Disclaimer – I don't not own CBS, CSI, the characters of the show or anyone who is employed by the program to make sure it airs every Thursday evening for us, so please do not sue, as it would be totally a waste of time as I have nothing worth taking to court over!
A/N – This one off story is from an idea that a member of our GSR site planted in my mind, and then kept me awake until the small hours until I could get some notes down on paper. It is also inspired by a lot of the comments that have been posted on the site over the past months, many very amusing, most just people venting! So this fun AU story is dedicated to all the members of 'Home of the GSR Addict dot com' & all you other GSR fans out there biting your nails waiting for 9.10 One to go to air this Thursday. No beta'd so any mistakes belong solely to me, so I apologise in advance. Please R&R and Enjoy!
Revenge is best served by a GSR addict
Briskly walking into the break room Gissom made for the coffee pot intent on getting a cup knowing full well it could be hours before he saw another one.
Catherine spluttered the mouthful of coffee she'd just sipped from her own cup as she saw him enter quickly, as she tried to mop up the spilt liquid Riley, Nick, Dr Langston & Greg all look up at her frowning, until they noticed her wide confused eyes staring across the room at the back of the unmistakable figure of their former boss.
"What the hell are you doing here?............I thought you left two nights ago" Catherine huffed out "And sneaked off with even a decent goodbye I might add" she said annoyed.
Grissom turned to look at her shaking his head, he knew she'd chew him out on that one if she ever got the chance, and that was here now, but he cut her off quickly too tired for her intended tirade.
With a heavy sigh he then spoke "So did I, but as a personal favour to the Sheriff I came in after Conrad called me and said that the lab was slammed with cases tonight. Both days and swing are all tapped out, so we have a busy night ahead of us" Grissom said standing to the end of the table then shuffling the assignment slips in his hand.
"So we're looking at all working doubles then?" Nick asked slightly pleased he'd be spending some more time with his former boss.
Interrupting after taking note of the amount of slips in Gil's hand Catherine said "More like triples Nick if the King has to come out of retirement for this".
"Oh cool, maybe I'll get to work my first solo tonight" Riley said beaming a smile over at Greg who just shrugged at her smirking.
"Yep, so I guess that means you don't get to see the master at work tonight" he grinned back at Riley.
"Get over yourself" Riley shot back.
Giving the two younger CSI's an irritated glance Dr Langston spoke up "Well I don't think I'm trained and qualified to be working a solo just yet".
Clearing his throat to get them all back on track with the nights work, Grissom handed the first of the slips to Catherine but looked at the newest member of the night shift team when he spoke "No, your right, that's why you will be accompanying Catherine out to an abandoned warehouse in Henderson. Male Caucasian DB found by some teenagers a couple of hours ago. Vega will meet you out there" he said finishing as Catherine glared at him snatching the slip.
"So I'm demoted tonight and until this lot of cases is solved, am I getting that right Gil?" Catherine said annoyed at not being informed by Ecklie or the Sheriff.
Heaving a sigh Grissom just gave her a shrug "It's out of my hands Cath, I never asked to come back as supervisor" he weakly offered her in his defence.
All Catherine did was huff and get up to leave the room followed by Dr Langston.
Grissom then turns to Nick holding out a slip of paper to him "Female DB at the Belagio, found floating in a whirlpool tub, possibly just accidental electrocution, but it still needs checking out. But if you get finished up quickly on that one there are other cases needing attention, so call me" he said turning to a smiling Greg.
"Greg yours is a male DB in a dumpster behind the Tangier's. David's out there right now so get a move on and go process the body ASAP, he needs to get it back to the morgue ready to head out to the next scene. Okay" Grissom said then turning to Riley.
"Greg let out a groan as he stood up reluctantly taking his assignment "What did I do to earn myself dumpster diving?".
Arching an eyebrow as if to say 'don't even bother' Grissom then watched as he went out of the room muttering to himself
"So what do I get?" Riley beamed mischievously as she stood and gathered the magazine she'd been reading.
Closing his eyes briefly then opening them again, this woman seemed to irritate him a little with her confidence and barely masked cockiness "Male DB in a restroom at the Lucky Strike. Early indications he's been stabbed. Doc Robbin's is there waiting for you" he said just as Jim Brass walked into the room sporting a grin.
"So your back. I guess you wont be leaving us just yet then" Brass quipped as he faced his friend.
"Looks like it Jim. What can I do for you?" Gil asked a grinning Brass, feeling he was not gonna like this somehow.
"Got another one for you, and your gonna love this one bugman" Brass said barely containing a chuckle.
"Details please" Gil said irritatedly "I don't have time for games Jim".
Dramatically clearing his throat ready to deliver the new call out to a scene, Jim then chuckled before saying "We have a female vic out at one of your former acquaintances place of business" seeing the impatient look on his friends face Jim added "The dominion" then wincing slightly as Gil groaned.
"Your kidding right?" Gil said looking at Jim desperately hoping the man was.
"No my friend I'm not. It looks like we get a free night in the kinky kingdom together. Now doesn't that sound like fun?" Brass quipped as he went to leave the room and the reluctant supervisor still standing there like a statue "You coming?" he asked.
Letting out a heavy sigh Gil followed behind him thinking I really am not gonna miss Gil Grissom night shift supervisor one bit!
At the dominion Grissom and Brass were led down to what clients and staff called the 'Pleasure chamber' in the basement, but what both men would categorize as a torture room.
Strapped upright and facing them, on a steel and rubber restraining looking contraption, obviously and clearly dead was non other than former Dominatrix Lady Heather Kessler.
Grissom closed his eyes briefly, these images of her now would always be burnt into his memory.
She looked to all intense purposed like some voodoo efergy doll that had undergone several hours of torture, and inflicted by several perpetrators if the amount of whips, chains and other weapons were anything to go by discarded around the floor.
Gil observed Darts, arrows and other stabbing implements, even the wooden stake through her chest, along with what seemed to be a quill feather pen stabbed through a piecer of paper containing writing next to the stake.
"Looks like someone dished out a piece of her own medicine" Brass said as he gingerly stepped over the weapons on the floor to get nearer to the body as he donned a pair of latex gloves.
Gil snapped on his own gloves and did the same, just as he reached Jim who was slowly pulling out the quill with the note attached, he passed it over to his friend "Ah a quote, just like something you'd say actually".
Reading the note with blood smeared on the paper Gil frowned as he spoke "The pen is mightier than the sword", he paused to remember the origin of the quote "Coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy in 1839" he added looking a little worried "Underneath it says 'This one really wasn't going to be left out with all the rest', Ummmm".
"What is it Gil?" Brass asked seeing the worried look.
Still staring at the paper Gil sighed then added "Well either the quote, or the implication that this could be a conspiracy seems to be the aim of this little note that we were obviously meant to find bothers me".
"How so?" Brass asked.
"I'm not sure, and don't quote me on this but it's just a gut feeling right now" Gil said as he placed the note in an evidence bag then set about processing the scene.
Twenty four hours later most of the team was back at the lab after logging in evidence and beginning to process their finds, sending a quick page to them all Grissom made towards the conference room to meet up with them and see where they all were with their cases.
Grabbing a much needed coffee before taking his seat Grissom looked towards Catherine and Dr Langston "So hows your case going?" he asked them.
Catherine opened her file and picked up the first sheet of paper "Okay we have an ID, our Victim is Caucasian male David Rambone age 38, in a relationship, but his male partner is out of town on a business trip. His occupation is a romance writer for CBS television. He was found with multiple gun shot wounds and also tested for positive for GSR, although no weapon was found at the scene" she glanced up then continued "But we did find something a bit odd though" she said passing the evidence bag over to Grissom "A note was stabbed into the guys chest with one of them old fashioned quill pen things" she finished as Grissom read the exact same not that he had found at his scene.
Looking up somewhat surprised he nodded "Well it seems like our cases could be linked then because I have the same replica one from my scene" he said then added "You got any leads to follow?".
"Yeah we have lots of prints that are with Wendy right now, plus we still need to find out our vic's whereabouts leading up to his death Raymond has some connections that he wants to check too" Catherine said then picking up her cup for a drink.
"Okay keep me in the loop on this one" Grissom said before turning to Greg "So where are you at with your dumpster vic Greg?".
Grinning Greg put down his cup and started to speak "Right my male DB has an ID too, he's Michael Auespiller 31 years old, single and a TV show inside gossip columnist reporter" Greg paused to refer back to his notes again "COD multiple gunshot wounds. Tested positive for GSR, and like Catherine's case no weapon at the scene but a note found in a similar way, although it was found attached to his forehead" he said finishing and sliding the plastic evidence bag over containing the note to his boss.
Examining the note Grissom sighed then looked back up at Greg "What other evidence have you got?".
"Masses of prints sat with Wendy in the queue, some trace evidence with Hodges, and I need to get the cell phone records for this guys phone to see if I can work out where he was prior to his untimely end" Greg said confidently.
"Right, so it looks like we have a serial working here, and if any more of your cases or the swing & day shift cases connect up too it looks like we could be looking at more than one perpetrator for this mini crime spree too" Grissom said, questioningly looking to Nick for him to add if his was in connection to this.
Clearing his throat Nick began "My DB was no accident, all the evidence points to a homicide committed by more than one person" he said.
"Detail please Nick" Grissom spoke trying to move the CSI on a little quicker.
"Right, okay my victim is a 44 year old white female, identified at the scene as Carol Medlesome, Doc Robbins said that COD was cardiac arrest brought on by electrocution" he paused glancing at the file in his hand before continuing "An expensive looking Laptop computer was found submerged in the tub with her. Archie's has that now and is trying to get the hard drive up and running to see what's on it" he said then added "Oh there was a similar note too, but I found that on the bed" he slipped the bag across the table to Grissom "I got prints waiting in the queue too".
"Occupation of your Vic?" Grissom asked Nick.
"Oh yeah sorry. She's a TV writer, executive producer and co creator of two spin off shows connected to some forensic show, haven't gotten the name of that yet" Nick said putting the file down on the table.
Glancing at the note Grissom and thinking for a few seconds, he then looked towards Riley as he said "That makes four cases that look to be linked so far just by the quote on the notes. And what about yours Riley?" he asked hoping they didn't have more victims.
Grinning widely she passed over a the evidence bag containing the note from her scene "I guess that's five then, my DB had his stabbed into his heart with an ornate looking quill pen. The Victim Kenneth Think, wait for it... A highly recognised TV show writer was shot multiple times, GSR positive on both hands, copious amounts of fingerprints being processed right now, and an open cell phone in his hand, which I am in the process of getting cell phone records for" Riley said finishing confidently.
Looking around the table at the team awaiting their next instructions, Gil rubbed a hand over his face contemplating if he should make the call to the one person who could probably really help them out right now, help them piece together the numerous pieces of the puzzle, while making probably more connections that any of the team would be able to.
Decision made he stood grasping his own file "Right you all have stuff to be working on, but can you all set up photo's of your vic's and all the evidence we have so far in layout room 1. And keep me in the loop guys with your test results and leads, I'm going to call in extra help and I want us all to meet back at the layout room in Eight hours. Okay" he asked as he made for the door but was stopped as Catherine called out.
"So are you going to fill us in on the details for your case then?" she said frowning at him.
Grissom just smirked at her and threw over his shoulder as he left "I'll let you know".
eight hours later Grissom strolled into layout room 1 with their temporary helper right behind him.
"No way!" Exclaimed Greg as he ran at the person grinning like he just got the prize in the cracker jack box.
"Hey, good to see you buttercup" called out Nick teasingly to be met with a huge smile.
"So the wanderer returns, it's nice to have you back again Sara" Catherine said walking over to Sara as Greg finally let her go of the crushing bear hug he was giving her, to embraced the woman herself.
After a very brief chat Grissom got them all back on track with the connected cases as they all offered up pieces of information.
Ecklie called in and handed them two other cases that were thought to be connected also to their cases. The victim from the first a Naren Pranker was also found in similar circumstances as the rest, with gunshot wounds and positive for GSR.
Second victim Sarah Goldmember another TV writer, had the note attached to her index finger with a gold quill pen, and as with the others was shot and found with traces of GSR on her at McCarran airport in the trunk of a car.
Sara who had been looking at what they had so far was already making notes on the dry wipe board, then coughed to get everyone's attention "Right our connections so far are the obvious notes left with all our victim's. The quote itself and its origins are telling us that this is some kind of revenge conspiracy performed by persons unknown as yet" pausing she picked up a sheet then looked up "All our victims are in one way or another connected to Television, more specifically CSI Las Vegas" she said steadily waiting for their response.
"You mean us?" Greg asked immediately.
"Like as in CSI the number one rated show in America that is currently airing season nine?" Nick asked dumbfounded.
Sara nodded then looked towards Catherine who'd whipped out her compact mirror and was checking her appearance eagerly.
Riley groaned "So does that make us possible future targets for these sicko's that have done all this?" she said indicating around the room at the pictures and stuff.
"Oh that's just great. Gary got out before the going got too tough, and we all became bulls eyes" Greg muttered under his breath in reference to Warrick.
Dr Langston interrupted now "Hey now hang on a minute I've only been in this show for two episodes so far, no one told me I'd be some crazy mad man's dart board, and come to think of it now there was no mention of danger money in my contract when I signed" he said looking over to a shrugging Grissom. Who really didn't know what to say at the moment and was hoping Sara would help him out.
Sara smiled holding up her hands to quieten them all "Look I really don't think your in any kind of danger, or that any of you are intended targets" she paused as they absorbed her reassuring words "The timing, and the fact that they were all connected in some way to the recent storyline, plus the sharp increase in reported deaths in the last twenty four hours tells me that this has something to do with Gil's leaving the lab the other night. If my theory is right and the results of fingerprints and Archie's analysis of the laptop from Mrs Medlesome's crime scene come up with the results I am hoping for, we should have our perpetrators some time soon.
Grissom cleared his throat to add to Sara's statement "And because I have a connection as it were to most of the victims. But more so to the victim from my crime scene.............Heather Kessler, I have to hand the case over to you guys and step back from it" he said wincing as he stepped back from the group afraid they would rip him a new one.
Catherine gave him a scowl as she looked closer at Grissom's scene photo's on the wall, then reviewed his notes quickly "So let me get this straight, while I was at the Ian Wallace scene you were having high tea with the dominatrix leaving all the work to the rest of us?" she asked approaching him now looking very annoyed.
Luckily at this point both Wendy and Archie entered the layout room and intervened the would be fracas "You guys really need to come to the AV lab to see what I got from the hard drive" Archie said backing out as he took in Catherine's angry glare.
As the group moved to leave the room Sara gave Gil's arm a reassuring squeeze as they gazed lovingly at each other offering gently smiles.
A light cough was heard breaking the geek mind meld in its soothing moment as Wendy spoke up "Urm Grissom I have a lot of results on the finger prints that I've been flat out processing for hours, but when I put them all through AFIS I got some weird results back" she said handing him the file before leaving.
Walking into the AV lab. Both Sara and Grissom stood behind all the rest of the team but so they could see the large monitor clearly, Grissom grasped Sara's hand in his entwining their fingers out of view of anyone as Archie began to pull up windows on the screen and talk at the same time.
"Okay on Carol Medlesome's computer I found that she regularly browses CSI fan sites and message boards, but there is this one that she visits quite a lot" he said as he brought up what looked like to be the home page for a site called 'Home of the GSR Addict dot com'.
Grissom and Sara looked at each other frowning "Home of the gun shot residue addict" Gil said scrunching his forehead in confusion.
The whole team quickly shot back "No. Grissom Sara Romance" in a loud almost echo.
"Duh! Where have you been for the last nine years Gil" Brass quipped as he strode into the room "Oh that's right you've been too occupied with a certain brunette" he chuckled as he witnessed the loved up couple quickly let go of each others hands.
Both now the focus of the whole group and blushing profusely, Gil quickly opened the file that Wendy had given him as Sara looked down at it too.
"As I was saying. I've spent quite a bit of time looking at this site and the comment threads that have been posted on it, and a few of our victims names cropped up on them" Archie's said taking all the attention off the couple now as he pulled up multiple smaller screens within the large monitor.
Everyone moved a little closer and began reading the words on screen "As you can see their members really really didn't like Lady Heather and even went as far as coming up with theories on how to bump her off" Archie said as he zoomed in on one particular message then scrolled down the page "This member Berniej really had it in for Heather....Urm so did csinut, stewie4worldleader, gsrbritfan, and petaloudia, " he said then brought up other pages.
"Alice56, csibones1962, Nightdriver and sarauk56, along with all the others I've said so far also mentioned David Rambone, Carol Medlesome Michael Auespiller, and Sarah Goldmember in their messages, and I can tell you there was some quite nasty threats and suggestions made about their demise" Archie's said as they all read the screens, but Grissom who was now reading the AFIS readouts.
"Uh guys, all those fingerprints you lifted from your crime scenes have come back as hits" Grissom said waiting for the team to look at him, once they were he continued "Only problem is they have all come back as aliases not to real identities of people" he looked at them sympathetically before adding "And to make matters worse some of them were tracked through the interpol database to the UK, France, Cyprus and many other worldwide locations".
Hearing several groans Grissom sighed heavily, before Sara spoke up "Okay now we know this information, I have a very plausible theory for why all these murders have occurred" she shrugged as she watched them all settle their emotions down again.
Gil placed his hand on the base of her back for reassurance as she began again "Right we know that they were mainly writers for the show, we also know that some of these specific writers were for what they call on the site GSR episodes and scenes right" Sara said receiving nods.
"And now after reading some of this stuff" she indicated to the screen "That they were all instrumental in the GSR relationship looking like the couple, 'Gil and I' had ended our romance. Or should I say looking like I ended it" Sara smiled meekly and shrugged before carrying on "That, combined with the fact that Gil left in the last episode looking like a sad lonely old man, and 'myself' not appearing in the episode, enraged these member into taking action in seeking out revenge for nine years loyalty to the show being thrown back in their faces" she said concluding her theory.
"So your saying because they didn't get their happy 'GSR' ending before Grissom left, they went on a crazy rampage killing those that they deemed responsible for the perceived collapse of your relationship" Nick said dumbfounded.
"Yep! That about sums it up" Sara said wincing at what was about to be thrown at Gil and her.
"And because we don't have any real identities to connect to all these perpetrators they are going to get away with it!" Greg added in a state of shock.
"Surely we have more to be able to trace these crimes back to all these killers" Dr Langston added disbelievingly "Tell me there is" he finished with pathetically.
"Oh man that is so wrong on every level" Nick said slumping into a seat now.
"Sorry guys" Sara said sympathetically as she looped her arm through Gil's pulling him gently towards the door.
"This is total BS, and after all those hours we've just put in processing without any sleep or breaks too" Riley added as she too fell heavily into the seat next to Archie.
"That's life guys, get used to it" Jim quipped with a smirk.
Catherine who'd been quiet until now spoke up with a glare on her face, now watching the couple try to ease out of the room without drawing attention to themselves "All this damned long, gruelling hard work is down to you two. If you'd just managed to keep it in your pants Gil and she'd never come to Vegas in episode one we wouldn't of had all this crap over the years" she growled out as she and the team advanced on the couple.
Gil just shrugged and grabbed Sara's hand firmly before taking off at a run throwing over his shoulder "Well they say the path to true love doesn't run smoothly" as they both picked up pace making it to the front doors of the lab.
Making a desperate dash for Gil's Mercedes they both laughed as Gil shouted "We are finally off the the Galapagos honey".
As their car screeched out of the parking lot the team burst though the front doors holding up angry fists to the escaping pair!
The End
A/N – I hope you all liked this little one off story, and if I missed out mentioning anyone in the shout out that I should have mentioned I apologize profusely in advance.
Please leave a review as they are always a valuable learning tool for writers like myself.
