Warrick's day
By Dany
Summary: What happens when Warrick can't take it anymore GSR
A/N: This topic has been in my head for a while, but when I saw some screen caps where Warrick was always standing beside Grissom and Sara as they sunk into their geek mind meld, the idea really developed. So thanks to my beta and michbox who gave the right incentive.
Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own CSI.
xxxxx
My name is Warrick Brown – and today I almost lost my job.
Almost – because my boss was too speechless to actually read me the riot act.
As it is, I was incredibly lucky, because even after he regained his speech, he was more interested in clearing up the mess I created. It wasn't a bad mess, just emotionally messy, which is the worst kind for my boss.
I don't exactly know how it happened; I always make a point to stay out of these things. I'm always the calm one, staying out of office gossip (I'm not Greg), trying not to 'fix' other people's lives (definitely not Catherine), and I don't try to find new stories for my jokes (If I were Nick, God help me), but everyone has a breaking point, right?
Mine was obviously today. I couldn't stand it any longer, so I lost it.
Yep, I can officially say I lost it.
But, I should probably back up a bit…
xxxxx
When Warrick entered the break room five minutes late, everyone else was already there. Everyone except the boss.
He was running late because of a power outage in his building. The alarm clock had been reset and was only blinking some bogus time. His internal clock was so finely tuned that he didn't oversleep by much, only fifteen minutes, but he was still running late.
"Chill, the boss is not here yet," Nick patted him on the back as he filled himself a cup of coffee. Warrick sat down and grabbed a magazine, waiting for his assignment for the night.
He didn't have to wait long until Grissom came in and distributed the cases. He was paired up with the big boss and Sara, which he didn't think much about. The case sounded intriguing and that was all he needed to know.
xxxxx
It started when they were riding to the crime scene. He had chosen to take the back seat, Grissom driving and Sara next to him, as they went over the case. It was a robbery with an attempted murder at one of the big hotels. Always much publicity; always much work to do. The victim was hanging on, barely.
He let them talk and went over his own information sheet, gathering the facts. It wasn't that he purposely excluded himself from their conversation, but those two had their own way of thinking, and if he tried to steer his thoughts in their direction, he would most likely get a headache. He had to go about things his own way.
Suddenly, he noticed something was different. The change in their voices didn't go past him, and he was starting to wonder if they even realized he was still here.
They only spoke to each other, tossing theories about their first findings back and forth. They were talking about possible entry and exit ways. What alerted him to the change were their lowered voices and the long pauses in-between. Grissom was watching Sara out of the corner of his eyes, while Sara was openly looking at him.
Warrick groaned internally, 'not again'.
He ducked his head into his file, willing himself to ignore the two in the front seat, wishing he could have taken his own car.
xxxxx
The hotel manager had greeted them at the back entrance, not wanting to provide a public show. The vests they were wearing would make it painfully clear that they were not guests. To avoid drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, they were let in through the back.
This time was no exception. They had already seen the media vans on the streets, setting up camp to get the scoop on what had happened. Vultures, all of them. A big hotel mixed with an attempted murder, and you have some prime material for the news.
Grissom and Sara seemed unimpressed. They walked in front of him, side by side, moving in perfect sync.
The manager scurried away when they reached the elevator, so they were alone on their trip upwards. Warrick wished they weren't or at least that those two were alone. How did he always end up trapped with them?
Although they were still discussing the case, they were standing so close to each other that you couldn't slip a piece of paper between them. Sara was facing the doors, while Grissom was turned sideways and stood so close to her that his chest was almost touching her arm. If the sparks between them were a real power source, the elevator's circuit would have overloaded. Great, now he was speaking in cheesy metaphors. They really messed him up.
He took another look at them and saw that she was just giving him one of her Grissom-smiles. He must have missed something important.
His own curiosity made him angry. On the one hand, he wanted to be as far away as possible when they were in this spark-flying-stage, but on the other hand, he couldn't look away. Only in these moments could you see a part of their real selves, and he wanted to get to know them better.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors finally opened, no longer confining them to the closed space. After he realized what he had just done, he glanced over, but they were too preoccupied trying not to look at each other that they didn't seem to have heard.
Stepping out of the elevator he made a mental note to never ride in an elevator alone with them again. He doubted it would help, because he had done that the last time too, and look where it had gotten him.
xxxxx
As they entered the room, Warrick was able to focus on the crime scene, mentally cataloguing every aspect that seemed relevant.
They combed through every inch of the room, finding enough evidence to build a case, and Warrick was able to shut everything out…until he looked over to the two other scientists.
They were crouched close to each other analyzing a piece of evidence, which was nothing unusual, but then it happened. Grissom just pointed his finger in one direction and Sara nodded, taking a closer look. A smile began to play over her face, and as she glanced back at Grissom, Warrick could hear him say, "No that's not it. Think again."
Sara hadn't said one word, what was he talking about? For a brief moment, Warrick wondered if he might have lost his hearing, but he knew that was unlikely.
He kept watching them and saw Sara look back down, her forehead folding into lines. Then her face lit up again, and Grissom only nodded. What…
Warrick put the last few envelopes in his kit and packed up, ready to go. "I'm going to bring this back to the lab." When he got no reaction, he just left.
Outside the door, he leaned against the wall, trying to get his swirling thoughts under control again.
They were obviously not only confusing themselves, they were also confusing the hell out of him.
He needed to get away.
xxxxx
I could have handled that, because I had gotten away from them, from their intensity. However, it was getting increasingly difficult to work with them.
I don't know why it was so hard; at the beginning it hadn't been like that. Their special way of approaching a crime scene and the sometimes tedious work in the lab performed by them had been fun to watch. They never made it seem dull or hopeless.
I can't pinpoint the time when it changed, but there was a time when it seemed that it was always me who was caught in the force field with them. I distinctly remember three different cases when we had worked together, and it was almost unbearable to be standing beside them.
Caught in a black hole that had formerly been a house the sparks were flying. An elevator ride was like a high of emotions, and lab experiments became dazzling. You never knew with them.
I wonder if the others have noticed as well. No one talks about it, of course, but I think they know. Catherine knows for sure, not much gets past her. Nick, he has his moments. And the rumors in the whole lab are flying anyway, and bets are made all over.
No, I'm not part of this particular bet. I didn't think it was right to bet on Grissom's personal life. I owe that guy big time.
That's also the reason I held on for so long. I didn't want to make him feel exposed, because I know how much he values his private life.
But every man has a breaking point, and mine was today. I just couldn't take it any longer.
xxxxx
As it was, Warrick was still on the edge when they returned to the lab.
He was already in one of the labs, examining some shoe prints he had lifted, happy for the solitude the room provided. He was so focused on the database that he didn't notice Sara coming in to stand behind him. "Hey, where did you go?"
He jumped in his seat, whipping his head around to stare at her. "Damn girl, could you be any quieter?" The thumps of his heartbeat reached his ears, as he tried to calm down from the shock Sara had just given him.
She snickered, trying to hide her amusement. "Sorry, next time I'll be sure to blast some of Greg's music. So…where did you go?"
Warrick sighed and turned back to the screen, going through some more visual comparisons. "I went back to the lab to start processing part of the evidence. The hotel guest is still in critical condition, so I thought I should put a rush on this."
The next shock came when Grissom startled him, just as Sara had. "Well, the vic just died, so this is now officially a murder case."
Again, Warrick's heart beat out of control. Why did they do this?
Sara was still standing directly behind him when Grissom stepped closer and positioned himself behind her to look at the screen. He leaned in further, pressing Sara closer to Warrick's seat.
The warmth was radiating off them, and the air felt like it was crackling.
Their breathing adjusted so that they were in tune with each other.
Out of the corner of his eye, Warrick could see Grissom's hand resting next to hers on the back of the seat.
"I think…" It was uttered simultaneously by both Grissom and Sara…
…and Warrick had enough.
"Stop it," he shouted, jumping out of his seat, trying to put some distance between them and him.
Grissom and Sara just looked at him as if he had lost it – and he had.
"Just get the hell over with it and leave me alone. I can't stand to watch you two any longer." Warrick didn't care that the whole lab could see and hear him, it was too much.
"Warrick," Grissom tried to calm him down, shocked by the younger man's outburst.
"No, just get a room and spare us all the lovey-dovey looks, PSVs, and all that crap. Just. Get. Over. With it. I can't do this anymore." He wanted to flee, but they were blocking the only exit, so he started pacing on the other side of the desk.
"Warrick," Grissom began again, but was cut off before he got any further.
"No, I can't work like this anymore. If you get any closer you're gonna move from PSVs to PDAs and I've had it. Decide either way, but leave me the hell out of this." And with that, he wound up the courage to storm past them to leave the room.
xxxxx
He left them in a stunned silence in the lab and went outside to vent the rest of his frustration.
When Catherine came, he knew it couldn't be good, and she had that disapproving look on her face that said 'let's hope you have not ruined this'.
After Warrick had time to calm down, he realized what a mess he had created. He had called the most private people in the world on their relationship.
"How did they take it?" he asked Catherine as he slid down on the steps, resting his head in his hands.
"The truth?" Catherine sat down beside him, patting his knee to give him comfort.
When he nodded, she answered, "Grissom is still trying to pick his jaw up off the floor. He did not expect that. And Sara…I saw her flee the room shortly after you did, heading towards the back, probably to seek a hole to crawl into." After a short pause to let him digest the damage he had done, she continued, "Damn, you gave it to them. You spoke nothing but the truth, but you could have picked a better time and spot."
Warrick shook his head. "I know."
They fell into silence, sitting side by side, waiting for…something. For what, they didn't know.
xxxxx
They sat there for a while in silence before Nick came out to join them.
"How is it in there?" Catherine asked, knowing Warrick was not too eager to find out.
Nick sat down as well. "Buzzing. Everyone is talking about it. But if you mean Grissom and Sara, I don't know for sure. All I know is that Sara ran out of there while Grissom remained rooted in place for a couple of minutes, staring straight ahead before following her. I think Sara was about to cry. Man, why did you do that?" Nick had a Big-Brother-Complex where Sara was concerned, so the smack down was to be expected.
"I don't know. I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Grissom wants to see you in his office when you actually dare to step a foot in there again." Nick stood up, giving Warrick a pat on the back, "I'm with you, I just hate to see Sara hurt," and then he had vanished into the building again.
"Damn, I didn't want to make her miserable." He rubbed the palms of his hands over his eyes, willing away the image of a crying Sara and a disappointed Grissom.
Catherine said nothing, letting him work through his thoughts alone. No one could say anything to make it better right now, talking would only make it worse.
xxxxx
With heavy steps, Warrick approached Grissom's office. He had messed up big time, and he knew that. He never wanted to hurt the two, but the damage was done, and he needed to face the consequences.
He knocked at Grissom's door and was surprised when he heard a female voice call him in – a very distinctive female voice. He dared to hope that they had cleared up their differences before he entered.
Without really looking towards the desk, he closed the door behind him, afraid to see the disappointment all over their faces.
What he got was not what he had expected. Sara was looking at him smiling, while Grissom was looking at Sara.
"You, you wanted to see me," he had never heard himself sound so insecure, that was just not him, but this whole bizarre situation had thrown him.
They said nothing and just kept watching.
"I want to apologize. My behavior was inappropriate, I shouldn't have said those things." If he kept apologizing, maybe they would finally say something. This reminded him of his grandmother. Her silence was always worse than the 'I'm disappointed in you' talk.
Finally, he heard Grissom sigh, and saw him turn his head away from Sara. "Warrick, if this ever happens again, you will bear the consequences. For now, a warning is all you're receiving since we don't want to taint your file even more, but if this happens again, you will have to rethink your future." Grissom lowered his head to a file on the desk, and Sara gave Warrick a last smile before walking past him out of the room.
He was dismissed for now, left to stir in his own juices, so he headed out to think about his outburst.
xxxxx
I'm was glad that Grissom let me get away with a slap on the wrist as usual, but at the same time I was concerned about the characteristic behavior of my boss. The situation in his office was so weird that I didn't know how to read them.
Only now when I look back after having mulled about the whole day some more, do I see what happened.
My words must have wrung true in their ears and while I stewed outside in the parking lot, they had a talk of their own – with a possible positive outcome.
I never thought I'd see the day when they got it together, but I really think they did today. Sara looked way too happy for any other conclusion to be drawn.
I was not feeling so bad about the whole thing anymore. The only thing that bugged me - funny I should choose that word – was that when I lost it, everyone had been able to witness the display. For someone as private as Grissom and Sara that had to be hell.
However, after I left 'I' witnessed something that let my conscience rest.
When I left for the day, I went past Grissom's office to check on him, and I saw something else entirely. The office was dark, but I could swear that I saw two occupants in it, leaning over to press lips to lips.
Maybe the day had not been that bad after all, but the thought of working with them again made me groan.
The End