Hey guys. Sorry for the slow update. I've hit a major wall with the story. Should teach me not to start posting til I'm finished lol. But never fear, I've still got another two chapters typed up and another two finished in my notebook so there's still more fic goodness to come before I run out lol! Here's hoping my muse comes back, I'm going to try rewatching some CSI to see if that gets the juices flowing!
Anyway, here's the next chapter.
A few hours later the team plus Lily and Lindsey were reconvened in Grissom's lab, their bags safely stowed in a minibus hidden at the back of the lab guarded by Vega; Brass' desire to keep this as hush hush as possible trumped any concerns he might have about them all going together. Besides, after the phone call he'd just had from Vartann, he had far more pressing worries.
"We've got a problem." The minute the door was closed he wasted no time making his point. "I sent Vartann and another officer ahead to the safehouse to do a final safety check. It's been compromised."
"Compromised how?" Grissom stared at Brass, regisering Lily's alarmed tone and Catherine's murmered response.
"A door was busted, windows broken, it looked like the place had been tossed. We don't know if it's our guy but I'm not taking any chances. I can't take you guys there."
Catherine's cell phone beeped, breaking the tension and preventing any more discussion for the moment. She glanced at it quickly, her face unreadable, before standing.
"Mom, Linds. Time to go."
They headed for the door, mumbled goodbyes in their wake. Grissom followed without word or hesitation, trailing them through the charred garage and out to where Sam's SUV was waiting, parked and running behind their own currently idle means of tranportation.
While Lily and Catherine talked with Sam, Grissom lifted Lindsey into a waiting car seat, busying himself with the task of strapping her in securely.
"Uncle Gil? Take care of my mommy ok?" A lump rose in his throat; he managed to swallow it down as the harness slid into place with a click.
"I promise." He pressed a quick kiss to her hair before sliding out of the way to allow the woman in question to say her own goodbyes.
"Be good for Gramma and Sam ok?"
"I will. I'm going to miss you mommy. How long til I can come home?"
Catherine blinked back tears, coughing slightly.
"Soon sweetie. But for now you're going to have a lot of fun ok? I love you." Kissing her quickly the strawberry blonde stepped back, allowing one of Sam's men to shut the door tight. She had no idea where they were going; she told Sam it was best if she didn't know. As the car pulled away she held her right hand up to wave, smiling brightly despite the tears that slid down her cheeks. She felt Grissom's arm wrap round her shoulders as the car turned a corner and disappeared from view. His grip tightened as she buried her face in his chest, desperate to compose herself before facing her colleagues again. A few moments passed until she lifted her head, wiping her eyes with her good hand.
"You ok?"
She shrugged. "I will be, once we nail this asshole and we all get to go home."
They crossed back to the lab, Grissom's arm still loosely round her shoulders.
"Let's go give Brass the good news." Off his look she managed a watery smile. "Sam's just provided the solution to his current problem."
After a fair few hours and blissfully uneventful journey they'd all arrived at one of Sam's properties, the sprawling building about 30 miles north of Lake Mead and their home for the time being. Dusk had begun to fall as they'd pulled up and all gone their seperate ways, staking claim to the room of their choice and retreating for some much needed solitude.
Now, a freshly showered and a little more relaxed Grissom exited his room, intent on finding Brass. He didn't get very far. A curse followed by a hairbrush escaped from a partially open doorway next to his own. Stooping, he retrieved the missile and approached the door, knocking lightly before pushing it open.
"Is it safe to come in or are you going to launch anything else?"
"You're a riot Alice." A decidedly frustrated looking Catherine greeted him. Her hair was still wet and she was clad in shorts and a tank top, the thick straps of a sports bra visible beneath the thinner ones. A rustling sound alerted him to the plastic bag covering her left arm, the handles secured at her elbow and protecting her cast from the shower water.
"Everything ok?"
She gestured to her covered arm and flushed slightly. "I may have tied it a little too well."
Chuckling Grissom closed the gap between them and easily ripped the plastic, gently pulling her arm free.
"There. But that doesn't explain the flying hairbrush."
His friend arched a brow.
"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to tie a pony tail one handed?"
"Can't say that's a problem I've ever had," he replied with a wry smile, turning her to face the mirror and plucking the hair tie from her fingers. Grasping her hair gently he smoothed it back along the crown, twisting it round itself before securing it in a bun at the back of her head. Her mouth fell open and she caught his eyes in the mirror.
"Where did you learn how to do that?"
Grissom shrugged.
"My mother always wore her hair in a bun for work. When I was eleven she broke her arm, she taught me how to do it for her."
Catherine turned and smiled warmly at him; she was touched that this man who so seldom shared anything personal had told her this story. On impulse she reached up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
"Well thank you, you've got yourself a permanent job until my wrist heals."
"Consider me your personal hair stylist."
There was a beat before he spoke again.
"You going for a run?" Off her confused look he gestured to her clothes. She glanced down and flushed slightly.
"Ah no. Turns out doing up a bra one handed is nigh on impossible so this was the easier option."
"Right... Sorry."
"What, no offer to be my bra fastener as well as my stylist?" She winked and laughed, looping her arm through his and exiting the room.
Grissom cleared his throat, feeling the heat spreading up his cheeks. Thank God he'd kept his beard.
"Why don't we see what everyone else is up to?"
They found the rest of the team, plus Brass, Vega, Vartann and Sofia congregated in the kitchen. Sam had told all the staff bar four security guys he trusted implicitly they were getting paid vacation time, duration unknown. They'd been given strict instructions to leave everything fully stocked and then hand their keys over to security. Brass had wondered what kind of yarn Sam had spun them; then again, who knows what kind of strange requests they'd had to deal with from some of his guests.
"So, what exactly is the plan now we're here?" Warrick asked, shifting up slightly to allow Grissom and Catherine to join them round the enormous breakfast bar. The chef had left a selection of food out and they were all currently helping themselves. None of them could rememeber the last time they'd eaten, although they were sure it was before this whole nightmare had started.
"Keeping you guys safe is the only plan I have," Brass responded, swallowing half a sandwich. "Vartann and Sofia are heading back to Vegas in the morning to continue working on the investigation. I had an update from the guys watching Nick, he's still sedated. The swelling in his throat is a little slow to go down so he's being kept on the breathing tube. His eyes are starting to respond to stimuli so the doctors are hopeful there's no lasting damage."
"Did we get any results from Hodges?" Sara chimed in, passing a sandwich over to Catherine. She had to bite back a smile as she noticed Grissom cut it down so the blonde wouldn't struggle to hold it one handed.
"He's supposed to be e-mailing them to me and Brass the minute they're in. So far nothing."
"So basically we just hide out here doing nothing til you catch this guy?" Greg questioned.
Brass sighed. "That's pretty much it, yeah."
"This is such bull." The younger man pushed back from the breakfast bar and stalked off, disappearing somewhere in the house. Glances passed between the other occupants before Warrick rose and followed.
"He needs to calm himself down or he's going to drive himself crazy."
"He has a point Jim," Catherine countered. "We're all frustrated. This asshole has forced us into hiding. And I know it's for our own protection but we feel useless. We should be helping catch him, not running scared." The room was quiet for a few moments before Sara piped up.
"Who says we can't? Griss I'm sure you've got your laptop." He nodded his confirmation. "And I *may* have brought the pictures and evidence reports already in. Brass and Hodges can keep us looped in, there's no reason why we can't carry on working theories."
Catherine grinned and stood. "Sar you're a genius. I'll go grab Warrick and Greg, we'll meet you in the den in ten minutes.
The man scrubbed a frustrated hand over his face and leaned back in his chair, the security footage running on a loop on the screen. It thrilled him a little more every time the glass shattered and smoke began billowing. The fact that his associate had been able to get the CCTV images of the lab explosion was the only thing keeping them from bearing the full brunt of his annoyance. He had figured the CSIs would make the connection between the two attacks. He'd also been prepared for the police department to insist on protective custody; the safe house locations had been relatively easy for his associate to obtain. What he hadn't been prepared for was the speed at which they'd connected the dots. He'd had a few more surprises up his sleeve that he was rather disappointed at having to shelve.
The ringing of his cell phone jolted him from his reverie. Checking the display he pushed Accept and brought the phone to his ear.
"Yeah?"
The voice on the other end was rapid and low. And the words it was uttering made his temper flair.
"What the hell? What do you mean you don't know where they are?"
More mumbled apologies filled his ear and he rolled his eyes.
"I don't give a shit. Find them."
He slammed the phone down on the desk in front of him, punching the wood next to it with a grunt.
Things most definitely weren't going to plan.
There we go. Hope ya'll are still reading lol
Lily
-x-