Chapter 7:
Sara was jarred awake by a distant thwacking noise.
"Wha? . . ." She slowly raised her head from the pillow. . ., which was less comfortable than might be thought considering the pillow was lying on the floor wedged between the coffee table and the couch.
"KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!"
"Ugh." Sara shuffled her way to the door, and gazed out the peephole. The distorted features of Greg holding a mug of coffee greeted her. She looked down at herself to check out the damage. Fully clothed, and not smelling too great. Best way to scare off her favorite, yet overly affectionate lab rat buddy.
"Hey." Sara greeted Greg while swiping the offered beverage.
"Hey back atcha!" Greg replied, a little too loudly. He grinned as he noticed she was wearing the same clothes she had on eight hours previous. "You coming in tonight?"
Sara stared blankly at him over the rim of her coffee.
"Yeah."
"Well, doesn't shift start in like twenty minutes?"
Sara blinked. She shoved the mug back at Greg, grabbed some pieces of clothing from her dresser across the large studio apartment, and disappeared into the bathroom. Greg grinned. As much as he knew Sara didn't see him in that way, he couldn't help letting his mind wander about. Sara was right on the other side of the wall. . . necked. . . and wet. . .
"Down boy!" Greg chastised himself, and walked over to Sara's music and video shelves to nose around. "Interesting!" He couldn't help noticing the wide variety of genres. Sara didn't seem to stick to any one group of music. There was everything from classical to country to heavy metal. And he was also taken aback by how nice her place was decorated. Not that he expected her to live in a box, but it was warm and welcoming. A stark contrast to how Sara came off most of the time.
"Ready!" Sara popped out of the restroom in fresh clothes, with semi-wet hair.
"Geez! That was fast!"
Sara reclaimed her coffee mug, and grabbed her duffle bag and keys.
"Need a ride?" Greg asked hopefully.
"Thanks, but I have to run errands on break." Sara patted Greg's arm as she locked her door behind the two of them.
"Ok then!" Greg put on a huge grin to cover his disappointment. "Well, see you back at the labs."
~-~-~-~-~
"Greg stopped by your place?!?" Catherine laughed. "That poor guy has it bad for you, I hope you know that."
"He's a nice guy. He knows that we're just work friends."
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to like it." Cath frowned.
"Great. . .make me feel even guiltier. Where's Grissom?"
"Haven't seen him yet." Catherine shrugged.
"Seen Grissom?" Warrick walked into the room, and plopped down next to Catherine.
"Nope." Catherine picked up a folder and flipped through it.
Grissom came walking in with a distinct bounce to his step. Sara grinned, and Catherine rolled her eyes while poking Sara in the arm accusingly. Catherine raised her brows at her, and Sara just mouthed "Don't look at me!"
"Ok! We have a busy night ahead of us." Grissom handed out folders.
~-~-~-~
Catherine gave Sara an "I knew it!" look after Grissom assigned Sara to work a homicide with him on the outskirts of the desert. She just grinned. They hadn't worked a case alone together in a while.
"So. . .I guess I'm driving." Grissom handed the folder to Sara to examine. He walked off towards the exit with a slight spring to his step. Sara laughed out loud, glad that no one else was around. The man was acting almost giddy, and all they'd done was go to the diner. She wondered if it had been wise to assign the two of them to a case. But, then, they were both totally capable of being professional. If they couldn't it wouldn't work anyhow. She shook her head, and followed towards the parking lot.
Chapter 8:
"Got everything?" Grissom asked as Sara got into the SUV.
"Yep!" She buckled up, and looked over at him.
Grissom looked straight ahead, and started the engine.
"So. . . what are we dealing with?" Sara spoke, startling Grissom.
"Hmmm?"
"The case, Grissom." She chuckled at his embarrassed expression.
"Dead body in the desert. Ranger found him about fifty feet off the trail. I.D. says he's an LVU Sophomore. Other than that, we'll see when we get there."
"Who's Greg going with today?"
"Greg is in the labs today. We needed him more there, and his paper work isn't totally cleared. He isn't technically a CSI trainee yet. We drag him out too much, and we'll get cries of misappropriating county personnel from Ecklie. Archie is helping out Warrick and Catherine though."
"Hmmm. That's too bad. Greg's so excited to finally be getting a chance at CSI level 1."
"We all have to take our turns in the labs, Sara." Grissom had an almost irritated tone. It didn't go unnoticed by Sara.
~-~-~-~
"Back in here with the lowly lab rats, eh, Greggo?" Jacquie teased from behind the microscope.
"For the day anyhow. Archie got to go with Catherine and Warrick. Since when is he all gungho on field work?"
"Relax. There's plenty of crime to go around." Jacquie was enjoying seeing Greg squirm. She'd missed kidding around with him in the labs.
"Why didn't you ever go out for CSI?" Greg picked up a bindle of evidence, and carefully opened it for testing.
"Field work's not for me. I've been here a long time, and I've seen plenty of good lab technicians get burned out in no time after going into the field. Some people just aren't cut out for it."
"You trying to tell me something?" Greg looked hurt.
"I'm telling you that Archie can tell the sound of a humming bird farting from a mile away, but it doesn't mean he can handle a crime scene. You, I'm not worried about." She laughed, and handed the sample of hair she'd been checking out under the scope back to Greg to put away. Greg beamed at her.
~-~-~-~
"This guy's been here a while." David stood next to the body, greeting Sara and Grissom with a welcome smile.
"Approximately how long?" Grissom looked over the body as Sara snapped pictures.
"I'd say about two days. I'm sure you can tell from your little friends." David pointed towards the flies buzzing around the dead man's corpse.
Sara grinned, and glanced around the area for tracks and prints.
"He's been moved at least once since he died." Grissom motioned towards the splotchy coloring around his legs, arms, and face. "The hypostasis indicates he didn't die face up, but on his stomach. After death the blood stops being pumped, it pools anywhere gravity pulls it. Did the ranger attempt to move the body?" Grissom looked up the ridge towards the park ranger.
"He says he didn't touch a thing. Called it in as soon as he saw what it was." David sat his bag down, and waited for Sara and Grissom to finish their work.
Grissom looked around for Sara. She was outside the range of the floodlights, and in the near pitch-black of the night-time desert, he couldn't see a thing past the bright floods.
"Sara?"
"I'm over here on the other side of the ridge." Grissom walked towards her voice until he saw the beam of her flashlight. She was kneeling down over something next to a set of tracks.
"What'd you find?" He knelt down beside her, almost touching her arm.
"This." Sara carefully held up a used condom using her tweezers, and placed it in a bindle. "Also found a very deep set of prints. Must've been a delivery truck or something." She motioned over her should towards the tracks.
"Nice work." He looked over at her. They were well away from the others, lit only by Sara's flashlight. He indulged in the view of her face cast in starlight, and shadows. It was as close to a truly romantic moment as they'd had in a very long time.
"You ready?" Sara stood, and offered him a helping hand up which he politely refused. The moment had ended. They were on the clock, and all business.
"Let's get what we found back to the lab." Grissom grabbed her kit for her, and they walked back towards David and the nervous ranger.
Sara was jarred awake by a distant thwacking noise.
"Wha? . . ." She slowly raised her head from the pillow. . ., which was less comfortable than might be thought considering the pillow was lying on the floor wedged between the coffee table and the couch.
"KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!"
"Ugh." Sara shuffled her way to the door, and gazed out the peephole. The distorted features of Greg holding a mug of coffee greeted her. She looked down at herself to check out the damage. Fully clothed, and not smelling too great. Best way to scare off her favorite, yet overly affectionate lab rat buddy.
"Hey." Sara greeted Greg while swiping the offered beverage.
"Hey back atcha!" Greg replied, a little too loudly. He grinned as he noticed she was wearing the same clothes she had on eight hours previous. "You coming in tonight?"
Sara stared blankly at him over the rim of her coffee.
"Yeah."
"Well, doesn't shift start in like twenty minutes?"
Sara blinked. She shoved the mug back at Greg, grabbed some pieces of clothing from her dresser across the large studio apartment, and disappeared into the bathroom. Greg grinned. As much as he knew Sara didn't see him in that way, he couldn't help letting his mind wander about. Sara was right on the other side of the wall. . . necked. . . and wet. . .
"Down boy!" Greg chastised himself, and walked over to Sara's music and video shelves to nose around. "Interesting!" He couldn't help noticing the wide variety of genres. Sara didn't seem to stick to any one group of music. There was everything from classical to country to heavy metal. And he was also taken aback by how nice her place was decorated. Not that he expected her to live in a box, but it was warm and welcoming. A stark contrast to how Sara came off most of the time.
"Ready!" Sara popped out of the restroom in fresh clothes, with semi-wet hair.
"Geez! That was fast!"
Sara reclaimed her coffee mug, and grabbed her duffle bag and keys.
"Need a ride?" Greg asked hopefully.
"Thanks, but I have to run errands on break." Sara patted Greg's arm as she locked her door behind the two of them.
"Ok then!" Greg put on a huge grin to cover his disappointment. "Well, see you back at the labs."
~-~-~-~-~
"Greg stopped by your place?!?" Catherine laughed. "That poor guy has it bad for you, I hope you know that."
"He's a nice guy. He knows that we're just work friends."
"Yeah, but he doesn't have to like it." Cath frowned.
"Great. . .make me feel even guiltier. Where's Grissom?"
"Haven't seen him yet." Catherine shrugged.
"Seen Grissom?" Warrick walked into the room, and plopped down next to Catherine.
"Nope." Catherine picked up a folder and flipped through it.
Grissom came walking in with a distinct bounce to his step. Sara grinned, and Catherine rolled her eyes while poking Sara in the arm accusingly. Catherine raised her brows at her, and Sara just mouthed "Don't look at me!"
"Ok! We have a busy night ahead of us." Grissom handed out folders.
~-~-~-~
Catherine gave Sara an "I knew it!" look after Grissom assigned Sara to work a homicide with him on the outskirts of the desert. She just grinned. They hadn't worked a case alone together in a while.
"So. . .I guess I'm driving." Grissom handed the folder to Sara to examine. He walked off towards the exit with a slight spring to his step. Sara laughed out loud, glad that no one else was around. The man was acting almost giddy, and all they'd done was go to the diner. She wondered if it had been wise to assign the two of them to a case. But, then, they were both totally capable of being professional. If they couldn't it wouldn't work anyhow. She shook her head, and followed towards the parking lot.
Chapter 8:
"Got everything?" Grissom asked as Sara got into the SUV.
"Yep!" She buckled up, and looked over at him.
Grissom looked straight ahead, and started the engine.
"So. . . what are we dealing with?" Sara spoke, startling Grissom.
"Hmmm?"
"The case, Grissom." She chuckled at his embarrassed expression.
"Dead body in the desert. Ranger found him about fifty feet off the trail. I.D. says he's an LVU Sophomore. Other than that, we'll see when we get there."
"Who's Greg going with today?"
"Greg is in the labs today. We needed him more there, and his paper work isn't totally cleared. He isn't technically a CSI trainee yet. We drag him out too much, and we'll get cries of misappropriating county personnel from Ecklie. Archie is helping out Warrick and Catherine though."
"Hmmm. That's too bad. Greg's so excited to finally be getting a chance at CSI level 1."
"We all have to take our turns in the labs, Sara." Grissom had an almost irritated tone. It didn't go unnoticed by Sara.
~-~-~-~
"Back in here with the lowly lab rats, eh, Greggo?" Jacquie teased from behind the microscope.
"For the day anyhow. Archie got to go with Catherine and Warrick. Since when is he all gungho on field work?"
"Relax. There's plenty of crime to go around." Jacquie was enjoying seeing Greg squirm. She'd missed kidding around with him in the labs.
"Why didn't you ever go out for CSI?" Greg picked up a bindle of evidence, and carefully opened it for testing.
"Field work's not for me. I've been here a long time, and I've seen plenty of good lab technicians get burned out in no time after going into the field. Some people just aren't cut out for it."
"You trying to tell me something?" Greg looked hurt.
"I'm telling you that Archie can tell the sound of a humming bird farting from a mile away, but it doesn't mean he can handle a crime scene. You, I'm not worried about." She laughed, and handed the sample of hair she'd been checking out under the scope back to Greg to put away. Greg beamed at her.
~-~-~-~
"This guy's been here a while." David stood next to the body, greeting Sara and Grissom with a welcome smile.
"Approximately how long?" Grissom looked over the body as Sara snapped pictures.
"I'd say about two days. I'm sure you can tell from your little friends." David pointed towards the flies buzzing around the dead man's corpse.
Sara grinned, and glanced around the area for tracks and prints.
"He's been moved at least once since he died." Grissom motioned towards the splotchy coloring around his legs, arms, and face. "The hypostasis indicates he didn't die face up, but on his stomach. After death the blood stops being pumped, it pools anywhere gravity pulls it. Did the ranger attempt to move the body?" Grissom looked up the ridge towards the park ranger.
"He says he didn't touch a thing. Called it in as soon as he saw what it was." David sat his bag down, and waited for Sara and Grissom to finish their work.
Grissom looked around for Sara. She was outside the range of the floodlights, and in the near pitch-black of the night-time desert, he couldn't see a thing past the bright floods.
"Sara?"
"I'm over here on the other side of the ridge." Grissom walked towards her voice until he saw the beam of her flashlight. She was kneeling down over something next to a set of tracks.
"What'd you find?" He knelt down beside her, almost touching her arm.
"This." Sara carefully held up a used condom using her tweezers, and placed it in a bindle. "Also found a very deep set of prints. Must've been a delivery truck or something." She motioned over her should towards the tracks.
"Nice work." He looked over at her. They were well away from the others, lit only by Sara's flashlight. He indulged in the view of her face cast in starlight, and shadows. It was as close to a truly romantic moment as they'd had in a very long time.
"You ready?" Sara stood, and offered him a helping hand up which he politely refused. The moment had ended. They were on the clock, and all business.
"Let's get what we found back to the lab." Grissom grabbed her kit for her, and they walked back towards David and the nervous ranger.