Fic: Ghosts, Chapter 3 (CSI, Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders, Nick Stokes / ?)
Title: Ghosts, Chapter 3
Fandom: CSI
Pair: Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders, Nick Stokes / ?
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Spoilers: Play With Fire
CSI Las Vegas Main List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
When Warrick walked to the lab before the shift Nick pulled him to the break
room and closed the door behind them.
“Stokes?”
“I’m telling you, there’s something fishy going on.”
“Nick, did you get any sleep or are you just jittery for the fun of it?”
“Just listen. Remember that message yesterday about the Quinn Clinic?”
“Yeah.”
“I remembered I had heard that name before, so I checked it out. Guess
what their speciality is.”
“I give up.”
“Plastic surgery.”
Warrick gave him a long look. “So what?”
“So that! The guy comes here looking just like Greg. Moles and all. What
if he had it all done on purpose?”
“What purpose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nick, I was born and raised in Vegas, and that means I’ve seen people
who use their faces as a quilt. And that face looked pretty damn convincing
to me.”
“Then give me another explanation why he would have surgery.”
“To remove a tattoo? What the hell does it matter?”
“Because he’s here! He looks like Greg, he talks like Greg, he works in the
same place as Greg.”
“And that still doesn’t make any sense.”
“Rick, last night when I talked with him he said he came to Vegas on a
mission. He’s up to something.”
“Man, just let it be. Sanders is gone, and he’s been gone for years. You’re
gonna have to work with that new guy every day, so drop that.”
------------------------------------------
Two hours later Nick met Archie in the A/V lab. The tech had leaned so far
back in his chair he was practically laying down.
“You don’t think it’s weird?”
“Of course I think it’s weird.” Archie answered. “But it’s also weird to come to
a new city where everyone keeps saying how much you look like their old co-
worker.”
“If I do it, people could get suspicious. You’ve done maintenance work, nobody
would suspect anything.”
“Stokes, the personnel files are not there just so you can satisfy your curiosity.”
“Just do it this one time. After that I’ll let it go. I promise.”
Archie considered it. “Fine. But you’ll owe me.” He moved from his videomonitor
to his computer and tapped in his passwords.
“Okay, let’s see…..” He scrolled down the employee list. "Anders, Darren Gabriel.”
He frowned. “What the hell….”
“What?”
“I can’t get in.”
“Why not?”
“It’s been categorised as “confidential”. I need Grissom`s authorisation to get in.”
“I told you something’s going on.”
“Yeah….” Archie’s eyes were still on the screen. “You remember what somebody
said….. how Grissom met him for the first time when he came to do the paperwork
for the job.”
“That’s what he said. Why?”
“The date. The employee file was created and marked confidential three months
ago.”
“We didn’t even know there would be an open position.” Nick pondered.
“So…. What’s going on?”
“I have no idea.” Nick admitted.
“Nick?”
Both men jumped up from their seat. Darren leaned against the doorframe and
grinned. “Jumpy, jumpy… Anyway, we need to get back to the scene. They found
another body.
------------------------------------------
The drive was a quiet one. Nick was too wired to try to start a conversation.
Darren had twisted his back so he could watch Nick.
“What are you looking at?”
“You. Yesterday and the day before you kept looking at me, now it’s
my turn.”
“Why?”
“Curiosity. You seem to be so interested in my affairs.”
Nick wasn’t sure what to say, so he stayed quiet.
“We just met so it can’t be me…. It has to be that other guy.” He tilted his head
a little bit. “ I’ll give a good advice. Let the deceased rest in peace. You seem to
be heading close to mental necrophilia, and it’s not a very pretty sight.”
“I never-”
“I know you didn’t. Not in reality.” Darren let out a tiny giggle. “Has anyone ever
told you you’re a lousy liar? I can see it in your face. You never did anything with
him but you wanted to. You still want to.” He leaned closer. “Is that what you do?
Go to bed after the shift, and think about what could have been? What you
wanted to do to him.How good it could have been.” His curly hair tickled Nick’s
ear.
Darren chuckled and pulled back. Nick stopped the car on the parking lot
near the scene and Darren grabbed his kit from the floor. He got out of the
car and walked to the scene. He didn’t look back.
TBC