"No, I'm not. Are you okay?" she asked.
"I don't know." Grissom answered honestly.
"How's your arm?"
"I'll live." As he said the words, they took on a whole new meaning.
"Yeah, you will, won't you?" Sara had a soft smile to offer him.
"I love you." Grissom whispered.
"I love you, too." Sara whispered back to him, which turned out to be a good thing since Brass walked up to them a second later.
"What happened?" he demanded of the pair. They told him everything. Brass was shocked. He excused himself to ream out the officers in charge of clearing the scene. Sara steeled herself for what she was about to do.
"Let's go finish." Grissom grabbed her elbow.
"No, I'll call Catherine."
"Who do you trust the most? You're going to have to tell them." She told him.
"I know. You'd be my first choice for something like this. Warrick's at home prepping for court, so I can't call him. I'll call Catherine and we'll go from there." He pulled out his phone.
"Willows."
"Where are you on your case?" he asked.
"Greg's running it and doing a good job."
"I need you to come over to mine and Sara's. It's important and there's a lot of background information we'll need to tell you."
"Sounds serious."
"It is; Sara just killed our suspect."
"I'm on my way."
"Don't tell anyone." he said and hung up. Sara was standing there, mute. She'd already handed over her gun to Brass, who promptly placed it in an evidence bag. Grissom knew she wouldn't say another word to anyone until it was time to talk to Catherine and whichever detective she brought with her.
"Excuse me, I need a minute." Sara whispered and walked away to seal herself in the Denali. In the backseat, she sat on the floor and shed just a few tears to release some of the built up stress caused in the last hour. She lost all track of time during her self-imposed isolation. She was startled by a knock on the window. She unlocked the door and saw Brass waiting patiently.
"Catherine is here with Vartaan, they are ready to take statements."
"Is it my turn?"
"No, Grissom is talking to them now. He has the most to say."
"No kidding." Sara climbed down from the car and leaned against it until it was her turn. Brass waited silently next to her.
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"Ok Gil, what happened?" Catherine asked. Both she and Vartaan were ready to take notes.
"We were called out to the DB tonight. The victim turned out to be the adoptive mother of our victim from last week. Something felt off, and we were right. The guy we've been looking for, for a week appeared. He killed three people including our victim tonight. He got fed up talking to Sara and threw his weapon at her when she asked him to hand it to her. I saw it coming and took it in the arm. She shot him in the shoulder. He was ready to pounce again so she shot the other shoulder and then took the stake from my arm and drove it through his chest."
"A wooden stake?" Catherine asked, and her voice conveyed the doubt she had in her mind.
"As in vampires?" Vartaan continued on Catherine's train of thought.
"Yes; he was one." Grissom confirmed.
"I feel like I'm missing something else." Catherine said.
"You are." Grissom was getting nervous, he was fighting every instinct he had that told him to run away.
"Enlighten us, please." Vartaan requested. Grissom took a deep breath and stared at the ground for a minute to gather his courage.
"Ok. Last week we were called out to a house three streets over. The victim was a young woman named Amy. There was also a John Doe. Outside, a woman claimed to be Amy's mother, which we were able to verify through adoption records. The mother turned out to be a girl I knew in college. Her name was Melissa." Grissom paused for a minute.
"I have your complete confidence? If this gets out, I will quit and leave town." Catherine and Vartaan knew that grissom was absolutely serious. They exchanged a glance and then nodded.
"Melissa was a vampire. She took advantage of me one night and turned me into one as well. John, Amy's fiancée, saw Melissa with her husband, drinking his blood. He killed Amy. His friend had tried to stop him and was killed too. He killed Melissa tonight and we figured out that he was one. He just wasn't that smart or that old."
"What do you mean?" Vartaan asked.
"Sense's become much more acute. Each person has their own heart rate or a way they walk. When someone is bedded by a vampire, other know it by scent." Grissom explained.
"Like marking territory." Vartaan asked.
"Yes."
"You are one?" Catherine clarified.
"Melissa's death may have reversed it." Grissom closed his eyes and listened for Sara's heartbeat, amazed that he could still hear it.
"I don't think it worked. Melissa thought that her death would have changed me back; and now that she's dead, I seem to still be one. It hasn't interfered with my life before and it won't now."
"Whoa." Catherine said more to herself than anyone else.
"Who else knows?" Vartaan asked.
"Sara and Brass. Both of them found out within in the last week."
"But…"
"If these are personal questions, I'll answer them in private." Grissom interrupted Catherine.
"You can count on it." Vartaan assured him.
"Did John do anything else?" Catherine asked.
"He said he knew I was a vampire. He made inappropriate remarks at Sara, who kept herself between the two of us at all times." Grissom explained.
"Inappropriate, how?" Vartaan asked.
"Referring to her as my meal provider and saying she would make a fine feast. He called her a bitch when she drove the stake in." Grissom's voice had an angry tone to it as he recalled the nasty things John had said to Sara.
"Meal provider?" Catherine asked.
"When Sara found out, she took some time to think and consented to my request of feeding from her."
"Is she…" Vartaan asked.
"No, I'm very careful about that." Grissom answered the question Vartaan had been about to ask.
"Information overload." Catherine muttered.
"No kidding." Vartaan agreed.
"Well, Sara will tell you the same thing I just did about tonight and Brass is here for her moral support." Grissom said.
"You we still want to talk to them." Vartaan said.
"I know, are we through?" Grissom asked.
"I suppose; I know how to find you." Catherine said. Grissom walked away from everyone. He focused on his own body, trying to figure out what was happening to it. He closed his eyes and focused on hearing Catherine. He found that he could still hear her. They were talking to Brass, who other than handing over Sara's gun, had nothing to add. Bras walked away from Catherine and Vartaan a minute or two later and stood next to Grissom while they waited for Sara to finish.
"How are you holding up?" Brass asked.
"I'll survive."
"Do they know?"
"Yes." Grissom said quietly.
"Can you still hear them?" Brass wondered.
"I can, but I'm trying not to listen out f respect. I never abused my gifts, except concerning Sara." Grissom explained. He felt, more than saw, Brass' gaze swing in his direction.
"What do you mean?"
"I would tease her to learn how my words or actions affected her. I didn't stalk her or listen on phone calls."
"You used hr feelings for you against her?" Brass asked angrily.
"Sort of."
"If we were alone, I would beat the hell out of you." Brass was seething with anger. He shoved Grissom.
"Do you have any idea the hell you've single handedly put that girl through, you son-of-a-bitch?"
"Yes." Grissom answered quietly.
"And you did it anyway?" Brass advanced again.
"Do you think I enjoyed it?" Grissom asked, incredulously.
"You must have, you've been doing it for years." Brass shoved him again and this time Sara ran over to stand between them.
"Stop." she ordered.
"But, Sara…" She put up a hand.
"I said, stop! I can handle it. This isn't the time or the place." Brass visually reminded himself of just how many people were around; and watching.
"You're right. I'll be in my car. Call me when we can talk." Brass walked away and Sara turned to Grissom.
"I don't know what happened and right now I don't want to know. We'll talk later." Sara left him standing there to finish her interview. She'd been in the middle of recounting her version of what happened in the house and justifying the discharge of her weapon when out of the corner of her eye, she saw the altercation between Brass and Grissom. She settled it and returned to the conversation.
"I'm sorry about that. Where were we?" Sara asked.
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A/N: Ok, I know it wasn't much of a fight, but Sara did have to break it up. In the coming chapters, Catherine and Vartaan will learn a little more about Grissom and Sara. Sara will also learn about why Brass was so angry. How do you think she will react?
Reviews are wanted and appreciated. I'll try, but most likely, I won't post again until next week because I am leaving town this weekend. Have a great day everyone! Kelly