A rather average chapter. I'm happy with it although I'm not too sure about it...I'd also like to apologize for the long time between updates but I had a small pile of photocopies to read(all boring plays) and two tests in the interval. Anyway, before the chapter, I'd like to thank csi-sam-sanders and Shelbers for reviewing. Okay...now onto the chapter!

Don't own CSI...just so you know...I only own Adri...

Chapter 13
I'm not a Genius...
Adriana

God! This was getting out of hand! So much evidence! So little time! I paced around DNA, trying to think of a way to get Gerard out of my hair. I just know that he asked Grissom about my hair, and I know that Grissom's now curious as to how I didn't mention who my grandfather was and I know that he's also going to ask why I lied...

"Adri?" asked Grissom as he came in.

"What is it?" I asked, already expecting it.

"Why didn't you mention who your grandfather was?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I thought you'd recongize the last name when we met, when you didn't I just mentioned etnomology to see if it triggered anything...when nothing happened, I just, dropped the subject," I explained. "Where's Gerard anyway?"

"Left for a while, promising to come back later but don't change the subject."

"Yes," I said finally. "I am your old friend's granddaughter..." Grissom's eyes widened a little and became speechless for the first time since I've worked for him. His eyes widened and I just nodded. He tried to say something but once he realized that he couldn't speak, he nodded and left me alone.

"What was that about?" Greg asked as he came in.

"Grissom speak for 'You've grown up too much'," I explained while trying to contain my laughter.

"Oh...he remembers you now?" Greg commented, reflecting on the conversation we had a few weeks back.

"Yep," I said while letting out a laugh. "What brings you here anyway?"

"Thought you might want to know," Greg began as he sat down in the extra chair I keep in DNA. "Both girls look jealous. Only celeb girl and the deceased one look happy. That gives us possible motive and it helps clear out celeb girl, but we still need more."

"Yeah...what did Al say?"

"Blunt force trauma on the female although she had various minor cuts along her arms and abdomen. Her boyfriend however..."

"Bled out," I interjected, causing him to smile.

"How'd you know?" he asked.

"Well Sanders," I began. "That's the advantage of being a techie...the arterial spatter is a match to him."

"Okay...then how did the other one die?"

"Blunt force trauma although he sustained various bruises from a beating that was premortum," I answered, shutting Greg up. "Which completely surprises me since he's incredibly tall and well built while the girls are rather gangly..."

"I noticed..." Greg said while letting out a sigh. "But have you taken a break?"

"No time..." I began. "This has been horrible..."

"Let me take over..." Greg offered while showing half of his trademark smile.

"Fine," I said while giving in. I really need to take a break...but I don't need to learn when to say no, thank goodness. "Just don't mess anything up."

"No prob," he said while slipping on the latex gloves and got to work. I left, hoping that I was doing the right thing although, my instincs told me that I had. I went to the break room and sat down on the nearest chair while taking in a deep breath.

"You look horrible," Warrick commented as he came in.

"Thanks..." I said while making a face. He laughed and sat down across from me in the table, mug of coffee in his hands.

"How's the case been treating you?" he asked, wondering about my field experience. I could evidently see it in his eyes. "Man it's horrible..." I said while burrying my face in my hands. "I mean, I have no idea what else to do and Greg's running comparisons on the suspects..."

"Got a match to celeb girl!" Greg cried as he came in, looking rather confused. "Grissom found the murder weapon and Jackie's checking it for prints."

"That's good..." I said while taking a deep breath. "We're moving at a good speed then...one thing, did you compare the DNA samples to the other girls to clear them out?"

"Eh...nope..." Greg said as he thought about it.

"You dunce!" I cried without thinking. "This is going to bite my ass in court!"

"Thought you..."

"I happen to like that one..." I interjected. "Thank God Gerard left for a while!" I cried while running off to DNA. Greg was thoughtful on the field but he tended to forget the basic things of DNA...and he was an ex-techie...

Greg

"You forgot to do that?" Warrick asked me as I sat down.

"Yep..." I said while mentally slapping myself. "How could I have been so forgetful?"

"Keep quiet man," Warrick warned me. "You wouldn't want Gerard to hear you..."

"Right," I said while looking at the print out. "I'll try and keep quiet..."

"Good," Warrick said while getting up. "Later man."

"Later," I said as Warrick left. At that, Grissom stepped in.

"Sara just finished her case and picked up the results from the print lab. She should be here any moment," he anounced.

"And Gerard?" I asked, confused at his sudden abscence.

"Don't know and don't care..." Grissom said sourly.

"This makes little sense," Sara said as she came in. "The print in the knife doesn't match Caroline, it matches the best friend..."

"The blood on Caroline's shirt is hers..." I added. "But the one on the friend's sandals matches Caroline's boyfriend."

"This is getting wierd...how can the DNA evidence left on the knife match Caroline and not the best friend...was the print planted there?"

"Here," Adri said as she stepped in and gave me a piece of paper. I looked it over and it still made no sense.

"What's that?" Sara asked as she took the paper from my hands. She read it and slammed it down on the table. "This is great...we've been pulling too much work here that this is even more confusing. The DNA sample matches all three!" Sara cried. Grissom looked at us both in turn, trying to piece it together. Sara kept on rambling, and I could distinctly hear a voice trying to grab our attention.

"GUYS!" Adri cried loudly, getting our attention at last. "Thank God I finally got your attention!"

"Can you make sense of this?" Sara cried furiously.

"Yes," Adri answered. "I can make sense of this..." she said softly. "They have identical DNA but different fingerprints..."

"This is no time for riddles..." Sara said while taking in a deep breath.

"What are twins?" I asked, raising an eyebrow...it still didn't make sense though.

"Nope," Grissom said as he took the paper from the table. "'What are triplets?' is the correct answer."

"Indeed," Adri said while smilng.

"Tha-tha-that's...you're a genuis..." Sara said.

"I'm not a genius..." Adri said modestly. "I just know what to think about..." she answered. I laughed and she blushed slightly at that. "I checked birth certificates, all three of the them were born in the same year but I did some further digging..."

"And?" Grissom asked.

"They were put into foster care and separated, their original birth certificates gone..." Adri said while handing Grissom a file.

"Good job Adriana," Grissom complimented.

"Thanks..." she said softly. "Pretrails will be a breeze..." Adri said as she sat down on the chair next to mine and relaxed at last. She was right actually...pretrails were easy and the case is going to court, the best friend and the "little sister" ended up guilty, admiting in the courtroom that they'd done it due to jealousy. We were outside celebrating, Gerard confused at the extraordinary talent Adri had and the determination I had since I moved to field work.

"Congratulations on a job well done you two," Grissom said with a proud smile. "I'll see you at the lab for shift in half an hour..." he finished saying while leaving.

"That doesn't give us much time to celebrate," I said with a small frown.

"How about some Ice Cream?" Adri offered. "My treat obviously," she finished saying.

"Sure," Sara said while smiling.

"No prob..." I said in agreement as we three left the courthouse with wide smiles and pride for what we do. After the dessert treat, we headed for the lab and changed for shift. Assignments had been scarce that night so I volunteered to help Adri out in DNA since she was backed up due to the Caroline case. For brief moments I would stop and take a good look and smile at her, I was smitten...but somehow that doesn't seemt to be the best word to describe it...

"Greggo!" Adri cried, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I said meeting her eyes.

"I'm going to answer my cell outside..." Adri said while leaving. "I'll be back later," she finished saying as she exited the room without letting me talk. After a while I decided to let the computer play random songs from Adri's music library. At one point, I heard one of the Backstreet Boys's songs from their latest CD and thought about changing it... "Greg?" Adri's voice cried out weakly. I turned to see her at the doorway, shaken up and with tears in her eyes. I immediatly extended my hands and she ran to me, embracing me. My arms quickly completed the embrace, questions coming to my mind at all angles.

"What happened?" I asked as I slowly removed the gloves and tossed them to one side, one of my hands working its way through her hair.

"He just called..." Adri said softly. My hold on her increased, the source of her previous pain had come back to haunt her and I could feel my anger and concern rising.

"It's going to be all right..." I whispered while caressing her back gently. "We'll get him..." I reassured her.

"I hope so..." she whispered while crying heavily again. At that, I realized that if I could, I would grab this guy and beat him senseless for the pain he's caused Adri. I mean, why stain the beautiful smile? I could tell that it had been broken so many times before and I don't want it to do so anymore. How could he ignore the physical damage he caused Adri's frail body? She's so wonderful and it pains me to see her in pain. At that last thought, I felt a small smile come to my lips. I looked down at her and finally knew what my feelings towards Adri had begun to shape themselves as...

Adri

I don't know what made me go to Greg for comfort after the phone call...then again, my heart took over after I hung up. I remember stopping by in AV and muttering something before my tears came. Once they did, I just ran to the first person that came to mind...Greg...once I saw his form in DNA, working away, I knew he wouldn't mind. I weakly made my way over, not sure of weather surprising him or calling him. "Greg?" I heard my voice weakly call out...guess the latter choice won on this one. He turned to face me at the sound of my voice. At the sight of my tears, he stretched out his arms, welcoming me into them if I needed them and boy...did I...I ran to him, wrapping my arms around him tightly once I reached him, letting go...

"What happened?" he asked softly as his arms wrapped themselves around me. Pretty soon, I could feel one of his gloveless hands working its way through my hair.

"He just called," I said softly, trying my hardest to not let my voice crack. I could feel his hold on me grow and I found it real hard to believe...

"It's going to be all right..." I could hear him whisper as he gently rubbed my back. "We'll get him..."

"I hope so..." I whispered in return as I burst into tears again. I was so greatful that Greg had known what I needed. I kept crying until my sobs began to subside and were further apart in time. I could feel Greg's hold on me weaken slightly and I looked up to his eyes in confusion.

"Everyone's watching..." he whispered. "Well, all the techies anyway..."

"So?" I asked, then notcining briefly the song that was playing from my computer. 'Safest Place to Hide' by the BSB...was this coincidence? Or does it mean something deeper? "You said that you really didn't care much of what people think about you..." I said while looking away for a moment.

"Yeah..." he began as he tightened his hold on me again. "You got a point...but we should keep working, okay?"

"Yeah..." I said softly. "Thank you," I said with a smile and a blush as we separated from the embrace.

"No problem Adri..." he said while smiling at the blush. I coiuld see small traces of pink on his cheeks as he did this...was he blushing too?

"You serve as a very good teddy bear," I said with a smirk. He laughed as he turned away to work on another sample...or was it to avoid looking at me in the eyes to see the blush darken?

"Yeah..." he said while really working on something. "But I also serve as something else..." he said slyly.

"Don't go there Greg..." I said while leaving the room. "I'm going to talk to Archie for a sec...I need to ask him something..." I said while heading to the AV lab. I don't know what I'm going to do with Greg...he's so adorable and I can't seem to get it out of my head(A/N: anything in italics for the moment means counterthoughts, Adri's having another inner battle)...you like him...nah...I can't like him...why not? He's been real good to you and he wants to be more than a friend to you...take the plunge...no way! I can't! I don't want to lose our friendship...you know you won't lose him...no matter how hard you try...admit it, you really like the guy...nope! I refuse to give in! Me no likey! Of course you do...you just hate to admit it...and you should...before you tear yourself up because you don't want to say it...not true...you know it is...and it's going to happen if you don't admit it to yourself...I don't like him in that way so leave me alone! We're not done here missy! You like Greggory Sanders and you're going to admit it to yourslef wether you like it or not Goddamnit! I turned on my MP3 and placed the earbuds in my ears to shut off my own thoughts...I don't want to think about anyone right now...especially him...

I understand that this ending might be a little confusing...I've tried to make it as clear as possible for you guys...hope you manage to understand it...

I'd love to recieve more reviews...anyway, later people! Until the next one!