Chasing Home

bahocean

Summary:Sometimes Grissom thinks too much...or not enough.

Rating: PG to be safe

Disclaimer: If I owned either Buffy or CSI, do you really think any of the characters would be lonely?

Distribution: My site (when I get it put up) and anyone who asks. Just let me know where. Feedback: Constructive criticism welcome. Flames will be used to roast first marshmallows, then the flamer. On with the story!

Gil Grissom, Forensic Entomologist, Biologist, CSI Level 3, Supervisor of Graveyard at Las Vegas Crime Lab, and persistent ostrich, sat in his office, head in hands, elbows on desk as he looked at the slip of paper that rested on it. The note burned his eyes, his heart, his soul.

Dear Grissom,

By the time you recieve this note, I will be on a plane, winging my way to a well-deserved vacation. I am close to burnout and I need to make some decisions about my environment before I have no choice but to leave for good.

You are not to blame, Gris. You have done nothing you haven't always done. You are a good man, a good boss, and the best of friends. If that's all I can have, I will have to learn to be content. I have just reached a crossroads and must think. If you truly need me, in ANY way, there are clues to my whereabouts. You just have to find them, coure mio.

Fino a domani, amore mio, Sara

He'd pushed her away. She was leaving him. He'd said something, or done something, or not said something, or not done something... Grissom's eyes caught something on his desk. It was a picture. He reached for it. It was a picture of himself and Sara in San Francisco. They'd just finished the last day of seminars and she'd talked him into posing with her. They'd been looking at each other, smiling, as the camera captured the look. The two looked like a couple in love. Gil finally pulled his head out of...the sand. He knew what to do. The phone rang. Hoping it was Sara, he picked it up. "Grissom."

"Dr. Grissom? My name is Dr. Todd Welsford, and I need your help." Gris recognized the name of a fairly famous anthropologist. "What can I do for you?"

"I've recently been working in Italy on some Roman ruins and came across several unknown artifacts. Two hours ago, I found an unusual insect... more common to your neck of the world than mine, especially since they're attached to a body. I'm hoping you're willing to come out here."

Grissom would normally have jumped at the chance to go play with his insect friends, but with Sara missing, night shift was already short-handed. He glanced at the letter. Then the signature. Mio Amore. My love. Italian for "my love".

"You contacted me for what reason? Surely there's more than one forensic entomologist closer to you." He badly wanted to see if he was getting the right clues to Sara's whereabouts, but he also wondered why this man had picked him for help.

"Yes, but you're one of the best, and you were recommended by several other PhD's. You and my other expert." Grissom looked puzzled.

"Other expert? If you have a specialist in bugs there..."

"No, no. The artifacts are like nothing I've ever seen before either. I've asked a former curator of the British Museum for his help, a Dr. Giles. The two of you would be helping me figure this out."

Grissom had heard of Dr. Rupert Giles. He'd been well-respected in academic circles before disappearing into obscurity for a few years. Lately, he'd been seen more often, chalking up his absence to a prolonged sabbatical. He'd always been intrigued by some of the other man's ideas. Grissom's curiosity was peaked. Todd Welsford had a case involving bugs for him in Italy. Sara, who though fluent in three languages, wasn't a speaker of Italian, writing terms of endearment in Italian. The chance to meet one of his fellow scientists. Sara. The final answer came when he looked up to see Judy delivering a package for him. It was a book on Italy and its unusual attractions... including an Italian bug museum in Rome. The return address...was Sara's.

"Dr. Welsford, I'd be happy to help. Let me know when."

End Chasing Home

Note: Italian phrases are "my heart" and "until tomorrow, my love", gotten from a English/Italian Dictionary on the Web.