Title: Demons of the Present

Summary: Grissom’s decided but is it too late?

Series: Alterna ‘Verse

Webpage: www.angelfire.com/weird2/butterflywings

Rating: R

Warnings: Slash child molestation mentioned

 

It had been three weeks since Gil had seen Nick.  He called, e-mailed visited Nick’s apartment, nothing.  Nick had literally vanished off the face of the planet and he would stay vanished until his job undercover was finished.  Trouble was Gil didn’t want to wait three months or six months.  Truth to be told (and Grissom tried to always tell the truth) he didn’t even want to wait one more day.  Gil had always prided himself on his patience but couldn’t seem to find it in regards to Nick.  Gil had never been in a serious relationship before and now that he felt ready to commit in some form there was no one to commit too.  In the end what he really missed was Nick.  Catherine had noticed right away the change that had come over him, but Grissom hadn’t felt up to talking about it.  He was desperate to fall back into that place where the crimes didn’t matter. All that mattered was the science, where the outside world was just one big experiment, where he didn’t feel anything but satisfaction for figuring out a puzzle, where his life was empty but he didn’t realize it.  Damn you Nick!  Damn you for making me want this!  Grissom thought to himself.  I just hope the next case is perplexing enough to take my mind off Nick for a night.  Grissom pulled up next to Warrick’s Tahoe.  “What’s going on?”

 

“Man Gris, you aren’t going to believe it!”

 

“What?”

 

“That prostitute that we questioned a couple of months ago?”

 

Grissom’s heart began to race, “yeah?”

 

“He changed jobs to stripper.  Ladies were throwing a bacorelette party and the husband came home to find the stripper raping their seven year old.  God the things people will do it’s terrible.”

 

Warrick continued talking about the evils of the world but all Gil could hear was a roaring sound.  For a second he couldn’t focus, the idea of Nick, doing something like that was incomprehensible.  What if he really had done it?  What if he…Grissom shook himself.  You can’t think like that, gather the evidence, is there proof that Nick did that?  Better question where is Nick?

 

“Warrick where’s N-the prostitute now?”

 

“Back of the squad car.  Chief wanted us to take samples before he got shipped off.  Wants to process this as fast as possible.”

 

“Well c’mon.”

 

Grissom approached the squad car, Nick was leaning against the glass with his eyes closed.  He looked terrible.  Grissom knocked in the glass and Nick pulled away startled and left a bloody mark behind.  Grissom starred in shock.  “He’s injured why isn’t he being taken to the hospital?”

 

The cop next to the car sneered, “we asked if he wanted to go and he didn’t say anything, damn pervert.”

 

Grissom squatted down in front of Nick, “Nick are you okay?”  He asked gently.  Nick shook his head no.  “Do you need to go to the hospital?”  Nick nodded yes.  “Can you speak?”  Nick shook his head slowly no.  “Okay I’ll get an ambulance.  One more question,” Gil could see the weariness and pain in Nick’s eyes, “did you rape that little girl?”  Nick shook his head no.  “Sorry I know I said one more question, but did you see who did?”  Nick shook his head yes, “was it the father?”  The cop and Warrick hissed in surprise, as Nick shook his head yes.  “Okay thanks Nick.  I’ll contact somebody to let them know what’s going on.”  Nick latched onto Gil’s sleeve and shook his head vehemently no.  Gil was shocked, “you can’t expect to stay?  You’re cover’s been broken.”  Nick slumped down into the seat, defeated. Grissom wanted to caress that bruised face, or at least wipe away Nick’s few tears but was afraid to touch Nick’s bruises, lest he hurt him more, not to mention Grissom suspected a broken or dislocated jaw to be the cause of Nick’s inability to speak.  “You’ll be okay Nick.”

 

Grissom closed the door again and pulled a passing cop aside, “call an ambulance down here.”

 

Warrick rounded on Grissom, “What the hell was that?”

 

“That was me talking to an undercover cop.”

 

“Undercover cop?”

 

“Yeah.  Nicky’s not really a stripper or a whore.  He’s an undercover cop.  We’ve been dating for a couple of months now and he just went undercover recently.  I trust Nick so unless the evidence tells a different story then I’m going to believe what he told me.  Unfortunately I have to be removed from the case, too personal.”  Grissom eyed Warrick and Warrick squirmed, “I hope you manage to look at all the people involved objectively.”  The ambulance pulled in and screeched to a halt.  Nick was loaded into the back and Grissom followed behind, he didn’t ever glance back.

 

Warrick watched as a man he had respected for as long as he had know him took Nick’s hand and smiled down on him, tears in eyes, but still smiling in a way that Warrick had never seen before.