A/N: Hey guys here's chapter 9 and it's one of the longest chapters I've written, that's why it took me a little longer than the others. Anyway, here you have a sweet moment between Greg and Morgan.
Chapter 9: Sins from the past, II
Russell was shocked as he kept staring at the wall. His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing, on the wall were photos of the whole team of Las Vegas crime lab, but what called Russell's attention was that, in all the photos, Greg was present.
"That's Sanders, right?" Mac asked, also looking at the photos.
Russell nodded, "Yeah." He said.
"Looks like these photos were taken when he was younger." Mac said pointing at the photos.
"Yeah." Russell said.
"Who are these persons?" Mac asked.
"Those are the other members of my team." Russell answered. "She's Sara Sidle, Nick Stokes and Julie Finlay." He said pointing at a brunette woman, a Texan man and a blonde woman, all of there were in different cases with Greg.
"So, this is you." Mac said pointing at a photo where Russell and Greg were processing a crime scene.
"Yeah, and this is the former assistant supervisor, Catherine Willows." Russell said pointing at an older woman with red hair.
"Okay, let's process the photos." Mac said to his team, then he turned to Russell. "D.B., are you okay?" He asked.
"No." Russell answered and sighed.
Mac took his cellphone and called Danny, after a few rings, Danny answered.
"Messer." Danny's voice said through the phone.
"Danny, is Greg still with you?" He asked.
"Yeah, we just talked to the person who knew Mitchell, why? Is something wrong?" The younger detective asked.
"Just go back to the lab and wait us there." Mac said.
"You got it Mac." Danny said and hung up.
After taking the evidence they need it, Mac, Russell and the other CSI's arrived at the lab, there, he asked the rest of the team to meet him in the conference room along with Greg and Morgan. Mac asked Russell if he could call a videoconference with his team and Russell agreed to do it.
When all the team gathered in the conference room, Mac closed the doors. "Mac, the CSI's from Vegas are ready for the videoconference." Adam said.
"Good." Mac said. "Connect us with them, Adam." He said and Adam nodded in return.
The T.V. screen turned on and the CSI team from Las Vegas showed up. "Hey Russell." Nick said.
"Hi guys." Russell answered.
"So, is everything okay?" Sara asked.
"Uh…no." Russell said as Mac took a step beside him. "Guys, this is detective Mac Taylor." He said and Mac nodded in return.
"There's something we can help you with, detective?" Nick asked confused, he didn't know why the supervisor of the New York crime lab was calling them.
"On the contrary, Mr. Stokes, it's the other way around." Mac said.
"Uh…okay." Nick said confused. "So, what's up?"
"We found this while checking a suspect's place an hour ago." Mac said and with the help of Adam, they showed the CSI's from Vegas the photos with them in. The CSI's from Vegas and the rest of New York crime lab gasped softly while Greg and Morgan looked with surprise the photos.
"Someone has been stalking us?" Sara asked confused.
"Is this related to the Ace Killer?" Nick asked.
"We still don't know, but if it is true, CSI Sanders could be the next target." Mac said. Greg and Morgan were surprised and Greg left the conference room in a hurry, Morgan stood up to follow him, but Danny was already behind him.
The two teams continued discussing about the photos and if it was related to the Ace Killer, after a while, Mac ordered his team to continue with the investigation and left Russell alone with his team.
"Do you think we are in danger?" Sara asked.
"I don't know, but it looks like Greg is the main target." D.B. said and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Why don't you send him back to Vegas?" Nick asked worried for his best friend who was like his younger brother.
"No, no, I don't think that is a good idea. If the Ace Killer is watching Greg and if he knows where he lives…" He drifted off. "Staying in New York is the best option for Greg; do you anything on Mitchell or O'Donnell?"
"Yeah, Ecklie gave me everything they had; I'll send it to you." Nick said.
"Okay, thanks Nick."
"Sure thing, keep us posted whatever happens."
"I will." Russell said and hung up.
Meanwhile, Greg had left the New York crime lab and took a cab to the Memorial Park – Greg always had wanted to go there after that day and now that he was here, at least for a few days, he felt it was a good time to visit it – he walk through the Memorial park until he arrived at the foundations of the WTC and stared at the landscape for a while.
"It's a good place to meditate, don't you think?" A voice said behind him.
"Hey Danny." Greg said. "Sorry for leaving like that." He said.
"Don't worry, I understand how you feel. A few years back, I had a similar situation." Danny answered. "Look, we have a suspect in custody; his name is Jerome Deveraux…" Danny said which cause Greg to look at him surprised. "What?"
"I know Jerome Deveraux, we grew up together, went to the school together." Greg said shocked.
"Really?" Danny asked surprised. "Wow."
"Do you think I could speak with him?" Greg asked.
"I don't know, you should talk with Mac 'bout this." Danny said. "C'mon, let's go to the station to see if Mac agrees you to speak with the suspect." He said and the two CSI's headed back to the station. Once they arrived, Greg explained the situation to Mac, who looked at him apprehensively, but after a minute Mac agreed to let Greg to talk to the suspect, he only told Greg he needed to return to his hotel room after he finished talking with Deveraux.
Greg opened the door and walked into the interrogation room, he sat in front of Deveraux and he looked surprised. "Greg? Is it you?" Jerome asked surprised.
"Yeah, it feels like ages ago when I last saw you." Greg said.
"Yeah." Jerome said. "Hey man, I don't have anything to do with those murders." He said.
"Are you sure?" Greg asked. "Because it looks like you've been stalking me." He said.
"What?" Jerome asked surprised. "No, I haven't seen you since the high school graduation."
"Then what about these photos?" Greg asked showing him the photos where he and the CSI team appeared.
"I have never seen those photos before man. I'm telling you the truth, I don't know about those murders and I don't know anything of these photos." Jerome said desperately.
"Jerry, I'm a CSI and my job is to seek for answers." Greg said.
Jerome leaned forward. "Then you know me, I would never do something like that." He said.
"I know, but..." Greg said and sighed. "We have change a lot since high school, Jerry." He said sadly.
"Yeah, we all changed lot since that night" Jerome said.
Greg looked shocked, "You know that Mark, you and I promised never to talk about that night again."
"Yeah, I know, just..." Jerome said and then sighed. "Tell your companions they can take all the samples they need to prove I'm innocent." He said.
Greg got up and walked to the door, he opened the door and left the interrogation room. He wanted to stay positive about his friend, they had knew each other since childhood, and even though they haven't seen each other over a decade, Greg knew Jerome wasn't that kind of person; but since that night, he and his friends had a different point of view about the world.
When Greg exited the interrogation room, he saw Russell and Mac standing there; he took a deep breath and approached the two older CSI's. "Are you okay, Greg?" His boss asked.
"Yeah, just…it's a lot to take in." Greg answered and sighed tiredly.
"Danny is waiting to take you back to your hotel. Stay there until I say so, okay?" Mac asked.
Greg nodded and walked over to where Danny was waiting for him, they both walked towards the exit, Mac and Russell saw the detective and the CSI leave as Danny gave Greg a supporting pat in the back, after they left, Mac turned to Russell.
"Do you have any idea what they were talking about?" Mac asked confused.
"No." Russell shook his head. "I have known Greg for a year, but there are parts of his past he wouldn't talk about." He said.
Mac nodded in an understanding way. "Did your team send you the records of Mitchell and O'Donnell?" He asked.
"Yeah, once we return to the lab, we can check if our two victims had a connection with Mr. Deveraux." Russell said looking at the interrogation room.
"If we found the connection between them, maybe we can found who has been stalking Greg." Mac said gesturing at the interrogation room with a serious tone.
Russell only nodded. After talking with Flack, they left free Jerome since they didn't had any other evidence against him, but Mac ordered Flack to keep an eye on him in case he really resulted to be involved with the murders. Thirty minutes later, Mac and D.B. returned to the lab, and while Mac as ckecking the evidence again, D.B. looked for Morgan, who was in one of the rooms analyzing some evidence with Jo. Russell knock on the glass wall and motioned to Morgan to go with him.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Have you found anything?" He asked.
Morgan shook her head. "No, Jo and I haven't found anything on the photos." She said. "How's Greg?"
"He's fine, Mac sent him back to the hotel, and he's going to stay there 'till we solve this." Russell said. "Keep analyzing the photos and let me know what you find."
"I will." Morgan said and returned with Jo. "Did you find something?" She asked.
"Yes, I found a fingertip in the back of the photo; I'm running it through AFIS right now. How's your friend?" Jo asked.
"He's fine, thanks." Morgan answered with a smile.
"Okay, so these photos are the oldest, they were taken in 2005." Jo said.
"That's when Greg started to work in the field." Morgan said.
"Okay, then we have these." Jo said pointing at another set of photos. "Each photo was taken with a period of three months." She said. "Maybe they were checking his progress?"
"Maybe, but after the 2009, they started to took the photos every six months." Morgan said looking the photos.
"Which bring us here..." Jo said and took the set of photos that were from the current year. "This is your team, right?" She asked.
The younger CSI nodded. "Yeah, we are all here." She said.
"Sheldon found an USB when they were registering the apartment; he's checking it right now." Jo said. "Let's hope he found something with all this mess."
The day passed and before the CSI from Vegas could tell, it was late night, although she was used to work during the night, Morgan had received an order from Russell to go back to the hotel and rest, also he wanted to know how was Greg, so Morgan agreed and went back to the hotel and Russell promised her to keep her posted.
After Morgan returned to the hotel, she decided to visit Greg. She changed into more comfortable clothes – sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt – while she was her boots on, she felt a cold breeze and searched in her suitcase for a sweater or a sweatshirt, but she couldn't find either of them. Great. She thought. She left her room and walked down the hallway. When she was in front of Greg's room, she knocked on the door…
"Hey, Morgan." Greg said opening the door.
"Really? A jersey of the Giants?" She asked. Greg was also in comfortable clothes, he was using blue sweatpants, the jersey of the New York Giants and a gray sweatshirt.
"Don't tell Nick, he's going to kill me." Greg said with a nervous smile.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell him, but maybe I can use this as blackmailing for another time." Morgan said with a teasing smile.
"Haha, you're very funny, Brody." Greg said. "You want to come inside?" He asked.
"Sure, Sanders." Morgan said and walked into the room.
"So, uh...Russell sent you back here?" Greg asked sitting at the small table the room had.
"Yeah, he's going to stay in the lab a little bit more, so he suggested I should rest a little before going back." Morgan said.
"Well, it's good to hear that; I was about to call room sevice." Greg said laughing.
"Your treat?" Morgan asked smiling.
"Sure." He answered.
After ordering a club sandwich for the both of them, Greg asked "Do you mind if I order sodas? I'm not in mood for a beer."
"Yeah, I don't mind." She answered.
After finishing their dinner, Morgan and Greg talked about what he had done since he returned to the lab and talked a little about the case. When a moment of silence fell in the room, Morgan took a deep breath as she chose her next words.
"So, Russell told me you know the suspect." She said.
"Yeah, we have known each other since childhood." Greg answered sadly.
"You really think he can do something like that?" Morgan asked.
Greg sighed. "I don't know." He said and a silence fell between them. "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"I've never told Nick or Sara about this, not even my parents because if I had done that, my mom would have kept me at home 'till I left for college." Greg said and Morgan gave a soft laugh. "It has something to do with my friend." He said.
"What?" She asked.
Greg got up from the chair and searched for something in his wallet; when he found it, he sat on the bed and gave the photo to Morgan, who stood up as well and sat next to him taking the photo. She studied the photo for a while, she saw three kids smiling; the kid in the middle had big brown eyes and sandy hair, Morgan recognized it was Greg, the kid on the right had green eyes and brown hair and the other kid on the left had hazel eyes and black hair. Morgan looked up from the photo, "Who are they?" She asked.
"The boy in the middle it's me and the other two at my sides are my friends, Jerome Deveraux and Mark Anderson, the three of us grew up together back in my hometown, San Gabriel; went to the same school and high school. We were great friends, until something bad happened and Mark distanced from us." He answered. "The three of us promised never to mention it, but you're the first."
Morgan looked at Greg with confusion, but she let him to continue. "When I was thirteen, Mark's father invited us to stay a week in Vegas during the summer vacations and Mark's and Jerome's moms convinced my mom to let me go with them and she accepted, Mark's father lived in Vegas due to his work but every two weeks he went to visit him and his younger brother, Billy." He said smiling. "Anyway, we were really excited for our first trip and we were really happy when we knew Mark's cousin, Sam, would be staying with us. We really had fun the week we were there, but the day before returning to San Gabriel changed everything…"
Flashback, 23 years ago…
"C'mon kids, dinner's almost ready!" Mark's father called from the kitchen.
"We're coming, dad!" Mark answered.
We were setting the table while Mark's father was preparing dinner, we sat at the table and all of us ate, then there was a knock on the door, so Mark's father got up and answered, it was Sam, Mark's cousin.
"Sam!" Mark's father said surprised. "What happened?" He asked when he saw Sam with a black eye and a bloody nose.
"I'm sorry, uncle." Sam said.
"Mark, you and you friends go to your room." Mark's father said.
"But dad…" Mark complained.
"Mark, go to your room! I need to talk with your cousin in private." Mark's father said a little annoyed. Since Sam's mom abandoned him and his father died in an accident, Mark's father decided to raise him along with Mark and his brother, and since Sam was enrolled in one of Las Vegas high school, he lived with him.
We stayed in the room for minutes, but it felt like hours, eventually we prepared for bed and fell asleep, around three o'clock Mark heard something breaking, so he decided to wake us.
"Psst, Greg, Jerry. Wake up." Mark whispered.
"What is it, Mark?" I asked sleepily.
"Did you hear that?" Mark asked.
Jerry and I listened, but the whole house was in complete silence. "It's just your imagination, Mark." Jerry whispered and laid down, but then we heard something big breaking.
"What was that?" Jerry asked.
I shrugged while Mark got up, "I told you, someone's here." He whispered walking to the door.
"Mark! Where are you going?" I asked in a hushing tone.
"I need to know my little brother is safe." Mark said and headed to Billy's room, fortunately he was asleep, so Mark, Jerry and I continued our investigation to the living room; we couldn't believe what we were seeing. The house was upside down, there were a lot of things broken and scatter on the floor and near the sofa, Sam was lying on the floor.
"Sam!" I remember Mark's cry and he ran to his side.
"Sam, what happened?" He asked, but Sam was in a bad condition, he was losing a lot of blood and he could barely move. He pointed weakly at the kitchen, so Mark ran to there.
I don't really what happened next, Jerry and I froze 'till the voice of a middle-age man brought us to reality. He introduce himself as Mark's godfather and best friend of his father, he take us out from the house and took us to his house, there he explained he would take care of everything.
End of flashback.
"What happened to Mark's father and his cousin?" Morgan asked grabbing Greg's hand.
"Mark's father was badly beaten, so he suffers memory loss and Sam…" Greg's voice started to broke. "He died two days later." He said and his voice broke, he choked back tears as Morgan's hand squeezed his.
"There was nothing you could do." Morgan said.
"For months I asked myself what would have happened if Jerry and I hadn't frozen up." Greg replied.
"Greg, you and Jerry were kids." Morgan answered. "Even now, there are times when we cannot help but froze up when something bad happens."
"I know, I know. But after the funeral and the burial, Mark distanced from us and I felt it was our fault." Greg said hanging his head.
"What happened with Mark's younger brother?" Morgan asked.
"Billy never knew what really happened to his cousin, he was asleep when everything happened, though Sam's death was worse for Billy when he found out, he was only eight." Greg answered. "After that night, Mark, Jerry and I promised never to tell anyone."
"Greg, I'm so sorry." She said. Greg couldn't hold back tears anymore and broke down; Morgan squeezed Greg's hand tighter to let him know she was there. I'm here Greg, just like you have been there for me this last year. She thought and without releasing his hand, she rested her head on Greg's shoulder and the two stayed like that for a while.
Greg shifted in his hotel bed and laid on his back, he stared at the ceiling for tenth time that night, he had only slept one hour since his breakdown, but after a nightmare revived what had happened to him all those years ago he didn't trust himself to fall asleep again. The hotel room was filled with the New York City's lights and true to its nickname; New York's streets had life at three in the morning even with the snowfall that had begun an hour ago, he left out a sigh and turned to rest on his right side. He felt someone moving behind him, it was Morgan; she decided to stay the night with him and had fallen asleep on his shoulder after Greg stopped crying. "Thanks for staying, Hollywood." He whispered and as if she had heard him, she wrapped her arms around his waist holding him closer to her; Greg smiled and fell asleep a few minutes later.
The next morning, Morgan woke up in a slightly warmer bed, she opened her eyes hoping to see Greg still at her side, but she didn't see him in his bed side, she looked around the room for him, then she heard the door of the hotel room open and close and Greg walked in.
"Hey, Morgan." He said with a smile.
"Hey, Greg." She answered smiling. "What time is it?"
"It's 7:30." Greg answered. "Did you sleep well last night?" He asked as he was taking off his jacket.
"Yeah, thanks for letting me sleep here last night." Morgan answered as she sat up in bed.
"You're welcome." Greg said and sighed. "Sorry for how I broke last night."
"Greg, you don't have to be sorry. What happened to you all those years ago it wasn't your fault." She said seriously.
"I know, it's just…I felt like I wasn't strong enough." He said.
"Greg, you are one of the strongest people I know, you've been through a lot and after a lab explosion and a beating, you're still the sweet, kind and smart guy I work with everyday." Morgan said, causing Greg to blush slightly.
"Thanks, you're also one of the strongest people I know, and look at you." He said with a small laugh. "You're still here after a hijacking; no many people can stand that."
Morgan laughed softly, "I think we both are hard nuts to crack."
"Yeah, I think you're right." Greg said, a moment of silence felt between the two but Greg's phone broke the silence. "Sanders." He said answering his phone.
"Oh, hi Russell."
"Yeah, I'm fine. How's the investigation going?" He asked.
"Okay, yeah. I know." He said and turned his head where Morgan was and smiled softly. "Yeah, Morgan is awake; you want to talk with her?" He asked and gave her his phone.
"Hi Russell." Morgan said. Greg stared at the park while Morgan was talking to their boss. "You have progress on the photos?" She asked surprised tossing the bed sheets and getting up.
"Okay, I'll see you in an hour." She said and hung up the phone.
"Everything's okay?" Greg asked grabbing his phone.
"Yeah, it seems that the New York crime lab got a match in the fingertip Jo found on one of the photos." She said walking to the door.
"Before you go back to the crime lab, do you want to have breakfast with me?" He asked.
Morgan smiled, "Sure, see you in a bit." She said and returned to her room.
After ten minutes, she and Greg made their way down to the restaurant of the hotel, while they were having breakfast, Greg told her more about his friends and their happy times together before that night. As they were finishing their breakfast, Morgan's phone rang and she answered it, it was Russell telling her that the New York crime lab had interesting results and a new development on the investigation. She hung up and told Greg about this.
"Okay, but promise me to keep me posted." He said walking her to catch a cab.
"I will." She said.
"Be careful." He said.
She kissed his cheek and gave him a warm smile. "I will." She said and took a cab to the New York crime lab. Greg smiled and return to his hotel room hoping that everything was over.
A/N: So, do you like Greg's secret about his past? Well, the CSI teams are getting close to discover who's the killer, but Greg's in trouble. So, what is going to happen? Thanks for reading, following and reviewing the story.
