CSI: Ghost: Chapter 16
A/N: Just to clear up some slight confusion, the one shot I posted entitled "Trying on Leather Pants" was not an extra chapter to this story. It is entirely separate. I wrote it simply because Only True Love said she would have to request a story in which Greg wore leather pants, even if he was just trying them on, if Geoff turned out to be Greg in "Ghost". And, since Geoff was Greg, and I was about to reveal that, I decided to grant her wish of something hot, sexy, and happy with the boys. Make sense? I hope so. I'm glad you all enjoyed reading it as much, it seems, as I did writing it! Anyway, back to "Ghost" here's the update, hope you like! And ya'll know the drill about reviews: I LOVE them just as much as I love cowboys and their overly geeky, beautiful husbands! lol, enjoy!
Greg drove the Viper right up to the gates of Tony Biggs's mansion, hating his boss so much he wasn't even going to hide it. He was PISSED. His revolver was already tucked into his pants along with his knife and his AK-47s were laid out on the passenger seat, their extra magazines filling his pockets. No hiding this time. No one would catch him.
Pulling up along side the guard shack at the gate to show the man his ID, he showed him the barrel of an AK-47 instead, and blew his brains out. Stepping out of the car with both large guns in hand he dealt with each guard as they left the shack and then the others along the perimeter as they came running at the sounds of the gun blasts. He spared no one and didn't flinch when their blood and brain matter splattered onto his clothes and skin.
His wedding ring was safely tucked under his shirt, attached to the silver chain around his neck, where it would remain clean, perfect, pure, a symbol of his love for Nick for the rest of eternity.
He may have chosen Greg Sanders-Stokes as his identity, the man who couldn't face killing someone in cold blood, but when it came to Nick's life, everything changed. He would do anything for his husband. If Geoff didn't kill him he knew Tony would still make sure it got done. The thought that he was protecting Nick was what made him stronger. All he could think about now was the need for revenge. No one would have a hand in Nick's death except old age. And Greg would make sure of that.
He entered the mansion through the front door, using the AK-47s to kill anyone in his path. Running up the main staircase he found Tony at his desk, heavily armed with ten guards in front of him. Without a second thought and without giving them time to draw their weapons, he shot all ten guards down, leaving Tony staring at him in awe. The carpet was already turning a deep shade of red and the walls were dripping with it.
"Be glad, your money bought you a really good assassin."
Pulling out his knife, he approached the man with a menace he'd never felt before. When his mom was killed he'd been five and powerless to do anything. When he'd killed criminals before, it had always been in the name of his boss and he'd had no emotional attachment to his assignments. Now, the tides had turned and things were different.
He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized his now ex-boss. The man had lost his expression of awe, and now his eyes were wide in fright. Greg grinned, his wide bright grin, happy about what he was going to do, though it scared him a little that he should be. He thrust that fear to the back of his mind, however, and got down to business.
The boss wasn't carrying a weapon and he sat frozen, unable to pick up any of those that had landed on his desk when the guards had fallen. Greg knocked them all away, letting them clatter to the carpeted floor.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" his voice still sounded normal, as if he were telling Nick he'd forgotten to buy his favorite coffee at the grocery store.
The Devil shook his head.
"You have no idea about my past, do you?"
Again, the crime boss shook his head.
"Then let me tell you. And while I do, let me make a notch for everything that's ever been done to me against my will, for each and every pain I have suffered. Ok?"
Tony nodded, if a little slowly.
"You know, you've really got nothing to be scared about. Everyone dies at some point in their life. This is just your point."
A whimper escaped the man's lips.
"Sir!" A voice came from the doorway.
Greg spun around and fired the AK-47 in his left hand. The guard's body jittered for a moment before falling to the floor and soaking another section of the carpet in deep red.
He turned back to Tony. "My dad was tortured to death. That was the first thing done to me against my will. Hold your arm out, Tony. Roll up your sleeve. I'm not ruining a perfectly good wooden desk."
Whimpering, the crime boss complied, and Greg couldn't help but sigh inwardly. All crime bosses were the same, it seemed, once you got to them through their guards with a weapon in their face, they became weak kittens, unable to protect themselves. Greg held his wrist to the desk in a fierce grip. He made a light slice across his arm, making sure not to hit any major arteries. He wanted him to stay alive for awhile. His list was detailed.
Tony closed his eyes at the sight of his own blood and jerked his hand away instinctively but Greg refused to let go.
"Number two, my mother was forced to watch when they tortured my father."
He made another slice an inch above the first.
"Number three, my mom was killed when I was five."
Tony's eyes stayed shut as tight as was humanly possible. His arm began to resemble a candy cane.
"Number four, I was forced to watch as she bled to death as part of my training to become an assassin."
Greg said each line slowly so that Tony had some time to understand exactly what he was telling him.
"Number five, I was forced into training for this job, which I never wanted."
He sliced him slowly so that he could feel the pain burning into his arm.
"Number six, I was given a new name I didn't want."
Tony gulped and let another whimper escape his lips.
"Number seven, I was sold to you like property."
He began to tremble underneath the pressure of the knife and the pressure of Greg's hand holding his wrist down on the desk.
"Number eight, you always treated me like a dog someone else had taught to roll over for you."
His blood began to pool around his arm.
"Number nine, I've never been able to completely have the normal life I've always wanted."
Blood began soaking Tony's rolled up sleeve.
"Number ten, my first boss escaped the torture I would have given him by dying of cancer. He got away scott-free. But you won't. Why? Most importantly because of number eleven. I managed to find some peace in the world and a husband who loved me. And you had to go and ruin that by putting him on your hit list just because he was doing his job, the same as I was doing mine. No one kills Nicky. No one else touches him while I'm still alive, or even dreams of touching him, and lives."
In the silence that ensued, the steady dripping of blood could be heard falling onto the already soaked carpeting.
"I swear I won't! I'll leave you alone!" Tony blurted, finally opening his eyes in a flash.
"No. See, I know you won't. I'll have to turn you in if I let you live and I know you won't let that happen. I also know it was you who sent those letters to my house and my apartment. I know it was you who had that song played on the radio and mailed to me. I know it was you who threatened my husband's life on the phone that night. I think this would be considered a slip-up, not killing your precious mark. I can't afford to lose him, so, instead, I'm going to lose you, my boss. Besides, I'm feeling the need for revenge. All in all, you helped to ruin my life, so I'm going to ruin yours. But not before you help some others first. You're going to write a suicide note. I'm sure you heard all about the one I made Slick write from the news."
Tony nodded.
"You'll do the same thing. Got some paper and a pen handy? Good. Copy down exactly what I say." And Greg began the letter, "'I, Tony Biggs, deserve to die after everything I've done, especially for ruining the life of Greg Sanders-Stokes.'" Greg paused to make sure his boss had hyphenated his last name properly. "'Because I have ruined his life, I have decided to send my money to the charities of his choice: GLSEN, Pine Hill, and the LVPD Crime Lab to be used only for anything with Gilbert Grissom or Nick Sanders-Stokes's approval. The rest is to go to the charities of Nick's choice because by ruining his husband's life, I have hurt him in one of the worst ways possible. I do not deserve to live, nor do I deserve a proper burial'," here, Greg paused again, though for a different reason.
Hearing nothing, he turned, aimed, and fired an AK-47 at a guard who'd just moved into the doorway. The guard fell, making no sound at all.
Greg continued as if nothing had happened, "'When you have burned my body and sent me to hell, throw out my ashes with the daily trash. That is all I'm worth now. I wish I could say that I'm sorry for everything I've done, but Greg knows I'm not, so this is all I can do in my feeble attempt to repay him as well as his husband.' Now sign it. Bring out your check book. Divide ALL of your money between these three organizations and to Nick. That's four in all. You can divide by four, can't you?"
Tony nodded, a bleak expression on his face.
Greg laughed, though it hardly qualified as a happy one. "Good. Oh, and try your best not to get blood all over everything. You're bleeding profusely from that arm."
He waited while Tony filled out the envelopes and applied the stamps as directed. "Now, did I say your torture was over? I'm making this personal. I want to watch you bleed out because I don't love you like I loved my mother and I certainly don't love you like I love Nick. I'm personally sending you to hell for everything you've done. By the way, I hear The Devil's pretty pissed at your terrible impersonation act. Oh, and please say 'hi' to Slick for me when you get there. And for your information, this is going to be slow. You will be in pain for a very long time because you and my previous boss put me in pain for most of my life." Greg heaved a heavy sigh. "You're already looking a little pale. Please, I hope you're not so afraid of blood that you're going to yak all over everything."
Three hours later Greg was dialing a familiar number at a phone booth in the city.
"Brown," Warrick answered on the second ring.
"Tony Biggs is dead at home," Greg said without emotion. "Geoff Baker quit his assassin job and left all of his weapons, wiped clean, with Tony's body. Take Nick with you to the scene."
"Greg?" Warrick asked, apparently recognizing his voice.
"Give me that!" he heard Nick shout somewhere near his friend.
Greg hung up.
"This was personal," Warrick commented upon seeing Tony's body for the first time. Nick had to look away from the horrible sight of the body, cut, though no longer bleeding.
Warrick was looking at the papers on Tony's desk when Nick's eyes fell on something silver, pure and clean among the carnage. He picked it up with a gloved hand and realized instantly what it was, all his fears suddenly coming into place. His eyes glazed over.
"Yo, dude, looks like Geoff Baker saved your life. I just found The Devil's hit list. Everyone's crossed off but you."
Nick looked up with wide eyes, feeling himself plummet into an abyss he hadn't known was there. His heart was shattering into a million pieces as he realized a god awful truth. He looked back down at the wedding ring in his palm, hanging off a silver chain, the same silver chain they'd snapped a picture of Geoff Baker wearing. The same one he'd seen on the assassin in person the day he'd chased him. The assassin who was supposed to kill him, hadn't.
"You have no idea how close you came... how close you came... you're not even safe here. People can still hurt you and no one would ever know who did it... No cops could have saved you. The man's long gone now. You won't find him. Only I can find him, only I know where he is. He almost got you killed, Nicky and I can't live with that... Promise me you'll find Warrick and don't leave his side for the rest of the night. Promise me!... You'll know everything soon enough. Before the night is over. Everything I'm doing, Nicky, everything I've ever done, and everything I will do in the future has always been and will always be for you. I'm doing this for you, and there isn't a single person in the whole world who could stop me."
Greg's last words to him in the locker room of the lab came back to him like puzzle pieces being put into place. He felt Greg's lips on his once again, kissing him with a fervor he hadn't expected, especially in the locker room at work.
"I love you," Greg had spoken those last three words with such determination and love. Nick now knew he'd really been saying goodbye.
"Hey, I think I just found a suicide note... Nick?" Warrick looked up. "Oh God," he whispered, seeing the necklace. "He kidnapped Greg and he's playing with you before he makes the hit."
Nick pulled out his cell phone and hit the first speed dial he had, calling their house phone, knowing Greg was supposed to be home resting. At least, that's where he'd left him before he'd shown up at work. When he got no answer he tried Greg's work cell and finally he called his husband's personal number.
"Dammit Greg! Don't do this to me!" he cried out in anguish when his voice mail kicked in. "G, I love you, please don't leave! I don't care about whatever it is that you've done. I still love you and I don't want you to go."
Tears were beginning to prick at his eyes.
"Nick?" Warrick sounded concerned but Nick hardly cared because everything that had been going on with Greg since the case began was all making sense. He tore out of the crime boss's mansion clutching the ring that bore his name, ignoring everything and everyone around him. Greg didn't wear his wedding ring on a chain. He didn't wear it on a chain. His own comment to Greg and Archie not that long ago came back to haunt him:
"Guys don't usually wear jewelry like that unless it means something... And when it does mean something, they usually wear it everyday."
He'd been thinking about his own wedding ring and the man he was married to at the time, not even realizing that the jewelry he'd been looking at was the same thing. Even when Greg wasn't being Greg... he still wore his wedding ring, even if it wasn't visible to anyone else.
That alone gave him hope.
A/N: So, what will happen in the next, and final, chapter of "Ghost"? Nick has hope, but will it be enough? And now that Greg's boss is dead, what are the assassin-turned-CSI's plans for the future? Can he continue his life with Nick or was their last kiss really one of goodbye? BTW, what did he write in his letter to Nick and just how will Nick react if given the chance to read it?
The case of the informant: (Now that I can explain this without ruining the story, I will.) Originally, because Greg and Geoff are the same, there wasn't going to be an informant. Geoff didn't know who was giving him his information, he only knew it was someone within the lab. Then, GregLover212's comment sparked the idea that he should know it was Greg. Greg being the informant gave Geoff the convenient explanation of "visiting" Greg. And, that's how Greg became the informant.
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