OK - its my birthday today so I'll put up 2 chapters instead of 1!
I am taking the great liberty of adding create licence to Grissom's character with this. I can't really see him ever being like this on the show but I felt he had it in him to be a bit of a wimp with Catherine.
Stepping up….
Grissom and Catherine were half way back to the lab when Catherine glanced over to him.
"Did you tell Nick what's going on?" she asked.
Grissom shrugged.
"What's going on?" he asked, confused.
Catherine stopped and swung around to look at him in amazement.
"Gil! Did you let him know he can stay with you? Did you arrange to pick him up when we're finished with Ecklie?"Grissom looked uncomfortable.
"Don't tell me he's just sitting there. Alone. Gil! Go back and get him! He can wait in your office until we're done."
Catherine was ropeable. Grissom amazed her constantly with his complete ignorance of 'normal' people's needs. She knew he didn't do it out of malice, but still!
Grissom knew better than to argue with Catherine.
People often compared them to a long married couple. They were the epitome of a good team. Grissom, the thinker - the one who could strategise and use logic to work through a problem without emotions clouding his judgement; and Catherine, the doer - a firebrand dynamo who approached her work with the same vigour and passion as she displayed in her 'real' life. She was the Mom to the group - the one to comfort and to support but no push over - she could be fiercely protective of her team-mates but was not beyond giving them a dressing down when necessary. Grissom was the Dad - a strict and somewhat standoffish mentor who's mission was to teach and guide his younger colleagues, not to get side tracked by personality differences and emotions. The two of them gelled. They were yin and yang. Catherine respected Grissom immensely without being awestruck by his brilliance. Grissom knew he could not do the job of supervisor without Catherine by his side - he relied on her to guide him through the often confusing world of dealing with people. But he could also be intimidated by her forcefulness at times. And this was one of those times.
He looked like a schoolboy - about to be disciplined by a stern teacher. In hindsight, he realised that they shouldn't have left Nick in the room by himself. That he hadn't had time to tell him about their plans to take care of him for the next few days. But he genuinely hadn't thought of it. But, to be fair, Catherine hadn't spoken to Nick about it either. Not that he was going to argue about it. Not while Catherine was aggrieved to the point of almost glowing with anger.
She stood facing him, hands on hips before pointing sharply back to the station.
"Go!" she barked.
Grissom winced and slunk back the way he came.
He reached the interview viewing room and opened the door.
No sign of Nick.
He frowned and was about to close the door again when he saw his young colleagues reflection in the window looking through to the interview room. He was sitting on the floor, eyes closed, with one hand propping up his head and the other tucked tightly against his ribs.
Grissom sighed and entered the room, moving in front of Nick and crouching down to his level. Still Nick's eyes remained closed. His breathing was slow and regular and, while Grissom doubted he was in a deep sleep, he was clearly dozing.
Grissom reached out and lay a hand against Nick's shoulder, squeezing gently to rouse the young man without frightening him.
Nick's eyes snapped open at once and he moved as if to leap to his feet with a sharp intake of breath, which caused a kick of pain to his injured ribs and he ended up bracing his chest even tighter as he squeezed his eyes shut tight again and moaned in pain.
Grissom kept his hand on Nick's shoulder until his breathing settled into pain filled huffs and his eyes reopened.
"Sorry." Grissom offered lamely before pushing himself back onto his feet slowly. He was getting too old to crouch, he decided.
He offered a hand down to Nick, who accepted it and pulled himself awkwardly to his feet, grimacing again as the pain flared.
Grissom eyed him with concern.
"Are you OK?" he asked, keeping a steadying arm on his shoulder.
Nick gave a small nod.
"Come on." said Grissom. "You're coming home with me once I've handed the case off to Ecklie."
He noted the nervous glance he received and decided to ignore it.
"When are you due for more pain relief?" he asked.
Nick gave a slight shrug and checked his watch.
"About now." he mumbled.
Grissom nodded. The conversation was awkward. He did not expect that it would get much easier once they were at his apartment either. He had never really spent any time with Nick other than when they were partnered together on a case. He had no idea what Nick's interests were. He had no idea what they were going to talk about for three days.
They walked in silence the rest of the way back to the lab with Grissom trying to make a mental library of 3 days worth of discussion points, and Nick silently trying to contain his panic at the thought of living with his boss for the next few days.
They got back to the lab and Nick went to wait for Grissom in his office while Grissom and Catherine headed off to hand over.
He sat down and dropped his head into his hands.
This was going to be a long 72 hours.
Thankyou to everyone who has taken the time to review the chapters - its very much appreciated.