Hey people! Pardon for the late update but last week I had a big test to get ready for and it was a long weekend too so...I can slack off a little...right? Anyway, before proceeding to the chapter, I'd like to thank Shelbers(I know...the 'date' is coming up soon though...I just need to think on it a little more...but I promise that it's on its way!), csi-sam-sanders (Thanx for your support yet again! Here's the update!) and CatherineLouise (I was very happy to read your observation and you may have a point...I just hope not to rush things later on...anyway, I'm glad you loved the previous chapter! Here's the next one!) for reviewing. Onto another brief note, this chapter is a little lighthearted, hence the name...no more delays...here's chapter 12 for ya!
Standard disclaimers apply...as always...
Chapter 12
Funny and Cute Occurences
Adriana
"Afternoon Dri," Greg said as he entered the kitchen the next day after my outburst. I was rather nervous being around him now since he knew how I occasionally felt about my appearance. "How'd you sleep?"
"Good..." I replied, letting my voice trail off. "I've had better though. You?"
"Not that bad..." he answered as he served himself a bowl of cereal. "I wanted to ask you something else yesterday..."
"Shoot," I said as I served myself some milk.
"Do you have, or had for that matter, any eating disorder?" he asked, concern dripping in his words.
"Nope...high metabolisim runs in the family..." I said as I took a sip of milk. "I wouldn't think of it...I mean, why do that type of harm to yourself?"
"Did you consider it?" he asked, clearly trying to find out more about how I felt about myself.
"Maybe once in high school..." I said while thinking it through. "But during my relationship with him, it never crossed my mind...I did think about overexcersizing though...but I never considered anorexia or bulimia as a way to lose weight..." I said as I took another sip of milk. Greg smiled for some unknown internal reason...well...to me at least...a first.
"Good," he said simply as he took the last bite of his cereal and placed the dirty bowl and spoon in the dishwasher.
"What made you ask anyway?" I asked as Greg took my now empty glass, rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher for me.
"The conversation we had yesterday...most of the night I spent it thinking about it..."
"I fell asleep standing right?"
"Yeah..." Greg answered. I blushed at the thought of me falling asleep standing and in Greg's arms which are really strong and well built come to think of it...snap out of it!
"God that must've been funny..." I said while trying to avoid his eyes.
"A little...but you looked so calm...I didn't bother to wake you up," Greg said while thinking about it. "I just carried you back to bed like the other night..."
"And again," I said with a smile. "I thank you for your kind gesture," I said while heading over to the movie room, Greg right behind me. Once I got there, I sat down on the huge, yet comfortable, blue couch as Greg rummaged my movie collection since it was his turn to pick. He and I had gotten the habbit to at least once a week watch a movie together in this room, without even mentioning it.
"You looked real pretty asleep though..." Greg said after a while, referring to the subject we were talking about in the kitchen. I scoffed as I picked up the nearest cushion and threw it at him, hitting him on the head.
"There are better ways to describe a girl..." I commented after hitting him with a second cushion.
"If that's the way you want it then fine...you looked beautiful while you were asleep..." Greg said smoothly. Taken aback entirely by what he said, I kept my mouth shut. Greg looked at me in confusion although I bet the surprised look in my eyes said it all...after what he said sunk in, I tried my hardest to hide the blush I felt on my cheeks. "And while you're awake, even more so..." Greg said as he placed a movie on the DVD player and looking at me, smirking at the color of my cheeks. He turned on the A/C unit in the room, closed the door and the curtains, turned off the lights while turning on the huge plasma screen and finally, sitting down next to me. The main screen for The Emperor's New Groove popped up and I smacked Greg with the first cushion I could grab(A/N: there are four in the couch and I LOVE that movie...). "What was that one for?" he asked. "I haven't said anything!"
"Yeah but you know that, that is my fave movie!" I cried as I whacked him with the cushion again.
"So?" Greg asked.
"Nevermind...but if this is one of your antics to try to ask me out, it won't work," I said as I recieved a whack with the last cushion that remained in the couch. I took that and the silence as my answer. "So that's the way it's gonna be?" I asked while smirking in the slightly dark room.
"Nope...I just want you to quiet down..." Greg said as he yanked my cushion away. I just gazed at him in confusion, what the heck was he up to? The movie started and I just couldn't keep my eyes off him...it was just so confusing. Suddenly, he reached out to me and grabbed me by my waist firmly.
"G-Greg?" I said nervously. I then found myself next to him, his arm over my shoulder.
"Just relax..." he whispered in my ear. "Sorry if I scared you," he said softly as I finally relaxed and focused on the movie. After a while, my head found a spot on his shoulder which he didn't mind and if he did, he said nothing of it. Not long after that, his head rested softtly on top of mine during the remainder of the movie. We shared the same hearty laughs throughout, Greg moving slightly closer to me after a while. When the final credits rolled around, we hesitated to get up.
"We gotta get ready for work," I said while finally standing up and stretching.
"Yeah...Grissom wants us in early..." Greg said as he got up and stretched too.
"For a talk?" I asked.
"No..." Greg said with a smile. "He made it clear that he wanted us there early for work..."
"Oh..." I said as I let my voice trail off. "I see..." I said while thinking and at the same time, left the room. I could hear Greg's footsteps as he followed me to head to his room. Once I reached my room, I quickly showered and dressed, dashing downstairs to make something quick for Greg and me. Greg stepped in as I was serving the mac and cheese with chicken.
"Smells nice..." Greg said with a smile.
"Don't start," I said while sitting down.
"You going to take my advice?" he asked as he sat down opposite of me and proceeded to eat.
"Which one?" I asked.
"The one about showing off more of yourself at the lab...I mean, what I see here is just a fraction of the real you...right?"
"Yeah..." I said with a smirk. "Pretty much."
"Come on!" Greg pleaded. "You've seen more than enough of my antics...when can I see more of yours?"
"Around," I said with yet another smirk. "Don't worry...I've got something up my sleeve so you might be able to see something tonight..." I warned with a small smile.
"Really?" he asked. I could tell from the look in his eyes that the possibilities running through his head were endless. I shook my head slightly, unsure of what to say next. I didn't need to though, we ate the rest of the meal in a peaceful, shared silence. After we were done, Greg cleaned the dishes and I picked up everything needed before we headed to the lab for work. Once we got there, Grissom was standing near the front doors, kit at his feet. As soon as he saw my car, he came over and signaled me to roll down my window.
"I need both of you at a scene," he said.
"Just tell us where to...I'll drive," I suggested. "But why me anyway?"
"Everyone's got an assignment except Greg and myself but it being a triple homicide...we need more help on it," Grissom explained.
"Greggo, move to the backseat and let Grissom ride shotgun," I said as I idled the car.
"Right baby," Greg said as he got out and climbed the backseat. Grissom raised a brow at the pet name, obviously asking for an explination.
"Just him and his flirtatious attempts to get me to date him," I explained as I recieved a kick in my seat. "Hey! It's true!" I cried.
"Yeah but you didn't have to put it that way," Greg said, rather annoyed. I turned around slightly to see him smirking as well. Grissom climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up, trying to ignore our argument.
"It's at the Palms, the infamous "Real World Suite", Grissom began as I shifted the car onto reverse.
"Another celeb murder?" I asked, recalling the Tom Hamilton case that flooded the news a few years back.
"Let me guess..." Grissom began. "You followed the Tom Hamilton case?"
"Indeed," I responded while smiling as I shifted the car into drive and headed towards the Palms Hotel. Once we reached the hotel, I handed the keys to a valet and picked up my kit, which I barely touched anyway, Greg picked his and Grissom joined us with his. We entered the hotel with an escort leading us to the suite where we were greeted by Brass. "Hey B," I said with a smile as I surveyed the scene.
"Greetings D," Brass said with a smile. "Three DB's two male and one female."
"Who found them?" I asked before Grissom.
"Housekeeping," Brass answered. "The room was registered to Caroline Anderson..."
"Singer/songwriter," I interjected. "She's also scored minor rolls in kid's movies and done voice talents for cartoon shows..." I kept going. "Let me guess, one male DB is her boyfriend and the other two are high school buddies of hers."
"You're good..." Greg commented under his breath.
"Anyone else stayed in this room with her?" Grissom asked, taking the opportunity that I'd kept my mouth shut.
"Two more girls and her sister, Sophie," Brass said as he pointed out each girl.
"I'll check the girls for any sign of Trace evidence," I said, taking the first thing I could think off.
"Greg," Grissom began. "You photograph the bodies and bag anything," Grissom said as I walked off to the girls. The first order of buisness was the celeb.
Greg
I started to photograph the bodies after getting the time of death from David. After that was done, I looked over to Adri's direction and saw her talking to the rising star and swabbing her hands for any probable evidence. There was something about her that gave off this comforting vibe that assures people that she knew what she was doing, don't we all anyway. I then remembered that I had a job to do and proceeded to process the scene.
"Hey Greggy," I heard Adri's voice say as she joined me. I looked at her in confusion, I mean...where did 'Greggy' come from? "Think of it as payback for calling me 'baby' in front of Grissom," she said with a small smile. "Let's get to work...there's a lot of evidence I'm going to have to sort through on my own, DNA wise of course..." she said as she bent down and examined the scene.
"Anything on the girls?" I asked, taking a photograph of the blood pattern on the floor.
"That looks like arterial spatter..." Adri said as she examined the pattern. "And I found blood on Caroline's shirt and blood in the sandals of the BFF," Adri said as she swabbed a sample of the blood on the floor. I noticed that her hair was up with a blue butterfly clip and a stray bang framed her face delicately. "You should be careful..."
"Why's that?" I asked while moving on to another area of the room.
"This girl is going to hire the celeb lawyer...Marjorie I think her name was..."
"So?"
"She digs deep...she could find out how you failed your first proficiency which I might add, was real stupid of you..." Adri said as she picked up her kit and went to examine the bathroom.
"Hey!" I cried, trying to get her attention but to no avail. She then exited the bathroom, no bags in hand.
"Clean! There's no towels, no paper, no blood on the drain and the worst part...no bleach either..." Adri said while shaking her head. "I'll be right back," she said while taking her kit with her and walking out into the hall.
"Where's she off to?" asked Grissom as he came back from recovering the security tapes.
"Probably the supply closet or something like that," I said as I logged another piece of evidence.
"Got it!" we heard Adri's voice cry from the distance. "Party! Not really...but Hallelujah!" Adri cried as she did the 'Running Man' in the recieving hall, far from the yellow tape. She then relaxed and walked back into the suite. "I know that wasn't proper CSI 2 behavior but I haven't been out on the field for nearly a year...I just had to celabrate. And yes, I know that it could bite me in the ass in court..."
"I guess it's no use scolding you then," Grissom stated.
"Right," Adri said with a smile. I couldn't help but admire it for just a moment. "Need any help Greg?" she asked while turning to me.
"Nope..." I said while smiling.
"You should begin to process DNA," Grissom said as he handed Adri bags of evidence for her to take.
"Right..." Adri said while trying to keep the evidence together. "Could you call someone to pick me up?"
"Sure thing," Grissom said as he picked up his cell phone and called someone. "Archie is on his way, he was the only one available..." he said as he hung up.
"No prob Griss..." Adri said while smiling. "We're good pals..." she finished saying as she placed the evidence bags in one comfortable corner of the scene. She then helped me collecting more evidence until Archie called her cell and she asked him to come up to help her get the evidence to his car.
"Hey guys," Archie said as he came in.
"Hey Arch..." Adri said while smiling at said person. "This is the evidence we need to get to the lab ASAP...I wouldn't want that celeb lawyer badgering me..."
"Right," Archie said as he picked up some of the bags. Adri picked up the rest and left her kit and car keys under my care.
"Just don't crash the car!" Adri cried as she left. "I'm getting it customized next week!"
"Like I'd do that..." I said to nobody in particular.
"Heard that!" Adri's voice cried.
"I don't know how she does it..." I said as I helped out Grissom checking out the rest of the suite. We headed back to the lab a few hours later and recieved all the primary results. The next evening, Grissom, Adri and I were having dinner together talking about the case.
"We've got pretrials in 36 hours..." Grissom told us.
"But I'm not even halfway through the evidence..." Adri said, nearly whining.
"Call in Mia from day's to help then, but it's just us three for the time being," Grissom said while taking a bite of his dinner.
"Grissom...this is too much to ask from her...last week she pulled four days in a row..." I said, defending her.
"Do you remember all the measures Marjorie took in the Hamilton case?" Grissom asked.
"Oh crap...not that again..." Adri said while sighing. "Let me guess...Gerard is the forensics expert..."
"Right again..." Grissom said while looking up at the door. Grissom's mentor, Phillip Gerard stepped in.
"Greetings Grissom, Sanders and..." Gerard began as he came in and eyed Adri in confusion.
"Carrasquillo," Adri said after swallowing. "DNA technician in replacement of Mia," she said while getting up and extending her hand at him. He took it and shook it while thinking of something. "It's an honor..."
"Are you related by any chance to Eduardo Carrasquillo?" he asked Adri after shaking her hand.
"Yes," Adri responded. "He's my grandfather," she finished saying as she sat back down.
"Say 'Hello' to him for me will you?" Gerard finished saying as he focused on Grissom.
"If you'll excuse me," Adri began as she began to clean up her dinner. "I have evidence to analize and I've got a deadline...I'll page you as soon as I get any leads Grissom..." Adri finished saying as she threw away her the containers her food came in, washed and dried her hands before leaving the room, her long hair flowing freely behind her.
"She has determination...but are you sure that it's safe for her to have her hair at that length?" Gerard question as soon as Adri was out of an earshot.
"She always picks up her hair before putting her gloves to work on the procedures," Grissom answered for me. "Either that, or she does it here when she has the hair clip or rubber band nearby."
"How would you know this?" Gerard asked.
"Mere observation..." Grissom responded with a smile. I just kept my mouth shut...I didn't want to be put on the spotlight.
"Grissom," I began as I began to pick up my dirty containers. "I'm going to see if Adriana needs any help in DNA. I think it's better than having to call Mia at this hour," I said as I threw the remainders of my meal away and washed my hands.
"I think you should take a look at the survaillance tapes instead," Grissom said while pointing in the direction of the AV Lab. "You can help Adriana, if she needs it, after you take a look at them."
"All right boss," I said while leaving. "Later," I finished saying while quickly made my way to the AV room.
"Grissom didn't let you help Adri, right?" Archie said as I came in.
"Yeah..." I said while looking at the monitor. "What have you got here?"
"Aside from Adri having a good time celabrating the blood she found...nothing that suspicious...check it out," Archie said as he played the clip. "There's the first happy couple, both deceased, and there's celeb girl with her boyfriend."
"Hold on..." I said as I took a closer look. "Adri's ability hasn't rubbed off on me yet..."
"You hope it does?"
"Maybe. But can you zoom in on the BFF's face?" I asked.
"Sure..." Archie said as he did as I asked.
"She looks jealous..." Adri said as she came in.
"Oh, hey Dri," Archie said with a smile. I looked up and smiled at her as my greeting. I looked back at the girl and Adri was right...
"She does look jealous..." I said in agreement. "We've got motive for her then..."
"Yeah...but I need help in DNA," Adri said while wiping some sweat off her upper lip. "I'm running around doing all the samples of our case and Cath's been ganging up on me for the DNA comparison she needs for her case."
"And you're exahusted?" I asked, recieving a small nodd in response.
"Just a little..." she said softly. "I can't believe that I came back to work a couple of days in a row again..."
"Me either..." I said while looking back at the monitor for a moment. This was a hard decision...I could either disobey Grissom and lend Adri a hand or follow Grissom's orders and not help.
"You can't, can you?" Adri asked as she scanned my eyes.
"Grissom sent me here..." I explained, hoping that she wouldn't be mad at me.
"It's all right...just come over and help as soon as you're done here...I need the extra pair of hands..." Adri said while leaving.
"You like her?" Archie asked while nudging me.
"No! Wait...in what way?" I asked. "Hold on! Why are you even asking?" I asked. Archie laughed at my answer and focused on the monitors in the room.
"No reason in particular..." Archie said. "But, do you?"
"I'm not going to answer that..." I answered. Frankly, I don't know myself either...not yet anyway...
I kinda liked this ending...I mean, it triggers Greg into really think about what he feels...I'd love to recieve a review for you guys... anyway, later!
Up next: I'm not a genius...