Never Take Anything for Granted

Grissom sighed. Another day at work, another victim, another killer. Sometimes he wondered why he had chosen the job he had, it wasn't exactly a dream job for most people. But Gil Grissom was different, had been his whole life. While the other kids had played with toy cars, Gil had dissected bugs. The others guys took girls on dates, he sat at his computer and chatted online about bugs and forensics. He was different, but he liked what he did.

"Hey Gil, how's Sara doing?" said Brass walking with him to his office.

"Oh, she's doing fine, but you know how it is. A three-year-old and a baby aren't exactly easy to care for." Grissom smiled at the thought of his wife chasing their son around the house with a screaming baby in the background.

"Sam still wreaking havoc around the neighborhood?" Brass laughed, and Grissom glared at him. Just last week the kid had ran down the sidewalk pushing over all the neighbors garbage cans. Grissom had offered to clean them up, and his back ached for a week after.

They entered the break room where the rest of the team was sitting, waiting for assignments.

"Gil, how's Sara holding up?" asked Catherine, a knowing glint in her eye. She had spent an afternoon with Sara to give her some tips, and had found out Sam was much more hyper than Lindsey had ever been.

"Do you have to ask Cath? Anyways, Nick and Warrick you guys have a robbery turned homicide down at the grocer. Catherine, dead guy found in his home by his daughter, shouldn't take long. Greg, you're with me." Everyone stood up and left the room to go their way.

"Hey boss, can I drive?" asked Greg meekly.

"No, last time we wound up in the drive through of a McDonalds," answered Grissom, giving the young CSI the evil eye. Greg just blushed. "So, what's our case?" he asked, a little too eagerly.

"A woman just called in a homicide, said she found her daughter lying on her bed in a pool of blood." He pulled into a medium sized home, somewhat new looking. A sobbing woman stood out front, talking to Brass. Grissom shook his head. Somehow, Jim always managed to get there before him.

"The mom's Wendy Fenwood. Says she went upstairs to get her daughter when she didn't answer her call for dinner," Said Brass, walking up to them. "The daughter, Carly Fenwood, is upstairs, second door to your left."

"Thanks Jim. Greg, get a sample of the blood on mom's clothes. I'll be upstairs."

Grissom put a pair of latex gloves on and went inside. No blood anywhere that he could see, he thought. Pretty clean house. He opened the door to the girl's room, and sighed. She looked about 11 or 12. He hated people who killed children, no matter what the reason. He put down his case and pulled out the ALS. What he saw confused him. There was unseen blood all over the girl's face and arms. Someone had tried to clean up, maybe he interrupted them. Uh-oh. Maybe they were still here! Hadn't Brass cleared the whole house?

"Don't move!" growled a voice from behind him. Then he felt a gun being pressed into his back. Now what? Greg! He had told Greg where he was, surely he come up here soon.

"What do you want?" asked Grissom, with a wobbly voice. Don't show that you're afraid. Hell, he was scared out of his mind. A million thoughts were running through his head, about his wife; Sara, and his kids; Sam and Emma.

"I don't want anything from you, I just need to get the body and everything bloody out of here before you guys process it."

"So, what are you gonna do with me?" Grissom was scared now. Did he mean he was going to kill him?

"Well, I might as well kill ya, seeing you're worthless to me."

No! Grissom screamed inside. I might be worthless to you, but my wife and kids love me, don't' they? I'm not worthless…

"Grissom!" Greg shouted, taking out his gun. The attacker whirled around for a second and Greg shot him twice on impulse. The man fell to the ground, dead, and then Brass rushed in.

"Gil! What happened, are you ok buddy?" Brass looked worried. Gil was his best friend, he meant a lot to him.

"Uh, yeah. Greg, nice job. I'll be taking the rest of the night off." With that, Grissom walked out of the room, down the stairs, out the door, and drove away in his car. Greg followed him but just missed his ride.

"What's he doing? He drove me here!" sputtered Greg.

"Don't worry, I give you a ride," said Brass. "He just needs to recover."

Grissom drove straight home and pulled into his driveway, turning off the car. There was still a light on inside the kitchen, Sara was probably reading. He stepped out of the Tahoe and went inside. Sara looked up and saw her husband taking off his jacket. What had happened? He looked so depressed, and he had just left a couple hours ago.

"Gil, are you ok? You're really early; I just tucked Sam in to bed, and Emma's sleeping." Grissom looked up and saw his beautiful wife beside him, looking up at him with concerned eyes. He decided to tell her what happened.

"I was nearly killed today." Suddenly he remembered Greg. "Greg saved my life. He shot the guy." He looked back at Sara and she was crying. He wrapped his arms around her and tears trickled down his face onto her soft sweater. They stayed like that until Sam ran up to Grissom and hugged his leg.

"Daddy! Daddy daddy daddy! I want some milk, please?" Grissom looked into the pleading eyes of his son and then picked him up.

"Let's go into the kitchen and get some milk, big bug."

"Yeah! Then I show you my bugs from the park!" Sara smiled as she watched them interact. Gil was such a good father to Sam, and she loved him so much. She wasn't sure what she would do without him. Soon Sam was fast asleep in Grissom's arms, so he tucked him in again, something he rarely got to do. Then he went to his bed where Sara was waiting. He held her until he could hear her breathing deeply, and then he too let himself give in to dreams of peace and happiness, thanking God for everything he had been given.