Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, and I'm broke, so please don't sue me for taking them out to play for a while. All you'll get out of suing me is a beat-up sofa-bed and a stereo from 1987.

A/N: This story idea has been bugging me for a few days. The muse is so irritating. Stop it! Stop the obsession with possible Living Doll outcomes!

Summary: A hospital waiting room conversation between friends.

Waiting Room Revelations

Greg was getting restless with the silence. "So, isn't anyone going to say anything? I mean, here we all are, sitting... waiting... Sara's going to be okay, and Grissom's in there talking to the doctors. It feels like there's an elephant in the room!"

Nick chuckled. "Well Greggo, what is it that you want to talk about?" he asked, knowing full well what was on the young CSI's mind.

Greg continued, "Come on... Catherine? Are you telling me that even you didn't know about their relationship? You've known him the longest. And Warrick, you guys have even hung out! He never told you anything? Nick, we all know that you're clueless already, so you're obviously out of 'the know'... but Brass... man, you're supposed to be a detective! What gives?"

"Look, Greg... instead of gossiping about the whole thing like we're a bunch of high school kids on lunch break, why don't we act like adults for once?" Brass pulled out his best authoritative voice, trying to cut through at least the first layer of Greg's over-exuberance. "Sara nearly died today, and if she had, we might as well have buried Grissom too. All you really need to know is that they're together for the long haul. Now that the cat's out of the bag, I don't have a problem telling you what I know about them, but you'd better take this seriously."

Greg wasn't the only one who pulled their chair in a little closer to hear what Brass had to say. Warrick tossed his empty coffee cup in the wastebasket, Nick sat up a little straighter and lifted his eyes from the magazine he'd been grazing, and even Catherine tucked a few blonde locks behind her ears to get a better listen.

"Truth be told, I never really had a daughter. Ellie hasn't considered me to be a father for years, and the last time I felt like a parent was when she was 6 years old. From what I know, Sara never really had a father either. We're a lot alike in that way. Both from broken families, but we've learned how to deal. Skeletons galore. I've known Gil a long time, and let me tell you... he's never loved anyone but her. When they first got together, he confided in me... asked me for advice. Not your typical dating advice, but advice on how not to hurt her. He was so concerned that she'd break, given how long it took him to get his head out of his ass, but in the end, he just followed his heart. Walked over to her apartment one night and laid it all out on the table. Told her then and there that he loved her, and how sorry he was for being such a fool. He once told me that even if he lived another hundred years, it wouldn't be enough time to love her the way she deserved to be loved. You gotta admire a guy who's willing to risk laying it all out there after keeping his feelings at bay for years."

"See," Greg interrupted, "was that so hard?" he joked. "Who's next?"

Nick cleared his voice, and closed the National Geographic he'd been holding in his lap.

"You know, when I first met Sara, it was like I'd known her my entire life. She felt like a sister before she even felt like a friend. I love her sense of humour... she's full of sarcasm and spit and something very... I don't know... Sidle-ish? With Sara, I never have to question where I stand. She's probably the most forthright person I've ever known, and it's a quality that's not so common in Vegas, or anywhere else for that matter. I'm only slightly ticked that she can disassemble a car faster than me, and her gift for mathematics often makes me feel like a first-grader, but hey... nobody's perfect right? She once told me that I reminded her of her brother, but she never spoke about him again. That's one lucky guy who gets to call Sara Sidle his sister. You know, most people don't know this, but she's extremely compassionate. Once, at a crime scene, I saw her take a baby from a cop. The kid's parents were the stars of a murder-suicide, but at least had the sense to not take the baby with them. The poor little girl had been crying for hours, and the young cop really wasn't helping much... holding the little one like a football. She needed a mother's touch. As soon as Sara had her in her arms, she stopped crying, snuggled into Sara's chest, and fell asleep. I saw Sara in a different light after that day. There seems to be something so fragile about her at times, but she's undeniably strong."

Nick put the magazine down on the table. "What about you man?" he asked, turning to Warrick.

"Honestly? This probably isn't what you all want to hear, but the first time I met Sara, I didn't trust her. She was the enemy as far as I was concerned. Grissom's hired gun... investigating Holly's death, with me as her target. I didn't know her well enough to know that she'd truly be objective. She was blunt and pointed with her questioning. I don't know how, but she seemed to know about the gambling issue too. She had a sort of sixth sense about her, knowing the answers to questions that hadn't yet been asked. Her heightened sensory perception kinda freaked me out at first. After she came to work in Vegas permanently, I knew that I'd just have to suck it up and get over it. At the time, I think I was just so grateful to have kept my job that I was willing to put up with feeling transparent in front of her in order to not get my ass fired. Sara didn't trust me for a long time afterwards, and she had no problem telling me so, several times. I had to prove myself to her, over and over again. Now, I can't imagine how things would be without her at the lab. Not to mention the fact that she's become a friend... I'd trust her with my life if it came down to it."

"Wow." Greg couldn't resist. "What about you Cath? Any juicy Sara-stories to tell? I mean, you've known Grissom the longest out of all of us. What did he tell you about her?"

Catherine took a deep breath and once again tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I'd heard of Sara before Grissom even told us she was coming here. He'd spoken of her before, but just never mentioned her name. I gathered from the way he spoke about her that they'd had some sort of personal relationship, but he never really came clean about it. We all know how private he is. What I did know for sure is that she was a damn good CSI. I had called an old acquaintance at the San Francisco office to try and get some dirt on her, but no such luck. All he could say was how smart and impressive she was for someone so young and relatively inexperienced in the field. I was suspicious of her before she even arrived. And, I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit jealous. I'd imagined her to be this tall, leggy blonde, with an intellect the size of a mountain and a chest to match. In fact, finding out she was full of intellect, but a tall skinny brunette instead made it even worse... it made her real, and a match for Grissom that I could never be." Catherine paused and then continued seriously. "You know, contrary to what you all think, I actually like her. She's someone that I'd want Lindsey to grow up to be like; strong, sharp, sure of herself, and never willing to compromise. My only regret is that I never told her so."

"What about you Greg?" Catherine prodded in an effort to divert the attention off of herself.

"Yeah" added Nick. "Don't even think you can get us all to spill our guts about Sara and then get away without sharing anything yourself. Give it up Greggo!"

"Well... if you must know... I'm in love with Sara, and I've kicked myself every day for the last two years that the Bugman got to her first!" Greg exclaimed.

"You knew two years ago?" Catherine questioned. "Wait a minute... are you saying that they've been together for two years? What the hell! How did you find out about them? And more importantly, how could you keep it a secret for this long? Does Grissom know that you know? Brass here, I can understand... but you? You can't keep anything quiet!" Catherine's shrill voice pierced the air.

"Uh-uh. No way, dearest Catherine. A true swami never reveals his secrets!" Greg leaned back in his chair, a smug smile on his face.

Just as Greg was about to prop his feet up on the magazine table, he paused, sneakers in mid-air. His eyes grew wide and fixed themselves on the looming figure that was standing in the waiting-room doorway.

"Oh, hi Griss…. we were just… you know… well... uh... how's Sara?" Greg's eyes dropped nervously to the chequered floor as his feet landed on the small table with a thud.

"She's going to be fine. The doctors are confident that her recovery will be fairly routine. They're keeping her in for a few days to run some more tests, and the i.v. has to stay in until her fluid levels are back to normal. The hardest part is going to be getting her to stay here. If she had her way, she'd already be in a taxi heading home. Sometimes she's too stubborn for her own good."

A quiet relief flooded the room, if only temporarily.

"So, um... how long were you standing there?" Greg couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Long enough Greg" Grissom replied seriously. "You each have an interesting perspective on Sara it seems."

No one dared to speak. Grissom leaned against the door frame, hands in his pockets, eyes on the floor.

"You know," he said, unexpectedly entering the room and sitting down next to Brass, "the first time I met Sara, she was wearing dark jeans and a purple tank top. Her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and it was still slightly damp from the unseasonable rain we'd had earlier that day. She was quick-witted and brilliant, and to be honest, completely annoying. It was the first graduate seminar I'd ever taught, and I was nervous… and there she was; sitting cross-legged in the second row of the auditorium with a notepad on her knee and a coffee in her hand."

Grissom paused for a moment, and looked around the room at his colleagues. There really was nothing to hide from them now. The only way he was going to be able to move forward with the life he so desperately wanted was to come clean with his… family. With a renewed sense of confidence, Grissom continued, "I couldn't tell you how many other students actually came to that lecture. I couldn't tell you if they enjoyed my talk, or if they actually learned anything about forensics that day. I can only remember the intriguing brunette in the second row who annoyed the hell out of me with her challenging questions and inquiring brown eyes. I couldn't concentrate. I just went on auto-pilot, hoping that the lecture would run its course without a complete train-wreck, and from what I gather, it did. There hasn't been a day since then that I haven't thought about her."

The awkward silence returned. As if on cue, Greg broke the moment.

"So, how long have you…"

"Been dating? Been living together? Been in love with her?" Grissom quickly filled in the questions that were on everyone's minds.

"Well… yeah! Greg nearly jumped out of his seat with anticipation.

"Been dating? Two years. Living together? Six months. Been in love with her? Every day since the annoying young woman with the purple tank top and the brown ponytail kept interrupting my lecture."

"Why didn't you tell us Griss?" Nick asked seriously. "You could have trusted us with this. We're not just your employees, we're like... your family."

Grissom smiled at the word 'family'. Nick was right. They all deserved an explanation. "I guess I thought it would be obvious Nick. I mean, Ecklie would have a field day. Every case, every decision, every piece of evidence could potentially be brought into question. You would have all been at risk. It's one thing if my objectivity as a supervisor is questioned… the burden is mine alone… but it's a whole different set of problems if any of you are put in a potentially compromising situation at work. Sara and I both weighed the risks carefully. It's the reason we never got involved with each other until two years ago. Neither of us was willing to risk losing our careers over a relationship that might not even work out in the end."

"So, what changed?" Catherine asked.

"We were both miserable. We weren't being honest with ourselves. We were scared. Take your pick really. We were kidding ourselves about the possibility of it not working. It was just an excuse, a safety net. Neither of us had ever been in a successful relationship before, and the idea of creating one outside of work was daunting enough on its own. Add in the fact that I'm her supervisor, and she used to be my student, and we both thought it was a guaranteed disaster. For two supposedly smart people, we really were clueless. After Nicky's incident, we just decided that it was a bigger risk not to try than it was to make excuses and continue to live with the unhappiness. So, we gave it a trial run. We even came up with a set of rules meant to protect our work life. And number one on the 'rules list' was to not compromise the professional reputations of our colleagues. As time passed, it became easier and easier to keep things to ourselves while at work."

Grissom took a slow breath, as his eyes fell once again to the floor. "I guess it's all a moot point now. Ecklie's probably going to force me into early retirement. He'll most likely fire Sara. The guy's had it out for both of us for years, and this is just going to be the final nail in the coffin. He's got so much ammunition now, that we probably don't stand a chance."

The room once again fell silent.

"I can't take this!" Greg practically shouted. "Isn't anyone gonna tell him my brilliant idea? Cause if you all aren't, then I will!"

Greg rose from his chair with excitement, and began pacing back and forth.

"Ecklie doesn't really have to know Griss. I mean, the only people that know anything definitive are the people in this room, and Sara of course. We can totally blame this whole thing on Natalie's psychosis. You know, she's crazy! She saw you two working together and concocted your whole 'relationship' in her head. She was searching for a way to bring you down, to get revenge for the death of Ernie Dell. She wanted to take your joy, and she targeted Sara. Ecklie doesn't know that the two of you are actually in a relationship. He just knows that Natalie thinks you are. Ecklie's really not that smart you know. We could easily pull this over on him. We all just have to keep our stories straight. In fact, there isn't even any lying necessary. After all, none of us even knew about your relationship over the last two years. Well, except me, but that's a whole other story. And Brass too, but he doesn't even work for you! When Ecklie questions us about impropriety, supervisor effectiveness… blah, blah, blah… all we have to do is be honest. We haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary!"

Grissom was speechless. Greg had a point. And a good one at that.

"Well," Greg continued, "my work here seems to be done. Oh, and if you ever hurt my Sara, I'll kill you myself, and no one will ever find your body. That's a promise."

And with that, Greg turned on his heels and headed for the cafeteria, leaving the group once again in silence.

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