Ten minutes later he parked in his space in front of the Crime Lab building. He got out of his car and hurried inside the building flashing his ID at the guard. As Greg was walking towards his lab he ran into Nick who was bringing a bag of evidence to Hodges.
"Oh hey Greg, thought you weren't coming into work today?" Nick asked with that Texan accent that he loved.
"I wasn't but then I felt better and decided I might as well go to work" Greg tried to make a hasty retreat but Nick blocked his exit.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay? You look a little flushed" Nick asked concerned.
Of all the days Nick had to be concerned about Greg's health it had to be the day that Greg really didn't need it, nor want it.
"Yeah, I just had to rush here before I was even more late so don't worry about me I'll be fine" and before Nick could make another comment Greg hurried past him and locked himself in his lab.
He walked over to his table where the equipment he needed was set up and pulled on a pair of gloves. Hoping and praying that he would find a fingerprint on one or all of the shots he took each of them and set them up on the table in a row. He got what he preferred to call 'the fingerprint dust' (if anyone knows what they call the powder they use to pick up fingerprints please tell me because I don't know) and lightly ran the powder over the first shot. When he finished the entire procedure he was happy to find two partial prints. One of them was likely his but the other was hopefully one of Sean's or Toby's. He scanned the two prints and the first print was in fact his but the other print was still going through the database. When the scan finally stopped it told him that the print was unknown. Great! So much for finding out who those guys were that way!
After that failed attempt he picked up the second shot and did the test again. Two prints, one was his the other unknown. The same went for the last one.
Now knowing that he wasn't going to be able to find out the identities of the men that easily he went on to analyzing the fluids. He took out a glass slab and pressed down on one of the shots to drip down onto the slab, he then placed the slab on the stage of the microscope and looked through the eyepiece then adjusted the fine adjustment knob to get a closer look at the fluid. Greg almost didn't believe what he was seeing: antibodies, he had been injected with antibodies but antibodies for what exactly he didn't know, he was startled by the sudden closing of the door, he looked away from his work to see Grissom standing in his doorway with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a confused expression on his face.
"I thought I had given you the day off?" he said confused.
"Yeah I know but I was feeling better and decided to come into work" Greg said while hoping that Grissom wouldn't ask what he had been looking at.
"Good, now that you're here then you can help us out on a case. We're shorthanded as it is and we can use all the help we can get on this one" Grissom turned and opened the door then walked out, Greg, assuming he was mean to follow hurried after the older man and followed him towards the briefing room.
Everyone looked up from their coffee when Grissom and Greg entered and Greg quickly left Grissom's side and took a seat next to Sara who was eating one of her cucumber sandwiches which Greg thought were disgusting and unsanitary.
"All right everyone now I know you have all been working double shifts but we need all the help we can get so your going to have to deal with it" Grissom walked over to the head of the table and picked up a remote and turned the screen on to show a picture of the latest crime scene.
"Tina Lothspiech was found in her bathtub at 6:13 AM by her husband in their apartment. The initial cause of death was drowning by suicide but then Doc examined the body and discovered that the victim had been killed before being placed in the tub by a blunt force trauma to the back of the head the weapon has yet to be found and there are absolutely no fingerprints found at the scene. She also had a very distinct tattoo on her right arm, we don't know yet if it is significant to the case but we will soon find out"
Greg's eyes widened when he saw the exact same tattoo on his own arm but he wasn't about to voice that to everyone.
"Our only suspect at this point is the husband who has no alibi and the couple was known to have been going to therapy because the husband had been found cheating"
The picture changed to show a trail of blood leading into the bathroom
"This trail of blood belong to the victim coming from the bedroom, through the living room and finally into the bathroom. This is all we have people so please find me something so we can put this murderer behind bars"
The TV switched off and everyone stood up from the table.
"Warrick, Sara I want you to go talk to the husband. He's currently at work so here's the address"
Warrick and Sara nodded and grabbed the post it note from Grissom and headed off to do their jobs. Grissom turned to Nick, Greg and Catherine
"Nick, Greg I want you to go back to the crime scene and look for anything we might have missed and Catherine you and I are going to go down to examine Tina's body" When the remaining people had their assignments they walked out of the room and headed off to do their assignments. As Nick and Greg were passing Greg's lab Greg suddenly remembered the shots he had left on the table in plain sight and stopped walking, Nick looked back at him curiously
"What are ya' doing Greg? We have a scene to get to," said Nick.
"I forgot my ID in my lab. I'll be right back it will only take a sec" Greg hurried into his lab and quickly stashed his ID in his pocket then discreetly shoved the shots into his other pocket.
He stepped out of the lab to Nick who was waiting for him.
"Ready to go now?" Nick asked a little irritated
"Yep" Greg started walking off and Nick hurried after him, surprised at the speed the younger man suddenly possessed.
"So I assume we're taking your car?" asked Greg as they walked down the garage.
"You would be correct and no you can't choose the station" Nick unlocked his Denali and Greg got into the passenger seat and Nick walked around to the driver's side.
He started the engine and the radio turned on to a country station and Greg inwardly groaned. Nick noticed the displeased look on Greg's face and smirked.
"I told you my car my music" he pulled out of the garage and drove out onto the road.
Greg looked down at the clock and saw that it was now 10:13 AM, an hour since he had last taken his medication giving him six hours until the next dosage was needed. To get his mind off of that disturbing fact he maneuvered his thoughts over to Nick. He was as discreet as he could be in watching the other man, the way he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the music, his chocolate orbs twinkling in the light, the grin that made cute little crinkles appear on each side of his lips-
"Something catch ya interest?" Nick turned to look at Greg and Greg could feel his cheeks burn up and quickly looked away and pretended to find the dust on his window very interesting.
"Come on Greg I sure as hell know it ain't the music," Nick chided.
"just not completely awake I guess" he replied. Nick didn't believe him but dropped the subject anyway.
They arrived at the crime scene fifteen minutes later and got out of the car and walked towards the crime scene tape where they were stopped by an officer.
"Let me guess, CSI?" he said.
Nick and Greg took out their badges and showed them to him "follow me" the tape was lifted and they walked under the tape and followed the officer up the path to the door.
"We can take it from here" Nick said, the officer nodded and the two CSI'S entered the building.
They walked up the stairs and when they reached the correct floor they found police officers stationed outside the door, they walked over to the door and flashed their badges again and were allowed entrance.
Nick and Greg walked into the room and looked around the room. "Okay Greggo you take the left side of apartment, I'll take the right"
They split off and went to do their respective work. Greg opened his kit and got to work. He pulled on his gloves and examined the carpet before him and for some reason he felt the urge to start feeling along the walls, he stopped when he felt something wet and turned his gloved hand over to reveal wet paint.
"Hey Nick I think I got something" Nick stopped what he was doing and turned to see what Greg was talking about.
Greg showed him the wet paint on his gloves and Nick stood up and walked over to him. "Wet paint" Greg clarified indicating the wall behind him.
"Now why would you paint the walls after killing someone?" Greg questioned.
"And why is it still wet and you can't smell it?" Greg added.
"I don't know but lets find out. Take a sample of that paint and tell me if you find anything," Nick said. Greg did as he was told and marked the area.
After that little find Greg took the evidence he had found and got a ride back to the lab by one of the officers. He walked into his lab and started examining the paint. After scanning the paint he found that the paint contained propylene glycol and linseed meaning that it was glaze, paint glaze to be exact. And he discovered that the VOC levels on the paint were very low making the paint have almost no fumes. He took out his cell phone and speed dialed Nick.
"Hello?" said the familiar Texan voice that thrilled Greg whenever he heard it.
"The paint is a glazer containing low levels of VOC making the fumes almost non-existent that's why it didn't dry or smell" Greg said excitedly.
"Okay now all we have to do is find out what someone didn't want hidden" Nick turned back to the wall.
"You can come on back now we have some more evidence to process" Nick closed his phone and pocketed his cell.
"Goodbye to you too" Greg closed his phone and headed out of his lab and walked down the hallway and out of the building.
He walked down the garage and just as he was taking his car keys out of his pocket he's grabbed from behind and forced behind a pillar.
"We have a problem," said Sean who was standing in front of him while Toby held him in place.
Toby removed his hand and Greg was able to speak "antibodies, you injected antibodies into me. Why?" Greg demanded.
"You're new gene has a very specific strand of DNA and needs to be exposed to certain things in order for it to settle down to a safer level the boss did say you were a bright one" Sean commented
"Who is the boss?" Greg asked.
"Someone you're going to meet very soon" out of nowhere Greg was suddenly knocked out and collapsed into the waiting arms of Sean.
Sean looked up from Greg to Toby who was waiting for his orders.
"Lets go" Sean dragged Greg's unconscious form over to the wall and Toby followed after him.
They stopped at the wall then with a quick breath stepped through the wall and appeared on the outside of the garage. A familiar black van pulled up beside the three and the side door opened and Greg was carefully handed inside.
"Be careful with this one boys the boss doesn't want a single hair out of place" Sean and Toby climbed into the van and shut the door the van then took off.
Nick picked up a scalpel from his kit and on pure instinct carefully cut into the still wet paint. He took the chunk off and discovered a red line underneath, upon discovering this Nick cut out another piece and discovered more red lines but this time it looked like a number. Something was written underneath the paint!
Greg woke up and had to squeeze his eyes shut from the intense light that invaded his sensitive pupils.
"Welcome to the sanctum" Greg recognized that voice he would recognize that voice anywhere but he didn't want to believe that he was hearing it now.
He shook his head in denial and kept his eyes shut. He could literally feel the man getting closer and he really hoped that if he were to open his eyes he wouldn't see whom he thought he would see.
"Come on Gregory open your eyes," said the all too familiar voice.
Greg shook his head, not wanting to face the reality before him.
"There is nothing to be afraid of Gregory. No one here will hurt you" the voice before him said.
"Nothing but the identity of the boss" Greg replied.
He heard a sigh from the man and Greg knew he was right about the identity of the man before him. The man lifted Greg's chin up and Greg reluctantly opened his eyes to see the man before him. His father.