I just watched the episode "Playing With Fire" tonight and the whole scene between Grissom and Sara at the end hit me with this story. It takes place about a week or so after the fact. I might add to it later, but more than likely I will forget about it and leave it as a little one shot.
CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI
Grissom lay in bed staring at the ceiling. His mind was racing. So much had happened in the past week, and his brain just couldn't seem to catch up enough to let him sleep. One thing kept playing itself over again amidst the other chaos.
"Well, I do," Sara had said, "And by the time you figure it out, it might just be too late."
What did she mean by that? Grissom wondered. Sara had been acting very strange lately. She seemed distracted. She seemed to think that she was indestructible, or at least that's what both Brass and Nick had said. It just didn't make sense. Grissom replayed the whole situation over again in his head again.
"Do you want to have dinner with me?" Sara had asked.
"No."
"Come on, it'd be fun. Just see what happens."
"Sara, I don't know what to do about this."
"Well, I do. By the time you figure it out, it just might be too late."
He puzzled over her reaction for quite some time. He really didn't know what to do about her behavior as of late. Following that line of thought, he had come to the conclusion that being too late meant that Sara would get herself seriously hurt or killed. That had him seriously worried about her.
Would she do something else to put herself in jeopardy? Was she suicidal? That really doesn't sound like her.
Maybe I'm coming at it the wrong way. He thought. Context. That's the clue. She asked me out to dinner after I had confronted her about acting as though she was indestructible. That was a rapid shift of subject and a prime example of her strange behavior lately. I'm playing catch up as usual and my response is, "I don't know what to do about this."
THINK! What would Sara have been thinking about that changed the subject. We both have the day off. She rapidly changed the subject so as to not lose her nerve to ask me out? She was asking me out. Dinner had nothing to do with… She must have thought I meant that I didn't know what to do about… Oh crap. Too late could mean… she could move on, find someone else… I get it.
In the middle of this bunch of broken and half-formed thoughts, Grissom came to a realization. I don't know what to do about that either.