"Nick!" An unfamiliar voice shouted. While it was commanding, it also sounded somewhat unsure, as if they were not one hundred percent certain who they were calling to.
Nick spun around in the doorway to see a girl standing just outside of the parking lot to the crime lab. She looked to be no more than fourteen years old with dirty blonde hair hanging down off of her shoulders. She did not look familiar.
"Where's Greg?" The girl asked, full of determination, "There were police at his apartment last night and my dad wont tell me what happened."
"Who are you?" Nick asked, ever worried about strangers knowing his name.
"Isabel Benson, I live next door to Greg with my dad. He's really cool, Greg, not my dad. What happened to him, people were saying that there was a murder and…" Her eyes welled up with tears.
"Greg's fine, he's just answering a few questions for people." Nick didn't consider that lying, Greg was physically fine, just not emotionally, "He had a friend over…"
"Jesse, I met him too. Greg was asleep, but Jesse was watching TV. Did he go home?"
"He was murdered last night in Greg's apartment," He was certain that she would not appreciate being babied. "It's just about 1AM, what are you doing out here?"
"He didn't do it," Isabel said, looking down at the ground and ignoring Nick's questions.
"How can you be so sure?" Nick asked, intrigued. He had seen many people who were convinced that whoever it was they cared about had not committed any crimes. He had seen mothers convinced that their sons would never hurt his wife, husbands swearing their wives would never hurt their child, but this girl was different. She didn't think that Greg was innocent, she knew that he was. The only way for her to be that sure is if she had more information than they had.
"He just wouldn't," She said, keeping her gaze away from Nick, "He's too good for that! He keeps me safe and he looks out for people."
"If you know anything that could help him…"
"I have to go home," Isabel drew away from Nick, "it's late, past midnight."
"It was past midnight when you left your house. I've worked here long enough to know that a girl like you shouldn't be out so late."
"I came here on my own, I can get back on my own," The girl insisted.
"I'm sure you could, but it would make me feel a whole lot better to know that you got home safely," Nick motioned towards his car, "come on, before your dad has a fit wondering where you are."
"He's asleep," She reasoned, which hardly made Nick feel more comfortable.
"What the hell are you doing with my daughter?" Mr. Benson shouted as Nick walked up the hall next to Isabel. His bald head was growing red with anger. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"
"I found her outside of the crime lab, just wanted to make sure that she got home safely," he explained.
"You went there to see that pervert, is that it?" The father's eyes narrowed.
"He's not a pervert!" Isabel yelled at him.
"He wants a thirteen year old girl in his apartment while he's in his bed, tell me how that can be anything else?" Mr. Benson turned to face Nick, yelling loud enough to attract attention from the neighbors. "And don't you forget about those strange hours, or those disgusting pictures, god knows what he does with those! Normal people don't come home smelling like death! He's a pervert and a murderer, I doubt that last night was his first time!"
Anger boiled over inside of Nick. He tried to control it, but his man was accusing Greg of these terrible crimes, saying that he was worse than the very men that Greg had dedicated his life to bringing to justice. He knew that Greg hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't murdered Jesse and he certainly hadn't done anything to Isabel. Greg just wasn't that kind of person.
"Yes, I am sure he does sometimes come back here smelling like death, sir. That's what he's been squatting all day, death and decay," Nick's fists clenched, hardly able to spit out any signs of respect towards him, "We have a shower at the lab, but it's never strong enough to get rid of the decomp smell. You have to soak for a long time in hot water and use a lot of lemons to get that scent to go away."
"De-what?" Mr. Benson asked, taking a slight step away from the frightening Nick.
"Decomp, decomposition, when a body has been left somewhere and it doesn't get reported for several days, sometimes weeks. The heat in Vegas doesn't help that. Many times the insides have begun to liquefy, you move the body and a disgusting fluid will begin to ooze out of it. The smell gets in your hair, your clothes, your skin. Just last week Greggo had to climb in a dumpster with one of those bodies, a nasty one too. It had to have been there for weeks before someone called it in. He had to climb in and sort out what filth came from the body and what came from the dumpster."
Nick could see that the man in front of him was starting to turn green. He wondered if he should kick up the details a bit, see if he could send this man running for the toilet. Then again, if he did that, he wouldn't be able to really hammer home just how amazing Greg is. It might be worth it to see Mr. Benson suffer, but he didn't want to upset the man daughter.
"That's what sucks about being the low man on the totem pole, you get stuck with the jobs that no one else wants. Sure, he complains about it a bit, but not much, not as much as I would anyway. He's a CSI, works the graveyard shift with me, which should explain the hours. As for the pictures, he doesn't do that as much anymore. For a while he was headed straight for burn out, working too hard, not taking time off, but he's better about that now. He leaves work at work, doesn't take home the pictures to keep working during his free time."
Nick could see Mr. Benson get more and more uncomfortable as Nick described Greg. That squirming was the only thing preventing Nick from punching the man in the face. "He's an amazing man, willing to risk his own life to save someone, nearly did get killed saving that tourist a while back. Perhaps in the future you should make an effort to at least speak to a man before you convict him of child molestation and murder. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."
During the drive back to work, several questions played through his head, questions that he didn't want answered. Mostly, what was that thirteen year old doing in Greg's apartment while he was in bed? He knew Greg better than to think that he had hurt the girl, there had to be some reason why he would invite the girl into his apartment. He vaguely recalled Greg running some finger prints to Afis a couple of months back that had nothing to do with the case that they were working on at the time. They had some connection to Greg's personal life, or his apartment, or something of that nature. Nick had never gotten the full story, not even the lab rats knew the details of the finger print results.
Upon his return, he found that Grissom had another assignment for him, a simple B&E on the other side of town. The perp had broken the front window in full view of the neighbors, who had been awoken by a barking dog. He hadn't stolen anything of actual value, mostly cheap copies of expensive looking items, and the police caught him red handed less than two blocks from the house. The man confessed on the spot, normally it was not even worth investigating. He knew that Grissom was only trying to keep Nick's mind on something other than what was happening to Greg.
Even though he knew it was a waste of time and effort, Nick worked that crime scene to death, all the while wanting to be back with his friend. He wanted to sit in the break room, tell Greg how brave Isabel could be, tell him what Mr. Benson's face looked like as he described the truth about how amazing their former lab rat was. He wanted to do anything that could possibly put a smile on Greg's face, though he knew it would take a long time for that smile to return.
When there was absolutely nothing left to examine, Nick packed up his kit and returned to the lab. He had a couple of samples that should be processed for the sake of procedure. There was no shot of this case ever coming to trial, even if he was a moron the guy would still be smart enough to plead guilty. He hadn't even worn gloves, his finger prints would be all over everything that he had taken as well as sprinkled though out the house.
He dropped the samples off as fast as he could, explaining that they were lowest priority, and searched for Grissom. He had to make sure that there were no other cases requiring his attention before he went to find Greg. Thankfully, they were having a slow night and he was soon in the break room ready to comfort the former DNA tech. It took him a moment of glancing around the room to realize that Greg was not there.
"Hey, Nick," a voice caught him off guard. Nick spun around to see Super Dave standing in the doorway looking oddly out of place and confused.
"What's up?" he asked, trying to sound cool and collected, as if his mind was not running a mile a minute worrying about where Greg could be.
"Um, keep an eye out for Greg, let Grissom or the doc know if you find him."
"Something happen?" Nick felt the blood in his veins turn cold. Had something happened to him? He couldn't stand the thought, but he tried to keep a cool head about it. Greg had probably lost his cell phone, or his wallet, maybe even his keys, but if that was the case then why was Dave looking so nervous.
"He came into the morgue earlier, told Doc Robins that he wanted to see Jesse Cunningham. I thought that it was a bad idea, but the look in his eyes…and Doc's day off was yesterday, so he didn't know. He thought that Greg was just there for a case."
Nick had to nod. He had been on the receiving end of several of those patented puppy dog stares from Greg, he always found it impossible to say no to him. Apparently he was not the only one who was vulnerable. He also knew that Dave felt guilty for how he had acted in Greg's apartment. Just like Doc Robins in the morgue, he had thought that Greg was simply there for a case. There was no doubt in Nick's mind that Dave regretted some of his comments or his treatment of the victim while Greg was present.
"So the doc opened the drawer where Jesse was, and Greg just sorta stood there for a moment. Since Doc didn't know better, he started telling Greg all of the details about how Jesse died. There are things that you don't say to the loved ones, you let them believe that the death wasn't so slow or painful. I was over in the opposite corner, but I had a good view. Greg didn't do anything except look at him for a good five minutes, then he lifted his hand and touched Jesse's forehead. I couldn't see, but Doc said that his hands were shaking really bad. He said good bye to Jesse, thanked the doc, and walked out. No one has seen him since, but his car is still in the parking lot." Dave explained, biting his lip, "He's not answering his cell phone and everyone is getting pretty worried. Doc Robins feels really guilty about all of it."
Nick nodded, taking it all in. The fear in his heart subsided a bit, he was fairly certain that he knew where Greg was. Back when Nick had first returned back to work following his burial, he had almost broken down several times. One of those times, Greg had spotted him. He took Nick back to an old supply closet, once used to store equipment and supplies for the CSI's, but now it was mostly filled with cleaning supplies. Apart from the occasional custodian, no one ever went there anymore. Greg had confessed to taking advantage of it several times after the explosion, Nick assumed that he also went there following the Demetrius James incident, though he never asked.
"Hey, tell Griss that if he doesn't get a call from me in the next few minutes, everything is alright." Nick said, clapping Dave on the shoulder, "I think I know where to find him."
Nick's mind raced as he forced himself to walk through the halls of the lab. He wanted to sprint back to the supply closet, get to Greg as fast as he could, but that would draw too much attention to himself. If anyone was to follow him, he would miss out on his chance to give his friend the comfort that he so desperately needed. If he was hiding in the closet, it was because he did not want anyone to see him. Nick understood the need for privacy, particularly if he just felt the full impact of what had happened.
"Hey, Henry," Nick called out as he ducked his head into the toxicology lab, "Can I ask you something?"
"No, I haven't seen Greg, but Dave has been by here three times looking for him," Henry responded without looking up.
"Do you know how the questioning with Davin went?" Nick asked, choosing to ignore the lab rat's words. He knew that Henry was lying about having seen Greg, the tox lab wasn't far away from the supply closet, but he did not call him on it. Instead, he focused on getting a little bit more information before walking in.
"You know that no one is supposed to talk about an open case. I haven't heard anything."
"Don't make me ask Archie," Nick flashed Henry a smile. All the techs knew what was going on, they knew everything that happened in the lab. While some were reluctant to revel theirs secrets, Nick had learned that Henry and Archie were good sources. He figured that Archie still felt someone guilty about peering so deeply into Nick's personal life while he reviewed the footage from Nigel Crane's cameras, so he could always be counted on. Henry, on the other hand, was just a good guy who hated keeping secrets.
"Okay, I know where he is and I can tell you about the interrogation, but you know that I'm only doing this because it's Greg, right? I'm worried about him,"
"Yeah, me too, and I'm pretty sure that I know where he is." Nick leaned on the doorway, ignoring the way that his heart pounded. He still wanted to rush to Greg, but he did not want to have to force his friend to tell him what had happened with Davin, especially if things did not go well.
"He hasn't been cleared yet, but there's not much evidence pointing to him, it's still just that footprint and because there was no forced entry. Hodges says that Grissom actually asked Davin not to clear him so that Greg would be forced to take some time off to recuperate, but who knows how true that is. There's no hair or fiber evidence, no finger prints except for Greg's and Jesse's, but I heard that they are sending more CSI's to Greg's house to search for more evidence."
"Thanks," Nick smiled at the lab rat once more before heading out. He quickly went down the hall just a bit and tried to open the closet door.
He was not the least bit surprised to find the door locked from the inside. If Greg was indeed in there, he would certainly not want someone finding him. Unfortunately for his plans, this made the Texan even more determined to get inside. He knew that Greg needed someone with him. With a set of skills that he had acquired from breaking into his sister's rooms and diaries, Nick made short work of the lock and the door soon swung open.
It was a large closet, empty except for items on the shelves that lined the back wall. There was enough room that Nick could lie down in the middle, arms and legs stretched out, and not touch any of the sides. The lights were off, but the parking lot's security lights shone in through a small window. Nick knew from experience that he would be able to see just fine once his eyes adjusted. At the moment though, he could only make out vague shapes.
"Greggo?" Nick asked a dark shape in the corner which was either Greg or a bag of trash, "everyone's going nuts looking for you."
"Sorry," the shape replied.
As his eyes continued adjusting to the low long, he began to see more details in the Greg-shaped lump. He had pushed himself into a corner, knees drawn up against his chest, arms wrapped around them. His head was bowed, Nick could only see his hair peeking up. Although his breathing was labored, Nick could tell that he was not crying.
Without saying anything, Nick sat down along one of the walls that formed Greg's corner. He wanted to say something to comfort his friend, but he knew it would be best to wait until Greg was willing to talk. He knew that it wouldn't take long, but for now he was satisfied to just be next to him.
"I went to see him," Greg said after a bit, "he looked like everyone else in there."
Nick nodded, not sure if Greg could see him in the dim light or not. He remembered visiting Kristy in the morgue. He had somehow expected her to look different from all of the other bodies that he had seen on Doc Robin's tables or in his drawers, but she hadn't. She had look like every other body, there was nothing special about her.
"He's gone," Greg swallowed hard, "He's dead."
Greg's grip around his knees tightened, his voice cracking at the end of his statement. His entire body shook in what Nick could only assume was an attempt to hold back tears. In all of the years that he had known Greg, he had seen him go through every emotion possible for humans, but he had never seen him cry. Even after the explosion, the beating, and the horrible court case, he had never shed a single tear, at least not with anyone looking. Now painful sobs ripped their way through his small frame, ignoring all of Greg's attempts to hold them in.
Without comment, or asking for permission, Nick wrapped his arms around Greg, pulling him into a welcoming embrace. He could feel the effects that it was having on Greg almost instantly. His entire body softened, the sobs came out more freely as he allowed his emotions out into the open. In only a matter of moments, Nick soon pulled the younger CSI into his lap as though he were comforting a lover.
He could feel the wetness of Greg's tears soaking through the thin material covering his shoulder, and he welcomed it. the younger CSI's hands creped along the sides of Nick's ribs, as if he wanted more but was afraid to ask. Nick's two warm arms wrapped themselves even tighter around the smaller body, holding him close and safe as Greg allowed the horror of the past few days to escape from his body the only way that it knew how.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm a little disapointed that no one figured out the pattern in people's names. Oh well, maybe once more chatacters are introduced. (Meaningless characters who appear in one paragraph and then are never heard from again, no more important chatacters.)
Again, I'll try to post the next chapter next week. Please review this time.
