(I don't own CSI or the characters...they all belong to CBS & Jerry B.)
David sat and watched the hustle and bustle that went on around him. He liked to come up and eat lunch in the park. Working the job that he does, he doesn't get much of a chance to see happiness they way it presents itself at the park. He sees a father throwing a beach ball for his little boy, a teenager tossing a plastic toy for her dog, and he even watches a baby enjoying the view from his stroller across the way.
He puts another grape in his mouth and rests his eyes on the baby, who is now giggling because the teenager's dog has brushed by and licked his cheek. That baby is the reason David comes here. When you spend your days seeing the worst of people, you can't help but yearn for a taste of pure fluff every now and then.
The joy in people's faces when they are at play here is what helps him cope with cases like the one he had today. Shortly before heading to the park he was performing an autopsy on young boy who was abducted from his home and murdered in the middle of the desert by a complete stranger. Other people would break down with that hanging over their head, but not Dave. He didn't know why he was so adept to this vocation, but he knew why he stayed with it. He knew that, in his own morbid way, he was helping them. That is the knowledge that let him sleep at night.
"Super Dave?" David was snapped back to reality by a familiar voice. His vision focused on a hand waving in front of his face. He looked up and saw the big warm smile on Nick's face.
"Oh, Hello Nick." Dave nervously greeted.
"Hey man, you looked like you were off in your own little world there, you ok?" Nick sat next to him. Dave was surprised at the genuine look of concern on Nick's face.
"I am ok, yeah, I am fine. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here? Don't you have that abduction case?" David asked
"Well, yeah, I actually do have that case waiting for me back at the lab. I just can't wrap my head around it at the moment so I decided a little break was in order. Any special reason why you are hangin out here Dave?" Nick leaned back on the bench and rested his arms along the back ledge of it. His eyes scanning the park for nothing in particular.
"Not really anything special." David sighed with a sip of his bottled water.
"Just wanted to catch some life in action?" Nick asked, knowing David's reasons were similar to his own.
"Yes. It helps me push all the horrible things I see every day to the back of my mind for a little while." David answered.
"It keeps you sane, man. You can't spend all your days cooped up in a room alone with a bunch of dead bodies, you feel dead way before you really are. I come out here when I get off work all the time. It really helps to drown out the crying with the laughter." Nick sat up and played with a leaf that had fallen on the ground near him.
David had always known that Nick was a smart guy when it came to evidence, he didn't know how smart he was in the ways of life. "Yeah."
"Well Super Dave, I probably should get back to the lab or Grissom will have me picking up dog crap again." David stood up out of instinct to say goodbye to Nick. He couldn't help feeling closer to Nick now. He had never really talked to him outside of work before. He had always quietly hoped that Nick would greet him when he would pass him in the hall with more than just a nod in his direction. David couldn't help thinking about what it would be like to be the type of friend to him that Warrick was, or even the kind of friend that Greg was. He hated to use the word jealous to discribe how he felt when he would see Nick joking with one of the guys, but there really wasn't any other word for it.
"Nice talking to you Nick." David said when Nick patted him on the back. He meant it too.
"Yea, it was nice talkin to you too. See ya back at the lab." With that Nick turned and walked away, leaving David to the remainder of his lunch. He sat in silence as the children played around him. He felt an overwhelming sense of happiness, from the children and also from the new bond he had.
As he walked back into the building to return to his work David neglected to notice the man walking towards him. Dave always had a bad habit of looking at the floor when he was walking. It wasn't because he needed to watch his feet in fear of mis-stepping, it was out of shyness. If he could avoid eye contact with someone, he would. His eyes were fixed firmly on the tops of his scuffed sneakers when he heard his name being called. He looked up to find Nick again, this time he was walking straight towards David with a giant grin on his face.
"Hey Super Dave! Take it easy man! Don't let Doc Robbins work ya too hard!" Nick said in passing without missing a step. If Dave hadn't been in shock he would have marveled at how Nick had become a pro at the pass-by greeting. David knew surely that if he were to try it, he would end up injuring himself or someone else.
"Oh, ok, yeah! Thanks Nick! And...don't let Grissom ride you too hard!" David said turning his head back to watch Nick walk behind him. When he turned his eyeline back to the direction he was walking he saw another familiar face right in front of him, Gil Grissom.
THE END