Hi everyone, it has been ages since I've last written a CSI Greg/Morgan fan fiction, but this appeared in my mind one day and I couldn't get it out anymore. I know it's impossible for something like this to happen in real life (or actually on CSI), but I just wanted to write what came into my mind. Hope you like it!
"So if you want me to show you around, all you have to do is say it!"
Morgan looked in the rearview mirror and caught Sara's eye. The brunette tried to hide a grin, but wasn't very successful. Morgan returned her attention to Hodges in the driver's seat. When they had left CSI, she had assumed Sara would be driving, which is why she had taken the seat next to the driver. Unfortunately, Hodges had decided he would drive. And of course it wasn't busy enough on the Las Vegas roads tonight to keep Hodges from almost non-stop commenting on how useless he thought it was for him to go to a crime scene. Yes, he knew that even lab rats had to have field experience, but he had been out in the field once before, why did he have to go again? Finally, when Sara had cut him off in a very clear tone of voice, he had changed subjects. For Morgan it wasn't exactly an improvement as all he had been doing since then was trying to ask her out.
She looked at Hodges directly, knowing he was still waiting for a reply.
"No, thanks, I think I'll be fine," she told him as politely as she could.
"You sure?" Hodges asked. "Because I really know the best places in the city! Really, you can trust me on that, I know everything! For example, did you know…"
Morgan turned a little in her seat, tuning Hodges out in her mind, so she could check in the side view mirror if the other CSI car was still following theirs. It gave her a reassuring feeling to know Greg was following them. It made her feel like she wasn't alone, even though she wasn't actually alone as Sara was still there with her in the car. But Greg… Morgan's thoughts wondered off. It had only been a week since she had moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, but it felt like she had known Greg forever already. There was just something about him she couldn't quite explain. During the few cases they had worked on together, she had already noticed that he was really insecure, yet totally comfortable working in the lab. He also knew so much, things she had never even heard off. She admired him for the CSI he was and… well, he was actually quite cute as well.
Okay, just be true to yourself, Brody, she told herself in her mind. You like him, just admit it! Yeah, I do, but I only just moved to Vegas, how can I be sure I really like him or if it's just a crush? Okay, enough, Brody, stop talking to yourself!
Morgan tried to focus on the road again, hoping they were nearly at the crime scene yet. Luckily she saw lights in the distance from a police car, telling her they were indeed nearly there.
Hodges stopped the car and Morgan immediately got out. She waited with her kit next to the car, however, until Greg had gotten out of his car. Slowly, so she wouldn't appear too eager to go to him, she walked over to his car.
"Nice ride?" he asked her. The little sparkle in his eyes already told her he knew how much she had 'enjoyed' her ride with Hodges.
"Whatever happens, I'm driving back with you!" she murmured. Greg's little smile told her he was actually really happy about her driving back with him, but that he tried to hide it. She felt her heart jumping up. Did he like her too? Okay, stop it, Brody, it's obvious he likes you, didn't you realize that the past week?
Morgan told the voice in her head to shut up and she followed Greg over to the crime scene. Sara had already started taking photographs, while Hodges was standing behind the tape, waiting for someone to say something to him. Greg and Morgan both ignored him as they approached the car in the trunk of which a dead body had been found. As they were in the middle of the desert with hardly any lights, the body had been taken straight to the morgue after photographs had been taken.
"Just do a quick search, we'll do the rest back at CSI," Sara decided after she had taken all the photographs she needed. "It's really too dark to do a better search!"
Morgan looked around and noticed how many stars she could see.
"It's beautiful," she whispered. Greg turned around to look at her. "What did you say?"
"Oh, eh… that I thought it was a good idea," she quickly made up. "Should we check the trunk?"
Sara was already checking the rest of the car, so Greg used his flashlight to check out the trunk. They couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, apart from a playing card. Morgan checked if Sara had photographed it before she picked up the card. She immediately noticed it wasn't a usual playing card.
"I think it's from a game or something like that," she said. Suddenly, Greg got really excited. "I know where it's from!"
He rushed over to his car, causing Morgan to raise her eyebrows. She put the card back where she had found it and walked over to Greg's car. He had taken a deck of cards from his car and now showed it to her. "It's a card from the game 'Six rounds'! It's a really easy game that has, hence the name, six rounds. Here, I'll show you!"
He used the front of the car to explain the game to her. "Each player has a part of the deck of cards. They show each other the cards one by one. You have to be quick as the first person to see what you need to see, gets to take the cards out of the game. The first one without any cards wins the game. Each round has different goals."
He showed her how to play the game, explaining each round to her. Morgan had never heard of the game, but she was more than willing to try it. By the time they had finished their game, which Greg had obviously won as he knew the game too well, the crime scene was deserted. A little surprised, they looked already. Morgan suddenly vaguely remembered Sara telling them she was taking Hodges and the evidence back to CSI.
"Well, I guess we should go back too," she said to Greg. He nodded, putting the cards back in the deck. Morgan got into his car and waited for him to get in as well. Through the front window she could see the stars again. Greg noticed what she was looking at.
"There's hardly any light pollution here, which is why you can see the stars so clearly," he explained to her. Morgan smiled, her eyes still locked on the stars. "It's beautiful."
She was sure she heard Greg murmur 'So are you', but when she turned towards him, he was busy starting his car. Since that didn't take very long, he had to look up at her, causing their eyes to meet. Instead of turning away, they both kept looking at each other, feeling the tension rise between them. Morgan wasn't sure what to do or say, something that didn't happen to her very often. In the back of her mind she heard a voice singing: 'You like him, you like him!' She didn't tell the voice to shut up as she was afraid the moment might be ruined.
Finally, Greg smiled at her, a sweet, almost loving smile.
"Come on, let's go," he softly said. He gently pushed down on the gas and started driving away from the scene. Morgan leaned back in her seat, trying to calm her racing heart. Yes, she did like him, but there was still the fact that she only knew him a week. That he was her colleague was something she didn't mind: if they really liked each other, they'd find a way to make things work.
During the slow drive out of the desert, Morgan kept looking at the stars. When she saw the city lights in the distance, she asked Greg if they could stop for a moment.
"Sure!" he nodded, immediately stopping the car. Morgan got out to take one last look at the stars. She turned her head when she noticed Greg standing next to her.
"You like it?" he softly asked her. She smiled at him. "Yes, it's beautiful. I've never seen so many stars before!"
"If you like, I can show you a place that has even more stars," he softly whispered. She looked at him, trying to figure out if he meant something else with 'stars'. No, he was sincere, she could see it in his eyes. He was really just talking about the stars in the sky.
"Okay, you can show me," she softly said. He smiled at her. "Alright, I will. But we'll have to wait a little while before we can see them. Can I take you for a drink in the meantime?"
She hesitated. After all, they were still on the clock.
"Don't worry, I didn't have alcohol in mind," he reassured her. "And besides, even if you did want something, you have a few days off when shift is over, so it's all okay. One drink… please?"
He was so hard to say no to when he looked at her like that! She smiled at him. "Okay, one drink!"
He smiled back at her. "Deal!"
To her surprise, he didn't take her to one of the many bars near the Strip, but to a small juice bar in an alley just behind the Las Vegas airport. Morgan didn't feel scared as the alley was well lit and the juice bar looked friendly enough. She gave Greg her order when he asked her and waited for him to come back with their drinks. His hand seemed to tremble a little when he handed her her glass. She didn't think anything of it and just thanked him before taking a sip.
"I never even knew about this place," she said, taking another sip. "How did you find this? It's so quiet around here!"
It was indeed very quiet, she suddenly realized. It was almost like she couldn't even hear the airplanes anymore, which was impossible since they were practically next to the runway. She looked at her glass. Was something wrong with her drink? She tried to push the glass away, but her hand only reached the table. Then everything went black around her…
When Morgan came to, she immediately realized she wasn't at the juice bar anymore. She quickly sat up, trying to figure out where she was. She was on a wooden bench on a wooden terrace, the sun was shining down on her… and it didn't look anything like Las Vegas! Alarmed, she looked around. She calmed down a little when she saw Greg, but immediately grew angry as well when she realized what had happened.
"What did you put in my drink?" She jumped off the bench and went over to him, needing only two steps as she was so angry.
"It's nothing," he started, but she already cut him off: "Nothing? You drugged me! What did you do to me?"
"Nothing!" he called out. "Morgan, I swear, I didn't do anything to you, honestly! I could never hurt you or take advantage of you, I really swear!"
Suddenly, she noticed the mountains and sea behind him.
"Exactly where are we?" she wanted to know.
"Thailand."
"Thailand?" she repeated. She was unable to hide her surprise. He took her to Thailand? No, this couldn't be, this had to be a dream! How could he take her to Thailand?
"I don't believe you," she said. "What did you do to me?"
"I took you to Thailand, look!" He grabbed her arm, actually quite gently she noticed, and took her over to the other side of the terrace. In the distance, she could see the crowded streets with Asian people, tuktuks, Buddha statues and buildings that clearly weren't Las Vegas.
She looked back at him, still not quite believing it. "You took me to Thailand?"
"You said I could show you a place where there are even more stars than in Las Vegas," he softly said. "I know it's still light right now, but you're gonnna love the stars tonight, I promise!"
She shook her head. "You took me to Thailand… What on earth did you do?"
"There was a strong sleeping pill mixed up in your drink," Greg confessed. "I wasn't sure you'd just go with me to Thailand when I asked you…"
Well, he was right about that!
"So I put it in your drink to take you here as a surprise," Greg continued. "My friend Tom is a pilot with his own plane, he took us here and this cabin is his. I didn't do anything else to you, I really swear, Morgan! I could never hurt you or take advantage of you!"
His sincere look finally calmed her a little. She knew he was right, he would never hurt her or take advantage of her. But take her to Thailand? She shook her head and walked over to the other side of the terrace. Maybe this was really all just a dream. It was impossible that Greg could just take her over to Thailand! The more she looked at the water and mountains around her, the more convinced she got that she was dreaming. Not because of the impossibility of Greg taking her to Thailand, but because it was so beautiful.
"Greg, this is amazing!" she whispered. She could hear his footsteps on the wooden terrace, telling her he was coming over to her.
"Isn't it just?" he softly said with a smile. "I love coming here, I think this is my favorite place in the entire world. As soon as I met you, I knew I wanted to show it to you."
She felt a blush crawling up on her cheeks. The angry feeling from before had completely disappeared. Of course Greg didn't want to hurt her, he just wanted to share a place he loved with her. And that it was in Thailand… well, she was slowly getting used to the idea.
"Can we look around?" she softly asked.
"Of course!"
He gave her some time to freshen up before he took her down the stairs of the terrace to the sea. They walked along a crowded boulevard for a while, giving Morgan plenty of time to look around. She liked the busy city, but she loved the quiet mountains even more, she quickly realized. So after Greg had taken her to a crowded market, which was definitely fun but just too overcrowded, she asked him if he could take her back to the water.
"I know just the place," he nodded with a smile. He stopped a tuktuk driver to take them back to the house where Morgan had woken up. Instead of taking her back inside the cabin, Greg led her to the beach not far from the entrance of the house. To Morgan's surprise the beach was completely empty.
"It's a private beach that goes with the house," Greg told her. "No one ever comes here."
Morgen smiled as she looked around. The beach was completely surrounded by mountains, giving her the idea there was no one else in the world except them.
"It's beautiful," she whispered. Greg moved closer to her, carefully placing his arm around her waist. When she looked at him, he already wanted to pull his arm back, but she rested her head on his chest to let him know it was okay. She felt him relaxing and realized how nervous he must have been the entire time. She also realized she had been angry for no reason earlier this day. Of course Greg would never hurt her!
"Wanna swim?" he whispered in her ear. Surprised, she looked up at him. He took off his shirt and his shorts, suddenly standing in front of her in just his boxers. She tried not too blush, but she felt like she couldn't trust her body anymore.
"Come on, let's get into the water!" He ran over to the sea and quickly dived in.
"Come on, the water's great!" he called over to her. She hesitated. It was hot and humid, so a dive would be a great way to cool off. But to swim in just her underwear? She kept hesitating. Suddenly, she noticed a huge Buddha statue across the water. Brody, you're in Thailand, she told herself. This might be your only chance ever to swim in the Gulf of Thailand! With that thought in her mind, she started taking off her top and jeans, trying not to think about the fact that Greg was watching her. She walked over to the water and slowly made her way in.
"Come on, just dive in at once!" Greg called out. "The water's really… Morgan, look a turtle!"
He pointed towards her right side.
"Oh my gosh!" The turtle helped her get over her fear of diving in at once: she quickly made her way over to Greg in the deeper water, only inches away from the turtle.
"This is amazing!" Her face was one huge smile. She was in Thailand with Greg and she was swimming next to a sea turtle!
The animal wasn't at all afraid of them and they spent almost an hour in the water. When the sun started to set, they went back up to the beach. Greg took two towels from a little cabinet Morgan hadn't noticed before and he gently wrapped one around her. She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."
They sat down on the beach in silence, both staring at the big Buddha statue across the water. The sky around the statue was slowly turning orange and red, giving it an even more beautiful look. Morgan moved closer to Greg, so she could rest her head on his chest. She felt so calm and peaceful, it was really like the rest of the world didn't exist anymore.
"Are you cold?" he wanted to know. Only now she realized the sun was really setting and that it was getting a little chilly. Greg got up to get another towel for her. She quickly got up to take it from him. As he handed her the towel, her eyes locked with his. Her heart started racing again and it felt like there were a thousand butterflies in her stomach. She knew he knew what she wanted.
"I won't kiss you if you don't want me to," he whispered.
"But I do want you to," she whispered back. He bent towards her and softly placed his lips on hers. Morgan immediately knew this was right. She quickly wrapped her arms around him as she didn't want to let go of this moment. This was how it was meant to be.
Later, they lay next to each other in the sand, looking up at the stars in the sky.
"Thank you for taking me here," Morgan whispered to Greg. "This was the most amazing surprise of my life! It's so beautiful around here and the stars are even more amazing than in the Las Vegas desert!"
Greg wrapped a clean towel around her so she wouldn't get cold. Morgan tried to look around to see where her clothes were, but it was too dark to see. She turned to Greg instead. "We'll have to go soon, won't we?"
Greg nodded. Morgan sat up, not caring about the towel sliding down. "Promise me we'll come back here someday. Can you please promise me?"
Greg put the towel back around her shoulders and smiled at her. "I promise."
Later that night they went back to the airport, where they met up with Greg's pilot friend Tom, who took them back to Las Vegas. Morgan enjoyed the private flight, even if it was just because she was with Greg.
When they were back in Las Vegas, Greg took her to her house and he picked her up again a few hours later to go to work. Morgan felt a little weird as she walked into the building, afraid people might ask questions about where she had been. No one seemed to notice anything different about her, though, and no one asked her anything about her days off. She realized that her life might have changed because of the trip she had been on, but around here, everything was still the same. And that included Hodges of course.
As soon as he saw her, he started about showing her around Las Vegas again.
"There's a great festival this weekend, I know you'll love it," he said. Morgan turned her head to look at Greg. He winked at her with an amused smile on his face.
"So, what do you say?" Hodges said. "Is it a date?"
Morgan now turned around completely towards Greg. She smiled at him as she said: "No, I don't think so, Hodges. You see, like this our first date wouldn't be a surprise anymore. Unlike an unforgettable first date someone else took me on…"
Hodges didn't miss the warm smile Morgan and Greg exchanged. He nodded. "I see. I won't ask you out again."
He returned his attention to his lab work. Happily, Morgan grabbed the report he had printed for her and left the lab, closely followed by Greg.
"You know, I was wondering about something," she said to Greg as they walked down the hall. "This first date was absolutely amazing, how will you ever be able to top that?"
Greg grinned at her.
"Well, you can think of anything you want," he told her. "You want it, you got it! But if you can't think of anything, I can offer you a home cooked dinner at my place…"
She smiled at him, feeling inside how much he meant to her. With a nod she said: "I'd like that. Just no sleeping pills in my drinks anymore, okay?"
"I promise," he immediately nodded. "Can you ever forgive me?"
She quickly pulled him into an empty room so she could wrap her arms around him. Looking deep into his eyes she whispered: "I already have. Thank you for an amazing first date!"
He barely had time to whispered "You're welcome" before she pulled him close for a kiss. She didn't understand anymore why she had ever been angry had him. He was the most wonderful guy in the whole entire world and even though his first date idea had surprised her, it had been a perfect first date.