Disclaimer: I don't own CSI

A/N: Happy new year, everyone! (a little early, but what the heck)

Warning: Bad English! (I'm no longer taking the classes (I don't need to anymore) so expect it to be worse than it was ;)

Living with a Monster

Chapter 6: Red Bundle

Susanna Thompson was just walking her dog in a late Sunday afternoon. The enormous animal had been so eager to get out; Bob hadn't been walked in a few days because of the rain. She had felt so guilty about the dog's lack of exercise, so the minute it had stopped raining, she decided to walk him to the park. He more or less pulled her all the way to park, where he knew he would get rid of the leach. And if she was honest with herself, she was grateful for the company and the exercise she got. The fresh air kept her more awake the rest of the day, and gave her a break from the reading. Changing profession might just have been the stupidest thing she had ever done. Psychology was only interesting for so long. They only stopped on their way so Susanna could buy herself a cup of coffee. Then, they had continued down to Las Vegas Breeze Park. Bob found a wet stick, and they played fetch for awhile. She threw the slippery stick as far as she could, and the brown dog came drooling back with it. Susanna was slightly distant, planning what she should cook for dinner that day and whether to call her mother or not. They had fought last week, about Susanna's lack of interest in her nieces. She had never had a good relationship with her older brother, so why bother trying to have a relationship with his kids? She was terrible with them anyway.

Bob came back, and bit her blue coat as if he wanted to show her anything. He dragged her over to a set of overgrown bushes, and tried to drag her with him into them. Susanna resisted, not wanting to get wet by crawling on the slushy ground. So instead, she bent down and pushed a few branches away to look at what Bob had found. It was a red bundle. Curiosity made her crawl further into the bush so she could look closer. The bundle was something small, something boney. It was something white dressed in a red skirt and a red sweater. Blonde hair, closed eyes.

Panic spread through her body as every rational thought left her.

Susanna Thompson fell back and got her blue coat covered in mud before she ran away, dragging Bob with her.

Jim Brass and Gil Grissom were already there when Nick came to the scene. This wasn't originally his case, but many of the others had been sent to another big scene. Warrick had told him that he thought the house he, Sara and Cath were processing probably was set on fire intentionally. It had killed four persons, including two kids. He tucked his jacket closer around him. It was beginning to get colder. Nick could se the breath coming from Brass' mouth as he apparently interviewed a witness or something. She could perhaps be a little older than Greg. The woman had big, curly hair and wore a blue coat covered in mud, and she clutched a dog's leach. The dog was sitting patiently beside her.

"…She could have been about seven. Maybe six, I don't really know. I didn't see her that clearly," the woman answered Brass. He nodded and scribbled something down in a notebook. The girl wiped away a tear rolling down her cheek "I was just walking Bob, I never expected anything like this to happen," she said, trying to choke a sob. It didn't work, and Brass did everything in his power to calm his witness down without showing his real irritation. He wanted to be over with this as soon as possible, and the woman the now hysterical woman was slowing him down.

Nick clutched his kit harder, and prepared himself for what he was going to see. He had been called in from his night off, and he ended up with something like this. A murder of a child was always worst case scenario for any CSI. Grissom saw him coming, and approached him. "Thanks for coming in, Nick," he said, "she's in the bushes over there." And he kept walking past Nick towards the patrol cars.

"Where are you going, Griss?"

"I'm the park's gardener for a day!"

Greg was genially surprised. Julian actually listened to what he had to say. No, Greg wasn't just surprised; he was amazed by how patient the other man was while he laid out about his and Nick's troubles, and how much of a jerk Nick was. He just sat there, on the edge of an awful pink chair that looked like it was supposed to be purple. The two of them were sitting in Jimmy and Julian's lounge, alone. Jimmy was out shopping wedding stuff and baby stuff. Greg was happy for that. Julian's boyfriend still hadn't grown on him yet. The wallpaper behind them was purple. Julian wore an orange striped turtleneck, which made him look very much like a gold fish. On the glass table in front of them was a stack of pictures of a baby, wedding decorations, different looking invitations, an open bottle of port, two wineglasses and a box of chocolate. Apparently, the two lovebirds had been discussing the wedding, and finally agreed to buy some of the stuff. Greg had already poured down more port than he could handle without being too honest, so he had told his old buddy everything. How unfair Nick was, what Nick had done to him, what he had done to Nick, everything. He had just simply poured the last days' sorrow and despair out for another guy. And the more port he got, the easier it was to tell his sad sobbing tale. It felt good. He felt relaxed. He felt happy. He felt very honest.

Silence fell between them as Greg finished. "My grandmother drinks port," he said. He had thought of that all day, that he only knew people in their eighties that drank port. But he hadn't dared say anything before.

Julian chuckled. Other people had probably commented on the same thing before. "Yeah, I know. But as you know, I have no dignity left, so I can drink port too, without it hurting my reputation. Si I guess it doesn't really matter anymore," Julian said. They both busted out in a laughing fit. And when it had calmed down a bit, Julian began babbling about everything and nothing as he usually did.

It felt so good, just sitting there in Julian's apartment without a worry in the world. All his despair, anger and confusion had disappeared. At least for a little while, and for that, he was thankful. Greg had found the solution of his problem. He hoped so. If only Nick would listen to him. Maybe. But it wouldn't solve it completely, but maybe it would… stifle their fights a bit. He took another look at the items standing on the table. Julian's couch was too soft to resist, so he sank deeper into it and let Julian continue his high pitched monologue.

It was exhausting, processing the body of a six year old girl. It hadn't taken long to do it out in the park, they couldn't find much. Even the bushes Grissom had cut down didn't lead to anything. Doc Robbins did the autopsy, and he watched. Both of them determined not to look over anything that could pinpoint anything at all. There were no joking or weird comments as it usually was when they cut up a victim. The girl had been strangulated. Some person had choked a six year old girl to death. How anyone could do that was beyond him.

Nick knew he was going to have trouble sleeping that night. He always had when he worked cases like this one. Usually, when he met new people and they learned what he did for a living, almost every one of them asked him the same question: how did he get rid of the horrid images of the bodies when he got home? But it wasn't usually the images that tormented Nick's memory. Of course, the graphic pictures and scenes they saw and processed had been a problem for him in the beginning, but then everything had been overwhelming. Once, when he still had been a rookie he had seen the body of a woman chopped up in pieces in a garbage bag. Her name was once Lisa Grey. She was killed by her schizophrenic husband. When they had found their apartment he was sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth. He was chewing on a bit of his wife. He hadn't almost slept for a week after that. But now, it was the smell that bothered him. The sensation of having the smell of rotting flesh up his nose was not he easily forgot. Nick still thought of specific crime scenes when he smelled bleach or hydrochloric acid. But also feeling different textures were hard to forget. The sticky feeling of coagulated blood in a victim's hair or the soft feeling of a woman's underwear.

But this was different.

She was a child.

David had estimated the TOD about one hour after the CSI's got to the scene. Rigor mortis hadn't set in, and her liver temperature hadn't lowered more than a few degrees. She had well placed bruises, and they were many. Bruises around her wrists, her hips, face. The worst ones were around her neck, clearly sowing how big the hands that had killed her were. They were ore or less all over her body. She was underweight for her height and age, and hadn't eaten in a few days. Dehydration had also been a problem for her before she died. Dizzy spells and nausea was probably some of the effects of not having any water for so long. But the worst of the whole autopsy was the rape kit. Nick didn't even want to know how many times the guy had forced himself into her, touched her, and done everything he shouldn't do. The girl must have been so confused and scared. Nick shuddered.

Greg wasn't at home when he finally came back from work. Not that he was surprised. Nick knew he shouldn't have reacted the way he did. Of course Greg wanted to get out in the field. He had seen plenty of times what his boyfriend did every shift, and to Nick, it looked awfully boring. And for someone as vigorous as him, that must be excruciating. And, in the end, it was Greg's decision, not his.

Nick went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer. A door opened as he opened a can of beer and turned. Greg stood in the doorway. He looked nervous, and was fully dressed as if he was going to leave any moment.

"I… I've been thinking, Nick," he said to the floor. Nick wasn't able to move. What was he supposed to do? But he didn't get a chance before Greg's eyes met his, and instantly Nick knew Greg wasn't joking when Greg spoke up again.

"I think we should adopt a kid."

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Thanks to all those who reviewed my last chapter: crzywhtgrl, oONatsuOo, cameragirl, happyharper13, Lithien, sasukesmyemo394, xdannyx, Cassius, ned56allsatar, Cassius (again! And no, i don't mind at all ;-D) Dark Angel Kira, stacy and MiaCasey16!

And ooops, almost forgot something! Have to thank those who put me on their fav/alert lists!