Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. I wish I did. I don't own any of the
characters, but I wouldn't mind having coffee with George Eads.
Spoilers: None that I can think of, except future episodes yet to be written. Let's face it, if the writers were putting together all of what we wanted to see, we wouldn't be writing our own fan fictions.
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Southern California - Late September
The waves gently crashed against the shoreline as I toed my bare feet into the sand. The beach was fairly deserted. This time of year only die hard surfers took the time to come out at this hour. It was cool for Southern California. But it was perfect for the solitude I desired. Just a few days before, I'd felt like my world was falling apart. Here, several hundred miles removed from Las Vegas, I felt a bit more at peace, but not completely. I knew that eventually I'd have to go back and face reality. But for now, I was enjoying the isolation from that world.
The sun was setting low on the horizon and I knew that I would begin to get a bit chilly soon. I lifted myself up from the sand and picked up my shoes I had discarded in one hand. I casually began to walk back to the beach house that a college friend had so graciously let me use on such short notice.
By the time I returned to the beach house, the sun had just dipped below the horizon and the sky was a blaze of glory as the fading rays lit up the few clouds that hung in the distance. Hues of red, orange, and pink blended together to form a glorious sunset. That was something I missed about California. The sunsets over the ocean.
I let out a sigh. I knew I should drink this in while I could. When I returned to Vegas there would be no sunsets to see over the ocean, for there was no ocean there. I let out a chuckle. In a sense, there was an ocean in Vegas. A vast gulf that separated me from my supervisor, Gil Grissom. I had come to California to reflect on where my life was going. At one point in time we had been friends. I had thought that perhaps he had feelings for me, but that was before. We had hardly had an opportunity to work on a case together in months, let alone have a real conversation. After the lab explosion, I decided to ask him to dinner. He turned me down flat. That hurt. But nothing hurt more than finding out that he had kept his hearing condition from all of us. All of us but Catherine that is. How could he not trust us? How could he not trust me? Fortunately, the operation had gone well. It had arrested the progress of his hearing loss. He hadn't wanted any of us to know. But Catherine had let it slip and when I confronted Grissom about it, he hit the roof. That's when I decided to go to California and clear my head.
So here I was, relaxing in a beach house near Malibu. I sat out on the deck and listened to the waves crashing against the shoreline until my stomach began to grumble. A faint smile played at my lips as I made my way into the house. The nice thing about California was the abundance of fresh vegetables and the amount of vegetarian restaurants. The thought would probably make Nick grimace. I raised a curious eyebrow. Funny that I should think of him just now. I smiled. He was a good friend. As good a friend as anyone could ever ask for. Of all the people on the night shift, I'd clicked with him the quickest. We would grab breakfast now and then after shift and just talk about whatever. He gave me a shoulder to cry on after the nasty business with Hank. Hank. I let out a chuckle. What a lowlife. I sure hoped his real girlfriend figured that out about him.
In the end I decided to order some take out. Actually, I'd have them deliver it. Another nice thing about Southern California. You could have almost anything delivered. I walked over and picked up my cell phone. I'd left it in the house when I went out to walk on the beach earlier, I didn't want anything to intrude on my solitude. I glanced at the display. I had seven new messages.
I scrolled through the numbers to see who had called. Two were from Grissom. I laughed in disbelief. As if I was really going to call him. What was he going to do? Offer me another plant?
One was from Catherine. She probably was going to beg me to come back, and offer some excuse for why Grissom had confided in her. I wasn't stupid. The two of them had known each other for fifteen years. They'd probably figured out after all that time that they actually had feelings for each other.
One was from Warrick. I smiled. Warrick was a good guy. He was probably worried. I didn't tell anyone but Catherine that I was leaving. If he knew why, he'd probably walk in and give Grissom a piece of his mind. He'd be pissed too that Grissom hadn't told the rest of us.
The other three messages were from Nick. I chuckled and then grinned. I could always count on Nick to worry about me. I would have to call him back. I'd let him know where I was. I might even tell him why I was here. It would piss Grissom off if I told the rest of the team about his hearing and keeping it from us. I'd call Nick, as soon as I ordered something to eat.
I made a quick call to a café that my friend recommended to me. As I waited for the food to be delivered I listened to the messages. I was right about Grissom. Typical. He could never say I was important to him as a person or as a friend. Just that I was important to the lab. I was done wasting my time and energy on someone who so obviously wasn't interested, or at the very least was incapable of expressing that interest. Catherine sounded apologetic, as I thought she would. Warrick sounded worried.
I smiled as I listened to the three messages from Nick. "Hey, Sara, it's Nick. I'm just wondering where you are. Call me." He sounded concerned. "Hey, Sara, it's Nick again. I'm not sure what's going on, Catherine said you were taking a couple of days off. Is everything ok. It's not like you to take off without saying something. Call me." He sounded worried. "Hi, Sar. It's Nick. I know you want to be alone, but I'm worried about you. Catherine said you were headed to a friend's house in California. Maybe I shouldn't but, I'm coming out to see you. I'm worried about you. Something tells me that Grissom is responsible and that maybe you need someone to talk to. If I'm wrong, I apologize ahead of time. I'll call you when I get a bit closer. I'm sure Grissom is going to be pissed off at me for taking time off on such short notice, but I don't really care. I need to know you're ok."
Sara raised an eyebrow. Nick was driving all the way to California just to make sure she was ok. She checked the time on the call. He'd called about three hours ago. Vegas was about a four hour drive from LA. She let out a deep breath. Company. That wasn't something she had bargained on. But at least it was Nick. She could talk to Nick about anything. She smiled. She was glad he was coming. She punched the familiar number into her cell phone. It rang twice before he picked up. "Hey, Nicky, where are you?"
Spoilers: None that I can think of, except future episodes yet to be written. Let's face it, if the writers were putting together all of what we wanted to see, we wouldn't be writing our own fan fictions.
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Southern California - Late September
The waves gently crashed against the shoreline as I toed my bare feet into the sand. The beach was fairly deserted. This time of year only die hard surfers took the time to come out at this hour. It was cool for Southern California. But it was perfect for the solitude I desired. Just a few days before, I'd felt like my world was falling apart. Here, several hundred miles removed from Las Vegas, I felt a bit more at peace, but not completely. I knew that eventually I'd have to go back and face reality. But for now, I was enjoying the isolation from that world.
The sun was setting low on the horizon and I knew that I would begin to get a bit chilly soon. I lifted myself up from the sand and picked up my shoes I had discarded in one hand. I casually began to walk back to the beach house that a college friend had so graciously let me use on such short notice.
By the time I returned to the beach house, the sun had just dipped below the horizon and the sky was a blaze of glory as the fading rays lit up the few clouds that hung in the distance. Hues of red, orange, and pink blended together to form a glorious sunset. That was something I missed about California. The sunsets over the ocean.
I let out a sigh. I knew I should drink this in while I could. When I returned to Vegas there would be no sunsets to see over the ocean, for there was no ocean there. I let out a chuckle. In a sense, there was an ocean in Vegas. A vast gulf that separated me from my supervisor, Gil Grissom. I had come to California to reflect on where my life was going. At one point in time we had been friends. I had thought that perhaps he had feelings for me, but that was before. We had hardly had an opportunity to work on a case together in months, let alone have a real conversation. After the lab explosion, I decided to ask him to dinner. He turned me down flat. That hurt. But nothing hurt more than finding out that he had kept his hearing condition from all of us. All of us but Catherine that is. How could he not trust us? How could he not trust me? Fortunately, the operation had gone well. It had arrested the progress of his hearing loss. He hadn't wanted any of us to know. But Catherine had let it slip and when I confronted Grissom about it, he hit the roof. That's when I decided to go to California and clear my head.
So here I was, relaxing in a beach house near Malibu. I sat out on the deck and listened to the waves crashing against the shoreline until my stomach began to grumble. A faint smile played at my lips as I made my way into the house. The nice thing about California was the abundance of fresh vegetables and the amount of vegetarian restaurants. The thought would probably make Nick grimace. I raised a curious eyebrow. Funny that I should think of him just now. I smiled. He was a good friend. As good a friend as anyone could ever ask for. Of all the people on the night shift, I'd clicked with him the quickest. We would grab breakfast now and then after shift and just talk about whatever. He gave me a shoulder to cry on after the nasty business with Hank. Hank. I let out a chuckle. What a lowlife. I sure hoped his real girlfriend figured that out about him.
In the end I decided to order some take out. Actually, I'd have them deliver it. Another nice thing about Southern California. You could have almost anything delivered. I walked over and picked up my cell phone. I'd left it in the house when I went out to walk on the beach earlier, I didn't want anything to intrude on my solitude. I glanced at the display. I had seven new messages.
I scrolled through the numbers to see who had called. Two were from Grissom. I laughed in disbelief. As if I was really going to call him. What was he going to do? Offer me another plant?
One was from Catherine. She probably was going to beg me to come back, and offer some excuse for why Grissom had confided in her. I wasn't stupid. The two of them had known each other for fifteen years. They'd probably figured out after all that time that they actually had feelings for each other.
One was from Warrick. I smiled. Warrick was a good guy. He was probably worried. I didn't tell anyone but Catherine that I was leaving. If he knew why, he'd probably walk in and give Grissom a piece of his mind. He'd be pissed too that Grissom hadn't told the rest of us.
The other three messages were from Nick. I chuckled and then grinned. I could always count on Nick to worry about me. I would have to call him back. I'd let him know where I was. I might even tell him why I was here. It would piss Grissom off if I told the rest of the team about his hearing and keeping it from us. I'd call Nick, as soon as I ordered something to eat.
I made a quick call to a café that my friend recommended to me. As I waited for the food to be delivered I listened to the messages. I was right about Grissom. Typical. He could never say I was important to him as a person or as a friend. Just that I was important to the lab. I was done wasting my time and energy on someone who so obviously wasn't interested, or at the very least was incapable of expressing that interest. Catherine sounded apologetic, as I thought she would. Warrick sounded worried.
I smiled as I listened to the three messages from Nick. "Hey, Sara, it's Nick. I'm just wondering where you are. Call me." He sounded concerned. "Hey, Sara, it's Nick again. I'm not sure what's going on, Catherine said you were taking a couple of days off. Is everything ok. It's not like you to take off without saying something. Call me." He sounded worried. "Hi, Sar. It's Nick. I know you want to be alone, but I'm worried about you. Catherine said you were headed to a friend's house in California. Maybe I shouldn't but, I'm coming out to see you. I'm worried about you. Something tells me that Grissom is responsible and that maybe you need someone to talk to. If I'm wrong, I apologize ahead of time. I'll call you when I get a bit closer. I'm sure Grissom is going to be pissed off at me for taking time off on such short notice, but I don't really care. I need to know you're ok."
Sara raised an eyebrow. Nick was driving all the way to California just to make sure she was ok. She checked the time on the call. He'd called about three hours ago. Vegas was about a four hour drive from LA. She let out a deep breath. Company. That wasn't something she had bargained on. But at least it was Nick. She could talk to Nick about anything. She smiled. She was glad he was coming. She punched the familiar number into her cell phone. It rang twice before he picked up. "Hey, Nicky, where are you?"
