A/N: Here comes the next instalment. Sorry for the mistakes in the last one, my computer skills leave a lot to be desired.
I forgot the disclaimer too, so, lets just make this a blanket one for the rest of the story. I don't own CSI or any of it's characters, I only own the ones I made up for this story.
Please review, it gives me encouragement and makes me feel better.
OF BODIES AND BUGS
On the other side of the country, well far enough away that it may as well have been, Sara had begun to settle into her new life.
She loved her new job, and the people she worked with were becoming like a family. Though the turnover of staff here was much higher than it had been in Vegas, the core personnel remained constant. She still missed everyone from Vegas, and though not seeing Grissom every day made life a bit easier, she still found herself thinking about him fondly.
It was about six months after she arrived in Washington that they had a case that involved bugs. Three decomposing bodies had been found in shallow graves about an hour outside the city, it was possible that they were a missing family that the FBI had been searching for. However there was no way to determine how long they had been dead without an entomological time line.
Sara's pager went off while she sipped he coffee in the break room.
My office ASAP. Rod.
Sara grabbed her cup and headed to her boss's office. Two of her team mates were already there when she arrived and she sat in the last available seat.
"What's up Rod, we got a case?" She asked before taking another sip of her coffee.
"Don't let me interrupt you coffee break Sidle" he grinned at her. "Heaven forbid we deny you your life giving caffeine"
Sara poked her tongue out at him and everyone chuckled.
"Actually we do have a case" he told them. "We are working with missing persons on this one. Three bodies found in shallow graves. Been there a while, but we don't know how long. Missing persons wants to know if it's the family they have been looking for. Trouble is the only way we will be able to find out when they died is with some sort of entomological time line." He paused and looked at Sara whose face had gone pale.
"You ok Sara?" he asked concerned with her sudden pallor.
"Ah….Um… Yeah." She stammered an answer, causing the others in the office to look at her more closely.
"Ok. If you're sure"
Sara nodded so he continued.
"I wouldn't normally ask this, Sara, but do you think you could manage this. I know you worked a lot with Gil Grissom the entomologist, and I did try to get him out here, but apparently he has been in hospital for some time and won't be able to travel" at Sara's sudden intake of breath he shot her a quick look and noted that she had gone even paler. (If that was possible).
Allison was sitting next to Sara and she was suddenly afraid that Sara might pass out she had gone so white.
"Sara? What's wrong? You're as white as a ghost." She asked anxiously as she knelt down in front of her friend.
Taking a couple of deep calming breaths, Sara looked down at her hands and noticed they were shaking.
"It's ok Ally, I….ah…. just didn't know that Griss….Um… Grissom was ill that's all, No-one's mentioned it to me. I've just never known him to get sick. In fact I can't ever remember him with even a cold." She answered.
Taking another big breath and turned to her boss.
"I should be fine, Ally can help me with it if that's ok with her, I think her stomach can handle it. I did work a lot with Grissom and I should be able to manage." She told him.
"That's great Sara, if you do get stuck, they told me he is happy to help over the phone or via video link if you need it. Ok" he looked at all three of his team. "Off you go then, time is of the essence.
Sara hesitated in the doorway.
"Um…. Rod? Did you tell them who would be doing the time line here. I mean it doesn't really matter I guess, but um…." She trailed off and turned to go.
"Sara!" he spoke softly, causing her to turn to face him. "I didn't tell them a name. Actually they never really asked. Is this going to be a problem?"
"No. No I'll….It'll be fine. Ah….Thanks."
When Sara had left, he thought back on his conversation with Catherine Willows.
She hadn't asked the name of the person doing the time line, but when he told her that the person doing it had worked extensively with Gil Grissom, she had worked it out in a flash. Apparently there had only been one CSI in the last five years who had worked with Grissom a lot on the insects and she had left for a destination unknown about six months ago. She had mentioned Sara's name and Rod had just confirmed her suspicions. She explained a little of the history between Sara and her one time mentor, adding that when Sara had left Grissom's health had begun to deteriorate. If necessary she would act as an intermediary between Sara and Grissom if Sara had any problems or questions with the collection or time line.
"Well" he thought, "I won't interfere yet. We'll see what happens"
Sara and Allison were bent over the three bodies, as Richard, the third member of their team stood by and watched. Sara worked methodically as Grissom had taught her, moving from body to body, collecting a sample of the different types of insects on or surrounding each one.
"You're enjoying this aren't you Sara?" Allison asked as they moved from one body to the next.
"Yeah! I mean sometimes it still makes my stomach churn, but then I remember that with a correct time line we can find out when they died and that bit of information can nail the killer. I mean, these little bugs may be the only way to catch the guy who did this you know.?" She replied, it was hard to keep her enthusiasm out of her voice and her friend wasn't slow to pick up on it.
"Tell me about how you learnt all this. Tell me about Grissom" Ally asked, careful not to let Sara see her face. She had seen Sara's reaction to the news of Grissoms' illness and was curious.
"Well….." Sara hesitiated, but then her enthusiasm for the job got the better of her and she continued. "I used to accompany Griss a lot when he was doing a collection mainly because I was the only one on the team who didn't get squeamish around the bugs. I must have done a hundred of these with him. You can't help but learn when you are with him in the field, he's just a natural teacher."
Sara was warming to her subject now, Allison could tell, plus this was the first time Sara had ever said more than a few sentences at a time about her time in Vegas. She had also noticed that Sara had referred to him as Griss, not Grissom.
"He taught me to be thorough and methodical in my collections, not just of insects but of all evidence. We would collect all the insects needed and then go to the lab to compile the time line. You have to wait for the next stage of the insects, especially the flies to hatch and document the exact moment. It can take days for the time line to mature and it has to be watched continuously. That was something we would share. Give one another a break. I read a lot about entomology while I was in his office watching the bugs." She laughed then, thinking about his reaction to her calling them bugs.
"What's so funny" Allison prompted, hoping to gain a bit more insight into the relationship between Sara and her entomologist boss.
"Oh! Nothing really. I was just thinking of how cranky he got if I called them bugs to his face." Sara stopped talking then and turned her attention back to the task at hand. "Nearly done, hand me another bindle Ally please." she held her hand out but didn't turn around.
Allison watched as Sara collected the last of the insects and handed it to her. She remained squatting, her head resting on her hand. When she finally stood, she didn't say anything, just headed back to the car and climbed into the back.
Allison climbed in the drivers' seat and Richard hopped into the front passenger seat for the drive back to the city.
A couple of times Allison glanced in the rear vision mirror to catch Sara staring out the window. Once she thought she saw Sara wipe her eyes, as if she had been crying, but by the time they got back to the office Sara was once again her usual composed self, although the laughing Sara they were used to had not yet reappeared.
TBC
