fandom: CSI: Vegas
pairing: Warrick/Grissom
rating: R
series: none
sequel to: none
spoilers: major ones for Bad to the Bone
author: nancy
website: http://www.madbrilliant.com/thetenthmuse1/index.html
email: the_tenth_muse1@yahoo.com
feedback: yes, please!
archive: sure, just let me know!
summary: Warrick helps Grissom after the disturbing encounter with Walter Darian.
warnings: angst and bad language
notes: this is an odd little bunny that's been nibbling on me since the ep aired, so I finally wrote it. I could go either way for/against a sequel. let me know what you think. :o)
***
Warrick had never seen Grissom so freaked out and it was, in fact, freaking *him* out.
Through all manner of wierdness, nastiness, grossness, violence.no matter what, Warrick had always been able to count on Grissom not getting freaked out. It was like having the foundation of a belief exposed and wrecked and he felt more than a little shaken. He'd been watching Grissom close over the last two days, ever since Darian had attacked the other man in the interrogation room. The signs were probably invisible to those not versed in `Gil-speak,' but they were plain as day to Warrick.
Sticking close to Grissom had seemed to help, at least a little, but it hadn't come close to putting the brakes on the other man's near-obsessive need to prove that Darian had killed more people than just Sciarra. Finding the body in the back yard, then the boy who'd been cut out of his mother as a baby, had proved Grissom right. Unfortunately, it hadn't seemed to settle that strange `freaked-out' vibe that Grissom was still giving off.
Warrick knocked briefly on Grissom's door, opening it with, "Just thought I'd see if."
His words cut off as he took in the sight of Grissom bent over in his chair, arms wrapped around himself. The other man jerked upright at Warrick's almost-question, eyes wide with a mix of panic and embarrassment. The desk light caught the mark left on Grissom's throat in an odd spotlight, drawing Warrick's eyes there.
"Warrick! I, I didn't hear you," Grissom stammered, taking a moment to obviously gather his composure.
Not willing to leave him alone with his fears, Warrick strode forward and knelt on the floor in front of him. Looking up at Grissom, hand on the other man's knee, he demanded earnestly, "What is wrong, Grissom?"
At first, Grissom didn't answer, then he asked quietly, "Do you believe in Evil, Warrick?"
"Yeah man, I do," Warrick answered. He didn't really have to ask, but he figured it would be good for Grissom to get this off his chest. "Why?"
Staring into space, Grissom said, "I've seen a lot in my life and there isn't much that I've encountered that gives me pause. Walter Darian, though.Warrick, when he touched me, when I had to touch him, he was burning hot. And his eyes."
A visible shudder ran through Grissom and he rubbed his arms as if trying to get warm. Warrick gripped the other knee and said, "What about his eyes, Gris?"
Haunted, Grissom whispered, "They were evil, Warrick, so evil. I've seen evil done before, but this is the first time that I've ever touched it directly. His sister, she knew right away, the second that she saw this, this mark on me, that it had been put there by Darian. It feels like I'll never be normal again, now that evil has seen me."
Warrick had seen people get Revelations before and it looked like Grissom had been walloped with a fuckin' big one. He'd been in church and seen the way people just lifted up out of themselves with the Holy Spirit and even though he wasn't a religious man, Warrick respected whatever Power was out there enough not to belittle those people's experiences. "It's a big thing, Gris, I know, but."
"But what? I'm hallucinating? Over-stressed from working forty-eight hours straight?"
"No, no I wasn't going to say that," Warrick assured him, but still hesitated to say what he felt had to be said.
Frowning now, sensing that hesitation, Grissom demanded, "But what, Warrick?"
Warrick said simply, "Evil's always known who you were, Gris. This is just the first time It's come up and said hello, all up-close and personal to you."
Grissom blinked a few times then his lips twitched as though trying to smile. "As reassurances go, that's not a very comforting one, Warrick."
Smiling, Warrick agreed, "I know, but it's true. Grissom, think about it. What do you do for a living?"
"I solve crimes."
"What else?"
"I solve crimes."
Warrick snorted at the stubborn repeat and corrected, "You serve Justice, man, and you do it like a fanatic. Justice always serves the greater Good, whatever you want to call that Power, and that's got you on Evil's radar, Gris. It has for a long time now."
"Since when are you religious?" Grissom demanded, standing up and breaking all contact with Warrick to cross the office.
Gazing at the stiff back, Warrick answered, "I'm not. But I know there's Good and Evil out there, and I know which side both of us are on. You got touched by It on this case and that's got you freaked out big time, because it's never been personal before. And I've gotta say that that's freakin *me* out."
Grissom didn't move or answer, and Warrick sighed. He should've known that Grissom would take to the concepts like oil to water. Rubbing his eyes, Warrick continued, "Look, I know this is a lot to take in, and you can ignore what you've seen in this case to move on if you have to, but it don't solve the problem."
"What's that?"
"You gotta know your enemy to face it. You taught me that."
At that, Grissom turned around. "Warrick, I'm a man of science, you know that."
"Yeah, I do. And you felt this, and you saw this and if we'd had the right people with us at the time, you could've measured it," Warrick stated flatly. "We have witnesses to all the evil that Darian did in his life. We have evidence."
Looking more and more shaken with every word, Grissom asked quietly, "Evidence?"
Warrick closed the distance between them and reached out with his hand to Grissom's throat. The older man jerked back, but he hit the shelving unit, which stopped his retreat. Placing his hand on the mark, covering it completely, Warrick said, "Evidence right here, burned into your flesh like a brand, Gris. It hasn't gone down a bit, has it? Still hurts, still hot to the touch, just like when he gave it to you."
Grissom's eyes squeezed shut as he nodded. "I can't take it, Warrick, I can't. This is so far outside my realm of expertise that it might as well be another world."
"I'll help you," Warrick whispered.
Barely audible, Grissom asked, "How?"
Not stopping to think, Warrick pressed his lips to Grissom's mouth. There was a gasp from the other, which allowed him to deepen the kiss gently. Strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him in tight, and Warrick responded fiercely to the welcome. What Grissom needed was something to ground him, something to give him hope and comfort, and he planned on offering that and more.
A lot more.
He pulled back, thrilling to the groan of need, then ducked his head down so he could kiss that mark. Gil went still in his arms, fingers tightly gripping Warrick's back, and he whispered, "Fighting Evil with Good, Gris. Your body, your flesh. Evil don't have no hold on you, unless you give it one. Don't give it one, man, you're stronger than that."
Grissom rested his forehead against Warrick's shoulder and said, "I don't want to, Warrick, I just don't know what to do."
"I do," Warrick answered. "Trust me."
"I do," Grissom echoed.
Staring down into the pale eyes, Warrick smiled. "Glad to hear it."
A short laugh escaped and honest humor flashed at him as Grissom replied, "Better late than never, right?"
"Nah. You tell me that all the time, just not in so many words. Or, not often anyhow," Warrick amended.
"I should," Grissom said, rueful. "I should say it all the time. That and."
Warrick's breath caught as he saw the unsaid words in Grissom's eyes. He knew how difficult it was for Grissom to share his emotions with anyone, even those in his `inner circle,' and saved him from having to say it by agreeing, "Yeah. Me too, Gris."
Before either could say anything else, Catherine's amused voice announced, "Me, three, but we've never gotten that cozy before."
Grissom groaned, his head thumping down again onto Warrick's shoulder. Laughing softly, Warrick glanced over at Catherine and asked, "Something you need, Cath?"
"Just a camera and to drop off my reports," she answered, a broad smile on her face as she placed a folder on Grissom's desk. "You might want to consider locking the door next time you get overcome with the urge to, well, you know."
"Catherine."
Laughing easily at the `dire warning,' in Grissom's voice, obviously
unconcerned, Catherine said to Warrick, "Take him home and make sure
he sleeps for at least a day. Then you can wear him out and make him
sleep some more. See you later, guys."
"Will you, would you stay with me?" Grissom asked, hesitant once more.
Cupping Grissom's face, Warrick replied, "Nothing's going to drag me
from you, now that I have you, Gris."
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Grissom covered the hand with his own
and said simply, "Thank you."
Next story in the series - Fighting Evil With Good 2
