Primal Scream Therapy
Summary: Even the ones you love can make you want to scream at times. GSR. Set some time after "Dead Doll". Bit of mildly angsty fluff.
A/N: This is Elfling's story since she responded to my offer of bribes on my LJ account. First and last lines of the story provided, with 2,000 words to fill in the rest. Thanks to Gibby for the quick beta – all typos are mine and mine alone.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Are these really necessary? Maybe I should offer a bribe to the first person who responds to this to see if anyone reads them.
Sara pinched, hard.
Grissom merely shot his eyes toward her for a moment before he returned to staring intently over her shoulder. His right hand absentmindedly rubbed his left bicep as his eyes narrowed.
She followed his gaze, resisting the urge to pinch him again. This was getting very old, very quickly.
"How about paying some attention to me, buster," she groused good-naturedly. "I thought this was about us spending some time together."
"Yes, dear."
"But I'm here," she pointed out, poking her finger into his arm.
He turned to her with his head cocked in confusion. "I know that."
"Then why are you staring behind us?"
Grissom lowered his voice to a ridiculous level. "He's still following us."
She did roll her eyes at that. "Last time I checked, it was still a free country. He's not doing anything."
"He's following us."
"Gilbert." Her tone held none of the normal teasing usually present when she used his full name. He'd been like this ever since Natalie abducted her. His typical observant nature had morphed into cautious bordering on the verge of paranoia.
Sara understood – she really did.
Her life had changed that day, in ways that had nothing to do with the lingering effects of her injuries. Things she had taken for granted – like parking garages – were now obstacles. It had taken her a half-a-dozen tries before she worked up the nerve to get out of her car at the mall where Natalie had attacked her, and her heart was racing by the time she made it to the elevator. She didn't even try going inside to her favorite vegetarian restaurant; she ran back to her car and booked out of the garage with a speed that would have frightened Grissom.
That was why she wouldn't let him come with her. Why she never told him that she'd attempted it. Why she refused his offers to drive her to the site where she'd been pinned by the car or where she'd been rescued.
He had tried to help, in his own way, after the attack. He spouted off statistics about desensitization and how to overcome fears. What he never understood, what she could never express, was the sense of loss; things could never go back to the way they had been.
And things had been happier than she had ever imagined possible. Fate had never been kind to her, and she hadn't let it hold her back, but she and Gil had something that worked. For all their troubles – and she recognized that they both had plenty of emotional baggage – what they had together was good.
It had given her a sense of security and stability that she ever thought was possible.
That was destroyed in one night.
Natalie had changed their lives in ways that would probably never completely heal, and she hated her for that. Not for the physical pain, not for the nightmares that had yet to completely fade away, but for taking away what she and Gil had managed to build for themselves.
Sara thought Grissom was finally coming to understand why she had to leave Las Vegas; at least he said he did. True, there had been the few remaining post-traumatic episodes, but they weren't the worst. What had hurt were all the reminders of things that had been, of the future that would never happen.
His behavior today was a perfect example of the changes in their life that she hated.
The weather wasn't too hot, and they'd gone for a walk. It was supposed to be a simple, romantic gesture. Get away from the rest of the team, get some privacy, and enjoy nature. If they found a secluded area and enjoyed each other as well – well, that was just a bonus.
They had lost so much time, and she didn't want to waste this occasion because of his nerves.
"He's not doing anything. Ignore him and he'll ignore us," she pleaded softly, turning into his side. Reaching up, she ran a hand over his face gently, savoring the feel of him. She closed her eyes as her hand moved behind his neck, drawing him closer for a kiss.
It was sweet and tender, and far too short as he pulled back and scanned their surroundings for their follower.
"Sara, he's still watching us," Grissom sighed, and she banged her forehead against his when his eyes darted in the direction of their silent audience.
"You know," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "There are times when you make me want to scream. Really, really want to scream."
"What?"
She noticed the look of panic in his eyes, and she did let out a growl to the heavens. Leaving him, even if he understood why, had hurt him deeply, and that was another lingering side effect they were going to be dealing with for a long time. Damn Natalie!
"This is supposed to be about us. You and me, and to hell with the rest of the world for once. We've given enough to the lab, to society, to everyone else but us. Don't let anything ruin this for us. We nearly screwed it up ourselves over the years. I want this to work," she said.
"So do I," he said slowly, trying to find words. "More than I can say."
"Then what's the trouble?" She reached up to brush her lips against his, pulling back to gauge his reaction.
"I don't like performing in public," he said, almost blushing.
"Gilbert," she stated, pulling back and fixing him with a level glare. "You never heard me complaining when we went at it with your bugs and lizards watching us."
"That's different. They don't have higher brain functions; they had no idea what we were doing."
Sara finally pulled back and stomped away in frustration. "Gil, he's a damn monkey! Who is he going to tell? The Rainforest Enquirer?"
"But he knows what we would be doing," he said in a half-whine.
"I don't think primates have Freudian complexes. That's restricted for uptight humans," she said, giving him a decidedly pointed stare.
Grissom shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Besides, if he's here, others can find us, too."
"So?"
"One stalker is bad enough. I don't want a crowd watching us."
"Worried about performance anxiety?" she said, unable to keep up a stern glare as he finally did blush.
"Actually, yes, if you must know," he grumbled. "This makes me very uncomfortable. I've never been good at being … public."
Unable to contain herself, she laughed and returned to his arms. He pulled her close, hugging her tightly as he lifted her off the ground.
"You didn't have any trouble greeting me when you first got here," she said, playfully nibbling his neck.
"I didn't know you had a pervert in your camp at the time," he said.
"He's not a pervert! The closest we have is Pedro, and that's why we came out here, remember?"
"I did promise to bring him back some poisonous spiders," Grissom said, a wicked gleam in his eye. "The ones with no antidotes that make certain body parts rot off."
"I never heard of a spider that does that in Costa Rica. But Pedro doesn't know that, does he?"
"He hasn't been bothering us lately, has he? Unlike your friend in the tree."
"Hey, leave him alone. Besides, this is all your fault," Sara noted. "You're the one who left his unfinished lunch out. To him, you're a walking, talking vending machine."
Smiling, she pushed him against a tree and kissed him passionately before he had time to object. Running her hands down his shirt, she deftly undid the buttons, running her fingers down his torso and pausing at his belt.
"I don't think that's a banana in your pants, so he's not going to be interested in it."
"Hell, I hope not!"
"I guess that was mental image you didn't need," she chuckled.
"Not really," he admitted, kissing her deeply. "I guess I can't talk you into returning to our tent, can I?"
"Pedro is back at camp," she said with a sigh.
"Well, I don't want to wait until we return to civilization to finish our 'discussion', so I guess we better ignore Curious George," he said, his hand moving to her shirt hem as they moved in for another kiss.
They both pulled apart suddenly when the monkey began screaming loudly, jumping up and down on the branch above their head. Not wanting any unexpected deposits, they both stepped away, only to have the noisy primate follow them.
"I told you he knew what we were doing!" Grissom half-hissed.
"Or he has bad eyesight and thinks that is a banana," she grumbled, smiling when he shifted nervously.
Their formerly silent stalker leapt across the path to another branch, hopping madly and screeching as he stared at a bushy area.
"What types of predators are around here?" Sara asked nervously.
"The two-legged type," Grissom answered harshly, glaring into the overgrowth. "Pedro! Get out here now!"
The gangly youth walked into the open with an innocent look that fooled no one. "Oh, there you are. Carlos wanted me to find you to let you know they found the cocoons you wanted."
"I know. He told me himself before we went for our walk."
"Oh, in that case, I'll just look for specimens while I'm out here," Pedro said.
"Good. You can help us," Sara said, smiling sweetly. "We found some webs from the Flesh-Rotting Wolf Spiders around here. They can't be far away. They aren't easy to spot, since their coloration blends into the trees, but they're about the size of a dinner plate."
"I wonder how long that is going to work," Grissom said as the young man fled down the path.
"Probably not long enough," she sighed. "But maybe we have an alternative."
"Oh?"
"Curious George makes a pretty good alarm system, don't you think," she said, returning to her earlier caresses.
Grissom stared at the monkey that was watching them too frankly for his comfort. He then regarded Sara, who seemed to be taking the idea seriously. "You might want to reconsider."
The End
A/N II: Okay, so it was long after "Dead Doll" – don't tell me you didn't suspect it was the monkey all along!