Chapter 10

Author's note: I don't own CSI but I do love to play with them! It's the sincerest form of flattery!

A/N Waiting for the Calvary to come over the mountains, but who else is there?

I've been trying to respond to your reviews, but for some reason I keep getting an error message that says my link is outdated. Anyone know how to fix it? I love our chats!

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Brass, sitting in the Sherriff's office, wished he had a cigarette. He hadn't smoked in a while, but now, he could really use the release.

The Sherriff had been on the phone for what seemed to be an endless amount of time, trying to coordinate the staff necessary to conduct the search. Between the DEA and the LVPD, there were plenty of volunteers, and the local Army Reserve had two choppers that could be used to support the two LVPD choppers if needed.

"We can't just sit here," Brass said, anxiety clearly showing on his face.

"I know how you feel," Sherriff Fox replied, "Go down to the heli-pad and get involved."

Brass practically jumped out of the chair.

"Keep me updated."

Brass didn't even hear him – he was already down the hall.

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Catherine caught Jim as he was leaving his office, field gear in his hand.

"Where are you going?" Catherine asked him, accusingly.

"I'm going to jump on a chopper and help find Grissom and Sara," Jim replied, "And I need you here to take care of the lab."

"Jim, I can't just sit around and wait, I need to help."

"Go down to AV and help Archie try and locate a signal. I need you here. I need to be able to have someone I can count on," Jim said.

"Ok, Jim, I'll do it, but I'm not happy!" she replied.

"I know Cath, I know, but we need to be a team and you are the one I can rely on."

"Be careful."

"I will," Brass responded, "I have a tail on John Oh, get Nick to follow up and find out what he's been doing."

"You got it," she answered, "I'll get on it right now."

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Ken had quickly got Sara's arm in a splint. It didn't appear to be broken, more like a fracture, but not a clean break.

"Did you check your cell phones?" Ken asked.

"Yes, neither is working," Grissom replied.

"So, I think what I should do is head to higher ground and see if I can get a signal," Ken said.

"Can you guys stay here for a while, maybe an hour, while I go higher?" Ken asked.

"Sure thing," Grissom replied, "Do you want to take the flare gun with you in case you see someone?"

"Good plan, I'll be back shortly," Ken looked at Grissom and said, "Let me show you something."

Grissom took the remains of his jacket and made a pillow for Sara to lay her head on. He then followed behind Vogel.

"I'm pretty sure we were shot down, Grissom," he explained his concern, "I know you are a CSI, but are you a good shot?"

"Yes, I am," Grissom replied, "I don't like to carry a weapon, but I can hold my own. And Sara is a crack shot."

"That's quite a woman," Ken answered, "I wonder if she's single? I'll have to check when we get back to Vegas."

"No, I think she's seeing someone," Grissom replied.

"Things change." Ken shrugged his shoulders and began to climb to higher ground.

Grissom returned to Sara who was sitting where he left her, fighting back the tears.

"It's ok Sara, you are going to be fine," Grissom reassured her.

"I know, I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry."

"Sara, its fine to cry, you are hurt, I'd be amazed if anyone with these injuries would cry!" he tried to comfort her. But these words were so hard for him to find.

"Thanks Gil," she answered, "Could you kiss me please?"

"Your wish is my command."

He gave her a sweet kiss. Enough to take her mind off her situation.

"I guess I won't be moving in this weekend," she said sadly.

"No dear, but we have plenty of time," he said, "we have our entire lives."

"Oh, now you are really going to make me cry!" she replied. "That was so sweet."

"Sara," he looked at her sincerely, his eyes flashing light blue lightening, "When that chopper was going down, all I could think was that I had wasted so much time trying not to love you. I will not loose you."

"Gilbert," she said, captivated by his sudden rush of emotion, "I am so in love with you."

"Just remember that next time our war hero starts flirting again."

"Gil, he's not flirting," she answered.

"Right," he huffed, "that's why he wanted to know if you were single."

"Gil," she looked stunned, "Are you jealous?"

"That's news?" he asked.

"Gil, I have all male friends, Nick, Greg, Jim, they all flirt with me, surely you must have noticed that!"

He tried his best to look innocent. Of course he had noticed. And it boiled his blood that they could have such a simple, easy relationship with Sara. He had wanted it for so long, but couldn't risk it.

Chicken, he often said to himself.

They both heard a branch break in the distance.

"Sara, give me your gun," Grissom insisted.

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Brass had boarded the LVPD chopper with pilot Jen Paris. She was an experienced search and rescue pilot who had helped with previous investigations. Brass took the shotgun seat and they took flight.

Jen, from the headphone communicator, smiled at Brass, "Captain, good to see you!"

Brass smiled back "You too Paris, I'm glad you are here to help. No one I'd rather fly with."

Jen chuckled; she knew Brass was not fond of flying in helicopters.

"So we are trying to find Grissom and Sidle?" she asked.

"Yes, that's true, they went off with Detective Vogel earlier today to search for a marijuana plot. We lost contact about two hours in to the search."

"Well if I had to choose a pilot for someone I care about to go down with, it would be Vogel," Jen responded, "He's a seasoned veteran and is very knowledgeable about survival. He had a couple of tours in the Gulf and he was shot down once."

"That's good to know."

"OK, let's go find your friends," Jen said, lifting off into the clear blue Vegas sky.

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Grissom and Sara both turned to face the direction of the crack. Within seconds, a small squirrel jumped out of the tree line and walked towards them. Once it realized that it was not alone, it quickly turned and ran away.

"A little jumpy?" Sara asked.

"Yes dear."

A loud beep beep noise made Sara jump.

"Crap," she said, "That scared me!"

"What was it?" Grissom asked.

"Sounded like my cell phone," she answered.

She used her good arm to dig the cell phone out of her phone holster.

"Ha!" she said, "I got a voice mail, up here, can you believe that?"

"Cell phones," Grissom said, "Great technology, just not as reliable as they could be."

"Hey I have a signal," she said, "Let me try to call Jim."

She dialed Jim Brass and was amazed to get a ring.

"Jim," she said, "Jim, this is Sara, Jim I can't hear you!' she said.

The call ended abruptly. "Well, that's it, no signal again."

"Hopefully it was enough to trace you – you should have come up on his caller id."

"Good point," she said.

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"Archie, can you trace the last call that was made to my phone?" Brass yelled into the phone.

"Got it boss, hang on!" Archie answered.

Archie punched buttons feverishly trying to triangulate the location of the last call.

"I have it!" he replied, "It's Sara's phone."

"Can you get the co-ordinates?" Brass asked.

"You got it boss, I'm sending them to the phone right now."

Brass got a message with the co-ordinates, and asked Jen if she could find that location.

"You bet Jim!" she replied as she began to move the chopper to the direction of the coordinates.

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Vogel came running back to the scene where he had left Grissom and Sara, with big news.

"I found it!" he said.

"You found what?" Grissom asked.

"The patch!" he answered, "The pot!"

They all looked up in response to the sound of chopper blades overhead.

"That was quick," Vogel said.

"I actually got a cell phone signal long enough to make a call," Sara stated, "I guess they traced us."

"Should we fire off a flare?" Sara asked.

"No," Grissom responded quickly, "We don't need to let the shooters know where we are."

"I'm sure they already know," Vogel said, "But let's not advertise."

The chopper came over the rocks and Vogel stood up and waved his arms. There was nowhere for the chopper to land, but they did make contact, and the pilot, Jen, dropped a survival pack which was quickly retrieved by Vogel.

The chopper moved off, back towards the city, with Brass and Jen both happy to have discovered all three occupants of the chopper alive and seemingly well.

Night was falling, Jen knew that she would not be able to land here and pick them up due to the limited clear space. A team would have to come up in the morning to bring them out. While Brass wanted to have them lifted out immediately, Jen instructed him that having two more bodies to rescue would only make it harder.

Vogel came back with the survival kit and placed it at Sara's feet.

"Where did they go?" Sara asked.

"They can't land here and its nightfall. I'm sure they will have someone up here first thing in the morning," Ken told her.

"Well let's get settled in and eat our canned dinner!" Ken turned the conversation, trying to sound excited.

They opened the supply pack and found some energy bars, water, first aid supplies, two thermal blankets (vacuum packed), some light bars, and a few other supplies. Grissom dug out the acetaminophen and offered it to Sara who gladly swallowed the pills without water.

"Yuck," Ken said, "I thought service people were the only ones who did that."

"No," she smiled, "Just desperate for pain relief."

They quietly ate their energy bars and pulled the blankets out of the vacuum bags. Grissom found a proper sling and got Sara's arm placed into it.

"I guess we should take turns on watch," Grissom said.

"Sure thing, I'll go first, those energy bars always get me hyped up," Ken suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Sara replied.

"No watch for you, young lady," Ken smiled at Sara. "You can't walk, so patrol might be difficult."

Ken walked to the edge of the wooded area and took a position to watch over their impromptu camp.

Grissom got out the thermal blankets, wrapped what was left of his jacket around Sara, grabbed a bottle of water and sat down with his arm around her. If this didn't let Ken know that Sara was not available, he'd have to have a conversation with him later. But that could wait. For now, taking care of his Sara was his first priority.

They settled in for a long night.

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Another chapter by Sunday. Please leave me a message and let me know what you think.