FIC: Quarrel, 3/3, PG
Title: Quarrel, 3/3
Rating: PG
Summary: Jim's gut roils again, and more than anything, he wishes he'd gotten to the Tums before Vega got to him.
Notes: Previous installments can be found here. Also, this isn't finished yet.
Disclaimer: Zuiker and company own the rights to CSI and its characters. I own an iBook that could reasonably be described as elderly.
~*~*~
After an hour and a half in Sheriff Burdick's office, Jim is ready to throw in the towel and just leave. Leave the PD, leave Vegas -- hell, if he thought he could get citizenship somewhere else, he'd leave the country. His gut flares in pain when he realizes that all that leaving means leaving Catherine as well, so he gives up on the fantasy even before he has a chance to turn right to get to the elevator.
Instead, he turns left to get to his office and to his stash of Tums. The things taste like crap, but they work pretty well. Jim figures if nothing else goes right that evening, at least he can knock back the acid in his stomach. This plan lasts only a little longer than the plan to flee the country, because Vega catches up to Jim before he can reach his office.
"Have you heard?" Vega speaks quietly and keeps an eye out for people who might be listening.
Jim's gut roils again, and more than anything, he wishes he'd gotten to the Tums before Vega got to him. "Heard what?"
"Catherine lost it with a suspect a little while ago." Vega's eyes dart right and left. "Sara had to take her out of the interview."
Jesus.
Though Jim wishes he could claim to be surprised, he can't, not in good conscience, anyway. Back when he was still in charge of the lab, he'd had to haul her into his office a few times, mostly whenever she and Eddie had a fight, because she inevitably took her frustration out on a suspect. If he can lay claim to any surprise at all, it's that it took her this long to lose it with someone.
"She go back to the lab?"
"Don't know." Vega looks vaguely apologetic, but then Vega usually looks vaguely apologetic.
"They gonna file a complaint?"
"I don't think so. Mark Bennett's the defense lawyer. He sounded more worried about Catherine than about his client."
Jim nods. Despite Mark's taste in clients, Jim likes the man. He and Catherine sat with Bennett and his wife at a Red Cross fundraiser a few weeks ago, and the four of them hit it off better than any of them imagined they would.
A quick look at his watch confirms it's lunchtime, so Jim tells Vega, "Thanks. I'm clocking out for an hour. If you need me, page me."
"And if Burdick wants you?"
"You're too young to hear that answer," he says with half a smile as he heads back toward the elevator. Jim would have preferred that Catherine come to him, because really, she owes the first apology, but he can't let this go on any longer. They need to talk, and if he has to be the only adult at the moment, so be it.
By the time he gets to the first floor, he's already discarded half a dozen opening lines as being too sappy or too pissy or too apologetic or too whiny. He's thinking about having Gil talk to her instead when he plows right into her as she's coming out of the women's restroom.
She drops something -- a box of Tic Tacs, he thinks -- and when he looks up from the floor, her eyes are starting to well up with tears.
"Fuck." He grabs her arm and moves her as quickly as possible to the parking lot exit. The last thing either of them needs is a bunch of uniforms gossiping about how the Queen of the Geek Squad burst into tears in the middle of the PD.
"Sorry. I'm sorry."
"I know, sweetheart. Let's just get outside first, okay?"
She nods and manages to keep it together until she's in Jim's car. By the time he gets in on the driver's side, she's crying hard and looks like a mess. He pulls out his handkerchief and dabs at her face until she gets impatient enough to take it from him with a muttered, "Damn it."
That, more than anything, tells him they're starting to get back on an even keel, and he's relieved. He's not sure if her apology in the hall was for running him down or kicking him out of the house, and he's not going to press the issue with her. As far as Jim is concerned, her, "I'm sorry," covers a multitude of sins, which means he can finally apologize for being an ass about her parentage.
Jim puts his right hand on her neck and gives her a gentle massage while she finishes crying and swearing. It doesn't take long, once the initial storm is over, and when she looks up at him, he tries not to wince at what he sees.
It doesn't work, because she punches him lightly in the stomach. "I told you I look like crap when I cry," she says in a voice still tight with emotion.
"Yeah. You did. But you don't look as scary as you said you do."
"I saw that twitch, Jim," she says with a sound that could be a laugh or a sob.
"I didn't jump out of the car and run off, did I?" He pulls her close and drops a kiss on the top of her head.
She turns her face into his chest, muffling her next words. "I don't know why not."
"Never did learn how to leave the ones I love." With his left hand, he turns her face up. "Don't see much point in figuring it out now."
He presses his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. She won't open her mouth, but she does kiss him back, and suddenly, everything feels right again.
Jim thinks that if they can stay this way forever, they might just be okay.
Rating: PG
Summary: Jim's gut roils again, and more than anything, he wishes he'd gotten to the Tums before Vega got to him.
Notes: Previous installments can be found here. Also, this isn't finished yet.
Disclaimer: Zuiker and company own the rights to CSI and its characters. I own an iBook that could reasonably be described as elderly.
~*~*~
After an hour and a half in Sheriff Burdick's office, Jim is ready to throw in the towel and just leave. Leave the PD, leave Vegas -- hell, if he thought he could get citizenship somewhere else, he'd leave the country. His gut flares in pain when he realizes that all that leaving means leaving Catherine as well, so he gives up on the fantasy even before he has a chance to turn right to get to the elevator.
Instead, he turns left to get to his office and to his stash of Tums. The things taste like crap, but they work pretty well. Jim figures if nothing else goes right that evening, at least he can knock back the acid in his stomach. This plan lasts only a little longer than the plan to flee the country, because Vega catches up to Jim before he can reach his office.
"Have you heard?" Vega speaks quietly and keeps an eye out for people who might be listening.
Jim's gut roils again, and more than anything, he wishes he'd gotten to the Tums before Vega got to him. "Heard what?"
"Catherine lost it with a suspect a little while ago." Vega's eyes dart right and left. "Sara had to take her out of the interview."
Jesus.
Though Jim wishes he could claim to be surprised, he can't, not in good conscience, anyway. Back when he was still in charge of the lab, he'd had to haul her into his office a few times, mostly whenever she and Eddie had a fight, because she inevitably took her frustration out on a suspect. If he can lay claim to any surprise at all, it's that it took her this long to lose it with someone.
"She go back to the lab?"
"Don't know." Vega looks vaguely apologetic, but then Vega usually looks vaguely apologetic.
"They gonna file a complaint?"
"I don't think so. Mark Bennett's the defense lawyer. He sounded more worried about Catherine than about his client."
Jim nods. Despite Mark's taste in clients, Jim likes the man. He and Catherine sat with Bennett and his wife at a Red Cross fundraiser a few weeks ago, and the four of them hit it off better than any of them imagined they would.
A quick look at his watch confirms it's lunchtime, so Jim tells Vega, "Thanks. I'm clocking out for an hour. If you need me, page me."
"And if Burdick wants you?"
"You're too young to hear that answer," he says with half a smile as he heads back toward the elevator. Jim would have preferred that Catherine come to him, because really, she owes the first apology, but he can't let this go on any longer. They need to talk, and if he has to be the only adult at the moment, so be it.
By the time he gets to the first floor, he's already discarded half a dozen opening lines as being too sappy or too pissy or too apologetic or too whiny. He's thinking about having Gil talk to her instead when he plows right into her as she's coming out of the women's restroom.
She drops something -- a box of Tic Tacs, he thinks -- and when he looks up from the floor, her eyes are starting to well up with tears.
"Fuck." He grabs her arm and moves her as quickly as possible to the parking lot exit. The last thing either of them needs is a bunch of uniforms gossiping about how the Queen of the Geek Squad burst into tears in the middle of the PD.
"Sorry. I'm sorry."
"I know, sweetheart. Let's just get outside first, okay?"
She nods and manages to keep it together until she's in Jim's car. By the time he gets in on the driver's side, she's crying hard and looks like a mess. He pulls out his handkerchief and dabs at her face until she gets impatient enough to take it from him with a muttered, "Damn it."
That, more than anything, tells him they're starting to get back on an even keel, and he's relieved. He's not sure if her apology in the hall was for running him down or kicking him out of the house, and he's not going to press the issue with her. As far as Jim is concerned, her, "I'm sorry," covers a multitude of sins, which means he can finally apologize for being an ass about her parentage.
Jim puts his right hand on her neck and gives her a gentle massage while she finishes crying and swearing. It doesn't take long, once the initial storm is over, and when she looks up at him, he tries not to wince at what he sees.
It doesn't work, because she punches him lightly in the stomach. "I told you I look like crap when I cry," she says in a voice still tight with emotion.
"Yeah. You did. But you don't look as scary as you said you do."
"I saw that twitch, Jim," she says with a sound that could be a laugh or a sob.
"I didn't jump out of the car and run off, did I?" He pulls her close and drops a kiss on the top of her head.
She turns her face into his chest, muffling her next words. "I don't know why not."
"Never did learn how to leave the ones I love." With his left hand, he turns her face up. "Don't see much point in figuring it out now."
He presses his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. She won't open her mouth, but she does kiss him back, and suddenly, everything feels right again.
Jim thinks that if they can stay this way forever, they might just be okay.