Blood Ties
Disclaimer : I definitely do NOT own C.S.I – Dammit ! Though I am studying to become one. I don't own any of the food brands mentioned either. I don't own the book, ' Sin City ' in the C.S.I series by Max Allan Collins, on which this story is '
sort-off ' based.
However, I do own Declan, Tyler, Fire-Chief O' Leary and Police Officer Jacobs.
Nick and Sara deal with a long distance murderer, each clue blowing their case open much wider. Catherine gets a little surprise – especially for her. . .
Pairings : Catherine/Grissom & Nick/Sara
David had collected the bodies from inside car before it had been taken to the lab, leaving the ground under it open and free for the C.S.Is to take a look at it. They shone their mag-lights over the area as they inspected it.
"I think I found some kind of accelerant," said Warrick. He swabbed the dark liquid, he smelt it, and put it into his kit. "Smells like alcohol," he added.
"I've got something here," Sara called out, she picked up some sort of nylon shred. She held it out for them to see. "There are a whole bunch of these on the ground. They seem burnt . . . I don't know if we'll recover anything off of it." she sounded disappointed.
"I've got a theory. Let's try this."
Warrick picked up two or three of the shreds. He held them in his latex-covered palm and shone the UV light over it. They had bright blue all over them. "Well, this is probably some kind of accelerant . . . or blood," he said triumphantly.
"Is it just me," said Nick in his Texan drawl, "but does this smell like a Molotov cocktail to you?"
"Yeah," said Warrick, "But what about the bottle? We need a container."
"He's got you there," said Sara, "Even though I feel it's a cocktail."
"Well, we need facts - not feelings here," stated Warrick.
"Oh well . . ." Nick sighed before he got down on his hands and knees to look for more clues.
Sara bagged her shreds and went on looking. A few minutes later, their search was interrupted by a yell from Nick.
"SHIT !" he swore loudly, causing the remaining firemen to stare at him.
He stood up shaking his hand vigorously. He stopped for a moment. But that was just to pull of the latex glove he was wearing. When he did, they saw that blood was seeping out of a cut on his left palm.
"Hold still, let me take a look at it," chided Sara when she got to him.
"Aaaahhh !" he yelped in pain at the pressure exerted onto the cut.
"Come on you big baby ! Hold still !" she examined his cut more closely. Something glinted when she shone the mag-light over the cut.
"I think there's something in it, give me a moment," she picked up her tweezers and gently tugged at something that seemed lodged in his hand – it was stuck. A few more tugs pulled it loose. Warrick shone his light over whatever it was that Sara held in her palm. "It's glass," he concluded.
"I'm gonna go find the first aid kit," said Nick as he stood up and headed back to the car to look.
"Tell me when you find it," said Sara, "I'll help patch you up."
Warrick shone his torch on the ground. Several shards of glass glinted as they reflected the rays of light. "Looks like it is a Molotov cocktail," he concluded. He bagged the tiny pieces.
"Well, I'm done on my side of the driveway," he announced, "I'm going to go see if I can find anything on the lawn."
"You do that," agreed Sara. She continued to search her area till Nick found the first aid kit.
Warrick shone the torch on the lawn. As he shone it on the edge, something glinted back. It was a small bottle. The kind you find bath salts in. "What the hell . . . ?" he murmured as he picked it up. It was small and green. There was a small piece of cloth poking out. He sniffed it. It smelt like alcohol.
Just then he heard Sara call his name. "I found something. Some kind of dirt. Dark brown in colour," she shone the torch over it as she spoke, "it looks like it came from the garden. She suddenly tilted her head as she noticed something. She shone the torch straight ahead. Warrick stood up, bagged the mini-Molotov and headed over to her. When he arrived he, followed her gaze. She was looking at the hedge.
"Notice something Warrick?" she asked.
"It's disturbed. The firemen probably did that as they went to put it off," he replied.
"Right on. But you missed something." she was interrupted by a yell from Nick.
"Found it!" he walked over to them, kit in hand.
"What did you find?" asked Warrick.
"The kit. It was underneath the spare tire. Must have gotten there when you swerved." said Nick.
"It did not. We would have heard it," Warrick defended himself.
"No way everything is packed tight in here." he opened the kit as if to emphasize the point.
"Two C.S.I 's arguing. Now that is something," said Sara with a smirk.
Nick and Warrick stopped immediately.
"Come on Nick, we don't want you to contaminate the crime scene with the blood." said Sara leading him away from it. Warrick followed, but stopped for a moment and looked back, stared hard at the hedge, turned around and continued after them.
"I don't get it. What did I miss?" he asked Sara.
She set the kit on the hood of the car and opened it up. She opened a pack of wet-wipes and started to clean Nick's cut. " Well," she said, " It depends on where you were standing."
"Aah," said Warrick. He finally understood. "The black and white theory."
"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Nick as Sara wiped with disinfectant.
"Haven't you heard of that story where there was a fight between two friends over a ball placed in the middle of both of them. One said it was white while the other argued it was black. They changed positions and found that the other was right –" Warrick explained.
"And the moral of the story is what you see depends on where you stand." said Sara as she put a band-aid on Nick's palm.
"And that you should always look at something from another point of view when you disagree with someone." finished Warrick.
"Well then, I accept your apology," said Nick with a smile.
"Hey-" argued Warrick.
"Hey Nick," interrupted Sara, "want a smiley face on that?" she pointed at his band-aid.
"Yeah, then people will know whose it is in case it ever falls off." Warrick said with a snigger. Even Sara had to giggle at this.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny," said Nick sarcastically, "don't quit your day job. "
"Remind me to tell Catherine." said Warrick sniggering even more.
After Sara had put the kit away, they returned to the hedge. Nick snapped on new latex gloves to avoid contaminating the evidence. Warrick stood where she had earlier and shined his flashlight over the spot found something that looked like a burnt sausage. He crouched down and picked it up. It was a finger.
"Well this DEFINITELY fell off," commented Warrick. But there was no hint of sarcasm or humour in his voice or on his face.
"More like flew off," corrected Sara. She looked and sounded dead serious.
"Well," said Nick, "Bag it."
He bagged the finger. And everyone returned to their search.
Sara knelt down and shone her mag-light over a muddy footprint. Red mud.
-()- Looks like they belonged to boots. -()- she thought.
She tape-lifted it and put it in a manila envelope they used to store certain pieces of evidence. She would show it to the guys later when they conferred about the evidence. She stood up and mentally checked everything. All they needed to do was take a look at the car now. She looked around and found Warrick checking the lawn one last time to make sure they had everything. He'd gone over it the first time after Nick had bagged the finger and once now.
-()- Damn, that was a funny story. How come he doesn't tell me stories like that ? Maybe it was a guy thing. But then again, he'd told Catherine, and she was definitely not a man. Oh well. -()-
Nick was combing the top part of the drive way, while she finished off the bottom. She noticed that he was careful not to use his left palm much, or when he did, he didn't exert much pressure on it. She saw Officer Jacobs standing on the sidewalk to the left of the driveway, his notebook in hand.
"Hey, anyone question him?" she nodded her head in his direction. Nick and Warrick stopped, and looked up.
"Yeah," said Warrick.
"Did he question the neighbours?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Nick.
"Do we have his notes on that?" Sara asked again. Nick and Warrick exchanged looks of confirmation.
"Nope." answered Nick.
"Should I tell him to come down to the labs and write a report, or take the notepad and copy down the notes and return them to him?" she questioned. Nick and Warrick exchanged a look again before Warrick said, "That was usually Grissom's call."
"Okay, whose call is it now?" Sara asked. They all exchanged looks this time.
"I think we should vote," said Nick.
"Well I say we call Grissom for confirmation," said Sara.
They looked at Warrick, who seemed deep in thought.
"Well," said Nick after sharing a look with Sara.
"I think we should call Grissom." said Warrick. He took out his cell phone. It rang several times before Warrick disconnected. "He's busy. Won't pick up." He told the others.
"Well then," said Nick, "voting time !"
"Who votes for Sara?" asked Warrick. Nick raised half a hand, so did Warrick. Sara however raised her whole arm.
"Okay, two for Sara. Now who votes for Nick?" asked Warrick again. Nick raised his whole and Warrick and Sara raised only half.
"Two for Nick as well. Now, who votes for me?" asked Warrick. He raised his arm whole, but neither Nick nor Sara raised theirs.
"What !" he exclaimed. "I voted for you guys."
"Yeah," said Sara.
"But you've had a go before." explained Nick.
"Fine. So why don't we flip a coin between the two of you." said Warrick. He took out a coin but before he could flip it, Sara took it from him.
"I have a better idea. Why don't we share?" she said.
"Why?" questioned Nick in a whiny tone.
"What do you mean?" asked Warrick.
"Nick and I rotate the decisions. And it's your job to keep track of the order." explained Sara.
"Sounds good, we might not get a chance like this again." agreed Warrick.
"Okay," Nick hesitated as he said it.
"I'll take this call," said Sara. "Nick bag the notebook. Warrick ask him to meet us back at the lab to right a report. As he writes the report, copy the notes from his notebook."
"Got it." answered Nick.
"I'm on it," said Warrick and they left to do their jobs.
Sara packed up and put her kit in the Tahoe. She got behind the wheel. She didn't trust Warrick's driving and Nick might make his cut worse, so she decided it was her job. Warrick hopped into the passenger seat as Nick belted himself in the back. Their kits were strapped in so they were fine. She started the car and they pulled out of the driveway they had parked in front of.
"Nick, you had better have Dr. Robbins or David take a look at your cut. You may have a piece of glass stuck in it," she warned.
"If you say so . . ." Nick was not thrilled to have a coroner take a look at his cut.
-X-
Catherine was driving to the scene again. Grissom and her had made small talk at the beginning, but now the car was enveloped in comfortable silence as they waited for the light to change.
"Declan is so adorable." she stated randomly out of the blue. "Reminded me of when Lindsay was that small. Playing peek-a-boo with her, it was SO much fun."
"Yeah, she was cute," added Grissom as he snapped out of his reverie which had once more drifted to the topic of his blonde co-worker. He remembered that little angel and the first time he had held her. He felt like proud father. Too bad he wasn't her real father. But since then, he'd tried to be there for that little girl. He'd been there for most of her firsts, and Grissom hoped that he'd be there the rest.
"I'd do anything for her, she's the most important thing in my life," she said with an affectionate smile as she remembered her daughter. "Too bad she doesn't have a brother or sister." She said quite sadly. "It must be hard being an only child whose mother works all the time."
"It isn't that bad," said Grissom quietly. Catherine gave him a curious look. Then it hit her. "I'm SO sorry! I didn't mean it that way. Of course it isn't that bad . . . you were one . . . and look how you turned out!" she said apologetically.
"Yeah. I'm 'bug-man'," he replied sarcastically.
"In a nice way," she said trying to convince him, "it's like being called 'Batman'. Now HE is cool! So picture yourself as 'Bug-man' avenger of good! "
She was rewarded with a small smile. She beamed at him. She was glad he didn't think of himself as a freak. That was what was so great about him, he never cared. No matter what he did, he was himself. She was personally very happy about that. She didn't want to be friends with someone who always worried about what people would think about them. He was a 'Crime Scene Investigator' for Christ's sake! You can't avoid what people think when they hear what you do for a living. Besides she had had enough of that attitude back in her stripper days.
By now they were there. They could see the light the police sirens gave out. They parked the Tahoe and hopped out. Grissom grabbed his kit and Catherine's as she got out of the car. He waited for her as she locked up and started to walk towards him. "Always the gentleman, huh? 'Bug-man'!" she said as she took her kit. He chuckled and they made their way to the crime scene with Grissom in the lead.
They stepped under the tape at the same time, but it was Grissom who saw the victim first. Catherine's view was blocked by policemen and reporters.
"Cath," Grissom warned concern laced in his voice, "I don't think you'll like this."
"Don't worry I'll handle this," she said as she brushed past the policemen blocking her view. She realised what Grissom was so worried about. The body had been mutilated. And it stunk like hell. This was going to be SO much work.
Detective Lockwood approached them.
(A/N: He was the Detective who worked with Catherine and Nick in Season3 premiere 'Revenge Is Best Served Cold'.)
"Her name's Ginger Collins, age 40, the area's pretty clean, except for where the body is. By clean, I mean NO blood. But we did find her driver's licence. You think it might be a kill and dump?" he informed them.
"Only the evidence can tell us," said Grissom calmly. He knew that many people and sometimes even detectives made mistakes of formulating ideas of what happened before looking at the evidence. Therefore reading it wrong. But where had he heard that name before?
"Crap . . ." sighed Catherine.
Then he remembered. Hadn't Catherine mentioned this woman before.
"I take it, you know her?" he asked her.
"Trust me Gil, you don't want to know . . ." she said.
"I'm sure you told me her name somewhere before this," he argued, stubbornly.
"Yeah don't worry, your memory isn't fading," she circled the body, "she was the one who showed me the tricks of the trade. Well she was the one Sam told to teach me the tricks."
Grissom heard the way she said, 'Sam' the name of her biological father. It was with disgust. He noticed she had crouched down, so he followed suite. He was about to say something, when she looked at him, gave him a sarcastic smile and said, "Think of the past, and it bites you in the ass."
Grissom smiled. This was Catherine's way of spouting out philosophy. He often wondered where it came from. But it didn't matter. He liked it every time she did that.
-X-
Warrick, Nick and Sara reached the lab in fifteen minutes. Nick and Sara constantly had to bear the brunt of Warrick's grumblings of 'I could have gotten us there faster!'. They entered the locker room and freshened up before getting to work. They didn't want any ash, smoke or dust particles contaminating the evidence as they worked. They met in the rec. room to discuss what to do next.
"Well," said Nick, "it's my call."
Sara and Warrick nodded in agreement. Just then Brass entered the room with a file in hand. "The kids are ready for interrogation. Here's a few notes on them in the file: Name, Date of Birth, school, things like that." He informed them. He held out the file and waited for someone to take it. It was Nick who did. He then waited there, to see what would happen next. Nick looked at the notes in the file Brass had handed him.
"Sara, go interrogate Elizabeth. Warrick, go check on the notes we bagged. I'll go interrogate Tyler." They split up after that. Warrick headed for his interrogating room, while Nick and Sara along with Brass headed for theirs.
They found the kids in Brass's office where he had asked them to wait while he took down details.
"Hi," said Nick, introducing the two of them, "my name is Nick Stokes and this is one of my partners Sara Sidle. Our other partner Warrick Brown is not here at the moment. He's getting started on the evidence while we ask you a couple of questions.
"You mean 'interrogate' us," interrupted Tyler quietly.
Nick and Sara look shocked. Tyler shrugged. "We are here in a police station, and we witnessed our parents' deaths. That makes us witnesses. And you guys need our details on the murder. So obviously you have to interrogate us." Tyler explained to them.
"Damn! He's smart!" murmured Nick, quite shocked.
"Good luck!" Sara murmured back with a smirk.
"Well, Tyler, you're with Nick. Elizabeth you are with me," said Sara.
Tyler got up, but Ellie didn't. She motioned to Declan whom she was holding. "I can't right now. He's a light sleeper. Take Tyler and after you're done with him I'll go."
"Seems okay with me," said Sara. "I'll stay here with you, till they are done."
Nick, Tyler and Brass exited.
Sara had really not wanted to do this she was very very, bad with kids, but she knew this mattered to Brass so she tried to put in some effort.
"So how you put him to sleep?" she asked Ellie.
"I didn't. one of the other C.S.I did it. I think her name was Catherine." replied Ellie.
"Oh. Of course. She has a daughter you know," Sara filled her in, "so of course she would have more experience."
She felt a bit jealous. Grissom must definitely like Catherine better. She could handle kids, discuss work, cook, take care of a house, make him smile - even laugh - sometimes. She was his best friend, well that's what she heard Brass say. And she had even heard, form Nick and Warrick, that they celebrated the anniversary of when they met. She felt left out. Grissom was old friends with Brass and Catherine. Nick and Warrick were always competing; she had no one to talk to. There was always Greg . . . but he was everyone's friend and really didn't hang out with anyone in particular. So that was out of the question.
Ellie looked bored, with no one to talk to, it was going to be a long night.
-X-
Well that's the end of Chapter2. I shall post Chapter3 soon. Enjoy. BTW: R/R ! Please?