Two more weeks in the hospital. A month off at home while healing. Finally back to work, but sentenced to desk work for another month. During this time, no one mentioned Gemma to him. Gil Grissom was more or less, not speaking to him. Life sucked for Warrick Brown.
Warrick sat in the locker room after shift. He had no real purpose for being there. If you sat in the lab all day long, changing consists of taking off the lab coat and putting on your jacket. No need for the locker room there, and yet, there he sat.
He hated being stuck in the lab. The easy bantering he'd once shared with Hodges was long gone. Hodges barely glanced at him, much less spoke to him. Warrick Brown hated life. He hated his job. He hated being at home. He hated going out. No matter what he did, he was miserable.
"Do you think you came back to work too soon?" Catherine asked, coming to sit beside him. Warrick lifted his head from where he'd been holding it in his hands to look at the beautiful woman. She hadn't changed, but someone he didn't feel attracted to her. The conflicting feelings he'd once felt for her were gone. He looked at her and tried to smile.
"No…..I'm fine. I'm in perfect shape. I passed my physical." He tried to assure her.
"You don't seem like you are." Catherine frowned as Nick entered the locker room. Nick leaned against his locker and eyed his friend with concern.
"I'm fine guys, really."
"Maybe you need some fresh air. Why don't you go out on the town?" Catherine suggested.
"No…..just not into that."
"Of course you are! You're a notorious partier. Nick, take him out on the town! That'll cure what's ailing him!" Catherine insisted with a smile.
"I doubt it." Nick replied, before Warrick could argue the point. "He's heartsick Cath, not sick."
"Heartsick?" Catherine studied the tall man beside her with new eyes. "You really loved her, didn't you Warrick?"
"No." Warrick growled, turning his green glare on the Texan.
"Yeah, he fell in love with Gemma. For some stupid reason, only understood by him, he ended it. Now he's miserable." Nick announced. No one noticed Grissom shuffling into the room, listening intently to the conversation. "I think he was scared……scared that she could mean so much to him. He's never had to think about that before-"
"Nick….Shut the Fuck Up!" Warrick came to his feet, fists clenched at his sides. Catherine immediately came up between the two men as Warrick surged forward.
"Warrick-" She warned.
"Warrick, I'd like to speak with you." Grissom spoke up, startling all three. As one, they all turned to see the older man watching them, a sad look on his face.
"So speak." Warrick barked out, uncaring how he treated his boss at the moment.
"Shouldn't we go somewhere private?" Grissom questioned, looking from Nick to Catherine pointedly.
"We might as well let them hear. They'll find out soon enough." Warrick sat back down, having lost his anger and energy, he looked like a toy whose batteries had been pulled out viciously.
"Find out what?" Gil frowned.
"That you're firing me." Warrick confessed.
"Truthfully, I actually considered it….but I was letting my feelings take control. That was an emotional reaction, and I admit, that's not my strongpoint. You're still a great CSI. My personal feelings should not get involved." Grissom sighed. "But, I was considering………I was coming to beat the shit out of you."
All three CSI's looked at him in shock and surprise. No one dared mention that Warrick would be the victor in a fight between the two. It was too obvious, and the whole idea was too ridiculous.
Grissom seemed surprised at the incredulous looks they were aiming at him. "You broke Gemma's heart. I'd actually hoped she'd be pregnant. That way, I'd have a right to force a shotgun wedding on you."
"She couldn't be pregnant." Warrick wheezed. "We never…..did anything that would get her…..that way."
"You never……?" Gil probed, taken aback.
"No! I would never do that to her! I wanted to…..lord how I did……." Warrick rubbed his face, amazed that he was having this conversation with Gil Grissom, of all people. "Gemma's not that kind of girl."
"You obviously care about her. You look like you're hurting as bad as you hurt her."
"I never meant to hurt her Gris." Warrick moaned.
"Why did you break it off? She's miserable without you. You seem to be just as miserable without her."
Grissom edged closer to the distraught man. Catherine and Nick, forgotten, stepped back, watching the play between the two men. The remained quiet and watchful, despite many unspoken questions.
"Gris? Don't you see? I'm not the man for her! She's….so….much….she deserves better….she deserves more." Warrick lamented.
"That may be true. You may think that too, but she wants you. Grissom sat on the edge of the bench.
"You'd be okay with that?" Warrick looked up at the older man, his green eyes filled with pain and hope. "You'd be okay with your daughter marrying me? I'm a screw up….a gambler…..I couldn't even keep her protected!"
"And you're a fine man. Dedicated to your job and everyone you love. I would never have put Gemma in your hands if I didn't trust you in all ways." Grissom heard a stifled sound from Catherine, and realized what had just been revealed. "How'd you know she was my daughter?"
"It took me about three days." Warrick sat up straighter, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "I finally comprehended why she looked so familiar. It had troubled me, thinking that I knew her or someone like her. Then I became conscious of what it was, her eyes. She looks like you."
"So….if you have my blessing…"Grissom blushed at the way Catherine was gawking at him. "Will you go to her. See if you can make it right?"
"Do you think she'll take me back?" Warrick inquired hopefully.
"You can only try." Grissom shrugged with one shoulder. He got up, shuffling to the doorway, looking a little more at ease. At the door, he paused at the sound of Catherine's voice.
"Oh no you don't! You don't just walk away after that big of a bombshell!" She roared. "You come back and give us details!"
Chagrined, Grissom came back into the room. His privacy was something dear to him, but he knew there was no way around this. He'd learned with Catherine, it was better to just tell her what she wanted to know. Otherwise, she would keep at it until she knew what she wanted to know, plus a lot more she'd dug up on the way. "What do you want to know."
"How long have you had a daughter? Who is the mother?" Catherine probed.
"Well, Gemma is Twenty-seven, so I'd guess I've had a daughter for that long." Gil smirked. "Her mother's name was Suzie Longchamp."
"How did you get a daughter? What happened with Suzie? "
"I got the daughter the normal way." Gil mocked, enjoying the small pleasure of annoying Catherine while she interrogated him. "I dumped Suzie. I thought she'd be better off without a Geek like me. No, I didn't know she was pregnant." Gil answered before Catherine had a chance. He shot a pointed look at Warrick. "I was miserable without her. But, when I went back to get her to take me back, she was married to Chuck. She was pregnant, she couldn't wait around for me."
"Did you know the baby was yours?"
"Not until later, Gemma was a out nine or ten. I went back, saw them at a funeral. After Suzie died, she left a letter to me, telling me that Gemma was mine. She also left a letter to Gemma, telling her that I was a person to come to if she ever got into trouble. She started writing to me, she seemed so sad and miserable."
"You arranged for her scholarship to the boarding school." Warrick surmised.
"She tell you that?" Gil looked nervous.
"She told me about the school, and the scholarship. I put the pieces together." Warrick shrugged. "I know you to well, you don't like to let people know what you're doing. You're a sneaky guardian angel."
"Do you think she suspects? About any of this?" He headed back out the door, pausing just outside the door, waiting for Warrick's answer.
"No….I don't think she does." Warrick slowly worded his answer. "But I think she'd be relieved to hear it from you. Her father……Chuck…..that man isn't a good person. Gemma would be happy to know she's not related to him.
"Care to explain that?"
"No. It isn't my story to tell." Warrick shook his head. Rising, he called out to Grissom, in a playful tone. "Hey Gris?"
"What?" Grissom halted again, turning reluctantly, he looked expectantly toward Warrick.
"If Gemma takes me back,…..Does this mean I can call you Dad?" Warrick grinned.
Grissom blanched, he grimaced, then quirked a smile. "No….but you can call me Gil." Turning back around, he left, serenaded by Warrick's rich laughter. It was a good sound.