Home of Greg Sanders Slash Fiction
Author: Faith Harris
Summary: A case on Halloween, Greg's friend is murdered, Greg is
outted, Nick is confused, Sara's on her own case...and the lab meets
Greg's 'boyfriend'.
Author's Note: Okay, here's the deal. Within each fandom I write,
I've got a nagging plot. A premise that keeps cropping up in about a
million different ways. For CSI, it's outting Greg by a case-
usually, when someone in the lab is introduced to Greg's boyfriend.
Now, I know this is only my second story up here, but I'm sure when
I start posting, there will be a few different incarnations of it.
Which means, strangely enough with OCs...who I usually hate.
--------------------
"Pez, honey, where ya going?"
Pez giggled at her boyfriend as he grabbed at her skirt. She batted
him away. "You're gonna tear it, Mitch. You know how long I spent
working on this costume!" She gave in, flopping back down on his lap
with a sigh. "You know, I was trying to head to the beer."
"Screw beer," Mitch snorted. "You should go find me Sharon."
Pez frowned at him. "You didn't tell her to come, did you? You know
I can't stand her."
It wasn't Mitch who answered. "Sharon's here?" He didn't sound very
happy. In fact, he sounded a little alarmed.
"G, chill out," Mitch told him. "She was stopping by for me, for
later. I promised you, and I keep my word."
Chris glanced up from where he and Greg were sitting. He had looked
more interested in Greg's neck then the conversation, but his next
comment showed that he had been paying enough attention. "Someone I
should know about?"
"Sharon's just a girl that we all used to hang with," Mitch said.
"She's Mitch's dealer," Pez explained dryly. "She's a total bitch. G
and I hate her. Gwen only lets her in here because Mitch vouched for
her." Pez semi-glared at him. "Which is totally gross of you."
"Oh, you sound your age, Pez," Greg taunted with a grin. She flipped
him off playfully. "That's the way to get back at me, Pezzie." Greg
tilted his head back on Chris' shoulder as Chris wrapped his arms
around his waist. The song that was blasting through Gwen's house
changed. "This is a great song. You should learn to play it, Chris."
"What's it called?"
"The Crimson, by Atreyu," he answered. He closed his eyes. "You'll
like it, trust me."
"You tried to get me to listen to them, right?" Mitch spoke up. "Not
bad."
"Not bad?" Greg said, his eyes shooting open as he sat up. "They're
great." There was the sound of static, suddenly, and the music faded
before it began to blare again. Greg groaned loudly. "What the fuck?
Why's it got to mess up now?"
The sound messed up again, and all four of them sat up to pay
attention.
The door to the bedroom opened, and Gwen popped her head in. "Hey,
Mitchie babe, you want to see what's up with that?" She pouted at
him. "You're the only one here who knows those things. Come on,
please?"
Mitch rolled his eyes and gave Pixie a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be
there in a minute, Gwen." Pez sighed and stood up, straightening her
costume. Mitch straightened the pixie-wings out for her and he
smiled. "I'll be right back."
"No prob," Pez said, waving it off. "I'm not worried. I know you'll
be back." Mitch followed Gwen out of the room. "Ooo�I hate her
sometimes."
"Yet you still show up at her parties," Chris snarked with a smirk.
Pez turned to Greg. "G, your boyfriend is evil."
"Don't worry about it, Pezzie," Greg said with a sigh. "You know
Mitch is in love with you. He only talks about you twenty-four hours
a day. And, like I've said before, Chris is not my-"
The lights flickered and Gwen screamed.
"What've we got, Cath?"
Nick looked around the apartment, and he had to say that, underneath
the Halloween get-up, he was impressed. Hell, he was impressed with
the Halloween stuff up. It looked as if someone had spent a hell of
a lot of money to make their two-story penthouse resemble a rave,
and it worked. The party-goers fit the look as well, although there
were a few witches and vampires to spice up the place.
Someone had spent a lot of money on the party. It was a shame that
the party had to end with someone dying.
"Electrocution," Catherine answered, navigating her way through the
mess of the place. "It seems that at approximately one o'clock in
the morning, the sound system started fading in and out. The vic,
named Mitchell Henderson, being the handy man that he was, decided
to go and see what the trouble was, and got very, very fried."
"Accidental?" Nick guessed. "Fraying wires?"
"The sound system was rented out for this party," Catherine told
him. She raised her eyebrow. "Do you see any person paying a couple
of grand on one party-"
"-paying for faulty equipment," Nick finished, nodding in
understanding. "I got it, I got it. Where do you want me to start?"
Catherine sighed, looking around. "Sara's by the sound system right
now. Says she thinks the wire `fraying' is a bit too clean. You want
to look around and look for anything around here that might cut
through some wire and insulating rubber?"
Nick nodded yet again, deciding to look for the kitchen first. Not
that he was that sure that whoever was running this party used their
kitchen for anything resembling cooking. "I got it. Looking for
sharp objects, probably out of place. Cool."
"Hey, Nick?" Nick turned to her. "Be careful with this one. Host of
the party is Gwen Orchards." At Nick's blank look, she rolled her
eyes and elaborated. "Daughter of Pearl and Richard Orchards. Big
real estate guy with a B-movie trophy wife. Point is, they'll want
it covered up more than they want it solved."
Nick saluted her with a small smile. "I've got it, Cath. By the
book."
"And don't let anyone say anything to you." Catherine smiled back at
him. "I know you know better, but just to be on the safe side�"
"Hey, where's Griss, anyway?" Nick questioned.
"He's running a OIS with Warrick," Catherine explained. "Put me in
charge of this one."
"Officer-involved shooting," Nick said with a sigh. "I think we
might have gotten off lucky." Catherine chuckled without mirth.
Nick made his way through the numerous raver pixies and fantasy
costumed- Halloween fanatics. He shook his head at a particularly
small `sexy cop' outfit on a particularly sexy blonde. He wished he
would have taken the night off; there had been an offer from a
female friend of his who had mentioned something quite similar to
that costume.
Only, she had assured him, it would have been a firefighter's
costume, not a cop one.
"Jesus, where the hell is the kitchen in here?" he muttered under
his breath.
"She converted it to a dance floor," came a familiar voice from
behind Nick. "She orders out for every meal."
"Greggo, I thought you were off-duty tonight, man," Nick started,
turning to greet his co-worker, "and why are you in the field any-"
Nick blinked as he saw Greg Sanders, unsure what to say. It was Greg
alright, but he definitely wasn't on-duty.
Greg shrugged. "I'm not in the field technically. I guess you could
call me a witness this time around."
"Oh," Nick replied blankly.
"Yeah," Greg said with an awkward grin. "Oh."
It wasn't seeing Greg that was the shock, not really. It only took
Nick a couple of minutes before he came to that conclusion. Nick
couldn't say that he knew much about Greg's idea of a `good time';
the times that they'd hung out outside of work it was usually about
food and video games. He'd never even heard Greg mention partying,
but the photos of his friends�pretty much punk or grungesque style.
It was plausible to see Greg here.
No, it was definitely the�costume that did it.
Greg's actual outfit wasn't all that difficult to handle. Black
jeans, a bit tighter than Nick would have pictured, and an equally
form-fitting black t-shirt. He had a pair of black wings on, and a
pair of sunglasses on his head. Motorcycle boots and two spiked
bracelets completed the attire.
The `make-up', though, that was something else. It wasn't even that
much makeup, but Nick wasn't used to seeing any on his male
colleagues. Black eyeliner and lipstick was not something that Nick
would have pictured on Greg. Same with the black nail polish.
"Greggo?" Nick found himself repeating.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," Greg waved, then looked at his
fingernails and hid his hand behind his back. "Hi, Nick."
"Why are you here?" Nick let the stupid sounding question slip, and
then winced. "What I meant is�"
"I know what you meant," Greg said. "I'm friends with Gwen, sort of.
Well, she used to date a close friend of mine, and we still kind of
hang out with the same crowds. Gwen's the type that invites everyone
she's ever met to a party." Greg made a face. "Especially since she
wants to- wanted to sleep with Mitch."
"Mitch- the vic?" Nick sputtered sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Greg."
Greg shrugged, looking down as he rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Look,
have you talked to Brass yet?"
"No, not yet," Greg said, chuckling mirthlessly. "So far you're the
only one from the shift who even knows I'm here. Figure they'll get
to me sooner or later."
The fact that Greg knew the victim quickly over-powered Nick's shock
about seeing him there. Nick put a hand on Greg's shoulder. Greg
stilled, but didn't say anything about it. He just swallowed and
kept looking at the floor. "You should find Brass and talk to him,
get it over with."
"Who else is here?"
"Cath, Sara�" Nick frowned, narrowing his eyes. "You can't pretend
not to have been here."
"No that's not what I was thinking," Greg snapped, and he sounded
offended. "I just don't think I could deal with talking to Brass,
you know?" Nick nodded. "You think I could just give my statement to
Cath? Don't really want to talk to Sara either."
Nick didn't know why Sara would be a problem, but he could
understand Brass. It was the same reason that having to talk to
Grissom would have been uncomfortable; both of them were his
superiors. Out of everyone, Catherine would be most comfortable for
him. Cath was the least likely to do anything resembling judging him.
"I'm sure that won't be a problem, Greg�" Nick assured him. Then he
grinned. "You want to help me out? Show me the basic layout�where I
might fine tools, maybe, utensils?"
"She's all for eating out and plastic utensils," Greg explained,
taking a deep breath. "Tools? You're not going to find any, but
Mitch would have had some, he always has some." Greg frowned
thoughtfully. "They were in the room with us though." At Nick's
raised eyebrow, he continued, "Gwen's bedroom is what she used for
coats and stuff. We were hanging out in there when Mitch went to fix
the music."
"Okay, Greg, I'm gonna need to look at those," Nick told him. "Can
you show me where they are?"
Greg nodded. "Sure, Nick, they're this way."
Greg led Nick upstairs and pointed into a bedroom, where coats were
piled on the bed and an armchair. "The black duffel bag. He came to
the party straight from, um, work." Greg took a deep breath. "I
don't think anyone's been in here since we went to see what had
happened."
Nick nodded. "Alright, I'm going to get to work here. You should go
talk to Catherine." Greg nodded, but didn't move, staring at the
bed. "Greg?"
"Greg?" Nick turned as a tall, Hispanic man, about Greg's age, came
into the room. His costume was a name sticker which read `God',
jeans, and a blue t-shirt. "I was looking for you, figured you would
have come back in here. Shit, no one knows where the hell Pez went
to�" The young man turned to look at Nick blankly. "Um, are you in
the middle of something?"
Greg sighed deeply. "Nick Stokes, meet Chris Hernandez. Chris, I
work with Nick."
Nick and Chris nodded towards each other cordially. Nick glanced at
Greg curiously. "Pez?"
"Mitch's girlfriend," Greg explained. "Someone should really go
looking for her." Greg shook his head, and Chris put an arm around
his shoulders comfortingly. Nick noticed it, but didn't comment, for
the moment.
That moment passed, however. Nick spotted the bag, turning to pick
it up. With his back turned, he had the confidence to ask, "So,
Chris, how do you know our Greggo?"
"His date," Chris answered shortly, and he didn't strike Nick as the
friendly type.
Nick looked back at them over his shoulder. Greg's costume made the
blush in his cheeks all the more noticeable. "Really?" That was a
piece of information that seemed to come from left field. If there
had been anything that Nick had expected, it wasn't `date'. Hell,
this Chris could have said that he was Greg's brother and that would
have been less of a shock.
"We grew up together in San Diego, and he came up to visit me this
weekend," Greg rushed. "Um, I'm gonna find Cat. Chris, they're gonna
want a statement from you too. I'll introduce you to Detective
Brass." Chris nodded at him, and Greg led him out of the room.
Nick shook his head. So Greggo dated guys. That was something that
he hadn't heard around the lab. Ever.
"God, it's not like I did this or anything!"
Greg could hear Gwen Orchards from where he was sitting with
Catherine. HE snorted as he shook his head; she never changed. She
was nice, not a bitch like a lot of people seemed to think. She was
just�self-centered was the nicest way he could put it.
His eyes drifted over to where Chris was answering Brass' questions.
Chris was another one who never changed. He was talking to Brass
calm and coolly; he was never big on the emotional thing. Greg knew
that Chris had been by his side all evening, and had never been near
the music, but he still prayed that Chris didn't make himself look
like a suspect by obviously not giving a damn.
It wouldn't be the first time that Chris' occasional `flat affect'
[something Greg's mother had once said, not Greg] got him in trouble.
"Greg," Catherine's voice broke through his thoughts. It sounded
like she had repeated it a couple of times. "You still with me?"
Greg took a breath, nodding. "Yeah, sorry Cath, I missed whatever
you just said."
"I said, you knew the vic pretty well, huh?"
Greg truly understood now how much hearing the word `vic' pissed off
the people that the CSIs talked to. He played with the hem of his
shirt, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Uh, yeah, Mitch and I were
roommates when I first moved here. A good guy. A little messed up�"
"What's that mean?"
Greg shrugged. He wasn't used to being so lost for words. Things
were spinning in his head. Mitch was dead, and on top of that, he
was essentially outted to the whole lab. Not that the outing seemed
at all comparable�but it was a lot to take. Mitch was dead. "Mitch
was a bit of a stoner. Hell, a lot of a stoner. Was pretty sure he'd
gotten into more serious stuff too, but he�we didn't talk about it
much. He'd promised not to get stoned around me and he kept his
promise."
"Why do you think that he was into heavier drugs?"
"Aside from the fact that I know Mitch and I've listened to all the
speeches about drugs that anyone's ever made?" Greg laughed, but not
because anything was funny. "Sharon, his old dealer, was hanging
around him, and it definitely wasn't on the up and up." Greg looked
around impatiently. There was one person he still hadn't
spotted. "Look, Cath, I know we've got to do this, but with
everything that's happened, I've got to find Pez."
"Pez?" That was the voice Catherine got when she didn't believe what
she was hearing. Greg wondered if she'd figured out about him and
Chris yet. "You know someone named Pez?"
"Becky Phillips," Greg groaned. "Pez is her nickname because she's
got this huge collection of the dispensers back at her apartment.
She's had it since she was a kid, I heard. Look, Pez is going to be
taking this really hard, and believe me, unless we want to give
David another body to examine, I've gotta find ot where she is."
Catherine took a deep breathe. "Alright, we'll find this woman.
What's she look like?"
"Short, green spiky hair, green glittery stuff on her face and
shoulders, orange pixie costume." Greg's voice came out automatic,
distracted. "Check Mitch's car downstairs- it's a black jeep, the
plate reads `UBOARME'. He thought it was clever. She has the keys,
probably, but is totally paranoid about driving. He takes her
everywhere."
Catherine nodded, putting a hand on Greg's. Greg had a sudden urge
to find some nail polish remover quick. "Don't worry, Greg. Your
friend'll be fine."
As Catherine called a uniform over and described Pez, Greg caught
sight of Sara. She was walking over, probably hadn't even noticed
him at first. When she did, it took her a moment to even recognize
him. Her mouth formed a little confused `o' and she bunched her
eyebrows together. She started to walk towards him again, but
fortunately, Nick came in time to cut her off, blocking her view.
Greg smirked softly. His knight in shining armor for the evening.
"So, who was in the room with you again?"
Greg looked back at Catherine again. "It was me, Mitch, Pez, and
Chris."
"Right. And Chris is�?"
"Chris was my date," Greg exhaled exhaustedly, pointing a thumb
towards where Chris was finishing up his questioning by Brass. Greg
wasn't sure which one of them he pitied. "As I'm sure you'll hear
from Stokes sometime in the future."
Catherine glanced over Greg's shoulder towards Chris. Catherine
raised an eyebrow. When she responded, it was in that tone of
disbelief that she'd used before. "That's your date? He's-"
"A he?" Greg replied sardonically, "I know."
"-I was gonna say cute, but yes, also male," Catherine finished.
Greg looked a little surprised by her reaction, and he knew about
it. He could see it in her face. "Oh, come on, you can't have
thought that I was going to have a hissy fit over this, Greg. I'm a
grown woman, one who has seen a lot of screwed up people do a lot of
screwed up things sexually. You on a date with a guy is not one of
those things. It gives me faith- at least someone in the lab has a
love life."
"I wouldn't call it a love life," Greg replied. "We're friends back
from high school, and it's a casual thing."
"Casual's better than no thing at all," Catherine told him matter-of-
factly. "Now, what was going on in the room?"
"Nothing kinky," Greg assured her. "Pixie and Mitch were flirting,
Chris was trying to distract me from my other friends-"
"I thought you said nothing kinky was going on."
"And I wasn't lying," Greg answered. "There was some kissing, some
necking, but nothing else. It was all perfectly acceptable in that
company." Greg shrugged, running a hand through his hair as he
recalled what happened. "Good song was on, speakers started messing
around, and Gwen came in. Asked Mitch to check it out, and he went.
A few minutes later is when we heard Gwen flipping out."
"Okay, that should be enough," Catherine told him. "You can go if
you want to."
"Um, you think it'd be cool I waited to make sure Pez was alright?"
Catherine's look of pity was enough to make Greg want to spew. "Go
find that uniform. When you find her, she's going to have to be
interviewed." Greg nodded. He knew the drill, even if being outside
the lab wasn't all that common for him.
"Thanks, Cath."
TO BE CONTINUED...