In a World They Forgot

Look Beneath The Floorboards

"Is he a CSI too?" Mom asked.

"Yes I am Mrs Romani." Greg spoke up, his voice quiet as he nodded his head. I could hear the tension in his voice, the worry rising with the peak of ‘Romani’

"And you knew about her lie to us, right from the start?" Mikito looked at Greg as if he was a piece of dirt.

"I'm afraid that I did."

"And yet, you walked into our home, lied to us, accepting our ways and allowing us to think you were a smart young man with a bright future ahead of you in chemistry?!" I'd forgotten about Mikito's temper when she's angry and by the look on Greg's face he was completely shocked too. "It's people like you that make this world a disgrace! You should be--" She was in a full blown rage now.

"Hey! Cut it out Mikito!" I yelled, jumping up from my own chair. Mikito looked like someone had just died. I'd never raised my voice to her in my entire life and she hadn't expected me to start now. I looked at Greg, my mom and then back to her. "I will not have you to speak to Greg like that when it's me you're angry at!" I told her.

"But he--"

"I don't care what you think of him and you have no right to call him a disgrace or a liar Mikito! In fact, you should be thanking him, because he is the reason why I'm still alive!" I cursed and bit my lip hard as soon as the words had slipped from my lips. I didn’t mean to bring this up, yet it had rolled off of my tongue so casually it was frightening.

"What?" Mom looked at me, her eyes filled with confusion.

I even noticed Greg giving me a puzzled look, not understanding what I truly meant. I suddenly remembered that he didn’t know about why I'd fought on that night when I was shot. I had only ever told Nick and it wasn’t exactly something he would spread around the lab nor was he the kind of guy to spread anything said in confidence. "You'd better sit down, both of you." I said, my voice quieter than usual as I took my own seat. I took Greg's hand, squeezing gently as I silently apologising to him for making him relive the one night he wanted to forget more than anything else in the entire world.  "Do you remember when Captain Brass and his team were here a few weeks ago about reopening Dad's case?" I asked my mom, smiling when she nodded slowly.

"Yeah, he said that they'd found new evidence relating to his death." Mom said.

"Well, one of the new pieces of evidence was me."

"How is that possible?" Mikito asked me, irritation still tainting her voice.

I explained about that night and the shooting, hugging my mom when she started crying. Greg's hand was shaking as he stared at the white tablecloth. I took it in my own and held it tight, trying to stop his shaking, not liking how pale he looked. I didn’t like feeling responsible for putting him through this again; like living it the first time around wasn’t bad enough for him. "Greg, it's okay, I'm okay." I whispered, running my thumb over his hand, resting my free arm around his shoulders. My mom was controlling her own wave of tears and Mikito was trying to calm her down. Greg let me go, looking a bit better than a few minutes ago. I smiled up at him, resting my hand on the back of his neck and silently thanking him for letting me do this. "I'm okay." I whispered to him.

"Your mom needs you." Greg told me, letting me go, slumping slightly in his chair as he continued to try and control his own feelings.

I hugged her and wiped her tears away. "I thought you said you were rarely in danger?" She asked, still in shock.

"Chances of anything like that ever happening are less than zero." I assured her softly. “It was just a case of bad luck, but I‘m fine.” She let me go and pulled Greg into a motherly hug, planting a big kiss on both cheeks.

"Thank you for my daughter." She told him.

"And I owe you an apology." Mikito smiled.

"No need. I can understand what it must have sounded like to you." Greg smiled back at her. I explained to mom about her testimony in court and she nodded.

"But what about you? Will you be safe here?" She asked once I mentioned putting her in witness protection for a while.

"I'll be fine. I'm staying with Greg for the time being, I can take care of myself and I've got detectives as best friends! A girl couldn‘t be safer in this city." I laughed, trying to lighten the sombre atmosphere at the table.

"Then we can do this together for your dad."

"I hoped you say that." Greg's pager buzzed, followed only seconds later by mine.

"We have to go." We both said at the same time.

"I'll get the car started." Greg said with a cute smile, resting his hand adoringly on my back before he moved back towards the house.

“I’m sorry that I kept all of this from you. I didn’t want you to worry and then when I found out it was about dad, I didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought that I was protecting you both from a bad discovery, but I guess that I was just prolonging the inevitable.” I said, hugging both women once more.

“It’s still a shock Miki, I won’t lie to you. However, you’re a intelligent and beautiful young woman who has a life of her own now. Your dad would be proud of what you are.” I smiled, hugging my mom tightly once more before turning to follow in Greg’s steps, when Mikito pulled me back.

"I thought you said you were not getting married?" She teased with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not!" I laughed.

"I see the way you and that young man look at each other. Not to mention the 'secret' hand holding and the affectionate gestures. You always were a rule breaker Moon Child."