CSI: Across the Pond

“When can I go home?” the girl asked in a frightened voice.

“Actually, I’ll need to ask you just a few more questions,” said Chris, sounding tired. The door opened behind him, and Gerard entered. He muttered something to Chris, who nodded and stood to leave the room. The senior investigator took his place.

“Sorry, master Matt had orders for him,” he said sarcastically. The girl didn’t understand the joke, so he apologized and continued questioning her.

“Did he ever say anything to you?” She nodded.

“He told me he was going to leave me in Scotland or something, but I guess something went wrong, because here I am.” Gerard nodded and wrote this down for future reference.

“Do you have any idea where he might have been going?” She shook her head sadly.

“Can I go home soon?” He nodded. Frank entered the room a few seconds later.

“Gee? I’ve got news, and it’s got nothing to do with car insurance.” Gerard swiveled in his chair to face him, hands folded.

“What?”

“We’re off to Scotland!” he said in a perfect Scottish accent. The senior investigator smirked. “...And Matt wants to talk to you.” His face fell. Frank escorted the girl out to the waiting room while Gerard took the long walk to Matt’s office.
-
“Are you wondering why you’re here, Way?” Matt asked, actually making eye contact with him. Gerard did not respond. “I’m sending you and Mr. Iero-”

“Investigator,” he said softly. Matt blinked.

“Excuse me?”

“Investigator Iero.”

“Fine. I’m sending you and Investigator Iero to Scotland.”

“So I’ve heard.” Gerard received a glare for his efforts, but it didn’t matter. At this point he couldn’t care less what Matt thought of him.

“Do you care why?” Gerard shook his head. ‘As long as I can get away from you.’ “You’ll be meeting up with some friends of mine.”

“Like who?”

“If you’ll just shut up long enough for me to talk-” Matt stopped himself mid-sentence, almost causing the senior investigator sitting across from him to smirk. He tried again.

“Quite possibly the finest team of investigators outside of this country. They’re originally from your side of the ocean, but they decided Scotland is much better...quite frankly I don’t blame them,” he added just loud enough for Gerard to hear. He knew he had hit a nerve, but Gerard refused to speak.

“If you don’t have anything else to insult me with,” he began, standing up.

“Here are the files for the case and your criminal,” said Matt, handing him two three-ring binders full of papers, photos, and DNA samples. “Enjoy.” Gerard took it with a nod and left the office. He decided he would wait until later to celebrate.
-
“Hey, Gerard, do you have a minute?” Tim called as Gerard passed his office. The senior investigator stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

“Chris quit.” His eyes widened.

“Chris? Working-for-Matt Chris?” Tim shook his head.

“Chris working-for-me Chris. Shame you never met him; great guy. Anyway, I was wondering if we could borrow Frank for a while until we could find a replacement.” Gerard placed the binders on Tim’s desk and sat down across from him, noting how much more comfortable the chair was than the one in Matt’s office. No real shocker there.

“Actually, master Matt’s shipping us off to Scotland to meet with some other team. Either he’s had enough of us or he thinks we’re worth something. Or both,” he added with a smirk.

“Are you serious? He’s letting you work with them? Wow,” Tim said in surprise. “Does that mean I can have Frank?”

“I don’t know; why is me going to Scotland so special?” he asked with one eyebrow raised. Tim smiled knowingly.

“Because the CSI team there has won Team of the Year from the ICSIA for the past four years. I wonder if they got it again in ’06?”

“Actually, that title belongs to us,” said Frank, entering the office. “And as much as I’’d love to help you - I’d kill to have unlimited access to this floor for at least a week - Gerard and I are a strong team. And there’s no telling if Matt the Dictator would allow it; I’m sure he hates me.”

“But he doesn’t hate me,” said Tim. “It’ll be fine.” Gerard looked up at his friend.

“As long as it’s okay with you,” he said tentatively. The A/V analyst nodded. Gerard sighed and stood, taking the thick binders in his arms. They were a lot heavier than they looked.

“Have fun in Scotland,” said Frank with a wave. Gerard gave a halfhearted wave back and left. As much as he wanted to meet the prestigious team, it just wouldn’t be the same without Frank.
-
“Frank...I honestly think this man is trying to kill me.” Frank laughed on the other end of the line.

“What makes you say that?”

“He’s putting me on a train for five hours instead of letting me fly for just one,” Gerard responded. He could feel the exhaustion setting in already.

“Take a plane anyway.”

“I can’t. The Scotland team’s senior investigator - or whatever it is they call us here; I’m starting to get really confused - is supposed to meet me at the station, and Matt absolutely refuses to give me the guy’s phone number. Plus he already paid for it. And I checked the prices; it’s more than twice the rate for the cheapest flight. He wants me to suffer.”

“Ticket please.” Gerard handed the menacing piece of paper to the equally menacing man standing before him. He listened to Frank’s laughter for several seconds before finally telling him to shut up.

“I’m sorry...this is just hilarious...”

“I’m glad you’re able to enjoy my suffering,” Gerard said dryly.

“It’s not you. I’m laughing at Matt. Hey, call me when you get there.”

“I will. Don’t laugh yourself into a coma while I’m gone.” Frank laughed. Of course.

“Just don’t be gone too long.” Gerard closed the phone and placed it back in his pocket, then pulled his laptop out and turned it on. He planned to enter all of the case information into the computer before he reached his destination. The fact that he could type at 95 words per minute didn’t hurt.

He checked his watch. Five hours and twenty-two minutes. He guessed there were at least 130 pages per binder, not counting the evidence descriptions.

Ready, set, go.
-
Fueled by coffee, Gerard managed to get through the criminal’s entire file; luckily some of it was already stored on his computer from the flight over. He knew working the majority of the time had been a good idea.

When he realized he only had an hour and a half left, though, he decided against starting the next one. The battery on his laptop was going to run out soon, and he had no way of charging it. He did have the extra 20-hour-life charger, but he had neglected to, yes, charge it. That tended to happen when he used the computer a lot. And he always did. He decided to try and sleep for the rest of the trip, setting the alarm on his watch so he wouldn’t miss the stop.

Gerard stood to exit the train and almost fell over. He managed to regain his balance before anything bad happened. Already having shoved his laptop, field kit, and the files into his suitcase, he grabbed the bag from the storage compartment next door and stepped off the train, once again almost losing his balance. ‘I officially hate trains,’ he thought. ‘I don’t care what Matt says; next time I’m flying.’

“Lieutenant Way?” asked a familiar voice. Gerard instantly turned toward it; he hadn’t heard his official title in a long time. His eyes widened.

“Mikey?” His younger brother nodded and smiled. Then he pretended to choke to death when Gerard tackled him in a hug.

“What are you doing here?”

“Helping you,” he said simply. Suddenly, Gerard’s face fell.

“What about the lab? I mean, Bob and Ray are great, but they can’t handle the whole lab by themselves.” Mikey laughed.

“They’re not. We called in a few favors.” Gerard ran a hand through his hair. Maybe he shouldn’t have left in the first place. While he trusted his brother indefinitely, the thought of someone going anywhere near his office without him knowing it just made him cringe.

“So where’s Frank?”

“Kidnapped by the English,” he responded sarcastically. “One of them quit, and they needed Frank’s special video mapping talents. So here I am, and here he’s not.”

“Excuse me,” said someone nearby, approaching Gerard and his brother. “I couldn’t help overhearing some of your conversation. Is one of you Mr. Way?”

Both of them said yes.