Rise of the Grasshopper – Part 7 out of 8

By Ms. Maggs

Author's Note: I intended to finish on vacation and post, but I left my lap top charger cord at home! I just got back and I'm posting what I have. I will have to write a Part 8 to conclude. Sorry for the wait!

Nude and speechless, Greg sought cover in the water with Nick.

"We really don't have to make a big deal out of this," Catherine said, hoping they could somehow gloss over the incident and get right to work.

"I think we do," Nick snapped.

"We do?" Still buzzing from the whiskey, Greg turned to his boyfriend for the logical explanation he couldn't find on his own. "Why?"

Shock rapidly turning into anger, Nick barked, "Because she invaded my privacy, that's why! And it's not the first damn time."

"Are we still pissed about that?" Catherine stuffed her hands on her hips and glared at her peeved friend as he clung to the pool wall. "That stupid forensics conference was how many years ago? And it wasn't my fault you forgot to lock the adjoining door when you had a guest."

"You were supposed to knock first!"

"I did knock! And like I've explained many times, I thought you were yelling 'come in'." Having no time to waste, she pleaded, "You know I wouldn't have shown up here if I thought you had company, but after that Academy Award worthy acting performance you gave on the phone – hacking a lung and telling me you have strep throat, I really thought you were sick." Holding up the Martinez file, she snipped, "I came here to save your ass, not see it poolside. If I don't have this file on Ecklie's desk in an hour, he's going to take disciplinary action."

Remembering that he was supposed to have the Martinez file completed for Ecklie's meeting, Nick's ire dissipated. "Okay…but you coulda called first."

"I called ten times and left ten messages."

Greg reminded him, "You turned your phone off."

"Right." Anger morphing into embarrassment, Nick averted his eyes. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Really." Hoping humor would cut through the awkwardness, Catherine announced, "It was hardly shocking. I've assumed the two of you were together for a while. Honestly, the only thing I saw that surprised me was the Norwegian's lack of foreskin."

Greg mumbled, "As if my overly protective mother would have let me keep it."

"So we're good here?" Catherine asked with a hopeful lilt in her voice.

The private man anxiously said, "I don't know. Are we? Are you gonna tell Vartann about us?"

"Nicky, I grew up in Vegas, took my clothes off for cash, and I work in Law Enforcement – how can you possibly think I'm that naïve? I know we don't work in a gay-friendly environment. Hell, I'm still waiting for it to be a female friendly environment. If Lou's crusty cronies are giving me shit on a daily basis, I know they'd have a field day with this." Sighing, she shook her head. "Even if Lou asked, I wouldn't tell. I may be in a joint venture with him, but you're family."

"A joint venture?" Greg chuckled at the term. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

"It's a long story," Catherine replied through a smirk.

"Okay. We're good." Nick breathed a little easier. "But joking about this is off limits."

"You wish." Catherine burst out laughing. "You're family! That means I'm obligated to taunt you and make you miserable. Ask Lindsay if you don't believe me." Strolling over to the patio table she said, "You have exactly five minutes to take care of business and report to work." Snickering, she grabbed the pizza box. "I'd give you the customary fifteen, but I'm in a rush and I figure you had a head start."

Nick rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to go?" Greg vulnerably asked once Catherine was inside the house. "I mean, I don't want to go, but I'll understand if it's too weird to walk in there together after being caught."

"We have to face her tonight at the lab."

"True."

Nick filled his lungs with air and contemplated the situation. "Honestly, the longer we wait the more awkward it'll be so we may as well get it over with and it's not like she's in shock since she already thought we were together."

"That was kinda cool to hear actually." Greg rationalized, "It makes me believe that it's plausible for us to be together and not just some impossible fantasy only in my head."

Nick faced his anxious boyfriend and slipped his arms around his waist. "I want you to stay." After making sure Catherine wasn't watching from a window, he cupped Greg's face and planted a reassuring kiss on his lips. "I just hope she didn't hear me bein' Pablo the pool boy."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed." Greg's goofy grin returned. "Your 'let's see how smart you are' line was inspired. Seriously, the whole experience was exponentially hotter than the original."

"Really?" Nick bashfully confessed, "I only tried that kind of thing once before and hated every second of it, but with you it was honestly kinda fun…except the getting caught part."

"At least it wasn't my parents that caught us."

"Or worse." Nick hopped out of the pool and exchanged his soaking wet jeans for a towel. "My parents." He grabbed a second towel and tossed it to Greg. "Let's hurry. I don't want to give CSI Willows time to find any incriminating evidence."

"Uh…" Greg frantically cinched the towel around his waist. "Remember when I couldn't find a tissue or anything to put the used…"

Nick rushed for the door clutching his towel, but it was too late, Catherine was already staring at the evidence of safe sex floating in a whiskey glass.

"Classy, Nicky." Still holding the pizza, she teased, "I think I'll skip asking for a plate and just eat from the box."

"Sorry." Greg hurried over and grabbed the glass from the coffee table, hiding it behind his back. "I thought it was better than taking it off and leaving it on the floor."

"You were wearing it?" Catherine blurted with genuine surprise in her voice. "That's a drastically different scenario than the one I walked in on at the forensics conference."

"Uh." While his boyfriend stared at the ceiling and shook his head, Greg scurried to pick up their discarded underwear. "Kitchen table's a safe zone!"

"Really?" Catherine pondered the statement and scanned the room. "Would you be offended if I grabbed my ALS to make sure?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "If you need me to focus on the case, you really should stop torturing me."

"And if you need me to focus, you'll both need to put on some clothes."

"Figures," Greg huffed as he turned for the bedroom. "I threw myself at her for years but now that I'm off the market she wants to peep." He mumbled to Nick, "I guess being in a joint venture means you can still check out other guys."

Strutting toward the kitchen she set the record straight. "If I ever stop checking out guys, you better check for a pulse!

His heart pounding in his chest, Hodges raced into the ER and rushed over to the information desk. "I'm here to see Wendy Simms. She was injured on the job and brought in by ambulance."

"And you are?" Betty, the silver-haired triage nurse, calmly inquired.

Still trying to catch his breath, he flashed his ID.

"And your relationship to the patient is?"

"I'm her…her um…" Since they had never formally discussed official titles, he only felt comfortable sticking to the facts. "I'm her co-worker…and her friend. A very good friend…a close friend….a very good close friend and a concerned co-worker."

"Got it." Betty checked her computer. "I'll look up her curtain number."

"I need to run to the Gift Shop before I see her." Still shaking, he glanced around looking for a sign. "Do you know if they sell daffodils?"

"I doubt it, because most 'very good close friends' that come rushing into the ER to breathlessly ask about their co-workers want to buy red roses."

"But Wendy isn't a normal girl." When he saw the nurse's reaction, he rephrased, "I mean she's not the kind of woman who likes red roses, chocolate, and dinner in a fancy restaurant. She's different…special." His lips spreading into a smile, he waxed on. "One of a kind."

"She's fine." Henry grinned as he walked over to his co-worker. "Fiiiiiine," he teased, finally getting some payback for the torture Hodges had put him through on the night he was supposed to be wining and dining Wendy. "I always suspected she was hiding an amazing body under that mundane lab coat. The only thing that shocked me during our quality time in that steamy decontamination shower was her tattoo."

"Tattoo?" Hodges gaped at his beaming co-worker. "She has a tattoo? Where?"

"How could miss it?" Realizing that his co-worker had never seen Simms sans clothing, Henry explicitly said, "It's right above her cra…" Noticing the elderly nurse who reminded him of his mother, he took Hodges by the arm and whispered as they walked. "It's centered on her lower back…the very low portion of her lower back. I noticed it as soon as they had her bend over in front of me. I don't think she noticed me gaping at her though because she was too busy checking me out. Those power showers are really stimulating for a guy, but since I have nothing to be embarrassed about below the waist I didn't feel self-conscious. In case she's still moaning my name when you see her, that's why." Feigning concern, he said, "Uh oh…I think I better go find a vomit basin because suddenly you're looking very green."

"Veggie?" Lifting her gaze from the pizza box, Catherine smiled at Nick. "I thought you liked meat?"

Ignoring the jab, he pointed to the wall clock. "Tick tock. Ecklie's on the war path."

"Right." As much as she hated to get down to business, she slid the file across the table. "You do the summary while I ask you questions and when Greg works up the nerve to join us, he can make sure the file and the photos are in order."

"Sounds good," Nick replied while grabbing a slice.

"So when exactly did you guys hook up?"

"I thought you were gonna ask me questions about the case." Nick walked to the fridge for a cold beer.

"After we lost Warrick, right?" Her tone turned bittersweet. "That would be my guess, because we all saw life a little differently after that."

"If I tell you, do ya promise to drop it and work on the case?"

"Yeah."

After a swig, he took a seat and answered truthfully. "Yesterday. That's why I lied about us bein' sick. It caught us off guard, it was a little overwhelming and we wanted some time to deal with everything." He quietly said, "That's why I got so pissed at you for showing up."

"Hey." Trying to act as comfortable as possible, Greg took a seat at the table and eagerly asked, "How can I help with the case file?"

Feeling bad for interrupting what was obviously a pretty big deal, Catherine stood and picked up the folder. "I changed my mind. Ecklie needs to understand that I won't work my team to death. We're employees, not slaves. It's not our fault the budget is shot and we can't staff properly." Heading for the door she said, "Don't worry about Ecklie, Nicky. I'll take full responsibility for the file."

Appreciating the gesture, Nick smiled, "Thanks, Cath."

"Save it." Smiling, she twisted the knob without looking back. "Now you both owe me."

ANs:

I'll write Part 8 after I settle in from vacation :)

Thanks for reading!

Maggs