Author's note: this is a bit longer and i think i'm gonna experiment with a few couplings...if u don't like them, don't flame me. Thanks, and now enjoy.
Spoilers: I will generally tell what spoilers the chapters contain. In this Chapter: not really many spoilers...if there are i didnt notice
Summary: When Ecklie chooses Grissom's team to head to a conference in London, the Las Vegas CSI nightshift couldn't be more excited. Then their plane crashes in the sea. Now Grissom, Catherine, Nick, Warrick, Sara, and Greg are stranded on a deserted island and their only way home is to survive.
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. .
Surviving the Storm
Chapter Four: Making It work
Grissom awoke the next morning to the sound of the ocean. He held a hand up to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight. The clouds had cleared and he was staring up at a clear blue sky. He sat up and looked around. Beside him, Catherine was stretching and Warrick was sitting in the shallows, washing his face. Nick, Sara, and Greg were still snoring peacefully.
"How long have we been out of it?" he asked, cracking his neck.
"According to Greg's watch, it's 9:29 AM on Saturday," Catherine answered, lifting Greg's left arm to read the time on his waterproof watch.
"Great," he replied, half-heartedly. He got to his feet and walked over to the shoreline, Catherine on his heels.
"Damn, I'd kill for a coffee. Even the sludge in the break room is starting to sound like heaven," Warrick complained upon hearing their approach.
"I think you'll be outta luck for a long time, 'Rick," Grissom said, sitting down beside him and proceeding to wash his face.
"How long do you think we'll be out here?" Catherine asked, looking at him. He smiled grimly.
"I don't know," he said for the second time in two days.
"What do you mean you don't know?" she asked, washing her own face.
"We don't know where we are or if we are even remotely close to civilization and I can't see us surviving at sea for very long in an inflatable life raft," Grissom said, running a wet hand through his hair.
"You mean we're stuck here?" Catherine asked, incredulously.
"Well if you want to paddle God knows how many miles back to the US, be my guest," Warrick told her. She wrinkled her nose.
"We could be stuck out here for days, weeks, months before we're found!" Catherine exclaimed. If she thought she didn't spend enough time with her daughter then, she sure thought it now.
"I know, Cath," Grissom said, looking away. He knew how disappointed she was; they all were.
"Jeez, you guys could wake the dead," Sara grumbled, "What's going on?"
"Morning," Grissom and Warrick grunted simultaneously.
"We might never leave this island," Catherine deadpanned, looking cross.
"WHAT!" Sara yelped. She looked at the guys, hoping for someone to contradict her.
"I'm sure someone will find us eventually," Gil said nonchalantly.
"B-but that could take ages!" Sara protested. Warrick shook his head.
"Do you think we don't know that?" he said, more than a little forcefully, getting up to walk along the beach.
"What's his problem?" Nick asked, coming to join them. Grissom shook his head.
"There is a sad possibility that we could be here for a while," he explained. Nick groaned.
"Great. How- We don't even have food or water!" he complained, putting his head in his hands. Grissom sighed.
"Go wake up Sleeping Beauty and we'll make a fire," he said, getting up to his feet and walking towards the raft.
"Yeah and I suppose you can rub two sticks together and make a fire," Nick said under his breath at Grissom's retreating back. He got up to go wake Greg.
"I hate Ecklie," Sara said, scowling as she got up to join them. Catherine nodded in agreement, but she stayed put. She couldn't believe that they were stranded here! What did they ever do? She could never see Lindsey again or her mother and sister or even Sam. She buried her face in her hands, scared to even think of the possibility.
"Get up, Greggo," Nick said, prodding the sleeping man with his foot.
"No…" Greg moaned, dragging out the word. Nick shook his head.
"Get up or I'll throw you back in the ocean," Nick threatened. He saw Greg crack open an eye. That was good enough for him. He went to join Grissom.
"Was he serious?" Greg asked Sara as she walked by. She shook her head.
"If he won't, I will. Now get up," she said sourly, heading towards the raft
"What are you looking for, Gris?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow. He watched as his boss's face, fell and then smiled. He unzipped a pocket in the raft to reveal a two foot long metal box.
"This. We just got lucky," he said smiling. Nick looked closer. In red letters, the box said:
Survival Kit
"A survival kit?" Sara breathed. She knelt down to watch as Grissom set the kit on the ground and opened it. In it, there were waterproof matches, flashlights, three small pots, plastic cups, forks, knives, and plates, a small axe, a jackknife, a tiny first aid kit, and about five instant meal packages.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Nick beamed. Greg peered over his shoulder and let out a whoop.
"We're not dead!" he grinned.
"What do you say we get a fire started and cook up one of these meals?" Sara suggested. Grissom nodded in agreement.
"I'll take matches high over sticks any day, Nick," he said before he trekked towards the tropical forest. Nick blushed.
"He heard that?" he asked, looking at Sara. She snickered.
"Nicely done, partner," she said, patting him on the shoulder before turning to follow Grissom.
"You dug yourself real deep, Nicky," Greg joked, following Sara.
"Wait for me," Nick called, running to catch up.
Within the hour, the beach had been piled with wood.
"There's a workout and a half," Greg commented, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"I think I'm gonna pass out," Sara agreed, sitting in the sand. Cuts lined all of their arms and bug bites were beginning to form. Grissom said that the bugs were harmless, mostly just mosquitoes. Still they were very annoying to Nick, Sara, and Greg. Grissom was in his element, however. If they weren't in a hurry, they felt sure that the entomologist would've loved to stop and examine every specimen he encountered.
"Just wait until we have this fire lit," Nick told her as he dug a small hole in the sand. Grissom was already making a little tee-pee out of some sticks. He put small bits of dried grass inside, ensuring that the fire would burn. He lit the grass using a match. Gently he blew on it, causing his little flame to grow. Finally one of the sticks caught fire.
"Let me guess," Greg said, grinning, "Your dad took you camping a lot as a kid." Grissom shook his head.
"My father left when I was five. This was pure discovery channel," he replied. Greg looked down.
"I'm sorry, Gris. I didn't know," Greg apologized. None of them knew. Gil Grissom was not the type of man to share personal information willingly.
"Don't be. It doesn't matter now," he replied, kneeling down to add more wood to the flames.
"I'll go get some water to boil," Sara offered, taking the pots to the ocean to fill. When she returned, the tree men were rigging an apparatus over the fire, designed to hold the boiling water. In no time, they were cooking up a meal of sealed roast beef and potatoes. According to the label, it could feed up to ten people, which was good news. Grissom scooped a little bit onto two plates, and filled two cups of boiled drinking water. Sara, Nick, and Greg hardly noticed as he carefully climbed onto the flat rocks overlooking the ocean.
"I brought you lunch. You should really eat something, Catherine," he said, sitting beside the blond beauty. He held out her plate for her to take. She looked at him.
"Thanks, Gil," she said softly, taking the plate and water. Grissom shrugged.
"I can't let you starve. Lindsey would kill me," he said, trying to make a joke. She shook her head.
"Assuming we ever see Lindsey again," she choked out. He saw the tears in her eyes, threatening to escape.
"We will, Cath. We'll get though this," he tried. She shook her head.
"What if we don't? What if we are suck on this island for the rest of our lives? What if I never see her again?" she asked, the tears falling freely now.
"Catherine…" he didn't know what to say. He was not very good at this sort of thing. He settled with putting a comforting arm around her. She sobbed harder on his arm.
"I never said goodbye to her," her voice was muffled against his shirt.
"Remember to study for your exams," Catherine reminded her daughter. Lindsey rolled her eyes.
"I don't need to," Lindsey argued.
"Can we not go through this again, Lindsey? I'm tired of arguing with you!" Catherine scolded. Lately it was getting harder and harder to deal with her thirteen-year-old.
"I'm sure you'll get a nice break in London!" the young girl scoffed, "A week of no arguing with me. I'm sure you wish it was longer!" With that she ran to her room and slammed the door.
"Lindsey-" Catherine started to yell, but stopped when she heard a stereo blaring. What was the point?
"Catherine, you know she didn't mean it," Gil tried, gently tracing circles on her back with his finger.
"I-I should've said goodbye. I should've tried-" she was interrupted by Gil's finger on her lips.
"You didn't know what was going to happen. She knows you love her. And you know that she loves you. How could she not? She's always adored you," he said as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
"Yeah, maybe when she was six," Catherine mumbled miserably. Gil chuckled. She looked at him, quite perplexed.
"I remember when you brought her into work with you when she was six. She made you set up her dollhouse in the break room. She would not let you leave until you agreed to play with her. Then she saw me and forced me to join the two of you," he explained. He saw a ghost of a smile on Catherine's face.
"We were an hour late to get to the scene," she said, remembering that day.
"Longest hour of my life," he said. She smiled at him.
"You enjoyed yourself," she said matter-of-factly.
"Did not," he said childishly. It was so out his character that she started to laugh. He joined in, pleased that his little anecdote cheered her up, somewhat. When their laughter subsided, she sighed.
"You know, you're not so bad at this," she said. He shook his head, embarrassed.
"Better?" he asked.
"A little bit. Thank you," she said gratefully.
"Happy I could help," he replied. She drank a bit of her water and looked down the beach.
"Warrick's back," she noted. Grissom looked and sure enough, he could make out the tall black man heading towards them.
"Shall we?" he asked, standing up, and offering her a hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. They carefully made their way down the rocks and towards the fire, just as Warrick arrived.
"Hey, 'Rick," Nick greeted, nodding at his friend. Warrick smiled.
"Hey, guys," he greeted, looking a little guilty when he saw the roaring fire.
"Welcome back," Grissom said kindly.
"Yeah…uh…thanks. I'm sorry I didn't-" Warrick started, gesturing to the fire.
"It's okay. We survived," Greg shrugged. Sara gestured to the food.
"Hungry?" she asked. Warrick sat down.
"Starving," he replied, "But where-"
"We got very lucky. Survival Pack," Nick said, handing him a plate. Warrick grinned and dished himself a helping of food.
"We still need to find something edible that comes from the island. The survival packs can only last for so long. Then we're out of luck," Grissom explained.
"So now what?" Catherine asked.
"We'll have to live off of the island. Most of the insects I've seen-" Grissom started.
"NO!" five voices yelled at once. Grissom shrugged.
"Just a suggestion," he said meekly.
"I saw a tree with some coconuts in them," Greg piped up. They looked at him.
"Where?" Grissom asked, curiously.
"In the trees," Greg shrugged. Nick shook his head.
"Thanks for telling us now, Greggo," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, we were bound to find some food sometime," Sara said.
"Anyone feel like looking for food?" Grissom asked. It turned out all of the CSIs wanted to help. Anything was better then sitting around on the beach. Then there was Catherine's reason:
"I wouldn't want to miss watching your attempts at getting coconuts out of a tree."
Indeed, it turned out to be very entertaining. Greg tried throwing rocks up at the coconuts, to no avail, and wound up almost hitting Sara. Then Warrick tried hoisting Catherine up, but due to an errant mosquito, both wound up tumbling into the vegetation.
"I hate bugs," Catherine groaned, getting to her feet. Grissom gave her a look and she returned it with a smirk.
"Sar, do you think you could climb up there?" Nick asked.
"I could try. Give me a boost," she requested. Nick got down on all fours, so she could step on his back to get more height. When she had her feet on Nick's shoulders, he eased upwards, giving her a few more inches. Finally she was able to shimmy up to the top and drop about five or six coconuts down to them. She slid down and was helped to her feet by Nick, ever the gentleman.
"Nice work," Grissom said, beaming, bending over to pick up a coconut, "All we need to do is gather more food and figure out how to get these things open."
"I hope there's a corkscrew on that jackknife," Warrick said.
And so the CSIs continued gathering food. Several hours later, they had not only gathered coconuts, but found a bushel of tiny bananas, several edible plants, and even found a few small snails along the beach.
"They're a delicacy in France," Grissom shrugged.
"We were going to England," Catherine pointed out.
Darkness fell, and for lack of a shelter at the moment, they decided to pull the raft further onto the beach to sleep in. It did the job. All six of them could lie comfortably, well as comfortable as a raft can be, anyways.
"It was a long day," Nick yawned.
"Yeah, but we're making this work," Warrick said, staring up at the stars from his position in the raft.
"We have no other choice," Grissom agreed.
"Greg, quit scratching! You just hit me!" Sara yelled, as Greg's elbow collided with her gut. The bug bites were killing him.
"Don't blame me. Ouch! You just elbowed me!" he protested.
"Mosquito bite," Sara replied innocently. He glared at her.
"Yeah, right. Mosquito," he said rolling his eyes.
"Go to sleep, children," Grissom sighed. Then they heard a rustling in the trees.
"What was that?" Catherine asked, sitting up.
"Wind," Warrick grunted.
"What wind, Warrick?" she asked. There was not even a breeze, let alone enough wind to rustle the trees. Then there was a low, almost growl like noise coming from the trees.
"Probably some animal. It won't go near the fire, Cath," Grissom said, sitting up to look into the trees.
"Gil," Catherine said, getting his attention.
"Yes?"
"We're building a shelter tomorrow," she said. There were several murmurs in agreement as the animal continued to make noise.
TBC