"Ficlets" about CSI: LV - Give me suggestions!

:eek: Holy resurrection of threads Batman!
... Okay that was bad, but I am surprised! :lol: This thread was dead for a month, I pretty much had given up on it, and by chance, when I come to check the fan fiction section I find that I have three requests!
Wow.
But I shall not turn people down. I just hope I’m not too rusty. Okay… my first request is from a newbie! Hi keangal, and thanks for bringing this ole’ thread back! :D
New years Swarrick fic, with an outdoor party, a few sudden showers (hmmm…) and Greg in gold boxers…..
This has the makings of something either really funny or really lame. I hope you like it what I attempted, keangal.

The new years party was seldom held anywhere except the lab, so there was some surprise when Ecklie announced that this year’s party would be held at the house of the under sheriff. The CSIs weren’t looking forward to going to some event where it would be strictly business, but one by one, they were “coerced” to attend by Ecklie.

The weather was fair, so the party was held outside. There were several police officers, and local politicians. It was practically an office party held in the yard, and everyone was quite aware of their actions.
Much of the nightshift arrived, and after some mingling, they gravitated towards each other.
“I can’t believe he left yesterday,” Hodges sighed, referring to Grissom.
“Yeah. You said that already. Three times,” Nick pointed out.
“I’m just making conversation.”
“You know, Bobby is over there. Maybe you guys will have more to talk about,” Greg jerked his thumb behind him, where the ballistics expert was chatting up Judy.
“You used to be in the lab. Are you too high and mighty now that you’re a CSI?”
Greg turned back and pointedly ignored him. Hodges took the hint but he wasn’t happy.

An hour into the party, it seemed like things were looking up. Sara hung around Warrick and Greg while Nick and Catherine chatted. Sara was the first to notice a small drop hit the tip of her nose. In a matter of seconds drops came rushing down, causing the guests to panic.
“Oh no, it’s raining!”
“The forecast did mention there would be a few light showers in the evening,” Catherine shielded her head as best she could before following most of the guests inside.
Sara, clad only in a white shirt and brown pants, looked around for some kind of cover.
“Here,” Warrick gave Sara his jacket.
She smiled gratefully and thanked him as they both started for the house. Greg was right behind him, but started to jog ahead. All of a sudden he tripped, causing a domino effect where Sara bumped into him, and Warrick fell trying to grab her. Nick barely sidestepped them as he stopped to make sure they were okay.
“I’m fine,” Greg groaned.
“What happened?” Warrick frowned at the younger man.
“Wasn’t my fault. Someone tripped me,” he responded.
“You sure?”
From a few feet ahead, Hodges called out to the four, “You should really watch where you’re going.” He smiled a not-so-innocent smile, and disappeared inside.
They all looked at each other and came to the same conclusion, “Hodges.”

“Really nice, Hodges. Resorting to childish pranks just because you don’t get your way,” Warrick spotted him in the living room, by the couch.
“I don’t have the slightest idea what you mean.”
Sara appeared right behind him, “This isn’t over. I’ll get you.”
The lab tech wasn’t sure how to take the threat - was she being serious? He opted to leave.
“I got mud everywhere,” Greg complained as soon as Warrick and Sara walked over to him. They sort of shrugged and told him about their conversation with Hodges.
“I’ll try and find out if I can wash my clothes. Let me help with the revenge thing, okay?” He left in a hurry, leaving the pair to plot.

After half an hour, the party got swinging. People were more relaxed - partly because of all the champagne and wine consumed - and everyone was dry.
Sara and Warrick had given up their little revenge idea for a while and simply enjoyed having a nice conversation.
“… so the guy backs up and rams into another car before running out and trying to hide in a dog house.”
Sara laughed out loud, “Really? Let me guess: he was drunk.”
“Drunk, high, and his license was suspended. Brass told me to run his prints and we got him on an assault case two years ago.”
“Good one. Wish they were all like that. It would make our lives so much easier.”
“Tell me about it,” Warrick knocked back his drink.
“We should talk more often,” Sara found herself saying.
“Yeah. We should,” he straightened up, “You wanna get some lunch tomorrow?”
She paused before answering, “Sure. Why not?”

A loud gasp caught their attention. Over on the other side of the living room, by the entrance, Greg stood in nothing but a pair of shiny, gold boxers. There could’ve been many reasons as to why he was missing something important, but that wasn’t what anyone was concerned with at the moment.
Greg quickly looked around before grabbing the nearest available cover: a table cloth. However, he wasn’t quick enough, and half the party guests saw him, including all of the nightshift.
Catherine broke the silence, “Are you wearing gold boxers?”
“Umm… I kind of got lost. And I guess you could say I forgot something,” he tried to laugh it off, but it came out as a nervous squeak.
Sara, taking pity on him, took the opportunity to fling her glass of red wine at a certain target. She smirked as all eyes turned to the screaming Hodges, and Greg happily made his escape. Before anyone could say anymore, she ducked out of there and found herself in the kitchen.

“Nice one.”
“Hmm?” Sara turned around and found Warrick entering the room, regarding her with an air of awe.
“You had Greg’s back and got Hodges all in one move.”
She grinned, “I told him I’d get him. So about lunch tomorrow...”


Alright, so there you go. Implied "swarrickness" and a boxer-clad Greg. I hope I was able to pull it off! Now I have have to get to a Greg/Lindsey ficlet... wait a minute... CSI or CSI:NY? I'll have to PM you for clarification CSI_CSI. ;)
Meanwhile, review, suggest, correct and all that good stuff. Thanks for reading!
 
After much deliberation and clearing some time to write this, I came up with this response to CSI_CSI’s suggestion. This is a sort of Greg/Lindsey ficlet. By that, I mean Greg and Catherine’s daughter go out on a “date.”
Hope it's what you wanted. If not, make sure to PM me! ;)

So read on people.

Greg Sanders never planned on spending his day off at the mall. He couldn’t even imagine spending more than an hour at the huge, crowded shopping center.
Yet there he was, walking up the escalator, with a young blonde girl gripping his arm and dragging him to every single clothing place in the four story building.
This is what happens when you owe Catherine Willows a favor.

It seemed like an innocent enough request.
'Pick up Lindsey after school and get her home before six,' he recalled Catherine’s exact words.
He didn’t know why he would have any problem getting Lindsey home before six, but when he pulled up at school, she hopped into his car and informed him that she needed new shoes. Her mother had neglected to inform him that part of his 'assignment'.
Four new pairs of shoes, two pairs of socks, and three “cute tops” later, Greg was getting tired.
‘This is what life would be like with a girlfriend,’ he thought to himself, wearily.

“Lindsey, slow down. We need to get going soon. Aren’t you getting tired?.”
She rolled her eyes and still clung to his arm, “We still have two more stores to go!”
He grudgingly obliged.
“Next thing you’ll want is for me to hold your purse.”
She laughed airily and held out her little book bag. “Actually, if you don’t mind…”
“No way. That’s where I draw the line! I have dignity you know,” he groaned. Who was he kidding? He was letting himself be dragged around by a girl and he’d seen more than enough shades of pink lip gloss to make him hate the red tint for a long time.
“We could stop for some ice-cream,” she suggested.
“Stopping is good,” he wearily agreed.

They sat in the food court and shared a huge sundae at her insistence. He should’ve known something was up when she asked him about his favorite foods and favorite color, but he was just glad to relax for a bit.
“…I love pepperoni pizza too! You know, my mom is always working late so Saturday nights are usually boring. I was wondering if-”
“Linds? Is that you?”
Greg looked behind him, and rolled his eyes. ‘Great… more teenage girls.’
Three girls walked over to the table, each hauling large bags. The brunette used her free hand to grab Lindsey’s arm.
“I’m busy.”
“I can see that,” she pulled the blonde girl aside. Greg wasn’t sure if he should stop them. Lindsey obviously knew the girls so he just watched them closely.
“Is that him?” Greg could hear them perfectly. They weren’t that far off.
Lindsey looked proud, “Yup. That’s Greg.”
“He is cute!” one of the girls whispered loudly.
He could feel his ears turn bright red. They certainly weren’t very discreet. Lindsey’s friend’s continued to whisper and mention how cute he was. He tried not to eavesdrop but they were so close, it was hard not to. Besides, his ego didn’t seem to mind; a compliment was a compliment.

“… does he have a friend?”
“He seriously works with your mom?”
“You sure?”
Lindsey just smiled and answered all their questions with a secretive smile, every so often turning back and looking at him. Something about her look was a bit unnerving. Greg didn’t know exactly what, he just knew that she had been acting unusually affectionate and evasive ever since he picked her up from school.
He looked at his watch and realized time was really flying. Greg promised to get her back home before 6, and it was already a quarter after 5,
“We have to get going, Linds.”
The teenagers paid him no heed at first. He walked over and broke up the conversation.
“Lindsey, it’s getting late. You’re mom said we had to get home before six.”
“Oh, right. See you tomorrow, girls.”
The trio gave their friend an odd look before saying their goodbyes and walking off.
What was it about today and weird looks?

Greg was glad to be at Lindsey's house, and he quietly made a vow not to owe Catherine anymore favors. It wasn’t that he disliked spending time with her daughter - on the contrary, something about the entire day seemed overly friendly. He was glad he didn’t get the sulky, reticent teenager that Catherine warned him about; but the giggling, moonstruck girl seemed like a less than desirable trade-off.
“So your mom should be here in half an hour. Do you want me to stay or help with homework?” he offered.
Lindsey giggled coyly. At least that’s what it was supposed to be. He just thought she was laughing at his suggestion. He shrugged it off and sat on the living room couch. She watched him for a moment, and when he didn’t say anything more she joined him. They watched TV for a while - at least he tried to. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her staring at him. There was that look again.
“Do you always look at your baby-sitters that way or am I just special?” he joked.
“What?”
Her confused reaction didn’t help diminish his nervousness, “Eh, never mind…”
She looked serious, “Is that what my mom told you? You were my babysitter?”
“Uhh… yeah…”
She shifted over and rolled her eyes, “I’m way too old for a babysitter!”
“You’re fifteen.”
“I’ll be sixteen in a few months.”
Now he was getting seriously flustered. Her strange behavior suddenly made sense. He prayed he was wrong.
“What… did you think I was doing with you?”
Lindsey’s seriousness dissolved slightly, “A date?”
He almost laughed, but when he saw the honesty in her eyes, his voice caught in his throat. Greg was speechless.
It was one thing for a woman to hit on him in some club or party (on the rare occasion that it happened), but this was an entirely different situation. This teenage girl had a crush on him. He had no idea what to do.

Then another thought crept over him: sympathy.
He knew what it was like to be on the other end of a crush. A huge crush on someone older who seems so unattainable… it didn’t help that she was pouting. Well it sort of did, because it drove home the point that she was a little kid he was supposed to be looking after.
‘Some cosmic force is having a pretty good laugh about this,’ he thought.
“Look Lindsey, this is really hard for me too say… and really weird, but this wasn’t a date. I helped out your mom. I’m not saying I was forced to do this, but it was just a favor I owed her.”
“But we had a great time today! We really connected!”
He shook his head. Sharing the same tastes for movies and pizza all of a sudden made them soul mates?
“I can’t date you.”
“Because I’m not legal?”
Greg cringed. He did not want to hear that coming out of little Lindsey’s mouth.
“That’s a big reason. Besides, I’ve seen you when you were a little kid. You’re like my younger sister!”
A mulish look slid over her face and she sat back.
“You’re not that old. At least… you don’t look it. My friends all think you’re twenty five.”
“Thanks…Wait, why do your friends think that I’m twenty five? Is that what you were talking about at the mall?”
“Well yeah…” she bit her lip and looked down, seemingly interested in a spot on the floor. “I kind of told my friends that I had a twenty five year old boyfriend and showed them this picture I had of you. It was a few days ago and they wanted to see it to believe it. I hope you don’t mind.”
He didn’t even know what to make of that. “Where did you even get a picture of me? …Never mind. I probably don’t want to know.”
He sighed and mustered a wry smile, “I won‘t mind as long as you don’t tell your mom. She’ll either kill me, or tease me about this.”
Lindsey smiled and hopped off the couch.
“Deal?” Greg offered his hand, but Lindsey had other ideas. She darted forward, planting a light, feathery kiss on his cheek. It happened in the blink of an eye; so fast he almost didn’t believe it actually happened. Except for the young blonde’s mischievous grin.
“Deal.”


Thanks for your patience and a big thanks for reading! You're all wonderful. :) So next I'm working on a ficlet based after Redrum. I'll be posting that up in a day or so, NicknGrissom!
dr_heather_ssj from what i could discern, you want a CSI/Scrubs crossover? I would love to write one but I don't watch Scrubs. :( So sorry! Perhaps you've got another idea with just CSI?
 
So "a day or so" turned into quite a few days. Sorry about that. The weather here has caught me by surprise and I’m getting over a cold.
Sick.gif
*Sigh* Such is life. But I promised to get this up, cold or no cold! I just hope NicknGrissom isn’t too upset about waiting so long.
Anyway, hope you like what I wrote, it's even extra long. :)

“We’re a team now, the four of us…”
When they all found out about the staged crime scene they each reacted in their own way. There was the sense of betrayal and deception but he seemed to take it the hardest. With Thomas Simon safely in custody, there was nothing more to do. Or so it seemed.
Warrick managed to calm Nick down and he offered to drive them all home. They gladly accepted, it being so late at night.

He drove the same road, knowing it very well. There was no traffic and he wanted to get everyone home as soon as he could. The familiar turn was up ahead so he pressed on the break to slow down.
But nothing happened.
The turn fast approached and the car just sped on. With reflexes and maneuverability of a race car driver, Nick turned the wheel sharply, sending the car into a spin and skidding several feet before slamming into a tree.
“…Is everyone okay?”
There was no response at first, leading Nick to fear the worst. However, after a few seconds, Warrick and Greg shakily replied they were fine. Sara moaned a bit before letting him know she was alright, if not a bit bruised.
Nick just sighed in relief, barely noticing the sirens far off in the distance.

“Oh my God.” Catherine was the first to get the news. Her team had gotten into an accident. While she was assured they were alright, she was less reassured by the suspicious circumstances. She knew Nick. He was not a bad driver and according to the officers on the scene, there was no traffic in the vicinity, and there were huge skid marks.
She grabbed her bag and headed outside, running into Michael Keppler on the way.
“What’s the matter? I thought we were going to finish up on the … case.”
“I don’t have time for this. I have to get to the hospital.”
He didn’t even bother to get any details. He just said goodbye and stayed behind at the lab.

The doctor assured her that they were all fine. A few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. They were in the lobby, signing some release forms and still trying to wrap their minds around what happened.
It took her a while before she found them; they were by the pay phones. Warrick was trying to call a cab and the others were just sitting around.
“Hey, guys, I heard about what happened! Is everyone okay?” she spoke quickly, out of breath.
“We’re fine,” Nick answered tersely.
Catherine noticed his tone, but told herself to let it go - they were all in an accident.
“I’m glad.”
“Somebody tampered with my breaks.”
She wasn’t expecting that. “What? Nick it was an accident…”
“No, Catherine, it wasn’t,” he got up and faced her, his hands balled up in anger, “I was there, Sara was there. Warrick and Greg were there. The breaks didn’t just stop working on their own!”
She just nodded absently, knowing that there was some truth in his words.
“Nick, I promise we’re going to do a full investigation on this - we’re going to find out what happened.”
He just shook his head and frowned, “Hope you keep us in the loop this time.”
“That’s not fair,” she started, “I didn’t want to lie to you from the start. You know me, Nick! I did what I felt was absolutely necessary, and besides, Keppler was the one who brought up the idea of staging a crime scene. Believe me when I say I’m as disappointed and disgusted as you all are-”
“Goodnight Catherine,” Nick cut her off and left.
She watched helplessly as the rest of the team turned their backs on her and followed Nick’s lead.

~~~~~
“So he was right,” Brass frowned, “Someone cut Nick’s break line.” The car in question was at their garage, and Catherine personally took on the case.
She looked grim, “Yeah. And I think I have an idea who.”

With all the unwarranted surprises and scandal that had been going on for the past week, she thought nothing else could surprise her. She was wrong.
“I’m back.”
With a start, she looked up from her desk. Catherine didn’t anticipate Grissom’s return so soon.
“Grissom? You weren’t due back for another week and a half.”
“I came early. Surprise.”
‘That would be an understatement…’
“Do you know where everyone is?”
She searched her head for possible answers. The rest of the nightshift had been avoiding her ever since the accident, and she had to admit that she didn’t make much of an effort to reach out to them.
However, she did manage to find out what happened to Nick’s car and she was about to file a whole new set of charges on Simon.
“Catherine?”
“They’re out in the field. All of them.”
“Hmmm.” He did not looked convinced, “See that’s odd because I just finished talking to Archie over in the A/V lab. He told me that Sara and Nick were looking over some cold cases and Warrick and Greg were catching up on paper work. No one is out in the field.”
She was caught, and fumbled for an excuse, “Oh. Well…”
Grissom continued, “Bobby stopped by and told me that you weren’t on speaking terms with Nick and the others,” he gave her a serious look, “Now why would that be?”
She was caught. She had to tell him everything. With brevity and composure, she explained it from her side, hoping he would understand.
He did not.
“So you deceived everyone, trusting this new CSI, and not only did you fail to clear it with the D.A, you put my entire team in danger because of it. Catherine what were you thinking?” His voice rose steadily, near a yell by the time he posed his question.
“I was thinking that there was so much pressure to catch this guy, we had to do something. And I didn’t know he didn’t clear it with the D.A. I never wanted to lie. I never wanted anyone to get hurt.” She truly looked remorseful.
Grissom just shook his head, “I left you in charge. I thought you would support each other, but instead you betrayed them.”
“I had to do it,” she kept insisting, “I had to! I couldn’t take a chance with leaking information. It was to protect the lab, Grissom.”
“You want to protect the lab? Start by protecting the people in it.”
With that said, he left.

~~~~~
He never felt as angry and surprised as he did at that moment, in the under sheriff’s office. He didn’t have anything planned to say when he barged in, but at the sight of the rash politician, Grissom found the words escaping easily.
“I know what you did to my lab. My team. I know everything. Let me just tell you, if you ever do something like this again; not telling the DA about the killer, and getting my team hurt,” he paused, “I will make sure you pay for it.”
The under sheriff was struck dumb. Before he could even think of anything to utter, Grissom was long gone.

A few days later word had gotten around the lab that McKeen was fired. Something about reckless endangerment towards officers.
Eventually, it got to the ears of those “officers”. For the first time in days, they were relieved.
~~~~~

Grissom walked into the break room, seeing his team go over case files in silence. They had gone through so much over the last few years individually, perhaps this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
If they couldn’t trust their supervisor - their friend - who could they trust?
He cleared his throat to get their attention. They barely looked up.
“I thought I’d let you guys know that McKeen was fired. But I’m pretty sure you knew that.”
Still nothing.

“I know it’s been… tough these last few days. I’ve talked it over with Catherine… I think you should all take the rest of the night off.”
That got their full attention. They looked at each other, and back at their supervisor.
“Are you sure?” Sara spoke up first.
“Yes,” he smiled softly at her, “I’ve got some people from dayshift who need some overtime. In fact, take tomorrow off as well. I hope you’re all better when you come back.”
Greg nodded and also spoke up, “Should we go now? We still have some paperwork…”
“It’s alright, Greg.”
“Okay,” he started for the door, looking back at the others. Sara and Warrick grabbed their files and followed him. Only Nick was left.
“Nick…”
He shook his head, not wanting to hear anymore.
“I’m glad to have you back Grissom. But I’m telling you, it’s not going to be easy.”
“I understand.”

He watched Nick go and thought about everything that occurred in the last few days. While Catherine’s actions bothered him, what really concerned him was what could have happened if he didn’t get back in time. He wasn’t going to be there forever. He couldn’t always be there to protect his team.

But he would make sure that no matter what, he would do his best to help them now; in the present. Every day he would try and distance himself less and less, always watching, always guiding them, until the moment he would be certain that they wouldn’t need him at all…


Just as I promised. Rather late, but there's the alternate reality aftermath of Redrum. I want to thank everyone for reading, and special thanks to everyone who reviews! (at the moment, "everyone" entails MacsGirlMel. :lol: But thanks just the same, Mel!)
So I hope I haven't driven away prospective requestors, and if anyone wnats to leave a comment, anything at all, please do so: it is highly encouraged. :D
 
That was excellence. I'm not upset, you got a cold, I understand that because I have cold too back in Dec. through half way to Jan.
 
LOL...I'm glad you appreciate me, seeing as I stink at feedback :) And I liked this one. Nice work!

Idea:
Cold or flu
The whole team or a large percentage of them
Complaint about the awful taste of medicine (cough syrup is great for that lol)
a "red nosed CSI investigator" joke, like in Dead of Winter
-a joke when they hear Ecklie got it too
-a mention of chicken soup

lol since I'm fighting one, I see no reason not to take it out on the team <g>
 
Ping!
Idea:
I relation to my other idea of greg dating nick sister and so on.

- Nicole could now be 7 and come to the lab on her own without either of her parents knowing and asks for Nick Stokes or Greg Sanders.
-Turns out she ends up with Nick.
-Plus none of the team no about Nicole. Greg and Nick kept her a secret.
-When she hears Cathrine calling Nick -Nicky Nicole starts to call him uncle Nicky.
-When they finally find Greg Nick finally gets sick of Nicole calling him uncle Nicky at first he laughs about it then his temper takes over him.
-Greg is in the DNA lab doing a test to prove theory with Sara. Nick says in front of Sara and Nicole to greg
'Take your daughter she's doing my head in'
this of course upsets Nicole and she starts to cry as Nick walks away then Greg says and this comes as a shock to Sara
'Oh come on man she's your neice can't you look after her for a while'
nick replies 'I have ever scince she got here now hse's doing my head in' and then he just plain walks away.
-Later Cathrine, Grissom, Brass, Warrick and Sofia come into the lab to conduct their own tests and find Greg and Sara trying to comfort little Nicole and Greg explains who she is to everyone and introduces her to everyone.
-In the end Grissom has a word with Nick about how he's let his temper take over him theese past few days and that he knows who Nicole is .
 
Thanks for the encouragement, LoveCSI! I have to admit I’ve been having a bit of trouble with the latest idea … also I had to use my writing for good instead of evil! (Can you believe I had to write two separate 6 page papers in one week? It was hard! Booo… college would be great if it weren’t for all the writing and early classes and such! :lol:)
So after ten days, I present MacsGirlMel’s ficlet. Sorry for the wait, dear! :)

It seemed to come from nowhere, catching the whole lab by surprise. First a few lab techs were affected, causing the others to put in some overtime. In a matter of hours the first crime scene investigators succumbed to it - this did not go unnoticed. While dayshift and swing had their fair share of victims, it was graveyard that was struck the hardest…
Struck by influenza.

“How did people even catch this? It’s like sixty degrees outside.”
“Well it gets colder later at night. Plus it’s winter.”
Sara was currently helping Nick sort and label evidence bags. She was one of the lucky ones - so far. Her colleague, on the other hand, was already showing symptoms.
“Well I get that, but how did it get to so many people? Lab techs, CSIs, even Brass and Sofia were affected.”
Nick cleared his throat a few times before replying, “I think it started with someone from graveyard.”
Sara quietly agreed and pondered the mystery. She just hoped she wouldn’t get sick, especially since Nick kept clearing his throat every five minutes. Sara kept a respectable distance from him, hoping her immune system wouldn’t succumb to the cold.

“How you holding up? You want some water or something?”
Nick shook his head vehemently, “I’m fine. Just a frog in my throat. At the site of a sneeze or even a cough everyone acts like you’re on your death bed.”
“On the plus side, Hodges is avoiding you like the plague,” Sara managed a grin.
“Oh yeah. I can’t get anywhere near the lab without him scrambling for his surgical mask,” Nick started to chuckle but ended up coughing lightly.
“If you’re too sick-”
“I can’t go. Catherine and Greg are already clocking out. We’re losing people left and right, and Grissom can’t afford to lose more. Besides, my case isn’t nearly as bad as theirs.”
Sara nodded and reached for another envelope. Just as she finished up she spotted Greg and Catherine walking by.
“Hey,” she greeted them
The two stopped and peeked in, “Hey, sorry we’re leaving you with all the paperwork.”
Sara just waved it off, “It’s okay. Get better soon.”
The two investigators looked absolutely tired. Nick had a point, his slight sore throat wasn’t as bad as the pallor and sniffling of the others.
Greg started to say something but scrambled for his handkerchief as a fit of coughs got to him. After he finished he just mumbled, “I’m not looking forward to all the aches and pains, and sucking down cough syrup.”
“You’re just like Lindsey,” Catherine replied tiredly, “Medicine is medicine.”
“Try some chicken soup and tea,” Nick finished sealing an evidence bag and kept the conversation going along. They had nothing important to do at the moment and he was desperate to get his mind off his own troubles.
Sara was wondering for a while. Still trying to get to the origin of the virus, “How did you all even get a cold?”
“Walk-in freezer. We spent too much time collecting evidence in there. Besides at night you can feel the winter weather,” Catherine paused to rub her nose, frowning at the sensitivity of her nose.
“You need a tissue?” Nick walked over and handed her a disposable tissue, “If you rub any harder you’ll look like Rudolph.”
The blonde just snatched the tissue and wiped her nose, “Ha ha. I’m a ‘red nosed CSI investigator’. I get it.”
Nick turned to address the other haggard looking CSI, “Greg, you know what they say, ‘just a spoonful of sugar’…”
“I never heard anyone but Mary Poppins say that,” he responded irritably.
“My mom used to say it. But then again, she’d give me vodka if it would stop my complaining. And a spoonful isn’t going to mask the after taste,” Catherine sighed as she tossed her tissue in the trash.
Sara looked at the three sick investigators, “And that’s why I take aspirin.”

~~~~~
Two days and lots of bed rest did a world of good for Catherine, Greg and even Nick. But it would seem influenza had a funny way of coming back around.
“I think I’m going to have to take an early leave…” Sara held her head for a moment before dropping her hand. She was too tired to even hold her hand up.
The whole team was gathered in the break room, ready to start work. Grissom wasn’t there yet and Sara had her suspicions why. The flu spared no one.
Greg looked rather smug, glad he didn’t have to go through it, “Remember to take cough syrup. It tastes awful but it gets the job done.”
“Tea and soup worked wonders for me,” Nick still held firm to his claim.
“Man, I’m starting to get a tickle in my throat,” Warrick brought his fingers to his neck and massaged his throat.
“That’s how it starts” Nick said, “I suggest you stay away from Sara until this little bug is gone.”
“You guys brought this bug into the lab!” Sara groused, “Why didn’t you warn me to stay away from you guys?”
“If it’s any consolation, Ecklie got it too,” Catherine smiled, “He’s sneezing and coughing but he’s denying he’s sick.”
“Well when you have a heart of ice, a chest cold is inevitable,” Greg jibed.
The others just groaned and rolled their eyes.
"Yeah. I'm definitely leaving early."


I'll try and get to bulletboomgal's very detailed suggestion. Thanks for the ideas and the comments everyone! ;) You're all so wonderful.
 
Okay, it took a while (yes, yes, “a while” is an understatement! :p) but here’s my response to bulletboomgal’s suggestion! Apologies for the lateness, oh how I hate to leave people hanging on a request! Busy real life...
But anyway, I hope you like what I came up with. This is a continuation of this suggestion (Friday, December 8th post) where Greg is dating Nick’s sister (currently unnamed) and he has a child with her (named Nicole).

“Can I see Greg Sanders, please?”
Judy heard the voice before seeing who it came from. She stood up and saw a small, wiry girl looking up at her, no more than seven years old. There was no one else around.
“Sweetie,” she leaned over to her eye-level, “Where’s your mommy?”
“She’s at work.”
Judy was taken aback, “How did you get here?”
“My mommy always passes this place on my way to school. I just walked.”
“From school?”
She nodded, her brown pony tail bouncing, “Uh huh. I wanted to visit my dad!” After a second, she added, “Or my uncle Nick. He works here too.”
Judy called Nick, deciding that the girl was telling the truth. She did resemble Nick… even though she said he was her uncle.
“What’s up, Judy?” Nick got the page and spotted the familiar faces of the receptionist and his niece.
“Hi uncle Nick!” The girl lifted her hands in a gesture to be picked up.
He half heartedly obliged. No one at the lab knew about Greg’s daughter. It was something between Greg, Nick, and Nick’s sister.
“I didn’t know you had a niece.” Judy sat back behind her desk.
“Yeah. My sister’s kid. I don’t suppose she’s around…?”
“This little girl came by herself.”
“What?” He looked at Nicole is surprise. It looked like he would have to keep her at work with him until he contacted her mother.
“Thanks for telling me Judy. I’d appreciate it if we kept this between us.”
A shadow of uncertainty passed the receptionist’s face before she smiled politely and nodded, “I understand.”

~~~~~
Catherine popped into the evidence room, where Nick was laying out a bloody sheet. He instructed little Nicole to sit down in one of the empty interrogation rooms until he went to get her.
“Hey, Nicky, you almost done?”
“Huh?” He looked up and saw her in the doorway, “Yeah, just wrapping up - so to speak.”
“Great. I need you in the garage as soon as you’re done.”
He nodded and turned back to the sheet. Suddenly a distinct, soft laugh caught his attention. He looked up once again, his CSI instincts kicking in, and he peered under the evidence table. Nicole was huddled in the corner, desperately covering her mouth to stop her giggling.
“I thought I told you to wait in that room,” he sighed.
“That lady called you Nicky!”
He let out a brief laugh, “Yeah. She did. I’m done,” he carefully sealed the sheet in an evidence bag and removed his gloves before addressing Nicole.
“Come on. You can hang out in the break room. I’m sure it’s empty. Everyone else is working on this big case.”
He took her hand and lead her to the break room, all the while trying to tune out his niece. She was fascinated by her uncle’s nickname and decided she would start calling him that as well. He tried to laugh it off, as he left her in the break room.
“Bye, uncle Nicky!” She put emphasis on ‘Nicky’.
“Bye. And stay put!”
He loved his niece, but after he helped Catherine in the garage, he was dreading going back to the break room. As soon as he entered the break room she greeted him with a: 'Hello, uncle Nicky!' Then a giggle.

Little things like that wouldn’t normally annoy him. He didn’t even realize he was getting so upset. However, she showed up unexpectedly at his job and (while he hated himself for even thinking such a thing) looking after her was a burden. Coupled with the fact that he was working a big case, he decided he had to find Greg. Why shouldn’t he share the responsibility? It’s his kid, after all.

“Where are we going, uncle Nicky?”
“To see your dad,” he huffed and quickened his pace, practically dragging the girl along.
He approached the DNA lab, where Greg and Sara were awaiting results.
Greg looked over the results, “… it belongs to a female.”
Sara snatched the paper, “The blood isn’t his?”
Nick interrupted, “Greg, I need to talk to you.”
The lab tech waved him away, “We’re busy with results, Nick. Can’t it wait?”
“No it can’t!” He walked in with Nicole, who was currently eyeing all the machines and tubes.
Uncle Nicky...” she started.
That was all he could stand, “Take your daughter; she's doing my head in!”
It was his tone of voice coupled with those off-putting words that got Nicole upset. Her brown eyes welled up and she started to cry.
Nick didn’t know how to handle the situation, so he tried to leave her in the presumably capable hands of her dad.
Greg was surprised at seeing his daughter there, but his attention was currently on her uncle, “Oh, come on man, She's your niece! Can't you look after her for a while?”
Nick snapped “I have - ever since she got here! Now she's doing my head in…” he was getting distracted by the little girl's crying so he hightailed it out of there. As far as he was concerned, she could bother Greg for a while.
Greg sighed and ran his fingers in his hair, wondering what to do. He almost forgot that Sara was still in the room, and she was just getting over the shock.
“…You have a daughter?” She finally managed to get out.
“Yeah. I guess I have a few things to explain…”

Catherine and Grissom got pages about the back up in the lab, and they ran into Sofia and Brass on their way to see what was the hold - not anticipating this kind of back up: Sara whispering and murmuring “it’s okay” to a sniffling child in Greg’s arms.
Suffice to say there was a lot of confusion and surprise.
“Uh, hey guys,” Greg looked up from his “work”, and Sara became quiet.
Grissom addressed the problem, “Why is there a little girl in the lab?”
“And who is she?” Catherine asked.
“According to Judy, she came here by herself,” Greg tried to answer Grissom’s first question, “she wanted to see me but ended up with Nick and he brought her here,” he looked nervous, “I was going to give you guys the results of the sheet but…”
“Here they are,” Sara held out the test results, “It doesn’t belong to the victim.”
Catherine walked over to the girl, “Is she alright?”
“Yeah. She’ll be fine. She takes after her dad,” he smiled.
“You’re her father?” Sofia asked out loud, “Then who’s the mother…?”
“Nick’s sister,” Sara supplied, noting that Greg was busy with Nicole, “And it’s their own personal business, they didn’t have to tell us if they didn‘t want to.”
“Wow,” Brass muttered, “Greg’s a father? Now I’ve heard everything.”

~~~~~
It was almost the end of his shift, and Nick vaguely wondered if Greg had the sense to inform Nicole’s mother that she was at the lab. He was in the locker room, contemplating calling her, when his boss confronted him.
“Nick, may I have a word with you?”
“Sure, Grissom.”
“I noticed that you’ve been letting your temper get the best of you lately.”
He was dumbfounded, “What do you mean?”
“I talked to Greg. I know about Nicole.”
Nick shouldn’t have been surprised. ‘Looks like the whole lab knows, now’
“Oh, that. I was just annoyed and I let it get the best of me…”
“You’ve been on edge these past few days Nick. Is it about the recent case?”
His slumped against a locker, remorse visible on his face.
“Actually yeah… I’ve been really involved with this thing and then Nicole showed up and I didn’t want you guys to find out… it was just overwhelming.”
“Don’t let your temper get the best of you. Especially with a niece who loves you and looks up to you so much.” Grissom concluded, and left Nick alone to think about his words.


*Deep breath and sigh* Finally got that done. It was tough, but I got it done - and even managed to put in a "schmaltzy" ending. I still encourage people to give me requests, and I'll do my best to get to them as soon as I can. Or if you've lost all faith in me (I don't blame ya! :lol:) just leave a comment or correction or whatever "constructive criticism" anyone wants to leave.

Thank you for reading! :)
 
I'm glad you kept this one going, I like it :) Do you plan to do anymore on it? As for requests, I'll give you another as soon as I think of it hehe.
 
more hmmm *Thinks for a while* ping! I can try to think of more to add in another request but maybe another time my brain's racked with high school homework
 
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