Title: Sara versus Grissom
Authors: Leslie and Cindy
Email: Leslie: LeslieSidlehotmail.com; Cindy: sg1phileshipperskynet.be
Disclaimer: CSI is not ours. The characters belong to CBS Production, Alliance Atlantis and Anthony Zuiker. We're just having a little fun with them, and we're making no money in any way.
Rating: PG13 (Language/violence)
Category: Angst/Romance
Keywords: Sara/Grissom
Spoilers : Grissom versus the Volcano
Summary: What if Sara had processed the crime scene instead of Catherine. AU version of 'Grissom versus the Volcano'
Feedback: Would be extremely welcome.
Author's Note: We don't know if there's an infirmary at CSI. If not, just pretend there is one. ( Yeah, we need one for this fic.
As Sara stepped out of the Tahoe, she could smell burned flesh. Not some ordinary flesh, but human flesh. They had been called in for a bombing; An explosion out of the blue. They were walking up to the half burned car, and she dare cast a glance at Grissom. It had been so long since she worked with him alone, she couldn't remember how the hell she was supposed to act. Ever since their little encounter after the lab explosion, she hadn't been herself around him. She followed him to the car and noticed the tension clearly written on his face. This was gonna be an ugly one, she could tell already.
Grissom felt it was going to be a long night. He barely made it out of the vehicle, and he felt a huge migraine coming. A bomb; Grissom hated those things like the plague. Most of the evidence was probably destroyed by the blast and if that was not the case, the fire took care of that.
One glance at Grissom was enough for Sara to know what he was thinking. It was sad that she knew him so well, and yet she didn't know him at all.
Grissom walked over to the car on fire and looked around for possible evidence. He saw something move from the corner of his eye and raised his head. It was Sara. She was on the other side of what used to be a car, looking carefully inside. A last minute change with Catherine had sent her out here. Grissom could almost tell from her body language that she was mad about being stuck with him. The opposite would have surprised him. Unconsciously, he was pushing her away by not assigning her on the same cases as him. Ever since she had been acting cold towards him. She wasn't the same Sara Sidle anymore. The worst part was that Grissom was responsible for most of it.
They walked over to the police officer who saw the whole thing explode right in front of him. The guy seemed shaken up and it was very understandable why. 'And if,' Grissom thought mentally, before being interrupted by an important witness.
The detective was telling Grissom and Sara he saw it happen, both of them listening intently. He still seemed shaken up about that fact that he picked up his wallets seconds before the thing went off.
"Have you secured the perimeter?" Grissom asked, still not daring to look at Sara.
"Yeah, the bomb squad said everything was fine," he rubbed his hands together, more from the shock than from the Vegas cold. "There was a man in this car," he added sadly.
Grissom nodded his head, and before he had a chance to ask more question, shots were heard in the distance and everything happened in a blur.
Grissom lowered his head almost as soon as the first shot was heard, doing the same for Sara, who was now standing by his side. He put an arm around her shoulder and started running to hide behind a car. He threw everything on the ground and shoved her against the car, putting both of his arms around her.
The windows around them shattered in a million pieces and Grissom held Sara tighter. The shots finally stopped and he carefully came from behind the car. He scanned the area with precaution, still in shock from what had just happened.
While looking at the extence of the devastation, he saw people getting up and running for their lives. He turned around to see Sara still leaning against the car. A bullet had hit the car a few inches from her head and the young woman seemed to be in a considerate state of shock.
"Sara?" Grissom called out, but she didn't move.
Sara had trouble finding her breath again and she was staring at the impact intently. Shattered glass was laying everywhere around her and she didn't seem to acknowledge Grissom calling out for her.
Grissom slowly walked to Sara, still saying her name. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the hell out of her. He crouched down next to her and looked at her. "Sara," he gently said. She still didn't turn at him; she was staring at the impact merely a few inches from her head, completely mesmerized by it.
"Sara," Grissom tried again, but she didn't budge. He gently placed his arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Are you okay?" he asked tenderly, noticing blood on her cheek. "You're hurt," he gasped.
Sara heard a floating and soothing voice calling out her name. Her attention was drawn away from the car by the gentleness in the tone. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she heard that same voice again. 'You're hurt,' was the first thing she heard. She turned her head and stared straight into two blue caring eyes. "Grissom," she whispered hoarsely. "What happened?" she said in a broken voice.
Grissom gasped when he saw some bleeding cuts on her face. She had an awful gash on her forehead, blood seeping from it.
"Oh my God, Sara," Grissom exclaimed, putting a hand on her cheek and the other one near bleeding cut on her forehead.
"What's wrong?" she asked in a distant voice.
"You've got a cut and you're going to need stitches. Don't move," he had to leave her to find some EMT's, but he didn't have the force to leave her alone.
Grissom finally got up and ran to an ambulance just arriving at the scene. Sara didn't even seem to notice he was gone, too shaken up by what had just occurred. Her eyes wandered to the place of the impact and she started shaking.
Not even a minute later Grissom came back with an EMT in tow. "Sara," he started only to stop when he saw her staring at the impact on the car again. "Damn," he mumbled quietly, kneeling down next to her and touching her arm gently. "Look at me, honey," he said in a gentle tone.
She turned her head slowly away from the car and looked at Grissom, still staring at the impact from the corner of her eye. "Gris," she mumbled incoherently.
Grissom saw she was shaking and looked at the EMT. "Can we get her a blanket please?" he asked in a rasped voice.
"My colleague is bringing one," the EMT said, nodding towards his colleague coming in their direction.
Grissom turned his attention back to Sara. She was shaking like a leaf and involuntarily she had moved closer to Grissom. "I'm cold," she whispered, her teeth chattering.
"I know," Grissom said gently. "You need to hang in there. Can you do that for me?" he asked tenderly.
"Okay," she mumbled, weakly nodding her head. She touched her forehead and hissed in pain when her hand touched the deep cut. She removed her hand and stared at the blood. "I could have been killed," she pondered broken, intensely glaring at Grissom.
To Grissom, those words felt like a stab in the heart.
She was helped by the EMT's to get up and they put a blanket around her. They slowly walked to the ambulance, and Grissom couldn't tear his eyes away from Sara. Seeing her in that state reminded him of the explosion at the lab. Sara's eyes held the same state of shock today as that horrible day not so long ago.
Grissom was observing the EMT cleaning her wounds, before putting stitches on her forehead. His colleague was asking her question and checking her out. Sara seemed to have stopped shaking, but when asked if she wanted to go to hospital, she refused.
"Are you sure you're alright Miss Sidle?" one of them asked sceptically.
"I feel just fine," she retorted.
Sara got up and was about to leave the ambulance, when Grissom held her back. "You should go to hospital, Sara," he said gently, but adamantly.
"Why?" she asked him. "I feel just fine," she smiled slightly to assure Grissom, but he knew she was just showing off her legendary stubbornness.
"Sara," he started.
"What?!" she interrupted him. "I'm not going and that's the end of the discussion. So if that's okay with you, I'd like to get on with my work. We have a car to process," she said annoyed, but still in a distant voice.
Grissom was speechless and there was nothing left to do but follow her.
She picked up their field kits that had been carelessly thrown on the ground when they had been shot at, and walked to the burned car. She narrowed her eyes and examined the car closely.
Grissom pulled out his cell phone and dialled a number.
"What's up Gil?" Catherine asked on the other side.
"Um," Grissom paused a moment and swallowed. "How's your case going?" he asked.
"Actually we just closed it. The killer is in custody already," she said proudly.
"I need you and Nicky here as fast as you can," Grissom ordered.
"Everything alright?" Catherine questioned him.
"Not really. Can you just get here ASAP," he barked into the phone.
"Don't bite my head of," Catherine said gently.
"Sorry," Grissom rubbed his temples and let out a sigh. "Can you just get here? I need you on this," he pressed.
"We'll be right there," she disconnected the phone.
Grissom watched Sara from the corner of his eye and she was processing the car. She needed to be removed from this scene and fast. She was clearly still in shock, although she was having none of it.
Grissom was filling out paperwork in his office, the door wide open. The eerie silence in the lab suddenly seemed like a heavy burden to carry.
Sara had been terribly agitated when they came back to the lab. When she had seen Nick and Catherine arriving at the crime scene, she immediately understood it was Grissom's doing. Sara had yelled at Grissom in front of everyone, before she had gotten into the car to be accompanied to the LVPD.
They had barely made it to his office, when the very angry woman had left him standing in the middle of the hallway to hide somewhere else.
More than an hour later, Grissom decided to look for Sara and see how she was doing. He entered the lab, but there was no trace of her. He finally found her in one of the offices, sound asleep with her head on the desk. He stared at her for a few seconds, before walking over to her.
He sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. "Sara," he tried. She started fidgeting and she opened her eyes in pain. "Hey," Grissom smiled at her.
Sara stretched and started rubbing her temples.
"How do you feel?" he asked calmly.
"I'm okay I suppose," she said in a sleepy voice.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Grissom asked in a caring voice. "I mean you took a pretty nasty blast to the head," he shrugged his shoulders.
"I didn't take a blast to the head," Sara yawned. "I just got a few scratches from the shattered glass," she dismissed him as if it was nothing.
"You seem to forget you needed stitches," he pointed his finger to her forehead. "And I still believe you should have gone to hospital," he added quietly.
"Don't start Grissom," Sara groaned. "I feel fine," she grumbled in a still sleepy voice.
"If you say so," he grumbled back.
Sara got up from her chair and as soon as she was standing, the room started spinning. She took a hesitant step away from the desk and she had barely moved when he legs gave him. Luckily Grissom was standing close to her and managed to catch her before she fell. "That doesn't look like being fine to me," Grissom said adamantly.
"I just tripped Grissom, it's not big deal," she shook her head.
"Yeah, you just tripped over the big hole in the floor," Grissom deadpanned sarcastically.
"Okay, so maybe I was a little dizzy," Sara admitted.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Grissom asked in an exasperated voice. "You're always fine. Why can't you just for once in your life let someone help you?" he warily ran a hand over his face.
"I'm a big girl, Grissom and I can take care of myself, thank you very much," she smiled sarcastically.
"Sara," he groaned. "You're impossible," he pointed his head towards her forehead. "What is it going to take before you accept help from someone?" he pondered desperately.
"I'm fine Grissom," she felt how Grissom let go of her hands and immediately she felt her knees buckle under her. She tried to catch her fall by holding the desk, but bumped her head against it. Before Grissom had time to catch her, she was sitting on the floor.
"Sara," Grissom yelled at her, quickly kneeling down in front of her.
Sara was rubbing the back of head and looked at the person yelling at her.
"Are you okay?" Grissom asked worriedly.
"Um- I feel fine," she was still half unconscious. She felt something tickling her forehead and touched it with her hand.
"You're bleeding," Grissom said. "I think you re-opened some stitches because of the shock," he tenderly traced her forehead. "I'm taking you to the infirmary," he said in a low and caring voice, before taking her hands in his and helping her to her feet.
In the elevator, Grissom noticed she was rubbing her temples again. "Does your head hurt?" he asked tenderly.
Sara just nodded. "My head hurts since we have been shot at," she admitted reluctantly.
"Did you hit it or something?" Grissom asked carefully.
"Yeah," she said sheepishly. "I banged my head on the car," she winced in pain and started rubbing her temples again.
"You should have gone to hospital, Sara. You could very well have a concussion," Grissom warned her.
"It's just a little headache, Grissom. Nothing to worry about," Sara smiled at him.
"If you say so," he grumbled, not really believing what she was saying.
The elevator came to a halt and they both got out. On the short walk to the infirmary, Grissom unconsciously put is hand on the small of Sara's back. Sara was too affected by her headache to even notice. They finally arrived in front of the room and Grissom opened the door. The infirmary was actually a very small room, but you could basically find everything in the first aid kit. There was a desk in the corner and Grissom opened one of the drawers. He took out some keys, and opened the cabinets containing various medical materials and a first aid kit.
While he was rummaging through one of the cabinets, he saw Sara standing near the door, leaning heavily against the wall.
"You should sit down," he said in a friendly voice;
Sara was taken out of her reverie. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she lifted her head and looked at him.
Grissom let out the breath he had been holding and concentrated on finding the material he needed. Once he was done, he walked over to her and put everything he had in his hands on a small table near the door. He approached Sara without saying a word and picked her up. Surprised, her first instinct told her to hold him tighter. She didn't know what came over her. Grissom put her down on the desk and when he straightened his back, he felt like he would be in dire need of air soon... In fact, he was almost glued to Sara and he was standing between her legs.
Sara was still too drowsy to notice what was going on. She didn't notice Grissom fighting an inner battle and she didn't even notice his cheeks turning read. She was still massaging her temples. "Stupid head, she hissed in pain, not daring to look at Grissom.
"You okay?" he asked while he gently rubbed her arm, but didn't move from between her legs.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, leaning into his touch. Her body was unconsciously attracted to the warmth of Grissom's body. She was in dire need of warmth, and she took it from the first available thing. Which happened to a person, and that person happened to be Gil Grissom.
"If you say so," he dared not to move, neither look up. He was mesmerized by the beauty that was Sara Sidle. And he couldn't have picked a worse time to realize his true feeling for the young woman that had haunted his dreams for so many years.
He gently put his hand on her cheek and smiled when she finally met his gaze. "This might hurt you know," he said caringly.
"I know. Just go ahead," she paused and put her hand on his forearm, "and do what you have to do," she finished.
Grissom removed the bandage from her forehead as gently as he could, but not hurting her was not easy. Due to the dry blood, the bandage was stuck to her wound and he was afraid that if he pulled too hard, he might hurt her even more. "You'll have to be strong for a second, honey," he tenderly caressed her cheek. "This bandage is glued to your wound," he narrowed his eyes at her facial expression. Even if she was scared she didn't show it.
Grissom tenderly started removing the bandage and winced when Sara hissed in pain. "I'm sorry," he kissed her cheek gently and continued removing the bandage. He kept staring at her even when the bandage was removed.
Sara didn't know what to think of it and she started feeling ashamed. She ran her hand through her hair. "Grissom?" she asked shyly.
Grissom woke up from his daydream and concentrated on the young woman in front of him. "Huh," he said dreamily.
"Don't you have something to do?" she asked him. "I mean, you have been staring at me for the past five minutes," she said casually, trying hard not to blush.
"Um-yeah," he said and started to move in front of her, retrieving the material from the table next to the door. He tried to change his mind and hide his discomfort when he returned to Sara.
Sara seemed to be amused by the situation, but when she thought back about what had really happened, she could still clearly see the impact of the bullet in front of her. She shuddered when her mind wandered back to that dark place.
Grissom nudged her with his arm and looked at her. "Stop thinking about it, Sara," he said matter-of-factly.
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a lopsided grin. "How is it that you always know what I'm thinking, even before I know it myself," she chuckled at him.
"It's a gift," he deadpanned. "Now sit still and don't move," he ordered.
"Hey, what are you gonna do?" she slapped his arm back when it approached her forehead.
"Relax, Sara, I'm just putting some antibiotic ointment on your injury," he said calmly. "You're lucky you didn't reopen one of your stitches," he added.
"Stop saying I was lucky," she yelled at him. "Don't you think I don't know that?" she flinched when he put the ointment on her forehead and slapped his arm hard.
"Hey, what was that for?" he grumbled.
"I don't know what you're putting on there, but it sure as hell hurts," she winced at him.
"You're lucky you're still able to feel pain," he said.
"Damn it, Grissom, quit saying I could have been dead!" she yelled at him, grunting her teeth.
"Jeez Sara, I'm not the bad guy here," he whispered calmly.
"You're talking about me as if I'm already dead," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"That's not what I'm doing and you know it!" Grissom barked at her. "I can't believe you are being so stubborn," he started massaging his temples. He felt a migraine coming. "You're impossible," he said sarcastically.
"There you go. I'm the one being stubborn again. Do you have to treat someone as badly as you treat me?" she asked angrily. "You somehow seem to have it in for you. All of you," she added harshly.
"Sara, no one has it in for you," he tried to reason her.
"Yeah right Grissom and I am mother Theresa," she said sarcastically.
"Sara, I don't know what has gotten into you. Did you take drugs or something?" Grissom pondered nervously.
"Drugs! How the hell do you dare to say that? Who do you think you are?!" she screamed at him.
"Someone who has the best interest for you," he said softly. "I don't know which fly has bitten you, but you're being totally unreasonable," Grissom mumbled.
"Ah! So I'm being unreasonable now," she groaned at him. "I'm a human being, Gil Grissom, so stop treating me like a dog!" she yelled in a mad fit.
Sara was clearly not herself. She was not realizing what was happening here and she probably wouldn't remember why she was yelling at him and throwing a fight. "Sara," he softly tried.
"You never liked me anyway, so who am I kidding," she whispered softly and closed her eyes, fighting tears threatening to fall. "I've always been kidding myself thinking you might like me just a little. You don't give a damn about me," she rambled, mumbling incoherent words. Her eyes opened and closed as if she was trying to stay awake. "I don't know why I'm still staying here," she muttered.
"You never liked me," she mumbled sadly. "It was always Catherine and never," she was unable to finish her angry ramblings. She was cut short by a delicate finger on her lips and it shocked her to the core it was Grissom's.
Still in shock, she lifted her head at him and chocolate brown eyes met blue ones, never leaving the other. Sara saw something different in his eyes, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She saw Grissom come closer and closer to her.
He stood right in front of, just the way he had stood after putting her down on the desk, unable to take his eyes away from hers. Sara shuddered in anticipation. Grissom put his hands on her hips and leaned towards her. His eyes turned to her lips and without hesitation, he put his lips on hers.
To say Sara was surprised would be the understatement of the year. She put her hands on his arms and pulled him closer to her. Grissom put his hands on her back and Sara took advantage of the distraction to put her arms around his neck.
She gently traced his neck, playing with the salt and pepper curls at the base. Grissom was groaning into the kiss and she felt his tongue probing her teeth and she allowed him entrance. The moment she touched his tongue with hers, the kiss turned from gentle to frenzied passion.
Grissom groaned when Sara was nibbling on his lower lip, their tongues continuing the ancient dance of mating. Never in his life had he imagined how good it would feel to kiss Sara Sidle. He had wanted to do it since they met, but he never had the guts to act upon his feelings. But her rambling and yelling at triggered something in him, and he was unable to restrain himself from kissing her.
Sara felt his lips leave hers and she groaned at the sudden loss. She stared at him and they both seemed to be in shock. "I've wanted to do that for quite some time," he whispered hoarsely.
"What took you so long?" she quipped, before capturing his lips in another passionate kiss.
He reluctantly pulled back and looked at her, gently tracing her jaw line with his finger. "I think we need to talk about this," he whispered. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," he said honestly.
"Grissom," she smiled at him, "if you had made me do something I didn't want, I would have punched you right in the jaw," she said softly. "I hoped you would kiss me," she admitted reluctantly. "But after you turned down my dinner invitation, I was so sure you didn't care one bit about me," she said sadly.
"I had," he paused and swallowed. "I had issues to deal with. I never meant to hurt you, Sara," he groaned. "I can't believe what an idiot I've been," he added. He took both of her hand in his and gently kissed her lips. "I care more about you than I've ever cared about anyone in my life, Sara," he whispered quietly.
"I love you, Gil Grissom," Sara was grinning from ear to ear.
"And I love you Sara Sidle," he said pecking her lips once more. "I have been in love with you for a very long time," he put his forehead against her and as soon as their eyes met, they started laughing like the village idiots.
THE END
Authors: Leslie and Cindy
Email: Leslie: LeslieSidlehotmail.com; Cindy: sg1phileshipperskynet.be
Disclaimer: CSI is not ours. The characters belong to CBS Production, Alliance Atlantis and Anthony Zuiker. We're just having a little fun with them, and we're making no money in any way.
Rating: PG13 (Language/violence)
Category: Angst/Romance
Keywords: Sara/Grissom
Spoilers : Grissom versus the Volcano
Summary: What if Sara had processed the crime scene instead of Catherine. AU version of 'Grissom versus the Volcano'
Feedback: Would be extremely welcome.
Author's Note: We don't know if there's an infirmary at CSI. If not, just pretend there is one. ( Yeah, we need one for this fic.
As Sara stepped out of the Tahoe, she could smell burned flesh. Not some ordinary flesh, but human flesh. They had been called in for a bombing; An explosion out of the blue. They were walking up to the half burned car, and she dare cast a glance at Grissom. It had been so long since she worked with him alone, she couldn't remember how the hell she was supposed to act. Ever since their little encounter after the lab explosion, she hadn't been herself around him. She followed him to the car and noticed the tension clearly written on his face. This was gonna be an ugly one, she could tell already.
Grissom felt it was going to be a long night. He barely made it out of the vehicle, and he felt a huge migraine coming. A bomb; Grissom hated those things like the plague. Most of the evidence was probably destroyed by the blast and if that was not the case, the fire took care of that.
One glance at Grissom was enough for Sara to know what he was thinking. It was sad that she knew him so well, and yet she didn't know him at all.
Grissom walked over to the car on fire and looked around for possible evidence. He saw something move from the corner of his eye and raised his head. It was Sara. She was on the other side of what used to be a car, looking carefully inside. A last minute change with Catherine had sent her out here. Grissom could almost tell from her body language that she was mad about being stuck with him. The opposite would have surprised him. Unconsciously, he was pushing her away by not assigning her on the same cases as him. Ever since she had been acting cold towards him. She wasn't the same Sara Sidle anymore. The worst part was that Grissom was responsible for most of it.
They walked over to the police officer who saw the whole thing explode right in front of him. The guy seemed shaken up and it was very understandable why. 'And if,' Grissom thought mentally, before being interrupted by an important witness.
The detective was telling Grissom and Sara he saw it happen, both of them listening intently. He still seemed shaken up about that fact that he picked up his wallets seconds before the thing went off.
"Have you secured the perimeter?" Grissom asked, still not daring to look at Sara.
"Yeah, the bomb squad said everything was fine," he rubbed his hands together, more from the shock than from the Vegas cold. "There was a man in this car," he added sadly.
Grissom nodded his head, and before he had a chance to ask more question, shots were heard in the distance and everything happened in a blur.
Grissom lowered his head almost as soon as the first shot was heard, doing the same for Sara, who was now standing by his side. He put an arm around her shoulder and started running to hide behind a car. He threw everything on the ground and shoved her against the car, putting both of his arms around her.
The windows around them shattered in a million pieces and Grissom held Sara tighter. The shots finally stopped and he carefully came from behind the car. He scanned the area with precaution, still in shock from what had just happened.
While looking at the extence of the devastation, he saw people getting up and running for their lives. He turned around to see Sara still leaning against the car. A bullet had hit the car a few inches from her head and the young woman seemed to be in a considerate state of shock.
"Sara?" Grissom called out, but she didn't move.
Sara had trouble finding her breath again and she was staring at the impact intently. Shattered glass was laying everywhere around her and she didn't seem to acknowledge Grissom calling out for her.
Grissom slowly walked to Sara, still saying her name. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the hell out of her. He crouched down next to her and looked at her. "Sara," he gently said. She still didn't turn at him; she was staring at the impact merely a few inches from her head, completely mesmerized by it.
"Sara," Grissom tried again, but she didn't budge. He gently placed his arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Are you okay?" he asked tenderly, noticing blood on her cheek. "You're hurt," he gasped.
Sara heard a floating and soothing voice calling out her name. Her attention was drawn away from the car by the gentleness in the tone. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she heard that same voice again. 'You're hurt,' was the first thing she heard. She turned her head and stared straight into two blue caring eyes. "Grissom," she whispered hoarsely. "What happened?" she said in a broken voice.
Grissom gasped when he saw some bleeding cuts on her face. She had an awful gash on her forehead, blood seeping from it.
"Oh my God, Sara," Grissom exclaimed, putting a hand on her cheek and the other one near bleeding cut on her forehead.
"What's wrong?" she asked in a distant voice.
"You've got a cut and you're going to need stitches. Don't move," he had to leave her to find some EMT's, but he didn't have the force to leave her alone.
Grissom finally got up and ran to an ambulance just arriving at the scene. Sara didn't even seem to notice he was gone, too shaken up by what had just occurred. Her eyes wandered to the place of the impact and she started shaking.
Not even a minute later Grissom came back with an EMT in tow. "Sara," he started only to stop when he saw her staring at the impact on the car again. "Damn," he mumbled quietly, kneeling down next to her and touching her arm gently. "Look at me, honey," he said in a gentle tone.
She turned her head slowly away from the car and looked at Grissom, still staring at the impact from the corner of her eye. "Gris," she mumbled incoherently.
Grissom saw she was shaking and looked at the EMT. "Can we get her a blanket please?" he asked in a rasped voice.
"My colleague is bringing one," the EMT said, nodding towards his colleague coming in their direction.
Grissom turned his attention back to Sara. She was shaking like a leaf and involuntarily she had moved closer to Grissom. "I'm cold," she whispered, her teeth chattering.
"I know," Grissom said gently. "You need to hang in there. Can you do that for me?" he asked tenderly.
"Okay," she mumbled, weakly nodding her head. She touched her forehead and hissed in pain when her hand touched the deep cut. She removed her hand and stared at the blood. "I could have been killed," she pondered broken, intensely glaring at Grissom.
To Grissom, those words felt like a stab in the heart.
She was helped by the EMT's to get up and they put a blanket around her. They slowly walked to the ambulance, and Grissom couldn't tear his eyes away from Sara. Seeing her in that state reminded him of the explosion at the lab. Sara's eyes held the same state of shock today as that horrible day not so long ago.
Grissom was observing the EMT cleaning her wounds, before putting stitches on her forehead. His colleague was asking her question and checking her out. Sara seemed to have stopped shaking, but when asked if she wanted to go to hospital, she refused.
"Are you sure you're alright Miss Sidle?" one of them asked sceptically.
"I feel just fine," she retorted.
Sara got up and was about to leave the ambulance, when Grissom held her back. "You should go to hospital, Sara," he said gently, but adamantly.
"Why?" she asked him. "I feel just fine," she smiled slightly to assure Grissom, but he knew she was just showing off her legendary stubbornness.
"Sara," he started.
"What?!" she interrupted him. "I'm not going and that's the end of the discussion. So if that's okay with you, I'd like to get on with my work. We have a car to process," she said annoyed, but still in a distant voice.
Grissom was speechless and there was nothing left to do but follow her.
She picked up their field kits that had been carelessly thrown on the ground when they had been shot at, and walked to the burned car. She narrowed her eyes and examined the car closely.
Grissom pulled out his cell phone and dialled a number.
"What's up Gil?" Catherine asked on the other side.
"Um," Grissom paused a moment and swallowed. "How's your case going?" he asked.
"Actually we just closed it. The killer is in custody already," she said proudly.
"I need you and Nicky here as fast as you can," Grissom ordered.
"Everything alright?" Catherine questioned him.
"Not really. Can you just get here ASAP," he barked into the phone.
"Don't bite my head of," Catherine said gently.
"Sorry," Grissom rubbed his temples and let out a sigh. "Can you just get here? I need you on this," he pressed.
"We'll be right there," she disconnected the phone.
Grissom watched Sara from the corner of his eye and she was processing the car. She needed to be removed from this scene and fast. She was clearly still in shock, although she was having none of it.
Grissom was filling out paperwork in his office, the door wide open. The eerie silence in the lab suddenly seemed like a heavy burden to carry.
Sara had been terribly agitated when they came back to the lab. When she had seen Nick and Catherine arriving at the crime scene, she immediately understood it was Grissom's doing. Sara had yelled at Grissom in front of everyone, before she had gotten into the car to be accompanied to the LVPD.
They had barely made it to his office, when the very angry woman had left him standing in the middle of the hallway to hide somewhere else.
More than an hour later, Grissom decided to look for Sara and see how she was doing. He entered the lab, but there was no trace of her. He finally found her in one of the offices, sound asleep with her head on the desk. He stared at her for a few seconds, before walking over to her.
He sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. "Sara," he tried. She started fidgeting and she opened her eyes in pain. "Hey," Grissom smiled at her.
Sara stretched and started rubbing her temples.
"How do you feel?" he asked calmly.
"I'm okay I suppose," she said in a sleepy voice.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Grissom asked in a caring voice. "I mean you took a pretty nasty blast to the head," he shrugged his shoulders.
"I didn't take a blast to the head," Sara yawned. "I just got a few scratches from the shattered glass," she dismissed him as if it was nothing.
"You seem to forget you needed stitches," he pointed his finger to her forehead. "And I still believe you should have gone to hospital," he added quietly.
"Don't start Grissom," Sara groaned. "I feel fine," she grumbled in a still sleepy voice.
"If you say so," he grumbled back.
Sara got up from her chair and as soon as she was standing, the room started spinning. She took a hesitant step away from the desk and she had barely moved when he legs gave him. Luckily Grissom was standing close to her and managed to catch her before she fell. "That doesn't look like being fine to me," Grissom said adamantly.
"I just tripped Grissom, it's not big deal," she shook her head.
"Yeah, you just tripped over the big hole in the floor," Grissom deadpanned sarcastically.
"Okay, so maybe I was a little dizzy," Sara admitted.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Grissom asked in an exasperated voice. "You're always fine. Why can't you just for once in your life let someone help you?" he warily ran a hand over his face.
"I'm a big girl, Grissom and I can take care of myself, thank you very much," she smiled sarcastically.
"Sara," he groaned. "You're impossible," he pointed his head towards her forehead. "What is it going to take before you accept help from someone?" he pondered desperately.
"I'm fine Grissom," she felt how Grissom let go of her hands and immediately she felt her knees buckle under her. She tried to catch her fall by holding the desk, but bumped her head against it. Before Grissom had time to catch her, she was sitting on the floor.
"Sara," Grissom yelled at her, quickly kneeling down in front of her.
Sara was rubbing the back of head and looked at the person yelling at her.
"Are you okay?" Grissom asked worriedly.
"Um- I feel fine," she was still half unconscious. She felt something tickling her forehead and touched it with her hand.
"You're bleeding," Grissom said. "I think you re-opened some stitches because of the shock," he tenderly traced her forehead. "I'm taking you to the infirmary," he said in a low and caring voice, before taking her hands in his and helping her to her feet.
In the elevator, Grissom noticed she was rubbing her temples again. "Does your head hurt?" he asked tenderly.
Sara just nodded. "My head hurts since we have been shot at," she admitted reluctantly.
"Did you hit it or something?" Grissom asked carefully.
"Yeah," she said sheepishly. "I banged my head on the car," she winced in pain and started rubbing her temples again.
"You should have gone to hospital, Sara. You could very well have a concussion," Grissom warned her.
"It's just a little headache, Grissom. Nothing to worry about," Sara smiled at him.
"If you say so," he grumbled, not really believing what she was saying.
The elevator came to a halt and they both got out. On the short walk to the infirmary, Grissom unconsciously put is hand on the small of Sara's back. Sara was too affected by her headache to even notice. They finally arrived in front of the room and Grissom opened the door. The infirmary was actually a very small room, but you could basically find everything in the first aid kit. There was a desk in the corner and Grissom opened one of the drawers. He took out some keys, and opened the cabinets containing various medical materials and a first aid kit.
While he was rummaging through one of the cabinets, he saw Sara standing near the door, leaning heavily against the wall.
"You should sit down," he said in a friendly voice;
Sara was taken out of her reverie. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she lifted her head and looked at him.
Grissom let out the breath he had been holding and concentrated on finding the material he needed. Once he was done, he walked over to her and put everything he had in his hands on a small table near the door. He approached Sara without saying a word and picked her up. Surprised, her first instinct told her to hold him tighter. She didn't know what came over her. Grissom put her down on the desk and when he straightened his back, he felt like he would be in dire need of air soon... In fact, he was almost glued to Sara and he was standing between her legs.
Sara was still too drowsy to notice what was going on. She didn't notice Grissom fighting an inner battle and she didn't even notice his cheeks turning read. She was still massaging her temples. "Stupid head, she hissed in pain, not daring to look at Grissom.
"You okay?" he asked while he gently rubbed her arm, but didn't move from between her legs.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, leaning into his touch. Her body was unconsciously attracted to the warmth of Grissom's body. She was in dire need of warmth, and she took it from the first available thing. Which happened to a person, and that person happened to be Gil Grissom.
"If you say so," he dared not to move, neither look up. He was mesmerized by the beauty that was Sara Sidle. And he couldn't have picked a worse time to realize his true feeling for the young woman that had haunted his dreams for so many years.
He gently put his hand on her cheek and smiled when she finally met his gaze. "This might hurt you know," he said caringly.
"I know. Just go ahead," she paused and put her hand on his forearm, "and do what you have to do," she finished.
Grissom removed the bandage from her forehead as gently as he could, but not hurting her was not easy. Due to the dry blood, the bandage was stuck to her wound and he was afraid that if he pulled too hard, he might hurt her even more. "You'll have to be strong for a second, honey," he tenderly caressed her cheek. "This bandage is glued to your wound," he narrowed his eyes at her facial expression. Even if she was scared she didn't show it.
Grissom tenderly started removing the bandage and winced when Sara hissed in pain. "I'm sorry," he kissed her cheek gently and continued removing the bandage. He kept staring at her even when the bandage was removed.
Sara didn't know what to think of it and she started feeling ashamed. She ran her hand through her hair. "Grissom?" she asked shyly.
Grissom woke up from his daydream and concentrated on the young woman in front of him. "Huh," he said dreamily.
"Don't you have something to do?" she asked him. "I mean, you have been staring at me for the past five minutes," she said casually, trying hard not to blush.
"Um-yeah," he said and started to move in front of her, retrieving the material from the table next to the door. He tried to change his mind and hide his discomfort when he returned to Sara.
Sara seemed to be amused by the situation, but when she thought back about what had really happened, she could still clearly see the impact of the bullet in front of her. She shuddered when her mind wandered back to that dark place.
Grissom nudged her with his arm and looked at her. "Stop thinking about it, Sara," he said matter-of-factly.
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a lopsided grin. "How is it that you always know what I'm thinking, even before I know it myself," she chuckled at him.
"It's a gift," he deadpanned. "Now sit still and don't move," he ordered.
"Hey, what are you gonna do?" she slapped his arm back when it approached her forehead.
"Relax, Sara, I'm just putting some antibiotic ointment on your injury," he said calmly. "You're lucky you didn't reopen one of your stitches," he added.
"Stop saying I was lucky," she yelled at him. "Don't you think I don't know that?" she flinched when he put the ointment on her forehead and slapped his arm hard.
"Hey, what was that for?" he grumbled.
"I don't know what you're putting on there, but it sure as hell hurts," she winced at him.
"You're lucky you're still able to feel pain," he said.
"Damn it, Grissom, quit saying I could have been dead!" she yelled at him, grunting her teeth.
"Jeez Sara, I'm not the bad guy here," he whispered calmly.
"You're talking about me as if I'm already dead," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"That's not what I'm doing and you know it!" Grissom barked at her. "I can't believe you are being so stubborn," he started massaging his temples. He felt a migraine coming. "You're impossible," he said sarcastically.
"There you go. I'm the one being stubborn again. Do you have to treat someone as badly as you treat me?" she asked angrily. "You somehow seem to have it in for you. All of you," she added harshly.
"Sara, no one has it in for you," he tried to reason her.
"Yeah right Grissom and I am mother Theresa," she said sarcastically.
"Sara, I don't know what has gotten into you. Did you take drugs or something?" Grissom pondered nervously.
"Drugs! How the hell do you dare to say that? Who do you think you are?!" she screamed at him.
"Someone who has the best interest for you," he said softly. "I don't know which fly has bitten you, but you're being totally unreasonable," Grissom mumbled.
"Ah! So I'm being unreasonable now," she groaned at him. "I'm a human being, Gil Grissom, so stop treating me like a dog!" she yelled in a mad fit.
Sara was clearly not herself. She was not realizing what was happening here and she probably wouldn't remember why she was yelling at him and throwing a fight. "Sara," he softly tried.
"You never liked me anyway, so who am I kidding," she whispered softly and closed her eyes, fighting tears threatening to fall. "I've always been kidding myself thinking you might like me just a little. You don't give a damn about me," she rambled, mumbling incoherent words. Her eyes opened and closed as if she was trying to stay awake. "I don't know why I'm still staying here," she muttered.
"You never liked me," she mumbled sadly. "It was always Catherine and never," she was unable to finish her angry ramblings. She was cut short by a delicate finger on her lips and it shocked her to the core it was Grissom's.
Still in shock, she lifted her head at him and chocolate brown eyes met blue ones, never leaving the other. Sara saw something different in his eyes, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She saw Grissom come closer and closer to her.
He stood right in front of, just the way he had stood after putting her down on the desk, unable to take his eyes away from hers. Sara shuddered in anticipation. Grissom put his hands on her hips and leaned towards her. His eyes turned to her lips and without hesitation, he put his lips on hers.
To say Sara was surprised would be the understatement of the year. She put her hands on his arms and pulled him closer to her. Grissom put his hands on her back and Sara took advantage of the distraction to put her arms around his neck.
She gently traced his neck, playing with the salt and pepper curls at the base. Grissom was groaning into the kiss and she felt his tongue probing her teeth and she allowed him entrance. The moment she touched his tongue with hers, the kiss turned from gentle to frenzied passion.
Grissom groaned when Sara was nibbling on his lower lip, their tongues continuing the ancient dance of mating. Never in his life had he imagined how good it would feel to kiss Sara Sidle. He had wanted to do it since they met, but he never had the guts to act upon his feelings. But her rambling and yelling at triggered something in him, and he was unable to restrain himself from kissing her.
Sara felt his lips leave hers and she groaned at the sudden loss. She stared at him and they both seemed to be in shock. "I've wanted to do that for quite some time," he whispered hoarsely.
"What took you so long?" she quipped, before capturing his lips in another passionate kiss.
He reluctantly pulled back and looked at her, gently tracing her jaw line with his finger. "I think we need to talk about this," he whispered. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," he said honestly.
"Grissom," she smiled at him, "if you had made me do something I didn't want, I would have punched you right in the jaw," she said softly. "I hoped you would kiss me," she admitted reluctantly. "But after you turned down my dinner invitation, I was so sure you didn't care one bit about me," she said sadly.
"I had," he paused and swallowed. "I had issues to deal with. I never meant to hurt you, Sara," he groaned. "I can't believe what an idiot I've been," he added. He took both of her hand in his and gently kissed her lips. "I care more about you than I've ever cared about anyone in my life, Sara," he whispered quietly.
"I love you, Gil Grissom," Sara was grinning from ear to ear.
"And I love you Sara Sidle," he said pecking her lips once more. "I have been in love with you for a very long time," he put his forehead against her and as soon as their eyes met, they started laughing like the village idiots.
THE END