FIC: One Good Man -- 18/?
Sep. 15th, 2004 03:34 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
geekwriter143.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
nickngregTitle: One Good Man -- Part 18
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Greg continues to work the Werner case
A/N: I've got the worst summer cold ever, so I think this makes sense, but if it doesn't, blame the NyQuill. And let me know so I can fix any goofy parts. =)
After they finished identifying which samples had sperm in them and which samples didn't, Greg and Benson set to work on identifying the donors of each one.
It wasn't like he was purposefully ignoring Grissom. After all, besides the semen samples, there was blood to identify from the car, the living room walls, the bathroom, and Jason Werner's bedroom. There was the tissue on each of the tools found at the scene. There were samples taken from each body part that he had to type so that they knew which part belonged to which person. There were the known samples—hair with an attached root from Amanda Werner's silver plated hairbrush, Mr. Werner's razor, Mrs. Werner's loofah, a mouth swab from Tara Meadows. There was all the physical evidence collected from Tara's rape kit. Controls from the two troopers who'd been in the house, since they weren't in the computer like every other lab employee. He had a lot to do, and soon it had been an hour since Grissom had asked to see him, then three hours, then six. He was past the point of lying to Grissom and saying he'd gotten sidetracked, he knew that. Now the only thing to do was pretend he forgot, even if that was a bald-faced lie.
"Hey, what dNTP do you use when you do a PCR?" Benson asked.
"Cytosine," Greg said.
"Yeah? I like tyrosine best, myself. You use taq polymerase?"
"Yeah," he said, sliding his chair over to the chemical cabinet. "Usually about one unit per reaction, but sometimes as many as two."
"Dimethysulfoxide?" Benson asked, looking at the bottle that Greg had just taken from the cabinet.
"To increase the reaction efficiency," Greg said, surprised that Benson had to ask.
"I know, I just figured you for a betane kind of guy."
Greg grinned and shrugged. "I'm old school."
"When I started, I used to use bovine serum albumin, but I like dimethysulfoxide best, too." Benson turned as the printer spit out another sample result. "Match to Jason Werner," he said.
Greg nodded. All the semen samples had matched to Jason Werner, not that it was much of a surprise. A lot of the blood ended up being his, too, and the result Benson had just pulled off the printer had been from epithelials scraped from beneath the fingernails of one of the hands in the backseat of his car.
"You still at it?" Jacqui asked from the doorway.
Greg looked over at her and smiled a weary smile. "Yeah." He saw her purse over her shoulder, her keys in her hand. "Taking off?"
She yawned and nodded. "Thought I'd at least try to get a few hours of sleep. Not that I can ever sleep after dark, but…" she shrugged. "Walk me to my car?"
"Uh," he said. "I'm kind of busy." She'd never asked him to do that before and he wasn't sure he wanted to know why she was asking then.
"Bullshit. All you have to do is stick those things in the thermal cycler, hit a button, and the polymerase chain reaction takes care of itself."
He gaped at her for a moment.
"What? You thought I was just another pretty face? I pay attention. Come on, I hate walking out to my car in the dark. I'd ask Bobby, but he gets more scared than I do."
Greg laughed and slid back on his chair. "Yeah, OK," he said. He yawned and stretched. "What time is it, anyway?"
"Almost midnight. Ecklie's in a tizzy, trying to send everybody on nightshift home since the city doesn't want to pay overtime for more than double shifts."
"And you listened to him?" Greg asked as he tossed his gloves and took his lab coat off, hanging it on a hook near the chemical cabinets.
She shrugged as they started down the hall. "Grissom told me to sleep for a few hours before I came back. You look like you could use a few hours, yourself."
He shook his head, but couldn't keep from yawning. "I've only been up a little over 24 hours."
"Only," she said, giving the woman working the front desk a little wave.
Warrick and Nick entered just as Greg was leaving the building with Jacqui. He and Nick glanced at each other for just a second, and Greg could see that Nick knew people were talking. Then they looked away from each other and kept on walking as if they hadn't just had a full conversation in the space of one second. In that second Greg heard that Nick wanted to keep everything quiet, to deny the rumors, and Greg told him that denial worked just fine for him.
"Where you parked?" he asked.
"That way," she said, jerking her head towards the north lot as she dug in her purse.
"I thought you quit," he said as she pulled out a cigarette.
"I keep a pack in case of emergencies," she said. "You need one?"
"Oh, hell yes," he said. He took the lighter from her hand and lit her cigarette for her, and she smirked at him for it. "Habit," he said. "I know perfectly well you'd shove my head through a wall if I ever hit on you."
She laughed. "Damn straight."
He sighed and closed his eyes as the nicotine hit his system. One of the good things about not smoking much was how good it felt every time he finally did.
"I already knew," she said softly as they walked to her car.
"You did?" He didn't have to ask what she was talking about.
She nodded. "Country music," she said.
He just nodded and flicked his ash. So much for denial. Total denial, anyway. He still wasn't about to admit it to anyone who didn't already know he was bi.
"You could have told me, you know."
"I know," he said. "And if it was just me, I would have."
They got to her Accord and she leaned against the side of it as she finished her cigarette. "The lab's split about 50-50 on who believes it and who doesn't."
"Who does believe it?" he asked.
"Nightshift. Not that anybody's trying to convince the people who don't believe it that it's true."
He laughed softly and nodded. "Bobby taking bets?"
"Yeah. 5 to 1 Covallo comes down on Grissom for it. 10 to 1 that one of you transfers to dayshift. 20 to 1 that one of you gets fired and 50 to one…"
"Both of us get fired," he said.
She looked away from him and nodded. "We've already agreed that we'll stage a walkout if anybody gets fired," she said. "Everybody's agreed, even a bunch of people from dayshift."
Greg sighed. "It's stupid for anybody else to risk their job because of me."
"Hey, labrats have to stick together. We have to take care of our own because nobody else is going to do it. Besides, that's no reason to fire anybody."
Greg sighed. "Except for the fact that if people don't trust us, if the cops don't trust us, if every time he's in court trying to give testimony the defense team's jumping all over his personal life…well, you can't really do the job if nobody's willing to work with you."
"It won't come to that," she said.
He hated to admit it, but he had to. "It might. It would hardly be the first time it happened to someone."
"That's so much bullshit," Jacqui snapped. She gritted her teeth and Greg reached out to touch her arm when he saw that she actually had tears in her eyes.
"Hey," he whispered, rubbing her upper arm. "It's going to be OK. I mean, nobody gives a shit about Bobby, right?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. She dropped her cigarette and stubbed it out with her toe. "Oh, come here you little freak," she said, pulling him into a hug.
Greg smiled and hugged her back. "You definitely need some sleep," he said, tipping his head down so that his cheek was against her hair.
She nodded, then gave him a tight squeeze before pulling back. Greg was about to drop his arms when she moved towards him and tilted her head up, pulling him against her.
"I know this is wrong, but you have to trust me," she whispered.
"What?" he asked as he started to pull back. She was holding him really close.
"Do you trust me?"
"Jacqui, I…"
"Because you really have to kiss me right now. It's not a romantic thing, but you have to. You have to kiss me like I was Nick wearing nothing but a smile."
"What?" he asked. He would have asked more, but Jacqui's mouth was over his and he dropped his cigarette and placed his hands on her shoulders so that he could push her away.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Jacqui sprang back. "Oh, gosh," she said to whomever it was standing so close behind Greg he could hear them breathing. "This is embarrassing," she said. She ran a hand over her hair and giggled and Greg was still too surprised to do anything but stare at her. "Um, I'll talk to you later, OK hon?" she asked softly, laying her hand on his arm before she got into her car.
The person was still standing behind Greg, and he watched Jacqui pull out of her parking spot and drive away before he turned.
"The girl at the front desk said I could find you out here," Covallo said. "Though, I have to say that isn't exactly what I expected to see."
Greg nodded and tried to keep from breaking into a grin. God bless Jacqui. "I, uh…Director Covallo," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I was just…we were just…"
Covello actually laughed as he clapped Greg on the shoulder. "Trust me, Sanders, nobody's going to care that you're dipping your pen in that particular office ink." He sighed. "Takes a load off my mind, that's for sure."
Greg tipped his head to the side, trying to decide exactly how dumb he should actually play it. "Why? Oh, that whole thing with Mrs. Palmbach?"
"Who?"
"My neighbor," Greg said. "On TV. She's sweet, but she's a little," he made a circle in the air next to his ear.
"Good to know," Covello said.
"You were looking for me?" Greg asked as they walked back towards the lab.
"Grissom's refused to let me talk to you for hours, now, said you were too busy."
"Swamped," Greg said. "I mean, you would not believe how many samples I've run." He felt almost giddy. He couldn't believe Covello had actually bought that kiss, since he'd hardly been passionate about it. He was glad he'd been too shocked to shove Jacqui away the second her lips touched his. "Well, you know how crazy everything is right now. You've probably got everybody from the chief to the mayor to the governor breathing down your neck."
"Not to mention a councilman or two," Covallo said, nodding as they walked back inside. "You got blown up a year ago, didn't you?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah. I'm OK, though. Well, I mean I do have some pretty nasty scars, but the damage was just superficial." He knew it was time for him to shut up, but whatever perverse part of his brain that made him keep talking at the wrong time was running at full steam.
"The department appreciates the fact that you didn't sue for damages," Covallo said.
"Actually, I think I signed a waver saying I wouldn't when I first got my job here, since I work with volatile chemicals every day. Not that I would have sued even if I hadn't. I mean, accidents happen. And everything was covered by insurance, anyway. It's a really good insurance plan, actually. I was talking to my friend Kate—she works for some accounting firm downtown, I forget which one—and she said that on her insurance plan she can't even choose her own doctor. Plus, she doesn't get eye or dental."
"You always talk this much?" Covallo asked.
"Yes, he does," Grissom said as he walked down the hall towards him. "I thought I made it clear that you weren't to interrupt my staff."
"And I thought I made it clear that if you wouldn't provide them to me I'd get them myself."
Greg looked from one man to the other, and backed up slowly. "I, uh, I have to go run a swab," he said, turning to hurry back to the lab.
"Greg, my office," Grissom snapped. "Now."
"Yes, sir," Greg said, ducking his head as he walked past Covallo and Grissom, still engaged in their staring contest.
He was surprised to see Nick sitting in one of the chairs against the wall, his head tipped back and his eyes closed. "Hey," he whispered, closing Grissom's office door softly.
Nick opened his eyes and Greg didn't think he'd ever seen him look so tired. "Hey," he said. He closed his eyes again and sighed. "I told Gris the truth. Covallo's coming down on him, hard, and if somebody's going to take the fall for this it might as well be me."
"The fall for what?" Greg asked. "You were amazing, Nick. I wouldn't have known that he wasn't a cop. I would be scattered body parts and assorted snacks if he'd pulled me over without you there."
"Yeah, well, apparently there are quite a few higher-ups who are concerned that instead of reflecting well on the LVPD, groups are going to use this as an opportunity to slam them for not providing for protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in their official policies."
"What?"
"We've become high profile, Greg, for whatever stupid reason. The public's response to this case is so intense that people want to know everything from the contents of Amanda Werner's jewelry box to the favorite bands of the troopers who found the house to what you and I eat for breakfast." He sighed. "The city doesn't want us to become…I don't know. Icons, I guess. Faces people can use to further their cause. And to be perfectly honest, that's the last thing I want, too."
"Wait," Greg said. "You're saying that there are groups, like gay and lesbian groups, who are using us as their poster children?"
Nick sighed. "I don't know. I don't think it's happened yet, but that's what they're afraid of. They're afraid of the investigation being overshadowed by any sort of publicity. You know how hot this issue is, Greg. Hell, my father's already heard one gay marriage case this summer and who knows when he's going to hear the next?"
"Well," Greg said. "There's only one solution."
Nick sighed. "I know. And I loved this damn job, too."
"Not quitting," Greg said. "Denial. Complete and utter denial."
Nick looked up at him with surprise. "What?"
"We deny it. I'm sure if anybody actually does start making a big deal about it, I can convince Mrs. Palmbach to make a statement saying that she misspoke, that she didn't mean couple, she meant partners, like work partners."
"I thought you said you weren't willing to deny a fundamental part of yourself."
"To the people I care about," Greg said. "But fuck the rest of the world." He reached out and stroked Nick's cheek. "I'm nobody's poster child, baby. I've got enough issues of my own to be taking on anybody else's."
Nick laughed softly and reached up to grasp Greg's hand. "You and me both."
"Besides, I think Covallo's going to report back that the city and the PD don't have anything to worry about."
"Why's that?"
"Because he saw me kissing Jacqui in the parking lot."
Nick raised his eyebrows.
"Well, actually, she kissed me. It wasn't romantic or anything. She's probably scrubbing her lips with bleach right now. I walked her out to her car, and she must have seen him coming because she grabbed me and started kissing me. Covallo thinks I'm dating her."
Nick sighed and tipped his head down, closing his eyes. "So I didn't have to tell Grissom."
"How'd he take it?"
"You know how hard he is to read. He just—" Nick stopped talking when the office door opened, and Greg sat in the chair next to Nick's.
Grissom closed the door behind him and sighed. "All right," he said, walking over to his desk and sitting down. "Director Covallo no longer seems concerned about negative publicity, so…go home."
"Are we fired?" Greg asked, feeling the bottom of his stomach drop out.
"Have I ever fired anyone?" Grissom asked wearily.
"Not that I know of," Greg admitted.
"Then why would I start now?" He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have enough to worry about with the Werner case to waste my time with politics, so whatever it was that you did, Greg, thank you. Now go home and get some sleep. I'm going to need you back here around seven or so to relieve days before their double shift becomes a triple. And good work. Both of you. This could have been a much bigger disaster than it already is if Jason Werner had gotten away or if Tara Meadows hadn't been found as quickly as she was. So go home and sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks, Gris," Nick said, getting up.
"Greg, if I could have a moment before you go," Grissom said.
Greg had started to stand, but he sat back down, then looked over his shoulder at Nick.
"I'll be in the locker room," Nick told him.
Greg fidgeted in his chair as Nick left and he watched Grissom, who was gazing blankly at a stack of papers on his desk.
"Grissom?" Greg asked after a few moments of silence.
"You know why I couldn't let you work the primary scene," Grissom said.
Greg nodded. "I haven't been fully trained, I don't know procedure, it could be messy in court if defense challenged the evidence based on my lack of experience."
Grissom nodded. "I do want you to know that it's not about you. Both Nick and David told me how good you were at both scenes and with the Meadows girl. Her injuries were severe, and a delay of just a few minutes could have taken her from bad to much worse."
Greg nodded. He was too tired and too full of sadness about what Tara had gone through to feel proud of himself.
"What I wanted to tell you earlier…" Grissom cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter how many years you've been at this job," he said, "scenes like the Werner house are never easy to let go of. I just…I want you to know that the city provides counselors if you ever need to talk. The other CSIs know that—I just wanted to make sure you knew it, too."
"Thanks," Greg said softly, "but I—"
"I know you don't think you'll need it, but you will. We all will."
"I know. I was just going to tell you that I already have a therapist."
"That's good," Grissom said softly. "See you tomorrow."
Greg got up and headed towards the door. "Tomorrow. Oh, and Gris?"
Grissom looked up at him.
"Thanks. For keeping Covallo off my back when you thought he wanted to crucify me. It means a lot."
Grissom just nodded and looked down at the file on his desk as Greg left.
"You need to change?" Nick asked as Greg entered the locker room.
Greg shook his head. "I just need to go home."
"I'll drive," Nick said. "You look exhausted."
"You, too. You're sure you don't want to go back to your place? Just to keep the rumors at bay?"
Nick thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I'd rather go home, and that's with you."
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Greg continues to work the Werner case
A/N: I've got the worst summer cold ever, so I think this makes sense, but if it doesn't, blame the NyQuill. And let me know so I can fix any goofy parts. =)
After they finished identifying which samples had sperm in them and which samples didn't, Greg and Benson set to work on identifying the donors of each one.
It wasn't like he was purposefully ignoring Grissom. After all, besides the semen samples, there was blood to identify from the car, the living room walls, the bathroom, and Jason Werner's bedroom. There was the tissue on each of the tools found at the scene. There were samples taken from each body part that he had to type so that they knew which part belonged to which person. There were the known samples—hair with an attached root from Amanda Werner's silver plated hairbrush, Mr. Werner's razor, Mrs. Werner's loofah, a mouth swab from Tara Meadows. There was all the physical evidence collected from Tara's rape kit. Controls from the two troopers who'd been in the house, since they weren't in the computer like every other lab employee. He had a lot to do, and soon it had been an hour since Grissom had asked to see him, then three hours, then six. He was past the point of lying to Grissom and saying he'd gotten sidetracked, he knew that. Now the only thing to do was pretend he forgot, even if that was a bald-faced lie.
"Hey, what dNTP do you use when you do a PCR?" Benson asked.
"Cytosine," Greg said.
"Yeah? I like tyrosine best, myself. You use taq polymerase?"
"Yeah," he said, sliding his chair over to the chemical cabinet. "Usually about one unit per reaction, but sometimes as many as two."
"Dimethysulfoxide?" Benson asked, looking at the bottle that Greg had just taken from the cabinet.
"To increase the reaction efficiency," Greg said, surprised that Benson had to ask.
"I know, I just figured you for a betane kind of guy."
Greg grinned and shrugged. "I'm old school."
"When I started, I used to use bovine serum albumin, but I like dimethysulfoxide best, too." Benson turned as the printer spit out another sample result. "Match to Jason Werner," he said.
Greg nodded. All the semen samples had matched to Jason Werner, not that it was much of a surprise. A lot of the blood ended up being his, too, and the result Benson had just pulled off the printer had been from epithelials scraped from beneath the fingernails of one of the hands in the backseat of his car.
"You still at it?" Jacqui asked from the doorway.
Greg looked over at her and smiled a weary smile. "Yeah." He saw her purse over her shoulder, her keys in her hand. "Taking off?"
She yawned and nodded. "Thought I'd at least try to get a few hours of sleep. Not that I can ever sleep after dark, but…" she shrugged. "Walk me to my car?"
"Uh," he said. "I'm kind of busy." She'd never asked him to do that before and he wasn't sure he wanted to know why she was asking then.
"Bullshit. All you have to do is stick those things in the thermal cycler, hit a button, and the polymerase chain reaction takes care of itself."
He gaped at her for a moment.
"What? You thought I was just another pretty face? I pay attention. Come on, I hate walking out to my car in the dark. I'd ask Bobby, but he gets more scared than I do."
Greg laughed and slid back on his chair. "Yeah, OK," he said. He yawned and stretched. "What time is it, anyway?"
"Almost midnight. Ecklie's in a tizzy, trying to send everybody on nightshift home since the city doesn't want to pay overtime for more than double shifts."
"And you listened to him?" Greg asked as he tossed his gloves and took his lab coat off, hanging it on a hook near the chemical cabinets.
She shrugged as they started down the hall. "Grissom told me to sleep for a few hours before I came back. You look like you could use a few hours, yourself."
He shook his head, but couldn't keep from yawning. "I've only been up a little over 24 hours."
"Only," she said, giving the woman working the front desk a little wave.
Warrick and Nick entered just as Greg was leaving the building with Jacqui. He and Nick glanced at each other for just a second, and Greg could see that Nick knew people were talking. Then they looked away from each other and kept on walking as if they hadn't just had a full conversation in the space of one second. In that second Greg heard that Nick wanted to keep everything quiet, to deny the rumors, and Greg told him that denial worked just fine for him.
"Where you parked?" he asked.
"That way," she said, jerking her head towards the north lot as she dug in her purse.
"I thought you quit," he said as she pulled out a cigarette.
"I keep a pack in case of emergencies," she said. "You need one?"
"Oh, hell yes," he said. He took the lighter from her hand and lit her cigarette for her, and she smirked at him for it. "Habit," he said. "I know perfectly well you'd shove my head through a wall if I ever hit on you."
She laughed. "Damn straight."
He sighed and closed his eyes as the nicotine hit his system. One of the good things about not smoking much was how good it felt every time he finally did.
"I already knew," she said softly as they walked to her car.
"You did?" He didn't have to ask what she was talking about.
She nodded. "Country music," she said.
He just nodded and flicked his ash. So much for denial. Total denial, anyway. He still wasn't about to admit it to anyone who didn't already know he was bi.
"You could have told me, you know."
"I know," he said. "And if it was just me, I would have."
They got to her Accord and she leaned against the side of it as she finished her cigarette. "The lab's split about 50-50 on who believes it and who doesn't."
"Who does believe it?" he asked.
"Nightshift. Not that anybody's trying to convince the people who don't believe it that it's true."
He laughed softly and nodded. "Bobby taking bets?"
"Yeah. 5 to 1 Covallo comes down on Grissom for it. 10 to 1 that one of you transfers to dayshift. 20 to 1 that one of you gets fired and 50 to one…"
"Both of us get fired," he said.
She looked away from him and nodded. "We've already agreed that we'll stage a walkout if anybody gets fired," she said. "Everybody's agreed, even a bunch of people from dayshift."
Greg sighed. "It's stupid for anybody else to risk their job because of me."
"Hey, labrats have to stick together. We have to take care of our own because nobody else is going to do it. Besides, that's no reason to fire anybody."
Greg sighed. "Except for the fact that if people don't trust us, if the cops don't trust us, if every time he's in court trying to give testimony the defense team's jumping all over his personal life…well, you can't really do the job if nobody's willing to work with you."
"It won't come to that," she said.
He hated to admit it, but he had to. "It might. It would hardly be the first time it happened to someone."
"That's so much bullshit," Jacqui snapped. She gritted her teeth and Greg reached out to touch her arm when he saw that she actually had tears in her eyes.
"Hey," he whispered, rubbing her upper arm. "It's going to be OK. I mean, nobody gives a shit about Bobby, right?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. She dropped her cigarette and stubbed it out with her toe. "Oh, come here you little freak," she said, pulling him into a hug.
Greg smiled and hugged her back. "You definitely need some sleep," he said, tipping his head down so that his cheek was against her hair.
She nodded, then gave him a tight squeeze before pulling back. Greg was about to drop his arms when she moved towards him and tilted her head up, pulling him against her.
"I know this is wrong, but you have to trust me," she whispered.
"What?" he asked as he started to pull back. She was holding him really close.
"Do you trust me?"
"Jacqui, I…"
"Because you really have to kiss me right now. It's not a romantic thing, but you have to. You have to kiss me like I was Nick wearing nothing but a smile."
"What?" he asked. He would have asked more, but Jacqui's mouth was over his and he dropped his cigarette and placed his hands on her shoulders so that he could push her away.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Jacqui sprang back. "Oh, gosh," she said to whomever it was standing so close behind Greg he could hear them breathing. "This is embarrassing," she said. She ran a hand over her hair and giggled and Greg was still too surprised to do anything but stare at her. "Um, I'll talk to you later, OK hon?" she asked softly, laying her hand on his arm before she got into her car.
The person was still standing behind Greg, and he watched Jacqui pull out of her parking spot and drive away before he turned.
"The girl at the front desk said I could find you out here," Covallo said. "Though, I have to say that isn't exactly what I expected to see."
Greg nodded and tried to keep from breaking into a grin. God bless Jacqui. "I, uh…Director Covallo," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I was just…we were just…"
Covello actually laughed as he clapped Greg on the shoulder. "Trust me, Sanders, nobody's going to care that you're dipping your pen in that particular office ink." He sighed. "Takes a load off my mind, that's for sure."
Greg tipped his head to the side, trying to decide exactly how dumb he should actually play it. "Why? Oh, that whole thing with Mrs. Palmbach?"
"Who?"
"My neighbor," Greg said. "On TV. She's sweet, but she's a little," he made a circle in the air next to his ear.
"Good to know," Covello said.
"You were looking for me?" Greg asked as they walked back towards the lab.
"Grissom's refused to let me talk to you for hours, now, said you were too busy."
"Swamped," Greg said. "I mean, you would not believe how many samples I've run." He felt almost giddy. He couldn't believe Covello had actually bought that kiss, since he'd hardly been passionate about it. He was glad he'd been too shocked to shove Jacqui away the second her lips touched his. "Well, you know how crazy everything is right now. You've probably got everybody from the chief to the mayor to the governor breathing down your neck."
"Not to mention a councilman or two," Covallo said, nodding as they walked back inside. "You got blown up a year ago, didn't you?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah. I'm OK, though. Well, I mean I do have some pretty nasty scars, but the damage was just superficial." He knew it was time for him to shut up, but whatever perverse part of his brain that made him keep talking at the wrong time was running at full steam.
"The department appreciates the fact that you didn't sue for damages," Covallo said.
"Actually, I think I signed a waver saying I wouldn't when I first got my job here, since I work with volatile chemicals every day. Not that I would have sued even if I hadn't. I mean, accidents happen. And everything was covered by insurance, anyway. It's a really good insurance plan, actually. I was talking to my friend Kate—she works for some accounting firm downtown, I forget which one—and she said that on her insurance plan she can't even choose her own doctor. Plus, she doesn't get eye or dental."
"You always talk this much?" Covallo asked.
"Yes, he does," Grissom said as he walked down the hall towards him. "I thought I made it clear that you weren't to interrupt my staff."
"And I thought I made it clear that if you wouldn't provide them to me I'd get them myself."
Greg looked from one man to the other, and backed up slowly. "I, uh, I have to go run a swab," he said, turning to hurry back to the lab.
"Greg, my office," Grissom snapped. "Now."
"Yes, sir," Greg said, ducking his head as he walked past Covallo and Grissom, still engaged in their staring contest.
He was surprised to see Nick sitting in one of the chairs against the wall, his head tipped back and his eyes closed. "Hey," he whispered, closing Grissom's office door softly.
Nick opened his eyes and Greg didn't think he'd ever seen him look so tired. "Hey," he said. He closed his eyes again and sighed. "I told Gris the truth. Covallo's coming down on him, hard, and if somebody's going to take the fall for this it might as well be me."
"The fall for what?" Greg asked. "You were amazing, Nick. I wouldn't have known that he wasn't a cop. I would be scattered body parts and assorted snacks if he'd pulled me over without you there."
"Yeah, well, apparently there are quite a few higher-ups who are concerned that instead of reflecting well on the LVPD, groups are going to use this as an opportunity to slam them for not providing for protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in their official policies."
"What?"
"We've become high profile, Greg, for whatever stupid reason. The public's response to this case is so intense that people want to know everything from the contents of Amanda Werner's jewelry box to the favorite bands of the troopers who found the house to what you and I eat for breakfast." He sighed. "The city doesn't want us to become…I don't know. Icons, I guess. Faces people can use to further their cause. And to be perfectly honest, that's the last thing I want, too."
"Wait," Greg said. "You're saying that there are groups, like gay and lesbian groups, who are using us as their poster children?"
Nick sighed. "I don't know. I don't think it's happened yet, but that's what they're afraid of. They're afraid of the investigation being overshadowed by any sort of publicity. You know how hot this issue is, Greg. Hell, my father's already heard one gay marriage case this summer and who knows when he's going to hear the next?"
"Well," Greg said. "There's only one solution."
Nick sighed. "I know. And I loved this damn job, too."
"Not quitting," Greg said. "Denial. Complete and utter denial."
Nick looked up at him with surprise. "What?"
"We deny it. I'm sure if anybody actually does start making a big deal about it, I can convince Mrs. Palmbach to make a statement saying that she misspoke, that she didn't mean couple, she meant partners, like work partners."
"I thought you said you weren't willing to deny a fundamental part of yourself."
"To the people I care about," Greg said. "But fuck the rest of the world." He reached out and stroked Nick's cheek. "I'm nobody's poster child, baby. I've got enough issues of my own to be taking on anybody else's."
Nick laughed softly and reached up to grasp Greg's hand. "You and me both."
"Besides, I think Covallo's going to report back that the city and the PD don't have anything to worry about."
"Why's that?"
"Because he saw me kissing Jacqui in the parking lot."
Nick raised his eyebrows.
"Well, actually, she kissed me. It wasn't romantic or anything. She's probably scrubbing her lips with bleach right now. I walked her out to her car, and she must have seen him coming because she grabbed me and started kissing me. Covallo thinks I'm dating her."
Nick sighed and tipped his head down, closing his eyes. "So I didn't have to tell Grissom."
"How'd he take it?"
"You know how hard he is to read. He just—" Nick stopped talking when the office door opened, and Greg sat in the chair next to Nick's.
Grissom closed the door behind him and sighed. "All right," he said, walking over to his desk and sitting down. "Director Covallo no longer seems concerned about negative publicity, so…go home."
"Are we fired?" Greg asked, feeling the bottom of his stomach drop out.
"Have I ever fired anyone?" Grissom asked wearily.
"Not that I know of," Greg admitted.
"Then why would I start now?" He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have enough to worry about with the Werner case to waste my time with politics, so whatever it was that you did, Greg, thank you. Now go home and get some sleep. I'm going to need you back here around seven or so to relieve days before their double shift becomes a triple. And good work. Both of you. This could have been a much bigger disaster than it already is if Jason Werner had gotten away or if Tara Meadows hadn't been found as quickly as she was. So go home and sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks, Gris," Nick said, getting up.
"Greg, if I could have a moment before you go," Grissom said.
Greg had started to stand, but he sat back down, then looked over his shoulder at Nick.
"I'll be in the locker room," Nick told him.
Greg fidgeted in his chair as Nick left and he watched Grissom, who was gazing blankly at a stack of papers on his desk.
"Grissom?" Greg asked after a few moments of silence.
"You know why I couldn't let you work the primary scene," Grissom said.
Greg nodded. "I haven't been fully trained, I don't know procedure, it could be messy in court if defense challenged the evidence based on my lack of experience."
Grissom nodded. "I do want you to know that it's not about you. Both Nick and David told me how good you were at both scenes and with the Meadows girl. Her injuries were severe, and a delay of just a few minutes could have taken her from bad to much worse."
Greg nodded. He was too tired and too full of sadness about what Tara had gone through to feel proud of himself.
"What I wanted to tell you earlier…" Grissom cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter how many years you've been at this job," he said, "scenes like the Werner house are never easy to let go of. I just…I want you to know that the city provides counselors if you ever need to talk. The other CSIs know that—I just wanted to make sure you knew it, too."
"Thanks," Greg said softly, "but I—"
"I know you don't think you'll need it, but you will. We all will."
"I know. I was just going to tell you that I already have a therapist."
"That's good," Grissom said softly. "See you tomorrow."
Greg got up and headed towards the door. "Tomorrow. Oh, and Gris?"
Grissom looked up at him.
"Thanks. For keeping Covallo off my back when you thought he wanted to crucify me. It means a lot."
Grissom just nodded and looked down at the file on his desk as Greg left.
"You need to change?" Nick asked as Greg entered the locker room.
Greg shook his head. "I just need to go home."
"I'll drive," Nick said. "You look exhausted."
"You, too. You're sure you don't want to go back to your place? Just to keep the rumors at bay?"
Nick thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I'd rather go home, and that's with you."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 04:00 am (UTC)"No. I'd rather go home, and that's with you."
Just <3 Best sentence ever...
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 04:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 05:39 am (UTC)yay!! a new part =)
I love Jacqui!! She rocks!!
get well.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 08:23 am (UTC)The wait was definitely worth it!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:00 am (UTC)Can we all say it? Awwwwww..
I love Jacqui. She's the best! tehee. dundundun ... Jacqui saves the day!. And I love Gris too. XD And then the last line, of course, was incredible. Go Nicky! Too cute.
You've brigtened my day yet again darling, keep it up XD;)
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:35 am (UTC)Loving this. :D So sweet and great, and I of course <3 Jaqui, and Grissom too. And the slight Empire Records reference, "Have I ever fired anyone?" Well, that was probably not really at all a reference, but it is my fave movie, so I find it EVERYWHERE. :D
Brilliant as always.
L.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:48 am (UTC)And I've convinced myself that the reason Speed's leaving Miami is because he wants to move back to New York and join the FBI. Then I can write Jack/Speedle/Danny/Martin slash. Yum.
Now I'm wondering if there's any Empire Records slash out there, cuz Lucas is totally in love with Joe.
Like my best friend says, "You think everyone's gay!" Why yes, yes I do.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:54 am (UTC)And dude! I write mental slash now for everything. Last night I was seeing Garden State (for the 4th time, I am obsessed) and I began to write slash between his really rich friend Jesse and Mark, because I really saw it. I guess I am just obsessed with it. Well, obsessed with Slash, and with Garden State, so Garden State slash would be like... coke to me.
And mmmm... Lucas slash... It has to be out there somewhere, or else I might have to write it, and I like other peoples writing better ... I always thought he had a thing for Joe. Or for AJ. Ohh... mmm.
L.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 01:11 pm (UTC)I assume that the reason Greg was so slow on the uptake in the parking lot was because he was knackered ?
Forgot to say...
Date: 2004-09-15 01:13 pm (UTC)BTW, does that mean you're at home, near your computer ?...*mentally pushing you towards your keyboard and Part 19*
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 03:46 pm (UTC)Anyway, I also loved this chapter. Let's face it, Jacqui rocks hardcore. So does Grissom for keeping Covallo away and not firing them. And so does Nick for saying that home was with Greg, because that was the sweetest, sappiest, best line ever. <3!
Oooh, and the conversation at the beginning where Greg and Benson are talking about chemicals? Again, <3, because that was geektastic.
Awww
Date: 2004-09-15 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-16 12:39 pm (UTC)So, I loved this chapter. I was overly excited when I saw you'd updated. "Because you really have to kiss me right now. It's not a romantic thing, but you have to. You have to kiss me like I was Nick wearing nothing but a smile." What a great line. Not much else to say. Can't wait for more.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:37 am (UTC)And how can anybody not love Jacqui?
no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:41 am (UTC)But isn't that the way it always goes?
Re: Forgot to say...
Date: 2004-09-18 04:43 am (UTC)And I am home, but it took until today until I could breathe again, let alone think, so 19's still a day or so away (but I'm working on it! I am!)
no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:44 am (UTC)Re: Awww
Date: 2004-09-18 04:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 06:03 am (UTC)Jacqui definitely rocks.
And reading your Nick just made me realize how much I miss him (watching "CSI" and all).
Get better soon and reward yourself with pt. 19. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-09-23 10:59 pm (UTC)Jacqui kicks some ass, and everything else kicked ass also.
Loved how Grissom took it. Just acceptance.
Just everything.
Hee.