Title: First Encounter
By: nicky69
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Summary: For Gil Grissom it was love at first sight.
Author's Notes: Betaed by the lovely elmyraemilie. Any mistakes you find are mine.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, CBS does. I'm only playing in their sandbox

Staring at his own reflection in the mirror, Gil Grissom feels a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as his gaze slides down to his hip.

Fingers running over the small Ladybug tattoo he finds there, he can't help but remember the first time he encountered the real thing.

He was five years old at the time and a quiet, thoughtful child. However, the insatiable curiosity that would dominate his life in later years was already apparent.

He loved to study things, to explore, and on that day he was to be found lying in the dirt in his backyard watching the ants go marching past on their never-ending quest for food.

He had been so engrossed in his study of the miniature world that he failed to notice the presence that approached him until it was right up close and reaching for him.

Strong arms had wrapped themselves around his small body, lifting him high into the warm summer air and he had cried out in glee as his father pulled him in close for a warm, welcoming hug.

"How's my little scientist?" he had asked. "What have you discovered today?"

So Gil had pulled his father down to the dusty earth to watch with him as the ants continued their unceasing quest for sustenance.

After they had watched their diminutive subjects battle to overcome the obstacles that lay before them his dad had taken his small grubby hand in his own and led him over to his beloved rose garden. Squatting down, he had pointed to the stem of one rose in particular; it had been covered in both ants and aphids.

"Do you see them Gil?" he had asked softly.

"The ants place the aphids on the rose to ‘farm' them. They eat the nectar that the aphids excrete and the aphids are protected by the ants, it's a partnership of sorts. They are very smart little bugs, even if they do damage my roses."

Gazing in wonder at the tiny farmers Gil had been amazed, but before he could say anything a new bug landed on the rose.

This one had been different from all the others that he had seen. It was bright red with little black spots and with a child's impetuosity he had loved it instantly.

"What's that one called dad?" he had asked, excitedly.

"It's a Ladybug, Gil." his father had told him, smiling at the joy that he saw displayed on his son's beautiful face.

"I guess you could say that they are nature's policemen. They eat the aphids that destroy the plant. They restore the balance."

The rest of that wonderful day had been spent at his father's side, listening as he talked about the plants that were his passion and the bugs that visited them, for good or for bad.

He had learned that day that everything that lived had a purpose and a value.

He had learned that even the smallest insect could change the world around it and that even the most beautiful of blooms could hold a deadly secret.

They had basked in the sun too, laughing and playing and chasing the Ladybugs, until the evening chill had sent them indoors for supper.

And when he went to bed that night he had dreamt of his father's smiling face and the warmth of his voice and of Ladybugs.

Thinking back on it now, he knows that was the day that he found his path in life.

His curiosity about insects and their place in the world, only a passing phase before, had become all encompassing. His thirst for knowledge, voracious before, had become insatiable.

Even the death of his father on a hot summer's day when he was only nine years old had not dampened his ardour for knowledge. In fact, it had simply spurred him on.

No one had told him why his father had gone to sleep and never woken up and he had desperately needed an answer to make sense of his world and bring some balance back to his life.

It wasn't until years later that he had found his peace with that inexplicable loss and now in his own way he helped others to find their own peace.

He had wanted to restore the balance, to give people the answers that they needed, and through his work at the crime lab he did that.

Sometimes-more often that not-those answers were hard to bear and brought little comfort, but in the end he believed it was better to know.

So he followed the evidence and redressed the balance. Through his bugs and his belief that every life impacted on those around them he brought the guilty to justice and freed the innocent.

The little ink bug on his hip reminded him of all that.

But more importantly it reminded him of that golden day.

It reminded him of childish joy and innocent laughter.

It reminded him of the sun on his body and his father's touch.

It reminded him of his father's smiling face and the warmth of his voice.

It reminded him of love.