A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and kind words! Keep 'em coming :)
Just as a reminder, I do plan to take this story all the way through the series finale and perhaps even a few chapters past that with an epilogue. So don't fret, the end is not too soon :)
However, I did stop watching after Grissom left and have only caught a handful of the episodes between then and the finale, so I do apologize for any inaccuracies when we get to that point of the story.
Anyway, here's chapter 47, enjoy!
"These people who come to Vegas, some want to become rich or famous. And then there's the people that are from here. And we know, that the odds are always in favor of the house. It's what built this town. You didn't come here to become famous—did you?" Catherine spoke as she and Grissom walked through the flashing lights and booze filled tourists on the strip. Walking at a slow, leisurely pace.
"I came to play cards."
"No, for real."
"I did, I came to play cards. I needed the money. I thought I was in love with this girl in college. But I kept getting into debt buying cadavers and fetal pigs. There was no money left for the girl, science took the pot."
"Well maybe it just wasn't, the right girl." Catherine offered with a smirk.
Grissom shrugged, "Plus, poker allowed me to be a loner and still make money."
"Oh, right. When's the last time you played?"
"I can't remember." He lied. He had played just earlier that evening with the old sheriff in an attempt to get him to talk about the case. But before that, his last game had been two weeks before he and Sara had gotten together. "You know to most people risk is a bad thing, but in Vegas it's a good thing." He thought about the risk he made going over to Sara's apartment that night after Nick had been found. He thought about the risk he was about to make, leaving his whole life here behind him.
"See!" Catherine said happily in her silver-lining voice, "Paid for your pig, made roots, friends, family—well a work family anyway." She quickly amended.
"Yeah." Grissom stared ahead, "Maybe it's time to up the ante."
Catherine kept a poker face as she glanced back up at Grissom, a smile starting to jerk the corners of her mouth upright. She breathed in largely and exhaled. The time was coming, she realized. Her feelings were conflicted. She knew this day would come, and she just hoped that he was going after her.
December 2008
Grissom picked up the assignment slips from his desk and began to walk out the door. Looking down in his hands was his weekly crossword puzzle, only one word missing. He looked at a minute longer. "SIALID" a type of insect family, he concluded, which filled in the remaining words of "Solute and Held". He sighed and threw the crossword in the trash without finishing filling it in.
He walked into the break room briskly. "Riley. Suspicious 425 remains at the city dump."
"Awesome! Trash run for the low man on the totem pole."
"I promise not to abuse my power over you." Greg smirked.
Nick jumped in, "Watch your back, Riley."
"For our new CSI level 3, 40A uncovered stolen vehicle at McCareen." Grissom placed the yellow slip in front of Greg. "Nick, 402 possible arson at the Burger Giant."
"Well, there goes the night. Why don't we all meet up at the coffee shop after work. Level three over here's going to buy." He exchanged a quick laugh with Greg.
"I'll take care of breakfast," Catherine spoke up, walking toward the table now and standing next to Grissom. She knew what was coming—not that Grissom had told her, like he should have. But she knew. She could sense the conflicting relief washing over Grissom, shedding emotional weight little by little over the last few days. She has seen Grissom in Ecklie's office, sitting. Something he would do under very few circumstances, leaving being one.
And she was right, over the last few weeks, once he had officially made up his mind, Grissom took the necessary actions needed to leave the Lab with as little disruption as possible. He opened the hiring process, filed the papers to promote Catherine, boxed up some belongings and took them home without many people noticing. He'd contacted the grant-instated field research office in Costa Rica, asking to join their team. Made arrangements to get there and packed his bags. Now all that was left was telling the team, but he didn't feel ready.
"And the 419 in Green Valley." Catherine continued, "Looks like the King gets to sit on the bench for now." Grissom stood in the threshold tentatively now. Catherine could sense he was conflicted, could sense he didn't know how to say it, "Is that it?" She tried giving him a little push.
"No. I know this has been a tough year—for all of us. And I've been thinking, I mean, more than usual. And I've made a decision. I'm going to leave CSI." He took a deep breath, hearing his own words echo through his ears, watching his team's surprised faces, "Catherine, will become the new supervisor so you'll be in good hands. While I'm clearing my case load, Ecklie is preparing a list of candidates for a new Level 1 hire. So you won't be short handed." At this point Grissom's phone began to ring, he looked at the screen, "And I guess I just came off the bench: 419 in Mt. Charleston. Okay?"
Grissom ducked his head and turned on his heels, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did. Leaving his team sitting there in awe, shock. Catherine smiled sadly. They all watched as he walked down the hall, disappearing from sight.
The air in the break room was thick and silent until finally Catherine broke it, "Alright, so—Breakfast at Franks after everyone's wrapped?"
"Yeah. Okay." Nick spoke absently, still reeling from the news.
Hodges, Nick and Catherine stood over the soup body in autopsy, spilling the remains onto the cold slate.
"Let me get this straight. Grissom didn't say that he was leaving permanently. So he could be taking a leave of absence. That's a form of leaving, right?" Hodges was clearly upset by the chatter he came across in the halls early that day.
"I think this is, leaving leaving." Catherine offered.
"What's he going to do? Teach? Right a book? Go off and study bugs somewhere?"
"You know as much as I do, Nicky."
These conversations would happen all throughout shift. Everyone feeling very blindsided by the news—both hurt and curious.
"Are you really leaving?" Doc spoke between giving Grissom the rundown of the body.
"Yep." He replied simply, "Think of it this way, you'll have someone new you can tell all your old jokes to."
"I like the old guy just fine." He paused, "Are you running away from something? Running to something, or someone?" Doc had a hunch.
"I'm running to my office." He smirked.
"I think you're nuts. I am never going to retire." Doc spoke under his breath as Grissom left through the double doors.
Catherine and Grissom sat in AV together, recreating custom sneakers the victim was wearing. There was a moment of silence between the two, so Grissom took his opportunity,
"Catherine," His voice was soft. She looked up at him, "I—I uh, I know I surprised you today...with the—"
"I knew." She interjected with a sad smile, "I knew before you knew." She looked into her friends eyes and smiled again, feeling relief for him. "Okay then," She gave him the out, knowing he'd had too many of these conversations already and steered the discussion back to the case at hand.
Shift went on and the team came together to finish out one last case for Grissom strong. The Dick and Jane killer turned out to be the perfect puzzle for just that. Over the next several hours, they would find an accomplice to the imprisoned serial killer, a new lead. It led them to a lecture being taught by Ray Langston at the university. Grissom slipped into the class, undercover in sorts, to observe the killer.
"You're going to miss this. You are." Dave spoke as he helped Grissom collect some of the pupae from the body."
"There are bugs everywhere, David." He paused briefly and looked up at the man standing opposite him, "I am going to miss you though."
Dave smiled sadly, water filling his eyes. He quickly excused himself, feeling too emotional.
Shift wore on, turning into a double, forcing Grissom to rearrange his departure, feeling the need to see this case through. He made a few quick calls to the field office in Costa Rica, to the airline to change his flights, to Dave to let him know not to expect him that day. Eventually though, the case was reigned in. They found DJK's accomplice, who had been hiding in plain sight in Dr. Langston's lecture hall. They had used forensic astronomy to locate the cabin in the desert, to free the girl currently captured there.
His parting conversations with Nick and Greg proved to be more difficult that the others:
"I will never forget the things you taught me."
"You're the best student I ever had, Nick."
"So you're really leaving?"
"I am, Greg."
Greg smiled sadly, "I just wanted to say, to say thank you. For everything you've taught me, the opportunity you gave me to leave the lab and enter the field." He paused briefly, "Tell her I say hi." Grissom hadn't told anyone where he was going, but the evidence had been clear, he was sure.
Grissom finished packing up his office. Placing framed butterflies and mason jar experiments into boxes. He took out two entomology textbooks and wrote Good luck in each, signing them Grissom. He left them on his desk for Catherine to find once she took over his office. He finished cleaning out his desk drawers, finding Warrick's memorial pamphlet there. He sadly placed it in the box before looking back up thinking to the future, to seeing Sara. The though caused the corners of his lips to upturn.
Grissom walked the lab halls for the last time. Watching lab techs conduct their business, Nick process the suspects car, Catherine and Brass sitting in the break room. Catherine looked up at spotted him, giving him an encouraging smile and a wink. And with that, he turned on his heels and walked out of the lab for the last time.
Grissom landed in San Fransisco a few hours later having a three hour layover there. He quickly got into a cab and headed straight to the SF Crime lab, as Dave had made him promise he would do.
"Grissom." Dave called from down the hall. "How are you?"
"I'm good. I'm feeling good." He spoke shaking the older man's hand.
"Come, I have something for you." Grissom followed Dave back to his office and watched as he opened the top drawer of his desk. "Here." Dave handed him a small manilla envelope with a slight budge in it.
Through furrowed brows, Grissom opened the flap and looked inside, his grandmothers ring.
"She'd asked me to send it to you.. but I couldn't. I had a good feeling this day would come. And here you are." Dave put an encouraging hand on Grissom's shoulder, "Go get 'her." He smiled widely.
One eight hour flight later and Grissom arrived in warm, humid Costa Rica. He'd taken a taxi to the village he was told to go to, about a thirty minute drive. From there, he was picked up by a shuttle of sorts, that took him half way up the mountain.
"This is as far as I can take you." The driver spoke as he screeched the cart to a halt. "You'll be going seven miles due east. The GPS should be sufficient means for you to get there."
"Thank you." Grissom spoke, patting the GPS in his pocket to ensure he still had it. He quickly tipped the driver and watched as he sped off down the trail. Grissom pressed onward, making his way through tall grass and canopied trees. He stopped a few times along the way, spotting insects and bugs that intrigued him. He smiled widely, feeling the life of the land and its stark contrast to the cold blue of death in Vegas. He finally began to understand what Sara had meant.
A little over two hours into the hike, Grissom came across a clearing. He checked the GPS and confirmed his arrival. He took a few tentative steps forward, watching as the campsite came into view.
There she was.
His mouth fell open at the sight of her and his breath caught in his chest. She stood there, her back to him. He took in her appearance, her hair shorter than before, her posture relaxed as she photographed a small monkey up in the tree. He couldn't move, paralyzed by her sight. He could feel his heart beating faster, constricting.
She could feel a new presence, could feel eyes on her. She turned around slowly to see what was behind her causing this feeling. And there he was, as if he appeared out of no where. Standing in the clearing, wearing his goofy straw hat, large pack on his back, staring at her with wide eyes and a small smile.
Tears began to rush to her eyes before she could really comprehend what was happening. Her camera fell from her hand, catching on the strap. A shocked look flowing across her features as she bit back her tears. Their eyes locking.
Grissom dropped his pack, a large smile forming on his lips as he took three large strides to her, wrapping her up in his arms and taking her lips in his. Kissing her deeply, passionately. She held onto him tightly, convincing herself that his was real. Not one of the many day dreams she'd have of this moment.
Tears fell freely now as he deepened the kiss. She then buried her head in the nook of his shoulder and let out a small sob. He placed a gentle hand to the back of her head, lettings his fingers feel her soft hair. Taking in her lavender scent. That scent that'd been absent in his life for over two months now.
He kept opening his mouth to speak, but nothing would come out so he just held her tighter.
"Gil." She whispered against him, her tears falling to his shoulder.
"I'm sorry it took me so long." He soothed, pulling back to look into her watery eyes.
"You're here now." She smiled widely, bringing her hand up to his scruff covered cheek. "You're here now."