Title: From Grissom
Summary: Sometimes, what the sentiment says is all you need.
Spoilers: "Burden of Proof";
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
A/N: Just thought I'd put this up before tonight... holy crap! It starts again today! I'm so excited!! And, we all know Sara lives, right? Say it together now... SARA LIVES! Yay!! Anyway, hope you like the story, and leave a review when you're done. Enjoy it! Ooh.. yeah. Takes place in season 5.
A/N 2: A huge, whopping THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed "Chicken Soup". I did not know that it would get so many reviews and so may fans, so thank you for telling me you liked it and wanted more!! Made me feel very special. So... hugs and cookies for everyone! Yay!
From Grissom
Grissom stared at the form on his desk, and then up at the woman who had given it to him. The feeling of déjà vu came over him, and he felt a familiar fear grip his heart as he regarded the form for probably the thousandth time in less than ten minutes.
"What is this?" he asked hoarsely.
"It's exactly what it says," she answered coolly.
"Again? Haven't we already gone through this, Sara?" Grissom asked, fearing what her reason was this time around for dropping a request form for leave of absence on his desk.
"We did. But that was at least three years ago."
"But – but, why do you want to leave?" Please don't say the lab, please don't say the lab… when you say that it means me…
"The lab just isn't doing it for me anymore. I need something new. A change of scenery, a change of pace, and new crimes, new people… something to make the job exciting again."
Grissom felt his heart twisting in his chest, piece by piece falling off as it began to break because of her words.
"Look, Grissom, can you just sign it, please? I'm leaving as soon as possible, and I want to go home to start packing."
"What… what if I don't sign it?"
She looked at him, irritated and annoyed now. "Why wouldn't you sign it?"
"I'm – I'm just wondering –"
"Then I'd go get someone higher than you to sign it," she answered, cutting him off. "I'll get it signed, no matter what you say or do. And I'm leaving this time."
Grissom stared at her, not knowing what he should do.
She stared back at him, her brown eyes that used to be so easy to read completely cut off from him. Her demeanour screamed, 'Do it now, Grissom. Sign the damn form.'
Wanting nothing more than for Sara to be happy, no matter how much it would hurt him, he picked up the pen lying on his desk, the one he'd dropped earlier when she'd swept into the room brandishing the form.
Ignoring the feeling he was getting that he was signing away his heart, he uncapped the pen and quickly scrawled his name along the bottom of the paper, handing it back to Sara without looking at her.
He waited to hear her footsteps leave as quickly as they had entered, but when the room remained silent, he lifted his head to find Sara still standing there, clutching the form to her chest.
Tears welled in her eyes as she looked down at him, and before she could change her mind about leaving, she whispered a quiet, almost indistinguishable 'thank you' before turning on her heel and heading quickly out of the office for the last time.
OoOoOoO
Unlocking his front door, Grissom stepped into his empty and lonely townhouse, feeling the loss of Sara in his heart already. She hadn't even left town, and he was already dying on the inside. He didn't know how he could go on with his life without her in it.
Feeling overwhelmed and weirdly depressed, he lay down on his couch, pulling an old afghan over him, trying to keep the unwanted feelings of desperation and loneliness away as his eyes drifted closed.
OoOoOoO
Gossip in the lab obviously travelled fast through the grapevine, for not even an hour later, Grissom was awoken by a fist pounding on his front door. Feeling the sadness and tears well up inside of him, he had cried himself to sleep on the couch shortly after arriving home. Seeing as he had only cried himself to sleep a couple of times in his life before today, the fact that he had completely surprised him, and scared him more than a little.
Opening the door, he came face to face with a harried-looking Catherine, who pushed her way into his home without a hello or any sort of greeting.
She waited until Grissom had closed the door and turned around to look at her before ripping into him.
"Gil Grissom!" she screeched.
He flinched slightly, her loud and pissed of voice echoing around his home and in his head. He'd only just woken up, for God's sake! Why the hell was she yelling at him?
"You are an absolute idiot!" she yelled, coming toward him. She poked him in the chest, her face mere inches from his. "Sara is leaving, and you're just sitting around your damn house with your bugs, doing nothing about it!?"
She apparently wasn't going to let him speak, so he just shrugged his shoulders, staying quiet. He didn't trust his voice right now anyway.
Just as it seemed like she was about to slap him, her features softened, and she pulled back in shock. She looked up at him, her hands coming up to cup his face.
"My God, Gil," she whispered, her thumbs running across his tanned skin, "Have you been crying?"
Grissom pulled away from her abruptly, not wanting to show his emotions. "No," he said gruffly, running his hands over his face. "Of course I haven't."
Catherine took his hand gently, and led him over to his uncomfortable loveseat. "How long have we known each other, Griss?" she asked sitting down and pulling him with her.
"I don't know."
"Take a guess, and think about your answer. I don't want to end up feeling old."
A sad smile played across his lips as he thought. "I don't know… maybe… twenty years? Almost twenty?"
Catherine sat back. "Man. We are old," she complained.
Another small smile. "I know."
"Anyway," she continued, "in all the time that we have known each other, how many times have I seen you cry?"
Grissom was uncomfortable as to where this conversation was going. "Why?" he asked.
There was that look again. The one where she looked like she wanted to slap him. "Just answer the question, Gil."
"Alright. Maybe… once? Twice? Five times maximum?"
"Exactly. And how many times have I seen you in love?"
Grissom's head jerked forward, completely thrown off by this question. "What?"
"In all the time we have known each other - twenty years, apparently - how many times have I seen you in love? With a woman," she added. "Not a bug."
He stared blankly, not having an answer for her. She took the liberty of providing it for him. "Once," she whispered. "In twenty years, I've seen you truly in love with a woman once. A beautiful, energetic, caring woman, who was just as in love with you."
Grissom stared over Catherine's shoulder, listening to everything she was saying, but desperately trying to not let it show.
"Now, I haven't known this woman nearly as long as I've known you, but in the past five years, I've only seen her in love once too. And it was you that she wanted."
Bringing her hand up to his face again, Catherine gently forced Grissom to stare at her. "Am I right?"
He nodded slowly.
"Then let me make this clear to you: Sara is leaving. The city, the state, I don't know where she's going, but she's leaving. And she's not going to come back unless she's got a reason to."
"She's got you guys," Grissom whispered, speaking for the first time in a while.
"Yes, she has us, but she wants you. She needs you. If you don't tell her, she won't come back. There's nothing here for her if you're not willing to be what she wants."
Grissom could only stare at her as she spoke. He had lost the ability to speak again.
"Do you understand what you have to do?" she asked softly.
He nodded again, slowly beginning to see the light.
"A plant won't do it this time, Griss. It's got to be something more. Something that holds real meaning, something that will make her stay, or at least something to make her come back."
He stood from the couch, and began to walk to his bedroom to change clothes. Halfway down the hall, he turned around and went back to Catherine. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into a hug, crying silently into her blonde hair.
She pulled away, wiping his tears with her hands. "You're welcome, Gil. Now go. Don't let Sara leave."
"Thank you Catherine," he whispered, leaning forward. He brushed his lips across her forehead, stunning her into a silence. "Thank you, so very, very much…"
OoOoOoO
Grissom stood in the flower shop, his package in front of him. Although Catherine had said not to buy a plant, he had thought it would be best. He'd already bought it for her, and the sentiment was filled out to what he thought needed to be said, for the time being.
He watched as one of the delivery men picked it up and head to his car, gearing up to drop it off at Sara's apartment.
When the man had driven away and Grissom had retreated to his Denali, he sat in the driver's seat, thinking over what the sentiment would mean to her. It wasn't everything that needed to be said between them, but perhaps it was enough to keep her from leaving, at least for a little while. And for once in his life, he had actually written what he felt, not what he thought he should feel.
Running a hand through his hair, he headed back home, ready to sit on his couch and wait for her to call, either to tell him off and that she was leaving or to tell him she was staying. He knew she would call. She was nice like that, always thanking people for what they did for her. It was one of the many reasons Grissom adored her.
Either way, he would be hearing her voice tonight, and that was what he wanted. Just one more time. Because maybe, just maybe, on the phone, he could say what really needed to be said.
OoOoOoO
Sara sat in her apartment, not being able to pack up her life and just leave. Not again. Not when she was leaving to get away from the reason she was here in the first place. She couldn't just pack up her life and leave Grissom like that.
Some books and old clothing had been packed away along with a few photos and dishes, but nothing of any substance.
How can I be doing this? she wondered sadly, feeling the tears in the back of her throat and in her eyes. How can I just pack up and leave? How am I supposed to get over him if I leave on these terms?
She leaned against her front door and slid down it to collapse in a pile on the floor, her legs unable to hold her up as she began to sob.
She sat on her carpeted floor for a long time, silent sobs still wracking her body from time to time. The energy required to make noise while crying had long since died away, and she sat there, feeling emotionally and physically drained.
A brisk knock at her door startled her and she slowly pulled herself up, puzzled by the sound. Everyone knew she was leaving, and she had cancelled all her papers and magazines, figuring that she would just subscribe to them once she was settled in her new place in… well, wherever she ended up.
Pulling open the wooden door, Sara was met with the face of a young delivery boy brandishing a plant at her. She backed up slightly, and the guy placed it in her hands, pulling out an electronic signing device.
"Sign here, Miss Sidle," he said cheerily.
Sara did as she was told, not bothering to wonder why he knew her name. He smiled at her after she finished, tipping his hat before turning and walking back down the hall.
She stared at the plant for a good five minutes before realizing that it was heavy and starting to hurt her arms, so she put it down on the counter and searched for a card. She had a slight feeling as to who it was from, and was interested, even through her haze, to see what he would put on the sentiment this time around.
At last she found it, tucked away at the base of the orchid. Pulling it slowly from its confines, she read the note and felt her heart melt. Staring at it through her tears, she saw that it said what she thought it said, and a slight glimmer of hope flared up in her chest.
My, that man had a way with words, when he wants to, Sara mused. And it seemed, tonight, he wanted to get something across to her.
The card only held two words. Two words she never thought she'd see directed at her, from him. But yet, here they were, directed specifically towards her, and her heart.
Love Grissom.
It was enough to make her stay.
The End! Hope you liked it, and it'll keep you until tonight.