Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters from the show. Erm. so don't
sue.
Spoilers: None
Author's Note: Please review.
Well, that took a while. It's been. *tries counting weeks on fingers. Fails* *falls off chair in shock and self-disgust* Well lets just say its been a while! *Climbs back on chair because it's hard typing from the floor*
Read and review.
Revelations
Chapter 5
"So," Warrick said thickly through a large mouthful of cake. "We're on the same case, huh?"
"Yeah," Nick answered. "The gun that shot the foster parents shot our guy coming out of a club. Don't ask me why yet. We have no eyewitnesses that can give us anything reliable or helpful, and the bullets are still to be matched to someone. It's not looking too good."
"Does Sara know anything?" Warrick asked quietly.
"No, that's all we know, for now at least."
"No, not the case. I mean about Grissom."
"I already asked her. She seemed a little pissed of about it though, she said she knew nothing about his past."
"And when you've finished discussing me we can all get back to work."
Warrick and Nick turned round to see Sara stood at the door looking annoyed. She turned on her heel and left muttering to herself.
"Correction. She's still pissed of about it."
+++
The CSIs were seated round the layout room table looking at the evidence from both cases trying to match it all together. Grissom joined them and sat down but kept silent. Nick and Warrick looked at each other meaningfully.
"Where's Catherine, Grissom?" Nick asked.
"How am I supposed to know every move she makes. I know she not here though and she late," he said sharply.
"Oh."
Thankfully the awkward moment was interrupted by the shrill sound of pagers going off.
"Ballistics has got a match," Sara said. "Come on, lets go and see what Bobby has for us."
"Hey," Bobby welcomed them into his lab and smiled at them. "Don't ask me what took so long but I've finally got a match from your bullets. The gun belongs to a Alex Mathers."
"But that's impossible," Grissom said quietly.
"Why?"
"He's in prison for murder. He- he was the one that murdered my wife."
The team looked at each other uncomfortably. They had all avoided talking to Grissom about his past to stop something like this happening. Grissom was staring at the floor, eyes unfocused yet his brain working quickly piecing pieces together and working out new theories.
"Gil, you okay?" Sara asked softly.
"Yeah," he said, unconvincingly.
++++
"Mrs Mathers, I'm sorry I have to call you in. I know this must be hard for you, but I really need to talk to you about your husband, Alex Mathers."
Grissom was stood behind the one-way mirror, watching the interrogation of the wife of the person that murdered Helena.
"We are investigating the murders of a." Catherine faltered briefly. "A family." Grissom felt anger rising inside him and tried to calm down. "We believe this is linked to another murder of a man leaving a club."
"What has this got to do with my husband?" She looked terrified between Nick and Catherine.
"The gun that was used to shoot the man at the bar has been matched to the same one used to shoot the parents. The gun has been matched to your husbands."
Cindy Mathers opened her mouth but no words escaped her. She bit her lip and shook her head frantically.
"No. No. He couldn't. he's in prison."
"On what charges, Mrs Mather?"
"Like you don't know already."
"Mrs, Mathers, we need to know where the gun is now, and who has access to it."
"No one. I- I buried in the back yard when I found out what. what he did."
Nick watched as she stared intently at the desk, rocking back and forth, wringing her hands. Her hands. Nick stepped out of the shadows and spoke for the first time.
"Mrs Mathers," he said quietly. "May I see you hands."
"Wh- What?"
"Your hands. I need to see them."
Reluctantly, she held out her hands, palms up.
"The other way."
She glared at him, then slowly turned her hands over. Nick nodded triumphantly as she showed them a large scratch near her thumb on her right hand.
"See that Miss Mathers." Nick pointed to her scratch. "That's the scratch from the gun when you shot that man coming out of the bar. You're inexperienced at shooting, and forgot that it can catch your skin when it fires."
She looked him steadily in the eye.
"Prove it."
"Oh, believe me, Mrs Mathers, I intend on doing."
++++
Catherine wiped the sweat from her forehead. She still didn't understand how she had ended up in the Mathers' garden, digging up the gun, whilst Nick and Warrick were in the shade of the house, looking for anything incriminating. So far, she had found various metal objects with the detector, but one shape looked worth further invesigation. She grabbed the spade and thrust it into the ground and started to dig.
"This had better be worth it," she muttered under her breath.
Nick emerged from the bedroom with a smirk on his face. Warrick saw him and laughed.
"Man, I don't think I wanna know what you found in there."
"Just enough to know she's not exactly being faithful to dear hubby. How's Cath getting on?"
"Um, I haven't dared to go out. She's spent the time since we've got here muttering non stop profanities and taking her anger out on the ground."
"Anger?"
"Yeah, she's a bit bottled up. Well," he looked out of the window and laughed. "I think 'a bit' is an understatement."
"Hey, you guys." Cath looked up from the hole and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She wiped her hands on her blue jump-suit and pointed at the hole. "Get your asses out here, I think I've got it."
Nick and Warrick joined her out in the garden, stunned by the intensity of the light.
"It's warm out here," Nick said, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"Really," Catherine said sarcastically. She bent down and pulled the gun out of the soil and put it in a plastic bag. "Look, you guys finish up here whilst I go and get into my normal clothes. I'll see you back at the lab."
"Right."
Warrick and Nick watch the figure depart then burst out laughing as soon as she was out of hearing distance.
"You think we should have told her she has soil smeared across her forehead?" Warrick laughed.
"Nah."
++++
Mrs Mathers was sitting uncomfortably, wringing her hands in her lap. Her body was shaking as she bit her lip without realising it. Nick walked into the interrogation room and sat down, placing a pale brown envelope on the table. He exchanged a brief glance with Catherine, then focused his attention on Mrs Mathers.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell us, Mrs Mathers?" Nick asked, his eyes penetrating hers.
"I don't know what you mean," she answered curtly.
"You know perfectly well what I mean." A moment of silence hung over the already tense atmosphere like a dark cloud. "You wanted proof. Now you've got it." Nick continued. He pushed the envelope over to her and nodded for her to look inside. "The gun we recovered from your garden told us a lot of things. We know that it was involved in various shootings, that it was fired recently, and that it was shot by you."
"But-" She stopped and glanced around the room. She shrugged and smiled at Nick. "Well done."
"I want to know why, though. Why shoot them." He was stunned at how easy the confession was; how little remorse was shown.
"Why not?" She laughed a cold, piercing laugh. "Why? That bastard got away with it. He helped kill that woman, it wasn't just my husband, but he got away with it. When I saw him here in Vegas, I had to do something."
"Wait. What woman?"
"My husband was jailed for stabbing this woman. Grissom, I think. But the guy I shot, Andrew Phelps, he helped my husband kill her but he wasn't caught, he didn't get put away like he deserved. I had to punish him, he deserted my husband so he had to pay."
She put it so simply, so lacking in feeling and regret, it made Catherine shiver.
"There's just one thing. I killed Phelps. I didn't kill the others, the family."
"Have you any idea who did?" Catherine couldn't help but ask. She had been so - even though she hated to admit it - honest, that there was no major reason why they should doubt her.
"Phelps. I used to be friends with him. He agreed to help my husband get his own back. His son, by another woman, was a shooter in a drive by. He was sent to jail and my husband wanted revenge. Only my husband was caught and Phelps went free. I don't know why he shot the family. He came over so unexpectedly one day I let him in. I hadn't seen him for years and I soon remembered why. He ranted on about how there was still one left. He had to get her too. Payback for putting Alex away. I dunno, was there a connection between the first woman and the other family?" she wondered aloud.
Catherine stood unable to look at the woman any longer.
"Yeah, they were connected. The woman was the mother; the family was her daughter and her foster parents. At least we can end this now." She turned to leave but stopped at the door. "You disgust me, you really do."
+++
Grissom stood staring at the window. He struggled to stem the tears that were prickling in his eyes. He was thankful that he could finally end the torment that he had struggled with for so long, but hearing what had happened from the wife of the person that had shot Helena had brought back a lot of overwhelming memories and emotions. A soft knock on the door brought him out of his reverie.
"Hey." The door opened and Catherine stepped inside. She stood awkwardly in silence before enclosing him an a tight embrace. She stepped back as if she was embarrassed.
"We've finished it now. The case is closed. You can go back to loving their memory in peace." When she received no reply she shook her head and left quickly.
Grissom couldn't understand why he didn't want to go after her. He had just missed his chance to apologise to her but he could have chased after her. He was angry at Catherine for being so right. He was angry at her for being so beautiful but almost unobtainable. But most of all he was angry at himself for staying where he was.
He slowly left the room, his mind a blur, and started to make his way to his office when Nick, Sara, and Warrick ran past him. He followed them outside into the parking lot where a crowd of people had gathered.
"Warrick, what's going on?"
"We all heard a screech from inside. There's been a crash or something."
Grissom made his way to the front of the crowd, his anger dissipating and melting into concern. The other CSIs followed and they stood at the edge of the busy road.
A crumpled figure lay in the middle of the road. Tyre marks lined to road where the car had attempted to swerve, which was parked at the side of the road, the front windshield smashed. Grissom noticed that others people were on the phone for an ambulance so he rushed forward to help the injured person. Kneeling down besides the woman realisation swept over him as his shaking hand reached over to push a loose srand of strawberry-blonde hair away from her cheek, failing to notice any signs of exhalation.
Catherine.
+++
Grissom rose his head from the bed, faint impressions in his cheek from the covers. Blinking away the sleep he glanced up at Catherine. Still unconscious from the crash, she lay on the bed connected to various machines. Sitting back in the chair he looked out of the window. Moonlight cast odd shadows over the pair, moving slighlty with the gentle rising of Catherine's chest.
Grissom rubbed his eyes and placed his hands over Catherine's. Grissom guessed she had rushed out into the road after she stormed out after the interrogation. He blamed himself. Catherine was lying on the hospital bed, her condition unstable, with numerous broken bones and a fractured skull because of him. It may have been the car that hit her and tossed her high into the air, but he chased her into it's path.
A patch of light on the bed caused him to look up and around half a dozen nurses quickly entered the room. The light was switched on, making him blink furiously as he tried to readjust, and he found himself being led out of the room. He stopped the nurse by grabbing her sleeve.
"What- what's happening?"
"Her condition is deteriorating. Didn't you hear the monitors?" she asked him, incredulously.
She returned back to the room without an answer. The truth was he hadn't heard the machines. His blackouts had caused him to lose her all over again. He stepped up to the window and peered through the gaps in the shutters, his eyes coming to rest on the flat lines that were making their way along the screens.
TBC..
Mwa ha ha.. Mwa ha ha. sorry, the spell checkers not working if there are any mistakes (and I'm sure there are many). Very sorry it took so long! Maths coursework, eight page essay for science on the concerns arising from biotechnology, English and literature coursework and exams (lots of 'A's all round! YAY!!!) IT coursework.. You name it! Anyhoo, two weeks of work experience at my mum's primary school (she's a Special Support Assistant) and I'm free, FREE! Six week hools, I cant wait.
Next chap should be around sometime soon. I'm just writing another story at the moment and I need to keep writing down my many, many ideas!
You know the drill - read and review. Please. :D
Spoilers: None
Author's Note: Please review.
Well, that took a while. It's been. *tries counting weeks on fingers. Fails* *falls off chair in shock and self-disgust* Well lets just say its been a while! *Climbs back on chair because it's hard typing from the floor*
Read and review.
Revelations
Chapter 5
"So," Warrick said thickly through a large mouthful of cake. "We're on the same case, huh?"
"Yeah," Nick answered. "The gun that shot the foster parents shot our guy coming out of a club. Don't ask me why yet. We have no eyewitnesses that can give us anything reliable or helpful, and the bullets are still to be matched to someone. It's not looking too good."
"Does Sara know anything?" Warrick asked quietly.
"No, that's all we know, for now at least."
"No, not the case. I mean about Grissom."
"I already asked her. She seemed a little pissed of about it though, she said she knew nothing about his past."
"And when you've finished discussing me we can all get back to work."
Warrick and Nick turned round to see Sara stood at the door looking annoyed. She turned on her heel and left muttering to herself.
"Correction. She's still pissed of about it."
+++
The CSIs were seated round the layout room table looking at the evidence from both cases trying to match it all together. Grissom joined them and sat down but kept silent. Nick and Warrick looked at each other meaningfully.
"Where's Catherine, Grissom?" Nick asked.
"How am I supposed to know every move she makes. I know she not here though and she late," he said sharply.
"Oh."
Thankfully the awkward moment was interrupted by the shrill sound of pagers going off.
"Ballistics has got a match," Sara said. "Come on, lets go and see what Bobby has for us."
"Hey," Bobby welcomed them into his lab and smiled at them. "Don't ask me what took so long but I've finally got a match from your bullets. The gun belongs to a Alex Mathers."
"But that's impossible," Grissom said quietly.
"Why?"
"He's in prison for murder. He- he was the one that murdered my wife."
The team looked at each other uncomfortably. They had all avoided talking to Grissom about his past to stop something like this happening. Grissom was staring at the floor, eyes unfocused yet his brain working quickly piecing pieces together and working out new theories.
"Gil, you okay?" Sara asked softly.
"Yeah," he said, unconvincingly.
++++
"Mrs Mathers, I'm sorry I have to call you in. I know this must be hard for you, but I really need to talk to you about your husband, Alex Mathers."
Grissom was stood behind the one-way mirror, watching the interrogation of the wife of the person that murdered Helena.
"We are investigating the murders of a." Catherine faltered briefly. "A family." Grissom felt anger rising inside him and tried to calm down. "We believe this is linked to another murder of a man leaving a club."
"What has this got to do with my husband?" She looked terrified between Nick and Catherine.
"The gun that was used to shoot the man at the bar has been matched to the same one used to shoot the parents. The gun has been matched to your husbands."
Cindy Mathers opened her mouth but no words escaped her. She bit her lip and shook her head frantically.
"No. No. He couldn't. he's in prison."
"On what charges, Mrs Mather?"
"Like you don't know already."
"Mrs, Mathers, we need to know where the gun is now, and who has access to it."
"No one. I- I buried in the back yard when I found out what. what he did."
Nick watched as she stared intently at the desk, rocking back and forth, wringing her hands. Her hands. Nick stepped out of the shadows and spoke for the first time.
"Mrs Mathers," he said quietly. "May I see you hands."
"Wh- What?"
"Your hands. I need to see them."
Reluctantly, she held out her hands, palms up.
"The other way."
She glared at him, then slowly turned her hands over. Nick nodded triumphantly as she showed them a large scratch near her thumb on her right hand.
"See that Miss Mathers." Nick pointed to her scratch. "That's the scratch from the gun when you shot that man coming out of the bar. You're inexperienced at shooting, and forgot that it can catch your skin when it fires."
She looked him steadily in the eye.
"Prove it."
"Oh, believe me, Mrs Mathers, I intend on doing."
++++
Catherine wiped the sweat from her forehead. She still didn't understand how she had ended up in the Mathers' garden, digging up the gun, whilst Nick and Warrick were in the shade of the house, looking for anything incriminating. So far, she had found various metal objects with the detector, but one shape looked worth further invesigation. She grabbed the spade and thrust it into the ground and started to dig.
"This had better be worth it," she muttered under her breath.
Nick emerged from the bedroom with a smirk on his face. Warrick saw him and laughed.
"Man, I don't think I wanna know what you found in there."
"Just enough to know she's not exactly being faithful to dear hubby. How's Cath getting on?"
"Um, I haven't dared to go out. She's spent the time since we've got here muttering non stop profanities and taking her anger out on the ground."
"Anger?"
"Yeah, she's a bit bottled up. Well," he looked out of the window and laughed. "I think 'a bit' is an understatement."
"Hey, you guys." Cath looked up from the hole and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She wiped her hands on her blue jump-suit and pointed at the hole. "Get your asses out here, I think I've got it."
Nick and Warrick joined her out in the garden, stunned by the intensity of the light.
"It's warm out here," Nick said, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"Really," Catherine said sarcastically. She bent down and pulled the gun out of the soil and put it in a plastic bag. "Look, you guys finish up here whilst I go and get into my normal clothes. I'll see you back at the lab."
"Right."
Warrick and Nick watch the figure depart then burst out laughing as soon as she was out of hearing distance.
"You think we should have told her she has soil smeared across her forehead?" Warrick laughed.
"Nah."
++++
Mrs Mathers was sitting uncomfortably, wringing her hands in her lap. Her body was shaking as she bit her lip without realising it. Nick walked into the interrogation room and sat down, placing a pale brown envelope on the table. He exchanged a brief glance with Catherine, then focused his attention on Mrs Mathers.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell us, Mrs Mathers?" Nick asked, his eyes penetrating hers.
"I don't know what you mean," she answered curtly.
"You know perfectly well what I mean." A moment of silence hung over the already tense atmosphere like a dark cloud. "You wanted proof. Now you've got it." Nick continued. He pushed the envelope over to her and nodded for her to look inside. "The gun we recovered from your garden told us a lot of things. We know that it was involved in various shootings, that it was fired recently, and that it was shot by you."
"But-" She stopped and glanced around the room. She shrugged and smiled at Nick. "Well done."
"I want to know why, though. Why shoot them." He was stunned at how easy the confession was; how little remorse was shown.
"Why not?" She laughed a cold, piercing laugh. "Why? That bastard got away with it. He helped kill that woman, it wasn't just my husband, but he got away with it. When I saw him here in Vegas, I had to do something."
"Wait. What woman?"
"My husband was jailed for stabbing this woman. Grissom, I think. But the guy I shot, Andrew Phelps, he helped my husband kill her but he wasn't caught, he didn't get put away like he deserved. I had to punish him, he deserted my husband so he had to pay."
She put it so simply, so lacking in feeling and regret, it made Catherine shiver.
"There's just one thing. I killed Phelps. I didn't kill the others, the family."
"Have you any idea who did?" Catherine couldn't help but ask. She had been so - even though she hated to admit it - honest, that there was no major reason why they should doubt her.
"Phelps. I used to be friends with him. He agreed to help my husband get his own back. His son, by another woman, was a shooter in a drive by. He was sent to jail and my husband wanted revenge. Only my husband was caught and Phelps went free. I don't know why he shot the family. He came over so unexpectedly one day I let him in. I hadn't seen him for years and I soon remembered why. He ranted on about how there was still one left. He had to get her too. Payback for putting Alex away. I dunno, was there a connection between the first woman and the other family?" she wondered aloud.
Catherine stood unable to look at the woman any longer.
"Yeah, they were connected. The woman was the mother; the family was her daughter and her foster parents. At least we can end this now." She turned to leave but stopped at the door. "You disgust me, you really do."
+++
Grissom stood staring at the window. He struggled to stem the tears that were prickling in his eyes. He was thankful that he could finally end the torment that he had struggled with for so long, but hearing what had happened from the wife of the person that had shot Helena had brought back a lot of overwhelming memories and emotions. A soft knock on the door brought him out of his reverie.
"Hey." The door opened and Catherine stepped inside. She stood awkwardly in silence before enclosing him an a tight embrace. She stepped back as if she was embarrassed.
"We've finished it now. The case is closed. You can go back to loving their memory in peace." When she received no reply she shook her head and left quickly.
Grissom couldn't understand why he didn't want to go after her. He had just missed his chance to apologise to her but he could have chased after her. He was angry at Catherine for being so right. He was angry at her for being so beautiful but almost unobtainable. But most of all he was angry at himself for staying where he was.
He slowly left the room, his mind a blur, and started to make his way to his office when Nick, Sara, and Warrick ran past him. He followed them outside into the parking lot where a crowd of people had gathered.
"Warrick, what's going on?"
"We all heard a screech from inside. There's been a crash or something."
Grissom made his way to the front of the crowd, his anger dissipating and melting into concern. The other CSIs followed and they stood at the edge of the busy road.
A crumpled figure lay in the middle of the road. Tyre marks lined to road where the car had attempted to swerve, which was parked at the side of the road, the front windshield smashed. Grissom noticed that others people were on the phone for an ambulance so he rushed forward to help the injured person. Kneeling down besides the woman realisation swept over him as his shaking hand reached over to push a loose srand of strawberry-blonde hair away from her cheek, failing to notice any signs of exhalation.
Catherine.
+++
Grissom rose his head from the bed, faint impressions in his cheek from the covers. Blinking away the sleep he glanced up at Catherine. Still unconscious from the crash, she lay on the bed connected to various machines. Sitting back in the chair he looked out of the window. Moonlight cast odd shadows over the pair, moving slighlty with the gentle rising of Catherine's chest.
Grissom rubbed his eyes and placed his hands over Catherine's. Grissom guessed she had rushed out into the road after she stormed out after the interrogation. He blamed himself. Catherine was lying on the hospital bed, her condition unstable, with numerous broken bones and a fractured skull because of him. It may have been the car that hit her and tossed her high into the air, but he chased her into it's path.
A patch of light on the bed caused him to look up and around half a dozen nurses quickly entered the room. The light was switched on, making him blink furiously as he tried to readjust, and he found himself being led out of the room. He stopped the nurse by grabbing her sleeve.
"What- what's happening?"
"Her condition is deteriorating. Didn't you hear the monitors?" she asked him, incredulously.
She returned back to the room without an answer. The truth was he hadn't heard the machines. His blackouts had caused him to lose her all over again. He stepped up to the window and peered through the gaps in the shutters, his eyes coming to rest on the flat lines that were making their way along the screens.
TBC..
Mwa ha ha.. Mwa ha ha. sorry, the spell checkers not working if there are any mistakes (and I'm sure there are many). Very sorry it took so long! Maths coursework, eight page essay for science on the concerns arising from biotechnology, English and literature coursework and exams (lots of 'A's all round! YAY!!!) IT coursework.. You name it! Anyhoo, two weeks of work experience at my mum's primary school (she's a Special Support Assistant) and I'm free, FREE! Six week hools, I cant wait.
Next chap should be around sometime soon. I'm just writing another story at the moment and I need to keep writing down my many, many ideas!
You know the drill - read and review. Please. :D
