#courageous gift fandomgirlz01

[fandomgirlz01]

Courageous Gift Pt. 1

Greg Sanders x Reader

Imagine on my fandom Instagram?: Yes/No  

Prompt or Request or Requested Prompt?: Yes/No

Style of Writing: Mini Series 

Rating: PG-13 ~ For fluff and cuteness, but more adult commentary or even some triggering content.

Edited: Yes

Word count: 4,820

Post Date & Time: August 16th 2024 at 2:32 AM

Ko-fi

Masterlist

Warnings Here 

Listen to the story be read out loud here {coming soon}. 

Summary:  Based off of S7 Es4 & 7 When Greg becomes victim to a gang of street thugs that have been beating people all night, the reader is forced to fear the worst for her best friend. 

Reader’s Pov:

I get into work and walk down the many hallways from the parking garage and to the locker room, quickly changing into my work clothes. Just as I start to put my old clothes away, Sara walks in and opens up her locker.  

“Hi, y/n,” she greets me and I smile at her. 

“Hi, Sara,” I greet her back as she turns to smile back at me. 

“Are you doing okay? You look a little tired,” she observes and I sigh, shaking my head. 

“Nah. I’m good, just didn't sleep much last night,” I respond and she purses her lips as I pull out my gun and clip it to my hip. 

“Are you good to work then? I could talk to Griss, see if you can get a bit more sleep,” she wonders and I shake my head, closing my locker. 

“No. It’s okay. He already knows. I called in before and asked if I could come in later. Hence why I’m here now,” I inform her with a shrug and she nods. 

“Okay. Just let me know if you need anything,” she offers to me as she rubs my shoulder. 

“Oh yeah, of course. Thank you,” I give my appreciation and she smiles at me. 

“Anytime,” she replies with her own light smile. 

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you later. Gotta get to work,” I inform her and she nods. 

“Yeah, see you later,” she agrees before I walk out of the locker room. 

I walk through the lab’s endlessly long, winding hallways, looking for Grissom to talk to him. I just so happen to catch Greg, who smiles when he sees me and starts to walk up to me, making me smile as I start to walk towards him too.

“Way to go,” our coworker congratulates him as they pass each other and give one another a high five. 

“Thank you,” Greg replies before walking over to me and I smile at him. 

“Well, hello, Mr. Spiffy. Don’t you look nice in that suit and tie,” I remark, crossing my arms and giving a knowing smile. He grins as he pops the side of it. 

“Thank you. I had court today,” he comments with a smug look crossing his face and I nod as I look him over. 

“I know. Your first trial with a jury, how’d it go?” I ask and he grins more if that’s even possible, which with Greg it always is. 

“You remembered,” he practically gushes and I roll my eyes. 

“Of course I remember, Greg. We’ve only been best friends for how many years? Oh yeah, 20 plus years,” I sarcastically remark and he chuckles, shaking his head. 

“It went great. I did so good that even the nice lady prosecutor took me to dinner,” he playfully boasts as he beams at me with a grin brighter than the sun as we slowly start to walk again. 

“That’s great, G. I guess I owe you dinner now too,” I offer with my own sly grin, even though there’s a pit of boiling jealousy running through me. 

“Actually, by the time we’re both off you’d probably be buying late breakfast,” he jokes with an eyebrow raise and I giggle. 

“You know what I meant, dumbass,” I deadpan as I lightly hit his arm. 

“Yeah, I did…” he sheepishly admits as he rubs his arm. 

“No, but really. You don’t have to buy me breakfast. If anything, I’ll buy you breakfast,” he argues and I shake my head. 

“Greg. How would that even make sense? Please, just let me treat you?” I beg him, giving him my best puppy eyes that I know he can’t say no to.

“Not the puppy eyes… and you bought the pizza on Friday,” he groans out in displeasure, shielding his eyes and I grin. 

“Yeah, but it’s not every day my best friend survives his first day in court with a jury,” I joke with him and he shakes his head as he finally looks at me again while letting out a sigh of relief. 

“Greg… y/n. Good, I need both of you,” Grissom calls out to us as he comes out of his office holding a clipboard and we look at one another before walking over to him together. 

“Lose the monkey suit, you’ve got a scene: liquor store robbery. Here’s the address,” he informs Greg, looking him up and down before handing Greg a paper. 

“Awe man, I like the monkey suit,” I playfully whine and Greg lets out a chortle, shaking his head. 

“Well, too bad. He can’t go on a scene like that,” Grissom notes in humor as he looks at me over his glasses. 

“Is it related to the earlier 415s?” Greg inquires as he looks at the address. 

“Could be— Sofia’s got one of the suspect’s sweaters,” Grissom answers as he scratches at his ear. 

“I need you to seal it, bring it back here and anything else you can find,” Grissom explains, pointing at Greg, who nods as he listens intently. 

“All right. Who’s my wingman? Is it y/n?” Greg asks in excitement as he smiles at me. 

“You're a big boy, Greg. You don’t need a wingman for this,” Grissom pointedly answers, giving him a judgmental fatherly look and I turn to Greg with a grin. 

“Y/n, may I please see you in my office?” Grissom asks and I nod at him before he turns around and walks into it. 

“Primary. Nice,” Greg comments with a light smirk as he hits the paper against his hand like he always does. 

“Good luck out there, G. Be safe, yeah?” I ask him and he smiles, nodding. 

“Of course. I promise,” he replies before opening his arms for a hug. 

I smile back, taking a step forward and wrapping my arms around his torso, squeezing him affectionately. He wraps his arms around my waist and lays his head lightly on top of mine. I turn my head and nuzzle my nose into his neck, melting into him for a moment as all my tiredness comes flooding over me. 

“Hey. You doing okay?” he asks as he starts to pull back from the hug, but I pull him back in. 

“Just hold me for a second,” I mutter out, holding him a little tighter. 

“Sure, I can do that,” he whispers softly as I relish in the tranquility that he provides me with. 

“Are you sure you’re okay, fruit loop?” he asks me when I finally pull back from the hug and I purse my lips. 

“I’m fine, poohbear. I just…” I pause, biting at my lip and he grabs my hand. 

“Hey. It’s okay. I’m here for you through whatever, you know that,” he tentatively rubs his thumb on the back of my hand and I sigh. 

“I’m having sleep problems again…” I relent hesitantly and he reverently nods. 

“I figured. Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks and I shake my head. 

“I thought I could handle it…” I admit while refusing to look at him and he sighs. 

“Well, now I’m definitely coming over and you're buying me breakfast,” he jokingly remarks and I look up at him in shock before smiling softly when I only see care written all over his face. 

“You got yourself a deal. I’ll see you in the morning then?” I ask him in a hopeful tone and he smiles, nodding as he gives my hand one last squeeze. 

“I’ll meet you at your apartment?” he questions with another raised eyebrow and I squeeze his hand back. 

“Okay. I’ll see you then,” I agree, nodding and he gives one last nod before backing up while slowly letting go of my hand. 

I shake my head as I feel a blush coming on, but I do my best to hide it. He walks away all the while walking backwards and I shake my head, holding back a giggle as he snaps his fingers before giving me finger guns. It’s only when he disappears that I let out a sigh before turning and walking into Grissom’s office. 

Third Person Pov:

After saying goodbye to y/n, Greg quickly went to change out of his suit and into his work overalls before heading out to his SUV to drive out to the scene. As he drives down the streets of Las Vegas, following the directions on his GPS, he passes an alleyway and sees a glimpse of something strange. In confusion, he stops his car and backs up to look in the alleyway. He rolls his window down and hears grunting and groaning coming from the end of the alley as dark figures all seem to stand over another. Quickly, he picks up his radio and holds the button down for a moment. 

“Control, control. This is CSI Sanders. I need some help,” he speaks into it before letting go of the button. 

“Control, go with your information,” the dispatcher replies and he quickly turns his head back to the scene. 

“Okay. I got an assault in progress. One alley south of Casino drive, cross street Shane,” he recites as he leans forward a bit to look at the sign. 

“How many suspects involved?” The dispatcher questions as she gets ready to take the information down. 

“Multiple, could be the guys who’ve been doing it all night,” Greg continues to relay information and he pauses as he waits anxiously. 

“The closest unit has a five-minute ETA. Rolling code three. Are they armed?” she asks. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know. Ma’am, please, listen. You got to get here quicker than this,” he begs into the walkie talkie as he helplessly watches the group beat the poor person. 

“Copy that. We’ll roll two additional units ASAP. Wait for backup,” the dispatcher replies and the radio goes silent. 

Greg takes in a breath as he thinks for a split second before putting his SUV back into drive. He quickly backs the car up before pulling into the alleyway and driving down it while honking his horn. 

“Move!” he shouts as he gets closer to the group while still honking his horn. 

He hits his siren a couple of times while honking as he gets closer. It’s not until he gets a little closer that a lot of the suspects start to move away from the person on the ground, all running in different directions. 

“Hey, get out of here!” he yells out at them as he waves his hand. 

One of the suspects stays and continues to kick the victim on the ground. Greg comes to a stop and gives a long honk of his horn at the suspect, but the man just keeps kicking. Finally, he turns around and looks Greg right in the face. Greg is in shock when he sees the guy's eyes are stark white, before fear races through him as the guy quickly rushes over to his right and picks up a rock. At first he moves his hand back like he’s going to bash the victim's head open, but then he turns to Greg and starts to run towards him. 

He pulls his arm back as he runs at Greg, who watches in slow motion as he gets closer and closer, seeming like he’s going to throw the rock at Greg through the windshield. Greg makes a split second decision and puts his foot down on the gas ever so slightly, revving the engine just a bit to make the car jolt forward. The guy continues to run at Greg and the car meets the guy in the middle. The guy and the car collide, making him hit the hood before falling to the ground as Greg stops the car to take a moment to calm down. Then all of a sudden, the back window breaks with a resounding crash, making Greg turn to look behind himself, but he sees nothing behind him so he calms once again. 

The calm is short lived though, because his driver's side window is next to be broken. He doesn’t have time to turn and find the source seeing as arms reach in. He fights the arms for a good minute, but he loses the battle and gets pulled out of the driver's side window. He continues to fight the one attacker off, but all the others that he’d chased off come back. He continues to try and fight back, but the group is so big that they easily overpower him. 

They slam him up against a fence and then suddenly in a blur he’s on the floor. He tries to crawl away, but they’re relentless and just keep kicking and hitting him. Slowly everything starts to become distorted and the world spins. One of the suspects turns him over onto his back and all he can really tell is that they laugh before one of them spits on him. Even in his hazy mind frame, Greg still tries to think of anything he can do to make it easier to find them, so as one of them steps over him while going to walk away, Greg reaches up and scratches his ankle. The last thing Greg sees before blacking out is a car side swiping his as it drives away. 

Reader’s Pov:

After my talk with Grissom, I shake my head as I go on a hunt for Sara. Grissom decided that until I can get my insomnia in check, I’m not allowed in the field alone so he’s assigned me to her side or Nick’s side seeing as they’re head senior CSIs. Admittedly I’m not too thrilled with it, but I totally understand why and at least I’m still allowed in the field. It’s only a few minutes until I find her right where Grissom told me she’d be. I find her in the recreation lab standing at one of the tables, writing something down.

“Oh, hi. Long time no see,” she jokingly greets me for the second time today as she looks up from some paperwork on the table. 

“Hi. Did Griss inform you?” I ask her and she pauses as if to think. 

“No. I don’t think he did,” she answers my question with a shake of her head and I sigh. 

“I’m on suspended duty,” I inform her and she gives a small “ahh.” 

“You’re officially on babysitting y/n duty. Well, you and Nicky. I’m not allowed to go to any scenes without either of you,” I continue to explain and she smiles softly. 

“Don’t think of it as me babysitting you. Think of it as just two girls working together,” she remarks with a reassuring smile and I shrug. 

“Still don’t like not being able to work on my own. I’m a level three CSI. I should be okay,” I begrudgingly tell her as I cross my arms and she chuckles, shaking her head. 

“Griss is just looking out for you. You know that,” she points out and I sigh. 

“I know, I just—” I start to confide, but cut myself off. 

“You know what, forget it. What are you working on?” I ask her as I shake out of my daze and walk around the table. 

“Okay…” she skeptically agrees as she seems to watch me closely for a moment. 

“I’m trying to find out how many different shoe patterns we have,” she explains as she finally turns back to the table and lifts a shoe imprint up. 

“So far I’ve found about three shoes and matched them in the solemate database. Griss wants me to see if I can match any of the others,” she finishes explaining as she holds up a paper with the shoe print and all its information on it. 

“Want some help?” I ask with a timid smile and she smiles, nodding. 

“You know what? That would actually be so great. I have over ten more to match,” she grins as she picks up a pair from the side of the room and holds them out for me to see. 

“Get kickin,” she jokes as she hands me the pair and I laugh. 

“Aye aye, captain,” I jokingly salute her before sitting on one of the stools to switch out shoes as she laughs, shaking her head. 

“Phew, I could use some water,” Sara comments through labored breath after we finish the last three kicks. 

Together we worked on each taking different pairs of shoes and kicking the dummy. So far we’ve each done about three pairs of shoes and seem to be half way done. 

“I know. That was so much work,” I pant out as I walk over and grab a towel off the table. 

I long ago discarded my top and now stand in only my tank top along with a pair of sweats I’d gotten from my locker after the first set of shoes. I start to wipe at the nape of my neck as she walks over and picks up her water bottle.  

“Tell me about it. I haven’t worked out since—” I start, but she holds up a finger as she picks up her ringing phone from the table. 

“Hold that thought, it’s Sofia,” she informs me as she answers the phone. 

“Isn’t she with Greg?” I ask, but only receive a nod in response. 

My brows furrowed in confusion as she talks to Sofia for a few minutes before her face falls and she’s quickly nodding while promising we’ll be there soon. She quickly hangs up before slowly looking at me and something feels off about her look. 

“Go get your safety vest and gear,” she commands in a very serious tone and I give her a confused look. 

“What? Why? What’s wrong?” I ask her and she sighs, putting her phone in her pocket. 

“Okay. Ahh. Here, sit down for just a second,” she tells me as she pulls the small stool out from underneath the work bench. 

“Ah, okay. Sara, please just tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me,” I beg her and she sighs, squeezing her eyes closed. 

“Listen. I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. I’m just going to tell you straight, okay?” she asks with a questioning look on her face. 

“Okay. Just tell me…” I reply with a light nod and she sighs again. 

“Greg’s been hurt in the field,” she blurts out and immediately everything comes crashing down. 

“Woah. Woah. Woah. Okay. It’s okay,” she panics as I lightly fall back and she catches me. 

“Bad idea to sit you on a stool,” she sarcastically comments more to herself than me as she rolls her eyes. 

“I’m okay. I promise. Is he okay? Sara, tell me he’s okay,” I beg her while squeezing her hand and she sighs. 

“Honestly, I don’t know. I just told Sofia that you and I would be there as soon as we could get there,” she informs me and I immediately hop off the stool. 

“Let’s go then,” I declare as I rush past her, not giving her a moment to reply. 

I quickly race to the locker room with Sara right behind me and open my locker as fast as I can. I pull my vest out and slip it on over my tank top, not caring to change, pulling the velcro straps tight. Then I grab my gun and clip it into its holster before turning to Sara, who now has her vest and gun too. 

“Ready to go?” she asks me and I nod. 

“As ready as ever,” I mutter before we both quickly make our way to her car. 

After we get into the car, she turns it on and makes quick work of pulling out. She turns on her sirens, making the drive much quicker. Soon before I know it, she pulls up just at the edge of the alley way and I’m already unbuckling. She doesn’t even fully get out herself before I’m rushing forward, pushing through all the people that officers hold off. I see Sofia as she talks to some lady. 

She looks up at me for a moment and my heart drops when she gives me a frown, making me stop in my tracks just as Sara catches up. I stand frozen, my mind going a hundred miles as Sara lightly grabs onto my arm and squeezes for a moment, effortlessly breaking me out of my practically catatonic state. She starts to continue her walk, almost pushing me along and we meet up with Sofia. 

“Hey,” Sara greets her as we push past the scene tape with Sofia now following us. 

We finally make it around the ambulance and find three on the ground. I let out a quiet gasp when I see Greg laying on the ground, almost peacefully, and for a moment the world starts to spin. 

“Why isn’t there a medic on Greg?” Sara asks Sofia as she grabs onto my arm to stabilize me when she sees me sway a bit. 

“He’s been stabilized, Sara. Y/n, he’s going to be okay,” Sofia promises as we continue to walk over to him and she splits off from us. 

We both bend down next to him and Sara grabs onto his hand. I reach forward and rub at his head as tears make their way to my eyes. As I touch him, he breathes out and I choke back my tears. 

“Y/n… Sara,” he faintly speaks to us and I nod at him. 

“We’re here, Poohbear. We’re right here with you,” I tell him as I comb through his hair with my fingers. 

“I didn’t think you could see us,” Sara softly adds with sad humor lacing her voice and more tears well up in my eyes. 

“I can’t… but I know y/n’s touch… and that Sidle scent,” Greg replies and I let out a wet giggle as tears start to fall now. 

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” she replies to him with a light chuckle before looking at me and I continue to try and hold my tears at bay. 

“I scratched one of them…” Greg coughs out and Sara lifts the hand she holds when he moves it ever so slightly. 

“And you should check my vest. I think the same guy spit on me,” Greg continues to explain and I rub his head more in hopes of comforting him while frowning. 

“And one of their cars crashed into the Denali,” he informs us and Sara looks up for a moment as I choke back more tears. 

“I guarantee there's transfer on it,” he adds on through his slurred, tired words and I continue to rub at his head. 

“You should process the scene now. Me later,” Greg mutters out to us and I shake my head as I hold back a sad chuckle at the thought of him still being a CSI at heart, no matter what. 

“We came here for you, Greg,” Sara tells him as tears make way to her eyes now too. 

“Oh, Poohbear. You don’t have to be a CSI all the time,” I giggle out though my tears as I shake my head and Sara shakes her head, chuckling herself. 

“Leave it to Greg,” she comments and I smile softly. 

We sit with him for a few minutes and the whole time I have to remind myself I can’t move Greg until he’s processed. It’s hard when I just wanna cuddle and hold him in my arms. Nick soon shows up and Sara stands to go talk to him. I'm assuming she relays what Greg had told us before she walks back over to us, bending back down. 

“Okay, Nicky’s going to get the evidence around us started. I’m going to collect evidence from Greg, then the paramedics will take him to the hospital. I’m assuming you want to go with him?” she informs me before asking her question and I nod, sniffing. 

“Umm, yeah. I'm gonna go with him,” I reply as I continue to lightly scratch at his scalp and she nods, rubbing between my shoulder blades lightly for a moment. 

“Ok. I'm just going to get some stuff from Nicky’s kit. I’ll be right back,” she informs me and I nod at her, not having the will to speak as my throat gets tighter and tighter. 

“I’m okay, fruit loop. Promise,” Greg whispers out, giving a small wince of a smile after she leaves and let out another wet laugh. 

“I’m supposed to be the one comforting you, doofus,” I snarkily reply as I sniffle, reaching up to wipe at a lone tear that falls. 

“Yeah, but I hate when you cry,” he whispers out again and I choke back more tears. 

“G. Don’t think about me right now. Stop talking, save your energy,” I insist as I continue to rub his scalp and he gulps a bit before nodding. 

I sit with him for another few minutes before Sara walks back over. She has a few things in her hands as she bends down again. She opens one of the swabs, using it to get some of the spit off of him before pushing it back in the tube and closing the lid. 

“Okay. The rest of processing will have to be at the hospital. So I’ll, uh… meet you there I guess,” she informs me with a shrug and I only nod at her. 

“Okay. You guys are good to take him then,” she calls out over my shoulder and soon the paramedics are walking over. 

I stand up and Sara holds me in a hug as I keep my stare locked on him. They roll a stretcher over and they quickly but carefully move Greg onto it. He groans for a moment at the initial movement, but soon he’s calm again. They start to roll him to the ambulance and Sara lets go of me. 

“Fruit loop?” he calls out almost meekly as he moves his head, looking for me. 

“I’m right here, Poohbear. I’m coming with you,” I softly promise him and he reaches his hand out to me. 

I hesitate, not wanting to ruin any evidence that might be on him, but I feel a hand on my back, making me look at Sara. She smiles softly at me for the millionth time today as she rubs my shoulder ever so slightly. 

“You can hold his hand. It’s okay. It won’t ruin any of the evidence, I promise,” she tells me and I shake my head, letting out a quiet choke and she nods at me. 

“It’s okay. Really,” she continues to prompt me, lifting my arm to his. 

I hesitantly grab onto his hand and it seems he relaxes ever so slightly, making my hesitation quickly fade. I squeeze his hand, letting him know I’m there and look up to nod my thanks to Sara as she just smiles softly back. 

“I’ll meet you there, okay?” she asks in a very calming tone. I only nod as I watch over Greg’s face that’s full of black and blue bruises as everything seems to fade out of my mind. 

The ride as well as the arrival to the hospital is all hazy now as I sit in the main lobby. I wait anxiously for Sara and Brass as they finish processing and questioning Greg. I groan, bringing my hands up to rub my face as my leg shakes in anticipation. Finally after what seems like forever, Sara and Brass turn the corner and start down the hall. 

“Y/n. He’s ready for you to go on in,” Sara tells me as she comes up and sits down next to me. 

“He’s actually asking for you,” Brass adds on with a light smile. 

“I can take you to his room before going to help Warrick and Nicky if you’d like,” Sara offers as I blink up at her before nodding. 

She holds an arm out for me and I stand on shaky legs. Brass gives me a warm fatherly hug and rubs my head before saying a quick “bye,” as well as promising to catch the guys that did this. Sara and I start to walk, her leading me mindlessly through the halls. 

“His room is just around this corner,” she informs me and I freeze, making her stop to turn to me. 

“Y/n?” she asks and I stay frozen. 

“I don’t know if I can go in, Sara,” I tell her with a gulp as tears well up. 

“Y/n. He’s okay. You’re okay. Everyone is okay. He needs you. He needs your comfort,” she sympathizes with me and I sniffle before standing straight. 

“Ok. You're right, take me to him. I’m ready now,” I tell her with a determined nod and she smiles softly before turning to start walking to his room again. 

To Be Continued…

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