Title: The Parting Gift
Author: Maggienhawk
Disclaimer: Let's see, I looked under the bed, in the closet, under my dirty laundry, and under the table. They're not here. So I'm going to hazard a guess and say they're not mine. tear
Summary: They were meant to be together, in any way, shape or form, near or far, just as long as they could call each other friends. GSR, set in the future.
A/N: This idea came to me as I was thinking about how GSR is going to be handled until the end of the series and I thought it would be cool to have them be friends until the end…and then stun us into blissful resolution! So, maybe this is what will happen……or not. ;-)
"Grissom, tell me one thing that no one else knows about you."
Her arms were crossed and she was raising an eyebrow at him. But her lips held the beginnings of a smile that would be fully developed if he answered her question.
He smirked at her, crossing his own arms over his chest. "You know, Catherine did this to me years ago. And I didn't really like it then."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I was a pretty decent dancer. I think she believed that I was pulling her leg or something, but it's true."
She smiled, "I believe you, but don't think that counts for this conversation."
A small grin graced his face, "Damn." And then he fell silent for a few moments.
She watched as he contemplated his options, but then quickly remembered why they were there in the first place. After working in Vegas for seven years, she had been offered a night shift supervisory position in San Francisco, and it was finally time for her leave. She glanced around the airport lounge, and said with a smile, "Come on, Griss, I don't have all day. Consider it a parting gift. You won't see me for a long time, and more than likely the only time I'll get to make fun of you for whatever you have to say will be over the phone."
"I hope you don't make fun of what I have to say," he said with a smile. He motioned for her to come closer, and when she did, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I wouldn't want anyone else to hear this. I've loved you, Sara, since the moment I met you."
As he pulled away, her confused eyes locked with his honest ones. She swallowed deeply, breaking her gaze with his and tried very hard to digest the information. Feeling his stare, she knew he was waiting for some sort of response. They locked eyes again as she began to speak. "You do realize that I'm leaving? And nothing can change that, right?"
"I know." Surprisingly, he kept his eyes trained on hers.
They stood there, in the middle of McCarran, trying to figure out where to go from there.
Holding back tears, she choked, "God, Grissom, I gave up on you years ago."
"I know you did. And I gave up on you ever waiting for me. But I just wanted you to know that it was never for lack of interest, Sara. Never."
She launched herself into his arms, embracing him with all she had in her.
He returned the embrace with the same desperation. Whispering in her ear, he asked, "Tell me something, Sara, something no one else knows."
She pulled back slightly, so that she could see his face. "You've been my best friend for three years, Griss. You know a lot more about me than anyone."
"Humor me."
She smirked and pulled him close so that she could whisper in his ear. "I'm a horrible dancer." At his chagrined look, she began to laugh.
"That is so not fair, Sara."
"Well, I would have told you that I've been in love with you since I met you, but someone already knows that."
His eyes widened, "Oh, well, that's good. So, who is privileged to know that bit of information before me?"
"Warrick."
His eyebrows rose, and she could see the confusion in his eyes. "Warrick. Out of anyone here I would have guessed Nick."
"Are you kidding me? Nick is the first person I would tell anything to if I wanted it all over the lab within the hour!"
He smiled in understanding. "Good point, but how on earth did it even come up with Warrick?"
She blushed slightly in embarrassment. "We were working a case a few months after I moved here, involving a woman who just burned up in her chair, but nothing else had been scorched."
"I remember putting you two on that together."
"Yeah, and I was completely convinced that it was a case of spontaneous human combustion. He spent the whole case proving me wrong, but when you showed up while we were smoking that pig, he kept his mouth shut about my theory, knowing how much I needed your approval. He asked me later that night why I cared so much about what you thought."
"And you just told him?" He looked shocked.
Her blush deepened. "Well, there was enough alcohol involved to loosen my tongue."
He began to laugh as she shook her head, disbelieving what had happened almost seven years ago, still. As his laugh died down, his blue eyes locked with her brown ones. He moved his face closer to hers subconsciously, and her eyes darted down to her lips.
Taking one last look into his eyes, her own fluttered closed and she closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was tentative, but sweet and tender, and expressed everything that they wanted the other to know.
They pulled apart slowly, their smiles growing with every inch they separated. He brushed a lock of hair from her face as he spoke softly, "Give me a call from time to time to tell me how it's going in San Francisco, Miss Supervisor."
A smirk began to form in place of her smile. "Oh, I see how it is. You only want me to call you to talk about work."
"Work is always the last thing on my mind when I see you. And it will be when you call me."
Her mouth dropped open, and then shut quickly. "You know, for seven years I've worked here, and I have never heard you say such wonderful things."
"Well, for four of them, I was denying them myself. I just…I just didn't want you to leave thinking that I didn't want to be with you. It was never you, Sara. It was all me." His hand caressed her cheek lightly.
She smiled through the tears forming in her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything?"
He sighed, and looked down between them. "After you got pulled over, and we started getting our friendship back on track, I didn't want to screw anything up. And it turned out that the friendship was the best thing that happened to us. And by that point, it was better off that we were friends. You've been my best friend, Sara, and I didn't want to lose that."
She hugged him hard. "You never would have lost that, Griss."
The last call for her flight was announced, and she pulled away slowly. "That's me."
"I'll miss you."
"Yeah, me too." She wiped a tear that had fallen down her face as she bent down to pick up her carry on. She stood back and placed a quick kiss on his lips, before turning to board the plane.
After taking a few steps towards the gate, she glanced over her shoulder to take one last glimpse at Grissom. Just looking at him made her want to be in his arms again. She dropped the bag, and ran back into his now open arms. Their lips crashed together in a passionate kiss that neither had ever experienced in their lives. It wasn't just a meeting of lips, but a meeting of two souls that had been kept apart for much too long.
They broke apart slowly, breathing deeply, and seeing the love in each others eyes. With her fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck, she said softly, "I love you, and I'll call you when I get there."
A small smile formed on his face, "I love you too, Sara, so much."
She pulled herself reluctantly from his arms. "Good bye."
"Good bye."
She made her way to the gate, thinking about what had just happened. She had finally found her soulmate in Grissom. But it wasn't until she sat down in her seat that she realized he had always been her soulmate; that it never had to be in terms of romance for them. They were meant to be together, in any way, shape or form, near or far, just as long as they could call each other friends.
She smiled, and leaned her head back against the seat, eyes closed. She couldn't wait to get off the plane so that she could call him. This was going to be the longest flight of her life.