Author note: Thank you so much for the great reviews. I hope you like the next chapters as much as you did the first few.
A biblical text in the Book of Shadows.
"Well we just hit another dead end." Paige moaned, frustrated, as she entered Aelithe's home, after a silent ride in the car. The others were shrugging of their coats, Aelithe and Piper went to fix something to drink in the kitchen and Phoebe grabbed the Book of Shadows.
"We didn't hit a dead end, Paige." Phoebe commented.
"No, well this guy doctor Grissom isn't going to talk to us. So it is a dead end." Paige whined, throwing herself on the couch.
"I think we got quite some information from captain Brass and doctor Grissom." Phoebe calmly said: "Let's wait for Aelithe and Piper and discuss what we have heard. Don't be inpatient." After several minutes Aelithe and Piper walked into the living room, carrying a tea tray, with drinks. They quickly sat down and passed around the drinks.
"So lets see what we got from Jim and dr. Grissom." Aelithe said.
"Dr. Grissom was the person I saw in the premonition, he was the man with the salt-and-pepper hair." Piper told the rest.
"Yes, he is also the guy I saw in the other premonition. A bit older, but still the same." Phoebe said.
"So is he the man we needed to find?" Paige asked.
"I have no idea, he might be." Aelithe said.
"I think that there is more to it, he is not the only one we needed to find."
"What makes you say that, Piper?"
"Well, in the premonition he was with that woman. No… he wasn't with the woman, but my gut instinct tells me that the woman is also important. Plus, he was very reluctant to talk about the case of Debbie Marlin."
"Yes, both he and captain Brass became very defensive upon hearing that name." reacted Phoebe: "Hey, could the woman be the same as the one I saw in the other premonition?"
"It could be, but I would need to see her." Responded Piper.
"Well, lets do that. You go and have a peek in my subconscious, Piper." Phoebe said.
"Okay, or could that hurt her, Aelithe, using that spell to often?"
"I think it would be fine, you are not trying to change anything. I must say that I have never used that spell more than once on a person, but I think it wouldn't hurt." Aelithe explained.
"Okay, we'll do that. Since it was a short premonition it shouldn't take long." Phoebe said. With that Phoebe sat comfortably in the couch and Piper recited the spell, she got sucked into Phoebe's head, who was asleep by that time. The others just watched and waited for Piper to return. After a short period she came back and Phoebe woke up.
"I think it was the same woman. She was a lot younger, but I think it was the same." Piper said.
"So we know that those two people were present in the two premonitions. Then there is a good chance that we need to find them both. But why?" Paige wondered out loud.
"I have no idea." Phoebe said as she started to flip through the Book of Shadows. Piper and Aelithe got up to clear away the cups and Paige started to walk up and down the room, mulling over everything that has been said, heard and seen.
After a few minutes Paige started to get annoyed by the constant flipping of pages, that Phoebe turned. Just as Piper and Aelithe returned, Paige fell out to Phoebe: "Can you stop that constant flipping?! What are you doing anyway?" disturbed Phoebe looked up, she was slightly taken back by Paige's outburst.
"I am just looking. Relax. There is nothing we can do, until we speak to dr. Grissom." Phoebe tried to sooth Paige, who immediately countered that with a question aimed at everyone: "When can we speak with dr. Grissom?"
"I have no idea, I'll call Brass and see if he can tell us dr. Grissom's schedule." With that Aelithe retreated to the hallway, to get the cordless phone. She was already on the phone when she sauntered back in to the living room: "Hey Jim, listen I've got one question…yeah…When would be a good time to talk to Doctor Grissom?... Oh great, so that is why you know him, he works the same hours as you…Okay, do we need to come to the police station?... No, let me get a pen…ready…Can we just go to the front desk?... Yeah, great thanks Brass…okay, thanks for the tip…I hope we can get what we need, I can't stress how important it is… Yeah, I know, we will tell him the truth. Say can I tell him you know? It might help him a bit… Yeah, thanks….I promise, when all this is done and we are still in one piece, I'll take you for some drinks…. Yes, I know it has been a long time, I have been busy. And so have you I believe….Yes, goodbye Jim and thanks again." With that Aelithe put the phone down. The others were looking up at her expectantly, so Aelithe quickly told them the information she got from Brass: "It turns out that Doctor Grissom works the same hours as Brass, the nightshift. Furthermore Dr. Grissom works at the forensics lab, we will need to talk to him there. According to Brass we have to be patient with Dr. Grissom, he needs some getting used to, but if we are honest with him we increase our chances at getting what we need from him. Tonight at the beginning of the shift was the best time to try and get to talk to dr. Grissom." Phoebe had halfway down Aelithe's talk resumed flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows.
"He, Phoebe, why are you flipping through the Book of Shadows?" Piper asked, now getting curious, just like Paige. Phoebe looked up and sighed: "Well, earlier when Paige and I were going through the Book to see if we could find anything related to what we had seen in the premonition, I saw a page I had never seen."
"What do you mean? Never seen? You know the Book from cover to cover." Paige said, remembering the various times that she had seen Phoebe pouring over the Book, she was right if anyone knew what was in the Book it was Phoebe.
"Well that wasn't all, the page was blurry, I thought as we needed to wait I would try to find that page again. Then again, maybe it was a page I have seen and it went by to fast to really see it." Phoebe explained while she kept flipping the pages over, suddenly yelping: "I found it, I have never seen this page before. And it is blurry, look at this." Phoebe turned the Book so the others could also see the page. It was a blurry page, it looked like someone had spilled water over it and the ink had run. But there were to figures standing on one side and writing filled the rest of the page. Phoebe was only partly right though, as Paige quickly pointed out: "He, that figure isn't blurred and it looks exactly like Doctor Grissom." The others looked at the figure on the left and saw that Paige was right. Doctor Grissom stood with his legs slightly apart, his hands in his pockets. He wore a basic black suit with a black shirt, the only colour was a red line, that was shown by the handkerchief neatly folded in the breast pocket of his jacket. He had a light beard on his face, but he was unmistakably Doctor Gil Grissom, whom the women had just met in Brass's office. The figure to the right was blurry, as were several patches of writing but to the bottom of the page some writing was clear and Phoebe read it out loud: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." With a large sigh Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Aelithe and Leo sat back in their seats. Paige was the first to break the silence: "So where does this fit in the picture?"
"I have no idea." Phoebe said, "but it is the first time I see a biblical text in the Book of Shadows. 1 Corinthian 13, if I am correct."
"You are." Aelithe silently nodded.
"Well this proves one thing." Piper said, sitting up and looking around the room, before continuing: "It proves that we are on the right track. And it proves that this Doctor Grissom is related to the magical world, but in which way, I am not sure."
Aelithe picked up where Piper left: "I remember feeling some magical powers, when I shook Dr. Grissom's hand. But it was very faint, like he had never exercised those powers, maybe he isn't even aware of the fact that he has magical powers or a curse prevents them from presenting themselves. Maybe I could get a stronger feeling when we meet him again."
"What do you mean, you felt magical powers?" Paige inquired.
"It is part of my powers as a Guider, I can feel whether or not someone possesses magical powers, but usually those feelings are stronger then what I felt with dr. Grissom." Aelithe explained.
"Leo, can you check with the Elders, whether or not they have found additional information for us?" Paige said, but Piper responded: "Maybe we should wait until we have spoken to Dr. Grissom. That way we will also have some more information."
"I think that would be the best thing to do. Lets get some rest first and then we can talk to dr. Grissom for a second time." Aelithe spook up.
"Lets eat something before we get some sleep, can I help you Aelithe?" Piper asked, when she saw that Aelithe was getting up to get something to eat from the kitchen. Without waiting for an answer Piper, Phoebe and Paige followed Aelithe into the kitchen, where they prepared a quick meal. While eating it the four women and Leo got to know each other a little bit better and discussed the task ahead for a little while, quickly reaching the conclusion that they were getting not much further. After doing the dishes Aelithe showed the Halliwell sisters and Leo their rooms, she promised to wake them in time to get to the forensics lab. With that peace and quiet descended on the house that stood on the edge of the bustling city of Las Vegas, as people who worked normal hours got up and ready to get to work.
In another townhouse in Las Vegas, two people were also sitting down for dinner. The brown-haired woman told the man sitting across from her about the work she had done in the lab. As she laid her fork down when she finished eating she curiously looked up, at the man who was just getting ready to eat his last bite. "Gil, are you listening?" she asked.
"What? Yes I am listening, you were telling me about the lab, right?" Grissom looked at his companion: "Are you done?"
"Yes." As the man stood he took both plates from the table and kissed the woman on the head as he passed her on the way to the kitchen. "Do you want a dessert?"
"Some yoghurt and fruit." The man returned and placed the dessert in front of the woman, who resumed the conversation: "What happened at the police station?"
"Why would something have happened there?"
"Ever since you returned you are distant. What is on your mind?"
"Nothing."
"That doesn't work with me, and you know it. What happened?" Grissom could see she wasn't going to back down.
"Brass wanted me to meet four women who had asked to see me."
"What did they want?"
"They wanted information on a case." Grissom hoped that it would satisfy her, but he knew her better then that and knew it was in vain.
"What case?"
"The Debbie Marlin case."
"That was four years ago. Why did they want to get details on that case?"
"They didn't want to tell me." Grissom saw the woman walking to the kitchen taking the remaining dishes with her. He continued: "I didn't give them what they wanted."
"But something rattled you. What was it? Beside dredging up that particular case?"
"One of them asked who the woman was, that I looked at when I came out of the house. Thank you." Grissom accepted the glass of wine she gave to him and together they walked to the couch.
"That would be me, how did they know about that moment? Where they there at the scene?"
"I don't think so, three of them were from San Fransisco, the man as well. Only one was local, she knew Brass, pretty well I think. He said she sometimes helped him on cases. That is why I didn't believe them when they told me they were reporters." Grissom put his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled up to him.
"So what did they do when you didn't want to give them what they needed?"
"I told them that I was willing to think about giving them the information, when they would be honest to me about the reasons they had for digging into the past."
"Okay, do you think they will be back?"
"Yes I think so. I'll deal with them, when they do. Want to watch Discovery Channel?"
The woman giggled: "What is on? Another documentary on insects?"
"Yes, quite interesting, it is about Killer Bees."
"So I have to suffer through an hour long documentary and the subsequent commentary I am bound to get from you?" she teasingly asked.
"Ah, yes my dear. But I know that you love my commentary, because you always listen very intently. And it's one of the many things that I love about you, miss Sara Sidle." Grissom said as he turned on the television and closed his arms around Sara as the interesting tale of the Killer Bees unravelled on their television screen. Pushing a nervous day and four strange women in the back of their minds.
Author note: next chapter will include a meeting with Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Aelithe with Sara. Please review, pretty pretty please?