A Jason McCann Oneshot

Choices

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a CSI story, so please be kind. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it. This takes places 3 weeks after the events of S11 Ep15 'Targets Of Obsession' contains spoilers.

WARNING: This story deals with death and loss, if you think you would be affected by this, please press the back button now.

Summary: Choices. Good and bad, they affect every aspect of our lives. Every day we make countless choices, most of which we barely even notice. But what about the choices that change our lives completely? What about the choices which end our lives forever?


The first choice she made was the one that changed her life completely.

She chose to stick around.

Even though everything she had been raised to believe had been thrown out of the window. Even though she knew if her parents found out about Jason, she would be punished harshly.

It didn't matter. Jason did.

They were partners in Science class, and she had noticed how adept he was in the practical lessons. After the first day of their new partnership, they made a deal; Jason handled the practical side of things, she handled the theory and textbook side.

That worked.

Right up until she found him reading about bombs and their components.

''It's not what you think,'' Were his exact words. But from what she had learned in her 16 years, was that whenever someone said those words, it usually meant the complete opposite.

''Thought I was the reader?'' She said, dropping my bag and sitting beside him.

He stared at me for a few seconds then smirked, ''You were late, so I started without you.''

She smiled and bumped his shoulder, ''Well I'm here now, so give it…'' She trailed off. He was still staring at her.

''What?'' She asked, feeling self-conscious.

Jason shook his head, and grinned at her, ''Nothing,''

They started dating not long after that.

*JB*

She knew this was stupid; so completely and totally stupid. But she couldn't say anything because that's not what Jason needed right then.

He needed support; he needed help, not nagging and questions.

But she just knew this was going to go wrong from the start.

''Are you sure about this?'' She asked, against her better judgement.

Jason glanced at her sharply, ''Of course I'm sure! You know why we're doing this.''

''Yes I do, I'm just…'' She sighed. ''Worried, I guess.''

He carefully put the tools he was using down, and came over to her, placing his hands on her arms.

''You have nothing to worry about,'' He started. ''When this is over, we'll be free. We can get away from here and leave it all behind. But until then, I need your help.''

She stared into his eyes; so full of passion for his cause, and knew she couldn't disagree.

''You'll always have my help, you know that.''

Jason smiled, and kissed her softly.

*JB*

In the end, her help wasn't enough. Nothing was.

Jason wouldn't let he go with them because he said it was too dangerous; she didn't bother to point out the irony. Maybe she should have, maybe she should have argued until he saw that he was wrong and he let her go. She should have been with him.

She shouldn't have let him die alone.

But she had; she had let him walk out the door, knowing there was a distinct possibility he wouldn't come back. Now he was gone, and there was nothing she could do to bring him back.

There was however one thing she could do; get revenge, get justice.

When Jason had been brought in to be questioned about Alex, he had called her to tell her to get rid of anything incriminating. Afterwards, they had driven around watching the place, keeping an eye on Stokes. That was how she knew where he would be on any particular day, today was no exception; his car sat in the parking lot.

She pushed open the doors to the lab, making her way towards the harried looking receptionist.

''Hello, I'm looking for Nick Stokes.'' She smiled, politely.

The receptionist looked at her for a second, before waving towards the chairs lining the wall. ''I'll let him know you're here,''

''Thank you,'' She replied, going to sit down.

A few minutes later, Nick Stokes rounded the slight corner and spotted her, his face was blank but she could see the surprise and wariness in his brown eyes.

She had always been brought up to believe in and trust all members of law enforcement, but Jason had shown her that everything they said was lies. The way his family had been treated, clearly showed that.

''Alyssa,'' Nick said. ''What are you doing here?'' Just the sight of her sitting there, was giving him goosebumps. Reminding him of what he had done. No matter how many times he told himself that he and the others did what they had to do, it still kept him up at night, knowing that he had had a hand in killing a child.

It didn't matter what Jason McCann had done, that fact remained he was a kid; a very misguided, very angry kid.

She laughed quietly, without humour, ''I'm here to see you, to talk to you.''

Stokes nodded, ''Okay, we can go to my office.''

''No,'' Alyssa stopped him. ''We talk here.''

Nick frowned but kept quiet, sitting down a seat away from her.

''What can I do for you?'' He asked, softly. Trying to keep any emotions off his face.

She clenched her fists and glared at him, ''Well I'd say, 'Bring Jason back', but seeing as you and your friends shot him, I guess you can't.''

The older man flinched as his jaw jumped, ''Jason pulled a weapon-''

''He was 16! You killed a kid,'' Alyssa snarled. ''Did you even think about helping him? Or was that just another lie?''

Nick shook his head, ''I tried to help him, he wouldn't let me. I wish this had all happened differently, but if you let me, I can help you with your parents.''

Alyssa laughed again, ''My parents made how they feel perfectly clear, there's nothing anyone can do about them. You see, Jason was the only person I had left. You took him from me.''

Before he could reply, two people came up behind him; Greg Sanders and Catherine Willows.

''Nick?'' Greg inquired. ''You okay?''

''Yeah,'' Nick stood up, moving next to his friends. ''Alyssa here just wanted to talk to me about something.''

Anger that was simmering just below the surface, boiled over suddenly, ''Something?!'' She shouted. ''Jason wasn't a something, he was a person! A good person, who stood up for what he believed in, and you murdered him for it!''

A security office came striding over, opening his mouth to ask her to leave, but Nick stopped him. ''It's okay,'' He said. The officer didn't look convinced, but he stayed back. Nick understood exactly where the girl in front of him was coming from.

''Maybe we should take this somewhere more private,'' Catherine suggested to Alyssa.

Alyssa scoffed, ''It's too late for that, there's nothing more to say.''

Nick frowned deeply, ''What does that mean?'' He asked slowly. A very bad feeling was brewing in his gut. She was planning something, but he couldn't figure out what. Jason was the bomb maker of their little group, so it wasn't likely to be that...

''It means, I've said everything I came here to say. I want you to suffer every day for the rest of your life for what you've done. All of you.'' She added looking at the others. Her words hit him hard, his conscious screaming.

She stared at Nick for a few seconds, before his gaze flickered down to her hands. To the gun she was holding.

''Drop it, now!'' The security office ordered, pulling out his gun. Nick barely had time to react, before she raised the gun to her chin, her eyes never leaving Nicks'.

''NO!'' He shouted, starting forward, his hands reaching for her, but she took a step back out of his reach.

His hand grazed her arm, but he was too late, he watched with horror as she pulled the trigger.

*JB*

9 Months Earlier:

The bell rang loudly, just as the door opened revealing a boy with light brown hair, and deep brown eyes. Alyssa watched as he made his way towards his seat; the seat next to her.

''Hey,'' He greeted, his voice husky. ''You read the chapter?''

Alyssa grinned at him, fighting back the butterflies in her stomach. ''Of course, that's why you keep me around, isn't it?''

Jason smiled and winked at her, ''There's other reasons…''

THE END