CSI: Ghost: Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry this is taking so long to write... the evidence is bogging me down! As you can probably already tell this will be a case driven piece about Nick and Greg, which will all make a ton more sense at the very end. Until then, however, it's their life throughout the case(s). So, with all that said, please enjoy this third chapter, and let me know what you think! Thanks!

"Grissom's analyzing the blood spatter and putting together a time line of the men's deaths from those pictures you took. Why don't you and I go talk to Bobby D about those cartridge casings we found?" Nick asked awhile later back at the lab. "He should be done with them by now, you think?"

"Yeah, sure."

Greg followed him to the ballistics lab where the tech was scrutinizing something under a microscope.

"What've you got for us, Bobby?" Nick asked.

The tech looked up.

"Oh, hey guys. Well, there were three guns at that crime scene, first of all."

"Three guns?" Nick looked to Greg.

"Indicating... three killers, perhaps?" Greg suggested.

"Maybe. Well, take a look at this, it's very interesting," Bobby said, pointing to the microscope.

Nick looked down the scope at the two bullets which had been extracted from the dead bodies. The bullets looked similar, but the striations were not a match. And it was a much longer bullet than he was used to seeing.

"What is it?" Nick asked, as Greg took a look.

"They're both bullets from AK-47s, but they're not from the same gun."

"So, two AK-47s were used at the scene?" Greg asked.

"Looks that way."

"What about the other gun? You said there were three?"

"Yeah, here's where it gets odd. All the bullets and casings came back as AK-47 but one did not."

"Only one?"

"Yeah, the one found in the forehead of John Winters was from a revolver."

"Woah, that's a stretch... to go from AK-47s to a revolver? And for one bullet? Why bother?"

"Don't know. That's your job."

"Right. Now, I hate to admit this, but I don't think I've ever had a crime scene with one of these huge weapons."

"Take that as a good thing," Bobby said.

"Yeah, so, can you show me how one of these works?"

"Sure."

Bobby left Nick and Greg standing side by side while he went into the locked cage where he kept his weapons. He came back carrying an unloaded AK-47.

"You're in luck, I actually happen to have one of these. Now, what you want to do is, well, first you have to load it, and here's how you do that..."

"Here, give me that."

Greg took the gun and the magazine, clipped them together, and in one easy, fluid movement with his right hand, had the gun aimed and ready to fire. Nick stared in shock at his husband who was surprising him more and more. Since when did he know how to operate an AK-47? And with only one hand? He wasn't even sure he could do it that easily with both hands. "Wow, I bow down to your masterful skills, Greg. I had no idea..."

Greg looked at both of them, his beautiful brown eyes growing wide. Nick watched as shame began to cloud them.

"I'm sorry Bobby. Didn't mean to steal your show," he whispered before handing the gun back and darting out of the room.

"Nick? What was that all about?" Bobby asked.

"I'm... I'm not too sure. He's hasn't been himself tonight, that's for sure. I thought it was just, a fluke, an accident earlier, now?"

"I'm sure it was. But you need to go talk to him. He needs you. I'll cover for you."

"Thanks."

Nick left the room and saw Greg far away down the hall as he darted into the bathroom.

"Greg?"

Nick walked into the room, glad no one else was in there. He found Greg curled up on the floor in the corner, looking upset. He sat down beside him.

"I can do that left handed too, if you want to know," he said, in a quiet voice.

"You're talented. I had no idea."

"I didn't want anyone to know. It... it just kinda came out of me. He was gonna take too long explaining it and I just wanted to get out of there. I've been trying to forget. Muscle memory makes it hard, I guess."

"Where did you learn?"

"I didn't want to... I swear... but they made me..."

"Who made you?"

"I joined the Wolf Pack when I was a kid in San Francisco. They're one of the largest gangs out there. I had nothing else to do. Felt like there was nothing else in my life, no one loved me, I was shipped from foster home to foster home. This was the closest thing to family I had. And for my own safety, I had to learn how to shoot. That's why I hate guns. That's why I know more than I let on. Probably why I aimed at you earlier too. I hate it. I just want it to all go away."

"Oh, Greg, it's going to be alright. I'm here, I love you, and I'm not leaving you."

Nick wrapped his arm around Greg and pulled him close, still a little amazed by the story.

"How did you get out of the gang then?"

"I got shipped to another foster home out of their territory, and my new foster parents prepared me for college, made sure I'd have a life when I left them cause I was already a senior in high school."

"Well, if you ever talk to them again, thank them for me, will you?"

"I don't even remember their names."

"Ok, so, what have we got so far?" Grissom asked in the layout room.

"Three guns were present at the shooting," Nick confirmed. "Two AK-47s and one revolver."

"Three guns? That doesn't make sense. There was only one set of footprints besides those of the dead bodies."

"And no tread found in the database," Greg offered.

"No tread?"

"No. You missed that? There was nothing there, just the outline of the shoe."

"No, I didn't miss that. But I'm not up on the fashion industry. For all I know someone could have designed a shoe with no tread on the bottom."

"That would make it a little slippery, wouldn't it?" Nick asked.

"All shoes are slippery under the right conditions," Greg said.

"Right."

"So, where does that leave us?"

"Well, I can at least tell you who died first," Grissom pointed toward the outline of the scene. "My guess is the killer or killers started from this direction, came out of nowhere, and began to shoot wildly, perhaps with the two AK-47s. Which is why these guys in front died without that look of fear. They had no idea what hit them before they died. Then, these guys in the back turn around and see what's going on, try to flee, get scared, because there's no time to run away. They get shot. We're still working on identifying half of those bodies. It'll take awhile, Doc's hoping dental records will help on some of them. But the last guy, is identified as John Winters, a known drug dealer. All three sedans have been towed to the garage. I'll need you two to go over them in fine detail. But on a cursory inspection I found large amounts of Coke and Heroin in the trunks of both. He was head of the ring, which is why whoever shot him went after him, I'm guessing."

"Maybe they weren't happy with their supply that they'd spent a lot of money on and wanted to get back at him for it."

"Maybe."

"So, what you're saying," Greg piped up. "Is that two guys cleared the scene of all the middle men for the main guy to get at Winters? Would explain the three weapons, and why only the revolver was used once."

"It's possible. But doesn't explain the footprints."

"Alright, well, we'll go get started on the three cars."

Greg sighed and headed out the door in the direction of the garage.

Grissom looked at Nick.

"Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine. It's just not been an easy night for him. But don't worry, I'll take care of him."

"You'd better. I don't need his personal issues affecting the case."

"I know. And they're not."

"Alright."

Greg crawled into the back of the first car with his flashlight. Peering first at the floor he caught sight of something pink. Bending closer to inspect it he found it was a piece of well chewed gum. He bagged it and continued to search the backseat of the car without saying a word to the husband who was searching the front seat.

It wasn't that he was angry at him for anything, or that he didn't want to speak to him. It was the opposite. He loved Nick with everything he had, but he knew he had to keep work and their relationship as separate as possible. He also knew that if he started talking now, even about some random article he'd read in Sand and Surf it would turn the conversation in a direction he couldn't allow it to go and he would wind up needing, not just wanting, to attack Nick with every romantic and sexual bone in his body.

He bagged several different hairs from the head rests in the back, all of them long. Finding nothing else he began his search for bodily fluids that invariably found their way onto the backseats of cars.

"What'd you get, G?" Nick asked, over the front seat.

"Sex. Lots and lots of sex." He did his best not to think of the man less than a foot away from him. "Bubble gum and lots and lots of long hairs, not all the same colors. You?"

"Yeah, there's some hairs here, and I got prints from the dashboard and the steering wheel."

"Maybe this will help identify those other bodies, perhaps."

"Maybe. Hey Greg, once we get this done, drop off the evidence, I'm gonna go see Grissom about..." Nick's cell phone rang. "Stokes... Oh, hey Griss...Yeah, almost done with the first car. Not much we can tell you from the outside. Inside, we got some DNA and fingerprint samples. We'll get them to the lab when we get finished on all three... yeah, ok... wait... you sure? I mean... what about the case?... Alright, thanks boss."

Greg looked up at him. "What are we up to next?"

"Heading home after we turn the evidence over to the rats."

"Home? But we're not done with the case."

"I know. But he wants us to go home."

"I take it you do too. You were going to ask him, right?"

"Since when would I refuse a nice hot shower and sleeping with you?"

Greg grinned, for the first time in hours. "I guess we'd better hurry up with this evidence collecting then."

"Right. Cut the banter, get to work. I need to see your naked ass in my bed later."

"Hey, that bed does not belong to you, and you alone. It belongs to both of us. So quit calling it yours. Besides, I want your naked ass in my bed later. That'll definitely help with the stress I'm feeling right now."

"Hmmm, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then shut up and gather evidence so we can get on to relieving your horrible stress."

They both grinned at each other and buckled down to get their work done.