Title: Two on the Couch, Chapter 2/4 (CSI, Nick Stokes/ Greg Sanders)
Title: Two on the Couch, Chapter 2/4
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Nick Stokes/ Greg Sanders
Disclaimer: Not mine etc.
Feedback: Makes the World Turn
Chapter 1/4
“You look like you could use some good news.” Warrick commented and sat down
next to Nick. “What was the vics profession?”
“Interior designer, why?”
“We identified the pills from her nightstand. They were sleeping pills.”
“She didn’t die from them. What’s the catch?”
“That medicine was approved just last month. It’s in production, but not
yet on the market.”
“So, she got them from somebody in the manufacturing company.”
“But it gets better. The post showed, that the victim didn’t use them.”
“So, maybe someone who stayed at her place left them behind.”
“Yep. And Brass called, they found the car, that was parked in front of her
apartment that night. It was sold at a used car sale. You’ll take the med
company?”
“Why can’t I take the car dealer?”
Warrick chuckled. “This is Sin City, not Dallas. I’ll handle it and you’ll take
the medicine company.”
“Fine. Which one?”
“Red Line Pharmaceutical.”
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It happened when Nick was waiting at the reception for the little old lady behind
the counter to finish her phone call. His eyes wondered around the lobby and spotted
a familiar pair of brown eyes. His face had lost some of it’s roundness, and looked
a bit more angular, and his hair was now light brown and little bit curly, but it was
definitely him. Without thinking about it Nick walked closer and tapped him gently
on his shoulder.
“Nick?” Greg stared at Nick and Nick stared at Greg. “What are you doing here?”
“That should be my line. I thought you were in Chicago!”
“I was, I moved back couple months ago.”
“You live here now? In Vegas?”
“Yeah. A guy retired here and they wanted to handle in as an in-house transfer,
and they offered it to me.” Greg paused for a minute. “I kinda wondered if I
would run into you.”
“Well, you just did. Are you gonna run away again?”
“Probably better if we don’t dwell into that topic in the middle of the lobby.”
“Probably… can we…” Nick wasn’t sure what to say. “Can we meet? Dinner
or something?”
Greg though about it. “Actually… What time does your shift end?”
“In..” Nick looked at his watch. “Two hours.”
“Well, how about lunch in two and a half. Lunch for me and a breakfast for you.”
Nick couldn’t control the wide grin that took over his face. “Great. You want
me to pick you up from here?”
“I could meet you in the parking lot.” Greg suggested.
“Good.” Nick sighed. “Where do you want to-”
“Mr. Stokes, it’s very impolite to keep an old woman waiting!” the receptionist
had finished her phone call. She was now shooting angry looks at Nick, and
seemed to enjoy it.
“You should go before she starts throwing knitting needles at you. One of the
lab assistants still has scars from them.” Greg smirked. “I’ll see you later.”
Nick walked back to the counter and twisted his head to get one more look at
Greg. He was already walking briskly down the corridor, and Nick could see
just the back of his head and his lab coat.
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“You wanna tell me about it?” Warrick pulled out a fresh shirt from his locker
and started pulling off the old one.
“Tell you about what?” Nick pulled his head out of his turtleneck.
“Tell me about whatever happened during the last few hours. Your acting weird.”
“What do you mean `weird`”?
“Your in a good mood, your in a hurry to leave… Basically your acting like yourself.
Before the whole thing, I mean. So what happened?”
“Nothing big.” Nick grinned. “You’ll never guess who I ran into at the Red Line.”
“I’m supposed to meet Tina in half an hour, I don’t have time for guessing games.
Who was it?”
“Greg.”
“Greg?” Warrick though about it for a minute. “Sanders? From DNA?”
“Yep.”
“I though he went back to San Francisco.”
“Chicago. He got transferred back here couple months ago.”
“So, he’s been back here for two months?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s funny. Usually stuff like that would be all over lab. I haven’t heard
anyone talking about it.”
“I wondered about that too. I don’t know if anyone from the lab even knew he
was moving back. Anyway, were going for lunch.”
“Well, tell him I said hey.”
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“Nick, your staring.” Greg cut a big slice from his stack of pancakes and
shoved it to his mouth.
“Sorry, I’m still getting used to your hair. What happened to the spikes?”
“Getting up in the morning. That’s why I loved the nightshift. Anyway, I didn’t
wanna get up early just to do my hair, so I decided to go natural.”
“It looks good on you.”
“Thanks. So… What about you?”
“I’m not sure where to start…”
“If you mean the `premature burial` thing, I read about it. How are you dealing?”
“I’m… working on it.” Nick was quiet for a minute. “You remember when we
were in the locker room, before you left?”
“How could I forget?” Greg gave him a small smile.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Nicky, if I were mad at you, I wouldn’t be here with you now.”
“Good… I wanted to tell you that… that I really wanted to say it.”
“Say what?”
“Something. To make you stay. I wanted to say it, but I couldn’t get it out.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Nick raised his eyes from his own hands to Greg’s eyes. “Is it too late?”
Greg didn’t say anything. He just looked at Nick like he had gotten lost in his
thoughts. Then he smiled. “No.”
He got up and picked few notes from his pocket and left them next to his plate.
“Are you going?” Nick looked at him surprised.
“I got to go back to work.” Greg explained. He placed a piece of paper in front
of Nick. Small paper with a phone number on it.
“Last time I made the first move.” Greg grabbed his coat. “It’s your turn now.”
He turned around and walked out of the diner.
TBC