Gil decided to drive into town, check with Alan about any need for a fishing license which Brooks teased him about briefly "You think I'd arrest you because you pulled trout from my brother's pond?" his smile clear told Grissom he was being joked with. "Well rest assured Grissom, the pond is all yours to fish on, the boat...enjoy and you can get some bait from the local store...I might see you up there later." with that he hopped into his truck and drove away.
As Gil was making it across the street, he was a bit surprised to see Marty Cooperman heading his way. He nodded not expecting to get an answer.
"What brings the Great Grissom around a parts again?" he smiled throwing Gil for a loop.
"Just a vacation Marty, gonna get in some fishing for a few days..." he continued on toward the shop hoping to get in and out before the day got much warmer.
"You staying up at Leland's old place?" Gil nodded, not totally surprised that news of his visit would have traveled so quickly. "Great fishing, they like the fat night crawlers the best but I found out the blue gills go for chunks of cheese" he smiled for what had to be the first time since Grissom had met him. "If you're up for some company just let me know, I'm off tomorrow and I've been looking to hit a good fishing hole, everyone knows Leland's has the best." with that he waved and continued on his way to his filling station.
As he head home, funny he thought of this as home for the moment, again his thoughts slipped back to his time with Sara and he found himself thinking about how much his life had changed since his first meeting with her. He'd resisted her for years only to find that the more he thought he was succeeding, the less he actually was but now, where had it all gotten him. His heart was broken, he no longer had a job to return to, his house was an empty shell, it was amazing how quickly a home could become nothing more than a house but it had happened. He was deep in contemplation and almost missed the beautiful German Shepherd that bolted in front of his car but he quickly stomped on the brakes and realized he knew the animal.
Gil pulled the car over and called the dog "Tripper...come here boy!" he squatted down and the dog immediately loped over toward him enjoying a good scratch. "You're not out looking for anymore heads are ya boy?" he teased and the big dog dropped down to encourage the man to give him a few belly rubs. In a lot of ways his mannerisms were like Hanks and Gil immediately thought of the boxer they'd adopted together. No one had wanted him because he drooled, snored and sometimes had a very bad case of flatulence but both Gil and Sara had immediately fell in love with him, they'd adopted him and even though he'd come with the name of Hank, neither saw any reason to change it and the dog had fell right into a place in their little makeshift family. He wondered what Sara would think of him having given Hank away, not that he was happy about the decision but, since his own life was in an uproar, what else could he offer the dog but someone that would love him unconditionally and give him permanency which was something neither Gil or Sara seemed to be able to offer at the moment.
"Hey, Mr. Grissom..." The slightly plump woman bringing up the rear waved enthusiastically at Gil as he rubbed the dog. "Haven't seen you around since that...head incident." she smiled warmly "Apparently Tipper remembers you, seems like you're a natural with animals." she caught her breath. "Just out taking our usual stroll but he's always a good 100 yards ahead of me at any given time." she realized she was rambling and smiled bashfully. "So you back as a follow up on the case..? I thought it was all settled?"
"Oh, I'm not here on official business, I stopped by and Alan mentioned there was some good fishing here, really didn't have a destination in mind" which sounded strange for a man who was used to having everything in his life planned to a t. "I thought I'd take him up on his offer and stay around for a bit, I'm up at Leland's old place."
"Ah, great fishing if you're into it..." she smiled. "You all alone?" she looked at the empty car and realized it was not the same as the vehicle he'd come up with before.
"Yeah, needed to sort out some things...all this peace and quiet" he looked around as he slowly stood up "Give a person a chance to get his head on straight..." he didn't elaborate any further and Sylvia didn't feel a need to ask any more questions.
"Well, I'm sure we'll be seeing you around then, hopefully run into you at the diner or something..." she whistled to the dog then turned away thinking how odd it was such a great looking man being all alone but she kept the thought to herself.
Gil pulled up to the cabin, parked his vehicle and unloaded his bait. Heading into the house, he picked up his cellphone and flipped it open, an old habit that he hadn't managed to get out of. There was a call from both Catherine and Ecklie and for a minute, he considered calling them back. Instead, he scrolled to the messages and deleted both thinking that the only way to move forward was to leave the past in the past. Gathering his baseball hat and his rods, he picked up the new bait bucket and walked toward the direction of the lake.
Sara had everything worked out as far as the sitter taking Hank while she returned to work. She'd apologized to the team about her abrupt departure and tried her best to give them a brief but clear reason she felt she needed to leave the way in which she did.
"If I'd said goodbye to you guys" they sat round the layout table listening patiently. "I never would have made it out the door, the worst was Grissom, I kissed him and walked away with no explanations besides a letter. He deserved more than that, more than a paper with a barely sensible reason for her doing what she'd done and now, when he'd swallowed his pride, came to her and begged her, actually begged her to just be honest, she couldn't even give him that much and look where it got them. She was back doing a job she loved/hated, he was somewhere apparently not willing to be found and the team, they simply absorbed the work and got on with it best they could.
"I'm sorry, I honestly am about all of this, my leaving...Gil leaving, that was my fault to and I can't apologize enough...I don't know if he'll forgive me but I hope in time he'll realize I still love him very much..." she wiped at a tear and Nick stood up and walked over to her.
"We all have things we've done and wished we handled differently." he hugged her. "Grissom will be back, he loves you sweetheart!" he felt her tense. "He knows you love him Sara..." she started to cry and quickly stood up.
"That's just it, he doesn't...he ... he thinks I don't..." she turned toward everyone then toward the door looking for all the world like a trapped animal. "I let him walk away thinking I didn't want...I didn't love him.." she appeared ready to collapse and Nick wrapped his arms around her tighter.
"Then we'll have to find him and make him realize it was a misunderstanding Sara..." Greg offered just as Catherine walked in.
"I tried to call him for you Honey, so did Ecklie, he's not taking any calls." she looked quite saddened by the revelation. "It doesn't mean I won't keep trying but for now..." she rubbed a soothing hand up and down her spine.
Sara straightened up and pulled her shirt down. "Thanks guys, for everything, for understanding, for support...just...for being there for me.." she leaned against Nick and smiled at the group gathered there.
"Hey, did does anyone know if Gil took his Mercedes?" Greg piped up looking quite pleased with himself of asking such a question.
"Yeah, he quit, remember Greg? He couldn't very well take the Denali" Warrick looked at him like he lost his head. "Why? The GPS system was only on his..." but Greg was shaking his head.
"No, listen, when Nicky was kidnapped and Gil was determined to handle the money transfer himself, I stuck a GPS system on his Mercedes cause I didn't know which vehicle he was going to drive...so I kinda took it upon myself..." before he could say more, both Sara and Catherine were rushing toward him to plant a kiss on each of his cheeks.
"God you are something else Greg...thank you" Catherine kissed him then hugged Sara "Let's go see if we can find out where he disappeared to." she led the way to find Archie knowing that Greg would have included him in the programming of the unit.
It didn't take long, Archie punched in a few codes and smiled triumphantly when he realized that apparently, Gil still hadn't realized that his car had a tracking device on it.
"We're in business...it's up and running" he punched in more coordinates on the computer and started laughing. "Apparently our beloved leader has returned to Jackpot!" he pointed to the blip on the computer screen then ran some diagnostics. "He's been there for two days and he's not moving right now..." he jotted down some information and handed it to Sara. "Anything else?" She smiled and looked up at Catherine...
"We'll boys?" she hadn't noticed until now that Nick and Warrick had joined them and as she turned around...Conrad Ecklie stood in the doorway.
"I'm taking it from the smiles on everyone's faces that you might have heard from Gil?" he was hoping but Catherine turned around.
"Close, we found out where he's at...but he hasn't answered my calls either." she knew that Conrad had made several attempts to get him via the phone.
"Well send someone to get his ass home!" he winked at Sara who suddenly blushed. "I'm more than sure Sidle that if anyone can convince him to come home it should be you..." he leaned heavily against the door frame. "Look if you need to take someone with you...do so but Sidle, I want him back no matter what you have to do, if it means marrying him, then find a frigg'n Justice of the Peace and I'll buy the damned wedding bands." he was laughing now. Sara was not in the least prepared for this side of Conrad but given the opportunity, she'd do whatever it took to rectify the situation.
"How soon can you be ready to roll?" Catherine looked between Sara and Conrad.
"It's gonna be a day before I get up there driving, I'm not sure of the area but...I'm sure I can make pretty good time..." Conrad held up a hand.
"Get David, ask him if his father can arrange to make a drop" he pointed to Greg "Sara, how opposed to another helicopter ride are you?" Sara looked stunned, apparently when Conrad Ecklie wanted something done, shortcuts were not outside of the realm of possibilities with him.
"As long as I'm conscious this time" she teased "I just need to call the sitter and have her keep an eye on Hank and pack a few things..." Brass was standing beside her as she turned around.
"I can make the call to the sitter Sara, I'll drop you off at the house, pack up your stuff, Hank actually can stay with me if it's a problem for the sitter." Sara smiled at the hardened detective.
"Thank you all of you, thanks so much" she turned to address Ecklie but he was already gone. "Reminds me of Col. Flag from MASH" she teased but only the Nicky and Catherine agreed. "Gone like the wind!" she picked up her purse and was gone with Brass before anyone could make the connection.
David's father, once again came through with flying colors and Sara found herself on the tail end of a police escort to Nellis Air Force Base. The drive out there, while it gave her time to consider what she might actually say to Grissom, also caused an immense case of butterflies and her stomach felt queasier than normal. Brass noticed immediately as the brunette next to him clutched her purse tightly.
"What has you more wound up Sara, the flight or seeing Grissom?" he watched her from the corner of his eye as he maneuvered his Taurus behind the two police cars. She swallowed and shook her head.
"The flight will be a piece of cake Jim...but" she need not say more, he knew that Grissom had to have been very hurt to take off the way he had. "I have a question for you, when I get dropped off in the middle of this backwoods town, how the hell am I supposed to get around? It's not like I'll have a car..." she sighed deeply.
"I arranged for the local rental agency to have a car for you at the landing sight...see" he tapped his noggin "Jim Brass is always thinking...always thinking..:" he reached across the console and took her hand in his. "He loves you Sara, believe that and the rest will come easy..." he brought her hand up and placed a kiss on the back of it. "He's a stubborn son of a bitch but he loves you none the less...he just needs to remember that." they drove in silence the rest of the way to the airfield.
Getting the small outboard to the middle of the lake had taken Grissom less time than he thought, will a cooler of beer that he'd picked up from the hardware store where the young girl behind the counter immediately smiled and stated that she remembered him from his last visit. To the counter help in the local grocery store, she was a very nubile and flirtatious girl and she'd made some hand gestures to one of the bottles of beer as she suggested to Gil that she was off by noon and simply loved a day out on the lake...if he was looking for company.
Gil smiled and stated "I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate it!" and picked up the 6 pack and hastily exited the store. The girl, who'd been filing her nails between customers leaned a denim clad hip against the register.
"It's too bad...could have made you one happy man today!" and went back to flirting with the next customer who appeared 5 minutes later.
The small radio that Gil had picked up along with batteries was tucked in the bow along with a hat and sunglasses, a book that he'd been meaning to get to back in Vegas and a towel and sunscreen. At least if the fish weren't biting, he could get a relaxing nap in and not come out looking like a cooked sausage.
Sara got the the airfield only to find out that in incoming storm had somehow managed to delay any further flights. "Dammit!" she slammed her hand against the dashboard and Jim jumped.
"Easy there tiger...we'll just wait it out and hopefully the storm will give up" he sat back and closed his eyes. Sara shot him a look and huffed.
"I could have driven...I still could, why don't you take me back and I can pick up one of the Denalis and head out?" she liked the idea of having her own vehicle and doing things her own way. Brass looked up and turned slowly.
"Thought you wanted to get out there quickly?" he teased.
"This storm hasn't hit and they're not letting anyone fly, I could be on the road already, just take me back and I'll drive myself, I should have done it to begin with..." she waited for him to start the ignition.
"David went through an awful lot to set this up" she could tell he was trying to lighten the mood but honestly, a lonely drive right now was something she was surprisingly looking forward to. It would give her time to gather her thoughts, plan something to say to Grissom when she saw him and hopefully...convince him that she didn't leave him and she did indeed honestly and truly love him.
"It took a phone call Brass, same as it will take to cancel the flight, a phone call!" she put a foot against the dashboard and crossed her arms defiantly across her chest. "Shall I make the call?" she flipped open her cellphone.
"Fine, but I don't think anyone is going to like the idea of you traipsing across the country on your own with a storm coming up...such as it is.." he put the car in drive and quickly pulled out of the parking space. "Ecklie's gonna be pissed, he's probably expecting you to be in and out in record time.."
"Ecklie can wait, in the end, if it works out, he'll have his golden boy back and come out looking like a God for saving Grave from a fate worse than death!" she closed her eyes and thought about it. Conrad had surprised her with his willingness to help get Gil back but she knew in the end, he simply wouldn't want to answer questions about how he managed to lose one of the top Entomologists in the country to start with.