CSI: Vampire's Picnic: Chapter 4
A/N: Ooops. I forgot to mention the small character death in this story. I won't say who, or when. It might be this chapter, but then again, it might not be. Also, I will point this out, not everyone likes this character, but I will try to show off the good and the bad side of this person. I hope this doesn't ruin your parade, but it kind of had to be done. Anyway, sit back, and enjoy!
"I saw you two the other day," Hodges said, leaning against the doorjamb of the DNA lab. "What does Nick think about your nonhuman status?"
Greg shoved several chemistry books back on the bookshelf as he hurriedly tried to clean up the lab before his shift ended in fifteen minutes.
"He doesn't know."
Hodges was just acting like a jerk. Like he always did. Only this time, it seemed to be worse than usual.
"He doesn't know? Well, now, that's hardly fair, is it?"
"What's not fair is you spying on us. You had no right."
Greg continued to move about the lab, picking up empty glass vials and giving them a good wash in the sink. He was going to pretend it didn't bother him that someone knew about their relationship. As long as Hodges didn't spill the beans to anyone they knew, he could be ok with it. And when he saw Nick later he would give the man a stern talking to about their relationship going public.
"I wasn't spying, I just happened to catch a glimpse of you holding hands. That's all. Sort of innocent, only not when it's between two men. If you catch my drift."
"Hodges," Greg whirled on him. "Would you please shut up! He doesn't know, and for now I'd like to keep it that way." He turned back to the sink.
"I'm dying, you know."
"I know."
He could practically smell the blood drying up within his coworker's body, he was so close to death. And it wasn't fair to be angry at a dying man who'd given up everything he had just to keep someone else alive. It took a selfless person to do that.
"It wouldn't be fair," the lab tech continued. "For him not to know he's dying too, would it?"
"I'm not killing him!" Anger rose in Greg's voice, and for once he wished Hodges was already dead so he wouldn't have to deal with him anymore.
"I didn't have a choice. But at least I know what's coming. I think it would be better for him if he knew the truth."
Greg snorted. Who the hell was he kidding? Of course Hodges wasn't that selfless.
"I mean, if you are sleeping together..."
"We're not sleeping together!" he yelled. Then his voice softened of its own accord, "I don't want him to die. I don't want to accidentally hurt him."
He stopped washing the equipment he'd used earlier and turned around, not having expected to be so honest with the other man.
David moved further into the room, letting his crossed arms drop.
"You really like him, don't you?"
"Yes."
"God, I'm sorry. This must be very difficult."
"It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life."
"You know, I didn't mean to be so nasty... I just thought... well, I figured, if you were seeing each other, you must be sleeping together, and for sure you..."
David collapsed, mid-sentence on the cold, hard floor like a rag doll, dropped by a hand that no longer cared to hold it.
Greg scrambled around one of the lab tables and tried to shake the other man back into consciousness. He could hear yelling out in the hallway and seconds later Archie ran in followed closely by Nick and Grissom.
"I saw him go down," Archie said. "Is he alright?"
"No! I..."
"Out of the way, G."
Nick knelt on the floor and began CPR as a few of the other CSIs and lab techs came rushing in.
But Greg knew it was too late. Nothing could save him. He'd been dying, just like he'd said, and CPR wouldn't bring back a man who'd died of too little blood.
He shook his head and turned away, not wanting to see the abnormally pale face staring up at him, still in mid-apology. He wrapped his arms around himself, as if a hug would make him feel better.
"Hey," a soft voice chimed right behind him. Greg turned to see Nick. "Are you ok?"
"I don't know," he said truthfully.
He'd never seen a dead person that he hadn't personally chosen to feed on. They'd always been someone he hadn't known very long, only a day at most. Yet here was David Hodges, dead on his lab floor. He was someone he'd known for a few months now and even though he'd been annoying at times, he never really wanted him dead.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Nick kept his voice low and soft, comforting.
"We were talking... he... he was actually apologizing for some stupid remark he'd made... you know he never apologizes... and then he collapsed. No warning. No nothing."
"Ok, thanks G."
Greg watched from a far corner while the CSIs kicked everyone else out and checked the lab for clues and evidence. Catherine asked him a few more questions. He'd only had his back turned for a few minutes. In that amount of time, someone who knew the lab could have easily slipped something into his mouth perhaps. And David knew the lab. There was no time for needles though, or anything else, he told her. Even if Hodges was that skilled and that quick with one.
But why? Sure, he'd been pale for awhile. For the last month or so. But the tech had always waved it off. It was nothing, whatever it was.
When no evidence was found the day-shift coroner took the body and began the autopsy. Catherine and Warrick combed the other labs in the building, checking to see if there was anything out of place, any chemical he may have accidentally come into contact with, or accidentally swallowed, no matter how smart the man was.
"Greg, you want to go get something to eat? Maybe it'll help you feel better?" Nick had found him in the corner of the room.
"No... I'm... I'm fine. I think I'll just head home."
"You sure you don't want any company?"
"I'm sure. But thanks. I'll see you tomorrow, Nick."
Greg brushed past him and headed out the door, almost forgetting to hang up his lab coat on the way.
A wave of comfort rolled over him as he reached the front door.
Sophia knew.
The coroner could only say that Hodges' body had been shutting down on him for some time, that his organs showed some wear and tear in that one respect. But beyond that, he found nothing. Everyone had seen the track marks in his arm, but no drugs had been found in his system, and nothing was out of place in the lab. In the end his death was labeled as cardiac arrest. It was a mystery to end all mysteries.
Never-the-less, the funeral was scheduled only a few days later. Only those who worked the graveyard shift in the lab showed up, except for the odd inclusion of one detective. Apparently his coworkers were Hodges' only friends and family. Sophia had chosen well. No one would miss him much.
In the back of the room, Nick quietly took Greg's hand and gave it a squeeze. He turned his face into the warm shoulder next to his for a brief moment, wishing he could have more contact with Nick. But the realities of their lives forced them apart only a few seconds later.
He watched Sophia standing off to the side conversing with Grissom. When his boss moved to chat with Catherine, Sophia caught his eye. He told Nick he'd be right back and went to talk to her.
"I'm sorry you had to see that."
"It's ok. We all knew it was going to happen."
"I told him to go home early that day. You know, after this many years you get so you can almost pin point to the hour when it's going to happen. But he wouldn't listen. Too proud over his work, I guess."
"Too much of a kiss-ass, you mean."
Sophia chuckled.
"He really didn't want anyone thinking poorly over him or his work."
"Of course."
"I noticed Sara's not here."
"Lack of feelings?"
"It feels odd to be warm."
"Grissom told me she said she was sick."
"Right."
"That's what I thought too."
Nick's house was small, painted what could only be described as a combination of tan and ivory with a hunter green trim. The yard was small, but the grass and the hedges were neatly cut and watered on a regular basis.
Inside, the walls had been painted in a lighter shade of the outside trim. Not a single item was out of place, and Nick never allowed the dishes to stack up in the sink. Each room was full of furniture and included a few knickknacks which usually revolved around sports or his college career at A&M.
As compared to his sparse Victorian house, the DNA Analyst did not feel crowded out, but rather comfortable. Nick had impeccable taste and nothing had been bought used or with mismatched fabrics.
Upon seeing the house, Greg often wished he could have one like it someday when he was human again, could afford to spend the money on it, and could stay in one place for a while.
"You really should eat something," Nick tried as he and Greg entered his house after the funeral.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
Nick spun on him, pushing him up against the wall in the livingroom. Warm hands grasped his hips, then found his stomach. His muscles trembled wherever he was touched.
"I never see you eat anything. All you drink is coffee. How the hell do you survive, G? You're almost so thin I can feel your bones."
"But you can't, so I'm fine. Nick, let me go."
"I can't. I'm worried about you, stupid. Don't you eat anything?"
"Yeah, but... I'm on a restricted diet."
"What are you allowed to eat then? Tell me, so I can buy what you need."
"No... I... I'd rather not talk about it. Please?"
"I don't understand why you won't..."
"Because I don't want to think about it. Ok?"
"But you must be hungry. Aren't you hungry?"
"I'm fine. Let's watch TV."
"TV?"
"You know, that big screen over there that plays pictures and makes noise?"
Nick sighed, but let him go and turned on the TV. As soon as the CSI sat down on the long black leather couch, Greg curled up beside him and rested his head on his lap, content just to be near enough to touch him.
However he made it seem to Nick, he was anything but fine.
He wasn't hungry.
He was starving.
And being so close to Nick meant he could easily smell his blood. That sweet blood which called to him and begged him to take just a small sip, if he refused to make a feast of it.
He did his best to keep his yearnings under control by remembering the boy he'd acquired the month before. The boy who'd agreed to play sub to his dom. The boy who would be waiting for him just after dark to satisfy his horrible needs.
As the characters moved on the TV screen in front of them, Nick's fingers mindlessly played with his hair, something he noticed Nick liked to do often. Perhaps it made Nick feel better about Greg and their relationship, but it only made Greg feel worse. He was technically cheating on Nick. He gave the boy the rough sex he wanted every night, and in exchange, the boy allowed him to feed off his blood twice a day.
Sophia swore this method worked, and it must have been working, since he hadn't died of starvation yet. But he never felt full enough even though he now ate more often than he was used to. Never near enough.
And since Hodges' death, he worried about what would happen to him if Sophia had lied to him. He didn't think she had, but if she did, he had a feeling this would be a great way to get two unwanted vampires off her turf.
When he was finally granted the option of a shorter life, he knew he wanted his own death to come slowly. He wanted to have time with Nick when they were on an equal playing field. He wanted the chance to experience real attraction and real lovemaking as a human at least once before he died. He hoped the serum would allow him that much.
Slowly, he felt his vampire fangs creep out from his gums to cover his human teeth. The smell of blood filled his nostrils and a sharp pang of hunger coursed through his body, starting in his stomach and spreading out to his limbs, ending in a small whimper escaping his lips.
Nick sat up and looked down at him. "G? What's wrong? Are you ok?"
He ran his tongue over his sharp teeth. The only thing separating them from Nick's blood was a thin layer of denim and skin. It would take little work to puncture him in the leg and have the feast of a lifetime.
It had only been a month since he'd taken a whole body all at once, yet it felt like forever. His stomach rumbled, letting another whimper escape his mouth as he lurched to his feet.
"Greg?"
Nick stood too, and entered his personal space, worry clouding his eyes, and his thoughts.
Greg pushed him away before he could reach out and touch and he stumbled back into the couch.
He willed his fangs to disappear. When they didn't, he talked around them, trying not to move his lips too much for fear of what Nick would see.
"You have to work tonight, so you should really get some sleep. I'm just gonna go home. I really need to go home." He was ever thankful his voice still sounded normal.
"You've got tonight off?"
Nick looked so confused it almost broke Greg's heart to have to lie to him, but it was for the best.
"I do. I'll call you in the morning."
His legs trembled as he took a step toward Nick when he'd meant to turn towards the door. Just a kiss. Just one kiss goodbye...
Could lead to death, he reminded himself. He spun around and ran from the house, letting the door slam shut behind him.
Greg had waited long enough, keeping himself locked inside his own house for hours after he'd left Nick. He'd scratched and torn at the old wall paper in empty rooms he'd only seen once before. He pounded the floors with his fists, sobbing as his hunger refused to dissipate, but grew stronger instead. He punched in a wall, creating a hole the size of a large crater.
He tried to bury himself underneath the covers on his bed. The only light in the room, a small lamp on his bedside table, went flying across the room, only to shatter against the wall. Even if someone were to chain him to the bed, he doubted it would do much to hold him back.
He wanted to run out into the yard and scream while he ripped the grass from the earth. But he wouldn't let himself out of the house, for fear he went to his car. He would not kill anyone tonight. He would meet with his sub. His sub would feed him.
When he finally did allow himself to take hold of his car keys the sun had just set. If Vegas hadn't been the city of lights the place would have been almost pitch black. He sped into the city and parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant.
Greg walked quickly down the nearby ally, passing several garbage dumpsters that hid the back wall nicely.
His sub was waiting patiently for him, already on his knees, acknowledging his Master's control over him. He wore tight leather pants, boots, and a harness across his chest. If Greg hadn't been so hungry he would have called him sexy with the slight musculature to his arms.
"Stand up," he ordered, upon arrival.
The boy looked up into his face, then back down toward his crotch.
"But... don't you want me to suck..."
"Stand UP," Greg growled.
His sub did as asked, and he pushed him into the stone wall behind him. Using all of his strength, he held him in place, and dived for his neck...