Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone still reading this story;)
Moments
by Kristen Elizabeth
"Hey, Mom?"
Sara looked up from her forensics journal; over the rims of her reading glasses she saw her daughter hanging in the door way to the living room. It was the troubled look in Rosalind's blue eyes that made her remove her glasses and set her reading aside.
"Hey, daughter."
Rosalind dragged herself over the couch and flopped down with a massive sigh, resting her cheek against her mother's knee. She closed her eyes and let out a little whimper.
Now Sara was starting to get worried. "Sweetie?" She ran her fingers through Rosalind's hair, stroking it away from her face. "What's wrong?"
"Daddy loves me, right?"
Sara frowned. "Of course he does." She hated the fact that now she had to wonder…what had her husband unconsciously done to make his daughter doubt his feelings for her?
Rosalind turned onto her back, looking up at her mother with pure anguish. "He wouldn't do anything to hurt me, would he?"
"Rosalind…" She shifted her leg underneath her daughter's head. "Sit up, baby." The girl did so, but slumped back into the couch cushions with her chin tucked to her chest and her arms crossed miserably. "What on earth would make you ask that?"
Her question went ignored. "And he knows that I'm fifteen years old, right?"
Sara raised an eyebrow. "He has a vague notion."
"I'm not a child anymore." Upon receiving another look, Rosalind sighed again. "Mom, come on. You know what today is."
"Saturday?" Sara guessed.
"Mom."
"My one full day off in two weeks?"
Rosalind threw up her hands. "Mother! You know that today is the day Greg is taking Camden around the lab!"
Times were definitely changing. Her little girl was in the throes of her first real, potentially-attainable crush. And even as they were speaking, that crush was being escorted around the crime lab by a man who would take up arms in Rosalind's defense. To make matters worse, he was probably not alone. Both Nick and Warrick had weighed in with their opinions about the teenage boy who thought he was good enough for Rosalind.
They were not going to make things easy for poor Camden.
And as if that wasn't enough, just that morning, completely out of the blue, Grissom had announced that he needed to go to the lab to do some mysterious research that had somehow slipped his mind the three other times he'd been there that very week.
Camden was walking into a pit of very protective vipers.
"Are you worried that your father or Greg might do something to embarrass you?"
"You think?" Rosalind snapped.
"Excuse me?"
She looked down, guiltily. "Sorry."
Sara forgave her by tucking a long, wavy lock behind her ear. "What's the worst thing that could happen? They're certainly not going to knock him over the head and stuff his body into the freezer."
However tempted they might be.
"I should be there," Rosalind grumped.
"You could have gone." Sara picked her journal up. "No one was stopping you."
"Mom. Me plus dead bodies equals puke." Her daughter rolled her eyes extravagantly. "Sammy's the one with the freaky morbid streak."
Slipping her glasses back on, Sara refocused on her reading. "I wouldn't worry too much. If Camden is worth your time and energy, he should be able to survive this. In fact, he's probably having the time of his life."
The boy looked green. And Grissom wasn't sure if that pleased him or not.
But Camden wasn't looking away from the body displayed in front of him. Watching through the window that looked into the morgue, Grissom read lips as Greg explained what had happened to the unfortunate man on the metal slab.
"Single gunshot wound to the chest." Greg pointed at the ragged hole. Even though the blood had been washed away, it wasn't pretty. "We can tell from this type of wound that the killer shot him from only a foot or two away."
"He knew his killer?" Camden guessed. He shrugged a second later. "I mean…he let him get pretty close."
"That's a workable theory," Greg had to grudgingly admit. "Which happens to be true in this case. He was shot by his girlfriend's father."
Grissom shook his head. The man in question had been killed in a robbery gone wrong.
"Wow," Camden said. "That sucks."
Greg nodded gravely. "Well, Daddy didn't take too kindly to his little girl being pawed at. Dads usually don't. This guy…" He gestured to the body. "He should have known better. If he'd just kept his hands to himself…" He sighed. "Tragedies can so easily be avoided sometimes."
"Um…yeah." Camden shifted one foot to the other. "So, did the dad go to jail?"
Grissom didn't hear Greg's answer. Just then, Warrick and Nick came up behind him and peered over both of his shoulders into the morgue.
"That's him?" Warrick scoffed. "Skinny little white boy." Nick nodded his agreement and Warrick laughed. "Man, shut up. You were one, too."
"Yeah, but I was cute," Nick argued. "This kid's just…gangly. And he's got floppy hair."
"He's also asking intelligent questions," Grissom interrupted them. "And my daughter thinks the sun rises and sets with him."
Warrick whistled lowly. "Not good."
"What's the plan?" Nick asked. "Are we nipping this in the bud?" When Grissom said nothing, he went on. "She's just a baby. She doesn't need some horny little kid fawning all over her."
"I gotta go with Nicky on this one, Gris," Warrick said. "I remember being fifteen. And I remember the only thing that was ever on my mind when I was around pretty girls."
Grissom nodded sagely. "So do I."
Nick blinked. "You thought about sex when you were fifteen?" Grissom turned his head to stare at the younger man. "Bug sex, right?" He looked at Warrick for confirmation, but only received a slap upside his head.
"They're coming out," Grissom said looking into the room again. The three men backed up as Greg pushed the doors open, Camden trailing behind him.
"Hey, Dr. Grissom," the boy said nervously.
He lowered his chin in greeting. "Camden. Are you enjoying your tour?"
Greg answered for him. "Hey, no one gives a better tour than me. We were just about to head to QD to look at some forged documents."
"Actually, Greg…if you don't mind…I'd like to take over," Grissom said. "Would that be all right with you, Camden?"
"Um, sure. Dr. Grissom. Yeah. Yes. Yes, sir."
With one arm, Grissom indicated for Camden to go ahead of him which he did so hesitantly. The older man glanced at his co-workers. Greg gave him the thumbs up, giving him permission to torture the boy in any way possible. He shook his head, and followed Camden down the hallway.
"Ten bucks says he never looks twice at Roz once Gris gets done with him," Nick said when they were out of earshot.
"Twenty," Greg doubled the amount. "He's got his game face on. I've seen it make gang members squirm."
Warrick shook his head. "And they call me the compulsive gambler."
Grissom led the boy to Sara's office. "Have a seat."
Camden lowered himself into one. "I really want to thank you for letting me come here, Dr. Grissom. I've only seen the morgue, but it was really…cool."
"Cool," Grissom repeated. "Dead bodies are cool."
"Yes." Camden blinked. "I mean, no. I mean…um...they're interesting. They interest me. Not in a creepy way!" he quickly corrected himself.
From cross his wife's desk, he considered the boy. "Do you know why I agreed to set up this tour for you?" Camden shook his head. "My daughter asked me to."
"Really? Roz did that?" Camden smiled. "Wow."
Grissom's eyes narrowed. "My daughter is very important to me."
The boy's smile fell. "Of course, sir."
"She's my first child. My only girl." He paused. "I don't have any idea if I'm going about this the right way or not. But something tells me it's my job to eliminate any potential threats to her health and happiness."
Camden swallowed. "Um…sir…can I ask? How good of a shot are you?"
"The problem…" Grissom went on. "…is this. I see some potential in you. Your grades and test scores are excellent. You've never been in serious trouble at school."
"How do you…" The boy stopped. "Never mind."
Grissom leaned back in his chair. "You want to be a CSI someday?"
"I've thought about it."
"Why?"
Camden shook his head. "I don't know. I guess…I figure I could be good at it. And it's kind of an important thing to do."
"What do you think about my daughter?" Grissom abruptly changed topics.
To his credit, the boy looked him straight in the eye when he replied, "Right now, she's my friend. But I like her, sir. And I'd be lucky if she liked me back."
They watched each other for a long minute. Finally, Grissom nodded. "All right. Now we can finish your tour."
Before Rosalind drove her insane, Sara kissed her day off good-bye, ordered her daughter into the car and drove her down to the lab. They arrived just as Greg was heading out.
"Where's Camden?" Sara asked him.
"Please don't say 'in the freezer'," Rosalind added.
Greg glanced at the girl's worried face. With a sigh and a smile, he reached out to tousle her hair. "He's with your dad."
Her expression went from worried to panicked. "Mom!"
Sara took a hold of her daughter's elbow, steering her to the front entrance. She glared at Greg over her shoulder. He flicked her a salute.
It took a little bit of looking, and some time spent wandering the hallways, but they eventually found the two men they were looking for.
Grissom and Camden were in the layout room. Sara recognized her field kit open on the table. Camden had one of her fingerprint brushes in his hand, and Grissom held a jar of powder.
"Just twirl it lightly. Roll the handle back and forth between your fingers," Grissom patiently instructed. When Camden did exactly as he was told, Grissom smiled. "That's it. Very good."
"I can see the print!" Camden exclaimed. "Wow!"
"Now." Grissom reached into her kit for a tape-lift. "Let's collect it."
"Oh my god," Rosalind moaned. "They've, like, bonded! Mom! Do something!"
Sara closed her eyes and laughed.
To Be Continued