Title: Holding Out for a Hero
Summary: Nina enlists Greg's help in finding Marie.
Notes: This is the first Episode in The Ghost of a Good Thing Series. Everything's Not Lost is a kind of prologue to this, but you don't have to read it to understand this. All you need to know is that Nick is now living with Greg and this occurred after the Stalker episode.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Anything italicized means he/she is speaking in Italian. Oh and Padre means father and Madre means mother.
Chapter Six: Falling From Heaven
And I give it all away
Just to have somewhere to go to
Give it all away
To have someone to come home to
This is my December
These are my snow-covered trees
This is me pretending
This is all I need
And I just wish that
I didn't feel like there was
Something I missed
And I take back all the things I said
To make you feel like that
--Linkin Park "My December"
Pacific Harbors at SunriseApartment 218—Wednesday March 17—2:30 pm
Greg had entered the apartment. Nina had begun ranting before he could utter a word.
"I give up. I give up on it all. Everything. Life. Love. Liberty. Even the pursuit of happiness. Especially the pursuit of happiness. Is there really even a point to any of it anymore? I mean everyone gives me this speech about trust and how if we're friends I'm supposed to trust you. So, being the moron that I am, I do. And then you go and screw me over. But not only do you screw me over, but Shawn and Marie as well, but more importantly you leave Cassie, a little girl who absolutely adores you and can't understand why you left because I don't even understand why you left. I mean what happened? What went wrong? I thought things were okay. I thought we were all happy, but obviously I was wrong. God forbid any of us are actually happy for more than five seconds at a time."
"Nina maybe if you stop to take a breath he can answer you," Marie glared at Greg while she said this, "and it had better be a damn good answer at that." Silence ensued for a few moments after this. Greg didn't look at any of them. He couldn't. What was he supposed to say? Granted, the truth would be a good idea, but it sounded so lame. I mean what a lousy excuse he had for running away. He got scared. It sounded like he was four again.
"I don't really know why," he finally stated. Marie's jaw dropped open and she stared at him incredulously. She was about to yell and scream and take out all her pent up anger on this poor, not-so-innocent creature in front of her when he continued on. "I guess I just got scared. I mean it felt like my whole life was being planned without me. I was supposed to help raise and support a kid, find a nice nine to five job in New York. I wasn't going to be able to do anything I wanted to do with my life. I thought I was being asked to do things I shouldn't be asked to do. I didn't want a kid. I wasn't ready. Cassandra's not even mine. And when I thought of that I felt almost sick. What kind of selfish person was I to think of her like that? She never asked for any of this to happen to her. No one asked for any of this. I couldn't take it anymore. I thought I was going to explode if I didn't get away from myself. So I left and then I discovered I wasn't running away from a life I feared having I was trying to run away from me. And that's just damn near impossible." Again there was silence as the others stared at him. There was the occasional blink, but mostly only staring.
"That's it," Nina finally said, "wow and here I had psyched myself out for some horrific, dramatic story of how Shawn had threatened to kill you for something or maybe you were running from the law and didn't want to get us mixed up in it. But instead all I get is 'I was scared'." Nina seemed to think for a second before taking a deep breath, "I'll accept that." Greg looked at her.
"Well, it's the truth so I don't know what else you would want me to tell you." Greg said defensively.
"Oh, don't go acting all wounded." Marie snapped, "You're lucky we're even listening." Shawn hadn't uttered a word since leaving Luke Haslett's house with Nina in his arms.
"You couldn't tell me you were scared?" he asked Greg incredulously. "What you think I was just hunky dory with everything moving so fast? I was scared too, but that doesn't give you the right to just disappear."
"Shawn, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I'm really, truly sorry. I didn't mean for any of it to end up like this and I'm sorry." Shawn looked at him for a minute.
"You're sorry?"
"Yeah, I am." Shawn smiled weakly and pulled his best friend into a hug.
"I'll accept that." Marie and Nina both sighed.
"Well thank god. I thought I was going to have to stop you two from murdering each other." Marie told them.
"Oh no they only reserve trying to kill each other when I'm the only one around to stop them." Nina told her crossing her arms over her chest and staring at her two best guy friends.
"Aw come on quello piccolo. You know we love you."
"I'm not little anymore. I could so take you on." Nina said defiantly. Shawn and Greg blinked before laughing.
"I'm sure you could Nina. I'm sure you could." Marie consoled wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"So what do we do with this?" Nina asked, "I mean do we go back to where we left off? Do we pretend it never happened? I have a little girl to whom I have to explain why her 'pretend daddy' was gone for so long. I mean, Greg, the only reason she even remembers you is because of pictures and stories and movies." Nina looked at the others questioningly. Marie kept her arm around Nina's shoulders.
"How about we start over." Greg stated as he stuck out his hand for Shawn to shake, "I'm Greg Sanders. I'm a DNA specialist at the Las Vegas Crime Lab." Shawn smirked and took his hand.
"I'm Shawn Rossi. I'm an architect for the state of Nevada." They both turned to face the girls. Marie and Nina smiled at each other before smiling at them.
"I'm Marie Bianchi and I'm an exotic dancer." She told him dramatically.
"And I'm Nina Moretti. I'm a waitress and a bartender. I am currently looking for another job, however. One where I might be able to use the things I learned at college."
Nina glanced at her watch once she finished. "I've got to go pick up Cassie from school. You all want to come?"
"We can't all fit in your car." Shawn told her.
"Fine, we'll take yours." Marie said grabbing the keys from the counter where he had dropped them when he entered. She dashed out of the apartment giggling madly with Shawn close on her heels. Nina and Greg followed at a more leisurely pace.
"Cassie, she's gotten really big." Greg said as they waited for the elevator.
"Yeah, that's what happens." Nina told him coolly. She seemed to realize what she had just said and sighed. She brought her hand up and rubbed her forehead, "look I'm sorry that was uncalled for, but this." She motioned between the two of them, "this is going to take some getting used to. I had almost erased you when I found that stupid card the other day that we had made in, what was it, the seventh grade. The one that said 'get out of jail free' on it. And then this whole thing with Marie happened and I thought what the hell I needed the help I was damn near hysterical and I still." The elevator ding interrupted her before she made her confession. Before she told him that through everything that had happened she still loved him. But she caught herself just in time. Besides he didn't love her that way. What had he said when they were in school? Something about being brother and sister. That was as far as it went and as far as it was ever going to go.
Cyril Wengert Elementary School—Wednesday March 17—3 pm
The bell rang releasing all of the students from the clutches of evil teachers into the great world of freedom. Cassie walked down the steps slowly, in no hurry to find her mother. She was thinking about her father, Greg and her Aunt Marie. She knew her aunt hadn't gone on vacation and she new Mr. Nick had just been trying to placate her and her mother when he said he'd wait for her aunt. She was nine years old, a big girl, she wasn't five anymore. She could handle the truth. She thought she had taken the news about Greg not being her real father very well when she was seven. Surely she would be able to handle whatever it was that had happened to her beloved aunt.
Marie was the first one to spot Cassie. The four adults stood by the curb outside of Shawn's SUV. Cassie looked up to find them all there and her brown eyes went wide. She threw herself into her aunts awaiting arms and smiled with joy until she thought her face just might split from her overwhelming happiness.
"You can never go on another vacation without telling me good-bye." Cassie told Marie fiercely.
"I won't honey. I won't." Marie reassured her, happy to be holding Cassie in her arms once again.
"Padre." Cassie called out next and turned to Greg. He picked her up and hugged her, "Are you going to stay for awhile?" she whispered in his ear.
"You won't be able to get rid of me." He whispered back. She smiled as he set her down. Shawn was the next to give her a hug.
"Hey Uncle Shawn." She greeted and then turned to her mother. They smiled at each other and Cassie took her mother's hand.
Crime Lab—Thursday March 18—9:30 pm
Greg was starting to worry. Grissom hadn't been by to see him all night and he had been at work for nearly seven hours. He couldn't take it anymore. He dropped everything he was doing and decided to hunt down Grissom. The hunt didn't take very long seeing as how Grissom was sitting in his office. Greg walked in without knocking and shut the door. He began to pace in front of Grissom's desk trying to form a coherent sentence.
"I can't take you ignoring me Grissom. I know it wasn't a very bright thing to do, but Nina called and she needed my help. I didn't really know what else to do. It felt like there was no time to think. I know I endangered everyone else's life by going in that house, but when Nina's on a roll you really can't tell her no unless you're willing to be killed. Well, killed by her is what I meant not by somebody else. And if you want to fire me go ahead and do it, but don't give me the silent treatment because there was enough silence in that house yesterday to last me at least three lifetimes."
"Greg, I'm not going to fire you." Grissom told him calmly.
"Okay I accept that. I'll just go get my things and. Wait. You aren't going to fire me."
"No I'm not. I am very upset that you would feel the need to go out there all by yourself and not tell anyone what you were up, but they were special circumstances were they not. And I trust it will never happen again." Greg blinked rapidly almost as if Grissom might disappear and he'd wake up to find it had all been some weird dream. A side effect, maybe, of eating too much bacon. "Oh by the way Greg," Grissom said going back to his paper work, "have you found a replacement DNA specialist yet?" Greg blinked. Once. Very slowly.
"You're still going to let me go in the field?"
"Well if today didn't test your skills of being able to handle yourself in a crisis I don't really know what will." Greg thought he might faint.
IMPORTANT/ Extra Notes: I wrote this chapter kind of quickly that's why it is so short, but the next chapter should be much longer. Thank you to Kathryn Mason-Sykes for pointing out the fact that there really is no need for an epilogue. I have begun work on the next Episode which is entitled You're the One in which Greg hires Nina to be the new lab tech and Grissom upgrades Greg to CSI Level One. Of course that's not all that happens as Marie and Nina begin to make plans for other things. Chapter Seven will be up shortly. It could be as early as tomorrow or as late as late Saturday night.
quello piccolo means 'little one'