Say Hello to the Past (CSI fanfiction)

Bang-Bang, What a Way to Go

(AN: Takes place during and after season 6; episodes 23 "Bang-Bang" and 24 "Way to Go.")

"How did this happen?" Emma Grace asked as she held on to Nick.

"The suspect had us all fooled," Grissom informed Emma. Then he went to talk to the doctor about Jim Brass' condition.

"Emma are you sure you should stay here? Why don't you let me take you home?" Nick asked gently.

"I'm fine Nick. I want to be here." Emma Grace had shown up at the hospital as soon as she had received the phone call that Jim Brass had been shot.

"Sweetheart, I'm worried about you staying here with the stress and everything." Nick placed his hand on Emma Grace's swollen midsection and was rewarded with a kick from their unborn daughter. With Emma Grace being thirty-five weeks pregnant there were times that their daughter was restless.

"I'll keep an eye on her, Nick." Undersheriff Jeffery McKeen promised as he and Grissom came back from their talk with the doctor. Grissom informed Nick that they had a dead body they had to investigate. After much reassuring and promises of phone calls from Emma Grace, Nick left with Grissom, and Emma Grace waited with Undersheriff McKeen and half of the precinct waiting on word about Jim Brass.

Emma Grace spent the day at the hospital, and when Nick was done with his shift, he came to pick her up as Grissom and Greg took their turns to watch over Brass for the night. That night in the Stokes house Kaitlin, Marie, and Maggie Hope got to sleep in the bed with their parents. Nick and Emma Grace just wanted their daughters close.

The next morning Emma Grace and Nick arrived at the hospital early. They sat with Brass for awhile and talked to him. Nick left for work when Tina showed up. Even though she and Warrick were having problems, she wanted to be there for her friends and promised to keep an eye on Emma Grace. Greg and MacKeen stayed close by also.

"Greg, tell me he's going to be okay." Emma Grace laid her head on Greg's shoulder.

"He's going to be okay, Emma." Greg rested his head on top of hers.

"I'm going to go and get something to eat. Do you want anything, Emma?"  McKeen asked.

"No thank you."

"What about you, Greg?"

"No thank you, Sir." McKeen left the two of them as the nurses wheeled Brass out for surgery.

Grissom showed up a few minutes later, after Greg's failed attempt to make a joke about Brass in a sweater, things got interesting when the three of them found out that Brass' daughter Ellie had come to Vegas.

Grissom went to talk to Ellie, but from where Emma Grace was sitting things didn't seem to go too well as she watched Ellie storm away from Grissom.

Emma Grace found Ellie Brass in one of the many other waiting rooms. "Ellie, how are you doing?"

Ellie looked at Emma Grace suspiciously as the older woman took a seat beside her. "You don't look like a cop," Ellie said blatantly staring at Emma's rounded stomach.

"I'm not a cop. My name's Emma Grace, and I'm a friend of your dad's."

"I'm surprised he's admitted he has a daughter to you." Ellie had a bitter tone.

"Your dad's told me a lot of stories about you. He loves you very much." Emma Grace gave the young girl a reassuring smile.

"I doubt that." 

Emma Grace got ready to respond when Greg came in to tell Emma Grace that Warrick was at the hospital. Ellie walked out and down the hall again. Emma Grace and Greg joined Warrick as they waited for the doctors to bring Brass out of surgery.

When Brass was brought out of surgery Warrick went outside to make the round of phone calls to let everyone know that Brass was doing better. Greg went to get Emma Grace and himself something to eat.

"I just found Ellie outside smoking. I can't decide if she's upset about all of this or not," Warrick said as he came back into the hospital and sat down beside Emma Grace.

"I didn't finish talking to her. Is she still outside?" Emma Grace asked standing up with some difficulty. Warrick nodded, and Emma Grace headed outside.

She found Ellie in the spot that Warrick had last seen her. "Ellie, you didn't let me tell you about some of the stories your dad's told me."

"Fine. What has he told you?" Ellie asked. She had been expecting Emma Grace to tell her about all the failures she already knew she had achieved. She was surprised when story after happy story spilled from Emma Grace's lips. Ellie even caught herself telling Emma Grace some stories of her own about her dad.

The two walked back into the hospital together. Ellie didn't sit beside Emma, Greg, or Warrick, but she did sit close by. When Emma Grace got comfortable beside Warrick, she called Nick to give him an update and check on him. Then she called Ashley to check on Kaitlin, Marie, and Maggie Hope.

"Emma, when the time's right you should ask Nick about the woman named Sally, Sweet Apple Pie he had to interview." Warrick had a mischevious grin on his face. That's how Emma Grace knew that she was going to enjoy watching Nick squirm as he tried to explain that story. She gave Warrick a smile in response.

Two hours later Nick showed up at the hospital and kissed Emma Grace in greeting. After he made sure Emma was doing okay he asked about Brass. Nick, Warrick, and Emma were sitting in the waiting room while Ellie stood at the window looking in at her father when Emma decided they all needed some humor.

"What's this I hear about you calling a woman named, and I quote 'Sally, Sweet Apple Pie' today?" Emma Grace was having difficulty not laughing at the look that Nick shot Warrick.

"Warrick was the one that was afraid to call her. I think he was scared of Tina's reaction." Emma Grace laughed at the words spilling out of Nick's mouth.

"I wanted Nick to have the fun of questioning her. I figured he should have some fun on this case." Warrick had a massive smile on his face.

"Yeah, sure. Speaking of which how are you and Tina doing?" Emma gave Warrick a worried look.

Warrick let out a heavy sigh. "Not good. Some days I wonder if we rushed into things."

"Talk to us, Warrick. You know we're here for you," Nick said sitting down beside Emma Grace and giving all of his attention to his friend.

Warrick talked to Nick and Emma Grace about him and Tina while Ellie went between going outside to smoke and getting cups of coffee. Soon, Warrick left, with some advice from Nick and Emma Grace concerning his and Tina's relationship. Nick and Emma Grace talked about Ellie, and when the young girl returned to see that it was just the two of them, she sat down beside Emma Grace. The three sat in a comfortable silence until Grissom called to check on all of them. Ellie was standing at the window watching Brass again while Nick relayed the message of all the smoke and coffee breaks the young girl was taking.

"Nick I'm not leaving now. We have to make sure that Grissom and Ellie don't kill each other," Emma Grace informed Nick after a police officer showed up at the hospital to escort Ellie to the station at Grissom's request.

"Do you really think she could do something to make Grissom lose his cool?" Nick was shocked at the idea.

"I think she already has Nicky. Out of all of us, Grissom is the one who I think would lose his cool the quickest." Nick thought about what Emma Grace said and had to agree with her. So they waited at the hospital for Ellie and Grissom to return.

Catherine was on the phone arguing with fourteen-year-old Lindsey when Brass started to crash as doctors rushed into his room. Cathrine, Grissom, Ellie, Nick, and Emma were standing by the window watching them. Brass came back around and opened his eyes. He reached out to Ellie, but she walked away. Emma Grace started to go after her.

Nick placed a hand on her arm and stopped her. They stayed by Brass's side and soon Al, his wife, Warrick, Greg, Sara, David, Archie, Hodges, Wendy, Sofia, McKeen, and many other police officers joined them. Almost all of them started crying when Brass gave them a weak wave from inside his room after talking to Grissom.

That night while they were laying in bed, Emma Grace and Nick talked about all the people they loved that they had lost to death; remembering each one of them with love.