Disclaimer: These characters belong to CBS, Atlantic-Alliance Productions, and Anthony Zuicker. I intend no copyright infringement and write for strictly entertainment purposes only.
Archive: Go ahead, if you like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was an emotionally draining case for each
of them. Worse, in that the perpetrator walked due to insufficient
evidence. Sara was taking it hard as she often did, and this concerned
Catherine who walked beside her to the parking lot.
"Sara," Catherine paused at her friends car,
making a hasty decision. Grissom would be furious. "Why don't you come
with me to have dinner at Grissoms."
This drew Saras' attention, and surprise flickered
in her weary eyes. "You are having dinner with Grissom?"
Catherine could have kicked herself.
Of course Sara would wonder at that statement, jumping to all sorts of
conclusions and wondering why Gil had never invited her. With a heavy
sigh, Catherine motioned towards her car. "Ride with me, Sara, and
we can talk. It's past due at any rate."
Sara closed her own car door, curiosity warring
with her anger and frustration from the lost case. She climbed in
beside Catherine who pulled the visor down to block the afternoon sun,
then turned the key in the ignition. They were both tired, lingering
way past their normal schedule to run over and over the evidence they had
collected, to no avail. Thankfully, they had the evening off and
could catch up on their rest. She glanced sideways at Sara, who was patiently
waiting for her to say what she would.
"Gil and I are close friends. Period. We go
back a long ways." Catherine began, sparing another quick look at
the now relieved face beside her. "Gil is comfortable with me being
in his place because I'm not a risk to his orderly life. I'm no threat,
you know what I mean?"
"He thinks that I'm a threat?"
Saras tone was reflective, doubtful.
Catherine did not reply, it wasn't necessary because Sara knew the truth.
After several minutes of silence, Sara finally asked. "Won't Grissom
be mad that you brought me along?"
"He'll get over it."
They drove in silence, each contemplating
Grissom reaction. Catherine smiled to herself, the man needed his
tidy world shaken every now and then.
A grim Sara stood behind Catherine as she rang
the bell on Grissoms door waiting for the ax to fall. The door swung
open and he stood there, enigmatic as ever, concerned when he spoke.
"How are you? I know it was a tough case."
He had spoken with Jim Brass when he arrived home that morning, then later
when he spoke with Catherine and invited her over. "How is Sara taking
it?"
"Ask her yourself." Catherine stepped aside
to reveal Sara, who gave a little wave and a half smile.
"Hi, Gris."
They watched as he blinked rapidly, then shot
Catherine an accusatory look before looking back at Sara.
"Sara." Grissom recovered from the shock of
seeing her standing outside his door when he had just been thinking of
her, and stepped back to open the door wider. "Come in. I have dinner almost
ready."
Sara felt the urge to run back to her car
and go home to hide for a few hours. Only her car wasn't here and she was
not one to cower in her apartment. She followed Catherine inside,
averting her eyes from the blue ones staring her down. Glancing about
the sterile room she thought of how it fit him with it's lack of clutter
and straightforward appearance. Turning back, she looked into his
eyes. "If you would like for me to leave, Gris, I won't be offended.
I don't want to intrude on your evening."
Grissom processed her words and offered no
clue to what he was thinking. "It's just dinner." He looked
over at Catherine and wondered what she had told Sara, if she had made
it clear that it was just dinner. Catherine caught the question
in his eyes and raised her eyebrows. Ignoring this exchange, Sara
rubbed her arms, and looked at the wall behind him. A multitude of
butterfly species adorned the walls and she focused on these, tuning all
tension in the room out. Grissom watched her for a few minutes before
turning to Catherine for an explanation. Defending her actions, Catherine
spoke just loud enough for him to hear.
"I was very concerned for her, Gil. You know
how emotionally involved Sara can become with the victim and this was no
exception. You were not there to chase her into the parking lot and
calm her down and I didn't think she should be alone."
Grissom listened without saying a word. He
couldn't deny her reasoning even if he disagreed with that comment about
him not being there. His gaze fastened on Saras back as she surveyed
his collection. What was she thinking? Resisting the urge no
longer, he walked over to stand beside her, asking gently. "Are you
okay, Sara?" When she didn't respond, he touched her elbow. "Sara?
Did you hear me?"
"I heard you." Sara replied. She pointed
to one of the butterflies. "That is beautiful. One of the most
exquisite species I've seen."
Grissom followed her finger and nodded.
"It is rare. I have another one in my bed-" He broke off and withdrew
his hand. "Dinner is ready." He gave a slight shrug, adding. "If I had
known you were coming I could have made something without meat, besides
the salad."
The tingle of his fingers still on her elbow,
Sara joined Catherine at the table where plates were arranged, salad bowls
neatly placed beside them.
"Salad is fine." Sara assured him, noting
the marinated chicken on the other two plates. As they ate, Grissom
spoke of his trip to a beetle race, each woman listening, one with amusement,
the other fascinated. Sara asked pointed questions and Grissom lost himself
in recapping the triumphant race where one of his beetles was in the top
three. Neither one noticed as Catherine slipped from the table to
use the phone. She hid her smug grin when she tapped Grissom on the
shoulder. "I need to pick Lindsay up from her friends. Will
you drive Sara to get her car?"
Tension crept back as Grissom stared hard
at Catherine. Sara put her fork beside her plate and made to stand.
"You can drop me off on your way, can't you Catherine?"
"Well, it is on the other side of town-" Her
voice trailed off.
"I'll drive Sara home after dinner." Grissom
intercepted. Catherine was out the door before either could change
their mind. The door clicked shut and they were left staring at one another.
Sara broke the silence with a soft laugh.
"You didn't count on your evening turning
out like this, did you, Gris?"
"No." Grissom smiled back. "If you are still
hungry I could make something that is, um, meatless?"
"That's okay." Sara sipped her wine. "I"m
not that hungry anyway."
Picking up his own glass, Gil took a sip of
wine then suggested, hesitantly. "If you would like to see that rare species
of butterfly you were admiring then I could show you."
"The one in your bedroom?" Saras' smile reached
her eyes and Grissom nodded. "That sounds intriguing."
They left the table, Sara following Grissom
from the room.
Fini