Fic: Behind The Scenes, Chapter 41 (CSI, Nick / Greg, Flack / Hawkes)
Title: Behind the Scenes, Chapter 41
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: Six months later. Some things have changed, some things are exactly the same.
Sequel to Soaps R Us:
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 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Epilogue
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 (NC-17) Chapter 5 (NC-17) Chapter 6 (NC-17) Chapter 7 (NC-17) Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 (NC-17) Chapter 17 (NC-17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 (NC-17) Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 (NC-17) Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40
“I think I’m going crazy…” Greg groaned. He had invaded most of Nick’s dressing room and the Texan was currently twisting and turning to get himself into his costume without kicking or knocking down the high stacks of letters and papers that seemed to be on every available surfaces.
“So am I.” He slipped into his shirt. “Why can’t you do that in your office?”
“Because I’m not going into that rat nest voluntarily, no matter how long it takes to re-built the studios. I think someone used that room to smoke fish.”
“Then why can’t you work from home, you don’t even need to come here for that.”
“Yeah, but I thought you’ll probably need some of my charming company to get you through the day.”
“Right now I can’t even get through the room. Do you really need all that stuff?”
“Yeah, I’m doing a live web cast for our official website next week, answering questions from the viewers. I gotta go through the questions I wanna answer and then find some answers. That’s why this is here.” He tapped the folder in front of him. It was shoved full of papers, notes, and it’s whole content seemed to try to escape from their confines.
“What is that?”
“The Show Bible.”
“I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never actually seen it.” Nick mused. “Is it really all in there?”
“Yep. Every characters past, all the ret-cons, little details, and everything else a writer needs. Not that even this tomb could help with these questions.”
“Are they that bad?”
“Listen to this.” Greg picked one of the letters. “In May 1997 when Janet first arrived to the company, brought in by George (the first one, not the current one) to sabotage the company, she made several phone call to unknown woman. The female was never shown, just a distorted voice and a hand picking up the phone. After few weeks the phone calls stopped and the woman was never mentioned again. Who was she and why did she disappear?”
“Did you find an answer for that?”
“Yeah.” Greg dumped the letter to the trashcan. “Grissom was planning to reveal the woman later, she was supposed to be Willows’s stepsister. Their dad had abandoned her mom decades ago and now she wanted to avenge by destroying the company. The actress they wanted turned it down, and Grissom didn’t wanna take another actress to do it, so the whole storyline was just scrapped.”
“Do people actually remember that far back?”
“These people remember everything. When Valera’s characters brother was written in, his last name was Lumley. The next week the writing team got a load of letters asking if he and Valera had a different father.”
“Why?”
“She has used her married name from the start, even thought she’s been married six or seven times, but in the beginning someone mentioned that her maiden name was Ashford. That’s how well the soap nuts remember these things.”
------------------------------------------
“I forgot what it’s like to spend the whole day behind a desk…” Hawkes groaned and stood up. Don gave him an amused look and walked in, carrying few cartons of take-out.
“How do you like the temporary spaces?”
“Can’t wait to get out of here.” Hawkes took one of the cartons and sat down again. “I think this place was originally a broom closet.”
“You’ll value your old room more when you finally get back.” Don laughed. “And I made some inquiries, this wasn’t a broom closet.”
“Then what?”
“See the stuff on the walls? The lighter patch where they took something off?”
“Yeah…”
“According to the janitor, that’s where the urinal used to be.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No. They redecorated the old men’s room just for you.”
“Who’s they? And do you got a gun…?”
“Be fair, you weren’t supposed to come back to work for another three weeks. They thought they would have most of the old studios in some kind of operating order. This was an emergency solution.”
“Did they say when we can move back?”
“Well…” Don sat down carefully on the edge of the desk. “The soundstages got away without damages, it’s just a question of other spaces. I hear they should have maybe seventy percent of the spaces ready by the time we’ll go back. After that everyone just gotta wait and try to compromise. Are you sure this thing can handle my weight? I think I heard something…”
“So did I, get up.” Hawkes slumped back against the back of his chair. “I want my old desk back… and don’t say I sound like a five year old, I’m well aware of that.”
“Your old desk is now a pile a wood in a junkyard, along with the other rubble. Everyone’s gotta compromise, I’m here killing time because I don’t have anything to do. The whole security staff is home waiting to get back to work, because they got their own security in this building.”
“You’re killing time?” Hawkes grinned and took a bite from a spring roll. “And here I thought you came to see how my first day back is going.”
“I did come for that too. And I brought lunch.”
“Thanks. Are you going to spend the whole day here?”
“No. I get the normal pay, whether I’m here or not, so I thought I should really enjoy this before we move back. Maybe go to the beach, work on my tan, learn how to surf… while you’re here voluntarily stuffed into a refurbished bathroom.”
“You don’t need to remind me about that…”
“I told you to listen to the doctors and not rush back. You’re feeling good enough to work, and that’s great, but I don’t see any reason why you should come back to work so early.”
“I needed something to do!”
“Yeah, and what have you done so far today?”
“I’ve… well, nothing.”
“Because they already shared all the jobs. They assumed you’d come back when they thought you would. And now you’re here, getting bored at work when you could just as well get bored at home.”
“Did you plan this with them just to make a point?”
“I’m not confessing.” Don laughed. “But Greg agreed, you should go back home and wait till the doc says you can come back.”
“So you and Greg got me this hellhole to persuade me to go home?”
“That’s… possible.” Don stated and continued forking in his lunch. “By the way, I think this is the first time I’ve eaten Chinese in a bathroom.”
Chapter 42