Home, dinner and a walk

Grissom turned the car onto the driveway. The garage door opened and Grissom drove the car into the garage. "Listen, why don't you tow take care of Leena's bike, then I'll cook some eggs for breakfast."

"Okay Gil. We'll see you in a few minutes." Sara opened the trunk of the car which held Leena's bike and bags.

Grissom opened the door to the house and was greeted by Bruno. "Hey there boy, would you like some breakfast?" Bruno barked approvingly. "Come on then, to the kitchen. Those two ladies will want something to eat too. "In the kitchen Grissom prepared some eggs and set the table while he listened to Sara and Leena walking inside the house. He could hear Sara reassure Leena that she wasn't imposing and telling her where the guestroom was and where the bathroom was. He heard them rummaging around in the guestroom and then heard them coming down to the living room. "Bruno is a very easily excitable dog, he'll probably try to jump you and lick your face. Just to warn you." Sara opened the door and sure enough Bruno came galloping to Sara. "Hey there boy, how are you? Yes, we have a guest. You just be friendly okay?" Bruno wagged his tail and started to sniff Leena's hand that she had stretched to the dog. "Hello Bruno." Leena stroked Bruno's head and established a friendship with the dog right there and then.

"Breakfast is ready." Grissom called out. Sara had already came in to the kitchen to share a kiss with him, while Leena was playing with Bruno.

"It smells great. I think I would like something." Leena said while she went to sit down. "My rhythm of sleep and eating is so messed up right now." Grissom and Sara joined her at the table.

"You're quite good with Bruno." Grissom commented.

"I'm good with animals and children. I have much more problems being liked by adults." Leena told Grissom.

"Don't be so modest Leena, you're great with animals and children. I think you could handle Gil's tarantula." Sara exclaimed, she continued: "I've seen her calm a child with just one touch."

"I don't think I'm going to give this tarantula business a shot dr. Grissom." Leena had seen a shimmer of excitement in Grissom's face.

"Please call me Grissom, everybody does."

"You can call me Leena and I'm still not going to give the tarantula business a shot. Sara had already told me of your fascination with the insects, so I didn't freak out over the displays in the house." Grissom send a questioning glare to Sara, she held up her hands in defence.
"You like them, I think they are fine, but others might think of them as an odd and frightening display of decorations. I don't want our first ever friend to stay over freaked out by them. Don't glare at me." Sara smiled.

"I'm not freaked out by them. I'm not one to judge, but I am a little bit relieved that Sara told me before." Leena intervened.

"It's okay." Grissom sulked, but Sara saw in his eyes that he didn't really had felt offended. He knew how others could regard him and his insects. Then Bruno nudged Grissom's leg and Leena yawned. "I think Leena should get some sleep and Bruno wants to walk." Sara stated while getting up from the table, she took the plates to the sink and placed them there. Leena followed her with the glasses: "Are you sure Grissom is okay?"

"Yeah, he was just pretending to sulk, he knows how people can take his fascination. I had already told him I wrote you about that, he said it was probably a good idea. Don't worry, he likes to tease me sometimes. Now you go on upstairs and sleep. I'll wake you for dinner, after that Gil and I go to work and you can get some more sleep."

"Could you actually wake me four or three hours before dinner so after dinner I'll be sleepy again?"

"Sure have a good rest." Sara assured Leena, who walked to the stairs.

"Have a nice rest Leena." Grissom called to her from the hallway, where he put Bruno on the lease.

"Thank you."

Sara and Grissom walked a long way to one of the parks that lay in the neighbourhood. They would alternate between three parks. In the park they let Bruno run free and found a bench after being halted by several fellow dog owners they occasionally saw, while walking Bruno.

"So what do you think of Leena?" Sara started, after they had sat down.

"From what I saw she is great, outgoing and refreshing."

"She is great, but not really outgoing I think. She likes to stay at home and read, but on the other hand she also likes to go to a bar and drink something."

"How do you know all these things?"

"Well, three years ago we spend some time together and two years ago just after we got Nick back, she came here again on a short holiday." Sara rubbed Bruno behind the ears and he ran off again.

"I can't shake the feeling that I've seen her before."

"You have, you came with me to the talk she gave on traumatized children. Three years ago, remember? You liked her talk." Sara recounted for him.

"Wait, wasn't that right after your DUI? The talk the PEAP counsellor suggested."

"Yes, you had to go to a case. The talk was almost over. I remember being afraid that you might have connected some of the signs Leena described to some of my behaviour. I was terrified that you might find out I had suffered a trauma. But you never did. Y was glad, because it was something I had to tell you in my own time." Both Grissom and Sara remembered the loaded and emotional talk they had had when Sara told him about the family in which she was raised and the horrors she had seen as a young child.

"This is the same woman? I thought she had a different name."

"Well her Dutch name is kind of difficult to pronounce, so she said Leena was okay, it's something of a abbreviation from her Dutch name."

"Okay, wait, I loved her talk, she used our knowledge to teach us her knowledge. She linked it perfectly. This is her? And she is 28? No wonder Greg wanted to know her age."

"It's a reaction she gets often. Her knowledge and wisdom indicates an older age. Leena is a wonderful person with a great intuition and understanding. She says she is socially inept, but she knows the social rules. Everybody forms an opinion on her, but she surprises them always. But in the meantime she is as secretive as hell. Still she is great. Say how was you murder?" Sara suddenly remembered the case that had saved the nightshifts mental health.

"A guy was stabbed to death. But there were a lot of complications. He had a lot of living insects and some reptiles, primarily snakes and turtles. The terrariums were smashed, so all of them escaped, some had started eating the man. Time of death is going to be impossible to determine. Nature didn't really go the same way as it would normally does in the dessert or woods. The space was confined, scorpions, beetles, spiders were all on the body. But this guy had a great collection."

"Are you jealous?"

"No, sure he had a great collection of rare insects, but there was no indication that he was married or let other people into his life. Although he was loved in his neighbourhood, he showed children his bugs and no one in his block had a reason to murder him. I'm not jealous, I was like him tough, before I met you."

"Was he an entomologist?"

"No, there aren't that many around. I didn't know him, neither did any of the other entomologists I called. I'm pretty sure he was a hobbyist."

"Is it a complicated case?"

"Not directly, when the bugs and funk were removed and his life was checked, the case became much more straightforward. All evidence is currently pointing to a b&e gone wrong, but we will have to wait for all the evidence before we are sure."

"So this case is going to wrap up quickly?"

"I guess so. I still have the insects to process and bite marks to check. But I think our colleagues will be in the break room dwindling their thumbs again tomorrow."

"I'll be joining them. The day shift is checking the company. Eckley's orders." Sara quickly added, when she saw Grissom questioning look.

"Why does Eckley want them to check the last bit, I thought it was your idea?"

"It is and I fought Eckley on it, but he wanted Days to do it. Something about not wanting to give me an excuse to put in overtime in this slow week. I think Eckley just wanted to torture me into another slow shift. Come let's go home. All this excitement from an actual case, Leena arriving and fighting Eckley has worn me out." Sara rise and called for Bruno who came thundering down. Together they went home to get a good days sleep.