Title: Returning Home
Author: Elizabeth Kelly
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.
Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?
A/N: Post Bloodlines
Returning Home
By Elizabeth Kelly
Chapter One
"Sara, you need to calm down." Sara was pacing the floor furiously.
"He is going to get away with it! He abducted her, kept her in a closet for six months and tortured her when ever he felt like it, until he killed her, and now he is going to get away, because of a stupid technicality!"
"Sara, you know the law as well as I do, we did the best we could!" Grissom raised his voice.
"We did not do the best we could, if we did Peter Hamill would be rotting in a jail cell and little Elsie Graham would have the justice she deserved." Grissom sighed. Many a grown man would have cowered under the glare that she was giving him now. Not, Grissom. "How the hell are you managing to stay calm, throughout all of this!"
"Sara, you can't make this case personal. We cannot afford evidence to being compromised. I know you are hurting, but there is nothing we can do. We will just have to wait and catch him next time." Grissom watched as silent tears poured down Sara's face.
"She was six years old Grissom." Grissom stepped forward and enveloped her in a hug.
"I know, but you can't keep doing this, Sara." Sara abruptly pulled back from his embrace, her eyes flashing with anger.
"I cannot believe you, I will not stop and I will never give up," she said through gritted teeth, before turning and storming out of his office and slamming the door behind her.
Grissom closed his eyes and sighed, deep down he understood Sara's pain. In the past five years he had secretly never stopped looking. Grissom had just returned to the seat behind his desk, when Catherine entered his office.
"Don't you ever knock?" he asked, frustration creeping into his voice.
"Sometimes," she replied.
"What can I do for you Catherine?"
"You need to talk to Sara," she said sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"I just did."
"Gil, that wasn't talking, that was a screaming match. I could hear you from the DNA Lab. You need to sit down and talk about whatever it is that has her so worked up," Catherine paused, while she stood up and headed for the door. "You need to talk to her for the good of the lab and our working environment, not to mention her own well being." Catherine left his office before he could say anything.
"How do you ask someone to let go of the past?" Grissom asked his empty office.
She had worked so many cases. She had seen so many lives torn apart. She had seen the pain and the suffering. She thought it would get easier with time. She had never been more wrong about anything in her entire life. Some cases stuck out in her mind, Elsie Graham's was one of them. It was during cases like these, that Sara lost faith in human kind. How could someone do things like that to other human beings? How could someone rob a child of their innocence? What right did Peter Hamill have in treating Elsie Graham like a play toy?
Sara sat in her armchair, a cup of tea in her hand, using all her will power to refrain from showing her frustration. The memories of Elsie Graham's body on the slab in the morgue and lying in the desert made Sara go racing for the bathroom. Leaning with her back against the bath, her head in her hands, Sara struggled with the compulsion to kill Peter Hamill.
Crawling into bed she cried herself to sleep. Nightmares plagued her slumber, Elsie's deathly pale face contorting into a more familiar one. Sirens, flashing lights, and urgent voices invaded her mind. It was the fear that woke her. Throwing back the covers, she ran to the dresser in the corner, and wrenched the bottom open, pulling out a medium sized box. Standing, she carried the box back to the bed, each piece of the contents, providing her with another memory of happier times.
Grissom sat behind his desk, staring at the photo in his hands. He hadn't been as unaffected by the case as Sara so readily believed. He remained lost in his thoughts for an unknown length of time, when a knock at the door brought him out of his reverie.
"Catherine?" he asked looking at her.
"I don't know if you have looked at the clock recently, but shift started ten minutes ago, and we were just wondering if you forgot to mention that we had the night off?" Grissom scowled at her.
"I'll be there in a minute." Catherine nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Opening the bottom drawer of his desk, he placed his treasured object back inside the draw, to look at another time.
Walking into the break room, he glanced at Sara. He wasn't surprised when she met his gaze. She looked calmer than the last time they spoke, and for that he was grateful. He wondered how long it was going to last. A flash caught his eye, and he looked up from the assignments in his hand to find out where it came from, the source was seemingly unaware of his distraction. Frowning, he made a mental note to talk to her, before returning to the matters at hand.
"Nick, Warrick, you have a 419 in the desert, take Greg with you," he said handing Nick the slip of paper.
"Sure thing, Boss," Nick drawled.
"Come on, man," Warrick called from the hallway.
"What do we have?" Catherine asked, curious as to the assignment she was to be given.
"We have a kidnapping." Catherine raised her eyebrow, and glanced at Sara.
"Sure, I'll just go get my stuff." Catherine stood up and left, leaving Sara alone with Grissom.
"Will you be right to take this case?" he asked as gently as possible.
"Sure, no sweat," she gave him a fake smile before heading out of the door. Sighing Grissom followed Sara out of the door.
"I don't understand, are you saying that there is no kidnapping?" Brass asked the girl standing in front of him. She gave him an exasperated sigh.
"No, I'm saying that I am the one that was kidnapped!" she said her voice was dry and raspy. Brass looked over and saw that Sara, Grissom and Catherine had arrived excusing himself, he walked over to meet them.
"Hey guys," he greeted them.
"What's with the lack of action?" Catherine asked curiously. Normally kidnappings were buzzing with activity.
"It appears we have a kidnapping in reverse," Brass explained, adjusting his tie.
"What do you mean?" Grissom asked.
"We have the victim."
"So are we still needed?" Catherine queried.
"Look can you quit talking and do something? She is out there with him and now I'm not there to protect her." A loud voice spoke from behind Sara. Turning around the group took in the dishevelled appearance of the girl before them. She was about fifteen years of age, her long blonde hair looked like it hadn't been washed or brushed in days, and her clothes were dirty and didn't fit properly.
"Whose out there with whom?" Grissom asked.
"Maddie, he has Maddie." Grissom noticed Sara stiffen slightly.
"Who is he?" Sara asked.
"Father," the girl replied.
"Your Father?" Catherine asked.
"No, that's what he made us call him." The girl rolled her eyes as though it was obvious.
"What's your name?" Grissom asked.
"Emily, Emily Guthrie."
Sara's kit crashed to the ground with a loud bang. Brass and Catherine turned to look at her. She remained deathly still.
"Emily Rachel Guthrie, one of two children kidnapped October 1999, from St. Michael's Elementary School, Brisbane, San Francisco. Ten years of age at the time of the kidnapping," Grissom said slowly and quietly more to himself than anyone else.
Emily stared at him.
"How did you know?" she questioned, defensively.
"Where's Maddie?" Sara asked racing forward, to grab a hold of the girls shoulders. "Where is she?" she asked again. Emily stared at Sara, fear flooding her eyes.
"I- I don't know, I managed to escape. I promised her that I would get help, but I have no idea where they are. He would have moved after discovering that I escaped."
"Why didn't you bring Maddie with you?" Sara asked, desperation creeping into her voice.
"There was only the opportunity for one of us to escape, and she wasn't strong enough to do it, and even if she was, her ears would have been a problem. She…"
"Her ears? What's wrong with her ears?" Grissom asked, entering into the interrogation.
"She began losing her hearing about six months after we were kidnapped. She is now practically deaf."
"Why is she weak?" Sara whispered, dreading the answer.
"She had a bad case of the flu, I begged him to take her to a doctor, but he wouldn't. He thought they a doctor might recognise her. That was about six months ago. She's still fighting it."
"Oh, God, Maddie," Sara sank onto her knees. Tears that had been building in Sara's eyes crashed down in face in shuddering sobs. Forgetting momentarily where he was and who he was, Grissom went to her and put his arms around her, pulling her into him.
"Wait, what's going on here?" Catherine asked, as an equally confused Brass stared a Grissom and Sara like they had grown two heads. "Whose Maddie?"
"Our daughter," Grissom replied, pulling Sara closer.
AN: Ok, so here's the first chapter, hope you like it. If you want, let me know what you think. (Nothing too harsh though.)