A/N: Hey, thank you all for the reviews! I feel loved. Anyway, in this
chapter I'm going to try and get more Greg in. And a note to jd burns- In
the 4th chapter, Nick called Sara from the hospital. She was at the double
homicide crime scene, with the rest of the team. Hope that cleared things
up! :-) And by the way, I don't know how old Greggo is. I'm just guessing,
and I'm probably way off, but hey, this is fiction! The time frame is
messed up anyway. Sorry if I mess up on Lindsay's character, I'm not very
good at writing for kids.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own them (except Joann Morris and John Perkins), blah blah, don't sue, I'm only 14, I'm poor and so are my parents, it won't get you anything. Atticus belongs to Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge (I believe). All the songs and bands belong to their owners.
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"Hey Nick?" Jo asked 3 days after one of her confidants had been arrested for the murder of her parents.
"What's that, kid?"
"Do you think, I could maybe, go with you to the lab today?" She asked, giving him a pleading smile. "I promise I won't get in the way. I could help out, you know? And I could have a good place to study. I still have exams. And I haven't told you, but," she gave him a slightly guilty look, "I really haven't been able to study here, with all that's happened. Not with you gone. I just, I dunno -" she trailed off.
"Don't feel safe." He finished. She sighed, and gave him a sorry gaze. "No, it's ok. I understand. I guess you could come in. I'll give Griss a call, but he should be ok with it."
Jo beamed and went to get dressed. Nick called his boss, and after a short plea, Gil conceded. Jo reappeared wearing blue jeans and a huge black hoodie. It had an Atticus logo on it. She grabbed some pencils, pens, and a calculator and shoved them in the kangaroo pouch. Picking up her books she moved toward the door. "I'm ready."
"I can see that. I, on the other hand, am not." He saw her glare and added, "Calm down. Just let me get my coffee and we can go." He snatched his cup off the kitchen counter and grabbed his keys. "Let's go."
The pair moved to the car and got in, when another battle over control of the stereo ensued. This time Nick won with a threat to take Jo home, getting his favorite station. Well, it wasn't actually his favorite station. Giving an evil smile, he tuned the radio to the local country station and cackled (as well as Nick Stokes could cackle) at the groan that came from her mouth. Presently he sang along, much to his god daughter's dismay.
They pulled into the lot 15 minutes later, where Jo jumped out of the car and smacked her hand against her forehead. "Can't. Stop. Singing. Country. Must. Strangle. Self." She pretended to choke herself and Nick just laughed as he shut off the car. He put his arm around her shoulders and began babbling on about Tobey Keith and how he was, "The best musician ever." Jo had no other choice, short of stabbing him with her array of writing utensils. She zoned completely out. [Just smile and nod.]
The door opened to the lab and the two walked in. Jo snapped out of it when they ran into Catherine. "Hey Nick, Jo. What are you doing here?"
"I though I would bring her in today. You know, kinda hard to concentrate for a big exam in the house where you were stabbed." He said the last part quietly, hoping Jo hadn't heard. She did, but decided to humor him. Taking the opportunity, she took in the lab, or what she could see of it from her position. "Hey, Jo. You should probably come to the break room. It's the best place for you to be." She nodded and let Nick lead her to the room, passing by the Trace lab on the way.
Okay, you've all seen those cheesy movies, where the girl walks past the guy in really slow motion, right? Well, as Greg looked out the window in his own world, he felt like he was in that movie. His mouth dropped seeing the blue hair coming from this girl's head. He noticed the ring in her bottom lip and his legs almost turned to jelly. Then he snapped out of it and stepped on his own foot. [She's 18 years old. You are 29. Get that through your head.]
Jo walked into the break room and sat on the couch next to Warrick. She had met him before this whole thing started. One time that Nick had had Warrick over, Jo's parents dropped her off to be baby-sat. She had been 14 years old. "Hey Warrick," she greeted him.
"Biology, huh? Is that your major?" He asked, picking up her book. She nodded. "What is it you want to do?"
Jo's face turned red. "Oh, you'll think it's stupid."
"Try us." Catherine said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. Nick walked out with an 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' look on his face. Gil took his place inside the break room.
"Try what?" He inquired.
"Nothing. I was just about to get studying, Mr. Grissom." Jo's face flushed as she took the book back from Warrick and opened it. She grabbed a highlighter from her pocket and began intently reading, trying to make her face turn back to normal. Warrick smiled at the fact that his boss had just been called "Mr." Gil didn't seem to mind, as he began to give out the cases.
"Catherine, you and Nick have got a robbery. Warrick, you're with me and Sara, there's been a murder. Slow night tonight. Both seem fairly cut-and- dry, but we all know that probably won't be the case, so let's get going." The team exited the room and went to work.
~LATER THAT NIGHT~
Nick had come in a little bit earlier and asked her to go down to Archie's area of the lab and give him a surveillance tape. She had hung around afterward, her ever-curious self wanting to see what was on it. She had seen a robbery, the man grabbing a woman in a store. She had lashed out at him, her nails looking like claws.
Jo yawned and looked at her watch. [1:35. Why are you tired?] At this point Catherine walked in, talking on her cell phone. Not wanting to be rude, Jo turned her eyes back to her work, but couldn't help eavesdropping. From what she picked up, Catherine's daughter Lindsay had been having bad dreams about some guy named Ed (A/N: Remember this is what Jo heard, not what you already know) and wanted her mother. She hung up and sighed. The she noticed Jo sitting at the table, trying to look innocent.
"Jo? Could you do me a big, big favor? That was my sister. She watches my daughter, Lindsay, and she's been having bad nightmares. Do you think you could-" she hesitated for just a minute. [ She'll do it, she's a sweet girl. I think.] "Pick her up for me?"
For the first time in quite a long period of studying, Jo cracked a smile. A crack that grew into a canyon. "I would love to. Where does your sister live?" Catherine quickly gave directions, and Jo got up.
"I can't thank you enough for this. Just bring her back here. Maybe you can watch her, too."
"I would love to." She repeated. "But, uh, there's a problem. What am I going to drive?" She asked.
"Oh, right. Well, I would give you my car, but Warrick had to use it. What about Nick's? Let's go ask." The two women walked to another room where Nick was sitting, watching a video tape of the interview with a suspect.
"Hey Nicky? Can Jo borrow your car?" Seeing the look of horror on his face, Catherine added, "To pick up Lindsay. Please?" She pleaded. Jo broke away from the tape she was analyzing in her head and smiled wide, showing all her teeth. Nick took his key out of his pocket and they were quickly snatched out of his hand.
"Thanks Nick. I promise I'll keep it in one piece." Jo bounced out of the room at went to the car. She took Cath's directions to her sister's house. She had called before, telling that Jo would be picking her daughter up.
"Hi, I'm Jo Morris. Catherine sent me to pick up Lindsay." She said to the woman who stood at the door. Jo could see a girl sitting on the couch hugging onto a bear. She had blonde hair that she recognized matching Catherine's. The little girl slowly walked to the door.
"Are you Jo?" She asked slowly. Jo bent down to her level and nodded.
"Your mommy sent me to come and pick you up. Are you ready to go?" the girl nodded and grabbed Jo's hand. She pulled on Jo's hand and as she bent down, Lindsay said, "I like your hair. Blue is my favorite color." Jo smiled and helped the little girl into the car. Before she turned the key, though, she turned the volume knob all the way down. [I don't think she'll like Disturbed.] As the two drove back to the lab, they quickly became acquainted.
"Linds, I'm so glad to see you!" Catherine said as the two girls walked though the door. Lindsay ran to her arms and was picked up in a quick hug. Catherine led her daughter off to the break room while mouthing 'thank you' to Jo.
She smiled and went to find Nick. She found him trying to get Greg's attention inside his lab. As usual, music was blasting from the stereo. As she realized it was one of her favorite songs, by Saliva, she began singing along and playing air guitar. Greg turned around upon hearing the female voice. He saw both Nick and Jo, and smiled at the sight of Jo still doing air guitar. He shut off the stereo and waited for her reaction.
She straightened up immediately and felt her face grow red. "I see you do the same thing I do. Air guitar rules." Greg laughed at her crimson cheeks.
"Hi, uh, Greg." She turned to Nick. "I brought your keys back. You car is still together, just ask Lindsay. And besides, Catherine would have personally seen to my death if I had hurt her daughter. I even turned the music down." Nick and Greg snickered as she finished.
"You turned it down? You can't ever turn it down, Jo!" Greg said, looking disappointed.
"I know, I know. But I didn't want to blow out Lindsay's eardrums."
"And yet you see it fit to destroy mine?" Nick cut in.
"I like her more." She got a fake icy glare for that. "And, remember, Catherine would have my ass on a platter." They laughed and they knew that that was probably the case.
"Anyway, Nick, I also have to tell you something. You know that guy you were watching that tape with?" He nodded. "Well, he's not your guy. I saw the tape of the robbery, and..."
"You weren't supposed to see that." He gave her a questioning look.
"I know, I wasn't supposed to, but you know me. Anyway, the guy on the tape was scratched by that woman. And she had talons, man. That would've left a big mark. But the guy you had didn't have anything on his face. His skin was flawless. He's not your man."
Nick's mouth dropped along with Greg's, whose had gone down when she said she was spying on the C.S.I.s watching the tape. "If you don't believe me, you can check it again. But I swear, he's not your guy." Nick said thanks and rushed out to tell Catherine.
"Wow. That was amazing." Greg said after Nick left. Jo's face turned red again. She had started to resemble a beet a lot lately.
"Thanks. I'd, uh, better go get back to studying." She walked out and rushed down to the break room. Luckily Lindsay was still awake and ready to play. Jo's thoughts were quickly brought off the subject of her little confrontation with Greg.
At the end of the shift, the team gathered in the break room before they left. Lindsay was sleeping on the couch, but Jo was still wide awake, trying to finish her studies.
"Jo?" Catherine said, and Jo looked up. "You were right. We caught the real perp. The first guy we had didn't do it. Thanks." Jo smiled wide, and for the fourth time that night her face flushed.
"Anytime." She closed her book, put back her utensils, and stretched out her arms.
"Hey, you never told us what you want to be. Spill it, sister," Warrick said. Nick got the same look on his face as he did at the beginning of the shift.
"I, uh, want to be a criminalist."
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own them (except Joann Morris and John Perkins), blah blah, don't sue, I'm only 14, I'm poor and so are my parents, it won't get you anything. Atticus belongs to Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge (I believe). All the songs and bands belong to their owners.
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"Hey Nick?" Jo asked 3 days after one of her confidants had been arrested for the murder of her parents.
"What's that, kid?"
"Do you think, I could maybe, go with you to the lab today?" She asked, giving him a pleading smile. "I promise I won't get in the way. I could help out, you know? And I could have a good place to study. I still have exams. And I haven't told you, but," she gave him a slightly guilty look, "I really haven't been able to study here, with all that's happened. Not with you gone. I just, I dunno -" she trailed off.
"Don't feel safe." He finished. She sighed, and gave him a sorry gaze. "No, it's ok. I understand. I guess you could come in. I'll give Griss a call, but he should be ok with it."
Jo beamed and went to get dressed. Nick called his boss, and after a short plea, Gil conceded. Jo reappeared wearing blue jeans and a huge black hoodie. It had an Atticus logo on it. She grabbed some pencils, pens, and a calculator and shoved them in the kangaroo pouch. Picking up her books she moved toward the door. "I'm ready."
"I can see that. I, on the other hand, am not." He saw her glare and added, "Calm down. Just let me get my coffee and we can go." He snatched his cup off the kitchen counter and grabbed his keys. "Let's go."
The pair moved to the car and got in, when another battle over control of the stereo ensued. This time Nick won with a threat to take Jo home, getting his favorite station. Well, it wasn't actually his favorite station. Giving an evil smile, he tuned the radio to the local country station and cackled (as well as Nick Stokes could cackle) at the groan that came from her mouth. Presently he sang along, much to his god daughter's dismay.
They pulled into the lot 15 minutes later, where Jo jumped out of the car and smacked her hand against her forehead. "Can't. Stop. Singing. Country. Must. Strangle. Self." She pretended to choke herself and Nick just laughed as he shut off the car. He put his arm around her shoulders and began babbling on about Tobey Keith and how he was, "The best musician ever." Jo had no other choice, short of stabbing him with her array of writing utensils. She zoned completely out. [Just smile and nod.]
The door opened to the lab and the two walked in. Jo snapped out of it when they ran into Catherine. "Hey Nick, Jo. What are you doing here?"
"I though I would bring her in today. You know, kinda hard to concentrate for a big exam in the house where you were stabbed." He said the last part quietly, hoping Jo hadn't heard. She did, but decided to humor him. Taking the opportunity, she took in the lab, or what she could see of it from her position. "Hey, Jo. You should probably come to the break room. It's the best place for you to be." She nodded and let Nick lead her to the room, passing by the Trace lab on the way.
Okay, you've all seen those cheesy movies, where the girl walks past the guy in really slow motion, right? Well, as Greg looked out the window in his own world, he felt like he was in that movie. His mouth dropped seeing the blue hair coming from this girl's head. He noticed the ring in her bottom lip and his legs almost turned to jelly. Then he snapped out of it and stepped on his own foot. [She's 18 years old. You are 29. Get that through your head.]
Jo walked into the break room and sat on the couch next to Warrick. She had met him before this whole thing started. One time that Nick had had Warrick over, Jo's parents dropped her off to be baby-sat. She had been 14 years old. "Hey Warrick," she greeted him.
"Biology, huh? Is that your major?" He asked, picking up her book. She nodded. "What is it you want to do?"
Jo's face turned red. "Oh, you'll think it's stupid."
"Try us." Catherine said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. Nick walked out with an 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' look on his face. Gil took his place inside the break room.
"Try what?" He inquired.
"Nothing. I was just about to get studying, Mr. Grissom." Jo's face flushed as she took the book back from Warrick and opened it. She grabbed a highlighter from her pocket and began intently reading, trying to make her face turn back to normal. Warrick smiled at the fact that his boss had just been called "Mr." Gil didn't seem to mind, as he began to give out the cases.
"Catherine, you and Nick have got a robbery. Warrick, you're with me and Sara, there's been a murder. Slow night tonight. Both seem fairly cut-and- dry, but we all know that probably won't be the case, so let's get going." The team exited the room and went to work.
~LATER THAT NIGHT~
Nick had come in a little bit earlier and asked her to go down to Archie's area of the lab and give him a surveillance tape. She had hung around afterward, her ever-curious self wanting to see what was on it. She had seen a robbery, the man grabbing a woman in a store. She had lashed out at him, her nails looking like claws.
Jo yawned and looked at her watch. [1:35. Why are you tired?] At this point Catherine walked in, talking on her cell phone. Not wanting to be rude, Jo turned her eyes back to her work, but couldn't help eavesdropping. From what she picked up, Catherine's daughter Lindsay had been having bad dreams about some guy named Ed (A/N: Remember this is what Jo heard, not what you already know) and wanted her mother. She hung up and sighed. The she noticed Jo sitting at the table, trying to look innocent.
"Jo? Could you do me a big, big favor? That was my sister. She watches my daughter, Lindsay, and she's been having bad nightmares. Do you think you could-" she hesitated for just a minute. [ She'll do it, she's a sweet girl. I think.] "Pick her up for me?"
For the first time in quite a long period of studying, Jo cracked a smile. A crack that grew into a canyon. "I would love to. Where does your sister live?" Catherine quickly gave directions, and Jo got up.
"I can't thank you enough for this. Just bring her back here. Maybe you can watch her, too."
"I would love to." She repeated. "But, uh, there's a problem. What am I going to drive?" She asked.
"Oh, right. Well, I would give you my car, but Warrick had to use it. What about Nick's? Let's go ask." The two women walked to another room where Nick was sitting, watching a video tape of the interview with a suspect.
"Hey Nicky? Can Jo borrow your car?" Seeing the look of horror on his face, Catherine added, "To pick up Lindsay. Please?" She pleaded. Jo broke away from the tape she was analyzing in her head and smiled wide, showing all her teeth. Nick took his key out of his pocket and they were quickly snatched out of his hand.
"Thanks Nick. I promise I'll keep it in one piece." Jo bounced out of the room at went to the car. She took Cath's directions to her sister's house. She had called before, telling that Jo would be picking her daughter up.
"Hi, I'm Jo Morris. Catherine sent me to pick up Lindsay." She said to the woman who stood at the door. Jo could see a girl sitting on the couch hugging onto a bear. She had blonde hair that she recognized matching Catherine's. The little girl slowly walked to the door.
"Are you Jo?" She asked slowly. Jo bent down to her level and nodded.
"Your mommy sent me to come and pick you up. Are you ready to go?" the girl nodded and grabbed Jo's hand. She pulled on Jo's hand and as she bent down, Lindsay said, "I like your hair. Blue is my favorite color." Jo smiled and helped the little girl into the car. Before she turned the key, though, she turned the volume knob all the way down. [I don't think she'll like Disturbed.] As the two drove back to the lab, they quickly became acquainted.
"Linds, I'm so glad to see you!" Catherine said as the two girls walked though the door. Lindsay ran to her arms and was picked up in a quick hug. Catherine led her daughter off to the break room while mouthing 'thank you' to Jo.
She smiled and went to find Nick. She found him trying to get Greg's attention inside his lab. As usual, music was blasting from the stereo. As she realized it was one of her favorite songs, by Saliva, she began singing along and playing air guitar. Greg turned around upon hearing the female voice. He saw both Nick and Jo, and smiled at the sight of Jo still doing air guitar. He shut off the stereo and waited for her reaction.
She straightened up immediately and felt her face grow red. "I see you do the same thing I do. Air guitar rules." Greg laughed at her crimson cheeks.
"Hi, uh, Greg." She turned to Nick. "I brought your keys back. You car is still together, just ask Lindsay. And besides, Catherine would have personally seen to my death if I had hurt her daughter. I even turned the music down." Nick and Greg snickered as she finished.
"You turned it down? You can't ever turn it down, Jo!" Greg said, looking disappointed.
"I know, I know. But I didn't want to blow out Lindsay's eardrums."
"And yet you see it fit to destroy mine?" Nick cut in.
"I like her more." She got a fake icy glare for that. "And, remember, Catherine would have my ass on a platter." They laughed and they knew that that was probably the case.
"Anyway, Nick, I also have to tell you something. You know that guy you were watching that tape with?" He nodded. "Well, he's not your guy. I saw the tape of the robbery, and..."
"You weren't supposed to see that." He gave her a questioning look.
"I know, I wasn't supposed to, but you know me. Anyway, the guy on the tape was scratched by that woman. And she had talons, man. That would've left a big mark. But the guy you had didn't have anything on his face. His skin was flawless. He's not your man."
Nick's mouth dropped along with Greg's, whose had gone down when she said she was spying on the C.S.I.s watching the tape. "If you don't believe me, you can check it again. But I swear, he's not your guy." Nick said thanks and rushed out to tell Catherine.
"Wow. That was amazing." Greg said after Nick left. Jo's face turned red again. She had started to resemble a beet a lot lately.
"Thanks. I'd, uh, better go get back to studying." She walked out and rushed down to the break room. Luckily Lindsay was still awake and ready to play. Jo's thoughts were quickly brought off the subject of her little confrontation with Greg.
At the end of the shift, the team gathered in the break room before they left. Lindsay was sleeping on the couch, but Jo was still wide awake, trying to finish her studies.
"Jo?" Catherine said, and Jo looked up. "You were right. We caught the real perp. The first guy we had didn't do it. Thanks." Jo smiled wide, and for the fourth time that night her face flushed.
"Anytime." She closed her book, put back her utensils, and stretched out her arms.
"Hey, you never told us what you want to be. Spill it, sister," Warrick said. Nick got the same look on his face as he did at the beginning of the shift.
"I, uh, want to be a criminalist."