"Well look who it is", a very pregnant Catherine grinned as she strolled over to Nick, Sara, and Lisa. She had just come back from the crime scene with Greg and was heating up some old Chinese food in the break room when she noticed the trio approaching from down the hallway.
"It's great to see you again!" She squealed as she hugged Sara, pure joy evident in just the expression on her face. "I hated being the only girl on the shift!"
"Oh, well, you don't look that lonely to me." Sara knew this statement came out a little bitter, but the sight of Catherine carrying Grissom's baby and wearing the ring that he bought for her filled Sara with remorse. Grissom had picked Catherine because, as that murderer once said, she was the "pretty one".
Grissom was Sara's; he had always been hers. She moved to VEGAS for him! It was like an unspoken rule-don't touch Grissom. But she left and he must have turned to Catherine for comfort. Catherine was just her replacement; at least that is what she told herself. Just to ease the pain.
"Where is everyone?" Nick questioned Catherine.
"Well, Grissom and Warrick were called to check out a db at a Taco Bell and I sent Greg to pick up something from Trace. I told him to meet me in the break room; I'm sure he'll be here in a few minutes.
"You must be Lisa Johnson. I've read some of your research on bullet fragmentation; it really is amazing. We are glad to help both of you out on this case." And with that the four began an in depth discussion on the case.
"The victim's name was Elizabeth Short, an up and coming Hollywood actress. She was found by an abandoned school building."
Sara, who had heard all of the details of the case before, soon lost interest and began looking out into the hall, watching the people who had become strangers pass by. They all looked so different, every one of them. This past year had taken a toll on all of them; even the atmosphere of the crime lab itself had changed drastically. Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw him approaching, dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt. His hair was longer, straighter, and darker than she had ever seen it before and his huge eyes, which were always brimming with mischief and mirth, were dull, almost empty. Down by his side he held an evidence bag with some sort of green plastic in it, which hit his leg as he walked towards them.
He walked into the room and grabbed a seat at the table across from Sara. He sent her a heavy-hearted smile. "Welcome back". Instead of responding, she just grinned.
"Greg Sanders?" Lisa questioned and stared at him, openmouthed. She gaped at him in shock. Greg nodded and Lisa looked at him strangely. "Why?"
"You don't remember me? Lisa Johnson?" his eyes glinted with recognition. How could he forget her? She spent practically every night of his childhood at his house.
She smiled. "So how have you been?"
"Pretty good. How about you?"
"I've been fine. I can't believe I ran into you again." And she really couldn't. The last time she had seen him, he looked like hell and was getting himself into some pretty deep trouble. She honestly never expected to see him alive again.
" I know."
The other three eyed the pair questioningly, wondering how they knew one another. But Lisa continued with her lecture about the White case, and no explanation was given.
As the two were driving towards the house of Wendell and Lynn White to question the couple about their involvement in the Short murder, Sara's curiosity got the better of her and she finally asked Lisa the question that had been on her mind for the last few hours.
"How do you know Greg?"
" We went to school together."
"Really?"
"Well, I was in the same class as his sister. He was five years behind us. I was very close to his sister, to his whole family and I still never saw what was coming."
"What?" Sara looked at Lisa strangely. Greg had never mentioned a sister to her.
" He never mentioned it to you?" after she shook her head no, Lisa continued. "I can see how he would want to forget what had happened. His mother and sister were murdered in '88. The police said someone came in, sexually abused Mrs. Sanders and Lily, and then sliced them up with a butcher knife. Greg came home from basketball practice to find this guy mutilating their bodies and the man turned the knife on him. Greg was in the hospital for two months."
"Oh God. Who was the guy who killed them?"
"They never found out. Greg had to have gotten a clear view of the murderer, but he never mentioned a word to anyone. According to my knowledge, his dad went missing a week after the murder. Greg was sent into foster care. I didn't see him again for about four years. God, I still remember looking at him those four years later and being scared shitless. I saw him, lighting a cigarette while leaning on the side of an abandoned building. You know, the typical teenage rebel- ripped, faded jeans, baggy shirt, tattoos, piercings, long and greasy hair. There were rumors going around that he was hooked on heroin, but I didn't know that for sure. You don't know how relieved I am to know that he turned his life around."
Sara was left speechless, a very rare occasion. Lisa had sugarcoated the story a bit, and even lied a little at the end. She figured there were some things about his past that Greg would like to confirm for himself. She really didn't have the right to share his past with Sara. If he had wanted her to know, he would have told her himself.
They pulled up to the White house. Elizabeth Short's murder was a grisly one. She had been cut in half, her organs removed, and grotesquely dumped with not an ounce of blood at the scene. Before all of this, she was beaten to a pulp and a large chunck of her face, resemblying an unnatural smile that went from ear to ear, was cut into her face and her left breast had been ripped off post-mortem.
The Whites lived in a fairly small, but nice house. Boxes were piled on the front porch. Apparently, they still hadn't unpacked from their move. Sara rapped twice on their huge oak door. There was no answer.
After Leonard Shelby, the police officer that the two had brought with them for security reasons, cleared the house, Sara and Lisa entered. Nothing. The place was completely empty. No people, no furniture, not even a used Kleenex in the garbage can. There was absolutely nothing in the house that could prove that the Whites even lived there, at least nothing that they could see with the naked eye. It was starting to look like the pair would be in Vegas longer than expected.
She made him sick. As Greg was staring at her from across the break room table, a rush of emotions ran through him. It was almost as if he adored and despised her at the same time and the combination of the two emotions made him nauseous. He was falling under her spell yet again and all she had to do was smile. The situation hadn't changed at all. He was still completely under her power. He would do anything she wanted.
She had chastened him, humiliated him too many times in the past for him to be falling for her the way that he was. He was completely dedicated to Sara, like a little lost puppy who just refuses to give up until one day all that's left of it is a stack of bones and remnants of organs that are splattered in the middle of a busy highway.
He was silently calling out to her, begging her to leave before it became too late and she would tempt and defeat him like before. Any sane person would pity his unsound devotion towards her, and yet they would blame it all on his stupidity, because he saw what was coming and could to nothing to stop it. Or so he claimed. Greg knew that he wanted her back, wanted to go down that bleak, dismal path of self-destruction like before. He had lived almost two years without even hearing her voice. He couldn't do that again.
Truth covered in security
I can't let you smother me
I'd like to but couldn't work
Trading off and taking turns
I don't regret a thing
And I've got this friend you see
Who makes me feel and I
Wanted more than I could steal
I'll arrest myself, I'll wear a shield
I'll go out of my way to prove I still
Smell her on you
Don't tell me what I want to hear
Afraid of never knowing fear
Experience anything you need
I'll keep fighting jealousy
Until it's fucking gone
And I've got this friend you see
Who makes me feel and I
Wanted more than I could steal
I'll arrest myself, I'll wear a shield
I'll go out of my way to make you a deal
We'll make a pact to learn from who
Ever we want without new rules
We'll share what's lost and what we grew
They'll go out of their way
To prove they still
Smell her on you
AN: The song in this chapter is Lounge Act by Nirvana (the greatest band of all time!). Thanks for all of the reviews. Paints the Sky, you were asking for a little insight into the 'skeletons in Greg's closet', hopefully I sort of addressed that in this chapter. I plan on going into more detail about that later.
To the readers: I don't know how I managed it, but I have turned a fic that was supposed to be only three chapters into nine already and still have plenty more ideas for chapters to come. Keep reading and I'll keep writing!
Can anyone guess where I have gotten the names from in this story? Come on people! Wendell 'Bud' White & Lynn White (characters in a book and a movie that was released in '97)
Leonard Shelby (a character from one of the best movies of all time)
And Elizabeth Short
Does anyone even have a guess?