CSI: LV Fic - Ribbons and Bows - Ch.3/?
Title: Ribbons and Bows
Chapter: 3 / ?
Author: caffeinified
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas
Characters/Pairing: Gil Grissom
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. It's just for fun.
Summary: Casefile: Australia. This is AU post Gil’s leaving the Vegas crime lab. Warning for adult themes in case details.
Previous Chapters: 1| 2
It was barely noon and the sun overhead blazed down on the Australian land hiking the temperatures close to record breaking numbers for the fourth day in a row. The air conditioner in the jeep did nothing for helping with the air outside. Mickey continued to turn it on and off to keep his vehicle from overheating.
Gil adjusted his sunglasses and swiped the back of his hand over his forehead before replacing the wide-brimmed hat on his head. He rode in the back seat and could vaguely hear Mickey and Silas discussing something in the front seat. He couldn’t quite make out the words though. Instead, Gil found himself drawn to observing the scenery that hurried too quickly past them on the road they were on.
This area of Australia was beautiful, yellows and browns. There were greens in the distance, crooked trees and brush that he would never have found in the States. In the distant brush he saw the head of a mammal peek up above the tall grass but they drove by too quickly for him to distinguish what exactly it was. While he thought to be annoyed by the quick pace, he knew that they weren’t out here for a sight seeing tour.
There was a dead little girl, a Jane Doe between five and seven years of age. The young child had been tossed on the side of the road, discarded after a poor treatment that none of them could completely comprehend yet. Strangely enough, Gil found it somewhat comforting that such cruelties didn’t just exist in Las Vegas, Nevada or even just in the United States. They were everywhere. After the last few years it was comforting… and then terrifying in light of the truly never ending battle he had been fighting. Maybe he was still fighting it, he didn’t know. For now, he hid behind the term ‘consultation’. He was just here as a consultant.
The jeep slowed down and came to a stop. Sydney and its surrounding residential areas were far behind them and ahead of them Gil could just make out the cityscape of a new town. “What city is ahead of us?”
“That’s the area of Picton. Small bit of a community with the big town feel of Sydney close by.” Mickey answered. “My men scoured the town and the local news when the body was first found but not a word from anyone about a missing girl fitting the description we gave. Thought since she was found closer to Picton than Sydney, might be something there. Came up with a dead end.”
“Alright, this was the crime scene.” Silas immediately got to business. He wasn’t going to squander Gil Grissom’s time and attention while he had it. Through many years of experience he knew how quickly a case could go cold and how an already cold case could turn even colder at the blink of an eye.
Gil nodded quietly and got out of the jeep with both men. He withdrew a handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed it over his face and neck for a moment before following the pair to the opposite side of the road. “Is.”
Silas and Mickey looked to Gil curiously. “What?” Silas asked.
“You said that this was the crime scene.” Gil clarified, stepping away to look out over the surrounding land. He decided to look at this from the outside looking in. “This is the site of the body dump. The crime scene is elsewhere. People don’t bring children to the middle of nowhere in order to beat and suffocate them. The violence is what led to this point.”
A slow grin spread over Silas’s lips. The older man glanced to Mickey and nodded before looking back to Gil’s back. “That’s why we needed you here, Gil.”
“Ye got an interesting perspective, I’ll give ye that.” Mickey said lightheartedly.
“How far out did your men extend the search?” Gil asked.
Mickey folded his arms over his chest and rocked back to his heels and forward again. “Ohh, about two kilometers in either direction. And the brush was undisturbed next to the body, thick and lush just as ye see now.”
Gil stepped into the tall brush and Mickey called out. “Careful, Grissom. Ye don’t know what’s in there.”
Two kilometers was close to one and a half miles. The search would have been an appropriate radius if done thoroughly. “I’m looking at this case from backwards to forwards. The point of the body has been studied by men far greater than what my reputation dictates that I am. You had Silas.” Gil continued to walk through the brush as he spoke. “Many men have studied this body drop from the inside out. As far as I’m concerned, it should be looked at from the outside into the point of our Jane Doe.”
He paused, turning to look back to the two men still standing in the manicured brush of the median. Where he stood, the brush came up to his chest. Gil squatted down and raised his voice. “Now! Count to ten and tell me if the brush looks disturbed!” That would give the brush around him adequate time to settle from his movement.
While he waited, Gil reached out to touch one of the long blades of grass. A moth landed before him and he narrowed his eyes and leaned in to study the creature. As soon as an appropriate time had passed, he heard Silas call out.
“You made your point, Gil. The brush looks undisturbed!”
“So just because it looks undisturbed doesn’t mean that it isn’t!” One index finger touched the moth and then it flew off. Gil stood, looking to both men across the brush. “How thoroughly did they search this area, Mickey?”
Mickey removed his hat and fanned himself with the brim. “Alright, ye got me Dr. Grissom. We had just lost a very dear colleague in the line of duty. We were short-handed and not a person stood up to claim the young girl. Between the loss and the number of cases we had to work… probably not searched up to our normal standards.”
Gil started back towards the median through the brush. For a moment he was silent in lieu of the information that a member of their CSI team had been killed not long ago. He wanted to ask if it got better, if it became easier with time. Instead he continued on with the matter at hand. “Well I think that begs yet another question… which is good. De omnibus dubitandum - everything should be questioned. And as long as there are questions with answers then we still have a reason to keep this case open. Are you short-handed now?”
The younger man narrowed his eyes, studying Gil curiously through his silence. At the question posed, Mickey grinned and shook his head. “No, we’re not. What are ye suggesting, Grissom?”
“Gather the rose buds while you may, old time is still a flying. And that same flower that blooms today, tomorrow shall be dying.” Gil paused, waiting for the normal response he garnered when quoting random words or facts. Both men just watched him expectantly. “James Thomson. I’m saying that we should start a new, more thorough search.”
Chapter: 3 / ?
Author: caffeinified
Fandom: CSI: Las Vegas
Characters/Pairing: Gil Grissom
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. It's just for fun.
Summary: Casefile: Australia. This is AU post Gil’s leaving the Vegas crime lab. Warning for adult themes in case details.
Previous Chapters: 1| 2
It was barely noon and the sun overhead blazed down on the Australian land hiking the temperatures close to record breaking numbers for the fourth day in a row. The air conditioner in the jeep did nothing for helping with the air outside. Mickey continued to turn it on and off to keep his vehicle from overheating.
Gil adjusted his sunglasses and swiped the back of his hand over his forehead before replacing the wide-brimmed hat on his head. He rode in the back seat and could vaguely hear Mickey and Silas discussing something in the front seat. He couldn’t quite make out the words though. Instead, Gil found himself drawn to observing the scenery that hurried too quickly past them on the road they were on.
This area of Australia was beautiful, yellows and browns. There were greens in the distance, crooked trees and brush that he would never have found in the States. In the distant brush he saw the head of a mammal peek up above the tall grass but they drove by too quickly for him to distinguish what exactly it was. While he thought to be annoyed by the quick pace, he knew that they weren’t out here for a sight seeing tour.
There was a dead little girl, a Jane Doe between five and seven years of age. The young child had been tossed on the side of the road, discarded after a poor treatment that none of them could completely comprehend yet. Strangely enough, Gil found it somewhat comforting that such cruelties didn’t just exist in Las Vegas, Nevada or even just in the United States. They were everywhere. After the last few years it was comforting… and then terrifying in light of the truly never ending battle he had been fighting. Maybe he was still fighting it, he didn’t know. For now, he hid behind the term ‘consultation’. He was just here as a consultant.
The jeep slowed down and came to a stop. Sydney and its surrounding residential areas were far behind them and ahead of them Gil could just make out the cityscape of a new town. “What city is ahead of us?”
“That’s the area of Picton. Small bit of a community with the big town feel of Sydney close by.” Mickey answered. “My men scoured the town and the local news when the body was first found but not a word from anyone about a missing girl fitting the description we gave. Thought since she was found closer to Picton than Sydney, might be something there. Came up with a dead end.”
“Alright, this was the crime scene.” Silas immediately got to business. He wasn’t going to squander Gil Grissom’s time and attention while he had it. Through many years of experience he knew how quickly a case could go cold and how an already cold case could turn even colder at the blink of an eye.
Gil nodded quietly and got out of the jeep with both men. He withdrew a handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed it over his face and neck for a moment before following the pair to the opposite side of the road. “Is.”
Silas and Mickey looked to Gil curiously. “What?” Silas asked.
“You said that this was the crime scene.” Gil clarified, stepping away to look out over the surrounding land. He decided to look at this from the outside looking in. “This is the site of the body dump. The crime scene is elsewhere. People don’t bring children to the middle of nowhere in order to beat and suffocate them. The violence is what led to this point.”
A slow grin spread over Silas’s lips. The older man glanced to Mickey and nodded before looking back to Gil’s back. “That’s why we needed you here, Gil.”
“Ye got an interesting perspective, I’ll give ye that.” Mickey said lightheartedly.
“How far out did your men extend the search?” Gil asked.
Mickey folded his arms over his chest and rocked back to his heels and forward again. “Ohh, about two kilometers in either direction. And the brush was undisturbed next to the body, thick and lush just as ye see now.”
Gil stepped into the tall brush and Mickey called out. “Careful, Grissom. Ye don’t know what’s in there.”
Two kilometers was close to one and a half miles. The search would have been an appropriate radius if done thoroughly. “I’m looking at this case from backwards to forwards. The point of the body has been studied by men far greater than what my reputation dictates that I am. You had Silas.” Gil continued to walk through the brush as he spoke. “Many men have studied this body drop from the inside out. As far as I’m concerned, it should be looked at from the outside into the point of our Jane Doe.”
He paused, turning to look back to the two men still standing in the manicured brush of the median. Where he stood, the brush came up to his chest. Gil squatted down and raised his voice. “Now! Count to ten and tell me if the brush looks disturbed!” That would give the brush around him adequate time to settle from his movement.
While he waited, Gil reached out to touch one of the long blades of grass. A moth landed before him and he narrowed his eyes and leaned in to study the creature. As soon as an appropriate time had passed, he heard Silas call out.
“You made your point, Gil. The brush looks undisturbed!”
“So just because it looks undisturbed doesn’t mean that it isn’t!” One index finger touched the moth and then it flew off. Gil stood, looking to both men across the brush. “How thoroughly did they search this area, Mickey?”
Mickey removed his hat and fanned himself with the brim. “Alright, ye got me Dr. Grissom. We had just lost a very dear colleague in the line of duty. We were short-handed and not a person stood up to claim the young girl. Between the loss and the number of cases we had to work… probably not searched up to our normal standards.”
Gil started back towards the median through the brush. For a moment he was silent in lieu of the information that a member of their CSI team had been killed not long ago. He wanted to ask if it got better, if it became easier with time. Instead he continued on with the matter at hand. “Well I think that begs yet another question… which is good. De omnibus dubitandum - everything should be questioned. And as long as there are questions with answers then we still have a reason to keep this case open. Are you short-handed now?”
The younger man narrowed his eyes, studying Gil curiously through his silence. At the question posed, Mickey grinned and shook his head. “No, we’re not. What are ye suggesting, Grissom?”
“Gather the rose buds while you may, old time is still a flying. And that same flower that blooms today, tomorrow shall be dying.” Gil paused, waiting for the normal response he garnered when quoting random words or facts. Both men just watched him expectantly. “James Thomson. I’m saying that we should start a new, more thorough search.”