Hey people! Laski here, updating, no surprise there. Anyway I before proceeding to the chapter I'd like to thank csi-sam-sanders for reviewing again(you'll just have to wait and see...he could get the girl but how will he do it? you'll find that out later on...) and CatherineLouise(I'm good with English it's just that I barely know other languages aside from that and Spanish and the very same day you reviewed, I had updated...so I guess that's self explanatory...)
Okay slight spoilers for season one's Tablestakes but that's it...I think...and I don't own CSI or anything associated with it...just Adri...
Chapter 4
Slipping
"I wouldn't say that now Adriana..." Grissom said, partially scolding her.
"We do need motive but I've got an idea...may I please go with you to the suspect's house?" Adriana asked. Grissom seemed taken aback from her question and regained his compsure but before he could ask why, Adriana responded. "I get the feeling that this was some sort of jealousy thing...and I have a theory but I'd like a look at the suspect's place..."
"You only worked as an intern..." Grissom responded. That's when Greg noticed a letter in the Italian file, written in English and addressed to Grissom.
"This came for you in the Italian file," Greg said as he handed Grissom the envelope. Adri's face fell only slightly but regained her compusure as Grissom read it. He then looked at Adri who just nodded in response and he half smiled.
"It's in my car..." Adriana responded to Grissom's look. He then fully smiled at this girl's responsabilty.
"All right then, I guess you're coming with me..." Grissom said as he signaled her to follow.
"What about me?" Greg asked.
"Get your kit, you're coming too," Grissom said as the pair made their way down the hall, Greg trailing behind them. They stopped at Adri's car, where she picked up her kit and as did Greg who was surprised that she even carried one. "Restocked?"
"Just for this very case...thought I might need it..." Adriana responded as she got the front seat in Grissom's Tahoe. Greg just watched her in awe, she carried a kit? That would mean that she had been a CSI before...his guess is that it was in Italy.
"You worked in Italy?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, for about five years but I then moved to Vegas for a change of scenery," Adriana responded.
"Your tutor with you on tow..." Grissom added.
"Yep. He was like my second father," Adriana finished saying.
"Don't mind my asking, but how could your father afford that?" Grissom asked.
"Brass never told you?" Adri asked.
"Told me what? Oh wait, he did mention something about your father being recognized somewhat locally back in Puerto Rico and that he was planning to move to the US," Grissom answered.
"Right, but so far, he hasn't had much luck with that..."
"Hm...I see..." Grissom said as his voice trailed off. They finally came to a stop at the house, and they got out of the car, kits right there with them. They slipped on their gloves, turned on their flashlights and began to explore the house. Adriana walked in between the two males, examining everthing Grissom didn't shine his flashlight on. Grissom suggested as they reached the hall that Greg and Adri go together while he explored another room. Greg and Adri began to search the main bedroom and after a long awkward silence, Greg decided to break the silence.
"So...you've got somebody special?" Greg asked, almost sure that the answer would be positive.
"Nope..." Adriana responded simply. Greg was surprised at that, he thought...
"You give such good advice on love, I thought you'd be taken..." Greg responded.
"Ain't that a bitch?" she replied sarcastically. Greg could then tell that she didn't like the topic of his choosing and seemed hurt by it.
"Nevermind..." Greg said, trying to get her to forget. She smiled slightly at his feeble attempt but let it slide.
"It's okay...at least you let up quicker than other people," Adriana responded, causing him to stop and think again.
"You serious?"
"Would I lie to you Greggo?"
"Not really..."
"The there you go," Adri said as they worked in silence once again. Suddenly, Adri stepped on a hollow floorboard. She jumped a little on the spot and knew that there was no denying what she was hearing. Greg obivously heard it too since he stopped looking around and turned his focus on the area Adri was jumping on.
"Reminiscing?" he asked with a smirk.
"Nope," she said as she stopped bounding and bent down to exmine the floorboards. "This one's hollow..."
"That would mean?" Greg asked as he saw Adri pull out something from her kit and pried the floorboard loose. Greg seemed surprised as she managed to do that quickly and shined her flashlight on the hole she created. "Grissom!" he called out. Adri pulled out a stack of papers and pulled out some other trinkets. "What'd you find?"
"If my nose is working...scented love letters..." she said as she opened one up and Grissom stepped in.
"What have you got?" he asked.
"I have no clue," Greg said sincerely along with a nervous grin.
"I do..." Adri said. "But I need to take these to the lab to translate...it'll take me days..." deep down Greg was starting to celabrate.
"Why's that?" Grissom asked. "I thought you took a speed reading course."
"I did," Adri said as she stood up. "But a lot of these letters are lengthy and some are hard to read...but if you have patience, we'll be able to nail him for motive...just give me time."
"As long as you give me reports every so often, you've got yourself a two to three days if you work nonstop..." Grissom said. Adri shook her head and spoke up quickly.
"I'm really busy with something else and it can't wait much either...but I'll try to do it in at least three to four nights..." Adri said, hoping to compromise.
"All right," Grissom replied. He had a feeling that she was doing it for some occult reason that she wasn't willing to share. Adri grinned at Grissom's agreement and shook his hands.
"Deal," Adri said with a grin. "Greg, I need you, there are quite a few in Norwegan and we need to process these before doing the translating..."
"I'll call Nick to see if he can picks us up so we can get to the letters right away," Greg said quickly as he left the room.
"Could you help me out Grissom...the letters don't seem to stop...might take longer to sort through...at depends after I look them over," Grissom kneeled down and proceeded to pull more bags out of the hole and giving them to Adri, who was bagging some of them and sorting those she deemed important.
"The letters are getting more and more recent...it's like he stored them upside down..." Grissom wondered aloud.
"Could be that he dumped them all in a rush to get out of here..." Adri commented.
"Possibly..." Grissom responded. He noticed that the sparkle in her eye was bright although something had dimmed it a little, same with Greg. Deep down, he began to get the feeling that these two had more in common emotionally than he thought. He wondered what would cause the slight dim in Adri's eyes. They kept working in an odd form of silence since Adri was humming a tune that was hard for Grissom to identify. After a while Greg stepped in with Warrick and Sara behind him. "We just need to bad this last bunch," Grissom said as he handed Adri the final bundle of letters. "You should search the rest of the room. We're almost done here," Grissom said as Adri closed the last bag.
"Greg?" Adri began as she proceeded to pick up the many bags. "A little help please..."
"Sure," Greg said as he walked over to her, his shoulder lightly touching Sara's as he did so, he kinda liked the touch but he knew that it wasn't going to work out. Move on...he told himself. She forgot the date and hasn't done anything to make up for it either...he reminded himself. Adri brainwahsed him! cried one of the voices in his head. If she did, why didn't I ask her out last night then? he said to the voice.The little voice remained silent and he took it as a sign. He'd begun the healing process on with Adri's advice and was moving on his own way...
"Thanks," Adri whispered as they made their way outside and to Nick's idle car. Sara ran back out, the kits of the pair in her hands. "You get in Greg," Adri said as she finished placing the bags in her arms in the trunk of the car. "I'll be right in..."
"Nah...you go in..." Greg said as he noticed the approaching female. Deep down he hoped that they'd get a second chance. Adri eyed him carefully and decided that he needed to do this on his own. She'd given the push...he just needed the strength to bounce back on his own. When Sara finally reached the car, Adri already had left and taken the front seat. Inside, Nick was curious as to why Adri was searching a suspect's house since she wasn't even a CSI.
"Adri," Nick began as he tried to put his question into words. "Why were you at the house?"
"Grissom let me go," Adri said simply.
"Yeah, I understand that...but why?" Nick asked again.
"Look, she worked as a CSI somewhere...because of that and the fact that she brought her kit for the very purpose, made him agree..." Greg answered as he climbed into the car's backseat.
"Thank you for answering my question Adri," Nick said sarcastically as he pulled over in the Lab's parking lot. Greg got out and opened Adri's door and she smiled at him. "I'm going back to the house so unload the car so I can make my way over there," Nick finished saying while Adri closed the passenger door. Greg and Adri made their way to the back of the car and proceeded to take out everything they obtained at the suspect's house. Adri held all the evidence bags while Greg took their kits out and placed them on the pavement. He then closed the trunk and Nick took it as a cue to leave. Adri was already inside when Greg returned his focus on the world. Greg walked in after her and followed her into one of the evidence rooms.
"You ready to sort through these?" Greg asked. She nodded in response and proceeded to pull out more bags.
"We need to open these and sort them by language, that way, it'll be easier for me and you to translate and if we can do it by date, even better..." She said as she opened one evidence bag.
"That way, we can create a timeline..." Greg added.
"Precisely..." Adri said as she spread all the letters from the bag out. Greg picked up the first one and opened it. Adri picked up another one and opened the envelope and examined it. "Hey, there are hairs in here..." Adri said in surprise. "Be careful when opening letters Greg..."
"Got it," Greg said as he put the letter down and checked the envelope of the letter he'd opened. "Nothing in here," he said as he returned his focus on the letter he'd opened. "This looks like a guys handwritting...but I can't quite make out the language."
"Try and read the first one for me...or spell it. Whatever works for you..."
"Well...starts with a G...I think you said it when you spoke to one of the Crime Labs..."
"Guten morgen...that's German...place it right here..." Adri said as she pointed to a card that read "German." "I did that just now...don't look at me like that..." Adri said as she returned her focus on the letter she held. "Female hanwritting, Frech and it was early this year..." she said as she placed it by the card that read said language. They kept working in a shared silence until I spoke up. "I hate this silence...do you mind if I put on some music?"
"No!" Greg said with a smile. "Please do! What do you like to listen to?"
"A lot of things..." Adri said as she made her way to the door. "I'm going to get something from my car. I'll be right back," Adri said as she left, leaving Greg alone with the love letters. They had a small pile of hairs that they needed Mia to analyze and compare to the other victim's of which they already had DNA samples courtesy of Adri's phone calls. Greg was thinking about the whole Sara situation when Adri walked in with a boombox in one hand and in the other a rather buldgy CD case. "Care to help me here?" she asked. Greg immidiately took off one of his latex gloves and took the boombox from her hands and plugged it in. "Want to listen to some Simple Plan?"
"Sure...do you have their latest album?"
"You mean 'Still Not Getting Any'?"
"That one...could you put in the song tittled 'Shut Up'? I'm kinda in the mood for it..."
"Sure..." Adri said as she picked out the CD from her case. She pushed a few buttons on her boombox and before playing the song turned to Greg with a big grin. "Want to blast it?" Greg looked up and his eyes widened slitghly at the question.
"You kidding!" he cried. "I loved to do that while I was stuck here as a lab rat! I stopped though..." Greg finished saying as he started to think about why.
"You stopped because you didn't want Sara to think of you as inmmature..." Adri finished for as he looked up with a nervous smile.
"Guilty," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's okay...now you want to make up for lost time and I couldn't agree more...besides, the biggest complaint I occasionaly got while I worked in Italy is that no matter where I was, they could just follow the loud music to find me..." Greg smiled thinking that this girl was becoming even cooler in his eyes.
"You serious?"
"Yep..." Adri said as she hit play and raised the volume, allowing the song to fill the room entirely. Greg smiled as the song began and couldn't help but bob his head to the music for a while. Adri found herslef dancing around and they soon were dancing around the evidence room table, air guitars and all. When the song came to a close, Greg stopped the CD, laughing like a five year old. Adri stopped dancing and turned to him. "What?"
"We just danced around like idiots..." Greg pointed out. "Doesn't it matter to you?"
"Nope!" Adri said with a grin. "I had fun..."
"Me too..." Greg said as he flopped down on a chair. "I missed dancing around like that..."
"You've done it before?" Adri asked, slightly intrigued.
"Yeah, I remember that I was analyzing this headress about five years ago and after I was done processing it I was tempted to put it on. I caved and started dancing around..."
"Lemme guess, match match, boom boom?" Adri said, surpresing her laughter.
"Oh yeah, but you should have seen me...it was huge and it had peacock feathers if my mind doesn't fail me...it also had these gold beads and I swear...I looked freaky..." Greg said as he told the story, Adri fell to the ground laughing since she couldn't hold it in any longer. Greg admired her honest laughter and left it for her imagination. "I see you got the mental picture..." what he got in response was a more quiet laugh as she began to calm down.
"I'm so sorry Greg...it was just too much..." Adri said as she sat up. He got up from his chair and was about to extend his hand to help her up when she did it on her own. He seemed a little confused as to what she had done but shook it off as he sat down again. "I don't remember laughing that much since...oh God...I don't remember...has it been that long?" she whispered, hoping that Greg was far and hadn't heard anything. On the contrary, he heard every word and was concerned.
"You ok?" Greg asked as he noticed that the serious look on Adri's face had turned into a sad one. She looked up and forced a small smile.
"I'm fine," Adri responded. "Let's just finish this so we can go. Shift is almost over..."
"Right," Greg said as they inmmersed themselves in the bunches of letters and various hair samples. Adri after another while turned the radio on and station surfed until Greg told her to stop at his fave station and asked her to raise the volume. They kept sorting through the letters, one unsure of what to say and the other slightly nervous. Greg looked up for a moment to see Adri's hand shaking slightly. "You ok?"
"Hm?" Adri said as she looked up and met his eyes.
"Your hand has been shaking..." Greg pointed out. Damn...spending too much time with this guy could really do something to me...he's getting more worried by the hour and we barely know each other! Adri thought as she prayed to God that he hand would stop shaking. It finally did and she let out a deep sigh of relief.
"I'm fine Greg," Adri responded as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately..." she said. It was only half true...something else had her all jittery for the past few hours.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm sure...and no, I won't drop the other thing because it is very important to me as well," Adri said firmly.
"Ok then...I won't pester you about that then..."
"Thank you..."
"Could you turn it down here!" Hodges cried as he came in to try and stop the ruckus. The other lab techs were behind him, mostly for curious reasons, not for the loud music. They weren't surprised to see the translator having fun since she gave off the vibe but they were slightly surprised to see Greg enjoying loud music again.
"Sure man...don't get so angry about it...It's just music after all...but I wouldn't want you to get your grandma panties up in a bunch..." Adri said as she went over to the boombox and turned it down a little.
"Thank you and I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Hodges said with a forced smile as he closed the door and left. Greg and Adri just looked at each other with wide and confused eyes(in Greg's part) before falling into fits of laughter. When Grissom and the others came back from the scene to check on them, what they saw was a translator and a CSI laughing continously.
"What's so funny?" Nick asked as he looked around. Adri began to clam down and straightened up.
"Well...it all started with..." she began as her eyes moved from Nick's eyes to Greg's face. She began to bite her lip to control her laughter. "Music and then we...and then Hodges, then I said...could you stop that Greg?" Adri said as she bit her lip harder. "Grissom, give us a moment..." Adri said as she looked at the CSI's that stood in the doorway. Greg's laughing slightly increased as the song they were hearing when Hodges came in palyed on the radio and Adri felt like laughing herself. "We..." Adri said as she stifled a laugh. "Greg stop laughing!" she said as she began to laugh again.
"It's no use talking to them like this..." Sara said irritated slightly. "I'm not going to stand here and wait for them...I'm going to check the pieces of plastic we left in trace and see how they match the ones the representatives brought in..." she said as she left.
"Yeah...anything we say could make them laugh in the state they're in..." Warrick commented as Grissom closed the door. They waited outside for about five minutes before opening the door once again. The pair was finally calm and Adri pointed to the bags with the hair samples that needed to be taken to DNA which Greg picked up and walked off without another word.
"Sorry guys, it kinda started with Hodges complaining about the loud music and I snapped back saying an old cliché and instead of saying boxers I said granny panties..." Adri said with and embarrassed face. Nick and Warrick turned away and supressing laughter. "Anyway, after he left, we just talked by looking at each other in the eyes and we just started laughing. We started throwing out one liners about the comment and what not and well...it escalated..."
"All right then..." Grissom said as he eyed her curiously. "Anything with the letters?"
"We already separated them by language. We also found some hairs and Greg took those to Mia, along with DNA samples of the victims," Adri responded.
"You've done a good job...I guess you may leave early tonight. Greg too," Grissom said as said person came in.
"Awesome!" Greg cried with glee. "Hey Adri, want to get some breakfast together to celebrate a job well done?" Greg asked.
"Nah...I need to catch up on my ZZ's...I've got something at noon and then I'm coming here at seven, latest seven thirty," Adri said as she began to make her way out of the room. She was halfway down the hall when she turned around to pick up her things. "I can't believe I almost forgot these...anyway, if you're willing to wait a while...a rain check sounds about right..."
"Perfect," Greg said quickly with a smile. "I'll see ya tonight then..."
"Of course...I can't loose my Norwegan expert now can I?" Adri asked as she began to make her way out of the room yet again. Nick and Warrick seemed impressed and Grissom just shook his head. This was not the type of bodning he had in mind...
All righty! Chapter four done...and five might be up sometime this week, depending on the response I get for this chapter...Later!