Disclaimer: I am claiming that I own nothing. CSI is property of CBS and its affiliates.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: G/S
Spoilers: None really
Summary: Response to a challenge issued Smyrczko at Yahoo! Grissom-Sara group. Must contain each of the following:
1. G/S pairing
2. Either be the beginning, middle or end of a relationship
3. Mention of a current or former boyfriend/husband of Sara's
4. Fudge, blue jeans and a leather bomber jacket must all be mentioned
5. Reference to the Rascal Flatts' song "God Bless the Broken Road"
6. Contain the line "It's a crime to look so sexy."
7. Begin or end with "I should've been a cowboy."
Memory Lane
By Ashlie Mitchell
a.k.a.
Some1lostme
The thirty minute ride from their crime scene to the lab had been quiet. The radio played softly on a country station that Sara had picked and Grissom drove without a road, glancing over at her occasionally to find her staring out the window.
The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon and Sara studied the color pattern it displayed over the barren land they drove by. That was the one thing that she had always hated about Nevada, all the dry land, the lack of vegetation. Growing up in California had been dry, but you could go north and find immense amounts of trees and groves and vineyards. Those didn't exist. It was so dry and barren here.
"Sara?"
She didn't take her eyes off of the scenery as she spoke, "Hmm?"
"Penny for your thoughts?" Grissom asked, grinning when Sara finally looked his way, rolling her eyes slightly.
"I was comparing Nevada to California," she told him, shrugging and looking back out her window.
Grissom reached out then, taking her hand in his, squeezing tightly, "I thought we talked about this, Sara. We decided…" his voice was etched with worry and Sara squeezed his hand back.
She turned in her seat again to look at him and when she smiled, he relaxed slightly.
"I was talking about the land, Grissom," she said softly, her gazing flickering back to the desert surrounding them, "I miss trees and vineyards and everything that's green about California. I'm not planning on going back there anytime soon… not unless I decide to take a vacation with my boyfriend."
She flashed him another smile and he smiled back, squeezing her fingers one more time before letting go of her hand and focusing on the drive, "Okay."
Sara leaned forward, turning up the radio as a familiar song began to play, and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes.
I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
Cambridge, MA
12 years earlier
Harvard University
Sara Sidle entered the Grand Hall of Harvard University with caution. She hated occasions like this one. Women were required to wear fancy, over-priced, gowns while the men all wore tuxedos. She hated benefits for doctors and lawyers and men who had given money to the school. She hated being required to come and be a student ambassador. She hated having to pretend that she was enjoying herself.
"Miss Sidle, I've been looking all over for you."
George Mills, Dean of Student Affairs, and Sara's boss, approached her. She smiled politely, carefully walking on unsteady heals toward the older man. Mills was probably old enough to be her father but he still flirted with her endlessly and there wasn't much she could do about it, her monetary needs were a little too extensive at the moment. Besides, it's not like the man physically harassed her. He was just a harmless old man who was too horny for his own good.
"Well, well, Miss Sidle, you clean up well," Mills said, taking her by the elbow and leading her off to the front of the Hall, "It really is a crime to look so sexy."
Sara simply smiled politely, holding back the sudden urge to vomit that came over her.
"Your boyfriend didn't escort you this evening?" Mills asked.
Sara shook her head, "Ken isn't really my boyfriend, Mr. Mills, just a friend. And no, he couldn't get away from a prior engagement."
Not that that's any of your business, Sara thought, Besides, I wouldn't bring that idiot to one of these things. He's not as intelligent as everyone thinks that he is.
Sara was pulled from her inner ramblings when she realized that she and Mills had stopped walking. They now stood beside a table, very near the front of the hall, and he was holding a chair out for her.
"Our speaker should be here soon, Sara," Mills told her as she sat.
She glanced up at the podium on the stage, the school symbol gracing the front of it. She then remembered why she had been forced to come this evening in the first place. Dr. Gil Grissom, world renowned Entomologist, had donated two months of his time to teach a seminar at the school. Tonight would be the first time that he would be introduced to any of the students and most of the faculty. Not that Sara had any desire to meet a man whose life revolved around bugs. She was a physicist, she had no interest in bugs.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you this evening. I'm glad you all could join us. Right now, I have the pleasure of introducing a great man and a wonderful scientist. Doctor Gil Grissom graduated from UCLA and went on to become one of the top ten Entomologists in the world. His work is well documented and received by all and, personally I can tell you that he's one of the most intelligent men that I have ever met. Please, help me welcome Dr. Grissom to our wonderful establishment."
There was a great round of applause and Sara looked around, trying to find the guest of honor in the crowd. She didn't see anyone making their way to the stage and when she turned back to see Mills at the podium, he looked just as confused as everyone else in the room.
"Well, it seems that-"
He paused and Sara noticed him squinting a little. More applause began and she turned again, finally seeing someone moving toward the stage.
When Gil Grissom took the stage, Sara was stunned, to say the least. This man, the one whom she had thought she was wasting her night on, was much younger than she had expected, and definitely much better looking.
The man was probably six feet tall, gorgeous gray curls, a trim beard; he couldn't be more than thirty five. Sara's heart melted. Donning a pair of blue jeans, which hugged his ass nicely from what Sara could tell, a Cubs T-shirt and a brown leather bomber jacket, Dr. Gil Grissom was the man of Sara's dreams.
And then he looked at her and she knew she was gone for good.
He had the most beautiful blues eyes she had ever seen.
"Sorry I'm late, George," Dr. Grissom said, shaking Mills hand before stepping up to the podium, "And you'll have to excuse the way I'm dressed, I was actually at a crime scene not more than fifteen minutes ago. It seems that you can't separate a boy and his bugs…"
Las Vegas, NV
Present Day
"Sara, honey, what's wrong?"
Grissom's voice brought Sara back to the moment and she reached up to brush a stray tear from her cheek. She smiled at him, unable to stop the small laugh that escaped her.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm fine, really, I just- do you remember the night that we met? Back in Boston?"
"How could I forget? Beautiful brown eyes staring at me while I'm trying to introduce myself to a room full of people?" Grissom asked, resting his hand on her thigh then, "Mills dumping a piece of Turtle fudge cake on your beautiful dress and then helping to clean it off? If I remember correctly, you went home that night terribly upset."
Sara laughed again, nodding.
"Upset doesn't even cover it. I don't think I ever saw Mills after that night. I quite my job the next morning and reported him to campus officials."
It was Grissom's turn to laugh then, "Where did that memory come from, Sara?"
She shrugged, "The song I guess. I was just thinking of what it took to get to where we are. Thinking about our 'broken road', you know? The one that's not so broken anymore?"
Grissom smiled then and squeezed her thigh, turning to watch as she rested her head back against the seat. He turned the radio down then, "That was Rascal Flatts with 'God Bless the Broken Road'. Now, here's something a little more upbeat, Toby Keith with 'I Should've Been a Cowboy'."