TITLE: Prayers to St. Anthony
AUTHOR: Chauncey10 aka MSCSIFANGSR
PAIRING: Sidle-Grissom
RATING: Mature, for a reason...just not in this first chapter.
SUMMARY: A case reenactment sparks the sexual tension between between Sara and Gil.
DISCLAIMER: I'm just playing with them.
SPOILERS: This is set pre-episode 'Bodies in Motion' and post 'Grave Danger' by a month or so.
PROMPT: OneHour2Write's monthly picture challenge for January. Picture #14 is of a two pair of nude legs belonging to a couple on the floor in the kitchen with clothes scattered all around. Check my profile for the link to the Challenge.
Chapter One
Twenty-six year old Katie Andersen's dead body had been found by an exterminator when he'd made his monthly rounds of spraying for insects in the Elam Arms Apartments, a mid-rate housing complex where many casino workers and other blue collar workers lived their daily lives. The bug man had called the manager of the complex, who in turn had called the police. The young woman was found nude lying on her right side on the floor of the small kitchen at the end of the kitchen island, clothes were scattered throughout the kitchen, some on the floor, a burgundy bra hung precariously on the handle of the stove, while the matching panties were located near the dead woman's feet.
Grissom had catalogued the scene and the body with his camera, before moving to allow David Phillips, access to the body. Curiously, Grissom was intrigued by the case, where there was not a single bit of insect activity, not unsurprisingly since the exterminator was obliviously a good one. David was about to say something to him, when Sara Sidle's voice broke the silence of the room.
"What's the worst thing to find with a dead body?" Sara's question filled Grissom with dread.
"Another one?" He asked, hopelessly.
"Dead body, male, in the bedroom closet." Her delivery was flat, but her eyes belayed the emotions she attempted to conceal.
Grissom nodded once, before saying, "Document, everything. I'll keep this body, you can have that one."
"Geez, thanks." Sara turned back to the bedroom and left without further comment.
They had found a wallet in the back pocket of a pair a jeans found on the floor in the kitchen and the male dead body was found to be Jason Andersen, 40, of the same address as they were currently investigating. Grissom noted the remains of a meal with vegetables, bread and cutlery scattered over the functional island, but thought to himself how odd, there were no dinner plates, merely a large wok on a ceramic floral decorated plate.
That's when his cell phone rang; Grissom checked the caller ID: Sheriff Burdick. He paused, almost silencing the call, when he recalled, the sheriff had never called him in the entire six months the man had been in office.
The call lasted 4 minutes and 27 seconds, Grissom was to travel to Pershing County to assist law enforcement officials in the county of less than 7000 on a murder case involving Sheriff Burdick's cousin, who'd been found dead in his home covered in various insects. The local sheriff's department were at a loss for a correct time line on the man death and had used their tenuous connection to the Clarke County Sheriff's Department and had respectfully requested use of the esteemed entomologist.
"Sara?" Grissom called.
The brunette stuck her head out of the bedroom door, "Yes?" She remained in the doorway, reminiscent of her many forays in his office door.
"I have to leave per Sheriff Burdick immediately to assist our counterparts in Northern Nevada on a case. Do you want me to call Swing Shift to get you some help on this one? You can have Greg when he's done with his case. Sofia is still busy with the Johnson missing person."
"A double homicide, and I'm the lead, now? Sweet!" Sara grinned at him. He grinned back, unexpectedly. She continued, "You're leaving a non-bug infested crime scene? Must be something important, like a case with insects."
He smiled at her, "Yes, and a member of Burdick's family." Grissom responded.
"Oooh, politics." Sara whistled as she watched Grissom remove his latex gloves. His attention was no longer focused on her and she felt it necessary to prolong their conversation. "When do we get the old team back?"
"For now, Nick is scheduled to return within the week, so we will be together again then. Ecklie is shuffling around other swing and day personnel and in the process of hiring a few more CSI's." Grissom said as he gathered up his evidence and digital camera and gave them to Sara to add to her pile of evidence. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." He made for the main entrance of the apartment, turning his back on Sara.
"Grissom?" Sara had moved from the bedroom back toward the initial crime scene. She wore her hair up in a tight pony tail with no strands escaping the tightness of the rubber band that held it together. Sara was dressed for work, dark corduroy pants and matching top with a blood red stone laying at the indention of her neck, that hung on a black corded chain while her hands were covered in latex gloves. "How about you check with swing? It would be nice to work with Warrick maybe, if you could get him."
Grissom turned back at the sound of her voice, after nodding to the officer on duty who stood sentry at the entrance to the apartment. His ungloved hand held his ever-present cell phone to his ear, his other hand held up his index finger toward Sara, as if to say, 'gimme a minute'.
"Catherine, hi, I have to go out of town per orders of the Sheriff for several days." He paused. "No, I'm not asking you to pull doubles to make up for my absence."
His eyebrows shot up as he heard her reply. He mimicked the same index finger to his head motioning quick tight circles. Sara laughed without censorship, then held her own hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe that Gil Grissom had called Catherine Willows 'crazy'.
"Sara will be in charge of shift while I'm gone," he said into the receiver.
Sara's mirth was cut off quickly as her eyes widened in surprise.
"No, why I'm calling is to request Warrick to help out our shift on a double 419." He listened to her reply for a few minutes, then said, "Thank you, Catherine and I'll talk to you later in the week."
As Grissom pushed the end button on the phone, Sara immediately sprung into action, "Well?" as she approached Grissom coming so near, their bodies were nearly in contact.
"What?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"Do I get Warrick?" Sara smiled as he exhaled, the warmth of his breath on her exposed skin of her neck felt intimate.
"Yes, but not until tomorrow night, off this evening because of a earlier court appearance. So, collect all you can here, Greg can help if you need him. Leave as soon as you can, because you'll be the boss for the next several days, and you'll need all the rest you can get."
"Thank you."
They still hadn't moved, their close proximity reeking havoc on their senses. Sara stared up into his royal blue eyes, mesmerized. Grissom couldn't pull away from her, until the sound of his cell blared again. A quick "Grissom" and he was out the door without looking back.
Sara heaved a sigh, not of relief, but of something far more erotic and unfulfilling.
She missed the friendship they used to share before she'd moved to Las Vegas. It seemed to her that since Nick's abduction and maybe since the psycho-ward incident, that Grissom had been acting a bit friendlier to her than in the past several years. She wished they could go back and somehow renew their lost friendship.
Without bidding, a prayer her grandmother used to say when something was lost sprang into her mind:
St. Anthony, St. Anthony
Please come down
Something is lost
And can't be found.
To be continued....
This story shouldn't be more than 5 chapters and all to be posted within this next week. I'm not sure where it's really headed at the moment since I'm not a hundred percent finished with it, butI decided to start posting it now, so I would be compelled to finish it and quickly...This rated Mature for a reason, just not until a bit later in the progression of the story.
Reviews are appreciated and decidedly make my day...:)