A/N: Ummm... Sorry for not updating for like... a month? Hmmm... I'd be lying if I said this chapter took me long to write. I kinda just forgot to put it up. :-S... Well, here's an update for yah! & Yeah boy! 100 reviews on the dot! Sorry Chloe, that you weren't the 100th, but you were the 99th! That's pretty special too:-D Well, read & review, PLEASE!
Disclaimer: Not mine. End of story. Goodnight.
Chapter 19: Unconsciousness & Pizza Palors
Sara's POV:
I was now aimlessly wandering the halls just for something to do. I could only take sitting in the breakroom watching Nick and Warrick play their football video game for so long until it not only got monotonous, but ear splitting as the scores increased between the two with their cheers and screams. I was walking to prevent the oncoming headache and also to pass the time while I waited for several test results to come in, and for the end of shift to eventually come.
When the question of what time it was crossed my mind, I was conveniently positioned right in front of Grissom's closed office door. Jarring the door open, I got a small surprise by hearing his "office guard dog" begin to sing right above the doorway. Laughing inwardly at myself for jumping, I flipped on the light on the adjacent wall to avoid squinting at his clock to read it.
Not even close to end of shift. 2:00 a.m.
Shutting off the light and about to exit the empty office, I was only caught off guard when Grissom appeared to magically spawn from nothingness to directly in front of me. Though from the look on his face, I could tell that he wasn't particularly searching for me, but access to his office.
"Griss!" I greeted in light shock. "Back so early or did you just forget something?" I inquired with a smirk.
"I forgot something..." Grissom replied, slidding past me and into his office, switching on the light that I'd just turned off. While rummaging around through his desk's drawers, he seemed to be in an almost frantic hunt for his lost object. "Where is it...?"
"What are you looking for, Griss? Maybe I can help you find it..." I offered, approaching his desk as he began going through his papers next.
Hastily coming up with a lone piece of paper, I saw his blue eyes glide over its contents before he folded it up and placed it in his pant pocket. "Thank you for the offer, Sara, but I believe I managed."
"Don't you always?" I said slyly, actually and fully acknowledging his presence for the first time.
Halfway through replacing everything back into its original spot, he stared up at my approaching self. His blue eyes quickly flashed over to his ajar door before resting back on me now that I stood less than an inch away from him. "Sara... I thought we agreed... Not at the lab. It's too risky."
"I know." I said in response to his extremely light admonishing tone. Checking outside of the door as well, I pitched my voice lower than it was before. "Rumors are already flying around the building about us..."
Grissom didn't even have to speak a sound, let alone a word to get across the message that his eyes were relaying. I held up my hands defensively, begging for a chance to explain.
"Catherine... You know how she gets with her assumptions, and apparently, since we both came into work with our unusual happy moods, I suppose that warranted the idea about a relationship between us to be true." I went on. "You trained her too well as a CSI, you know that?"
A solemn look from Grissom was given. "What can I say? I wanted her to use her powers for good, though, not evil."
"Well... I managed to get her to believe my lie that we're not together, and I corrected Bobby Dawson, and Archie in A/V. But..." Grissom's relieved looked was short lived when I added the "but" in there. "Archie told Nick, and I just couldn't lie to him. Sorry..."
It took Grissom a while, but when he finally responded, relief washed over the both once again, restoring peace. "I suppose, out of all the people you could've been truthful with – besides myself that is... I'm glad it was Nick." His smile returned. "I applaud you on your judgment."
Hastily planting a soft kiss on his lips, I blessed him with the smile he told me he loved so much. "Thanks... I'll see you at the end of shift."
And with that, I left him smirking inside of his office on how I'd still managed to sneak a kiss out of him before he'd even known I had.
Brooke's POV:
I fell to the floor as I entered the bathroom, my hands barely breaking my fall. I still couldn't see, and after much begging and compromising with the announcer, I allowed him to give me a five minute rest. Though I wasn't counting on my rest to be on a bathroom floor, barely conscious, I figured it to be better than nothing.
With trembling arms, I raised my upper body off of the tile floor. Just as sturdy as my weakened legs, however, they quickly gave way and I was right back where I started. Ground level, literally.
Thoughts swam in and out of my head like clown fish playing in a sea anomie. Where the Hell was Taj, and why the Hell had he practically left me for death? Was I truly going to die? Why did this floor smell so bad? And what in the Hell was that stain directly next to my face?
I tried to make light of the situation as much as possible, but as the healing welts began to split back open from simply breathing in and out, I found that task growing increasingly difficult. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, collecting my energy to at least make it to the sink to lean on that to stand up. The small welts on my knees were cooled and burned at the same time as I forced myself onto my hands and knees against the hard and cold tiles of the bathroom.
God, I feel like I'm about to be sick.
Swallowing the nausea down, I jerked myself to my feet, steadying myself after staggering slightly and then continuing to staggering over to the cracked and dirty sink. I was haunted by a hollow look in my face as I glanced up at the cracked mirror.
"Eventually, you're gonna get yourself killed." Jen's words drifted through my ears in a haunting echo. "And you're gonna leave a lot behind."
The contents of my stomach spilled into the sink, it burned my throat both in the process and in the aftermath. And of all the convenient timing in the world, just as I was finished and began washing my mouth out to rid the awful taste, Taj walked in. For once, I turned my head away in humiliation.
"Brooke." No sympathy, just an acknowledgment of my presence.
"Screw you." I blurted out, looking at him as straight as I possibly could. "Screw you, Teague Allah James. Just straight up, screw you."
There was no offended expressions, just the scoff as he turned away to face the door with his arms crossed against his chest. "Dammit Brooke, y'know..."
Leaning with one hand on the sink, I turned my body toward him as much as possible, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "No! Shut the Hell up and listen for a damn second!" This was far from admonishing him, this was even past scolding. "You're practically leaving me for dead out there! And all over what? Because I won't give you a second chance? Guess what dumbass! There won't be a chance if I die out there! Ever think of that?!"
Twirling back to meet my intense gaze, he managed to get nothing out – not even a squeak. Now, it was as if he was finally taking in the extent of my injuries.
"Seems kinda childish that you'd leave me to die just because I won't give you a second chance, when you clearly don't even deserve it." In the split person I was with Taj, the side I didn't want to show right now was shining in the limelight.
"I'm not leaving you to die, Brooke!" Taj hollered back.
Another dizzy spell hit me, but I held my own. "Like Hell!"
"Dammit Brooke! Can't we get through one encounter without fighting? Just once?!" Taj's hurried steps over to where I stood had me wanting to back up, but in my condition, I was in no position to make sudden movements. "Because if we can't, I'm not sure I can keep contact with you! I can't take the constant fights we have! It... It kills me." Taj's voice softened as he turned away, getting out of my face.
Silence carried out far too long for the both of us, and just as Taj was about to exit again, leaving me to rest for the suicide match, the other side of me finally appeared like Whodini in a magic trick. "Teague Allah James, don't you walk out that door. I... I need you."
Everything stopped as I, at long last, admitted what we'd both wanted to hear for the longest time. Now, it was just how you interpreted it that made it meaningful or meaningless. Taj's eyes locked with mine and we'd finally reached a new understanding with each other.
Sara's POV:
The insistent sound of someone's beeper was only faintly heard over Warrick's triumphant cheer as he scored yet another touchdown on the game, silently rubbing it in Nick's face as we all checked our waistlines for any messages on our beepers. The screen on mine was blank, and from the way Warrick and Greg looked around for everyone else's expressions, all eyes fell on Nick as he read his message briefly with furrowed brows.
Standing up and stretching, Nick tossed down his remote and eyed Warrick with an inspective gaze. "This isn't over man... I will be back, and it's on. There's no way I'm losing to the Jets, especially when they're being played by you." His brown eyes flashed over to me next, motioning to the doorway of the breakroom. "Jacqui got an ID back on our John Doe. Wanna tag along?"
Telling him I would choose ID over the sludge called breakroom coffee any time of the night or morning, we exited to the corridors and then down to the print lab. The tired faced brunette casted a gaze over on the both of us as we entered, extending her arm to us to wave us over to her computer she was stationed at.
"Got a hit in Missing Persons from years ago. About a decade, actually." Pulling up the profile on the computer, a much more lively picture of our vic was shown.
Before Jacqui could even get another word in, my mouth flew open in disbelief as I inspected the picture closer. It was a group picture of our vic, and some very familiar faces in front of an Effie's Pizza Diner only found in Brooklyn. Mainly, the faces consisted of Brooke, Taj, and myself when we were younger and I was in the Crooks' household with Brooke. I couldn't believe it... It was Billy.
"Billy James. Oh my God..." I gasped, stepping away from the screen as if it was offending me beyond all reason.
"Sara? Is... Is that you?" Nick queried, leaning in closer to get a better visual of me in the picture. "And is that your friend Brooke?"
I stuttered a few incomprehensible words as I studied the picture closely, but got nothing out to answer Nick's question. The whole concept was still too surreal for me to even grasp reality weakly. My eyes closed tight as the memory came back...
Flashback
"C'mon Sara! Get over here! We're taking a picture to remember that we were the first customers ever at the soon-to-be world renown pizza goddess, Effie!" Billy, or BJ, hollered from across the small parking lot.
William Allah James, Billy James, BJ... We all had different nicknames for him, but he was the same kid. Taj's twin brother, and the heartthrob of Brooklyn among the girls. All the right looks, warm blue eyes, and a personality that could welcome any stranger into his house if he needed it, or the clothes off his back.
"C'mon Sar!" A seven-year-old Brooke encouraged, running to Taj's side instantly.
Rolling my eyes and reluctantly joining my group of friends in front of the diner, we all struck eccentric poses as the camera went off with a blinding flash. But it was all the same sign on our hands. The Tyler Street sign, we called it, and that was how you could tell where we were from. Effie, pizza extraordinare as we called her and our Greek grandma, was a family friend of both our families since practically forever. She stood shyly in the center of the four of us with her quaint smile and hands behind her back as we surrounded her with our OG stances. After the photo was done, we all fell around laughing at how ridiculous we must've looked.
"C'mon! Let's go eat! I'm hungry!" BJ announced publicly, dashing off for the door in a blink of an eye.
End of Flashback
Tears swelled up into my eyes but I held them down. "Yeah... That's us. And our two best friends from our childhood, Billy and Teague James..."
"God..." Nick whispered under his breath. A long pause washed over us as Jacqui looked between the two of us. Nick turned to Jacqui and thanked her and led me out of the Print lab, still shell-shocked. "Sara... Y'know where this is gonna go, don't you?"
"No Nick. Please don't tell Grissom or anyone. I don't care about Conflict of Interest at this point." I responded immediately at the thought. "I don't want to sit on the sidelines while one of my best friend's killer is out there on the loose. I-I... I just can't. I need to help solve this."
"Sara, c'mon now... We have Conflict of Interest for a reason. You know we have to remain unbiased with all of our cases, or else..." Nick proceeded to rattle off what I already knew, but didn't want to hear.
"Nicolas Avery Stokes." It hardly ever got to this point when I had to use his full name. "You cannot have Grissom pull me off this case."
"What? Don't you trust me with finding whoever did this to your friend?" Nicky pulled out all the guns.
"I do, but..." Nick cut me off before I could think of something else to further explain myself.
"No buts Sara." Said Nick. "Trust me, I will find whoever did this to your friend, but please... Don't get me in trouble because of not reporting this. We have rules for a reason, Sara."
As Nick tried to walk away, I followed along side with him, sensing he was en route to Grissom's office. "But rules are meant to be bent a little bit some times, Nick! If we had followed Conflict of Interest, we would've never gotten you out alive." I stopped walking as I gave my last comment, seeing him stiffen up at the mention of his near-death experience just last year.
When Nick turned to me several moments later, I saw a new understanding in his brown eyes. It took a little bit longer, but soon he rejoined me and we continued our walk – but now, not toward Grissom's office. "Sara... Never say I ever did nothing for you."
"Thank you, Nicky." I breathed in relief. "Thank you."
Brooke's POV:
"Final call out for Brooke Waters! One minute or you're disqualified." The announcer called out.
"Brooke, you're in no condition to fight. You can barely stand up." Taj admonished, aiding me in washing up.
"But I have to." I insisted. "If you go out there by yourself, you won't stand a chance against Rai and his partner." I looked up at him. "You'll come back looking worse than I do right now."
"And you won't come back at all." Taj remarked. "I won't let you get killed, Brooke."
"Then don't. But I need to get out there to fight too." I said, trying to get back on my feet from where I sat on the toilet.
"You haven't even healed properly yet from your fight with those whipping boys, and because I was a dumbass, you've got more damage added on from these last two fights. The least I can do is go out there and win this final round." Taj said sweetly. "You really should go to the hospital for those welts. They still don't look like anything to mess with."
"NO!" I yelled impulsively before quickly correcting my tone. "You know how I feel about hospitals."
"I wouldn't leave you... Not once, I promise." Taj cupped my face with his hand. "Just let me take you to the hospital to get you checked over and given antibiotics. Maybe even give you some more blood in your system because you probably lost a lot." Genuine concern flashed through his eyes in great surges. "That's why you're not on the top of your game tonight."
Knowing that would've made perfect sense, but with great reluctance and regret, I nodded. "Fine... I'll let you take me to the hospital if you let me fight."
Taj rolled his eyes, standing up and walking out of the stall before walking back in and crouching down beside me again. "You are really difficult, you know that?"
"Let me fight, or I won't let you take me to the hospital at all." I stubbornly claimed, crossing my arms defiantly.
Taj was smart enough to know that I was serious and that arguing with me would only result in recycled reruns of the same thing for hours upon hours. "Fine. But you're going in that ring with a metal pole bigger than you are."
"Deal."
He extended his hand like a wise-ass to shake on it, but I did the half expected reaction at the time by snatching him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss turned make-out session in the bathroom. It was the kind of kiss that left you breathless but not willing to let go just yet. I wouldn't have pulled back if it hadn't been for the fact that I remembered the announcer's call out just earlier.
"Teague! The tournament!" I managed to get out in a muffled call due to him trying to reconnect our lips again in an eager and hungry fashion.
Staring at each other for a quick moment, Taj soon moved to dash out of the bathroom to save our spot in the tournament, having my slightly slowed self trail after him. And I would've been right with him, if it hadn't been for the intense dizzy spell that overcame me just then and caused me to fall to the floor, this time, unconscious.
Taj's POV:
Upon hearing a thud just as I was about to exit the bathroom, the feeling of her lips still pressed and moving against mine, I turned to reveal Brooke had passed out on the floor. Panicking, I yelled out into the crowd for help as I rushed to her side. Her pulse was alive but I knew she was far from all right. It was like I had said earlier, she had lost too much blood and needed medical attention. Damn me for not taking her when I first got her.
A large group of people entered the bathroom and crowded around the doorway to speculate what was happening as I lifted her to cradle Brooke in my arms. A familiar face stuck out of the crowd, Brooke's foster brother Jason, and I motioned for him to come forth. Complying, I said carefully enough for him to lip read that I needed him to get Brooke and me to the hospital quick.
Pushing through the mass of people, the three of us passed the ring where Rai and his partner Seth dismounted the ring and caught up with us, smug smiles on both of their faces. Handing Brooke gently over to Jay and instructing him to get her out to his car, and that I'd be out soon, he left without hesitation. Jay knew things were going to get ugly.
"Hah! Seems like we win by disqualification!" Rai proclaimed triumphantly. "I guess I'll just have to come by later to pick up my new girlfriend though..."
Seething, my fist slammed right into his face, knocking him backwards and into his partner, taking them both down to the floor. Several people from the audience rushed forth to hold me back from stomping on Rai and Seth while they were on their backs and vulnerable. Foreign hands held me back by my chest and restrained me by grabbing my shirt back until I began to let up my fight, knowing Brooke needed me right now.
But just as I was about to walk away, I suddenly turned back to the rising men with a more than dead serious face and a look that could kill even though I couldn't at the moment. "You ever come near Brooke, I will kill you. And that's not a threat; it's a promise."
TBC...
A/N2: Ahh... Everything catches up with everybody with time. And that fight is going to take its toll on Brooke in every aspect. Stick around & you'll find out. Holla at me!
Peace out, one love,
MC New York