Title: The Lurie Effect, Part 2
Author: butterflied4life
Rating: High teen
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Spoilers: Just for Butterflied, from Season 4
Summary: The title says it all. WARNING!!!!!! This story contains violence, both domestic and otherwise. THIS IS the chapter with all the violence in it.
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI in any way, shape, or form. Wish I did.
A/N:
Grissom starts moving slowly backwards. He can see that the five men are about a hundred feet away and heading towards where he and Sara are hiding. Clenching his jaw, he steps completely out of the doorway and faces them squarely, pointing his gun at them. The men continue walking, seemingly unaffected by having a gun pointed at them, until they are only a few feet away.
On of them, the apparent lead of the group, takes a step forward. "Hey, man. How 'bout you put the gun down." The man's voice is irritated, like this should have been obvious.
"I don't think that would be wise, considering my current situation," Grissom returns, struggling to keep the calm in his voice.
This apparently pisses the man off.
"Look dude, this ain't no time for your mouth. Just put the gun down, or I'm gonna tell 'em to shoot." The man, whom Grissom has started mentally referring to as Leader, uses his gun to gesture back to his gang.
Grissom thinks about this a moment. If he puts the gun down, then he and Sara no longer have any viable way of defending themselves. Not good. But if he doesn't put the gun down, he isn't much use to Sara dead. Also not good. He lays the gun on the ground carefully. At the same time he slowly starts backing up towards the doorway where Sara is hidden.
"Stop right there," Leader says. "And tell your lady friend to get out here too. She's not gonna miss out on the fun."
Before Grissom can react and tell Sara to stay right where she is, she steps out of the alcove and comes to stand at Grissom's left shoulder. "We'll do what you want," she says, trying to buy time.
Leader smiles and gestures to his gang. Two of the men step forward and grab Sara, each holding an arm. They push her forward in front of their leader. Grissom tries to stop them, but the other two grab his arms.
"Now, I don't want no unnecessary pain here. We're here to do our job and that's it." Leader steps toward Sara and, before she can react, swiftly swings his arm out and punches the right side of her face. A small cry escapes her throat as her head jerks from the impact. She starts to turn to face him again, but is caught off guard when he punches her a second time on the other cheek.
Grissom is nearly out of his mind with rage. He struggles wildly against the two men holding him, but he can do nothing. He is forced to stand and watch as a gang beats the woman he realizes he loves.
After the second punch, Sara hadn't pulled her face back up. She lets her head hang, hair falling forward to curtain her face. Leader uses this opportunity to punch her in the gut. The impact knocks the breath from her, and she falls to her knees, trying to drag air into her lungs. The two men who had been holding her arms release them and let her fall.
Sara begins to stand back up and face her assailant, but memories cloud her mind and overpower her. She sees her mother fighting back against her father, trying desperately to stop the abuse. In her mind, she is watching as again and again her mother is punched, slapped, and knocked to the ground. Then she sees it, the knife that tore apart her life and destroyed her family. And that's the moment she stops struggling, dropping to the ground on her side and letting the pain win out.
Grissom can't figure out what is going on. It had looked as if the Sara he knew had been jerked out of her body and replaced with someone submissive. He struggles with renewed strength, desperate to help her, but the two men holding his arms are impossible to fight against. They stand like two rocks, their hands chaining him to a mountain.
The fact that Sara has dropped does not seem to affect Leader. He simply starts kicking her, allowing the blows to land wherever they may. Sara curls into a ball instinctively, protecting her face and stomach but still makes no effort to fight back. She doesn't make any sound of pain, only a slight unintentional 'oomph' whenever the wind is knocked out of her.
After a few minutes, the sound of sirens becomes audible. Leader stops kicking Sara and yells to the others. The two men holding Grissom release him and the gang runs back down the alley the way they had come earlier. The sirens have nothing to do with them, but they're not taking chances.
Grissom runs to Sara, who still hasn't moved since she fell. "Sara, Sara, please talk to me. Say something," he pleads, but she remains silent. He lifts her shoulders and holds them with one arm while he uses the other to skim her body, searching for serious injuries. Her face has become swollen, and in some places the bruises are already partly formed.
When he uses his hand to brush the hair from her face, Sara's eyes open slightly. "Griss?" she whispers feebly.
Grissom is nearly overcome with joy. "Yes, Sara, I'm right here. Keep your eyes open, okay?"
"Hurts," she slurs back.
"Where?"
She uses her eyes to indicate her abdomen. He takes his vest off and places it on the ground, then lays her down, using his vest to pillow her head. He scrambles to find the zipper on her vest, jerking it down and starting on the buttons of her blouse. After the second button he decides that it's taking too long and simply grasps both sides of the shirt and pulls, effectively popping the buttons off.
He immediately understands why her chest and stomach hurt: large bruises have formed all over her abdomen, clearly marking where the man kicked her. Grissom gently prods them with his fingers, trying to determine the degree of harm done. He decides a few of her ribs are broken. Then he notices that Sara didn't even flinch when he pressed her bruises. His eyes immediately flick up to her face, but her eyes have closed again. Panicking, he tries to get her to open her eyes again, but this time he can't wake her up.
Grissom runs to the Tahoe and calls for help.
A/N 2: First of all, I want to thank everyone for their reviews and support for the last chapter. I was so surprised how eager you all were for the next installment! It definitely speeded up the process. So . . . lots of reviews = faster updates. Please, keep them coming!