THE ANSWER IS 42
Title The Answer is 42
Author CR1
Pairing Grissom/Sara
Rating Teen
Word Count 3,838
Spoilers Set after Grave Danger
Disclaimer I do not own any CSI characters, I wish they were mine but they are not.
A/N Prompt for the Summer Reading Ficathon Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
A grateful thanks to Calypso a wonderful Beta, also Mel and Sara Sidle Grissom for their ongoing encouragement. To see all the little references that were interwoven see my notes at the end.
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With a sigh, Grissom sat alone in his office. The graveyard shift was starting in two hours and again he found himself in his office early, looking over files. His sanctuary. His haven. Could he find the peace he wanted? Over the last month he had slept poorly. He was experiencing the same dream over and over, night after night. The fists were not battering on the Perspex coffin, the eyes looking at him desperate for help. No, what he saw was a lifeless body. No breath, no life in its eyes … Too late, he was too late.
Sara. Every night it was Sara in that dream, in that clear tomb. He would wake shaking and in a cold sweat. He was never able to save her.
"It's too late. I've waited too long,"he thought. He was so deep in thought he did not see the figure leaning on the doorframe.
"Grissom? Hey, Grissom? You with us? You seem to be on a different planet."
"What? Oh, Sara. Hi… No, everything is okay."
He looked at her, her brown eyes melting a little bit more of him.
"Right, okay. Be with you in five," he smiled. He had a surprise for them all, one he hoped everyone would be fond of.
Walking briskly to the break room, he could hear their chatter coming from inside. As he entered, Catherine smiled at him. With a nod of approval, he smiled back. He waited silently for the last member of the team to arrive.
A loud chorus of surprise rang out. "Nicky!" All the members of the team crowded around him, hugging and giving pats on the back. Across the room, Nick caught Grissom's eye and smiled a smile of gratitude. He crossed the short distance and stood in front of his mentor. Grissom looked at him for a second and without a thought extended his hand. "Welcome back, Nick."
"It's good to be back, but I'm a little confused," Nick began. "Why did Ecklie want me back at this time of night? At the end of my shift?"
"Well …" Grissom paused and looked around. "From tonight on, the graveyard shift will once again consist of everyone in this room." Everyone's eyes widened with surprise and smiles spread across their faces.
"And before you ask, Catherine will maintain her role as a supervisor. Now that we've got that taken care of, all hands are needed. We've got a multiple homicide at the Nero hotel."
Grissom looked around with a smile before he turned his back and strode from the room. He glanced back catching their look of disbelief. "You guys coming?"
The sight that Brass saw coming towards him was one that he thought he'd never see again. Walking past the yellow crime scene tape was Grissom, flanked by his team in step just behind him.
"Hi Gil. Does this mean what I think it means?" Brass asked. A wry smile playing on his face.
"Yes, Jim. Ecklie really had no choice. Anyway, what have you got for us? "
"Multiple homicide. Three bodies, plenty of eye witnesses," Brass replied.
Grissom's concentration was diverted as he and the rest of the team took in the scene before them. There, huddled in groups around the entrance, was a myriad of …
"Klingons!" Greg stated with excited glee. "Wow, look, Storm Troopers, Vulcans, I think I see five Darth Vaders. Who is that? Buck Rogers?"
"A science fiction convention, Brass?" Grissom looked perplexed as he watched a group of about seven men dressed in dressing gowns with newspapers under their arms.
"This seems very familiar," he said with a smile to Catherine and Sara. "Okay. Greg, if you can contain yourself, you and Cath go collect the evidence from the victims. Nick, you and Warrick see what this place has for video surveillance. Sara you're with me. I believe we have some extra-terrestrial interviews to do." Grissom delegated, as he viewed the surroundings with amusement. It was sure to be an interesting night.
Sara looked at Grissom. She caught his eye and a grinned. "Beam me up, Grissom," she said with a smirk. With that, the team, in a fluid motion, all dispersed, working as though they had never been split up.
By the end of the shift, everything was signed, sealed, and delivered. Each member had come to Grissom's office to give him their piece of the jigsaw.
"So, Matthew Martin, who was dressed as a Klingon, killed the other three because they made fun of his costume?"
"Basically," Sara stated, with a slight grin on her face. She could see he was finding this whole thing intriguing.
"Good work every body, it's…" Grissom hesitated. "Its … Good to have you all working together again." He normally wasn't one for outward displays of emotion, but Grissom felt it needed to be said.
Looking at Grissom, Sara could see the inner struggle that he was fighting.
"Listen," she said gleefully. "Why don't we all go for breakfast this morning to celebrate the team being back together? What do you say Grissom?"
Grissom looked around. "You're all waiting on me, aren't you?" He asked, more rhetorically than anything. He could see from their expressions that this was something that they wanted. If he was honest with himself, he wanted it as well. "Sure, let's go. Have you got any place in mind?"
"Well, there is a new place three blocks from here which is good. Especially good after this shift," Sara replied with a smile.
"Well, let's go!" Greg said as he headed from the door followed by the others.
"You're not going to back out now Grissom, are you?" Sara asked as she stood in the doorway waiting. She knew he needed this as much as the rest of the team, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She remembered how he had stood looking at that empty pit after they had rescued Nick. Grissom had just stood at the site not moving, looking as if he had been a million miles away. She often wondered where his thoughts had taken him.
Grissom looking up from his file, and a smile crossed his face. "How does she do this to me?" He wondered to himself. "What if I had lost her?"
"Come on, Catherine's waiting for me." Sara stated. "You want to follow us?"
In response, Grissom picked up his jacket and headed towards the door. He kept telling himself that some time with Sara, even with the team, would be nice.
After following Catherine and Sara, the team all arrived at the restaurant that Sara had suggested.
"Café at the End of the Universe?" Catherine asked inquisitively.
"Yeah, it's only be open about a month and after today's case, I thought it was appropriate," Sara said as she looked around with a bit of apprehension. Greg however, had dashed inside, and the others were following. Grissom nodded. "It looks great, Sara. Let's see what it offers."
Once they were inside the café, the team started to relax. Grissom looked at the menu with a confused look on his face. "Intergalactic Gargle Blasters, "he stated, and received a chuckle from Greg and the others.
"Why can't they just say orange and cranberry juice, instead of giving it names?" He wondered out loud.
"That's why it's called a 'Theme Café', Grissom," Greg explained. "Every thing is based on the theme, science fiction. You know, like the name of the café and all that."
"Hmm," was all Grissom said in response, with a shake of his head.
Conversation progressed and they found themselves reminiscing about science fiction characters and shows that they had seen.
"You know, there was a section at that convention for fans who write stories about their favourite characters," Warrick mentioned. "Wow, do they take it seriously or what?"
"Now that is something!" Sara exclaimed with a hint of excitement. "It must take real dedication to write about characters, deciding about their outcome."
This was what Grissom had missed the most. Their camaraderie. As he looked and saw Nick laugh at something Greg said, he reminded himself to speak to him tomorrow see how he was doing. He glanced at Sara who sat across from him. Her eyes looking so relaxed and he could tell she was really enjoying herself.
"What if? What if…"Grissom's thoughts drifted away.
"No don't think of that again. She's safe. But what if she had been in that box? What if she had been trapped and helpless? What would I have done?" The thoughts from his dreams flooded his mind.
What if it had been Sara?
"Grissom?" Catherine waited for a reaction. "Griss! Hey, you with us?"
"Yeah, just thinking," he responded, shaken from his thoughts.
He noticed that Sara looked at him with an indecipherable look. It wasn't worry, it wasn't confusion. No. It was a look that he had given her many times. It was a look that she gave him when he stood at the edge of the pit where they had rescued Nick. A look of concern.
"Well, what were you thinking about?" Greg challenged.
Grissom shot Greg a half-hearted glare, which he ignored and continued on.
"Well, anyway, we were just saying what Sci-Fi characters we would like to be. So, who would you would like to be, eh?"
With an exasperated sigh, Grissom looked at Greg. He slowly noticed that everyone was looking at him expectantly.
"What?" Grissom exclaimed.
Catherine smiled at him. "Come on, Griss. Who would like to have been?" She wasn't about to let her friend off that easily.
"I know, I know!" Greg stammered excitedly. " Spock!"
This brought howls of laughter from the rest of them. Grissom looked gravely at Greg and raised one eyebrow stating quite calmly, "I do not see logic in that."
That sent the rest of the team into peels of laughter. Sara could not contain herself and was laughing hysterically. Grissom smiled to himself. It was nice to see her laugh like that.
"What? What's so funny?" Grissom inquired a confused look on his face.
Catherine put a hand on his shoulder. "You really do need to get out more, you know."
Time progressed slowly as tiredness took hold of the group. One by one, they started to leave. Nick and Warrick were going on about Storm Troopers and pretended to fight with light sabers as they left the building. As he left, Greg turned and raised his hand exclaiming "Live long and prosper, Grissom." Before walking quickly out the door.
Catherine stood and stretched. "Well, I need to see Lindsey before she goes to school." Glancing at Sara and Grissom she smiled. As Grissom stood to let her out of the booth, Catherine quietly spoke to him. "Have another cup of coffee, Gil. Take your time."
Grissom looked at her, confused, and saw her glancing in Sara's direction.
As Catherine left Grissom sat down and stared at his empty coffee cup. Sara, playing with her teaspoon, glanced up. "Well Griss, I think …"
"Sara would you like one more cup of coffee before you go? Only if you want to, I mean. If you need to go…" Grissom stumbled awkwardly over his words.
"No, Griss. That would be nice," she said with a smile. "At least it will be a bit quieter with Greg gone."
After ordering two more cups of coffee, there was an awkward silence. Both Sara and Grissom were looking intently at their own respective cups, waiting for the other to say something.
Sara was first to break the silence. "Grissom, are you okay?" She asked. "You seem to have been deep in thought for a large part of the night."
Grissom slowly looked up to see a look of concern focused on him. Sara slowly reached out and touched the back of Grissoms' hand. The electricity like feeling that shot between them did not go unfelt by Grissom.
"I'm fine Sara. It's just been a long few weeks." Grissom stated slowly.
Still touching the back of his hand, Sara replied, "Grissom it's been tough on all of us. Have you spoken to anyone about it?"
Grissom failed to answer. He was again staring at his coffee cup. He wasn't where this was going, or whether or not he wanted to go there.
"I'm fine Sara, honestly."
"After Nick was abducted you made us all go talk to counselors. Some of us, as you will remember, did not want to. But you made us anyway," Sara challenged. "What about you? Did you go talk to someone about it?" There was a growing concern in her voice.
When there was no reply, Sara softly stroked the back of his hand. "Grissom?" She paused, giving him a chance to respond. He didn't say anything.
"Look, its okay," she continued. "I've said too much. Maybe it's time to go."
As she started to take her hand away, Grissom suddenly but gently clasped his hand around hers. Sara stared down at both hands intertwined and then up into his eyes.
"Sara, I just don't know. I just …" He began slowly. Sara could tell he was struggling with something. Was more than Nick's abduction? Was it some inner demon that he had? Was it something else entirely?
"Hey, come on. You can tell me what the ultimate question that you want to ask is," Sara told him gently.
Grissom chortled and shook his head. "Forty-two, Sara. Forty-two."
"What?" She questioned, one eyebrow raised. It was her turn to be confused.
"Forty-two, Sara. Come on, the answer to the Ultimate Question is forty-two. But what IS the question? It may surprise you but I do read more than just the classics."
With that, Grissom glanced around the café as if to make a point.
"Oh, so you knew what we were talking about earlier after all," Sara stated plainly, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Yeah, but I really enjoyed the time," Grissom assured her. With that Grissom cautiously squeezed Sara's hand. Sara felt something change in that touch, but she couldn't tell quite what it was.
"I had a good time too," Sara replied not making any attempt to remove her hand. "You haven't answered my question yet though," she continued playfully.
"Which question? Talking to someone after Nick's abduction? Or the answer to the Ultimate Question?" Grissom spoke quietly with an impish grin spreading across his face, but beneath there was a feeling that something had cracked, something had been relinquished.
Quietly but with conviction Grissom took his hand and brought it up to Sara's cheek and gently caressed his thumb across it. With his other fingers he tenderly ran through the loose strands of hair. He was now staring intently at Sara. He could feel his pulse rate start to climb.
"Sara, do you want an answer to the second question?" Grissom asked, swallowing slowly. His voice almost a whisper. Sara could almost feel the strength of his emotion emitting from him.
Grissom looked at Sara, and rephrased his question. "Do you want to know the answer to MY ultimate question?"
Sara was scared, but fascinated at the same time about what was about to be divulged. She nodded slowly.
"Sara. Sara Sidle," Grissom said, as if it were the most obvious and natural answer in the world.
He could feel his heart thundering in his chest. He couldn't believe he had just said that. After all that had happened. After all the emotion that he had suppressed for years. After realizing that his deepest fear was of losing her.
Sara was searching his face attentively for any sign of regret. She could hardly believe what Grissom had just said, but she was even more taken aback by what she heard next.
"You know what questions I keep asking?" Grissom was speaking so softly that only Sara could hear.
"Who have I thought about nearly every day since we met? Who haunts my dreams and my nightmares? Who do I always worry about when they are out on case? Who causes my heart to skip a beat even when I don't want it to? Who do I care more about, more than I would care to admit?"
"Grissom, that's more than one question," Sara replied cautiously in an effort to relieve some of the tension between them.
Grissom had been looking down at the table all this time. As he spoke again, he raised his head and to gazed intently into Sara's brown eyes. He licked his lips and took a breath before continuing.
"Ultimately, who do I love with all my heart and soul? Sara Sidle, the answer will always be Sara Sidle."
Grissom waited with apprehension. He had been shaking slightly with emotion without realizing it. Sara sat quietly. She could only return the gaze, as she tried to take in all that he had just said to her. He, Grissom, had feelings for her. He had just said he loved her.
"You once said by the time I figured things out, it would be too late," Grissom spoke again, his voice still barely above a whisper. "I'm not too late, am I?" There was a hint of dread in his words.
Sara's eyes glistened and she smiled slowly. Grissom thought his heart might burst when he saw her smile.
"No, Grissom, you're not too late," Sara gently assured him. Grissom, in turn, broke into a grin.
In a mirror image of Grissom's hand on her cheek, Sara brought her hand up slowly and gently ran it over his beard. They remained like that for a few minutes, savouring the intensity of the feelings that they felt for each other.
"Hey, I have one request," Sara whispered quietly.
"Anything," was his response.
"Any chance of a lift home? Catherine brought me and my car is at the Lab."
"Sure, we can't have you stranded, it's a long way back form the end of the universe to your apartment," he answered jokingly.
"Oh funny, very funny." Sara said with a laugh.
The drive to Sara's apartment was punctuated with light banter about the earlier topic of science fiction. In no time, and much to the disappointment of both occupants, they had arrived at their destination.
As the car came to a stop, Grissom turned to Sara. "Sara, I really enjoyed this morning, I wonder if you would like to do it again … But without everyone else?"
"Are you asking me out on a date, Griss?"
"Yeah, I suppose I am" he replied shyly.
As Sara exited from the car she turned and replied, "That would be great, I'd like that every much. Your choice next time. Anyway I'll catch you tonight at work," Sara said hurriedly. She glanced at Grissom, not wanting to impose any more on his emotions. She was aware that this had been a tremendous step for him and did not want to scare him.
"I'll see you later tonight," was his response.
Grissom watched as Sara vanished into her apartment complex, his thoughts and emotions from the past few hours tumbling around his brain. He knew he would see her later that night, but he didn't know why he couldn't bring himself to leave her parking lot.
There was one more thing he needed to do. One more thing he wanted to do.
Sara heard a small rap on her door minutes after going inside. She was still reeling from all that Grissom had expressed She opened the door with a quizzical look on her face, only to be confronted by Grissom.
"Hi, I was…" He began.
"Come in Griss, there's no need to stand outside," she offered.
Once inside Grissom leaned forward, bringing his forehead against Sara's, staring intently into her eyes.
"Hi, there's one thing I wanted to do before I left," he whispered. Without moving from the spot Grissom slowly put his hands around her waist and pushing on the base of her, back brought her closer to himself. His lips gently touched hers, but in that moment the feeling was one of years of love being released.
Sara swallowed hard and let out a slow breath. "Wow, Grissom."
A smile spread slowly across her face as her eyes met his.
"I love you, Grissom," Sara replied as she felt herself melt into his arms.
"I love you too, Sara," he said with a smile.
"I love you three," she said with a chuckle and a grin. The one that Grissom loved, that famous Sara smile that melted his heart.
"I love you four-ever and a day Sara, to eternity and beyond." Grissom's words were full of adoration for her as he spoke.
Grissom kissed her again this time deeper and with a growing passion that he did not want to stop. He felt like his chest was about to explode. Sara offered no discouragement and allowed Grissom to kiss her with all the passion that he had for her. This was for him, as much as it was for them. After what seemed like ages, but yet not nearly long enough, Grissom broke the kiss.
"I need to go, we both have work later," he told her with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
As he let her go, Sara quietly went to the door and slowly locked it. She took his hand and looked intently into his crystal blue eyes uttering one word:
"Stay."
The fading hue of that day's sun cast a shadow over the slumbering body stretched out across the bed. Grissom woke to the realization that for the first time in weeks he had not experienced his nightmare. He grinned as the memories of his night came tumbling back to him. At that moment the door to the bed room was pushed open revealing two cups of morning coffee being carried by Sara.
"Hi there," she said with a shy smile. "I thought you might like a cup before you shower."
Grissom looked up at her, his eyes shining. "Come here," he said as he patted the bed. Sara sat beside him after putting the coffee down. Grissom grabbed her playfully and flipped her onto the other side of the bed.
"Sara, someone once said, 'I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I need to be.' And, Sara, I want to be with you. I know in the past that I have not been great when you've been around but I promise not to act like that anymore."
Grissom looked at her and smiled as he lovingly traced his fingers through her hair.
"I want you beside me too, Grissom." she said with a broadening smile.
Slowly Sara placed a light kiss on his lips. "Tell me, then, what do you think? If we were fictitious television characters, what would these fans' stories tell?"
Grissom smiled and thought for a moment, before he gently caressed his hand down her cheek.
"Oh I don't know. Whatever it would be, it would be the tale of two people who, against all the odds, love each other and were meant to be together. No matter what trials and tribulations they would put us through."
They both laughed together as Grissom pulled her closer. Looking deeply into her eyes he said, "Sara, whatever the tale may be, come with me."
And in the shadows of the evening light, she placed a soft kiss on his lips as she told him, "To the end of the universe, Grissom. To the end of the universe."
FIN
A/N Well did you get them all, We have men walking about in dressing gowns, the main character Arthur Dent from HHGTG, intergalactic gargle blasters, Café at the End of the Universe, The Answer is 42 but what is the Ultimate Question , the quote that Grissom says to Sara, "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I need to be". is a Douglas Adams quote. The theme of SiFi and comedy? was thrown in, which was Douglas Adams main style . I hope you enjoyed it , thanks for reading .