AN: Time for some actual crime scene investigating! And a few more or less uncomfortable conversations… I hope you like. And as always, thanks to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter, I love hearing from you guys
Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI
Chapter 18
Sara makes it to the locker room, which is luckily abandoned, before she gives in and kicks the wall.
Which only hurts her foot, so really, fuck Ecklie.
"You OK?"
She looks up to find Grissom in the doorway, a frown on his face.
"Fine, just… Ecklie."
He sighs, needing no further explanation. "Of course. What did he do?"
"Just… being Ecklie." She wouldn't mind ranting, but the only result would be both of them pissed at the man, and there's no need for that.
"Do you want me to talk to him?" he offers.
"No, it's fine," she assures him with a smile. "And I didn't snap at him, so I'm counting that as a win. He said you had my credentials and gun, by the way?"
"In my office, yes." He opens an empty locker. "This one's yours, if you want to drop anything off."
She hangs up her bag and fiddles with the lock to reset the combination before closing the locker again. "Lead the way."
"Did everything go as planned with Shelby tonight?" he asks as they walk down the hallway. "I assume she understands that you won't be home if she wakes up."
"Honestly?" She gives him a sheepish smile. "She's fine, I'm the one who's stressing about it. I'm definitely going to be on high alert for at least a few days, before I get used to it, just, you know, FYI. Lindsey has both my cell number and yours, and Catherine's, of course, plus the number here, if something does come up, and I know she's fine, you know? It's not a rational worry."
"Most worries aren't," he points out gently, gesturing her into his office first. "And I know that doesn't actually help."
"As long as you're aware."
He opens a drawer in his desk and extracts her things. "There we go."
"Thanks." She puts her new ID in her back pocket and checks the gun with practiced movements before hooking the holster to her belt. "I guess that means I'm ready for the streets of Vegas."
"I'm sending you and Greg on an attempted robbery at the Venetian," Grissom tells her. "Hopefully not too rough a start."
"Someone seriously tried to rob a casino?" she asks incredulously. "I thought that only happened in movies these days."
"Not the actual casino, one of the high roller suites," he replies. "Though I don't know if the security on those is much more lenient than in the actual casino. Suspect was shot by one of the hotel's security guards, he's in surgery, they're not sure he'll make it."
"So, treat it as a potential homicide," Sara deduces.
"You know the drill." He checks his watch. "Time to get started."
The rest of the team is waiting in the break room when they get there, and she catches Warrick's slightly raised eyebrows at them arriving together. She knows she's going to have to talk to him at some point, see where he stands and if she needs to do any damage control, but she has to admit that she's relieved she doesn't need to worry about it tonight.
"Good evening, everyone," Grissom greets the others as she takes a seat next to Catherine. "New week, new team member. So to speak. I'm obviously not going to bother with introductions."
"Wow, that's quite a welcome back, huh, Sara?" Greg teases and she rolls her eyes.
"Why don't you try to do better then, Greg," Grissom suggests, handing over the assignment slip. "You two are heading over to the Venetian, attempted robbery, suspect shot."
"Sweet," Greg replies, taking the slip. "Maybe I'll treat you to a gondola ride," he adds, wagging his eyebrows exaggeratedly at Sara.
"Please do remember that she's armed," Grissom says drily. "Warrick, Catherine – missing person, possible kidnapping, out in MacDonald Highlands, husband's some sort of big shot in banking, so the sheriff wants running updates. Nick, you're with me on a DB in Whitney."
It's comforting, in a way, that it's almost like she never left. Like slipping on an old pair of jeans and finding they still fit perfectly.
Like coming home.
To Greg's credit, he waits until they're in the car on the way to the crime scene before he starts snooping.
"So, I guess I finally know why you left like that," he starts. "I always wondered, and it's not like you picked up when I called."
She's driving, so she doesn't have to meet his eyes, which she's grateful for.
"I know, I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I just… I needed a clean break."
"I guess I can understand that. We are pretty irresistible."
She laughs. "Sure you are."
"What bugs me more, though, is that none of us had any clue you two were together. We're supposed to be trained investigators, you know. How did we miss something like that going on right under our noses?"
She's not sure how it hadn't occurred to her that someone would assume that, but it still catches her completely off guard and she has to swallow down the lump his words create in her throat.
"No, Greg, that's… we weren't… together."
"I do know how these things work, you know," he tells her, an amused tone to his voice. "Papa Olaf gave me the birds and the bees talk when I was a kid. Or 'fuglene og bien', as he put it."
"The what now?"
"Norwegian for birds and bees," he explains. "Point is, I'm no blushing virgin, you don't have to shield me from the more salacious parts of life. Not that I want details or anything. I do not need a visual."
"That's not what I meant." Sara sighs. She really does not want to have this conversation, but she knows Greg – he's not going to let it go. "We didn't… date or anything like that. There was no relationship to hide, nothing for anyone to pick up on. It was just a onetime thing after a bad shift."
"Huh."
Thankfully, he doesn't say anything else before she pulls the car into a parking spot in the garage at the Venetian, and as soon as they enter the hotel, they both switch to work mode.
The DB is fairly straightforward – a young woman strangled in bed, signs of a date gone horribly wrong all over the tiny studio apartment. David's waiting for them when they get there, and they get the body processed and sent off to the morgue quickly. The next few hours Grissom and Nick work methodically, processing the apartment, bagging and tagging anything that might be of interest in the case, photographing and swabbing and lifting fingerprints. A wallet in a purse on a small table just inside the front door identifies the victim – Vickie Nowak – and Jim leaves to track down her family and make the notification.
It's a little after four in the morning when they leave the apartment and head back towards the lab, this part of the city dark and mostly quiet around them, a stark contrast to the lit-up Strip they can make out in the distance.
"Hey, you want to stop and get some food on the way?" Nick suggests as he pulls onto Tropicana.
Grissom rarely notices things like hunger when he's focused on work, but now that the initial frenzy of a new case has ceased, he realizes that he's practically starving.
"Yeah, that sounds good," he agrees, pulling his cell phone from his pocket to check in with the others, see if anyone's already made it back to the lab. He receives negative responses from both Sara and Catherine after a minute or so, so they're still out at their crime scenes. "Nobody else is back yet, so we might as well stop somewhere and eat."
Nick hums his agreement. "Any preference?"
A few blocks later, he pulls off the main road into the parking lot at a twenty-four-hour diner they sometimes frequent when they have a case that brings them to this part of the city. The lot's empty – not strange considering it's the middle of the night – and they park closest to the picnic tables set up outside.
"Might be best if we eat out here," Nick suggests. "Just to keep an eye on the car."
"I think we'd be really unlucky to have someone steal a car full of evidence again," Grissom replies amusedly. "But if you prefer that, sure. I'll go get the food, what do you want?"
"Cheeseburger, fries, coke. Thanks."
He goes into the diner, places the order and leans against the counter as he waits for their food to be prepared. His phone vibrates in his pocket as he does, and he finds a message from Sara.
Already done with your DB then?
Perhaps some of us are just more efficient, he sends back, teasing.
Ha ha
I hope the sarcasm came across
Got it, yeah. No, seriously, simple scene. Small studio apartment, David was there when we arrived, nothing out of the ordinary. Are you still at the Venetian or did you finish and head over to the hospital?
There's a pause before her response comes in, just as the waitress puts down their food on the counter in front of him. He nods his thanks before checking the phone again.
Still here. I had actually managed to block out what kind of absolute assholes come to Vegas to gamble away a few of their many millions. We'd have been done in two hours if he'd just stayed out of the way, but nope. I've lost count of how many times we've kicked him out
He pockets his phone to take the food out to Nick, popping a few fries in his mouth before composing his answer.
Call Jim if he won't stop. He left our scene about two hours ago to notify the victim's family, but he should be done by now
The ellipsis indicating she's writing pops up and he waits until her reply comes through.
I might. OK, got to get back to it. Enjoy the food, say hi to Nick
"Sara says hi," he relays as he puts the phone away again and straightens up. Nick has unwrapped his cheeseburger and has it halfway to his mouth, a small smile playing on his lips.
"They still at the Venetian?" he asks before taking a bite of his burger.
"Apparently the would-be robbery victim is giving them a hard time," Grissom explains. "I told her to call Jim if they need to, but hopefully they'll be able to handle it."
"Good, good." Nick grabs a couple of fries, dunks them in ketchup, and they both chew in silence for a while. "So, how's all of that going, by the way?" he then asks.
Grissom swallows down a bite of his own burger. "All of what?"
"The whole… Sara being back, the kid thing. You and Shelby seemed pretty cozy on Saturday, but it must have been a shock, right?"
He remembers Catherine's warning, that Nick might jump to Sara's defense and give him a 'talking to'. He wonders if that's what's going on here, and if he should nip it in the bud. But no, it's better to get it all out, and then maybe they can move on from it.
Besides, he's kind of curious.
"Of course it was a shock," he agrees, because he can't deny that. "But I had a week to get used to it before we told you guys, and it's been… good. Great, even."
"She seems like a pretty amazing kid," Nick notes.
"She is. And so smart. She asks about anything she doesn't understand, and she's like a sponge, just absorbing everything…"
"Yeah, you're completely gone." Nick shakes his head, an amused expression on his face. "And you and Sara, you're… getting along OK? No hard feelings or anything?"
Ah, there it is.
"Why don't you just ask me what you want to ask me, Nick?" Grissom suggests. "I promise I won't get mad or hold it against you in any way."
Nick shifts a little, clearly uncomfortable. "I just… Warrick did have a point, and if this happened to me, I have no idea how I'd react. But I know Sara, and I know she wouldn't have left like she did if she felt she had any other option, so I just… I guess what I'm getting at is I don't want you to be mad at her for a decision she made under what must have been pretty difficult circumstances. She's been through enough; she doesn't need that on top of everything else."
"I agree, and I'm not mad at her," he says.
"You're not?"
"No. Would I have wanted to be there for the first three years of Shelby's life? Of course. But I understand why Sara did what she did, and I don't blame her for any of this. If anything, it's my fault, for putting her in a position where she felt she had no choice but to leave."
Nick's staring at him a little slack jawed as he speaks, and when he finishes, the younger man shakes his head slightly, as if trying to clear it.
"OK, well that's… good."
"Are you satisfied?" Grissom asks. "Can we finish eating and get back to the lab?"
"Now, hang on," Nick replies, holding up a hand. "I'm not quite done with you yet. What happens now? With you two?"
Even if he had figured that out himself, he wouldn't be confiding in Nick.
"Are you asking my intentions?" he asks, trying to rattle the other CSI, but apparently, he's gotten over his initial discomfort, because he just shrugs and maintains eye contact.
"I guess I am. Like I said, Sara's been through enough, I don't want her to get hurt again. I'm not saying you're going to hurt her, but we all know you can be a little… insensitive to other people's feelings."
He considers the words for a moment. The last thing he wants is to ever hurt Sara again, and he's going to do the best he can to avoid that. But apart from that… "Honestly? I don't know. What I do know is that, right now, my main priority is Shelby. She's been taking everything in stride this past week, but she is still just a child, and everything here is new to her. So, for now, my intentions are to make Shelby feel welcome and comfortable, and after that… I guess we'll see. But I have no intention of hurting Sara if I can avoid it, I can promise you that much."
Nick is watching him intently, and he looks back, placid, because he knows there's no insincerity to be found. He means every word.
"OK. Good. Now I'm done."
They finish eating mostly in silence. Every now and then, one of them brings up something about the crime scene they just came from, or asks about another of their open cases, but they're apparently done with the heavier topics.
Grissom waits until they're back in the car before he speaks. "Thank you."
Nick glances over at him before refocusing on the road. "For what, giving you an awkward big brother-talk?"
"Yes. I know Sara would appreciate it, even if she'd never admit it."
All the color drains from Nick's face. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"
Grissom has to laugh. "Oh, no, I'm trying to stay on her good side."