9- "Illusions?"
Taña walked to Sara and said, "Sara Sidle?"
Sara Sidle looked at her with a cold glance. She must think that Taña was her replacement.
"Agent Szmerka," she said, reaching her and planting herself right in front of Sara, blocking her view of the DB.
"FBI? Since when was this case federal?"
"It isn't, it's a long story. Do you mind if I could shake your hand?"
Sara narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "If your thinking you will find epithelial cells under my nails, then you are going to be wrong."
Taña smiled, "No, you misunderstand me. I just want to shake the hand of the woman who can make Grissom as uncomfortable as if he was sleeping on nails while hopped up on laxatives."
"What did Grissom say about me?" She asked back, way too fast to sound like she didn't care. Taña cocked an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, but that's classified."
Taña knew Sara would have given anything to shoot her right now, but she didn't care. She found it very interesting finding out that such a workaholic like Grissom actually did have a past, and an unfinished one at that. And one so close... she laughed in inward, silent, evil laugh.
The interview went perfectly, and Taña thanked Sara for her work and said, "I'll be sure to send Grissom for the follow up."
She winked and left Sara, who stuttered back, "I... no... you misunderstood..."
Grissom sat in his office later that day, thinking to himself.
He knew he had taken advantage, she had even threatened to quit before, but he had never heeded her. And now she was gone.
Seeing her that day was amazing. She had changed so much. She would smile a true smile, one he had never seen while she was a CSI. But her eyes still seemed empty. Unfulfilled. Like she was missing something she needed.
His door was open, and Catherine knocked on the door, making him start from his slight daydream. She smiled.
"It was a dead raccoon that had managed to decompose in the air ducts, making it smell a whole lot worse than it should have. Did something happen today? Our Profiler and Level One are actually not killing each other. They were talking to Doc."
"Sara."
Catherine's eyes grew wide, "Sara..."
"No, she didn't die. I saw her today. She works at the zoo."
"How is she? Is she okay? You look worried."
"She looked happy. Genuinely happy." Grissom drifted off into a thoughtful daydream again. Catherine paused in a silent thought. "She isn't."
"What do you know?" Grissom asked, his voice tinged with curiosity.
"You can't be happy in a job that you weren't destined for."
"What is destiny anyway?" The voice came from the doorway. It was Taña. She realized it was rude and cleared her throat.
"Our floater is Jack Livingston, a 42 year old best selling author. The deceased left behind a teenaged son and a wife. The wound that killed him," She held up a mold, "Is very irregular. We won't be able to tell unless we have something to compare it to. The little weasel and I are going to head over to the house to conduct interviews. Are you coming?"
Grissom looked thoughtful, "What time is it?"
Taña looked down at her watch, "0800."
Grissom shook his head, "I can't come with you. Take my advice: you drive. Greg is a maniac behind the wheel."
She smiled, unimpressed, "I see he had changed a whole lot since high school. I'll be sure to."
Taña turned to leave when Grissom asked, "What is destiny?"
She smiled, and answered without turning around, "An illusion created by the human mind to try to grip a world they have no actual control over." She left without another word.
Catherine had a funny look on her face, "Wow. The FBI sounds like fun."
Sara was back at work again, and was sitting with her legs dipped into the temporary tank where the dolphins were swimming. Nevina and Sara were jumping about, hyper because their show had to be cancelled. Their tank was a crime scene, after all.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about him. He was like some kind of force. When Grissom was in a room, he seemed so magnetic, not really normal, but so amazing you just wanted to be near him so you could figure him out. He was so confusing and addicting, like some kind of human puzzle you were racing to solve. A game of sorts.
Sara had won his game once, back when they were together, and she had finally felt completed. Like she was in the right place. The sick feeling of incompleteness has eaten her away ever since.
But you're happy. Just you and your friends.
"You understand me, don't you 'Vina?" Sara asked, patting the dolphin's head and smiling. "No one can ever tell me animals don't have souls."
"And no one could ever tell me that destiny is an illusion..."
It was Gil.
"Stick that in your pipe and smoke it."
-Dr. Evil
