A/N: I do not own CSI or any recognizable characters, dialogue, or anything else. I am merely building off of it. :D
Please, R&R!
Sara Sidle was working a crime scene on the south side of San Francisco when her phone began to vibrate against her hip. She frowned as she pulled off her latex glove and looked at the caller I.D. The number was not one that she recognized, but, thinking it may be important, she flipped the phone open and answered it. The irritation was evident in her voice.
"Sidle."
"Sara?"
Sara frowned again. She recognized the voice on the other end, but she couldn't quite place a face or a name with the sound. The voice was male, she decided, and there was a certain comfort and familiarity associated with it.
"Yes, that's me."
"Wow. It's been a while. It's good to hear your voice."
"Who is this?"
"Oh, forgive me. It's Gil. Gil Grissom."
Sara gasped and felt her face flush. A forgotten sense of longing came over her. "Grissom!" she exclaimed. "You're right. It has been a while. What, like…three, four months? How are you?"
"Actually, not so good, Sara. It's been a tough day here in Sin City. One of my CSI's was shot while dusting for prints at the scene of a robbery. It's taking a pretty heavy toll on all of us."
Sara gasped again. "Oh my…is he going to be ok?"
"She, actually, and I'm not sure. It doesn't look good."
Sara closed her eyes and felt a pang of sympathy. "Wow, Grissom. Is there anything I can do?"
"Actually, there is, and that's the reason I called, Sara. I'm in need of someone to come and do an internal investigation into the shooting. When Holly Gribbs was shot, Warrick Brown, another CSI, was supposed to be shadowing her. He left Holly at the scene, though. I need someone I trust to come in and find out exactly how and why Holly Gribbs was shot. And I need to know why Warrick Brown, the senior CSI who was supposed to be shadowing her, left the scene without clearing it first. I know you can get the job done quickly and efficiently. What do you say, Sara? Will you come?"
Sara's opened her eyes and felt her mouth open in surprise. The thought of seeing Gil Grissom again was…intoxicating. But that was the whole thing of it. Sure, she wanted to go, but she didn't know if she should. She stood there indecisive, forgetting for a moment that she was still on the phone. Grissom's soft voice, the voice she had heard in her dreams every night since the conference at the Forensics Academy, shook her from her reverie.
"Sara? Please, I really need you here. I need someone I can trust. Will you come?"
Sara hesitated a moment longer, then…
"Of course," she said softly, "I'll be there tomorrow."The heat was the first thing Sara noticed as she stepped out of her car in front of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. She groaned and stretched her stiff legs. It had been a long drive from San Francisco to Las Vegas, but Sara had hardly noticed. She was too focused on a single thought: I'm going to see Gil Grissom again.
Grabbing her field kit and sunglasses, Sara walked into the lobby of the crime lab and approached the front desk. A short woman dressed in business attire and sporting a name tag that identified her as Judy, smiled as Sara walked toward her.
"Hello and welcome to the Las Vegas Crime Lab," she said in a pleasant voice. "You must be Sara Sidle. Dr. Grissom told me he was expecting you sometime today. Won't you please come this way?" She took off down the hallway to the left. Sara hurried to catch up, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Judy, who was oblivious, kept right on talking.
"If you step over here, I'll just snap a quick picture for your new I.D. badge and arrange for a Crime Lab Tahoe so you can go meet Dr. Grissom. He's working a case down on the Strip. Smile, Sara!"
Sara barely had time to compose herself before the camera flashed and Judy was leading her down the hall towards to front desk again. It took two minutes to reach the desk, another two for Judy to sign out one of the Crime Lab's Tahoe's, and another two for Sara to get her I.D. badge. A grand total of seven minutes later, Sara was behind the wheel of a nondescript, black Tahoe, speeding towards the infamous Las Vegas Strip.
It didn't take her too long to find the place. A large crowd was gathered around the front entrance of the casino when she arrived and she could see a wide area roped off with yellow crime scene tape. Grissom was in this protected circle watching as, what looked like men, but were really dummies, fell out of the sky. Sara stepped out of the Tahoe and flashed her I.D. badge to the police officer on duty and stepped under the crime scene tape. She was tempted to make her presence known immediately, but hung back for a second and watched as Grissom examined the ill-fated dummies. It was like stepping back in time.
He was exactly as she remembered, except perhaps slightly heavier and with a touch more gray at his temples. Dressed in all black and sporting his famous introspective smile, he was the picture of perfection, in Sara's eyes. She smiled as she watched him photograph each of the dummies and consider the position that each had ended up in. It was so like what she remembered from all those years ago. He hadn't changed in the slightest. She could hear him talking to himself as he photographed each dummy.
"Norman pushed." Click. "Norman jumped." Click. "Norman fell." Click.
Unable to stand it a second longer, she finally stepped forward and spoke to him.
"Wouldn't you if you were married to Mrs. Roper?"
Even though his back was turned to her and he hadn't spoken yet, she could tell he was smiling. "I don't even have to turn around. Sara Sidle." Finally, he turned to face her and she felt a jolt all the way down to her toes when she saw his delighted smile.
"That's me," she said with a grin, taking her sunglasses off, as he walked toward her. "Still tossing simulation dummies? There are other ways to tell, you know."
He gave her that famous look. "How? Computer simulations? No thank you. I'm a scientist. I like to see it." His smile widened and she felt the jolt again. "Newton dropped the apple, I drop dummies."
"You're old school."
"Exactly. And this guy was pushed." He smiled again, but didn't say anything else.
Sara smiled back, but her smile faded as silence lapsed between them. She looked down at her feet. "How's the girl?"
Sara felt a pang of sympathy and had to suppress the urge to hug him when Grissom's smile faded and his eyes took on a haunted, exhausted look.
"She's still in surgery. She's not doing very well." He said tiredly. Sara nodded sympathetically.
"That's too bad." She looked down again.
"God, Sara. I have so many unanswered whys."
Sara felt a stab of anger. "There's only one why that matters now," she said heavily, looking back up and meeting his eyes. "Why did Warrick Brown leave that scene?"
He nodded thoughtfully, not taking his eyes from hers. They looked at each other for a moment until someone yelled Grissom's name from behind. Sara turned and saw a tall guy with dark hair ducking under the crime scene tape. Grissom smiled as the guy joined them.
"Hey, Grissom," he said in a deep, accented voice. "What did you find out from the…" the man's voice trailed away as he noticed Sara standing there with a CSI I.D. badge hanging around her neck. Grissom's smile widened.
"Nick Stokes, meet Sara Sidle. Sara, Nick."
Nick politely shook Sara's hand and then glanced over at Grissom expectantly.
"Just a second, Nicky." Grissom turned back to Sara. "We're just about done here, Sara," he said. "Why don't you head back to the lab? Find Catherine Willows. She's working on Holly's case and she can probably help point you in the right direction so you can start your investigation. Nicky and I will be back in a little while."
Sara felt a stab of disappointment, but she quickly pushed it aside. "Yea, okay," she said with a smile. "See you there." Grissom smiled and turned away, his full attention now focused on Nick and the dummies lying on the concrete before him. Sara watched him for a few more seconds, smiling, and then climbed into the Tahoe, feeling slightly punch-drunk.
It's going to be a long day, she thought.