A/N: Okay... So here's the next chapter. As you can tell by my randomness for the most part of this chapter, I didn't have much to go on. I just winged it and this is what I came up with. I'm working on the fifth chapter already, and I'd like to thank all of the reviewers that keep on reviewing! It means a lot to me. So thanks, with a capital T!
Disclaimer: Begins to speak. I... Stops and shakes head. YOU WANT A DISCLAIMER! GO TO THE OTHER CHAPTERS! Walks away mad that she doesn't own CSI or any of its wonderful characters
Chapter 4: Confusion
"Hey there! Have a nice break with your sister?" Catherine asked as I entered the break room.
"Yes. But she had to get going..." I paused, hovering next to the sewage water that we called the break room's coffee. "The job."
"That seems to get the best of us all, huh?" She said with a small smile that I could tell was forced right away.
I gave no reply as I forced myself to pour the sludge that we called coffee into a cup and then forced it down my throat. Somehow, the brew just seemed to be at its personal worst today, but I kept it down, though looking at the cup with utter disgust.
Where's Greg when I need him? I thought to myself and Greg's famous Blue Hawaiian.
"So... I never knew you had a sister... Especially of a different color." Catherine began the process of prying for information.
"Uh huh..." I said absent mindedly, taking another forced sip.
Maybe I'll bribe Greg for some... I began to scheme mischievously.
"Is she even your sister?" Catherine asked, apparently now taking more interest in me than the magazine her hand.
"No." I subconsciously said.
I don't even have to go down the path of bribery... Blackmail is also an option. I could always tell Grissom about the time Greg stole some of his Red Creeper Print Powder... I recalled Greg's reaction the day when I caught him sneaking into Grissom's office to get the powder.
"Then how do you know her?" Her eyes were now completely fixed on me, attention undivided unfortunately enough.
"Do you know where Greg is right now?" I asked suddenly, pouring the contents of the wannabe coffee into the sink, fed up with the questioning as well as the coffee.
"Are you being purposely evasive of my question?" Catherine asked in an almost surprised tone.
I turned around to look at her, disbelieving how much the woman in front of me loved to pry for information. Realizing there was no joke to be made or any humor in the situation at all, I turned around once more to throw out my cup and I made my way out of the break room.
Never mind... I'll just go find him myself. I told myself as I walked down the halls in search of Greg and his Blue Hawaiian.
Finding him in the locker room, hanging up his jacket and vest, he barely noticed me as I entered the room. I simply leaned up against the lockers and waited for him to acknowledge my presence by himself. He was so oblivious to me that he began to sing to the song, Animals by Nickleback. And just when I thought he'd never realize I was there, he turned around and jumped with a start at the sight of me.
"Sara! Wow, I didn't know you could magically appear out of thin air now! You truly do defy the scientific laws of nature." He said as he closed the door to his locker. "How long were you standing there?"
"Long enough to hear your rendition of Animals by Nickleback." I smirked at him.
"Ah, so you've finally got a taste of my musical talents then? You know, I usually pay per view, but since it is you, I suppose this time it could be on the house." Greg said as he prepared to exit the locker room, myself walking with him. "But what is it that you want my dear Sara? I know you didn't just find me to listen to my musical skills."
"You're right. I came to borrow your coffee." I told him as we turned the corner, going toward the A/V lab.
"Aw c'mon Sara! You know this is my last batch until a couple months! You're asking me to simply pass out free Blue Hawaiian? That's like selling my soul!" Greg looked at me with a pitiful glance.
"Well, unless you want a particular supervisor finding out that you stole some of his Red Creeper Print Powder, I don't think that's too much to ask for." I tried to conceal the smile that came upon my face.
Greg stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me with incredulity. "You wouldn't dare."
"Don't dare me, Greg... I just might do it." I said. "So what's it going to be? Blue Hawaiian or busted?"
After a few moments of quiet grumbling, Greg turned back and ushered me back to the locker room. He glared back at me as he opened his locker back up and lifted the bottom of his locker up. I was only half surprised to see that Greg had a small safe in there which he pulled out and set down on the bench. Spinning the dial around several times to make the combination to the safe, Greg opened it and revealed a brown bag of his infamous Blue Hawaiian. Still, only half of me was surprised that Greg actually kept his coffee in a safe hidden in the bottom of his locker.
Grudgingly handing the bag over, I took it from his hands and smiled at him smugly. "Thank you Greg. You made the right choice, trust me."
"You fight dirty, Sara. You're a dirty fighter!" He accused me childishly.
"That maybe true, but I'm still the one holding the Blue Hawaiian right now, aren't I?" I told him as I walked out of the locker room, hoping Catherine had left the break room.
I was grateful when I entered an empty break room. I walked over to the coffee machine and began to process of making a new brew of actual coffee.
Once I was replenished with caffeine from actual coffee, it was just in time to get a beep from Bobby, and by now, half of the shift was gone. I hadn't realized that until I checked the ballistic's lab clock.
3:00 a.m.
The information that the bullet belonged to a Smith & Wesson standard issue was about the most useful information I got all night. Nothing was happening in Trace, and come to find out, there were dozen upon dozens of people in the vicinity of Greater Las Vegas that owned Smith & Wesson's. At least half of them were within a two-mile radius of the victim's location.
I could only opt to meander around the lab aimlessly. And dodge everyone I knew, or at least my team. Especially Grissom. The last thing I wanted and needed was to see him. I had passed him more than once and ducked into a nearby room as to not be seen by him. Childish, I know, but sometimes that's just the way he made me feel when he was near...
Childish.
Finally when my feet became sore and my eyelids were beginning to drag along the floor, I decided I was in another need of coffee. I could only hope it wasn't all taken yet.
Everyone hates slow nights for a reason. They make you feel so tired... I told myself as I turned the corner for a straight shot to the break room.
Filling up another cup, after thankfully discovering the coffee had remained untouched since I left it, I took a few sips and decided it would be too risky to stay in the break room, lest Catherine or anyone else stop by. Unfortunately, I had the pleasure of bumping into the second worse person in the building right now besides Grissom...
Ecklie.
And by bumping into him, it was in quite the literal sense.
"Sidle!" He hollered out as my precious coffee spilt all over his lousy pink shirt. What a waste of great coffee, especially since it was Ecklie!
This scene could've been either very serious or very humorous to me at the same time. On a professional level, this was serious considering Ecklie and myself have never been on good terms and spilling coffee on him, even accidentally, does nothing to form any truce between us. On the other side of a personal level, this was very humorous to see the shocked look on his face and to see him rushing to brush off the coffee and burning his hands in the process.
At this point, I was far from willing to offer him any assistance other than to step aside to let him pass. He looked at me questioningly in between frantically wiping off hot coffee from his attire. How a man like Ecklie managed to get into college, let alone finish high school, with as much intelligence and common sense as he does now continues to amaze me, even six years after meeting him. People call Grissom an enigma... Well, Conrad Ecklie's intelligence was ten times more of an enigma than Grissom will ever be and is downright questionable. Has been in the past, continues to be now, and more than likely will remain that way for the rest of his life.
"Sidle, what are you doing?" He asked in a growl.
I couldn't help a slight shake of my head as I walked away, not baring to be in his presence much longer. "It doesn't take a lot of brain cells to know how to handle this situation. You go to the closest water source and wash it off." I mumbled under my breath, slightly annoyed.
"You aren't even going to apologize?" He called at me as I turned the corner and walked away from the scene, oblivious to my previous comment.
I turned around in disbelief, not truly believing that he wanted me to apologize. I could've snapped right then and there. I wanted to walk up and dump the rest of my coffee on him and watch him squirm in the same place like an idiot not knowing what to do about a coffee spill. But getting in trouble with Ecklie was the last thing I needed or wanted right now, and then have to get Grissom involved.
So, by not shooting back on of the many nasty comments that I already had in a mental list about several miles long, I simply walked away. Not as gratifying, but at least it didn't get me directly in trouble. Although, knowing Ecklie, it wouldn't surprise me if he found someway to get me in trouble just by walking away.
Thankfully, the remainder of the shift was spent silently and with no more collisions of any sort. Not a sight of Grissom or the rest of the team with the exception of passing Nick in the hallway as I made my way to the bathroom. But that was only a simple greeting and nothing more. Boredom had me checking the time every half an hour or so up until it was the last hour of shift, 6:00 a.m.. Then I was checking the time every five minutes or so.
I nearly had to force myself to not break into a run for the locker room the second I realized shift was over. For the first time in a long time, I was heading home on time. For once, I didn't want to go into overtime for shift. I fished around for the piece of paper with Brooke's number on it as my other hand dug out my cellphone from my pocket. Upon entering the locker room where all the good reception was, I began dialing the number to her cellphone.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Consecutive rings in a row and Brooke wasn't picking up. I hoped she was sleeping or busy working, whatever her job may be. But she had told me to call her after I got off of work and she was aware of what time I got off.
Her voicemail was the only reply I got to the successive ringing. "Hey, hey y'all. This your girl Ms. B and though you may not know where I be, how about y'all grace thee with short message, okay G? And here's my thanks, with a capital T. Peace!"
I couldn't refrain from smirking at her original message. "Hey Brooke. It's Sara. I'm just leaving work now. Talk to you later. And by the way, I love your poem there. Bye."
I collected my jacket from the locker and closed it prior to exiting the locker room and exiting the lab completely, going out the back to get to my car. What a big mistake that was.
Stopping at my car to get out my keys, I heard an all too familiar voice float through my ears that made my spine just tingle. But it wasn't in a good way.
"How was work tonight?" Lady Heather asked, her voice in a short distance from myself.
"Slow. I didn't have much to do. Paperwork mostly." Grissom's voice followed in a reply.
"Let's go home then. Have breakfast. You look hungry." Lady Heather said just as they came into view, side-by-side.
I sunk behind my car, watching as they got to the front of Grissom's car and faced each other. Grissom seemed to have a confused look on his face while Lady Heather's remained blank. After several seconds, he slowly nodded his head and reached into his pockets. He seemed even more confused when he began patting his pockets, most likely at a loss for his keys.
"Did you forget your keys?" Heather prompted the question.
"I must've left them on my desk. I'll be right back." Grissom claimed as he turned back in the direction that he came and semi-jogged back.
As Heather turned around to watch him go, I took the chance to get into my car and drive off. Quietly closing my driver door, I put the keys in the ignition and started it. Or at least, attempted. It wouldn't start. Turning it again, already having attracted Lady Heather's attention because of the noise, it was to no avail once again. Over and over I turned the key, yet the car didn't start as I prayed it would. And all the while, the woman's penetrating eyes didn't leave me alone. Agitated by both the car and the woman, I turned the keys more frantically, already knowing it wouldn't work, but still attempting stubbornly.
When the full realized donned on me, I sat back with a aggravated huff and pulled out my cellphone again and was about to press redial when suddenly, I heard a loud stereo system drawing closer. I got out of the car and walked toward the street and the entrance of the lab's parking lot. I hadn't noticed Grissom had returned because my eyes were set on the car zooming down the street at twice the speed of the other cars.
Brooke's car came to a skidding halt several feet in front of me, doing a 180 degree rotation in the process. As she rolled down the window, the system's music only amplified itself to an even more deafening volume, if that was possible. I was shocked to see that there were several bleeding cuts on her face and blood was trickling softly from her nose and mouth. She looked like she had the crap kicked out of her.
"C'mon! Get in! Hurry!" She urged quickly and with urgency as she rolled the window back up.
Knowing she was serious, I rushed to the other side and jumped into the passenger seat, only catching a glimpse of Grissom and Heather. Heather was remaining emotionless while Grissom was sporting an overly confused look for the third time in five minutes. Good. At least I wasn't the only one who was confused now.
TBC
A/N2: So... Yeah, like I said. RANDOMNESS! Haha... Didn't have much, so I hope at least someone liked this chapter. I'm trying not to bring this along too slowly but I'm trying to get in gear. Damn school. It LOVES to bring me down... Hmph... Well, anyways, you know what to do. REVIEW! Please and thank you!
Peace out, one love,
MC New York
