DISCLAIMER: CSI is the property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SERIES: Fifth part of the 'Stuck' series.
Stuck at the Intersection of ...
By L.
To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.
~ Virginia Woolf
"No," I was on the phone. "I'm stuck at the intersection of Desert, Lamb, and Boulder... Yeah... Waiting for the CSI- "
Just then I saw a familiar SUV drive up.
"Gotta go, they're here."
Ever since -
you said you'd never hurt me, you told me you'd always love me, you promised, baby, you promised
- no, I won't go there.
Well, I didn't envy Grissom the ... resource logistics. Lately, he's been giving me Warrick and Nick, with an occasional Greg as side-kick, and sometimes he threw in Catherine for good measure. But he never gave me Sara. He must've teamed up the two of them though, given how Nick n' Rick had become my main duo of choice. Made you wonder how much she'd told him.
He'll figure it out, he's a smart guy.
"Well hello, Curtis."
Great. Catherine. Could this day get any worse?
"It took you long enough!" I muttered. "I left the message for Grissom two hours ago?"
"Yeah, yeah... I got the note 15 minutes ago... Don't shoot the messenger."
Catherine started walking up to the car she was supposed to be examining, but turned as if to say something.
"Don't," I said. "Don't talk to me unless it's about the case."
"What's your problem, Curtis, huh?"
I stepped closer until we were practically nose to nose.
"My problem, you cheap piece of white trash, is that if you hadn't been a woman, I'd punch your teeth in."
She snorted. "Hell, if you'd been MORE of a wo- "
Man, that hurt.
At the academy they teach you to use your night-stick or your gun, never your hands. You might break something. Damn, it feels like I broke something.
"'s a good thing you hit like a girl, detective."
I glared at her, her lip was a little swollen and bleeding some, but she seemed OK.
"Eddie threw a mean left, this was nothin'... Bet it felt good, huh?" she managed a grin that more looked like a grimace.
I smiled back. You bet your ass it did, bitch.
"I told you, I don't respond well to games, or challenges."
She'd found a Kleenex somewhere and dabbed at her mouth.
"Yeah, yeah. You told me."
I slid on my shades and turned my eyes down the road.
you said you'd never hurt me, you told me you'd always love me
"Can't you just..." I faltered, "I don't know, leave it alone?"
I could feel her eyes on me.
"For being such a tight-assed, arrogant, know-it-all..." she sighed. "You just don't get it, do you?"
I stroked my knuckles absent-mindedly, it hurt like a mother.
"You didn't get it then, you won't get it now."
I put my hands in my pockets and waited for her to continue. She didn't, she picked up her kit and moved away from me.
"So, you've heard it too?" I called after her.
"Yeah," she nodded with her back turned. "Greg called me."
Oh.
"So, how...?"
"It was bad, Sofia." She tried to find my eyes, but I kept them on the road.
"I wish I could've been there."
"No, you don't."
you promised
I kicked at some pebbles, and finally met her gaze.
"Did she..." I hesitated. "Did she say anything about me?"
"Oh, hon', I don't know..." she touched my elbow. "Grissom was there first, he'd taken her away once I got there."
So why do I feel guilty?
you said you'd never hurt me, you told me you'd always love me, you promised, baby, you promised
Because you KNEW this would happen.
"Hey, Catherine?"
Catherine looked at me, startled. Scared?
"What?"
"She brought this on to herself, he can fucking have her. YOU can have her if you still want her, I'm done with it."
The End