This is the follow up to Learning Curves Book I. When we left off Grissom gave Sara two weeks to make up her mind about them, with a meeting of July 4th in the forrest.
Summary- A shocking twist has Grissom following the most crucial evidence of his life.
Disclaimer- CSI is not mine is belongs to the big boys at CBS
Chapter 1- Something to Come Back To
Grissom leaned over his crossword puzzle annoyed that he hadn't been able to finish the last clue. The clue was "Bambi's folly" a 12 letter word. He relentlessly tapped his pencil on the paper till his finger was numb.
It had been one week and three days since he had seen Sara. He glanced out the window as the plane made it's decent into Las Vegas. The trip to Quantico had proven excruciating. Sure he got to talk about bugs for hours on end, but he couldn't see her. Watching Sara was always a sport for him, her emotions and body language told stories that her words left out. He knew that if he could just see her, then he might have an idea about what her decision would be.
His mind went back to the woods behind her house. He could hear her words.
You have spent nearly six years keeping me at arms length. You rejected dinner with me, you shut me down when I came to you for advice, you take everyone's word over mine, tell me to get a life and then get mad when I don't rush to your pages. It's a lot for me to accept."
He had promised to make good on those six years. But the lingering pain was that she didn't trust him. Grissom couldn't blame her; after all he had done everything to make that happen.
Slowly, he reached into the jacket on his lap and removed a frame from it. The frame was small and silver and her gapped tooth smile reflected from it. The picture was taken from her employee file; it was the one that matched her badge. Knowing he couldn't go to Virginia without some piece of her, he had made a copy in the lab.
Over the last week and a half he had bore an imaginary hole into it with his eyes. One morning he rolled over and even said good morning to it. That night the picture had gone in the drawer. A man's mind was going when you started talking to pictures. But later that night, she was back on the nightstand. He really missed her and hated himself for feeling weak.
As the plane touched down, Grissom could feel his stomach start to tighten. Catherine would be there waiting on him, and he knew she would have questions. After letting everyone on the plane get off first, he slowly made his way to the front. Moving up the ramp to the airport lobby, he tried to put a neutral demeanor on. But when his eyes caught hers, all feelings of calm subsided.
"Sara? What are you doing here?"
"Well hi to you too."
"Sorry I was just expecting Catherine."
"Yeah she was supposed to come down but Lindsey got caught cheating on a test, so she had to talk with the principal."
"Ah, I remember that day."
"You the great Gil Grissom cheated on a test?"
"It wasn't so much I cheated on a test as I passed the answers to Jordan Leonis. I was relieved of my test and Jordan and I were sent to Principal Petersen."
"Wow, the things you never know."
"Yeah well Jordan was thrown off the football team, I got off easy when Petersen found out I gave him all the wrong answers. He knew that Jordan was a bully."
"So it all makes sense then. Cool, well are you hungry? They just built a new bistro called Antonelli's right here on the corner of Lakeview Avenue."
"I'm starved, scientists don't eat well at seminars."
She laughed and it was a relief from all the tension he had been feeling. They grabbed his bags and made their way to the Tahoe. When they got to the restaurant, Grissom hoped that he and Sara could talk a little about the next step not wanting to push her. Sara took him to a back room that seemed totally secluded. Suddenly she gave him a slight push into the room.
"SURPRISE!"
Grissom looked to see everyone from the lab wearing party hats and blowing noise makers. A big sign in the back read
"Happy Anniversary Grissom!"
He flushed as he saw the ecstatic look on Sara's face. Catherine was among them. She walked to him and gave him a big hug. Grissom reluctantly hugged her back, the human touch still a bit foreign. She wrapped a couple of Hawaiian leis around his neck and walked off to join Warrick.
"Wow I wasn't expecting this at all. Um thank you!"
"Speech speech!"
"All right all right, eventually I will be needing blood donations from all of you again. Sleeping during the day isn't the only reason I work the night shift. But seriously, I came to you guys for a job, now I come to the job for you guys. I am especially lucky to work with all of you So uh thanks everyone."
The crowd broke into uproarious cheers. Grissom looked around at all the faces Greg, Warrick, Nick, Catherine, Hodges, David, Doc Al, Brass, Jacquie, Archie, Bobby Dawson, that weird guy from trace and even Ecklie. But the light shined brightest on Sara. He made himself go talk to Warrick, Catherine and Nick. It was apparent by the jokes that Catherine and Warrick were an item but still under wraps.
Grissom made his way around the room. Nick told him about his new car. Greg had some new girl he was after. Hodges gave him the play by play on a big case he thought he cracked, till Archie challenged him. Al and David got an earful of new morgue technology Grissom had heard at Quantico. Lastly, he came around to Ecklie.
"Great party Gil. I was approached by Catherine and Sara last week on it. It's occurred to me that you have been at the lab almost 20 years, I'm giving you the next two weeks off. I'll be taking your spot on a low level basis, Sofia and Greg under me. Sidle is off the next two weeks as well but we should be fine."
"I don't need time off Conrad."
"Gil, don't fight me on this, the time off is a requirement based on the ethics code of the lab. Go somewhere and enjoy. The lab will be ok without you. Anyway I have to head home, you can come in tomorrow to pass off duties, then you're off. Bye Gil."
"Tough break huh?"
Grissom turned to see a smile on Catherine's face.
"What?"
"Two weeks off, and Sara too?"
"Don't start on that."
"Oh stop being so touchy, Sara planned that time off last year. No way could she have known you would be off too."
Grissom felt the disappointment creep into his mind. He remembered teasing Sara about her over zealous request for vacation. She never took vacation but felt she might want to. He suddenly realized he hadn't seen her at the party for awhile. Finally managing to pull himself away from the party he walked outside and discovered her Tahoe gone.
"Hey Grissom man. Sara asked if I could take you home, she has a meeting or something."
He turned to see Warrick standing by the door.
"Is the meeting for a case?"
"Not sure, she's been working on a project lately, all her spare time is spent working in her office. She hardly goes home. Not too unusual for Sara though."
"She hasn't told you anything about it?"
"Nah, I asked once but she kind of got protective so I laid back. Anyway if you're ready we can jet now."
"Ok let me tell everyone goodnight."
Grissom walked into his townhouse. It was home and yet he felt like someone else lived there. He played his messages but found nothing of importance.
"Hello Moses."
Grissom smiled happily at his tarantula. Catherine had been feeding him but refused to keep him in her house. So he gave her a key. Removing his shirt he headed for the shower. The hot water relaxed his muscles. He didn't realize he was tired but when he sat wrapped in the towel in his recliner, he soon fell fast asleep.
Somewhere in the shadows…….
The dark shadow lit a cigarette and watched the cafe. He watched her walk in and sit at the very back booth. From where he stood he could see her perfectly. Checking the time on his wristwatch, he smiled. It wasn't a smile brought on by the sight of her, but rather the knowledge of what he saw in her, what was to come. His pulse quickened but he wouldn't convince himself that it was his beating heart. Shadows were dark, unnoticeable, and could change quickly at a moments notice. It wouldn't be tonight, he was much too controlled for that. He had never acted out of impulse, though he wished he could. He watched her answer her cell phone, put a couple bucks on the table, and leave again. The shadow crushed the cigarette at his feet, smiled again, and walked away.