A/N: This was just something that popped into my head the other day and needed to be written. Let me know what you think please. Your comments are always well loved and appreciated.
Disclaimer: I'm working on collecting my pennies to eventually some day but CSI, but for now all I own is my computer and a box of toaster strudels. Well, when you think about it, what else do you need? Oh yeah, CSI.
-My Little Girl-
Let me tell you all about 'my little girl' or so I've come to see her, and how I found out about her finally finding the love that I always knew she deserved. It was late after shift one day when I got a break on the case that Sara, Grissom and I were working together. Being the workaholics that they are, I figured that they would still be hanging around the lab somewhere, so instead of just calling, I decided to go pay them a personal visit. I checked in a few of the labs as I walked down the long corridors with no avail, so I made my last stop at Grissom's office. With another fifteen feet to go before I reached his door I heard someone speak.
"Stop that!" The voice came from the slightly ajar door of the office, and upon hearing the playful tone of the voice and the subsequent giggles; I couldn't help but listen further. So I moved myself to just outside the door. The blinds were drawn so I couldn't see in, but I stayed at the door and listened. "Grissom!" And that was a squeal. A squeal that I immediately recognized as that of my surrogate daughter, my little girl, Sara Sidle. Okay, so now I was really curious, so being the quick thinker that I am, I opened up the file in my hand and pretended to read it over while I listened, just in case there were any nosy onlookers.
"Nobody's here." Okay and that was most definitely Grissom and with a very low, sultry voice. Eww. But, I couldn't leave now; it was just too juicy to pass up.
"Oo-oo-ooo." And that was Sara again, moaning. This is weird. Very weird. "Stop it!" Oh that sounded convincing. Who's she trying to fool?
"Come on Sara. I don't want to wait. Where's your sense of adventure?" Okay, it's official, Gil Grissom, bug extraordinaire, with a husky voice is really freaking me out.
"Oh I don't know Ecklie's office perhaps. Waiting to be fired! Last time I checked sleeping with the boss was a bad thing, sleeping with him in the lab, I'm thinking is even worse!" That a girl! Leave it to Sara to finally get Gil to see the light and then release a monster in the making.
"It's not like it would be the first time." And now their laughing. Oh, dear. Now their making kissy noises. Eww. Oh jeez, and moaning. Alright I care too much to let them both get fired. And at the rate that those 'noise' levels are growing, it's only a matter of time before someone else hears them and knows that they are definitely NOT doing paperwork in there.
Here goes nothing. I push open the already slightly opened door, and well, hearing it was one thing, seeing it was a whole other ball game. Sara, sitting on Gil's desk with her legs wrapped around him, with her shirt off. Luckily they hadn't gotten to the bra yet, I don't know if my mind could have handled that. Gil practically attacking her neck, well, let's just say it was not a picture I needed to see. Sara's hand entwined in his hair and then unbuttoning his shirt, while his are just well, everywhere. The worst part? They haven't a clue that I'm standing here. So I clear my throat lightly, they don't seem to hear. So I do it again, this time a bit louder, and oh wow, would you look at them jump! I can hardly contain my amusement.
"JIM!" was their synchronized yelp. I couldn't help but laugh as they moved apart so quickly. Like being caught by the principal making out in the supply closet. I don't think I've ever seen Gil move so fast in the entire time I've known him.
Oh look at Sara, my sweet, CORRUPTED, Sara, looking for her shirt. You know, I walked in on Ellie once, but then I can't say as it surprised me at all. Actually I kind of expected it. But Sara? My little girl, okay, so she's not really mine and she's not really little, but still, she is in my eyes and now I'm being forced to see her all grown up. It's a little disheartening.
"Okay, well this is awkward." I announce still trying to stifle my laughter.
"Jim, it's uh...it's uh...not what it looks like." Gil stuttered as Sara continued to scan the area for her missing shirt. I'm just trying my best not to look at her right now.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. And normally, I would actually have a lot of fun watching as you tried to come up with some logical explanation as to why Sara here is shirtless in your office and why you were on her like white on rice. But today, I'm going to let you off easy." They look so funny all flushed and terrified. I'm enjoying their turmoil. "I'll make this brief." I tell them as I find Sara's shirt hanging off a lamp next to me and hand it to her. Her cheeks are so red right now, I wonder what she'd look like if she were this embarrassed and had a sunburn. She's actually turning around to put it on, I find this quite funny. As if modestly is even a factor right now. I am loving every last minute of this. "Okay, first of all, Congratulations. I'm happy for you, really. That aside, second: Sex in that lab is bad. Especially when the door to your office is open and there are people like me roaming the halls." Oh I love the death glare that Sara's giving Grissom. They're so in love. "Third, as upset as you may be with me intruding, and as awkward as this moment is, be grateful. Because I'm sorry but I think people could hear you two over Greg's music, and well we're all seasoned investigators, it doesn't take CSI to figure out what was going on in here." Oh their faces are absolutely priceless. So red, so flushed and avoiding eye contact at all costs. I'm glad I can have this affect on people. Okay now for me to step up to my roll in my little girl's life. "Oh and one more thing. I love you both Gil. You're my best friend, but Sara here is like my daughter. You ever even think of hurting her and so help me; I will kill you and dispose of your body where not even your own team will find it. Understand?" Oh, I love threats, well, at least when I'm on the giving end of them. Sara looks as though she's going to cry. Now I don't know much about her life before Vegas, but I do know that she doesn't have a dad to look out for her, so I'm glad to fill that position the best I can. I think me telling Gil this really hit home for her. Gil on the other hand looks truly horrified. He knows I'm serious and he knows that I would have no problem doing said task given my position in law enforcement. It would be easy. After a few suspenseful minutes, I give them a nice big smile and say, "Okay kids, well you two have yourselves a wonderful rest of the day. I'll see you next shift." And with that I left. Leaving those two in complete and utter shock. My job is done.
So that's how I, Jim Brass, found out about the best story to enter the LVPD walls in years. I kept their secret, and Gil did as he was told. He took care of her, never hurt her, never intentionally anyway, but it is Gil, and well human emotion isn't his strong suit. There have been a few arguments where my couch became a bed for one of them for a night but they always worked it out to come out stronger than before. They are truly two of a kind. That day she made me cry from my laughter, it was the first time she made me cry, but certainly not the last.
Then two years later the worst thing possible happened. My little girl was taken. The miniature killer attacked Sara and stuck her out somewhere in the middle of the desert with a two ton car on her back. We caught Natalie, her kidnapper, the miniature killer herself, but she was a total looney tune, she gave us nothing to go on. We searched for two and a half days straight looking for her until we finally got the call that the upturned mustang had been spotted. I cried tears of joy with Gil when they told us that, just the fact that she had been found. But then it hit us like a ton of bricks that they didn't tell us if she was alive. It had been almost three days since she's been out there. There was no telling how rough a shape she was in if she was alive. Tears of loss and fear filled up my eyes as Gil, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg and I loaded into one of the Denali's and I drove like a crazy person to get to her. When we did finally get there it was still raining, and it was dark out, no city lights to illuminate the area. Gil and I were out of the truck running towards the car before we had even fully parked it seemed. Knowing I still had a job to do, I called in for the ETA of the paramedics and gave out orders to the officers that had followed us there. Gil, however, ran straight to the car, taking her outstretched hand, the only sign that she was under there. I went over as fast as I could as he was laying in the mud trying with everything he had to get to her. After several long seconds he screamed through his tears that she had a pulse, it was extremely weak but it was there. Officers and the night shift team all surrounded the car and after working out a plan, the car was lifted from her just long enough for Gil and me to carefully pull her out. She was unconscious and barely breathing. Her back was bleeding profusely from large gashes made by the car. Her legs and arms were beat up pretty bad from being crushed by the car, several bones, visibly, were broken and she was whiter than a ghost. Within minutes an airlift medical team arrived and placed her on a stretcher with an oxygen mask and IV line. She was strapped down on her side so that they could assess the wounds on her back. It seemed like only seconds before they were loading her onto the helicopter and Gil and I boarded with her. We stayed out of the EMT's ways as best as possible, but never let go of her small, pale and cold hands. They looked like hamburger from her trying to claw her way out. I cried again on that helicopter and Gil and I each did something that we never thought we would again. We prayed. We prayed to anybody out there that was listening to let Sara, our Sara, my little girl, live. We cried and prayed all the way to the hospital where Sara was immediately prepped for surgery and taken away. We sat there in the waiting room for hours, which felt like days, waiting for anything, any news from the doctors. Finally, eleven hours later a doctor entered the waiting room, wearing scrubs, which looked fresh. So I gathered that he had changed before coming out to see us. He looked horrible, tired and in desperate need of some of Greg's coffee. But then again, we didn't look any better. At least he had clean clothes.
"Family of Sidle? Sara Sidle?" He announced looking around the waiting room. We were all there, Gil, myself, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg, Bobbie Dawson, Archie, David Phillips, and Doc Robbins, and we all approached him.
"Yes? Is she okay?" I gasped out. Gil looked ready to pass out. If this wasn't good news, I don't think he'd survive.
"Miss Sidle is strong that's for sure. But she stopped breathing on three separate occasions during surgery. She made it through the surgery successfully but she is now in a comatose state. She's not breathing on her own, so we have her hooked up to a ventilator. She's in rough shape. You all need to understand that there is a very real possibility that she may not make it. She went almost three days without food or water with over two thousand pounds resting on her back. The gouges in her back nicked an artery and a shard of metal pierced through her left lung. We were able to repair it during surgery and re-inflate it, but there's no way to tell whether it really did any good. She's lucky to be alive right now. She pretty much has a fifty/fifty chance, and it's all up to her. If she doesn't pull out of the coma on her own, I'm afraid that she will not survive." And that's when sobs wracked through everyone in that room. Doc Robbins started asking medical questions to the doctor, but I don't think anyone actually understood a thing he said and then finally after the Doc finished talking Gil's raspy voice was heard.
"Can I see her?"
"She's in ICU right now, so there's only one person allowed in at a time and very strict visiting hours, but I think it would be good for her to hear a familiar voice. It may help her."
Everyone nodded in understanding and then Catherine went to Gil and told him to go see her, and to tell her that everyone loved her. He nodded mutely before leaving with the doctor.
It was two days later when I cried again. We took turns staying at the hospital with Gil, making sure he ate, slept and showered. One that second day, my heart stopped. I was in visiting with Sara while Gil slept in the waiting room. I had been reading a chapter of Moby Dick each time I came in to see her. So there I was, sitting in the chair next to her bed, reading aloud to her. Gil had told me that this was one of her favorite novels. That she was actually thought of to be weird when she was young because she drew a picture of a dead whale after reading it. So I thought that familiarity was best.
"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--" And that's when it happened. A low strangled voice echoed through the room and my life seized. Time froze and pigs flew.
"Then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."
I looked up over the book at her. Her eyes were struggling to open, and her voice was cracked and dry. Tears ran down my face so fast I thought they might be running a marathon. I jumped up from my seat and sat at the edge of the bed, taking her frail hand in mine.
"Sara?" I asked her, obviously it was her, but I was more curious if she knew that.
"He--hey...Jiii--m." She choked out. I instantly grabbed the styrofoam cup of water from the night stand and brought the straw to her lips.
"Hey kiddo. It's really nice to have you back." I said, trying to stifle my sobs of joy. She squeezed my hand as the pain caught up to her and her eyes clenched shut. "It's okay sweetie. You're going to be okay." I tried to assure her, while pushing the call button for the doctor. Even seeing her like this, which hurt, I felt the happiest at could. My little girl was alive. She was going to be okay.
Three weeks later my little girl went home to Gil. Another big shocker for the rest of the team, they had just found out they were together, but actually living together threw them for a spin. Despite the horrors she went through, she still kept that vibrant energy that was distinctly Sara. Gil was elated when I rant to the waiting room to tell him she was awake. He cried into my shoulder and kept repeating over and over,
"Thank you God. Thank you."
Two months later I cried again because of her. It takes a lot to make me cry. That girl, I tell you, is something else. Gil proposed to her. She was so excited, naturally she said yes. Later that day she asked me to go to dinner with her, nothing new, we went to dinner together a lot over those two years, but that night was different. She told me about them being engaged and then she made my heart swell. She told me about her family, her childhood. I didn't know what to say. She said that Gil was the only other person that knew, but that she wanted me to know about her 'first dad.' Then she told me about how in the seven years she'd lived in Vegas, she couldn't have asked for a better father. That in her mind I was her dad, not that man that hurt her. I wanted to kill him myself when she told me light details of the things he put her through. She talked for about an hour about how much she loved me and how much she loved that she finally felt that she had a family. She told me about how she had never felt loved they way she did when I threatened Gil that day in his office. Then she made me cry. She asked me if I would do her the honor of walking her down the aisle. Do her the honor? No, the honor was all mine.
The entire lab was at the wedding. Except for Ecklie of course. They had eventually found a loop hole in the system so that they could be together without hiding it by Catherine taking over as Sara's immediate supervisor, which she was all too thrilled about. She and Sara actually became really good friends and Sara asked her to be her maid of honor. She had Jacqui and Mandy from the lab and Lindsey Willows as her bridesmaids. Gil, since my job was already set, had Doc Robbins as his best man and Nick, Warrick and Greg as his groomsmen. It was a beautiful wedding and I cried again as I took that beautiful woman's, my little girl's, arm and led her down that aisle to Gil. It was by far one of the happiest days of my life. She gave me a kiss on the cheek as we reached the front of the aisle and whispered into my ear, "Thanks...Dad. I love you." And so the waterfalls of tears started up again and at that point I couldn't stop them. I simply kissed her back, shook Gil's hand and told him, "Take care of my little girl." He smiled and took her hands. There wasn't a dry eye in the room as we watched them exchange their vows and commit to a life together. Who would have thought that the two most independent, stubborn, workaholics who were married to the lab, would actually be committing themselves to a life long relationship to each other?
But now, as I sit here today, a year later, she made me cry again. What is it about that woman that makes me, a grown man, turn to a puddle of mush? I'm sitting in a large white waiting room as she is lying in a hospital bed, resting after seventy-three hours of labor. When she called and told me, through the screams of contractions, that she was going into labor, I actually spilled my coffee all over myself. I had never been so nervous and anxious. I actually put the sirens and lights on in the car so I could get to the hospital faster. I saw her briefly when I got here; just long enough to tell she could do this and that we all love her. Then she went to push and I went to the waiting room. I never left the hospital since. After her long, exhausting labor, a very tired but very elated Gil came out and told me she wanted to see me. So nervously I walked with him into her hospital room to see her laying there, she looked like hell but at the same time she never looked so beautiful as she held that little bundle in her arms, wrapped in a light pink blanket. Upon hearing me walk in, she looked up and smiled triumphantly at me, and then she made me cry, again.
"I think your Grandpa wants to see you." She whispered to the sleeping baby. Grandpa? I love it, and that was when my eyes watered up. Then she pulled even harder on my heart strings as she handed me the baby to hold and asked me, "Would you do us the honor of being Madison's godfather?" And that's where the tears fell freely down my cheeks, dropping onto the little pink blanket wrapped tightly around the little girl in my arms. I accepted gleefully and was told that Catherine was her godmother. But I was her Grandpa. I couldn't have been happier if I tried.
I am so proud of 'my little girls.'
-The End-