Chapter Rating: PG13
Chapter Title: Love Grows Deeper – Inspired by a Nelly Furtado song...actually my favorite Nelly Furtado song.
AN: Oh, and if you hadn't noticed...I changed the female characters' names to Marah and Neleh. Those are quite possibly my new fave girls' names. Hmmm...shall I bring the criminals back in this chapter, or keep Angelic Little Devil waiting even longer? The great debate...
Spoilers: None...I don't think.
~~
Marah plugged her nose, and her eyes winced. "Greg! Put dat dasty azz ding bag in dere ride dow! That's GROSS!"
Greg held up the decapitated Barbie doll, covered in a banana peel. "Oh, cobe od...you dink it's cool, doht you?" he asked, a grin forming on his face, as he tried to hold his breath.
"Ow cad you BREADE dis air?" she asked, appalled.
"I'b daht...I'b daht breading true my dose..." he sounded like he had a terrible cold. "Dis is groz!" he dropped the doll back into the garbage can. "Rebide be deber do accept a case like dis agaid..."
"Will do...as log as you rebide be, too..." Marah put the lid on the garbage can, and opened a window. "We bust air id oud id here..." she coughed. "Dis is gross..."
Greg boldly breathed through his nose. "Ok...I'm sick of sounding like Chuckie from Rugrats..." he immediately coughed. "Woo...this is nasty, though..."
"Yeah, it is..." Marah nodded, following Greg's lead and breathing through her nose. "So...you realize that we're gonna smell so terrible the rest of the week..."
"Nah, just use either lemon juice, or an orange peel...it'll take the smell right out..." he ran a hand over his hair. "Wanna take a break? Then we can look at your...not so stinky...case?"
Marah grinned, and chuckled a little. "Sure...what do you say for a little Burger King? My treat..."
"I say yeah to Burger King, no to your treat...I'll pay," he offered generously, grabbing his keys.
"What, afraid of female empowerment?" a grin formed on Marah's face. "That's just like a man..."
"Yes...I'm afraid that they'd use men like me as sex slaves!" Greg winked, nodding.
Marah playfully burst out laughing. Seeing the look on Greg's face, she slowly stopped, and grinned. "Oh...you were serious? Uh...yeah...maybe..."
"Don't patronize me, Marah..." Greg's eyes narrowed, and he gently shoved Marah into a chair. "It's not nice!"
"Hey, YOU patronized ME too!" Marah stuck her tongue out, after landing in her chair, and wheeling halfway across the room. "So, don't go there, Mr. 'I'm too cool for my shoes.'"
"How did I patronize you?" he asked, pushing her down as soon as she got back up.
"Well, for one, you keep pushing me down!" she stood up, and pushed him down into a chair. "And for TWO, you weren't letting ME pay!"
"Well, I'll STOP the first one, but I won't let you pay. It's not my style..." Greg grinned, and took out his wallet. "Shall we go?"
"I guess..." Marah rolled her eyes. Oh, man...cute AND sweet! Wow...I'm in love! She thought, her grin growing.
"Oh, man...I forgot..." Greg sighed. "Nick drove me in today, you're gonna have to drive us there...is that cool?" he ran a hand over his hair.
"Sure..." Marah immediately fixed Greg's hair back to the way it was. "You look better au natural..."
"Maybe I should strip naked, then? How much more natural do you get than nakedness?" he asked, a grin forming on his face.
Marah's mouth hung open. "Greg!" she shrieked in horror.
"I could have you screaming that all night long, baby!" he winked.
"Maybe this lunch is a bad idea..." she backed up a step.
"No, no, I'm sorry..." he snickered. "I'm done...I was just having some fun..." he shrugged.
"Yes, I realize that, Mr. Libido..." she chuckled. "But, damn, how long has it been since you've been laid?" she used the ever famous 'male language' Paul had taught her.
"Too long..." Greg laughed, shutting the door to the lab. "What about you?"
"Wanna be shocked, or want me to lie?" she asked, playfully.
"Shock me baby, one more time..." Greg winked, singing.
"I'm completely virginal," Marah explained. "Twenty-four sexless years for poor old Marah..."
"Seriously?" Surprise filled Greg's voice, as he stared in Marah's direction.
"Yep!" she nodded. "Never liked anyone enough to give myself up. I hold my values close to me..." she explained, backing out of the parking space. "Anyone who'll judge me by that one thing doesn't deserve to know the real me..." she quickly glanced at Greg's shocked stare, before pulling out of the parking lot. "Don't seem so surprised..." she laughed a little.
"I just thought that...you...of ALL people...would've done it..." he explained, shaking his head.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, tilting her head, obviously offended.
"No, no! I didn't mean it like that at all!" Greg shook his head. "It's just that...most girly-girls...OH MAN! It's just not coming out right..."
"It's ok," Marah laughed. "I get it, I think. So, what do you say to some Burger King, and then going to the park?"
"Sure..." Greg took out ten bucks, and handed it to Marah. "That should be enough, right?"
"Are you positive you wanna pay?" she asked. "I can get it, if..."
"No...I insist," Greg shook his head. "Really, I do..."
~~
"I can't believe Grissom send us all the way out here...I thought we were doing fine on the Kissinger case..." Neleh complained. "Didn't you?"
Nick shrugged. "Grissom is a perfectionist. It's his way, or the highway..."
"My second day at work, and I'm already doing an arson investigation..." she shook her head. "Go fig..."
"Uh...did you order original recipe or extra crispy?" Nick asked, approaching a very blackened body.
"Oh, yummy...that's my idea of a good time..." a shudder invaded Neleh's spine. "It looks like something went terribly wrong here..." she stepped over another charred body. "Oh, how ironic..."
"What's that?" Nick asked, joining Neleh over by the next body.
"Is that...extremely charred chicken?" she pointed in the second victim's hand. "Looks like she ordered extra crispy..."
"Ooh, hungry? Why wait?" he laughed a little, and took a few steps to the right.
Neleh took out the camera, and began to snap pictures. "Looks like they were having a party..." she shook her head, at another dead body. "Hey, Nick? This one isn't burned..." she pointed out.
Nick turned his head, and then rejoined Neleh. "Whoa..."
Neleh snapped three pictures of the dead body. "This is lovely..." she shook her head. "I guess this is the kind of job you've gotta love to stay here...good thing I love it..."
Nick sighed. "Tell me about it...if it wasn't for all the justice I bring, I woulda been gone a long time ago."
"Yeah, you guys get a lot of strange stuff out here, don't you?" she asked. "Do you get much time to yourself?" she shook her hair out of her face.
"Nah, it kinda sucks..." he shrugged. "If we ever do get time alone, for even five minutes, Griss calls us with some assignment."
Neleh's shoulders slumped. "Lovely...so, relish vacations, and days off and stuff?"
"Basically...yeah," Nick nodded.
"And, make friends while you can, because the dead don't make good conversational partners..." she grinned, glancing up at Nick.
"Pretty much, yeah..." Nick laughed.
~~
"Greg! You are the messiest eater I've ever seen!" Marah handed Greg a napkin. "You've got ketchup all over your chin!"
"Where?" Greg asked, wiping his chin, and completely missing the blob of ketchup. "Did I get it?"
"What are you, like, ten or something?" she asked, smiling. "Gimme that..." she took the napkin, and wiped his chin. "You look dead tired...like Pacino in Insomnia..."
"You're the second one to tell me that in the past two days..." he laughed. "You and Nick share brainwaves, or something?" He glanced at a couple holding hands.
"Depressing, aren't they?" Marah asked, looking at the same couple.
"It'd be nice to have someone to show off like that...someone proud enough of me to show me off, too, you know?" he asked, sighing.
"I know what you mean..." she nodded. "No one has ever been happy with me the way I am..."
"I definitely feel that..." Greg sighed. "But, please don't change yourself to comply to what others want. I think I'd probably be a lot happier if I hadn't done that..." he explained, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I won't..." she smiled. "I don't think you can get any better though..." she shook her head. "Although, maybe the 'improved' Greg will come out with a LITTLE sleep..."
Greg smiled, and laughed a little. "Thanks, and you're right, sleep would be nice..."
"Why don't you take tomorrow off?" Marah asked, shrugging. "I can handle everything..."
"You want me to get fired?" Greg asked, shaking his head. "No way...I'll just try really hard to sleep tonight..."
"Yeah, and then...if you do...you won't get up in time, and won't show up to work...then I won't be able to excuse you..." Marah grinned, knowing she'd win. "Then...you'll DEFINITELY get fired!"
Greg groaned. "What is it with women, and ALWAYS having to be right?" he asked.
Marah's grin turned into a full out smile. "It's just a rule..." she nodded, then her smile faded into a grim look. In the bushes, behind Greg, she saw a very familiar face. No...no...it couldn't be...it's not...it...it IS! Is that James? He's in JAIL! She panicked, and then realized she had to act natural. What do I do? First...get Greg and myself outta here... "Oh...my God..." she covered her mouth. "Greg...we have to get outta here..."
"Huh? Why?" Greg asked, looking curiously at Marah.
"Just...please...listen to me, Greg...we have to get out of here...and make it look unassuming...I'll tell you in the car..." she acted normal. "Please, Greg?"
"Ok..." Greg picked up the food, and looked over his shoulder to see what had Marah so worked up. "Who is that?"
"I'll tell you in the car..." Marah shook a little. "Oh...my God..." she whispered. "This isn't happening..." she told herself, while opening the car door.
"What's up?" Greg asked, looking at the clearly nervous Marah, after she closed her car door.
"Ok...my father...is...James Stenbeck..." she was pained to tell him that.
Greg's jaw dropped, as he pretended to be shocked. "What?" he asked.
"Yes...ok? He's my father...and..." she sniffled. "I saw him...that guy...in the bushes...that was him!" she almost cried, but remembered Greg was with her, so she stopped herself, and started the car.
~~
Nick leaned over a big pile of ash. "You think this used to be a chair...?" he asked. "Or..." he shuddered. "A body?"
"Oh, God..." Neleh shuddered, too. "Considering the amount...I think it's safe to say it's a chair...but maybe I should take a baggie of...it...back to Greg and Marah, just to be sure?"
"Sure..." Nick nodded, and scrunched his nose up. "That's a little nasty..."
"Yes, that it is..." she nodded, snapping a picture. "Yum..."
"This guy ain't having any more parties..." Nick shook his head, looking at another charred
body. "I think it's safe to say that..."
"Yeah..." Neleh snarled, looking up from the body, and glancing around the room. "You know what I don't get?" she asked.
"What's that?" Nick asked.
"If this was a normal, slow engulfing fire..." she paused. "Wouldn't there be more survivors?"
"This is very true..." he nodded. "That kinda makes you wonder...what could've happened?"
Neleh sighed. "Do you think we wanna call the explosives tech or something?" she asked, looking at a part of the room, where it seemed a little more blackened than the rest.
"Just in case, maybe that'd be a good idea..." Nick nodded, pulling out his phone. As soon as it reached his hand, it rang. "Just my luck..." he laughed.
"Maybe the bomb squad knew beforehand?" Neleh asked, with a grin.
"I'll just be a sec, then I'll call Steve..." Nick referred to the explosives tech. "Stokes..." he answered his phone, still laughing a little. "Hello?" he asked, after about two seconds without an answer.
"Hello, Nick..." a voice that sent chills up Nick's spine came through the phone.
"Uh...hi?" Nick tilted his head a little. "May I ask who's calling?"
"You should know me by now!" the voice snickered a little. "You're just trying to anger me, aren't you, Nick?"
"I don't know what you're trying to pull, whoever you are, but it's not funny..." Nick's voice filled with nervousness, and he went to hang up the phone.
"Nick, it's me...Nigel!" Nigel, Nick's worst nightmare, came through the phone.
"No...no way..." Now he recognized the voice. "You're...in jail..."
"Some nice man named James Stenbeck freed me! Isn't that great?" Nigel laughed. "You'd better tell that little blonde wench to watch herself...what's her name? N...N..."
"...Neleh?" Nick choked out her name, softly, so she wouldn't get nervous.
"Yeah! Neleh! If she gets in the way too much...she MIGHT be in trouble...she's got too much knowledge in that blonde head of hers...tell her to watch it, got it?" Nigel asked, warning Nick. "And, you better warn Gregory, too...his little woman there isn't safe either!"
Nick cleared his throat. He tried to remain calm, so not to scare Neleh. "Yeah, whatever..." he snarled, and hung up the phone.
"Uh...you ok?" Neleh asked. "You seem a little...eh..."
"Huh? Oh...yeah...it was...nothing..." he lied. "Nothing big, anyway..."
~~
Oh, wandering stars in the blue
Oh, they could not be born because of you
If I could have sunrise in the palm of your hand
I would take the moonlight instead