A/N- I really wish I was posting this under better circumstances.
If you haven't signed the petition for Jorja and George yet, I urge you to do it now!!!
Anyway, here we are at the end of my very first fanfic. I've had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you've all had fun reading. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and stuck with it and are still reading now, (Hello to you all). Thank you again to Lauren and KmNO4 for their beta-ing work and Nicki for making me update!
Disclaimer: If I did own CSI, then we wouldn't all be wondering if Jorja and George are going to get their jobs back. I would have told them 'Pay rise? Sure you deserve it. How much do you want?'
Love in the Dark- Chapter 8
Sara sat in Grissom's office with her head in her hands. The tears had long since dried on her face but the emotions were still strong.
She considered sitting in Grissom's chair was the only way she could feel close to him now. On his desk in front of her were his glasses, the ones she had picked up to look after when he was on the ground. He had no use for them anymore.
She took her time to really look at his office now that she was on her own in there. A quick glance was enough to reinforce her feelings that it just wasn't the same without him. He always added something to the atmosphere of a room. Even though he was an introverted person he could still make people notice him inadvertently and what they saw was a highly intelligent man, dedicated to his work at catching criminals. But one of the criminals had finally caught him and Sara couldn't help but see the unfairness of it all.
She could feel more tears coming as she contemplated the events she had witnessed. Grissom had collapsed and she hadn't been able to do a thing about it. What made matters worse was that she figured it was all her fault. Had they not started their secret closet relationship he wouldn't have had any reason to go into one with Alyssa.
As she brought her head down to the desk in frustration she heard a gentle knock at the door. She didn't lift her head up when the person walked in but hid her tears, behind her hands.
"Sara." The voice immediately made her take notice. Surely it couldn't be him.
"Sara, look up." She did as she was told and was greeted by the warm but tired smile of Grissom.
She jumped up out of the chair and approached him speedily. She pulled him into a tight hug. "I thought you were going to die." She wiped the tears away from her face as her smile shone.
"So did I, I was scared." His arms tightened around her as she gently caressed his curls. They stood as one for a few minutes until Grissom made the move to leave the office.
"Come on. I told the others I would come and find you and take you back to the lay out room. Everyone is trying to figure this all out."
"Grissom, you were poisoned. I think you should be at home or getting checked by a doctor."
They separated from their embrace and Grissom tugged slightly on her hand to leave the room. She followed the signal and as they entered the corridor his hand slipped from hers to the small of her back. He explained to her as they walked.
"I wasn't poisoned, I was drugged and we need to close this case quickly. And if that means staying here all week that's what I will do." His tone showed he was very serious.
"Grissom." Warrick was standing in the door frame of the room. "Brass just checked out Alyssa's dorm room and there's nothing. She's cleared out of there, no-one seems to have ever heard of her."
As Grissom and Sara entered the room, they saw pictures and evidence laid out everywhere and Nick looking over every detail. "And we ran a check on her license, it's fake. There's no Alyssa Pembrose even registered at UNLV. She was playing us the whole time."
Grissom looked at everyone thoughtfully and seemed to make a decision as they watched him. "No Nick, she was playing me." He spoke just above a whisper
The same concern plagued Catherine again, the one that had made her question Grissom's motives in this case. "Gil, what are you talking about?"
"Think about it, she had a chance to kill me right? In the closet with no- one around. I didn't know she was there, you didn't know she was there. She was close enough to poison me but all she did was drug me. It was a way to show off."
"But I thought she was a fan of yours. Didn't she say that she had followed your work in her psychology lessons?"
Sara was beginning to understand. "That's the point isn't it? She had obsessively followed Grissom and knew of his abilities. A man renowned for his expertise in the field of criminalistics being outsmarted by a teenage psychology student -it's the challenge of a lifetime."
Sara managed to draw confused glances. "And it looks like the challenger may have won this time."
"We can find her, we shouldn't give up on this." Nick was obviously affected by the injustice.
Grissom replied in a resigned manner. "There isn't much point. If she is as smart as I think she is then she will keep her head down for a while. She won't draw any unnecessary attention to herself. She's done what she set out to do and if we're lucky won't kill anyone else."
"Can't we do anything?" Warrick said joining Nick in his protestations.
"There's no evidence to follow and our only suspect has disappeared, we can't do anything. You checked the closet and there was nothing."
"What about that girl you spoke to at the third house, Julie? Talk to her again."
"No can do." The voice from the door startled everyone. They all turned to see Brass back. "Gil, nice to see you up." Grissom nodded at him as he continued. "Julie has disappeared with Alyssa. Seeing as she was the one who pointed us in the direction of Alyssa, I'm thinking she knew more than she was saying. One girl can keep a secret but two or three makes a conspiracy."
"So we're not pursuing this at all?" Nick still couldn't comprehend the lack of drive to catch this murderer.
"It'll be pursued Nicky, when it can be. But for now it will just be another case pinned to the big fish on Grissom's wall." Brass turned his attentions from Nick to Grissom who simply nodded his agreement.
Something had been bothering Catherine since the conversation had started and now seemed the best time to bring it up. "Gil, I'm interested to know- you said you didn't know that Alyssa was in the closet yet she managed to administer the drug in the same way she poisoned the others. It was on her lips. So if she knew she was kissing you, who did you think you were kissing?"
The silence that filled the room was palpable. No-one else seemed to have considered this subtle detail but now it was brought to their attention they all wondered. The only two people present who knew the answer tried in vain to cover their guilt.
Grissom did however managed to reply coolly "You should know by now Catherine, what happens in the closet, stays in the closet."
THE END (Or is it?)
Make your voices heard and keep the Geek love alive!!