CSI is now called. I hope that you guys like it.
Gil Grissom wasn't in a rush. He had finished his last case for the evening and was signing off the last sets of reports from Greg on the 419 in Henderson. Closing the file he sat back, took off his glasses and tried to massage the kink out of his neck. Looking up, his eyes went to the branch that held the cocoon. It should have opened by now. His worst fear was that one of the cleaning ladies had knocked over the branch and in the wake the pupa was damaged. If he had calculated the time correctly, the metamorphosis would have been complete and a lovely brown moth would have been flying around the crime lab. Unfortunately, it was a week overdue, and no signs of the moth trying break out of the cocoon.
Looking at that branch reminded him of Sara. That was his gift to her when he was away. She gave it back to him when she left. The ache of that loss still was there, no matter how many double shifts he did.
Looking around his office, he couldn't find much of anything that didn't remind him of her. Especially when he went home, there were memories of gifts given, letters sent and received. Ecklie already made him scale back on the doubles that he was doing, so now all he did when he went home was walk Hank and work on his thesis. Life was pretty drab without her there.
A knock on his door woke him from his daydream. Jim stood there at the doorway. He looked pale, worn down.
"Good morning Jim."
"Gil, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you." Grissom motioned for Jim to sit down in his office.
"What's wrong?"
"It's about Sara."
The diner was pretty busy for a Sunday. Warrick, Nick and Greg were at their favorite booth digging into some waffles.
At Catherine's, she had just got out of the shower and was getting ready to sleep.
All at once their phones started ringing.
On them was the same text message:
Meeting - my office - 20 minutes - no exceptions. Grissom.
Calls to him were futile; he must have turned it off after he sent the message. As one they headed back to work. If Grissom wasn't answering his phone, something was very, very wrong.
Grissom was in the bathroom, splashing water on his face. It all seemed so surreal to him.
"I just received a call from San Fran's police department." Brass said slowly. "Apparently there was a suspected homicide there and they need to contact those of graveyard to ask them some questions."
"Sara was involved?"
"Sara was the victim. I talked to a Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and requests that you and others close to her come to San Francisco for questioning."
"Surely they don't think that any of us are responsible."
"No suspects as of yet, but he wants to talk to those that knew her well. You know that she's been staying with her mother?" Gil nodded. "She has tried to be a help, but she knows so little about Sara that Capt. Stottlemeyer said she wasn't much help."
"When does he want my team?"
"Tomorrow."
The conversation was so short, but it turned his life completely upside down. Sara is dead. There would be no reunion that they had both hoped for. She joined the ghosts that haunted her life for so long.
He walked to his office, and much of the group was there. Nick, Warrick and Greg were sitting on the couch, Brass was still in the chair where Grissom left him, and Ecklie was pacing in the office. Why Ecklie felt he had to be there was beyond his understanding.
"Where's Catherine? Has anybody heard from her?" Grissom couldn't wait much longer.
"She called and said that she was pulling in to the parking garage as we speak," Ecklie said. Pulling Grissom aside, he spoke quietly, "Anything you need? Just let me know."
Grissom put a hand on his shoulder, "Thanks Conrad, I appreciate that. Let me talk to my team and I will let you know what we decide later. Fro right now, I just want Jim and the team here."
Ecklie nodded quickly, "I'll be in my office." Saying that, he left quickly.
The guys sat there, not speaking, not really knowing what to say. All they know that it must be serious enough to have everyone there. Their boss wasn't going to say anything until Catherine got there.
Within moments, Catherine rushed in. She looked flustered, but when she saw the looks on Jim and Gil's face, she didn't say a word and sat in the only chair left in the office. Grissom closed the door and slowly went to his desk and sat on it. It looked as if the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders, and someone took a bat to his knees.
"I don't know how to say this. I'm having a problem believing it myself….." Then he broke. The sobs coming from him shook his frame, and he couldn't hold them back anymore. Catherine rushed to his side, trying to hold him up. She looked frightened. Grissom didn't display emotion, that wasn't his style. Seeing their boss and friend breaking down was almost too hard to bear.
Grissom looked to Jim and nodded, and Jim got up to explain. "I received a call from the San Francisco homicide division. They are not sure the whole story as of yet…"
"No!" Greg jumped up from the chair. "I know you are not going to say what I think you are!"
Grissom looked at Greg with pain etched on his face. "She's gone Greg."
The effect on the group was immediate. Nick put his head in his hands; his sobs shook his whole body. Warrick put his arm around his friend's shoulders. He knew what Sara meant to him; they were like family and Nick and Sara were especially close.
Greg looked like he was going to explode. He got in Grissom's face, a wave of emotions going across his face, but the main one- anger remained.
"I blame you! You hear me Grissom? You selfish bastard!" His finger was in Grissom's chest and he looked like he wanted to hit him.
Jim tried to pull him away, but it wasn't going to be easy. His words were like blows to Grissom's gut. "That's enough Greg. You don't know…" Jim tried to tell him.
"No! You don't understand, but he does!" He pulled away from Jim and got back in Gil's face again. "You know, you know the truth! You couldn't just leave her alone could you? You make me sick!"
Greg started walking away as Catherine called out "That's not fair Greg, he loved her. You know that!"
He turned around and Gil saw the rage in his eyes. Ever since Sara left, Greg has been indifferent if not outright rude to him. He let it go, thinking it was just a case of missing her. But it was more, he saw that now.
"I know this, he took advantage of her. You were her supervisor! You had control! If you just would have just left her alone, she'd be here right now. She wouldn't be dead. I despise you." With those last words spat out, he walked out of the lab.
Nick's sobs stopped when he heard Greg's words. He looked at his boss and asked, "Do you want me to go after him?"
Gil sighed, "No, it would just make matters worse." He looked at Jim and nodded for him to continue.
"The homicide detectives want people that knew her. The clues that they have are minimal, in fact they are still processing the scene. They want people that knew her best come to San Francisco and give a statement."
Nick stood up and looked at Grissom directly, his eyes red with tears, but determined. "I'm in. You know Greg has to go, I can have him ride with me, so there won't be any more incidents."
Jim looked at Gil. "I'm in too."
Catherine looked at Gil, regret etching her face. "Do all of us have to go? I've known Sara for a long time now, but it's not like we were especially close."
Gil looked at his closest friend, "That's fine Catherine; I was hoping that you could take over supervisor duties while I am gone."
She breathed a sigh of relief. Warrick looked at Grissom and said, "Sara was a good friend, but do you want the lab so short handed while you guys are gone? I can stay here with Cath, and if they need to talk to us, we'll go after you guys come back. Would that work?"
Grissom breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that someone was going to be offended if they couldn't go to San Francisco. He was glad that Warrick saw that and volunteered to stay behind.
"All right then, let's meet back here in 6 hours. That should give us plenty of time."
Gil looked at Jim and Nick. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he knew with his friends there he could cope. He just hoped that Greg could set his feelings aside so they could find out who killed Sara.
Please let me know what you think. I want to make sure I'm writing these guys ok.