As Grissom sat at his desk studying the miniature crime scene intently, searching for any clues as to where in the vast Nevada desert his Sara could be, he couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. Never had he imagined he would lose her like this. Of course, he had had the horrid nightmares of her growing tired of him and leaving him for a younger man, but never would he have thought he would have to be around to witness her death – he had hoped he would leave the world first.
That's when he noticed it. The cactus that looked identically like an old picture he had of his grandfather attempting "the robot". He remembered seeing it at a crime scene back when he was a CSI level 2; there was no mistaking it. He suddenly felt thankful for Natalie's perfectionism – he knew where Sara was.
Sara clawed at the muddy ground outside the car with a tired arm as the already pouring rain began to fall heavier. She had seen situations like this before. She had once worked a case where a young girl drowned when the pouring rain had flooded her car after an accident. Her partner on the case had been Grissom.
Grissom.
She right now wished, awful as it was, that he was pinned under this car with her. She felt horribly lonely, and longed for his presence and reassurance. As the rain fell heavier still, she began to wonder if he even knew she'd been kidnapped. Surely he would have called her as soon as he noticed she wasn't around, but there was no way of knowing if they had even begun a search for her yet.
When Grissom called the CSIs, they were at the search vans faster than it had taken them to answer their phones.
They headed out to the coordinates Grissom had given them. It was a fairly long drive away, but no one noticed with all of their minds on Sara, and Nick flouring the car at 70 mph down the desert roads.
When they arrived, Grissom could see no sign of Sara or of the car with his naked eyes, but he spotted the cactus immediately and ran to it. When he reached it, though, he found that the rain had washed away the car – there were skid marks in the dirt left by the car sliding down the hill. He turned around, and was surprised by the entire team standing close behind him. He reached into his pack and pulled out six pairs of long-range binoculars. He gave one each to Catherine, Nick, Warrick, Greg, and Brass.
The latter four hurried off to search for any sign of Sara while Catherine stayed behind. "She's a survivor." She said, squinting in the blinding sun.
"Where is she, Catherine?" he asked somberly.
The water was rising inside the car, and Sara was running out of air. It wasn't only the water level that was slowly causing her lonely death, but her arm was still pinned under the car, keeping her from reaching the oxygen above her head.
Then, the car was lifted by the rushing water raging against it. Her arm was freed, but by then the water level had reached the top of the car, and there was no oxygen to satisfy her incredible need to breathe. Sara spotted an opening at the bottom of the car. It was small, and she inwardly cursed, regretting the milkshake she had had the other day, but it was possible she was small enough to fit through.
He saw the car. After five minutes of scanning the horizon, he spotted the fleck of blood-red aluminum he had been searching for. His heart raced incredibly as he sprinted toward it, despite his bad knees that he'd been walking around on the last few hours.
Sara lay, sprawled on the desert floor where he found her. He ran to her and lay down as she smiled at him. "Gil… I love you." She said.
"I love you, too." He replied, grinning like an idiot.
Maybe running in the hot sun hadn't been a great idea. As Nick leaned over Grissom, he explained, "You were running and you just collapsed, man. It must be 120 degrees out here."
Grissom sat up. He searched the horizon. "Damn it. I thought I'd seen the car…"
"You did. Good catch, that thing was coated in mud… really hard to see. We only saw it when we checked the area you were running to oh, so enthusiastically, and found the car… but no Sara. We have it on a crane over there to take back to the lab for processing. Man, Natalie's going to get it for this… or I'll get her myself."
"No, Nicky. That won't help. I just need you to help me find Sara."
The two headed over to where they'd found the car. They searched the ground for footprints, although the rain would've washed away any that had been there before or during last night's downpour.
Grissom spotted a black canvas-like fabric poking up out of the ground. Nick saw it at the same time Grissom had, and they both ran to it. They started digging vigorously with their bare hands. It was Sara's CSI vest.
Grissom held his hand to wipe the sweat from his slightly watering eyes. They still hadn't found her. Nick took a picture with his SLR.
"I'm so going to get this chick."
That's when he heard Catherine scream "It's Sara! Get me the paramedics!"
When the paramedics arrived, Grissom was kneeling over the bleeding and injured love of his life, letting his eyes blur with tears at the sight of her soaking, dirty, bruised, and bleeding face.
The meds lifted her onto the stretcher and carried her up into the helicopter.
"Are any of you direct family?"
"I am." Replied Grissom automatically, the team ignoring his white lie to let him ride with Sara to Blue Palm Hospital.
"Name?" asked the paramedic.
"Gil Grissom." He said.
"We'll catch up with you at the hospital." said Warrick, the rest of the team by his side, watching the scene unfold.
"Thank you," said Grissom, "thank all of you," and he disappeared into the helicopter.
The ride to the hospital was horrible. Grissom couldn't take his eyes off of Sara's face, his hand clutching hers the entire way.
When they arrived, Sara was rushed into a room with Grissom jogging behind, struggling to keep up. He wasn't going to take his eyes off her until she woke up if he could help it.
"You'll have to wait outside, Mr. Grissom, while we stabilize her." requested the nurse.
So much for that…
An hour and a half later, which to Grissom seemed closer to six hours, he was allowed to visit her.
"She has three broken ribs, a broken arm, and several cuts on her head… probably from broken glass. She also has some internal bleeding, but she's stable. She should wake up soon." Said the doctor, whose name tag read:
"Doctor Evans, Temporary ER Wing."
This made him feel a little better.
"Thank you." said Grissom, and he walked in.
He pulled up a chair next to Sara's bed, held her hand, and prayed for the first time in years.
Warrick, Greg, Nick, Brass, Catherine, and Doc Robbins walked into the Emergency Room.
"Sara Sidle?" Greg requested.
After a several quick seconds of clicking and typing on the computer, the receptionist sighed.
"I'm so sorry to tell you this, but she's been moved to the morgue."
Catherine and Warrick choked on their Starbucks.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you say 'Sidle'? My mistake… we have a Sheryl Sadel who just passed away a few hours ago. Sara Sidle is in room 214, Temporary ER Wing. I'm very sorry for scaring you…"
The team sighed simultaneously as they headed for Sara's room. Catherine poked her head into the room to find Sara lying unconscious on her bed and Grissom at her side.
"Let's give them a few minutes." She offered, as the team quickly poked their heads in to see how she looked.
They sat quietly on a bench outside the room, and just waited, and thought, and hoped.
Grissom looked up to see Sara the same as before. He wiped his single, unwanted tear and kissed her hand.
Sara began to stir and her eyes opened slowly.
"Grissom?"
"Sara. Oh my god. Sara. You're okay. I was so scared I'd lose you."
"I'm here. I'm okay." She reassured him. "I love you." she added with a smile.
He looked up. "I love you, too, Sara." He said. "I love you more than you will ever know." And he kissed her.
Catherine checked her watch. It had been 20 minutes. She poked her head in to find Sara awake, and Grissom kissing her. "Five more minutes." She whispered.
Greg looked in.
"Whoa! You could've warned me…" He whispered back.
This made the rest of the team poke their heads in, and Catherine rolled her eyes as the teams' jaws morphed into a half-gape, half-smile.
Just then, their lips parted, and Grissom held her in his embrace. He then looked up in time to see the entire team, Catherine in front, of course, gaping and grinning at their little display.
"Oh. Hello." He said. "I was just… uh…"
"Awww!" Catherine sighed, "Do it again!"
The team rushed into the room to give Sara hugs and kisses.
"How are you feeling?" asked Greg sympathetically.
Sara let out a sigh. "Better than I was a few hours ago…" she said. "although my ribs are pretty sore… what's the doc's report?"
"Well, you have a broken arm, three broken ribs, and minor internal bleeding," replied Grissom, "but the important thing is that you're alright." He added.
"Definitely." said Greg. "I'm so glad you're alright."
Sara smiled. She was so glad to have all of them here to comfort her. They obviously cared about her.
"Alright, well Warrick, Greg, and I need to check out the scene some more, cause, ya know, that is what we do and all…" said Nick.
The three of them said their goodbyes to Sara and evacuated the room.
Grissom, Brass, and Doc Robbins were left alone. They made small talk for a while, but after a good hour, the detective and the coroner left to get back to work, leaving only Sara and Grissom.
"I almost lost you." He said, bewildered.
"You'll never lose me." She smiled, and he smiled.
At the crime scene in the desert, Nick, Warrick, and Greg searched the perimeter for evidence; Nick found tire tracks by a cactus.
"These are some hefty tires," He noted, "the same kind you'd find on your standard tow truck."
Warrick took a picture and began to make a mold of the tracks. "More like monster truck…" he quipped.
"Why aren't these tracks showing any signs of water damage? It was pouring last night." wondered Greg aloud.
"I don't know, man, but I'm pretty sure these tracks weren't here when we were at the scene before." added Warrick. "That must mean they're fresh."
"We'll have to check the pictures." suggested Greg.
"Okay, but who would be driving around out here in a tow truck?" asked Nick.
"A Miniature Killer."
An hour and a half later, after the scene had been thoroughly processed, the three boys were beginning to follow the tracks.
They wound around obstacles galore, and eventually up the mountain nearby, arriving at a log cabin, complete with rusty green tow truck parked outside.
The three of them withdrew their police-issue pistols as Warrick called in backup on the radio.
Nick saw Natalie and another man suddenly run from the back door. Greg was the first person to chase them, and had tackled the man in less than five seconds. He grabbed his handcuffs from his vest and locked them on the man's wrists as he saw Warrick run past in pursuit of Natalie. Greg recognized the man as Lionel Dell – they had interrogated him only two nights ago.
The two of them waited with Natalie and Lionel while Nick searched the cabin.
Ten minutes later, Brass and sever other policemen arrived and removed Lionel and Natalie from the scene.
Greg and Warrick joined Nick inside. They found him staring, mouth slightly agape, into a room with a very elaborate setup of TV monitors (each with a different video of multiple home interiors marked 'Live'), as well as crafting supplies… perfect for making miniature crime scenes… Warrick and Greg couldn't help but let their jaws drop, too.
"That is… some setup she's got there…" tried Greg.
Nick instinctively took out his camera and began taking pictures of each and every little thing he could find.
When they got back to the lab to process the vast amounts of evidence they'd collected, Warrick, Greg, and Nick were about to collapse into a heap of unconsciousness. They'd been up since 6:00 pm on Thursday, and here they were at 3:00 am two days later.
As if Nick had read the others' minds, he chimed in, "Come on guys, it is so worth it to get this girl. Sara could have died."
This woke them up some.
Grissom woke up from the ten or so hours of sleep he had gotten sitting at Sara's side, as well as at their townhouse after the doctor had told him to get some rest because they were going to treat her and he wouldn't be able to return to her room for several hours. Grissom had complied reluctantly, but was glad he had when he woke up from his much-needed slumber.
After he had run through his normal morning routine, skipping the part about making Sara breakfast, he headed back to the lab to see how things were coming. They had loads of evidence to process, apparently, so he walked around to the lab techs to let them each know that Sara's case had priority.
He caught up with Brass a few minutes later.
"Hey, Gil. Listen, we just interrogated Natalie and Lionel Dell. Nothing. So, we need you to ask Sara about last night. I know it might be hard, Gil, but we need to build a case. You of all people must want – need, rather – Natalie behind bars, am I right?"
Grissom nodded and left to visit Sara and ask her a few questions.
When he arrived, Sara had just woken up.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked, entwining his fingers with hers.
"Better. I've got casts on my arm and my chest. Oh, and the doctor said the bleeding stopped. So how are you holding up?" she asked groggily.
"I'm alright. Listen, Sara, I need to ask you some questions about last night."
"Fire away." She replied easily.
"Alright. Did Natalie Davis kidnap you and put you under that…" Grissom's voice squeaked a little, "…car?"
"Yes." Replied Sara softly.
"What happened?" he asked.
She closed her eyes in an attempt to remember.
"She approached me at my car in the parking garage and shot me with a taser. She drove me out to desert in an old tow truck. She put the car on me; I remember it… it crushed my arm. I yelled for her to come back… that she was making a mistake… but she drove off. Then, the rain came.
"It was just pouring all of a sudden. The water started to rise in the car, and I couldn't reach the air because my arm was still pinned. Then the water lifted the car and freed my arm, but the water level had already risen to the top. Then I found a hole beneath me… it was small, but I squeezed through.
"When I got out from under the car, I just fell asleep – or passed out, I don't know – then I woke up here."
When she reopened her eyes, Grissom looked incredibly sorrow and sympathetic.
"Oh, Sara…"
"Gil, it's okay. What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger, remember?"
The mention of her having could have died didn't help. Small tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, and he rested his head on his arms.
Two days later, a solid case had been built against Natalie and Lionel, and they were arrested. Sara was released from the hospital and had moved back into the townhouse with Grissom, with strict directions not to return to work or do anything physically active for the next week or two.
That night, Grissom lay in bed with her.
"Nothing will ever happen to you again. I promise." He said, and they fell asleep holding each other.
--One Week Later--
Sara and Grissom woke up in their bed cradling each other. She turned to face him, to find him already awake.
"Good morning." He said
"Mmmmm. Good morning." She replied groggily.
The two of them slowly and sleepily migrated to the kitchen for breakfast. They fixed coffee and toast.
"You know, this whole 'no physical activities' thing is bumming me out." said Sara.
Grissom choked on his coffee. "Um… yeah…" he smiled. "Too bad."
He moved to the other side of the table and kissed Sara.
"Gil." She said between kisses. "Gil." Another kiss. "Gil, you'd better stop. We've got to get to work…"
He pulled away and scowled. This made her laugh.
An hour later, they were on their way to work. It was nice to be able to ride in the same car to work. No one was suspicious, and Sara was happy because they didn't have to waste the gas and pollute the environment twice as much.
The shift was busy, but when they got home nine hours later, they weren't tired at all. Sara still had to work around the lab instead of out in the field, but it was better than sitting around at home all day with nothing to do. She had felt useless and unproductive the last week, and she was glad to return to work.
Grissom met Sara in their bedroom. She was still in an arm cast with some bandages around her torso, leaving his desires unfulfilled. Instead, he kissed her forehead, and lay with her. Again, they fell asleep.
They woke up to hear their doorbell ringing. Grissom volunteered to answer it. A few seconds later, Sara heard Catherine, Nick, and Warrick's voices at the door. Sara quickly stood up to clean their strewn clothes from the floor and toss them down the laundry chute.
Just as she had finished cleaning, the four of them walked into the bedroom.
"Hey." Said Warrick. "We came to visit. Brought some beer." He raised a case.
"Thanks!" Sara smiled. She needed a nice drink.
They sat around the kitchen table drinking beer and talking about recent cases. They went through one and a half cases of beer in about ten minutes.
Catherine spoke up and decided they needed to stop drinking. They had to drive home. Sara and Grissom bid them goodbye and thanked them for visiting.
After they had left, Grissom and Sara finished off the beer and went back to bed.
- - - -
Author's note:
I hope you liked this story… I wrote it over the summer in anticipation of the Season 8 finale… and I thought it would be fun to compare it to what actually happened in Dead Doll (written after the promo was aired).
And I LOVE reviews so please leave one !
Thanks so much for reading,
Sam