This is my take on the season 7 finale "Living Doll". Enjoy. And please R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of the characters. But oh, the power I would have if I did…
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WARNING: This story contains spoilers of the season finale "Living Doll". Please don't read any further if you do not wish to be spoiled. You have been warned. Proceed with caution.
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"Control, this is Detective Brass. We have a 418. It's CSI Sara Sidle."
Grissom stared at the half full cup of coffee sitting on the kitchen table. He couldn't just stand there doing nothing but at the same time he felt helpless. Careful not to disturb anything, he made his way around the room looking for anything pertinent. No apparent sign of struggle, no blood, no furniture out of place. So far, nothing in the living room suggested Sara didn't leave voluntarily. Except for the picture. That was the only piece of evidence that linked the Miniature Killer to Sara's disappearance.
"Copy that." Brass turned to Grissom. "Catherine and Warrick are on their way over to process the scene. When was the last time you saw Sara?"
"It would have been sometime around 5:30pm, just before I headed to the lab. She was getting in the show—" Grissom stopped, remembering that Sara was in the shower when he left the townhouse. He turned down the hallway and made his way to the bathroom.
At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The shower curtain was pulled back, the bath mat was slightly askew and the medicine cabinet was open a crack. Grissom made a mental note of everything in the bathroom as he tried to recall how he had left it earlier in the evening. He retrieved a swab from his kit and knelt down to the bathtub drain. He swabbed the inside of the drain and reached for the phenolphthalein. Two drops confirmed his worst fear.
"My god…" Grissom whispered to himself. Just then, Catherine and Warrick appeared in the doorway.
"Blood in the drain? Could be incidental." Warrick thought aloud.
"It's possible." Grissom said, trying to control himself. "But I have a feeling that whatever happened tonight, happened here. I'll process the bathroom. Catherine, why don't you start on the bedroom and Warrick, you take the living room. Check out the picture of the doll. I think it's a message of some sort."
Warrick nodded and headed off in the direction of the living room. Catherine lingered in the doorway.
"How are you holding up?"
"I'll be better when we find Sara." Grissom sighed.
"We all will. First Nicky, now Sara." Catherine shook her head. She paused for a moment, but kept her eye on Grissom, who was staring at the bathroom floor.
"The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear." Grissom quoted.
Catherine frowned. "I've never been good at this game. Alright, who said it?"
Grissom breathed heavily and stood up. "Emerson. But in his eyes, I'm no wise man."
Catherine looked at him bewildered.
"I can't help but pray for Sara's safety."
Catherine put her hand on Grissom's shoulder. "We will find her, Gil." She said as she pulled him into a hug.
"Thanks Cath."
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Warrick closed up his kit and made his way out to the Denali. Catherine and Grissom were standing outside talking with Brass.
"I found a few hairs on the floor of the living room that weren't a visible match to Sara's and too long to be Grissom's, but aside from that I didn't find anything probative." Warrick said as he packed up his equipment and closed the back of the Denali.
Catherine sighed. "I found a few shirts thrown on the bedroom floor that seemed out of place. Grissom confirmed that they weren't there when he left. I'm thinking our kidnapper possibly interrupted Sara in the shower and then grabbed clothing from the bureau in the bedroom. I lifted several prints off it to run through AFIS, assuming that most will trace back to Sara and Grissom but hopefully we get lucky."
Grissom ran his hands through his hair and sighed. He motioned to the car when Brass' cell phone rang.
"Brass." He sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, we're on our way now." He hung up the phone and turned to Grissom.
"Security guard at the Tropicana called in a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot. Tags match Sara's."
Without hesitation all four of them got into their cars and headed for the Tropicana.
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A/N Thanks for being so patient! Forgive me, I was out of the country for a study abroad. After the season finale, I was struck with a bit of writers block. But now my creative spark is back. This is my version of the season finale. There will be some reference to the actual season finale, so if you haven't seen it yet, you have been warned. Thanks for reading and as always please, please, pleaasssee review. It's the only way I can tell if you are enjoying what I'm layin' down and how I can make it better.