This is my take on the season 7 finale "Living Doll". Enjoy. And please R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of the characters. But oh, the power I would have if I did…

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WARNING: This story contains spoilers of the season finale "Living Doll". Please don't read any further if you do not wish to be spoiled. You have been warned. Proceed with caution.

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Grissom sat straight up in his bed, his heart pounding uncontrollably. A line of cold sweat had formed on his upper lip and his breathing was hard and fast. There was a dim light coming through the bedroom window as the rain pelted the glass. He looked down beside him where Sara lay peacefully sleeping, unaware of his abrupt awakening. A flash of lightning lit up the darkened room followed by a low rumble of thunder. Sara moaned softly but continued to sleep and Grissom leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, careful not to wake her up. It was already 5pm, but he wanted her to sleep as long as she could.

Grissom quietly got up and headed off to the kitchen. Their kitchen. Grissom's townhouse had transformed since Sara moved in. It was no longer a cold and desolate space. Now it was warm and inviting, full of Sara's things. Grissom started the coffee pot as the storm raged on outside, the thunder shattering the silence of the house.

Sara stretched her arms out in front of her, hoping to feel Grissom still lying in bed next to her. Waking up next to him was one of the things she loved the most about getting up everyday. Disappointed not to find him still in bed, she grudgingly sat up and sauntered off to the kitchen.

Grissom was standing in front of the coffee pot as Sara walked up behind him and snaked her arms around his midsection.

She leaned up to his ear. "Good morning."

"Good evening would be more appropriate." He corrected her. Her breath upon his neck made him shiver and he swiveled around to embrace her with a kiss.

Sara moaned softly. "At any rate, it's good."

Grissom handed her a cup of coffee and she took a sip. Grissom unfolded the newspaper that lay on the table and began skimming it.

Sara put her cup down on the table. "I'm going to jump in the shower. Are you going to be here when I get out?"

"I think I'm going to head in a little early and catch up on some paperwork. Are you still working the double murder with Nick?"

"Yeah. We're waiting on DNA and trace but aside from that we've got nothing. I guess I'll see you at the lab then."

"Ok. Enjoy your shower and I'll see you later tonight." Grissom grinned.

"Oh, I will." Sara grinned back and with that she turned and headed for the shower.

Grissom arrived at the lab, picked up his messages and headed straight for his office. A moderately sized pile of paperwork greeted him atop his desk. He sighed heavily and sat down.

He was a quarter of the way through his workload when a knock at his door snapped him back to reality. Assuming it was probably Sara, he called for her to come in. It was Catherine.

"How's that paperwork coming?" She joked.

"How does it look like its coming? I've been at this for," glancing at his watch, "an hour and a half and this is as far as I've gotten."

"Well, maybe if you didn't wait so long to get it done, you wouldn't have this problem." Catherine couldn't help but tease her old friend.

"Cath, did you come in here to berate me, or did you actually need something?" Grissom asked slightly annoyed.

"No, I came in here to tell you that Warrick and I think we have some solid trace evidence on the Wiles case." Catherine sat down in the chair opposite Grissom.

"Good. Well, let me know what else comes up." Grissom said as he thumbed through more paperwork.

"Well, I thought you might want to know that the DA will have a strong case."

Grissom was looking down at his desk. He was still preoccupied with his paperwork when he mumbled a "Thank you."

"Hey boss, have you seen Sara around? I can't find her anywhere." Grissom looked up to see Nick standing in the doorway. Catherine turned to look at him.

"She's not here?" Grissom asked surprised.

"I haven't seen her at all tonight and you know her, she always around here somewhere. She didn't answer her cell phone either."

"Actually, I haven't seen her tonight either." added Catherine.

Grissom frowned. It was very uncharacteristic of Sara not to show up for work on time. It was more uncharacteristic of her not to show up a bit early. But she did have a tendency to exclude others from an investigation, especially one that she was deeply invested in. She and Nick were working on a double murder of a mother and son.

"Well, maybe she's running with a lead on your case Nick. She might have forgotten to call you." Grissom didn't want to sound too invested in Sara's whereabouts.

"Yeah, maybe. I guess I'll keep trying to get a hold of her. Thanks." Nick stalked off irritated that Sara would ditch him on a case they were supposed to be working on together.

Cath stood up to leave. "I'm going to head to trace and see what they've got for me. Good luck with the paperwork."

"Thanks Cath."

As Cath disappeared around the corner, Grissom pulled out his phone and dialed Sara's cell. It went to voicemail. He left a short message for her to call him as soon as she got it. He hung up the phone and dialed his house phone. Answering machine. Grissom started to get a little worried but stopped himself.

"She's devoted to her work. She has a good reason to be wherever she is." He thought to himself. "Remain optimistic."

Grissom settled down to his paperwork once more. Soon there was a knock at the door and Grissom's head shot up. He yelled for whoever it was to come in and his heart sank when Hodges opened the door.

"Busy beaver you are, sir." Hodges said, pointing to the mound of paperwork still on the desk.

"What is it, Hodges?" Grissom took off his glasses, upset with himself for getting entirely too worked up over something that probably wasn't anything at all.

Slightly disheartened at his welcoming Hodges took the chair opposite Grissom's desk.

"Well, I have trace back on Nick and Sara's double murder case."

Grissom stared at him. "Ok, why aren't you telling Nick or Sara this?"

"Well, Nick is in Ballistics right now and I can't seem to find Sara anywhere. I was wondering if you knew where she was since she's always in here." Hodges thought very highly of his observation of this detail.

"No I haven't seen her." With that, Grissom stood up and exited his office, leaving Hodges sitting bewildered.

Grissom made his way through the corridor towards the locker room. He dialed Sara's cell phone as he walked. There was still no answer. He called the house phone once more. Still, no answer. He turned the corner and ran into Catherine.

"What's the matter?" Catherine asked, noticing Grissom's behavior.

"This isn't like Sara. She would have called at the very least to let someone know. Something's wrong." Grissom said, clearly upset.

Just as Catherine opened her mouth to say something, Judy the receptionist ran up to Grissom carrying a large cardboard box. It was addressed to Grissom with no return address.

"This package was just delivered to you, Dr. Grissom." She handed the box over to him.

"Thank you, Judy." Grissom and Catherine shared a nervous glance. This box looked eerily familiar.

Grissom crossed the hall to the evidence room and set the box down on the table. He put on gloves and carefully began to open it. Inside it was a perfect miniature model of Grissom's townhouse, before Sara had moved in.

Catherine helped him pull it out of the box. Suddenly she realized what it was. "Gil, that looks exactly like you house!"

Grissom continued to examine its entirety. It was a miniature of his whole house, not just one room. But this time there wasn't any victim inside. That he could see, anyway. The only thing that was wrong with the miniature was that it was missing all of Sara's things. And now, Sara was missing.

"Any word from Sara yet?" Nick stopped in the doorway.

"Not yet. Nick, take a look at what Grissom just got." Cath said and she pointed to the miniature as Nick was walking towards them.

As Nick leaned in to get a better look, Grissom suddenly turned to the two of them. "Cath, I want an APB put out on Sara's car. Nick, call Brass and tell him to meet me at my townhouse. Everyone's off their cases tonight. This," Grissom pointed to the miniature, "is everyone's priority. Cath, find Greg and tell him to read through my notes on the Miniature Crime Scene Killer that are on my desk and look for any clues in this one that might connect them."

Catherine nodded and Grissom turned to leave.

"Boss, shouldn't someone check Sara's apartment? Maybe that'll help." asked Nick.

Without even hesitating, Grissom turned to Nick. "She lives with me, Nick. She has for a few months now. This miniature is of our townhouse, but without any of her things in it. And now she's missing. So let's go."

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A/N Thanks for the reviews! I hope you are enjoying.