Flight
By Dany
Author's note: Ok, normally I'm not one to request feedback, because I think the stories should speak for themselves and if you want to review then that's great. But this was the first CSI story I wrote and it means a lot to me since a lot of work went into it. I would really appreciate your opion so I can know if I'm slipping or if it's worth continuing. Ok, so much about me begging…
Thanks again to Amy!
xxxxx
Chapter 2 (Doing something… or not)
Luckily for the CSI team, Las Vegas had decided to give them a break that night. There were no new cases. The only case that still needed some attention was the child abuse case from last night. The father was already in custody. Only the reports had to be written. Concentration was hard for any of the CSIs, most of them were lost in their own worlds. Their grim mood seemed to have settled onto the whole lab, although they hadn't informed anyone else yet.
Sara, Nick and Warrick were in the break room, pretending to work on their reports, when Catherine walked into the room with Jim Brass in tow. She looked somewhat more composed and there was an air of determination around her. "We have a new case."
The three CSIs at the table looked up, not really motivated to go out into the field. Catherine sighed. "Before I give you any details, I want to tell you that this is an unofficial investigation and none of you have to participate." She looked from one CSI to the next only to be greeted with confusion.
"It's a missing person." That got everyone's attention. Catherine thought she could see understanding rising in Sara's eyes.
"48 year old male. Didn't show up for work. His colleagues and friends reported him missing." A slow smile started to appear on Warrick's face as he realized what Catherine was doing. Nick only let out a long breath in understanding.
"Catherine filled me in," Brass said, "and I for one am not gonna let him get away with this shit." He was angry, angry that his so-called friend had only left him a note saying, 'I'll be in touch.'
"And I already said I would only accept the position if it was merited. Him running away like that, leaving me to deal with all this shit… he just can't do that. I won't accept the position like this, no matter what his stupid little note says. I'm gonna hunt him down and demand an explanation." Catherine seemed to be recovering and determined to get some answers.
She and Brass looked into the round of their friends. "I could understand if you didn't want to be part of this. There is a possibility that this will appear on your record. And if you don't want to jeopardize your…"
"I'm in," Warrick didn't even let her finish, "I owe him big time." He was well aware what Grissom had done for him.
"Me too," Nick tried to hide his guilt unsuccessfully. Everyone saw that there was something on his mind. "I owe him an apology," He didn't elaborate, but everyone could guess what this was about. After returning to the hospital, Nick had thought long and hard about what he had said to Grissom and he had realized that he'd had no right to say what he did. He knew Grissom hurt like everyone else, especially concerning children, but he simply did not show it. He had wanted to apologize first thing the next shift, not only to his boss, but also to the man he looked up to as a father figure.
The only one who remained silent was Sara. She still didn't know whether to be angry with him, throwing the damn plant into the wall, or give in to her feelings of hurt and cling to it like a life raft. She also didn't know whether she really wanted to find him right know. What would she do once she came face to face with him?
The others were staring at her, waiting for her decision. When she noticed that all eyes were on her, she had to think of something. "I… I… I have work to do," she stammered and left the room, not meeting the eyes of her friends. She couldn't commit to this, not when she wasn't sure about her feelings.
The others stared at her retreating back. Never would they have thought that Sara wouldn't want to be a part of this.
TBC