Hey guys. Here's another chapter for ya. It was meant to be slightly longer but I decided to stop it there so that I could post it a little bit sooner.
Leddy: I'm glad you find Grissom interesting, I've wanted to write a weird alternate Grissom for a while to see what would happen. Ghope you enjoy the rest.
Barb8: Don't you worry, all things must come to an end sometime, whether good or bad – just keep on reading! He he!
Chapter Twelve – A Touch In The Darkness.
Another three weeks passed and finally time seemed to have speeded back up. It seemed only yesterday since Grissom was first let out of the hospital to see his home, his work. Few memories had returned in that time and Jade was slowly getting used to the fact that she may never get her Grissom back. Everyone at work had already partly moved on, in being able to work without him there. In fact when she went into help, it was like he had never been there at times. New work colleagues, new technicians had arrived – none of them having ever heard of Gil Grissom. Catherine and the others spoke of him often though, saw him as much as they could. Cath had tried to keep the work environment as similar to how Grissom had had it, because that was what they were all used to working under.
Grissom had been out of hospital two days now. The doctors had pronounced him healthy enough physically and mentally to cope with being home. He had regular trips to the hospital three times a week to see a counsellor and psychiatrist about his amnesia problems but other than that he was a free man so to speak. Jade had let him have the two days alone as that was what he had wanted, but on this third morning he had asked to be taken into work to see Cath for a bit, so picking up her bags and car keys she jumped in the car with Warrick, dropped him off at work and headed for Grissom's townhouse.
Knocking on the door, he opened it almost immediately and let her in. She entered with a smile, then stopped as she stared around at the unfamiliar surroundings. He'd completely changed everything about. It looked really homely and slightly un-ordered. The bugs had gone from the walls and had been replaced with other photo's and pictures, of family and friends mostly. Piles of books stood on the table as if he'd been sorting through them, the shelves only holding a quarter of what they usually did. A few dirty dishes from the night before stood on the kitchen unit – something she'd never ever expected to see. Grissom was always so clean and precise with things like that. She turned to him.
"You've been busy."
He nodded.
"Yeah...I felt uncomfortable with it how it was. I felt I couldn't touch anything, like it wasn't mine. So I changed it."
He said with his familiar half shrug of the shoulders and smile.
"There's a few books on the table that aren't any use to me – thought you might like them. A lot of them have another guy's name in – I presume they used to belong to your father."
She nodded a yes as she stepped further in and stared around.
"Oh, I uh...called work last night. I'm uh...not going back."
"Oh...right."
She turned away, feeling her hopes dashed for a moment before she composes herself.
"I thought I'd have a try at something different, you know."
She nodded but he could see something wasn't right. She seemed upset.
"What's wrong?"
He asked her. She turned, a fake smile plastered on her face.
"Nothing, it's nothing." She knew she wasn't going to hide her disappointment so she decided to tell him. Tell him everything. "It's just...that thing from before...that thing you didn't know about. It kind of involved my parents."
"They died, right?"
She nodded, taking a seat at the table and flicking through one of the books she knew had belonged to her father.
"Um...well you see they were murdered." Grissom looked shocked but didn't say anything. "And you tried for months to find out what had happened but we never found out who did it. We never had any closure. We managed to live with it all these years, but it's been really hard."
He nodded, understanding at last what motivated her through this life.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know, I just figured they died in a car accident or something. What happened? If you don't mind me asking."
He added quickly.
"No, that's fine. I can talk about it now. They'd promised me that I could go to the cinema this one night but they were too busy working so you said you'd do it. When we got back we found the front door hanging open and...you made me wait there but being a curious kid, I followed. They'd been shot through the head, down in the basement. I went into shock after that and really don't remember much else – I was only 8. That's all we know about it."
"I'm sorry."
"For what? You got me through it all. I've been thankful to have you in my life all this time, and I'm hoping you still want the job."
"Of course I want it. You're the closest thing I have to family around here."
She smiled.
"Thanks. Come on, lets get down to CSI."
*****
Leaving Gil outside his old office, now Cath's, she told him she had some work to do and people to see and headed off alone. Knocking on the door he heard Cath admit him and he entered smiling.
Meanwhile Greg was heading up to the roof. He reaches the last steps and looks up to see that the door is open. He knows that this means only one thing – someone is already up there. He looks out to see Jade standing near the edge facing away from the door and out over the city. One arm is wrapped around her front and the other is hanging by her side. Greg watches as she brings it up to her mouth and then realises that she has a cigarette in her hand.
"I didn't know that you smoked."
He said moving closer. She turned and looked at the speaker, then smiled when she saw Greg coming closer to her.
"I don't."
Greg's eyebrows raised and he looked towards the smoking stick in her hand. She realised how dumb her reply had been and smiled.
"I have one every couple of months or so. I find they calm the nerves. What about you – what are you doing up here?"
Greg presented sandwiches and smiled.
"I found that I was always getting disturbed for results down in the break room so I come up here."
He sat down on the ledge and placed the sandwiches on his lap to unwrap them.
"Good idea. People do tend to crowd around you for results don't they."
"Yeah. So, calm the nerves eh? The whole Grissom thing finally taking it's toll?"
Jade laughed.
"You could say that!"
"You know, I'm in awe of you, coping as well as you have for this long. I certainly couldn't have done it, I'd have folded in ages ago."
She looked at him, it had been a while since she had seen Greg being completely serious and she gave him a smile. It was nice to be able to talk like this with him. He was so straight-forward about it. Everyone else seemed to be tip-toeing around her.
"You never know you're strength until you've been tested."
"I suppose...so, what is it that's tested your strength this time?"
Jade took a breath before speaking.
"I had to tell Gil that my parents were murdered, and they never found the killer, which is why I followed in my dad's footsteps to become a CSI."
She said in one breath, then breathed deeply for a moment before looking at Greg.
"Murdered...I didn't know, I'm sorry."
Jade smiled and shrugged. They stayed in silence for a moment before Greg said thoughtfully.
"I have no parents either. They died a couple years ago, before I came here. Takes a long time to get over things like that, doesn't it."
Jade watched him for a moment biting into his sandwich.
"It certainly does. I'm sorry to hear about your parents."
Greg gave her a smile in thanks.
"You know, if you need to talk – I'm pretty good at listening most of the time. And I can relate."
"Thanks Greg. Same goes for you too."
He nodded.
*****
Back in Cath's office Gil had sat down and was trying to word what he wanted to ask.
"I uh, wanted to know if, uh..."
"Gil, spit it out."
She half laughed.
"I want to know about us. If there was anything, you know, between us. Because I just, I wanted to ask you out for dinner sometime – if that's okay."
He said, rushing the words. For a moment Cath sat staring at him, then the idea of her and Gil suddenly struck her as funny and she started to laugh at the thought. Gil stared at her laughing, a confused look on his face. Her whole face had lit up as she laughed whole-heartedly, then she noticed his slightly hurt expression.
"I'm sorry," she said trying to calm herself down. "I'm sorry. It's just...no, there was never anything between us. We were just really close friends, I was never attracted to you in that way and visa-versa."
"Oh, okay. Sorry."
"No, don't be. But dinner does sound nice though. As friends. It'll be good to get to know you again, it's been a long while since we last sat down and talked."
"Has it?"
"Yeah. It was at least a week before...you know."
He nodded.
"So, how does tomorrow night sound?"
She asked him. He nodded vigorously.
"That sounds good, yeah."
He smiled.
"Okay then."
She smiled back.
*****
Heading back down from the roof Greg and Jade said goodbye as Warrick headed down the corridor. He nodded as he passed Greg, then smiled as he approached Jade, who smiled back. Giving her a brief hug he asked,
"How you doing?"
"Not bad. I told Gil this morning about my parents."
Warrick nodded. She'd told him about them a few months back so he knew all the details.
"You okay?"
He asked, slightly concerned.
"I'm...fine, actually. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
He pulled her in for another long hug.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
She smiled. Pulling away, he kept hold of her hand, a question forming on his lips.
"How about we go out for dinner. Tomorrow night. We haven't been out for ages, and I've got the night off."
"Mmm, sounds good to me."
She smiled, giving his hand a squeeze with a cheeky smile. She pulled him in for a kiss, then Gil interrupted them apologetically, saying it was almost time for his meeting with the counsellor. She took him to the hospital, then went to have a talk with Jack while Gil was in his meeting.
"How have you been coping?"
Jack asked her as she sat down opposite him with a coffee.
"Not bad, not good. I feel like I'm giving up on a huge part of my life. It feels wrong but I know it's the right thing to do. He's never going to be the man I once knew, but it's hard going trying to accept that."
"It was always going to be hard. Try not to give up hope though. The counsellor tells me he's doing really well. He's even remembered a few random things, strange facts about bugs that he'll sprout out suddenly. It's nothing big, but it is a start. He's never likely to remember everything, but there is a chance his memories of you and his friends will slowly come back to him."
She nodded.
"I had to tell him about my parents this morning. He uh, decided to quit work. Completely. He's going to try something different."
"What about your parents?"
He asked, not knowing what she was talking about. She realised he'd never known.
"Oh, um...do you remember a few weeks back when I told you he'd laughed about the career we'd picked?" He nodded, remembering. "I'd told him why I went into the job – to give people closure – but I didn't tell him why I wanted to give people closure. And it was because of my parents. They were murdered and we never found out who or why. And I had to tell him this morning."
"I'm sorry, Jade. I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. It's not something I tell a lot of people."
Jack thought for a moment, then spoke up.
"Try not to let this news of him looking for a new job upset you. At the moment he's not up to doing that job anyway, and I'm sure if he did ever want to go back into it, he'd have plenty of people supporting him, and plenty of connections to help him get back into it. So don't take it as a bad sign. It's just how he wants to cope with it. Okay?"
"Thanks Jack."
She gave him a small smile.
*****
Back at CSI, Nick and Warrick were down in the changing room, changing into some clean clothes after having been rummaging around in trash cans for most of the afternoon.
"So, what you doing tonight?"
Nick asked him. They'd both worked overtime on the last case and now that it was solved, they didn't have to be in for their usually night shift, having worked throughout the day.
"Not much. Jade's cooking for Gil tonight so she'll be home late. But we're going out for a meal tomorrow night, just the two of us."
"Ohh, sounds good."
Nick said with a nudge and a wink. Warrick laughed.
"So, it's getting serious then? Hm? Will I hear the sounds of wedding bells soon?"
He said, jokingly.
"Well, lately I have been thinking about it, yeah."
"Woah man, I didn't think it was 'that' serious! I was just joking!"
"Well I wasn't." Warrick said seriously. "People like Jade don't come along that often, if ever."
"Man, you are serious. So you really love her?"
"I more than love her. I love her so much it hurts, and it hurts not to be with her. I want her to be there all the time, you know? I want to know that she's mine, just mine. And I'm hers."
He brought a ring box out of his pocket and opened it to show Nick. He looked at it, amazed, and impressed, then joked.
"Man, you're really going soft on me! I'm happy for you, mate. That you've found someone like her. I wish I could have what you've got."
He said clapping a hand on Warrick's shoulder.
"Thing is I'm not sure about the timing. She's got so much on her plate at the moment, what with Gil being the way he is."
"You kidding me, it's as good a time as any. Besides it'll get her mind off all the other problems – she needs to concentrate on herself. Gil's a big boy – he can look after himself for a while. Congratulations mate! I presume I'll be the best man."
"I haven't even asked her yet. She could easily say no."
"Nah, she'll say yes. I'm sure of it. She loves ya."
"Thanks Nick."
"You're welcome, buddy."
He said clapping his hand on Warrick's shoulder again as he handed him the ring box back.
*****
That night Jade cooked Spaghetti Bolognese for Gil as it used to be one of his favourite dishes. And still was by the looks of his empty plate by the end of the night. She smiled to herself as she started to clear away the plates. Gil stood and helped her, taking them towards the sink. Together they washed and dried the dirty dishes as they talked, until one of the plates slid from Jade's grasp and broke on the floor.
"Damn."
She muttered under her breath and bent down to pick up the pieces.
"Sorry."
"It's okay, it's just a plate."
He said simply as he bent down, a wet knife in one hand from where he'd been about the dry it.
"It's okay, I've got it."
Jade said not looking up. Gil noticed a flash of gold around her neck and saw that her locket had fallen open. Moving his hand forwards he lifted it up between his fingers and looked at the pictures inside. She glanced forwards as she picked up the pieces but didn't look at him.
"Who's this?"
He asked.
"One's of my parents, the other is you and me."
Having picked up all the bigger pieces she went to stand and looked up to see the knife in her line of sight. Gasping as the sight brought back horrific memories, she pulled away, scaring Gil who didn't have enough time to let go of the necklace, which went flying across the room and landed on the tiled floor. Jade knelt stock still, leaning back from Gil, staring at the knife in his hand as images flitted across her vision. He quickly put the knife down, worried at her reaction and places his hands on her upper arms.
"Jade?"
She jolted back to reality and pulled away from him, standing, in an obvious attempt to compose herself. He made no move towards her, stayed as far from her as he could. She was in pain. My God, she was in pain. Was it him?
"I'm sorry."
She said quietly from her slightly hunched position a few metres away.
"What was that? Did I do something to hurt you?"
"No, no. It wasn't you. Not directly. I just looked up and the knife was right in my face, made me jump. Sorry I scared you."
"I may have lost my memory, but I'm not stupid. It was more than the knife making you jump. You looked like you were reliving something. Another horror from your past you haven't told me about?"
"Something like that. I'll tell you about it sometime. Just not yet."
He nodded and walked across the room to pick up her necklace.
"I'm sorry, I think I broke your chain."
"That's okay. It's been broken before."
She said as she put the broken dish in the bin and headed to get the dustpan and brush. Gil stepped towards where the necklace had fallen and looked down at it, laying on the floor near the table. Something suddenly sparked at the back of his mind and he heard Jade say something, but when he looked up she wasn't there. In fact nothing was how he'd put it. The apartment looked like how he'd seen it the first day he'd been in there. It was back to being the neat, ordered room and he stared around. There were flowers on the table, a half eaten bowl of cereal at the other end of the table, with a dining chair on it's back. Just as suddenly as the room had changed, the images he was seeing changed. Jade was suddenly being dragged by someone, away from him, blood on her side. Feeling something touch his arm he was shoved back into the present to see Jade standing there concerned.
"Gil, are you okay?"
"I...I don't know. I saw something. You've been hurt, kidnapped or something. It was really strange. It was like I'd just entered the twilight zone or something."
Jade stared at him.
"You remember that?"
"Not really. These images just suddenly flashed across my vision, and these feelings of pain, anger. Man, what was that?"
"Here, sit down."
She led him to the sofa and sat him down, then went and poured him a glass of water. He took a gulp.
"Now tell me exactly what happened."
He nodded.
"I went to pick your necklace up and something felt familiar about where it was laying, and I heard you say something so I looked up but suddenly I wasn't here. Well, I was here but it was like before, before I changed it. There were flowers on the table, and a half eaten bowl of cereal. Then it changed again to you being dragged away with blood on your side. Then I was back here."
Jade looked down at the necklace, then went and picked it up.
"I was hurt, yeah. I was stabbed, then kidnapped by some guy wanting revenge on you, he wanted to hurt you and he managed it for a while but then you guys got the upper hand and he was cornered, so he shot himself." She laughed suddenly for a moment. "Sounds like something out of some strange movie, doesn't it!"
"Yeah..."
He said not really listening, but trying to process the images he'd seen.
Hope you enjoyed that. Next chapter will be up just as soon as I write it!!!