OOU 18/?
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Involuntarily, Brass tightened his fingers on Sawyer's shoulders. The man's hiss of pain made him realize what he was doing and he loosened his grip slightly. He had to take a few deep breaths to rid himself of enough rage to even be able to continue the interrogation, a job he had claimed for the moment because what had their suspect had just told them had stunned the normally unflappable Gil Grissom into temporary silence.
"So... let me get this straight. You tell me if I get any part of it wrong. The rape and beating of an innocent kid who never did anything to deserve it... started out as a joke?"
"That's what I said."
"Say more." Brass growled.
"There is nothing more."
"Oh yeah... there is. First of all... I wanna know how this "joke" was supposed to go down. You hear me? Start talking."
"Mike and me... we were sitting around drunk out of our minds... I don't remember how it happened... or what got him thinking about Greg... but he started ragging on him... calling him a... a little pussy. He always did that whenever Sanders wasn't around. He'd be all friendly to his face and badmouth him the minute his back was turned."
Brass felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and let go of Sawyer to check out who it was. Reading the display, he looked at Grissom and caught his eye.
"Stokes."
Gil nodded to him and Jim stepped into the hall.
"Keep going, Brett."
"Yeah... well, all of a sudden, Mike said he knew where to get some GHB. He laughed... said we should slip some to Greg, just enough so he couldn't fight back... and then pull his pants down and find out the truth. He thought that was so damned funny... so did I until..."
"Until what?"
"Until he showed up at my house Thursday night. He said he'd called Greg pretending to be me... and Sanders was on his way over... and we were gonna punk him just like we planned. I got mad... told him I didn't agree to any plan, but when he wants something... Mike gets scary. You don't say no. He gave me the glass he'd put the drug in..."
"And you mixed Greg's drink in that glass?"
"Yeah. At first I thought... Mike was right. Greg looking like he was about to barf, dizzy and stumbling around... it was funny."
"Then?"
"Then we helped him down the hall. We told him we were taking him to the bathroom... but we carried him into the bedroom instead... by then he was pretty out of it..."
Feeling her gag reflex about to kick in, Catherine turned and made her escape. She stood outside, half bent over while she tried to steady her breathing, but nothing seemed to help. Just like that night in the emergency room, she ran for the bathroom and surrendered everything she'd eaten for the last few hours.
This time Jim was waiting for her when she emerged.
"You okay?"
"Not really."
"Yeah. I know..."
"What was the call about?"
"Nick wanted me to be on the lookout for Sidle and call him if I see her. Anything going on I should be aware of?"
Catherine sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair.
"Not sure yet. She got upset at the hospital and took off. It'd just make us feel better if we knew where she landed when she ran out of gas."
"There's way more to that story isn't there?"
"Unfortunately... look, I wanna get back to Greg. I promise to tell you what I can later, okay? You coming over to see him?"
"For a few minutes, before I head home in the morning. All the tubes and IV's... it's not easy, you know? I like the kid. He's got a great mind, insight I'd give just about anything to have..."
"He''ll recover..."
"They can't fix everything with a scalpel and a bandage, Cath. Some wounds he's gonna have for a long, long time."
"It'll be up to us to heal those."
"Hmmph. Maybe. It'd feel good to be on that end of it for once... actually doing something to help instead of just passing the problem to the DA and the pain to the victim's family. Don't know what I'd bring to the party, though..."
"You have a lot of talents, Jim. You'll think of something."
"I can try. Tell him I'll be there in a few hours, okay? And tell him this..."
Leaning close he whispered in her ear. Catherine blushed furiously.
"You're serious?"
"Trust me, the kid has a side you guys never see and a sense of humor... he's told me jokes that make that one sound like it came out of a Disney movie. Just tell him."
"Okay... if I can make my mouth form the words..."
On her way out, Catherine stopped in the AV lab to see Archie and check on the progress of the project. When she softly knocked, he smiled broadly and beckoned her in.
"How's it coming?"
"Done." He said, handing her a jewel case that was lying beside the computer he was currently working on. "Personally, I think it came out great. I'll let you be the judge, though. I made a label... and right here, I put the name of each song and whose contribution it was."
"This is amazing, Arch. Thanks so much for being willing to do this. Greg's gonna love it... wait. This can't be right." She told him, pointing to a certain name. Archie grinned.
"It is. He gave me the CD himself."
"But... Brass? Really?"
"Yeah. He may be the toughest cop in three states, but off the job... there are other sides to him. Don't tell anybody, though. He'd kill me if it got out that he listens to..."
"I understand. Lips are sealed." She replied, holding up a hand and laying the other across her heart. "I'll check this out tonight and bring it back tomorrow."
"Okay. If there are any changes you think I should make..."
"I'm sure it's perfect."
"There's a song on there from me." He added, shyly. "I hope that was okay."
"Are you kidding? I was planning to ask if you wanted to, but with Cimino and..."
"I know."
"What song is... oh. Oh, Archie, what a great choice. Completely appropriate."
"You know it? It's a little depressing..."
"Maybe, but that's not what the song's about. It's the chorus that says it all."
"Yeah... that's what I thought. When I heard it on the radio the other day, I was racking my brain trying to come up with a song that would sort of... tie the whole CD together and be a message from all of us. That one just fit."
"It really does. Great work. Thanks again." Catherine told him, hugging him fiercely.
"No problem. It made me feel like I was doing something, you know? I've been feeling kind of... helpless since this all went down."
"You're not. This is a big help, Archie." She said, waving the case. "And he knows everybody here's thinking good thoughts about him. I have to believe he can feel that."
"I hope so. You heading back to see him now?"
"Yeah."
"Tell him he better get his butt back here soon. His work's piled up to the ceiling and the rest of the lab's picking up the slack."
"You miss him. Check."
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THE HOSPITAL
When Catherine returned, Warrick was dozing lightly in one of the bedside chairs and Nick was deeply asleep in the extra bed. At her entrance, the man in the chair opened his eyes and straightened a little.
"He's out again? What happened?" she asked quietly, dropping into the seat next to Warrick.
"It's partly his arm... I think."
"And the rest?"
"We got talkin' about Sara again. I shot my mouth off, made him feel guilty... He was shaken up pretty bad, so I made him lie down and rest. I can't stand to see him take all the responsibility on his own head... I told him we all missed the signs, but..."
"As a survivor he thinks he should have had psychic powers and X-ray vision?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"I'll talk to him when he wakes up... see if I can help. Any word from Sara yet, by the way?"
"No. Vega and Brass are keeping an eye out around the lab and the station, just in case. She'll show up when she's ready."
"I guess. Hey, look what I picked up."
"Alright. Done?"
"Totally. You want a shock? Look at this..." she commented, pointing to Brass' song.
"No way. Jim Brass?"
"Archie confirmed it."
"He did tell me the song he picked might pop a cap in his tough guy rep. He was kinda right. Still... the song's perfect. I mean... Greg's done that for all of us at different times."
"You think that's great? Check out the last track."
"Whoa... "
"Yeah. That was my reaction."
"There's no name on that one. Who?"
"That was Archie's choice. Said he thought it would wrap the whole thing up perfectly... a great big hug from all of us."
"Damn... you know, the point of this wasn't to make the kid bawl his eyes out... but I think it's gonna do that anyway."
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TBC....