Title: Animal Planet, chapter 3
Author: anmani
Pairing: Nick and Greg, involves the entire lab
Genre: AU(Fantasy), humor
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Grissom gets a mysterious letter.
Disclaimer: They belong to the CBS and not us.

Grissom could feel the anger rise and the alpha part of him was ready to tear both Greg and Sara to pieces. Greg could be excused with puppy instincts but Sara ought to be able to control her feline instincts. He looked at the group and saw that Catherine was on the side of the panther farthest away from Sara. Sara stood with her back to the wall and hissed at anyone approaching her personal space.

He knew that he couldn't protect her without loosing his position as leader of the pack, but he could perhaps arrange something that would protect her from being expelled from the group. Bobby solved his problem by lingering just outside Sara's personal space, shielding her from the rest. Grissom sighed and it surprised him how close the sound was to his actual human sigh. The bunny had slipped to the back of the group while the cats had been fighting and the tiny terrier had followed Hodges.

His gait was becoming more natural and he wanted to see if he could find the rest of his employees. Grissom walked into the AV-lab looking for Archie knowing that the young tech should be going over 28 hours of surveillance tapes for Catherine's case. The lab appeared empty and he couldn't really pick up any scents other than something faintly Archie. The screens still showed the surveillance tapes and he dropped to his belly to look under things.

He stretched up and put his paws on the desk to search higher, but there was no Archie around. The panther entered the lab sniffing the air and he inhaled deep too. Part of his brain screamed 'Flee! Large predator present!' while another noticed something incredibly vague. Warrick sauntered over to one of the computers and looked behind it he then lifted his head and purred. Grissom forced himself over to the panther.

Behind the computer on another electronic unit, which purpose escaped him, lay a snake and soaked up the heat emanating from the device. It was an Elaphe obsolete, Grissom felt so ecstatic over seeing such a perfect example of the black rat snake in Nevada that he couldn't help but bark enthusiastically. Warrick glared at him and the snaked uncoiled and slid of the unit away from him. The snake was not fully grown and he assessed it to be about 5 ft in length. The snake headed for the door and the panther followed.

Grissom stood completely lost in his fascination over the snake and it wasn't until the horse whinnied that he started to move again. The horse seemed extremely uncomfortable around the snake and for once the stallion had lost its cool demeanor. The pup bounced over to the snake and made some of its sharp annoying puppy sounds. The panther was watching the snake for a reaction and when the snake just tasted the pup without making any moves towards constricting the panther seemed satisfied and returned to Catherine. Nick inched tentatively closer to Greg and the snake.

Mentally he pinched his nose and decided that the black rat snake was more than likely Archie. 'Rat' he suddenly remembered Brass having chased a rat when he found him, Grissom sniffed the air for the rat hoping that it wasn't somebody who had been transformed. There were simply too many predators present for a rat to survive on its own. He turned and headed for the DNA-lab next.

A foul smell came wafting out of the lab; one that he vaguely remembered but failed to identify. Nervous as hell he poked his head in through the wide open door. A golden retriever was laying on the floor grooming herself, he had no doubt whatsoever that this was a female, because the air was suddenly heavy with the scent of blood. The retriever was in heat and Grissom momentarily lost all control over his actions. In an instant he was sniffing her down and she moved her tail to allow him better access.

Sofia was so incredibly wonderful and he wanted to claim her as his. A growl from Warrick stopped him when he put his front paws up on her shoulders. The panther entered the lab followed by the pup, who scurried under a stool disappearing out of sight. The retriever was so tempting and Grissom really had to fight his instinct to get away from her. The pup was making a fuss from somewhere and he dropped down to see what Greg had found this time.

A ferret stared wide-eyed at the pup, but something must have ensured the ferret of the pup's identity because it moved towards the now silent Greg. Grissom sniffed the air, deliberately blocking out the scent of blood and focusing on the ferret. It smelled of chemicals and conditioner so he figured that it had to be Mia. Sofia had been working a rape-case, the smell lured him towards her again, but he hadn't seen her enter the DNA-lab.

Warrick growled again, Greg barked and came over to Sofia sniffing her. Grissom couldn't allow that so he gave the pup a low warning growl, but being the obnoxious puppy Greg started jumping up and down snapping after Sofia's tail. The Golden retriever had lazy movements probably because of its slight overweight but he didn't care she was his. She turned and bit after the annoying pup and Grissom started telling Greg to get the hell out of there.

The panther roared loud enough to make everybody stop and the ferret followed Greg out of the lab. Warrick stared at him with those intense fierce green eyes and Grissom too made his way back to the hallway. There he found Nick with his tongue out and ears risen high, Brass looked about as ridiculous and the black cat was on her toes, claws out and fur puffed up. Grissom didn't have to look to know that Sofia had followed him out of the lab.

She walked over to Nick and the Border assumed an even goofier look than before. Not sure where to go or what to do about the conflicts Grissom sat down and did his mental nose pinch. When he saw the retriever egg Nick on he lost it and went straight for the Border's jugular, there was no way a beta could have her. Nick struggled against him and the younger dog was probably stronger if it came down to that. But it didn't he was an Alpha after all.

Grissom heard or saw nothing until the Border rolled onto its back and offered to submit.

Satisfied he disentangled from Nick and walked off further down the hall without looking back. He ignored the group following him, he ignored the sassy grey cat mothering the Border and he especially ignored the smell of bitch in heat.

'If this is a nightmare I really need to wake up soon.' His body was giving him a million signals and he barely understood any of them apart from the sex drive.

His stomach rumbled and the need for food made him even more agitated. The rational scientific part of his brain told him that hunger could become a real issue with the group of animals following him. Grissom searched his mind for possible food sources and what came to mind first was the morgue. It was a little too interesting for him to get this much of an insight to a dogs life.

Follow this link to its companion by serenity151979 Chapter 3 - Nick's POV