Summary: Fluff...is there a better description of fluff than cotton candy? Takes place in CSI Season 6: post Time of Your Death. PWP...seriously.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. No silver has crossed my palm, either.
A/N: On Friday I was driving down to visit my mom in North Carolina for the first time since April. It was a great time to plan out plot points for a long fic I'm doing involving complicated stuff like antibody titers. Somewhere between Waverly and Ivor, I heard this song and had a huge fluff attack. Written for the BestKeptPrivate fic challenge. Prompt: cotton candy. Generously betaed by smacky30. Cross-posted on GeekFiction and BestKeptPrivate.
Now it dawns on me probably everybody's talkin'
And there's something here I'm supposed to realize
'Cause your secret's out, and the universe laughs at it's joke on me
I just caught it in your eyes, it's a beautiful surprise
Chris Rice – When Did You Fall
xxx
"What the hell is this?" Grissom said to no one, picking up the hot pink furry object from the edge of his desk. Upon inspection, he realized it was someone's iPod stuffed inside a fake fur pouch. "Greg...has to be," he thought, setting it back down on the desk and punching up his email.
Greg chose that moment to stick his head in the office, "Hey, Grissom. Did I leave my iPod in here?"
Not bothering to look up from his laptop, Grissom held up the offending pink item.
"Sorry," said Greg, hoping to grab the iPod and quickly escape down the hall.
Still not looking up from the computer screen, Grissom said, "Pink fur?"
"Not just pink fur. This is a Burning Love iPod Pouch in the very fetching cotton candy pink," Greg said with a grin.
"Do I want to know?" Grissom said, finally looking up.
"Probably not," Greg called over his shoulder, making good his escape.
xxx
Two phone calls and several pages later, Grissom managed to get back to his email. He was pleased to see an invitation for an astronomy lecture at UNLV. He'd just opened the email and was about to read it when Catherine knocked on the door jamb.
"Gil, are you busy?" Catherine asked.
"Yes," he sighed, looking up quickly then back down at the screen.
"Good. Listen, Lindsey is at a friend's house for a sleep over and just called me. She's sick. I've got to go pick her up," she said.
"Anything serious?" he asked.
"Oh, she and Macy talked Macy's mom into taking them to some shopping center carnival. From what I understand she's got a stomach ache, no doubt from eating too much cotton candy."
Grissom's brow furrowed, "Hope she feels better. You staying home with her?"
"Yeah...I'll put in a leave slip for half a day."
Grissom looked back down at the screen of his laptop, "All right. See you tomorrow night." He didn't realize Catherine was already gone.
xxx
Several pages and two more phone calls later, Grissom again tried to read his email. Nick and Warrick dropped into the chairs in front of the desk. Nick was all smiles, "Hodges was in the pink tonight."
Dragging his eyes away from the screen, email still unread, Grissom said, "What?" with a little more heat than usual.
Warrick said, "Sorry, Griss...are we interrupting?"
"No, of course not...sorry...you've got something on that unidentified DB?"
"Well, we don't have an ID yet, but we got results back from Trace. Those fibers? Fiberglass. Body has been wrapped in Owens Corning Pink Fiberglass insulation. Wrapped long enough and moved often enough for lots of the stuff to embed in the skin and clothing," Nick explained.
"Dude looked like he'd been rolled in cotton candy," Warrick said. "We're looking at local contractors, but it's going to be hard to connect that pink stuff to anyone specific until we have an ID."
An odd expression flickered across Grissom's face, like he was trying to remember something. He shook his head and said, "Look at local warehouses – any place a large inventory of insulation might be stored. That would be a good place to stash a body temporarily."
Nick and Warrick went off down the hall, leaving Grissom vaguely wondering what he was trying to remember.
xxx
He'd just read the first line of his first email when Sara poked her head in the door, "I'm taking off."
Grissom's annoyance at being interrupted yet again faded at the sight of her. "Hold on, I'll walk out with you," he said. "Let me just read this email."
Sara leaned against the door frame, watching as he shook off his grumpy mood. Things had changed a lot in the last week; something had shifted in him and they were talking again. Not just talking, but really talking, like they used to. She was sure he was working up to something. Grinning, she folded her arms over her chest as he studied the screen.
"Finally!" he said and got up from the desk, closing the laptop as he stood. "I've been trying to read that email all night."
"What email is that?" she asked as they walked down the hall and past reception. Grissom was unusually animated and smiling. Judy nodded as they passed. "It's about time," she thought.
"Oh, I got an invitation to an astronomy lecture at UNLV. Three astronomers – Sun Kwok, Kate Su, and Bruce Hrivnak – are going to talk about their deep space observations on the Hubble telescope. I've been following their work. It'll be interesting to hear them speak," he said. "They're going to talk about the discovery of the Cotton Candy Nebula."
As the words left his lips his brow furrowed again.
Sara noticed. "What?"
He held the door for her as they exited the building. There was something about him tonight...lighter...different. Warrick and Nick watched them pass and exchanged a look. Nick pulled out his wallet and handed Warrick a folded bill.
"Cotton Candy Nebula...do you know that I've heard references to cotton candy at least four times tonight? Strange. Wonder what the odds of that are?" Grissom said as they crossed the parking lot.
Sara turned and leaned against her car. "I have no idea...well...um...thanks for walking me to my car, Griss."
Satisfied that he'd finally put together the puzzle that had been nagging at him all night, he really looked at her. She was almost glowing in the dawn light, face flushed and rosy; she was smiling that secret smile he'd seen more and more often lately. Suddenly he leaned forward and kissed her.
Grissom was not a man who did things on impulse, but she lost no time thinking about that and threw herself into their first kiss.
Dawn in Las Vegas burst into the sky, flinging heat to the earth mere moments after clearing the horizon. The sun was already beating down on them by the time he pulled back and looked into her eyes. On any other day he would have retreated, embarrassed, but not today. He just smiled.
"Hi," he said, tilting his head to study her face.
She held his gaze and said, "Hey."
Licking his lips, he leaned in for another kiss. "You taste good."
Eyes bright, she chuckled, "Must be my lip balm."
He kissed her again, "Could be...what is it?"
"Cotton candy."
Their laughter echoed all over the parking lot.
xxx
I never saw the signs
Now we've got to make up for lost time
And I can tell now by the way that you're looking at me
I'd better finish this song so my lips will be free
Chris Rice – When Did You Fall
FIN