Title: Opportunity Knocks
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5_prompts, Written in the Stars challenge
Prompt: E3, Look beyond the border of opportunity
Author's Note: Spoilers for the S3 CSI: Vegas episode, "Precious Meetal."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders, unfortunately, just borrowing him for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Greg sighed as he leaned back in his chair, looking around the DNA lab. This was his lab, and he loved it. He felt at home here; he knew that he did a good job, and that the CSIs depended on him to be fast and accurate with the results he gave them.

But somehow, it wasn't enough for him to work in the lab any more. He wanted more than this; he wanted his professional world to expand, to encompass more than these four walls. He wanted to be working with the CSIs out in the field. He wanted to move out of here.

As much as he enjoyed his job, there was something missing from it. Now that he'd experienced how exciting it could be to work out in the field, he wanted the chance to do it on a permanent basis. He wanted to be out in the world, not stuck between four walls.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy this side of being a CSI, Greg told himself. This was what he had trained for; he'd put a lot of time and effort into earning his degree, and into interning in a crime lab. He liked what he did. He just wanted to add to his experience.

Grissom had given him the chance to do that when he'd let Greg go to that coin dealer and practically work undercover. His knowledge of coin collecting had come in handy, just like his knowledge of scuba diving had helped Nick with a case a while ago.

He had a lot to offer the crime lab besides just doing their DNA testing. He could be a good field CSI; he was sure of it. He just needed the training and experience, the opportunity to get out there and prove to the rest of the team that he could handle himself in the field.

Grissom had given him that opportunity, and he was going to run with it. He wasn't going to pass up the chance to prove that he could work well in the field, that he could add to the team and be just as good a CSI as the others were.

Opportunity didn't come knocking that often, and he was going to grab it while he could. If Grissom had thought that Greg was good enough to be a part of that sting operation with the coin collector, then he could very well think he was good enough to train for the field.

The problem was that it was hard to know exactly what Grissom was thinking, Greg mused with a frown. That man held his cards so close to his chest that nobody could ever really tell what was on his mind, until he said something that made his thoughts clear.

Usually, that something was a pithy remark directed at one of the CSIs, pointing out something that they had missed. Greg knew all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of those remarks; he'd felt the sting of them too many times.

But that was an accepted part of working for Gil Grissom, Greg told himself, sighing at the thought. And he didn't make those remarks out of spite, or because he was trying to shame the CSIs. He made them to point out aspects of a case, to make the CSIs better at their jobs.

Grissom never did anything out of spite or malice. Greg knew that if he could convince Grissom that he was worth the time and effort it would take to train him in the field, that he would learn from a master -- and that he would be not only a better CSI for it, but a better person.

He wanted to train with the best CSI that he possibly could -- and in his eyes, that was Gil Grissom. The others were good, too, he couldn't deny that. He would be proud to work out in the field with any of them. But Gil Grissom was the best.

He'd been lucky to have the opportunity to work here in the Vegas crime lab; he knew that. Greg had been surprised when his request for a transfer here from where he'd interned in New York had come through, even though he'd had to work briefly in San Francisco first.

This was the busiest crime lab in the country -- and he ran the DNA lab. He was the youngest head of a crime lab department; he could be proud of the work he'd done here, and all that he had already accomplished at such a young age.

But still, he wanted more. He didn't want to be here between the four walls of the lab for all of his career; he wanted to stretch his muscles, spread his wings and prove that he could do more than just run DNA tests. He wanted to take every opportunity that came along.

So far, he'd done that. And he intended to keep grasping at every opportunity that came along. If he didn't, then he might be spending the rest of his professional life between these four walls, and that would slowly but surely kill him.

It wasn't that he didn't like being here, Greg told himself hastily. He loved the lab. He loved what he did here, and he knew that he was an important cog in the wheels of justice. But it didn't feel like it was enough. He wanted to do more, be more.

Working in the field would be a new challenge, and it was one that he felt he was more than ready for. He'd been working in the lab for so long that even the more unusual requests that came along didn't feel like a challenge any more; he needed more obstacles to leap over.

How could he explain that to Grissom without making it sound like he was tired of what he was doing, when that wasn't the case at all? He loved working in the lab. He just needed something to add to that, something that would be more of a challenge to him than this was.

He was sure that Grissom would understand how he felt; his boss was a man who accepted challenges when they came his way, and even welcomed them. Greg was sure that his attitude would be something that Grissom could identify with.

The fact that he hadn't always been super-professional in the lab, and that he'd acted more than a little goofy sometimes, would work against him. But he could prove to Grissom, as well as to everyone else, that he could be more professional in the field.

He would have to do that, he thought ruefully. No more letting his weird side out; he would have to try to be more professional, even when he was here in the lab. He had to convince Grissom that he should be given the opportunity to do more than just be a lab rat.

And he had to convince the rest of the team that he was worthy of working with them, too. He had to let them know that he was serious about becoming a CSI; this wasn't just a whim that he would forget about after a few weeks. He wanted them to take him seriously.

He wanted all of the people around him to realize that he was serious about moving into the field, that he wasn't some crazy kid who had dreams of being a hero. Greg had every intention of making his colleagues see that, no matter how hard it might be.

Opportunity was knocking more loudly than it ever had, Greg told himself, sitting up straighter as he saw Grissom come around the corner, apparently heading for the DNA lab. And he intended to open the door wide to usher it right in.

***