No time to talk, haven't updated, enjoy …
Miles in His Shoes
By Goody
When Warrick arrived at Oxford street he was far from the first one there. Word about the shooting and kidnapping had spread like wildfire and everybody wanted to help retrieve their suspect and get Greg back safely. Cruisers had already blocked off both ends of the road, the crime scene tape was up and ballistics experts were working on retrieving the bullets from Brass's car and the sidewalk.
Despite the heavy police presence on its way in, no one had spotted Miguel's car yet, but very few cops knew the area very well either. They were in Miguel's territory and he would know the best ways to avoid the cops, which meant it would be that much harder to find him and Greg, but the LVPD was always up for a challenge.
Nick and Brass were on the bullet ridden sidewalk, just finishing talking to what looked like a civilian, as Warrick approached. Nick broke off from Brass and met him halfway.
"Nick, hey, is there anything new? What can I do?" Warrick asked immediately, eager to help in the search for their missing teammate. It had already been almost half an hour since the abduction and everyone knew the first few hours were the most vital.
Nick's gaze was intense, his entire focus directed towards just that, what they could do. There wasn't much, they only had a vague direction that Miguel and Greg had left in, but there were a few leads and Nick needed to track them down. He had been the last one to see Greg, bleeding and terrified, and he had watched him be taken away. He didn't plan on watching anymore, it was time for action.
"You can come with me," Nick said, leading Warrick back to his own car since Brass's was out of commission. "Miguel's landlord knew his girlfriend's name, she doesn't live too far away, he thinks he may go there. Brass is calling in for an exact address now."
As if he heard his name Brass came jogging over, "Anna Domingez, 62 Edwards Street. You two can follow but neither of you do anything until my men clear the house, this guy's armed and desperate."
The CSIs nodded, knowing they would be pushing to ask for more than that, then got in their car and prepared to follow the black and whites to the address.
As Warrick drove, deathly focussed on not losing the speeding cop cars, he also took a moment to glance at Nick, who looked like if he got any tenser he'd be made of stone.
"I uh, I heard Greg got shot," Warrick said. He had turned on his police scanner for the rest of the drive over, praying to hear that someone had found the car or Greg and everything was fine, and though that had not happened, he was still morbidly curious to hear more about the danger Greg was in.
Nick didn't make eye contact and clearly didn't want to relive the moment, "Yeah, just in the arm, I'm pretty sure, I don't know how serious. I can't tell you much more."
Warrick nodded, understanding, but taking the information for what it was and facing the front once more.
"How are you doing?" Warrick asked, knowing Nick's stress handling capabilities might be a little overloaded since his 'burial' a few months before. The last thing he needed was the emotional burden of having a friend be kidnapped too, let alone being forced to watch it helplessly, just like they had when Nick had been taken.
"I'm fine, I'll be better when we get this guy, get Greg back," Nick replied and Warrick decided not to push the fact that Nick didn't seem 'fine' at all. There were a few minutes of silence as they continued through the beat up streets of Harcant, both lost in thoughts of what they would find when they stopped, if it would be Greg and if he would still be alive.
Nick kept his gaze focussed on the other cars in the street and the sidewalks, as if he might spot Greg or Miguel Sanchez walking by. But he knew he wasn't that lucky, and he also knew he couldn't believe that he had lost Greg.
The youngest member of their CSI team, and pretty much still a rookie in the field and he had abandoned him with a suspect. And when the bullets started flying he had abandoned him completely, leaving him alone and unarmed behind that Impala, and Nick wished more than anything that he had tried to take that run across the road, had taken a chance of making it instead of just abandoning the level 1 CSI to be taken hostage. He knew as well as anyone how unsafe the area was, even if Greg had been establishing a rapport with their suspect a lot of others things could go wrong, as had just been proven, and Nick couldn't stop wondering why he had been so stupid to leave Greg alone.
"Are they slowing down?" Nick asked suddenly, closely watching the police cars ahead of them.
"Yeah, this must be the place," Warrick surmised, shifting into park behind the blockade of cruisers that was quickly forming in the road. They got out of the car and watched as SWAT members streamed out of cars ahead of them and formed ranks in the street, waiting for the order to go into the house.
Brass was standing around a car with a group of other high ranking officers discussing the plan of entry. Warrick and Nick stood on the opposite side of the car, listening and waiting for the action to start, praying Greg would be inside and all right. But somehow, Nick didn't think so.
"There's no car in the driveway," he pointed out, looking over the small house that had no garage. Miguel hadn't seemed like he'd be too eager to find a place and bunker down there, he had looked like he wanted to run and keep running, and he'd need his car for that.
Brass heard his comment and turned to him, "It's behind the house. Car's covered with a tarp so we can't get a make, but it's enough to go in. All right people, let's go."
And with that word the action began. Cops began to circle the house, stepping quietly even though it was early morning and they could clearly be seen by everyone. Speaking of which, Nick spotted numerous curtains being pulled back in nearby houses to watch the action, but no one dared leave their home. It seemed almost everyone had something to hide in this neighborhood, but for the moment the police were only interested in Anna Domingez.
Then suddenly the SWAT team was moving in. The door was kicked open and men swarmed into the house, sweeping every room, checking behind every door and piece of furniture.
Normally they would need a warrant just to enter a person's house, but these were extenuating circumstances. In a situation where lives were immediately at stake, some rules could be thrown out and probable cause, sometimes just suspicion, was enough to ransack a house or organize a raid if it was for the purpose of saving lives.
Unfortunately for them, they had the right place, only the wrong time.
Anna was sitting in her living room still fighting back tears when the door burst down and men with body armor and guns stormed into her house.
She screamed and tried to run away, but there were men coming in the backdoor too, also armed and frightening.
"Ah, God, don't kill me please! Please, don't shoot, please!" she yelled, throwing her arms up and hoping to be heard over the destruction and commotion.
"On the ground! On the ground, now!" the SWAT leader instructed her. She did as told and laid down shakily, hands instinctively cupping the back of her head. "Where is he? Miguel Sanchez, where is he?"
Too scared to look up, she could only shake her head. She didn't know where he was, but she was beginning to wish she had asked.
Outside, Warrick and Nick watched the police officers swarm the house then waited anxiously for news, for anything. A few minutes passed and still there was nothing.
"Come on, come on," Nick urged, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Was Greg in the house or not? Was he still alive or …?
"All clear," a static voice said over Brass's radio and the CSIs leaned closer to hear what they had found.
"Report," Brass requested.
"House is clean, no one but the owner. No sign of the suspect or our guy," the voice announced and all three men felt their hearts sink.
"All right, standard sweep. Bring the girl out, I'll have a talk with her," Brass instructed and sighed as he threw the radio back into the patrol car.
Warrick and Nick were rigid, looking at the street. Nick bit his lip, his face a mask of worried frustration.
"Come on," Brass urged them, knowing better than to leave them to stew in emotion. "Let's see what she has to say."
As the three of them walked up the driveway Anna was being escorted out of the house, hands cuffed behind her back.
"Hey Anna, I'm Detective Brass, we'd like to ask you a few questions about your boyfriend, Miguel," Brass said, not requesting but making clear it would be in her best interest to answer.
"Are you crazy? You broke into my home and destroyed my house and you think I'm going to talk to you?" It appeared she had more to say but Brass stopped her angry tirade with one of his own.
"Look, I don't want to hear it, I'm having a bad day too. I've got a kidnapped CSI, a murder suspect on the run, two bodies in the morgue and someone actually did try to kill me today, so I don't really care," Brass told her.
"You've also got Miguel Sanchez's car in her backyard," Warrick yelled out, having moved behind the house to remove the tarp from the covered up vehicle. "And there's blood in the front seat."
Greg's blood, Nick told himself, feeling his anger build up over his concern.
"Now that I care about, cause that blood happens to belong to a friend of mine and that doesn't sit too well with me. Now this is going to be your only chance to talk, so I'd take advantage of it," Brass added, waiting for her to break.
"Where is he? Where'd he go?" Nick demanded, not in any mood to wait.
Anna bit her lip, she knew she was caught, but couldn't bring herself to turn Miguel in.
"Let me explain something to you miss, you're looking at criminal charges here for aiding and abetting a fugitive, not to mention putting people's lives at stake. Now if you want to make this easier on yourself and avoid twice as long a prison sentence you'll tell us where Miguel and Greg are. Did you give him your car?" Nick questioned relentlessly, needing her to break.
"Look, I don't know where he is," Anna finally said. "Miguel came over and stole my car, he knows where I keep the keys. I woke up and his shot up Chevy was in my driveway and I didn't want anyone to see it so I put it in the backyard and covered it up."
"So you haven't seen him?" Brass asked skeptically, knowing she was lying.
"Not since last night," she said, head held high, determined to hold on to her lie in an attempt to protect herself and Miguel as much as possible.
"So you didn't see anyone with him? You didn't see the CSI he took hostage?" Nick questioned, his voice getting loud with his anger. But Anna could take it.
"I didn't see anyone," she replied firmly.
"Sir," a SWAT member called to Brass from the doorway to the house, "We've got some blood in here, on the floor. Bandages too and what looks like a bloody towel. It's all we've got so far."
Brass smiled and looked at Anna; she was caught.
"I don't suppose you'd like to change that last statement? Cause if the blood on that towel matches our missing CSI you're going away for a long time."
Anna was silent again, clearly conflicted – she pulled against her cuffs in frustration.
"You know, your boyfriend he's in trouble, serious trouble and it's going to be even worse if he runs. But you know, maybe you don't care, but here's something you should care about, by helping him, you made yourself an accomplice, and everything he does from now on is legally on your head. So if that CSI he took hostage dies, for any reason, I can guarantee that I will take you up on murder charges and see that you get the maximum possible penalty, which would be life!" Brass threatened, laying out what was in store for her if she remained quiet.
This is when she broke, only willing to take so much for her boyfriend.
"All right, they were here, but I don't know where they went I swear. Miguel said some crips tried to take him out and the cops were after him and he needed my car. I just wanted him to leave and I gave him the keys. I don't even know what he did," she promised desperately.
"What about Greg?" Nick asked and received a blank stare. "The CSI who was with him."
"The little cop guy? He uh, he was bleeding. Miguel said he was helping him so I patched up his arm, I took care of him. But, but then I saw he was a cop and I started fighting with Miguel and then he tried to run away and Miguel caught him and hit him and I tried to stop him, I pulled him off the guy. Then Miguel, he just left, took the keys and made the guy drive them out of here. I'm pretty sure he was okay, I don't know."
"Where were they going?" Nick asked again, teeth grinding as he was in no mood to hear more of her babble about the mistreatment Greg had received in her home at the hands of her panicked, gangster boyfriend.
She shook her head, "I don't know, honest. I asked him and he wouldn't tell me, I swear."
Nick's jaw threatened to crack from the tension so Brass stepped forward, "Where do you think he'd go?"
"I don't know uh, maybe, maybe Carlos's, his brother. They don't really see eye to eye a lot but Miguel wouldn't have a whole lot of places to go," she explained.
"Where does he live?" Nick asked as Brass got ready to send his men to their next location.
"I don't know, serious. I never been there, I only got his cell number," she explained, which she gave them.
"All right," Brass said, calming a little since they now had some kind of useful information. "Now what kind of car do you own?"
"A '92 Buick, brown."
"License plate?"
"I don't know," she answered shrugging. Brass gave her a look that said he wouldn't take any bullshit, but she was in earnest. "Seriously, you know your license plate?"
"I'll call it in and find out," Nick said, unable to hear anymore and walking away, glad to have a task to do. He flipped his phone and called the lab. Archie was still there, monitoring the police channels and ready to look up any information they needed to help find Greg. He found the DMV records for Anna's license plate then Nick sent out the APB on the car to all units. He also found that Miguel's brother, Carlos, had a much longer criminal record than his brother and gave them his current address.
"Thanks Arch, that's great, I'll let you know what we find," he promised.
"Hopefully it'll be Greg," Archie said, trying to sound hopeful. "Good luck. Get him back in one piece all right."
"Yeah, thanks, I'll try," he replied and hung up. "Brass, Archie got us an address on Carlos!"
"All right, take her to holding, keep a car on the house in case he shows for some reason, everyone else, move out," Brass instructed, leading the way as the rest of the officers rushed to their own cars.
Nick stood his ground, running a hand through his short hair and trying not to scream in frustration. A hand on his shoulder made him turn, suddenly jumpy and tense.
It was Warrick.
"Come on, let's go, we'll find him," Warrick promised.
But Nick looked at the ground and shook his head, "No, we won't. He's not gonna be there, Rick. Sanchez got a new car and now he's running and he's gonna keep running and take Greg with him until he realizes he doesn't need him anymore. Damn it, I should have stopped him when I had the chance."
"When was that? Before or after you were being shot at?" Warrick asked.
"Don't give me that Warrick, there was plenty I could have done," Nick griped, not willing to let himself off the hook just yet.
"Nothing that wouldn't have gotten you shot in the process. Greg wouldn't want that and it wouldn't have helped him any," Warrick said wisely.
"You know what would have helped him?" Nick asked suddenly with building anger. "A gun. If he had just been armed, if he had gotten a stupid sidearm like I told him to none of this would have happened. Why's he always have to do that?"
"What?"
"Change the rules, be so independent and different and get away with it. He can't do anything like the rest of us. We all have guns so of course he doesn't want one, and look what happens! Damn it, look what happens," Nick sighed, deflating, knowing even as he said it that none of this was Greg's fault. He just needed somebody to blame and for some reason everyone except Miguel Sanchez seemed fair game in his mind. "I left him alone with the suspect Warrick. Brass and I were right there, watching, but we didn't stay close enough to back him up. Damn it, why didn't I let Brass go over there? Why'd I insist Greg do the damn interview?"
"Because you respect that he knows what he's doing, and he does. No one could have known this was going to happen. Come on, we'll find him Nick, he'll be fine. Now let's follow Brass and do our jobs," Warrick suggested. "Then you can brood on your own time, after we get Greg back."
Nick sighed deeply then nodded, knowing his regret was not helping them get Greg home any faster, "Yeah, all right, let's go."
They got in the car and followed the rest of the police squadron and hoped Greg would be wherever they ended up.
"Go left."
Greg didn't bother asking where they were going. He knew he wouldn't get an answer and he couldn't spare the concentration. Gritting his teeth he shifted the car clumsily into second gear with his right hand. He had tried to use his left for awhile but found he needed it to steer when he had almost made them swerve off the road earlier, which hadn't made Miguel too happy. Turn completed he tried to shift back into first gear and the car jerked at his choppy movements as his arm protested painfully.
"Hey, you trying to draw attention to us?" Miguel accused, not amused by Greg's increasingly inept driving.
"No. Look if you're going to insist I drive you're gonna have to shift, I can't do it anymore, I can barely grip it," Greg explained. The bullet in his arm didn't just hurt like hell it made it hard to flex and grip anything with his hand and he thought it might go completely numb soon.
"You were fine in my car," Miguel reminded him.
"Well my arm didn't hurt as bad then and your clutch didn't stick in second gear," Greg countered, his voice teetering on angry. Even though Miguel had attacked him at Anna's he was somehow growing less afraid of his kidnapper the longer he was in the car, and instead was more frustrated and angry about being held against his will and having to use his throbbing arm to drive.
But Miguel ignored his attitude and actually smiled somewhat fondly as he casually shifted the clutch as Greg turned another corner, "Yeah, Anna never did take care of this thing."
The car drove smoother now and Greg relaxed a little and focussed more on the road and every now and then stole a glimpse of Miguel's gun, which thankfully was no longer pointed at him but sat clutched in his lap.
"It uh seemed like she cared about you a lot, from what I heard," Greg commented suddenly, licking his lips with nervousness. He had only been required to take a very basic test of police procedures when he became a CSI, but he did know that making yourself seem more human and attached to a kidnapper was a good way of keeping yourself alive, and Greg figured it couldn't hurt to try. Before the shooting had started he had been close to getting Miguel to open up to him, and he hoped he might be able to do so again.
"Yeah well, it doesn't matter now," Miguel said softly, turning to stare out the window.
It hadn't exactly been the conversation opener Greg was hoping for, but Miguel at least seemed less hostile now, more relaxed as they continued driving and still hadn't met a single police car, and Greg decided to risk saying more.
"Look there's, there's really not much point in you doing this, is there? I mean, I don't know where you're going or what you've actually done, you could just let me go, be on your way. Then I wouldn't be slowing you down," Greg offered hopefully but Miguel's expression didn't change.
He continued to look out the window as he replied flatly, "You're not going anywhere so you might as well drop it."
Greg's jaw tensed and he gripped the wheel tighter, his anger building over his fear, "What possible reason could you have to keep me around, other than a death wish?"
"Insurance," Miguel replied simply and Greg sighed. He hadn't wanted to hear that. Obviously Miguel believed if the police found him or tried to take him in he could use Greg as collateral to gain his freedom. For some reason people thought cops would do anything if a hostage was in danger, but Greg knew that the police never just let anyone get away with things like that, there was always a catch. And that catch usually involved the kidnapper, hostage or both being killed in the process if the situation wasn't handled just right, and Miguel didn't seem like the smooth, collected type that could handle a situation just right to him.
"That still may not be the best idea overall," Greg added hesitantly a moment later.
"Oh, and why not?" Miguel questioned, sounding offended but also curious to hear Greg's insights.
"Well, right now every cop in the city is looking for you, like every one, but if you let me go then you're just a suspect on the loose, another one who got away. The search wouldn't be half as intense," Greg explained what was basically true. They would still work to catch Miguel if he let Greg go but the hunt wouldn't be nearly as well coordinated if there were no lives in immediate danger.
"Yeah, like they're just gonna forgive and forget that I kidnapped a cop as long as I let him go later," Miguel scoffed, believing the police would be on him just as hard no matter what after what he did.
Greg sighed and repeated for what seemed the millionth time, "I'm not a cop."
"You keep saying that!" Miguel yelled, fed up. "Who are you trying to fool? What, your friends back there were just pretending to be police? You just wear a badge for kicks? Come on, you think I'm an idiot?"
"If you bothered to read my badge you'd see it says Crime Scene Investigator, not police investigator," Greg pointed out. "And you might want to put us in first gear."
Miguel complied, having forgotten about the clutch, but also shrugged, "So what's the difference?"
"CSIs just process and interpret the evidence. We find hairs and DNA and fingerprints at crime scenes, stuff like that. We don't actually arrest anyone or patrol the streets, we're just geeks in a lab. In fact, I'm not even armed, which you would know if you'd bothered to search me when this whole thing started," Greg said snidely, kind of wishing he had taken a gun like Nick suggested since Miguel had never checked him for one. He could be home right now if he had.
Miguel was suddenly chagrined, realizing he never had searched Greg, which hadn't been the smartest move if he did think he was a cop, but he laughed and tried to shrug off his embarrassment, "If you were packing I would have been able to tell. Besides, you would have pulled your piece when those crips started shooting at us."
"Whatever," Greg mumbled.
Miguel had done enough talking as well.
"Turn right here," he instructed, but then turned on the radio to fill the silence. Greg's eyes widened in surprised when he heard his favorite Blackflag song playing. He waited for it to be cut off but turning he saw Miguel lean back, obviously having picked the station on purpose because he liked the music.
Greg tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the beat and then laughed ironically.
Miguel turned to him, "What's so funny now?"
"Nothing, it's just this is the first car I've been in all day with music that doesn't twang. It's a nice change, everyone I know seems to listen to country," Greg explained.
Miguel cringed with sympathy, "Gross."
"Tell me about it."
There was silence until the song was over and then Greg spoke again, feeling that they were talking openly enough for him to maybe get some answers now.
"So, where are we going?"
"You'll see when we get there," Miguel replied but his tone was no longer cold, just evasive.
Silence again as the music played, then Greg became hopeful as Miguel was the next to speak.
"How's your arm?"
Greg was so surprised by the question he didn't respond for a moment, "Uh fine, I guess, you know, considering."
"Considering there's a huge ass bullet in it?" Miguel finished for him.
"Yeah, considering that," Greg replied, smiling faintly.
The car jerked then as Miguel shifted the clutch unexpectedly.
"Whoa, go back to first," Greg requested, feeling the car lurch.
"Nah, slow down, you're turning left, we're there," Miguel explained.
Greg did as instructed and saw they were pulling into a very cheap, rundown hotel. Flashbacks of the two bodies at the Morada suddenly came to Greg's mind and in an instant he was scared again and less than confident that his bonding experiment with Miguel had been entirely successful.
"Around the back," Miguel ordered as Greg looked for a parking spot, making it seem obvious that he should pick the place least likely to be spotted from the road.
"Sorry," Greg mumbled, shaky again as he went around the back of the building.
Once Greg shifted the car into park and removed the keys there was another moment of silence, this one terribly nerve-wracking as Greg imagined what his fate would be and Miguel tried to decide as well. It was now early morning, cars were on the street and people were on their way to work. Looking Greg over, he clearly wasn't presentable. There was a bruise forming around his right eye from when Miguel tackled him, his clothes were dirty and ruffled and his shirt and arm were covered in blood, despite Anna's bandage. Even if he could be cleaned up Miguel couldn't trust Greg not to try and signal for help anyway.
As Greg waited he closed in on himself a little, clutching his bleeding arm again to try and elevate it and ease the pain. He also bit his lip, hating the silence now between them that seemed to destroy any progress Greg had been making to get Miguel to trust him. Chancing to look over, Greg saw Miguel was looking out the side window, obviously deep in thought but also clutching the gun tightly once more.
Greg cleared his throat, unable to take the suspense, "So uh, what now?"
Miguel answered by swinging around faster than Greg could have imagined and striking the CSI across the temple with the butt of the gun.
"Ah," Greg's head snapped back and struck the window, then he was unconscious and his body slumped forward, never really knowing what had happened.
Miguel sighed, hid the gun beneath his shirt and began to work.
TBC
And this time when I say 'to be continued', hopefully it won't take me two months to update again. I really must apologize to all of you, I knew I had not updated in awhile but I had NO idea it had been two whole months, I'm so sorry. I will try to have more written soon. That's not to say that you haven't all been inspiring me with your great reviews. Let's list a few shall we?
Suspension – I agree, more Greg drama on the show would be nice, something with him in danger, but for the moment I'm just happy they're making him funny again. He's been brooding depressing Greg for too long, I loved seeing him joking and smiling in the psychic episode. But I appreciate your kind words, I do put a lot of thought into my storylines and it's great to know it's appreciated.
Skysong2293 – I will take cyber versions of all of the above, plus some strawberry. But I'm afraid I'm not deserving of very much, this update has taken forever, I'm so sorry.
Hyperactive Forever – "how does he get himself into these messes?" Indeed, I actually find it quite difficult to find legitimate ways of injuring him, this plot was complicated as all hell in my head, but the H/C is worth it, as you said.
Lol – Yeah, I like when Greg runs too, I just thought he'd take any opportunity, and it's an opportunity for me to injure him some more, so huzzah! Thanks for reading the descriptions, I'm always worried people scroll over them and go straight for the dialogue.
Psychotic little ani – Thank you, I don't think I've ever been called refined, it's very nice. But no, I haven't really ever thought of publishing. I've tried to write a few original stories but I find that if my characters aren't from one of my fandoms I just don't care about them, even if I do create them myself. It's quite a conundrum actually.
Tsukasaru – lol, I don't think it would really work as an episode, but thank you for the compliment. Besides, it's kind of already been done with the epi where Catherine goes with the guy who is pretending his girlfriend was kidnapped, although that didn't actually inspire this fic.
HelenLouise – As much as you say you are blown away by my chapters, I am equally amazed by your reviews! You look so deep into my stuff and interpret it all and you get EXACTLY what I'm trying to say and portray with all my characters and plot. I work so hard at believability and natural dialogue and you really get that and enjoy it and that means SOOO much, so thank you, as always for a great review and for looking so deeply into my work, it means the world to me.
Vanagristiel – Yes, that is going to be my new motto – "Hurting Greg, with style" – I love it! I liked Greg running too. I didn't want him to be just frozen in place with fear, but he wasn't too brave either, just taking his opportunities and making a run. Thanks for the review.
Iris early – I'm glad you're sympathetic to Miguel, I don't want him to be another vague, evil for the sake of being evil kind of bad guy. You should definitely put up some of your stuff though, there's absolutely nothing wrong with editing. When I'm working on a chapter for posting I go over it and over it until I can read through it once without changing anything, only then do I consider it ready for posting.
Remoob1513 – Yes, Greg is getting left on his own a little in this fic and though I agree he's kind of in charge, that's kind of all about to change.
Utemia – wow, that was a crazy interesting review. I never really thought about integration in other countries and how North America is so integrated, you have a really interesting point of view, thanks so much for sharing all that.
Aries Zodiac – I agree. I'd like to point out that I don't condone that kind of language and NEVER use it, but I honestly really thought my character would say that, especially in a panicked moment so I kept it in, but I did have a warning and boosted the rating so I hope it's tolerable and that's the only time I'll be doing it. And you made total sense, I know exactly what you mean.
Krazy – Well I feel you've done plenty for Greg fanfic and I bet many others would agree. As for your other fandoms I'm willing to bet you're a Christopher Gorham fan since you like Odyssey 5 and medical investigation. Odyssey five really was a sweet show, if only it had the ratings, it was beautiful. And of course I love Supernatural and Stargate. As for Miguel's girlfriend, her fate is pretty much sealed with this chapter, but Miguel and Greg are still very much on the run.
Emmithar – First of all, I love that you are actually dissecting and interpreting my fic and characters, that is awesome of you. I truly have the best readers, so thanks for taking the time and caring enough to wonder and analyze. Secondly, I thought Anna was in character. She may have been sympathetic to Greg but I didn't think she'd be willing to fight Miguel over him. I think this chapter really showed how far she was willing to go for him and there was a limit. As for Miguel keeping Greg around, I admit, I had trouble justifying that in my own head when working out the plot, but I figure one, he's following orders from his mysterious phone call, and two, as he said, insurance, so I feel safe in my plot. And third, that blood trail bit was hilarious, I think it's a lovely idea but Miguel just might catch on. Thanks so much for the great review!
Honey Dipped Roses – talking Supernatural is never rambling, and you'll never find a writer who thinks a review is too long. And man, did you ever pick a great episode to watch as your first one. I LOVED Asylum. Every time I watch it and Dean gets shot I just melt a little inside. But I also really love Skin, Bloody Mary and Faith, those are my top three. I'm actually working on another, multi-chapter Supernatural fic in my spare time called Strength. I haven't posted anything yet because I'm worried about not finishing, but after this fic it is very likely I will finish it, so watch for it. And thanks for all the kind words about my writing, it is appreciated so very much. To say I'm the best is to go too far, but I really take the praise to heart, thank you.
Shacky – all that great stuff you do everyday with your kids and husband and my fic is what you look forward to, that's awesome, thank you, makes me feel truly special. A laptop! Too cool, I've still got a crap PC, sooo jealous! Thanks for your commitment, as always.
Many thanks also to Tiarich, dybdahl, Queen of Cliffies, TheOneBlueGecko, mookle uzimake, Constance Sanders, lilian, greeneyes, angw, sillie, neeners, Queen of the Elven City, karmine, Red Tigress, and CSIwildchild. Your reviews all inspire me and I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to you all.
There will be more generally soon, hope you're all still enjoying. Goody.