Disclaimer: Do i own CSI? (shifty eyes) Not yet. Who wants to know?
Notes: I'm posting this chapter bearing rather sad news...Rhi has withdrawn herself from the project due to her schedule being full. So, I'll be writing solo from this moment on...
I'm looking for anyone who's interested in joint-writing this with me? Contact me on YIM at christianfreak9466, or e-mail me (my e-mail's in my profile) with the words fanfiction dot net in the subject. Help me keep this fic alive, people - I can't do it alone.
Right. That's quite enough of burdening you all with my troubles. If you're interested in helping me, contact me, if not...on with the fic!
8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8
Chapter 4
Sara clamped her hands over her ears at the loud screeching of brakes as Warrick pulled into the last available parking space at the LVPD, smirking as he did so.
"You can open your eyes now," he told Sara. "We're here – oh ye of little faith."
Sara huffed. "If you wouldn't drive like a maniac all the time, maybe I'd trust you to be behind the wheel!" she snapped, doing a very un-Saralike thing and sticking her tongue out at him.
"Has the car stopped, Uncle Nick? Can I open my eyes now?"
The small voice from the back seat made Sara smile, but mostly because it had proved her point.
"Yeah, Jase, we're here." Nick got out the back, followed closely by the little boy from the crime scene. The blue eyes were wide as he took in his new surroundings.
"What do you think?" Warrick asked, bending down to Jason's eye level.
"It's okay," he replied shyly. "What do you guys do in there?"
"You'll see." Nick took the little hand and led the way inside, Warrick and Sara giving each other little glares as they trudged after them.
And for once, Grissom brought up the rear, shuffling his way after the little party. His blue eyes, so like Jason's, were thoughtful as he followed his younger coworkers into the building.
This was definitely going to be a very different day…
8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8
Beep! Whirr…sploosh!
Jason watched, fascinated, as the coffee maker churned out a small paper cup of joe. Nick removed the cup, taking a sip and making a face.
"Ugh," he said, tossing the contents down the drain. "We need to find Greg's stash again, Cath," he said to the motherly blonde who was sitting nearby.
"I know," she said. "The coffee tastes like Grissom's tarantula."
Grissom entered just then, and fixed Catherine with a stare. "How would you know what my tarantula tastes like?" he asked suspiciously, just before Jason asked delightedly,
"You have a tarantula?"
The supervisor looked at Jason as though he had never seen a little boy before, then he answered carefully, "Well, a tarantula has me."
Jason seemed awed, but before he could ask more, Brass appeared, and Nick said, "Hey, sport, we got some questions for you first, okay? Grissom can show you his spider later."
The little boy looked disappointed, but he trudged obediently after Nick, and Grissom watched as they left the break room.
Catherine gave him about five minutes of peace before she said, "Gil, about your connection with your victim…"
Turning with a sigh, Grissom asked, "Who told you?"
"Even you should know by now that news travels fast around here," said Catherine, stirring her coffee in a fruitless attempt at getting it to taste better.
The entomologist was silent for a long moment, and Catherine waited patiently, knowing that he'd break sooner or later.
Finally, it happened – Gil started to talk.
"I met her at a conference in China around…what, five, six years ago," he began slowly, as though still not sure he wanted to share this just yet. "She was working at the hotel as a maid, and I met her when I left some notes in the conference room. She was about to toss them into the bin, and I just managed to stop her."
He stopped, startled, as Catherine made a dash for the sink to spit out the coffee, but she waved for him to continue.
"Go on," she prompted, wiping her mouth with a tissue that had miraculously appeared in her hand.
Hesitating, Grissom nonetheless obeyed.
"I didn't believe in love at first sight back then," he said, remembering. "I don't think I do now. But something made me ask her out for dinner, and later…"
Catherine wished she could make a camera appear in her hand the way she could a tissue. How often did you see Gil Grissom blushing?
"You had sex with her?" she prompted.
"Yes." Grissom gritted his teeth and went on. "I knew it couldn't last, but over the course of the conference, we kept on seeing each other. And when it was time to leave, I left. And that was it. I certainly never expected to see her again – and if I did, I never thought it would be at a crime scene."
The slender blonde finally gave up on the rest of the coffee in her cup, ditching it in the trash basket and moving over to her supervisor. Calmly, she asked, "And the kid?"
He pretended he didn't know what she was talking about. "What about the kid?"
Catherine got right in his face. "THE kid, Grissom. That adorable five-year-old boy, Lee Nha's son. The one with Chinese features and blue eyes that look suspiciously like yours. THAT is the kid I'm talking about. And don't you dare tell me you have no idea what I'm talking about."
Knowing when he was beaten was a key part of staying alive where Catherine Willows was concerned.
"If you're asking if Jason is my son…I don't know, Catherine," Grissom said quietly. "He could be, I suppose."
By now the CSI was wondering what it was about men that made them so dense at times. Throwing her hands in the air, she asked, "Well, don't you want to find out? Do a paternity test or something! For crying out loud, Gil!"
She poked him in the chest with a finger. "If he is your son, he needs you. And you need to be there for him."
Her pager went off just then, and she sighed. "New evidence just came in on my case…anyway…" she pointed at Gil. "Find out if he's your son, Gil. You'll regret it someday if you let him walk away like this..."
Vega poked his head in. "Cath? You coming?"
Her head jerked up. "Yes." Giving Grissom one last glare, she followed the officer out. Leaving the CSI supervisor alone to think.
8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8
Why was everyone staring at him? Jason wriggled in his seat and tried to shift his chair closer to Nick's. Brass had a stare like iron, but he was obviously trying to soften it for Jason's benefit.
Jason was too afraid to tell him that he wasn't succeeding.
"So, Jason," Brass began, leaning across the table to give him a tight-lipped smile. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened yesterday night. When was the last time you saw your mother?"
An image flashed in his head, and Jason replied, "When she tucked me in to bed and kissed me goodnight."
- "Goodnight, sweetie," Lee Nha murmured, tucking the blanket around her son. "Sweet dreams, and I'll see you in the morning." -
Brass noted that down, writing with large handwriting. Jason was impressed, he could barely write his name. His teacher said he had to learn how to hold the pencil properly. The little boy tried to watch how Brass did it, but was distracted by the next question.
"Did anything unusual happen before that? Anything strange or weird? Did anyone act like they would want to hurt your mom? Start from the beginning," encouraged Brass.
Jason thought hard. Then he shrugged. "She took me to kindergarten, she picked me up, I stayed with her at work until 5.30pm, and then we went home."
As an afterthought, he added, "Well, her boss yelled at me for standing near the candy shelves in the store, but he's always yelling at me. He doesn't like me."
"Her boss? Where did your mom work, Jase?" asked Nick, gently.
"She worked at Mr Lanyon's grocery store," replied Jason. "Mr Lanyon doesn't like me. He's always yelling at me, but he likes my mom, so he pretends to be nice to me when she's around. He gave her flowers once, but she was allergic to them, so she gave them back."
"Does this charmer have a first name?" asked the captain, taking down notes so fast it looked like the paper would burst into flames.
"Theodore," answered Jason, playing with the mug of water he'd been given. "He makes Mom call him Ted. He makes me call him Mr Lanyon." He made a face. It wasn't hard to figure out that Jason liked "Ted" about as much as Ted liked him.
"Right." Brass finished his notes, and looked at Nick, signaling quietly that the five-year-old had nothing more to tell them right now. Getting to his feet, he said, "Thanks, Jase. Look, if we have any more questions, we'll ask you later, okay?"
Jason nodded. He looked at Nick. "Can we go see Mr Grissom's tarantula now?" he asked.
"Just a sec." Nick took a cotton swab out of his kit. "Open up, kiddo," he said.
Eyeing the swab curiously, Jason opened his mouth, signifying an already deep trust in the man who had found him under his bed. Gratified, Nick a swab, and placed it in the requisite evidence bag.
"Okay. Now we can go see if Grissom will let us near his spider." Exchanging one final glance with Brass, Nick led the little boy out of the room.
Behind the two-way mirror, Gil Grissom silently released the breath he hadn't even known he was holding. Getting his cellphone out of his pocket, he hit speed dial.
"Greg? Yeah, it's Grissom. Listen,Nick's coming your way with the DNA of our victim's son andI need a favor…"
8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8
Shout-outs (and one million buckaroos in leprechaun gold)go to:
SpectralLady - It took a little longer than expected to get this chappie up, didn't it? I'm sorry. But it's here now! Hope you enjoyed it.
Jammer -Yes, Cath was in this chapter. How was her act? I wrote her as she was before she started becoming super-btch single-mom in s5.
eac-dudette - Yes, you get one million dollars in leprechaun gold. All yours. (shoves gold at eac-dudette) And review for this chapter!
csifan - Yes, it was niceof him, wasn't it? He's such a sweetie on the show, I decided it was exactly the sort of thing he would do. And wow, 2 reviews? I'm honored! You get a nick plushie! (Hands Nick plushie over)
Charmed-angel4 - yes, you get one million dollars in leprechaun gold...I really hope that isn't the sole reason that you reviewed...
Jenna - Glad you think so! Here's a Grissom plushie just for you! (hands her a Grissom plushie)
cadrina - Thanks, and now you got more...how about you give me a review? ;)
Flash Foreword - Thanks, and hope you'll continue to bear with me and this fic!
Well, i still have some leprechaun gold to give out. And I'm still looking for a joint-writer. Contact me if interested, okay? In the meantime, I shall get to work on chapter 5.
Thanks, everyone!
RK9.