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Just to Hear You	By : GeekLuvR Category: CSI > General Views: 5174 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Just to Hear You

Pt 5

Grissom felt as if a weight had been lifted from his
shoulders as soon as he finished. He powered down his laptop and headed to the
break room for coffee. Greg saw him coming and pulled out Grissom�s coffee
mug. Grissom�s was easy to spot ever since Greg bought everyone a special mug
when he passed his CSI proficiency. Grissom�s mug said �I�m not anti-social;
I�m just not user friendly.� While he was pouring a cup of Greg�s special
stash, Ecklie stormed in like a whirlwind. �Grissom you can�t be serious! This
is a joke right?� �No Conrad it�s not joke.� The Greg and Nick looked to
Grissom for some sort of clue as to what was going on. Catherine and Sara heard
the commotion and wondered what was up as well. Grissom sighed, �Well someone
page Warrick and get him in here so I only have to say it once.�

Warrick arrived a few minutes later with Brass and everyone
looked anxious. Grissom took a deep breath and began. �Well you�re all
wondering what�s going on now, so I won�t give you some big build up. My
medical leave is officially up in two weeks. At that time, I�m resigning as
supervisor of nightshift.�

�WHAT?!?!?!�

�Now just calm down people. It�s time. I�ve been doing
this sort of work for over half my life, including the last 20 years here in
Vegas. Four weeks ago I suddenly had a lot of time to think. I almost died and
the only people who cared where the people I work with. I�m not saying that you
guys aren�t great, but to have no one in your life but coworkers is just sad.
Yes my mother is alive and if anything happened I�m sure someone would have
contacted her. But do any of you know her name? Do you know where she lives?
Would you even know how to contact her since she�s deaf? I know I�m not exactly
a guy who talks about anything, so it�s not your fault you don�t know anything
about me. Hell I�m almost 49 years old and I don�t know much about me either.
But it�s time I find out, and I can�t do that with this kind of schedule.�

Catherine looked at her friend in shock. �So what are you
going to do?� �I don�t know Catherine. First I�ll go spend some time with my
mother and take a vacation. After that, I don�t know. Maybe go teach a few
seminars, maybe hang around the university and do some research for some
articles. I don�t need to work, but I�ll find things to stay busy; but not too
busy. I want to be able to take some time to just do nothing if the mood
strikes me.�

Ecklie rubbed his temples. �Let me get this straight. My
lab is losing the night shift supervisor and one of the only 15 entomologists in
the country, because he�s basically having a mid-life crisis? And just what are
we supposed to do if we need an entomologist for a case?�

�Call me. I�m not dying; I�m just�guess you�d say
retiring. But if you read the bottom of the memo I sent you, you would see that
I�m available to consult on cases whenever needed. And it doesn�t have to
involve bugs either. If you need me for anything, call. Just be aware that I
might not be in town, but even if I�m not I�ll still check my voice mail. If
you have a decomp with bugs and I�m not in town, well I know Sara has worked
with me on enough linear regressions to get it started without me.�

�Me? I don�t know much of anything about bugs Grissom.�
�I know. But you know how I do the regression, stages in the life cycles are
really easy to spot a difference, and you�re meticulous about charting. Once
you have the data, I can do the interpretation once I�m here. Or I can finish
it up if I get here in time.�

Ecklie looked at Grissom and smiled. �You�ve really given
this a lot of thought, haven�t you? This isn�t just whim.� �No it�s not. I
thought about this long and hard before I sent you the memo. Its just time.�
�So what am I supposed to do about a supervisor?� �Well I always thought
breaking up my team was an idiotic move. But since we�ve never gotten along and
you always hated night shift�s solve rate, you had your reasons. And we both
know your reasons had nothing to do with my crew and everything to do with your
not liking me. Well I won�t be here, so why not just put the team back together
and Catherine takes supervisor.�

Ecklie sighed. �And if I do that, I�ll have to go to the
sheriff and admit that I made a mistake splitting your team up in the first
place. And I admit, it was a mistake and my reasons weren�t nearly good enough
for doing it.� �Well at least that�s something we agree on,� Catherine
scoffed. Ecklie ignored her. �Well since you�re obviously serious about this,
I�ll get the paperwork processed.�

Greg looked stunned. �Griss you can�t leave man. The lab
is your life.� Grissom turned and looked at the younger man. �No Greg, the lab
I is my job. My life has been on hold because of it for far too long. That�s
going to change. Now if anyone needs anything, I�ll be in my office finishing
up that paperwork backlog.�

Grissom started out of the room and suddenly turned. �And
by the way Greg. That coffee mug of yours is pretty close to the line on the
department�s sexual harassment policy.� �Oh it is?� �Yes it is. You might want
to take it home and avoid any hassles with your new supervisor.� Catherine
looked at Grissom and noticed he was grinning. Then she couldn�t resist and had
to look at Greg�s coffee mug. It took a moment for it to register, and then she
burst out laughing. �Yeah Gil, well that�s obviously true. Maybe while you�re
finding a life you can fix that.� Grissom chuckled as he headed to his office
leaving Nick, Warrick, and Sara wondering what was so funny. Greg handed Sara
his now empty coffee mug and she grinned. It said

�1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0
g37 l41d�

During the next two weeks Grissom finished up any paperwork
he had lying about and he cleaned out his office, taking his personal items home
with him. Warrick had mentioned to the gang about Grissom�s cryptic comment
years ago about when he left there wouldn�t be any cake in the break room; he
would just be gone. The gang couldn�t let that happen, so they arranged for a
small party in the break room for Grissom�s last night. Ecklie got coverage
from dayshift so that the following night they could take Grissom out for a real
party. At first he was reluctant to go, but Nick told him it was the team�s
contribution to helping him find a life. Besides they were all friends whether
he worked with them or not.

Close to the end of shift on the last night of Grissom�s
�medical leave� he walked into the break room and found it covered in streamers,
balloons saying �Bon Voyage�, and a suspicious looking cake. Closer inspection
of the cake let him see that the cake was covered in cookie crumbs to resemble
dirt and there were plastic and candy insects all over it. �It�s called a
�dirt� cake,� Mia explained. �I signed up to take care of the cake and thought
it was fitting. Although the bakery thought it was funny to be doing a dirt
cake with bugs for someone over the age of 7.� �Bug cake? You got Griss a bug
cake?� Catherine came into the break room holding a large wrapped gift. �Now
why didn�t I think of that?�

Grissom turned around to see the entire night shift crew,
techs and all, file into the break room. He was stunned. He never expected
this kind of a reaction. Warrick stepped forward and pushed Grissom into a
chair. �Well my friend, you told me once in school you were a ghost. You said
you would just disappear and no one would notice. Well all these people are
here to tell you that you�re not a ghost, and we do notice when you�re not
here. We�ll miss you. We don�t like that you�re leaving, but we understand why
you feel you have to. We support you in this, and we all love you. So tonight
it�s adios Mr. Supervisor. May your cockroaches win every race. May your days
be filled with happiness, and your nights with passion. God knows you could use
it.�

Everyone laughed, including Grissom. Techs and staff made
their way over to him and said their good byes, many passing him cards with
email addresses and phone numbers so they could keep in touch. Before long it
was just he, his team, Brass, and Ecklie. Ecklie handed him a new department
ID, but this one proclaimed him a private consultant. With that he would have
less of a hassle getting into the lab if he was called. Brass gave him a heavy
wooden box. Grissom opened it and found a copy of his firearm certification
enabling him to carry a firearm, a nickel-plated Beretta, holster, and an extra
15 round clip. Brass just shrugged. �Well as a consultant you�re not eligible
to carry departmental issue, but you�re already certified to carry. So I wanted
to make sure you had something decent. I know you learned your lesson about
going to a scene without packing.� Grissom smirked, �Yeah I guess I did.
Thanks Jim.� Then it was the team�s turn. Catherine pushed the large box over
to him. �Well Gill no one knew exactly what to get you, so we assembled a few
things you may need while you go looking for your new life.� Catherine pulled
the top off the box. �Now these first things were Greg�s contribution. We have
a t-shirt that says �Coffee.exe is missing � insert cup and press any key�. We
have a bag of Blue Hawaiian coffee, a copy of the New York Times Sunday
Crossword puzzles volume 30, and�. Greg what is in this box?� �That is a
special Greggo find a life survival kit.� Catherine grew impatient. �Which
means?� �Open it up and see.�

Grissom opened up the box and started shaking his head.
Everyone peered over the box and started to laugh. Nick was the first to calm
down enough to be able to talk. �Condoms Greg?� �Hey those aren�t just
condoms. There are 10 different varieties, not including the different
flavors. And there�s massage oil and honey dust. Hey come on guys, you said
he�s leaving to get a life. I just thought, you know, maybe he�d actually live
a little.� Grissom closed the box up. �Well getting a life is the general idea
Greg. Oh Cath quit glaring at him. It was funny. And you never know. It
might come in handy.� Catherine�s glare turned to Grissom and he gave her a
wicked grin. �Ok, ok. I�ll lighten up. And here I expected you to get
offended at that.� Grissom gave her his best �who me?� look and she continued
pulling items out of the box.

�Ok now we have Nick�s contribution. We have a yearlong
rider�s pass for the roller coasters on the Strip. Two DVD�s, A Bug�s Life and
Antz. And it seems like Nick and Greg are on the same wavelength�. condoms.�
�Now wait a sec Cath, there�s something else there too.� �Oh right. A frame.�
�Not just a frame. I found a quote that reminded me of you, so I had it
framed.� Grissom took the box and unwrapped a beautiful oak frame. Inside he
found a mat covered in butterflies surrounding a quotation. It read �It
hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is the most painful
is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you
feel.�   Grissom�s eyes threatened to fill when he read it,
but he closed his eyes and quietly thanked Nick. �Hey now boss man, don�t you
go getting all choked up on us. We�re not finished with you yet.� �All right
no it's my turn.�

�Oh God Warrick I�m not sure I can take this after these
two jokers.� �Relax Griss. It�s all good.� Catherine looked into the box and
began pulling items out again. �Ok from our Mr. Warrick we have a poker set.�
�Poker set? Cath get it right. That�s Texas hold �em. If thought you might
like a poker night with the guys sometime.� Grissom smiled. �You remembered
that case.� Warrick shrugged. �It was the first time I remember you saying
anything about your life before CSI.� �We also have a CD. Rick I don�t
recognize this one.� �That�s because it�s not a CD that�s released anywhere. I
went to a recoding studio and put that together.� Grissom looked at the CD and
read the titles on the tracks. �I don�t recognize any of this either. Who is
it?� �It�s me. It�s very light jazz. No vocals. Just me a piano, and some
studio guys playing along.� Everyone just stared at Warrick and couldn�t
believe it. �We�ll its all Grissom�s fault. After my gambling problem he
encouraged me to find something else to do with my time. My grandmother taught
me to play when I was a kid. So I started playing around and came up with a few
tunes that weren�t bad. It�s not like I�m gonna quit my day job or anything,
but it�s fun.� �You don�t have a day job.� �Oh shut up Greg.�

�Kids can we finish this please? Ok now we�re onto Miss
Sidle. From her we have a baseball hat, the Cubs no less. A Cubs jersey, and
an envelope which she neglected to tell me what�s inside it.� Sara looked at
the table and picked at an imaginary speck. �Not much inside it really. Just
two tickets to a Cubs/Dodgers game at the end of August. I figured that was far
enough in advance so you could plan for it.� Grissom stared at her stunned.
�You got me tickets to a Cubs game?� Sara shrugged. �Well I remember you said
you�ve been a baseball fan your whole life. Then I saw a picture of Wrigley
field and an old Cubs hat in your office. So I thought maybe you�d like to go
to a game. And since going to a game alone is not much fun, so you have two
tickets to take someone with you.� Catherine and Nick just stared at Sara.
They knew she had been avoiding Grissom ever since he woke up in the hospital,
and they knew why. Nick didn�t think Sara would be able to pull off the �he�s
just a friend� act after she opened her heart to Grissom in the hospital. But
here she was doing just that, and her thoughtfulness in her gift was the
sweetest thing he had ever seen.

Grissom was speechless, and before he had a chance to
recover Catherine jumped in to finish off with her gifts to him. �Now we�re at
the end. And from me we have a new cell phone, so you will never be lonely no
matter where you go; a book of quotations, so you�ll never be speechless; a
framed quote to remind you of what�s important; and this.� Grissom took the
small box and opened it. Inside he found a compass. He looked up at Catherine
slightly puzzled. �That�s so you can always find your way back to us.� He had
to take a deep breath to fight back the tears. Everyone put such thought into
everything; even the gags. He took the frame from Catherine and knew he had
lost the battle not to cry. She had taken snapshots of all the team and put
them onto the mat surrounding the quotation. In the center it said:

�Laugh when you can,

apologize when you should,

and let go of what you can't change.

Kiss slowly,

play hard,
forgive quickly,

take chances,

give everything

and have no regrets.

Life's too short to be anything�but happy.�

Grissom wiped his eyes and looked at his team. �Thank
you. For everything. I didn�t expect anything like this. We�ve been through a
lot together. You guys have been my family through everything. It�s going to
be strange not coming here everyday and seeing you guys, but it is time to move
on. The years I�ve spent working with all of you have been the greatest of my
life. Chae Richardson said that
A hero is someone that can see death everyday, and still
have hope for the world. That�s you guys. You are the most talented group
I�ve ever had the pleasure of working with. When I first came here 20 years ago
this lab was a wreck. Ranked 14^th in the country and they thought
that was great. Then the director at the time started taking advice from the
new kid, they made some changes, and with their help and approval, I assembled
the best team outside of Quantico. No matter how good I thought the lab was, you
guys made it better. You�re my family, my friends, my team. And no matter what
happens, you will always be MY CSI�s.�

Catherine was the first to reach out
and hug him, and everyone else followed. Nick and Warrick took the boxes with
the gifts out to Grissom�s car while he said his goodbyes to the sheriff and
Ecklie. Heading to the lobby he saw Sara in the hall, but before he could catch
up to her, she was gone. Grissom met up with Nick at his car. �Waiting for
something Nick?� �Yeah as a matter of fact I am. You have got to talk to
Sara.� �Whoa Nick. I�m not the one avoiding talking. She is. She won�t come
near me when we�re alone. Not that the lab is the best place for the talk I
want to have with her, but she wont talk to me outside the lab either.� Nick
looked into his friend�s eyes. �Griss I know what she told you in the
hospital. Hell I was the one pushing for her to open up to you. She told me
that you said you heard her when she was talking. Now the question I have for
you is, what are you going to do? You know how she feels. Are you just going
to shoot her down again, or what?� �That�s up to her. Personally I�d pick
what, but after the way I�ve hurt her in the past, she might not give me a
chance.� Nick smiled, �Yeah you�re right she might not. But she at least
should give you the chance to talk. I�ll work on getting her to the party early
tonight. You get there around 6 and you guys can talk. The party isn�t until
7, so at least you�ll have some privacy. But I swear you hurt her and I�ll have
you back in that hospital so fast you wont know what happened.�

(meanwhile)

Brass saw caught up with Sara. �Hey
Sara we got a B&E call. Dayshift is going to be pulling a double, so why don�t
you come on this one.� The dayshift supervisor looked at Brass and nodded �Yeah
that�s a good idea. It looks like a quick one so why don�t you solo it?�   Sara
agreed and headed out to her car. �Hey Sara. I�m on this one too, and since
you�re solo how about I drive?�

�Brass aren�t you homicide?� �Yeah so?� �So
this is a B&E.� Look a bunch of people want off for tonight to meet up with
Grissom and you guys while you have him out. I�m pulling some daylight hours so
the day guys aren�t doing 24 hour shifts.�

The ride to the B&E was fairly quick.
It was a straightforward break-in with little hidden evidence. Sara lifted
prints, took samples and photos, and within 3 hours she and Brass were headed
back to headquarters. On the way back they were stuck in heavy traffic due to
some roadwork. Brass figured it was now or never. �So tell me Sara. Why wont
you talk to Grissom?�

�What? Where did that come from?�

�Come on give it up.
I�ve seen you with him since he got back to the lab. You avoid him; you don�t
talk to him there, and you wont meet him outside of the lab to talk either.
What�s going on?�

�Not a thing.�

�Sara it�s a good thing you don�t play cards
because your poker face stinks. Hon he told me about what happened in the
hospital. Now don�t get all bent out of shape, I had to get him while he was
under medication to spill it. And even then I doubt he told me everything. You
told him how you feel, and now you ignore him completely. That�s a classic
Grissom move if I�ve ever seen one. All this time you�ve been confused and
upset when he did it to you. Now you wonder why he wants to talk when you do it
to him?�

�Brass I�m not trying to confuse him.
I�m just trying to stay his friend. If I talk to him he�s going to tell me all
the reasons why I can�t love him, or why he can�t love me. I can�t listen to
that and still be able to face him.�

�Sara listen, I know you love him.
Hell I knew that before he told me the gist of what you said in the hospital.
But I also know Gil Grissom and I�ve known him a hell of a lot longer. As far
as you are concerned, I now know what�s going on in his head. I know because I
talked to him. Let me tell you, sweetie. For an investigator you sure are dense
about picking up the clues he�s been leaving you for the past three weeks.�

Sara looked at Brass and then looked
out the window. She knew she was acting just like Grissom had for the past five
years. Had he been leaving her clues for the past three weeks? She couldn�t
bring herself to recall any, but that doesn�t mean they weren�t there. Maybe
she just wasn�t looking. �Alright I�ll talk to him.�

�Damn right you will.
You are going out with the rest of the team tonight to celebrate Grissom�s
retirement, and before the party you will sit and talk with Gil about
everything. I�ll get him there early just for you. Then you two can talk in
private and get this thing you guys have hashed out.�

Sara sighed. It was going to be a
long night.

TBC?



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Just to Hear You

Send mail to webmaster@merlins-avalon.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright � 2005 Mother's Unique Designs

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Copyright � 2005
Mother's Unique Designs