Catalyst

by: Bonnie Lass

Chapter Two: Beginnings


Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Except for those you don't recognize. If I did Eckle would be strung up by his toes.


Nick took a deep breathe before stepping into the house. His hands shook as he reached to shut the door. But then he noticed that everything had changed. The walls were now a light blue color with light crown molding. Light wood shelves and bookshelves lined every wall. Every one of them filled with books. It was as if Nick had walked into a library, a well designed library. There were also sculptures lining the shelves. All of them were of birds in varying degrees of flight. One on display on an end table was of a peregrine in the middle of a dive. On the base was the title 'Speed', written in Jess' precise writing. Next to it was a collection of photos of a group of people. Two men stood out among the pictures. One a man with red hair, not unlike Jess', was in several pictures by himself. Then there were several of Jess and another guy.

"That's Horatio and that's Speed." Jess pointed to each of the pictures.

"So he's not your father, I mean your hair is the same." Nick asked sitting down one of the pictures.

"And the fact that he's older?" She shook her head. "I wouldn't date my father." She stared at the picture Nick had just set down. "He was so proud of that bike."

"Who?"

"Tim, I mean, Speed."

"Was?"

"He was shot investigating a case."

"He was CSI?"

"Yea, he worked for Miami-Dade and Horatio Caine." She pointed to the redhead. She swallowed and headed for her bedroom. "Feel free to help yourself." She called over her shoulder. "Oh, you aren't allergic to cats are you?"

"You have one?"

"Geisha." She smiled and closed her door. Nick looked down and discovered a tawny Siamese winding herself around his legs.


Jessica leaned against the wall looking at the man asleep on her couch. Geisha was on his lap, purring quite happily. Jess chuckled, thinking that Nick was one of the few men the cat actually liked. Shaking her head, Jess let her eyes travel up his body and across the plains of Nick's face. Asleep, he looked peaceful. The cares he carried with him were gone. Jess sighed and looked away. Her eyes rested on the picture of Speed leaning against his bike. Her jaw tightened when she remembered why he got shot. Turning, she walked over to Nick and leaned over the back of the couch. She blew in his ear and pulled away as he jumped up. "Come on, sleeping beauty, time to go to work." She laughed and walked towards the garage.

"So I get to meet your baby?" Nick smiled, rubbing his eyes.

"Yep." She smiled and flipped on the garage light. Jess noticed the shocked look on Nick's face, and nearly laughed. There in front of him sat a silver 1970 Chevy Chevelle.

"Nice ride."

"Thanks, we've been through a lot together." she patted the car's hood. When she opened the garage door, the extra light showed more of the garage. And Nick noticed something in the corner covered by a tarp. Jessica noticed his gaze and started the car, causing Nick to stop looking. "So mind telling me what kind of car you drive?" She smiled, backing out of the drive. Nick laughed and shook his head.


The sounds of country music flooded the lab where Jess was working. She wasn't paying it much attention, so when it was turned off she didn't notice. Jessica groaned and barely refrained from banging her head against the metal examining table. "What's wrong?" A woman asked.

"If she wasn't dead I'd kill her myself."

"Why?" the woman asked again.

"She's got a gunshot wound consistent with an execution style shooting, but she's got knife inflicted wounds on most of her bones. Plus, both of her femurs were broken, and not by a natural phenomenon." She growled and lifted her head off of the table. She turned and faced the person belonging to the voice. "Hi."

"Hey, you're Grissom's niece. I'm Sara Sidle." The tall brunette smiled and walked farther into the room.

"Niece in the loosest definition; he was my dad's best-friend." Jessica stood and shook hands with Sara. "My name's Jessica McAlester."

"Nice to meet you, so Nick said you wanted to meet me."

"Yes, Uncle Gil told me a lot about you, so he piqued my interest." Jessica looked back at the skeleton.

"Is that a good thing?"

"It can be." She yawned and rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, I've been pulling all nighters recently."

"What did you want to talk about?" Sara sat in the only unoccupied chair in the room. Jessica shut the door. As she walked back, she worried at her bottom lip.

"I want to know if there's any chance of a relationship between you and Gil." Sara just looked at the woman in shock.

"What?"

"Look I know my uncle is in love with you."

"He's got a funny way of showing it."

"Yea, he does." Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose, realizing this was going to be harder than she thought. "You know very well he's defensive around people he doesn't deem safe."

"That's an understatement."

"Look Sara, I understand where you're coming from. He hurt you. I've been on the receiving end of that before. But don't insult him. He genuinely cares for you. He's just afraid of you."

"Why would he? I mean, after all the times I've asked him out. Hell, I've told him that I loved him. You would think Gil would figure out that I'm a sure thing."

"He's got some serious issues, Sara. He has got to jump some hurdles, and I'm here to make sure he gets a swift kick in the ass." She grinned, picking up a femur again. "Sara, answer me truthfully. Do you still love him?"

"God help me, but I do." Sara's beeper decided to pick that exact moment to ruin the conversation. "Looks like my trace is done."

"We aren't through, Sara." Jess smiled broadly.

"I'll see you around then."

"Yep, fortunately you can't get rid of me that easily." Sara smiled back and headed out of the lab. Jess moved and turned the stereo back on.


"Hey," Nick greeted as he walked into the employee break room. "How are you holding up?"

"Hey yourself," Jess returned the greeting with a yawn, and held up a cup of coffee.

"That bad, huh?"

"This Blue Hawaiian has been the bright spot of my day.

"You'll have to thank Greggo for that."

"I'll be sure to."

"Relax, Jess. Your day is almost over." He sat next to her.

"Yay me." She rolled her eyes, staring at the table. "So how was your day?"

"With all things considered, not too bad."

"Why?"

"We didn't get a hit on the slug you found, but the striations aren't degraded. Plus, I've never seen Sara so happy. It's like she sees a light at the end of the tunnel."

"I'm glad she's happy," She paused. "Nick, I want to show you something." She took Nick to the examining room she had commandeered. The radio was still playing country. Jess blushed and turned off the radio.

"Wow, Charlie Daniels." She looked at him quizzically. "I'm a Texan; I grew up on this stuff." He crossed over to the table where the skeleton was laid out. "So, what did you want to show me?" Jess was amazed to see how he went from flirt to all business. She shook her head and filed the information for later study.

"Her femurs were broken." She held one up for his inspection. "It was allowed to heal without medical attention. Someone tortured her."

"What are these?" Nick pointed out the slash marks that covered most of her ribs. "Those aren't teeth marks, are they?"

"An animal would have scattered the bones, plus these are too clean. Animals would have gnawed on the bones." She dug into her kit and pulled out a small piece of bone. "This is a pig's rib, cut with a standard chef's knife."

"It's the same type of mark."

"Yep." She looked up at him, her green eyes hard. "She went through hell."

"How old was she?"

"Not even a teenager. My best guess 9-12." Nick hands clenched around the bone in his hand. Jess completely empathized with him. This shouldn't happen to children.

"Have you gotten any hits on dental records?"

"Not yet. Do you think we could get anything off of missing persons?"

"I doubt it. Can you do a facial reconstruction?"

"I'm not that good, especially with the bullet hole." She took his hands. "I'm sorry, Nick. But I'll try if we don't get anything off the dental records."

"We'll figure this out." He kneaded her shoulder. "Why don't you go home and get some sleep, Jess."

"I wanted to wait until she had a name." Her gaze ghosted over the skull. Nick pulled her away from the room and the Jane Doe. "Warrick, Sara, and I were planning on going out tonight. Why don't you come with us?" At Nick's eager look, Jess couldn't say no. What could she say; she was a sucker for the puppy dog look.

"Where are you going?"

"That's a surprise. Just dress nice. Nothing too fancy."

"Oh, thanks, Nick. That helps a lot."

"I know," he laughed. "I'll call you tonight about 8. So get some sleep."

"Yes, sir," Jess bit her bottom lip. "Can I get a hint?"

"Nope."

"You are mean, Nicholas Stokes."