THE THINGS WE LEARN - By Scarlet Rose
SUMMARY: Nick learns something new about his best friend.
SPOILERS: "Caged."
DISCLAIMER: I own only Lily, Cora, Dannay and the plot. Everyone else belongs to the creators, producers, etc. of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Nick walked down a hallway, staring at the paper bag he held in his hand. The contents of the bag, about a dozen or so Uniball pens contained in individual baggies, would prove or disprove Grissom's theory: That Veronica, had tried to kill her employer, only to end up killing herself. That'd bring a whole new meaning to the phrase "poetic justice."
He passed the DNA lab and jumped in surprise when loud music suddenly blared from Greg's home away from home. He smiled a little as the unknown artist screamed a slew of obscenities. He never did understand Greg's taste in music. Chuckling, he made his way back to the lab. He stuck his head into the room, grinning when he saw Greg Sanders dancing in his swivel chair as he worked with various chemicals. After observing Sanders' antics for a moment, Nick stepped into the lab and switched off the stereo.
Greg looked up at the sudden loss of his beloved music and frowned a little when he saw Nick. "Hey, Nick," he said icily, and returned to his work.
Nick blinked a little at Greg's uncharacteristic coldness, then tried to lighten the mood a little. "You know, if you keep playing that music, you're going to traumatize Grissom's roaches." He laughed a little at his joke, then waited for Greg's reaction, grimacing when Sanders only continued to work with the chemicals. "Greg?"
"Look, Nick. I'm really busy now. If you have something that needs to be tested, leave it on the ever-growing pile on my desk. Otherwise ..."
"Greg ... are you mad at me?"
Greg shrugged and reached for a bottle of an unknown, green chemical. "No. Why would I be mad?"
Nick leaned against a table in Greg's line of vision and crossed his arms, looking at his friend seriously. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"
"I'm telling you, Nick. I'm not angry. I'm just busy."
"See, I don't believe you, Greg. Even when you're busy, you always take time to have a conversation with me. I know you're angry, and I won't stop bugging you until you tell me why."
Greg stared at Nick for a few seconds before relenting. "All right. You wanna know why I'm mad?" Nick nodded, and Greg continued. "Remember what you said to Grissom when he was looking at that book from the Historical Society?"
Nick thought about that for a moment, then replied, "No. Not really."
Greg stood and started to get everything ready to be put away. "Well, I do. You said that if Aaron weren't autistic, he'd be in a holding cell."
"Well, it's true! Greg, you can't be mad about that!"
"Why not?" Greg inquired, and capped a few glass containers before taking them over to one of the cabinets.
"Because it's true! C'mon, Greg. You and I both know that."
Greg locked the chemical storage cabinet and sighed. "Nick, do you have any idea how hard Aaron's life is? Do you know what he has to go through ... just to function?" He faced his friend, seeing the blank look on Nick's face. "I do. You know how I know? Because I see my daughter go through it every day, and it's painful to watch."
"Your daughter?" Nick inquired. He didn't even know Greg had a child, much less an autistic daughter.
"You ever see Rain Man, Nick?" Stokes nodded. "I don't have to watch it, because I see it every day. My daughter's like Raymond. She's brilliant! You know how, in the movie, Raymond knew exactly how many toothpicks were in that box the waitress dropped? Well, my daughter can do that with three boxes. Maybe even four on a good day."
Greg approached Nick, looking him in the eyes. Nick was a little surprised by the emotions he read in the brown pools of Greg's eyes. The anger had dissipated, leaving behind pain and desperation. "And if you break her routine for even one second, she can't function for the rest of the day. She depends on me, Nick. Sometimes I spend most of the day crying in my room because the stress is too much. I love my daughter, Nick. I'm not going to let anyone, even you, look down on her or people like her. You're a good man, Nick. But sometimes you can be a real jerk."
"Greg, I ... I'm sorry, man. I didn't know. Has she received any help?"
Greg pulled off his protective gloves and mask, setting them on the counter next to the chemical storage cabinet. "I've taken her to God knows how many specialists. They all say the same thing: Her condition can't be cured. The best thing I can do is try to make her life a little easier by sticking to her routine."
"Well, is there a special school she could go to?"
Greg shook his head. "No. The nearest one is a hundred miles away. And since she depends on me, that's definitely out of the question. I tried sending her to a normal public school, but had to take her out after a month because she came home crying every day. The kids made fun of her."
"What about your parents? They shouldn't leave you to take care of her all by yourself."
"My parents were killed in a plane crash last year. I had to fight pretty hard to prove that I was capable of raising her."
"What's her name?" Nick was genuinely curious.
"Lily. Lillian Cecille Sanders. She's going to be nine in March."
"Oh, man. Greg, I'm so sorry. If I'd've known--"
"Not many people know about Lily. It's not that I'm ashamed of her or anything. I'm actually quite proud of her. It's just ... I don't want--"
"You don't want people to feel sorry for you?"
"For her, actually. See, I don't care about what people think of me. I know you guys think I'm wild and eccentric, and I don't really care. That's just me. But if people tease or ridicule my daughter ..." Greg laughed a little. "According to my daughter, I turn into the Tasmanian devil." He looked up at Nick and shrugged. "Gotta protect my little girl."
"What do you do about her schooling?"
"I sleep for a total of three hours, then I home-school her for five."
"Only three hours?! Gee. No wonder you drink so much coffee."
Greg laughed a little, then looked up at the clock. "Well, it's nearing 7:00. I have to pick Lily up from the baby-sitter's." He smiled a little, then inquired, "You wanna meet her?"
Greg and Nick climbed into Greg's Tahoe. As Nick buckled himself in, he said, "Thanks for giving me a ride, man. My car's in the shop."
"No problem." Greg carefully backed out of his parking space, and within moments the black Tahoe was on the road. He informed Nick that it would be at least fifteen minutes before they arrived at the baby-sitter's house, so Nick reached for the radio. "You mind?" Greg shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. Both men were startled when the music of one of many boy bands blared through the speakers. Nick snickered a little, and Greg blushed slightly. "How'd that get in there?" he wondered, quickly ejecting the tape.
Greg put the tape in the center console, and Nick picked it up. "Wow! Never pinned ya for a Backstreet Boys fan, Greg."
Greg's blush became worse as he explained, "My daughter is the fan. I bought it for her when we went to the music store last week."
"Uh-huh. Sure, Greg. Whatever you say. Let's see what we have here." He began to read the song titles out loud. "The Call? Shape of My Heart? Is this a music tape or a medical overview?!"
"Shut up!" Greg snapped, snatching the tape away from Nick.
"I don't know, Greg. Lately, I've been questioning your musical choices. To tell the truth, I always thought you'd like a more edgy group. Y'know, like NSYNC?"
"Eh. NSYNC's full of a bunch of sissies. They're going to go downhill now that the lead singer has a solo album."
Nick pretended to be shocked as he exclaimed, "You mean, Justin's left the group?! Oh, now that's just wrong."
Greg laughed a little. "How do you know so much about these boy groups, anyway?"
"I have a niece who's into these groups. Backstreet, NSYNC, 98º ... She keeps me updated."
"Oh, really?"
"Uh-huh." Nick turned his eyes upward, recalling everything his ten year old niece had told him. "Let me see. AJ's out of rehab and he's engaged to a girl every one thinks is the devil. Justin and Britney broke up. Justin's dating a dancer. Britney, apparently, is sleeping with her choreographer. And ... oh, yeah. Nick from 98º is getting married to Jessica Simpson, but some people think it won't last."
Greg laughed. "Man, I think my daughter and your niece would be great friends. Shame your niece lives in Texas, huh?"
"Actually, she lives in Washington state now. Can I ask you something, Greg?"
"Sure."
"Where's Lily's mother?"
"Honestly?" Greg inquired, looking at Nick. Stokes nodded, and Greg answered, "I have no idea. See, she couldn't cope with being a mother. She left when Lily was three weeks old. We were young then. We weren't even in love. We had sex one time, at a post- graduation party, and Dannay kinda resented me because I wouldn't let her end the pregnancy. I told her that if she killed Lily, I'd tell every one in town about what she did. And of course, seeing as Dannay was the most popular girl in school, her reputation was extremely valuable."
"Greg, that's terrible. How could she just leave like that?"
"She left because of one simple fact: She was selfish. She couldn't accept responsibility for Lily, so she relinquished her parental rights and left. My parents helped as much as they could. They watched Lily during the day so I could complete all my college courses, and they started watching her at night while I worked at the lab. And then, boom! Two-thirty in the afternoon, I receive a call from some guy telling me that there's been a horrible accident."
"You're an amazing person, Greg Sanders," Nick commented.
Greg looked over at Nick and smiled when he saw that Nick was being completely sincere. "Thanks."
As the Tahoe moved down a long gravel driveway, Greg said, "Okay, Cowboy. There are some rules you have to follow as far as my daughter's concerned. One: Don't touch her. She doesn't like to be touched by people she doesn't know too well. So when I introduce you guys, just wave. Two: Don't mention my parents too much. She's still really sensitive about that. And three: Don't freak out if she does something that most people don't consider normal. Just means that her routine's been altered a little. If it gets to be too much, I'll just take her to her room and leave her there until she cools off. I know it sounds cruel, but it works. Think you can handle it?"
"Yeah. I think so."
The Tahoe came to a stop in front of small, one-story house, and Greg and Nick got out. They were halfway up the walk when the door opened and an eight year old brunette - who was the spitting image of Greg - ran out of the house, down the stairs, and into Greg's arms.
"Hey, sweetheart," Greg said, bending down to his daughter's level.
Lily stared up at Nick, brown eyes wide with surprise, and pulled away from Greg. Sanders tugged gently at a brown curl and said, "Lily, I want you to meet Nick. He's a friend. Can you say hi?"
Nick bent down to Lily's level. "Hi, Lily. Nice to meet you."
Greg stood and laughed a little when Lily hid behind him, latching on to his leg. "She's a little shy."
Nick straightened up and smiled down at the little girl staring up at him. "It's okay. If everything goes my way, Lily and I'll be friends."
Greg took Lily's hand in his own and turned back to the baby-sitter. "Thanks, Cora!"
The ride to Nick's home was quiet, for the most part. Nick, who had opted to sit in the back for fear of breaking Lily's routine, had made several failed attempts to strike up a conversation with Greg's young daughter. She only stared out the window and counted the trees as they sped by.
Greg parked the Tahoe near the curb, then watched as Nick got out of the truck and approached the driver's side. He rolled the window down and listened to Nick as he said, "Thanks for the ride."
Greg nodded. "Any time. Are you going to want a ride to work?"
"Sure! If you can spare some time."
"I'll swing by after I drop Lily off at Cora's."
"Thanks. Bye, Lily."
"Say good-bye to Nick, Lily." Greg's daughter didn't respond, and he smiled apologetically. "She'll open up to you once she gets to know you better. She was like this with Cora, too."
Nick turned to walk away, but stopped when he heard Greg's voice. "By the way, Nick. Don't tell anyone about Lily's autism. I don't want them to feel sorry for her."
"Will do. And Greg?"
"Yeah?"
Offering Greg an understanding smile, Nick answered, "Thanks for opening my eyes."