Fic challenge: "You Will Dance" Part Two
Mar. 6th, 2007 01:30 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
rabidfan.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
nickngregFor the “Fairy Tale” Challenge
Title: “You Will Dance”
Rating: PG-13 (for suggestive language and adult themes)
AU (Well, a fairy tale would have to be, wouldn’t it?)
Part Two: “Don’t Lose Heart”
Greg woke up, disoriented. Sunlight streamed into his room, temporarily blinding him. His normal routine would have included closing the blinds to keep the sun from waking him, so he was puzzled. Why were they still open?
He actually couldn’t remember driving home from the lab. His crazy, intense dream was all he could recall. He stretched, popping his back. He fished for his alarm clock and was surprised to find it so late. He’d have to hustle or he’d be late for his shift.
Dreams were funny things. Greg could actually taste the champagne…he even had a little of the “champagne headache” that he sometimes got. He was troubled that he couldn’t remember getting home, but when he looked outside his car was sitting, undamaged, and right where it should be. His alarm had been set, and fresh clothes were laid out for work.
“Well at least I didn’t wrap my car around a phone pole. I’m going to have to get more sleep.”
That shift the lab was in chaos. Everyone was eager to talk about their evening. Everyone had had a wonderful time; had eaten too much; had drunk too much; had danced with all the pretty people. Greg wasn’t as envious as he’d expected to be. The dream had been so powerful; it was like he had been there.
People began to settle into their work about an hour into the shift. Greg could start to catch up on the pile that always seemed to magically appear. He needed a dream where someone else got to do all the nasty stuff! Something else to work on.
“Too bad you missed the party, Sanders.” Okay, everyone had gone back to work except for Hodges. “There was quite a sensation. You would have enjoyed it.” Despite his best intention not to engage Hodges in conversation, Greg’s curiosity was piqued.
“What kind of sensation?” Hodges perched on the edge of Greg’s table, clearly ready for a lengthy tale.
“That new CSI from Dallas? The one everybody is buzzing about? He was there. Nick something.” Hodges either didn’t notice or didn’t react to Greg’s sharp intake of breath. “All the women were all over him. I mean, he’s okay, but they acted like he was the hottest thing since Romeo himself! Women!”
Greg secretly thought Hodges didn’t know the first thing about women, but he wanted to hear more about the mysterious Nick. He kept his opinion to himself. “We have a new CSI from Dallas? Since when, and why would that be a sensation? Women love to dance.”
“I’m getting there, I’m getting there. You have to understand the background!” Greg practically groaned.
“Where was I? Oh yeah…the women were actually coming up and asking HIM to dance! Like he was a rock star! He danced with just about everybody who asked. Then some guy showed up and that was that.”
Greg’s throat was as dry as the surrounding desert. It wasn’t possible…unless he was still dreaming? Impossible! Wasn’t it?
“Sanders, are you with me? Do you want to hear this or not?” Hodges hated to be ignored, and got even prissier than normal when he was.
“Sure, yeah. Go ahead.” Greg was grateful his voice still worked. He wasn’t sure his legs would.
“You’ll never believe it! This Nick guy sees this other guy across the room, and it’s like one of those romance novel moments. The look; the stars in their eyes…it would have been funny if it wasn’t so, so cheesy!” Greg was pretty sure the only part of it that Hodges hated was that Nick hadn’t noticed him.
“He spent the rest of the party dancing with this guy. No body knew who he was, and he took off just before dawn. I’m telling you, Sanders…real romance novel stuff.”
“Really. So this new CSI is here, in our lab?”
“Honestly Sanders. Aren’t you listening? Graveyard…from Texas. Ask Jacqui; she’ll have all the stats. She says his dad is some bigwig. Friends of the sheriff. Everybody’s tripping over themselves trying to make a good impression, the kiss ups.” Hodges was the biggest kiss up of them all. Hypocrite.
“Anyway, Nick seemed really taken with the guy. The women were ready to commit mass suicide.”
“Really?” God, he was pathetic…even in his dreams he was pathetic!
“Nick asked everyone still there if they knew who the guy was. No one did. But, he’s supposed to be a real hotshot. He says he’s going to find out. He probably will.” Here, Hodges smirked. “You’re out of luck, Sanders. Somebody beat you too him!”
Greg was fairly sure he was still sleeping. “How did he say he was going to find the guy?”
“He didn’t say. But, with his connections, don’t be surprised if he brings you his DNA!” With one more smirk, Hodges finally moved off to his own lab.
Greg needed to get out of the lab and think. He’d go home for lunch, and no doubt he’d feel a little clearer when he got back. Yeah. He just needed a break.
Entering his apartment, Greg heard the sound he remembered from last night. Sure enough, the strange glow was coming from his living room.
“Hello, young Greg.” It was Catherine, his fairy God Mother hallucination.
“Hello. How do you keep popping in and out? Since I’m dreaming, can I do that too?”
“I told you, sweet Greg. You’re not dreaming. Did you enjoy the ball?”
Greg could play along. Better to talk to pretty lady hallucination than Hodges-at-the-lab hallucination. “Yes. Thank you for the cool clothes.” His mother had taught him to be polite. “But I think I fell in love with one of my hallucinations. That’s not the kind of reward I was hoping for.” Catherine’s laugh was musical.
“Your reward is yet to come, young one. Don’t lose heart. You looked very handsome last night, and made quite an impression on a certain someone!” It didn’t seem fair that he could be teased by a hallucination.
“He made an impression on me, too. Do I get to see him again?” There was that glow again, growing brighter and brighter. “Are you going to pop out again? Can’t you answer my questions first?”
“I’ll be watching, Greg. Never fear. Don’t lose hope, all will work itself out in the end.” It was an echo of what Archie had said the night before.
“Please. Am I going to see him again?” The light was so intense that Greg was again forced to close his eyes against it. When he opened them, Catherine was gone.
Sitting plainly on his coffee table was a plaque. Greg picked it up to read the inscription.
“2003 Employee of the Year; Greg Sanders, Lead DNA Technician”
Wow. Oh, wow. Was he supposed to have received this last night? Why hadn’t Mr. Ecklie told him about it? Or was this a particularly cruel twist of his elaborate dream?
Greg hugged the award to his heart. It was the first tangible proof that he was doing a good job. It felt incredibly good.
Damn, look at the time! He had to get back…he was going to be late. Mr. Ecklie wouldn’t be pleased.
“Sanders!” Damn. “You’re late.” Maybe a minute, two at the most. It didn’t take much to piss off Conrad Ecklie.
“This is Nick Stokes. He’s a transfer from Dallas PD. He has a personal favor to ask of you. His father is a friend of the governor and the sheriff. Keep that in mind when deciding how helpful you should be.” With one last disapproving glance at his watch, Ecklie left the two alone.
“Hi.” How on Earth was Nick to resist such witty repartee? Greg cursed himself under his breath.
“It’s Greg, right? Call me Nick.” Nick extended his hand, as though they hadn’t spent the whole of last night pressed against each other.
“Yeah, I remember. I remember all of last night!” Greg tried for a little light humor. It didn’t have the desired effect.
“Oh, you were there. Good. There was this guy…” Nick blushed. “He really got to me, you know? Mr. Ecklie assures me that you’re the best, and the sheriff says it’s okay to have you do a little side project for me, if you would. Off hours, of course. I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.”
Was it possible? Nick didn’t seem to know who he was! The cosmos is a harsh mistress, even when you’re asleep.
“You alright, man? You look a little pale.”
“Yeah, fine.” Greg forced himself back into order. “What can I process for you?” Even the best of dreams sometimes turn into nightmares. This one seemed headed that way.
The blinding smile was just the same. The dimples too, and the perfect white teeth. Greg was saddened that that wonderful part of his dream seemed to end before it really got to begin.
“I’ve got the champagne glass he used.” Nick stopped there. “Are you offended by this? I don’t want to cause a problem, here.” He waited for Greg’s response.
“No, no. No worries. I’m sort of pining over a guy, too. I feel your pain.” Boy, did he ever!
There’s that smile again. “Cool. He must have gotten prints and epithelials all over it. See you can get? When you can.” Another smile. “I owe you.”
Greg heaved a sigh. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get to it as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Greg.” A friendly pat on the back almost broke Greg. “Don’t lose hope my friend. It will work out for both of us. I can feel it!”
Greg spent several hours after his shift ended processing the glass for Nick. He already knew what the results would be, but ran the tests anyway. He was becoming increasingly worried. If Nick didn’t remember him from last night, what was going to happen when all the ‘evidence’ came back to Greg? Was he going to be accused of contaminating the samples? That could damage his reputation. “Don’t lose heart.”
The printer spit out the results he’d been waiting for. He slid them into the folder already containing the print results, and the matching ones from the lab’s exemplar database. He paged Nick to inform him it was all done, and headed home for the night. If this crazy dream was still in play tomorrow, things could get intense.
Considering he had been asleep all this time, Greg felt exhausted. Maybe his pretty fairy God Mother hallucination was right; he was awake. That thought was both exhilarating and terrifying. Tomorrow would tell the tale. Time to go.
By morning, everyone knew that Greg was in trouble. The bosses met, and they couldn’t decide if he needed to be disciplined or discharged.
When Greg arrived outside the DNA lab, his supervisor, the night shift supervisor and Mr. Ecklie were all waiting for him. He paused at the door, trying to steady his shaking hands.
He could hear Catherine’s musical voice. It seemed to come from the very air around him. “Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart.”
Greg squared his shoulders, and took a fortifying breath.
“Sanders!” Damn. “Are you going to stand there all day?” Yeah. This was going to get ugly. Pity. He really loved this job.
“Mr. Ecklie, I didn’t damage CSI Stokes’ sample. I used the same procedures I’ve used for the last several years.” He’d brought the plaque with him, proof that he knew what he was doing. “We both know I’m good at what I do. There was no error.”
“How did you get that?” Ecklie was livid. “That was locked in my desk drawer. How did you get it?”
Locked in his desk? “A woman named Catherine brought it to my house. I don’t know how she got it.” Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart. Greg was a little frightened.
“Grissom, maybe we should just ask Greg to run the tests again. I’m sure …” Nick trailed off when he saw Greg surrounded by hostile forces.
“It’s you!” Nick smiled and reached for Greg. “Why did you run? Did I do something wrong?” Greg was incapable of speech. Nick remembered him. He remembered him!
“Nick, care to bring the rest of us up to speed?” Grissom was looking back and forth between Greg and his newest CSI. “You’re saying that our Greg is the man you’ve been looking for all along?”
“Yeah, yeah…why didn’t I see that before?”
Grissom was satisfied. “It would seem the need for this meeting is moot. Gentlemen, I suggest we leave Greg to his work. Nick, I’ll see you when shift begins.” Grissom began ushering the others towards the door. “But Conrad, we probably need to discuss why Greg’s award was locked in your desk.” The two supervisors led the subdued Ecklie away from the lab.
Nick reached over to take Greg’s hand in his. “I’m so glad I’ve found you. I’m never again going to let you go!” Oh, that killer smile. Greg was lost. “We had a connection, didn’t we Greg? You felt it too?” Greg could only nod.
“I fell in love with you.” Damn. He hadn’t intended to disclose that just yet. Nick didn’t look shocked. In fact, he looked all together too pleased with himself.
Nick looked around, ensuring they were truly alone. He leaned in a captured Greg’s mouth in a tender kiss. A kiss speaking to Greg’s heart; telling him that he was safe. He had found his home. His haven.
“So did I.”
Greg smiled. In the air was just a hint of laughter; gentle and filled with joy. He pressed his lips to Nick’s, telling him of his own love and happiness. They would build a life together. They had not lost hope, and the rewards were truly sweet.
They, of course, lived happily ever after.
The end
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 09:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 12:09 pm (UTC)This is so cute. Okay the end is cheesy, but what fairytale-end isn't? =)
I have to say I hate how all the people treated Greg especially Ecklie. But Hodges was just adorable. So sweet.
And in the end Conrad is the bad guy. Woho. ALthough I kinda like Ecklie by now, but then again someone has to be the bad one, right?
Loved it all over.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 12:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 01:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 02:13 pm (UTC)I actually like Ecklie, too. He is the necessary voice of reason to keep Grissom at bay. But I needed a bad guy...and I didn't want to use the sheriff...I couldn't remember his name!!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 02:18 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading my story. I appreciate you spending that time with me!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 04:50 pm (UTC)Ecklie is great. He had been an ass in S5 but since Grave Danger I like him and then there was an episode in which he smiled. And damn that is a great smile =) Not as great as Greg or Nick's though.
And I think you mean Attwater.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 05:17 pm (UTC)I do appreciate all the work you mods put into the community. I know it takes valuable time away from other activities. Your work does not go unnoticed. Thanks to all of you.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:23 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading. It's your turn, now...I'm waiting! ::taps foot::
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:27 pm (UTC)Yeah...you should be setting a better example! Yeah! (Why do I only think of these facts after I do all the work??)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:35 pm (UTC)And why is it that I am not the bad one? There are three more mods =) I just made a suggestion. A suggestion others would probably have agreed on as well.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:38 pm (UTC)It's so nice to read a nick/greg fic that actually remembers the other cast members. Don't get me wrong, I want Nick and Greg to have hot monkey sex as much as the next person, but they DO have coworkers. Oh and you actually gave them mroe than a fleeting cameo.
Yay you!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:40 pm (UTC)I know you're busy, but Serenity knows when to duck and cover...and I don't know who the other two are...that, dear friend, leaves you. Just you. All eyes, looking right at you. Waiting. For you.
Still waiting...
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:44 pm (UTC)Do you think Cinderella would have been in CODIS? Shoplifting? Identity theft? Okay...now YOU are going to have to write a fairytale with YOUR spin on this!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:45 pm (UTC)Yeah well, Serenity is just too clever to interfer with something like that. And at least I entertain you, right? And others who happen to read this.
Um.... what are you waiting for? Have I missed something? =) I feel so lost right now.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 06:54 pm (UTC)Think of the money you'll save on pharmacy costs...just write it now!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:14 pm (UTC)I almost tried for a "back in time" type of take on Cindergrella, but decided I'd never be able to pull it off!
It's good to hear from you...I hope all is well.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:24 pm (UTC)Of course, if you WANTED to write...
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:28 pm (UTC)And I will try and see if maybe a challenge fic will work out and get me over this block. =)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-06 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 09:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 01:46 pm (UTC)Thank you for reading.