Title: Telling Dad and Moving On
Author: LissaMarie
E-mail: [email protected]
Rated: PG-13 (I might make that higher depending on how graphic I get. There is violence against children and swearing.)
Feedback: Please! I like to know how I'm doing.
Disclaimer: All the characters that you may recognize from CSI - Crime Scene Investigation do not belong to me. The other original characters do belong to me.
Summary: Kait tries to convince Nick to let her tell her father about their relationship. Catherine and Grissom are moving toward a relationship that is more than friendly. Warrick and Sara find themselves falling hard for one another. Sequel to Daddy Dearest--Takes place a few months later.
Author's Note #1: This contains SPOILERS for the SEASON 2 FINALE. I will be mentioning Gil's...illness (Was that vague enough for spoiler virgins overseas?). If you have not seen the finale and do not wish to know what I'm talking about, please do not continue. I invite you back to read this fic at a later date. I just don't want to ruin anyone's surprise.
AN #2: This fic is set in early December which would make Daddy Dearest set in about September. I'm not using the case I mentioned at the end of that story...That was just my way of finishing. I have a new case blocked out that will get to every CSI...
WARNING: This story contains violence toward a children. I strongly believe that the worst crimes that are committed are those against children. This story is, in no way, intended to sensationalize such crimes. I needed a case that would get everyone where they live and this is what I came up with.
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 1
By LissaMarie
August 25, 2002
"Do you think Lindsay would prefer to just get a gift certificate to the toy store? I guess, it would be easier for Catherine if I just picked out a toy. Maybe a doll?" Kait turned around to Nick who was following her around the mall carrying her bags. They were finishing up Kait's Christmas shopping on their only night off, and both were having a good time. The crowds and noise barely fazed the two as they focus their attention on one another.
"She's a nine year old girl--She probably has tons of dolls. Maybe some clothes for them and something else," Nick suggested. He chuckled when Kait lifted an eyebrow toward him. "I do have 3 sisters."
"That's what we'll do. Let's get something to eat first though. I'm starving," Kait decided leading them toward the food court. Her knee-length skirt swayed gently with each step, and she, in her semi-tight white blouse, caught the attention of most of the men that walked by. She paid them no mind but she knew Nick was feeling territorial. She could feel him walking closer to her. They passed by Victoria's Secret, and Nick shot a brash grin toward Kait who, in turn, slapped his arm--Hard.
"Ow!" Nick rubbed his arm as best he could with the bags in his hands.
"My dad and I are having dinner at my house next Friday night," Kait informed Nick as they somehow managed to find an empty table in the bustling food court.
Nick grunted in response. He knew where this conversation was going.
�Maybe you can join us. I�m sure dad wouldn�t mind,� she hinted as she looked around at all the vendors. So, so many choices...
�I don�t want to interrupt your time with your father. I�m sure that--�
�Are you afraid of my dad, Nick?� Kait questioned, interrupting his sentence with a sweet smile playing on her lips.
�No,� Nick insited leaning back in his chair.
�Fine. Then we�ll tell him tomorrow at the office--�
�Not at the office. He�s required to carry a gun at the office,� Nick explained, this time leaning forward as if trying to reinforce his point.
�Dad won�t shoot you, if only because of the inconvenience of having to find someone to take over your work,� Kati explained soothingly.
�Thanks, Kait. That makes me feel a whole lot better.�
Kait decided to drop the subject and move on. �So what are your plans for Christmas?�
Nick accepted the change of topic gratefully. �I was thinking of going down to my sister�s house. The holiday dinner�s have been moved there since my mother isn�t really up to the cooking and entertaining involved in having it at her house anymore.�
�Oh,� Kait replied sounding disappointed.
�If you want me to stay up here, I can--�
�I would never ask you to skip out on your family. I�ll probably spend the day with my dad. It�ll be our first Christmas together,� Kait told him seriously. �If your plans to go to Texas fall through or anything, you�re more than welcome to come over my place. Even if we do it as just-friends around my father.�
�Do you want me to come to dinner Friday night?� Nick finally asked after moment of silence.
�What I want is a cheeseburger and an extra-large fry and for you to do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable, and if us spending time together behind my father�s back makes you feel comfortable, that�s the way we�ll keep it. What can I get you while I�m up?� Kait stated as she stretched.
�You stay and watch your bags--I�ll go,� he stood up and began to walk away. He hesitated for a second and turned around. �What time should I be over Friday night?�
�Six thirty would be perfect,� Kait smiled as she watched him walk away from the table. Things finally seemed perfect to her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jeff Sampson made his way over the hill toward the grounds he was supposed to survey. He wondered absently why anyone would want to build any kind of business in the middle of nowhere when all the action in Downtown Vegas. He didn�t much care, really. His job was to get the measurements and give them to the boss. He did wish, though, that he had waited until morning or asked someone to join him. His mind had always played tricks on him while he was alone at night.
He stood in the middle of the field and placed his equipment down on the ground. It would have been easier to do his work during the daylight hours, but an earlier deadline had been set, and he had a lot to do. He dug a small hole in the rain-softened soil/sand. The uneven grounding made his job all the more difficult. Something hard in the ground captured his attention, and he went about trying to uncover it.
What he saw made him recoil in shock. �Oh my God.�
A small human skull had been unearthed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Gil Grissom arrived at the scene with Catherine, Sara, and Warrick in tow. Jim Brass had called him personally and told him to bring every CSI he could. He hadn�t mentioned what had happened.
�You�re not going to believe this one,� the homicide detective said in place of a hello. �A surveyor came out to the grounds to get a job down and came across a skeleton as he was doing it.�
�What�s so unbelievable about that?� Warrick couldn�t help but ask. It was a sad fact, but murders happened all the time. He saw Sara nod in agreement.
�The skeleton was of a child, the best we can tell,� Brass explained patiently. �But the part you won�t believe is what we found when we got here. More skeletons. A body too.�
�How many are we talking about?� Grissom asked his eyes wide.
�So far 4--all kids--, but we�re going to keep looking,� Jim told them straight faced. The wear on his face was evident. No one liked investigating a case involving children.
"Maybe we should call in Nick and Kait," Warrick suggested.
Catherine looked up sharply. "I'll do it," she said quickly. She knew that no one knew about Kait and Nick's relationship. She was sure that Warrick had an idea that something was going on with them, but he wasn't sure like she was. Kait had let her in on the little secret, and Catherine gave her advice whenever she needed it.
Gil gave her an odd look before nodding. He and the other two CSI's started won to the crime scene.
Catherine pulled out her cell phone and dialed the now-familiar number to Kait's apartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kait moaned quietly as Nick's hands trailed down her back and his lips caressed hers. She pulled herself into his lap and pressed closer to him. Her fingers wove through his hair keeping his lips on hers.
Then the phone rang.
Nick pulled away slightly and put his forehead against hers. "Someone will die," he promised in a whisper with a small smile playing on his lips.
Kait groaned and grabbed the phone. "Kait Grissom."
"Hey, Kait. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," a voice she recognized as Catherine's said.
Smacking Nick's hand from under her skirt playfully, she giggled, "Nope. What exactly would you be interrupting?"
"I don't know...Maybe some private time with a certain dark and handsome man."
"A dark and handsome man? Nick's the only other person here. Who're you talkin' about?" Kait replied laughing when Nick pouted at her.
"I'm actually calling for work. We got a new crime scene. Four DBs so far and they're expecting more. They're kids according to Brass. Can we count on you and Nick to get out here?"
"We'll leave in a few minutes," Kait assured her. Catherine gave her the location, and Kait hung up without saying goodbye.
"We're going to work?" Nick questioned raising his eyebrows. He knew he and Kait wouldn't get any further than the were, but he had been enjoying himself. Kait was definitely something else.
"They've got four dead children, and they're expecting more," Kait explained extracting herself from his embrace. She stood up and looked down at herself. She decided quickly that the fleece pants and oversized sweatshirt (that some how got in her draw from Nick's house) that she had changed into after they had arrived at her house would have to do.
Nick pulled himself up and grabbed his coat from the arm of the couch. He helped Kait into hers, and they were off.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 2
By LissaMarie
August 27-30, 2002
After arriving at the scene (in separate SUVs, of course) Nick and Kait made their way through the various vehicles that were parked at the scene toward where it appeared everyone was gathered. Kait sucked in a breath when they were close enough to see what was going on.
There was one man she didn't recognize from her time in the lab using ground penetrating radar canvassing the area, and several forensic excavations going on. More than the four Catherine had mentioned on the phone. Without realizing it, both Kait and Nick sped up their paces.
"What do we have so far?" Nick asked Warrick in lieu of a greeting.
"We have 5 bodies on their way to the lab, and more are still coming. Six more for certain. The forensic anthropologist on the scene is estimating that some of the victims have been buried here for 10 years or longer. One that is on its way to the lab is still pretty much intact. Gris wants to talk to the two of you. He'll probably send you to the lab to process the bodies and leave us with the scene," Warrick told them, gesturing over his shoulder. He turned back to his work without another word.
Nick understood that the case was getting to Warrick, and that he hadn't intended to be--essentially--rude to them. He out his hand on the small of Kait's back at led her over to Grissom. He was careful to remove his hand before he noticed them.
"Hey, dad, where do you want us?" Kait asked wrapping her arms tightly around herself when she saw what her father was studying. Lying in the ground, there was fleshless torso clothed in a dirty dress that appeared to have been pink at one time. Its size made her believe it was a child of no more than six.
Gil looked between the two of them for a few seconds curiously before responding. "Down at the lab. We need someone to get working on what we have there so far. Any more people here would just add to the confusion. As it is, we already have every person with field experience including cadets."
"Anything specific that you want us to run with them?" Kait questioned not moving her eyes away from the child's remains. She felt a familiar burning in her eyes, but she would never allow herself to cry on the job. She had to be professional. She spun around when two man carrying a stretcher with a black body bag on it. Both men had tears running down there faces.
"Just be as thorough as you can," Grissom assured them. He noticed his daughter's lack of attention and felt for her. None of the cases she had handled since joining them in Vegas had involved children, and he knew this case would cut into her. She had always felt more for the helpless, like children, than anything else.
Nick nodded toward their boss and took Kait's elbow. Usually he wouldn't touch her in front of her father, but he couldn't keep himself from trying to comfort her. Truth be told, the scene was getting to him as well, and he needed to feel her presence. He led her back to their trucks and decided that they should ride together. Everyone would still be at the scene tomorrow morning, and they could come back to get Kait's truck then.
"Hey, you okay?" Nick whispered in her ear when they were behind the truck and out of view of the others.
"What?" Kait looked up sharply.
"I asked if you were okay. You seem a little out of it," Nick told her soothingly.
"Let's just get to the lab." She shook off his hands that were rubbing up and down her arms and went to the passenger side of the Tahoe and climbed in. She heard Nick sit down beside her and start the truck. She realized, somewhat absently, that she should apologize for being gruff.
She didn't though.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: I am purposely redundant with some words and phrases in this part. It isn't for lack of imagination but in order to capture the character and scene better.
Kait stared at the small form on her examination table. It was a little girl--only it really wasn't. It was the BODY of a little girl.
The body of a little girl wouldn't jump off the table and giggle about how they fooled everyone like a little girl would.
The body of a little girl would not grow up with dreams of being an animal doctor or an explorer like little girls sometimes do.
The body of a little girl was nothing except a little girl who had all of that stolen from her.
Kait leaned forward and methodically removed the clothing from the body. She folded it neatly, so Nick wouldn't have to bother with it. She got a small vacuum to collect the trace evidence from the body. She started at the body's feet and worked her way up to its face. She combed the body's hair and got a wet cloth to clean off the excess dirt knowing that any fingerprints that may have been on the body at one time were already gone..
Once she was done, all that was left was a badly beaten body of a little girl. It was almost hard for Kait to continue to think of it as a body. The little girl had light brown hair with curls much like Kaitlyn's had been when she was younger. Her china doll face was marred by spots of decay. The little girl's tiny shoulders had bruises on them that were very likely made by a man's large hands. Similar contusions were evident on the little girl's hips and thighs. The implications of those made tears fall from Kait's eyes.
Kait heard the lab door open, and she wiped her eyes with her wrists before she turned around.
"She's been in the ground about a week. She wasn't dead much longer than that--a few days probably," Kait informed Nick as he entered the autopsy bay.
"Did you find anything else?" Nick asked quietly, as if he could wake up the little girl in the room with them.
"No, but I had a though. Can you grab the ALS?" Kait questioned. She unfolded the clothing the little girl had been wearing. She laid it out on the table and waited for Nick to shine the light over it. When he did, there were spots that glowed. "We have our killer's DNA. He made the mistake of being overly eager with this little girl."BR>
Nick looked up quickly then over to the little girl. His jaw tightened as his hate for the man that had committed the horrendous crimes they were investigating grew.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kait stripped off her latex gloves and turned around to Nick. She was surprised to see him asleep in a chair that he had drug in when she started the autopsy. She smiled at his relaxed form, liking how innocent he looked when he slept.
It wasn't the first time she had been with him while he was sleeping. There had been many times, after she found a place of her own, that she had made them dinner, and he stayed over. They would share the bed, but he would never push anything. He would just hold her, and they would talk until one of them dozed off.
A frown came to Kait's features when Nick began to mumble under his breath and tense. She stepped closer to him and reached out to touch his face.
"Nicky, it's okay. You're just having a dream," she whispered in his ear in a soothing tone. He calmed down almost instantly. Her fingers trailed down his face. "You're going to have to wake up, Nick. An autopsy bay isn't a great place to try to take a nap."
"Just five more minutes, mom," Nick joked opening his eyes slowly and looking around. "I really did fall asleep in the autopsy bay. Huh." He stood up to stretch.
"Well, it is almost noon. We've been here awhile," Kait comforted him with a small grin. She leaned back against the counter next to him.
"So, you're done..." Nick gestured toward the empty exam table vaguely.
"Yeah. No surprises. The girl was molested before she was killed. Death was by a blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. I sent samples down to toxicology just to be certain. She was dead for at least a day before being buried. She's been buried for 7 maybe 10 days." Kait brushed back a few curls that had escaped her tight French braid. She rubbed her eyes, and the exhaustion stemmed from over 24 hours without sleep was very evident.
"You asked Warrick to drive you truck here when he was done at the scene, right?" Kait nodded. "Why don't we take my Tahoe over to your place. You can take a shower while I fix us something for lunch, and then we can both get some much needed sleep. We can come back this evening with a fresh perspective." Nick was suggesting this for Kait's sake. If it were just him, he'd run himself into the ground on a case like this one before decided to go home, but she looked dead on her feet. Seeing her like that made his protective, chivalrous side kick in.
"Well, I do sort of feel like I have a week's worth of grime on me, but hopefully, that's just my imagination," Kait wrinkled her nose. She followed Nick out of the lab and tried to forget the sight of the little girl laying on her autopsy table. With Nick's help, she did.
And with her help, so did he.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 3
By LissaMarie
August 31, 2002
Kait exited the bathroom dressed in dark flannel pajama pants topped with a tight gray t-shirt. Her long, wet curls laid against her back as she made her way out to the kitchen. She found Nick there leaning over a frying pan on the stove.
"Showers free if you want to hop in," Kait offered walking up to him and rubbing his back and shoulders. He didn't say anything, so she leaned her head between his shoulder blades and wrapped her arms around his waist. "What's on your mind?"
Nick snapped out of it. "Nothing much. My shower can wait until after we eat. I hope you don't mind grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was all I can make out of what you had." He turned around and out his own arms around her shoulders, leaning down to kiss her sweetly on the lips.
"Sounds good to me," she mumbled against his lips. She pulled away and looked into his eyes, becoming serious. "If you really needed to talk, you'd come to me, wouldn't you?" She asked the question worried that, as their relationship progressed, he was putting less trust in her than she was in him. She hated to think that he didn't feel he could talk to her.
"I would," he assured her. "I will. Let's just eat, okay?" He put a sandwich on each of the two plates Kait took out and spooned some soup into the bowls. They carried them over to the small kitchen table, and both sat down to eat in silence.
When she finished, Kait stayed in her seat and stared at Nick. She didn't realize that she was gawking until Nick mentioned it.
"Do you have any idea how disconcerting it is to have someone watch you eat?" Nick questioned, smiling when he saw her jerk out of her stupor. "Is it really bothering you that much that I won't tell you what I'm thinking about?"
"Yes, actually it is," Kait told him honestly. "I tell you everything, but you won't tell me what's bothering you. And don't tell me nothing because I know that you'd be lying." She stood up. Picking up both of their dishes, she carried them over to the sink to rinse them out.
"It's this case," Nick admitted to her back. He watched Kait turn around slowly and leaned against the counter, obviously waiting for him to continue. He didn't know how.
"That's a start. This is something that we can talk about. The case is getting to me too. Finding those kids got to everyone. It even got to my dad even though he tried to hide it. What is it about the case that is bothering you so much besides the fact that there is a case like this at all?" Kait asked.
Nick got up from the wooden chair and made his way toward the more comfortable sofa. He took a seat and felt Kait come down next to him. "How do you do it?" he asked suddenly.
"Do what?" she frowned.
"The autopsies. How do you cut open the bodies of children as if they were nothing more than lab animals?"
Kait cringed at his tone. "It's my job. I examine the remains to see how the person lived, what their last hours were like, how they died, and if they were murdered, who killed them. I told you before. I help the families of the victims achieve some kind of justice and closure. No matter how hard I try, I can't bring the victims that lay on my tables back to life; I'm not God. I can only do so much. Does my job bother you?"
"No," Nick told her quickly. "I understand why you do what you do. I'm sorry I asked. I shouldn't have." He ran his finger over her knuckles in apology, and she smiled at him. "What would you say that girl's last few hours were like?"
"In my opinion? Hell on Earth. Probably full of pain, and things that don't even make it into children's worst nightmares--All of those things that parents believe will never happen to their kids. She was raped repeatedly by a man who, of course, took no care to be gentle. She was perhaps scared out of her mind. I don't think she could have been a day over 9 years old, so she most likely understood what had happened, at least on some level. She possibly felt dirty--different, strange, abnormal. She might had thought about her parents or her friends, and how they would feel about her if they found out. I can imagine that she cried continuously. Of course, psychology isn't really my specialty, but in my opinion, the quick death that the blow to the head gave her might have been a welcomed reprieve at a time of intense pain and suffering." Kait went through her explanation in a clinical, detached tone, though she felt white hot anger surge through her veins as she thought about what that little girl had endured at the hands of a madman that, for all they know, was out doing the same thing to another child.
"Sometimes you can't cry. You don't feel like you should. You're not a kid anymore, and only kids cry," Nick told her distantly.
Kait's eyes darted and met his searchingly. "Where is this coming from, Nicky?" She had a feeling she already knew and the mere thought made her feel nauseous. Thinking about sexual abuse happening to a stranger was one thing, but thinking about it happening to the man that she felt very strongly for, gnawed at her.
"The first time was when I was 9. My parents were going out with some friends, and my babysitter had gotten the flu. She couldn't come over, but suggested her neighbor. She was a couple years younger than my normal babysitter, but since my sitter was going off to college in less than a year, everyone thought it would be best if I got used to having another person staying with me. She charmed my parents the second she walked into the door, and she was fun for the first few hours. She played around more than my sitter usually did. I went up to my room an hour later than my normal bedtime, and she followed me up. She was watching me while I got out pajamas, and chuckled when I asked her if she could turn around while I changed. She took the flannels from me an led me over to the bed...I had bruises that hurt whenever I moved on my sides and upper arms, but I didn't cry. I wanted to. I wanted to curl up into a little ball and sob my eyes out until my mom came home, but I didn't. I just sat there and waited. I didn't move when I heard her talking to my dad downstairs as if nothing had happened or when my mom came into my room to say goodnight. I guess she just assumed I was spacey because I was overly tired--It was a few hours after my bedtime at that point. I didn't move until I heard her car pull out of the driveway, and my parents go into their room that was right next to mine. I knew they wouldn't let anything happen to me while they were home. It was just when they weren't that I had to worry. I did. At least until I was 12 and was able to convince my parents I was old enough to fend for myself while they went out. Best day of my life." He went through his monologue completely detached until the very end. His voice cracked on his last sentence. He looked up to see tears coursing down Kait's cheeks which he reached up to wipe away with his thumbs.
"Nick, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you. Sometimes I just want to help people so much that I end up hurting them more," Kait whispered putting her hand over his on her face.
Nick was silent for a moment. "I think I'm going to go get a shower now." He stood up leisurely and leaned over to kiss Kait�s forehead.
�I�m going to bed. See you in a little while?� she questioned not releasing his hand.
Nick contemplated telling her that he�d stay on the couch but found himself nodding. His hand was released, and he grabbed his gym bag from the floor before going to the bathroom.
Kait got up and went to her bedroom. She curled up on her preferred side and closed her eyes refusing to allow her tears to fall once again. Almost exactly 15 minutes later, she felt Nick climb in next to her and wrap his strong arms around her. She rolled over to lay her head on his shoulder and mumbled something into his neck that she knew he couldn�t make out, but she didn�t repeat it.
Nick thought he heard her say love, and the thought didn�t scare him half as much as he imagined it would.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 4
By LissaMarie
September 1-8, 2002
Sara sat in the uncomfortable kitchen chair staring at the plate that was set in front of her. More accurately, she was looking intently at the "food" on the plate. Her gaze lifted to her companion.
"It just doesn't look normal, does it?" she asked Warrick of the crooked mold that was supposed to be meatless meatloaf on her plate (I need something entertaining, so I stole Harm's -- from JAG -- "famous" meatless meatloaf. I hope this doesn't bug anyone.).
"Now that you bring it up..." Warrick admitted trying to keep his laughter in check. "It does sort of remind me of the time my grandmother got me this puppy that wasn't paper-trained at all, and he--"
"I get the point," Sara interrupted trying to look at him sternly. The expression of pure innocence on his face managed to make her chuckle nevertheless. "Now that we've established that my cooking looks a lot like puppy crap, maybe we should order out or something."
"Or you could learn to cook," Warrick suggested ducking just in time to miss the cloth napkin that had been thrown at his head.
"I didn't see you out there trying to make anything, and it IS your kitchen."
"Hey, I've already discovered that I'm beyond help when it comes to culinary skill," Warrick shot back. The playful banter that came to the two of them naturally through the previous months was a welcomed distraction from the case they were working on.
"And you think I am? I somehow screwed up a step-by-step instructional recipe," Sara reminded him picking up her plate and showing it to him. "Besides, my learning to cook won't get us food now, and I'm starving." At Warrick's grin, she continued. "For food. Pizza or Chinese?"
"Whatever you want. I'm going to go stretch out on the couch. Let me know when it's here?" Warrick stood up and rubbed his eyes.
"Sure. Vegetable pizza good for you?"
"Great." He made his way out to the living room and carefully sat down. It was almost 6:00, and they had been at his house for just over an hour. He had gone into work a few hours early the day before, so he had been at the office for somewhere around 24 hours straight. He had down that plenty of times before, but his body protested this time. He was getting old...er.
"Should be here in a half hour," Sara whispered to him as she entered the room. She noticed that he didn't open his eyes but knew he was awake. Gingerly sitting down on the edge of the sofa by his waist, she ran her hands up his well-toned chest. "Mind if I join you?"
Instead of reminding her of the small size of the couch, Warrick turned onto his side and welcomed her into his arms. They laid in silence for a few minutes before he heard Sara speak.
�What could make a person do those kind of things?�
Good question. �I don�t know. We�ll have to remember to ask when we catch the guy.�
Sara smiled. �Do you really think that we�ll catch him?� Her voice was soft and completely unlike her usual self-confident tone. She sounded more like a lost little girl than a well educated scientist.
Her change of character didn�t go unnoticed by Warrick, who pulled her closer to him. �I know we will. He made mistakes. It�s just a matter of time before he makes another one.� Warrick tried to reassure her, but he was uncertain himself.
Sara decided to change the subject. �What do you think the people at work would say if they saw us right now?� She threaded her fingers through his and placed their clasped hands against her stomach. Against her back, she felt Warrick�s chest quake with chuckles.
�I really don�t know. They couldn�t look down on it. We�d really be just another couple in the office,� he simplified.
�Has Nick told you what is going on with him and Kait?�
�Nope. Not for my lack of trying. There�s the two of them, and then there�s Catherine and Grissom--�
�Catherine and Grissom? Since when?� Sara interrupted, turning to face him.
"For awhile, I think. It's not really any of my business, so I try to stay out of it. Lately, though, it seems like they're spending a lot of time together. You know, coming in for shift together, that sort of thing," Warrick told her. He pulled Sara closer to him and closed his eyes.
"So you think that both Kait and Nick AND Grissom and Catherine are in a relationship like ours?"
"Not Nick and Kait. I think they have a little LESS of a relationship than we do," Warrick mock-growled into her ear, and he started kissing her neck.
Sara giggled--A sound Warrick himself was still getting used to--and pulled his lips down to hers.
Then the doorbell rang.
"If we kill him, we won't have to pay," Sara suggested in a tone that made the idea seem completely logical. She laid down on her back to allow Warrick to get up to get the door. After their first few meals together, she had given up on trying to get him to let her pay, so she watched him grab his wallet from the coffee table and walk toward the door. Rolling off the couch to her feet, she followed him.
Warrick gave the older man that was delivering their pizza the money he owed him plus a tip when he caught the man's eyes traveling behind him. He followed the deliveryman's gaze and realized that he was looking at Sara, not with the expression of a man admiring a woman, but of a man shocked and almost disgusted. It wasn't the first time that he and Sara had received looks like that, but it didn't get easier. It seemed that every time they went out there was someone that said something about them behind their backs.
Warrick schooled his features to show no emotion and took the food before closing the door. It was obvious to him that Sara had seen what he had since she was out of the somewhat playful mood she had been in when he had left the room and a frown was evident on her face. They made their way to the dining room table and sat down to eat both remembering another time that they had eaten dinner together.
That time had been much more uncomfortable.
* * * *
I got the idea for this from something that happened to a friend and I when we went out together. He's Hispanic, and I'm a VERY pale Irish-American. We had a...difficult and very uncomfortable time at the restaurant we selected. So I just made it a little more grown up (I'm 16, so I'd go to places a little different than those 30-something people attend) with a few alterations (It's an abridged version). Sara's reactions are what mine were. People can just be so rude sometimes.
The restaurant that Warrick had brought her to made Sara's eyes widen. When he had told her to dress up, she had thought that they would go to some place nice, but what she had in mind was nothing like where they were. Antonio's (I made up a pizza place in DD, and I'm making up a restaurant in this fic. Deal with it *g*) was one of the most expensive restaurants in Las Vegas. She had no idea how he could even afford it.
"I need something to spend my money on now," he whispered in her ear as if he had read her mind.
Sara flushed at the memory that popped up at that remark. She remembered--all too well--his gambling problem. They walked side by side into the restaurant both enjoying their first "real" date as far as they had gotten with it.
"May I help you?" the host behind the podium asked in a tone that was supposed to be friendly but came out cold.
"Reservations for Brown," Warrick offered as if he didn't notice the hostility at all. He could feel Sara tense next to him and moved close to her lightly touching her hand.
"You must be mistaken, sir. We have no reservations under that name," the man responded after looking down at his portfolio. He smiled mock-politely at Warrick and didn't see Sara crane her neck to see what her had read.
"Yes, you do," she informed him in the voice she always used when telling a suspect about the evidence she had collected that would put him away for the remaining years of his natural life (How would you describe that tone?).
The man had the decency to blush slightly. "I must have missed that." His words portrayed the same arrogance that they had before.
"Maybe you should see a doctor about that. It could be something serious," Sara told him. She was careful to keep her tone even and knowledgeable. She was a criminalist; she had to keep her emotions in check all the time. One would think that it would begin to come easy. One would be wrong.
"I think I will. Thank you. Your table is right this way." He led them to the back of the restaurant to a table tucked in a corner, walking away when neither Warrick or Sara said anything.
"And they call us ignorant," Warrick mumbled looking up at Sara. "So, are we having fun yet?"
"Does that happen to you a lot?" Sara asked gently. She looked from him down to the menu on the table.
"No, not really. I also don't regularly come to places like this," Warrick picked up his menu to avoid looking around. He could feel the overt stares that had made their way to he and Sara.
Sara leaned over the table toward him careful to make sure the low cut neckline of her dress didn't reveal too much as she did so. "Why don't we just go somewhere else? We aren't going to enjoy ourselves here, and we'll just be uncomfortable all night. This is Vegas; there are plenty of things for us to do." She leaned back in her chair looking around. "I know you wanted to do something nice tonight, but I don't want to be somewhere we aren't welcome. We get that enough at work."
Warrick sighed and put his menu down. He heard a harsh whisper behind him that was something about "their kind" and rolled his eyes. "If that is what you want." Both stood up gracefully and started for the door. One couple gave them small smiles that were sympathetic, but no one else did anything except watch them leave.
They went to eat at a small cafe and spent the remaining hours of the evening at a club before going back to Warrick's apartment to forget about the rest of their date.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 5
By LissaMarie
September 9-14, 2002
"Gil?" Catherine asked with a sigh for the fifth time since she came into his office. His chair was turned away from her, but she knew he was awake and should be able to hear her. She was well aware that Grissom had a tendency to get lost in the little world that he created years ago in his mind, but after 5 minutes of repeating his name, it was getting ridiculous. Catherine raised her voice slightly. "Yo, Grissom!"
Gil turned around in his chair. "Yes, Catherine?" He obviously didn't know she had been standing there.
"Where were you?" she question exasperated. She made her way to his guest chair and plopped down in it tiredly.
"Right here," he told her slowly and needlessly.
"Well, yeah, but your mind was a million and a half miles away. I must have called your name 10...okay, 6 times before I got your attention," Catherine explained rotating her shoulders and cracking her neck. "Everyone has been gone for a few hours and the day shift is here working on the case. We should both try to get some sleep before we pass out over a microscope."
"I guess you're right. I doubt I'll be able to sleep, but I should try to rest." He sat for a second and added an afterthought. "And maybe take a shower." He looked down at his dirt covered pants in disgust before standing up and stretching a little. He grabbed his jacket off of his rack and led the way from his office. "Has anyone did the facial reconstruction on the girl in the morgue?"
"Day shift's working on it. Once they're done, they'll run it by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Neither one of us is going to be any good to anybody if we drop at their feet," Catherine told him. "Don't worry. I'm sure Ecklie has everything under control."
"That's supposed to make me NOT worry?" Gil gave her a half smile, and she chuckled.
"I see your point," Catherine conceded as Gil held the glass door open for her. They were out in the parking lot, and she turned to him. "Go home and get some sleep. You look like Hell."
"Gee, thank you for that keen observation," Gil told her sarcastically with a half smile playing on his lips. The smile disappeared, and he became serious once again. "Do you do it, too?"
Catherine looked at him as if he were out of his mind. "What are you talking about?" She kept her voice low matching her tone with Grissom's.
"The kids. Do you see Lyndsay when you look at them?" Grissom frowned when he asked, and his gaze left Catherine's eyes and strayed over the other vehicles in the lot.
She was starting to understand. "Every time. Even though my training tells me not to personalize any cases, as a parent, I can't help it. We you thinking about Kait out there?"
"I saw her as a little girl just lying there in the dirt. I blinked, and it was a skeleton again. I read the report Kaite handed in, and I found myself thinking about how the parents would react when they found out and then how I would react. I don�t get this way. I never have. I don�t understand why this is happening to me now.�
�You and your daughter are closer than you�ve ever been. It�s no wonder you are feeling things more like a parent than just a scientist.�
Grissom stood there quietly for a moment before moving back over at Catherine. He smiled a little and led the way toward her car opening the door for her. He knew she always forgot to lock her car door when she arrived at work since she was usually in a hurry after trying to get Lyndsay to sleep or doing something else parents of 7 (or 8) year old girls do and not getting to leave her house until 20 minutes before shift started. She should definitely be glad that she worked at a police station.
Catherine smiled at him brightly and climbed in. The door stayed open, and Gil didn�t move. �You won�t be able to figure it out. Just don�t keep it in your head. It�ll drive you nuts.�
"Thanks, Cath. I'll see you later." He closed her car door carefully and stepped back as she pulled away with a wave. He walked over to his truck and climbed in with a clearer mind knowing it was more normal to feel what he was feeling than to not be feeling it. I made him feel like a real father.
For the very first time since Kaite had been born.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kait woke up alone. It wasn't something she should find unfamiliar since she had been waking up that way for 28 years, but since she and Nick had gotten together she had become accustomed to having arms tight around her pulling her back when she tried to climb out of bed. Without the hassle of the an argument of logic vs. a sleepy Nick, she got up and headed toward the main room area.
Nick was sitting at the kitchen table with the various crime scene photos from the dig site. There were a few dozen there, and those were only what he was able to collect before leaving the lab. He knew for a fact that there were still people out at the crime scene since Catherine had called the apartment before she left work to give him an update. He was staring intently at one general scenario photograph of the stretch of land. He could see the stake and rope grids around each area where remains had been found, and the dozens of officers and personnel hard at work. He felt Kait enter the room before he saw or heard her.
"Good morning, sunshine," Nick said to her without looking up.
Kait smiled. "How do you do that?" She went up behind him to squeeze his shoulders.
Nick leaned back his head and urged her lips to his in a sweet, chaste good morning kiss. He didn't bother answering just turned his attention back to the file in front of him and knew Kait would understand his unspoken invitation to join him. He knew he was right when he heard her sit down in the chair next to him.
"How much sleep did you get?" Kait asked concerned as she flipped through various copies of scribbled field notes from a few officers.
"A few hours," Nick told her. At her incredulous look, he relented. "An hour. Maybe. I'm not really sure."
"You could have woke me up," she whispered as she read the thoughts of the men that had unburied a field full of children's remains.
"I wanted to be alone for a little while." Nick eyed Kait. "About what I said earlier...It was a long time ago. It might have changed me, but I'm over it now."
"No, you're not," Kait challenged. "You've buried it, yes, but you never got over it because you never worked through it. I don't know how you can get it behind you, but you can't just try to pretend it's not there--That it never happened. That can only work for so long before it finally drives you out of your mind." She spoke in a hushed but urgent tone and ran her fingers over the material of his sweatpants at his knee.
"Kaite, I have a handle on it. I'm doing just fine. I just want to get through this case and find the son-of-a-bitch that did this. I don't want to talk about my feelings or re-examine my past. I told you why this case gets to me...Why can't you just leave it at that?" Nick's eyes locked with hers, pleading with her to understand.
"Fine," Kait grudgingly agreed. She turned her attention back to the file wondering when Nick was going to finally let her in. She was still thinking about it when she heard Nick leave the room and turn on the shower. "I guess we're going into work." She mumbled as she went to lay out clothes for herself and to see if anything Nick had brought with him would need ironing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So you just got here?" Greg asked Nick and Kait glancing back and forth between them.
Nick looked at him strangely. "Yes."
Greg's eyebrow's rose. "Together?"
"We live in the same neighborhood and decided to save on gas," Kait explained levelly. She smiled when she noticed how Greg blushed, knowing what he had been thinking and that he no longer believed it. She was well aware of the crush Greg had developed on her over the months that she had been in Vegas but quickly decided that if she ignored it, it might go away. It hadn't.
"We have a name for the little girl. Annette Manning. She was 8 years old and went missing from her home just outside of Vegas almost 2 months ago. Her parents are on their way here," Greg explained sullenly.
Kait blinked. "That was quick." She saw Nick nod in agreement.
"Almost everyone with the department is on this case. There are even a few outside specialist from the university and other departments that have been brought in to help out. The work goes by a lot quicker when there are more people to do it." Greg turned around on his stool to get back to doing what he was doing when Kait and Nick had first entered the lab signaling the end of the conversation. His visitors got the point and left.
Kait was silent the whole walk to the break room which was odd for her since she had a tendency to dislike silence when she wasn't alone in it. She had always found it disconcerting to be with someone in the same room with someone with neither person talking. It was uncomfortable for her, but having this case on her mind, conversation was almost impossible for her. It was one thing to have the nameless little girl in front of her, but to see her parents' faces and to have to tell them what had happened to their child--their daughter, Annette--was something else altogether.
Nick was the first to speak after they sat down. "So are you going in for the interview?"
Kait, startled by the sudden interruption, looked up quickly. She thought for a moment before speaking. "I should. It's better they hear exactly what happened to there daughter from the person that examined her body than from someone that only read my report. I'll be able to better answer their questions."
Nick's hand that had been resting on Kait's was suddenly removed, and she frowned at the movement. Only when she heard someone enter the room did she understand.
"Hi, daddy," she said without turning around to face him.
"Hello, Kaite," Grissom responded getting himself some coffee after shooting his daughter and her friend--his friend too, he supposed--strange looks. He took a sip before saying anything else. "The parents are here. Brass hasn't told them anything yet. They're in the interrogation room."
Kait sighed and closed her eyes. She pulled herself up standing and opened her eyes to see Nick looking at her in concern. She smiled and turned to her father who lifted his mug to her. She took it from his hand, taking a sip, hoping to prolong having to do the inevitable.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 6
By LissaMarie
September 15-24, 2002
"Hello, my name is Kait Grissom. I'm with the Criminalistics Bureau. This is Jim Brass. Thank you for coming in so soon. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting," Kait said taking a seat across from a handsome couple just a couple of years older than herself. With all her training, she still had no idea how she should continue.
Mr. Manning looked up at her introduction. "I'm Ryan, and this is my wife, Susanna. Did you find Annette?"
The hopefulness in his voice and the anxiousness in his wife's eyes made Kait's stomach turned. She thought about the standard procedure for an interview in her head quickly realizing that they were skipping right over the beginning--the warm-up period--and getting right into the main segment. Instead of establishing rapport, they were going right to acquiring the desired information. She really hated when things didn't go as they were supposed to.
"Yes, we did. Mr. Manning, Mrs. Manning, we found the body of a girl matching your daughter's description outside of town, in the desert. We ran her fingerprints and matched them to the ones taken by Annette's school for the Student Safety Program. I'm very sorry, but your daughter was killed." Kait cringed as she heard herself. Even with their sobs, she continued. "Her body was found buried. I'd say that she had been there about a week. She was dead a few days before that. I was the doctor that examined her. I can try to answer any question you may have."
"She's been gone for 2 months and you're telling us that she died less than 2 WEEKS ago? What happened to her in the time she was missing?" Susanna questioned with tears running down her cheeks. A few strands of hair that had strayed from her ponytail were sticking to her face with her tears.
"Her body was badly beaten. She had signs of severe malnutrition and also of...sexual abuse." The sobs got louder with the last two words, and Kait had to swallow a lump that suddenly formed in her throat before going on. "We need your help if we're going to find the man who did this."
"Anything," Mrs. Manning agreed her tone desperate. She and her husband's hands were clenched together so tightly that their knuckles were white.
"Did anything unusual happen in the days before Annette's disappearance? Did she come in contact with any knew people that may have...rubbed you the wrong way--gave you a bad vibe, that sort of thing?" Kait grimaced internally as she realized a few mistakes she made in her statements. On top of feeling bad about pushing the couple, she had personalized the victim by using her first name and used unscientific terms like vibe. She didn't want to envision the lecture she was going to get from her father for that. Maybe if she handled the rest of the interview well, he'd forget...
"I can't think of anything unusual," Susanna mumbled looking toward her husband who shook his head sadly.
"How did she...die?" Mr. Manning questioned, his voice catching on the last word.
Kait slipped into her "Doctor Mode"--as Nick called her clinically detached moments while talking about her findings during autopsies--and told them. "Blunt force trauma to the head. A heavy object was struck against the back of her head breaking her skull. Death was quick. She felt little or no pain." From the blow to the head, anyway.
Susanna took a deep breath to collect herself and asked the question that had to be asked. "Can we see her? I can't believe this is true without seeing her."
Kait nodded feeling tears prickle at her eyes. She reached across the table and grasped Susanna Manning's hand in her own. "We will find who did this. There is always something that a criminal leaves behind that leads us to him. We're going to make sure this man pays for what he did."
Susanna tightened her hold around Kait's fingers and let more tears roll down her cheeks. "Thank you."
Kait pulled her hand away slowly and turned to Brass. "Will you arrange for Mr. and Mrs. Manning to see their daughter? Doc Robbins should be down in his office. I have to go over a few pieces of evidence in the lab. We can all talk more later." And I also really have to get away from here. Breathe, Kait.
"I will. Sir, Ma'am, if you'll follow me?" Brass led Ryan and Susanna Manning out of the interrogation room.
Kait sat still for a moment before turning to face her father. "I screwed up, I know. There's nothing I can do about it now."
"I was going to say that you did rather well given the circumstances," Gil commented sitting down next to her.
Kait turned to his with a small smile. "Is that coming from my boss or my dad? Because I don't think I've ever heard my boss compliment anyone working under him." She nudged him with her shoulder to let him know she was joking.
Grissom returned her smile, realizing the she was probably right. "I want you all to do things to impress yourselves--Not me. How could you do that if I'm constantly patting you on the backs?"
"Ha! Excuses, excuses, excuses," Kait summarized. The smile that had been playing on her lips through their short conversation disappeared as her facade also vanished. "How do you do it? How do you look at a child who will never get a chance to grow up and then look at their parents and not cry?�
�Years of practice,� he replied deadly.
The tears that Kait had been trying to keep at bay started down her face. �Will you promise me that you�ll never allow me to get that way?�
Gil reached over and wrapped his arms around her in an awkward hug. �I�ll try my best.�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
�Estoy aburrida,� Kait sighed as she and Nick were going through the sand and other evidence collected at the burial site. They�d yet to find anything in the 5 hours that they�d been at it that would help them find the killer. Off Nick�s look, she clarified. �I�m bored.�
How many cups of coffee have you had?" Nick chuckled at her response of two hands displaying six fingers. He changed the subject. "Okay, you speak Italian and Spanish. What other languages do you know?� He asked as he sifted through the dust and dirt from the desert.
�American Sign language and Signed Exact English, a little German, and even less French,� Kait mumbled. She still hated talking about herself with the people she worked with--especially Nick. She slid back in her stool and rubbed her eyes. �Why are we doing this? We aren�t going to find anything that will help us get this guy.�
�I�ve got something,� Nick announced as if he hadn�t heard her.
�How did I know that would happen?� she muttered looking over his shoulder at the strand of fiber her was holding in a pair of tweezers. �Looks like hair, maybe?�
�That would be my guess.� Nick bagged the fiber to send to Greg.
�A little short to be female. Possibly our killer?� Kait suggested making sure she added the "possibly" at the beginning of her statement.
"It could be. Now will you please explain to me why you drank six cups of coffee in a span of three hours? I didn't think that you really liked it all that much." Nick smiled at her after sealing the evidence bag.
Kait grinned. Being around Nick always made her feel...brighter, somehow. "I never drank the stuff before I came here. Now I admit it...I'm addicted to it. I tried to fight it, but I'm not strong enough. Besides, I have a lot on my mind."
"This case?"
"Yeah, but something else too. Maybe you can help?" Nick nodded. "Do you think my dad and Catherine are sleeping together?"
If Nick had been drinking the coffee they had been speaking of, it would have been all over Kait. To say her question caught him off guard would be calling Mt. Everest a big hill. "What made you think of that?" His response came out kind of screechy.
Kait rolled her eyes at his reaction. "Have you ever walked into a room where they were alone and felt like you were interrupting something? A week ago, he called my apartment about an hour before shift from her house."
"I don't know, but if they are, they're consenting adults. That, and I really don't want to think about it. It's almost as bad as thinking about your parents having sex," Nick told her putting his hands up.
The expression on Kait's face would be enough to make even Grissom laugh out loud. "How the hell do you think I feel?! He is my parent."
"What's up, you two?" Warrick asked as her entered the lab.
They both turned around to face him. It was Nick who replied. "Kait's hyper and thinks that Gris and Cath are...having a relationship that is...more than just professional." He made his statement as politically correct as he possibly could.
"Grissom and Catherine?" Sara asked as she entered behind Warrick. She raised her eyebrows toward Kait who groaned.
"Please, please, for the love of all that is Holy, can we drop this? I think I'm going to get sick," Kait said dramatically covering her face with her arm. "I'm sorry I brought it up."
"Poor Kait," Warrick mock sympathized. He chuckled when she took off her gloves and threw them at him.
"That's it. I'm going down to my office to actually get work done. I have to finish my report on the Manning autopsy anyway, and there are a few more things I have to go over," Kait stood up and walked toward the door. "Enjoy you sand. Good luck finding anything else, Nicky."
Sara and Warrick looked at one another before grabbing gloves to help Nick examine the pails of sand, dust, and hopefully, evidence that would lead them to the man who committed the cold blooded murders of over a dozen children over a span of two decades.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Grissom sat in his office silently staring at the framed photograph in his hands. It was a picture of a five year old Kait taken at an aquarium in Los Angeles. She was trying her best to sound out the words on the plaque against the glass of the tank. The two of them had been working on her reading for a few weeks using various Dr. Seuss books. Each had their own copy of each book, so they could read together even over the phone. They didn't spend much time together, and they knew one another's voices better than their faces.
And Grissom knew that their was a chance he might wake up one morning and never hear her voice again. He thought about it often. He thought about never hearing her gentle prodding on Sunday mornings when she tried to get him to go to Church with her. The reflection of never hearing her giggle in the quiet, shy way that was so typical of her ever since she was a little girl. He could wake up one morning and be completely deaf, successfully cutting the strongest connection he and his only child shared.
Gil cautiously put the picture back in its place in his desk drawer, and he went to leave his office. He wandered toward Greg's lab knowing that he'd find some kind of racket there to prove that the Otosclerosis hadn't progressed quite that far as of yet.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 7
By LissaMarie
Sept. 27-Oct. 7, 2002
"People suck," Catherine decided as she sat down gingerly on the bar stool watching Grissom tinker around in his kitchen. She took a small sip of her vodka and orange juice before elaborating. "I mean, think about it. They lie, they cheat, they kill. Why can't people just be honest with one another? Wouldn't that be a hell of a lot easier?"
Grissom put the carton of eggs back in the refrigerator. His eye drifted to her drink, and a half smile came to his lips. "Exactly how many of those have you had?"
"THAT is entirely beside the point. Wouldn't it be easier just to tell the truth? To me, secrets have always been a burden. Secrets suck. They have no point. They just RUIN your life," Catherine emphasized the last statement by placing her empty glass down on the table none too gently.
Gil checked on the omelets he was cooking and turned back to his friend. "Will you be coming to the point of this diatribe anytime soon?" Truth be told, the whole topic was making him uncomfortable.
"Now THAT is the point. YOU have secrets that you won't tell me. I'm probably your closest friend, and I didn't even know that you had a daughter until she got a job here. Don't your secrets bother you?" Catherine realized she was getting tipsy. Two drinks shouldn't have that strong of an effect on her, but the weight of work had kept her from her lunch.
"Everyone has secrets, Catherine," Gil explained diplomatically. He used the pancake turner to put their omelets on plates, and he placed his friend's dinner/breakfast/lunch down on the counter in front of her. He made a mental note to make sure she took a little time out of her work schedule to eat something. He noticed the glare she sent him before she took a bite.
"Yes, they do. Some have more than others. Some people don't share anything with anyone, which isn't healthy, by the way." Catherine got off her chair and went to the kitchen intending to make herself another drink.
Grissom spoke without bringing himself around to face her. "No more. You have to pick Lindsay in less than 3 hours, and that is just enough time to get those two out of you system." He turned and smiled slightly at her How the hell do you do that? stare. His eyes followed her movements as she poured a glass of plain, pulp-free orange juice. "Okay, Cath. I have to ask where this topic of yours is going?"
Catherine went to her seat and sighed as she plopped down. "Something's been on your mind lately, and I want to know what it is." Her response was simple and to the point, which were things she took satisfaction in being. Gil on the other hand, she knew, preferred to be cryptic to keep people out. She might not understand it most of the time, but she usually respected it. This time, though, she couldn't stand to be out in the dark while he was obviously hurting.
Grissom leaned up against the counter silently for a moment before walking around, plate in hand, to sit beside her. Should he tell her? How could he? Shouldn't Kaite be the first person he revealed this secret to? He started to eat the small meal he made while more questions came to his mind, and the quiet, everyday noises that most people wouldn't even notice began to fade away.
Catherine watched him knowing he hadn't ignored her. Satisfied that he was at least considering giving her an answer, she took a sip of her juice and finished eating her late brunch.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kait sat at the counter in the DNA lab going over the preliminary reports from the autopsies she and Dr. Robbins had done so far. She had gone home to get a few hours of sleep, but still, the wear this case was bringing on her was evident. The reports from the examinations of the skeletons were not yet available, so she was working with only half of the information. She was looking over the results of the Greg's test on the samples she and Nick had collected from Annette's clothing, and she became very confused.
"Greg?"
"Yeah, Kait?" Greg spun around on his stool slightly surprised by the interruption of the quiet of the lab. Normally silence bothered him, but it felt wrong to intrude upon it with music or any of his usual methods of escape. This case was taking a toll on everyone.
"Are these the results for the clothing?" Kait questioned without looking up. A deep frown enveloped her usually serene face. She really wanted to believe that there had been some kind of mix up.
Greg leaned over to see the papers she was speaking of. "Yup."
"You're sure?" Kait asked craning her neck to see him behind her. He nodded. "Three different semen samples. Three different men. This poor little girl." Her eyes went over the paper again sadly, sighing before she stood up. "I'm going to go tell everyone about this new revelation. Could you continue going over these? We're going to need a lot of evidence to get all three convictions."
Greg shook his head. "I don't think you'll be getting any."
Kait turned around quickly, facing him. Her disbelief was evident on her face. "You have that little faith in our abilities?"
"No. That's not it." He fell silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "There was something abnormal about all three samples. I was able to make a karyotype of them, and this is what I found." He pulled three photograph-type papers from a file and handed them to her.
"You can't get a full karyotype from gametes," she reminded him.
"Blood in the sample," was his simple reponse.
Kait's frown deepened after a few seconds. "There's an extra chromosome present."
"Give the girl a star. The 47th chromosome is the result of the trisomy 21."
"Down syndrome?" Her question was obviously rhetorical since she was a doctor herself, but Greg nodded anyway. "Down syndrome patients aren't violent. There has to be more to it." She mumbled to herself as she left the lab and went toward the layout room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So we're looking for someone with a mental disorder?" Warrick questioned astonished.
"Three severally mentally disabled men who had possibly experienced abuse in their past," Kait confirmed.
Nick spoke up. "What makes you think that?" He made sure that it didn't sound as if he were questioning her judgment. He had gotten in trouble for that more than once. This time, only curiosity was present in his tone.
"Most of the Down Syndrome patients that I've had contact with were empathetic. Though they did seem to learn from what happened around them as most children do. If they are sexually abusing these children, there is a strong chance that they picked up the habit from someone. Either from having it done to them or in front of them." Kait stood in the corner of the room as she spoke, hating having everyone's eye's on her as she reported her grisly conclusions.
"There could be someone teaching mentally challenge individuals to molest little kids?" Sara asked the question Catherine would have, had she been there.
It was Grissom who replied. "People are capable of anything."
TO BE CONTINUED...