Happy very-very belated birthday to Sylvie. The awesome person I proudly call my fanfiction Sensei. This one goes out to you and every single guidance you've given to me :)
Call it Fate, Call It Kismet
Las Vegas, 2004
It felt much like watching TV while she was half asleep or fish swimming from the outside of a dirty aquarium. The event that flashed in front of Sara's eyes was often blurry, yet it felt as real as if she was standing there, watching from behind the glass wall.
Yes, the glass wall. She was merely a spectator, somehow trapped inside the box at the side of the street, as if she had been put there only to watch them interact.
Them; a couple looking so joyous their smiles easily matched the glow of the full moon on the bright night sky. The man, whose curly hair was all too familiar to her, held the woman close to his body, a protective arm wrapped around her waist. The woman, who laughed effortlessly at whatever the man said, seemed so impossibly in love that Sara felt the bitter sting of jealousy in her heart.
Even though it hurt like a thousand pricking needles, Sara always ended watching them some more. She even craved for the romance she saw in their interaction. She would always press her hands against the glass, eagerly waiting for the next thing to happen. Waiting, as though it was a movie, for the next scene.
She knew the drill. She had watched this for far too many times than she would care to count. The man would grin and then dip his head to kiss the woman. It was the kind of kiss that Sara always wanted to feel herself. It was the kind of touches Sara only dared to dream of.
The couple then halted their steps near the newspaper stand, sharing another kiss. Their body almost melted into one as the man pressed the woman against a parked truck. His hands cupped her face. Her hands clung to his shoulders. They made out on the curb as if the cabs, the cars, the busy people around them, and the rest of the universe did not exist. Their love was unveiled for everyone to see, for Sara's eyes to see. Watching them from behind the glass without the ability to run away only made the jealousy in Sara's heart rise up ten thousand notches.
Then the worst part of the experience came.
Sara had tried closing her eyes, shaking her head, biting her lips, anything to get her out of this nightmare. But it had not worked. The image just wouldn't leave her mind. The scene wouldn't change.
A Ford Torino; its silver bumper flashed in the night, zigzagging at full speed through the traffic like crazy. The commotion of people screaming, tires screeching, and the sound of broken glass filled the night along with the loud bang of the car impacting another one with great force.
Sara saw the car flying before it landed on its roof and ploughed through anything that was on the curb. Sara saw the couple too, somehow star struck by the shift of event. The man used his body to shield the woman from the coming car. But it was the matter of flesh and bones against hundreds of pounds of metal.
Bang!
The last thing Sara saw were slivers of glass, blurred as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Then, reality would pull Sara out of whatever experience it was in a harsh way. She would find herself hyperventilating, feeling nauseous, and having this indescribable headache while trying to fathom if the accident she saw was indeed a nightmare.
It didn't matter where she was; in the bedroom, the bathroom, at the lab, at a crime scene, even at the grocery store. It felt like she was a doll who could easily be transported to different places in the dollhouse without the mercy of forewarning.
This morning, it happened at the worst time of her life.
Sara had just heard Grissom furtively pouring his heart out to Lurie; tearing Sara's heart into pieces with his sword of words.
"But then one day, someone young and beautiful offers to share their life with you. Someone you can care about. We have to give up everything we worked for to have them, I couldn't do it… but you did."
It didn't take a genius to understand what Grissom really meant.
Until today, she had kept this faith that somehow she could change into this woman Grissom could open his arm to. Never had she thought of his career to be the real reason of why they couldn't be together.
How could she compete with his dearest job?
She was contemplating on going to Grissom, confront him on every word he had said when she felt the world around her swirl.
No. No. Not now.
Sara rubbed her forehead. This image she kept seeing needed to go away. Her feelings toward her supervisor too. It was clear that Grissom wouldn't want to take a risk with her.
She dragged her steps away from the observation room, painfully aware of the wall that seemed to crumble in front of her.
No!
In a snap she was back behind the glass wall again.
A deep sigh escaped Sara's lungs as the now familiar couple materialized before her eyes. This time, it was in a much clearer way.
Sara could see the bakery across the street, identified it as the one where she usually got her favorite cinnamon roll. The sky was clear and Sara could see the faces of people passing her by, all seemed happy.
The couple still looked joyous beyond belief too. Their smile was still brighter than the glow of the full moon.
She watched again as the man, Grissom, held the woman close to his rather curvy body by wrapping an arm around her waist. When the woman laughed effortlessly at whatever Grissom said Sara couldn't help herself.
She inched closer; confused by how the glass wall disappeared yet much too focused on this wobbly feeling she felt with every step.
Sara was now walking behind Grissom and this woman she'd love to hate.
Grissom grinned, and then dipped his head to kiss the woman. Sara could feel her lips burning, aching for the same kiss.
The woman's curly hair peeked from under the green beanie she had on and Sara wondered if Grissom would forget about his work if she let her hair curl too.
When the happy couple halted their steps near the newspaper stand, Sara stopped too. Watching them sharing another kiss and then hearing them giggle like lovesick teenagers was more than she could bear. Sara turned around and walked away.
She could never get her hand on Grissom. Not in real life. Not even in this weird kind of Freudian whatever dream.
But then Sara saw it. A Ford Torino, zigzagging in full speed through the traffic like crazy and people in front of her scattering around and screaming. She heard tires screeching. She heard the sound of broken glass and saw a motorcycle hit the back of a truck as collateral damage of the crazed car.
She turned back to see the woman pressed against a navy truck by Grissom, making out to her like nothing could set them apart.
"Grissom!"
The Ford Torino had hit a parking meter, broken the metal pole in half before jumping sideways, turning around in the air and landing on its roof, barely a foot behind Sara. She could feel the earth shake as the car hit the curb.
"Hey! Watch out!" Sara screamed. Unlike other people who were busy running away from the car as it came and hit whatever was on its way, Sara ran to Grissom and screamed for him to move away.
It was painful to see the shock slowly registering on Grissom face.
It was painful to see the man you love come face to face with his death.
But as the car ploughed its way toward Grissom a sudden realization hit Sara.
What if this wasn't a weird dream?
What if this was meant to be?
What if?
"Grissom!" Sara cried one last time, using every ounce of power she had to jump forward, completely uncaring that she had put her life on the line.
She could feel her hands making contact with the fabric of Grissom's coat. She could feel herself falling sideways.
Bang!
The last thing Sara saw were slivers of glass, blurred as tears trickled down her cheeks.
"Sara!"
She heard someone calling out her name but her eyes refused to open.
"Sara, are you okay?"
Under heavy lids, she could see a face, blue eyes, with glasses, and hair, curly hair.
Grissom.
"Grissom!" She jolted up.
"Hey. Easy. Easy." Grissom's hand held her down and Sara realized that she was lying on his lap, on the cold floor of the Las Vegas Police Department hallway.
"What happened?"
"You, uhm, you fainted and seemed to have a seizure. Jim's getting help."
"Seizure?"
"A mild one. Maybe. Let's just wait until help gets here."
Sara lay still, refocusing her eyes on the ceiling, recalling what had happened while trying to suppress the ache in her head and heart and stomach.
Grissom. Ford Torino. Accident. Other woman.
The recollection of the accident somehow brought more tears to Sara's eyes.
"Hey. Now. It's okay. You're okay. We'll take you to the hospital."
Sara could feel Grissom thumb on her cheeks, wiping away her tears. His hands move to envelop her in a hug and for a fleeting moment she felt safe.
"But then one day, someone young and beautiful offers to share their life with you…. I couldn't do it…"
Grissom's words for Lurie rushed in to her mind just as Sara realized that a couple of policemen were standing close, watching her; watching them. Sara sat up, feeling the bitter taste of vomit in her mouth.
"I'm okay." She scooted away from her supervisor.
"Sara." One of his hands was ready to reach for her again.
"I'm okay. Just… Just leave me alone." She pushed his hand away before covering her face with her hands, crying for so many reasons he wouldn't understand.
Last Vegas, 2011
It was almost midnight. They had just watched the last race. A cockroach race, that was.
He had her in his arm, holding her loosely by the waist as they cut through the busy road on a Saturday night.
He was all smiles, not only because of the big win from the arthropod he had put his bet on but also because of the company of his beautiful wife he had missed so much during his last trip to Peru.
"Someone's happy." His wife looked up to him, beaming.
"Thanks to you."
"To me? Not Jazzabelle, the four-winged blazing fire of kitchen pest."
He shrugged. "Not every wife agrees to see a cockroach race."
She laughed, "Just remember to keep your end of the deal, dear."
He grinned. "I promise I won't let my mother bug you about our sex life anymore. Pro-mise." A deep kiss closed up his sentence. The kind of kiss that he knew would melt her inside as much as it melted him. His hand moved to caress her backside, promising what words couldn't pass on at the moment.
She broke up from the kiss first, feeling a little conscious of where they were at that time. "What has got into you?" She continued walking, tucking her lose curls behind her ears.
"You." He teased, wrapping her in his arm again, completely ignoring the people at the newspaper stand as he gave her another languorous kiss.
"Gil." She protested into his mouth, half shy half succumbing when she realized he had her cornered onto a parking truck.
"Yes?"
'We're in the street."
He cupped her face in his hands. "Nice observation, Sidle."
"People are watching."
"Good for them."
He kept on kissing, touching, knowing that in a second or so she would give up. When she did, he attacked her with more fervor, feeling younger and happier than he ever had before.
He could hear people in the background. Probably people who had nothing better to do than cheering him on. Sara's lips tasted like honey and smelled of roses and he wasn't about to give up kissing her anytime soon.
"Grissom!"
Great. Someone knew him, perhaps someone from the lab.
"Gil." Sara's eyes went wide as they looked at something behind him in horror.
"Hey! Watch out!" Someone shouted and Grissom turned around. His heart skipped a beat, his gut wrenched by fear.
A car, sliding on the curb on its roof, was coming fast toward them, sending slivers of glass all over the place.
He acted fast, shielding Sara's body with his. His eyes were closed as he prayed for the best.
He waited for the impact, bracing himself to be crushed by hundreds of pounds of metal. But he felt someone push his body to the side instead. He could feel the hands that pushed against the fabric of his coat. He knew he was falling sideways.
The next thing on his mind was to grab his wife, dragging her down with him and once again using his body as a shield.
Bang!
The last thing Grissom saw were slivers of glass, blurred as blood trickled down his forehead.
Later. Days later. At the hospital with bandages covering his temple, Grissom would ask about the person who had acted so fast, pushing him to the side before the car ever got the chance to wreck both his and Sara's bodies.
No one knew.
Some witnesses said they remembered seeing Grissom and Sara making out by the truck, others said they saw Grissom pull Sara to the ground. No one saw a person playing hero by pushing them aside, let alone confessing to ever shout Grissom's name or give him any warning whatsoever.
Later, months later, Grissom would give up thinking about who it was, or what it was, that had saved them that day; he was simply content to put it down to the fact that the universe always works in mysterious ways.
The End
Thank you for giving this story a chance. I hope you enjoy it :)