Disclaimer: I do not own CSI nor do I own CBS, so don't sue me because I'm not worth much at the moment. ;)
Summary: Our favorite CSIs are called to the scene of a deadly car accident. They have to figure out what exactly happened and in the course of their investigation Sara gets attached to one of the survivors, a broken 3 year old girl who loses her entire family. At home, Sara is having some relationship problems with Grissom and something has to change. Starts out more team/case oriented, but eventually focuses a lot more on GSR (but there is a good case later in the story).
Additional Story Note: The car accident which takes place in this story is loosely based on a tragically true story which took place in the town where I live. A Ford F-650 truck was sideswiped by a CR-V and swerved into oncoming traffic, hitting a few cars and pulverizing a Chrysler 300 where only one person survived (though it didn't look like anyone should have). All of the characters and vehicles involved in the story are fictionalized.
Chapter One: Three Fatalities
Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom arrived to the scene of a grisly car accident only to realize that rescue workers were still on scene, trying to extract all the victims. They had to stand back and watch as people ran frantically about the scene, loading bloodied bodies into ambulances and one into an air ambulance. Finally, Detective Jim Brass approached them looking rather grim.
"Hey guys, as you can see, this one's a mess. You may want to call in for more backup. There are four vehicles involved, eight victims have been extracted and they're still working on freeing two more," the detective sighed, "so far we have one known fatality."
"Any idea exactly what happened here?" Grissom asked.
"Preliminary eyewitness report is that the big truck was heading southbound when an SUV swerved into his lane. He tried to avoid the collision and swerved into the northbound lanes where he sideswiped the Mercedes and then plowed head on into what I'm told used to be a Honda Accord," Brass explained, "there were two kids in the back seat."
One glance in the direction of where he gestured explained it all. There was a hunk of broken glass and metal that looked like it might once have been a car. Clearly it had taken the brunt of the impact and it looked as though no one would be coming out of it alive. As Brass had been speaking, a body was extracted from the driver's seat and firefighters were attempting to remove more people. Even the veteran detective and CSI were taken back by how badly the car was damaged. Sara was very nearly in tears just at the sight of the Honda as it was no longer recognizable as a car. She'd been to her share of car accident scenes, but this car was the worst yet.
The trio stood silently waiting for their time to get to work. Grissom had called Catherine, Warrick, Nick and Greg to the scene as soon as they finished their own cases. Until the rescuers were finished with their work, there was not much for the CSIs to do anyway so it wouldn't hurt to wait for backup. The road was closed in both directions for several blocks and the police were taking eyewitness statements to get a description of the SUV that had started this all as it had fled the scene.
Finally another body was taken out of the wreckage of the Honda and placed into a body bag. That brought the body count to two and it would likely climb to at least four because it didn't look like anyone could survive the wreckage of the Accord. After what had seemed an eternity of waiting, the CSIs were clear to begin investigating the scene. Grissom instructed Sara to join him in just taking a bunch of general photographs in the southbound lanes and then move gradually along the path of the accident to the final resting position of the Dodge truck, Mercedes convertible and Honda sedan.
Catherine showed up on the scene, "Hi Grissom. This looks pretty intense. Where do you want me?"
"I guess you can start processing the Mercedes, Sara is going to take the truck and I'm going to start in on the Honda," Grissom explained, "the basic scenario is that someone in the southbound lanes caused the truck to swerve into the northbound lanes where it sideswiped the convertible and then crushed the other car."
"Ouch, any survivors come out of there?" Catherine pointed to the Accord.
"Two bodies came out and two were transported to the hospital. I'm guessing neither one of them will make it," Grissom shrugged, "no word on any other injuries."
"Okay. Oh I heard from Nick, Warrick and Greg before I got here. They're wrapping up their case and they should be here within half an hour," she told the supervisor.
"Good," he nodded, "this one could take a while and the mayor will get on us to re-open the roads as soon as possible."
Catherine moved towards the Mercedes convertible and began snapping pictures. There was damage all along the driver's side of the car including lots of scratches and dents. A quick glance in the car told her that the impact had been enough to trigger the airbags. It was consistent with the story because the car was traveling at easily 40MPH on this stretch of the road when it was suddenly swiped by a truck going the opposite direction. Behind the car was a pair of skid marks which indicated that the driver slammed on their brakes after the collision.
After collecting lots of little bits and pieces of evidence (of which there was no shortage from a multi-car accident), Catherine moved to the interior of the vehicle. She noted blood on the airbag that had deployed in front of the driver and took a sample. It was unlikely that they'd need to use the blood to determine who was driving, but it was always best to be thorough.
Nick, Greg and Warrick finally crossed the crime scene tape and took in the accident scene. There was a fairly large area of the street blocked off in both directions and they knew there were probably fatalities. It was policy to investigate the scene immediately if there was suspicion of drugs and alcohol or a fatality. Judging by the appearance of the car Grissom was poring over, fatalities seemed likely.
"Hey Boss," Warrick greeted after they got a quick briefing from Catherine.
"Oh good you guys are here," Grissom straightened up, "auto transport is about to come and start collecting cars. The sooner we finish the on-scene processing the better. Nick, why don't you go see if Sara or Catherine needs assistance? Warrick, you can join me on this car and Greg, you go scour the southbound lanes. Eyewitnesses say that a red SUV initiated the whole crash and fled the scene. That was over on the other side of the median."
"Will do," Nick nodded and ambled over to the female CSIs to see if either needed assistance.
"For once, I'm glad to be getting the boring part of this investigation," Greg said, eyeing the wrecked sedan and then the other cars, "whoever got their Mercedes damaged is going to be pissed. That's a brand new car and I think the SL class cars run around a hundred grand."
"Greg, how do you know how much a Mercedes costs?" Warrick raised an eyebrow.
"Wishful thinking. What can I say, I like nice cars and I was just curious how much one of those things would run me if I ever struck it rich. You know they wouldn't even let me test drive one unless I gave them some serious collateral," the young CSI shrugged.
"I wouldn't let you take one of those things out either," Warrick ruffled his spiky hair, "you just look like trouble waiting to happen."
"Thanks a lot, man," Greg stalked off to begin his part of the investigation.
The ring of Grissom's cell phone prevented Warrick from asking where to start. He looked over the crushed car and shook his head. He could see a lot of blood inside the car and the entire passenger compartment looked ruined. The car had been clearly crushed as there was no structural integrity left where the passengers once sat.
Grissom sighed as he hung up his cell, "Sounds like we're up to three fatalities now. The little boy that they airlifted to the hospital from this car didn't make it."
"Damn," Warrick said, "and it seems to have been all set off by some careless driving. Maybe someone was in too much of a hurry to get somewhere. It seems like everyone is these days."
"Whatever the reason, I'm sure we'll find it out. Unless of course the driver of the SUV that started this whole thing is an even bigger coward than just leaving the scene and flees the country or destroys the evidence. Remember that case last year of the gang member who shot that movie star? He burned the car that he was shooting from and it was all over the news. Last week in Henderson, some guy hit a kid and ran from the scene. The police found his car burnt to a crisp in an alley," Grissom shook his head.
"And when this story hits the news tonight, as it undoubtedly will, you're afraid our guy will have the same idea?" Warrick asked.
"Basically," Grissom glanced up at the reporters who had shown up on the scene, "they're like vultures flocking to a carcass in the desert."
"Anytime someone is killed, they're all over it. Especially now that one of the dead is a little boy," Warrick stated.
"About the only thing they're good for is to flash the information of the guy who ran from the scene. Someone will probably recognize the car and maybe one of the witnesses got a license plate number," Grissom conceded, "or else he'll know that the heat is on and do something stupid."
The CSIs spent a couple more hours investigating the scene and collecting as much evidence as they could. The cars were transported back to the crime lab and would be available for further investigation as necessary. Grissom sent Catherine and Sara to the hospital to check in on the other victims of the accident. The guys headed back to the lab to begin processing the masses of evidence they had gathered.
A/N: So in my entire life I'd never been in a car accident. As this story was nearly finished, I was driving my Honda Accord through a parking lot when I got hit by a big white truck. It was a slow speed collision so I wasn't hurt, but there was a pretty big dent in my rear quarter panel. Talk about your freaky coincidences, I'm writing a story about a Honda Accord getting hit by a big white truck and then I get hit by one in my Honda Accord!
