Fic: Soaps R Us, Chapter 22 (CSI, Ryan / Eric, Nick / Greg, Flack / Hawkes, Speed)
Title: Soaps R Us, Chapter 22
Pairing: Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders,
Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko,
Don Flack / Sheldon Hawkes
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Summery: Daytime soap Lights of Vegas has a new head writer. Life and fiction don’t always mix nicely, and the line between the two can be very narrow.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 (NC-17)
Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Chapter 21
CSI Las Vegas Main List CSI Miami Main List CSI New York Main List
“Gummy bear?” Greg offered. “If I didn’t have my Scandinavian digestion I would weight four hundred pounds by now.”
“If you were a normal person you’d be throwing up by now.” Nick corrected. “That’s the fourth bag of those.”
“If I don’t eat, I talk. Which one would you prefer?”
“I’ll go get you some more candy, I have to make some calls anyway.” Nick got up and headed to the front door. “Speed’s been calling me.”
He pushed the door open and almost ran into a blond man coming in. He walked outside and pulled out his phone. Speed answered after one ring.
“Stokes? You better have a good excuse for this.”
“Speed-”
“There’s only three acceptable reasons to ignore your buddy. It’s allowed if you’re about to get laid, getting laid or recovering after getting laid. Which one was it this time?”
“None of them, I’m in the hospital.”
“You got hurt while getting laid?”
“Can you lay the laying to rest for a minute?”
“I’ve been rehearsing my monologue all day. Hour after hour, repeating text about the wonders of male parts….. By the time the play opens I’ll be ready for the loonie bin.”
“Someone’s in the hospital because some burglar put a hole in his head. Not exactly the right time for that talk.”
“Burglar?”
“Yeah. Ryan caught him in Greg’s office, we’re waiting to hear how he’s doing.”
“Sorry.” Speed sounded like an embarrassed child. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay, everyone’s on the edge. Flack’s sorting things out with the cops at the studio.”
“You want me to come there?”
“Here? Don’t bother, we’re just waiting. Or in Greg’s case, waiting and eating more candy than average kid eats in three months.”
“Come on, man. Say yes.”
“Why do you even want to come here in the middle of the night?”
“I’ve been rehearsing my part to keep my thoughts away from food. If I don’t have anything to do I’ll start binging again.”
“Fine, come here if it makes you feel better.”
“Great. I’ll just get my helmet and I’m on my way.”
“I thought police confiscated your bike after that thing with Mel’s Angels.”
“They did, but I’ll get it back when I’ve paid my fines. And I was talking about my new helmet, I bought myself roller-skates.”
“Why?”
“I’m combining exercise and saving on gas.”
“Speed…. are you sure you’re not taking that whole dieting too far?”
“I told you I wanna knock that reporters teeth in with my tight ass.”
“Don’t put it like that.”
“The creep called them "whale-like curves"! That’s not a compliment.”
“Yeah, but you don’t need to get so worked up about it. He’s just one critic, maybe others will be gentler.”
“I don’t want gentle, I want wolf whistles. I’ll be there in… Where exactly are you?”
“At the university hospital.”
“Forget it, I’ll take a cab and skate on the parking lot. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
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“It’s wasn’t as bad as it looked.” The doctor explained. “Blood made it appear pretty gruesome. He has a concussion and some stitches. If everything goes well, he should be well enough to be released tomorrow.”
“Thanks, doc.” Greg said. “Can we see him now? Well, not him but me. And that raving Cuban from the basement.”
“Who’s this one?”
“That?” Greg looked at the man hovering behind his back, listening to their conversation. “Just a cop, ignore him.”
“Detective Dawson, LAPD.” Detective introduced. “I was just checking some things with Mr. Sanders.”
“I see. I think I should warn you: If you were hoping to talk to Mr. Wolfe tonight, you’ll have to wait. He’s conscious, but not well enough for that. We’ll give him some more pain medication so he can rest.”
“Thank you.” Greg turned to Dawson. “You gonna wait here?”
“I still need to ask some questions, but I can wait.”
“Good, because I need a guard.” He shoved a half-eaten bag of gummy bears into the man’s hand. “Guard them with your life, I’ve seen Nick eying them. I’ll be back when Ryan’s gone to the La-La-Land.”
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“They’re done with the room.” Don walked into Hawkes`s office. “Cleaning crew will come in the morning.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“What?”
“It’s already out there.” Hawkes flipped his laptop around so Don could see the site. “Forget magazines, when gossip hits the web it starts a life of its own. They made the connection between the murders of BoaVista and Robinson and this thing.”
“How did they do that when even we don’t know for sure what the connection is?”
“Neither do they, but they know something fishy is going on and two people are dead. Speculation starts and then it’s impossible to stop.”
“What’s the latest?”
“According to one site, the same guy who killed those two mixed up Ryan and Greg and attacked the wrong man.”
“I don’t buy that.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. Sara said she heard Ryan going upstairs and few minutes later someone comes down the stairs. Ryan walked into the room and someone knocks him on the head with that lamp.”
“I’m not following.”
“It doesn’t take that much time to pick up a lamp and swing it. The guy had time to finish the job, but he didn’t. He whacked him once and took off.”
“Greg took Robinson’s material to the storage before he left.” Sheldon leaned back in his chair. “The guy thought they were still in his room.”
“That means it’s someone close.” Don added. “Not that many people knew that the stuff had been released.” He let out a deep sigh and headed out again.
“I though you were ready to leave.”
“Not yet.” Don turned at the door. “I wanna have a word with the guy who was making rounds on the premises when it happened.”
“Don-”
“We knew that creep was someone here in the studio, but still that son of a bitch managed to surprise us. He’s not doing that again.”
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“So….” Dawson started awkwardly. Both he and Nick seemed equally uncomfortable in the continuing silence. “You’re an actor.”
“Yep. And you’re a cop.”
“Yeah. How long have you been… you know… acting?”
“Quite a while. How long have you been with the police force?”
“A while.”
The silence returned.
“This is probably the most uncomfortable situation I’ve been in a while.” Nick finally said. “Coffee?”
“From that machine? No thanks. I spend a day here last month waiting for our eye-witness to wake up, almost ended up with an ulcer.”
“Gummy bear?” Nick pointed at the bag.
“I’m supposed to guard them with my life.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”
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Greg leaned against the wall and waited till a burly security guard escorted Eric into the hallway.
“Need a feather duster?”
“You got one?”
“Nope. You look like you made out with a haunted house.”
“Someone should send health inspectors to check that place, we’re in a hospital! I swear I saw rats down there.”
“You wanna go in or not?”
“Have you been in there?”
“No, I thought he probably wants to see you first.”
Greg pushed the door open and Eric walked in. Ryan’s eyes were closed, but his lips were moving. Eric leaned over him to whisper in his ear.
“Querido?”
“Eric? I have to tell you something…” Ryan forced his eyes open. His voice was a faint croak. “Next time… we better move the bed away from the wall, because my head hurts like hell.”
Eric stared at him like he had just lost his mind.
“That was a joke.”
“Of course it was.” Eric chuckled. “You got knocked on the noggin by a two time murderer, of course you’re joking. Makes perfect sense.”
“Eric…?”
“Yeah?”
“Is it my concussion playing tricks on me or is there a centipede hanging from your ear?”
Chapter 23