"Giveth and Taketh Away"

DISCLAIMER: "CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION" and other related entities are owned, (TM) and (c) by ANTHONY E. ZUIKER, JERRY BRUCKHEIMER Television, CBS Worldwide Inc., Alliance Atlantis Corporation, CSI Productions and CBS Productions, All Rights Reserved. This is a purely an outlet of creative writing inspired by a superb TV series.

Acknowledgements: Train "When I Look to the Sky"; written by Pat Monahan.

Tim McGraw "My Best Friend"; written by Aimee Mayo, Bill Luther.

Beta/preview assists from Mel and Sassy (hugs and thanks).

Episode Influences: "Butterflied; Built to Kill; Loco Motives; Post Mortem; Leaving Las Vegas; Monster in the Box; Lab Rats; Living Doll."

Rated: K

Spoilers: None I'm aware of!

Chapter One

It had rained earlier in the night as the caravan of cars and trucks drove at a slower speed through Lincoln County toward U.S. Highway 6 via U.S. Highway 93 due to the still-wet roads. They'd originally left Hiko, Nevada, and were nearing the juncture between the Delamar and Meadow Valley Mountains. It was a well-known route for them. Their destination was the vineyard farms of the San Joaquin Valley in California where their next job waited. It was preferred to travel at night when it was cooler and the children slept and it was easier on the older vehicles driven. Air conditioning put additional stress on the vehicles but at least three of the men could work on them if a breakdown occurred. The family numbered nearly thirty people from the eldest to youngest. They were an anomaly, staying together and not being split by culture or border. It was decided to pull over for a rest stop to allow drivers to stretch or change out. The land here was more desert-like with rocky hills in the distance. The young boy took his dog to let it run and relieve itself. The dog stopped, cocking its ears, hearing something the boy couldn't. The dog whined softly, and then barked sharply to run away toward a rocky outcropping. The boy whistled for the dog but it ignored him. The boy looked back anxiously, knowing his father would be angry, but he took out his flashlight to go find his pet.

Today was a beautiful day with no clouds and bright sunshine.

Grissom rinsed his face off again, straightened his tie as he looked in the mirror, trying to ignore the dark circles beneath his eyes. Lord, he hated ties he thought as he'd fumbled repeatedly to get the knot right. He patted his face dry with a hand towel, turned to go to the bed and stopped. Their bed…her side…empty. As he ran a hand over her pillow, their boxer Bruno looked up expectantly from the floor where he lay as his tail thumped the hardwood floor. She'd picked Bruno from a rescue group for boxers. Grissom hadn't been sure about a dog, another big step for him, but his only complaint was Bruno liked to watch when he and Sara were intimate, a cold wet nose being in the wrong place at the wrong time more than once. He put on the dark blue suit jacket, adjusting the tie yet again as he grimaced.

"Come on, I know that look," Grissom said to the dog as he headed to the kitchen. If he said the word "treat" it was a sealed deal and had to be delivered. Bruno padded beside him, nails clicking on the hardwood floor, Grissom's shadow since Sara had been taken.

Grissom's cell phone rang, showing Brass' number. He opened the phone to take the call.

"Gil, you want me to come by and get you? It's on the way for me and I'd like the company."

"No thanks, Jim, I'll meet you there. I was just getting ready to head out myself. I need to get there a little early to prepare."

"Right, pal, I'll see you there then. Uh, Gil?"

"Jim, I know you've got my back no matter what. I've needed that and the support from the rest of the team since…since she disappeared. This is hard enough to do."

"Yeah, I never thought…"

"The unthinkable happening all over again to the team, first with Nick and now it's my Sara."

Sara was heading out to her car in the parking garage, focused on having her keys ready, and didn't see the figure in the shadows near her car. Her car alarm made a chirpy sound as she went to put her kit inside.

"Sara!" a woman's voice she didn't recognize called out to her.

As Sara turned, a figure stepped partially into the light of the parking garage's fluorescent lights. Sara's eyes strained to make out the identity of the woman who seemed vaguely familiar to her now. Her body then convulsed as the Taser being used on its maximum setting jolted her with the shocking current. Her scream was cut short as she lost consciousness and collapsed beside her car. Her head hit the concrete floor with an audible crack.

Natalie looked down at the still body with satisfaction, bending to take the keys. The trunk was left open, car keys on the ground, and Sara's cell phone in the trunk by the kit. She left for a moment to bring her rental Ford Explorer by Sara's car and back it into the vacant parking space beside the compact car. She'd already covered the security camera for that part of the parking garage with a garbage bag. After opening the rear door of the SUV, she grunted at the dead weight of Sara's body as she struggled to get Sara up and finally into the back of the SUV. She looked furtively again to see if anyone was in the vicinity. After covering Sara with a blanket, Natalie closed the rear door and climbed in and drove slowly out of the parking garage. She wanted to look perfectly casual and not arouse any suspicion.

It was a sudden storm in the Nevada desert, heavy drops of rain pelleting the wreck of the flipped over 2007 Ford Mustang. The lightning strike nearby and the deafening roar of thunder on its heels roused Sara to consciousness. She'd dreamt of a handsome man with salt-and-pepper curling hair but he'd disappeared into a fog as she struggled back to consciousness. The headache was terrible, making her bite into her lip. She couldn't see anything at first in the murky darkness, feeling only cold and wet. Sara turned her head suddenly, gagging at the sludge of mud building up beneath her. She was on her stomach, pinned, unable to move her legs. Where was she a silent scream echoed down the corridors of her mind. Pain stabbed now like thousands of hot needle pricks throughout her body as she groaned in near-agony. Touching about in the gross darkness, her hands felt the outline of car seats, a twisted safety belt, and a steering wheel. The realization that she was somehow pinned under a car galvanized her efforts to extricate herself anyway possible. Lightning flashes illuminated large rocks nearby. Her right arm inched slowly outside of the car. Using the last of her ebbing strength, her fingers splayed and groped for a purchase in the muddy earth. She fought desperately to pull herself forward as her fingers moved and twitched spasmodically but she weakened quickly.

"Help…help me…somebody, please help me…," her voice called out feebly to trail into silence save for the sounds of the storm as it raged above her.

Grissom listened to the song over and over on his way to his destination. A blur of memories of Sara like an old home movie went through his mind. He found himself praying for strength for what he was about to do. The song helped him he found as the words took root in his soul. There were moments when he could sense her presence so strongly that he nearly believed if he turned around quickly enough there she'd be.

(Train – "When I Look to the Sky")

"When it rains it pours and opens doors
And floods the floors we thought would always keep us safe and dry
And in the midst of sailing ships we sink our lips into the ones we love
That have to say goodbye
And as I float along this ocean
I can feel you like a notion that won't seem to let me go
Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here
And every word I didn't say caught up in some busy day
And every dance on the kitchen floor we didn't have before
And every sunset that we'll miss I'll wrap them all up in a kiss
Pick you up in all of this when I sail away
And while I float along this ocean
I can feel you like a notion that I hope will never leave
Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way
Whether I am up or down or in or out or just plane overhead
Instead it just feels like it's impossible to fly
But with you I can spread my wings
to see me over everything that life may send me
When I am hoping it won't pass me by
And when I feel like there is no one that will ever know me
there you are to show me
When I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here
When I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here
And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here."

Grissom parked his Denali by Brass' Dodge Charger as Jim got out of his car to meet him.

"You sure about this?" asked Brass with a concerned expression as he placed a reassuring hand on Grissom's shoulder.

"Yeah, Jim, we've all talked about it and I know Sara would want it this way," Grissom replied with a weary sigh.

Grissom and Brass walked into the building and to the first large room on the left which was filled to capacity. On the front row the entire CIS team was seated: Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg, and even Ecklie. Jim went to take a seat beside Catherine as Sofia now followed to sit by him. Other members of the crime lab were present on the front row as well as Grissom had reserved seating: Hodges, Archie, Bobby, Wendy, Mandy, Henry, and "Doc" Al Robbins.

Clearing his throat, Grissom took his position behind the crystal clear acrylic podium. "I'd like to thank all of you for coming today…to Sara's memorial service."

Misty-eyed, Grissom glanced at the large framed picture beside him centered between floral arrangements…. She had smiled at him in a quirky, mischievous way the day he took that picture with those huge, luminous brown eyes and her thick, raven-colored hair curling down to frame her delicate classic features. The lips he'd kissed countless times, the skin like silk he'd caressed in their lovemaking or as simple as a touch on her arm at a crime scene. He brusquely removed his glasses and wiped at his eyes before he could continue. Had it already been three months since Sara disappeared? Natalie remained cloaked in her fantasy world, all efforts to get her to reveal more about Sara's whereabouts in vain.

The caption beneath the picture read: "In Loving Memory of Sara Ann Sidle, born September 16, 1971, died – known but to God."