A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing!
No ownership of CSI is claimed. Some inspiration and dialogue are taken from episode 421, "Turning the Screws."
March 2016
Sara is in the baby's room when Grissom finds her. She is in the rocking chair, humming softly as she rocks Laura to sleep.
"Hi," he whispers.
"Did she leave?" Sara whispers back. She stands up to put the sleeping baby in her crib.
Grissom nods. He follows Sara out of the nursery, and puts his hands on her shoulders, massaging them gently.
"I'm fine, Gil."
"Are you sure?"
Sara turns to face him. "We've been together for a lot of years. I know how dinner with your mother will go." She smiles slightly. "I don't hate her, you know."
"I didn't say that you do."
"But, you're not sure that I don't."
Grissom sighs. "Sara, I know that you and my mother have a … difficult relationship."
Sara shrugs. "We can't get along beautifully with every person we meet. Betty and I will never be best friends. Maybe we're too different. Maybe we're too much alike. I don't know." She smiles and cups his face in her hands. "But, what I do know is that we both love you very, very much. And, because of that, we will always be important in each other's lives."
Grissom leans in to kiss her. "I love you very, very much, too."
Sara smiles and kisses him again.
March 2004
Grissom looked at his ringing phone on his desk and sighed. He truly wanted to get his reports done after putting them off for nearly a month, but someone else always had other plans for him. He picked up the phone and looked back at the report in front of him, wondering if he could multitask his way through a conversation.
"Grissom."
"Gil, I need you at a scene."
"Lovely to hear from you, Jim."
"I've got a scene with six victims," Brass said, ignoring Grissom's commentary on his phone etiquette. "Interested?"
"Where are you?"
Brass hesitated. "You're not going to like it."
"Try me."
"I'm at the Sphinx Amusement Park." He paused. "Pharaoh's Fever derailed."
"I'm on my way."
Grissom put his phone down and squinted across the room at his assignment board. Sara and Nick were both free, but Catherine and Warrick had a homicide of their own. He had a feeling that it was going to take more than just three of them to handle the scene.
Leaving the quiet of his office, Grissom went on a search for his team. He found Nick and Sara in the break room, working on reports for their recently closed cases.
"Hey," he said, stopping in the doorway.
"Hi, Griss," Nick said almost absently.
"Hello," Sara said, looking up from her report.
"Brass just called in a roller coaster derailment at the Sphinx Amusement Park," Grissom said. "I'm going to head over now. I need both of you two to help me."
"Sounds like a pretty major one," Nick said, leaning back in his chair. "Can we call Warrick or Catherine from their case?"
"No, leave them," Grissom said. "I was thinking we could bring Greg along."
Sara's eyes widened. "He's been saying he wants to get in the field more."
Grissom nodded. "Exactly. We'll have plenty of tasks on this one that will give him good experience."
"Okay," Sara said. "I'll go talk to him."
"Make sure you talk to Hodges, too," Grissom said. "We'll need someone to cover for Greg while he's in the field."
"Oh, Hodges will love pulling double duty," Sara said, smirking.
"It may be a nice idea to remind him that he does love getting paid," Grissom said. "I'm leaving now. You two get your stuff together, get Greg and meet me there."
"You've got it, Boss," Nick said.
After Grissom left the room, Nick looked at Sara. She looked back quizzically.
"What?"
"Do you think this one will be rough for Grissom?"
"Why?" Sara asked blankly.
Nick grinned. "A roller coaster is turning on him."
Sara smirked. "We'll get to see his ability to detach emotionally. That's always fun."
Nick laughed. "Come on. Let's get Greg and get out of here. We don't want to be late to meet the boss."
March 2016
"Hi, Daddy!"
"Good morning, sunshine," Grissom says as Anna climbs into her chair at the table. "I just made some pancakes. Do you want one?"
"Yes, with syrup, please."
Jake rolls his eyes. "You can't put your own syrup on your pancakes yet?"
"I can, too!"
Grissom closes his eyes, already envisioning his table covered in syrup. "I'll do it for you, Anna."
"No, I want to!"
The look on her face – one that he has seen so many times on her mother's – is enough to tell Grissom that he has no chance of winning this battle. He puts a pancake on a plate and slides it in front of Anna. She reaches across Jake for the syrup and proceeds to drown her pancake in it. She giggles as she watches it pool around the edges of the plate.
"I think that's enough," Grissom says, eyeing her plate.
"Just a little more."
Finally satisfied with her syrup application, Anna lifts the bottle with a flourish that sends syrup across the table in an arc. Grissom sighs and goes for a cloth to clean it up.
"Hi, guys," Sara says as she walks into the kitchen, still wearing her CSI vest from her recently-ended shift. She looks at the sticky table. "What happened?"
"Syrup malfunction," Jake says, grinning at Anna.
Sara looks from Anna to her plate to Grissom. "You let her put her own syrup on her pancake?" she asks blankly.
"You know, I can't even say that it seemed like a good idea at the time," Grissom said.
Sara shakes her head. "Is this what you guys do when I'm not here?"
"Only on weekends," Jake says helpfully. "During the week, we're getting ready for school."
"I suppose that makes it better," Sara says. "I'm going to go take a shower. Can I trust you three not to destroy my house while I'm doing that?"
Grissom smiles. "We'll do our best."
When Sara returns to the kitchen after her shower, Grissom and the children are still seated at the table. She pours herself a cup of coffee and sits down with them. Grissom looks at her breakfast with a frown.
"You should eat something, you know."
Sara smiles. "Thanks, Mom."
Grissom sighs. "Do you have any plans for the kids for today?"
"No. Why?"
"Well," he says, his eyes flicking from Sara to Jake and back, "I thought Jake and I could head over to the Sphinx Amusement Park today."
Sara raises her eyebrows over her coffee cup. "Sounds good to me," she says as she lowers her mug.
"Jake?" Grissom asks. "What do you think?"
"Yeah," Jake says, clearly stunned. "I've never been there before."
"An oversight I am happy to correct," Grissom says.
"I want to go, too!" Anna exclaims. "Can I come, Daddy?"
"Not this time, Banana," he says. "This time, it's just Dad and Jake time."
"That's not fair!" Her lower lip begins to protrude in a pout.
"Don't make that face, Anna," Sara says. "You and Daddy do plenty of things together. It's Jake's turn to do something with him." She glances over Anna's head at Grissom. "Besides, is staying with me so terrible?"
Grissom winks at her.
"But, you're not going to the amusement park!" Anna protests.
"No," Sara agrees. "But, we'll have fun at home."
Anna gives her such a disbelieving look that Sara wants to laugh.
"You'll see," she says. "We'll have a good time, too."
March 2004
Brass was waiting when Grissom arrived at the scene. He ducked under the crime scene tape and walked across the parking lot to where Brass was waiting.
"So, Dr. Thrill-seeker, you ever been on this roller coaster?" Brass asked by way of greeting.
"Pharaoh's Fever, yeah," Grissom said, looking up at the motionless coaster. "But, my ride ended at the platform. What do you know?"
"Six dead," Brass said. "Park full of witnesses saw the train fly off the tracks. Four-oh-one-B."
"Accident with injury," Grissom translated.
"Uh-huh."
"It's also a four-eighteen-B."
"A runaway?" Brass asked.
"A runaway train," Grissom said, nodding.
Brass looked at him and shook his head. "Really? That's what you're going with?"
"You have a better idea?"
Brass shook his head and chuckled. "Where's your back up?"
"En route," Grissom said. "Sara, Nick and Greg are coming."
"Sanders? Shouldn't he be in a lab somewhere?"
"He wants to spread his wings, Jim. Who am I to hold him back?"
"Don't let him screw this up," Brass said. "The Undersheriff was already here to tell me that this is the first runaway roller coaster in county history. He also made it very clear that there are massive criminal and civil liabilities." He shook his head. "Make sure you're not going with the B team on this one."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Good."
"This doesn't look good," Sara said from her spot riding shotgun as they drove up to the blocked amusement park entrance.
"No," Nick agreed, rolling down his window. "Hey, buddy!"
The man leaning against the news van meandered over to them. "What's up?"
"Would you mind moving your van? We need to get inside."
He shook his head. "Park's closed. You and the missus will have to find something else to do today."
Nick gave Sara a look of disbelief, then turned back to the van driver. "We're not here for a good time, sir. We're CSI. We're part of the investigation."
"Well, CSI, I'm KRZW. We're reporting the investigation."
"Look," Sara said, leaning across Nick, "if you don't let us in, you won't have much to report. Either move the van or we'll call our guys and have it moved."
"All right, all right, no need to get your panties in a bunch," he said. "But, I'm moving right back after you guys are inside."
"You do that," Nick said.
"What a moron," Sara muttered as the man climbed into the news van.
"He's making us late," Nick said. "You know how Grissom gets when we're late."
"We'll just tell him a news van was in the way," Sara said.
She and Nick looked at each other and laughed. Greg, alone in the backseat, looked bewildered.
"What just happened?"
"All part of being in the field, Greggo," Nick said, pulling ahead as soon as the news van started to move. "All part of being in the field."
March 2016
"Are you a roller coaster man?" Grissom asks as he and Jake walk into the amusement park.
Jake shrugs. "I've never been on one."
Grissom hides his surprise and glances at Jake. "Never?"
"Nope. My parents weren't much for amusement parks."
Grissom nods, thinking that he should have guessed that. "Well, there are several coasters here. We can try them out and see what you think."
"You like roller coasters?" Jake asks in disbelief.
"Yeah," Grissom says as though it should have been obvious. "Come on. Let's go on this one first."
Shaking his head slighting at the mystery of Grissom, Jake follows him to the end of the line for Pharaoh's Fever.
March 2004
Taking Grissom's caution about keeping things low-profile to heart, Sara, Nick and Greg set up a tent in the parking lot to go through and document their evidence.
"Can't we just take everything back to the lab?" Greg asked, looking at the flimsy structure that was swaying gently in the wind.
"This is a lot of stuff," Sara said. "We need to organize it first."
"And, we're not entirely done with the scene yet," Nick added. "We don't want to get back to the lab and then have Grissom mad at us for leaving the scene early."
"Okay," Greg said slowly.
Nick grinned. "Just think of this as our mobile lab."
"Oh, ha, ha."
Sara grinned at Nick. "What do you think we can trust him to do?"
"Trust me to do?" Greg repeated disbelievingly. "You two are harsh."
Nick grinned again. "Come on, Greg. Help me sort everything. Like with like. Sara can document."
"Okay."
They were working in companionable silence when Grissom came into their tent. None of them reacted to his presence until he began to speak.
"'There are three things in human life that are important. The first is to be kind; the second one is to be kind; and the third one is to be kind,'" he quoted.
"Henry James," Sara said without looking up from her documenting mission.
"Very good," Grissom said, glancing at her, clearly impressed. "Author of one of the greatest horror stories ever written: Turn of the Screw. And, I'm looking for one."
"A screw?" Sara asked, finally looking up at him and smirking.
"Yes," he said, looking at her, knowing exactly what she had implied.
"Oh, well, technically these are eccentric shafts, not screws," Nick said, completely oblivious to the undercurrent in the room.
Greg, who had painstakingly put all the eccentric shafts into the same bin, hurried to get them. He handed the bin to Sara, who was closer to Grissom. He sat down next to her to go through them.
"Well, as long as you can screw a nut on it, it's a screw," Grissom said, pulling out his glasses to study their evidence.
"Turn of the Screw isn't really a horror story," Sara said, getting back to work. "It's more of a mystery. Did the governess kill the little boy, or did the ghost do it?"
"Well, it's only a mystery if you believe in ghosts," Grissom said, looking at her over his glasses.
Sara gave him a look that clearly said he was ruining the story for her. Deciding to let it go, Grissom began a thorough examination of the screw in his hand.
"Hey, Sara, can you work a little overtime?"
"I suppose," Sara said, putting her jacket back into her locker. "What's up?"
Grissom stepped into the locker room. "I need to go back the park. I thought you could join me."
Sara smirked. "Sure."
March 2016
"That was awesome!" Jake exclaims as the train pulls to a stop at the platform. "Can we go again?"
Grissom grins. "Yeah. But, do you want to try the others first?"
"Yeah! I want to do everything! What's the closest ride?" Jake is practically bouncing as they walk down the ramp to exit the coaster.
"Closest ride, or closest roller coaster?"
"It doesn't even matter. What about that? Can we ride that?"
Looking at the spinning ride, Grissom nods. "Let's go."
Jake grins as they walk to the line. "Thanks."
"Hey, you're the boss today. You get to pick what we do."
"No, I mean … thanks for bringing me here. It's lots of fun."
Grissom smiles. "You're very welcome."
March 2004
"So, any guesses as to who tampered with the roller coaster?" Sara asked as they climbed out of the car. They had spent the entire ride establishing that Pharaoh's Fever was the likely victim of foul play.
"No," Grissom said. "I talked to the maintenance man who's in charge of it yesterday. I know he had access, so he should be a prime suspect, but I just can't see him doing anything to hurt one of the rides. Besides, he has no motive. Keeping the rides working is his job."
"Good point," Sara said.
"Back again?"
They both looked up as Woody, the maintenance man Grissom had interviewed, walked toward them. He smiled in recognition.
"Hello, Woody," Grissom said.
"How's the investigation going?"
"Coming along," Grissom said. "We're going to need to see the underside of the loading platform."
"Oh, follow me," Woody said, leading them toward it. "Rumor has it the park's going to shut down Pharaoh's Fever for good. You know anything about that?"
"No," Grissom said.
"Newspaper called it 'a death trap.' An 'accident waiting to happen,'" Woody said scornfully.
"You disagree with that?" Sara asked.
"Well, she's old and wrinkled, but I took good care of her," he said, opening the gate for them.
Grissom stood aside for Sara to go under the coaster, then crawled into the small space behind her. Woody ducked down to join them, but Grissom stopped him with a raised hand.
"Uh, Woody? We'd like to be alone."
A thrill of excitement shot through Sara. She knew Grissom didn't mean anything by it, and she knew that she had promised herself to stop thinking of him like that, but even so …
She hoped that the giddiness she felt wasn't obvious on her face.
"Well, easy access," Grissom commented as they looked at the track. "Wheels are in reach."
"Anyone could have loosened the nuts from down here," Sara agreed, thinking that the flimsy wooden gate Woody had opened for them was hardly secure.
While Sara swabbed what they assumed to be lubricant from a post, Grissom was distracted by a clicking sound. He looked up to see one metal pole clanging against another.
"Hey, look at that."
Sara pocketed her swab and looked in the direction he indicated.
"That's worse than just a wrinkle," she said.
"It's got a support beam under it," said a third voice.
Grissom and Sara both nearly jumped and turned to see Woody peering in at them.
"It's just a cosmetic problem," he said.
"Sir, you need to step away," Sara said, getting up to speak with him.
As she berated Woody for interfering, Sara wondered if she truly was upset about him interrupting their investigation, as she said – or if she was more upset that he had interrupted her "alone time" with Grissom.
Judging by the fact that Grissom just let her go on with her tirade, he was upset about their alone time being interrupted, too.
March 2016
"This was awesome!" Jake says as they walk through the parking lot to their car. "It was a great idea. Thank you for bringing me."
Grissom smiles as he unlocks the door. "You're welcome."
They climb into the car and buckle their seat belts, but Grissom does not start the engine. Jake looks at him curiously.
"Are you all right?" he asks.
"I … want to talk to you for a minute."
"Okay…" Completely clueless as to what Grissom is about to say, Jake can't help but feel a bit nervous.
"My mother can be … a difficult woman," Grissom says. "She has very strong opinions and convictions, and she does not keep them a secret. It's all I've ever known, so it's not something that bothers me. To me, it's just how my mother is. But, I know that Sara had to work to come to terms with it."
Jake nods slowly, trying to pretend that he understands the point that Grissom is making.
"Jake, I need you to understand that no matter what she thinks, Sara and I always do what we believe is right for us and our family. We always have, and we always will. You are a member of our family now, and we will do what is right for all of us – including you."
Jake's eyes widen as understanding dawns. "Okay," he says.
"Okay?"
Jake nods. "Okay."
"Good." Grissom finally starts the car. "Let's go see what the girls are doing."
March 2004
"Are you busy?"
Sara looked up from the report she is signing to see Grissom peeking in the open break room door. "Not anymore. What's up?"
"Can you come back to the Sphinx with me?"
Sara groaned. "Again? I thought we closed the case."
"Please?"
"Okay." Sara stood up and closed her file. "Here," she says, handing it to him. "This is yours now."
He smiled. "Thank you, dear."
Sara struggled to hide her smile. "Let's go."
"So, did this case bother you?" Sara asked as they walked into the park.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, I know you and roller coasters. It just seems like it would be more personal for you than some of the other cases."
"You live in an apartment building," Grissom said. "Does that make homicides in apartment buildings more personal for you?"
"That's not exactly the same, Griss."
He shrugged. "It kind of is."
"You're avoiding my question!"
He gave her a half smile. "Okay, okay. It wasn't difficult for me, if that's what you're asking. But, I have to admit, getting paid to hang out in an amusement park was nice."
Sara laughed. "That's not the answer I expected, but I like it."
"Hi, Dr. Grissom."
"Hi, Woody," Grissom said as the maintenance man met them. "Is everything set?"
"Sure is. Right this way."
Sara looked at Grissom as they followed the man straight past Pharaoh's Fever to another of the park's coasters. "What's going on? Has there been another problem?"
"Nope," Grissom said. "I just thought …"
He glanced at Woody, who wisely stepped out of earshot.
"Thought what?" Sara asked.
"I just thought that you and I could take a ride together."
Sara raised an eyebrow, thinking of the semen Greg had found in their runaway train. "A 'coaster date?'"
"Not in the sense that the park employees took them," Grissom said, winking at her. "I was hoping for something much … tamer."
"So, you just want to ride a roller coaster with me?"
"Yes." He wondered if she recognized the metaphor.
"Well …"
They were already there. And, even though she was trying very, very hard to avoid this sort of situation with him, even though he knew that …
"Okay," she finally said. "Why not?"
Grissom smiled. "Let's go!"
They climbed aboard and fastened themselves into their car. Woody started the ride, and Sara gripped the bar in anticipation.
"Excited?" Grissom asked.
"A little scared," Sara said. "I always get a little scared."
Grissom reached across and covered her hand with his. Sara flipped her hand over so she could hold his. Grissom smiled at her, and she smiled back.
Then, the ground seemed to fall away as the train went down the first hill. Sara clutched Grissom's hand, screaming loudly. Grissom laughed at her reaction, but yelled out as they went around a curve. Sara was thrown against him for a moment before they were both jerked in the opposite direction.
Sara had barely stopped screaming when they pulled to a stop at the platform. She looked at Grissom with shining eyes.
"That was so much fun!"
He laughed. "I'm glad you liked it."
"You've been on this one before, haven't you?"
"Yeah," he acknowledged.
They unbuckled their restraints, and climbed out of the car. Grissom waved to Woody, who was manning the controls.
"Thanks!"
"Anytime," the older man replied.
Grissom put his hand on the small of Sara's back to lead her down the ramp. Her eyes were still shining when they reached the pavement.
"Thank you," she said. "You went to a lot of trouble, and … I had fun."
"I'm glad," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. He brushed a strand of windblown hair back from her face.
"Griss …" Sara shook her head to bring her hair and face out of his reach. "This isn't going to happen."
Grissom dropped his hand. "Sara …"
She shook her head. "We're not going down this road again. We can't."
"I wish –"
"I wish a lot of things," Sara said.
"Yeah," Grissom said. He sighed. "I guess I do, too." He turned toward the parking lot. "Come on. I'll take you back to the lab."
Sara exhaled. "Thanks."
March 2016
"We're home!"
"Daddy!" Anna cries. "Come see!"
Grissom and Jake exchange a look, then follow the sound of Anna's voice to the living room. She and Sara are sitting across from each other on the floor; Sara is holding Laura's hands as the baby stands in front of her.
"What's going on?" Grissom asks.
"Watch!" Anna squeals. "Laura, come here!"
To Grissom's and Jake's amazement, the baby, who had only been crawling when they left the house, takes semi-confident steps across the room from Sara to Anna. Sara and Anna cheer as she tumbles into Anna's outstretched arms. Stunned, Grissom and Jake join in the cheers.
"When did she learn that?" Grissom asks blankly.
"About half an hour ago," Sara says. "Anna and I have been making her practice ever since. She's probably exhausted." She gives him a beaming smile. "Isn't this great?"
"We need to finish baby-proofing," he says.
Sara laughs. "Yeah. I'm on it."
Grissom glances at the clock. "Why don't I get on it? You should get some sleep before work."
Sara nods. "Okay. Thanks."
Grissom picks up the baby and tosses her in the air. "You did such a great job, Laura!"
She giggles as he settles her in his arms. Sara smiles and touches his cheek.
"Love you," she says.
"Love you, too."
Smiling, Sara goes upstairs to her bedroom. Grissom sets Laura back on the floor.
"Okay," he says. "Let's see her go again."
When Sara gets home for work the next morning, Grissom is alone with Laura in the kitchen. He is sitting in front of her highchair, feeding her breakfast; he looks up in surprise as Sara joins them.
"Hey," he says. "You're home early."
"Too much overtime," she replies, leaning down to kiss him. "Are the other two still in bed?"
"Yes," he says.
"Good," Sara says, sitting down with him. "I want to talk to you."
"Okay," Grissom says. "What's going on?"
Sara exhales slowly. "Watching Laura take her first steps yesterday, I realized something."
"What's that?"
"Gil …" She gives him a shaky smile. "I want to have another baby."