Title: Up in Smoke
Chapter: 2/?
Rating: PG:13 for now but could go up.
Spoilers: Play with Fire and Grave Danger in a very vague way
Disclaimer: Not Mine 8( Any characters you recognize belong to Bruckheimer and Zuicker, the rest are mine
A/N: Here is CH2! Read, Review and Hopefully Enjoy!
x
Nick and Grissom watched in astonishment as Greg walked, then ran down the hallway away from them.
"Where is he going?" Grissom asked Nick.
"I don't know," Nick replied, "Maybe he forgot something in the car?" He suggested.
"Go find him. Now." Grissom ordered, before moving quickly toward the scene.
'This is not how I saw the night going' Nick thought before jogging off after Greg.
He'd not been able to catch up to Greg who was running down the stairs at break neck speed and ignoring Nick yelling after him. After Nick heard Greg enter the lobby he exited the stairs and found the nearest elevator. By the time he got to the lobby Greg was nowhere to be seen.
He attempted to call Greg's cell as he walked to the Denali, but there was no answer.
"Where the hell are you Greggo?" Nick murmured worriedly to himself before heading back to the crime scene.
He tried calling Greg twice more as he rode the elevator up and once more before he ducked under the tape around the scene and found Grissom.
"Well?" Grissom snapped.
"He's gone, I don't know where he is and he's not answering his cell," Nick said, a small part of him wondered if Greg was just avoiding his calls.
He felt a strange sense of relief when Greg didn't answer when Grissom called either.
"We don't have time for this!" Grissom said, snapping his phone shut. "Start processing the kitchen that's where the fire department thinks the fire started." Grissom turned and yelled for Brass and Nick hurried to the kitchen.
As he processed Nick thought about Greg.
They'd gone out to dinner a few nights ago, and what had started as a quick meal with a buddy had quickly morphed into something more.
Nick had always found Greg physically attractive, who wouldn't? Greg was tall and lean with a smile that could light up a room and big brown eyes. Just the type of guy that Nick liked to bed. However, Greg was a coworker. An indiscreet, young, possibly straight, coworker and Nick had no desire to be outed to the entire LVPD.
That Greg was a coworker wasn't the only problem though.
While Greg was working DNA, he had constantly showed his immaturity. Sure he got the job done and at times his antics were hysterical. But there was a time and a place for jokes and while analyzing a semen sample found on the corpse of a dead 9 year old was not one of them.
Part of that was Greg was only 22 when he started at the lab and 23 when he'd become the head of DNA. He was smart and great at his job but he was still a kid in so many ways. To Greg it was just a job, he didn't ever see the victims or survivors. He was analyzing samples from strangers with no clue where they'd come from and not really caring.
Nick had been attracted to Greg's body but not his personality. So he pushed his attraction for the lab tech to the side, it wouldn't work they were way too different.
However after the lab explosion Greg changed, it seemed to age him 10 years over night. He was suddenly more serious, more focused, and completely determined to become a CSI. Sure he still told jokes involving anal swabs and put on a show giving them their results, but he also seemed to be more aware of the cases and the victims.
When Greg first started his training, Nick thought Grissom was crazy for letting Greg out in the field. However, the more he worked with and helped Greg train, the more he understood why Grissom had taken the chance.
The way Greeg's eyes lit up when he found an important piece of evidence. Or when he asked a question or did anything to help solve a case. And he did that a lot. He had a fresh way of looking at things, he often saw things in the evidence that Nick didn't.
Greg was a good DNA tech, but he was a great CSI. Nick was damn proud of him.
Over the course of Greg's training Nick's feelings for him had changed from tolerating him to becoming good friends. He began to understand Greg's quirky sense of humor though it probably helped that he had toned it down some. He also began to see Greg's serious side. His passion for justice and compassion for the victims. The more they worked together and hung out the stronger their friendship had become.
When their shift had been split the thing Nick had missed most was working with Greg. After his burial and rescue Greg had been the only one who treated him normal, who didn't walk around on eggshells around him. Probably because Greg knew what it was like, and had hated it when people treated him like glass after the lab explosion.
He had come to the realization recently that he was no longer attracted to just his body. He was attracted to Greg's personality as well. Bad music and weird shirts included.
And unless he was completely off base, he was pretty sure Greg liked him too.
Nick hadn't come to this realization until a few nights ago, when he'd caught Greg checking him out in the locker room. The next thing Nick knew he was asking Greg out to eat and to Nick's joy he was accepting.
Over dinner they'd talked about things they'd never discussed before and Nick had learned a lot about Greg. Like he'd started college at 17 and had taken summer classes so he could earn his masters in 4 years, instead of the normal 6.
Nick had really enjoyed spending time with Greg, and he'd loved the feeling of their thighs touching on the couch while they played video games. He'd woken up early, wrote Greg a quick note and escaped home to attempt to figure out what he was going to do.
It had only been tonight that he'd come to his decision. He was going to test the waters with Greg and attempt to figure out how Greg felt about him. He wasn't quite sure if Greg was even gay but he was 50 sure he was and he was betting man; he'd take those odds.
So earlier he'd asked him to dinner and Greg had agreed. Although Greg probably had no clue, tonight was going to be their first date.
That was if Grissom didn't kill him for running off to parts unknown.
The thought of Grissom forced Nick to stop day dreaming about Greg and focus on an unusual burn pattern that led to the cupboards.
x
There were two types of cases that Grissom hated; cases involving the rich and famous, and cases involving very young children. So the death of the infant son of a celebrity was putting him in a doubly bad mood. Add that to the disappearance of Greg and Grissom was barely holding his temper. Brass was eyeing him warily as he approached.
"Brass!" Grissom yelled, "Talk to me what's going on."
"Vic's name is Robby Bender 4 Months old" Brass frowned "Son of Monty Bender, comedian," He pointed to the man sitting on the stretcher.
"How was the baby killed?" Grissom asked.
"Dropped out the window." Brass deadpanned.
"What!" Grissom growled.
"According to all three witness statements, They spent the evening in the room none of them left all night. The Fire broke out in the kitchen trapping them in the main room. The room quickly filled with smoke making it impossible to breath. Monty was trying to save Robby by holding him out the window in the smoke free air. When Bender lost consciousness from smoke inhalation he dropped the baby. They are all very upset at the loss."
"All three of them say that?"
"All three say the exact same thing. Which, incidentally, is the exact same thing Bender says. I could be wrong but something about this story seems fishy."
"Hmm." Grissom answered thinking, "Take them back to the station and question them again separately. I'll call you if we find anything." Brass nodded and headed out.
Grissom's phone rang a few moments later he glanced down at it. Greg. Taking a deep breath he answered, "Grissom."
x
After 10 minutes of just staring at the Casino Greg had hailed a cab. Greg was so intent on getting back to the lab that the cab was halfway there before he truly realized what he'd done. He'd run away from a crime scene… Grissom was going to kill him.
He pulled out his cell phone intent on calling and doing damage control. He winced when he saw how many calls he'd missed. Four from Nick and, 'oh shit, two' from Grissom.
'I am in so much trouble, Grissom never calls… And he called twice…I'm dead.'
Greg immediately called Grissom back.
It rang several times before an irritated voice answered, "Grissom."
"Uh hi boss…" Greg stammered, "I saw you called," he winced at his words, 'I saw you called,' he smacked himself in the forehead.
"Yes Greg I did, so how are you," Grissom asked, in a pleasant voice that scared Greg.
"Uh good… Sir…. How uh… how are you?" He asked, not quite sure how to respond.
"Me? Me, I'm fine. Quick question though Greg." Grissom said, in that calm pleasant terrifying voice.
"Mhm" Greg answered timidly.
"Where. Are. You?" Grissom's growled out.
Wincing at Grissom's tone Greg hurriedly began to explain "I'm uhh in a cab heading back to the lab… Uhh you see I umm knew the vic… not the umm kid… the man… the father… my, my family has financial dealings with him…. err well my dad does, not my whole family… so I thought I should remove myself, immediately… uhh so I did."
Greg could hear Grissom take a deep breath, "Go finish your paper work then go wait for me in my office." Grissom hung up.
'Yup I'm going to die.'
x
'I'm going to kill him,' Grissom thought as he hung up.
But a small part of him was worried; something was not right with Greg. They had all had recused themselves from cases before. He didn't know why this particular one, why Monty Bender had caused Greg to go running from the building.
He sighed, he didn't have time to think about this. He needed to figure out what happened in this hotel room. Greg could wait until later.
"Hey Grissom can you come here," Nick yelled from the kitchen of the suite.
Nick was pretty sure he'd found the cause of the fire. It looked to be a shorted out wire and if so this case wasn't theirs anymore.
"This better be good Nick," Grissom snapped from the door way, startling Nick who had been deep in thought.
"Oh it's not much, just the cause of the fire," Nick said, with just a hint of sarcasm.
"Talk," Grissom ordered not even slightly apologetic.
"Wire shorted out in the wall behind the fridge, it then spread to the cupboards where the cleaning stuff under the sink caught on fire. That's why it spread so quickly," Nick said, showing Grissom the burn pattern that proved his theory.
"I believe you're right Nicky," Grissom said, examining the burn pattern.
"So that's it then right? This isn't arson it was an accident."
"The baby wasn't killed in the fire." Grissom responded.
"Alright, well I've got everything in here photographed, bagged and tagged." Nick informed Grissom, turning and packing up the rest of his kit.
"Go get the security tapes and take them back to the lab. Try to confirm or contradict the witnesses' timeline," Grissom directed.
"On it." Nick took off in search of the tapes.
x
Nick arrived back at the lab and headed back to AV to give Archie the security tapes. Nick hated watching security tapes and normally made Greg sit with Archie and watch them. However Greg was MIA. Nick frowned worried about his secret crush.
Greg still hadn't called him back. This was completely unlike Greg; but then again so was walking off a crime scene.
What really had Nick worried though was the brief look of terror on Greg's face as he'd flashed by on his mad dash from the hotel. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Nick rounded the corner and walked straight into the man who was occupying his thoughts.
"Greg!" Nick exclaimed, leaning forward to hug the man before suddenly realizing where he was and pulling back awkwardly.
"Hi, Nicky." Greg said softly, his head tilted down, lips drooping.
"What happened to you man? You were there one second and gone then next." Nick asked worriedly, he didn't like this look on Greg's face now either.
"I know the guy, Monty Bender, my family has done business with him for years." Greg told him, but Nick didn't buy it.
Nick raised an eyebrow, "So you recognized him and ran away at top speed? I'm not buying that Greggo." Nick put a hand on Greg's arm, "What's going on?" He asked quietly.
Greg pulled his arm away, "I'm telling the truth Nick. I recognized him and wanted to get away as soon as possible so I wouldn't compromise the case." Greg argued, a mulish look on his face.
Nick responded in kind "Fine you don't want to tell me what's going on that's your prerogative, but I suggest that you come up with a better excuse before you talk to Grissom." Nick snapped before walking off continuing on to the AV lab.
"Archie here are the tapes let's get started." Nick growled. He sat down next to Archie and began to brood.
x
"Fuck," Greg said, kicking a base board softly, "I really screwed that up," Greg sighed, he knew he would never be able to explain the reason he fled to Nick.
He couldn't explain it to anyone.
Hopefully, he wouldn't ever have to.
Hopefully, they would quickly solve this case and move on to another one.
Hopefully, Nick would forgive him for being such an jerk.
Hopefully.
x
"Nick didn't the personal trainer say that he was in the room all night?" Archie asked the preoccupied CSI.
"Yeah," Nick said, dragging his focus back to the case and away from Greg.
"Well I have him leaving several times including right before the fire started," Archie said, playing back two such instances.
"He never mentioned that," Nick said. "I'm going to call Brass," he add excitedly.
Finally something to keep his mind off Greg.
x
An hour after Archie's discovery Grissom tiredly made his way back into the lab. He needed to go see Doc Robbins for the details on the autopsy, find Nick and see if he had come up with anything new…Then there was the whole situation with Greg… He didn't quite now how to deal with the youngest CSI.
"Grissom" Nick yelled from down the hall.
"Nick what's going on?" Grissom asked, mentaly checking, 'find Nick,' off his to do list.
"Gris this is big, Archie we need to borrow your lab for a moment." Nick said, dragging Grissom in and pushing Archie out. He shut the door, walked across the room and stuck a tape in the VCR.
"What's going on Nick?" Grissom questioned. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was on the tape.
"The personal trainer, Mike Stephens, we have him on the security tape leaving the room several times. Which contradicts his statement." Nick paused for a moment before continuing, "This is a tape of his interview with Brass and I… Gris… you just need to watch this." Nick trailed off before pressing play.
Grissom zeroed in on the TV screen, he was now positive he wasn't going to like what was on the tape.
Mike Stephens was a balding middle aged man. For a personal trainer he looked very unhealthy; drink reddened cheeks and a spare tire around the waste. He also looked terrified; he was sweating and looking back and forth nervously from Nick to Brass.
"Mr. Stephens, this is your last chance to come clean." Brass said, "Nick here has found something very interesting."
Stephens paled and started breathing faster. Grissom leaned forward to get a better view.
"Mr. Stephens, we all ready know everything," Nick said kindly. "Why don't you give us your side while you still can."
"Oh shit… I haven't done it in years, I swear." Stephens croaked out, he had a smokers voice; rough and deep.
On the tape Nick and Brass looked at each other in confusion for a second before smoothing their features back over so they looked blank.
"That's not what we heard." Brass said, obviously choosing his words carefully trying to keep Stephens talking. Grissom nodded his head in approval, if anyone could trick this man into confessing to a crime they had no clue about it would be Brass.
"I'm not lying! I haven't done it in years!" Stephens yelled. Grissom hadn't thought the man could get any more agitated but he was wrong. Stephens began to rock back and forth and let out little sobs.
"It doesn't matter you're going to jail for a long time" Brass said, on the attack trying to through him more off guard.
Stephens started to cry in earnest, "No! Please I'll do anything," He sobbed out.
"We want all the details," Nick said, trying to play at being the good cop. "If we like what we hear we'll talk to the DA about leniency."
Stephens sobbed and nodded.
"Start at the beginning," Nick said. Grissom turned up the volume.
"I was just the driver," Stephens said.
"What did you drive?" Brass questioned.
"An ice cream truck, we'd go to the poor neighborhoods in New York looking."
"Looking for what?" Brass pressed.
"Kids," Stephens choked out. Grissom frowned at the TV, he didn't like where this was going.
"Kids?" Nick asked in a deceptively calm voice.
"Lit...Little boys…" Stephens sobbed out.
For several moments no one spoke Stephens just sobbed, Brass glared and in the background Grissom could see Nick clenching his fists and seemingly trying to regain control. If Grissom's weakness was infant deaths Nicks was kids.
Grissom thought that something bad must have happened to Nick as a child, but that wasn't exactly something you asked someone. He watched with pride as Nick pulled it back together and managed to put a blank almost friendly look back on his face.
"Monty would sit in the back and look out a little peephole." Stephens said after he had finally regained control. "When he'd find a boy he liked he'd point him out to me. I would pull the kid aside and invite him to Monty's estate for the weekend. If he said yes, I'd give him a number to call to set it all up."
"And then what" Nick asked, trying to coax more out of the man
"I don't know." He choked out.
"You don't know?" Brass said frowning.
"I don't know! I never wanted to know!" Stephens shouted.
"You're not giving us much here Mike…" Nick said, pausing to build tension. "I don't know how much I'm going to be able to help you…" He picked up the file and turned as if to head out of the room.
"WAIT! Wait, I know more" Nick paused and turned around but didn't put down the file.
"The-there was a law suit back in 87 or 88, he was accused of molesting a 10 year old boy… it was settled out of court…" Stephens began sobbing once more.
Nick pressed the stop button and turned to Grissom, "Well?"
Grissom was still staring at the blank screen deep in thought. He turned to Nick, "It looks like we have a new case"