Disclaimer : I dont own it. Do not want.
You guys are fantastic. Really, you are. Not not not gsr. Im about to put that under the summary. Not gsr. There are maybe three gsr-esque moments and theres already been one. I dont know if its going to come up in this chapter or the next but I can not use the little enya thing. The squiggly that goes over the 'n' in pinata. I say cant but chances are Im not doing it right, but eventually Im going to get into words that need it, so if you would like to enlighten me that would be great. And now, after that fantastic run on sentence, heres the next chapter.
Chapter 4 - Give Me Justice
It was crowded in the waiting area. Six people sat with bated breath, longing to be atleast told what had happend, and if their loved ones were going to be okay. It had been nearly two hours since Gil had first recieved the call from the hospital. Each minute as agonizing as the next. With the mounting tension in the room, it was no surprise when everyone all but jumped out of their seats when a cell phone went off. Gil sighed as he flipped open his phone.
"Grissom."
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"Conrad-" Grissom was cut off as Ecklies voice grew louder.
"Not only did you abandon your crime scene, but it seems as though you entire team has dissapeared from the lab!" Greg turned to yell something into the phone, but Nick placed a hand on Gregs shoulder and shook his head.
"If you would just shut up!" Grissom snapped. "I'm at the hospital and as soon as I have any information I will come back to the lab and share with you," Grissom looked up as a doctor approached them, "But as of right now I have to go." As he hung up the phone he stood to greet the doctor.
"I'm Dr. Mitch Caldwell." Dr. Caldwell stuck out his hand, Grissom shook it.
"Hello, I am Dr. Gil Grissom. Could you please tell me what has happened to my colleagues?"
"Paramedics on the scene said their SUV was on its side and had apparently exploded. But judging by the lack of burns, your colleagues must not have been in the vehicle when it happend. Ms. Willows has suffered a deep laceration to the right side of her head, a severe concussion, several bruised ribs, a contusion on her jaw, and mild road rash. We stiched her up, gave her an ointment for the road rash, some antibiotics to fight infection, and a mild sedative so she would sleep through the night. Ms. Sidle, however, was not so lucky. She sustained massive bruising to the left side of her body. Her spleen ruptured and her hip was dislocated. That was all from the initial impact from to the vehicle. It seemed Ms. Sidle shielded Ms. Willows from debris from the explosion with her own body. The impact from the debris caused alot of bruising on Ms. Sidle's back, some very close to the spinal column. But we are more concerned with damaged suffered to her head. We cannot be certain of any brain damage or even paralysis at this time. We've called in a neurologist to run some tests. However, it will be quite some time before either one of them wake up. You all might be better off just going home and getting some rest."
"Sure thing Doctor. Please inform me of any changes," Grissom turned and looked at his boys, a mixture of relief and fear on their faces. Dr. Caldwell nodded to the rest of the group and dissapeared behind swinging doors.
"Hey Nancy, you should probably get on back to Lindsey." Warrick spoke softly and gave her a gentle hug before waving good bye.
"Griss, what are we supposed to do now?" Greg sounded like a lost boy. Grissom looked how Greg sounded.
"You, Nick and Warrick have a crime scene to process. I want you to find out exactly what happend tonight. I'm going to go make sure Ecklie knows that this is our case. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
"Gil, I don't know if this is smart approach to this situation like," Brass was cut off when Grissom rounded on him.
"Jim, you know as well as I do that there is no better CSI's in Las Vegas than the ones I have on my team. I cannot take back the events that landed them here, but I will not do them the injustice of a second rate investigation. Now please, escort them to the crash site. We've already lost a few hours on this." With that Grissom turned and left the hospital. Nick and Greg just shrugged as Warrick gestured for Brass to lead the way.
"Oh really? Uh-huh. Well make sure you do something with the car. I dont know. Strip it, set it on fire, put it at the bottom of Lake Mead for all I care. Just get rid of it. I'll keep you posted." Ecklie hung up his phone and spun around in his chair to face Gil Grissom.
"Knocking really isnt your strong suit is it, Gil?" Ecklie sneered, attempting to cover up his surprise that Grissom might have overheard that highly incriminating phone call.
"Neither is shutting your door." Grissom stared him down in silence.
"Where the hell have you been?"
"At the hospital. Two of my CSI's were injured in an accident." Ecklie supressed a smirk at this.
"And that constitutes you leaving a crime scene in the hands of a rookie?"
"Greg is a very capable CSI. I'm sure he collected all the evidence at the scene. It was a dump job so there wasn't a whole lot to begin with." Grissom broke eye contact long enough to have a seat in one of the chairs.
"But not capable enough to process it? No instead he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off looking for you." Ecklie didn't try to hide his smirk.
"It matters not, Conrad. I need you to hand off that case to Day Shift anyhow." Grissom looked at him intently, getting ready for what he knew was going to be a very difficult argument followed quickly by a headache.
"And why the hell should I feel the need to," Ecklie was interrupted by the less than friendly entrance of the day shift supervisor, Carl Trode.
"Does someone want to explain why my CSI's were sent home from a scene? By your team, no less." He said this while pointing at Grissom.
"Excuse me! Gil, is this true? Did you know about this?" Ecklie looked as pissed as Trode sounded.
"It was my order Conrad. I'm taking this case, whether you like it or not. And if you want to contest it, I will gladly take it to the director himself," Grissom turned to Trode,"And your team can work the body dump from the desert. I'm sure Dr. Robbins is finished with the autopsy by now and Greg has brought all the evidence back to the lab. Work is almost done for you. Now, if you don't mind. I'm going to go help my boys process our scene." Grissom exited the office before anyone could object.
After he left, Trode turn to Ecklie, "Can he just fucking do that?"
"It would seem, that he just did." Ecklie fumed.
Catherine wasn't sure of anything anymore. She didn't know how she had gotten to this place from the empty movie theatre. She didn't know how she had gotten to the movie theatre, or if the events of the screen were real. She didn't know why she was here, or why she couldn't open the door to leave this place. She did know that she missed her daughter. And that every book and magazine in the place were all filled with blank pages. She glanced over at the sofa, where she had previously hoisted an unconscious Sara onto its cushions. She sighed and sank down to the floor, her back against the wall. She wished desperately for something to do. Movement caught her eye, and she looked over to see a blue rubber ball rolling down the hallway in her direction. It stopped when it hit her leg. Cautious and confused, she slowly reached out to pick up the ball, in case if grew fangs and tried to bite her hand off. She squeezed it gently in her hand, then tossed it in the air a few times just to make sure it wouldn't detonate. Well, it is certainly better than nothing, she thought. She threw the ball at the door. It bounced off and arced back towards her, she leaned out to catch it.
Since there are no time telling devices, Catherine was unsure of how much time had passed. But it felt like forever before Sara had stired into consciousness again. Sara slowly opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. She quickly realized that she was not alone by a rhythmic thumping sound.
"Cath? What are you doing here? What's that sound?" Sara said groggily, sitting up for a better view.
"Welcome back to the land of the living. It's this ball I found. I've just been tossing it at the door, since theres nothing else to do around here," Catherine said without stopping her ball bouncing.
"I take slight offense to that. Theres plenty to read around here. Besides if you don't cut that out soon, you're liable to piss off my neighbors." Sara yawned and stretched and sat back down on the couch.
Catherine snorted, "Yea plenty to read, sure. With all the words that are there. Very entertaining, I'm sure." She stood up and grabbed a magazine, tossing it onto Sara's lap.
Sara's face turned from one of amusement to confusion with each blank page she turned. "What the fuck?" She trailed off, flipped the magazine to the cover, only to find it blank, something she had previously overlooked. I must still be dreaming, she thought.
"So, if my ball bouncing is going to piss off your neighbors, this must be your apartment then" Catherine said more to herself.
"Ding ding. 10 points for Captain Obvious." Sara said dryly. Catherine turned to her, with a serious look.
"Sara, what are we doing here?" Sara grinned inspite of Catherine's tone.
"Well, I dunno about you, but I live here dear." Catherine took a seat on the sofa, staring at her hands.
"But how did we get here? Did that explosion really happen?" Catherine looked up at Sara, only to have her turn away, eyes glistening.
Catherine jumped up and started pacing, "So what? Are we dead?"
"I'm not dead." Catherine stopped pacing and stared at the other woman.
"What are you saying?"
Sara looked at Catherine with wet eyes, "I'm not dead. But I think you are. Catherine, I think I killed you." Then she started to cry.
Many apologies on the time it took to finish this. For all intents and purposes, the day shift supervisors name is now Carl Trode. Appointed by Ecklie. So pretty much, its still Ecklie. The sequences between Catherine and Sara may seem confusing, but its a dream world. Catherine has never been inside Saras apartment, therefore she would not know thats where she is, and would not know whats in the books or magazines. And altho Sara should know whats in the magazine, having Catherine in her dream world has altered it. But Sara doesnt know that because she thinks Cath is dead. Whatever, I have a whole plan for that, hopefully I don't make it to confusing before it becomes clear. Anyway, if anyone could shed some light on my enya 'squiggly' problem it would be greatly appreciated.
Next Chapter : Catherine wakes up! I think. No she does. Ecklie becomes a bigger douche. GSR almost completely ends. And Hodges says something meaningful? I guess so, I dont have control over this story. o.O
Lend some Love if you'd Like.