A/N: A client of mine recently passed away, and I am still trying to come to grips with his sudden death. I needed to vent, and this is what came to mind. As a heads up, although there are no major religious undertones in this short fic, I do talk about Heaven/afterlife. Please don't take offense!
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: Goodbye
Summary: Nick dies saving a five-year old boy. This is that boy's final farewell.
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"Why do people have to go away?" five-year old Stephan whispered, close to tears. Tightly gripping the hem of Sara's dress shirt with one sweaty palm, he turned his red and puffy gaze up toward the casket.
"I don't know," Sara swallowed the lump in her throat, slowly moving her fingers through Stevie's curly brown hair. "But sometimes, people just die before their time. They die too young."
"Yeah," Stevie nodded his agreement, licking his dry lips. "But he was super young. Super duper young."
"I know, honey," Sara softly replied, kneeling down beside Stevie. Taking a clean tissue out of her pocket, she tried her hardest to clean the dried tears and snot from his tiny face. "He was very young, but he lived a good life. A… noble life."
Stevie blinked, not entirely sure what noble meant. But it sounded good, and that was all that mattered to him. "Did you look?" he tentatively asked her.
"At what?" Sara quizzically replied, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Him," Stevie mumbled, pointing to the casket. "Did you look at him, before they locked him up?"
Still at eye level with the young boy, Sara quickly drew him into her embrace, so that he wouldn't have to see her tears. "Yes I did," she managed to get out, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Don't think about him, think about something else, she tried to tell herself. Ignore his beautiful smile, and his twinkling eyes. Ignore his infectious laughter, and his caring nature. Just don't think about him. Think about… lightning.
Stevie tried to push himself away from Sara, so that he could study her expression. When she finally released him from her grasp, he whispered, "What did he look like?"
Sara helplessly shrugged, unable to answer his question.
Coming up behind Sara and Stevie, Warrick put a comforting hand on Sara's shoulder. "He looked happy, little man," he told him. "At peace."
Sara flashed Warrick a small grateful smile, slowly getting to her feet.
But Stevie wasn't satisfied just yet. "What was he wearing?" he wanted to know.
Beside Warrick, silent tears continued to slide down Sara's cheek, as she once again squeezed her eyes tightly shut. When her shoulders started to shake with the force of her emotions, Warrick wrapped an arm around Sara's waist, pulling her close to him. "Well," he mused, glancing down at Stevie. "He had on a black suit jacket, with a blue shirt."
"Oh," Stevie wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction, thinking about that. "But Nick wouldn't have liked that. Why didn't they bury him in a Texas sports shirt? Or… something that he used to like to wear?"
"I don't know," Warrick held back a chuckle. "But I bet he would have been more comfortable in something like that."
Finally catching her breath, Sara let out a shaky sigh. "But Nick will be okay now, I think."
"Yes, he will, Stevie," Catherine solemnly agreed, walking up to the trio. "Nothing will ever be able to hurt Nicky again."
"Yeah," Stevie whispered, once again trying to wrap his tiny arms around Sara's waist for comfort. When she rested her hand on his shoulder, he added, "And maybe he'll get to play baseball or football with his new friends."
"I bet he'll kick their a—" Greg started to say, before catching a warning look from Catherine. "Uh," he sheepishly cleared his throat. "I bet he'll kick their butts, too."
Despite the sadness and seriousness of the situation, Stevie couldn't help but giggle at Greg's comment.
"Do you think he'll see my brother?" the little boy then asked the CSIs, his lower lip beginning to quiver.
"Yeah, buddy, I do," Warrick rumbled his reply. "Nicky's a good guy, and I'm sure that he'll keep an eye out for your brother."
"Okay," Stevie acknowledged, staring down at the ground. "… And, my parents?" he tentatively asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"And your parents," Catherine confirmed, kneeling down beside the five-year old. "Nicky will make sure that your family is just fine."
"Okay," Stevie morosely repeated, the tears once again starting to slide down his cheeks. "But I don't want to be alone, and I'm gonna be."
"No you won't," Sara swallowed another lump in her throat, trying not to cry. "No, you'll never be alone. We won't let it happen. Nick did his best to save your brother and your parents, because he wanted to—" she struggled to come up with the correct words to finish her sentence.
"Nick would not want you to be alone," Grissom firmly told Stevie, finally approaching his colleagues and the little boy. "So we're going to make sure that you're never alone. You'll be a part of our family now."
"But I'll miss my parents and my brother," Stevie continued, looking up at Grissom through tear-stained eyes.
"And that's okay," Catherine interjected. "You'll always remember them, and you'll always love them. But now you'll have us to love you, too."
"Always," Sara agreed.
Stevie simply nodded, once again glancing at Nick's casket. "I'm gonna say thank you to him now, and… goodbye," he whispered. "Will you all come with me…?" he softly asked.
As one, Sara, Grissom, Warrick, Greg, and Catherine flanked the little boy, slowly walking toward Nick's casket.
Sara, tears streaming down her cheeks, tightly clutched Stevie's hand in her own, leading him toward the grave. "Ready?" she asked him.
"Uh-huh," Stevie whispered, shuffling even closer to Nick's casket. Blinking, he swallowed once more, and took a deep breath. "Thank you," he softly mumbled. "Thank you for saving my life, even if you couldn't save the rest of my family. Thank you for saving them, even though you—" he trailed off.
"Even if you died yourself," Sara finished for him, gently stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.
"Yeah. Thank you, and… goodbye," Stevie mumbled.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
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Finis