not what it would mean to me," Greg said both angry and sad. If anyone knew how bad it could be to have overprotective parents, it was him. His cell phone rang. He sighed. "It's her."