This one shot is part of the Fanfic Quote Challenge set by Myriad-13 in the CSI Forum. The challenge is to write a story between 100 and 2000 words with a random choice of one main character and one quote. I picked the numbers 5 and 15 so I was given Jo Danville with the following quote as a basis for a story:
"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."
Mother Teresa
Everyone assumed that she was used to it. It was everywhere to some greater or lesser degree. On the television screen at home and the radio in the car, in the book on the night-stand and the DVD in the player. It was in the posters in the subway advertising the latest horror blockbuster and in the newspaper she had picked up from the cheery overweight vendor on the corner near the lab. It had insidiously inserted itself into so many areas of life that unless you saw it naked and raw you were immune to it or unaware of it, keeping distant from it or keeping it distant from you. It was in the stark pictures laid out on the table in front of her. The violence. The blood. The loss of life.
The man was young, barely in his twenties, dressed in expensive sneakers, designer jeans and green tee-shirt, his thick dark hair neatly cut, his nails well trimmed, all seemingly incongruous in the filthy, rubbish-strewn alley on the Lower East Side.
She leaned on the table, pressing down so hard on her hands that her ring bit into her finger. She ignored it and tried to focus on the details. Single gun shot wound in the chest. No stippling. No powder marks. Small calibre fired from only four to five feet. Cause of death: internal bleeding.
For a moment unbidden images flew into her head transforming the photograph, turning the green tee-shirt into a blue one, morphing the victim's face into one older and more familiar. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to blank out the image.
"You okay?" She jumped slightly at the soft deep voice behind her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered nonchalantly as she leaned back a little relieving the pressure on her hands. Everyone assumed that she got used to it. The violence. The blood. The loss of life. She carefully maintained the professional façade of the crime scene investigator, the front that hid the horror and disgust that she felt inside, the wall behind which she could hide her true feelings.
"Sid confirmed that he was a regular drug user, multiple track marks, high levels of diacetylmorphine in his blood. He managed to get the bullet. It doesn't look too damaged. If we're lucky we might get a match." He passed her the bag with the small dull fragment of metal that had taken the young man's life. She fingered it through the clear plastic bag. So small and innocuous and yet so lethal. "Did the trace from his hands come back as heroin?"
She nodded and sighed heavily as she looked at the photographs once more. "How did he get here?" She didn't need to turn around to see the questioning look on his face. "He had everything. Family. Looks. Money. Education. A bright future."
"Don's trying to track down the parents now. It seems they may be out of the country."
She sighed again still fingering the little plastic bag in one hand as she pushed a lock of hair behind one ear. Her stomach clenched as she imagined the pain and anguish that was awaiting the young man's mother and father. Every parent's worst nightmare. "He's so young!" Oh Lord, don't let this happen to them.
"Go home Jo."
"Oh no … it's all right … I need to run this ..." Her words caught in her throat as she felt him place his hand over hers.
"Go home Jo," he repeated. Gently he prised the evidence bag from her fingers. "I'll run this." She opened her mouth to protest but words wouldn't come as she caught the look in eyes. "I haven't thanked you. For everything that you've done." He waved a hand around the lab. As her eyes followed his hand, she glimpsed Danny and Lindsay side by side, heading down the corridor towards the elevators waving to Sheldon who was leaning on the back of Adam's chair laughing as Adam nodded enthusiastically at the screen, his pen clamped between his teeth, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "You've done a fantastic job managing all this, looking after them while I've been ..." He hesitated. "... away. I know you've been working far harder than you should have and I'm very grateful. But right now you need to go home."
"But..."
"No buts Jo! Go call him." She started, looking at him in surprise. How had he known what she was thinking? "Go grab a burger … and a light beer!" Though his face and voice were stern there was a twinkle in his eye. She couldn't help but smile. "Promote world peace. Go home and love your family." Sensing a quote she frowned and tipped her head on one side searching his face questioningly. The corners of his lips twitched in amusement. "Mother Teresa. Smart woman!"
He threw an enigmatic smile over his shoulder as he waved the small plastic bag and headed off towards the ballistics lab. For a moment she stared after him then she gathered together the photographs and slipped them into the folder taking one last sad look at the boy in the picture. Closing the file, she pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She pulled a hand through her hair as he answered. "Hey Tyler. It's Mom. Do you want to join me and Ellie for a burger? … Okay I'll see you then. Love you too." And she smiled as she headed for the door.
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A/N. Although the quote seemed simple enough at first, it was much harder than the other two challenges. (Yes even harder than getting Christine and Jess into a story together!) but my thanks to Myriad-13 for setting the quotes challenge and Leslie Emm for the others. It's been fun. For all you other talented authors out there, don't forget to check out the CSI:NY Forum, Fic Challenges. Set us a new challenge or join in future one. Thanks for reading. And special thanks to all those who have left reviews.