"Hello son" George Sanders said.
"Your the boss. I thought you were in California with mom?" Greg questioned.
"As far as she knows I'm at a conventin in Las Vegas staying at the Excalibur Hotel" Greg's chin was released and Greg looked away from him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Greg asked.
"Tell you what?" George asked although he all ready knew what he was asking. "About my special gene and how it would appear that I got it from you" Greg answered.
"You weren't ready and it wasn't until you were in that lab explosion that I knew your gene had to be awakened," he explained.
"How did you know I even had the gene? I might not have been a part of the 2%" Greg needed answers. George pulled up a chair and sat down across from his son.
"I took some of the blood from one of the bandages used to bandage one of your wounds. I brought it back here and one of my men analyzed it and found the shifting gene," George explained.
Greg was lost for words. He truly had no idea what to say to his father.
"I know that this must be quite a bit of a shock-"
"A shock?! I just found out that I have some mutated gene and my father is the boss of some underground world filled with actual mobsters" Greg said flabbergasted.
"You have every right to be mad at me but we have a serious problem that needs to be dealt with" George insisted.
The investigative part of Greg was dying to find out what was going on and against his better judgment he asked. "What kind of problem" Greg looked at his father expectantly.
"The crime scene you and Nicholas Stokes were just at is one of ours. Her name was Tina Lothspiech, though I'm sure you all ready knew that. She was a member of our society but we are now 100% certain that she was a traitor and she needed to be dealt with" George stated.
Greg looked at him in shock.
"You killed her?" he couldn't believe what he was hearing but the evidence was there and he would have to accept it: His father was a murderer.
"Killing her was a last resort and I regret having to use such methods but when we discovered she planned on exploiting us and she wouldn't listen to reason. We had no other choice" George tried to make his son see reason but he could tell that by the way his son looked at him like he was a complete stranger that his methods weren't working.
"You want me to clean up your mess don't you? Make it seem like someone else did it" he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the man he used to look up to when he was littler was really one of the people he had sworn to put behind bars.
"No! No! I don't want you to frame anyone I just want you to make sure that no one finds out about shifting" George explained.
"I can't do that dad. I'm not going to clean up your mess. If people find out about shifting it's your own fault"
Greg stood up from his chair and his father stood up from his as well.
"All of us are at risk son and I was really hoping it wouldn't have to come to this but I'm afraid that if you don't help us Nicholas Stokes will have to pay the price" Greg said regretfully.
"You go anywhere near him and blood be damned I'll kill you!" Greg shouted.
"I know how you feel about him son but if you really love him then do yourself a favor and protect yourself in the process" George put a hand on his shoulder and Greg visibly flinched away from his touch.
"Okay I'll do whatever you want just don't hurt him" Greg gave in.
"Wise decision son" George turned to someone Greg couldn't see.
"Take him back and no harm better come to him" but the damage had all ready been done and more harm was inflicted when he was knocked out and swung over Toby's broad shoulder.
"Forgive me son" George said as Greg was carried away.
When Greg woke up he was sitting in his Denali. He saw that his keys were all ready in the ignition so he turned the keys and his clock and radio came on blasting a Marilyn Manson song. He looked down at the clock and saw that it was 12:30 giving him only an hour left until he needed to take the next shot. So he had been out of it for two hours. He wondered why Nick hadn't sent a search party after him. He pulled out of the garage and out onto the road. As he was driving down the road his phone went off, he reached over and put the phone on speaker.
"Greg where the hell are you man? You said you were heading back three hours ago" Nick said "sorry Nick.
Wendy needed my help with some evidence and time just got away from me.
"Greg lied, glad Nick couldn't see him because he would be able to see right through the lie.
"Just get back here there's something you need to see under the paint."
Nick said while looking at the wall before him.
"What is it?" Greg asked timidly.
"numbers G, hundreds of numbers" Nick replied.
"I'll be right there. See ya soon" Greg hung up and the speed of his car increased.
Nick lifted his camera and took another picture of the wall.
Back in the car Greg was panicking. Nick might have found what his father was trying to hide and if Greg didn't stop Nick from digging any deeper then he all ready had he could lose the love of his life and with that thought he pressed his foot down all the way on the accelerator seeming to break the speed of light as blurs whizzed past him.
Greg arrived at the crime scene and jumped out of the car, quickly locked his doors and dashed inside. He hurried up the stairs and inside the room to find Nick taking pictures of the wall.
Nick heard the sound of panting behind him, he turned around and found Greg wheezing and gasping like he had just ran marathon.
"Geez Greg what did you do run all the way here?"
Nick joked as he turned back to the evidence before him and resumed taking pictures.
"You could say that. You said you found something?"
Greg walked over to Nick and stood beside him.
"Yeah, looks like someone had an obsession with numbers. Thing that I don't get is if the numbers are just random or if they mean something"
Greg examined the wall and froze when he saw a familiar set of numbers, his own. These #'s were shifter's phone #'s and social security #'s. How Tina had gotten this information eluded him but then again his private information is located on several different computers so she could have gotten it anywhere.
"Greg? You still with me?" a rough shake of his shoulder knocked him out of his stupor and he realized that Nick had been trying to talk to him.
"Yeah. I must have zoned out, I have a lot on my mind" and boy did he.
"I was just saying that we should get back to the lab and get these #'s processed. See if they mean anything" Nick repeated wondering what was going on in that ex-lab rat's head.
"Sure. Let's get going"
Greg took one last look at the wall then helped Nick picked up the bags of evidence, along with their kits and walked out of the apartment.
Nick and Greg walked out of the building with their collected evidence and headed over to their separate cars. Nick looked at Greg curiously as he hastily pulled the right sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt down over his arm and for the first time Nick wondered why he was wearing a long sleeved shirt in the middle of the Summer when normally he would be seen wearing one of his crazy band T-Shirts.
"Hey Greg what's with the winter get up?" Nick asked as he put his kit and evidence in the back of his car and closed the door as he patiently waited for Greg to answer him.
Greg placed his kit in the back of his Denali, closed the door and hesitantly turned around to face Nick. He nervously played with a loose strand of thread from the ending of his shirt and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
"The rest of my clothes were dirty and I really didn't feel like putting on an infestation of unclean particles" he replied hoping Nick would drop the subject.
Nick noted the nervous habits Greg was exhibiting and could tell by the way he avoided eye contact that he was lying, for as long as Nick had known him Greg had always been a terrible liar. Yes he had just pulled a full on Grissom.
"You're lying. What's really going on? You look like you've just committed a crime" Nick commented, moving closer towards the cowardly young man.
'Not yet, but I will" Greg wanted to say but instead settled for backing away from the intimidating man before him.
"You sure you're feeling good enough to work? Because if your not you should really be at home so you don't get any worse" Greg would have been flattered that Nick showed so much concern for his well being but right now he really wished that Nick would just let his obvious unwellness go.
"I'm good Nick, lets just get this stuff back to the lab before Griss gets on our cases about taking too long" Greg tried to walk past Nick but Nick wanted the truth so he grabbed Greg by the right sleeve and in the process, with Greg struggling out of his grip, he managed to rip the sleeve off.
Greg and Nick stood in shock over what had just happened. "I'm sorry Greg, I didn't mean to do that I'll-"
Nick stopped talking when he saw the tattoo on Greg's forearm. Greg followed Nick's train of sight and was horrified that the tattoo had been revealed.
"Greg where did you get that?" Nick asked, an image of the victim's tattoo coming to mind.
Greg's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. He didn't know how to answer this, he had been caught and the only weak lie he could come up with was that he had drawn it so that he would remember what the tat looked like but that was what pictures were for and he wasn't that good of a drawer anyway. Nick took a step towards him.
"The tattoo is exactly the same as the tattoo found on Tina Lothspiech. Why do you have that tattoo Greg, did you know her?" now Nick was in full on interrogation mode.
"No I didn't know her and I don't know why we have the same tattoo. I was drunk when I got it and its green so it wouldn't come off even if I had it removed" Greg was surprised that he had managed to keep his poker face on, he actually believed it himself now he only had to hope that Nick believed him too.
Nick appeared to be thinking over what he had just been told and through his mind flipped through all the doubts he had about it. He knew that they had gotten pretty wasted last night, he had paid for that this morning but they had been nowhere near a tattoo parlor, as far as he knew and Greg seemed to be clear minded enough to notice that a needle was being punctured into his skin. But then again maybe he had been drunk enough not to have felt anything, it could explain why he was late coming into work because he was not only wracked with a hangover but also the embarrassment of having a tattoo.
"Okay, it's a sketchy excuse but I'll take it. I'm sorry about the shirt by the way, I'll buy you a new one," he promised.
Greg smiled and shook his head
"s'okay this shirt was getting old anyway" Greg replied casually taking the torn sleeve from Nick's hand and stuffing it in his pocket.
Nick looked at him quizzically
"could come in use later" Greg explained. Nick nodded his head, although he still found it a little strange.
"I'll see you at the lab then" Nick turned and walked back over to his car and got inside. From his rearview mirror he watched as Greg got into his car and once he was behind the wheel Nick turned the ignition on and pulled away from the curb.
Further on down the road he watched Greg's car in his rearview mirror to make sure that he hadn't lost him in traffic, the other reason he was keeping such a close eye on Greg was because he was concerned about the younger man.
Nobody, and defiantly not his parents knew that he was gay. He had been playing the role of a straight man for many years, flirting with attractive woman and even going so far as to go out with them that usually ended with a kiss goodnight and the disappointed looks on the girl's faces. Obviously they were helping for something more but he just wasn't feeling it. Over the years of playing a straight man he had earned the title of a ladies man. Nick's real fantasy belonged to Greg, and Greg alone. From the moment he first saw the spunky blond he had been head over heels in love but Greg Sanders was such a ladies man himself, always having stories to tell about past conquests of the opposite sex that there was no way that Greg would ever be interested in him. But that didn't mean he didn't hope that maybe he was wrong and they were both waiting for the other to admit his feelings first.
He looked back at his mirror after his zoning out and he panicked when he saw Greg's car swerve and narrowly miss ramming into the side of another car. The angry driver of the car honked and flipped Greg off as he sped off, going well over the speed limit.
Greg had been driving in his car behind Nick when the vibrating pain behind his eyes returned and his vision became distorted. He tried to keep his car in control but the tires veered off track and it was only when a car angrily looked at him that he whipped back into place but his head was killing him and his vision was bad enough that he was forced to squint and signal that he was pulling over He carefully steered his car out of traffic and into a parking lot for a cockroach hotel. Nick pulled in beside him and got out of his car. Greg remained seated and gripped the steering wheel in an attempt to get a grip on the pain.
Nick got out of his car and hurried over to Greg's window. When he was close enough he saw that Greg was gripping the steering wheel like it was lifeline and his face was distorted in pain. He tapped on the window in an attempt to get his attention but Greg just stared ahead and if anything his grip on the wheel increased.
"Greg? Are you okay?"
When he received no answer he tried banging on the door and pulling at the handling.
"Open the door Greg!"
He shouted with another pound on the window. To an outsider this would look like somebody trying to steal a car and to add to his problems he saw that he had attracted an audience and he quickly had to do damage control. He took out his badge and showed it to them.
"I'm with Crime Lab. There's nothing to see here folks so move along"
As expected no one left some even took out their phones and started taking pictures. Didn't these people have lives? He turned back to Greg and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that Greg appeared to be having a seizure. He was thrashing about in the car, knocking his head against the headrest and his eyes were rolled back into his skull.
No longer caring about keeping the car in tact Nick moved over to the window of the backseats, lifted his right elbow and rammed it in again and again until he had created a hole big enough to put his hand through and unlock the door. His elbow was killing him and the little shards of glass embedded in his skin stung like hell but his own injuries could wait because all he was about was Greg. Nick leaned over and unbuckled Greg's seatbelt then unlocked his door and quickly got out.
He opened Greg's door and carefully pulled out Greg's still writhering form then put him on the concrete and quickly took off his TAC vest since it was the only considerably soft thing he had and laid it under Greg's head so he would bash his head on the hard road floor. He reached into Greg's car and got on his radio.
"This is CSI Stokes my partner, CSI Sanders is in critical condition and is in need of medical assistance!"
Sorry this took so long to update but I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you want more your going to have to review!