Title: People Will Talk

Rating: PG

Pairing: Sara/Warrick

Notes: Response to the CSReports LiveJournal "Rumours" challenge. ()

***

He's been working at CSI long enough to know that the place could easily be renamed "Gossip Central", that the walls literally have ears and that every aspect of your life, personal and professional, is up for public dissection.

He's been the subject of such talk more than once, so has she. Sometimes it's true - Holly, the Aimee Phelps case, Hank. Sometimes it's not - he's dating Catherine, or at least crazy over her, she's still holding a torch for Grissom.

It's never bothered him, people talking; he just puts his head down and waits for it to blow over. She hates it. It's why she didn't tell people about Hank, and when her silence only made people more interested, she swore that she'd never get involved with anyone from work again, though he'd been pretty sure that if Grissom gave her any kind of signal, she'd change her mind.

Hey, he listens to rumours too.

But she didn't end up with Grissom, she ended up with him, and for the last six months, he can't believe that no-one's noticed the change in their relationship, that no-one's started a rumour about them.

Except that he's about to blow that out of the water, and she might kill him for it later on, but he doesn't care. He hasn't cared ever since his cell phone rang and Nick was on the other end, since he heard "suspect on location", since he broke every speed limit known to man to get himself back to the lab so that he could see her for himself.

He knows what he must look like as he strides through the halls, knows that people are looking at him strangely, but he goes straight to the break room, only there breathing easy when he sees her standing, her back to the door.

"Are you ok?" he asks without preamble, ignoring the looks that Lea and Greg, seated at the table, are giving him. Nor does he wait for her to reply, going to her, turning her around to face him, wincing at the sight before him. One side of her face is a livid shade of red, her lip split, and from the flicker of pain as she moved, he's guessing bruised ribs too.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she tells him, a tremulous smile on her face, and he reaches up, tilting her head to the side to see it better. From that angle, it actually looks worse, and he shakes his head in dismay. She's close enough that he can feel her breath against his face and she must realise that, because her eyes dart towards the other people in the room, and she murmurs softly, "Warrick… people are going to talk."

He doesn't hesitate in his reply, or to pull her into his arms, and she goes willingly. "Let them," he mutters into her hair, closing his eyes and holding on tight.