Chapter Four - Rock Bottom
"Two years ago, a woman's body turned up in that same park with blunt force trauma to the head, defensive wounds to her wrists and arms. She was clearly bound and beaten prior to being killed and her clothes had been washed and folded, set on the ground beside her." Warrick slid the file across the conference table towards their supervisor, glancing at his partner beside him who looked half asleep. He continued with their findings on his own, figuring he'd step in if he had anything to add. "The case we were called to today, has the exact same MO. Right down to the fabric softener used on the clothes. The thing is, the suspect from the case two years ago is still behind bars. His name's Joseph Wright, he's serving life over at county."
Grissom pulled the first file closer, looking over the notes. "Sara worked the case? Have you spoken to her yet?"
"She's not in today." Warrick reminded the man. "She's got that thing with her Mom to deal with today. She did everything by the book though. She traced the original crime scene back to a closed down factory on the edge of town. Mr Wright's fingerprints were all over that place. He inherited the place from his late father and there were traces of the victim, along with a few others that were never found."
"I remember the case." The older man read through the report, flipping through the pages as Warrick continued to brief him on the details. He glanced up at Nick halfway through, narrowing his eyes on where the younger man was looking. He had his chin in his hand, resting his elbow against the table, staring at a fixed spot on the wall. He had been doing it for the past twenty minutes while they were talking, starting to make his eyes glaze over as he hadn't blinked once.
"San Francisco PD have been in touch, they had a similar case three years ago with the same MO. They had another one almost to the day the year before that. They never caught a suspect. I checked with other police departments and last year," Warrick shuffled through his findings, sliding the report towards his supervisor. "There was a murder just like this one in New York, while Mr Wright was still in jail. Sara always suspected that this guy had a partner..."
"So he might be the one moving around?" Grissom collected up the folders, sorting them into a pile. "I've got a meeting with the department supervisors in ten minutes. You wonna come up and present your case to them?" Before the man could accept the offer, he turned towards his dazed partner. "Nick, my office. Now." He instructed, exiting the room first.
"Hey," Warrick tapped his partner's shoulder, snapping him out of it. "Thanks for the backup." He sarcastically remarked. "Have you even slept in the past... week?"
"Not exactly." He climbed to his feet, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair. "Sadie's been off the ventilator for two weeks. I've been goin' up there whenever I can to see her. I don't think I've actually been home for longer than five minute in weeks now." He closed his hand over his mouth to hide a yawn, feeling completely exhausted.
"Your baby isn't even home yet and you already look exhausted." He smirked, holding the door to the conference room open for him. "How long have you got before she comes home?"
"I don't know yet. I still don't have anythin' for her. She's just started feedin' for herself, so I guess it's just another few weeks." The man shrugged his shoulders, spotting Grissom tapping his watch at the end of the hall. "I gotta go." He gestured over his shoulder, lethargically making his way down the hall. He sensed it was something bad by the look on his face, but he figured he could deal with anything right now.
"Take a seat." Grissom motioned him towards one of the empty chairs, while he closed the door. He ditched the files from his hands on the edge of the desk, taking a seat on his chair. "Nick, you know I don't like to get myself involved in the personal lives of my team, but when it starts to affect your performance at work... I don't really have a choice." He gulped on the lump in his throat. "So I need to know what's going on."
"I... just haven't been gettin' a lot of sleep lately." He watched his supervisor sorting through his folders, pulling out a performance report. He thought now would be the perfect time to tell him, but then he noticed the complaint file with his name on it. "Someone complained? Who?"
"Ah..." The older man quickly pulled away the folder, before he could actually read it. "It's called an anonymous complaint for a reason, Nick. As your supervisor, I can't tell you about the complaint or who filed it, I just have to follow up with more reports that will be reviewed by someone else." He sighed heavily at the thought of having to review another employee and defend them in front of people who had never met them.
It was times like these that he realised why he never went for the supervisor position on his own. Someone just decided to hand it to him one day, forcing all the organisation and leadership down his throat.
"So you can't even tell me what kind of complaint was filed?" The man assumed, sighing himself as someone out there really had it in for him and he didn't even know who it was. "Look Griss...om," He leant forwards, watching his supervisor filling in the top part of the paper work. "I know I've been kinda out of it for a while, but I've been dealin' with a lot of personal stuff. My ex girlfriend showed up out of the blue..."
"We don't have a lot of time to get into it right now, Nick." His supervisor cut him off there, trying to remember the younger man's date of birth. "The department have advised me to make you speak to the department shrink."
"A shrink?"
"Mandatory." He quickly added, before the younger man tried to get out of it. "You and I will follow up with a performance review... at the end of the week. I'll leave your department shrink appointment dates with Judy at the front desk. Make sure you attend each of them." He gave him a quick warning, climbing to his feet to gather his things for his meeting.
"I have a seven week old daughter in the hospital." Nick continued his story, hoping he would give him the benefit of the doubt if he heard the truth. "My ex... not even a girlfriend really showed up and told me she was pregnant. She had our daughter prematurely at twenty nine weeks and she's been in the hospital ever since. I've been goin' up there every day to see her, which is why I've been so out of it lately. The baby, not the woman." He quickly clarified.
Grissom sighed, clutching the folders to his chest. "See, this is why I don't like to get involved in your personal lives. Do you know how much paper work this will involve?" He grabbed his glasses off the desk, slotting them into his shirt pocket. "You should have taken a leave of absence or some kind of maternity. Seven weeks?" He realised how old he said the child was. "You could be suspended for jeopardising any number of cases that you've been working."
"I didn't do anythin' wrong on my cases though." He protested. "I can't lose my job. I'm the primary care giver to a newborn."
"Attend the mandatory shrink meetings." Grissom gave him a plain and simple direction. "We'll deal with the rest after that. Judy has the appointment dates." He reminded him for the second time, before he slipped away to get to his meeting.
Sighing heavily, Nick stepped out of the man's office, making his way towards the front desk. "Hi," He gave Judy a slight smile. "Do you have some appointment dates for me?"
"I do." Judy searched through the things on her desk, handing him one of the message cards. "I wrote her number on there for you. Do you want directions to the office?"
"No it's okay." He shook his head, having been forced to go there before. He didn't want to, but they all thought he needed it after his home invasion. Having a psycho stalker wasn't exactly something that happened every day, but the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it after the man was dead and gone.
He stuffed the message card into the inside pocket of his jacket, making his way towards the locker room to pack up for the day. He still technically had twenty minutes left of his shift, but he needed to get to the hospital to see his daughter, Sadie before the visiting hours were over.
When he walked into the locker room, he immediately caught sight of the man he had been avoiding, considering turning on his heels to run for it, but then he remembered the complaint that had been filed against him. He didn't know anyone other than Greg who could possibly hold a grudge against him right now. He was probably mad that he turned him down after the kiss.
He had done this to get his own back on him.
"What's your problem with me?" He startled the younger man, keeping some distance between them, just in case he tried to attack him again.
"Go away, Nick. I don't have the time for this today." Greg pulled his jacket out of his locker, stuffing his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. He wiped the tears from his cheek while his back was still turned, before he turned to face the self obsessed asshole in front of him. "I don't have a problem with you. Can you move?"
"Really, because you not only took advantage of me, but now you're tryin' to ruin my career? That's low even for you, Greg."
"What?" He returned with a puzzled expression. "I haven't done anything to ruin your career, you're doing that all on your own. You know what," Greg threw his arms up in the air. "I don't even care anymore. Take your stupid sexually repressed drama to someone who gives a crap, because I certainly don't."
"If you don't care, then why did you file a complaint against me?"
"What?" He frowned at the older man. "I didn't do that."
"Yeah, and I'm supposed to believe that." Nick rolled his eyes, taking a dangerous step closer to him. "This is exactly the kind of thing that someone like you would do, especially if there was a career advancement in your favour."
Greg sighed, giving up on fighting it. "Think what you want, it wasn't me. And I'm sick of trying to explain myself to you all the time. I don't care what you think anymore." He closed up his locker, pulling his bag over his shoulder, before he turned to face the man again, "I would 'never' sell out my friends. No matter how much of an asshole he was."
The Texan roughly grabbed his arm, pushing him up against the locker. "Then you did it because I rejected you."
"Get over yourself, you're not even that good of a kisser." Instead of fighting to get free, Greg adjusted his back against the locker, looking at the delicious lips poised in front of him. He wouldn't dare to try and steal another, but his muscular body pressed up against his was enough to suffice his cravings for now. "Maybe our friendship isn't that important to you anymore, but to me our friendship matters a whole lot more than some stupid job."
Nick stared into his eyes as he said it, realising he was telling the truth. He also noticed that his eyes were slightly glazed as though he had been crying recently. He hadn't ever seen Greg cry. He didn't think he was that kind of guy.
"What's wrong?" Nick quickly changed the tone of his voice, giving him a concerned look rather than an angry one.
"Nothing." Placing his hands on Nick's chest, Greg pushed him away to give himself some breathing room. He peeled his back off the locker, feeling the ridges imprinted on his spine. "Do you really think that I would file a complaint against you? Yeah you're being a real asshole lately, especially towards me for some reason, but I wouldn't do that to one of my best friends. Me moving to the field had 'nothing' to do with you."
He made sure his locker was shut, taking a step around his colleague for the door.
"Well, it did actually," He corrected himself, turning to face the older man. "I was so sick of only seeing one side of a case. I only knew the victims or the cases by the case number or the DNA samples that came through my lab. Seeing you guys going back and forth between crime scenes, interrogations and all that, made me want to be able to see the whole case from start to finish. I didn't do it to get one over on you. I just... wanted to do what you do. I wouldn't ever do a thing to ruin that for you. And the fact that you think I would really hurts. I'm not some manipulative, deceitful person that you think I am. I'm the same guy you knew from the lab that you used to be friends with."
Greg turned for the door to slip away once again, before the Texan had time to think of a hurtful retaliation. He could have handled it on a normal day, but not on the day he found out that Papa Olaf's cancer had spread further, leaving him with even fewer options than before. He made it all the way to the elevator, alone, but Nick managed to slip through the doors before they closed.
"Oh, what?" The younger man leant back against the wall, openly showing his annoyance towards him.
"I'm not here to fight." Nick assured him, waiting for the doors to the elevator to close behind him. "I've got a lot of stuff on my mind lately."
"You think you're the only one?"
"No." He shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm sorry I accused you of filin' a complaint against me. I've just been dealin' with a lot lately, now I have to go to this stupid shrink and my career is in jeopardy when I need it the most."
"I'm sorry." Greg spoke softly, quickly adding, "But I didn't do it."
Nick managed a slight smile, turning to lean against the wall beside, Greg. "I bet it was that technician in ballistics." He thought about it a little more. "She's had it in for me since I didn't call her back after our one night stand."
"Wasn't that three years ago?" He remembered the gossip. "You still don't know her name, do you?" He couldn't help but smile as the older man stared blankly at the elevator panel. "Why would she up and decide one day to file a complaint against you? She's dating one of the deputies. I'm pretty sure she hasn't given you a second thought."
"What is her name?" Nick tried to think of it, but his exhausted mind couldn't think straight.
"Cindy." Greg jogged his memory. "And I don't think she's your complainer. You might wonna keep digging a little deeper. How many people have you pissed off in the past few months?"
"Months? It's only been... a few weeks." He pushed himself to his feet as the doors slid open, beginning to think that they didn't even press any buttons. He turned to look at Greg beside him, anxiously biting his bottom lip. "I really am sorry, G." He used the familiar nickname that he hadn't heard in a while. "The stuff I've been dealin' with..." He thought he should know the truth after what he had put him through. "I have a newborn daughter. She's been in the hospital for the past seven weeks. I know it's no excuse for how I've treated you, but I've got a lot on my plate at the moment with the hospital, the baby, the birth mother skippin' out on me, my parents... the point is," He stopped himself from rambling in his exhaustion. "I'm sorry."
Instead of stepping forwards for a hug, Nick extended his hand towards him. The younger man couldn't help but smile again, extending his hand towards him. He still completely adored him, but a hand shake was enough for now. Considering how he took the kiss, it might be the only contact he ever got with the man, so it would have to do.
"Congratulations, I guess. A daughter." Greg whistled, stepping out of the elevator ahead of him. He felt a chill running down his spine as he did, not sure if it was the news or the parking garage that made him cold. "I gotta go. Try and get some sleep before your next shift." He stumbled back into one of the concrete pillars, making a hasty getaway towards his car. He knew he had no chance with him before, but the confirmation of him moving on with life in a completely different direction made the truth even harder to swallow.
He hurried home to his apartment, stumbling over the suitcase he had packed for his conference. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to go anymore. He couldn't move even further away from his Papa Olaf. It was already a four hour drive to get there, and that was already too long.
Greg ditched his backpack on route to his kitchen, grabbing one of the stale pizzas slices from the fridge. He had always hated cold pizza. It just wasn't the same as warm pizza with freshly melted cheese, but it was the only food he had left in the house. He tripped over his dropped backpack on his route through the apartment, kicking off his sneakers at the side of his bed.
His apartment was pretty much open planned. He was looking for a large studio apartment in the beginning, but he quickly decided that this one was his favourite. The kitchen was right at the door, partly separated by the rest of the house with the L shaped counters. Around the counters and down the single step was the open living room and dining room, with large windows across one wall. He hadn't really done much in the way of decoration, but the sofa and dining table complemented each other well.
A step up at the end of the dining room brought him into his bedroom. The window on the wall was a lot smaller, but still let in a fair amount of light. Unlike the rest of the house, it was the only room that had hardwood floors. The only furniture he had in there was the low king sized bed with a memory foam mattress and a single bedside table. He had a walk in wardrobe behind the first door and a decent sized bathroom behind the second. The place wasn't exactly big enough for more than one person, but he considered that as an advantage.
His mother certainly wouldn't want to stay over for one thing, giving him the space he had always craved as a teenager.
At times like this though, it felt more than a little lonely to live alone. He didn't even have any friends outside of work anymore. He hadn't spoken to any of his other friends in almost two years now. He lost touch with them all because they really didn't have anything in common anymore and none of them understood why he would want to progress his career to actually start dealing with the dead.
Greg dropped to the end of his bed with a sigh, pulling out his cell from his jeans. He scrolled through his phone book, anxiously biting his bottom lip as he passed so many names, trying to find anyone to talk to. His mother was the obvious choice, but she was going through a lot with her father at the moment, so he couldn't dump this all on her. His father always said he would be there to talk to him. He was a good listener, but not so good at the advice side of things.
"Sara." He sighed as he passed her name. She had her own mother to deal with at the moment, bringing him to Stuart's number still in his phone book.
His ex boyfriend used to be a good listener, but that was long before he cheated on him. He realised he had sunk to rock bottom as he hit dial, waiting for the call to go through to the man's cell. He started to hope that he had changed his number or something, but before he could hang up himself, Stuart answered.
"Hi," Greg threw himself back against the bed, giving out a soft sigh. "It's me... Greg. Are you busy?"
Thank you vegas nivel 3, Marymel, animelvr23 and guests for your reviews! Don't worry, it's not over yet. More on the way soon.
Please review if you enjoyed it!
~ Holly