Title Pending by Jess
Author's Notes: This story as a whole was originally intended to be 2/3 Greg/Emily and 1/3 Grissom/Sara. It's converted into a half and half kind of story. I need to get back on track, so hopefully the G/S story line will simmer down a little.
Disclaimer: Emily and Phil Novelhin (remember him from Chapter Two?) are mine and so is Leonardo's (I feel like a little kid saying something is "mine"). Other than that, everything belongs to all the names that flash on the television screen at the beginning and end of the show.
Rating: PG-13 for some... stuff at the end :)
Archive: Please don't!
Feedback: ...means a lot to me :)
Chapter Fourteen: First Time
Emily's eyes darted up to the wall to check the clock again. Time, she had decided, traveled slowly on Saturday mornings. In four minutes she could officially leave the tech office, convince Greg to leave, and go home. Her thesis, the one she had started as a minor joke, had morphed into a time-consuming disease. Grissom had noticed her aversion to forming research papers and his order of her working on her paper and doing menial filing duties had become official at 1:34 that morning after her return from a crime scene with Nick. Being a young adult, she had argued the implication and rationale behind the decision, only to receive a stern look in return. An apology had swiftly slipped from her lips and she had slinked into the tech office.
Emily yawned and looked back at the computer screen. Five pages of different cases, different theories, and different techniques stared back at her. She glared at it. A flash of black caught her eye and she looked up.
Conrad Ecklie stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb as he had done seven weeks earlier. She stared at him with wary eyes and tried hard not to let her emotions show too much. "Hello, Emily."
She didn't respond. She merely observed as he moved into the room and shut the door. Her body tensed immediately. She quickly hit the small picture of a disk in the upper left hand corner of her document and wiggled her toes in her boots as the computer saved her paper to her floppy disk. She glanced up at the clock. 6:58. Her eyes moved to the glass walls. No one.
"How's the graveyard shift, Emily?"
"It's good." Her voice was timid and meek and she knew it. She sat up straight and replied more forcefully, "It's going well. I'm learning a lot about crime scene investigation."
"Rumor is you're learning a lot more than that."
Emily's eyes narrowed instantly. "Excuse me?"
"I've heard whispers about you and a certain person at the lab," Ecklie mentioned calmly, as though it was an unimportant topic he had just happened to remember. "Someone..." He sat on the desk next to hers. "Older."
"Everyone here is older than me." She refused to be reeled into whatever trick he was planning.
He lowered his eyes to her chest where a UCF emblem graced her sweatshirt. "I just don't think your precious university would be to thrilled the know that their prized student is all play and no work."
Emily clenched her jaw as she removed the disk from the computer. "Too bad it's not the truth."
Ecklie stood up as she stood up and used his height to intimidate her. "Too bad UCF's on the other side of the country and has no way to know what the truth really is."
The twenty-two year old didn't blink as the older man stared into her eyes. She had no reply; she could not form a retort quickly. The insecure feeling that swept over her whenever Ecklie was around was in full swing. She reminded herself to thank Greg profusely for the night he had intervened.
Emily promptly stepped around him and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ecklie, if I offended you for leaving the day shift. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused you but I do not see how reporting false statements to my school could further your career." She shrugged and opened the door before he could counter.
As she walked down the hallway, a smile swept across her face. She had stood her own. She entered the DNA lab and saw Greg looking into a microscope. He looked up and said, "Hey. What are you smiling about?"
She almost told him, she was very close, but it dawned on her what his reaction may be. She just sighed and leaned against the counter. "Did I ever thank you for that night when Ecklie was in the tech office with me?"
"Yeah," Greg frowned. "You did that night. Why?"
She shook her head. "I just saw him walking down the hallway and I thought about how great you are." She nodded at the microscope. "Anything interesting?"
"Arsenic."
"From?"
"Sara's case," Greg replied. He put the sample away and said, "But I'm ready to leave."
"Me, too," she grinned.
He shrugged off his lab coat and asked, "What are you doing tonight?"
"Working."
"You have Saturdays off."
"I'm bartending tonight," she elucidated. "Why?"
He frowned and said, "Nothing." He squeezed her hand and repeated, "Nothing." He avoided her doubtful look and led her out of the lab. Emily remembered Ecklie's words and dropped Greg's hand. They walked down the halls to the front of the building. On the way, they passed Grissom's office. Emily saw him sitting at his desk, on the phone, and she rapped on the window as she walked by. He looked up and smiled. She waved through the window and he waved back.
Grissom stretched his arms above his head and said, "Phil, there is no reason to agonize. Emily's doing fine."
"Is she working on her thesis?"
"I sentenced her to doing research for the next few nights. There will be no crime scenes until she's made progress."
"You sound like the professor you used to be."
Grissom nodded and tapped his pen on his desk. "She's a probably addition to the unit, Phil."
"Excuse me?"
"I've been tossing the idea of adding another criminalist to the unit for a couple of weeks now. The day shift has one more than the night shift. Emily could be the one. But you know, Phil, just as well as I do, that she has to be in the top ten students of the graduating forensic science major for us to even consider her. I'm getting about three letters a day of students who are in the top spot and want to come here."
"I know, Gil. We're just proud that she's interning there."
A sly smile slipped on Grissom's face. "Well, she may want to come back."
"You being that nice?" Phil stirred his cup of coffee and surveyed his dark office. The clutter was severely chaotic at best. He made a mental note to clean before his first appointment arrived at 6:45 that morning.
"One of the lab technicians is."
"You're letting Emily converse with a mangy lab techs?"
"Greg, our DNA lab tech."
Phil sighed and said, "I thought you were working her hard, Gil."
"She was putting in almost as much overtime as my biggest workaholic. She stopped that a few weeks ago."
"Burn out?"
"Greg."
Phil chuckled and said, "That's splendid. I send her to the best lab in the country and she falls in love."
Grissom looked up and spotted Nick and Catherine walking down the hall with boxes. He said, "I have to go, Phil. I'll call you within the next couple of weeks and let you know how things are progressing."
"Take care."
Grissom hung up and went down to Layout Room Three. He pulled a double shift that day, along with Nick and Sara. It was six hours later before he ordered Nick and Sara to leave. Nick complied readily but Sara only agreed if she could go pick up some lunch and pick him up in half an hour. He nodded tiredly and she disappeared.
Thirty-seven minutes later, they were both in Grissom's Tahoe, heading for his townhouse. The smell of rich Italian food permeated the air of the vehicle. Sara was describing the mob scene at Leonardo's bar, where drinkers and customers waiting on their to-go lunch orders were located.
"I saw Emily showing up when I was leaving."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mm-hmm," Sara mumbled, switching lanes. "I said hello." She shot Grissom a quick look. "I was cordial."
"Imagine that," he teased.
"No seafood pasta for you."
"Seafood?" he asked, his left eyebrow rising.
"Seafood is not in my meat category," she grinned. "Hey, there are four oceans full of crustaceans and fish for the world's eating pleasure. Besides, it's healthy to eat seafood."
"What else did you get?"
"Some fettuccini alfredo, bread, and this dish I thought you would like."
"All that other food is for you?"
She ignored him and said, "It consists of steak, chicken, and shrimp, I think. It's all barbecued with mixed vegetables."
He leaned over the console and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."
She smiled and found her way to his townhouse. They dined on the couch, watching the Indiana Jones movies on the television. It was about three o'clock when Grissom lapsed into sleep. Sara quietly put the dishes away and grabbed a book from the bookshelf. She nestled herself against Grissom and read until she fell into a light sleep. They woke about around six and went back to the crime lab at seven. Grissom, Catherine, Sara, Warrick, and Nick worked, with Emily and Greg having the night off.
Emily got home from work on Saturday just before eleven p.m. The only light was the eerie glow of the television screen. Greg was sitting on the leather couch, the one she had brought from her old apartment, the one he claimed was now his favorite. ESPN Sports Center was on, something about basketball. She didn't say a word as she set the Leonardo's bag on the kitchen counter. She walked down the hallway and entered her bedroom. She changed into cotton shorts and a tank top. She grabbed the novel she was reading, Snow Falling On Cedars, and walked out to the living room.
His tired form, not at all upright, was on the left side of the couch, leaning against the armrest, with his legs on the middle cushion. He wore a white T-shirt that looked to have shrunk in the wash: his arms, chest, and shoulder muscles were slightly visible through the thin cotton. Blue flannel pants donned his legs. His hair stuck out in all possible directions. He looked extremely focused on the newscast but she knew he was listening to her standing by the couch.
She walked up to the couch and sat on the middle cushion. She held her book firmly in her right hand. She pulled her legs onto the couch, leaning against his right side to do so. He raised his right arm and rested in on the back on the couch. She stayed where she was, tucked against his side, and rested her head against his chest. She placed the book next to her bent knees and moved her right hand to lie against his left side. Her fingers found a spot of skin and she delicately laid her fingertips just above his hip. In return, his right arm came down to rest on her right arm. His fingers methodically, meticulously massaged her upper arm. She concentrated on his touch but spaciously observed the news for several minutes before she heard the tale of a murder trial calling her name. She propped herself up with her left hand to find her book. She picked it up and scooted further down the couch. She laid on the couch, resting her head on his lap, placing the book on his right knee.
About ten minutes later, she murmured, "I brought you some food."
"Thanks. I can smell it."
"It's probably me. I smell like beer and garlic and smoke."
Greg rested his hand on her head and massaged her scalp. He replied, "You smell good."
She rolled onto her back and glanced at the page number, number 174, and put the book down. She looked up at him and said, "Do you realize I'm going home in five weeks?"
Greg silently turned off the television. He looked down at her and didn't reply. She reached up with her right hand and skimmed her fingers over the stubble on his chin. She focused on his bone structure. After almost a full minute of undivided attention, Greg asked, "Why did you bring that up?"
"I just wanted to make sure you knew."
"You thought I'd forget?"
She shrugged in response. "I just wanna know how you feel about it."
He captured her hand against his jaw. "I'm not happy." He moved it to his mouth and he gently kissed her fingertips. She watched with rapt interest. He put his right hand underneath her back and pulled her up. He looked at her with sad eyes and said, "I wish back every minute that passes."
She sighed and leaned forward. He kissed her back and held her against his chest. She shifted so that she was sitting in his lap. She took control of the situation and explored his tongue and lips with free reign. It wasn't before long that he pushed her back on the couch cushions. She grunted at the sudden weight of his body on top of her before wrapping her left arm around his rib cage and holding his head with her right hand.
Greg lowered his lips to her collarbone and murmured, "Are you happy?"
"About leaving?" She looked down at him and his eyes flickered up to hers. "No." He rested his chin just above the neckline of her tank top. She delved her slender fingers into his hair and rubbed small circles onto his head. "So let's make the most of what's left." He raised his eyebrows and she giggled. "C'mon." She pushed against his chest until he was kneeling on the couch. She slid out from under him and stood on the floor.
Emily kissed him and grabbed his hand. She pulled him blindly toward the bedrooms. He quickly realized what was to come and followed eagerly. With all four eyes closed, they promptly bumped into a wall. "Ow!" Emily laughed, rubbing the back of her head. Greg laughed too and picked her up, pinning her against the wall and his body. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and muttered, "I'm okay now" against his lips.
He carried her into his bedroom without any further violent assault on her body. He hesitated slightly when he realized that she really was lying on his bed, waiting for him; sex would change everything. But she just grinned and grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him down to her.
That's it for now. I hope you liked it. Please give me some reviews! :)
Author's Notes: This story as a whole was originally intended to be 2/3 Greg/Emily and 1/3 Grissom/Sara. It's converted into a half and half kind of story. I need to get back on track, so hopefully the G/S story line will simmer down a little.
Disclaimer: Emily and Phil Novelhin (remember him from Chapter Two?) are mine and so is Leonardo's (I feel like a little kid saying something is "mine"). Other than that, everything belongs to all the names that flash on the television screen at the beginning and end of the show.
Rating: PG-13 for some... stuff at the end :)
Archive: Please don't!
Feedback: ...means a lot to me :)
Chapter Fourteen: First Time
Emily's eyes darted up to the wall to check the clock again. Time, she had decided, traveled slowly on Saturday mornings. In four minutes she could officially leave the tech office, convince Greg to leave, and go home. Her thesis, the one she had started as a minor joke, had morphed into a time-consuming disease. Grissom had noticed her aversion to forming research papers and his order of her working on her paper and doing menial filing duties had become official at 1:34 that morning after her return from a crime scene with Nick. Being a young adult, she had argued the implication and rationale behind the decision, only to receive a stern look in return. An apology had swiftly slipped from her lips and she had slinked into the tech office.
Emily yawned and looked back at the computer screen. Five pages of different cases, different theories, and different techniques stared back at her. She glared at it. A flash of black caught her eye and she looked up.
Conrad Ecklie stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb as he had done seven weeks earlier. She stared at him with wary eyes and tried hard not to let her emotions show too much. "Hello, Emily."
She didn't respond. She merely observed as he moved into the room and shut the door. Her body tensed immediately. She quickly hit the small picture of a disk in the upper left hand corner of her document and wiggled her toes in her boots as the computer saved her paper to her floppy disk. She glanced up at the clock. 6:58. Her eyes moved to the glass walls. No one.
"How's the graveyard shift, Emily?"
"It's good." Her voice was timid and meek and she knew it. She sat up straight and replied more forcefully, "It's going well. I'm learning a lot about crime scene investigation."
"Rumor is you're learning a lot more than that."
Emily's eyes narrowed instantly. "Excuse me?"
"I've heard whispers about you and a certain person at the lab," Ecklie mentioned calmly, as though it was an unimportant topic he had just happened to remember. "Someone..." He sat on the desk next to hers. "Older."
"Everyone here is older than me." She refused to be reeled into whatever trick he was planning.
He lowered his eyes to her chest where a UCF emblem graced her sweatshirt. "I just don't think your precious university would be to thrilled the know that their prized student is all play and no work."
Emily clenched her jaw as she removed the disk from the computer. "Too bad it's not the truth."
Ecklie stood up as she stood up and used his height to intimidate her. "Too bad UCF's on the other side of the country and has no way to know what the truth really is."
The twenty-two year old didn't blink as the older man stared into her eyes. She had no reply; she could not form a retort quickly. The insecure feeling that swept over her whenever Ecklie was around was in full swing. She reminded herself to thank Greg profusely for the night he had intervened.
Emily promptly stepped around him and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ecklie, if I offended you for leaving the day shift. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused you but I do not see how reporting false statements to my school could further your career." She shrugged and opened the door before he could counter.
As she walked down the hallway, a smile swept across her face. She had stood her own. She entered the DNA lab and saw Greg looking into a microscope. He looked up and said, "Hey. What are you smiling about?"
She almost told him, she was very close, but it dawned on her what his reaction may be. She just sighed and leaned against the counter. "Did I ever thank you for that night when Ecklie was in the tech office with me?"
"Yeah," Greg frowned. "You did that night. Why?"
She shook her head. "I just saw him walking down the hallway and I thought about how great you are." She nodded at the microscope. "Anything interesting?"
"Arsenic."
"From?"
"Sara's case," Greg replied. He put the sample away and said, "But I'm ready to leave."
"Me, too," she grinned.
He shrugged off his lab coat and asked, "What are you doing tonight?"
"Working."
"You have Saturdays off."
"I'm bartending tonight," she elucidated. "Why?"
He frowned and said, "Nothing." He squeezed her hand and repeated, "Nothing." He avoided her doubtful look and led her out of the lab. Emily remembered Ecklie's words and dropped Greg's hand. They walked down the halls to the front of the building. On the way, they passed Grissom's office. Emily saw him sitting at his desk, on the phone, and she rapped on the window as she walked by. He looked up and smiled. She waved through the window and he waved back.
Grissom stretched his arms above his head and said, "Phil, there is no reason to agonize. Emily's doing fine."
"Is she working on her thesis?"
"I sentenced her to doing research for the next few nights. There will be no crime scenes until she's made progress."
"You sound like the professor you used to be."
Grissom nodded and tapped his pen on his desk. "She's a probably addition to the unit, Phil."
"Excuse me?"
"I've been tossing the idea of adding another criminalist to the unit for a couple of weeks now. The day shift has one more than the night shift. Emily could be the one. But you know, Phil, just as well as I do, that she has to be in the top ten students of the graduating forensic science major for us to even consider her. I'm getting about three letters a day of students who are in the top spot and want to come here."
"I know, Gil. We're just proud that she's interning there."
A sly smile slipped on Grissom's face. "Well, she may want to come back."
"You being that nice?" Phil stirred his cup of coffee and surveyed his dark office. The clutter was severely chaotic at best. He made a mental note to clean before his first appointment arrived at 6:45 that morning.
"One of the lab technicians is."
"You're letting Emily converse with a mangy lab techs?"
"Greg, our DNA lab tech."
Phil sighed and said, "I thought you were working her hard, Gil."
"She was putting in almost as much overtime as my biggest workaholic. She stopped that a few weeks ago."
"Burn out?"
"Greg."
Phil chuckled and said, "That's splendid. I send her to the best lab in the country and she falls in love."
Grissom looked up and spotted Nick and Catherine walking down the hall with boxes. He said, "I have to go, Phil. I'll call you within the next couple of weeks and let you know how things are progressing."
"Take care."
Grissom hung up and went down to Layout Room Three. He pulled a double shift that day, along with Nick and Sara. It was six hours later before he ordered Nick and Sara to leave. Nick complied readily but Sara only agreed if she could go pick up some lunch and pick him up in half an hour. He nodded tiredly and she disappeared.
Thirty-seven minutes later, they were both in Grissom's Tahoe, heading for his townhouse. The smell of rich Italian food permeated the air of the vehicle. Sara was describing the mob scene at Leonardo's bar, where drinkers and customers waiting on their to-go lunch orders were located.
"I saw Emily showing up when I was leaving."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mm-hmm," Sara mumbled, switching lanes. "I said hello." She shot Grissom a quick look. "I was cordial."
"Imagine that," he teased.
"No seafood pasta for you."
"Seafood?" he asked, his left eyebrow rising.
"Seafood is not in my meat category," she grinned. "Hey, there are four oceans full of crustaceans and fish for the world's eating pleasure. Besides, it's healthy to eat seafood."
"What else did you get?"
"Some fettuccini alfredo, bread, and this dish I thought you would like."
"All that other food is for you?"
She ignored him and said, "It consists of steak, chicken, and shrimp, I think. It's all barbecued with mixed vegetables."
He leaned over the console and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."
She smiled and found her way to his townhouse. They dined on the couch, watching the Indiana Jones movies on the television. It was about three o'clock when Grissom lapsed into sleep. Sara quietly put the dishes away and grabbed a book from the bookshelf. She nestled herself against Grissom and read until she fell into a light sleep. They woke about around six and went back to the crime lab at seven. Grissom, Catherine, Sara, Warrick, and Nick worked, with Emily and Greg having the night off.
Emily got home from work on Saturday just before eleven p.m. The only light was the eerie glow of the television screen. Greg was sitting on the leather couch, the one she had brought from her old apartment, the one he claimed was now his favorite. ESPN Sports Center was on, something about basketball. She didn't say a word as she set the Leonardo's bag on the kitchen counter. She walked down the hallway and entered her bedroom. She changed into cotton shorts and a tank top. She grabbed the novel she was reading, Snow Falling On Cedars, and walked out to the living room.
His tired form, not at all upright, was on the left side of the couch, leaning against the armrest, with his legs on the middle cushion. He wore a white T-shirt that looked to have shrunk in the wash: his arms, chest, and shoulder muscles were slightly visible through the thin cotton. Blue flannel pants donned his legs. His hair stuck out in all possible directions. He looked extremely focused on the newscast but she knew he was listening to her standing by the couch.
She walked up to the couch and sat on the middle cushion. She held her book firmly in her right hand. She pulled her legs onto the couch, leaning against his right side to do so. He raised his right arm and rested in on the back on the couch. She stayed where she was, tucked against his side, and rested her head against his chest. She placed the book next to her bent knees and moved her right hand to lie against his left side. Her fingers found a spot of skin and she delicately laid her fingertips just above his hip. In return, his right arm came down to rest on her right arm. His fingers methodically, meticulously massaged her upper arm. She concentrated on his touch but spaciously observed the news for several minutes before she heard the tale of a murder trial calling her name. She propped herself up with her left hand to find her book. She picked it up and scooted further down the couch. She laid on the couch, resting her head on his lap, placing the book on his right knee.
About ten minutes later, she murmured, "I brought you some food."
"Thanks. I can smell it."
"It's probably me. I smell like beer and garlic and smoke."
Greg rested his hand on her head and massaged her scalp. He replied, "You smell good."
She rolled onto her back and glanced at the page number, number 174, and put the book down. She looked up at him and said, "Do you realize I'm going home in five weeks?"
Greg silently turned off the television. He looked down at her and didn't reply. She reached up with her right hand and skimmed her fingers over the stubble on his chin. She focused on his bone structure. After almost a full minute of undivided attention, Greg asked, "Why did you bring that up?"
"I just wanted to make sure you knew."
"You thought I'd forget?"
She shrugged in response. "I just wanna know how you feel about it."
He captured her hand against his jaw. "I'm not happy." He moved it to his mouth and he gently kissed her fingertips. She watched with rapt interest. He put his right hand underneath her back and pulled her up. He looked at her with sad eyes and said, "I wish back every minute that passes."
She sighed and leaned forward. He kissed her back and held her against his chest. She shifted so that she was sitting in his lap. She took control of the situation and explored his tongue and lips with free reign. It wasn't before long that he pushed her back on the couch cushions. She grunted at the sudden weight of his body on top of her before wrapping her left arm around his rib cage and holding his head with her right hand.
Greg lowered his lips to her collarbone and murmured, "Are you happy?"
"About leaving?" She looked down at him and his eyes flickered up to hers. "No." He rested his chin just above the neckline of her tank top. She delved her slender fingers into his hair and rubbed small circles onto his head. "So let's make the most of what's left." He raised his eyebrows and she giggled. "C'mon." She pushed against his chest until he was kneeling on the couch. She slid out from under him and stood on the floor.
Emily kissed him and grabbed his hand. She pulled him blindly toward the bedrooms. He quickly realized what was to come and followed eagerly. With all four eyes closed, they promptly bumped into a wall. "Ow!" Emily laughed, rubbing the back of her head. Greg laughed too and picked her up, pinning her against the wall and his body. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and muttered, "I'm okay now" against his lips.
He carried her into his bedroom without any further violent assault on her body. He hesitated slightly when he realized that she really was lying on his bed, waiting for him; sex would change everything. But she just grinned and grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him down to her.
That's it for now. I hope you liked it. Please give me some reviews! :)