(Thank you again to everyone who is reading and/or reviewing this fic! I hope you enjoy the next chapter! I don’t think there will be much more after this one!)
---------------
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: It Gets Worse
Summary: A raging storm, four trapped children, and an exploding vehicle. Will Grissom be able to save the day?
---------------
“What do we have to do, Mr. Peanut?” Katie anxiously asked her stuffed bear, holding him up to her ear, and waiting for him to reply to her. When Mr. Peanut refused to answer her back, Katie just assumed that she couldn’t hear him, because he was speaking too softly. “What was that? I didn’t hear you,” she mumbled pulling him closer to her ear.
“Katie,” Grissom spoke up, trying to get her attention. “I need you to listen to me, okay?” he quietly asked her, peering in through the crushed and broken driver’s side window.
“And Mr. Peanut,” she reminded him. “Mommy always says that two heads are better than one, whatever that means, so if Mr. Peanut has a head, and I have a head, then we have two heads,” she pointed out. “And two is better than one. I think.”
“Fine,” Grissom immediately replied. “Then I need you and Mr. Peanut to listen to me. Can you do that?”
“Uh-huh!” Katie whispered, wiping the remnants of her tears away. Holding Mr. Peanut up to her ear, she nodded. “He says ‘uh-huh,’ too.”
“Okay,” Grissom calmly told her. “Then I need you—” Katie started to open her mouth. “—And Mr. Peanut,” he continued, “to crawl toward me. Here’s what’s going to happen. You can’t squeeze through this window, because it’s too smashed,” he told her.
“Smooshed!” Katie eagerly corrected him.
“It’s too… smooshed,” Grissom nodded at her. “So you and your siblings all need to come out through the passenger side. The only problem, is that both of the doors on that side of the car are stuck shut, so—”
“Mr. Peanut just said that you have to break the windows,” Katie nervously smiled up at Grissom.
“That’s right, honey,” he sighed, rubbing his beard. If we keep going at this rate, I’ll never you get you all out of there in one piece. “I’m going to have to break the windows, so I want you and Mr. Peanut to sit as far away from the passenger side as you can, so that I can break the windows, without hurting you. Do you know how to play hide-and-go-seek?” he then asked.
“Uh-huh! Jake plays that all the time with me, and I’m such a good hider,” she grinned. “I’m so good, that he can never find me! Sometimes he looks all day long for me, but me and Mr. Peanut hide in the bestest places!”
Or perhaps Jake just tries to get rid of you, Grissom couldn’t help but think. Sometimes, siblings can be very cruel. “Good,” he nodded at her. “Then when you sit on your sister’s lap, I want you to cover up your face, as if you are going to be the seeker. In fact,” he continued, “Why don’t you have Mr. Peanut cover up your face, and then you can cover up his, by pressing your face against the side of the car?” he suggested.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea!” Katie bobbed her head up and down in agreement, already crawling toward her sister’s prone body. Moving into her lap, and pressing herself against the window, she peered up at Grissom. “You’re wet,” she pointed out, blinking, as the rain continued to pour into the car.
“Yes, I am,” Grissom frowned. “Now cover your eyes.”
“‘Kay!” she chuckled, as she pressed Mr. Peanut to her eyes, and then rested her head against the side of the car, holding Mr. Peanut in place. “Now I’ll start counting, Mr. Gil, and then I’ll come get you!” she grinned.
“Okay,” Grissom mumbled, as he quickly moved around to the passenger side of the car, looking for something to break the window with. If the roof wasn’t so caved in, and if the doors weren’t so dented, I could just open up the doors naturally. I hope that I don’t hurt these kids, he thought to himself, as he found a suitably heavy tree branch. “Okay, Katie,” he loudly spoke up. “I’m going to break the window on the count of three. You’re going to hear a really loud banging noise, and then breaking glass. No matter what happens, keep your face down. Do you understand me?” he asked her, just to make sure.
“‘Kay, Mr. Gil! Ready!”
Grissom closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts, before realizing that breaking the glass could potentially cut his hands. Setting the branch down for a moment, he immediately tore off his dress shirt, wrapping it around the fist that that would be holding the branch. Glancing down at his now dirty undershirt, he took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come. “Okay, on the count of three,” Grissom shouted. “One,” he pulled the tree branch back. “Two,” he gripped it more tightly. “Three!” he yelled, as he connected the tree branch with the window. Cringing at the sound of the breaking glass, he peered in through the now shattered backseat window. “Are you okay, Katie?” he instantly questioned her.
“I’m scared!” she screamed back, tightly clutching Mr. Peanut to her face.
“I know you are, but I’m not done yet, honey,” he quietly told her, staring at the smoke still pouring out of the engine. Wiping the rain out of his eyes with his forearm, he frowned. “Keep your face covered, until I tell you that it’s okay to come toward me. Do you understand?”
“Uh-huh,” Katie sniffled, this time burying her head against her sister’s shoulder.
I have to clear the glass away, he thought to himself, not wasting any time. “Here I go, Katie,” he warned her, as he immediately shoved the tree branch back into the window, knocking the rest of the glass out of the way, and creating a hole large enough for at least Katie to fit through. “Okay, honey,” he quietly said, unwrapping the shirt from his arm, and throwing it down on the ground for a moment. “I need you to crawl toward me, and I need you to do it fast.”
“I can pick my head up now?” she questioned Grissom, cracking an eye open, and staring at him.
“Yes, Katie, but I need you to move quickly,” he repeated, holding his arms out toward her, and throwing a glance at the front of the car. “Come on!” he tried to hide his annoyance from her.
Katie bit her lip, looking at her Lucy. “But what about my sister?” she whispered.
“Katie, move it, now!” Grissom finally just yelled at her.
Katie’s lower lip began to quiver, as tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Gil,” she told him, starting to sob.
“Katie, please,” Grissom tried again, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. “Crawl toward me; it’s okay, but crawl toward me.”
Although she was still crying, Katie did as he asked of her, crawling across the back seat to the passenger side of the car. “Now what…?” she asked, staring at the window.
Without saying a word, Grissom very carefully reached his arms into the car, yanking her right off of the seat.
“Mr. Peanut!” Katie shrieked, as Grissom wrapped his arms tightly around her, starting to move away from the smoking vehicle. “We left Mr. Peanut!”
“I’ll go back for him later,” Grissom told her, jogging back toward the embankment. “But right now, I need to get the rest of your family out, first,” he added, as he set her down at the very base of the hill. Kneeling down beside her, he raised an eyebrow. “I need you to stay here for me, okay, Katie?” he asked.
“Nuh-uh, I want Mr. Peanut!” she wailed, staring at the car, which was now a fair distance away from them. “And Bobby, and Lucy, and Jake,” she added, before flinging her arms around Grissom’s neck in absolute terror.
Grissom awkwardly wrapped his arms around the little girl, gently patting her back. “It’ll be okay, honey,” he whispered to her, clearing his throat. “But I still need you to be brave for me. I’m going to go back to the car to get your brothers and sister, but I need you to stay here.”
“And Mr. Peanut?” she sniffled, trying to brush the rain and tears off of her face.
“Of course,” Grissom flashed her the smallest of smiles. “And Mr. Peanut, too. Can you stay here for me, though?”
“Uh-huh,” Katie whispered, as she hunkered down on the ground. “I’ll stay right here, as long as you don’t forget about me. I’m still scared, Mr. Gil,” she admitted, hiccupping.
“I know you’re still scared,” Grissom acknowledged her. “But this will all be over soon enough.”
“‘Kay…” Katie trailed off, rubbing her runny nose.
With one final nod to Katie, Grissom turned around, immediately jogging back toward the Saturn. “How am I going to get them out of here?” he mumbled to himself, glancing at the totaled car. Rubbing his beard in thought, he leaned through the back passenger side window of the car, glancing at Lucy. “I’m not supposed to move you,” he muttered under his breath. “But this car could explode at any moment!”
“Mr. Gil?” Katie called out, watching him from beside the embankment.
Ignore Katie, and stretching his arms out as far as he could, Grissom groaned, when he was just shy of Lucy’s body. “Damn it,” he quietly hissed to himself, glancing through the window. I’m going to need to get in there, in order to get you out. Very carefully climbing through the window itself, Grissom moved far enough in, so that only his legs were hanging out of the window. Grunting, he once again stretched his arms out as far as he could, until he was able to unbuckle Lucy from her seatbelt. Then, grabbing one of her arms, he gently tugged her toward him, so that he could get a better grasp on her body, without hurting her any further.
“Mr. Gil?” Katie tried again, taking a couple of steps back toward the car. “What are you doing?”
“Come on, Lucy,” Grissom mumbled, as he managed to pull her close enough to him so that he could safely wrap an arm around her waist. Yanking her the rest of the way back toward the passenger-side window, he slid his body out, before reaching back into the car, and pulling her up and through the window, as well. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, as he repositioned his hands underneath her armpits, starting to drag her back to the embankment. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, as he finally scooped her up in his arms, carrying her through the rain and the mud to safety.
“Lucy!” Katie screamed, running to her sister’s side the moment that Grissom set her down. “Lucy!” she grinned, throwing her arms around her sister. Realizing that Lucy had yet to say a word, she looked up at Grissom, sniffling. “Is she okay…?” she softly asked him, tears once again threatening to slide down her cheeks.
“I don’t know, honey,” Grissom quietly replied. “But she’s better off here than in the car,” he finally admitted.
Lucy slowly nodded her understanding, glancing over at the car. “Mr. Gil…?” she whispered, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t think that that’s supposed to be there!” she informed him.
When Grissom turned around, he couldn’t help but swear under his breath. “Stay here, and don’t you dare move a muscle!” he yelled at Katie, as he took off toward the Saturn, which was now giving off flames.
---------------
TO BE CONTINUED
. And adorable! And I'm glad that you both are enjoying this!
