Title: Revelation
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Grissom/Catherine
Summary: Sequel to Recover. "In that day, there's a moment when it all goes your way." GCR. Grissom's perspective.
Disclaimer: Not my players, just my playground.
Notes: This has been lingering in my head for a few days. I hadn't planned to do a second story, but I really wanted to show Grissom's perspective. Jury is out on whether I continue with this particular story arc. I'm still pondering ideas.
"And you know it's a lion's heart,
that will tumble and tear apart,
when he's coming down the hills for you." – A Lion's Heart, TALLEST MAN ON EARTH
The first time he saw her again, it was autumn in D.C. It was lunch time and he was taking a break from grading papers in his office to take advantage of the unusually warm autumn day.
And there she was.
It was her hair he noticed first. Sunny blonde, with red highlights that shined off the bright fall leaves. She was sitting across the street, chatting idly with a young blonde woman. Her hands moving, face animated as she spoke.
Catherine.
He looked down, doing his best to focus on the crossword he had brought with him. Perhaps she wouldn't notice him. Perhaps he could walk away without her noticing him. He feared it had been too long since the last time they spoke to mend the bridge that had broken between them. She had given him her blessing when he had decided to find Sara in Costa Rica. She was his best friend. He knew she would always support him. But under that smile there was sadness, an understanding that things wouldn't be the same between them, and ultimately he had still left. Vegas. Her.
He looked up. Just for a moment their eyes locked across the street before she glanced away.
And what for? What had he left for? Sara? A love he thought he had? She was so like him. So introverted, so ambitious. She hadn't been happy in Paris with him, and he wasn't shocked when she had made the decision to go back to her job at the crime lab. She missed the rush of solving cases, and the camaraderie with the team. They'd made it work for a while, but the distance between had grown, and truth be told, he had found himself longing for someone else. There had always been a passion between him and Sara, but once they were apart, he found an ache gnawing at him, and an a hole he hadn't had before.
"Catherine?"
He wasn't sure how or when his legs had carried him across the busy street. He couldn't help but stare into her eyes from behind his sunglasses.
"What are you two doing here in D.C.? Seeing the sights?" he recognized her companion now, the shock of seeing Catherine beginning to wear off.
Lindsey.
"No. I...uh…I live here," her voice rang in his ears. "Special Agent Catherine Willows, FBI, at your service."
"I hadn't heard. Congratulations." Grissom wondered what had finally caused her to leave the lab. In some ways he was surprised. Vegas had always been her home. The lab her second family.
"Thanks…it was time. I assumed Sara had told you."
She hadn't. Even when they were still together, Sara had remained tight lipped about her work. She wasn't one to gossip about her day, her co-workers, or cases.
Catherine straightened in her chair and looked him in the eye, as if preparing herself for battle. "So what brought you to D.C.? Last I heard you were still teaching in Pa…"
"Sara and I, we're not together anymore," he cut her off abruptly, removing his sunglasses. "It just, it didn't work out. I couldn't give her what she wanted."
He didn't know why he felt the need to be so candid, when they had been apart for so long. But being with Catherine, felt like being home, and confessing to her, without the pressure of significant others, jobs…it seemed as easy as breathing. It spilled out, as water from an overturned glass.
He felt her hand in his, as it came up to his chin.
Heard her tell him how sorry she was, as if nothing had ever come between them. As if it was her fault.
It wasn't.
"I thought she was what I wanted. I know better now. We were, too much alike…and there was someone, someone I never really got over."
"Yea." He felt her hand go limp, as if cuing him to leave.
'It's not her fault at all,' he thought as he pulled out his crossword, scribbling his phone number along the side of the page.
It was his. He needed her. He always had. He didn't know why it had it taken him so long to realize it.
Why couldn't he say it? How could he tell her?
And then it hit him.
"I've been teaching classes at George Washington University. That's my office number and email. Cell is the same, "he ripped the page out of his newspaper and handed it to her.
"Thanks."
Grissom stuck his hands in his pockets, and just as quickly as their conversation began, he walked away.
He hoped she understood. He hoped she felt the same.
He didn't know how else to tell her.
Grissom crossed Dupont Circle towards his office, leaves crunching beneath his feet. He felt the familiar buzz of his cellphone against his thigh.
'Probably an email from a student,' he mused absentmindedly, his thoughts still preoccupied.
Pulling the phone out, he smiled.
"I love you too."
-Fin.