CSI Fic: Battlefield (5/11)
Title: Battlefield
Chapter: 5/11
Author: Jedi Princess Clarrisani
Beta: Stalker of Shadows
Additional Helpers:
galuxkitty and
puppytraining
Fandom: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Pairing(s): Nick/Greg, Grissom/Sara, Warrick/Tina, wishful Catherine/Warrick
Rating: NC-17
Total Word Count: 25, 184
Tag: The storm’s been brewing for some time now.
Summary: With a serial killer on the loose and Greg’s job on the line, Nick finds himself caught up on several battlefields - professional, personal, external and internal…
Disclaimer: Do not own. If I did, you would have found several shots of Nick and Greg in the background creeping out of the supply room after their long bouts of absence…
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They did need the break, especially Greg. Nick watched Greg throughout their ‘outing’, noting how much brighter Greg was outside the context of their jobs. Greg’s eyes sparkled as he laughed and joked with Nick, Nick more than happy to play along.
The movie itself had turned out to be better than expected, Nick forgetting about everything as he lost himself in the film, regretting the moment that it ended and making a mental note to re-watch the first film next time he had a chance, even if he only watched it for Orlando Bloom.
As they walked out of the theatre, Greg yawned and stretched, wincing as his neck cracked. Rubbing it sheepishly, he shrugged. “Getting old.”
“If you are, I am.” Nick prodded him. “So was it worth it? The movie, I mean?”
“Oh yeah. Johnny Depp is hot.” Nick must have looked as startled as he felt as Greg grinned at him, widening his eyes in feigned innocence. “C’mon, Nicky. You’ve got to agree.”
Nick cleared his throat, averting his eyes. “Prefer Orlando Bloom.”
Greg laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “Yeah, he’s hot too. A bit girly for me, though.”
Nick smirked. “So are you.”
Greg winked at him. “I guess I am. Like girly guys, Nick?”
Nick felt his cheeks heat up as he shot Greg a bemused look as they approached their cars. “Like drunks, Greg?”
Greg shook his head, grinning. “Honestly, I prefer Texans.”
Nick averted his eyes as he felt a flash of excitement shoot through him. “Ah-ha. Well… we better go home and grab some shut eye before work. Need to crack this case before another athlete dies.”
“Yeah. Guy had to leave us something. We just got to find it.”
“Mm-hm.” Nick slowed, glancing around as he stopped in front of his Denali, which was parked beside Greg’s Jetta. “You going to be all right?”
Greg chuckled. “I’m a big boy, Nicky. I can drive myself home.”
“Yeah, I know, just…” Nick looked at him, reaching up to squeeze Greg’s arm. “You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. I worry about you sometimes.”
“I’ve still got some sleeping pills from the explosion. I’ve been taking them. Don’t worry yourself; I’m making sure that I’m getting enough sleep.” Greg looked down at Nick’s hand, smile slipping from his lips. “I won’t burn out.”
“Good.” Nick averted his eyes so not to look at Greg’s face. He looked so vulnerable, so… Nick couldn’t.
“Nick?”
Nick looked up, meeting Greg’s eye. “Yeah?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just…” Nick swallowed, eyes drifting down to where he was still touching Greg’s arm. “I want… I…” He sighed, looking back up toward Greg. “Can I kiss you?”
A look of relief flickered over Greg’s face as he laughed. “Always the gentleman, Nicky.” He stepped forward, resting a hand on Nick’s chest and pressing his lips to Nick’s ear. “You don’t have to ask.”
Nick pulled back to look at him, noting the amusement sparkling in Greg’s eyes. Nick returned his smile, bringing his hand up to Greg’s neck, gently caressing the hairline as he leaned forward. Greg met him halfway, lips pressing together tentatively before Greg coaxed him into a deeper kiss, one Nick returned eagerly.
Nick had often fantasised about this kiss, but as often happens, the fantasy was off the mark. The taste of coffee wasn’t as strong as he imagined, nor was Greg one to submit. In fact, Greg was more than willing to battle for dominance, something that sent an eager shiver through Nick as he wondered if it would be the same in bed.
The hand Greg still had pressed against his chest slid upward, coming to rest behind Nick’s neck. With his free hand Nick pulled Greg closer, bringing their bodies flush together. This time it was Greg who let out a shuddering breath, the hand behind Nick’s neck tightening as he kissed Nick harder.
Ever so reluctantly Nick drew back from the kiss, finding his breathing heavy as he pressed his forehead to Greg’s, not wanting to relinquish his hold on the other just yet. Greg leaned into him, stealing another kiss before pulling back. Nick opened his eyes to find Greg watching him through half-lidded lashes, Nick swallowing hard as Greg trailed fingertips over his jaw, a small smile on the younger’s lips.
“Better get home,” Greg said softly. “Need to get some sleep before work.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we do.” Nick unwillingly stepped out of Greg’s arms, placing one last kiss on his lips. “I guess I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Mm-hm.” Greg fished his keys out of his pocket, disabling the Jetta’s alarm. “Bye, Nicky.”
“Bye, G.”
Nick swung up into his Denali, settling into the driver’s seat and returning Greg’s wave as the other drove away. Nick started the SUV, pausing to close his eyes and rest his head back against the seat. He swore he’d never been so hard just from kissing in his life.
* * * *
Nick knew there was a slight bounce in his step as he entered the lab that night. Stepping into the locker room and nodding his greeting to Warrick, Catherine, Greg and Sara as he opened his locker, Nick was already running the case over in his mind. Brass hadn’t called about their warrant, so Nick was going to need to chase him up. In the meantime, they would-
“So,” Warrick said, breaking Nick’s train of thought. “How’d the date go this morning?”
Catherine looked up. “Date?”
“Who had a date?” Sara asked.
Warrick smirked, gesturing between Nick and Greg. “These two.”
“Really.” Catherine crossed her arms over her chest, eyes sparkling. “So how did it go?”
Nick narrowed his eyes. “Who said we had a date?”
“What would you call it?” Warrick asked.
“Friends going to a free movie,” Greg replied, the conversation not seeming to faze him, much to Nick’s relief. “People do still do that, you know.”
“Mm-hm.” Catherine’s eyebrows rose. “So what did you do after the movie?”
“Went home to bed.”
“Whose?”
“Our own,” Nick answered, glancing around at his colleagues. “What made you think it was a date?”
“Oh come on. You two have been flirting with each other for years.” Sara shrugged, closing her locker door. “Besides, you are being way too casual with this.”
“Yeah.” Warrick chuckled. “It was a date.”
Nick closed his locker door, turning toward his best friend. “So the other week when you and Catherine went out to dinner was a date too, eh?”
Greg smirked.
Warrick levelled his gaze on Nick. “I’m married.”
“Not the point, my friend.” Nick waved it off, noticing Sara hide her smile behind a hand. “You, Cath, dinner. Sounds like a date to me.”
“And,” Greg piped up, “You two have been flirting with each other for years.”
Sara laughed. “They’ve got you there, Warrick.”
“Yeah. Right.” Warrick glared at Nick. “I still say it was a date.”
“Who? You and Cath?” Nick winked at him. “Yeah, we know, Rick.”
“You and Greggo.” Warrick moved to prod Nick in the chest. “Explain this one, bro: Why have you both been so perky this shift, hm? I doubt the movie was that good.”
Nick frowned, glancing over Warrick’s shoulder as he saw a movement. Saved by Brass. Nick brushed Warrick off, looking toward the new arrival. “Jim? What’s wrong?”
“We have our court order,” Brass said, expression dark. “Judge wasn’t going to give it. Said we didn’t have enough on Carpenter to warrant one.”
Warrick raised an eyebrow. “What changed his mind?”
Brass set his jaw. “I was in his office not even 15 minutes ago when I got a call from O’Riley. Dead body just washed up at Lake Mead. Looks like another athlete.”
Greg swore softly as Warrick punched his locker, Nick sighing heavily and reaching up to rub his eyes. Great, just what they needed. Another murder.
“Wait a minute.” Sara frowned. “You guys pulled a serial killer?”
“Yeah.” Warrick set his jaw. “Bastards damned clever, too. We’ve got nothing.”
“Career case.” Catherine smiled faintly. “Look good for you if you break it.”
“Yeah. We know.” Nick sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Murders are getting closer together, so our guy might start getting sloppy.”
“We hope,” Greg muttered.
Nick shot him a quick look. “Okay, let’s divide and conquer. Greg, go with Brass and check out the Carpenters.”
Greg nodded, giving a small salute.
“Rick, chase up the rangers. Find out what cars have been at Lake Mead lately.”
“See if Toni has been there,” Warrick finished. “What you going to do?”
“Check out the new DB,” Nick smiled tightly. “Maybe our killer left us something.”
* * * *
Nick gazed down at the body as David Phillips finished examining it. Nick listened as David recited his findings - single gunshot to the head, unable to determine range. Vic died instantly, meaning it was unlikely to be water in the lungs. He set his jaw. The murders were getting closer together as the competition neared, and they still didn’t have enough evidence to pin their suspect.
And every time an athlete died, the worse it looked for them. They had to find their killer soon, before the competition, or risk losing them as they moved onto the next state and competition. But so far they had nothing. Nick was getting frustrated.
“Can you pinpoint time of death, David?”
David looked up at him from the temperature, eyes wide. “The water cools the body quickly, but I’m estimating between 4-6 hours. Won’t be sure until we get him back to the morgue.”
“Mm-hm,” Nick frowned, shining his torch around. Someone had to be witnessing the body dumps. The mere fact they were washing up so quick meant that the dumps were occurring relatively close to the shoreline.
Nick moved toward the waters edge, shining his torch over the ground in search of something that might help with their case. Half an hour later, David long gone, Nick headed back to his Denali empty handed and agitated. If there was one place a CSI never wanted to be, it was at a dead end. And as Nick was the primary, everything was on his shoulders.
Arriving back at the lab, Nick headed straight for the morgue, Doc Robbins confirming all of David’s findings, although they would need to wait for further test to be sure of the entire story and actually identity of their vic.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Nick moved back through the lab, looking up at the sound of his name and smiling faintly. “Hey Bobby.”
“Gave the results from your bullets to Greg,” the other said, eyes looking Nick over quickly. “Thought I’d tell you myself. Traced the striations back to a gun used in a murder two years ago.”
Nick nodded, stepping closer. “And?”
“Well, the gun was never recovered. Case is still unsolved.”
Nick sighed heavily, crossing his arms over his chest. “Right. Okay. Well, Doc Robbins has another bullet for you to check. Pulling it out of our vic now.”
Bobby nodded. “I’ll check ‘n’ see if it’s from the same gun.”
“Yeah, do that. Thanks.” Nick felt his frustration grow as Bobby walked away, Nick running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. Another avenue closed. This was getting worse and worse. They hadn’t gone through every option as yet, but now they were really clutching at straws.
He stepped into the layout room to find Greg and Warrick sifting through evidence and papers, both looking up as he entered. Warrick straightened, jaw set.
“Anything at the scene?”
Nick shook his head. “Identical to the others. Get anything from the rangers?”
“Toni Carpenter’s car was seen at Lake Mead around 2pm yesterday.”
Nick frowned. “Daylight?”
Warrick nodded. “Yeah. Daylight. Our guy’s getting cocky.”
“I’ll say.” Nick looked at Greg. “How bout you, G? Anything at the house?”
Greg smirked, pulling an evidence bag closer and handing it to Nick. Nick glanced down, turning it in his hands so he could read the label: chloroform. Nick looked up at him, Greg winking.
“Shelf in the garage. Plain sight.”
Nick set his jaw as he studied the jar inside the plastic. “This could explain why there was no sign of a struggle. They come up behind you and put a cloth of this over your face, and you’re out in seconds.” Personal experience, but he wasn’t saying that.
Warrick nodded. “We’ll need a tox screen on our most recent vic. See if there is any chloroform in his system.”
“I’ll run it myself.” Greg shrugged as they looked at him. “Running evidence for Ecklie is one thing; running evidence for my own case is a completely different story. Besides,” he gestured toward the lab, “Wendy is seriously backlogged. Run the tox screen myself and we effectively jump the cue.”
“In the meantime having Wendy and Henry drool all over you,” Warrick teased.
Greg smirked. “Not my fault I’m so irresistible.”
Nick cleared his throat, trying to bite back his smile. “Greg, go do that screen. Rick, finish sorting the evidence. See what else turns up. I’m going to go chase up some warrants to search the houses of our vics. If there’s chloroform in their system, we have something to look for.”
“The handkerchief or rag,” Warrick said with a grin. “We find the rag…”
“We can get epitheliales off it,” Greg finished, looking up at him. “That’d be pay dirt.”
Nick nodded his agreement. “Well, sooner we move the sooner we can get going. Back to work.”
TBC...