Author's note: I thought i ought to get this chapter up quick. Even though it is short, it works here. Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger.
Spoilers: I will generally tell what spoilers the chapters contain. In this Chapter: slight Harvest
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 8: What Happened at Two Very Different Scenes
Jim Brass looked up from the all too familiar sight of a nameless DB to the Denali rolling to a stop a few feet away from the crime scene tape. He straightened as Conrad Ecklie and five other people exited the vehicle and walked up to him. As they got closer, Jim saw only one familiar face while the others were complete strangers.
"Brass, you know Todd Voles, from dayshift. He's going to be taking over the nightshift," Ecklie said cutting the small talk, and then he pointed to the group behind him, "This is Paul Sholtz, Samantha Ray, Chris Marez, Linda Craig, and Pete Ellis. They're crime scene investigators that the sheriff and I have called in to help with the backload of cases."
This was all that was said and Ecklie turned and walked away.
"Nice to meet you, Captain Brass," Sholtz said, stepping forward and offering a hand. The detective shook it a little hesitantly. To Brass, this felt like a shock into reality. The appearance of these six criminalists- on the turf of the previous six- cemented the fact that Grissom and his team were never going to come back.
"Nice to meet you all," Brass choked out, shaking hands. After all introductions were made, the six criminalists got to work. Brass noticed, in spite of himself, that Voles had to verbally tell his new team what tasks to do, while Grissom had never spoken an order to his team and they knew their roles.
For the rest of the night, Brass found himself constantly comparing the new CSIs to Grissom and his team. There was little of the dark humour and charm that Grissom brought to the scene. Brass found he had little trust in this new team, though he had worked with Voles before. He knew it would take time for him to adjust to these changes. He still half-expected to see Nick and Warrick joking and laughing together and then both becoming serious and work-minded as they went under the tape. He still pictured Sara crossing the tape with Greg at her heels. He had come to expect the no-nonsense attitude of Catherine's when she was surveying a dead body or talking to bystanders. He couldn't quite grasp the fact that they were gone.
"Okay. The shooter would have had to stand here," Ellis said, bringing Brass from his thoughts, "shot the vic…Bang! And probably left the scene on a bike or something to that effect."
Brass winced. That was a theory, something that Gil Grissom would never allow a member of his team utter until all of the evidence was in. Voles simply nodded in acceptance.
"Jesus, Gil. Look what you've left me to contend with," Brass muttered under his breath, looking up towards the heavens.
Gil, however, had his own problems to contend with.
"Catherine, how long does it usually take to get water?" he asked, nibbling on a piece of coconut.
"Are we talking regular time or Nick, Greg, Warrick, and Sara time?" she replied cheekily.
"They really should've been back by now," Grissom stated, looking warily towards the trees. Catherine smiled.
"Why Gil Grissom, if I didn't know any better I'd say that you're worried," she quipped.
"Just hungry," he replied, and yet he felt a twinge of unease settle in his stomach. Catherine's familiar expression didn't help this feeling. Her mouth was curved in a small half-smile, but her eyes held the same concern that he had seen when Lindsey was picked up for hitch-hiking.
"Do you want to go look for them?" she asked, staring at the trees.
"It probably might be best. Lord only knows what they're up too," he answered, starting towards the trees with Catherine at his side.
Nick, Sara, Warrick, and Greg stood in shock and amazement as they looked at the ground in front of them.
"How the hell-" Warrick started. He knelt down to get a closer look. The creamy white of the human skull was crawling with insects still looking for flesh. The body was nothing more then a pile of clothes, black shirt, black jeans, and a heavy leather jacket. Upon further inspection, Warrick could see a bullet hole in the shirt and a cracked rib from the impact.
"I've got a shell casing," Sara called, staring at a small glint of gold in the sand, "Possibly a .22."
"Makes sense. The Vic was shot," Warrick informed them.
"How long do you think he's been here?" Greg asked.
"From the looks of it, not much longer than us," Nick said, walking along the beach looking for impressions. There was no way he could have found anything useable. The weather had seen to that. Warrick reached into the victim's pocket and found nothing.
"No wallet. Robbery could have been a motive," he announced. All around him the other criminalists responded and became absorbed in their new crime scene.
"Hey! What about Grissom and Catherine?" Greg voiced out. The others paused.
"You should go back and tell them about this, kay, Greggo?" Nick suggested.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Cause you voiced it out, bro," Warrick said smirking. Greg glared at him and stalked back through the trees.
Grissom and Catherine arrived at the banks of the stream to find absolutely no one.
"Do you think they got lost?" Catherine asked, looking around.
"Not if they stuck to the trail," Grissom responded, looking along the ground.
"What are you looking for?" she asked, following his gaze. He pointed to an imprint in the low underbrush.
"Shall we?" he asked, leading the way. She followed and as she stepped along the path, she felt a shiver rack her body and she couldn't shake the feeling that something boded ill.
Greg didn't know where he was going. He just knew that he wanted to get back to Grissom and Catherine so he could go back to the crime scene. His body just wasn't cooperating. For the second time on his little venture back to Grissom and Catherine, he had to stop to allow a coughing fit to pass. He shook it off. Man, was he going to get Warrick for this. He took a few more steps and started to jog through the trees. Soon he had to stop again. He leaned up against a tree as he coughed again. Once it stopped, he panted in exhaustion and soon he had slid down the tree into a sitting position and vomited in the grass. Then the trees started to spin.
Grissom and Catherine had walked down the narrow pathway for about fifteen minutes before they heard voices."What do you think he was even doing out here?" they heard Sara ask.
"I dunno," Warrick answered.
"Well, it's definitely not my idea of a vacation," Nick said. Finally after a little more walking, Catherine and Grissom saw beach and Nick, Sara, and Warrick.
"What's going on here? You guys were supposed to get water a long time ago!" Grissom scolded as he and Catherine broke through the barrier of plant growth separating them from the beach.
"We…uh…got side-tracked," Sara muttered sheepishly, gesturing from a spot in the sand. They saw the body.
"What have you got?" Grissom asked, work-mode setting in.
"Male D.B, no I.D, no cash, and what looks like a single gunshot wound to the chest. There's a cartridge casing by Sara. It looks like a .22 calibre," Warrick explained.
"No footprints or anything like that," Nick added.
"How the hell did he get here?" Catherine asked, kneeling beside Warrick.
"Boat, plane…" Grissom trailed off. For a few moments, they all surveyed the corpse.
"What are we going to do about this evidence?" Catherine finally asked. They all drew a blank.
"Well, it's either collect it or lose it," Grissom sighed. The other four nodded in agreement and began to process the scene.
"So did Greg stay back at camp?" Sara asked as she did a walkthrough of the beach.
"Greg? Where is he?" Catherine asked.
"We sent him to get you," Warrick said, looking at his supervisor and Catherine.
"He never got us. We came looking when you guys took so long," Grissom responded, a line ceasing his brow.
"Well where is he?" Nick asked. The all didn't know.
"Alright, before we process this, we have to find Greg," Grissom voiced.
"He was coughing a lot. Do you think he's okay?" Sara asked.
"He's been looking paler than usual," Catherine said, worry evident in her voice.
"Okay. Nick, Warrick, you two go along the beach back to camp. If he's not there, make your way to the river. Sara, Catherine, and I will go through the bush and meet you there. Even if you find Greg, have someone meet us at the stream," Grissom ordered. Then without a word, he started back through the trees. The women bounded after him, while the guys made there way along the beach.
TBC