Disclaimer: I am, unfortunately, not the owner of CSI or any of its related characters, etc.
This takes place after the last season finale Grave Danger. Enjoy!
Nick walked slowly up the hallway towards the break room. It was a hallway he'd walked a million times, joking with Warrick, avoiding the worst assignments from Griss, but for some reason the hallway seemed very different from what he remembered. Everything felt different. Amazing how spending a day buried alive can change a person's perspective.
Upon entering the break room Nick was greeted by the night shift crew. Greg, Sara, Catherine and Warrick all jumped up to welcome him back. He saw this as only slightly pointless seeing as how they'd all seen him repeatedly over the past few weeks; but he appreciated it all the same. The only one missing was Grissom, which initially struck Nick as odd because Grissom was rarely away from work, but he was spared the need to wonder dully whether the bug-driven workaholic had finally found himself more of a life by the entrance of said workaholic with a few case folders tucked under one arm.
"I know it's a bit strange for me to have called you all here like this" Grissom began when he saw that they were all present, "but now that the team's all back to working form," (he glanced shortly at Nick as he said this), "I have an announcement I'd like to make. Why don't you all sit down."
Everyone in the room looked curiously at Grissom as they clambered into the chairs surrounding the large table in the center of the room. Grissom remained standing and prepared to address them, it was something he was not looking forward to saying, and had been avoiding for quite some time.
"Alright everyone, you all remember what happened a couple of weeks ago."
A shudder passed through the room as each of its occupants remembered vividly how the events that passed had affected them. None took as long to recover from the fresh memory as Nick, whose intense therapy treatments were only recently beginning to improve his newly acquired claustrophobia.
"Well since then," Grissom continued once he saw his team was focused again, "things have been relatively slow…we've really just been waiting for things to get back on track."
The team nodded slowly in agreement. Where was he going with this?
"Brass already knows what I'm about to tell you. I've been discussing it with him since Nick…well for a couple of weeks now. I'm not sure whether you are all aware of this but there's an hereditary disorder of the ear called …well you really don't need to know what it's called, suffice it to say my hearing has been affected recently as you may have noticed. I had an operation recently and it improved my hearing considerably, but I've since been informed that the hearing loss will be complete within…within a few more weeks."
5 pairs of eyes stared blankly at Grissom. No one could quite believe the words that were reaching their ears.
"Anyways, I realize that hearing is an essential part of what we do here and as such, I'm giving up my position to…to Catherine. With Cath in the lead, the team will all be together again, without anyone taking any cuts. I'll keep working with you guys, under Catherine's lead, as long as I can. It…I mean I wanted the team back."
Grissom's slight stuttering barely registered to the group in the break room. None of them had ever heard a speech so long out of their boss, who normally kept himself limited to short puns appropriate to the situation. They all stared blankly as, without another word, Gil Grissom walked out of the room and back into his office.
Nick lounged casually on the couch in the break room, waiting for his first assignment in weeks. The only other person in the room was Grissom, sitting at the table and reading a novel. Nick didn't know what it was about but assumed it had something to do with either bugs or roller coasters. Warrick, Sara, and Greg had all been sent on their assignments already.
Catherine walked into the room with a case-folder tucked under her right elbow, holding a coffee cup in the left. "Alrighty boys time to get to work!" Catherine tried her best to mask the discomfort she felt in ordering around the self-demoted Grissom. She decided it would be least awkward if she attempted to keep things on a friendly basis, as they'd always been. No need for orders.
As Grissom and Nick stood up, eager looks on both their faces; Catherine took her first glance at the contents of the brown folder tucked under her arm. As she read the case details her face fell.
"Actually," she hastily added glancing towards Nick whose face quickly fell to match her own, "Griss and I can handle this one Nick, why don't you see if you can give the others a hand with their evidence when they get back from the crime scene. They should be back within a few minutes."
"Come on Cath, I've been waiting weeks to get back on the job. I want to be out in the field." Nick immediately interjected on his own behalf, no way was someone keeping him from going to the crime scene after how long he'd been waiting. "I can do this, I'm ready!" I need to do this.
"Nick I don't think – "
"Too bad boss, I'm coming along. I promise I'll be fine." And with that Nick walked out of the break room and followed Catherine and Grissom out of the building, ready to finally re-enter the world he had been away from for far too long.
The trip to the crime scene seemed to Grissom to take far long than any he could remember. Fortunately for him Nick (who was riding with him and sitting in the passenger seat) seemed as disinclined to talk as he was. To alleviate a small amount of the tension Grissom switched on the radio to some country station and was then satisfied that he could remain silent with his own thoughts.
He had finally done it. He'd come clean. To everyone. Grissom turned over the events of the last 24 hours slowly in his head. After years spent avoiding his condition, it was almost a relief to him for everything to be out in the open.
Of course, he hadn't properly estimated the reactions of his co-workers (but then, when had he ever been able to accurately judge people's reactions?). Upon receiving his news his friends hadn't showered him with pity or disbelief, as he had been worried they would. On the contrary, they had all accepted his news without complaint. Certainly, they had all been shocked at this sudden upturn in the politics of the lab, but they'd recovered quickly, offered him their support, and things had quickly returned to their almost normal flow. I suppose things move to quickly to slow down for long no matter what happens to me.
More awkward than anything had been learning to take orders again. For so long Grissom had gotten used to being in charge and had always been granted the last word. Fortunately for the lab, Catherine had been right in telling him that she could do his job. He had been very impressed, even if he preferred not to admit it out loud, with how quickly the new lead had taken to her position, and how smoothly she had kept things going. Everyone seemed to be adjusting well to the new swing of things…now he just had to too.
While Grissom was busy mulling over these thoughts, he'd managed to steer himself to the crime scene. He was pulled out of the silence when Nick announced that they were where they were supposed to be and, after a quick, and somewhat sloppy, park job, they were both out of the car and ready to roll, kits in hand.
"Did Cath tell you what we're dealing with?" Nick enquired as they walked towards the police tape separating the scene from any over-inquisitive individuals.
"No." Grissom answered. And he suddenly realized how strange it was for them to enter a situation with no idea as to what was waiting for them. He looked around to try to get a better idea of what they were dealing with.
Nearby were several SUV's and about 20 people, all of who seemed to be laboring in a concentrated area, but Grissom couldn't make out what they were doing. Beyond them, the desert stretched out for miles in every direction with nothing but the odd tree to break the monotonous landscape. The sun was only beginning to set and Grissom knew they would have to work quickly to gather any important evidence before the sunset was complete and they were draped in shadow.
As Nick and Grissom walked slowly towards the crime scene, ever vigilant for the odd clue that could end up breaking the case for them later on, Catherine pulled out of her car behind them and Brass walked towards them with his head down.
"What's he doing here?" Brass yelled over their heads to Catherine as he jerked a thumb in Nick's direction. He seemed mortified to see him at the scene, a reaction that greatly confused both Nick and Grissom, neither of whom were used to seeing any display of emotion out of the hardened detective.
"I tried to stop him Brass," Catherine said quickly after jogging slightly to catch up with the group.
"You shouldn't have come"
"Come on you guys," Nick finally spoke up. "I know what I'm doing!"
"Suit yourself" Brass finally said, though he still looked as though he doubted whether Nick should be there at all. He slowly lifted the tape and allowed the three investigators near the men who continued to labor in the small pit they'd dug.
Nick froze in his tracks as he realized what he was seeing.
"28 year old female. Reported missing just over 24 hours ago. She was buried alive; we didn't find her in time. The coroner estimates time of death at two hours ago."
Catherine and Grissom both turned their attention to Nick, worried about how this type of situation would affect him. Their concern was returned only with a determined look from Nick as he put on a pair of plastic gloves and slowly approached the newly opened grave, camera in hand.
Ok then! This is my first ever fanfic and I welcome any criticism you may have but please keep it kind. I'm sure you've already figured out that the things in italics are thoughts so there's no need to point that out. Please review!