Fic: Soaps R Us, Chapter 23 (CSI, Ryan / Eric, Nick / Greg, Flack / Hawkes, Speed, Dawson)
Title: Soaps R Us, Chapter 23
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 Chapter 22
CSI Las Vegas Main List CSI Miami Main List CSI New York Main List
“Stop me, stop me. Somebody stop me!”
Nick got up from the bench in time to gab the Speed on wheels. Speed hung on to Nick like his life depended on it while his legs were sliding to all possible directions.
“It’s not as easy as it looks!”
“Why didn’t you take those of when you came in?” Nick shoved him down to the bench.
“I thought I should practise my speeding.”
“You should focus on your stopping, you can hurt yourself. Not to mention other people.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take them off.” Speed leaned down to pull off the rollerblades. “Have you heard anything?”
“He’s conscious, Greg and Eric are in there now.”
“Great, hold these for me.” He shoved the rollerblades over to Nick and leaped up again. “My training schedule says I need to stay in continuous motion. I didn’t my butt exercises in the cab.”
“You have a training schedule?”
“And a trainer too. Well, actually he’s my neighbour, but he did the plan for me.”
“Is he a professional?”
“Trainer? No, but he’s really professional in other stuff. He’s a stripper at the Burly Boyz. If you need me I’ll be in the stairs.”
“Stairs?”
“Yeah, it’s the best workout for thighs. And by the way, my trainer said I have really good calfs.”
“That’s…. a compliment. I think….”
“I wondered about that too, but I decided to be positive.”
“I found the cafeteria.” Dawson came back carrying two cups of coffee. “This might actually be safe to drink.”
“Thanks, I need that.” Nick took the cup. “Speed, detective Dawson. Dawson, Timothy Speedle.”
“Nice to meet you, gotta go.” Speed sped away to the stairs.
“I’ve seen him somewhere.” Dawson stated. “Has he ever been arrested for soliciting?”
“Not as far as I know.” Nick smirked. “He was in a sit-com couple centuries ago.”
“Right, I remember now.” The detectives face brightened. “Little Timmy.”
“Well, he’s not so little anymore. One critic compared him to a whale and now he’s jumping up and down the stairs to get the buns of steels.”
“Why?” Dawson eyed the figure bouncing back and forth on the stairs. “Man’s have to have something to grab.”
“You too?”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Nick chuckled. “But if this trend continues, the ladies of L.A. will have very slim pickings.”
“No idea what you’re talking about. I’ll go ask for an autograph.”
“Do that, you’ll save his day.”
Dawson emptied his cup and got ready to leave.
“Dawson?”
“Yeah?”
“While you’re at it, say something nice about his calfs.”
“Why?”
“Trust me, he’ll like it.”
-------------------------------------------
“How are you feeling?”
Hawkes turned to look at Greg, who was currently sitting on the edge of his desk. He looked more awake than anyone should have a right to be after just few hours of sleep. Only sign of the restless nigh was his shirt. He was still wearing the same wrinkled dress-shirt he had been wearing the day before
“Fine, thanks for asking.”
“Too bad, we’re going to see a doctor.”
“We?”
“I’m not going there alone, that woman gives me the creeps.”
“Doctor Miller? What’s creepy about her?”
“What kind of a doctor keeps skulls on her desk so you have to look at it every time you go to her office? It just sits there on the desk, staring at you….”
“Teri Miller is perfectly competent physician. If she has a weird taste in decorations I’ll just ignore it.”
“Has she invited you to your prostate check yet?”
“No….”
“She demanded that I go there for a full check-up when I started here. Skulls everywhere and cold hands.”
“My prostate is just fine, thank you.”
“Doesn’t matter, I just want some moral support.”
“For what?”
“I started thinking about Robinson’s notes. Some of them were pretty old, he probably collected material for that article for a long time.”
“Before he was let go.”
“Yeah. If he worked on it here in his office, he may have left something behind.”
“Don’t you think someone would have thrown them away by now?”
“It’s worth asking.” Greg shrugged. “Even if it means a trip to see La Dame aux Crâne.”
-------------------------------------------
“Morning.”
Eric tried to shake himself awake, but the pain in his neck made him moan when he tired to get up.
“That’s what happens when you sleep in a chair.” Ryan stated and continued scribbling on a notepad. “If you ask nicely I may give you my second toast.”
“What time is it?”
“Around nine.”
“In the morning?”
“In the morning, and Greg has already come and gone, you’re not going to work today. He said they’d reschedule.”
“How long have you been awake?”
“Since seven. One of the nurses got me some pen and paper.”
“What are you writing?”
“Nothing. I just can’t make any sense of it. Little pieces of memory here and there but they don’t fit together. And this headache doesn’t help much.”
“That may have something to do with our concussion. Or the stitches.”
“I know, but I can’t focus. My mind keeps going from one thing to another and I can’t focus on any of them. I thought maybe writing things down would help.”
“What do you got so far?”
“Just words.” Ryan handed the notepad to Eric.
“Keys, streetlights, carpet, sound, closed door, shoes, sound…. You got sound here twice.”
“Yeah, there was something I can’t put my finger on…. I know I’m missing something, but I can’t figure out what it is.”
“Let’s go through them together. Keys. You opened the door with your own keys.”
“Right.”
“And streetlight. If the lights are off, the streetlights would light up the room a little bit.”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you write closed door?”
“That’s the last thing I remember. Laying on the carpet and that sound and then shoes.”
“Shoes?”
“Feet walking away from me. And then the sound of the being opened and closed. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t think and I just stared.”
“Is that when you heard that sound?”
“Yeah. It think they were footsteps.”
“You know, I still got the number for my hypno-therapist if you wanna try it.”
“Why do you have a number for a hypno-therapist?”
“I wanted to remember a one night stand.”
“Dumb question….”
“But that wasn’t why I went there. I couldn’t figure out where I parked my car. We took his car when we left the bar and-”
“Eric.”
“I’ll shut up now.”
“Thanks. Maybe I should ask the nurse to bring you something sedative.”
“And more toast.” Eric tore a piece from the toast and started chewing. “And coffee would be nice.”
“They’re nurses not waitresses-” Ryan’s face went oddly expressionless. “The nurses.”
“What about them?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out, it was all so foggy and-”
“Ryan, what do you remember?”
“The sound. Footsteps.”
Eric leaned closer and waited.
“That sound.” Ryan repeated. “Heels. They were woman’s shoes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. I saw them in front of me when she dropped that lamp.” Ryan took a breath. “It was a woman.”
Chapter 24