The reviews for the previous chapters have been awesome, and thespoon thanks everyone for not hating on her. On another note, the puppies are here. Sorry, just excited and had to get that out there. So here's another chapter to put several of you at ease on how they are taking Jason's death.

Big thanks to Just Thinking for her great beta work on this entire story. And to thegreatbluespoon, in less than a week you'll be here in Texas and we can only hope the world won't end upon your arrival.

Teens & Tribulations

Chapter 31

The first things that moved were his eyelids. They ever so slowly tried to open as his eyes forced themselves to focus on his surroundings. Blinking rapidly was the first indication that everything was a blur, he was sure the rest of his body could follow. His arms felt like they were weighed down by anchors and his legs as if they were cast in concrete. The creaking in his neck was heard only by him as it turned his scotch drowned head. It was then he saw her.

Sara was sitting in the recliner, her legs drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees holding them in place, but it was her eyes that did the most damage to him. They were dark, cold lasers that pierced his soul.

"How dare you?"

He didn't need to hear her speak to know she was upset with him. Grissom let out a pained moan and attempted to sit up. After several tries, he managed a sitting position, instantly dropping his pounding head into his hands. "What time is it?" Cotton mouth was hell as he tried to speak. It felt as if he was regurgitating sandpaper.

Sara continued to stare at him, but did answer. "It's six. You've been passed out for the past eight hours." She tilted her head to see if he was even receiving the information she was giving him. "Why are you asking? Are you going to run away to the lab?"

Grissom lifted his heavy head to look at her. "No."

"Surprise, surprise."

"What do you want from me? Our son was just killed. What did you expect me to do, just keep walking around and pretend that everything was alright? Well it's not alright…" He sat up straight and placed his palms to his chest, "…this is not alright."

Sara looked away as fresh tears began to form. Grissom sighed and knew that there wasn't enough alcohol in the world to kill the pain in his chest. With what little energy he had, Grissom moved to the floor and by way of his hands and knees, crawled the short distance to Sara.

"Sara…" Grissom raised his hands to her face, turning it so he could look into her eyes. "I'm sorry. We'll get through this."

That was all it took before sobs rocked her body. He pulled her to join him on the floor. She allowed his arms to take her in and give her the strong reassurance she was craving.

He held her for what seemed like an hour, but it was his pounding head that forced words from his mouth. "Do we have any aspirin?"

Sara nodded against him and stood . He watched as she disappeared down the hall, emerged to walk into the kitchen, and return with three pills and a glass of water. "Here."

"Three?"

"Trust me."

Grissom popped the pills in his mouth and swallowed them drinking the entire glass of water.

She took the empty glass. "I'm going to start dinner."

He just gave her a half smile and watched her leave. Trying not to think of how the past twenty four hours had turned his world upside down. With a grunt Grissom pulled himself to his feet. There were three paths before him: he could take the kitchen, the stairs, or the hallway. He chose door number two.

The fifteen stairs were agony as he gripped the railing to pull himself up. Once to the top, he started down the short hall. Kassie's room was first. He knocked and slowly opened the door, but it was empty. Grissom dropped his head and continued to the next door. He stopped before entering as the posted sign brought a smile to his face.

'QUIET: Genius at Work'

Grissom opened the door and walked in. Even as the evening sun shown, the room was dark. Jason had hung a dark sheet over the window the first day he and Kassie had moved in. It was something Grissom thought would pass once he had settled in, but the sheet never came down. Jason was a creature of habit as much as Grissom was. He had spent most of his life in the dark, and even though was free from the darkness, chose to reside in it.

As he looked around the cold room, Grissom saw so much of himself in the room. One wall held the shelves he and Jason had hung to display his small specimen collection. Next to the shelves was a desk. He moved to sit in the chair. Several papers laid about, the computer screen saver rotated between pictures of baseball and Kassie and himself. Grissom swallowed and large lump as he remembered the day they moved the kids things into their home. He moved the mouse on the desk. The screen saver disappeared and several items were still up on the desktop. The last things Jason was working on before he was taken.

Grissom clicked the word document that was minimized.

Lindsey,

I hope you know that I care about you a great deal, but I have something on my conscious that I need to rid myself of. While on vacation I was, I guess you could say unfaithful to you. It was never my intention to do such a thing, and I don't know what got into me. I'm sure you will be mad at me, who could blame you. I'm mad at myself. Maybe after things cool down and we're back in school, you could find it in your heart to forgive me. You're the first girl I've really had the privilege of getting to know, and I am hoping you would do me honor of being my escort to the homecoming dance in October.

You're a marvelous person, and my heart is on a platter for you to take or break.

Jason

The wetness flowing down his face was minor compared to the pride he was feeling. His son was taking responsibility for his actions as a teenager, and he could only imagine what he would have been like as a man. Always being honest with his wife and children.

He closed the document and clicked on the next icon; a compiled list of colleges that had the best baseball programs and were academically sound. A smile slowly formed across Grissom's face as he read. Jason sometimes was like the average teen, but deep down was so mature for his age.

Grissom shut down the computer and left the room with a soft click of the door. He turned and came face to face with a broken hearted six year old squeezing a killer whale. They only stared for a minute before Grissom extended his arms. Kassie walked to him as he bent down to pick her up. His back, arms, and legs screamed in protest, but he didn't care as he lifted her up. She held onto the whale as her arms wrapped around him. Grissom softly squeezed her and carried her to the stairs. "Come on, Mom's making dinner."

They made their way down stairs and into the dining room. Grissom set Kassie down in her usual spot. He looked at the plates on the table. Sara had set the table for four. He picked one plate up and returned to the kitchen.

Sara saw him return a plate to the shelf and immediately knew she had set a place for Jason. She stopped what she was doing as her body began to sob again. Grissom was behind her instantly and wrapped his arms around her for support. He silently calmed her and she assured him she was fine once again. After fixing a drink for Kassie, Grissom retrieved Sydney and brought her to the table as well.

It was quiet as they ate. The occasional ping of the silverware on the plates was all the conversation that was carried out. Once they finished dinner, Sara took a shower with Sydney, as Kassie helped Grissom clean up. The silence that settled in the house was too much, and Grissom went to turn on the stereo.

He picked up the remote and pushed the power button. The sound that flowed from the speakers was nothing he or Sara would listen to. Process of elimination, Jason was the last one listening to the stereo. Grissom let the CD play on as he and Kassie settled into the couch.

Grissom turned to Kassie. "Do you want to color with me?"

She nodded and scooted to the floor, as he pulled a few of her coloring books and the box of crayons to the floor. The music played on as they added color to the black and white pages.

Sara joined them minus Sydney. "Kassie, it's time for your bath."

Kassie stood and hugged Grissom who said, "Thanks for coloring with me."

"You're welcome Daddy."

She followed Sara upstairs leaving Grissom sitting alone. After sitting on the floor for a few additional minutes, Grissom made his way into the kitchen. A weak smile grew on his face once he found what he was looking for. The half empty bottle of scotch greeted him, and just when he thought his demons would take over, Grissom twisted off the cap and poured the remainder of the amber liquid down the drain. He tossed the bottle and went to take a shower himself.

It was a good thing Sara and Grissom had a king sized bed. Sara lay on her side, Grissom on his, in the middle was Kassie and Sydney. It was their first night at home without Jason, and no one wanted to be alone. Kassie snuggled up close to Grissom, Sara was on her side looking towards Grissom as Sydney lay next to her.

By midnight the girls were sleeping, Sara only had her eyes closed, she was far from sleep. Grissom continued to stare at the ceiling. Occasionally he turned his head to glance at her. She would crack a smile knowing he was looking at her, before opening her eyes to look back. Sara could tell there was a question burning in his mind.

She didn't have a question, only a request, that her family stay safe and sound.

He turned his head back to the ceiling. "I'm thinking about calling Al."

Sara sighed, "Gil, why?"

Grissom just continued to stare up. He really didn't know why, or even why he had said it. It was just the investigator deep down that wanted to know why his son died on the operating table.

He never answered Sara as they continued to lay silently in their bed with the girls. It only took another two hours before Grissom gently pried himself free of Kassie and stood up from the bed. Sara watched as he quickly dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt.

"Where are you going?" Sara whispered making every attempt to not wake the sleeping girls.

Grissom turned to face her. "A drive."

"You're going to the lab aren't you?" She questioned right back and it stopped him dead in his tracks. "Thought so."

He never looked at her, but only paused just long enough to indicate to her that she was right. Sara closed her eyes, not to go to sleep, but just so she didn't have to watch him leave.

Grissom made his way silently to the garage, climbed into his truck and took off. At first he didn't know where he was going, he just let the truck take him away. Vegas was alive and well at two in the morning. He just continued to drive, until he made it to an intersection he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He pulled the truck to the curb and killed the motor. Grissom sat with the window rolled down and took in his surroundings. The smell of gasoline still lingered in the air even a day later. Black marks on the pavement fresher than ever, glass was still making the ground sparkle. Without getting out Grissom continued to look around; he could tell by the directionality of the skid marks, one vehicle ran the stop sign, the other had the right away. Which he didn't know, but now he needed to find out who was in the wrong, and brought his son's life to a tragic end.

With a turn of the key, the truck came to life again and Grissom began driving. He took several off turns but unconsciously ended up and the rear of the Las Vegas Crime Lab building. Once again he shut off the truck, only this time he climbed out, he needed to know.

Dr. Robbins was performing a routine autopsy on a trick roll that had happened earlier that night when the rear double door opened that was normally used by David. He looked up and Grissom walked through.

"Gil."

Grissom didn't even acknowledge Robbins as he began to scan over the ID's on the stainless steel drawers. Robbins knew exactly who he was looking for, and moved as quickly as he could to the label Grissom was looking for. Grissom saw this and moved to his side.

"Gil, this is not a place to say goodbye." Robbins held his ground and tried to fend off his friend.

Grissom retaliated, "I just need to know."

He didn't need to say any more, Robbins knew what he was wanting. With a sigh he reluctantly told him. "Gil, the impact was severe. Jason suffered massive internal bleeding." Robbins paused to evaluate Grissom, he wanted to know if what he was saying wasn't being heard by deaf ears.

"Continue."

"His spleen and liver were practically crushed beyond recognition, Gil, are you sure you want to hear this?"

Grissom looked up at his bearded friend, and let his eyes do the talking.

Robbins cleared his throat and continued. "Gil, there's not a surgeon in the world that could have saved him." He finished with his voice low, hoping that it would give him some closure.

A heavy sigh was released from Grissom as he continued to stare at the front of the drawer that contained his son. "I want to see him."

"Gil…"

"Please Al just… let me see my son."

Several seconds ticked by as if they were minutes. Finally Robbins sighed and opened the door. His eyes looked back to Grissom, just to double check it's what he wanted. He pulled out the table and pulled back the white sheet only to the shoulders.

Grissom fought the tears that were tugging at him but it was no use. At the sight of his teenage son laying cold and pale against the steel, his tears fell. He had seen more people lying on this cold steel than he cared to reveal, but at the sight of someone he knew, someone close to him, his son, Grissom finally broke down and let his hurt and emotions flow freely.

It started with the steady stream of tears, then progressed to deep breaths that were about to release a monster. Robbins watched as Grissom released a deep guttural yell and without warning, in a flash turned bringing his right fist up to make contact with the smooth steel.

Doc jumped back slightly, his own face wincing from the possible pain. Grissom pulled his hand to him and watched as the sheet was pulled back up over his son, and he was placed back into the cooler. Robbins limped over to his friend and helped him over to the closest chair.

Grissom sat down, in pain and in tears as Robbins pulled his hand away from his body so he could inspect the self inflicted damage. "Let me see." He didn't need to take x-rays; Grissom's hand was rapidly swelling. Robbins looked up into the red rimmed, blue eyes, "It's broken."

Still emotionless about his hand, Grissom only gave a slight nod and watched as Robbins went to retrieve the necessary items to wrap the injured hand.

Once he had Grissom's hand wrapped up, Robbins instructed him to follow. They walked into the small office; Robbins sat behind his desk and reached for one of the side drawers, as Grissom sat on the couch. "Here, take these."

Grissom leaned forward and extended his hand to accept Robbins' offerings. Two small white tablets fell into his hand. Without blinking, Grissom popped them into his mouth and swallowed them dry. Without letting the Ibuprofen take effect, Grissom stood headed for the rear doors. He never looked back as he headed back home to what remained of his family.

I don't know how much longer this will go, but I'm aiming for a few more chapters. Unless, I succumb to more peer pressure from thespoon.

And for those of you reading out other story, 'What Goes Around', we've changed out penname. Review the story if you want to know what it means, or you can just look it up on your own. Whatever floats your boat.

TDCSI

P.S. I just had to add the broken hand part for my friend Ronda. One of the horses bit her, so thinking she was faster than lightning, tried to punch him. Well low and behold, she missed the horse, but not the brick wall. Yeah, FYI, punching a brick wall will break your hand, and horses are faster than you might think.