This is my first ever attempt at writing anything except college papers and such. I had intended this to only be a short story about how a song drives Grissom nuts, and his actions because of it, but I get a tendency to get long winded, so it grew and grew.
Pure fluff, no angst, pretty tame, but I'm a newbie at this so please be gentle.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, for if I did, Grissom would be locked in my house permanently. Just kidding. I just borrowed them for a while, but they're still CBS's and Bruckheimer's and you know the rest.
Total songfic, that grew and grew and grew. I don't own the songs either; they were just playing on my computer as I wrote so I incorporated them into the storyline. Hope you all like it, so let me know.
As for the quote from Beethoven's letter to his Immortal Beloved, it hangs on my wall and I could imagine Grissom writing something like that to Sara. I'm a hopeless romantic.
Spoilers for Nesting Dolls, Committed and Grave Danger so if there is anyone out there who hasn't seen them yet, sorry, my bad; and I know that Grissom asking Greg for help is a tad out of character, but humor me won't you? Oh yeah, Warrick is still single too so its pre-season six or I just forgot and made him single for Catherine's sake but I'm rambling again, so enjoy!!!
"Follow You, Follow Me"
It was almost the end of a long triple shift and Gil Grissom was sitting in his cluttered office wearily staring at the mountain of paperwork before him. This was the part of being a supervisor that grated on him the most…well, one of the things, but we'll come to that later.
Pushing himself away from his desk and the tedious task of said paperwork, Gil walked to the break room for some much needed coffee. "I can't concentrate…" he grumbled, "…Sara and that damn song." Pouring himself a cup of the sludge in the pot, Grissom thought about what was making his head abandon its usual sense of normalcy.
They were driving out to a DB in the desert that seemed to have been there for awhile…in other words, bug action. Since Sara was the least bothered by them, he had paired her with him while giving the other assignments to the rest of the group. There was a B& E over in Summerlin for Catherine and Warrick and a dead transient in an alley for Nick and Greg. Catherine was most pleased with this for she really did not like handling or even being that up close with any insect. Smiling happily she told Sara "have fun" and headed off with Warrick in tow. Nick and Greg smirked and winked as they strolled out the door, with the sounds of Sara wishing dumpster diving duty on either one of them. Laughing merrily, she told Grissom, "Well, shall we go see what's crawling around out there?"
"After you," said a bemused Grissom, as they gathered their jackets and headed out the door.
The desert was arid and still as the coolness of the night began to clash with the heated sand below, much like the attraction of male and female. Rambling towards their destination, the road became treacherous as they unexpectedly hit a bump in the road that sent the Denali swerving slightly. Trying to keep his hands on the wheel, Grissom watched as Sara was pitched forward. He unconsciously grabbed for her to keep her from harm all the while forgetting the fact that they were both buckled in safely. As his arm reached across her chest, he stammered a quick apology and mumbled something about instincts taking over. "Are you ok?" he asked her.
She stared over at the man who was looking as uncomfortable as he sounded, and just smiled at him while inside of her, she still felt the warmth and comfort of his arm trying to protect her. "Yeah, I'm ok, thanks…," she said, "are we getting close to the scene?"
"Just about there," he said, driving more cautiously than before. He too was remembering the warmth that had radiated between his arm and her body, and the little sparks that made him jump. Forcing himself to keep up his calm façade he kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead and his mind on the job before them.
Brass was waiting for them by his car and walked over to them as they vacated the vehicle with their kits. "About time you two got here, did you two elope or something?" he joked good naturedly with his friend. Knowing how the two of them felt about each other, it was fun to tease them. Jim chuckled to himself, "How can two of the smartest people I know be so clueless?"
The expression on Gil's face alone was worth the daggers and glares from his friend's eyes. "We had a little problem back there on the road, but we're ok." said Grissom. "So what's the story behind our friend here?" He was trying to act like he hadn't heard Jim's comment but was shooting murderous thoughts his way.
Sara, on the other hand, turned red a little bit and hid her smirk by concentrating on the ground instead of the two men beside her. It wouldn't be wise to burst out laughing so she controlled her inner urges, something that she was slowly learning how to do. After her blow-ups with Catherine and Ecklie, she realized that she needed to at least try to think before she acted on her impulses.
Gil on the other hand was finding it harder and harder to control his urges and impulses. It was becoming a battle of wills to remain the cool, calm unaffected man he should be around her. Inside, all he wanted to do was grab Sara by the shoulders and kiss her. He wanted to hold her and drive away all her fears and sorrows, and perhaps his own as well.
"It seems our vic was found by that guy over there. A Mr. Henry Gardner who resides out in Henderson, he found her when he was out with his metal detector. Fortune hunting in the desert, what some people will do to strike it rich, huh?", Brass sighed, shaking his head a little bit. "He's a little spooked, 'cause he says he's never seen a body like this before. I asked him if he recognized anything about the deceased, but he says he doesn't."
"Shall I talk to the guy or help you with the bugs and sand?"
"Just get his general info, and make sure he knows we will contact him later. Then come and give me a hand when you're through."
"Well, since you two have a handle on the situation, I will see you back at the station."
"Sure, catch you later." Grissom absentmindedly replied. His mind was focused on the body and the insects before him. They were telling him a story, and that was what had his attention. He was deep in concentration when Sara came back to assist him with the specimen collection from the body and its resting place. With the completion of their task, David was free to remove the body for its trip back to the morgue. For now, this was neither a homicide nor an accident. When the final autopsy was done, then they would have some sort of clue as to what had happened to the unidentified body in the desert. The only thing they were sure of is that it was the body of a man and they didn't know how long he had been out there.
Sara watched him when he wasn't looking. He was completely at ease when he was in "the zone" so to speak. Inside the safe confines of his expertise, his attitude and body became more relaxed and happy. She loved to see him when he was like this, but then she just loved to see him, and that was breaking her heart. She had loved him for so long, wanting to be his, but he never took a step into the great unknown that was called love. Yet something had changed with Gil Grissom, she couldn't put her finger on it, but ever since he had come to her apartment after the Catherine/Ecklie fiasco, he seemed to be trying harder. He had asked her for an explanation and she had told him to let it go, but he persisted in getting an answer from her. "I want to know why you're so angry." It was his question to ask, and she tried hard not to answer, but those deep blue eyes of his were her downfall. And so she told him, told him of her past, her childhood that haunted her. She did not want to cry in front of him, but she couldn't stop the rain of tears falling from her eyes, and when he just simply took hold of her hand and sat with her, it made her cry even harder. Now there was a change between them, and for once it was a good one. He seemed to be making an effort to become her friend again, and Sara was more than happy to make the effort too. She had missed being able to lightly joke and laugh with him at work. For a while they were barely on speaking terms and the tension between them was felt by those around them. Everyone was noticing how much better they were getting along and were quite happy about it.
"Well, I think we're about done here. We've got all that we can get from here. Shall we head back?"
"Sure, but this time I get to drive." She smiled at him cheekily.
"Whatever you say, Miss Sidle.", was his chuckled reply. They deposited their kits and various samples in the back of the SUV and started on their trip back to the lab. Sara jumped into the driver's seat while Grissom ambled over to the passenger side and got in. As they were traveling down the empty desert road, they both reached for the radio dial to find something to break the silence that permeated the vehicle. Hand met hand and both drew back instantly as if they were both on fire. Sheepishly offered apologies and stammered responses flew out of their mouths before they both started to laugh at themselves.
"Hey now, I'm driving, so I get to pick the tunes." laughed Sara.
"Fine, just not anything that Greg would listen to, it might kill our friends back there." Grissom said, half-joking and half-serious at the same time.
"Gotcha, no music a la Greggo." She pushed the seek button on the radio to scan the various stations to find something that they would both agree on. Hearing Al Green singing "Here I am", she stopped it on that station and started to sing along. "Is this alright?" she asked him.
"It's fine, just fine," he told her, while inside he was thinking of how beautiful she looked when she was singing and smiling. He realized he was smiling and staring at her like a fool before she could notice it. Thank goodness she was driving, for if he was driving he would have put them in the ditch instead of keeping his mind on the road. "Down, boy, down", he told himself over and over, "but she's so cute, sitting there." By this time, the song was over and had moved onto "True Fine Love" by The Steve Miller Band. Not being totally ignorant in the realm of modern music, Gil knew this one vaguely and was surprised that Sara knew every word too. She obviously knew this station pretty well and was moving along to the melody while she drove.
Suddenly they were both singing along and looked at each other in genuine surprise, she that he knew the song and that he was singing and he that he actually let himself sing along. Bursting out laughing, Sara started to say she was prone to sing along whenever a song she liked came on and not to mind her. Grissom just apologized for her having to hear him sing, which sent another round of laughter to come from those lovely lips of hers. Another song started to play on the radio that Sara let out a happy sound over, and she turned it up and sang it from the depths of her heart and soul, not realizing that she was singing it to the one person she thought of whenever she heard this particular song.
It was a song by Genesis that had come through the Denali's speakers, but Grissom had not heard this one before, and he figured out the name of the song pretty quick. "Follow You, Follow Me" was its name, but hearing Sara sing it rendered him speechless while his heart nearly broke as he listened to the words she was singing along with. The song obviously meant something to her, and as he heard it, he too could see the way it mirrored the unspoken words that his heart wanted to tell her.
"Stay with me
My love I hope you'll always be
Right here by my side if ever I need you
Oh my love…
In your arms
I feel so safe and so secure
Everyday is such a perfect day to spend
Alone with you
I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year
With the dark
Oh I see so very clearly now
All my fears are drifting by me so slowly now
Fading away
I can say
The night is long but you are here
Close at hand oh I'm better for the smile you give
And while I live…
I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year there will be…."
"That one's a favorite of mine" she said while her face was blushing after realizing that he had heard her singing about him.
"It was a very nice song, Sara," he said quietly, trying not to ruin the moment or cause her to withdraw back into that shell he was working so hard to coax her out of. "You have a very pretty voice. Don't be embarrassed by it." Grateful that he wasn't asking her about the song or trying to analyze what it meant, Sara concentrated on her driving and hoping that a lively fun song would come on to quickly get her mind and hopefully Grissom's off of what had just taken place. Unfortunately it just wasn't her night, for the radio gods had deemed it 'humiliate Sara night' with the current song list being played. "Piece of my Heart" was followed by "Crazy Little Thing Called Love " and countless other potentially awkward songs until they reached the Las Vegas city limits and finally a funky little tune called 'Coconut' by Harry Nilsson played and caused both of them to laugh and tell tales of Muppets and midnight margaritas.
The time seemed to just fly by when they found themselves pulling into the lab parking lot. It had been a very nice ride enjoyed by the both of them and they were still laughing as they walked into the building with their bags of evidence and specimens. Seeing the two of them actually laughing shocked the rest of their friends and co-workers alike, but they were glad to see the smiles coming from them and the rare sound of laughter reverberating off the walls of the crime lab.
Separating by Grissom's office door, she went to drop off her samples to DNA and the trace lab, while Gil went to start work on his insect timeline. "Come and find me when you get anything, ok Sara?" he asked her as she walked on down the hall.
"Sure, Grissom" she said, thankful that her performance in the SUV was not discussed any further as she truly felt mortified and relieved to finally be out of the SUV. Ducking her head and scurrying around the corner, she ran into Ronnie and Mandy. Stammering out an apology and a little grunt after literally running into Ronnie, Sara was now embarrassed beyond words and made her way down the hall. Smiling at each other, the two lab techs knew the cause of Sara being that flustered, which meant that the boss would be in a state of confusion himself. Those two should quit tormenting themselves and just give in to their obvious desire for the other. Who did they think they were fooling? The betting pool alone was proof that everybody knew, well at least everyone who was pulling for them to be together. Hodges was firmly attached to Ecklie's behind, so they weren't included in this little wager, and they recently threw Sophia into the same group with Ecklie and Hodges, they just didn't trust her and she wasn't Sara. The wager between Nick and Warrick was reaching new heights because of the recent effort from Grissom to bring back their friendship. The guys saw the changes in their boss and madly made bets on when he would finally make his move. Catherine had been in on this originally, but after so long, she gave up and wasn't going to be in on it. But this new development intrigued her once more and so she jumped in again. Gil was a smart man, but he knew jack about women, and she was determined to grease the wheels a little bit to get this relationship moving.
In one of the lab rooms, Grissom was getting his insect timeline started. He was labeling and pinning his specimens to the board in front of him. He was trying hard not to think about Sara and that song. Sighing, he mused about how he could be so calm and articulate around insects and crime scenes, but when around one certain person, around Sara, he was rendered a babbling fool. Well, that's at least how he felt around her. He never knew what to say, and at most times, managed to say the wrong thing which caused much discomfort not only to Sara and himself, but he was sure to the rest of the team as well. Hating the fact that he was her boss and that he shouldn't act on his feelings was another major dislike of being the supervisor. He knew that Ecklie would just jump at the chance to fire either one of them over any alleged improprieties, and he didn't want to end Sara's career if she didn't really feel the same way that he did. He missed not being the boss and that made him notice that for once he wasn't thinking of his job and the what ifs, he was more concerned now that he was losing her and how he couldn't live without her. Why couldn't he be happy for once in his lonely life? He wanted her and finally he knew that he was willing to do anything to fix what he had broken. Realizing that he was thinking about how they felt when things weren't right between Sara and himself, was a start on his path to making things right with her, and he had been trying his best to repair that broken link. That wasn't the defining moment of his change of thinking, it was when he saw her locked inside that nurse's station with a madman holding a shard of pottery to her neck, threatening her very existence, ready to take her away from him, that he realized how lost he would be without her in his life. Seeing the fear in her deep brown eyes had hurt him, and he pleaded with Adam Trent to "open the door, please open the door." He knew he should have grabbed her and held her after she ran down the hall, yet he was still gripped by fear and uncertainty, and he had managed to disappoint her yet again. Well he was not going to disappoint her anymore, and he set out to repair their relationship. He would fix their friendship first, for he wasn't sure if he still had a chance, if it was truly 'too late' or not. If there was still a chance for him, he would take things one step at a time. It took almost losing Nick to really drive home how much he had to lose without any of them being in his life. He felt horror and fear imagining the other members of his team being inside that box and was physically sick when it dawned on him that it could have been any of them. Having to keep himself calm and levelheaded to find Nick before time ran out drained him of strength, mentally and physically. If it had been Sara inside that box, he would have lost it for sure. The slight chance of losing her forever opened his eyes and his heart. He would be lost without her, she owned his heart from the beginning and he was now brave enough to give it her the rest of him. Seeing how shell-shocked his little family was, and they were his family he finally realized, made Gil Grissom think about life outside of his job, and what he could have if he wanted it. And he did want it; he wanted it more than anyone knew. He didn't want any lost chances, any regrets or a life without her. He knew what to do about 'this' now. He knew he had to make things right.
Thus began the mending of Grissom and Sara. He let himself relax a little more around her, telling her jokes when they were working together, complimenting her on her work. He wanted to grab her tight and never let her go, but he didn't want to scare her and ruin the progress that he was making. He could be patient just a little longer until he was sure she would let him. He took her to breakfast regularly after they were off shift. He was sure everyone was wondering what was going on, but for once he really didn't care, he wanted his Sara back, the one with the fabulous smile and loving brown eyes, the girl she was before he screwed things up so terribly wrong.
So it was on this night, after hearing her sing, that Grissom couldn't concentrate on anything, and he was blaming it on the bewitching memory of her singing that song, of their hands touching and the fact that his heart was forever lost when she smiled at him. He was just walking out of his door down to see Doc Robbins in Autopsy, when he passed by the Trace lab and heard her before he actually saw her. She was concentrating on her task before her and was still singing that song, with nobody around to hear her; she was completely oblivious to the man watching her from the doorway with a shy smile on his face. "There's that song again," he thought, "why can't I escape it?"
Realizing that she could look up and catch him staring at her at any moment, he quickly made it to the Autopsy room without being seen and breathed a sigh of relief. Doc Robbins looked up and said, "Who are you hiding from?"
Gil just shook his head and said "no one really, maybe myself."
"Well I can't tell you how long this lady has been out there, you'll have to tell me that, but I can tell you that there are no signs of foul play or trauma of any kind. She does show signs of an anaphylactic episode by the condition of her lungs and tongue. Her throat was closed off and she was deprived of oxygen. I'm waiting for the Tox screen results to see if there is a toxin in the blood or venom to have caused it. She probably didn't know if she was allergic or not."
"Hmm, what was she doing out there anyway?" Grissom wondered out loud. He was looking at the woman's hands when he suddenly found a puncture wound between two fingers. "Did you see this puncture mark?" he asked Robbins.
"Yes I was going to ask you what may have caused it, since you are the expert on bugs and such."
"This looks like a scorpion bite. How long till the Tox screen comes back?"
At that moment, David walked into the room with the Toxicology report and hands it to Grissom.
"I thought so", he said, "She was stung by a rather venomous scorpion, a Centruroides exilicauda, or the Arizona Bark scorpion. They're usually not deadly, but to anyone with an undiagnosed allergy to it, it can be fatal."
"Misfortunate accidental death", Robbins finished. "A shame, but you have to watch out for the dangers in the desert that you normally wouldn't think about in the city."
"Thanks Doc, now I have to go find out if Sara has a name for our lady here." Starting down the hall, he realized that he had been hiding from Sara in the morgue, hoping that she didn't catch him staring at her earlier. He smiled to himself at how silly he was being, yet the apprehension was still present. For a man who finally knew what he wanted, Gil was still very afraid to let go of his fears and just jump in blindly. He wanted her but he didn't want to lose her as a friend if she didn't want him. Although after tonight's drive, he was starting to feel a little flicker of hope that she was still waiting for him and that he still had a chance. "Now or never Gil!" his heart told his brain, and for once his brain agreed with his heart. But how to achieve his hearts desire he wasn't so sure of. How should he tell her? Should he blurt it out right there, or wait for a moment when they were alone? Hmm, maybe not, he had a tendency to muddle things up and get tongue-tied when he tried to express himself around her, and it only caused more tension. No, he suddenly had a plan, and he was going to need help, but whom? Cath would love to help him finally get his act together, and so would Jim, but he wasn't sure if they were right for what he had in mind. Suddenly the sight of one certain spiky haired former lab rat caught his eye and he knew that Greg was the right man for the job. He knew of the flirting that Greg did with Sara, and it upset him when he had no right to be upset, but he knew that Sara took it all in good humor and so he didn't hold it against him too much. He was a man after all, how could he not be jealous when he saw other guys around her and flirting, he barely held himself together when that Hank character was around, and he definitely did not have any right to play the jealous lover. But that was then, and now he needed Greg's help and wasn't too proud to ask for it.
"Greg, can I talk to you for a minute?" Grissom called to him in the hall making his way towards his office.
"Oh, umm, sure, did I do anything wrong, boss?" stammered a slightly nervous Greg.
"No, you're fine, I just need a little help with a personal matter, and I thought you would be perfect to help me out."
"Oh sure, what can I do for you?"
"Well I need you to go buy me an Ipod, and download a song for me onto it. Can you do that for me?"
"Sure, just tell me which Ipod you want, and which song you want, and no problem."
"I'm not familiar with the different Ipod's and what have you, you pick one that's nice and I'll trust your judgment, ok?"
"All right then, its lunch time, should I go now?"
"If that's good for you, now would be perfect, and here's the song. I think it's by a band named Genesis, and I'm pretty sure that's the title. Oh and keep this between you and me ok Greg?"
"Sure boss, no problemo."
"Thanks Greg….oh and Greg?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop calling me boss." Grissom smiled friendly like at the newest member of his team. He would have to make a better effort to let Greg know that he was doing a fine job, and was turning into a good CSI, but for now, he had plans to make. He found the numbers for the florist and arranged for a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to him at the lab. Then another grand idea popped into his head and he called up a jeweler that he had seen advertised who made unique and specially ordered pieces for those who wanted something original.
Sara, meanwhile, had been trying to find any sort of clue as to who their vic in the desert was but was having no luck. The clothing had failed to produce any form of identification and the results weren't back yet from DNA, so she was at a standstill of sorts until either DNA came back or fingerprints, what was left of them, had gotten matched to someone through AFIS. Not being particularly used to having nothing to do, Sara went towards the break room to get another cup of much needed coffee, while humming under her breath. It was a hard habit to break, and she hoped that others weren't too bothered by her singing to herself. Seeing Nick and Warrick around the coffeepot let her know that the others were back and waiting for the coffee to be done.
"Hey Sara, we found Greg's stash, it'll be done in a few." Nick told her with a grin.
"Umm Blue Hawaiian…he should learn to hide it better." Sara said with a laugh.
"He should know that he can't hide anything from us." added Warrick.
Catherine was walking down the hallway when she heard Gil muttering to himself, and poked her head into his office, raising an eyebrow at the clearly bewildered man who was sitting in front of the computer screen, she had never seen him like this except for when it came to a certain brunette. Not giving him an inch to answer, she sat down and said, "What did you do now?"
"Huh,…nothing." he said tersely. He did not need this now, for his stomach was already doing flip-flops and Catherine had a knack for getting down to the problem and ripping the scab off the wound so to speak. "It's good this time, for once, I swear" he said. "I'm finally following the advice that some friend of mine kept nagging at me to act on" he told her with a wink of his eye.
"Well, it's about damn time" she said with a big smile on her face.
"Hey, can you keep Sara occupied at the end of shift? Keep her away from her locker till I say its ok."
"Ok, but you owe me some paperwork for this" she said smiling.
"I'm not doing your paperwork, just keep her busy ok?" Gil told her with a chuckle.
"Wow, you must be ready, you're joking and smiling and laughing. Write this down in your calendars, Gil Grissom is in love!!"
"Please Catherine, keep this between us until I'm ready, I'm already nervous waiting for Greg to come back."
"What!!! You got Sanders to help you first instead of me, one of your oldest friends!!! Oh Gil, you are soooo owing me some major paperwork for this one!!!"
"Bye-bye Catherine." he told her with a wave of his hand.
"Yeah, yeah see yah later".
Shortly after, Greg came screeching into Grissom's office with his lunch and the Ipod in hand. "Sorry, there was a lot of traffic, and I didn't know when you wanted this" he said nervously.
"Thank you Greg, it's ok really. Now how do I get this song onto it?" he asked him with a slight grin. "Oh that's easy, I can do that for you in no time, but I'll have to use a computer on lab time if you want it now, is that ok?"
"Yes, use mine now, and if anyone asks, you were doing an assignment on my orders."
In a few minutes, Greg had completed downloading the song that Grissom had wanted, and was showing him how to work the Ipod when he got the guts to finally ask who he needed this for.
"You will have to wait and see along with the rest, Greg" he told him enigmatically, "but I assure you it is a nice surprise for someone who really deserves one."
"Gotcha," Greg said and smiled at his boss as he left his office. Only one person can make him act that way and that person was most deserving of a nice surprise. He knew of the obvious attraction between the two, but he never thought he would get to help in making it happen. He smiled at the thought of Sara finally getting her hearts desire and being happy. Sure he flirted with her madly, but he now thought of her more as a best friend than as a potential girlfriend. Leave that to Grissom, he smiled inwardly, let them finally both be happy.
Gil was now trying to find the words that he wanted to say for so long, and for once he was coming up blank, as blank as the sheet of paper in front of him. He never failed to find some quote for almost any occasion, yet nothing was coming to mind. He thought of how much Sara meant to him, and how he wanted her forever, when suddenly it hit him, and he started to search the computer for what he had in mind. He had a half hour till shift was over and he was still searching for his quote when he found it. "Perfect.", he thought, and added his own words under it as his brain started to work in harmony with his heart and usher forth the words that hid from him earlier.
Sara had been in the DNA lab hoping they found a match somewhere. She had combed the missing person's lists and had come up with a teacher who had been missing for four days now. Her name was Rainie Benson and she was 28 years old and had last been seen by her friends when she told them she was going out to the desert to look for some indigenous plants and rock specimens for her earth science class at one of the junior high schools. When she didn't show up for work, her friends became worried, and called the police. Within minutes there was a positive match with the few fingerprints they were able to salvage and the ones on file with the Las Vegas School District. Armed with this new information, she went off in search of Grissom and to see if he had the cause of death yet. Standing in the doorway of his office, she knocked slightly before coming in. "Griss, we have a positive identification on our woman in the desert. Her name is Rainie Benson, 28 years old, junior high school science teacher. She went out four days ago to collect some plant and rock specimens for her earth science class and never showed up for work or at home. Her friends reported her missing. I've got her address; shall I get Brass and go search her home?"
Grissom looked up from his insect timeline and said, "No Sara, it won't be necessary. It turns out she was stung by a scorpion and went into anaphylactic shock. Al ruled it an accidental death, so it looks like our case is closed."
"Well that's good, I guess. Too bad, that timeline was looking really interesting" she said, "well I'll go finish up my reports and give them to you before I head home ok?"
"That will be fine, umm Sara… do you want to have breakfast with me again?"
"Hmm what will people think, Grissom? We've been eating together a lot lately?" she smiled jokingly at him. "Sure, I'll meet you after shift by your vehicle" she told him as she walked down to the break room to finish up her reports.
"Good, see you then Sara." He replied as she left his office. Looking at the pinned insects that made up his partial timeline, he said, "sorry guys, I've got something better to do.", and with that he started his great plan in motion.
First he had to find a way into Sara's locker without her knowing. Well he was the boss wasn't he, he had a master key for the locker room, and while Catherine was keeping her busy, he could put his gift and note inside of hers and slip out before she got there. Then he went out to his car and hid the flowers he had delivered. All was coming together as he hoped, and as it got closer to shifts end, the more nervous yet happier, he got.
Catherine was waiting for his signal to stall Sara and as she walked down to Grissom's office with her finished report, Catherine called out to her asking her if she could get her opinion on something.
"Sure, just let me put this on Grissom's desk. Where is he anyway?"
"Oh I think I saw him heading to Trace…" Catherine fibbed with her fingers crossed behind her back.
"Now what do you need an opinion on?"
"Ummm what would you think of getting Warrick for his birthday?" she asked with an impish grin on her face.
"Well, um, you in a big bow?" Sara teased.
"Yeah but how do I get delivered?" Catherine joked back. Seeing Grissom sneak back to his office and give her the signal that he was clear, she let Sara go with a smile and wave of her hand. "I'll keep that idea in mind. Thanks Sara."
"Sure, no problem Cath." She chuckled as she turned to see Grissom pretend to reach his office at the moment she did. "Ready?" she asked.
"Yes, are you?" he answered. "I just have to get my coat and stuff out of my locker. I'll meet you by the car."
"Ok, I'll be waiting." He said, secretly grinning like the Cheshire cat on the inside. As Sara went into the locker room, she didn't see Catherine and Greg sneak up and wait by the door to hear or see her reaction.
Unbeknownst to them, Nick and Warrick and Brass were watching this scene with much curiosity and snuck up behind the two.
"So what are we doing here, sneaking by the door?" Brass said, causing Catherine to jump about a foot off the floor.
"Jeez, you scared the crap outta me, Jim, wear some shoes that make a little noise why don't you?"
"Are we spying on anyone in particular?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah I kinda like to know who's gonna kill me when they find out we've been spying on them." said Nick.
"Well either one of them can kill us and make it look like nothing or hide our bodies where no one will ever find them." said Greg absentmindedly.
Catherine elbowed him sharply in the ribs and gave him a very dirty look.
"What, who?" asked Brass.
"Are we talking about Griss or Sara?" said Nick, "or are both of them in there?"
"I do not want to be the object of their wrath when they find out that they've been spied on. You know that Grissom would assign any one of us decomp duty for the next year, and as for Sara, well she's just plain scary when she's angry." muttered Warrick. He knew how their tempers were and he didn't relish being on the receiving end of any of it.
"Just shut up and wait." ordered Catherine who was anticipating the outcome with much glee. She was glad to see that Gil was finally getting his..ahem..act together. She knew he loved Sara for quite some time now, and that was probably part of the reason that he brought her- here to begin with.
Sara was opening her locker when she saw a wrapped present sitting on the little shelf. She looked around as she took it down and examined the card attached to it. "Who….?" she wondered aloud. It didn't take her long to recognize the neat handwriting on the paper, it was Grissom's and her heart skipped a beat as she withdrew the card from its envelope. Tears began to fill her eyes as she began to read:
"My dearest Sara,
Just a gift to let you know how special a person you are to me and to let you know that I am truly sorry for all the pain and misery that I have caused you all these years. For that I truly am sorry and wish I was more of a man back then and was brave enough to take the leap. But I cannot fight my feelings any longer and hope that it isn't too late for us. I have finally figured out what to do about 'this' and I realize 'this' is love. I have loved you for so long, and have fought to keep you at a distance to keep from hurting you and from being hurt myself, yet I only ended up hurting you so badly that I can only hope you will forgive me in time. I heard you singing this song all night, and it opened my eyes to see that man does not live on bread alone, but he needs nourishment for the heart and soul as well, and you are the nourishment that my heart needs, the piece of my soul that is missing. So please listen and let me have one more chance to prove that I will never hurt you again, and I will never let you go.
Forever yours, Gil.
Sara was crying openly by this time, as she found another note inside the card that contained the following quote in Grissom's handwriting again.With trembling hands and tear filled eyes she read:
"My angel, my all, my very self….my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us – I can live only wholly with you or not at all…Be calm – love me – today – yesterday – what tearful longings for you – you – you – my life – my all – farewell. Oh continue to love – never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved."
"Ever thine
Ever mine
Ever ours."
Ludwig van Beethoven
Putting on the headphones of the Ipod, Sara listened with baited breath as she immediately recognized the song that was playing. "I will follow you, will you follow me". She couldn't believe he had done all this after all the years of keeping her at a distance. She wanted so to believe this was truly happening and that she wasn't dreaming, so she gathered up her belongings and hurried out to find Grissom. Not hearing her coming out the door, the group of spying sneaky friends instantly came crashing down in a pile before her feet. "Did you know about this?" she demanded trying to look mad, but the great big smile on her face betrayed her emotions.
"Hey, we were kept in the dark till we saw Cath and Greg listening at the door," sniffed Nick, Warrick and Brass, trying to sound all insulted and hurt for not being a part of it.
"Yeah, we had to kind of get it out of them, but we're very happy for you Sara, you are happy right?" inquired Brass.
All she could do was smile at them as she said she had to go find Grissom before he thought she ran away, and would start to retreat again.
"Go get him girl!!" yelled Catherine.
"You too!!" Sara mouthed to her as she waggled an eyebrow in Warrick's direction.
Catherine turned red and winked at Sara as she ran out the door to find the object of her hearts desire for all these years, and at his car she found him like he said he would be.
He was pacing nervously and was looking at the ground, his watch, and the door in frantic bursts. When he saw her running towards him, he stopped pacing and went to find out his fate. He didn't have to ask or look very hard, for the smile that shone from her face was the answer that he had hoped for. She was crying and trembling in front of him and he grabbed her tightly in his arms and held her like he never wanted to let her go. "I'm sorry Sara, I'm so sorry for wasting all this time, can you forgive me and give me another chance?"
She didn't answer him, she only put her finger on his lips to silence his apologies and to let him know that he didn't have to worry, for she had always loved him and could never let him go.
He saw all this in the wonderful eyes of Sara Sidle, and for once he didn't argue or try to analyze anything. All that mattered was this moment and this woman here in his arms. He leaned down to kiss her lips and quickly forgot that they were standing in the middle of the crime lab parking lot and that all their friends had now come out and were clapping and yelling their support for them.
Sara blushed deeply and held onto Grissom even harder. "I love you Sara"
"I love you too Gil" It was the first time they said it to each other and definitely not the last.
"I, uh, I have one other thing for you," he told her nervously. Opening his car door, he brought out the bouquet of purple lilacs and orchids, hoping he was right that she liked the color purple. "I know this is sudden, but if you think about it, I've waited too long not to ask you, so Sara Sidle, will you make an old bugman happy and marry me." Rendered speechless, Sara could only stare as Gil knelt down on one knee and held out the prettiest ring.
It wasn't your normal engagement type ring; it was in the shape of a dragonfly, set with purple amethysts and diamonds. Looking at his expectant face, she could only cry and nod to the man who owned her heart at her feet.
Finally finding her voice, she whispered to him, that she "would be very happy and proud to be his wife."
Grabbing her in an enormous hug, he whirled her around and around, as the rest of the crew made their way over to give their congratulations and happy thoughts to the newly engaged couple.
"Hey this calls for some celebrating"
"Lets go to breakfast and then celebrate afterwards"
"I'm so glad you finally listened to me Gil", the voices of Catherine, Nick and the others were all around them and they felt that they were truly lucky to have this chance and this love and these wonderful people in their lives to help them when they needed it. They had a family and they had each other and that's all they needed.
Epilogue:
"And now for their first dance as husband and wife, the happy couple has requested a very special song that means a lot to them." Everyone clapped and yelled as Gil and Sara made their way to the dance floor to the opening chords of "Follow You, Follow Me" and looked into eachothers eyes with undying love and devotion. "If it wasn't for this song, my eyes would've never been opened," he thought. Thank the fates for the radio and the beautiful haunting voice of his wife, for without them, he would be a truly unhappy man. Beethoven knew, now he knew too, his Immortal Beloved was in his arms forever.
She knew that she was where she was supposed to be, for this circle was complete and would never be broken. They took the long way around, but the outcome was what she dreamed of. Looking at the man she waited for and loved all these years, she realized that she was finally home, and she could stop running and fearing, for her heart was protected by him and she protected his. The fates were in her favor at last and she was glad that she was such a stubborn fool to never give up on the single dream that she wanted for so long. She would never want or need anyone as much as she did Gil, and she knew that he would never want or need anyone like he did her.
As they held each other tightly while they danced, they sang to each other softly so that only they could hear. "I will follow you, will you follow me…."
The End