A/N: Thanks yet again, for reading and/or reviewing this fic! I hope you like the next chapter!
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: Mr. Peanut
Summary: A raging storm, four trapped children, and an exploding vehicle. Will Grissom be able to save the day?
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Grissom blinked at Katie, before standing up, and frowning. How am I going to find this bear? He thought to himself. And more importantly, how am I going to get these kids out of the car, before it explodes? If I don't do it soon, then there won't be any kids left to actually rescue.
"Mr. Gil?" Katie nervously asked, trying to push open her door. "Where did you go, Mr. Gil?" she frowned, trying not to jump, as another thunder clap seemed to rumble directly over her head. "Are you there? Where did you go?" she repeated her question, sniffling, as the rain continued to pelt the broken car, and the wind continued to rustle and whoosh through the surrounding trees.
"Huh?" Grissom snapped to attention, wiping the ice-cold water off of his face. "I'm right here, Katie; but I'm thinking." I'm thinking about how to save all of your lives, as a matter-of-fact.
"Oh," she trailed off, biting her lip. "Are you thinking about Mr. Peanut? I'm thinking about Mr. Peanut," she informed him. "Jake said that he's dead, but I know that he isn't; Mommy said that Mr. Peanut can never die. Do you think that my Mommy is right?" she swallowed, waiting for Grissom to reassure her of the fact that her bear was going to be just fine.
Grissom nodded, barely paying attention to the young girl's words, lost in his own thoughts. "Well, your Mommy is a very smart woman," he finally replied, glancing up as he heard another tree fall in the distance. "And Mr. Peanut is very much alive, I'm sure."
"Really?" Katie brightly asked, her tone of voice instantly sounding more hopeful.
Ignoring her question for a moment, Grissom cleared his throat, before sighing. "Katie, we need to do this fast, okay?" he anxiously asked her. "Can you stand up and move around a little bit?"
"Uh-huh!" she told him, standing up on her feet, and looking through the dirty window at him. "See, Mr. Gil?"
"I see that," Grissom quietly replied, rubbing his beard in anxiety. "Do you see Mr. Peanut anywhere in the car?" he then asked, trying to keep his voice calm for Katie's sake.
Scrunching up her face, the four-year-old girl bit her lip. "I don't think so," she frowned. "I don't think that he's under the seat, either. Do you think that the Boogeyman has him?" she asked, her eyes widening in fear.
As another tree fell in the distance, Grissom tried not to jump. "We have to get out of here, Katie," he told her, desperation filtering into his voice for one of the first times of the evening. "Mr. Peanut will have to wait until later. I need you to climb across your sister, to get to the broken window. Now!"
"Nuh-uh!" Katie immediately shouted, moving her head from side to side. "Not without Mr. Peanut! Daddy says that good people don't leave their friends behind, and he's the bestest friend that I have in the whole-wide-world! He's even more bestest than Jake or Bobby!"
Grissom tightly closed his eyes, attempting to swallow his nerves. But if I don't get you out of here soon, I'll be leaving YOU behind!
"Mr. Gil?" Katie softly asked, blinking her tears away. "I think that he flew out of the window. I was holding him, and then I jumped when the car went over the cliff. What if he's outside, right now? I think that he's probably scared, and wet, and cold, and—"
"That's fine, Katie. I'll look outside of the car, and you look inside," Grissom started to panic, flicking on his flashlight, and panning the ground with it. What would Sara do in this situation? What would Catherine do? Would they just yank her out of the car? We don't have time right now to be looking for her bear! This car could explode at any moment! Stepping away from the Saturn for a second, Grissom sighed, as he knelt over, looking for clues as to where Mr. Peanut could possibly be. This thing could be anywhere! He thought to himself, before straightening up once again. It could be in a tree, it could be in a bush, hell, it could even be under the car itself! Unless, he mused, raising an eyebrow. "Katie?" he suddenly called out.
"Did you find him? Did you find him? Did you find him?" Katie anxiously asked Grissom.
"No, but when do you think that you let go of him? Just after you went over the cliff? Or after you were already down on the ground?"
"Um," she screwed her face up in thought. "I think that I lost him before we hit the ground."
Grissom nodded, as he took another couple of steps away from the car. So, if she had the bear at the top of the hill, but not at the bottom, then the search area is going to be even more limited than I first thought. Glancing at the embankment, and then at the final resting location of the car, Grissom took a deep breath. Factoring in the speed of the car as it flew over the cliff, and the arc that it took to have landed where it did, then the bear has to be fairly close to the base of the cliff.
Looking down at the flooded ground around his feet, Grissom slowly made his way back over to the cliff, keeping his eyes open for any signs of a bear. "Katie? What color is Mr. Peanut?" he then asked. Say purple, or even yellow. Just don't say brown!
"He's brown, Mr. Gil," Katie replied. "Do you see him yet?"
"Not yet," he mumbled, as another ten, very important seconds, ticked by. Scanning the ground with his flashlight, Grissom blinked, as he moved toward the left-hand side of the embankment. The driver's side windows are broken, which means that the bear must have fallen out on that side. It has to be here; please, just find it, before it's too late!
All of a sudden, another loud crack filled the air, as a second tree fell dangerously close to the car. "Mr. Gil?" Katie suddenly shouted. "I wanna get out of here!" she sniffled, before breaking out into sobs. "I love Mr. Peanut, but I don't wanna die, too!"
Grissom nodded, before turning around on his heels, and attempting to make his way back to the car. Five feet away from the embankment, however, and on his way back to Katie and her siblings, Grissom's flashlight fell on something glittery. Squinting his eyes in order to try to get a better look at the object, he let out a snort of surprise, as he realized that the glint was actually the bead from one of Mr. Peanut's eyes. Reaching down, and quickly grabbing the muddy stuffed animal, Grissom shuffled back to the car, clearing his throat. "Katie, can you help me?" he asked, peering through the back driver's side window at her.
"Uh-huh," she continued to sob, terrified over the storm, and sad that she was going to single-handedly be responsible for Mr. Peanut's death.
"I have a little friend here who needs some help," he quietly and calmly said, very carefully sticking his hand through the broken window, and tossing Mr. Peanut over to Katie. "Can you give him a hand, please?" he asked. That was good! That was something that Catherine or Sara would have said and done… I think!
Katie sniffled, blinking once, and then twice, and then a third time. "Mr. Peanut?" she whispered, reaching for the bear, and pulling him tightly to her chest. "Mr. Peanut, it's you!" she yelled in relief. "Thank you, Mr. Gil!"
"Don't thank me yet, Katie, because now we need to get you out of there."
"But Mr. Peanut can help us now!" she happily told him. "He's a special bear, 'member?"
"I remember," Grissom softly said. And we could really use some special help right about now, he mused, glancing at Katie, followed by her three unconscious siblings, and then at the smoke still pouring out of the Saturn's hood. "Let's get you out of there!" he hurriedly added, as something at the front of the car made a pop, sizzle, and crackle noise. "Let's get you out of there now!"
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TO BE CONTINUED