If he's Me so Who am I? (2/4)
Title: IF HE’S ME SO WHO AM I?
Chapter: First Visit, 2/4
Characters: Greg, the team, OMC
Word count:
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Set after ‘Play with Fire’
Warnings: None apart from the Nick/Greg slash (Don’t like, don’t read). Cross-posted with ff.net and WMTDB.
Summary: After a very bad day, Greg finds that Nick could be interested in him... But is it really him?
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own CSI but Jerry does!
Beta: The wonderful jayceepat
“DID YOU HIDE SOMETHING ABOUT MY BIRTH FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS? DID YOU FORGET TO TELL ME THAT I HAVE A TWIN OR SOMETHING? DID YOU ABANDON HIM WHEN WE WERE BORN? OR PERHAPS IT WAS ME? PERHAPS YOU AND DAD ADOPTED ME??? WHAT DID I DO TO YOU? DO YOU HATE ME THAT MUCH?”
He hung up on his speechless mother, who didn’t even know what her crazy-mad-insane son was saying, or rather yelling, before she could even try to speak again or dare to answer him. ‘Oh Dear Lord, now I will have to run a DNA test on the newbie and myself to find the answers.’
When Greg returned to the break room, he discovered Eric sitting on the couch talking with a giggling Catherine. That just made Greg more pissed than before.
“Hey Greg! Who pissed in your pants? You look like you’re about to combust from the inside,” Catherine asked jokingly.
“No! What’s so funny? Can I laugh with you?” He asked dryly.
“Ah! Sure. I was going to have some coffee here - because it’s a Hodges-free zone today - when I saw you. So I come to say hello but, well, I discovered that it wasn’t you in fact! Funny no? Anyway, did you forget to mention something about your life? Is he your twin? Your doppelganger?”
“…” Apparently silence was the only answer he was ready to give.
“But I should have guessed that it wasn’t you, obviously because of his normal-and-good-taste in clothes,” She said mockingly. She added to Eric “I hope you also have good taste in music!”
Eying Greg, Eric wouldn’t have dared to answer her.
At this step it was Catherine’s mocking-glare vs. Greg’s death-glare.
Then suddenly Greg spoke bitterly to Eric, not even looking at Catherine and totally ignoring her. “You know, Eric, you really should choose the people with whom you laugh. Because some CSI’s have already tried to kill DNA tech’s by exploding them, blowing them through the glass walls and burning them to the 3rd degree…”
Catherine’s eyes were beginning close friends with the ground. “Thanks Greg for the witty comeback.” Then she left, visibly hurt by the comment.
Greg felt guilty, culpability creeping all over his face after that.
“So you’re ready to visit?” He asked.
“Yes,” he answered shyly. “But will you keep avoiding speaking about our resemblance? Because you know, for a first day it’s really weird for me too. I think I have the same questions as you. We really look like twins.”
“Yeah, sorry about that but for right now, it’s really strange and I can’t deal with it. Maybe we could talk about this whole thing later.”
“Okay”
“Right! So you have seen the break room now. Let me show you my lab. Uh sorry your lab now. That’s sooooo weird!” he added, winking. ‘Perhaps this guy is right in fact.’ “I use to blast music in the lab. If you need to listen to something you can use my player. What kind of music do you like?”
“Uh! Mostly country.”
‘Oh, Oh… Exactly like a certain Cowboy. That’s not good for me’
“I was thinking… We could run a DNA test during the visit. We could begin a PCR to compare our DNA. That would be good practice for you. You could get used to the lab equipment without screwing up the evidence. Ecklie is on vacation so I think Grissom won’t mind. And perhaps we could also get some answers,” Greg continued.
“Okay. Thanks. Let’s do that… But who’s Ecklie???”
“You haven’t already met him? A bald freaking guy with a look of pervert… The office there is his office.” He pointed to Ecklie’s empty office. He added after noticing Eric’s puzzled look. “He’s the boss. He’s the guy who’s supposed to have hired you.” Eric nodded. He took few minutes to prepare his little experiment and to show Eric all the material and equipment.
“Ok the PCR is running in the thermo cycler, so we have at least a couple of hours. We can begin here; it’s the A/V lab.” With the confused look of his doppelganger he added, “A/V means audio/video. Is this your first time in a crime lab?”
Another nod.
“I present you Archie Johnson, the master of the A/V Tech, the one who knows everything about computers and Star Trek. Archie meet Eric Adams our new DNA Tech. Err, Archie? You can close your mouth if you don’t have anything to say…”
“B… B… But Greg… He’s exactly like you…” he stuttered. “Don’t you see?”
“Yes Arch’. In fact I do have noticed.” Greg rolled his eyes.
“Is he fine?” Eric asked.
“Yes! Don’t bother. Usually he’s not so dumb. Anyway he’s kind and you can come to see him if you need something,” he said, acting like Archie wasn’t in the room.
“You can come to him for example, if your lab computer picks up a virus from porn you’ve been watching.”
“GREG! Don’t you dare do that again!” Archie yelled. And Greg winked in response.
“Sorry Eric! Today Archie is a little bit susceptible. We should go to Trace. That’s where most of the evidence is processed. If you see an angry guy with a boring ass-kisser face, don’t go in the room. Hodges is really a pain-in-the-ass. He’s annoying and not kind at all. But sure if you need to find him, find Grissom first. He’s always following him like a puppy.” ‘Yeah, like I do with Nick,’ he thought, wondering where the sexy Texan could be.
They got their usual effect when they entered the Trace lab. Mandy and Wendy almost dropped the evidence on the ground when they saw two Greg’s standing in their lab. After the usual “Oh MY GOD! He’s like YOU!” which they were getting used to, they went to meet Bobby Dawson, the ballistic tech. Bobby just said “Hi!” without looking awkwardly at the pair.
Greg declared, “To a certain extent, it’s good to know that the guy who knows how to use a lot of guns can react like that and stay calm.
Bobby grinned. Eric didn’t know if he should be relieved or rather be afraid by that statement. Then they continued their way through the glass wall labyrinth. “But never forget that he has the guns!!!”
When they entered the Tox lab they were both surprised by Henry’s unexpected reaction, or perhaps Greg was expecting it, a totally Henry-way freaking reaction. Henry began rambling hysterically “Oh God, I’m crazy. I have probably inhaled some drugs or chemicals… Yeah I’m hallucinating so perhaps LSD… Oh God! No perhaps poisons. I’m going to die… I have to go to the morgue and see Dr Robbins. Perhaps he will be able to help me. Or he will just put my body on a table and begin my autopsy… What can I do?” And he stormed out of the lab so fast that neither Greg nor Eric was able to tell him that he wasn’t hallucinating.
After going through the whole department and getting tired of hearing for the umpteenth time “Did you notice the resemblance?” they decided to return to their DNA test. It was almost finished when Grissom came in to give Greg an assignment. “Good Greg you’re here. You’ve got a B&E in Henderson. I will pair you with…”
‘Nick, Nick, Nick’
“Sara. She’s waiting for you in the parking lot. Hurry up!” Did Grissom notice the look of disappointment on Greg face? Nothing is less sure.
The case was boring. They rapidly discovered that the neighbor was guilty. He left so many proofs that it took a very long time to collect all the evidence. It was hard not to cry at so much stupidity. ‘When do you leave a photo of your family on the crime scene? Particularly when you ARE guilty!’ Greg thought. When he returned 3 hours later, he found Warrick and Catherine whispering in the break room.
“Hey Greg! Rumor says that you have a twin! How did you manage to hide that for more than 3 years?” Warrick said between two laughs. “By the way, your mother has phoned you four times. She wants you to call her back…”
“You shouldn’t listen to gossip ‘Rick. You have no proof and neither do I…” He turned toward Catherine who was avoiding his eyes. “I’m sorry Cath, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. This situation was too awkward for me. I really want to apologize,” he said, eyes fixed on the ground, feeling ashamed.
“It’s okay Greg. I can understand,” Catherine answered soothingly.
“So what were you conspiring when I arrived.”
“Oh Catherine bet me 20 bucks that Grissom didn’t even notice the resemblance. I said he noticed.”
“Ah Rick… I think you owe Catherine 20 bucks… Nothing is too weird for Grissom; not even having two Greg’s standing in front of him.”
“YES!” shouted a happy Catherine.
“Ouch! You’re rude! Oh Man! I was about to forget… Eric left that envelope for you. He said it was the result… The result of???” He asked inquisitively.
“You’re curious Man! Anyway! Where is Eric?”
“Oh! Nick invited him for breakfast earlier. They just left few mi…” Warrick never finished the sentence.
“HE DID WHAT???” Greg yelled in the middle of the break room, making Catherine and Warrick jump.