FIC: Interrogation, 1/1, PG-13, Crossover
Title: Interrogation
Author: Tara Keezer
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: BtVS/CSI:LV
Notes: This is for 47_trek_47, who guessed which story I wrote at remix_redux. She requested Ethan, Grissom and interrogation, and so I gave her a follow-up to Lethe’s Snare. Roughly 850 words.
~*~*~
“Name, please?”
Ethan sat back in his chair. “Don’t you already have it?”
“This is just for the record. Name, please?”
“Raines. Ethan Raines.”
The other man frowned. “Interesting. According to AFIS, your name is Ethan Rayne. Care to try again?”
He didn’t allow himself to show it, but Ethan felt a cold chill run down his spine. His fingerprints shouldn’t be on file anywhere. He’d seen to it himself right after he’d escaped.
“I changed my name a few years ago.” It cost him, but Ethan kept his tone relaxed and conversational. “Mr. Grissom, perhaps you could explain why I’ve been detained. I really am curious.”
Grissom looked at him calmly. “You’re under suspicion for poisoning a police officer as well as multiple counts of first degree sexual assault.”
“Excuse me?” Ethan didn’t bother feign his shock. They couldn’t possibly know. It was impossible.
“Tell me about the Ritual of Arnogch,” Grissom said in that same, intolerably smug tone.
“I don’t think so.”
Without moving, Ethan gathered in his power and began to mutter an incantation. At the tenth syllable, his lips and tongue turned rigid, and his jaw shut tight. He made an inarticulate noise and looked around, desperate to determine the location of the - witch? sorcerer?
Ethan started to push himself up, but a fresh wave of power held him fast to his seat. He glared at Grissom, who continued to watch as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
After a moment, Grissom said, “Perhaps you should come in now, Captain.”
Riley Finn entered the interrogation room, followed by Ripper’s anorexic little red-headed witch. As old as Ethan was, he knew all sorts of magic, and not all of it required the spoken word. His power was already gathered in, so it was just a matter of casting the spell.
The witch looked at him and said, “Relax,” and Ethan felt himself lose the will to hold his magic in, let alone cast a spell. He slumped in his chair, unable to do little more than wait for his fate to be determined.
“What happens now?” Grissom asked. “We don’t exactly have physical evidence to show to a jury.”
“That’s not your problem, Sir.” Finn approached Ethan and turned him around so he could begin shackling him. “Rayne escaped from U.S. detention. We’re merely retrieving our prisoner.”
“What about Brass?” For the first time, Grissom looked angry, and that pleased Ethan as much as was possible, given that he was still under a compulsion to relax.
“It’s up to him,” the witch said. “Personally, I think he’s better off letting me free all his memories so he can deal with them in therapy, but if he wants me to lock them down permanently, I will.”
Grissom looked at her as if she was insane. “Isn’t that what made him lose it in the first place? All those memories leaking out?”
“Well, yeah. But I’m better at memory magic than Ethan is.” Wasn’t it interesting that she looked so guilty about it. Ethan held her reaction to himself as he would a grand and glorious treasure. He would need the amusement it could provide during his coming incarceration.
“It’s wrong to mess with someone’s mind like that,” Grissom said.
“It’s his decision.” The witch - what was her name? - turned to Finn. “We’d better get going. I want to secure his cell as quickly as possible.” Finn pulled Ethan upright, which was mildly amusing, given that Ethan continued to relax. The witch told Ethan, “Stand. Walk where you’re told.”
“Thank you again, Sir, for facilitating the transfer of this prisoner,” Finn said, with his irritating formality.
“I still don’t like it.” The amazing thing was that Grissom actually seemed to mean that.
“We have what’s needed to hold him prisoner,” Finn said. “You don’t.”
“Three years ago, you couldn’t hold him.”
Willow. That was her name. Willow spoke up. “They didn’t have me three years ago. Look, Mr. Grissom, I understand why you’re a little freaked out, but trust me, putting Ethan on trial won’t do any good. At least this way, he’ll be incarcerated, which is all Captain Brass really wants.”
“But you don’t know it was Rayne who did this to Brass.”
“I do,” she said quietly. Ethan wanted to slap her for her false meekness. No one with as much power at her disposal was innocent, and she had no right to pretend she was. “I could run the spell again for you, if you like.”
“Smoke and mirrors,” Grissom said.
“Either way, Rayne is still a prisoner of the United States of America.” Finn tugged Ethan toward the door. “Your questions of evidence and due process are irrelevant at this point.”
Willow followed the pair, then paused. “Tell Captain Brass I’ll be by the hospital tomorrow night to find out what he wants me to do, okay?”
Ethan didn’t hear a response, and he couldn’t turn back to see the look on Grissom’s face. He just hoped the man’s expression was as bitter and sour as his voice had been.
Author: Tara Keezer
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: BtVS/CSI:LV
Notes: This is for 47_trek_47, who guessed which story I wrote at remix_redux. She requested Ethan, Grissom and interrogation, and so I gave her a follow-up to Lethe’s Snare. Roughly 850 words.
~*~*~
“Name, please?”
Ethan sat back in his chair. “Don’t you already have it?”
“This is just for the record. Name, please?”
“Raines. Ethan Raines.”
The other man frowned. “Interesting. According to AFIS, your name is Ethan Rayne. Care to try again?”
He didn’t allow himself to show it, but Ethan felt a cold chill run down his spine. His fingerprints shouldn’t be on file anywhere. He’d seen to it himself right after he’d escaped.
“I changed my name a few years ago.” It cost him, but Ethan kept his tone relaxed and conversational. “Mr. Grissom, perhaps you could explain why I’ve been detained. I really am curious.”
Grissom looked at him calmly. “You’re under suspicion for poisoning a police officer as well as multiple counts of first degree sexual assault.”
“Excuse me?” Ethan didn’t bother feign his shock. They couldn’t possibly know. It was impossible.
“Tell me about the Ritual of Arnogch,” Grissom said in that same, intolerably smug tone.
“I don’t think so.”
Without moving, Ethan gathered in his power and began to mutter an incantation. At the tenth syllable, his lips and tongue turned rigid, and his jaw shut tight. He made an inarticulate noise and looked around, desperate to determine the location of the - witch? sorcerer?
Ethan started to push himself up, but a fresh wave of power held him fast to his seat. He glared at Grissom, who continued to watch as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
After a moment, Grissom said, “Perhaps you should come in now, Captain.”
Riley Finn entered the interrogation room, followed by Ripper’s anorexic little red-headed witch. As old as Ethan was, he knew all sorts of magic, and not all of it required the spoken word. His power was already gathered in, so it was just a matter of casting the spell.
The witch looked at him and said, “Relax,” and Ethan felt himself lose the will to hold his magic in, let alone cast a spell. He slumped in his chair, unable to do little more than wait for his fate to be determined.
“What happens now?” Grissom asked. “We don’t exactly have physical evidence to show to a jury.”
“That’s not your problem, Sir.” Finn approached Ethan and turned him around so he could begin shackling him. “Rayne escaped from U.S. detention. We’re merely retrieving our prisoner.”
“What about Brass?” For the first time, Grissom looked angry, and that pleased Ethan as much as was possible, given that he was still under a compulsion to relax.
“It’s up to him,” the witch said. “Personally, I think he’s better off letting me free all his memories so he can deal with them in therapy, but if he wants me to lock them down permanently, I will.”
Grissom looked at her as if she was insane. “Isn’t that what made him lose it in the first place? All those memories leaking out?”
“Well, yeah. But I’m better at memory magic than Ethan is.” Wasn’t it interesting that she looked so guilty about it. Ethan held her reaction to himself as he would a grand and glorious treasure. He would need the amusement it could provide during his coming incarceration.
“It’s wrong to mess with someone’s mind like that,” Grissom said.
“It’s his decision.” The witch - what was her name? - turned to Finn. “We’d better get going. I want to secure his cell as quickly as possible.” Finn pulled Ethan upright, which was mildly amusing, given that Ethan continued to relax. The witch told Ethan, “Stand. Walk where you’re told.”
“Thank you again, Sir, for facilitating the transfer of this prisoner,” Finn said, with his irritating formality.
“I still don’t like it.” The amazing thing was that Grissom actually seemed to mean that.
“We have what’s needed to hold him prisoner,” Finn said. “You don’t.”
“Three years ago, you couldn’t hold him.”
Willow. That was her name. Willow spoke up. “They didn’t have me three years ago. Look, Mr. Grissom, I understand why you’re a little freaked out, but trust me, putting Ethan on trial won’t do any good. At least this way, he’ll be incarcerated, which is all Captain Brass really wants.”
“But you don’t know it was Rayne who did this to Brass.”
“I do,” she said quietly. Ethan wanted to slap her for her false meekness. No one with as much power at her disposal was innocent, and she had no right to pretend she was. “I could run the spell again for you, if you like.”
“Smoke and mirrors,” Grissom said.
“Either way, Rayne is still a prisoner of the United States of America.” Finn tugged Ethan toward the door. “Your questions of evidence and due process are irrelevant at this point.”
Willow followed the pair, then paused. “Tell Captain Brass I’ll be by the hospital tomorrow night to find out what he wants me to do, okay?”
Ethan didn’t hear a response, and he couldn’t turn back to see the look on Grissom’s face. He just hoped the man’s expression was as bitter and sour as his voice had been.