You There
Rating: It's fine.
Pairing: Gil Grissom/Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes/Sara Sidle
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: "You there. You're better off here. Funny it takes no time to fall back down. Funny it takes no time to get back up."
A/N: So this is a Grillows story! Just a cute little one shot! Listen to "You There" by Aquilo, please! :) Sorry for any grammar mistakes!
She's working a crime scene with the two of them when she first notices. She watches with careful eyes how Grissom moves besides Catherine, personal space obviously a foreign concept to the two of them. With all the jealously coursing through her body, she somehow is able to remind herself that the two of them have been close friends for the past two decades or so, and it seems to help a little. She knows it's morally wrong and very unprofessional of her, but even with a week old dead body stretched out in front of her, all she can think of is how undeniably close Grissom's body is to Catherine's.
They've even brushed up against each other a few times and she's almost positive neither one of them consciously register that they're touching one another. There's another spring of envy that hits Sara hard at the fact that they're both so oriented to each others touch, that it's nothing more than a second thought. His hand occasionally reaches out to grasp her arm, gently guiding her to see what he see's, to ask for her unspoken permission to invade even more of what personal space remains.
Sara inhales sharply, the cold Nevada air burning in her lungs, and readjusts the grip she has on her camera. She lifts it up to her face, thankful for the distraction of work and manages to block out Grissom and Catherine as she pushes on with her work, snapping a few pictures of the body, the surrounding area, a few footprints in the mud. The cold has been grateful to them thus far; keeping most, if not all, of the evidence preserved for further analysis.
The sound of her digital camera's shutter isn't the only thing that she can hear now, and at the sound of his voice, she peers over the edge of the eye aperture and spies the two of them still not far from where they were processing their share of the scene. Earlier that evening, before the three of them headed out in the lab's SUV, she had silently judged Catherine's attire for going out into the cold. She had merely a pair of jeans with a thick sweater, but had forgotten her heavy crime lab jacket in her locker. And it wasn't long before Grissom noticed how cold the woman next to him had gotten.
Sara continues to watch from behind the safety of her camera as her supervisor unzips his jacket and places it over Catherine's shoulders, helping her get her tiny arms through the well insulated jacket. When she zips it up and reaches around to flip her captured hair from out of the jacket, there's a brief flash of "FORENSICS" in white on the back of his jacket that soon disappears when her long, curled hair comes down.
"Better," he asks and she turns to face him… and Sara. His last name comes into view in white stitching, resting right over her breast. His jacket seems to consume her entire body and Sara can only imagine how warm the older CSI must be.
"Much. Thank you."
She's not sure if it's the exchange of words, the looks, or the decomposing body in front of her that suddenly makes her nauseous, so she stands up slowly and makes her way to the back of the SUV where her kit is. She gathers herself, opening up the trunk, setting her camera down, and sighing.
—
Halfway through her shift, her stomach begins to protest. She can't remember the last time she's eaten, so she takes it as a sign to maybe head for the break room and have lunch. She passes Nick on the way there who calls out that he'll meet her there to eat lunch together in a few minutes, after he cleans up. She passes the layout room to find Warrick still stuck on a piece of evidence. Gil's office is empty and Greg is banging his head to some kind of rock music in the lab.
The break room comes into view when she rounds the corner and she slows her pace when she see's the familiar faces, both of whom are sitting close to one another at the table, Catherine's arm brushing against Gil's as she leans forward to take a bite of her own leftover spaghetti. It's not quite out of the ordinary to see them eating lunch together, but never this close to one another.
There's a tupperware container full of untouched food in front of Grissom, who instead holds some kind of scholarly journal out in front of him and Catherine. Neither one of them notice her standing in the doorway until Catherine looks up from the journal that Gil was holding up for them to both see. She smiles at the younger CSI and reaches out for her fork, twirling her food.
"Hey. Lunch time," she asks and Sara nods, then makes her way over to the fridge where she grabs her own leftovers and places it in the microwave to heat up. With her back towards the two of them, she rationalizes that maybe he's found something interesting he wants her to read, that it's the reasoning behind their closeness at the table. But when the alarm on the microwave sets off to let her know that her food is ready, she turns back around to see Grissom still pointing out certain things for Catherine to read, handing her the journal and then his own pair of glasses, straight from his face.
Catherine accepts his glasses and they sit perfectly on her face. Gil takes the opportunity with Catherine's hands full to grab the fork that was once in her mouth and takes a bit of her own lunch, swirling the spaghetti around much in the same manner as Catherine had just minutes ago. It's an intimate act and it only gets worse when Catherine peers over the edge of his glasses that are perched on her perfect, tiny nose. Her stare seems to burn straight through him and he grins at her, then places her fork back down and licks his lips free of any sauce.
Sara heads for the door with her heated up food in her hands, but Catherine's voice stops her.
"You don't want to eat here," she asks, but Sara just shakes her head and points out to the hallway.
"Nick and I are gonna go eat with Warrick in the layout room," she lies, trying desperately to leave the room before Catherine can guilt trip her into staying with them.
—
"Hey, Sara!" Nick's voice cuts through the white noise of the rest of the lab and she stops in the middle of the hallway. He's halfway leaning out of Greg's lab. "Have you seen Catherine," he asks. It nearly takes everything within her not to answer back in a smug response to have him check Grissom's office. She shakes her head.
"Haven't seen her, but I'll let her know you're looking for her when I do."
He falls back into the lab after thanking her and lets her go back about her business. She's on her way to Grissom's office, ironically enough, to see if there's anything she can help work on. The door is wide open and when she gets closer, she can see Catherine perched on top of Gil's desk, the two of them squinting at something in front of them. Catherine is almost too close to him for comfort, but he doesn't even seem to mind. He's sitting in his office chair and when either of them makes a move to point out things on the paper, his arm and her hip always come into some sensual contact.
"Hey," she speaks up, the supervisor and his colleague looking up simultaneously. "I um…" She can feel her mouth grow dry and her throat begins to itch when Catherine's eyes meet hers. She clears her throat and points over her shoulder with her thumb. "Nick was looking for you. It seemed important," she finally manages. The words don't seem to have any effect on Catherine though, as she remains grounded on top of Grissom's desk.
Sara watches from the doorway as Grissom's hand comes up off of the desk and brushes against her thigh, encouraging her to go see what Nick needs help with.
"We can finish this later," he states as she reluctantly slides off from his desk and leans across him to gather the files she had laid out before them. Her chest comes dangerously close to his face and Sara has to focus on something else in his office, determined not to witness yet another claiming technique from Catherine. Whether the two of them knew it or not, they seemed to be doing things like that a lot lately. Their touches and gazes went unnoticed by pretty much everyone in the lab except Sara.
"Alright, then," she says while straightening her blouse. She's headed straight for the younger woman and just as they pass each other, Catherine turns her head to smile at her. "He's all yours," she says just loud enough for Sara to hear. It's in that moment that Sara knows she's being tested. The phrase drips with excess of sarcasm and Sara can only imagine what's gotten into Catherine to make her seem so protective over their supervisor. She realizes that he's either told Catherine about the innocent crush or she's figured things out for herself.
—
Their shift has just started. Everyone is still trickling in, heading for the locker room with exhaustion still on their face from last night's shift. She's been there for a few minutes in the break room, nursing a cup of coffee to full waken her up and prepare her for a long shift ahead of her.
He comes in silently, nods at her, too tired to open his mouth and give a formal greeting. She offers up a small smile and sits contently at the table with her mug in both hands, the edge of the glass resting on her lips.
She watches as he grabs two cups from the cabinet above the coffee maker and fills both with a strong, black coffee. He reaches for the sugar and creamer, meticulously adding a variety of amounts to either cup. He stirs, tests one cup by bringing it up to his lips, and nods. The other cup, his cup, goes untouched by his lips.
—
They're standing around Gil's office while he hands out assignments. Catherine's name falls from his lips first, as always, but instead of his usual "You're with me", he announces that she'll be working with Nick. It takes her a moment to realize what's happening and when she glances over at the blonde CSI, she doesn't seem to be put off by the change.
"Sara." His voice calling out her name causes her to snap her eyes to his face. "You're with me tonight." She nods quickly and fights the urge to smile. They spend the next few minutes going over the rest of the schedule for the night and just as the team breaks up to go their separate ways, Catherine lingers close to Gil's side. Her hand comes up to rest high up on his shoulder and he instinctively lowers his head so she can whisper something into his ear. His boyish grin graces her beautiful smile and he nods once, then they pull away and head in opposite directions.
A half hour later, after the lab's SUV had been stocked and loaded with supplies and their kits, her and Grissom climb into their seats and he starts the engine.
"Where's the body," she asks as she buckles herself into the seat.
"Downtown," he says, concentrating on the road out in front of him. It doesn't take long to get there and before she knows it, he's jumping out to gather his crime scene kit. She meets him at the back of the Denali and reaches for her own supplies. It's an opportunity to ask the question she's been meaning to for a long time. But every time she summons what little courage she has, Catherine comes to mind and the thought flees her head almost immediately. Despite all the evidence pointing to the obvious, she convinces herself that she needs to try anyway.
"I um… I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to dinner sometime this week." He shuts the back door to the Denali and looks at her with his kit weighing him down. "Or drinks. Doesn't have to be dinner… you know… whatever." She's stammering and mentally smacks herself in the face, but he seems to be contemplating her offer. There's a glimmer of hope still, but it gets crushed with two simple words.
"I can't." She nods out of reflex, assuring him that it's okay and that it was just an offer from a friend to a friend, but she knows the truth. And he turns to head to the crime scene without her. She allows her eyes to close and finally accepts the truth she had been unwilling to acknowledge for quite some time. He really did belong to Catherine Willows.
She heads back to the car to gather herself and keep her emotions in check. Her hand curls around the passenger side door and she flings it open, reaching in her pocket to grab her own personal cell and trade it out for the lab's on-call phone. Grissom's own personal cell sits in the center console and she jumps when it begins vibrating against the hard plastic of the Denali.
A picture fills the screen and it's almost like a slap across the face. It's a picture of a bare chested Grissom standing in the shallow end of a pool with a bikini clad Catherine hanging on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck as he supports her in the water. Her head rests close to his and her chin sits on his shoulder, the two of them smiling brightly back at Sara.
The cold Nevada air sends a chill down her spine. She swallows hard and let's the voicemail pick up, but it's not before long the phone vibrates one more time. This time, a text message.
Her name is illuminated by the phone, but it's not her full name.
Cath: Don't forget. Your place after shift. Be careful out there. xoxo
She allows her eyes to close to the defeat that rocks her. All she's ever wanted was to just have a chance with him, just to sit down somewhere and have a conversation other than about work. There's no time to feel sorry for herself though, because he's calling out her name and asking for help. So she wipes away the cold, stray tear that's lingering on her cheekbone and sniffs before shutting the door and heading over to where he's crouched near the ground.
She can't bring herself to hate him, though... or Catherine, for that matter.
She's just happy he's found someone to make him happy.
They work the rest of the crime scene in a comfortable silence and after hours of processing, it's finally time to call it a wrap. The sun has long set and see the white coroner van coming to pick up the body. They've packed up the evidence, saved the kits, and after talking with the local police for a few minutes, they head back to the warmth of the Denali. She sinks down into the heated leather seats and places the lab's on-call phone down in the cup holder.
Gil's not far behind her and when he gets in the car, moves immediately for his phone. She watches from the corner of her eye as he quickly checks his messages and shuts the phone off, placing it in his jacket pocket. The ride back to the lab was silent and she couldn't wait to get out of the car. Being this close to him was making her grow more and more upset over the fact she'd never see the day where he'd be hers.
So she helps him with as little stuff as possible, hauling in evidence to the lab's evidence room and checks everything in herself. When she's done signing her name, she turns and nearly collides with Nick, who's also coming to log in his own evidence.
"Funny meeting you here," he jokes with her, but she shrugs him off gently. "Hey," he can sense her discomfort almost immediately and reaches out to grab her arm gently.
Her eyes snap to where his hand is resting in the crook of her elbow and she can't deny the tingling feeling down her spine at his touch. He watches as her lips part and their eyes finally meet. He doesn't bother to pull his hand away, but instead pulls her away from the evidence room.
"You okay," he asks sweetly, looking down into her face. There's not much to be upset over anymore now that her heart has forgiven and forgotten Grissom.
"I'm fine," she reassures him. She nearly weeps when his hand falls back to his side. He's still analyzing her and it seems to get her to smile. Once a CSI, always a CSI. "Nick, I promise."
"Let me be the judge of that."
"Excuse me," her words come out as a bit of a challenge, but he smiles regardless.
"I'm taking you to dinner tonight. Gonna get you talkin'," he threatens with that handsome grin of his and she doesn't have the heart to turn him down.
A/N: So there it is. Sorry if it sucked. I felt like writing another Catherine and Grissom story. Sorry for any grammar mistakes. And remember, that song! :) Review and let me know!