Title: Survivor
Author: csiphile
Disclaimers: Do I really need to repeat myself?? I didn't think so..look at the first chapter if you must.
Author Notes: BIG thanks to all those who reviewed, keep em coming!! Sorry it took me so long to post this last chapter, life has been such an intrusion lately! I promise to not do that again!
*** Indicates part of the victims journal.
Upon mutual agreement they decide to call it a night and return to the lab. Since it is approaching eleven, they would try to catch the boyfriend in the morning to interview him. In the Tahoe, on the way to the lab, Sara is lost in her own thoughts when Grissom suddenly asks her a question, breaking her concentration.
"What? I'm sorry Grissom."
"I said why didn't you finish grad school?" He asks, curious, since she had obviously enjoyed her first four years there. That and not many people left grad school at Harvard.
She just stares at him, unsure how to answer, give him the rote answer she had memorized or the truth. Sara elected for the former. "I got more interested in Forensics and solving puzzles. So I went to work at the San Fran PD." It was partially true. She had wanted to solve puzzles, but there had been a larger catalyst for her leaving, one that only she knew, and if Sara had anything to do about it, it would stay that way.
Grissom looks at her as they come to a stoplight. There is something in the way she answered him that rang not true. It is almost as if she is reading from a script, and has given that same answer hundreds of times. He decides to drop it for now, it's not that important, and the look on her face says back off, which is something he doesn't get frequently from her. The rest of the ride goes by in silence as Grissom drives and Sara looks out the window, lost in thought again.
Sara gets out at the lab and immediately heads for the journal to try and prove her theory that Grace's sorority sister was the woman her boyfriend was cheating with. Before she can make it though, Greg intercepts her in the hall.
"Sara. There you are."
"Greg. How's it going?" She asks him, anxious to get back to the journal, instinct telling her part of the answer is there.
"Good, good. You know, Nick and Warrick are taking bets if Ecklie's team is getting busted for missing that journal you found. Want in?" Greg seems to be overjoyed at the thought of the day shift getting chewed out for once.
"No thanks."
"Well, in that case, I have some of that hair processed. Want the results?"
Sara looks at him with an expression of annoyance and sighs. Greg is a good guy, sometimes he just takes too long to get to the point. "Please." She says and follows him into his part of the lab.
"Ok, you found seven hairs. Luckily all had the tag, so I could run DNA. There are two females and one male that shed all of them. I ran the male, no hits off CODIS. One female was your victim, no big surprise there and the last female sample is running as we speak."
"Ok, thanks Greg. Please page me as soon as you get that last DNA done." She smiles at him.
"No problem. Anytime." He says to her back as she leaves.
She grabs the journal from the evidence box and finds a quiet spot in the lab to start reading again.
**I met the perfect guy tonight. Kevin Lasho, handsome, funny, smart, likes the same things I do. The same movies, books. He understands me. I met him at one of my sorority functions with our brother fraternity. I never thought I would like talking to a frat boy, they hate being called that, but he was different. All the girls wanted to talk to him, but he spent the entire night ignoring them and talking to me instead. I don't know why he doesn't have a girlfriend. My parents wouldn't be pleased though, he is in grad school and 5 years older than I am. I cant get him out of my head, but I do need to sleep, midterms tomorrow. I agreed to dinner with him this weekend.**
Sara is so engrossed in the book that she doesn't even notice when Grissom comes in and stands there staring at her. He watches her read, a small smile crossing her face and he wonders what she is thinking.
"Sara."
She looks up at him quickly with a confused expression. "Oh hey. Didn't see you there. Need something?" He can tell she is distracted by the journal and debates asking about it.
"What did Greg say?"
"Oh, sorry 'bout that." She looks at him sheepishly, puts down the book and relays the information to him.
"Well, maybe we need to ask the boyfriend for a sample tomorrow. See how willing he is." He smiles and sits across the table from her.
"Yes. Ok" Sara says and looks back at the journal picking it up to start to reading again.
"Anything in there?" He asks and she looks up again, obviously annoyed with the continued interruption.
"Not yet. She just met the boyfriend, Kevin, at a fraternity party. Like most 19 year olds, she thought he was the guy for her. Suave, mature..perfect." Grissom is stunned by the vehemence in her voice at the last part of the sentence. "He snowed her into thinking that and then cheated on her."
Grissom didn't know what to say to her. He didn't want to accuse her of becoming attached to the victim, he has tried that before and isn't in the mood for the fireworks. By now she has gone back to the journal and is ignoring him, and again he just watches her. Sara's sudden obsession with the victim's journal raises all kinds of red flags for him, but he decides to not say anything now. He'll imply keep an eye on her and hope it's just Sara putting her all into the work, though deep down he knows something else is going on.
He leaves to see if he can find Nick, who had reappeared while they were doing their interviews. Casting one last glance at Sara, who doesn't even acknowledge him, he walks out the door.
Walking back to the office, Grissom runs into Nick in the hall.
"Hey boss. I'm back. The DA needs me for some testimony tomorrow and hopefully that's it. They did a good job of letting the defense screw up the evidence, don't ask me how though. I thought it was pretty self explan…." Mid-sentence Nick realizes that Grissom is only half listening to him. "Meanwhile I have decided that being a CSI isn't really me. I have decided to become a roller coaster operator at New York, New York."
Grissom finally acknowledges the younger man "Really? I always thought you would make a better circus clown. I am listening Nick. All the time."
Grissom fills Nick in on what they have and asks him to see if Greg has anything on that last hair. Walking down to the hair and fiber lab, Nick passes one of the smaller layout rooms and sees Sara there, quietly reading the dead girls journal. He takes in the distressed look on her face, she is near tears, and decides to stop and talk to her. Before he can say a word though, Greg comes down the hall.
"Nick! Hey, have you seen Sara?" Nick takes one more worried look at her and turns to the lab tech.
"Yeah, but she's busy right now. What do you need?" He says as he heads Greg off at the pass.
"I just have these DNA results and I thought I would hand deliver them to her." Greg says with a big grin on his face.
"Why don't you give them to me, and I will get them to her?" Nick says and reaches out to take the sheet from Greg's hands.
Quickly pulling the results back, Greg eyes Nick "No thanks, I can give them to her myself."
"Look man, give it up will you? She won't go out with you." Nick tells him, trying not to be mean about it.
"Why not? We're both single, attractive people who enjoy each others company." Greg says.
"Greg, let me break it down for you. Sara isn't interested in you. She is interested in someone else, ok?" he tells Greg and puts an arm around his shoulders, leading him away from Sara.
"Oh. But who?" Greg asks, genuinely curious. At Nick's expression, he simply nods his head, hands over the results and walks off.
Nick shakes his head at the lab tech whose fantasy he probably just destroyed. Turning back to Sara, he notices she has gone from near tears to crying, not openly, but he can see the wet tracks running down her cheeks. As he is debating whether to interrupt her, Grissom comes down the hall from the same direction Greg just left. Nick quietly moves away from the door and intercepts him.
"Hey Grissom."
"Nick." Grissom says and looks at the younger man, who is wearing an expression of concern.
Looking down in his hands, Nick acknowledges the test results and hands them over to Grissom. "Here's the rest of the DNA results. Greg just finished." As Grissom takes the sheet, Nick looks over his shoulder at Sara, who is quietly wiping the tears from her face, only to have them replaced by new ones. Nicks head swivel doesn't go unnoticed by Grissom.
"Nick. What's going on?" He inquires.
"Huh, oh nothing. What does the DNA say?" He asks and turns his full attention back to Grissom.
Grissom gives Nick a funny expression of disbelief and then looks down.
"Well that's interesting. The other female DNA is from Hope Masterson; she was in CODIS. Is Sara still in the layout room?"
"Yea, I think so. But Grissom, she was crying a minute ago." Nick tells him hesitantly.
"What?" His voice is a little louder than usual for Grissom and the look on his face tells Nick that he is not pleased.
"She is reading that journal and I think she was crying."
Before Grissom can even respond to Nick they are both treated to the sound of Sara yelling and of a book being slammed down.
tbc……………….
Author: csiphile
Disclaimers: Do I really need to repeat myself?? I didn't think so..look at the first chapter if you must.
Author Notes: BIG thanks to all those who reviewed, keep em coming!! Sorry it took me so long to post this last chapter, life has been such an intrusion lately! I promise to not do that again!
*** Indicates part of the victims journal.
Upon mutual agreement they decide to call it a night and return to the lab. Since it is approaching eleven, they would try to catch the boyfriend in the morning to interview him. In the Tahoe, on the way to the lab, Sara is lost in her own thoughts when Grissom suddenly asks her a question, breaking her concentration.
"What? I'm sorry Grissom."
"I said why didn't you finish grad school?" He asks, curious, since she had obviously enjoyed her first four years there. That and not many people left grad school at Harvard.
She just stares at him, unsure how to answer, give him the rote answer she had memorized or the truth. Sara elected for the former. "I got more interested in Forensics and solving puzzles. So I went to work at the San Fran PD." It was partially true. She had wanted to solve puzzles, but there had been a larger catalyst for her leaving, one that only she knew, and if Sara had anything to do about it, it would stay that way.
Grissom looks at her as they come to a stoplight. There is something in the way she answered him that rang not true. It is almost as if she is reading from a script, and has given that same answer hundreds of times. He decides to drop it for now, it's not that important, and the look on her face says back off, which is something he doesn't get frequently from her. The rest of the ride goes by in silence as Grissom drives and Sara looks out the window, lost in thought again.
Sara gets out at the lab and immediately heads for the journal to try and prove her theory that Grace's sorority sister was the woman her boyfriend was cheating with. Before she can make it though, Greg intercepts her in the hall.
"Sara. There you are."
"Greg. How's it going?" She asks him, anxious to get back to the journal, instinct telling her part of the answer is there.
"Good, good. You know, Nick and Warrick are taking bets if Ecklie's team is getting busted for missing that journal you found. Want in?" Greg seems to be overjoyed at the thought of the day shift getting chewed out for once.
"No thanks."
"Well, in that case, I have some of that hair processed. Want the results?"
Sara looks at him with an expression of annoyance and sighs. Greg is a good guy, sometimes he just takes too long to get to the point. "Please." She says and follows him into his part of the lab.
"Ok, you found seven hairs. Luckily all had the tag, so I could run DNA. There are two females and one male that shed all of them. I ran the male, no hits off CODIS. One female was your victim, no big surprise there and the last female sample is running as we speak."
"Ok, thanks Greg. Please page me as soon as you get that last DNA done." She smiles at him.
"No problem. Anytime." He says to her back as she leaves.
She grabs the journal from the evidence box and finds a quiet spot in the lab to start reading again.
**I met the perfect guy tonight. Kevin Lasho, handsome, funny, smart, likes the same things I do. The same movies, books. He understands me. I met him at one of my sorority functions with our brother fraternity. I never thought I would like talking to a frat boy, they hate being called that, but he was different. All the girls wanted to talk to him, but he spent the entire night ignoring them and talking to me instead. I don't know why he doesn't have a girlfriend. My parents wouldn't be pleased though, he is in grad school and 5 years older than I am. I cant get him out of my head, but I do need to sleep, midterms tomorrow. I agreed to dinner with him this weekend.**
Sara is so engrossed in the book that she doesn't even notice when Grissom comes in and stands there staring at her. He watches her read, a small smile crossing her face and he wonders what she is thinking.
"Sara."
She looks up at him quickly with a confused expression. "Oh hey. Didn't see you there. Need something?" He can tell she is distracted by the journal and debates asking about it.
"What did Greg say?"
"Oh, sorry 'bout that." She looks at him sheepishly, puts down the book and relays the information to him.
"Well, maybe we need to ask the boyfriend for a sample tomorrow. See how willing he is." He smiles and sits across the table from her.
"Yes. Ok" Sara says and looks back at the journal picking it up to start to reading again.
"Anything in there?" He asks and she looks up again, obviously annoyed with the continued interruption.
"Not yet. She just met the boyfriend, Kevin, at a fraternity party. Like most 19 year olds, she thought he was the guy for her. Suave, mature..perfect." Grissom is stunned by the vehemence in her voice at the last part of the sentence. "He snowed her into thinking that and then cheated on her."
Grissom didn't know what to say to her. He didn't want to accuse her of becoming attached to the victim, he has tried that before and isn't in the mood for the fireworks. By now she has gone back to the journal and is ignoring him, and again he just watches her. Sara's sudden obsession with the victim's journal raises all kinds of red flags for him, but he decides to not say anything now. He'll imply keep an eye on her and hope it's just Sara putting her all into the work, though deep down he knows something else is going on.
He leaves to see if he can find Nick, who had reappeared while they were doing their interviews. Casting one last glance at Sara, who doesn't even acknowledge him, he walks out the door.
Walking back to the office, Grissom runs into Nick in the hall.
"Hey boss. I'm back. The DA needs me for some testimony tomorrow and hopefully that's it. They did a good job of letting the defense screw up the evidence, don't ask me how though. I thought it was pretty self explan…." Mid-sentence Nick realizes that Grissom is only half listening to him. "Meanwhile I have decided that being a CSI isn't really me. I have decided to become a roller coaster operator at New York, New York."
Grissom finally acknowledges the younger man "Really? I always thought you would make a better circus clown. I am listening Nick. All the time."
Grissom fills Nick in on what they have and asks him to see if Greg has anything on that last hair. Walking down to the hair and fiber lab, Nick passes one of the smaller layout rooms and sees Sara there, quietly reading the dead girls journal. He takes in the distressed look on her face, she is near tears, and decides to stop and talk to her. Before he can say a word though, Greg comes down the hall.
"Nick! Hey, have you seen Sara?" Nick takes one more worried look at her and turns to the lab tech.
"Yeah, but she's busy right now. What do you need?" He says as he heads Greg off at the pass.
"I just have these DNA results and I thought I would hand deliver them to her." Greg says with a big grin on his face.
"Why don't you give them to me, and I will get them to her?" Nick says and reaches out to take the sheet from Greg's hands.
Quickly pulling the results back, Greg eyes Nick "No thanks, I can give them to her myself."
"Look man, give it up will you? She won't go out with you." Nick tells him, trying not to be mean about it.
"Why not? We're both single, attractive people who enjoy each others company." Greg says.
"Greg, let me break it down for you. Sara isn't interested in you. She is interested in someone else, ok?" he tells Greg and puts an arm around his shoulders, leading him away from Sara.
"Oh. But who?" Greg asks, genuinely curious. At Nick's expression, he simply nods his head, hands over the results and walks off.
Nick shakes his head at the lab tech whose fantasy he probably just destroyed. Turning back to Sara, he notices she has gone from near tears to crying, not openly, but he can see the wet tracks running down her cheeks. As he is debating whether to interrupt her, Grissom comes down the hall from the same direction Greg just left. Nick quietly moves away from the door and intercepts him.
"Hey Grissom."
"Nick." Grissom says and looks at the younger man, who is wearing an expression of concern.
Looking down in his hands, Nick acknowledges the test results and hands them over to Grissom. "Here's the rest of the DNA results. Greg just finished." As Grissom takes the sheet, Nick looks over his shoulder at Sara, who is quietly wiping the tears from her face, only to have them replaced by new ones. Nicks head swivel doesn't go unnoticed by Grissom.
"Nick. What's going on?" He inquires.
"Huh, oh nothing. What does the DNA say?" He asks and turns his full attention back to Grissom.
Grissom gives Nick a funny expression of disbelief and then looks down.
"Well that's interesting. The other female DNA is from Hope Masterson; she was in CODIS. Is Sara still in the layout room?"
"Yea, I think so. But Grissom, she was crying a minute ago." Nick tells him hesitantly.
"What?" His voice is a little louder than usual for Grissom and the look on his face tells Nick that he is not pleased.
"She is reading that journal and I think she was crying."
Before Grissom can even respond to Nick they are both treated to the sound of Sara yelling and of a book being slammed down.
tbc……………….