Titel: The Gun

Summery: An incident at a crime scene leaves Jim Brass rattled.

Disclaimer: I don´t own CSI or any of the characters within.

Author´s note:I was watching "All for ourCountry" the other night. An idea startet to from in my mind and kept nagging me until i put pen to paper. Well,what shall i say,that´s the result.

Enjoy!

PS: There will be no German translation. Some things are just not meant to be.


The Gun

Jim Brass was kneeling in the dirt of the concrete driveway. Eyes downcast, not really seeing anything. He was holding onto an automatic weapon, resting in his lap.

That was the way Catherine Willows found him when she arrived at the crime scene. The other cops on the scene kept their distance, knowing well that the police captain needed some time to process what had happened during the simple task of serving a search warrant.

Cautiously Catherine approached him, careful not to startle him. Slowly the strawberry blond CSI squatted down in front of Brass. She was shocked at what she saw. Tears were glistening in the eyes of the normally tough mannered detective, threatening to overflow them. Catherine´s heart went out to him.

"Jim?" hesitantly she tried to get his attention. "Jim, what happened here?"

Slowly like being caught in slow motion Brass raised his head and for a moment stared blankly at Catherine. Just as she was about to repeat her question he seemed to come out of his daze.

"Its all my fault." Brass muttered. Catherine was confused. "What is your fault?" she asked. As far as the CSI knew the night shift supervisor had been injured by a suspect, not by friendly fire, therefore Jim´s comment made no sense. "It´s my fault. You know some time ago when we were going after the killer of that murder couple and Gil had his teeth sunk in Officer Fromansky? We got into an argument. Looking back now it was childish but i remember one thing. I told him that he was irresponsible to be going out searching a search warrant without carrying a gun. He said: I am not a cop. And i told him that one day a suspect may not see the little difference. I think after that he started to carry his weapon more often as a courtesy of my words."

Seeing the fragile mental state Jim was in Catherine did not dare tell him that Gil had started packing because Fromansky had threatened him and the team. Telling him that one day he might find himself alone at a scene because Fromansky and his colleagues in uniform might be held up in traffic.

After taking a deep breath the police captain continued. "He thought Gil was a cop. When we put the cuffs on him he said that he shot Grissom because he thought he was a cop, wearing a gun and all. I don´t get it. Two black and white, myself with the badge and Gil is the one who catches the bullet. And all that because i made him wear his piece." The detective looked totally lost.

"Bullshit. Nobody can make Gil do anything. That weirdo thought Gil was a cop because he came with you guys. The fact that Gil was carrying his gun just added to his suspicion.

Don´t blame yourself, Jim. You did not pull that trigger. And i know for sure, if you´d have known something like that was going to happen, you would´ve done everything within your powers to prevent it. And believe me Gil knows that too." With her last words she stood back up. CSI three Willows extended a hand to the defeated figure of Jim Brass and said: "Come on get up. We´ve got to get to the hospital. Gil needs our support." Brass looked up to her from his kneeling position. "Do you think he is going to make it? There was so much blood." A shudder ran through him as he motioned to the puddle of blood next to him. While talking to him Catherine had managed not to acknowledge the red fluid as what it was: Gil Grissom´s blood. For a short moment she had to fight the urge to break down in tears at the thought of her best friend lying there on the cold concrete bleeding from a bullet wound.

"Gil is going to be alright. He is a fighter. He ain´t gonna quit on us. Now, lets get going because its always easier to fight if you´ve got someone cheering you on."

Again Brass looked up to the blond investigator and for the first time that night Catherine saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

He accepted her still outstretched hand and let her pull him up. His knees started to protest after remaining in the same position for too long, first tending to Grissom until he was whisked away to the hospital by the paramedics and than staying like that lost in thought.

"I hope that's not evidence." Catherine said pointing to the gun Jim was still holding tight as they made their way to her Tahoe. Brass shook his head. "No, its Gil´s. I took it right before the paramedics left with him. I am going to keep an eye on it until he´s coming back to work."

And i´m making sure that he is also carrying it in the future.