Disclaimer: They're not mine
Rating: T or PG-13 for language and violence
Summary: It's 2am. The doorbell rings. A baby is crying. What are you going to do? W/S with GCR moments and a major case
I'm so glad that's over and done with (Chapters 3-5). This is the chapter I was waiting for and I hope it very much does not disappoint. This is where things start to really kick off and I hope, I really hope, this will be what hooks you, if anything at all.
And here is another plea for people who enjoy creative writing to join the Live Journal Community, write impulsive (with an underscore between the words). More details in profile.
Enough about that though, thanks to those who offered more wonderful reviews for the very slow and very dull Chapter Five. That's to icklebitodd (you really will get to read it, I promise – all in good time!), Ladybug07, Veronica10 (Ouch, you sound like you know about it all too well. I'll stick in some projectile vomiting especially for you, V10), Megara1, katie, Review1234 (where is your epic email!), cherishedcrush, MissyJane and JennCorinthos. I won't delay anymore. More feedback would be fantastic. Thank you all very much. Enjoy! Love LJ xXx
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Wake The Hope. Chapter Six. Rockabye
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"Somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning,
That without listening, speaking no longer heals,
That without distance, closeness cannot cure"
HENRI NOUWEN
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Both Sara and Nick look up from their own paperwork automatically when the computer bleeps its modest announcement that it'd found a match to the partial palm print. Within the second they are standing in front of it, eagerly looking to see who their first lead on the triple homicide could be.
"Carson Emery," Nick reads. "Convicted of a DUI back in '94."
Sara taps at the screen with a finger. "Last known address is in the same building as Susanna Jacques." Nick nods at her.
"Let's go then," he gets to his feet as Sara's watch beeps.
"Shift's over," she comments. "Get Greg or Cath or Warrick – not me."
"Hey!" Nick protests. "What, so you don't pull overtime anymore? The lab's gonna fall apart! You mean I actually have to stay and fill the others in?" Sara grins.
"No, I don't do overtime anymore, Nicky." she smirked. "I've got a baby waiting for me at home – what've you got?"
"A beer?" he offers lamely. Sara laughs.
"Nice try." Sara is already half-way out the door. "See you tomorrow!"
Nick shakes his head, grumbling slightly as Sara heads down the hall.
-
"So I hear you pulled a print from a third scene," Warrick calls to Sara's retreating back in the parking lot as he jumps out of his car, his shift was only just starting. Sara turns at the sound of his voice and smiles.
"Yep – we just got a hit on AFIS," she answers. "Nick'll fill you in – I'm off."
"Wait – wait!" he takes her hand. "You might want this..." He opens his car door to show Nate strapped into his baby seat in the passenger seat. "I hoped I'd catch you before you left – Cath had to head home and change before her shift. She and I finished up baby-proofing your apartment." Sara looks at him in disbelief.
"Wow – thank you," she hugs him and lifts Nate out of the seat. "I mean it – thank you."
Warrick shrugs shyly. "It's no problem." Pausing, he catches a glimpse of themselves in the tinted Tahoe windows: himself holding open the car door, his hand unconsciously moving to her back as Sara lifts little baby Nate out.
"Come round when you finish your shift," she proposes suddenly. "I'll make you dinner or breakfast or whatever."
"I might finish at some ungodly hour," he warns her. "I don't want to wake you up."
"Huh – I'll probably be up anyway thanks to Nate," she says with a laugh, smiling fondly at the sleepy baby. Warrick grins.
"Okay, we'll see."
-
Carson Emery looks from Catherine to Brass. Each one wears a cynical expression and Carson rolls his eyes.
"This is crazy. You don't believe me, do you?" he asks. "I'm not kidding; I stopped outside her door at about 12.30 last night to tie my shoe before I went in to work. Are you phoning my boss? He'll tell you; I was in there by quarter to 1 and didn't get out until 9am this morning."
Nick, out in the hall, hangs up his cell phone and goes back into the interrogation room.
"His story checks out," he says with a shrug.
"Thank you!" Carson replies with exasperated sarcasm. "Can I go now?"
"Did you see anything on your way out?" Catherine presses. "Anyone going into the building?"
Carson squints at the wall opposite, thinking. "Yeah...yeah I did," he remembers slowly. "Yeah someone in the building ordered a pizza I think – there was a pizza boy bringing in a delivery – I passed him on the stairs..."
"Pizza delivery, huh?" Nick raises his eyebrows at Catherine and, on leaving, mutters out of the corner of his mouth, "I told you it was pizza."
-
Catherine and Warrick step out of her Denali into the bustling street. It's well into a typical Las Vegas Friday night and they wade their way through crowds of people moving across the sidewalk to reach the pizza place they'd been directed at.
"An order to 3014 East Sahara Blvd?" the manager flips through an order book, running his finger down the list of names and orders. "Yeah, here we go: placed at 12:20 last night. Delivery boy was Lyle Woodstock."
"Is Lyle working tonight?" Warrick asks, leaning over the counter.
The manager shakes his head. "No, he's off tonight. Back on Monday."
"Well can we get a home address for Lyle?" Catherine furthers.
"Sure." He pulls out another book and scans it quickly before scribbling down an address onto a piece of paper. "There."
He hands it to Catherine with a smile. She nods a thanks and the pair of them head back to the car. At least they had some kind of lead.
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At quarter to two in the morning, Nate Avery's crying rips through the apartment and blasts out of the baby monitor now dominating Sara's nightstand. With a groan, Sara rolls out of bed for the second time that night and stumbles to his room.
"What's wrong now, baby Nate?" she murmurs, picking him out of the crib. "Or do you just enjoy dragging me out of bed?" Nate goes on wailing, not amused.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Sara rocks him gently. "It's not funny, I know. You hungry, baby Nate?" She wanders out to the kitchen as he cries over her shoulder.
-
Catherine folds the slip of paper up and puts it in her pocket.
"We probably won't be able to get onto this until tomorrow morning," she says, unbuckling her seatbelt and turning to Warrick. "If you want to head home now and come in early tomorrow instead, that'd be alright. I'll write this up."
"You sure?" Warrick asks. "Don't you want to get home to Lindsey?"
"She's at a friend's 12th birthday sleepover for tonight," Catherine replies before adding with a wry smile: "I think it's better I stay at the lab anyway – if I'm at home I'll be too tempted to call her and see how she is. I'll only embarrass her – she'll never forgive me."
Warrick grins and gets out of the car. "Ah well, okay then. Goodnight Cath."
He sits a while in his own car as Catherine disappears into the lab and wonders if it's too early or late to take up Sara on her invitation.
-
Sara glances at the watch around her wrist sleepily and yawns as Nate does not ease off on the crying.
"I know, I know – it's okay, baby," she soothes and sticks a bottle of milk into the microwave. "It'll just be a second, Nate, I promise."
She leans against the kitchen worktop in her nightwear shorts and vest-top, gently bouncing him to try and calm him down as the microwave makes it slow, whirring progress. Nate just goes on crying as Sara yawns again and tries to stay awake. The microwave pings just as the doorbell goes. Sara sighs and rolls her eyes – as much as she'd love to see Warrick anytime of day, she doubts she's looking very presentable being so sleep-deprived.
"Shh...it's alright, Nate – here you go," she grabs the bottle from the microwave and offers it to the baby, hoping he'll quieten as she opens the door.
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After a moment's debate, Warrick starts up his car and drives it out of the parking lot. She'd said it'd be alright for him to go round at any time but he can't help but worry she might think he was coming on too strong or something.
Wait. Too strong? He shakes his head. All she sees in him is a friend – just like Nick who fitted the baby-proofing stuff, like Greg who brought round a bunch of baby toys and clothes from various generous members of his family, like Catherine who rummaged through boxes to find Lindsey's old baby stuff, like Grissom who provided, as ever, a load of childcare-related reading material.
So what exactly was his problem? He was reading far too much into all of this. It was just the way they seemed together – it was like glimpsing a place in life he thought he might be happy to live forever in. But that was just him. Wasn't it?
-
"Sorry about all this," Sara begins, raising her voice over Nate's wailing.
It's then that she looks up and sees that it isn't Warrick in the hall.
It's then that she's knocked to the ground, clutching tightly onto Nate.
Sara doesn't even have time to yell out before a gloved hand covers her lips forcefully. She scrambles further into her apartment, managing to put Nate safely onto the couch before another strong gloved hand grabs her ankle and drags her back, kicking shut her front door.
It's then that, lying against the cold hard floor, she realises that Nate's actually stopped crying a while ago and is contentedly sucking on his bottle.
A shrill baby's cry still echoes in her ears until the man holding a blade to her throat calmly shuts off the recorder and turns to her with purpose.
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