Case closed

By Dany

Summary: Sara happens to be the cause of an accident and needs someone to be there for her.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.

A/N: This is a response to an Elemental Challenge posted by darthgeeklove on YTDaW. The elements were as following:
A broken picture frame
an empty stapler
bicycle
chewing gum (used or fresh)
"Say hello to my not so little friend."
"This must be thursday. I never could get the hang of thursdays."

Hope you like it!

xxxxx

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday." Grissom's reply was a bit strained, but considering that someone seemed to be trying to squeeze the life out of him that was understandable.

"No, that can't be right. This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang out of Thursdays." A face was buried against his chest, and Grissom swore that he could hear a deep growl accompanying the words.

As much as this day had been no fun, this was pretty funny - even if his air supply was running short – and he started to laugh. A death glare and another hard squeeze was the response as the rumbling of his chest disturbed the person resting against it.

Determined to get some fresh air back into his system, Grissom moved his hands to his back. He pried the other set hands resting there away and moved them to his sides. Air rushed through him and he found enough energy to form a longer sentence. "Honey, everything will be fine."

Sara looked up at this term of endearment and her gaze softened. "How do you know that?"

She was almost pouting, making Grissom smile again. "Because you are you. And you are perfect. Next shift everything will be back to normal."

Sara snorted at his too simple explanation. He was not good at being 'romantic.' "Hey, I know that was corny, but the truth is, you had too much stress last night. It could have happened to anyone."

The truth sounded much better to her ears and she let him know it with a smile.

"Look, why don't we try to sleep a little. And before you object, you need some rest. You won't be much help if you're still in yesterday's bad mood and dead tired."

Gently, he pushed some loose strands out of her face, looking her deep in the eyes. "It'll be okay."

It just felt like she needed it, so Grissom captured her lips with hers, infusing both of them with a feeling of love and warmth.

"Hmm, that way you won't relieve my tension."

xxxxx

"Hey, how are you?" Sara entered the room hesitantly.

Nick had called her in, not getting up from his seat on the couch; not that he really could. "I'm much better now that I'm home."

Nick smiled at her, motioning for her to come closer, but Sara didn't move from her spot near the door. Fear was keeping her in place.

"Sara, it was a freak accident. It wasn't your fault and it's not like you could hurt me by sitting next to me."

He held out his hand, waiting for her to move and take it. Once she realized that they weren't getting anywhere like that and that Nick was serious, Sara finally moved to sit beside him. Her eyes were focused on his foot, wondering how she was ever going to make it up to him.

Nick's foot was encased in several thick layers of bandage. Last night at work, she had shot Nick in the foot…with a stapler. It had been the result of an experiment gone wrong. She had wanted to see if it was possible to hit a target from about seven feet away.

A young man had fallen off his bike right in front of a car. At first, they hadn't been able to explain why he had suddenly crashed onto the street, but then she had found the small metal clip in the front tire, which seemed to belong to a pressure stapler. The idea had seemed a bit far fetched, but they had excluded everything else, and if they could prove that the 'shot' was fired intentional, they could broaden their search.

At first, everything had gone well with the staple hitting a stationary target almost dead center, but Sara knew that wasn't enough. She had to try with a moving target. Nick had agreed to help her and they were preparing everything for the next phase when it happened.

Nick had just been getting into some high safety boots while Sara was getting the stapler ready when a loud crash from down the hall startled her. She turned too quickly, tripping over one of Nick's shoes. Her hand tightened reflexively and before she had registered what she had done Nick had been howling in pain. She had been so close to him that the staple had pierced the skin of his foot effortlessly.

Although Sara had seen worse, the fact that this was her friend and she had caused his injury made her sick. The blood drained from her face, making her dizzy and nauseous. Help was there immediately, and while someone took care of Nick, calling an ambulance, she could suddenly feel two strong arms steadying her. Only later, she was told that it had been Warrick who took care of her until Grissom arrived.

The rest of shift had been a blur. She had wanted to go with Nick, but by the time she recovered he was already at the hospital. Although she still wanted to go, Grissom insisted on her resting until everything could be cleared up. The only contact she'd had with Nick had been over the phone. It was ironic that he was more worried about her than about himself because he made her promise to go home and rest first before she came to visit him. The doctors were optimistic that he wouldn't need to stay in the hospital after his foot was tended to. Grudgingly she had agreed, caving in to the pressure from Nick and Grissom.

But now she was here. She could see the bandage on his foot, but also that Nick seemed to be fine. "I'm really sorry."

"Nah, forget it. It's not exactly fun, but it's definitely not the end of the world." Nick tried to reassure her again, seeing that the whole thing would haunt her for a while.

"I, uhm, I got something for you." Sara turned away, partly to dig in her pockets for her gift, but also to get away from the sight of his injured foot.

With a small cry of triumph she produced a pack of chewing gum and held it out for him. "I know that it sounds stupid, but before on the phone, you were talking about the bad taste the meds left behind so I thought…and I didn't think you were a flower kind of guy and…"

Nick had to smile at Sara's rambling. This insecure Sara was not something he got to see often.

"I know that's stupid, but I didn't know what else to bring…"

"Sara, thank you. And now stop being so uncomfortable. Let's just forget it and move on."

He had never seen Sara so nervous, but then, she had never had such a stupid accident like that. For the first time since the accident, a smile spread over her face.

"That's what I want to see. And now…do you want to watch a movie?"

xxxxx

Sara and Grissom had agreed on him picking her up at Nick's just before work, to give her enough time to get over what had happened. It was still an hour until shift and he wanted to talk to Nick briefly. So Grissom knocked and when Sara opened the door, he was glad to see that she seemed better.

"Hey," he paused, looking at her intently, waiting for a sign that she was really going to be fine. Sara nodded and Grissom could turn to Nick. "How are you?"

"Well, say hello to my not so little friend." Nick was grinning, feeling much more relaxed now that things with Sara were right again and the new dose of medication was taking effect.

Grissom only looked shocked for a moment before he recovered to deliver his comeback. "Say hello to your new friend."

From behind his back he produced a medium sized box and handed it over to Nick. While Nick made a show of unwrapping, Sara watched everything with fascination. The exchange was more than strange and she hadn't known anything about a gift.

"A stapler? I hope it's empty." Nick held up the machine, pointing it away from everyone and keeping his fingers away from the trigger.

"It's not a stapler, it's the stapler and of course it's empty."

"You nicked evidence? Cool!" Nick was grinning even more, truly pleased with his gift. He really considered it a freak accident and would mount the stapler like a trophy. "Case closed. Evidence can be destroyed."

Grissom looked at Sara again, letting her know that there was a deeper meaning.

After dropping her off he had driven to the lab, wanting to clear things up before she had return for shift. It had taken some convincing but the internal investigation was sped up and it was ruled an accident. Sara wouldn't even need to wait it out.

Since the investigation was finished, Grissom paid for the stapler and took it with him. He didn't know why he was doing it, but his relationship with Sara had taught him to relax and to not analyze everything. He had become more relaxed and spontaneous. This was just proof of it.

And apparently, he had done the right thing because Nick was smiling genuinely. "Thanks man."

Nick reached out and shook Grissom's hand, making him glad to know they were friends.

xxxxx

Sara was a bit hesitant to finish her case, but in the end, she didn't want to let the people behind it down. She had to be strong and pull through. After all, Nick was going to be okay and this case was something else. It was just a freak accident.

She had done the experiment again, succeeding at shooting the tire and not injuring anyone, and was just finishing her report – the jealous ex-friend of the young man's girlfriend was employed in a shop that restored of old furniture and hence had a motive and the opportunity – when another crash resounded through the halls.

Momentarily transported back to the night before, Sara froze. She fought back the memories, regaining control after a few seconds. Her curiosity was sparked and she went to investigate, also remembering that she had no idea where the crash from last night came from.

Wandering through the halls, she finally found the source of the crash. Grissom knelt in his office, picking up some shards of glass. When he saw her, he straightened up, holding a broken picture frame.

Sara stepped in, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. "You okay?"

Grissom nodded, surveying the damage to the frame.

"What was that?" He frowned, but turned it around for her to see.

She was too far away and had to step closer to see which photo it was. To her surprise, she recognized herself; she was looking over Grissom's shoulder at the ocean. She remembered the day the picture was taken.

Last month they had managed to get a whole weekend off together and Grissom had taken her to visit his mother. That day, they had taken a walk along the beach and Grissom's mother had captured this special moment in a picture.

She had never seen Grissom put up a picture and probably the unfamiliarity of another object on his desk had led to the crash.

"I'll get you a new one." Sara moved even closer to him taking the glass shards and throwing them away.

"Yesterday, was that you too?" she asked, wondering why he hadn't said anything.

"No, that was one of the new lab techs. But, you see, it could have happened any time to anyone."

He was right, she knew that, but she still felt guilty. She would make it up to Nick. However, for now, she was able to let it all go and focus on her life again. "We'll buy a new frame and make some new memories to join this one."

Grissom smiled back at her, glad that everything was alright again.

"I have something else for you." She placed the finished reports on his desk.

Her voice was serious, but Grissom could hear the double meaning when she claimed, "Case closed."

The End