Response to the Season Finale Fic Challenge at CSI: Brasil Forum, which should:
Begin with Sara's line: "I'm not ready to say goodbye"; Grissom or Sara should tell one or more than one CSI that they're together; Lady Heather should appear in the story.
Notes: Most of the fics written as a response to this challenge were dramas, or suspense, so I decided to take a 'fluffier' turn. Besides, I had already written a fic involving Lady Heather and GSR. This "Out of Character" one takes place after that other one, which means Sara and Lady Heather have met each other and talked. I'll translate the other one as soon as I can. A million thanks to Allie09 for the beta.
Disclaimer: CSI characters are not mine, they belong to CBS. Constructive criticism, suggestions and comments are welcome.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye", Sara said, kneeled by the bed.
By her new bed.
Which was in her new home.
At the house she shared with Grissom. Gil.
He gave that cute little smile of someone who's just said 'I love you' and just heard an 'I love you' back. It was always like this with them. They communicated non-verbally, through subtext, through gestures. At crime scenes they worked in harmony, like they had telepathy. They completed each other's thoughts. At home they were learning to live together, to share everything.
"Come here" he held out his hand, which she took while climbing up the bed to a passionate kiss. She lay on her back and he stayed by her side. They kept kissing for a few more moments, their tongues lightning up the desire.
His fast hands untied the belt of the robe she had on, and revealed what she wore underneath. Nothing. She saw the pupils of those piercing blue eyes grow bigger instantly, and smiled. He took off his shirt and threw it away. Sara enjoyed the view of that strong man, all hers. And without that hideous shirt he insisted in using at home. She put her hands on his back and pulled him closer, caressing him.
He kept kissing her, going to her neck and down her chest. He kissed her mouth again. His hand paced through her body creating chills that weren't from the cold. He kissed her ear, she moaned in response, oh God, how much she liked that. She lightly pressed her nails on his back, making him groan and kiss her mouth again.
She amazed him, more than he thought it was possible. These last months he had been able to open up more, share his secrets and comfort her after a tough case. And he was happy.
He started kissing and licking her body, slowing going down, until he got to her belly, which he adored. Everything was perfect, he saw on her face the pleasure he gave her. He was truly in love. Suddenly:
"Grawnlbrlw" was the noise he heard. He stopped immediately, and started laughing. She could not resist, she threw her head back and chuckled as well. He looked at her, whose face was red.
"Sara?"
She covered her face with her hands, but didn't stop laughing. How embarrassing!
"When was the last time you ate?" he asked, getting closer to her face. He bit his lower lip to stop laughing. It didn't work.
"Before leaving the lab" she answered, trying to remain serious, with no success. That noise had been her empty stomach growling, because between the last case they worked and the visit to the hospital to wait for news from Brass, it had been more than eight hours since she had last eaten. Coffee doesn't count.
He made a gesture to get up. "Let's eat something".
"Later" she replied, and pulled him to another kiss. He broke the kiss, caressed her face and said softly.
"Now. Com'on, the mood is ruined anyway". They both laughed.
She sighed and nodded, putting on her robe again, mentally cursing her stomach for being so inconvenient. He put on his shirt and they went to the kitchen.
"Oh, I know it was my turn, but I forgot to shop for groceries yesterday, I stayed at the hospital with Brass..." he said while opening the refrigerator and looking guilty.
"It's ok. Pizza or Chinese?" she didn't mind, and headed to the coffee table in the living room, where they kept the delivery menus and the phone.
"Chinese" he said, coming after her and bringing a couple of glasses of juice.
She placed the order. He turned on the television while they waited.
In the middle of the meal, Grissom's cell phone rang. It always did at the most inappropriate times.
"Grissom". There was a pause. "Isn't there anyone else to go with you?" he took a deep breath. Sara knew right then that her first night off in over two weeks was ruined. Less foreplay next time, she told herself. And eat right.
Grissom kept talking. "Meet me there in half an hour. Fine, I'll call her too" he hung up.
"I know. DB where?" Sara asked while quickly shoving the food down her throat to at least finish her dinner.
"Found at a Chem Lab. Huge mess and only Greg is available. I don't wanna leave him alone in a homicide yet, and I told him I'd call you in too".
"Oh, yeah? And how do you know I'm not on a hot date tonight? After all, it is my day off" she said in a light tone, while picking up the remains of their meal.
"Because if I'm not gonna have MY hot date, neither are you" he said and kissed her. "I'll get ready".
Five minutes later, he was back and ready to go.
"You're not coming?" he asked, seeing that she was still in the kitchen, finishing the dishes.
"Yes, but I'll take a little longer, maybe thirty to forty minutes. I have to stop by the lab to refill my case, which is almost empty" she dried her hands and went towards the bedroom.
"Fine. I'll leave the address here" he wrote it down on a post it and left.
Grissom quickly arrived at the crime scene, and assigned Greg to the perimeter and adjacent rooms. He got the primary crime scene while Sara would help Greg when she arrived.
The lab was not big, and was an enclosed space. There were evident signs of struggle everywhere, which Grissom noticed despite the darkness. He focused and slowly wondered around observing the details of the room. Some of the equipments were like the ones they had at the crime lab. He smelled an unknown odor, a little sweet, mixed with the familiar metallic smell of blood and alcohol.
At the first counter, he found some notes about medicine tests. There were a few bloodstains. Possibly the fight had begun there? He passed by a granite counter, where there were a few intact recipients and most of them broken, with dripping substances and shards of glass. There was also some blood. He stopped to take some pictures and get samples. He saw three large metallic gas containers on a corner, probably used for experiments that needed different gas concentrations of oxygen, nitrogen, or whatever.
The fight must have been ugly. He continued his observations, slowly walking, buried in his thoughts. He noticed his senses got keener, the smell of blood became stronger, his flashlight lighted more while his ears seemed to hear even the lowest sounds from outside.
He found a blooded knife inside a sink. He took pictures and bagged the evidence. He felt a little lightheaded.
He finally approached the body, which lay on the floor in a tiny office in the back, in the middle of a large blood pool. The body was covered in stab wounds.
Grissom would be a while studying the body, but he didn't mind. He was in his world, in the world where he was the king. The best. He smiled. There was no special reason for that, but he did it anyway, it felt good.
The bloodstains on the body seemed to glow. He felt energized to work. That irritation he felt before for having his night with Sara interrupted was gone, he felt elated and excited.
So excited that he started collecting evidence from the victim even before the coroner arrived. He brushed his hand on the victim's bigger injury, and felt dizzy. His fingers started to tingle. Maybe his gloves were too tight. He looked at his fingers, now apparently they moved on their own will. Weird. But he should go on.
"Shhh... don't say anything," he whispered to the dead body. "I'll find out all about you" he smiled.
He tried to get up, but became lightheaded instead. He was hit by a wave of nausea. He sat down on the floor and laughed. He stood up again. He started to think about the periodic table and to recite its elements.
Sara arrived at the lab and went straight to the supply room. It took her a few minutes to get everything she needed: latex gloves, batteries, plastic bags for evidence, swaps, envelopes.
When she was leaving, she was practically run over by Nick, who went in the opposite direction.
"Hey!" she complained before seeing who he was.
"Sorry, Sara!" he said raising his hands apologetically.
"It's ok" she shook her head.
"Aren´t you off tonight?"
"Yeah, but a case came up, I'm going to help Grissom and Greg".
"So… can you do me a huge favor? It's just that I have to run to my scene. I've got a big lead on my case and I can't be late".
She sighed. Well, she didn't have that urgency at her scene. "What is it?"
"Can you stop by at the Station and drop this off?" and he gave her the two files he was holding.
"Fine. Is that it?"
"Yes. Thanks a lot" he said, leaving in a hurry.
At the Station, Sara walked fast, but stopped at seeing a familiar face in one of the rooms. Lady Heather. The woman was alone, probably waiting for some rookie cop to see her. She looked at Sara and nodded.
"Miss Sidle".
"Mrs. Kessler? Is there a problem?" she asked, curious.
"Someone stole my car".
"Oh, sorry about that. I hope we find who did this" she said with empathy. She knew the trouble it was every time something like this happened. She said goodbye and continued on her way.
Greg came to tell Grissom what he had found.
"Hey, Grissom? Guess what? I found blooded scissors in the other... what's that smell?" he asked while observing the extremely disarranged room. It reminded him of the lab explosion a few years ago.
"Look how pretty this stain is gonna be in the picture" Grissom said, pointing his camera to a white clean spot on the wall. He took the picture, but had to lean on a chair to keep his balance.
The younger CSI approached, his boss looked somewhat weird. "There is nothing there… Grissom, are you alright?" Actually, Grissom's voice and gait resembled a drunk person, but when he arrived he was normal.
"Let's cite Shakespeare comedies, shall we? I'll start: The Merchant of Venice. Your turn" and he took another picture of the clean wall. He felt tipsy, like the floor was open and he was floating. The spread bloodstains took the shapes of animals and moved before his eyes.
Greg started to panic. "Oh, my God, what happened? Grissom, let's get out of here". From what he knew of Grissom, he had probably tasted something toxic from the lab. He tried to pull him out of there. Grissom tottered, his coordination was also affected.
"Only if you cite Shakespeare with me. Or even better: butterfly species: Phoebis philea. Did you see how much that guy's blood is shining?" He said pointing at the dead body.
"Yes, I did, now come with me". Damn, Sofia was already back at the Police Station with the witnesses. He had to get Grissom out of the room, but he was getting anxious.
"Hey, I haven't finished processing the room, I gotta get back there" Grissom complained, although Greg had already gotten them out of the room.
Now what? He'd have to defy his boss, who, by the way, was bigger than him. Greg put together all his courage.
"No, Gris, Let's sit down over there for a while" and pointed at a wall in the other side of the hall. With some difficulty, they both sat on the floor. Grissom had an empty stare, and an almost childish smile on his face. Greg had to call an ambulance, something was very wrong with him. He took his cell phone, no charge. Damn it. He couldn't leave Grissom alone.
"It's been a while since I saw such a beautiful crime scene" Grissom said, focusing nowhere. "The lights, the colors…" he made a gesture with his hand.
Greg was astonished. He remembered a friend from college that behaved like this when he was on LSD. But not Grissom. He wouldn't have done it. Or anything like it.
"Grissom, with all the respect, are you nuts?" Where is Sara? Where is David to take the body? And why did the cops stay downstairs?
The older CSI turned to him, smiling, and whispered. "Can I tell you a secret? Sara and I moved in together".
Greg stood up with a leap, he was more than scared with Grissom's behavior: unashamed, delusional, almost euphoric. He should have paid more attention to First Aid classes. What else could he do now? Oh, yeah, and the information he had just received was more than shocking.
At this moment, Sara appeared at the end of the hall, walking.
"Sara! Finally! Something happened to Grissom" Greg called.
She rushed and came close to them. "What's wrong?"
"Sara, Honey!" Grissom exclaimed and chuckled. He leaned to one side, even sitting down he couldn't quite coordinate his movements.
She glanced at him and at Greg, looking for answers. She bent down to evaluate him. She pointed her flashlight at him, he was sensitive to the light, and he sweated profusely.
"He was analyzing the Primary crime scene, that room over there, and when I came to talk to him, he was already like this. There were a lot of chemicals in there, I don't know if he tasted something" Greg explained.
"Right. Have you called an ambulance? And have you notified HAZMAT?
"No, my cell phone won't get a signal and I didn't want to leave him alone".
"How long was he in there?"
"Over half an hour".
She reached for her cell phone inside her vest pocket, threw it to Greg and turned back to Grissom. "Gris? What are you feeling?" She felt his wrist for his pulse and realized it was fast. Greg stepped back to make the phone calls.
"I'm great. Better than great. Now I have to keep processing the crime scene" and Grissom tried to stand up, but was held back by Sara's firm hands.
"No Way!" she said suddenly. "You stay here until the ambulance arrives".
"But I'm fine" he argued.
"No, you're not. And you'll stay right here, ok?" she said with authority.
"Will you stay with me?" he softly smiled.
"Fine".
"And stop spinning".
Greg came back and returned Sara's phone. "The ambulance will be here in less than ten minutes, HAZMAT has been notified and they're sending a team".
"Ok. Can you stay with him for a moment?" Curiosity won, she got up and went to the room where he had been working before.
She came back in less than two minutes, and closed the room's door.
"It's Air Horn".
"What?" Greg asked.
"It's propane butane gas, used in air horns and cigarette lighters" she sat down next to Grissom and put her hand on his shoulder.
"But how did you..."
"Don't ask me how I know" she interrupted him. "But I know that smell".
"Shhh... lower your voices you two" Grissom asked. Now he had the impression that they talked with microphones. His head was spinning, he felt slightly nauseated. His hands were still numb.
Sara continued. "It's an hallucinogen gas, probably leaking from one of the containers. He must have concentrated in analyzing the scene and got intoxicated".
"Oh, now I remember that Toxicology seminar. It's been used mostly by teenagers, because its sale is not illegal. It causes euphoria, lack of coordination, and has the unique ability of inducing altered states of perception which usually aren't experimented outside the REM sleep, among other symptoms" Greg said.
"True, that's why he is like this. The good news is that in a few hours he will be back to normal".
Greg looked at Grissom, and then back at Sara.
"I feel dizzy…" Grissom said, and coughed a little.
"Just breath" Sara said, putting her arm around him to support his head with her shoulder. "The ambulance is coming". She turned to Greg, who sat on his other side. "Greg, after HAZMAT clears the scene, can you start processing it? I'll go with him to the hospital, ok? Then I'll come back to help you".
"Don't worry. It'll take a few hours until they finish everything".
The paramedics finally arrived. Sara and Greg told them what had happened and stood back. Grissom became a little more agitated.
"Sar... are you two really living together?" Greg asked.
Her face turned red. "He told you?"
"Yeah... and by the way, congratulations" he smiled. "I didn't even know you were together. And if he hadn't been high tonight, I wouldn't have found out".
"It's really weird to see him like that".
"And you're not gonna tell me how you recognized the smell of the gas?" he teased.
She smiled, embarrassed. "Let's just say I made a few… hmm… Chem experiments at Harvard, and I'm not telling anything else".
The paramedics took Grissom to the ambulance. Sara went behind them.
"See you, Greg. Check his kit, save whatever he collected. And you had better wear your mask".
"Don't worry. And let me know about him".
Grissom woke up with an intense headache, opened his eyes and soon closed them. He was really dizzy.
He took a deep breath. Little by little he became aware of the reality surrounding him. And he remembered part of what had happened. He opened his eyes again, he was lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen catheter to his nose. Sara was sitting in a chair next to him, flipping through a magazine.
"Hey" he said in a low voice. She closed the magazine and got closer to him. She held his hand and smiled.
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
"A little dizzy, with a headache".
"You were intoxicated by propane butane gas, and we had to bring you to the hospital".
"So that was it… I noticed something different when I walked into that room, but I didn't know what it was".
"Good thing Greg showed up, otherwise you could have asphyxiated or worse".
"Oh, please tell me this gas erased my memory and I didn't do what I think I did...?" he asked. His memories from the night before were coming back to him, in pieces.
"Gris, you must have had quite the trip... and I'm sorry, but this gas does not give amnesia, nor change the personality. It was just another side of you that came to the surface, that became uninhibited".
He closed his eyes. That was really embarrassing. "I can't believe it. I saw that there were chemicals around the scene, but I didn't imagine there was leaking gas".
"It's fine now" she caressed his face. "Do you want some water?"
"No, thanks" he seemed upset.
"Hey, aren't you the one who loves experiments?" she tried to cheer him up.
"Not when I'm the lab rat". He took a deep breath. "But it's ok. Is Greg at the scene?"
"Yes, and I'm going back there later to help him".
"How long have I been sleeping?"
"About three hours".
He remained quiet for a few minutes, thinking about his little experiment. He hadn't done anything wrong, he walked in to the scene, evaluated the place. Well, actually he should have put on a mask. But it was uncomfortable, and he thought it'd be fast. It didn't appear to be volatile substances in the place, and no way he could have known the container had a problem. Well, what was done, was done. He made a little mistake and ended up on the craziest trip of his life, a trip that until then he had only read about. And he had to admit, it wasn't so bad. In fact, he kind of understood why so many kids use those things.
"Did you know that hallucinogens have a spiritual meaning in some cultures?" he said.
"Yeah, some native Americans use them until today in religious ceremonies" Sara answered, more excited because he started talking.
"Excavations on the Apollo Temple, where in Ancient Greece there was the Delphi Oracle, have revealed the presence of hydrocarbon gas in that region. That area has many geological failures, and the gas that emanate from the rocks and deep waters can cause hallucinations and speech disturbances. It's possible that the Priestesses were intoxicated when they did their predictions and gave advices. They stayed in underground chambers".
"Poor Oedipus" she commented, smiling. Grissom would be fine.
The ER doctor opened the curtain and came to examine him. He decided to discharge him with several instructions.
"Hon... I think I might have told Greg... about us" he said while changing clothes, still feeling a little embarrassed.
"Yes, you did. We'll have to bribe him to keep him from spreading the news. In fact, for him to not say anything about this night" she said in a playful tone.
"Really? And what do you suggest?" he pretended to be thinking about it.
"Give him the formula to the Red Creeper".
"Wow, what a high price!"
"Or... would you rather arrive to work and have everyone asking you about voices from beyond?" they both laughed.
"Maybe it's not so high then" they laughed again.
"But seriously, I think Greg will be discreet, don't worry".
"And when are you gonna have another night off?" he asked teasingly. Now they headed to the reception, and from there to Sara's car.
"Now I don't know, I'll have to work some overtime to cover for a boss who loves to get high and be stoned" she said, smiling.
"Ouch! Does that mean I can't reschedule my hot date from last night?"
"Yes, you can. But during the day, and preferably when you're sober. Unless you wanna turn this little experiment in a constant habit...?" she teased.
"Let's change the subject, shall we?" he said, climbing into the car.
THE END