Title: Animal Planet
Author: anmani
Pairing: Nick and Greg, involves the entire lab
Genre: AU, humor
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Grissom gets a mysterious letter.
This is written as companion pieces by anmani and serenity151979.

Grissom sunk into his chair and leafed through his inbox for anything remotely interesting. It was, as always, request forms of one kind or another and the reports for approval. Something smooth like a magazine cover caught his fingers attention and he snagged it out of the stack. Laboratory equipment deluxe. Just another commercial leaflet and why it disappointed him tonight was a mystery. He was almost at the bottom of the pile when a white unmarked envelope stared right at him.

GRISSOM it said in standard print and curiously he held the envelope up and sniffed it. The smell, or rather the lack of any smell, intrigued him and after donning gloves he opened the envelope. One single sheet of paper was all that it held.

I give you the power
The power to transform
The power to control
The power to form
These are the powers I give you
I give you the power
The power to learn
The power to rule
The power to love
These are the powers I give you
I gave you the power

Finding the text more than odd he read it out loud, just in case the words would somehow morph into something sensible. A flash blinded him momentarily and a ringing took over his ears. It felt like somebody had thrown a flash bang grenade in his office. He shook his head to clear it and the whole world seemed off. When he tried to speak all he could get out was a growl of sorts and he was certain that he was in trouble.

Grissom lifted his hand to do his nose pinching, it always reassured him in a way not much else could. He couldn't see his hand, there were just some furry edges to his arm and the movement felt uncoordinated. With a deep breath in and deep breath out he began to examine himself. The result was horrifying to say the least. Some things were missing, other things out of place and it felt as if his tailbone had movement outside his body.

Once again he tested his voice and the series of barks and growls scared the shit out of him. He opted for the arm again and once more all he saw was something furry. At that point his heart took off at breakneck speed and he began panting.

‘Panting' was the only word he could use to describe his current state and if he hadn't already been terrified that thought alone could have done it. He closed his eyes and sniffed in. The sensory overload was worse than any decomp he had ever gone near. Suddenly he could detect every single person working in the lab in the air.

Greg's gel, Catherine's perfume and makeup, Sara's detergent, Nick's aftershave, Warrick's deodorant, Mia's conditioner, Judy's facial cream and Hodges' shower lotion. The ozone from the Xerox machine was painful and the latex overwhelming. The urge to pinch his nose possessed him, but he couldn't because at the end of his furry arms were paws.

Grissom shook his head and felt something flap at his skull and with the skipping of a heartbeat he realized that it must have been his ears.

‘Follow the evidence and come to the conclusion that you are now a dog, Gil Grissom.' He mentally called up all knowledge he had of dogs and went over his checklist again, if it barks like a dog and walks like a dog, it probably is a dog. He had the barks and from what he could see the looks too and that's when he became curious rather than scared.

He jumped down from his chair, somewhat surprised that he was still on it, and went over to his bookcase. Walking was extremely clumsy and he fought hard to master the act of crawling again. Nose to nose with one of his specimen jars he saw it.

It was a medium sized hunting dog and if he remembered correctly it was a pointer. The coat was short and coarse and grayish, but the jar distorted the image and he couldn't make out the details.

With a huff, if dogs could do that, he walked to the door. ‘Left foot, right hand and then right foot, left hand' he knew how a dog should be walking, but had never thought how hard the coordination of four limbs was compared to two. He had left the door slightly ajar and it saved him the trouble of working the handle, but the opening was not wide enough for him to fit through. It presented a problem and he had not studied dogs enough to recall how they did stuff like opening doors.

He was reluctant to use his nose, since it was already hurting from all the strong smells in the lab and afraid that if he used a paw he would shut the door instead. Grissom braced himself and with the left paw he successfully nudged the door open and with an unsteady gait he went out into the hallway. It hadn't occurred to him before that his sight had improved as well as his hearing, the increased sense of smell had simply overridden anything else.

Grissom halted once he was 15ft from the breakroom and listened. If he was not mistaken a cat was hissing and another was purring. Some primeval thing stirred in him and the sound and smell of cats spurred an injection of adrenaline. He fought the irresistible desire to jump after the sounds and instead he walked in his carefully controlled gait to the breakroom. The adrenaline got another boost when he peaked inside.

There was a black panther pacing around the table where upon a black, ordinary-looking cat sat hissing. The black cat shrieked when it caught his presence and leapt to the top of the kitchen cupboards in one fast elegant move. From its high viewing point it eyed him suspiciously and a faint memory of something well known taunted his mind. The panther had sauntered over to the wall and he could swear that it was leaning against the wall. The green eyes shone bright and the panther's cool behavior caused shivers to run down his spine.

He had expected to find Warrick in the breakroom as he was waiting for results and perhaps that was just who he had found. If he had become a dog why shouldn't Warrick have become a panther? Hesitantly he walked over to the large feline and drew in a deep breath. Several things were triggered in his body by that action and he wanted to flee and give chase all at once, but he also picked up the faint smell of a burrito. A burrito spiced in the way Warrick liked it and as he sniffed the fur he found remnants of Warrick's deodorant.

Desperately he sought an explanation and a way to communicate his findings. Eager with his discovery he began talking and for some unknown reason his tail wagged like crazy. His talk came out as a series of barks and the panther backed away making him stop abruptly. So this was not like a Disney movie where the animals could talk with each other. Grissom backed out of the panther's personal space and looked up at the black cat.

The panther relaxed and Gil was convinced that it really was Warrick. The black cat stared at him with eyes darkened by the dilated pupils. It was unnerving to be stared down like that and if Warrick had become a panther, why shouldn't the others have transformed into animals as well. The thought spooked him and the instinct for flight was becoming stronger by the second. After some calming thoughts involving chasing butterflies he returned his attention to the black cat.

The seeking pleading and longing stare caught him off guard. There was only one person who dared act like that towards him. They locked eyes and the tenaciousness in the cat gave him all the evidence needed, it was undoubtedly Sara. He broke his gaze and surveyed the rest of the room, while trying to remember where everybody else was supposed to be.

The panther cocked its ears and he listened too, there was an abundance of noises, some from machinery and the building itself, but there were animal sounds too. The panther sauntered to the door and he followed suit, the sound that had caught their attention was a horse whinnying. Grissom took the lead and headed in the general direction of the horse, the panther followed and to his surprise the black cat was right on his heels. It could only be Sara and, like Warrick, she had realized his identity but he wondered if they had discovered each others.

Rounding a corner he saw the most beautiful horse ever, it was a stallion with a gleaming coat so midnight black that it seemed almost unreal. A surprised yelp escaped him and the horse's ears peaked towards him and his followers. The horse stood his ground even as it warily eyed the panther and Grissom could only stare in utter awe at the magnificent animal. It was perfectly built; the muscles and the veins showed the strength of the horse and the eyes was steadily looking at him.

The horse took a step forward and lowered its head to his snout. Horses had never really interested him so he had no clue what the action meant, he simply had no notion on how horses greeted each other. Catherine was the horse person around the lab. That thought made him look even closer at the horse, but somehow it couldn't be her. Grissom inhaled deeply again and smelled cop, only he couldn't decide if it was one of the detectives or a uniform. He circled the black beauty once, but drew a blank.

His reverie was broken by a Doberman chasing a rat towards them. The rat strafed left into a lab and the Doberman did its best not to slide into the horse. The black cat hissed and the panther growled, he barked once and the Doberman who had finally regained control tucked its tail between its legs. Grissom walked over to the Doberman and sniffed at the other dog's snout. With sudden clarity he knew who the Doberman was, just to confirm his theory he circled the other dog. It was Brass. Jim Brass had become a Doberman but he didn't even know the name of his own breed.

For a fleeting moment he wondered if the rat was one of the staff or if it really had just been a rat. The Doberman seemed rather confident around the horse and he so wished he could ask Jim if he knew who the horse was. The panther sauntered past the Doberman and headed towards the garage. His curiosity made him follow before his mind told him that Nick and Greg had been working in the garage. He wondered what animal Greg had turned into, it was bound to be something energetic and playful.

The answer was heard before it was seen. There were two dogs barking in the garage and one of them had the unfinished bark of a puppy. Grissom had no idea if his smile showed, but had he still been human he would have laughed out loud. There was a black Border Collie playing with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pup. The pup was white and brown and he thought he remembered that color having a name not reflecting color, but something ancient English.

The pup ran up to the Border Collie and playfully lowered his head and shoulders, before dashing to left. The Collie took the invitation to play and bounced after the pup. The pup jerked right then left and the Collie tried to match it moves, but being both larger and less agile the Collie ended up knocking over a toolbox. That was all Grissom needed to know to be sure that the Border Collie was Nick and the pup was undoubtedly Greg. The two playmates had been so engrossed in their game that they only now discovered their audience.

The Cavalier yelped and sought refuge behind the Border Collie as it stood its ground with quivering hind legs. The other animals had stopped just inside the garage, but Grissom continued to walk until he was circling the two playmates. The pup had a faint hint of Blue Hawaiian and gel in its coat and the Collie smelled of chilli and Nick's aftershave. Satisfied with his evidence Grissom returned to the other group of animals. The pup followed him unquestioningly while the Collie sat down on its haunches not quite sure what to do.

The Cavalier stopped and turned to look at the Collie, it barked and then ran back to the Collie urging it to follow them. Mesmerized, Grissom saw the change in the Border Collie as the pup bounced around it and if he hadn't already been sure of their identities, then the visible relaxation in the Collie would have convinced him. The panther purred as the Collie came nearer, but the black cat nearly crawled into his fur to get away from the two new dogs.

Now follow this link to the companion: Animal Planet - Nick and Greg