I wrote the first part of this as a sort of teaser for what i would like to see in the finale. SO many people wrote in and wrote amazing reviews that I felt compelled to finish it. Enjoy! Mild Spoiler involved but nothing you didn't know from the preview for the finale. Heck, I'm trying to stay as unspoiled as possible so this is pretty tame. ... in the spoiler zone anyway.
As always don't own the characters or the amazing Alexander Dumas' book alluded to. R & R is always appreciated!
"Nick, swab the sheet and take it to DNA."
"Warrick, I want to know if there's any prints."
"Greg?" He holds up the sheet with his tweezers.
"Trace. I'm on it, boss." Griss nods at him.
"Cath-?"
"-is taking you to Desert Palms, now."
"He glances down at his torn knuckles.
"It's nothing," he says stretching his hands and wincing.
"Gil-" she gives him her best I'm the mother do-as-I-say look.
He concedes and holding a rag up to his hand follows her out of the building.
He sits, staring into space as the nurse practitioner stitches him, very little emotion, hardly even flinching when she starts to sew. When Catherine enters to take him back, he just glances up at her.
They ride in silence back to PD. She glances at him a few times but says nothing. His cell phone rings as they pull into a spot.
"Grissom."
Gil's hand is already on the door jam.
"Hey it's Greg. I think you need to check something out."
"I'll be right there."
"Where's the fire?" She asks, sarcastically.
He snaps his phone closed and opens the door as the Dinali comes to a slow stop.
"Thanks for the ride." He shuts the door and takes the step by twos.
"Alright Greg. What's up?"
I ran over this with the UV light looking for anything not visible from the human eye and check this out.
He dims the lights. The hair on the back of Grissom's neck stand on end as he stares down into his own apartment. There, written across the floor of the bedroom, are the words: Wait and hope?!
He falters backwards immediately recognizing those three words and turns to leave.
"He's always leaving," he murmurs as he sticks his face back over the microscope.
"How's my favorite traitor today? Enjoying life on the dark side?"
"Hey Hodges," he says without lifting his eyes to meet David's.
"What's all the hub ub about?"
"Another crime scene, and more cat and mouse games."
"Mind if I?"
Greg sighs, checking his phone again for some sign of Sara. "Be my guest."
He positions himself over the microscope.
"Interesting," he says and Greg rolls his eyes heading off to see how the rest of the team is doing.
Hodges swabs the cryptic message and takes to the spectrometer, dropping it he dances a bit.
An hour later Grissom paces reading through the case files waiting for Nick and Warrick to get back from his apartment.
"Knock, knock."
Grissom looks irritated and disheveled.
"What is it, Hodges?"
"I ran the solution used on our message and guess what it is?"
"Bleach?"
"That's why they pay you the big money." Without looking up from the sheet David handed him he adds, "Ecklie does your review."
The smile fades from Hodges face.
"I knew that. Just trying to help."
He walks out, Gil looks up, realizing how cold he'd been and steps to the door.
"David!"
Hodges turns.
"Good work." He manages a half smile. David nods and continues down the hall.
Grissom sits glancing over some pictures, waiting for his team to return from HIS apartment…not wanting to give Brass any more headaches than he already had.
"What the FUCK were you thinking?"
Fuming Catherine steps into his office, closing the door behind her before she lit into him.
"Well hello Catherine. Please come in."
"Don't play games with me Grissom."
"What are you talking about?"
"Sara! You're dating her?"
"Yes." He stops and gazes back down at the photographs.
"You son of a bitch. Do you have any idea what kind of jeopardy you put not only your career but also the careers of those around you? Do you know how many cases could be tossed if it's thought that you or Sara were biased in your judgements? Especially on the cases you worked together?"
She throws her hands up in the air.
"Catherine I don't –"
"Are you blind? It has everything to do with her disappearance Gil! Don't you see? Sara is missing, the model shows YOUR apartment with blood on the sheets. I put two and two together and I get four. Whoever this is has got it in for you and why not go for the one person you care about more than anything else."
Quieter she adds, "Just level with me. Here and now. I want to help you, Gil."
Grissom sees Catherine turn her head and sees who she is staring at. Ecklie has just gotten off the elevator. His rage bubbles over.
"Let's talk about what this really is, Catherine. You're upset because I didn't tell you. Well, yes I was a shit for that, but her disappearance and my feelings no matter what they are have nothing to do with each other! Sara and I were – are together and it drives you insane to know that it was right under your nose and you didn't know about it, doesn't it?"
"Don't you dare put this on me! You jeopardized Sara's life and all of our careers by carrying on this little affair with or without my knowledge. Whatever happens to her, Gil-whatever the outcome is, just know that you brought it on yourself. You."
She starts toward the door, angry tears spilling over on her cheeks. Ecklie is crossing the hall toward his office.
"Tell me one thing, Catherine. When did you go from being a brilliant scientist to a bureaucratic whore?"
She stops, sighs and turns the knob. Without glancing back at him she cracks the door. "Around the same time you decided to get your rocks off with an employee."
She walks out as Ecklie enters.
"Good evening, Grissom."
"Ecklie," he says, sitting behind his desk. "To what do I owe the pleasure."
Ecklie shuts the door and draws the shades.
Commercials
"Let's cut the bullshit, shall we? I know what's been going on here just as well as you do."
"Do you?"
"You're suspended without pay. I need your badge and your keys and I need to evacuate the premises immediately.
"For?"
"You're sleeping with a fellow employee, her blood is all over YOUR bedroom, and we got a miniature killer who is apparently gunning for this department, specifically you. I don't think this really needs spelling out."
"I, for reasons that don't require spelling, need a place to stay. What am I supposed to do about that?"
"Jim already offered to take you in. You should feel lucky."
"Why is that Conrad?"
"I haven't fired you…yet."
Gil smirks at Conrad and gives him a dirty look behind his back.
When Brass walked in he saw the sorry sight. Grissom, glasses pushed on top of his head, head in hands staring at the coffee table, covered in pictures and reports from the Miniature Killer.
"Did you go to bed?"
"Yep."
"Did you sleep?"
"Nope."
"You have to relax."
Gil turns his tired eyes toward Brass.
"I know-but you're not doing yourself or Sara any good by exhausting yourself."
Gil nods, rubbing his temples and removing his glasses.
"Chinese?"
He pulls a brown paper bag out from under his jacket and smiles.
"Please!" Gil exclaims, realizing for the first time how hungry he was. Brass begins to dish out the food.
"We can't just run in guns drawn and get the good guys every time, Gil."
"Knights, masquerades…count of Monte Cristo…" Gil's face contorts as the blood drains.
He snaps his fingers. "Of course!"
Brass stops mid-bite and stares at Gil eyebrows raised.
He scours the latest crime scene report, almost knocking his food to the floor. He finds what he'd been looking for.
"What are you babbling about?"
Grissom tosses the file at Brass. "This."
"A stereo?-Paused?"
"Sara can't stand that song… so she wouldn't have played it and I obviously haven't been home. It's symbolic…that track is "Knights in White Satin. Moody Blues
" As you said…guns drawn, save the 'princess'. He's toying with us Jim."
"Nice catch, Gil. I have no idea what this means as far as finding Sara, but nice one."
"The quote on the sheet was from Count of Monte Cristo…knights in white satin….How many entrances into Excaliber?"
"What-"
"How many?" His patience wearing thin.
"I don't know 5 maybe 6? What are you babbling about?"
"Excaliber. That's it Jim! He's got her in there!
"Great. So I just cordon off half the strip and go in, right?"
He shrugs. "What if you happened to get a blue print? We're looking for any sort of secret passages…dungeons etc."
"This is ridiculous."
"Yes, but clever. Humor me?"
"If you promise to sleep!"
He holds his hand up, "boy scouts honor."
"You were never in the Scouts."
Gil smiles slyly, taking a triumphant bite of his lo mein.
"Here's that blue print you asked for, boss."
Jim puts down his copy of The Count of Monte Cristo that he'd been reading and takes the file.
"Great!" He heads out the door.
Grissom snaps awake when Brass tosses the map at him.
"You were right."
Gil groggily rubs his eyes and reaches for his glasses.
"There's a basement entrance. Only employees of the kitchen and housekeepers have access, but here's the interesting thing. Part of it has been closed off for renovations for about a month. Only construction workers have been coming in and out!"
Gil smiles broadly.
"Grab Nick and Greg and let's get out there!"
"Let's? You aren't going anywhere..suspended remember?"
Gil's face falls.
"No, what you CAN do is go to your apartment, since they've finally released it and pack some of your clothes. You're free to stay with me till this all blows over. Leave the "knights" to the on duty officers!"
Gil nods but Jim knows that he hasn't taken this answer to heart. He grabs his sunglasses and heads out the door.
As he arrives at his apartment he can smell the remnants of the metallic scent of her blood. It's thick in the air and his stomach turns over.
"To lose that much blood…what if-"
He shoves the thought from his mind as he enters the bedroom, remembering her coiled frame asleep on his bed.
He takes a minute and sighs.
Then he grabs a duffel back from the back of his closet and begins to rummage it for a few alternate outfits. As he rummages, he finds a HOPE athletics T-shirt. The one he wore when he finally gave her the letter, telling her all of his feelings for her.
"Wait and Hope." He grabs some other shirts and runs out the door already dialing Warrick's number.
"I shouldn't be doing this…."
Gil nods and thanks him.
"For Sara."
He smiles at the young rock of the team.
"For Sara."
He opens it and dashes out the door.
He leaves the duffel bag in the trunk and the file stuffed under his seat. He pops the safety on Brass' side arm and stuffs it down the back of his pants, covering it with his shirt. He glances around and casually makes his way to the back of Excaliber. A construction worker notices him on his way to his car and stops him.
"Hey buddy, you the new guy?"
"Yep."
"You're the third one this week. Come on I'll show ya the grounds. Grab a hard hat and be prompt tomorrow?"
"Hard hat? Oh right-yeah."
"You're as dumb as a box of hammers, ain't ya?"
"Perhaps your attitude is why you needed a new construction man, eh?"
The man scoffs and walks toward the back entrance.
"Hurry up. We're closing up shop for the night."
Gil searches around for an extra hard hat and follows the man down. He shows him the grounds and then blue print for the project. Faintly, Gil can hear the ping of the casino above. "the happy noise" that brought so many people to Vegas on a daily basis.
"I gotta get home to the Misses."
Gil follows him to the entrance and waves good-bye walking towards his car. He waits for the foreman to pull away and he returns, removing the small piece of cardboard in the door jam, and sneaks down into the darkness below.
Utility lamps hang from some of the rafters and he's able to feel for one, being careful not to flick it on. He props his body against a wall, the pistol grip digging into his back and sweat beginning to dribble, he waits.
It seems like an eternity before he hears anything, shattering his mind. Sara's muffled crying, breaks his heart all over again and he slams his eyes shut. He hears footsteps walking passed him, towards Sara.
In an attempt to startle him Gil draws his gun and flicks on the light flooding the small area.
"Hello David."
The figure, frozen, slowly starts to turn.
"Grissom."
Gil's face drops. Before him stands Wendy.
"Surprised to see me?"
Gil can't manage a word as his attention turns to the huddled figure on the floor, her cries louder than before but still muffled.
"She's alive, if you need to know, but you won't be for much longer."
Something lands hard against his skull and everything goes dark.
Commercials
Gil tries to unmuddle his mind as consciousness slowly comes back to him. He smells dank earth. He reaches up to coddle his head but soon realizes he's tied up. Beside him lies Sara, staring at him with fear in her eyes. His heart immediately melts and tears well in his eyes at the sight of her, alive. Her eyes shift to a corner of the room and Gil turns.
Across the room sits David, casually tossing the gun from hand to hand.
"Bravo, Griss. I knew you were a puzzle solver but - whistles"
"You won't get away with this."
"You're wrong there old friend. I already have. You see at this moment a small package is being sent to your former employ, Mr. Conrad Ecklie. When he sees my gift he'll come running at Brass who of course knows where you are and inevitably will try to break in. The door has been wired. When he opens it, it will set off a chemical reaction causing smoke to fill this area. Since our friends the construction workers have been so kind to install the sprinkler system down here first, the two of you will be doused with acid. By the time they find you, writhing in agony, you'll beg to die. The door shuts and ….the static electricity - well let's just say, you're wish is my command."
Sara screams through the gag. David removes it for her and he sees why she'd been so muffled. David had sewn her mouth shut. Blood dribbles out behind it. Bruises scatter her face and small cuts riddle her body.
Gil spits on his shoe.
"Real classy. Is that the way you want to act in front of your girlfriend? You stole everything from me and all I wanted was a bit of recognition."
"I never did anything to you Hodges."
"Ay, there's the rub. I had a great life going, I was working for the top crime lab in the country, had a crush on a beautiful girl," he glances at Sara. "then you stopped paying any attention to me and she fell for you. I had the case breaker sooo many times and did you ever recognize me? No you blew me off, just like my foster family. Helpless alone, the one man who ever helped me with anything I wanted revenge for him…I wanted them to pay…those chicken people. Then he took his own life to protect me and I snapped."
"And the bleach?"
"Masquerade, of course….it masks blood so well." An evil grin crosses his face.
"Now, enough chatter. I've been generous enough with the clues. Wait and Hope, Gil. Pray, they never find you."
He gags Grissom and starts to walk out. Then he turns and lays the gun down in front of Gil. "In case you want to use it."
He walks out, slamming the door behind him. An audible click as the wires connect.
COMMERCIALS
Gil's heart beats faster as he remembers the Swiss army knife he kept in his back pocket. He wriggles in his bindings until he can reach in to his pocket. He pulls it out, feeling for the groove which will release the knife. He then turns it around and starts to cut through the rope. His wrists chafe with every tug and can feel blood start to trickle into his hands. Finally he feels the final give of the rope and he brings his hands around in front of him. Sara sighs and Gil drags her back to the wall, semi covering her from the sprinkler, just in case.
He runs his hand down the side of her face and then goes to work untying her arms. When at last she's free she takes the last of her strength and pulls him toward her, nuzzling into his chest.
"We're gonna be alright. I promise."
He fidgets with the gun and looks for another opening into this cavern. Suddenly he hears footsteps and twirls around in time to see Brass in the doorway, smoke already billowing around his knees.
"Jim, don't close that door!"
Greg appears behind him. His eyes rest on Sara and he smiles. Sara is barely conscious now but lifts a hand in a wave.
"Get her out of here before he comes back. Whatever you do, Don't let that door shut!"
The gas/acid combination laps around their feet already burning a hole through his thick shoe. He instinctively grabs one of the packaging blankets draped over a pole and wraps it around Sara's body. He picks her up and starts to walk toward Brass. Hodges stands in the far corner.
"Going somewhere?" He asks pointing at Grissom.
"David, you don't have to do this. Walk away and live."
"No, this is my life."
Suddenly Nick comes around the building, Wendy in handcuffs.
Gil turns back, acid starting to fill his shoe, burning his flesh. He raises an eyebrow and turns back to Hodges.
"It's over. It's about you and me. Leave the women out of this."
Hodges nudges the gun so that Gil hands Sara off to Brass. He runs out to the awaiting ambulance.
Gil walks toward Hodges, hands outreached.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't, don't you…."
"I am. For everything, but it doesn't have to end like this. C'mon. Let's just walk away."
David shakes but doesn't move. He lowers the gun.
"Hodges, please…" he holds his hand out.
"I succeeded, ya know. You're career is through and I hurt the ones you love, deeply." He smiles, sadly.
"You did. C'mon." Gil adds, coaxing.
He hands Gil the gun and starts to follow him out. Gil turns to lead the way, his feet burning in his shoes. He squints at David.
As he reaches the door, he hears the click of Brass' gun, the one he had stuffed the cardboard into the barrel.
"HODGES, Don't!!!"
He turns in time to see Hodge's confused expression at the jammed gun. He feels a rush of heat and sees the flames lap out of the tunnel, then he's flying and everything turns dark.
Final Credits