Story Name: Three's a Crowd
Summary: Grissom and Sara go on a business trip to San Franciso hoping to escape from the office for a while, but unluckily for them, an uninvited guest tags along. While there, Sara meets up with an old colleague. Will Griss and Sara's romance survive this trip? GSR.
First off, I'd like to thank JavaJunkie-GSR for all her help. Without her, this story would not exist. Thank you so much!
And to all you readers: I hope you like it! I think this will probably be my best CSI fic so far, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see! Oh, and I know this chapter is really short, but it's just the introduction, so I promise the real chapters will be longer. As stated in the summary, the rating may change to M in the very near future. Don't forget to review!
"Gil! I'd like to see you in my office, please." Gil Grissom looked up from his cup of coffee to see Conrad Ecklie standing in the doorway of the break room.
"Ok…" Gil set his cup down. "But Ecklie, what is this abou—" he started, then realized that Ecklie had already gone. Gil glanced around at the five astonished faces around him. "I'll be back." he told his CSIs, then left the break room quickly.
"Griss, wait." Sara caught up to him in the hallway. "You don't think Ecklie found out about… you know…" Sara made a faint gesture at the two of them, and suddenly Gil understood.
"No. He couldn't have. There's no way he knows." Gil put his hand on Sara's shoulder, reassuring her. She nodded at him, still slightly unconvinced.
"You'll tell me if… well, if that's what it is though, right?"
"Of course." he looked at her a moment longer, feeling as if this would be the last time he would see her, then turned and walked away.
"Dan Collins called this morning." Ecklie said as Gil sat down in the black leather chair across from Ecklie's desk.
"Dan Collins from the San Francisco Crime Lab?" Gil asked him, sitting forward. Dan usually only called when he needed a favor from them.
"Yes. He needs an entomologist for a case and asked for you specifically. I told him you'd be there."
Gil sighed in relief. This wasn't about him and Sara. "When do I leave?"
Ecklie checked his watch. "Your plane takes off at three."
"Three o'clock this morning?" Gil glanced at the clock. Midnight.
"Yes. You'll probably want to go home and pack, so I suggest you leave now."
Gil rolled his eyes. Of course he would leave now. Only an asshole like Ecklie would wait until the last minute to tell Gil he was leaving in three hours. But what about Sara? He couldn't just leave her this suddenly for who knows how long. "Hey, Ecklie? Do you think I could bring one of my CSIs? As an… assistant?" Hopefully he would buy that.
Ecklie stared at him for a moment. "Who were you thinking?" he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.
"Sara Sidle."
"Why her?"
"Lately Sara has shown interest in the field of entomology. I think this would be a good introduction into that line of work for her." It wasn't really a lie. Sara had helped him with some insect-related experiments recently. Even if she didn't really enjoy bugs, Gil thought she might enjoy coming to San Francisco with him, away from the watchful eyes of those at the office.
"Alright. She can come." Gil was surprised. He wasn't sure if he really expected Ecklie to agree.
"Thank you. I'll let her know." Gil got up from the chair and started out the door.
"Oh, and tell her to meet us outside the lab at one-thirty."
Gil whipped back around. "Us? Why both of us?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Ecklie said. "I'm going too."