A/N: I want to say a huge thank you to CSIGeekFan for the beta job as well as a huge thanks to Becky (BeckyCSI) for listening to me complain about this particular story (as well as for her idea of the paperwork image).
Potential Spoilers: Everything up through episode 8x12 (including that deleted scene that's on youtube)
Disclaimer: At the present moment, I do not own CSI. I also claim no ownership of the William Shakespeare or Antoine de Saint-Exupery quote that I have used.
"Bruno! No, bad dog! Bruno, come back here!" he shouted, trying to chase after the canine. Of course, this only fueled Bruno's antics further since he thought his owner wanted to play. For such a large dog, he was surprisingly agile.
Sara's warm chuckle made him remember that he still had her on the line.
"Sorry, honey. Your dog is being mischievous," he said as he sat down on their bed, momentarily giving up his quest to retrieve the stolen object from Bruno.
"You mean our dog, right? We did get him at the pound together. You do know that you shouldn't disown Bruno every time he does something wrong, Gil. Think about the self-esteem issues you're giving him."
"Sara, he's a dog," he responded.
"Doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings. Anyway, what did our Bruno do this time?" she asked.
"Took something that didn't belong to him," he answered, indignantly.
She laughed.
"It's not funny. He walked out of our bedroom with my boxers in his mouth," he explained.
"Not the Christmas ones?" she quickly asked.
"Yes, the ones with the dancing spiders…"
"Damn it, Gil! Those are my favorite boxers! You better go find Bruno before he destroys them," Sara demanded over the phone.
"Okay, okay. I'll go see if I can find him; knowing Bruno he's probably hiding in fear of punishment. It's not like I could actually punish the dog anyway," he replied as he headed out of their bedroom. He didn't have to search for long, as he found Bruno in the living room. Immediately, he started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Sara questioned. When he didn't immediately answer, she repeated, "Hey! What happened? I want to know!"
"Sorry. Sorry, I couldn't help it. Our dog somehow managed to put my boxers on top of his head, and he can't get them off."
Silence greeted him for a moment before Sara burst out laughing. "Oh my. That's priceless. Is there a camera around? You have to take a picture for me. Please?" she requested sweetly.
"Hold on," he said as he brought his phone away from his ear and took a picture of Bruno with it. "Okay, back."
"What were you doing that you couldn't talk at the same time?" she asked, curious.
He replied, "Taking a picture with my new cell phone," as he went to retrieve his boxers from his boxer.
"When did you get a new phone and what kind is it?"
"Last week, you mentioned that you had gotten a new phone, and you were talking about how great it was so I just thought I would upgrade to the one you have as well."
He could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "So, let me get this straight –you were envious of my new Envy phone? Is that right?"
"Well, I did need a new phone…" He tried hard –really hard –not to be embarrassed given that there might have been some small truth in what Sara had said.
She responded by laughing. "It's fine. Actually, it's better than fine. This means that we can send each other pictures on our cell phones since we both have that capability now."
"Aha. Very true, Ms. Sidle."
They talked for several more minutes before Sara said, "Sorry, my phone battery is about to die. We'll talk tomorrow, same time?"
"Yes. Until tomorrow. I love you," he murmured softly into the phone. Since she had been gone, they spoke often. It was rare for a day to go by without him hearing from her via phone or email.
"I love you, too. Don't forget to send me that picture of Bruno!" she reminded him before she ended their call.
And that was how it started.
xxx
A couple of days later, he was at his desk at work when his phone buzzed, signaling that he had a message.
Flipping his phone open, he saw he had received a picture message from Sara. It was a picture of a spider along with the words underneath: "Found in bathroom. Potential mate for Fluffy?"
He grinned as he typed a quick reply back: "Only if Fluffy was a female…"
xxx
Two weeks later, he was walking to his vehicle when he glanced up to the sky. He took out his phone and snapped a picture. He typed a short caption and sent it.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, Sara grinned when she heard her phone alert her that she had a new message. Opening it, she sighed. It was a picture of the sun shining and under it Gil had typed: "Love comforteth like sunshine after rain." Leave it to Gil to quote Shakespeare, she thought with a smile.
Three days later, she sent him a picture message back.
He opened it to find a picture of a cloud that was heart-shaped. The photo's caption was: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."
xxx
A week later, he sent her a picture of him, wearing the blue Hawaiian shirt he knew she loved.
The next day, in response, she sent him a picture of her. She was wearing one of his old college sweatshirts.
xxx
At work several days later, he sent her a picture message of his expanding pile of paperwork with a short caption of: "HELP ME!"
She replied back with a picture of her sitting on the beach. Her words: "Wish you were here with me."
xxx
After snapping a picture of her plant, he sent the message to her along with the caption: "Even your plant misses you."
That time he didn't get a picture message back. He got an immediate phone call. She told him that he better get a green thumb quickly or else. She didn't want to see any more brown leaves on her beloved plant.
xxx
A few weeks later, he woke up to find he had a message waiting for him. Opening his cell phone, he found a picture of the San Francisco Bridge with the question: "Remember when?" typed below it.
Remember when? Of course, he did.
He walked out of their bedroom and into the kitchen toward the refrigerator. He snapped a picture of the new magnet he had bought the other day that was currently holding the picture of the two of them on that very bridge.
xxx
A few days after he had finally gotten over the flu virus, he talked to Sara and found out she now had the flu. She said it was because she had wished his pain away, meaning that she had wished it on herself.
He sent her a photo of some soup that he had made with the words: "Get well soon, honey."
She sent him back a picture a day later of her floor covered with wadded up tissues. The caption was: "I need more Kleenex!"
xxx
A few months had passed since they first started sending picture messages back and forth.
However, today was the first day he was actually kind of nervous to send her a message. He wasn't sure what she would say or would think. He wasn't even sure if he should send this particular picture to her.
Despite all of his concerns, he wanted her to know that he loved her and to reassure her that he would be here for her when she came back home to him.
Taking a deep, calming breath, he pressed the 'SEND' button on his phone…
TBC
A/N2: I'm not quite sure that you can talk on the Envy cell phone and take a picture at the same time, but for the sake of this story, let's pretend you can.
A/N3: So what did you think? Insane, crazy idea? Or did you kind of like it? Any and all comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read!