Disclaimer – Please see chapter 1
A/N – Thank you so very much to those of you that left a review for the last chapter. My sincere apologies again for not having the time to reply to them all, I am using the time to try to write more chapters for you! Story is beta'd by myself so any remaining mistakes are all mine, so I apologize in advance. R & R Enjoy!
Fall Out Boy – Chapter 12 – Stepping back from the case
"Sorry I had it on silent but not vibrate" Grissom said now walking into his office and taking his seat, looking at the files on his desk "What can I do for you Catherine?" he asked as he then looked up at her expectantly, giving her his full attention now.
Taking one of the chairs in front of his desk she sat down heavily, then immediately spoke "Gil, why in hell didn't you call me to let us know who the female victim is in Nick's case?" she asked looking annoyed with him.
Letting out a long sigh, Grissom looked down at his desk, he really wasn't looking forward to this discussion "Because I only found out myself a few hours ago Catherine" he said looking back up at her hoping he wouldn't have to go into too many details of his night with her.
"For crying out loud Gil. Some of us worked with Charlotte here at the lab, Nick, Greg, Warrick, Sara, Ecklie, Jim. Oh and lets not forget yourself in that too. Didn't you two date there for a while?" she asked angrily, but not waiting for an answer before carrying on "How the hell do you think we all felt when we found out it was her? When Nick and Greg went down to the morgue to get the autopsy results off Doc, only to get a good look at her on the slab all cleaned up, sliced and diced? Then Nick coming to tell the rest of us who worked with her, the news, huh?" she finished running out of breath.
"Then why didn't Nick and Greg identify her as Charlotte who worked here, at the scene? After all they are supposed to be trained to do that" Grissom shot back a little testily, not willing to accept total blame for the lack of realization at whom the victim is.
"Ohhhhh" Catherine drew out, gathering momentum to carry on her venting "Now just hold it right there Gil. First off,Charlotte has obviously put on a little weight , her features have changed since childbirth, she was covered in blood in the middle of a crime scene, where a dog was going crazy, and a small child was eventually found cowering in the roof space" she took in a deep breath "Not to mention that the crime scene was a big enough for several CSI's to cover, but all the help Nick had was the newbie Greg, while you go off swanning to the hospital to find Sara, who as usual gets all emotional and too involved in the case" she said finishing, and glaring straight at him.
Hearing Catherine's mention of one of Sara's weaknesses as a CSI, annoyed him, but the fact that Catherine seemed to be attacking his motives for helping out at the hospital, and implying that he always goes running after the brunette, didn't sit comfortable with him.
Non the less, his temper was flaring at her also questioning his judgement so far with the case, so he snapped out quickly "Well 'I' certainly never saw the victims at the crime scene, they were taken away before I got there, so how was I supposed to know it was her" he said loudly and he met her glare with his own.
"Nick told me he had the scene well under control. I offered to process, but he told me he had ample assistance with Greg. So I left to go and find out what was happening with the child they had found. Which I did" Grissom said matter of factly as his voice still held some degree of anger, still meeting her eyes.
"And Sara?" Catherine questioned defiantly.
Grissom broke the glare,taking a deep breath as he again looked down at his desk, before looking up again "Sara accompanied the distraught child to the hospital. Where the boy refused to be separated from her, or let any of the doctors or nurses near him unless she was close. He was terrified when they took him from the scene" he added hoping that was enough explanation for now, that Catherine wouldn't ask more at this time.
Nodding but keeping her eyes on Grissom, Catherine then asked "So where is the boy now? Is he emotionally stable enough to be interviewed with a child advocate present, yet?".
Closing his eyes and taking a few moments to think how to answer her without revealing too much information, he then said "No he's not at present. And he's been released into the hands of a more than capable foster carer at this time" Grissom said evasively, deliberately omitting to state that Sara now had temporary custody over Kye.
Just at that moment Jim Brass waltzed into the office knocking on the door frame "Thought I'd find someone here" he said coming to a stop beside Catherine and noting the looks the other two were sharing, he also felt the tension in the room, having a good idea what the subject matter may have been about with their words.
"What can I do for you Jim?" Grissom said breaking his glare at Catherine.
"Well, we've got a guy coming into PD later connected to yours and Nick's case. A Connor Jacobs, older brother to the male vic Martin Jacobs. Says he'd had no contact with his brother for a few days, became worried and contacted Warm Springs PD, who let him know of his brothers death. He's coming to give us a positive ID and apparently has some interesting details to share with us about his brother and the fiancée" Jim said ending with a raised eyebrow.
Grissom shifted in his seat a little, then shot a glance at Catherine before looking back at Jim, he needed to state that he was going to have to step back from the case, totally hands off because of his former acquaintance with Charlotte, but also because of the current status of Kye now living in his home.
But Gil didn't want to reveal too much information to them right now, until he'd had a better chance to speak with Sara, to tell her the news of his prior brief relationship with the boys mother first.
Noting his friends unease Jim spoke "Didn't you and this Charlotte chick have something going on before Sara arrived here in Vegas Gil?" he asked knowing full well he had, and that the brief relationship was never going to work out between them, more so after the brunette came to the lab, when Charlotte then moved away not long after.
Nervously shifting his eyes over to his bookcase Gil spoke "Um, yeah. Very briefly" he said quietly, then turned to Catherine again avoiding Jim's smirk "Which is why I can't have anything to do with this case. So Nick's lead on it for now, but you'll have to supervise him on it Catherine, that's if he's still okay to continue with it".
Frowning a little, Catherine seemed in thought then for a few seconds, before stating "So I'm supervising Nick, Sara and Greg on the case then" she said waiting for a reply as she stood up.
Crap! I can't avoid this now, Grissom thought before coming up with a suitable answer "Actually, Sara's taking some personal time off. That's why I'm in so early to fill out the necessary paperwork for her, before Conrad comes breathing down my neck for it" he stated trying to look as nonchalant as he possible could under the scrutiny of his two friends.
Catherine shot a mildly shocked look at Jim raising her eyebrow, as he then looked to Grissom with some concern of his own "Oh. Is Sara okay? Nothing happened to her while she was up in Warm Springs did it Gil?" he asked with genuine worry in his tone, he'd always had a soft spot for the brunette, perhaps he'd felt the need to try to be the father, his own daughter wouldn't allow him to be, but sensed that Sara needed him to be a times.
Feeling both sets of eyes on him for an answer Grissom spoke briefly to allay any concern, and to cut off any more probing questions "No, she's fine, She's just decided to take some leave right now to deal with a personal matter that has arisen for her, and it's not my place to discuss that private matter with anyone but her at this time" he then gave them a meaningful look to signal the discussion was over, as he opened his drawer to reach in for the forms he required to fill in.
Shooting a frown at Catherine, and a subtle shake of the head to indicate they would speak later, Jim stepped towards the door as he spoke "Okay. Just let her know if she needs anything to call me. I gotta shoot and catch some shut eye before shift tonight. Catch you both later" and left the office.
Turning to Grissom again Catherine narrowed her eyes, waited for him to speak, when he didn't she asked "Anything else I should know?".
Shaking his head a little, then shuffling in his seat he thought how uncomfortable he felt right now being under Catherine's scrutiny, he wasn't going to outright lie to her, fail to mention a few of the details and information regarding Kye and Sara's situation at his home perhaps, but still he wanted to move their conversation on, now that they both had calmed down since the initial outburst in his office.
Letting out a quiet sigh Grissom spoke "So where are we up to on the case then Catherine?".
Catherine seeing that she obviously wasn't going to get any more information out of him about Sara's sudden need for time off work, or his night at the hospital, she decided to answer his question "Well, without the file with me right now I'll fill you in the best I can, even though your off the case as it now appears" she leaned back in the chair crossing her legs "Doc's done the female vic's autopsy. COD was a the single knife wound to her neck that severed the jugular, she bled out. He's doing the male vic as we speak" she took a breath then gathered her thoughts while in serious CSI mode now "Only a few items of the evidence have been processed so far, the boys didn't get back until late so I sent them home. We'll get on with processing the rest tonight".
"Jim has put a couple of calls out the the PD's in the same area's that were on the boys immunization card, to see if they have any kind of records relating to any of the family. And Greg is going to contact the hospital where the boys birth took place to see if they by any chance have any records of any visitors the mother may have had at the time, that could be possible suspects" Catherine relayed, refusing to make the case more personal than it was by using Charlotte's name in her details.
Grissom interrupted then "So your still going with Nick and Greg's theory of the suspect being a past lover, or the possible biological father of the child, that the family was on the run then?" he said frowning a little.
"Yes, because until we have more of an idea of a possible motive, it's all we have to go on right now" Catherine said knowing he was only interested in their line of inquiry into the case, for his supervisory position in the lab.
"Okay. Just keep me in the loop with the case" He added.
Continuing, Catherine relayed the rest of the details after seeing his nod of approval "Wendy has started the testing for the boys DNA, ready to compare it with the mother and male vic, we should have the results by tomorrow night. So we might get a lead on a possible suspect if it doesn't match up with Jacobs and throws something out through CODIS"
"And of course there's the interview with the male vic's brother that Nick and I will do tonight. So hopefully we'll have a few leads to follow with a good nights work under out belts" she said finishing and standing up "And now I'm off for some food, and a sleep myself. See you tonight Gil" Catherine breezed out of his office without a backward glance eager to get home.
Finishing what he'd set out to do initially he quickly did the paperwork for Sara's personal time off, he grabbed the forms for taking days owed on the books and even one set for a leave of absence, anticipating that 'they' may need them in the future.
Using the word 'they' instead of 'Sara' or 'she' in that last thought and action, actually made Gil stop in his motions momentarily as he thought about how easily he'd moved on to referring to them as 'together', as in a couple already in this scenario, and the future with Kye.
The realization brought a small smile to his face as his happiness was buoyed by how easily change could be, if he just let it all happen naturally.
Glancing at his watch and seeing the day was getting on, that he still had to take Sara to collect her car from here at the lab, then her personal things from her apartment, he collected his file of paperwork, briefcase and closed up his office.
He dropped the filled out forms with Ecklie's secretary then left the lab, a sudden yawn caught him unaware as he buckled his seatbelt, remembering that he'd not had any sleep in over twenty four hours, and the tiredness was just hitting him now, he knew he had to get moving so he could at least hope to get a couple of hours rest before his next shift.
A/N – I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the few case related details I gave (case stuff isn't really my strong point I'm afraid), more interaction between Sara, Grissom and Kye in the next chapter. Then the chapters after that will cover the new character Connor Jacobs interview and case, plus some major angst is on the way concerning Kye. Next post hopefully Monday.
Please leave a review for the chapter, they make my day reading them and boost my eagerness to keep on writing. Your all wonderful and I appreciate them loads!