Title: Day After Day
Chapter: 3
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: In this chapter we slip into the past for a bit. The past begins and ends with *. Thanks again for the replies!
Las Vegas's bright lights shone on the road before Grissom like a lighthouse guiding ships to the harbor. He pulled into a metered parking spot in front of her building but didn't take the time to put a quarter in. Eckley's crew had left Sara's apartment in disarray- exactly how it was found by Catherine. It seemed like years had passed between the day Sara never showed up for work and now. It had actually only been a few weeks.
Grissom could still hear Catherine's panicked voice in his head, the feeling of his heart seizing as Catherine said those infamous words, "Sara's apartment has been ransacked. There is blood all over. Sara's not here."
Sara's apartment was small and red tinged on it's own but now the noticeable stains of blood echoed the walls and furniture. There really wasn't "blood all over" as Catherine had first exclaimed, minuscule amounts of blood drops though were scattered about. They told an interesting story. Greg had discovered that the blood belonged to Sara and her assailant. Who the assailant was still a mystery.
It seemed that a fight ensued shortly after Sara got home, her purse was on her kitchen island and the answering machine had played out two messages. One of the messages Sara had to hear was from Catherine, apologizing for Grissom's behavior. Catherine always seemed to be a go-between for the both of them. Grissom could remember Eckley questioning him after he had the tape. Eckley was curious as to why Sara would be so upset because of a "rebuff". That was Conrad Eckley's favorite new word to throw around in Grissom's presence. He acted as if he then something sordid was going between Grissom and Sara. If only it had. If only Grissom wasn't scared to let her in... if only.
Grissom felt like an intruder going through Sara's private possessions, scouring her drawers for clues. How she would hate this, he thought as tears welled up into his eyes. He found an answering machine tape in a bottom drawer of her desk. He put it into the black dust-ridden machine and played the message. His voice echoed back to him, "Sara, its Gil Grissom. Look I need your help. I'm in chaos down here in Vegas, one of my rookies is dead and another CSI needs to be investigated. Could you come and do the investigation? (A pause) There is also a position open on graveyard shift; I'd love for you to take it. Call me, please." It was amazing to him how free he had been with her on the phone and more amazing how she had kept that audio memory all this time.
He thought back to the last time he saw Sara before she disappeared out of this life.
** "Grissom," she stood in the doorway to his office looking pensive.
"What's up?" he asked glancing down at his notes, it was easier than looking into her beautiful eyes.
"I've got a question to ask you."
"Go ahead." He concentrated fully on the notes.
"Do you want to go to dinner with me?"
The notes dropped down to the desk. She must be trying to make some point, he reasoned, just like the last time she stood in my doorway and asked me...
"Grissom, are you going to answer me?" She swallowed hard and he knew she was finding it difficult to proceed.
"Is Nick coming, too?" Why did that come out? Grissom's tongue came before his brain sometimes.
"Oh, I'm not inviting Nick, I'm inviting you." She paused and then continued moving into the office, his inner sanctuary. "I'm asking you out on a date." She said the words in a rush as if she were afraid they weren't going to come out.
Tell her yes, his inner voice said. Gil Grissom couldn't do it though. Fear came and took over his sensible and sensitive sides. "I don't want to date you." It was out before he thought about what he was saying. He was closing the door on whatever he could have with Sara. Why did he have to be so cruel? He wanted to date her, why couldn't he say that?
Her eyes glazed and anger shook her voice, "Fine, that's cool." She stormed out the office but he could hear her tears in the hall.
"What did you do?" Catherine stuck her head into his office.
"I told Sara I don't want to date her."**
Catherine, of course, let him have it using some pretty saucy vocabulary. She told him she was going to call Sara and apologize to her for him. Why couldn't he do it? He didn't know the answer to that one.
Sara, hurt, upset, leaving the office; the image stayed in his head.
Had he said, "Yes." Had he followed her home. Had he done so many things maybe she wouldn't have found herself in this situation. He was partly responsible for the hell she was going through. Grissom could still remember every detail of the last outfit he saw her in: black jeans, gray v-neck tee, her black ray-bans on her head. He wondered if they would find her body in those clothes. Once beautiful clothes like the woman, who wore than, tore and discarded.
"Grissom!" The voice behind him belonged to Conrad Eckley. "What are you thinking? You can't take over my case. It's my case, Gil, not yours. Your too close to Sidle."
Grissom was ignoring him. "Conrad, how did you get into Sara's apartment without me knowing you were here?"
"What?" Eckley shook his head. I came through the front door Gil, she doesn't have a chimney."
"I closed the front door and locked it."
"No, the door was two inches open and not locked as far as I could tell." Eckley shook his head as if he was talking to a misguided child.
Grissom moved past Eckley and to Sara's door. It was still in the locked position. He closed it softly and watched with horror as it slowly opened back up. "Sara's door is warped. It's not closing right."
"What?" Eckley bent down and took a look himself. "This is how he got in. We thought she had opened the door to someone she knew."
Sara was upset, thought Grissom, so she could have forgotten about the door. God, what had he done.
The door opened slightly casting the morning sun on Sara's face. Her eyes burned from the invasion. He stood in the doorway, a silhouetted figure. "Why are you doing this?" she managed to croak with dry-mouth.
"Get up," he said.
"I can't, you have my hands tied to my legs, remember?"
He moved with one swift stroke into the room and dragged her forcefully to her knees. "When I tell you to get up, you do. Got it bitch?"
Sara didn't answer instead she concentrate on the one thing that was helping her get through this ordeal- Gil Grissom. She let her mind wander to all the little moments they had shared, his blue eyes, the way one can see his mind work through his facial expressions. He had hurt her deeply the last time she saw him but she chose not to remember that. If she was to die she wanted to think of Grissom in a positive light. Sara was willing to forgive him for his ignorance just as long as she could see him again and maybe touch him.
The stranger who had invaded her life and held all the power was talking. She had not been listening but the gleam in his eyes told her what he was saying could be important. "Could you repeat that?" she asked.
"Listen when I tell you something!" His foot slammed into right side. Her breath caught in her chest. "Today is your last day on Earth. Tomorrow you die."
"You've been promising that for a week."
"Shut up!" He kicked her again, this time with even greater force. A rib felt like it cracked in slow motion, pain entered her every pore. "Well, tomorrow that promise is coming true." He left her there kneeling, the dark obscuring the light once more. Sara thought back to the day he had taken her life away from her.
**Sara had been angry, upset, disgusted, and disillusioned. Gil Grissom, the man she had loved for years, had turned her down without expressing any emotion. She had been hoping if a rebuff had occurred that he would have used his age or his role as boss as an excuse. Instead he had cruelly had said he didn't want to date her. She was sorry she had asked. To love someone who didn't love you back was bad enough but to have him rip your heart out, was too much to take.
She had meant to tell her landlord about the warped door but when she got home he was always busy running errands. She had foolishly removed her gun and belt including her ID before checking her messages. There was one from a sweepstakes and one from Catherine. Catherine had apologized for Grissom's behavior and said not to take the rebuff to heart. She also lamented how she would be over soon so they could "chat". Sara did not feel in the mood to talk about anything, nevermind her love her. She was lost in her own thoughts and that probably could explain why she hadn't heard him come in.
As she turned, she saw the knife, small but big enough to do damage. He lunged at her and she moved to avoid this thrust. The knife still scraped her arm. She ran for her gun but he was as fast as her. The knife penetrated through cloth to her flesh. She worked off the pain as she swung her arm around. The punch connected with his nose and sent blood spraying her furniture. He jabbed the knife towards her again and she reeled back. Tripping on a book laying on the floor, Sara felt her head slam into the surface. Stars appeared in her eyes. She tried to remain focus, to plan her next move but it was too late. Her gun coming down on top of her forehead was the last image she saw.**
Grissom was in his office when Nick appeared. "Griss, the lady we thought was Sara, we solved her case."
"Already?"
"Yeah, turns out Miss Janice Granger had one abusive boyfriend who beat her till she died. Brass managed a confession out of him."
"Good work, Nick." Grissom went back to looking at the photos on his desk.
Nick moved behind him. "Sara's apartment. I heard you ran into Old Eck there."
"Yeah, he agreed to let me handle the case seeing he screwed up."
Nick smiled. "How did he do that?"
Grissom put the photos down and turned to the younger CSI. "He neglected to see that Sara's door was warped allowing easy access for any intruder."
Emotion gripped Nick's voice. "Do you think we'll find her?"
Grissom didn't look into his eyes. "We'll get her back, Nick."
The office door swung open at that very moment. A still emotionally effected but happier Greg Sanders strode in. "Guys, I got a lead in Sara's case. I know who her 'napper is!"
To be continued
Chapter: 3
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: In this chapter we slip into the past for a bit. The past begins and ends with *. Thanks again for the replies!
Las Vegas's bright lights shone on the road before Grissom like a lighthouse guiding ships to the harbor. He pulled into a metered parking spot in front of her building but didn't take the time to put a quarter in. Eckley's crew had left Sara's apartment in disarray- exactly how it was found by Catherine. It seemed like years had passed between the day Sara never showed up for work and now. It had actually only been a few weeks.
Grissom could still hear Catherine's panicked voice in his head, the feeling of his heart seizing as Catherine said those infamous words, "Sara's apartment has been ransacked. There is blood all over. Sara's not here."
Sara's apartment was small and red tinged on it's own but now the noticeable stains of blood echoed the walls and furniture. There really wasn't "blood all over" as Catherine had first exclaimed, minuscule amounts of blood drops though were scattered about. They told an interesting story. Greg had discovered that the blood belonged to Sara and her assailant. Who the assailant was still a mystery.
It seemed that a fight ensued shortly after Sara got home, her purse was on her kitchen island and the answering machine had played out two messages. One of the messages Sara had to hear was from Catherine, apologizing for Grissom's behavior. Catherine always seemed to be a go-between for the both of them. Grissom could remember Eckley questioning him after he had the tape. Eckley was curious as to why Sara would be so upset because of a "rebuff". That was Conrad Eckley's favorite new word to throw around in Grissom's presence. He acted as if he then something sordid was going between Grissom and Sara. If only it had. If only Grissom wasn't scared to let her in... if only.
Grissom felt like an intruder going through Sara's private possessions, scouring her drawers for clues. How she would hate this, he thought as tears welled up into his eyes. He found an answering machine tape in a bottom drawer of her desk. He put it into the black dust-ridden machine and played the message. His voice echoed back to him, "Sara, its Gil Grissom. Look I need your help. I'm in chaos down here in Vegas, one of my rookies is dead and another CSI needs to be investigated. Could you come and do the investigation? (A pause) There is also a position open on graveyard shift; I'd love for you to take it. Call me, please." It was amazing to him how free he had been with her on the phone and more amazing how she had kept that audio memory all this time.
He thought back to the last time he saw Sara before she disappeared out of this life.
** "Grissom," she stood in the doorway to his office looking pensive.
"What's up?" he asked glancing down at his notes, it was easier than looking into her beautiful eyes.
"I've got a question to ask you."
"Go ahead." He concentrated fully on the notes.
"Do you want to go to dinner with me?"
The notes dropped down to the desk. She must be trying to make some point, he reasoned, just like the last time she stood in my doorway and asked me...
"Grissom, are you going to answer me?" She swallowed hard and he knew she was finding it difficult to proceed.
"Is Nick coming, too?" Why did that come out? Grissom's tongue came before his brain sometimes.
"Oh, I'm not inviting Nick, I'm inviting you." She paused and then continued moving into the office, his inner sanctuary. "I'm asking you out on a date." She said the words in a rush as if she were afraid they weren't going to come out.
Tell her yes, his inner voice said. Gil Grissom couldn't do it though. Fear came and took over his sensible and sensitive sides. "I don't want to date you." It was out before he thought about what he was saying. He was closing the door on whatever he could have with Sara. Why did he have to be so cruel? He wanted to date her, why couldn't he say that?
Her eyes glazed and anger shook her voice, "Fine, that's cool." She stormed out the office but he could hear her tears in the hall.
"What did you do?" Catherine stuck her head into his office.
"I told Sara I don't want to date her."**
Catherine, of course, let him have it using some pretty saucy vocabulary. She told him she was going to call Sara and apologize to her for him. Why couldn't he do it? He didn't know the answer to that one.
Sara, hurt, upset, leaving the office; the image stayed in his head.
Had he said, "Yes." Had he followed her home. Had he done so many things maybe she wouldn't have found herself in this situation. He was partly responsible for the hell she was going through. Grissom could still remember every detail of the last outfit he saw her in: black jeans, gray v-neck tee, her black ray-bans on her head. He wondered if they would find her body in those clothes. Once beautiful clothes like the woman, who wore than, tore and discarded.
"Grissom!" The voice behind him belonged to Conrad Eckley. "What are you thinking? You can't take over my case. It's my case, Gil, not yours. Your too close to Sidle."
Grissom was ignoring him. "Conrad, how did you get into Sara's apartment without me knowing you were here?"
"What?" Eckley shook his head. I came through the front door Gil, she doesn't have a chimney."
"I closed the front door and locked it."
"No, the door was two inches open and not locked as far as I could tell." Eckley shook his head as if he was talking to a misguided child.
Grissom moved past Eckley and to Sara's door. It was still in the locked position. He closed it softly and watched with horror as it slowly opened back up. "Sara's door is warped. It's not closing right."
"What?" Eckley bent down and took a look himself. "This is how he got in. We thought she had opened the door to someone she knew."
Sara was upset, thought Grissom, so she could have forgotten about the door. God, what had he done.
The door opened slightly casting the morning sun on Sara's face. Her eyes burned from the invasion. He stood in the doorway, a silhouetted figure. "Why are you doing this?" she managed to croak with dry-mouth.
"Get up," he said.
"I can't, you have my hands tied to my legs, remember?"
He moved with one swift stroke into the room and dragged her forcefully to her knees. "When I tell you to get up, you do. Got it bitch?"
Sara didn't answer instead she concentrate on the one thing that was helping her get through this ordeal- Gil Grissom. She let her mind wander to all the little moments they had shared, his blue eyes, the way one can see his mind work through his facial expressions. He had hurt her deeply the last time she saw him but she chose not to remember that. If she was to die she wanted to think of Grissom in a positive light. Sara was willing to forgive him for his ignorance just as long as she could see him again and maybe touch him.
The stranger who had invaded her life and held all the power was talking. She had not been listening but the gleam in his eyes told her what he was saying could be important. "Could you repeat that?" she asked.
"Listen when I tell you something!" His foot slammed into right side. Her breath caught in her chest. "Today is your last day on Earth. Tomorrow you die."
"You've been promising that for a week."
"Shut up!" He kicked her again, this time with even greater force. A rib felt like it cracked in slow motion, pain entered her every pore. "Well, tomorrow that promise is coming true." He left her there kneeling, the dark obscuring the light once more. Sara thought back to the day he had taken her life away from her.
**Sara had been angry, upset, disgusted, and disillusioned. Gil Grissom, the man she had loved for years, had turned her down without expressing any emotion. She had been hoping if a rebuff had occurred that he would have used his age or his role as boss as an excuse. Instead he had cruelly had said he didn't want to date her. She was sorry she had asked. To love someone who didn't love you back was bad enough but to have him rip your heart out, was too much to take.
She had meant to tell her landlord about the warped door but when she got home he was always busy running errands. She had foolishly removed her gun and belt including her ID before checking her messages. There was one from a sweepstakes and one from Catherine. Catherine had apologized for Grissom's behavior and said not to take the rebuff to heart. She also lamented how she would be over soon so they could "chat". Sara did not feel in the mood to talk about anything, nevermind her love her. She was lost in her own thoughts and that probably could explain why she hadn't heard him come in.
As she turned, she saw the knife, small but big enough to do damage. He lunged at her and she moved to avoid this thrust. The knife still scraped her arm. She ran for her gun but he was as fast as her. The knife penetrated through cloth to her flesh. She worked off the pain as she swung her arm around. The punch connected with his nose and sent blood spraying her furniture. He jabbed the knife towards her again and she reeled back. Tripping on a book laying on the floor, Sara felt her head slam into the surface. Stars appeared in her eyes. She tried to remain focus, to plan her next move but it was too late. Her gun coming down on top of her forehead was the last image she saw.**
Grissom was in his office when Nick appeared. "Griss, the lady we thought was Sara, we solved her case."
"Already?"
"Yeah, turns out Miss Janice Granger had one abusive boyfriend who beat her till she died. Brass managed a confession out of him."
"Good work, Nick." Grissom went back to looking at the photos on his desk.
Nick moved behind him. "Sara's apartment. I heard you ran into Old Eck there."
"Yeah, he agreed to let me handle the case seeing he screwed up."
Nick smiled. "How did he do that?"
Grissom put the photos down and turned to the younger CSI. "He neglected to see that Sara's door was warped allowing easy access for any intruder."
Emotion gripped Nick's voice. "Do you think we'll find her?"
Grissom didn't look into his eyes. "We'll get her back, Nick."
The office door swung open at that very moment. A still emotionally effected but happier Greg Sanders strode in. "Guys, I got a lead in Sara's case. I know who her 'napper is!"
To be continued